Crawler, the most monstrous member of the group, loomed over the rest.  His chest was ten feet deep from front to back, his head the size of a small car.

Yay, we’re getting a description!

And yeah, that’s really big.

He combined the most effective features of a bear and a panther.  Sinuous, flexible, bristling with quiet menace, but also brawny with muscle.  He had armor plates covering him, with scales where armor wouldn’t allow him optimum flexibility, and spines and coarse hair where the scales wouldn’t do.

He reminds me a lot of Bitch’s hellhounds, but bigger and a bit different.

Head to toe, he had the coloring of an oil slick, black by default, but scintillating with rainbow hues in just the right light.

Huh, that’s actually really cool.

No wonder he didn’t show very well in the image Taylor saw.

A hundred black orbs studded the length of his body, set into the plates of armor.  Caustic venom virtually poured from a mouth that bristled with mismatched fangs, spattering precipitously close to Cherish and eating at the concrete rooftop.

Niice.

I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll hear about the orbs.

Perhaps most unnerving of all were his six legs, each forking at the knee or elbow joint, with one larger limb ending in scimitar-like claws and a smaller set of limbs for each; tentacles for the rear four legs and a long fingered human’s hands for the forelimbs.

Oooh, that’s really freaky and cool.

The aircraft lurched and began to turn, but this maneuver ended up spelling out Skidmark’s doom.  The surface beneath him was already slick with blood, and with only one hand’s worth of fingers to grip with, he slid.  He used his power to change the surface and force himself upward, but it was too little, too late.

What a way to go.

…I hope he lands right in one of the coffins.

He dropped into the blades of the spinning propeller and was puréed in a heartbeat.

Oh jeez. And here I thought he was sliced up enough already.

Standing on a rooftop across from the aircraft, Jack flicked his wrist and snapped the blade of his straight-razor back into the handle.

Hiya.

So, was that entertaining to you?

Smiling thinly, he looked over his shoulder at his teammates.  Bonesaw sat astride Siberian’s shoulders, in the midst of braiding a lock of the feral killer’s hair.

Oh my cod, I love this. Please tell me there’s fanart of this moment.

Shatterbird and Burnscar stood on opposite sides of the group, the former holding a book in one hand, the latter with images in flame dancing a quarter-inch off her skin, showing people and familiar objects, many of the images replaying the scene of Skidmark’s demise in miniature.

Huh, that’s a really neat use of the power.

Bonesaw’s automatons were spread out over the remainder of the roof, and one of her Frankenstein creations waited patiently at the far end of the roof.  Hack Job, she’d called it?  It had started to rot alive, and Bonesaw kept it out of the way so as not to offend the sensibilities of her teammates.

I bet she doesn’t really get why the others have a problem with that, though she’ll help her family be comfortable.

Cherish stood in Crawler’s shadow, pale, her hands clasped together.  Her shoulders were drawn in, as if she was afraid she would be struck any second.

Wow, she’s really not comfortable in the team after her little secret came out. I suspect not everyone took it as, uh, well as Jack did, but even if no one actually hurt her because of it, a fear that they’re going to if she steps across the line again is quite understandable.

Also, are we actually going to learn what Crawler looks like now, or are we going to leave it at the mention of his shadow? Whatever the case, it sound like he’s relatively big.

Skidmark’s hands went to his stomach, where blood and organs were spilling out.  He turned to run, but more slices appeared in his arm, his buttock, his back and the back of his neck.

Jack, what are you doing? Why Skidmark?

Not that I particularly disapprove of getting him out of the way, though I’ll miss the creative wordings.

Also, this doesn’t sound like it’s Skidmark’s perspective anymore. This is the perspective of an onlooker, and I suspect that onlooker is either Jack Slash or Scrub.

No longer in sight of the majority of the crowd, he continued to try to crawl away, only for his reaching fingers to be separated from his hand, flying away from him in a spray of crimson.

Another reason why I don’t think we’re seeing Skidmark’s perspective: I don’t think he’s going to survive for more than a few paragraphs from now.

“Get buried alive!”

The noise of the crowd was more bloodthirsty this time, unmasked and unashamed in their savagery.

I haven’t missed them.

“Hope you rancid pukes have friends to dig you up!  Put up with that shit while you’re on the trip of your life, and you get yourselves a green fucking armband!  For the rest of the night, everything is as free as your mother’s pussy!

But I do like Skidmark’s way of talking. It’s awful and raunchy, yes, but it’s also really distinctive and good. There’s a reason I quickly identified who was saying the first line in spite of my previous track record.

…also is that a yo mama joke or is he calling them motherfuckers? Either way, it works coming from Skidmark.

For as long as you hold on to that baby, anything you buy direct from one of us head honchos is ten percent off!  So which-”

Huh, that’s neat.

I wonder if it stacks. Up to a limit, I guess – I doubt Skidmark and co. give out completely free drugs to anyone with ten green armbands.

He stopped.  There was a thump as the microphone hit the surface near Skidmark’s feet and then a violent but all too brief noise as it struck one of the propellers at the side of the aircraft and was promptly annihilated.

…uh, alright? Something take you by surprise?

I hope it’s Siberian, just so I can make a certain joke about cats and tongues.

“Which one of you dripping rectal cysts is brave enough for this one!?”

Hi there, Skidmark!

So are we going to be following him, or someone around him? Scrub might be a good one to follow, being new to having a power and new to the Merchants’ elite of parahumans.

The cheer bubbled up from the crowd, until it reached a crescendo that he could hear from his aircraft/podium.

Looks like it’s the perspective of the man himself. This ought to be… interesting.

The wind ripped around him as he stood at the nose of the aircraft, his cape fluttering.  Squealer’s vehicle was like a helicopter made by someone who had never seen a helicopter before, who’d decided to add their own improvements to the design when they were finished – more whirling blades spaced equidistant around the thing.  Topping it off, it was roughly three times the typical size.

Heh, nice.

“Green armband means poison, and this is a poison half of you wastes of air have already tasted!  We’re gonna make it as bad as it gets!  The worst of bad trips!”

Hm, alright, what the hell are they up to here? Is this just an arrangement to get together to do drugs?

It made me think of Newter at first, but if he were attacking the Crew, getting tagged by Newter would be something they don’t want.

He held a bowl of pills that were dusted with assorted powders and raised it over his head, “One handful, then you take a nap in one of the coffins we have up here.  Moment the lid shuts, you’ll find out what’s in store for you.  Some have rats, some have spiders, some have nothing at all and some…”

Welcome to Fear Factor.

A beam of light speared down from the base of the fat bodied helicopter, sending chunks of earth where it hit ground.  The moment it faded, a coffin fell into the hole that had formed, followed by a downpour of gravel.

Well, at least this one fits the container.

Interlude 12(a)

Hello, and welcome to Whose Liveblog Is It Anyway, where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter!

So! I think we’re done with Taylor’s POV for the Arc, unless there are some more chapters between this and the other Interlude. It’s time to see what someone else is up to!

I would like to get an Interlude from the perspective of Sierra or Charlotte, to help flesh out their characters more and show a bit of how they feel about being in Skitter’s employ from their own perspective. Considering there are two Interludes here, maybe I’ll even get both?

Alternatively, perhaps we’re checking in on a couple of the other groups, like for example the PRT (ideally via Battery), or the Slaughterhouse Nine? Among the latter, only Cherish has had an Interlude from her own POV, so all the other members are still available.

Whatever the case, I’m sure it’s going to be interesting. Let’s jump right in and see what we’ve got!