As the three dogs barreled toward her, she used her power.  She felt it extend outward like a vibration from deep inside her.  She felt that power shudder and reverberate, as if to let her know it was making contact with them.  She could see the effect.

Nice.

Could see them grow larger, see bone and muscle swell and shift.

Unlike powers like Taylor’s, Lisa’s, Alec’s or Coil’s, this power doesn’t really have that much of an active psychological feedback on use, but it’s still neat to see how it feels to use it.

“Attack!”

In moments, Glory Girl was contending with four dogs.

Forcefield or no, this is going to be troublesome.

Angelica advanced implacably, Bitch following at a walking pace.  The other three were attacking from every direction, cutting off escape routes, leaping onto the side of the building, leaping down, running behind her, or flanking her from the sides.

This is badass. You can tell she’s in control.

“Mom!” Glory Girl shouted, a note of panic in her voice.

And Glory Girl isn’t.

The heroine went for Bitch, who had only Angelica at her side.  Angelica positioned herself between enemy and master, and Glory Girl hit the dog broadside.

Seriously, no one listens.

Angelica barely reacted, turning instead to snap at Glory Girl.  Her teeth rebounded off the heroine’s outstretched arm, and Glory Girl darted backward, to hover in the air.

Incredible jaw force versus forcefield. Looks like the forcefield wins, at least for now.

Catching her breath?  Watching the situation?

Giving her forcefield time to regenerate? It sounded like that happens fairly quickly in Agitation, though.

That wasn’t how you were supposed to fight.  Bitch whistled hard, then shouted, “Magic, Lucy, Roxy!  Come!”

I mean, not throwing everything you’ve got at the opponent at every moment can be a valid strategy.

Glory Girl was flying over the stampeding dogs, a cell phone pressed to her ear, in Bitch’s general direction.

I read this as the cell phone being pressed to Glory Girl’s ear in Bitch’s general direction at first.

Ink and Bruno leaped to the side of a building and then leaped from that point toward Glory Girl.

Nice.

Glory Girl should know that flying doesn’t necessarily help you that much against the hellhounds. I mean, she was present at the bank robbery… then again, if she was paying enough attention to notice the coddamn cape battle happening in front of the bank she was on top of, maybe she should have gotten involved earlier.

She struck Socks across the head, sending him flying to the ground, and Bruno slammed into her, knocking the phone from her grip.

Don’t hurt the doggos!

She brought her knee up into the dog’s side and pushed herself away before he could drive her down into the ground.

Not bad, though.

“Stop,” a voice ordered.

Ah, shit.

Either we’ve got someone ordering Bitch around, which might suggest a cape, or we’ve got someone trying to give an order to her dogs.

Either way, she ain’t gonna like it.

Bitch turned and saw two capes.  From New Wave, weren’t they?  Brandish and Glory Girl.

Oh, hi!

Huh, I hadn’t really thought about it before, but this whole territory thing makes the Undersiders a lot more vulnerable to heroic intervention. They’ve been known as the masters of the getaway because they were working together to accomplish that (especially Grue, Bitch and Tattletale), but now they’re working for the most part separately and with far more visible locations as they claim their territories. If the heroes really go in for it, the Undersiders (except Imp) will be far easier to defeat and capture like this, especially before they’ve recruited.

Also, hey, Brandish, you’re still in action? Did the New Wave shutdown happen yet?

Brandish spoke, “Glory Girl, call your sister.  At least one of those people needs medical attention, fas-”

…huh.

When I brought up Panacea, I didn’t actually think she’d be an actual option presented in the chapter.

She stopped as Bitch whistled as hard as she could.  Barking and snarling, her massed dogs charged the heroes.

Welp.

Have we learned what Brandish’s power actually is? I don’t think we have. I guess this is a solid opportunity to find out.

“The howling.  If you can hear the howling, you’re too fucking close.  Leave.”

…well, at least that seems like a decent rule of thumb, now that they know it.

“You could probably hear that halfway across the city!”

“So?”

“No fucking shit,” Bitch retorted.  The woman was challenging her authority.  She had to respond to it, or the woman would keep talking, Bitch would say or do something that made her look stupid, and others would stand up to her.

Ah, yeah. Gotta keep up the retorts.

Best to stop that sooner than later.  “Socks!  Come!”

Or do that, that works even better.

The woman shrank back, clutching her daughter, as Socks advanced to Bitch’s side.

Yeah, time to step down.

She felt the vibration rattle through Angelica’s head and neck as bone snapped and crunched between her teeth.

Hm. Maybe he’ll keep his limbs. Feet are a whole other issue, though.

The man shrieked, there was no better word for it, and others in the vicinity echoed his shrieks with their own.

Oh yeah, lots of witnesses, in the mouths of hellhounds themselves.

Somehow I get the feeling none of them are going to want to mess with Rachel.

She gave the hand signal and an order, “Drop him.  Dogs, drop them!”

Even after being dropped.

Angelica let the man drop.  His shins were cracked, the ends of his legs bent at odd angles.  One by one, the other captives were dropped to the ground.  Each of the man’s noises of pain was a little smaller and quicker than the last.

Yeah, no, who knows whether he’s ever going to walk again.

At least there’s Panacea, I guess, but she probably has more pressing cases to treat.