"I think... you're stable. For the moment, anyways." I let out a sigh of relief, and could hear the rest of the Undersiders do the same. Tattletale sat back in the folding camp chair she had brought, kicking away a shard of glass. The Forsberg Gallery was just as much of a wreck in the daylight, but across the room Tattletale's soldiers had somehow managed to set up electricity and a small television, which was currently tuned to the local news. The top story was, of course, about us. Me. A small blurb in the top left of the screen read: "Skitter, leader of the Undersiders - now Butcher XV?"
"What about Trump powers? Any idea how they'll interact?" For once, Grue's shadows weren't roiling around him in an emotional frenzy; the only evidence of them was the purposeful smokelike wisps that crept out from under his helmet.
Tattletale winced and reached up to grab what looked like a cross between a blindfold and an icepack, then tugged it down over her eyes. It was an incongruous look over her typical purple-and-black costume. "Not yet. I'm pushing my powers to even get as much as I just did. Do me a favor - Accord will be here at 9:30 on the dot, so give me some quiet until 9:28?" Without waiting for a response, she picked up what looked like heavy-duty noise-canceling headphones and slid them on over her ears.
I motioned to the rest of the group and walked away from Tattletale slightly, hoping to reduce her exposure to the noise of our conversation. "All right. Let's talk strategy."
"Really? No 'yay, I'm alright?' No 'thanks guys for worrying about me and staying up all night to make sure I didn't go crazy?' Just straight into strategy?" Imp looked at me, her voice sounding like she was grinning behind the mask. "Guess it really is you."
Despite myself I felt my face flush. "There'll be time for that later. In the meantime, Accord's going to be here in a few minutes, and the PRT is gearing up for a fight. We need a plan." I looked around at the other Undersiders. None of them were looking particularly energetic - they had slept in shifts, and likely not slept well. I, on the other hand, hadn't slept at all. I had the sneaking suspicion that I might not need to anymore; none of the Butchers after Rhinohide had either.
Regent spoke up. "What's wrong with the old plan? We show Accord we aren't intimidated, we act way ruder than he's used to dealing with, and we make him come down to our level."
"As long as he isn't already so irritated with us that being rude to him pushes him over the edge. Remember, last time we hadn't just made a major tactical error." I turned idly towards the street. No cars yet. "He's likely to hold it against us."
"So what do you suggest?" Grue asked, shadow beginning to flicker around his hands. "Play it by ear? Back off if he starts holding his cane too tight?"
"Yeah. And I'm thinking we should give him something to distract him." I paused as I saw Brooks walk over to Tattletale.
"It's nine twenty-eight, ma'am." I heard through my bugs.
"I think I have a plan. I needed to make sure I was in control before I brought it up, though, and now there's no time. Do you guys have my back?"
Bitch snorted. "You really have to ask?" Grue, Regent, Imp and Parian moved over to stand with her, Tattletale walking up a few seconds afterwards. I smiled beneath my mask as I looked at them. My friends. My family.
I had to think that Dinah was wrong. That I had fallen into an edge case where her power broke down, either by interacting with Accord, or with Tattletale, or by becoming the Butcher. I had followed her advice, and now I was a killer; with the memories of hundreds of murders that I hadn't committed, and with instincts that might one day force me to commit a few dozen more. I was no longer, to put it bluntly, the sort of person that the PRT negotiated with.
More importantly, though, my friends trusted me; enough that they were willing to stand by me even despite the Butcher.
There was no way I was cutting ties now.
At 9:30 on the dot, Accord showed up, backed by his Ambassadors. He had apparently somehow found time to update the new recruits' costumes - while the men were still wearing white suits and ties similar to his own, Lizardtail and Jacklight had adopted dress shirts and pocket squares in green and royal purple respectively, while Ligeia and Codex had graduated from white gowns to gowns of a deep blue-green and a rich brown. It was the masks, however, that were most striking.
Lizardtail wore a mask that looked like a Celtic knot, the eyes and mouth almost obscured by vaguely reptilian coils. Judging by the profiles that Citrine had given me earlier in the week, his name was 'Laird', so it was possible that the Celtic influence was deliberate. If I was recalling correctly, he had been a surgeon before joining Accord; did that have an influence on Accord's choice of powers for him? If so, then I couldn't see the connection for 'Kurt', who had been a head chef before becoming Jacklight. I was a little bit surprised by his mask; I had expected something like a jack-o-lantern, but instead he wore a jester-like mask that wouldn't have looked out of place on a jack-in-the-box.
By their skin tones, Ligeia was 'Kyesha' the former restauranteur, and Codex the contract lawyer 'Pam'. Had I met them a year ago, I probably would have been intimidated by them - they were beautiful, polished, experienced professionals, while I had been a gawky high school student. Now, despite their beautiful conch-shell and origami-like masks, I was the one intimidating them. They didn't falter or flinch - probably didn't dare, with Accord there to see it - but I could tell by the defensive way that they held themselves that they were uncomfortable.
"Accord." With the four new recruits behind him, plus Citrine and Othello, he was definitely making a show of force. My palms itched with the desire to reach down and reshape the debris on the floor of the Forsberg Gallery, to turn it into a weapon, make my own show of force. I suppressed the urge. We weren't actually looking for a fight... and I wasn't sure that those impulses were entirely mine.
"Skitter." Accord surveyed me coolly, one hand on the grip of his weaponized cane. "It... is still Skitter, I trust?"
Out of habit, I amplified my voice with thousands of insects, the susurrus reverberating through the great hall of the Forsberg Gallery. "Yes." The newer Ambassadors shifted slightly, trying to maintain their composure, and I smiled behind the mask. "I have the echoes of the Butcher firmly under my control."
"Congratulations are in order, I suppose." He said it coolly, and the mask that mimicked his facial features frowned. "Nevertheless, I find myself... displeased with the results of our inaugural collaboration."
Tattletale snorted. "Displeased? With Skitter suddenly picking up a whole bunch of firepower? Get real." She shot him a look from her camping chair, which she had moved to behind us.
Accord paused to get himself under control, his hand tightening on the head of his cane, and I suddenly realized that Tattletale hadn't actually been listening during the conversation where we agreed to take things a little bit easier on the rudeness. "It would be polite to stand, when a guest arrives."
It looked like Tattletale had a response to that, but I decided to intervene. "You'll have to excuse Tattletale. She has a power-induced migraine from insuring that I - and your Cauldron-born Ambassadors - were free from mental contamination."
"Ah. I... suppose I can sympathize with that. Nevertheless, it would be better if she were to remain quiet for the moment. I would rather not terminate our alliance by murdering her just yet."
I looked from him to Tattletale. "I trust Tattletale's judgement. If there's something important that needs to be said, she's going to say it. For example, on the subject of your supposed displeasure." I let my bugs buzz a little louder, while I kept my voice saccharine sweet. "Please. Elaborate."
He didn't seem particularly intimidated by the show of force, but it drew his attention away from Tattletale. "Your plan for dealing with the Teeth was unnecessarily risky. It relied upon too many variables, too many unknowns. And it failed." He gestured towards me with an open hand. "Or are you going to tell me that this was an intended result?"
"No-one's plans succeed every time, Accord, not even yours. I shouldn't have to tell you that. The important thing is that when our plan failed, it failed gracefully. Tattletale knew that a powerful enough Master stood a chance of being able to control the Butcher, which is why I took point. The result may have been unintended," I said, slamming my fist into the palm of my hand with a superhuman strength-enhanced crack for emphasis, "but I certainly wouldn't call it disappointing."
"It was risky. If you hadn't succeeded, or if someone else had dealt the deathblow..."
"It was the Undersiders taking that risk, not you, and not your Ambassadors."
"Please don't interrupt me." He shut his eyes in apparent displeasure, metal shutters closing in the eyes of the mask.
"Please don't talk to me like I take orders from you." I raised a hand and gestured out the glassless window at the city. "This is the Undersiders' city, and you are a guest here, free to leave but subject to our rules for as long as you choose to stay. It got that way because we took risks, and the right risks at the right time." I took a deep breath. "If you're uncomfortable with that level of risk, then diversify."
His eyes shot open, and he stilled. Behind him the Ambassadors tensed, as if expecting the order to attack. "I beg pardon? I'm afraid I don't follow."
"You're originally from Boston. I assume you still have contacts there, a way to regain power and territory? Right now the Teeth are there, greatly weakened; Blasto has recently been killed by the Slaughterhouse Nine; the Undersiders are familiar with the Empire Eighty-Eight and you and the Ambassadors have intel on the Chain Gang." I gestured over towards the television. "In Brockton, on the other hand, the PRT is gearing up to fight the Butcher." A quote tickled my brain from a book that I had never read, and I suddenly realized that it was in part the Thinker power of Butcher X that was suggesting this course of action. "'A general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend, and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.'"
"Sun Tzu." Murmured Accord. His fingers tapped the head of his cane, as if in thought. "Do you believe that in leaving Brockton to attack the Teeth, the PRT will think that you have lost control of yourself to the Butcher?"
"I think it will keep them wondering, yes. I think that Tattletale and the other Undersiders will be able to defend themselves when I am out of town, particularly if Citrine and another Ambassador stayed with them, and I think it will put pressure on the Boston PRT to ask for help and remove resources from here. Probably Clockblocker, maybe Vista or Kid Win. It's also possible that a few of the independent villains in Boston would be open to joining the Undersiders."
Accord looked intrigued. "And in return for helping me regain lost territory and acquire more, you would claim some of the reclaimed territory yourselves, I assume?"
I shrugged. "Boston is a much bigger city than Brockton Bay. I somehow doubt that any seven parahumans, even you and your Ambassadors, could hold it entirely on their own. I think you would find the amount of territory that we took reasonable. Especially given that once we have Boston and Brockton Bay as bases of operations for Massachusetts and Connecticut, there are plenty of other places to expand to, should we feel the need."
"And if your plan for managing crime in Brockton Bay is as effective as I think it will be, eventually we won't need the full force of the Undersiders here to defend it all the time." Tattletale cut in, doing her best to sit up straight. "I haven't had the chance to turn the full force of my Thinker powers on it, make sure it's legit, but we're willing to at least consider implementing it. If you took Boston back, well, the same thing might apply there."
She looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded. "My whole reason for staying with the Undersiders was because I felt like I could make a difference, and I didn't really care if I had to break the law to make that difference. You obviously feel the same way, or you wouldn't have spent so long putting a document like that together."
"You're quite right." Accord nodded once, sharply, as if coming to an internal decision, and I could see the Ambassadors relax slightly. "So, an amendment to our agreement, then? The Undersiders assist me in retaking Boston and agree to implement some set number of my plans, and in return gain the continued support of myself and the Ambassadors, and territory in Boston, and other cities that we take jointly going forward?"
I shook my head. "We assist you in retaking Boston in exchange for territory in Boston and support in Brockton Bay, and for making sure that the Teeth and the E88 get put behind bars. Our implementations of your plans are going to be completely our decision, not part of any deals. If we do it, it'll be because we think it's a good idea, and no other reason."
"You're not really promising anything." Accord said.
"So? It's still the best chance you have of seeing any of your plans happen."
There was a long pause. "Very well then." He extended his hand towards me to shake. I took it gently, mindful of my increased strength. "In that case, I look forward to our continued partnership."
As soon as Accord left, Parian leaned against her cloth golem with a long sigh, and Tattletale collapsed back into her chair so hard that Brooks had to catch her to steady her. Tattletale turned to look at me. "Good work. I'm gonna pass out now, kay?"
"Yeah. Go ahead." With that, she put on the blindfold and earmuffs and sagged back into the chair. Brooks and Pritt started putting together what looked like a stretcher to carry her away, and I winced in sympathy.
"Sooooo... Boston? What the fuck, Skitter?" I turned. Imp was standing with her hand on her hip. "You couldn't have told us about that, like, at all?"
I sighed. "Would you believe me if I said I just came up with the idea five minutes ago? It was a Thinker power thing."
"Hey, Parian. Can you make us, like, a couch?" Regent asked, ignoring our discussion completely. "I'm wiped."
"Are you sure you want to be that far away?" Grue asked. "And alone with the Ambassadors..."
"I need to get used to my powers... and right now if I'm in the field, then you're kind of limited in how you can use your darkness. I want to buy you guys some time to breathe."
Bitch frowned. "Who are you taking with you? You'll need someone to watch your back."
I thought about it for a second. "Grue's going to have to be in charge of Brockton while I'm gone. Tattletale's out of commission, and her setup is here anyways. Parian has responsibilities in Dolltown. You have your dogs, though you have people who can take care of them while you're gone, now, so it'd be an inconvenience instead of a true reason not to bring you. If Regent came, we might be able to 'recruit' a few of the Teeth that are acceptable targets. And Imp can leave without anybody knowing for sure that she's gone, because of her power. So maybe Imp, Regent, and you? Assuming that Accord was willing to leave you guys with, say, Citrine, Jacklight, and maybe Ligeia or Codex for a heavy hitter?"
Regent sat up from the 'couch' that Parian had created, looking attentive. "Really? You want me to control a few of the Teeth? I thought you were, you know, against that sort of thing."
"Let me put it this way: Reaver is a murderous asshole. Vex once set up a gauntlet of razor forcefields in front of a burning building, just so she could watch and laugh as people tried to escape. Cadmus has sicced his serpents on civilians so he could get away while the heroes were saving them. I wouldn't do it to Wicker Man or Bonnet, they're just kids... but the other ones are fair game."
Imp sat down next to Regent and threw one arm over his shoulder. "Guess you're moving up in the world!"
I looked around at the Undersiders. "Look. We're all exhausted. Go home, get some rest. We'll deal with Accord and Boston tomorrow."
