Magic Tome: The Future Devil said Denji would be killing them. So separating him was the best way to make use of his remaining lifetime. That, or the vision was different, or his talk with the Angel Devil went different, or maybe he met Kishibe in the way there. It could be a lot of things, actually.

The Fear of Chainsaws 5

She didn't know when exactly things went wrong. She could try and point here and there in her memories, as the possible turning points that made everything spiral out of control. But the truth was, there was always a tiny voice in the back of her head that told her if she did something different… Had she done a bit more, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did.

Maybe it was her pessimism speaking, saying that everything was her fault and she deserved everything coming for her.

Or maybe it was a long dormant optimistic side, that tried to encourage her to do things better next time. In which case, it was doing a horrible job; truth be told.

Maybe there was a way to fix things. But she couldn't just go back to her dad and say "kidding! Let's go to the Protectorate like you wanted to", because for one, Taylor didn't want to go to the Protectorate. She didn't want to be a poster girl, parading for countless people and being judged by them for things she had no control over. Taylor knew it would go wrong really fast, her powers weren't that heroic to begin with. And her personality wasn't much to write home, if her grand sum of zero friends was any indication.

At least like this, Taylor could make herself useful. Try and do something for Brockton Bay like Annette always told her to when she grew up. Maybe she would disapprove of Taylor's methods, but just like trying to look at ways she could have avoided running from home, there was no way to bring that reality to the present.

The past was the past, and as far as Taylor knew there was no power that could change it. Not even Scion was that powerful.

When Taylor finally caught up to the place she had captured the villains at, the Chainsaw was surrounded by hissing flesh in the middle of melting. He was being bitten down by regular-sized dogs but he didn't seem to mind a whole lot, as their fangs didn't seem to pierce his exposed skin all that much.

Not to say the dogs weren't trying, mind you. They shook their maws in a frenzy, and tried biting different places when the tug and tear took too long for them.

Her swarm stirred. She wasn't so sure she wanted to be seen after taking the teenage villains yet, and a big part of her didn't want to get close to the Chainsaw either. If her mom would have disapproved of her decisions, she would have dragged her by the ear if she heard Taylor wanting to approach someone labeled as a dangerous person.

It wasn't even about fighting him, since he seemed more like a reactive maniac than one actively seeking to fuck someone up. There was just something primal about wanting to get clear from him and even with her attention on her swarm, Taylor just couldn't shake the feeling off her heart.

The dogs noticed her first, but didn't stop trying to attack the Chainsaw. He simply turned his head and opened his maw full of dagger-sharp fangs when he managed to focus on her.

This was it. Whatever she wanted, whatever she was hoping for, or planning was well out of question now. She had to act. To give a strong impression so the maniac wouldn't get the idea she was an easy target to pick on.

"Hey." And of course, Taylor had to ruin it by lamely raising her hand while slowly walking towards him.

"Heya." The Chainsaw parroted, turning around to fully face her.

Taylor stopped a healthy distance away from him. She would need to raise her voice to talk at that distance, but the night was still relatively quiet, so that shouldn't be much of a problem.

"I…" Strong impressions, Taylor. Strong impressions! "I'm a hero too."

Nailed it.

"Nice!" The Chainsaw gave her a thumbs up with a dog chewing at his fist "Are these guys your doing?"

It was a good thing he couldn't see her sweating.

"Yeah." Taylor stated a moment too late, after realizing the darkness made answering with a nod awkward "The dogs were a problem, but seems like you took care of them."

These guys were just barely in range when she noticed them. Heroing had become harder without a home and if they hadn't been riding those monster hounds she wouldn't have realized what was happening.

Taylor wanted to confront them face to face, but was too far away to cover the distance in time. So she thought she could buy herself time by attacking with just her swarm while she covered the distance.

As it turned out, that was the only reason the mutant dogs hadn't picked up on her and ripped her apart. Imagine that.

The Chainsaw replied, and it was through her bugs that Taylor realized there was a device parroting his voice moments after he spoke.

Dammit, he did not speak english after all? She was kind of hoping it was an act, but it seemed that it had been a very fat chance in the end. It'd make communication difficult if there was nothing translating for them.

"Yeah. I thought they were devils, but there were actual dogs inside their bellies!" The Chainsaw raised his arms, making the chewing dogs dangle from them like drying steaks "Ah, but what are you doing with them? There's like… A process and stuff, but I forgot what it is."

Right.

"Let me call the police." Wait, it wasn't the police. It was the PRT. Or was it the police after all? Both? Neither?

While she was obsessing over it, her bugs fished a phone out of one of the villains' pockets. Since she still didn't have a burner phone herself, it would have to do. It wasn't as if these guys were in any position to complain about getting their stuff used.

Beetles, centipedes and other creepy crawlies on the bigger end of the spectrum brought her the phone. It was a slow process, but Taylor really wanted to get as much time to think as she could get away with.

The Chainsaw realized the mass of bugs marching towards her, and seemed content to just stare as the phone floated among bugs, and even crouched to look at them go with its maw wide open.

It was still very embarrassing to just stand there and wait for the bugs to do her bidding, so she quickly wrapped up her dilema by deciding to call both the police and the PRT and walked to the phone and snatched it off the ground.

The Chainsaw's head snapped to the teen villains, heedless of the dog trying to chew his face.

"Whatcha doin' there?" Came his voice in english after standing up and walking to the guy dressed in wispy darkness.

"Nothing."

Taylor turned a bit of her attention to her bugs, and inspected the guy's arms and legs while she tried to contact the police. The guy was twitching a bit, but it seemed like he planned to break free of the spider web with strength alone.

If he wasn't superstrong, then he wouldn't be able to.

...Taylor really hoped he wasn't superstrong.

"Shit!" The Chainsaw made Taylor jump from the sudden scream, and forced her to catch the phone back on her hands before it could fall to the floor "The shadow escaped!"

Shadow?

"What are you talking about?" Taylor's voice came out more annoyed than she wanted, and more than would be safe with the Chainsaw too.

"The shadow!" He repeated, tapping the bound darkness-clad guy with his shoe to emphasize "Like this guy but not solid!"

"Shadow Stalker?" The villain offered, and his voice sounded hoarser than moments before "What do you mean she escaped?"

"That was a chick?!" The Chainsaw forced Taylor to ask the officer in the line to repeat himself "Why are all the girls I know psychos?!"

"Well, I'm sorry you had to meet her." The darkness guy stated neutrally "Were you hurt?"

Of course the Chainsaw wouldn't answer that.

"Nah, I got her good. Though she didn't regenerate for some reason." Or he would, who was Taylor to judge?

"That's not her power." The villain was still trying to get something out of the Chainsaw, Taylor knew. It was the oldest trick in the book, even cartoons and series would use it! Why was the Chainsaw talking with him?!

"It isn't?" Oh, that was why Taylor felt annoyance and less and less panic.

The guy was an idiot.

"No." The darkness guy sighed "Grue, by the way."

"What a strange name." The Chainsaw replied immediately "Oh! It's your work name, right?"

"Makes it sound like a hooker." The victorian-dressed guy replied for the first time, just loud enough for Taylor to pick up "Hey, bug girl. When are we being released?"

"Never." Taylor interrupted her call to the PRT to glare at him, although her lenses didn't show it at all "You're facing justice for your crimes."

"Yeah, right." The boy chuckled and moved a bit, as if to get more comfortable in his bound position.

"It's the truth." Taylor insisted, taking the phone off her ear once more in annoyance.

"Hmmmm…"

"Why is that one gaged?" The Chainsaw pointed at the blonde.

"She's got some mind games power or something." Taylor couldn't find anything concrete about her, she barely existed in the PHO site, but every thread she was mentioned in pointed at her having some mental power of sorts "You don't let those talk."

"I see, got it." The Chainsaw went to the girl and checked her out from head to toe, keeping the dogs on his person through all his movements "These guys don't have wallets?"

How should Taylor know?

Oh, wait. Bug sense.

She checked.

"Doesn't seem like that." Taylor hung up, kicking herself mentally a moment later since the heroes could maybe track the call or something. She didn't let it show "Why would they, though?"

"Everyone else does." The Chainsaw shrugged "Funds my pizza money."

"Robbing people?" The victorian-dressed boy fake gasped "Why, I thought you were heroes."

"I'm doing this just for fun." The Chainsaw replied all too easily "Nothing better to do."

Taylor snapped her face at him, while the blonde villain perked up at the Chainsaw's words.

Should Taylor shut her eyes?

"What do you mean for fun?" She almost hissed a bit too quickly "This isn't a joke, the city needs protection and we're doing it."

The Chainsaw didn't show expression with that chainsaw mask of his, but Taylor could swear he was looking at her funny.

"Nah, it totally is." He pointed at her "Look at that body sock you're wearing, or that party dress of this guy."

"Excuse you?" The villain in question raised his voice "I'll have you know this is my sharpest outfit. You won't find this quality anywhere else."

"Whatever you say, dude!" The Chainsaw barked back.

The swarm around them grew in the intensity of its screech.

"This is a suit meant to protect me from weapons." Taylor stated, voice ice cold and her first firmly clenched at her sides "You're just wearing some random clothes! You are the one that looks stupid."

The Chainsaw let out a quick bark-like yell.

"That thing won't protect you from shit! I've seen people with better fashion sense kill a whole lotta devils and come up even cleaner!"

"Fuck you, you won't be sayin that after someone knifes you to death out there." Taylor barked back, her spiders already working their webs and being directed by flying bugs above the chainsaw.

"Gyahahahaha! As if! Master trained me well, even without the chainsaws I'm the strongest!" He raised his chainsaws in an 'X' position while boasting. Taylor wouldn't get a better position if she asked for it.

Her bugs descended and wrapped the spider cords around the chainsaws, startling the guy for a moment before he tried to pull his arms away when he realized.

The spidersilk became tout, and his arms couldn't move any further apart. The bugs began working on his legs.

"What was that about…?" Taylor's words died in her throat when the chainsaws spun for a second. The binding became undone, and the guy stomped all over the bugs working on his legs while laughing.

She wasn't mad, but sent bugs down his throat anyway, for good measure.

The Chainsaw coughed, but couldn't do much with the creepy crawlies down his air pipe. He trashed for a moment before correcting his posture and trying one mighty cough one last time. It didn't work, so he froze the moment he realized he had been invaded.

Taylor felt her connection to them die a moment later. Her little minions becoming severed in another sense as she felt them dying uselessly as the Chainsaw pulled his cord and coughed bits and pieces of insects on the dog below him.

So he could bring chainsaws out even inside his own body? What the actual fuck…

The Chainsaw took a step towards Taylor and she took out the next step.

Her bugs fished for the victorian guy's scepter. Given how her bug sense told her it had a switch, it was obviously a taser of sorts.

Taylor ran the opposite side to the Undersiders and the Chainsaw broke into a light spring after her.

He caught up on her all too easily, and dragged her from her armor plates between her neck and chest, bringing a chainsaw up in one swift motion between the silk and her body.

She fell. The spider silk became undone without resistance as the guy's chainsaw arm cut it like butter.

She fell on her ass, and silently stared as the guy casually tossed the piece of cloth aside with a small laugh.

"See? Useless."

The bugs got the scepter to arms' reach, so Taylor stretched and flipped the switch on to its highest mode.

She stood up in one swift motion and stuck the scepter right between chin and wire-covered neck with all her might.

Lightning cracked and the Chainsaw seized up as his muscles were assaulted by her borrowed weapon. He didn't actually scream like she thought he would, but that was probably because his jaws were shut closed by the electricity running through.

Another chainsaw ran before her, and the scepter was sliced in half.

The Chainsaw coughed a couple of times but stood back straight to stare at Taylor.

"Hmmm." The translator didn't parrot his hum, fortunately. Otherwise it would have become quite awkward with the tension flying between them "What was that thing?"

"A taser." Taylor stated, seeing how talking has bought time every other time "You know? Electrically charged, and stuff."

"I see, I see." The Chainsaw hummed "Is that supposed to be a weapon?"

How could it not be?!

"Kinda. Doesn't seem to work on people with powers."

"No, it doesn't. Does it?" The Chainsaw asked back "I should get one of those. Regular guys would probably drop like whales with one."

"They do." Added the actual owner of the taser "And that was my favorite, just so you know."

"Regent…"

"I'll want compensation." He added.

"No way, that ain't my tummy." The Chainsaw shrugged "Too quick for you."

"And you won't have compensation in custody." A new voice came. More mature, masculine and distinctly lacking in tone.

No way. That was Armsmaster, wasn't it?!

"Oh, gotta goat." The Chainsaw immediately shot one of his chains into the air and pulled.

Taylor only had a split second to realize he was running away, and she snapped her arms around his other chainsaw arm before he could go.

"AAAAAAAAHAAHHHH!" And of course, since she weighed almost nothing, she was dragged along without effort.

The Chainsaw snapped his head back to her and retracted the chainsaw Taylor was clinging to. He coiled his arm around her and released the other chain to shoot it once more and keep into the air.

He screamed, but only gibberish came out from his mouth. No second voice explained what he was saying.

Oh, no. She probably fried whatever thing was doing the translation for him.

And they were going too fast! Taylor immediately sent bugs everywhere so the big swam wouldn't leave her range all at once. She didn't know what would happen, but the heroes didn't need the idea that she left one final fuck you to them.

Actually, she could feel them trying to give chase. Some with more success than others.

"Stop! Let me down!" It was probably useless, since her own voice wasn't translated for her, but she still needed to try.

And he actually dropped her on a rooftop, letting her roll on the dirty floor as he bodily landed on his two legs.

Then he began yelling at her, but just as he didn't understand her, Taylor couldn't understand him either.

Dammit. Dammit all. She just wanted to be a hero! She didn't mean to run away from the Protectorate! Now they might think she was a villain as well!

"Could you please stop for, like, five minutes?!" Taylor raised her voice to meet the Chainsaw's own, but neither seemed to relent "Just shut up! This is bad! They'll hunt us down if we don't do something!"

Something. Something. Something… But what? What were her options really?

He took out a black box between his pants and started shaking it.

That was the thing. If they got it to work once more…

Her bugs found some cable lines in the building below. She wasn't sure they could cut through it, but she sent cockroaches to start biting at it to try anyway.

"HEY!" She raised her arms and the Chainsaw shut up.

Okay… Okay, this could be fixed. Everything would be okay.

"Let's go down! Down!" Taylor pointed at the ground, then to the edge of the building they were on. Over and over again.

The Chainsaw opened his jaw and nodded vigorously. He walked up to the edge and Taylor threw her arms around his neck.

She wasn't much of a believer. But she would take any miracles she could get at that moment.