Chapter 2.6

Wednesday, April 13th 2011

If I ever needed further confirmation that my life was exceedingly strange, I only needed to look back on what I thought was a 'calm, productive night.' Before I killed Quarrel, that would have been working on my costume and reading a book, possibly followed by homework. Now, the reading part was considerably more difficult, but the real victory was not turning into an emotional wreck over all of my new responsibilities.

Oh, and Tinkering. That had been fun, and my new longbow was coming along rather nicely. Even Quarrel was looking forward to putting the bow through its paces. I also had several updates to my costume in the works to bring my image more in line with the Teeth instead of the hero I had originally conceived. A bittersweet reminder of what I had lost, but my new costume would look amazing once completed. Hopefully I had the time to wrap it up tonight.

The responsibilities, however, were not so easily dealt with. Even as the old, rattling bus pulled into the Winslow parking lot, I was still pondering just what sort of Butcher I was becoming. It had been less than two weeks since I'd inherited and already I'd allowed myself to slip on things that had once been a firm line in the sand.

Four school age boys sent to fight in the Teeth's pits on my orders, against our best brawlers. They were still alive — I'd checked before I left last night — but that meant little when you considered how several of the Teeth loved to collect Nazi scalps.

"Why can't you just move into the Teeth HQ already?" Knockout asked.

Then I have to give up Winslow as well as any hope of a normal life. I'm not leaving Chrissie there, alone, not after those Nazis tried to kill her.

"She can handle herself," he grumbled.

Chrissie will have a new scar because of me. If I hadn't made a show of things to poke at Emma, they wouldn't have attacked her!

"Taylor, the girl screams lesbian at a glance and gives zero fucks if people know she's Vex. They would have found an excuse," Fester tried to reassure me.

"If you're that worried about her, why didn't you stay the night?" Chisel asked.

I didn't want to be in bug range of those Nazi shits, alright?

"They're fucking Nazis!" Sabertooth roared. "You've done worse to their like in the past week!"

My stomach turned at the memory, but it had needed to be done. Menja was a vile person at the best of times and a proud Nazi on top of that. There weren't many others I could have used as an example of why Weaver wasn't to be fucked with. Still, it didn't mean I had to take pleasure in what I had done.

Butcher chuckled. "You should try it sometimes, you might find you enjoy it. And —"

"Eyes up," Stratego interjected, drawing all of our attention immediately.

"Well, that's different," Alkaline mused as I eyed the fumigation crew and PRT trucks that had parked along the front of Winslow.

"I think they are aware of your proclamation," Ironsides said with some amusement.

They could have at least announced that school was closed.

"And miss out on questioning all the students?" Pyro snickered. "Perish the thought."

As I walked up towards the gathering masses of students, I reached out to all the bugs within Winslow. The useful ones I sent outside, but those that were easy to replace, or were more for padding out a swarm? I moved them into easy to locate areas for the pest crews to find and declare their success.

Chisel liked that plan. "Smart. That will help sell the impression that people released the bugs."

"It won't stop the PRT's suspicions," Sabertooth said.

But it will muddy the water. Reorganizing the swarm helped soothe my mind, because while there was relatively little the Protectorate could do to me, they could make my minions' lives hell under very little pretense. Ignoring the fact that Weaver would look like a moron if I abandoned the Teeth here at Winslow, I was not particularly pleased that my murder attempt had been ignored but some plausibly deniable insect bites attracted heroes and other law enforcement.

Hm, how to keep the situation from spiraling out of control? The last thing I wanted was for them to go around and —

"Get their autographs!" Alkaline cheered.

"Why?" Butcher sneered. "They're heroes!"

Alkaline rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. But a photo on PHO of Weaver posing with a complete set…"

"More importantly," Chisel said loudly, overriding Butcher's complaints, "this is a good opportunity to communicate how highly you value your civilian identity. A calm and collected Butcher looking after her fellow students because the administration will not —"

"Why are you encouraging her?" Ironsides spat.

"Because we will need the grassroots support to hold the city," Sanguine replied easily. "Now come on, go give them a hard time!"

I had to fight down a grin as I walked towards the small gaggle of students surrounding Assault and Battery. Almost none of them were Teeth, though Chrissie and Charlotte were standing nearby, talking to their own little group. I didn't miss how the heroes' eyes occasionally flicked in their direction. More importantly, none of my trio of bullies were here.

"No, thank you," Battery was saying to a random boy as I walked up with a notebook in my hand. "We can't stop villains if we don't know where they are or what they're doing."

Then it was my turn, and I put on my best excited expression. "Oh my god, actual heroes! Heroes never come to Winslow!"

Assault and Battery both froze for an instant as they processed my outfit, much to the amusement of the chorus. "Well, we're making up for lost time, then!" he declared, though his eyes lingered on the design of my shirt: a gray background with 'The Real Tooth Fairy' in scarlet letters, along with a set of brass knuckles dripping red.

"Our eyes are up here, jackass!" Fester yelled.

"He's got eye candy right there," Marauder complained. That was true — Battery really rocked her nearly skintight costume, though I was amused to realize that she was shorter than me.

"While we're happy to sign autographs," Battery herself said in a voice that suggested otherwise, "we would like to ask some questions about the parahuman attack on this school yesterday."

I tilted my head in confusion, noting two important things: the crowd was giving me more space than they had each other… and Chrissie's poorly-concealed laughter. "Parahuman attack?"

"We had reports of Butcher —"

"Weaver," I corrected automatically, then had to fight down an annoyed blush. "We, uh, were told to call her that." In my head, the chorus was laughing.

"Apparently your boss was stinging people with her bugs," Assault said, raising an eyebrow at me under his red, mostly opaque visor.

I nodded in understanding. "Oh, right. The Empire released a bunch of insects to make the Teeth look bad." Behind me, Chrissie was nearly falling over due to her cackling. "I mean, seriously. Isn't Weaver supposed to be some unhinged maniac who feeds people to her bugs? Why would she give a shit about Winslow, of all places?"

"Ooh, ooh, I can answer that!" Chrissie said, dashing over to us through a rapidly-parting crowd and dragging Charlotte behind her. "It's because the faculty here look the other way when the Empire tries to shank you for being a lesbian!" She took my hand for emphasis, threading our fingers together.

"What?" Battery asked, aghast.

"Is she serious right now?" Fester spat.

Chrissie held up her arm, showing off the scabbed over injury, which of course pulled my own arm as she did so. "Yeah, it was a close call, but Weaver came to the rescue." She then turned to me and gave me a soft smile.

I blushed at the praise, knowing it was something good that had come from that shitshow. Chrissie was healing, and the human garbage that attacked her was… Taken out.

"Focus Taylor, you can teach her French later," Chisel said with a hint of a grin.

Oh, I had been staring at her lips.

While Battery seemed to be blue screening at that revelation, Chrissie nudged Charlotte a few times. The much quieter girl's gaze lingered on me for a long moment before she said, "They also, um, go after you if you're Jewish. The Empire, I mean…"

The heroes shared a horrified glance, but I jumped in before they could rally. "Hell, even the popular students can get away with attempted murder." The few remaining normal kids made themselves scarce at that comment, but I paid them no mind, they no longer mattered. "So even if Weaver did hypothetically sting some kids with her bugs who were harassing the Teeth, it's hardly worth mentioning compared to life as usual around here. I was harassed every single day before I joined."

The Butchers roared with laughter at the gobsmacked look on the heroes' faces, but pointing out just how badly they had failed here was only the first part of what I needed to achieve. While I was considering just how to phrase the question, Assault seemed to finally gather his wits. "Wow. Well, this is pretty awful, not going to lie, but even hypothetically attacking a school is a pretty serious escalation for any gang."

"I fail to see how a few bug bites for neo-nazis and bullies counts as 'attacking," I replied. "Hell, some of them probably went after Weaver herself, anyways. Seems like a bug bite is probably better than being fed to bugs." Chrissie coughed. "Hypothetically."

"Weaver goes to school?" Battery asked, incredulous. "Here? Why?"

"That's what I want to know!" Butcher complained.

"Shut the hell up, this is hilarious!" Knockout shot back.

Now I just needed to remind the heroes why coming after me was a bad idea. "How are we supposed to know?" I asked brightly. "Apparently it's really bad news to use a cape's secret identity against them, and I'm certainly not going to try to unmask the Butcher."

"I think they call that 'suicide by cape,'" Chrissie added.

"If you know who the Butcher is, then you should tell us," Battery tried. "We can protect you from retribution, and it would help us stop another attack like this one from occurring."

Charlotte shook her head slowly. "Why would we do that? Weaver protects us, hypothetically, and I'm pretty sure she just wants to go to school without being harassed."

"I'd say it's auspicious that someone cares about us," I said, putting a slight emphasis on the word. "Maybe if the poor and unpopular had some pull with the administration…"

Assault's poker face was good, but even he couldn't stop himself from reading my shirt one more time before a look of horror flashed over his face. "Madcap was a smart cookie," Marauder said. "Shame he went to the white hats."

The ex-villain in question clapped his hands, forcing an amazingly fake smile onto his face. "Welllll, it's been good talking to you girls, but there's a supervillain on the loose and we, uh…"

Stratego's power kicked in a moment later, and I knew instantly that I had miscalculated. Assault was watching me critically as he shifted his stance ever so slightly, going from tense to battle-ready in an instant. Since I really didn't want this turning into a fight, I blurted the first thing that came to my mind that might have a chance of defusing the situation. "Is she, though?"

"Is that seriously the best line you could come up with?" Ironsides complained.

Chrissie, bless her villainous heart, must have picked up on the same cues. "Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure she's a supervillain."

"That's not what I meant," I said, rounding on her and intentionally showing Assault my back. "How is she 'on the loose?' There's a pretty good chance that Weaver is standing around here somewhere wondering why we didn't get a message about school being closed, because it's not like she would intentionally pick a fight with heroes over nothing."

Battery didn't seem to like that idea. "I still find it very hard to believe that Weaver is sane enough to come to school, or would even choose to do so."

Charlotte, of all people, had the retort for that one. "Honestly, it's Winslow. I wonder why any of us choose to come here."

"Ok, that was pretty great," Knockout said. "I take back what I said about her."

"Probably because we all just want to live our lives with minimum disruptions," I replied, cautiously turning to face the red-clad hero. His face slowly morphed to something like understanding, and his stance relaxed slightly.

His partner, on the other hand, charged ahead. "You shouldn't feel so unsafe at school that you would prefer not to go. I will personally assure you that the Protectorate will investigate the reasons behind this sad state of affairs."

While the Butchers laughed at Battery's apparent earnest desire to help, I couldn't help but fume that it took literally the Butcher attacking Winslow for the heroes to care about the shithole of a school. I didn't believe for a moment that the Protectorate would find anything — Emma and Sophia were too clever for that — but we might get a few weeks of respite.

"I'm sure the boss will appreciate that," Chrissie said suddenly. "This school… hasn't been good to her." The pressure of her hand around mine would have been worrying without all of my Brute powers.

Assault's expression turned genuinely sad before lighting back up in his usual carefree smile. "Well, having met your boss, I can say that her life is hard enough that I'm impressed she's still coming to school."

"Assault!" Battery tried, but he steamrolled right over her.

"And while this conversation has been enlightening, we do have a job here." A flourish of his hand produced three postcards from nowhere and a pen to sign them. "Let's get you nice girls your autographs, yeah?"

I couldn't hide the massive grin now on my face. "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite."

Turns out, dropping veiled threats to professional heroes was anxiety-provoking — even when they responded with laughs. Sure, my predecessors were used to being the most threatening person in the room, but they were far from subtle. In their mind, the best threats were delivered by grenade and accompanied by a hail of bullets or arrows. Subtlety was not something we were known for… until now.

"That was beautiful," Fester said with approval. "The look on his face…"

"I find it likely that they will think twice before coming after you," Damascian agreed.

"Tay, you doing okay?"

Chrissie had led the two of us over to one of the several small clusters of trees that dotted the Winslow grounds. The rest of the Teeth, including Charlotte, had gone home once it was clear that school was canceled for today, and the only reason I hadn't followed them to the nearest bus stop was because Chrissie called someone to come pick us up.

That left me alone with my thoughts and girlfriend, only one of which was pleasant. It had not really been surprising to learn that the heroes were completely ignorant of what happened here at Winslow, which suggested that the rumored Wards presence was yet another of the PRT's lies. To their credit, both Assault and Battery had seemed properly horrified at the revelations, and I was honestly curious if anything would come of it.

"An accusation of attempted murder and they didn't even ask you to elaborate," Ironsides grumbled with a shake of his head.

"Are you really surprised?" Alkaline asked. "The only reason they are at Winslow is because some popular girls got stung by some bugs. Not that I think it was a bad idea, but they don't give a shit about the kids here."

"Hell, maybe their Wards are racist assholes like Bastion, anyways," Fester said. "I wish we had killed that fucker."

We're not killing heroes. The reflexive thought earned a few boos and complaints, but as I was slowly figuring out just how to be the Butcher, the chorus was likewise figuring out what issues were non-negotiable. The list was… distressingly small.

Then I realized that Chrissie had been talking the whole time, trying to cheer me up. "No see, before you pay, you just bonk the guy on the top of head and run out."

"Chrissie?" I asked, being a bit out of the loop.

"It's an improvement on the old dine-and-dash, see —"

"It's a dine and bash!" Knockout cheered.

I groaned, though my lips refused to obey my orders and quirked into a tiny grin. Ever since our argument on Monday, Chrissie had made an effort to try and make me laugh or smile; it felt good that she could pull it off so easily. I certainly didn't seem to have anyone else in my life who actually cared enough to make up for their mistakes. "Please tell me you don't actually do that."

Chrissie's faux-innocence was ruined by her own disobedient smile. "Well, I — wait, boss, have you robbed a Dunkin' Donuts yet?"

I raised a single eyebrow at the other girl. "What?"

"Tay, every New England supervillain robs a Dunkin' Donuts at some point in their career. It's practically a tradition around here!"

"It's true!" "She's right." "A rite of passage." "Alkaline blew hers up." "I was already the Butcher, dumbass!"

I had heard a lot of dumb shit from the voices stuck in my head, but this was a new level of absurdity. You blew up a Dunkin' Donuts?

"Only a little bit," Alkaline pouted. "When Grinder and Meat Hook found out about that stupid tradition, they demanded that we go. But we were all high as shit on something, and it seemed like a good idea at the time…"

Just what the fuck had I done by joining these idiots?

"Anyway, we can't let people find out that Butcher XV is spurning tradition," Chrissie said with mock seriousness. "What do you say we make it a date?"

I honestly didn't know if she was being serious about the robbery, but her voice twinged ever so slightly on the last word. Her usual shit-eating grin had morphed into something more genuine, an expression that even I could decipher: she was still worried. However, as I opened my mouth to ask about a more normal date, one of the root causes of the situation still worrying Chrissie appeared in the field of my vision.

Madison Clements, alone for once. She had been walking along the edge of the now-thinning cordon, probably fresh out of spinning some lie-filled tale about how Weaver fed her to the swarm despite all of her flesh being present. As I idly wondered just how much of her bullshit she could feed the heroes before they died of overdose, Madison caught sight of Chrissie and I sitting at the base of the tree.

"Swarm her with bees!" Pyro yelled, only for Marauder to counter, "No, spiders instead!"

"Boss?" Chrissie murmured, and in response I flicked my chin in the direction of the cutesy bitch. While Madison stared at us and deliberated, I entertained myself by listening to the Butchers' various suggestions about how to get my vengeance for the other day. Given that most of them ended in Madison's death, I certainly wasn't going to follow through; if anything, I simply became more annoyed by the reminders about how constraining 'stay sane at school' could be. Chrissie's comment from Monday percolated to the top of my brain out of that mess, but I smashed it back down along with the desire to do something Teeth-worthy to Madison.

I was unpleasantly surprised when the result of Madison's deliberation was to approach me, especially when I was tempted to beat the shit out of her.

Chrissie let out an undignified squawk when I de-snuggled her to stand up. I channeled every bit of my menace and the Butcher's arrogance from the weekend as I rose to my feet, and to Madison's credit she barely missed a step when I caught her eyes. It struck me how much shorter the other girl was when she finally stopped in front of us, as I loomed over her and Chrissie both when I was standing up straight.

"Something's not quite right," Chisel murmured, to the agreements of the others.

"Just kill her and be done with it!' Butcher demanded.

"Come on kid, get your fucking vengeance already," Ironsides complained. "That whole 'conscience' thing is the reason you suffered so much."

I put their commentary out of my mind and focused on the girl in front of me. "Can we help you, Madison?"

Madison seemed to consider that for a moment before shaking her head. "I want to apologize. For, well, everything, I guess. The juice, the glue, spitting on you that one time… I've been really shitty to you for really no good reason —"

"You got that right," Chrissie cut in. "I would ask just what the fuck was going on in your head, but I know enough people who get off on hurting others that I don't really need to hear about you getting all hot and bothered over spitballs."

"Damn, girl!" Alkaline cheered, and I allowed myself a smile.

"That's not — I mean, fuck," Madison said. "Ok, Sophia might actually be a sadist, but I'm not. I don't like just randomly hurting people."

"Really?" I sneered, raising a single disbelieving eyebrow. "Then why the hell did you decide to just randomly ruin my life? Or any of the other unpopular girls unfortunate enough to catch your eye? You certainly seemed to be enjoying it at the time."

Madison winced, looking away from me and Chrissie. "I said I'm sorry, alright? I don't know why I did it. Emma was the one who hated you, and Sophia just likes hurting people. I thought that they were just pranks, and that everyone did shit like that. Or maybe I just wanted to keep up with my hot model friend and the track star, I don't know. I… never really stopped to think — about what we were doing, or about who we were hurting… or why."

"What the fuck?" Fester spat. "Does she really think that cuts it?"

"I'm sorry!" Marauder said in a high-pitched voice. "Please don't eat me, Miss Weaver!" As much as I wanted to giggle with him, I was too angry with Madison's half-assed 'apology' for levity.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Madison," I growled. I barely noticed when Chrissie grabbed my hand with hers, threading our fingers together — my attention was split between Madison and not killing Madison. "Do you seriously think that you can just come over here and say 'oh, whoops, sorry Taylor, didn't notice you when I spilled those drinks everywhere?' You destroyed my stuff. You ruined my clothes. You spat in my face. I think that this is the first time you've actually talked to me like a fucking human being since I had the misfortune to meet you."

"This doesn't make any sense," Sanguine muttered, mostly to himself. "No one is this dumb." I couldn't really agree with the sentiment, given that Madison was standing here in front of me.

"Hey boss, maybe you should, I don't know, set her on fire or something? If you just say 'sorry' afterwards, it's apparently okay," Chrissie added.

Madison did pale slightly at that. "Wait, Taylor, I'm actually sorry. I'm not going to harass you any more, I promise. I just, well… Until you joined the Teeth, I didn't realize just how awful I was being to you, and…" She started fidgeting, refusing to meet my eyes.

"She's lying," Ironsides said immediately.

"Perfidious little shit," Damascian agreed.

I trusted my predecessors' instincts here — Ironsides had played a lot of poker, but they were all older than me by a fair bit. "You're lying. I'm not sure about what, but I knew that I couldn't trust you further than I could throw you."

"That's a hell of a lot further now," Quarrel added unhelpfully.

"You could probably get her right into that dumpster from here with a shot-put maneuver," Stratego mused. "Put her back where she belongs."

"Goddamn it Taylor," Madison said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why couldn't you be like this before…"

"Before what?" Chrissie asked immediately.

Madison winced.

"Oh, she didn't," Fester spat. "Just kill the bitch now!"

"Madison…" I said dangerously. "Before what?"

"Um, okay, fine," Madison said after a minute of internal deliberation. She took a steadying breath, then said, "I want to say first that I'm not going to tell anyone, because I'm not stupid and the Teeth are terrifying. But I did realize something — you're a cape. I can tell based on the way you walk, and the way you hold yourself. And when Sophia hit you…"

I just barely restrained myself from grabbing her by the neck and snapping it under my grip. The chorus was screeching for blood, of course, so I forced them down before I did something stupid — I needed to actually attempt to defuse this bomb before it went off. The rest of my shock and anger went into my swarm, leaving my voice eerily flat.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, but that seems like a very dangerous accusation to make." I took a step back and crossed my arms to give myself some warning time if she stepped on another verbal landmine. I didn't want to hurt her, but neither did I want to tempt fate with the girl who just unmasked the Butcher.

The shadow of an annoyed expression passed over Madison's face, but her voice still held a worried tremor. "Look, I'm a cape groupie, alright? I know about the Unwritten Rules, and I'm definitely not going to tell anyone. Butcher XV is fucking scary, and I don't want to have wasps in my lungs."

"Unmasking one of our capes seems like a pretty good way to have that happen," Chrissie said lightly, playing with her own paper cube, then a grin split her lips as she pulled her phone out instead. "I mean, I've got Weaver's number right here, let's give her a quick ring!"

Madison waved her hands around frantically. "Fuck wait, no! I'm not going to say anything! Jesus fuck, you guys are crazy, calling the Butcher herself? What the hell is wrong with you?"

If I had been any other cape — or even just myself, prior to inheriting — I would never have been so cavalier with my identity to go to a party unmasked, nevermind telling a bunch of gang thugs at a school who I was. But, paradoxically, I needed my secret identity to be less than secret if I wanted to prove to everyone that I was really in control. As the Unwritten Rules that protected Dad and let me go outside were only as good as they were enforced, I would just have to continue to take a strong stance.

"Holy shit, please do it!" Pyro cheered.

"Yessss!" Knockout hissed. "About fucking time!"

Luckily, convincing Madison should be easy.

"You know, Chrissie, maybe you should give her a call. I hear that Weaver has very particular feelings about those Unwritten Rules."

"Oh fuck, wait —" Madison tried, but Chrissie already had pressed the call button.

Madison's eyes went wide in panic when the song 'I Kissed a Girl' began to play in my pocket.

I never broke eye contact with her as I pulled out my ringing phone, letting Sabertooth's power sharpen and extend my teeth and deepen my voice. As I slid the answer icon, my swarm gathered — nothing obvious from a distance, but enough that there was no mistaking just what she was seeing.

"Weaver speaking, what can I do for you?" I asked with a toothy grin.

Madison, cutesy bitch that she was, fainted dead away.

Of course, even with school canceled, I couldn't be at Winslow without the authorities bending over backwards for my bullies. Madison had barely hit the ground before Assault was at her side, checking her pulse and obviously looking for any signs of injury. When he didn't find any, he bounced back to his feet and put himself between me and the unconscious girl. "What the hell happened here?" he asked, voice perfectly level.

"Hey, don't look at me," I said, spreading my hands and stepping back. "She's the one who came over to cause problems. I just wanted to relax before my ride gets here."

Assault gave me a flat stare. "Did you… do anything?"

"Just answered the phone." I did my best to keep the anger out of my voice, but despite knowing that the hero had been watching me specifically, it still stung to see how quickly he rushed to Madison's aid while I had banged on the doors of my locker until I passed out.

"Have you tried being more rich or popular? Then it might be more convenient for the heroes to save you," Fester spat. I knew, deep down, that I wasn't supposed to agree with her, but with the evidence right in front of me…

"She's quite rich and popular now, though it clearly hasn't helped matters." Damascian added.

"You had to have done more than that," Battery cut in, appearing in a flash between Chrissie, Madison and I.

Chrissie didn't take too kindly to that. "It's not Tay's fault the bitch —"

Madison groaned, stirring back into consciousness, which prompted Battery to come to her aid this time while Assault maintained his position between us. When the cutesy bitch opened her eyes, they were filled with raw panic as she sought out the heroes. That panic turned to fear when Madison noticed that I was still here.

"See, she's fine," I bit out. "Maybe you should make sure you have all the facts before you jump to conclusions next time."

"Like why she chose to confront Taylor," Chrissie added with a sharp grin aimed directly at Madison. "I'm sure she would love to explain that one."

"It's, um, okay," Madison said quickly. "It's my fault I fainted. I shouldn't have skipped breakfast."

"I see," Assault said. When he turned back to me there was a complicated expression on his face. "You should… go."

I was happy to leave.

With school canceled, I had the opportunity to spend the rest of my morning and afternoon doing two things of sudden importance: scouting Empire territory and making out with my girlfriend. The latter was a sudden addition to my plans, though I certainly wasn't complaining — we found a way to make both work by kissing in the back seat while the Teeth driver from Monday navigated us through Empire territory on our way back to HQ.

Chrissie and I were out of sight of any Nazis in the back seat where most of my attention was thoroughly occupied by my girlfriend. I still had my swarm scouting while bugs in the trunk marked locations on a map as I found them though.

I did have one other thing after school hours today — meeting a potential dealer that had approached some of my Winslow flunkies at lunch on Monday. They, in turn, had approached Big Robbie about it while I was in earshot, so naturally I stepped in. What really grabbed my attention was the guy's request to be allowed to walk away from the gang when he went off to college in the fall. This confused the hell out of me.

"Not everyone who is forced into crime wants to stick with it," Alkaline said.

Damascian hummed in agreement. "As profitable as it can be, crime carries many risks that only compound as you commit more and find yourself descending ever deeper into that life."

So, he needs enough money to get out?

"Essentially yes."

"Which you won't just be handing him," Sanguine insisted.

I wasn't—

"You would," Ironsides cut in.

Not everyone has a choice.

"True, but it doesn't mean you should take charity cases," Fester said.

Ironsides nodded. "Besides, blind charity may scare the boy off."

He would think the true cost to him is being hidden… Fuck.

If I wanted to help him, I needed to do it in a way that made him feel like the exchange was fair. The Teeth — really, me — needed to compensate him for whatever he was bringing to the gang. That, and the cash involved couldn't feel like a handout. It needed to feel earned.

Chrissie jabbed me between the ribs. "Tay, you're getting distracted." Her face was red, and she was pouting… Absently I noticed the car arriving back at base as she stared me down.

"You're the one who was getting frisky while I was trying to work," I grumbled.

"And you're the one who started to mumble out loud your conversation with those assholes in your head rather than keep it to yourself," she countered with crossed arms.

I groaned, palming my face as the collective snickered to themselves. Laugh it up, jackasses. So of course they all broke out into bellowing guffaws. Pricks, one and all.

With a sigh of weary frustration, I disembarked from the car and made my way through the halls of the repurposed arena and back to my room to suit up, while Chrissie did the same. I decided to go full shock and awe for this meeting, and grabbed all my gear.

That included Damascian's currently-unnamed colossal sword which I had set up to be within easy reach. The thing just wasn't practical for any engagement outside of a handful of Changers, and while a part of me wondered how it would do if pitted against Crawler, the last thing I wanted was to be anywhere near the Nine.

"Even we don't want that," Butcher admitted.

"Caught by the Nine? No thank you," Quarrel said.

"Part of why we give Sabertooth so much shit — thanks to him, it almost happened," Pyro added.

Sabertooth made a displeased growl. "Did you really need to kill me for it?"

"Fuck yes!" Pyro, Fester, Sanguine and Butcher answered in unison.

I chuckled to myself as I made the last few adjustments to the concrete throne I had raised out of the floor of the arena. Hardly my finest work, given the short notice, but I wanted to make it very clear to our prospective entrepreneur about who was in charge here.

"Admit it: you're just pissed you couldn't whip up a skull throne in time," Chisel deadpanned.

"Not like we have a shortage of Nazis yet," Knockout mused.

Damascian chuckled. "You could even record building it, and upload it online."

We would get banned so damn fast.

"Use Halloween surplus," Reflex said softly.

I blinked as the entire chorus erupted in surprise.

"Holy shit! He spoke!"

It marked the first words he'd said since before the heroes betrayed me…

"It was a good idea too," Chisel said.

"We could totally make it look real. Taylor, you have to do this!" Alkaline said enthusiastically.

"Blood for the Blood God!" Sanguine yelled, followed by Butcher's cheer of "Skulls for the skull throne!"

I facepalmed at yet another reference to that stupidly expensive game… Those two had been playing since damn near when the game first came out, once bitter rivals in and out of costume until the day that Sanguine finally killed Butcher and became the first of us to inherit.

In general, I wasn't completely opposed to exploring my predecessor's hobbies. Chisel was a very talented guitarist, for example, and I really wanted to try that myself. But reading the associated novels for the Warhammer game had been an exercise in depression, and not just because the authors were less consistent than PHO conspiracy theories. At least I could play the bug faction if I ever failed to be busy on game night.

Pyro was getting giddy. "You should totally start a Butcher arts and crafts series! It could be the latest sensation to sweep the nation!"

I groaned out loud at that, a sound echoed in my own head. It would be funny, but I have a gang of crazy murderers to make slightly less crazy.

That reminder was like a bucket of cold water on my mood. I wasn't just a bored teenager looking for hobbies — I was the Butcher, sitting on a literal throne in a gladiatorial pit. The mood whiplash didn't hit me quite as badly as the last time, but I did sit back heavily and take a few long breaths while I did my best to remember just what I was doing here.

Drugs were an unfortunate fact of life in run-down American cities.

The Teeth were an unfortunate fact of life in the Bay.

I could use the latter to at least regulate the former, even if I personally thought that drugs were horrible… though, given my morning pot habit, did I even really think that anymore?

The Butchers chuckled in my head, but I pushed both them and the disturbing thoughts away. I had a job to do right now; mental breakdown could come later.

"Weaver? Everything alright?" Chrissie asked carefully as she peeked into the arena.

"It's fine," I said, forcing myself to sit upright. "Just… thinking."

Chrissie nodded sagely, though I could see the concern on her face despite her mask. "Careful with that, boss. We all know what happens when you put your mind to something. Speaking of, where's your bugs?"

From every shadow and corner of the arena, a biblical swarm erupted forth clustered around my throne. Some I used to make a living, writhing carpet, while others went onto my costume for the scare factor.

Overkill for a single drug dealer? Absolutely, but it was a good test run for when I would inevitably need to impress with deadly force.

Chrissie whistled. "That's more like it, now let's make the puny mortal shit his pants."

My nose scrunched up beneath my mask. "Hopefully not, you don't have enhanced senses like I do. You have no idea how unpleasant that can be."

"I'll add that to my ever growing list of reasons I hope I never inherit," Chrissie stated, then glanced down. "Right behind your frankly amazing one."

"Glad to hear that you value my ass so highly." I deadpanned.

"I would topple empires for that ass." She said with an enthusiastic nod.

"And topple them we shall," I said firmly. "Bring him in."

"The kid wore a suit to a job interview!" Sabertooth howled, slapping a knee.

Shush. At least it shows he's serious about this.

Some men could put on a brave front — the Butcher's memories held many examples and subsequent failures. Thus, I was rather impressed by Todd's impassive and stoic expression in the face of my swirling masses of biblical 'oh fuck no.' In fact, if not for my powers, I might not have seen through his façade as he approached my throne.

Bloodsight revealed his thundering heart rate and sky high blood pressure, while the battle analysis Thinker power picked up on all his subtle tells. Hell, my bugs could practically taste the stress hormones on him. He was afraid.

I refused to take pride in scaring the shit out of a kid not much older than me, but at least I was nailing the presentation side of being a supervillain.

"Welcome to my humble abode," I said with the full swarm echoing my words. "I'm told you have something of an offer that I might find interesting."

"Gotta be tough to be black in this city," Alkaline mused.

Todd stood a bit straighter, looking up at my mask for the first time. "You already know why I'm here. I'm a drug dealer, but I'm running out of product and need a new supplier. You happen to have a large surplus of drugs, but lack the means to move it and profit. I see a way we can help each other."

"A well worded opening line at least. He put some thought into it," Ironsides said.

"You would be correct. Now, pray tell, why should it be you when I hear that you plan to skip town come fall?"

"I was accepted into UNC's pharmacology program, but the tuition is beyond my ability to pay, even with what I've been bringing in. I don't want this life to be my future, but it's all I have to offer at the moment."

Alkaline whistled. "They don't accept just anyone. Charge out the ass too."

"I see." I sent my bugs into a bit of a frenzy as I thought it over… I needed to sell this if I wanted him to accept it. "You intend to use us to further your own life and leave us high and dry when you leave. That is the offer you brought to us? Pathetic."

"Butcher, if you —"

"Weaver. My name is Weaver," I said, jumping to my feet. "As for your proposal, I'm afraid I must reject it as presented." I watched his shoulders sag even as his legs grew tense and ready to flee. It was time to make the offer. "Instead, I have an alternative proposal."

"And what would that be?" he asked, hesitantly.

"It's quite simple. You have the knowledge, the contacts; teach my men what you know, because I'll be blunt, they're shit at this game. You worked for Skidmark and stayed clean, that says something about you."

"Would have been funny if Vex offered him some salsa," Knockout said, and I had to fight very hard to not snort at the mental image.

"I don't know if staying clean says anything about me, or not. Either way, you're asking me to give up everything I have to bargain with. Once your dealers are up and running, I'll be cast aside. No longer worth the investment, right?" There was a moment of silence, before a defeated sigh left him. "Fuck, how much are the contacts and training worth?"

"Well, he's not an idiot at least," Ironsides said.

"He's desperate though, if he's still willing to consider such a one sided agreement," Chisel added.

"You're exiting the game in a matter of months regardless. Pass your knowledge along to my people during that time, and I'll see to it that your schooling expenses are covered." I could see the surprise writ across his face. "As an added bonus to avoid doing the bare minimum, I'll even give you two percent of the profits that you bring in as a bonus when you leave. How does that sound?"

A silence hung in the air as he just stared up at me. I could see the surprise, the confusion, and his mind racing as he considered everything I had just offered. It was more than he expected, that much was clear.

"Five percent?" he asked hesitantly.

"Look at the pair on this fucker!" Sabertooth howled.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Three percent for having the nerve to ask. Now if you don't mind, I have an Empire stash house to raid later tonight. If you're going to help us sell drugs, then we should probably have some to sell, yes?"

Todd bowed stiffly and started backing away. "As long as it's not out of the stash house on the corner of McKesson and Richmond," he muttered under his breath so softly I almost missed it.

"What's so special about that address?" I'd recognized it as one of the smaller distribution sites, but wasn't planning to hit it quite yet. There wasn't anything special to the place that I'd noted, but Todd was a man who spent his time on the streets. If he had heard something I hadn't…

Todd stopped when I spoke. He was shocked that I'd caught what he said, but quickly recovered. "They distribute to the poorer sections of the docks and downtown, where more minorities tend to live. Usually the cheaper types of weed, and nothing that seems dangerous, yet people are still dying to the stuff. I had a friend pick some up and confirmed they're lacing it with shit. People are ODing left and right in that area, mostly those of color."

"Oh…" Stratego said and I found my mind swirling with the plans I'd been working on for dismantling the Empire.

"You're saying the Empire is doing it to intentionally kill people?"

"I am," He said firmly.

He couldn't see the grim smile that came to my face. "Well now, that changes things. I think this is the start of a very fruitful friendship, Todd."

My newest minion was completely correct — the warehouse was much more nefarious than my cursory examination had revealed, and it was well guarded for such a seemingly-small time affair. Worse, my bugs confirmed the Empire was indeed lacing the weed with something, because my bugs died within seconds of contact with it.

"This is the place," I told the rest of the Teeth hiding in a nearby alley.

Vex and Reaver had joined me for this operation, along with Big Robbie and what I hoped would be his new team. I was mildly upset that so few had come out with us, but Damien had been too high to answer, Elliot was out on the town and not answering, and Alice was working on a pot of chili. I knew better than to disturb her.

Still, we would make do. This wasn't a smash and grab, nor was it even about the money. This was me sending a message. I'd declared war on these white supremacist fucks less than a week ago, and while the Empire was reeling from the initial attack, I needed to show Kaiser and the Bay that the Teeth were deadly serious about exterminating their threat.

My people were in place, my swarms were ready, and the Empire didn't have a clue what was about to hit them.

"This is gonna be fucking awesome!" Pyro cheered.

Stratego, however, had to burst her bubble. "If Taylor's plan survives contact with the enemy, there will be a distinct lack of surprises."

"Good thing most plans don't survive that long," Knockout added.

Which is why I brought backup. This place is smaller than half the ABB places we hit solo, and I'm not expecting much of a showing here. Honestly, I could handle this easily by myself, but this isn't about the drugs or the money…

"It's about sending a message."

My swarm moved as one, assaulting the Empire goons I had located and launching the warehouse into a frenzy of motion as the Nazis began to scream. On that signal, my Teeth swept in. Their orders were simple: beat, maim, injure. The guns stayed away unless the Empire managed to mount a defense, which wasn't likely in the face of my swarm. It wasn't easy to aim a gun when you had a dozen wasps stinging your hands, after all.

I watched and felt through my swarm as my people continued through the building in a bastardization of tactical movement, which was still an improvement over the old 'dick first into a cheese grater' strategy that led to such a high fatality rate under the previous Butchers… not that my predecessors had really cared.

"Ah, music to my ears," Marauder said as the unprepared Empire goons ran around screaming in a panic, often due to a face full of Vex's force fields. Reaver was just as busy; between our capes and unpowered members, the few neo-nazis that tried to fight back were put down viciously. The attack was brutal, over in a minute, and I couldn't bring myself to feel any sympathy for this particular group of shitstains.

"It's harder to feel bad when you see the damage they are causing firsthand," Fester said. "Remember that ABB brothel? If you had just killed the guards, no one would have bothered to raise a fuss."

I would have bothered.

It was a weak rebuttal, and based on the Butchers' snickering, they knew it. However, they were more disappointed that the action was already over here and now, to the point that Pyro complained, "That was anticlimactic."

"It was supposed to be," I murmured, then teleported from my perch to the front door.

Vex disengaged from the others and ran over to me. "Well, we got good news and good news. Which do you want first?"

I gave her my best deadpan stare, despite my mask.

She laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. "We found a good bit of cash, and it turns out that those paintball drills actually amounted to something."

"Good news indeed." The more senior Teeth had only managed a few hours of paintball since I had used Stratego's power to lay out some practice drills, but it was already making a difference in how they were sweeping the rest of the building. I knew where everything was, of course, but they needed to be able to function without me.

When they were done, the beaten and bloodied Nazis were left tied up in a stack outside while the cash was collected into bags. The drugs all needed to be burned, as it wasn't worth sorting out what had been laced with what. I sincerely hoped that none of the drugs we had seized so far had been similarly corrupted, and made a mental note to ask Todd. The least I could do was ensure what he would be selling for us was safe.

That was a beneficial arrangement if there ever was one. By the time the enterprising kid left for college, my own people would be ready to fully step into his shoes and take over, and with the promise of a percentage bonus of all the profits he brought in during his time selling for us, he would be encouraged to work hard regardless of the agreement to cover his college costs in full at completion of his term of service.

One of our unpowered members brought around our escape truck, and Vex started helping load up the loot while I teleported up to the roof to play sentry. Inside, the Teeth were pouring gasoline in the building and looting electronics… including Reaver appearing with the large TV from the break room. "Hell yeah!" Vex cheered.

"Everything that's not nailed down —" Knockout started.

"And then we pull up the nails and take that stuff too!" Sabertooth finished.

I shook my head at the antics, but Reaver had a more pressing question. "Boss, do you know where their car keys are? There's a Mustang parked out back." One of the Empire goons started cursing at that, which I took as a good reason to help. My bugs found the keys in short order, and Reaver let out an excited whoop before following my bug arrows back into the building.

My practice with bug senses was paying off in the field, but I wanted to get out of here soon. Hopefully we would be long gone by the time the E88 or Protectorate got off their asses and managed a response. At least the Teeth weren't taking trophies tonight, given the Empire's 'pathetic resistance,' as Robbie put it.

I very specifically did not wonder if I would ever be claiming trophies myself.

"Why didn't the Empire send anyone?" Alkaline asked.

Don't jinx us!

"You have everything within four blocks under surveillance," Stratego replied. "It's not like —"

Just as Vex was lighting the road flare, I felt something enter my range. A motorcycle had pierced through the veil of gnats and mosquitoes I kept along the perimeter, and was breaking every traffic law I could think of as they made their way towards the warehouse. My attempts to land bugs on the motorcycle only resulted in crispy critters, which likely meant I was dealing with a Tinker.

I had swarms assemble by each of my people. "Time to withdraw, the Protectorate is coming. I'll delay them."

Most of my people gave affirmatives, but Vex hesitated before climbing into the truck. "Boss, be careful. Make sure you get home safely."

"Always," my swarm answered her. "I'll see you there."

I was tempted to mess with Armsmaster in some way when his bike rolled up to the now-burning building, but he opted to investigate the pile of disabled Empire goons instead of chasing the truck full of Teeth. He then secured the area, obviously using his Tinkertech to check for nearby threats before coming to a halt at the base of the building I was hiding upon.

"While I don't agree with her methods, it's a shame that Weaver couldn't become a hero," Armsmaster said, doing a poor job of musing to himself. "I wish that the PRT had listened when I asked for more time to let her prove herself. Maybe if she —"

I stopped listening at that point, frantically casting my bugs around to see if this was yet another trap. An unlikely plan, given that Armsmaster had just arrived and I didn't feel anyone else nearby, but I couldn't fathom another reason why he would stand there and ignore me while I was in costume.

Nevertheless, I didn't want to be a sitting target, although Armsmaster had probably lost the tail of both the truck and Reaver's new car due to… whatever he was trying right now. I waited a few minutes longer to ensure that the tainted drugs had caught fire before teleporting to a bug on the end of my range.

It wasn't until I was two blocks from the lair that the voices realized that I had made a critical error, and Alkaline whined, "You didn't get his autograph!"

Thursday, April 14th 2011

After our successful mini-raid against the Empire, we had come back to the lair and thrown a small after-party. I had retreated to my lab to get some Tinkering done once Chrissie dozed off, only to reemerge a few hours later to get in some early-morning reading. To my surprise, Damien and Alice stayed up with me.

The capes in question were seated across from me on the sofa while I lounged in one of the recliners with my book. They were clearly displeased about something, but weren't saying anything, so here I was trying to make them talk like they were misbehaving children.

This was going to be my whole morning…

Chrissie was sleeping peacefully in her room right now, and I wasn't about to disturb her since we had school in a few hours and she needed every minute she could get. Maintaining my civilian life was difficult, but it would be worth it in the long run, and I had a feeling that was at least part of the problem the two across from me had at the moment.

"Alright, enough of this bullshit," I said, tossing one of my wine coolers into the trash. "You have a problem with how I'm leading the Teeth?"

The two exchanged a glance, then Damien sighed. "Honestly? Shit's great. We're making bank, kicking ass, I have all the coke I can snort, but you're clearly different from any Butcher I've served under."

"The issue is, we could be doing so much more," Alice cut in. "If you dropped school, moved in here full time —"

"Alice, I can't do that."

"Why?" she countered. "We could take the Empire down in weeks if we went on the offensive in full!"

"She's not wrong," Ironsides pointed out.

I shook my head. "We could, but we have to be tactical about this. Right now, if there's two gangs, then the PRT tries to keep the status quo. But if it were just us, just me? The Butcher is too scary to be allowed to control an entire city. The last thing I want is Legend to come blast all of you guys to smithereens and Eidolon to pull some power out of his ass that, I don't know, banishes me to another Earth. But if I keep my civilian identity intact, and we take the Empire apart piece by piece…"

"All this waiting sucks," Pyro whined.

"True, but I for one am enjoying the down time. How long has it been since we could just relax?" Alkaline asked.

"Since before we inherited," Quarrel said.

"Who the hell cares? It's the Empire; no one cares if you kill neo-nazis. They didn't care when we took out Lung or the Merchants!" Damien said. "Everyone's getting stir crazy, and it's not like we need a reason to fight them."

"We don't need a reason to fight anyone," Alice muttered.

I sighed and set my book aside. "No, we don't, but just running around and setting random buildings on fire doesn't actually accomplish anything. Instead, I'll put together a list of targets and start planning more raids so everyone gets a piece of the action. There's a lot of Nazi ass out there for us to kick."

Damien pumped his fist, and even Alice smiled a bit.

"But, we're still doing it my way, even if I'm at school. The Teeth have a reputation as a roving band of murderhobos not unlike the fucking Slaughterhouse. I want to shift us to something closer to how Marquis ran things." They didn't seem to like that, but it was a good way to segue. "I suppose that brings up my next point: who the fuck thought it was a good idea to try and burn down a gas station in our territory?"

Damien shrugged. "Bastards wouldn't cough up enough money, so we showed them why that was a mistake."

Oh for the love of…

"We warned you that our people weren't all that intelligent," Stratego said.

So you did. Talk about a pain in the ass.

Butcher laughed. "You're trying to reform a gang that I intentionally styled after Mad Max, you expected this to be easy?"

I groaned and massaged my nose for all the good it did me. "Why were you pressuring people in our territory at all? The Empire is out there, hit their shit instead!"

"They were ABB," Alice countered.

"Which, if you remember, we demolished! What's the point of kicking out the other gangs and taking over if we're just going to destroy our own stuff? I don't care who they were affiliated with before, now they're our responsibility."

"Do you really want Lung's sloppy seconds?"

White hot fury ignited within me as I brought my fist down on the table beside me, shattering it. "I want the whole goddamn Bay, or were you not paying attention in our last meeting?"

"Oh come on, that was some funny shit!" Marauder said.

I don't care, I need to get this lesson through their thick skulls.

"So what? We can't have fun unless you approve of it?" Damien demanded. Fuck, I was going to have to beat the bastard down again, wasn't I? They seemed all too quick to forget just who the fuck I was. I was still going to try to talk, because I wasn't my predecessors, but I had to fight down the urge to punch him instead.

"First of all, the people in our territory are to be treated as if they're Teeth. If someone's being uppity about paying protection fees, you have it brought to my attention and I'll make sure it's dealt with. But don't hesitate to kick the ass of anyone harassing the people in our territory, especially other gangs. It's not like the PRT is going to protect them."

Damien's scowl lessened significantly at that. "Giving them carte blanche to beat up invaders is a smart idea," Chisel murmured.

"If there aren't enough other gang members to beat up in our territory, then either ask me or wait until I get a list of targets written up. I'll include general risk assessments and plans of action for each one; there's more than enough targets to sate our bloodlust and turn a tidy profit."

"See, that's more like it!" he said with a manic grin.

Damascian nodded. "You should always lead with the carrot. For the Teeth, that just happens to be violence and loot."

Alkaline shook her head. "Yet they respond better to the stick."

Alice hummed in agreement. "Normally we would just be left to do whatever we want until the Butcher decided to do shit. Your methods are… not what any of us expected, since even Stratego had to contend with the voices that you appear able to ignore."

"She shoves us into an inky void where all we can do is watch!" Butcher screamed.

"Which has become a far rarer occurrence since she returned to the Teeth," Ironsides pointed out.

"What the Teeth have always lacked is coordination. It's the reason we've never been able to really hold territory long-term." I gestured at myself. "With how much power the Butcher wields, it's ridiculous that the Teeth have been here for a year and the other gangs are still standing. Sure, we're not running around like crazy people any more, but that's because we actually stand to profit enormously if you all just follow my instructions. The Teeth will seize the Bay, and when it is ours we can rule the criminal underworld however we want. No one will tell us what to do!"

"Hell yeah!" "You tell them, Taylor!" "Let's fucking do this!"

At some point during my rant, I had jumped to my feet, leaving me looking down on the two rather wide-eyed capes sitting on the couch. "Well, shit," Damien said slowly. "Never thought I would see the Butcher give a pep talk before."

"I can see why little Vexy took such a liking to you, miss firebrand," Alice said. "What's next, a big recruitment drive? She mentioned that kids at your school are signing up like crazy."

"Well, it's not like anyone else is going to protect them from the Empire."

Alice leaned back against the couch and gave me a strange look. "The Teeth don't protect anyone, except maybe ourselves. But I guess that's the point, right Butcher?" I didn't bristle at the name, but it was a close thing. "You want us to help you rule a kingdom of your own."

"That sounds like a lot of work," Damien said.

"A lot of work for me," I retorted, flopping back down into my seat. "The rest of you just get to keep doing business as usual… mostly. I don't want to discard what makes the Teeth, well, Teeth… but I do intend to make us at least palatable to the masses. Fewer trophies and wanton murder and more keeping the city safe from anyone that would try to disrupt it. If we intend to rule without the city becoming a quarantine zone, we need to be something the PRT doesn't feel pressured to remove at all costs, similar to the Elite on the west coast."

"A lofty ambition," Statego stated.

Perhaps, but imagine what happens when we succeed. The Teeth, in charge of a whole city? That's unprecedented on this coast.

For a long moment, there was perfect silence in my head while my predecessors finally seemed to understand the scope of what I was planning.

"And to think, some of us thought that XV wasn't going to bolster the Butcher's reputation," Chisel said with vicious satisfaction.

"This isn't what the Teeth are about," Damien grumbled.

"Last I checked, the Teeth are whatever the Butcher says they are," I said, letting the swarm creep into my voice. "All I'm doing is finishing what Damascian and Quarrel started — taking back our hometown and finally crushing the goddamn Empire. I'm not going to close the arena or stop selling drugs; hell, I'm giving you a license to beat up assholes wherever you find them in our territory. But there's no profit in just killing civilians for no reason, especially when they're the ones paying us. You want to do business as usual? Fine. But do it on the right targets: our fucking enemies. No one important cares about bad guys versus bad guys."

For the first time all night/morning, a look of understanding passed over the faces of the two capes. I had always known that my attempts to direct the Teeth would be unpopular among the capes, but if I wanted to be able to live with myself I had to change what I could. Since the Teeth were the only group that were willing to accept the Butcher, I was somewhat limited in my choice of minions, but…

I was going to make it work. Anything less was unacceptable.

A sleepy voice from the doorway drew all of our attention. "How are you two idiots complaining when you didn't even come with us yesterday?" Chrissie asked, yawning.

"G'morning Chrissie. I hope you slept well."

"Hard not to after all we got up to last night." She winked at me as my blush turned red hot. We hadn't done much more than usual, but it kept up appearances for her to imply we had. I had bug arrows form, pointing towards the coffee pot. "Thanks Tay."

Don't even start.

The chorus just snickered.

I watched my groggy girlfriend shuffle off to obtain her caffeine fix as I turned back to the two capes that had essentially run the Teeth before I came along. "Times are changing, but I don't want this to be completely one sided. If people have issues, bring them to my attention in private, because if you challenge me in public?"

"You get Spree'd!"

"Yeah, we get it," Alice said, rubbing the spot where I had hit her with the glass.

I clapped my hands as I stood. "If that's all settled, I have classes to get to, and targets to enumerate while pretending to pay attention to said classes."

Damien groaned.

"I've always wondered — are the Butchers' memories helpful?" Chrissie asked as she came over to my side.

Fester immediately brought forth one of those memories in response, cackling like a madwoman as I pushed her and the offending thoughts away with a grimace. "Yes and no. They're great for current affairs, but not so much for anything else. Only Stratego, Damascian and Ironsides actually graduated."

"Better than none," Damien said. "Fuck it, if we're done I'm gonna go see if anyone wants to fight, and then pass the fuck out."

"There's fresh Nazis for the picking," Chrissie said cheerfully.

Damien grinned and I felt my stomach turn — I'd almost forgotten about them. "Fucking sweet! That should make for a good warm up, thanks Vexy!"

"No problem, Cannon Fodder!" she called back as he flipped her off.

The return to school was uneventful. Everyone not in our colors gave me a wide berth and I hadn't felt a single necklace crushed all morning. Even Emma and her flunkies were behaving, which had my old instincts on edge for a greater plan to come.

I met up with Chrissie as we were making our way to Gladly's class, and she gave me a nudge. "Hey Tay, check this shit out." She waved her phone in my face, showing me a PHO thread. It showed pictures of Armsmaster, Dauntless, Velocity, Miss Megabitch…

"Is their entire roster at this PR circlejerk out of town or am I missing someone?"

"Assault and Battery skipped out, but otherwise?" Chrissie said with a shrug. "Seems kinda stupid if you ask me, leaving only the Wards to defend the city."

"Yes… Quite foolish of them." I said with a grin.

"What are you plotting?" Stratego asked impatiently.

Minigun.

The chorus erupted into a cacophony of cheers and discussion at my little proclamation. Yes, it was time to reclaim one of the symbols of the Teeth. The opportunity was so perfect that the paranoid part of my brain wondered if this was yet another trap by the PRT. I would have to play this safe, and be prepared to spring the trap if it existed.

"Chrissie, I'm going to miss lunch and maybe gym if this takes too long. I have an errand to run," I said, reaching out to a bug near the edge of my range on the path back to our HQ. There was an abandoned classroom up ahead that I could use to stage my disappearance.

"Aww, you're gonna leave me out of this one?" Chrissie said with an adorable pout on her lips.

"I need someone to keep an eye out if they call in any of the Wards, since I'm about to cause no small amount of panic for the shitheads at the PRT building."

Chrissie broke out into a fit of cackles. "Take a selfie when you're in there; they'll shit themselves when you post it to PHO."

"Will do. I'll call you in if you're needed." I said with a wink, followed by a not-step that carried me to my waiting bug.

From there it took me another five jumps before I reappeared in the VIP lounge of our base.

"Fuck!" Michael exclaimed as he fell off the couch at my sudden and obvious arrival. Thankfully he was on his feet within a second and had a weapon in hand. Damascian and Chisel approved of the improvement, though Ironsides and Stratego weren't as impressed. Michael's expression quickly shifted from surprise and anger into one of confusion. "I thought you and the brat had school today?"

"Change of plans. I'm suiting up and I want our best fighters on standby if shit gets ugly."

"You gonna fuck some shit up?" Damien asked as he arrived in our lounge.

"You know it!" I said with a grin.

Making my way to my room, I donned my upgraded costume. Gone were the familiar Alexandria themed grays and blacks, and in their place? Teeth gray and red. I'd integrated dark scarlet lines across all my armored panels; they would still blend in with my swarm if needed, but provided a contrast that left little doubt to my affiliation. The scarlet XV on each shoulder wasn't needed, but it was my title as the Butcher and I would own it.

The mandibles of my mask were shaped to be a bit more serrated, and the scarlet had been applied to make them look bloodied. Around the lenses of my mask were subtle red highlights to add to the sinister look that had once led Armsmaster to mistake me for a villain…

There would be no doubts now.

It was with a heavy sigh that I secured the weapon harnesses to my thighs and torso. In a word, I was terrifying: a nightmare on two legs even without my swarm to back me up. Secured to each thigh were an OTs-62 along with three throwing knives. At my hip was the tinkered machete I had grown to like, though some of the swords downstairs looked awesome. A dozen knives were spread along my harness along with additional shotgun ammo to reload my quick loaders. Finally, I had the expanding fuck-off huge Tinker bow that Quarrel had favored, along with a modified quiver of shortened arrows that I could extend with Chisel's power.

"Add in the swarm for effect and only the insane wouldn't shit their pants in fear," Knockout said approvingly.

"I can't wait to see the reactions to this on PHO!" Fester added.

Pyro nearly squealed. "It's gonna be amazing!"

I was a one woman battalion, ready to ride to war. Not that I planned to do any fighting today, but it didn't hurt to be prepared in the event this was another trap. I needed to make an impression, especially with how I was about to humiliate the hell out of them all.

Once I was sure all my weapons were secure, I began to teleport my way across the city in the general direction of the PRT building.

"I am going to laugh way too hard at their reactions to this one!" Sabertooth said, already failing to contain his mirth.

"It is going to be a fun little diversion," Stratego said.

"Certainly better than school," Butcher added.

I had to agree with them, and while I had no intention of abandoning my education, this was going to be a lot of fun; hopefully I would only miss gym. I was glad to have a free period on Thursdays after lunch as it gave me a bit of wiggle room, especially now that I could travel and grab some takeout.

I was still near downtown when my bugs picked up something unusual. I didn't have enough of a swarm to get a good picture of what it was, but something about it was making my instincts tingle. Instead of continuing on my way towards the PRT building, I angled my way towards the disturbance.

Not wanting to risk spooking my potential quarry, I landed about a block away and put my Brute and more mundane Mover abilities to work. Roof running was an enjoyable experience; one I didn't get to indulge in very often since the teleport was so damn useful. Thankfully the rain from earlier in the day had let up.

I was already directing more bugs into the area, but now I had my actual eyes on two vans parked behind Brockton Central Bank, along with four costumed people and three mutant creatures currently gathered near the back door. A girl in a purple catsuit was working on a security panel. I couldn't help but grin under my mask.

Slight change in plans, how about we introduce ourselves to the Undersiders?

"We're still grabbing the minigun, right?" Quarrel asked.

Duh. Besides, this won't take very long at all.