Amy

I felt tired, there were three of us, me, Armsmaster, and a very pregnant Dragon. We took shifts, constantly keeping the Butcher in a coma, which wasn't easy considering her fucking healing factor which was constantly working against us. So I wasn't happy to have to hold her hand while we exited the plane. I sighed and snipped some more of her nervous system and put her under again.

"Frustrating?"

I nodded at Armsmaster who's beard now looked a little unkempt.

"Yeah but she needs to go and-"

"SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!"

Armsmaster flinched as a masked man hugged him.

"Skidmark, why aren't you in space?"

I didn't recognize the man.

"Well it turns out this bitch really fucking pissed some people right the fuck off right? So they call me up and they say: 'Skidmark this is a really bad fucking bitch, you a bad enough dude to put her into the hole?'"

"I say 'yeah I'm bad enough but I'm a fucking married man and shit and I'm only supposed to put things into one woman's hole.'"

He paused.

"Two on my birthday because my bitch is the best bitch, and as they say, no wrong hole. And I tell them ,yeah that's what your mother said."

He paused.

"Fuckers laughed at that because I'm funny as shit, so I come back to Earth in all of my motherfucking glory to do this special shit because I am awesome, also my bitch wanted to do some shopping. Space is baller then fuck but you can't get decent ice cream up there, instead you get this weird carboard tasting motherfucker ya' know."

Armsmaster sighed.

"So how do you plan on transporting her?"

Skidmark smiled.

"We're going to make a Butcher ice cream cone, you see Icy made a cryochamber just incase we had a motherfucker like this."

"Good."

We followed him to a van were armed guards stood, they pulled a large cylinder out and the Butcher was placed inside, I watched as she froze, then I watched as armored plates surrounded the glass.

"It's not going to hold her forever, is it?"

Armsmaster put a hand on my shoulder.

"It doesn't need to, how long do the Thinkers give it?"

"2 weeks tops, but the bitch is probably going to fucking get out of that sooner, so I have maybe three days to get this fucker to the Birdcage."

He went into the van and I watched them drive off.

"So um who was that?"

Armsmaster looked tired, his wife decided to answer.

"That's Skidmark, he used to be a minor parahuman thief, then he saw the World tree and decided to clean up his act. Believe it or not but he's actually one of our best agents up in space."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Really, look he may not look impressive but he gets how criminals think and that's really helped up there."

"Let's go home, we..."

A shadow fell over us and I turned around.

"Woody!"

He tilted his head as I gave him a hug.

"How are you doing?"

"I just finished my shift, and decided to take sometime to see you."

"The kids?"

"Justin got straight A's again and Juno's managed to avoid getting sent to detention all month, that said I have some bad news."

I froze.

"Is everything ok?"

"For Seattle yes, but there have been reports that the Slaughterhouse 9 are heading towards Brockton Bay."

He turned towards Armsmaster.

"Dragon, Armsmaster they have compromised your secret identities and know where you live."

Armsmaster paled.

"Do you have proof of this?"

Woody shook his head.

"Nothing that would stand legal scrutiny, I may have called in some favors and talked to a few people, and Amy... they are coming for you and your family, so be prepared."

"I am."

He sighed.

"No you aren't."

He gave me a folder.

"This is everything I know about their current roster, don't hold back at all, and read page 17."

I pulled it out and started reading, I shook with rage.

"They're dead."

He was silent for a bit and deflated.

"I can fix her, save her, it won't be easy but Mouse Protector can be saved, but if I'm asking too much I-"

Armsmaster grabbed the paper, the fury on his face was honest.

"No you're not, Mouse Protector was one of ours, I will have my people aim to disable that atrocity, just fix her for us."

Woody nodded.

"I will do what I can, but if her brain isn't intact then there are limits to what I can do."

With that we got onto the plane, the mood was somber and depressed.

"I knew her... she was my friend when we were in the Wards."

Dragon tilted her head, there was a slight edge to her words.

"How friendly were you?"

Armsmaster kind of stared into space.

"She was an ally, even if her humor grated on my nerves at times. We're going to get her back though... and make them pay."

I leaned back and thought about what was coming, in a way it didn't seem fair it was like some malevolent entity was deliberately fucking with my town.