Chapter Ten:

"So who was it?" Sierra asked.

"Just a boy," I told them. "Probably a student from U.A. They-"

"What's a student from U.A. doing here?" Charlotte asked. "Oh sorry, I interrupted."

"It's fine. They came here to help with the distribution of resources. Grue told me."

"Grue?"

"Is that the tall smoky guy?" Sierra asked.

"Yes."I answered

"Well, as long as they don't attack us, we'll be fine right?" Charlotte said.

I thought about it. Why did they show up here? Were they planning something? The other heroes seemed to attempt to get him away from the situation. And seemed maybe even a little annoyed. Maybe-

"They AREN'T going to attack us right?" Charlotte's voice got a little quieter saying that.

"No…" I answered. "If they were, they would send All Might. Not some kid. And he's here, I know it myself."

"Me too," Sierra said.

"He was doing that alone. He must have a problem with me."

"Or he really wanted to help," Sierra said.

"Skitter IS helping." Charlotte frowned. "She's taking care of all these people, isn't she?"

"From the sound of it, the boy didn't see it the same way. He seemed really offended at the idea of a villain intimidating innocent people."

"I don't care about what a hero thinks," I said. "They can be as bad as villains are. And I have my reasons. All we need to be concerned about is bringing supplies to the people and making a profit."

"Ok." they both said at the same time.

I put my hand on both their shoulders. "I'm putting my trust in you guys. While I'm sustaining the base, I expect you guys to look after how the supplies sale is going. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." they said at the same time.

"Good. and…thank you."

I walked up the stairs to my room. "Get started as quickly as possible."

One hour later.

It was harder to run a territory than you think.

First off, the supplies. Distributing them was difficult. There were about 25 people in our territory. And Coil only gave me two boxes of food, and one of those boxes of supplies had to be used for selling. So I could use only the first one to actually feeding the people working for me. Which doesn't leave us with a lot.

Now fortunately, one was all we needed. Mostly. Each box only had about 20 items of food. So we didn't have enough for everyone. One fifth would go hungry. Admittingly, Coil did sometimes stick some snacks there. But I don't know anyone that can survive the whole day with a pack of nuts.

That's the thing too. We were supposed to survive the whole day based on those two boxes of food. And now that we're selling at least one box of supplies with all the supplies being sold separately, it leaves with even less. I don't think he thought I would gain so many workers so quickly, and the two boxes support that theory. If I wasn't selling one of them, we could survive. But this is the best path. And unfortunately, Coil was difficult and not give me another box. So we're stuck with two, really one. Meaning, some people would have to go hungry, and every time my bugs sensed someone rubbing their stomach and looked at someone eating longingly…I felt my guilt rise. I only wanted to save people.

Another problem is keeping the territory. I already had some merchants try to cause some problems in my territory. And I had to take them down. And even when I was just forming my territory, I had to deal with a thug lizard trying to steal from me. It doesn't happen enough to be anything but an annoyance. Despite this and although I hurt them to protect my territory, I still deal with people who fear me because of what I do. When I threaten to set that merchant woman on fire. News around it spread to my territory, and now people here are giving me the side-eye.

I know I shouldn't care; I knew that as long as it was right; it was right, and I shouldn't let their objections, no matter how subtle they were, concern me. But I don't have it in me to be a cold, uncaring villain. So when one of them hid their faces from my bugs as if that could hide them from me, it hurt a bit. As long as I was protecting people, that should be all that matters. But apparently, my people think differently. And my using fear on them only worsened the problem.

I brought my bugs to a duo of workers returning from spreading the rule about my territory. One of them was walking with a limp, however, he was walking with a limp before he left. I wasn't concerned about that.

What I was concerned about was the woman bleeding from the arm.

Immediately, I came down from my lair and out of my base. "What happened?"

"Ummm…uhhhh…One of our workers got shot."

"Well, I can see that. I meant, how did it happen?

"Oh…Ummm…Well, we made the mistake of going into merchant territory."

Oh no. "Are you ok?"

The guy looked confused. At a villain showing concern, or at the admittingly stupid question? To be fair, I was asking the one that didn't appear hurt. "I'm fine. She's not."

"I'm fine." The woman said. "I'm not some weak ass bitch that can't take a few hits."

"You're shot in the arm." I retorted.

"We signed up for this when you forced us to stay with you. Then again, you can't really call that signing up."

I twitched at that. Were my people starting to hold grudges?

"Take her to base. I'll show her first aid personally."

"No."

What? "Why?"

"I don't need help from you, Skitter. I already said I didn't want to take orders from you. Now you think I want help from you?"

"You can accept help from someone without liking them."

"Well, I won't!" The woman screamed. "I won't accept help from a villain and I won't be moralized by a villain!"

I sagged. He was right.

"I'm just trying to-"

"You're just trying to…fuck me over! Make me dependent on you! Make me…just…feel things I never felt before! It doesn't even make sense. First, you try to intimidate me, forcing me to work with you, and now you try to help me!? The ONLY reasonable explanation is that you're trying to make me loyal, by any means! Even if it's contradictory!"

My methods weren't working. I wanted to show people some kindness to gain back their loyalty so I could tell them I wasn't trying to intimidate them. Which is partially true. But they refused to trust me. Their fear was turning into hatred. I could tell them now, ease their fears, gain their loyalty…

But then they'd leave, they'd leave, and I'd never be able to accomplish any of the things I HAVE to do.

I decided to stay strong. "I care about you. I do what I do because It's best for you, Even if you don't want it."

"You're not a parent! You're not a superhero! You're not anything with a semblance of fucking authority. You're just a scrawny girl that has no right acting like you're hot shit."

What? What was she talking about? "What're you trying to say? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because you're ugly." She said, "you're some scrawny, young, bitch that acts like she's hot shit, when all she is is a bloodthirsty cunt that acts in her own self-interest, you know what a good reason to act like you're all that? Being hot, confident, capable, smart, manipulative, and knowing what the fuck you're talking about. Qualities you clearly don't have. You some disgusting bug slut that's not smart. And can't do jack shit."

I frowned. This woman was starting to sound similar…eerily similar…it was starting to piss me off. I really wanted her gone. I really wanted to have my men just kick her out. It would so…SO be easy to just sic my bugs and do just that…

Except I was better than that.

"Listen, I'm willing to let that slide, and forgive you. Because despite your-"

"N-NO! No! YOU don't forgive me after what you did to me! YOU don't let anything slide! You threaten us! Nearly set someone on fire! You're insane! The coldest motherfucker here! And now you're trying to villainize me!?"

"At least it's clever." the man said. "Trying to turn people against you."

"Nah, she's not that smart."

And that was it. That was the end of my nice tirade.

"If that's the case, there's only two options for you. Let me heal your wounds or suffer, bleed out, and die."

"You would kill me!?"

"Me? I'm not doing anything. If you want to deny medical treatment because of your grudge against me, that's on you, not me. I don't want that to happen. I want to help you. But if you rather-if you value your pride and spite over your own well-being. Well again, that's on you."

"Why can't you just have someone else save me!?"

I leaned closer in. "Either you let me help you. Or you die. It's that simple."

Let the words hang in the air, knowing which option she would pick.

She sagged in defeat. "I'll take the first one."

I smirked. "Thank you. Nice to know you listen to reason."

I saw the woman clenching her fist. I ignored it. It just means I won.

I led the woman to the base and put my mask on. However before I could come down, The man said, "You threatened her…and she barely did anything."

I turned to him. "She insulted me, she disrespected me, and when you're a-"

"So you threaten you with death!?" You help her out of spite!? Are you that quick to make enemies!?"

I ignored him. "And when you're a supervillain. You run off of respect and reputation. I'm not letting some stuck-up, petty, bully take that away from me."

The man frowned. "Y'know, maybe you aren't looking for enemies."

"You think so?" I said sarcastically.

"No…maybe you're your own worst enemy." The man then walked away.

My own worst enemy? What did that mean? My other enemy consists of people trying to imprison or kill me. Are those enemies not worst?

Whatever, it didn't matter. I decided to just focus on the woman and clean her up…

And right when I was about to do that. The three sellers showed up.

"Sellers! Join me in my Lair! We have much to discuss!" I led the team into my lair as I got handed the first aid kit.

I started by giving the woman some painkillers. So when I cleaned her with alcohol, it would hurt significantly less. "So, did the sales go well?"

One sellers bumped another with her arm. The seller she bumped was a big guy, with broad shoulders, and was well-toned, he reminded me of Brian by how he looked. Except for a vastly different skin tone. you think a guy like that would be brave.

But he wasn't. "Ummm…uhhh…" He stuttered.

This was a constant. Ever since I tried my little stunt, I made people afraid of just talking to me. They constantly stuttered, stammered, and repeated themselves out of fear. I felt my eyes water from it. No. I can't show weakness. Just work towards their loyalty.

"Come on, you can tell me."

"Ummmm…Well It-it's a fu-funny story…You-you're gonna laugh a-at this…it-it's really funny when yo-you…"

He stopped. I stared at him.

What should I say? I haven't had time to plan out this conversation.

"Please don't kill me…"

Oh no…

"Did the people not buy the supplies?"

"Come on." A tall, lean guy, with green eyes and round glasses said. "Isn't it obvious what happened with the sheer lack of supplies AND money we have? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out."

I looked at him.

He immediately cleared his throat. "I'll shut up."

I immediately came to a realization. "They…they stole the supplies?"

The teenage girl from before walked up. "Sorry Skitter. Stormtiger came and blew us away with a puff of wind and ran away with the supplies. We weren't even in the E88's territory and they came anyway."

"He was holding back." The buff man said. "If he wasn't, he could've blown us into pieces with a single attack. Figuratively and literally."

So that was it? My plan failed? Maybe it was because they didn't have a weapon, maybe it was because I left them without support, maybe…

Maybe it was because supplies are too valuable…

If that was the case, then I couldn't make sales. I couldn't do it with drugs or protection money. My moral code wouldn't allow it. And if supplies wouldn't work, then I couldn't make money, and then this territory would be a waste of time. And then…

And then Coil wouldn't free Dinah…

As for Stormtiger, I didn't need to hear that to confirm it. I saw Stormtiger blow away Grue's Darkness with a single blast. It was obvious he could've done more.

"It's ok."

The teenage girl's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, I know first hand how powerful Stormtiger is. You were lucky to escape with your lives."

"Sooooo, what? You're not going to break our legs?" The tall guy said.

I sighed. "No. I'm not."

The tall guy looked like I was telling him objectively incorrect, The buff guy looked like he didn't even believe a word of what I was saying, While the teenage girl…

I couldn't read her expression…

But I didn't have to. "Thank you." She said.

I simply nodded in response. "Well, you're welcome. Now if you excuse me, I have to go."

"What!?" the first woman said. "What about me!? What about my arm!?"

"Do any of you have first aid training?" I asked the three sellers.

"I do." The girl said.

"Fix her up with the kit. I'll be in my room."

"You mean in your lair. Plotting your dastardly deeds?" The tall guy said, while rubbing his hands cartoonishly.

"No…I'm just going to think. I'll be back in a few."

"Ok." they all said.

I walked up to my room, gave one last look to my workers, walked in my room, closed the door…

And cried.

I'm such an idiot. Supplies would be the most valuable thing in this city right now. Everyone will be going after them. I can't sell them without getting a large target on my back. Which means I just alerted everyone that The Undersiders or at least I have supplies and they will attack for resources. I won't be able to defend myself against Stormtiger or Hookwolf and that means I won't ever have a successful territory, and that means Coil won't ever see the value in it.

And that means I'd never free Dinah.

That was my whole reason for being a villain…All I wanted to do was free Dinah…There's nothing I wanted more. I know I'm doing some terrible things, I know that I'm making people afraid of me. I just…can't do anything else. When I think about her skin…her eyes… I couldn't think about it without getting chills up my body. The 'candy', which just saying that makes me sick to my stomach, was clearly damaging her. She was not just becoming unhealthy, she was becoming dependent on it. She was becoming dependent on Coil. Which he wanted the whole time. It's fucking bullshit. She's a child. She doesn't deserve that.

I couldn't even go to sleep without getting nightmares of Dinah being abused, being groomed, being hurt by the fucking bastard Coil. I get them every other night, non-stop. Every time I had one, I thought about it silently, trying to calm down, trying to rationalize it. Failing to do so. The nightmares were always varied, my mind was apparently creative. I had nightmares where he holds her hostage, nightmares where he asks her so many questions, she screams in pain…

And nightmares where I'M Coil…

I couldn't help it. She's only in this situation because of me. I was the one that helped with the bank robbery. I was the one that helped Coil with the E88. I've been helping Coil the whole time. It was me. How was I supposed to make up for that? How could I redeem myself after I was literally responsible for the kidnapping and drugging of a little girl? More importantly, how could I save her from Coil? The first answer was working with him to prove myself more valuable. But that clearly isn't working. Which means Dinah will stay with Coil. She stayed as a…I gulped as I thought the words, Pet. And I feel worse and worse until…

well…I don't want to think about it…

The only way to make things right would be to save her. But I can't. I can't beat Coil with force. He's an unstoppable juggernaut with his power and army. And it'd be betraying The Undersiders, Betraying Lisa…Betraying Brian…It wasn't an option. But on the other hand, the plan to prove to Coil that I'm more valuable than Dinah wasn't working. All I was proving is that I wouldn't do what needed to be done. I refused to peddle drugs or protection money. But those were my only other options. How could I save Dinah by proving myself to Coil that I was a valuable villain, if I couldn't even make a profit? I felt my guilt rise, I felt so bad I wanted to throw up.

I cried into my pillow. Even taking off my mask and just sobbing into the cushion. How? How was I supposed to do this? How could I save Dinah? How could I take responsibility for my own actions and make things right? I had no connections, no help. I was alone on this territory. What was I supposed to do? I sobbed so much my eyes turned red. I clenched the pillow hard enough for my knuckles to turn white. If I couldn't save Dinah, I could never forgive myself. You're such a idiot. I'M such a idiot. I was a bastard. I was pointless. I was a piece of shit. I was-

"Skitter."

My eyes went wide in response to that. Was one of my workers hearing me cry? That wouldn't be good for my reputation. I Immediately wiped my eyes and put on my mask. "Who is it?"

"It's Tattletale."

Tattletale? Why was she here? "Come in."

She slowly came in, in her costume. Covered in black and purple spandex, with lines forming a 'Tt' and an eye on the chest. I'd miss the lines if I didn't have my power. She took one look at me, closed the door behind her, and said, "Plan failed, huh?"

"What?"

"Your plan. Sell the supplies, make a profit, rescue Dinah. Only people attacked your workers, stole your supplies, and left you jack shit. Leaving you a mess."

I blinked. "Sometimes, I forget just how scary your power is."

She smirked. "Yeah, it's impressive. More importantly, your plan failed."

It wasn't even a question. "Yeah…it did."

Tattletale actually looked unsure of herself for a second. I'm not sure, but I think It was the first time I was seeing her like this. She turned her head. "Nice painting"

I turned my head to the painting of black lines, on a red and yellow background. "Oh, that? That's just abstract art. Nothing special."

"Do you know what it is?"

I shook my head. "I just chose it because it looked spidery."

Tattletale tilted her head at the painting. "I can see an animal eating another's head."

"Where?"

"Over there." She pointed at the painting.

I stood up. And looked at where she was pointing. "I don't see it."

"Come on! You don't see it? The tail? The teeth?"

I tilted my head like Tattletale. "It looks more like an animal eating another's tail."

"Whatever." she walked, but bumped into a bunch of magazines. "What are these?"

I blushed furiously. "Nothing! It's nothing!" I swiped them away.

She chuckled. "Cape magazines?"

I whipped my head around. "You read the title?"

"Don't have to." She tapped her head twice while smiling.

I sighed. "It's not a big deal. Just a remnant of a past lifetime."

"Come on Taylor. There's nothing bad about liking heroes even when you're a villain. Even the best heroes get respect. You can read cape magazine and be a cape geek while still being a villain. I mean, there was that one snake themed villain that was dating a superhero. It's ok, no villain will judge you. Not even Bitch."

I smiled. "Thanks Lisa. I-"

"I told you to not use real names when in costume. And not to use codenames in normal attire."

I nodded. "Ok."

Tattletale sighed. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to say it eventually. Coil wants to talk to us."

Oh no. "What does he want?"

"He didn't say. My guess though? He wants to talk about the heroes having supplies. And what he can do against it"

I looked down. "I…really don't feel comfortable with that."

"You wanna save Dinah, don't you?"

I looked at Tattletale, but I couldn't look her in the eye.

"You don't think you can…"

"What's the point if my supplies get stolen by supervillains?"

"It was a bad run, bad luck, poor running start. It's not going to be indicative of the whole play. If you try it again, I GUARANTEE it's going to work."

I looked Tattletale in the eye. "You've been wrong before."

"Technically, that was because of you. If you're talking about the bank robbery."

Because of me? Did she know about my talk with Armmaster?

Ugh, I didn't even want to think about him…

"So you're telling me, with 100% certainty, that the plan will work if I do it a second time?"

Tattletale got serious, looked me in the eye, and said, "Yes."

I continued to stare at her until I was certain she was telling the truth. When I was, I said, "Ok, let's go."

An hour later

Coil's base was your standard supervillain base. On the top, it was your average construction site. On the bottom, it was an elaborate, intricate, lair that housed nearly the entire army that he had on beck and call. With metal staircases leading up to several rooms, and concrete walls surrounding us.

I came to Coil's room, where the rest of the team were.

"What's up taytay?" Imp said.

"Hey, Imp," I replied.

"So what's been up, dork?" Regent said.

"Nothing much."

"What about your plan?" Grue spoke. "How did that turn out?"

I looked away. I didn't want to bring everyone else down by explaining how my plan failed.

But I think I gave it away. "Oh sorry," Grue spoke.

"It's ok," I said. "It'll work the next time, right?"

"I'd ask what you guys were talking about if I cared." Bitch said.

I tried to ignore Bitch and her attitude towards me, yet it was hard to, considering she tried to backstab me. I know what it was about, But even with that in mind, It didn't justify it. I didn't even feel guilty. It's not like I was planning on betraying them.

Well, I was, but I quickly changed my mind.

"You obviously care enough to say something."

Bitch facial went from bored to fierce within a second and she came after me. I immediately went back and tried to slink behind Tattletale. Until Grue came between me and Bitch and said, "That's enough."

That didn't ease Bitch's temper. "She was the one that-"

"Made a point after you tried to start shit, yes, how terrible. Listen Bitch. You're on thin ice after you tried to backstab Skitter. So I suggest-"

"She was going to backstab us!" She growled.

"She said she changed her mind. And I believe her. Rest assured, you didn't sacrifice your dogs for a traitor."

Bitch looked down with a scowl on her face.

"Huh?" Imp said.

"Bitch sicked her dogs on Levithan, all to save Taylor. Bitch is now peeved." Regent summed up.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh. You're a bitch, Taylor."

My eyebrow creased. "I wasn't going to backstab them. I changed my mind. Even after Dinah was fucking revealed-"

"Chill girl, I was only joking."

"Yeah taytay," Regent said, "you shouldn't be so sensitive. Especially when you killed a dog. That's fucked up."

"I didn't-"

"Skitter." Tattletale stopped me. "I'm sure he was joking. And Regent and Imp? She already feels bad, just lay off. And…stick to codenames."

"Is that how we do things around here?" Imp asked.

"Yeah, I only said 'taytay' because I like the nickname."

"Awwwww, thanks!"

I rolled my eyes.

As we were waiting, I wanted to think about something to take my mind off this incoming talk with Coil. Something preferable, something calming…

My mind immediately went to the plan-looking boy…

Something not like that…

I really didn't want to think about him. But every time my mind tried to go to something else. It went to the stupid, plain looking boy with a face as average as possible, skinny, stupidly freckled, and with stupid, ugly, fucking green hair, in the dumb blue and white outfit. And the awful philosophy. Idolizing them so much, he quotes them. Acting like because some of them don't get paid, they're not doing it for their own benefit? Where does he get this information?

And how DARE he trivialize my life experiences by saying I was just a spiteful, idiotic, bully? How DARE he insult me by saying heroes were pure good? Incapable of being bad. How DARE he acts like I'm in the wrong for trying to help people any way I can? Even if they don't want it?

And you know what? His philosophy would be charmingly naïve if it wasn't so pathetic. If he wasn't one of those nerdy bullies. Y'know, the type that bully someone because they want a girl to like them. As much as I didn't like Greg. Atleast he stayed by my side, I could at least say THAT about him.

But you can't say the same for the plain-looking kid. I could tell that he likes heroes, not because they're good. But because it's personal to him. Like a hero acted like his father figure or some shit. Something like that. And now he can't IMAGINE them being bad. If he saw the shit I've seen…if he experienced what I have, then-

"Skitter." Tattletale looked at me. "Something bothering you?"

I looked away. "No…I'm fine."

She nodded.

A man opened the door. Tall, well-built, with dark hair, a cut ear, and a goatee. "Undersiders."

Grue spoke first. "Yes?"

"You're on."

We all nodded and went into the room. Coil sat at the other end of the room behind a big table. Covered in black spandex that had the pattern of a white snake swirling around it.

"Undersiders," Coil said.

"Coil." We all replied.

"I'm glad you could show up away from your territory. Any problems since our last talk?"

"Nope," Regent spoke.

"Nuh-uh," Imp said.

"No," Grue replied.

"Nothing here," Tattletale responded.

Bitch was the closest one that came with a problem. "Not as long as you give me what I want."

Coil's body language didn't even change. "I don't take threats lightly. I will supply you with what you require, but only if you stay cooperative. I'm assuming there won't be a problem with that?"

Bitch paused for a second. "No."

"Perfect. Then our relationship can remain mutually beneficial."

Bitch shrugged her shoulders at that.

"Skitter."

"Hm?" I hadn't realized I stayed silent until now.

"You're the only one that hasn't answered. And your body language is telling me there's something you want to say."

"Ummm…no, I'm fine."

"When people say they're fine. 95% of the time. They're not."

"Well, I am."

Coil's body language shifted a fraction. Was that calculated, or was he really annoyed?

"Skitter," Coil spoke. "This would go better if you weren't being difficult."

What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? I didn't know what to say in response.

Luckily, Tattletale came in. "You called us here for a reason, right? You didn't call us here to talk about Skitter's personal problems."

I silently thanked Tattletale. She put the pressure on Coil. So he would get on the defensive. And be forced to focus on something else. Or risk looking weird. The problem is, would he take it?

"Yes, I did call you here for a reason. We need to talk about the heroes giving supplies. And what to do against it."

"Called it." Tattletale said.

"You're not special. Li-tats. I guessed the same thing." Imp sounded very proud of herself.

Tattletale glared at Imp, who quickly cleared her throat. "Shutting up."

Grue turned away from them. "So what's the plan? They have All Might so we can't fight them, do we just wait until they leave?"

"Can't do that." Tattletale said. "I already have people wanting to leave my territory."

"Quite right, Tattletale." Coil said. " And chances aren't as bad as you think. I asked my pet what were the chances of you all coming back from attacking the heroes and stealing their supplies if we had The Travelers help you. Since they are also being affected by this, but couldn't show up Because of problems with Noelle. They be here eventually, just not now"

I twitched at the mention of Dinah. Especially with a fucking name like 'pet'. He asked her questions that would only hurt her head. Her only reward being drugs? I felt like I wanted to throw up.

"And what did she say?" Tattletale asked.

"The chances were 80.46809% If I don't help you. And 85.9732% if I do. As you can see, not very bad odds."

"So we attack?" Grue asked.

"That seems like the wisest choice."

Great, now not only did I have no justification for doing what I did. Because the heroes were helping the people and I had, like, no chance of saving Dinah. But I had to go even further and attack the heroes. I don't have a problem with attacking heroes, per say, only that I'd be hurting the people's chance of getting supplies. I mean, if more people gave other people supplies, wouldn't that be a good thing?

"Skitter?"

I looked up. "Yes?"

"You seem distracted again," Coil said. "Judging from the time where you looked the most distracted, I deduce that it's our mission that's bothering you."

Shit, he figured me out. What was I supposed to say in response? Should I tell him that it's the truth? Should I try a lie?

Should I play dumb?

"What mission?"

Not that dumb…

"I hope that wasn't a joke," Coil said. "This is no laughing matter. If you have doubts that our mission is for the best. How can we hope you will assist us?"

I looked down. "Ummmm…uhhhhh…"

"How can we hope you will pull through and not hesitate?"

"Skitter-"

"The question is for her." Coil cut Tattletale off. He then turned to me. "Well?"

I didn't know what to say. It seemed like I wasn't a reliable teammate. What could I say that would convince him? What could I say that would convince them?

"They're my friends." I gestured at The Undersiders. "I wouldn't backstab even if my life depended on it."

"I wouldn't say you would backstab them. Just not give this mission your all. Give it 100% of your might."

"I would," I said. "It's not like I'll save Dinah by failing, right?"

Coil's body language didn't change. "How about this? If you do this mission, and make a profit for your territory, I'll use less extreme measures on Dinah. If you prove yourself even more valuable, I won't even think twice about releasing her."

Less extreme measure? As in no more drugs? No more abuse? I still prefer her to go with her family, but if he's more gentle with her…

"Skitter?"

"That's all I need, Coil. I'll give the mission my all."

Coil sat there silently. "And the profits? Your territory?"

"Well, that would be easier if you would give me more supplies for me to sell."

"Did the last box sell well?"

"Yes, very well actually."

I don't think he moved a single inch during this whole talk. "Skitter, I know you're lying to me."

What? Did I reveal I was lying in another timeline?

I scratched my head and looked down to the ground. "Ummmm…no?"

"What do you mean, no?"

"Uhhhhh…yes?"

Tattletale facepalmed. Grue and Bitch stared. Regent and Imp snorted.

"Listen, if the supply plan failed. It's time to look into alternative methods. Methods that will be sure to work. I believe Grue is pedaling for protection money?"

I looked down. "I…Can't do that."

"It'd be your most profitable-"

"I said I'm not doing it," I repeated while hugging my body. "Listen…the supply plan…it had a bad start. But, it'll get better. It'll work the second time. Even if I have to sell it myself."

"That'll only leave your base vulnerable to attacks," Coil argued. "Not to mention, if people didn't buy your supplies before, what makes you think they'll buy them now?"

"It's not that they didn't buy them? They were stolen."

"And they won't get stolen again because?"

I didn't have an answer.

"Listen Skitter, I won't stop giving you supplies. I'll still give you two boxes of food. What you do with them is your choice. But I can't put MORE money into something that isn't succeeding in the first place. The whole reason why I have Dinah is that I don't like chances. Everything has to be almost certain. So I suggest another method."

I gave the only answer I could. "Ok…"

"As for the rest of you. I suggest a plan. Using your powers to their fullest advantage. Take your opponents' every weakness into account. And….and…and…"

Coil was droning? Why? That's not like him. And he seemed to be looking at something else.

And right when I noticed that I got the sense of a lot of bugs all of the sudden. As if a pocket dimension opened.

Me and the Undersiders looked behind us to see a purple portal.

And a man covered in hands stepped outside.

Author Notes: The next chapter is here! hope you enjoy it. Things are going to go off the handle pretty soon, so get hyped!

And if you couldn't already guess, The Undersiders, The Travelers, and Coil are going to meet Shigaraki and Kurogiri next episode, expect a lot of setup and payoffs coming soon! And I hope you're as excited as I am!

I'm working on the second episode of Ultimate, and I will post it on my site in a few months. Tell me if you want to see more of Ultimate and if you don't know what that is. What are you waiting for? Check out TheUltimateWriting to read it, it's WAY better than this is. Trust me.

That's all I had to say, this is Super Ultimate Number One, sighing out. Peace!