Hope Through Overwhelming Firepower 5.2
Taylor blinked. "So that's what it's like to have a shard of glass bounce off your eyeball."
"You get used to it in time." Alexandria commented. "And I really liked that window too."
"What was that anyway?" Taylor questioned.
Alexandria tapped the side of her cheek. "Shatterbird, probably."
"Shatterbird? Then... Dad!" Taylor panicked and searched for her father. A moments thought showed him stumbling around the director's office, the lights having blown out; she let out a sigh of relief. "He's okay..."
"I'm not surprised; he was in the Director's office after all. The PRT offices are built with what protections are possible against the more infamous Parahumans." Alexandria stated. "As you might imagine, the Slaughterhouse Nine are most definitely amongst those ranks. Anyway, I need to go report to Armsmaster; there hasn't been an official transfer of power as of yet, so I am still beholden to his orders." Alexandria explained. "You should probably search out Aegis and do something similar, Buster... Buster?"
Taylor stared out into the distance blankly.
Out there, on the edges of Brockton Bay, sat a little girl, humming to herself.
The tortured screams of the man before her provided a haunting echo to the hum.
Bonesaw dug her fingers into an incision in the man's arm, and tore out a long strand of muscle. She giggled a bit, snipped the strand in half, and began making knots out of it.
The screaming got louder.
"Really, you shouldn't complain so much." Bonesaw scolded. "You'll do wonderful things after I'm done here~" She patted him on the side of his torn cheek. "Cheer up!"
An eyeball rolled out of his shredded sockets. "Whoops. Ah well, you didn't need that anyway." Bonesaw picked up the eye, and tossed it to the Siberian.
The Siberian snatched it out of the air, nodded her thanks to Bonesaw, and began munching.
Taylor began dry heaving. The... The fuck?
Alexandria put a hand on her shoulder. "Buster, is something the matter?"
"Bonesaw, she... she..." Taylor had no words to say.
"Bonesaw? Shit, turn off your area senses, now!" Alexandria demanded.
Taylor couldn't hear anymore, she had already given in.
Goal: Elimination of the Slaughterhouse Nine
"Buster? You're eyes... Dammit. Snap out of it, Buster."
Accessing Database on all Slaughterhouse Nine members
Data Retrieved
Taylor walked up to hole where the window used to be.
"Buster-Taylor? Goddammit, she's gone."
Taylor leaped out of the window, and landed on the street.
Area of Acceptable Damage located
Taylor launched herself into the air, the street below her shattering from the force of her blast.
12.4 Seconds until Inertial Cancel.
Taylor sailed through the air above Brockton Bay.
Inertial Cancel: Spike
Taylor briefly spiked her Inertial Cancelers, just enough to halt her movement over a specific point.
Taylor fell through the air, building up momentum. She reoriented herself so that her hand would be the first part to land.
Her Target had a moment to look up in response to the whistling of air, and open their eyes wide.
Taylor's hand reached out and grabbed the Target's head during her fall, carrying it with her into the ground.
The head, caught between the ground and Taylor's hand, popped like a grape.
Bonesaw died instantly.
Two more targets in immediate area.
Taylor picked herself up off the ground. Jack Slash rounded the corner. "What was tha..." He trailed off.
As Taylor stood over the headless corpse of Bonesaw, the Siberian began to tremble.
Unleashing a wordless howl of rage, she charged at Taylor.
Taylor glanced at her.
Dimensionally Distorted Space: Vulnerable to Physics Cancel.
Physics Cancel: Spike
The Siberian popped like a bubble.
Taylor looked at Jack Slash.
His eyes were wide. He gave no response to the scene, merely turned and ran.
A blast of red light tore open his torso, and Jack Slash died.
Next Target detected.
Burnscar walked down an alleyway a quarter kilometer away.
Taylor raised a hand, and paused.
Unacceptable Targets in Line of Fire: Wait 3.4 Seconds
Taylor waited.
Clear
Taylor fired.
A woman in the second building let out a yelp of surprise as a red beam passed through the air inches from her face.
Burnscar fell to the ground, dead, with a hole through her skull.
Shatterbird next nearest target.
Unacceptable Targets in Line of Fire: No wait time.
Taylor began to walk around the building in her way.
Shatterbird nearing
"W-what?"
Taylor spun around, and lashed out with her hand, an arc of red light bisecting Shatterbird before she could really take in anything.
Begin pursuit of Mannequin
Target too far away for effective movement
Considering
Excess Mass Redirected.
Primary Singularity: 16% Output
Reactivate: Guidance System
Taylor launched a lance of red energy into the air. Immediately after launch, it curved its way through the air, and struck down the entire alley way Mannequin was in a few seconds later.
"More of Legend's powers..." Alexandria breathed out.
Taylor took in the new arrival.
Alexandria, designation: Ally
And ignored her.
Remaining Target: Crawler.
Durability exceeds Acceptable Levels of collateral from Ranged Attacks.
Considering
Reactivate: Buster Collider
Taylor launched herself into the air once more, leaving a young girl shivering in abject terror, and an increasingly worried Alexandria behind her.
11.7 Seconds until Inertial Cancel