Carol sighed.
The details of the latest case she picked up were giving her a mild migraine. Shadow Stalker, aka Sophia Hess, had gone rogue and teamed up with a group of villains. As a result, her parents were attempting to sue the PRT for failing to keep her out of trouble like they promised. This then dug up her activities at Winslow, as well as her ties to the Barnes girl and their involvement in a bullying campaign against the recently murdered Taylor Hebert.
The Barnes girl that had gone missing shortly after moving out of state only to be found twenty-four hours later babbling gibberish that no psychologist could decipher.
She was surprised to learn that Amy was friends with the Hebert girl, and had been for months. More concerning, Amy didn’t seem all that upset about how her friend was violently gunned down along with her father. Carol wanted to question her about it, but Victoria asked that she give her space, and it was hard to say no to her daughter.
She just had to trust that Victoria was taking care of things. That was easier said than done. Victoria was out, tagging along with Dean’s patrol for the afternoon. Mark was at an appointment downtown. Amy was upstairs, supposedly studying for a coming exam. Maybe she should go talk to the girl, see if she’d been straying from the values Carol had tried to instill.
Amy’s power scared her, and not just for the similarities with Marquis. She could read biology, which meant she knew the truth of Victoria’s true parentage. She regretted the affair with Neil from the morning after it happened, though she didn’t regret Victoria’s conception, even with how young she had been.
She knew that Neil could have gone to prison for sleeping with her, she had been only sixteen and he was almost twenty five, but they were fresh off a battle with the Empire and both Sarah and Mark were indisposed. It was a secret they all agreed to keep from their children, to claim them as their own.
The Shadow Stalker case could wait, not like there was much she could do about it while Sophia was still on the run. Pushing away from her desk, she stretched, letting her joints crack and pop. She hated getting older, and knew that Amy was cheating a bit with the whole family’s health. Maybe she should be a bit more grateful for that.
Amy always seemed to work hard, far more than should be expected of her. Carol was aware that she would often sneak out at night, and if not for her phone trackers, she would have been suspicious of that. She would go to the hospitals to heal. That first time they called Carol to make sure everything was alright. She’d reluctantly allowed it, so long as she didn’t go too often. She didn’t want to discourage good behavior after all.
Carol knew she was harsh on the girl, but it was hard to cut back when it was clearly working. How would she even explain such a sudden shift in behavior? It was frustrating, but the girl would only be under her roof for another year.
Footsteps caught her ear, Amy was coming down the stairs. Carol stepped into the hall and watched, the brief flash of Marquis haunting her as it always did when she saw the girl. It wasn’t fair to Amy, she knew that, and yet the bile still rose in the back of her throat, how he had reminded her of that man in the cellar.
Carol sucked in a breath, forcing herself to think about anything else.
Amy was getting ice from the freezer, something as innocent as a glass of water. She didn’t know why she was so on edge about her. Well, since she was up, maybe she could talk to the girl, see how she’s doing. Carol was about to walk into the kitchen when she heard a young and cheerful voice that she didn’t recognize followed by shattering glass.
Carol’s power ignited in hand, then the wall exploded. She spun, a snarl on her lips that anyone would dare ambush them in their own home only for her power to fizzle out. Her eyes widened at the sight of the hulking Brute as it sauntered inside the hallway. Whatever it was, it walked like a gorilla, but rather than large arms, it had mantis like scythes for limbs. A biotinker creation, that was all she could think of, and it disabled powers.
“Walk,” it grunted in a deep, trembling voice.
The creature was in pain.
She turned, walking into the kitchen and nearly choked at the sight of the little girl sitting at her kitchen table like she was a guest. Her feet were kicking in the air as she smiled wide. The blonde hair in ringlets, the blue dress and white apron, there was no mistaking who the little monster was.
“Bonesaw,” Amy said with a snarl.
The girl nodded enthusiastically. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to meet you, Amelia!”
Carol’s blood ran cold. That name, how did she know? New Wave had done everything they could to bury Amy’s birth name, wiped records and even hired the Number Man to remove as many links as he could while building Amy a proper history. They had spent most of their savings managing that, yet the fucking Slaughterhouse Nine found it all the same.
Was it too late to demand a refund?
The absurdity of that thought brought her back to the moment as Amy stood defiantly in the face of one of the most terrifying monsters to roam the world. She watched as Amy shifted, slipping a hand into her pocket. A panic button? Given her own phone wasn’t going off, she doubted it was theirs, so who would she be trying to warn? Worse, was Amy so paranoid that she felt the need to carry a panic button in their own home?
Regardless, she needed to stall for time.
Amy shuffled for a moment, meeting Carol’s eyes for a brief instant before returning her attention to Bonesaw. “I’d normally give a speech about how dumb it is to go after Panacea right about now, but given you’re the Nine and all, I think I can safely skip it.”
“You do have an absurd number of kidnapping attempts on the PRT records,” Bonesaw agreed. The implications of that were not lost on her. “Regardless, I’m not here to kidnap you. I want you to be my new big sister!”
Big sister? What?
Thinking over that statement, it hit her. The Nine intended to recruit Amy, which meant they knew she was more than just a healer. There was no sugar-coating that, just the thought of Amy joining them scared the shit out of her. She could still remember that time Amy changed the color of a rose petal. Something so innocent, but said everything.
Amy didn’t heal, she manipulated biology.
It was why Carol was so adamant with Amy; she had so much potential to help others, but it would be so easy for her to become one of the worst monsters on the planet. That was why she was so strict with the girl, to ensure that her moral compass was unfalteringly pointed towards good. The Nine had a reputation for taking even the best of people and manipulating them into committing atrocities.
Amy scoffed. “What? You honestly think I would want to join a group of monsters like you?”
Bonesaw frowned. “That’s not very nice.”
As she spoke, the clicking of metal on tile drew her eyes to a disturbing creature of steel, flesh and glass. It moved like a spider, with a jar attached where the abdomen would be and inside was a brain, connected to multiple mechanical bits. Carol swallowed, because each of those represented a life lost to the monster’s experimentation. Were they still aware of what they used to be? Could they perceive the world around them? Would Amy end up twisting people into abominations that made this look like a mercy?
One of the spiders came to rest on the table beside Bonesaw. “We’ll have to work on that, which will include tests. As my candidate, you have three tests coming, plus one from each member. First off, I have several creations running about, you can pick one and break them apart however you like, though the one behind me might prove extra tricky. Two, I will be releasing a disease into the city at some point. Isolate and cure it and I’ll consider that test passed, and here’s a hint, it will affect the brain. We both know you’re not limited there after all.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Carol exclaimed as panic filled her. They knew, and now they would work to break all the work she had done on ensuring another villain didn’t rise from Marquis’ ashes. “She’s trying to manipulate you.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“No shit,” Amy said. “I’m not an idiot.”
“Language,” Bonesaw said. “Not like you’ll have much of a choice of it. That virus is a fun one, and I designed it with you in mind! Jack always says it’s important to learn to make art in new and exciting ways.”
“Too right, poppet,” Jack fucking Slash said, stepping into the room proper. “Amelia, a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Behind him, Carol saw a ghost. Miss Militia stood, bandanna down around her neck but otherwise as she remembered aside from those vacant eyes. That couldn’t be. She attended the funeral, Hannah Washington was dead and buried, yet there she was, pointing a gun right at her.
“How?” Amy asked, a hint of something in her voice that Carol couldn’t place. “She was in a coma, wait, how did you even find her? I left her with the Major!”
Jack Slash chuckled, a pocket knife twirling in his fingers. “Oh, Motoko was my nominee of course, and finding this little gem was just a bonus. It took my little poppet no effort at all to get her back up and shooting so to speak.”
“Yup!” Bonesaw exclaimed. “Brains are so much fun to play with, so I don’t know why you’re so shy about it. Just think, with your power you could make someone obedient with a touch, or convince them they’ve always been your family. Tell you what, fix what I did to her and I’ll consider that your third test passed.”
Carol stared in horror, knowing exactly how terrifying Amy would become if she did even half of what Bonesaw was implying through her twisted tests. Not only would the world be deprived of Panacea, she would become the greatest monster in history outside of the Endbringers. She couldn’t let that happen, not after everything she had done to prevent it, but she was powerless to stop it with literal blades at her throat.
As if to answer her unspoken prayer, the window behind them burst, the sharp crack of gunfire accompanying her arrival as two of the spiders burst. Bonesaw screamed even as Jack pulled her aside. The woman, with purple hair and a long jacket, pulled Amy behind her, gun leveled on Jack as a tense standoff formed in her kitchen.
“Ah, if it isn’t the Major,” Jack said without a care in the world. “If I didn’t know better, I would think my favorite nominee was following me.”
Rather than answer, the Major shifted, shooting the Brute holding Carol. Strangely enough, the creature roared and stumbled away leaving a trail of blood behind only to backhand her at the last moment.
Everything in her screamed in agony as she bounced off her own wall, pictures falling with her. With tear filled eyes she looked up. Jack had vanished, leaving Miss Militia behind who turned to fire on the Major as well as Amy. The Major spun, shielding Amy with her own body as the girl screamed.
Carol grit her teeth and rushed forward despite the pain, tackling the Bonesaw puppet to the ground. They wrestled for a moment, the woman far stronger than she had any right to be, no doubt more of Bonesaw’s ministrations. Then her power flared to life in the back of her mind, that ever present spark that she could call upon and twist to her will.
Without a thought to spare, she turned it into a knife and speared it through Militia’s shoulder. The puppet screamed and Carol felt pity for her, for there were good odds that the woman was fully conscious, just not in total control of herself. She could live with that for the moment.
“Don’t kill her,” the Major said sharply.
Carol looked up, surprised that the woman didn’t even seem winded from having an almost point-blank machine gun unload on her with lethal ammunition. Amy was right behind her, not at all put off with what should have been an unfamiliar villain. More importantly, how had she known to come to their home? Was she following Jack Slash after he nominated her or was it something more sinister?
Had Amy already slipped into villainy? Was Bonesaw just there to give her that last push? Too many questions and if she pushed too hard, she would just drive her away. She had to be careful about how she tackled the problem. She had to treat it like a court case, and Amy was the problem she had to solve, with the Major as an accessory.
Amy knelt down, feeling Miss Militia. The grimace on her face said all it needed to.
“How bad is it?” the Major asked.
“Several parasites, lots of weird physical enhancements, and something attached to her brain and dug in there. I think it’s another parasite.”
That was too familiar of dialog between them, confirming one of her suspicions. Amy was consorting with villains in secret. That meant Dragon’s tracking software couldn’t be relied upon, which suggested Tinker support. This wasn’t just dipping her toes into the pool, Amy was involved with a major villainous group.
“Disable her motor control for a moment and tend to your mother,” the Major said. “Militia can wait for a moment.”
Amy looked between them, seeming conflicted before she nodded and came over. Immediately the pain faded, no doubt her pain receptors dulled until the damage was undone. Amy had worked on the family many times after rough fights, this was nothing new.
Yet the apprehension was worse than ever.
“Five broken ribs, four more cracked. Your shoulder is dislocated and the soft tissue damage is tremendous. Five more minutes and you would have been unconscious. Another twenty and you would have died.”
Amy spoke so easily of her death, something she did each time someone sustained potentially fatal injuries. She claimed it was to remind everyone that while she was a miracle healer, she wasn’t a miracle. The people she healed were still mortal and needed that reminder even as she cheated death.
She needed to do the same for Amy with the villain she was so comfortable with. She needed to remind the girl that villains were vile and not to be trusted. Looking at the Major, she recalled the briefing on her following the attack on the PRT building.
“Amy,” Carol said after a moment. “Why is that murderer here?”
The Major looked up, glaring at her. “Fuck you too. You’re welcome by the way.”
“She meant the Nine,” Amy said before turning back to Carol. “Right?”
“No,” Carol said. “The Nine obviously want you, that’s a given. I want to know why that murderous woman came running when you were attacked.”
The Major stared at her with a piercing glare for just a moment. “Amy helped an associate, so they gave her a panic button. She activated it which is why I came as quickly as I could.”
“After being nominated by Jack?” Amy asked.
The Major winced. “Bastard seems to think I’ll make a good fit. I’m just glad we recovered Miss Militia. Bonesaw and Harbinger were with him, they stole her comatose body.”
“What do you mean, comatose?” Carol demanded as she stood, flexing her healed shoulder, her power itching to be used. “Miss Militia was announced as deceased and buried on live TV. We attended the ceremony!”
“Yet here she is,” the Major said tersely. “Amy, is there anything you can do for her now?”
Amy swallowed, walking over to the bleeding woman. Miss Militia had a thousand yard stare as she watched them, unable to act.
“Bonesaw slipped a few implants into her,” Amy said. “Most of which are in her brain, worse, they’re biological in nature.”
“Can you remove them?” the Major asked.
“They’re in her brain,” Amy growled. “You know I don’t mess with brains.”
Carol cut in, grabbing Amy by the arm. The Major spun, her gun now leveled on her but she didn’t care at the moment. “You helped them steal her body, didn’t you?”
“No,” Amy said. “I helped them save her life when Armsmaster declared her dead.”
“Why the secrecy?” Carol demanded.
“Why didn’t the PRT announce we took her supposed body?” the Major countered. “They assumed we stole a corpse, not a still breathing woman. Amy patched her up, but couldn’t do anything to help the brain damage. Apparently Bonesaw was able to do something there. Now, Amy, can you help her?”
Amy looked between the Major and Carol, barely restrained panic visible. “I…”
The now healed Miss Militia shifted her weapon, and shot the Major point-blank, knocking her into the kitchen table. Militia hopped to her feet and fired at Amy, who scrambled to get away. The Major pushed herself back to her feet, returning fire with the remainder of her magazine.
Miss Militia retreated in short order, out the shattered door and into the night. Carol blinked in confusion, the entire exchange taking mere seconds, but all she could wonder was how Miss Militia had gotten away after Amy disabled her. Was it another Bonesaw surprise, or had Amy allowed it?
That she even had to ask herself that question sent chills down her spine. Just how compromised was she already? How much more would the villains need to push to win her over to their side?
“Fuck, that one stung,” the Major said, rubbing her sternum. “Even with a Brute package, that shit hurts.”
Carol ignited her power and aimed the blade at the villain. “You’re under arrest.”
“You can’t be serious,” Amy interjected, pushing herself between them. “She just risked her life to save us and you’re going to try and arrest her in the middle of a Nine attack? Truce rules are in effect or have you forgotten?”
Carol wanted to scream and yell, but she could tell it wouldn’t accomplish much. She needed a new angle, and that appeared in the form of her daughter swooping in through the window, ready for a battle. She immediately squared up with the Major, a spark of pride forming in Carol’s chest at the sight before Amy shifted.
“Bonesaw and Jack were here, priorities Vicky,” Amy said quickly.
Vicky immediately backed down and Carol wanted to scream.
“Shit,” her daughter muttered and she could only echo the sentiment.