“This is a terrible plan,” Lustrum said.

“Which is why it’s perfect!” Fester answered. “Seriously, it’s gonna be great.”

“Max deserves it after what he did anyway,” Skadi added. “He’s a worthless cheat and I’d been wanting to do that to Kayden ever since I learned about their affair.”

Melissa sighed. Sometimes she appreciated having others to talk to in her mind, and was thankful she could control when they got to speak otherwise she would go batty from how much they loved to talk. Lustrum was right, though, it was a terrible plan.

That was half the reason she agreed to it.

“I, for one, am all for this plan!” Butcher said.

Winter snorted. “It involves copious violence, of course you’re all for it.”

“We’re the fuck mothering Butcher, of course we get excited by violence,” Marauder added. “It comes with the mother fucking name!”

Melissa rolled her eyes, white coat fluttering in the breeze. That most of the voices in her head agreed with it was another matter, but she had come to accept what the crazy murder fiends in her head thought was a good time. It didn’t help that there was bleedover, which was inevitable when it came to memory transfers. Cranial had been invaluable there, helping create a firmer separation between the old her and the new memories.

It wasn’t perfect, but it helped keep her grounded.

Meeting Annette’s daughter had been an interesting experience. The memories of the woman, or even of little Taylor hadn’t been her own, but the bleedover from Lustrum and Fester was intense. Her first instinct had been to push it away, but she didn’t and the relationship that had grown between them was worth it.

Taylor needed someone to look up to, especially with how Danny had shut down following Annette’s death. She’d paid him a subtle visit shortly after Taylor installed her cyber brain, to feel him out and that made it all the clearer that Taylor needed someone she could look up to. She hadn’t expected to all but get a daughter out of it.

Never mind three of them.

Lisa and Amy needed structure as well, and so she set out to provide it. Kurt fed some information to the IRS about Lisa’s genetic donors and both were scrambling to keep enough to be considered middle class following the audit that had essentially bankrupted them. She had a good laugh when she got to show Lisa the fallout and the girl’s absolutely gleeful cackling that followed.

Amy would need more work, given her family were heroes, but the Nine run would provide good cover and the rest of their misfit family was more than happy to play whatever role was needed to protect the newest addition. Granted, that redhead from the Truce meeting might usurp that title if the message from Taylor about bringing her on with the Undersiders was accurate.

“Taylor is so much like her mother it hurts,” Fester said with a wistful smile. “I know she wanted to turn herself in and all, but I’m glad she ended up pregnant if this is the legacy she left behind. Kid’s too good at heart.”

Lustrum chuckled. “Yeah, Annette had this magnetic pull about her, made you want to believe in whatever her goal happened to be. There’s a reason my sister opted to go to the Birdcage to protect her.”

“Eowen was among the best of us,” Fester said, reverently.

“Annette’s treatments did manage to piss off the government enough to get the organization shut down,” Skadi added. “Nazi propaganda only explains so much of it.”

“Haven played a part too,” Pyro said. “Never underestimate those religious fucksticks.”

“Why haven’t we wiped them out?” Crimson asked. “They more than qualify given they’re no better than the Fallen!”

“They just have better PR,” Fester growled.

Too resource intensive, Melissa said. They have dozens of capes, including multiple Masters. We can’t risk anyone falling under their sway.

“Why not send in Taylor?” Sanguine asked.

“She is Master resistant,” Winter quietly agreed.

Enough.

Melissa sighed, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole. Taylor’s tech made someone naturally Master resistant, that was true, but it was still asking a not even sixteen-year-old girl to carry out an act of mass murder that was barely a step above execution. Maybe in the future, but she was hesitant to push the girl into actions she might regret, or worse, cultivate a girl that didn’t regret them at all. Motoko was at risk of that as it was and she could sympathize with the whole plurality of their existence.

Melissa knew all too well how easy it was to turn into a remorseless killer, she had gone down that path after her inheritance. It really didn’t take much, a few easily justified killings and next thing you knew you were screaming right along with the collective as you ripped the bowels out of some corrupt asshat.

Deep breaths.

She took a moment to compose herself, sitting outside of Max Anders’ manor where he was staying with the twins. How he expected to be safe there, even with two dozen highly trained guards, was anyone’s guess. She could deal with them in an instant given her power sets. Butcher’s pain blast was a real bitch to counter, never mind the combination of Lustrum and Skadi’s powers.

She smirked, letting herself grow larger as she leaned on Skadi’s ability, soon thirty feet tall. Then a golden glow shimmered around her as she projected the energy field of Lustrum, sucking in the electricity of the power station that supplied the manor, absorbing the light of the sun and growing stronger for each and every drop.

Melissa could feel her control slipping, the rush threatening to overtake her, the pull almost irresistible. She wanted nothing more than to cackle and teleport into the mess, so that was what she did. The garden exploded, at least three people turned to ash by the boosted effect of Pyro’s power.

Each new host brought unexpected synergies to the Butcher’s power, new angles to expand on the tool sets available. Automatic fire lit up the early morning light, not even tickling her through Lustrum’s projection that now towered fifty feet over the grounds. Not that they would have hurt even in her base state between the multiple Brute packages that came with the Butcher inheritance.

The bullets were shredding her fluttering coat however, and she couldn’t be having that. Some battle damage would add to the effect, too much would just be tacky. At least her hat, pinned to her hair, was protected by Lustrum’s projection.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I am the culmination of all your sins returned to collect,” Melissa said with a manic grin. “Rejoice, sinners, for there is no mercy to be found here.”

Pain flared outward, collapsing a dozen men in an instant. Either heart failure or an aneurysm from the boosted effect.

“That’s the shit!” Butcher exclaimed. “I swear I would have cum if I still could.”

The projected golden form above her lost six feet of height from the expenditure. Lustrum’s contributions were the most deadly by far, but each use of a boosted ability drained the projected shield just a bit more. She hid that weakness as best she could, killed any that learned of it outside the Nine, but eventually someone would figure it out.

Not that it was much of a weakness, but each potential counter needed to be considered fully. She’d practiced with Hatchet Face on how to counter nullifiers across three different lives, right up until a villain got lucky in St. Louis and put her old friend down. Riley tried to save him but it was no use, his brain was still intact enough for her to use his power for a project but nothing of him remained.

Everyone in the Nine save herself had that agreement with the little bundle of adorable terror. She had tried it once with a Butcher, the results had been less than pleasant for everyone involved, including the newest Butcher. The amalgamation went apeshit and had to be put down even as Jacob worked to calm Pyro in the aftermath.

A grenade burst near her head as she turned toward the manor, some idiot with a launcher scrambled to load a second as she took a few slow and deliberate steps towards him as Sanguine’s ability showed his heart hammering in his chest. She reached out, feeling the fluid as it flowed through him, then pulled.

The man burst like a bloody pinata.

“Literal blood fountains,” Sanguine purred.

Blood and gore rained over the balcony and down on the flowers below, droplets splattering against her shield even as it deflated another few feet. Certain powers were messy, and this was no different.

The remainder of the fight awaited inside, and so she deflated, directing the leaking power from her transformation into the shield and pulled it in tight. She was glowing almost like Scion at that point, not that she expected to match the abomination, but that glow was well known enough to give anyone pause.

She kicked in the front door, pulling on Sabertooth’s changer abilities to give her razor sharp claws and fangs while letting Crimson’s enhance her further. She grinned at the two men that greeted her with double aught buckshot, then leapt forward, burying her claws deep in the shorter one’s chest as she rode his collapsing form to the ground.

Rather than shrink back in fear, the other guard put the barrel flush with her skull and pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening, and it would take her regeneration a moment to repair her bleeding eardrums, but her skin hadn’t been broken otherwise. She spun, grabbing the gun and ripped it from his grip. She grinned, then smashed it into his skull like a club.

His head pulped on impact.

Brute powers did tend to take the fun out of the fight, but it was still viscerally satisfying to just tear men apart with nothing but your hands and whatever weapons they thought might work. Her white coat was practically crimson after those two, just how she liked it. She took off on all fours, tearing down the halls, bounding off walls. She turned a corner and ripped the throat from a man with her teeth, his body sent tumbling into another which she tackled, shredding their chest with enthusiasm.

She inherited a name, and by the goddess did she fucking earn it.

Blood dripped off of her as she stood, a feral grin stretching far wider than any human’s, not that anyone was left alive to see it. Bloodsight told her three people were left, dropping rapidly into the ground. Max did love his little escape routes, even his office had one in the event of a Brigade attack, probably why he ended up selling out Marquis to Brandish.

Oh well, onto the next stage of the plan.

Melissa burst through the window and vanished in a puff of smoke.

----------------------------------------

Max emerged from his bolthole right on schedule, the girls having come out a minute prior to ensure everything was clear.

“Fucking coward,” Sabertooth spat.

He really was. Melissa wanted to rip into him, to make a pretty bow out of his entrails for Riley to wear for her coming visit to the hospital to see Amy. It would make for such a fun reaction from everyone and only serve to cement their reputation. For as horrific as the Victor thing had been, it was surprisingly calm for a Nine attack, too few casualties and not nearly enough maimed survivors.

Funny how each person attending that rally was to be checked over by Amy Dallon, each carrying a secondary virus that she was modifying within them. Unmodified, it would activate in forty-eight hours, producing the same effect as the fast acting virus on stage. The modified virus was far more insidious, however.

She had been surprised when Amy suggested it, and when tested, the results were rather interesting. Completely non-contagious, it attacked the speech center of the brain. Within a year the person would be rendered a gibbering mess, unable to understand anything to do with language in general.

It wouldn’t be a pleasant fate, but those ballsy enough to go to Panacea about something they caught at a Nazi event? Well, they deserved it. The part that bothered her was how Amy could simply claim it was a brain issue and couldn’t help, the rule that Carol drilled into Amy’s head would be her ticket from scrutiny.

The rule that Carol knew was more suggestion than practical.

Melissa hated how they were corrupting the kids, dragging them ever deeper into the atrocities they regularly carried out. Taylor had multiple kills under her belt with some of Vivian’s worst toys. Motoko was born from those traumas, but Taylor didn’t shy away from responsibility like many in her situation might. Even Lisa took a life, and she hadn’t been there to help Lisa work through things after beyond a passing check in. She had to trust that Taylor had it in hand if they were going to keep on schedule.

“Come on!” Skadi exclaimed. “Let’s go skin the fucker already!”

“So eager to be with your ex again,” Fester cooed. “I wonder, how long would it have taken you to figure out he was cheating if you didn’t kill me?”

“Shut up.”

“Girl has a point,” Lustrum said, tapping her chin. “You were dense as hell before we educated you.”

“Don’t remind me,” Skadi said, deflating. “I’ve been waiting almost fifteen years for this. Theo needs to get away from him, nevermind Kayden’s kid.”

Legend will make sure they’re taken care of. Melissa reassured her. Now, we wait for the signal.

The moment stretched as Max argued with Jess and Ness, likely over what to do next. Then to her surprise, a fourth joined them. She almost expected it to be Hookwolf, but the person was locked in monochrome so similar to Gray Boy.

Alabaster.

Last she heard, he went to ground long before the attack on Taylor and her father. He hadn’t been seen for weeks before that, likely handling something out of the city for Kaiser, yet there he was. That made this the perfect opportunity. She pulled her phone out and messaged Riley, she would be so excited about all the new toys to experiment with.

Time stretched on with none of the assembled capes in any hurry to move on. Escape was rendered moot when three explosions announced that they had been found. Crystal towers grew from the blast, rising up into the sky and forming a ring around them. Vivian cackled, the sound distorted by her gas mask and voice filter as she stepped out, launcher slung over her shoulder.

Jacob and Kurt joined her a moment later, Riley perched on Kurt’s shoulder. If they hadn’t been in costume, it would have been a sweet scene. Melissa teleported in, making sure that the blast wouldn’t hurt anyone she cared about, and smiled as she took a mental step back.

“Oh Max, why are you running?” Skadi asked, frost creeping across the grass as she tapped into Winter’s power. “I thought we had something.”

“You’re not Heith,” Kaiser said, blades slowly covering his frame. “She’s dead and gone. You’re nothing but a pale imitation.”

“Ouch,” Melissa said. “Make it painful for him, this moment is all yours.”

“Thanks, Mel, you’re the best,” Skadi said. “Handle my nieces, the cheating bastard is all mine.”

“You got it,” Jack said, blade in hand. “Poppet, go see what you can do about the immortal pretender over there, I think he’ll prove to be a fun challenge for you.”

“Sure thing Jack!” Bonesaw answered with cheer and hopped off, several blades now in hand. “This is gonna be so much fun!”

Skadi let the powers of the Butcher wash over her, in full control as Melissa let her out of the metaphorical box. It wasn’t often the current Butcher let one of them out to play like this and she intended to relish it to the fullest.

“Come on Max,” Skadi said as she lunged forward. “Just consider it foreplay!”