"Halt, who goes there!" raised assault rifle and her entire posture make it clear she's not joking. Jane "Mamasita" Rodriguez. At the sight of her I felt relief - at least she's alive and everything's fine with her.
"Hey, it's me." I raise my hands up: "Taylor."
"I don't know what bugs you've got in your head, girl, but you should get out of here while you can." Jane squints: "Can't you see we're busy?"
Of course, I think, she doesn't recognize me. Nothing surprising about that, no one would recognize me now, that's normal. But how do I make her understand that it's me?
"Hey, Mamasita." I call her by her callsign, demonstratively raise my hands palms toward her, then hide them behind my back: "Want me to kick your ass again? How do wild geese do it? Wasn't enough last time?"
"Uh..." she lowers the rifle and peers at me: "Boss? Is that you?"
"Yes. But it's a secret, classified and all that. What happened? Where are Coil and Tattletale?"
"There." She nods behind her. Where Coil's main base used to be - there's a crater in the ground. Underground water? Explosion?
"I have instructions." She hands me a piece of paper: "If you come here, to give this to you."
"What's this?" I unfold the paper. On it, in Tattletale's handwriting - an address.
"Damn." I say. I sent Glory away, deciding she was unnecessary here, though I had to promise to come to their house, supposedly her mom would worry. And on the paper is an address and... it's pretty far. Butcher's teleport would immediately attract attention and...
"Oh, and we found your motorcycle." Jane says: "It's standing over there. Full tank."
"Thanks." I thank her with feeling.
The address written on the paper. An unremarkable building. No one at the entrance. As soon as I enter the door - cold metal is pressed to the back of my head. The muzzle of a shotgun. But I already know who's where, there are enough insects here, it's dry inside.
"Ah! There you are." Tattletale's voice sounds: "Lovely." The barrel disappears. I turn around. Lisa embraces me: "How glad I am that you're alive. Actually..." she pulls back and looks me over from head to toe: "The body choice isn't great. The previous one had better tits and ass. And what a waist! And hair, long, luxurious."
"Show-off." I smile, feeling incredible relief: "What's with these tricks about your death?"
"Oh, you don't know. Coil died too. Generally, surprisingly many villains died during Leviathan's attack, don't you think? I saw Maestro from Atlanta and Hop-Skip from Boston among them all - both dead. Very convenient, right?" She twirls a curl around her finger: "Tell me, how do you like being in this little killer's body? Damn hypocrite, both her and her sister, if not for your ability, you'd be lying in the morgue right now."
"Wait, hold on. What's happening?" I ask her. She sets the shotgun aside and leads me to a set table. Looking at the table, I suddenly remember that I'm terribly hungry. I sit down and immediately attack the food.
"You eat, eat. It's good for you." Tattletale says: "And what happened? This is Armsmaster's initiative, panchita. He decided to take out as many villains as possible under cover of the chaos, since no one would be surprised if they all died during the Endbringer attack. You saw how he fought, right? Almost on equal terms with Leviathan. He's only stupid when talking to girls, but in battle he's a damn dangerous son of a bitch. Dangerous and unpredictable, with his perverted logic."
"Wait! Are you saying that Armsmaster violated the truce and killed all these villains?!" I say, nearly choking on this information and hastily taking a gulp of soda.
"No. He's not like that. He won't kill with his own hands. He just... let them die, let's say. Disabled their bracelets with a directed EMP pulse, and then... he had a couple of tricks up his sleeve, led Leviathan right through them. Dangerous son of a bitch." Tattletale shakes her head: "Even I couldn't do that. You can't accuse him of anything, it all looks like an accident, but... I know."
"What a bastard! We need to..."
"You can't do anything about these people. It's better not to attract attention right now. And yes - Coil and I also died in the general chaos. There's no more Coil or Tattletale." she says: "It'll be more convenient that way."
"Aha. So you decided to lay low. Did you think about how I'd feel hearing about your death?"
"Oh, look who's talking! What the hell were you thinking throwing yourself at the Endbringer's head with your bare chest?! You have super strength and super speed! You could have thrown a bomb! And don't give me 'he would have deflected it' - you didn't even try! When I heard 'Administrator is dead'..." she folds her arms across her chest: "Say thanks that I'm smart. I immediately understood what and how. Otherwise... if I had gone on a path of revenge - this city wouldn't have been well off. Especially those two bitches, the Dallon sisters."
"Victoria - she didn't mean any harm. She was trying to save me and..."
"If that hysteric had listened to you the first time - nothing would have happened! And anyway, Taylor - don't you see that she's manipulating you? Her aura brainwashes you better than a Master."
"Yes, but..."
"And now you have Amy Dallon's brain, a lovesick fool. So get a grip, turn on Butcher mode and don't let yourself be turned into a doormat. We still have a lot to do, and the situation couldn't be better."
"Couldn't be better?"
"Exactly." She raises a finger: "But that's not what we're talking about now. How did your talk with Victoria go? Of course you told her everything, you fool. Well, whatever... by the way - did you realize?"
"What?"
"Amy made Victoria. Such a perfect sex doll with a brainwashed mind. Victoria can't even speak normally, she's damaged. She's not even human really. She's a doll, a toy for her sister. She even speaks in clichés. The real Vicky is the one you fought at the ship graveyard. Amy Dallon didn't even notice how she was changing her behavior patterns and as a result Victoria is a caricature heroine. It would have been better if she had made her into her sex toy, at least that would be honest." Tattletale says and squeezes her temples: "And my head hurts from all this! I used too many abilities. Can I sit with my eyes closed?" Without waiting for permission she closes her eyes and leans back in her chair.
Coil enters the room, still dressed in black assault armor. He greets me with a nod, sees that Lisa is sitting with her eyes closed, presses a finger to his lips and starts to step back...
"I hear everything." Lisa says without opening her eyes: "Yes, it's her and no, I won't. Tell her yourself."
"Miss Hebert. Boss." He turns to me: "All other options were significantly worse. I couldn't do anything about it. Little depended on me in all this mess. My ability isn't omnipotent."
"..." I look at him. Coil. How can I trust him? I can't. But I also can't check other realities. Kill him? If Tattletale were dead and he were alive... he wouldn't have survived in any reality. But now... yes, it sucks, but I'm alive, Tattletale's alive and already weaving some intrigues, and he's alive too.
"We're all alive, so everything's fine." I say: "I don't demand the impossible from you."
"I'm glad that between us, everything's in order, boss." He responds: "We had to evacuate the base and blow everything up behind us, but losses are minimized. Noelle and the Travelers are already in another location, Bakuda has her own laboratory, she's proven herself a very valuable asset. Miss Wilbourn and I will lay low. Neither my power nor her ability actually require wearing masks and capes. Coil and Tattletale died. Thomas Calvert and Lisa Wilbourn remain. By the way, Miss Wilbourn, how do you feel about the position of my deputy in the corporation? Social benefits, twenty-day vacation and full medical insurance."
"Go to hell, Mr. Calvert." Lisa sends him off without opening her eyes: "We already talked about this. I'll open my own firm. We need diversification. And besides - I've already walked under you enough, never again in my life."
"It's just a formality..."
"I know you, Thomas, there are no formalities for you. Go to hell."
"And it's like this all the time." He spreads his hands: "No constructiveness. Really, I'll go. Maybe not to the address indicated to me by Miss Wilbourn, but I'll go. Business." He bows and disappears behind the door. Lisa opens her eyes.
"We should have killed him after all." She says: "But now it's too late. I even feel sorry for him somehow. Such a bastard."
"How's my dad?" I suddenly remember and feel ashamed that I'm only remembering now: "Is everything okay with him?"
"Everything's fine with him. I told him you'd be busy, and not to worry when they say 'Administrator' got killed. But you should write him a couple of messages yourself, so it's clear it's you. Don't call, you won't be able to fake the voice." Her eyes focus on me: "Honestly, looking at you is quite strange. You act like Taylor, but you're Panacea. Creepy. Keep in mind - no sex while you're Panacea. I'm not some kind of pervert."
"Yes... I wasn't planning to..." I say.
"Offended?"
"I'm not offended!"
"Offended." She says with some incomprehensible satisfaction: "Serves you right. You'll think next time. I've always wondered - why when someone gets Brute abilities, do their brains immediately shut off? Hulk smash and that's it! Did you even see what Bakuda's bomb did there?! It's not a beach anymore, it's melted glass! You're a fool, Taylor."
"You're the fool!"
"Argue." She squints an eye at me. I look at her and realize I have nothing to counter with.
"That's what I thought." She closes her eyes again: "Stop rushing headlong into danger, this time we just scraped by. Good that you didn't get lost, good that we confirmed the theory that you're the final Butcher, but still I almost died of fear."
"Sorry." I say: "I didn't want to scare you."
"Apology accepted, but you owe me."
"Nothing of the sort! We're even for your screw-up! You posted my photos!"
"The ones with bare chest? Pfft... that's not even your chest anymore. Neither yours, nor mine..."
"Lisa!"
"Well fine. Okay. We're even. Zero score. But I'm watching you, Taylor." One of Lisa's eyes opens, and she studies me with that eye.
"Okay, okay, I get it." I say: "I got under Glory Girl's aura influence again. I'll call her right now and tell her to go to hell."
"Easy, easy. What's wrong with you? You've taken on the burden, now act according to the proverb. Do you know what will happen when everyone finds out that Panacea is now Butcher? Mamma mia..." she squeezes her eyes shut: "Not in our interests. So you'll have to live a little in the loving Dallon family. School, home, family dinner, incest in the shower with Victoria..."
"Lisa!"
"What Lisa, her aura really scrambles your brains, and you fight fire with fire."
"Don't make things up, please. It's all her aura. I can control myself."
"While you're at it, master Panacea's abilities. Learn something new... if everything's as I think, then your lethality and danger have already broken through the ceiling from 'twelve plus' to 'fuck that shit'. And... you can fix Victoria." She looks at me: "You can, right? Make her obey you. And dampen her aura, it only harms her."
"That's completely beyond the pale." I say: "That's just pure evil."
"Oh, big deal." She squints: "Fix the girl a little and that's it. You don't have to make her into a slave ready for anything. Just... fix her a bit. Remove that idealism, form a stable attachment... make her into a real heroine, not this pink hysteric. You know, a Nordic valkyrie. A universal soldier who follows orders and stoically endures the hardships and deprivations of service."
"No. And besides - I haven't even properly mastered Panacea's abilities yet... I need time. But even then - no. I understand why she refused to edit brains. What if I reprogram you - how would that be for you? Make you into an obedient slave, looking up at me adoringly and drooling?"
"Well, that's how I live already." She shrugs, teasing me with her mocking smile: "My whole life is one Great and Terrible Taylor! I prostrate myself at your feet and all that. Let everyone love you like I do. A little revenge on humanity..."
"No, really. This isn't jokes. It's like stealing a person's freedom of choice. It's even worse than murder. How can you joke about such things?"
"And I'm not really joking that much." She says, stopping smiling: "Imagine how many obstacles we could remove at once? As soon as you learn to edit brains - fix them all. Director Piggot, Armsmaster, Miss Militia... Alexandria and Eidolon eventually! Why should we go the long way around when we can cut across? Just like that - and convince them that we're their most important close people and masters. And the villain question is easy to solve, why put anyone in prison? Back then, if you had such an ability - there would have been no need to kill Lung. We would have made him an ally. We would have made allies of everyone. And you know... you could make such a virus, Taylor... make it and release it into the world. Imagine - a virus of love and worship of Tay-Tay. In a couple of months the whole globe would kneel before you. No more wars. Everyone together against the Endbringers... and in general - whatever you want. Of course someone wouldn't succumb to such a virus, like Case-53s or capes with heavily altered physiology, like Weld or Skitter, but the other eight billion... do you want to be the sea queen, Taylor? You just need to want it."
"Lisa. You're a smart girl. You know I'll say 'no'. So why do you bring up such topics?" I ask her. She smiles.
"Because these words are just seeds, dear Taylor. Someday they'll sprout. Someday you'll agree. And on that day you'll regret not listening to me earlier." She says.
"That's... a rather scary prediction, Lisa."
"As soon as you became Panacea - it became inevitable. Sooner or later you'll use all your powers. You're not the shy and cowardly Amy, you have more flexible moral frameworks and you're ready for anything for victory. And victory in our case... at minimum it's victory over the Endbringers. It won't be an easy victory. You'll have to make an effort. I can imagine how the slow politicians and cautious strategists from the PRT will infuriate you. You'll act, Taylor. With great power comes great responsibility, right? Nonsense, of course, but that's how you perceive everything, right?" She massages her temples: "In general, Coil and I will deal with preservation and multiplication, there's really no one left on the streets anyway, all the villains have died... and you - be a good girl and learn to reprogram people... it'll come in handy. Everything else - we'll decide as it comes up."
"This is strange..." I say. She looks at me and shrugs.
"Look who's talking. I see Panacea in front of me. And at the same time - you. My head's about to explode."