Chapter Text
Taylor finished securing the last of the restraints.
Her burrow was quite large now, encompassing two good-sized rooms and still expanding. Bugs could get quite a lot of digging done when they put her mind to it.
And between the carpenter ants and the mason bees, it was quite nicely furnished as well, with wood paneling over stone walls and floors. She'd even gotten some upholstering spiders, electrician weevils, and plumber worms to turn it into a fully functional living space.
It also had a fully functional dungeon, courtesy of her blacksmith wasps.
She hadn't bothered with any fancy locks. Alabaster wouldn't ever need to be released, so she just had them forge the restraints directly onto it. That wouldn't work for most captives, since the red-hot metal would inflict severe injuries, but Alabaster returned to perfect health every four seconds, so it was fine. She'd already encased its head in cement, so it wasn't like it could scream about it.
It would be the centerpiece of her new hive, giving her swarm all the food they needed to breed and breed and breed.
If only she wasn't still chained to the Dallons.
They'd been acting weird since she'd made her statement. Weirder than usual, that is. Victoria had lost her scheming looks and gained different, less threatening scheming looks. Carol had shed the hostility entirely and instead started shipping.
And Amy... Taylor wasn't sure what to make of how Amy looked at her now. There was just as much loathing as before, but it was now tinged with... sympathy?
Taylor wasn't sure what Amy would be sympathizing with her about, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. It couldn't be the lice, Taylor's insect control made that impossible. Had the Dallons tried to get rid of Amy too? Taylor was mostly sure by now that they hadn't actually been trying to give her to the nazis, but she could still be wrong. They both had depressed fathers, but that wasn't new. So what was that newfound sympathy for?
"Taylor, do you wanna - woah, love what you've done with the place - do you wanna go kidnap another nazi?"
And then there was Victoria. She was definitely still plotting something, but she was downright friendly compared to before.
"I know you're excited about the new tinkertech dumpsters, but in case you've forgotten, I don't have super strength to throw them with."
"No no, listen. The nazis have a healer."
"Right, uh... Othello?"
"No, that's a different guy, attacks you from another dimension. The nazi is Othala, and it's not nearly as good a healer as Ames but maybe it'll be enough to keep you from constantly clamjamming us."
"You mean I could actually have some privacy?" Nazis weren't people, so if it was just her and a nazi it would count as alone time. "Fuck it, count me in."
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She, Victoria, and Amy had all gotten geared up to go kidnap a nazi. They had then realized they had no idea where Othala lived. They did, however, know who might.
Victoria swung her sledgehammer, smashing the cement that covered Alabaster's head. Immediately, now-audible screams filled the air.
"Tell me what I want and I'll let you have some senses that aren't pain."
Whoever said torture doesn't work had obviously not tried using enough of it.
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Taylor massed her swarm, flush with kidnapper beetles. The next generation was already incubating inside of Alabaster, so Taylor could afford to bring them all without risking her breeding stock.
Kidnapper beetles, of course, were not native to Brockton Bay, or anywhere else. Unlike the bugs she'd used to construct her lair, which were common enough to find in small numbers, these were custom-made by Amy. They were the largest and strongest beetles she could make, designed for carrying heavy loads such as nazis. They required far too much food to be a successful species in the wild - not only a consequence of their great bulk but a deliberate decision to prevent them from becoming an invasive species - but with access to Alabaster, Taylor could keep them fed with ease.
It had surprised Taylor when Amy volunteered them, but she had been... less resentful lately, as well as being eager to get Taylor a bit less tethered to her.
They still weren't copacetic. But they had something of a detente now.
It meant that here and now, their faces inches apart as Victoria carried one of them in each arm, they were just glaring at each other without much real heat, instead of biting each other.
The swarm surged up the tower's elevator shaft, climbing to match their height as they approached the penthouse. This was to be a smash and grab operation, in and out before the Empire could respond. They hadn't cared overly much when Taylor had taken Alabaster, but their healer would be a different matter. They'd have to kill Victor and be out with Othala well before reinforcements could arrive.
The first part was simple. Taylor positioned a brown recluse spider on Victor's neck, right over the jugular.
Then she adjusted Amy's hand to point straight at it, and Amy shot it with her Glock.
Then, as Othala shot awake, Taylor's kidnapper beetles latched on and lifted it from its bed, carrying it toward the gaping hole that had until moments ago been a floor-to-ceiling window. It tried to resist, but managed only to make one of the bugs invincible.
There was a reason Othala was a healer and not a fighter, and unlike Amy, it was because it sucked ass at fighting.
The kidnapper beetles carried Othala off the edge, their elytra opening to unfurl enormous wings, specialized for maximum lift over any semblance of speed or maneuverability. They dragged the suddenly-very-still nazi through the air to where Victoria was carrying Amy and Taylor. Amy reached out, and Othala went limp, unconscious.
All that was left was for Victoria to awkwardly carry home three people at once. The kidnapper beetles helped a lot with that.
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Emma stared at the ceiling of the waiting room.
She'd been terrified when the Triumvirate showed up to arrest her, Sophia, and Madison. They had thrown around words like terrorism, attempted murder, biological warfare, war crimes.
That fear had only increased when Sophia was sent directly to the Birdcage. Madison, being a Ward in good standing as well as the least involved of the three, had gotten off lightly, probation and a one-week PHO ban. Emma wasn't a cape, she couldn't be sent to the Birdcage. But as the ringleader, she was sure she'd be given the next worst thing.
Then Emma had been ruled mentally incompetent. Let off due to insanity. Instead of jail, she was being sent to therapy.
She didn't need therapy. She was strong.
"Miss Barnes? My name is Jessica Yamada, I'm the psychologist who'll be working with you going forward."
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Emma had been so weak.