Let's read Worm and its sequel Ward by Wildbow (One chapter/every day)

rafuki22 · Aug 1, 2018

I would say something against, but I do not know if it's a spoiler.
Also, you should not include any "victory" against the endbringers.

blackarrow · Aug 2, 2018

Hello, my friends. Before I'll start this Chapter, I have to tell you something really funny. About my crazy parents. I already told you that my father started reading Worm. He's now at Arc 4, he reads pretty fast, especially when he have some free time in his hands. Coincidence or not, his first favorite character is....Lisa.

We both have the same tastes when it comes to certain characters.

But my father, being the crazy and eternal teenager he's, told my mother that he's in love with Lisa (he didn't specified which Lisa so my mother believed that she must be a real person).

My mother got MAD, calling my father a perverted man for having a crush on a 17 years old girl (yep, he told her Lisa's age), especially since she's 4 years younger than me, his daughter. She phoned me to complain to me about "feeling cheated on" Finally, he told her the truth, and she gradually calmed down. Lisa, Lisa, you're tearing my family apart!!!

lol:lol Well, before you'll start wondering why I'm so freaking crazy sometimes...just look at my parents and you'll see half of the reasons. I love them to death anyway!

I came up with a Ballistic joke that might works...or not. You all know the meme: hide yo kids, hide yo wife....Well, when it comes to Ballistic, you don't have to hide your wife or kids from him because he's not a killer. But you still should hide something. Your GODDAMN CAR. Because he will never spare it from his unleashed anger. I can hear all of you sighing in unison at my sucky joke. I understand your pain. I'm sorry. Let's start this Chapter already and see how Skitter will handle her new wound and the spike in her shoulder that Flechette gave her with admirable generosity. Thank you, Flechette, you're a sweetheart when you want to be Colony 15.7

How the hell was I supposed to get medical assistance when the guy I was supposed to ask was looking for a covert way to murder me?

And I did need help. I was bleeding, for one thing. It had only started when I'd moved my arm to unstrap my armor. If I'd known, I would have tried to undo the straps with my bugs.
Worse, the spike had penetrated the bone of my shoulder and any movement of my arm rewarded me with scraping sensations in my shoulder socket that made my skin crawl, not to mention the pain.
I was surprised it didn't hurt more. I hoped that wasn't a bad sign. My fingers moved without a problem, but the lack of pain could still point to bigger problems. Pain was a natural response, after all, and the lack of pain was unnatural.
I called Tattletale instead.
"Skitter?" she answered. "How did it go?"
"Could have gone worse. I paid Parian off, and she's leaving the city. No blood shed, mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Flechette was there. I got stabbed." I remembered that Coil could be listening in. "I don't want to bother Coil with it, busy as he is."
"Being stabbed is serious."
"It's not too bad. Can you lend me your medic?"
"You're just leaving Dolltown now?"
"Flying home."
"He should be there before you arrive. I know you two haven't gotten along in the past, but he won't trouble you."
He won't trouble me. Was that her way of informing me that he was safe? Well, I still felt better than I would be if I were putting my life in Coil's hands.
My desire to convey the image of someone who was confident, fearless and untouchable had led to me getting impaled in the shoulder. It was something of a weakness, but I still found myself doing it as I reached my own territory. I landed Atlas on the beach and made my way into the storm drain, wincing every time my arm moved. By the time I was inside, however, I was pulling myself straighter, raising my chin and squaring my shoulders. I tried to focus on my power to remove my attention from my body. Checking the status of the various cleanup projects, some basic reconstruction, setting up dry and clean sleeping areas, stocking up on food and medical supplies…
Sierra and her little one-handed brother Bryce were there as I stepped into my lair, along with a small cluster of older kids and Tattletale's medic, Brooks. I sat down on the stool by the kitchen counter and Brooks started examining my shoulder.
"You guys get the most interesting injuries," he said, in his characteristic, hard-to-place accent that seemed to put hard emphasis on syllables.
"Interesting?"
"Metal bonded to the bone. You have some sticking through and into the cavity your socket sits in. I have no idea how I'm going to get to the far end, cannot pull it out, and if I try sawing it off, I am not sure the shavings and flecks wouldn't do catastrophic damage over the long run. I would say you need surgery."
"Damn it," I said. "She probably intended for something like that, and every hospital in the area's going to be looking for someone with a spike in their shoulder."
"I could try to handle it, but it's going to take time to get necessary tools."
"What tools?"
"At the very minimum, a small rotary grinder, suction, some fine wire, blood…"

Skitter is made out of steel. She doesn't even need local anesthetic, this wound is laughable for her. Well, in a fight between parahumans, you will never see mundane wounds, dr Brooks, all of them are the most interesting one, even going so far to become WTF is this shit? How you're not already dead? Watch how Skitter will become paranoiac over dr Brooks, probably thinking that he's going to assassinate her at Coil's orders. Don't worry, Skitter, Coil already planned to have Trickster assassinate you during Mayor Mission, this good doctor Brooks will only treat your wound and nothing else.

"We have those things."

He looked surprised.
I looked to Sierra, "We did get that delivery of stuff for Dr. Tegeler?"
"The dentist? Yeah. But it's not unpacked."
I turned to Brooks, "We have rotary grinders that we've been using for the cleanup, not sure how clean they'd be. But the rest of that stuff, we've been having it delivered, so the people with medical training can start helping out. Since we already have an able-bodied dentist, we've been setting her up. It's kind of surprising how many people will start having issues with their teeth over just a month."
"Okay. Let me pack this wound and then I will need to go there. I'll grab what I need myself."
I waited while Brooks unpackaged and pressed bandages in place around the spike.
"How is the pain, on a scale of one to ten?"
"Ten high? Maybe a three until I move it, then it's more like a seven."
"I am surprised you are not passed out already. Do you have a high pain tolerance?"
"I wouldn't have thought so. But maybe. Or maybe the way it bonded kept it from damaging or exposing nerve endings?"
"Maybe. Okay. Ginger girl, show me the stuff?"
"Ginger girl?" Sierra asked, archly.
Brooks smirked.
"Brooks," I said, "Treat my employees with respect or I'm going to have words with Tattletale about you."
"Yes. I am sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Please show me where I can find the dentist's equipment."
Sierra looked at me, and I gave her a nod as my 'go ahead'.
That left me with the kids and Bryce. I studied him. His black hair was cut so short he was nearly bald, and like Brooks he was wearing dark gray cargo pants and a beige sleeveless t-shirt. He'd put on some muscle since I'd seen him last. His still-bandaged stump of a wrist tapped impatiently against his leg.
And the kids… they were wearing some of the clothes I'd had shipped in, but they didn't look like the typical bunch of kids one would see around a schoolyard. Before taking advantage of what I had to offer, they'd been eating the bare minimum, spending all of their time outdoors. But diet and exercise weren't entirely to blame for the lack of softness in their faces or expressions. They'd seen people they loved die.
I wasn't sure what to say. Making small talk seemed like it would lower me to their level.
Burned buildings were being torn down where there wasn't any hope of salvaging them, and small crews of people with the necessary skills were working to assess what could be recovered, assigning simple tasks to people who didn't have the training or know-how. Massive tarps were going up over roofs and being tied down.
It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fantastic, but it was something. My bugs noted a hundred and seventy people at work, one-seventy-four if I included the kids here.
One-eighty-four, I realized. I'd nearly missed a crew that was working beneath the streets. The numbers were growing.
It was a little intimidating. I didn't have any particular training or talents that really equipped me for a leadership position. Now I was in charge of this many people.
Well, I'd do what I could. Supply what they needed, keep an eye on things.
"Your name?" I asked one of the oldest kids.
"Guy."
"Sierra didn't have anything for you to do?"
"We're waiting until Char comes back," he said, pronouncing it 'shar'. "She said she was going to put us in charge of some younger kids, then have us run water out to the people working."
"Good. For now, you can run an errand for me. Head out the door, turn right, go two blocks. There'll be an open manhole with a cordon around it."
"A what?"
"Tape and warning signs. Ignore the warnings, just go to the manhole cover and shout down at them, tell them to get back to work. I know they're just sitting in the dark and drinking. And tell them no power tools, now. Not if they've got alcohol on their breath."
"Okay. If they don't listen to me?"
"I'll take care of that," I told him.
He ran off.
"Big bad supervillain, giving orders to little kids," Bryce commented.

Hmm, I'm surprised that Skitter described this PAIN as a 7. I expected her to say 0 when she doesn't move her arm and maybe, maybe 1 when she moves it. Maybe I'm overestimating her too much. Leaving the joke aside, even Brooks is surprised of her high pain tolerance. Well, if Bakuda EVER did something good (I mean directly because indirectly her bombs were used against Leviathan and S9), is that she created and used a bomb who made Skitter like this, almost immune to most of the pain. Also...Bryce, you're a fucking charmer as always. You're still not going to change, you little bastard, talking like this with Skitter, while she takes care of her territory and her people. You're unable to take care of yourself, you have no right to judge COMPETENT people's actions.

Why did people insist on testing me? Was it something about being in charge that demanded that they try to establish their dominance? Did people like Bryce have a natural propensity for bucking authority, with me as the only clear target? Or was it more that they were angry in general?

Either way, what did that mean for this city in the long run, if anyone who tried to change things for the better was facing this sort of resistance.
"I'm giving orders to everyone. Everyone contributes, everyone benefits."
"To be more specific, you're having my sister give orders to everyone while you go out and get yourself injured in fights with other capes."
"Don't you dare," Sierra said, stalking back into the room. She put down a plastic tote of medical supplies. She sounded angry. And scared? "Do not pick a fight with my boss."
"I'm just saying-"
"Don't. Don't 'just say' anything. If nothing else, she saved your life."
"I wouldn't have needed saving if she hadn't been there," Bryce said. He gave me a look that was just short of a glare.
"Don't be an idiot," Sierra said. "You were with the Merchants."
"And things were cool. Party all day, relax, had a girlfriend. If she'd left things alone, I'd be okay."
"I'm surprised Tattletale didn't mention it," I said. "The Slaughterhouse Nine eradicated the Merchants. Barely one in twenty survived. The ones that are left are scattered across the city. If you'd stayed with them, you'd be dead."
"She did mention it. But I would have made it."

Yes, you'd have survived, Bryce. You'd have killed all S9 members by yourself, by just being such an annoying ass that they'd have started to kill themselves. You'd have been a hero, the greatest non-powered hero in the history of humankind. Too bad that Skitter stole this fabulous and unique chance of yours. Bad, bad Skitter. "sighs" Sierra, make your brother keeps his mouth shut, because he's so ridiculously stupid that he almost make me feel sorry that he didn't ended in Siberian's stomach. Btw, speaking about Siberian acting cannibalistic like this. Now I wonder if Manton can taste what she's eating. He can see and hear trough her and control her movements. But what if he can taste her food? What if he makes her eat humans because he's a cannibal himself and have to take care of his needs? :sour:

I'm very interested to know this Manton better and to see how far his craziness and inhumanity can go.

Cocky. "Then you'd be starving to death, dirty, probably sick. Going through withdrawal, maybe. Don't know what you were taking with them."

He scowled, glancing at his sister. "None of your business."
"Hey!" Sierra raised her voice. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and he slapped her hand away. She stabbed a finger into his chest, "Treat her with respect, damn it!"
Again, that note of fear.
"I treat people with respect if they deserve it."
"She does. She's saved us, here. That's big."
"Wouldn't need saving if it wasn't for the people with powers being around here in the first place."
He wasn't wrong. As validating as it was for Sierra to stick up for me, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at the idea that these circumstances werebecause of capes. Hell, if I hadn't provoked the Nine by humiliating Mannequin then this district wouldn't have come under fire by Burnscar. There was Dolltown too, and my complicity there. I was personally at fault when it came to some of the damage that had been done across the city.
"You want a better reason?" she asked. She stepped close and pulled him down to hiss words in his ear. She wasn't being as quiet as she seemed to think she was, trying to hide her words from me and the kids. "…they attacked me and Char… mauled them… Mannequin…"
I shifted positions, and Sierra must have seen it, because she lowered her voice to an inaudible hush as she finished.
Rattling off a list of the things she'd seen me do. Reasons that gave her cause to be spooked if her brother was mouthing off to me.
When we'd met, Sierra had commented that I wasn't what she'd expected from a supervillain. Somewhere along the line, I'd painted a different picture. She clearly had no trouble with me on a day-to-day basis, but she also knew that when I was pushed… well, I'd gone easy on the three ABB members that had attacked her and Charlotte, but that was only in a matter of speaking. I'd still left them fleeing in mortal terror.
Bryce looked at me and I could see him give me a once-over glance, as if assessing me in a new light.
"Go help Brooks," I told him. "I'll direct you to him with my swarm."
It took him a second to weigh whether he wanted to or not, but he did turn and step out the front door, following the thin trail of bugs that I was gathering between him and the warehouse we were keeping supplies.

AWESOME SIERRA IS AWESOME. She scared the crap out of her cretinous brother by pointing how DANGEROUS and SCARY Skitter can be if she's provoked, especially by ridiculous villains who keep underestimating her. Sierra, I think Bryce I'll-Win-A-Darwin-Award-One-Day pissed himself. Now, he's going to help Skitter while his sister will probably have to buy some diapers for him so he'll be protected next time when he'll see the Queen of Hive. Bryce, when you'll become at least half as cool as your sister? I'm still waiting for you to change and become a MAN, not the cry baby you're still now.

"Want me to go, too?" Sierra asked.

"Your choice. Might be better to give him space."
"I keep having to do that. When do we start being a family again?"
I'm not the person to answer that question.
"If you decide to leave him be, I could use a hand collecting some things so I can make effective use of my time."
"Okay," she said. She seemed to pull herself together a bit. "What do you need?"
"My laptop from my room, and the surveillance stuff from the cellar. There's another set of surveillance gear in the bag beneath the shelves."
Sierra hurried off to gather the equipment.
The ensuing minutes were a little disorganized, as Bryce and Brooks both arrived with the last of the medical equipment.
"Blood type?"
"AB."
He took one bag of blood out of the box and placed it on the counter. "Want to do this in your room?"
"I have an armchair on the second floor I could sit in."
"Need you reclining."
"I have somewhere to be tonight," I told him. Though this would be something of an excuse to avoid the kill. "Don't put me under."
"This is going to hurt."
I had another reason for not wanting to be put under. I wanted to keep an eye on him. My conversation with Tattletale had suggested he wasn't a threat, but I'd feel a heck of a lot better if I could verify that for myself.
"Do you have local anesthetic?" I asked.
"Yes." He tapped one finger on a tiny bottle. Lidocaine. I recognized the name. "But will not prevent all pain. I do not want to use too much."
"We'll try that, then."
We headed up to the second level and I settled into my chair. For additional lighting, I had my 'switch beetle' flick the concealed switch that was contained in his terrarium. They lit up as I settled in.
Brooks hooked up the blood bag but left the tube hanging, unconnected. Other supplies were arranged on the table he'd had Bryce bring up. He seemed very particular about the order and what was being kept
"For a field medic you seem pretty well versed in this stuff."
"Worked in many hospitals," he replied. "Many places. Often with less than this. Sometimes with more."
"Okay."
"We will have to dislocate your shoulder to access the inside of shoulder socket."
"Okay."
"You will take muscle relaxant to minimize damage from dislocation. You will need to exercise arm to prevent more dislocations."
I didn't like the sound of that, the possibility that it was actually poison, but the muscle relaxant came from the bottle, and they had the brand logo etched into them. One potential danger averted. No way he'd arranged it this quickly.
"I can do that." I took the pills with a swig from the offered bottle of water.
Sierra arrived with the laptop and a large bag. She handed me the laptop and then plugged it in beneath one of the lower shelves. I balanced it on my armrest, turning sideways so I was sitting with my bad shoulder facing out front, my legs curled around me for as much stability as I could hope for. Sierra began arranging towels and plastic cloth around the chair.
"This would be easier if you just lay down," Bryce said. I saw Sierra scowl at him.
"It is fine," Brooks said. He lifted my arm and let it flop back down. I tried not to react to the pain that elicited. "Only one that suffers is her."
"Ever a charmer, Brooks," I commented, but my attention was on the laptop. I used the switch beetle to open all of the terrariums, and withdrew collections of spiders, dragonflies, large moths and roaches.
"They should not touch chair," Brooks said. "Or anything on table. Must keep everything as sterile as we can."
"I know," I said.

So, she's going to use the local anesthetic...I'm surprised, I was under the impression that Skitter is going to ignore that such thing like local anesthetic exists. While Brooks is going to do his job, Skitter will watch her territory with the help of her laptop, surveillance cameras and bugs. This girl can't rest not even in moments like this one. Bryce would have cried like a newborn if he was in her situation. Well, he already lost a hand, and when she found him (the second time) he was unconscious. I still can't decide if Bryce is the most annoying non-powered character or the most pitiful one. The good thing is that he's not as bad as Emma.

I gathered the components from the bag, using my bugs to draw them out and airlift the miniature cameras, microphones and transmitters into the air. One by one, I turned them on and used the laptop to connect to them. I used my free hand to click through each camera in turn, making their feeds the focus of the main window.

Using my bugs, I drew forms around each, vaguely humanoid. It wasn't as intuitive as I was forced to use my own eyes to assess the accuracy. Still, I managed to rearrange each until they vaguely resembled me. I marched them down the stairs.
"Outside end first," Brooks said, starting up the rotary saw.
Not my favorite sound. And the sensation of it sawing at the metal, it brought back even more unpleasant memories. Being on my back, Bonesaw trying to cut a hole through my skull…
I shivered.
"Don't move," Brooks said.
I focused on my swarm-clones, staying totally still while he worked on removing the metal end of the dart. They were largely composed of flying bugs, but I was bulking each of the forms out as more bugs arrived, giving them a more solid mass. I used my free hand to pop my ear-buds in.
I felt bad about leaving my territory as often as I had been. People were spooked, scared and insecure. Having a leadership figure that was never around wasn't helping matters.
This would, I hoped, establish a kind of presence that had been lacking.
Sierra had been coordinating everyone, trying to put people with experience in charge of people who were lacking it. It was interesting, trying to hold multiple conversations at once with the various project leaders. Difficult, too. For one thing, my speech with my swarms was somewhat lacking, missing consonants, but I could still make myself more or less understood. For another, my ears could only process one thing at a time. I managed by talking with one or more swarm-clone while listening with one at a time. After too many misfires and moments of confusion, I scaled down my efforts to a single conversation at once, simply standing silently by with my other selves.
I made a mental note to try to practice with that. Exercising the range of my power hadn't done anything for me, and there didn't seem to be any upper limits to how many bugs I could control at once, but there had to be other ways I could train my abilities. Multitasking was one I hadn't tried yet. Trying to interpret the senses of my bugs was another, though I feared it would take a more concerted effort to effect any sort of change.
When Charlotte returned, I was in the middle of helping a foreman with the layout of a building, using spiders to draw out a loose web in the general shape of the planned shelter, lifting bits of wood to make the lines more visible from a distance. I adjusted the threads as required to meet his needs. Charlotte climbed out of a truck with five more of my people and made a beeline to my swarm-clone. One hundred and ninety people working for me.
Word was apparently getting out about this being a safe haven.
My conversation with her was delayed as Brooks enlisted Bryce in twisting and pulling on my arm while Brooks held my neck and torso. Bryce drove his elbow against my shoulder while it was being twisted to its absolute limits, effectively knocking my arm out of its socket.
I managed to avoid making any noise beyond a guttural grunt, then took a few seconds to try to avoid blacking out from the pain.
As heavily as I was breathing, back in my lair, my swarm-people didn't show any sign. I focused the whole of my attention on them, as if I could remove my consciousness from my real body.
"Any problems?" I asked Charlotte, once I'd recovered enough to pay attention. Glancing at my shoulder, I could see Brooks making an incision in the skin of my shoulder. He'd managed to open the tear in my costume. I hadn't been paying attention to how. I deliberately looked away as Brooks tried to forge a path to the inside of my shoulder socket.
"Not sure," Charlotte said. "Have a look."
It was Parian. I'd been so focused on my shoulder, the three-dimensional web-blueprint and my swarm-selves that I hadn't noticed her getting out of the truck.

Well, this was unexpected. Parian decided to visit Hive, and I'm not sure what to think about her decision. Maybe she wants to tell Skitter that she changed her mind about not becoming a villain and will accept her recruitment proposition. But this is improbable to happen, because Flechette will never agree to have a villain girlfriend and my impression- from the dialogue they had with Skitter and between them- is that both girls care for each other's opinions and decisions. Maybe she doesn't want Skitter's money, seeing them as bloody money. But I don't think that she'll sacrifice her people for her pride and moral integrity. The money, as bloody as they're, are necessary for them to become normal humans again, not to look for the rest of their lives like their tormentors. And Parian loves her people more than she loves herself. I have no idea what Parian wants, maybe she just wants to tell Skitter "thank you" for her help before leaving the City that Killed the Innocence forever.

"You didn't leave," I said, when she'd joined Charlotte and my swarm-clone.

"I didn't think the money would be real," she responded.
"Of course it was."
"It's… it was a lot of money. Very generous. But we were talking about it, and split between us, it's not enough to give everyone all the care they need. I told them to go ahead, that I didn't need a share."
"Sorry. I was worried it wouldn't be enough," I said. "Are you saying you want more money? I might have to say no. There's a limit to what I can spare."
"No! No." She hugged her arms to her body, looking around at the people who were working. "Just… I thought maybe I should hear you out."
"Okay," I responded.
"Except it's not really you?"
My clone shook her head.
"Can I talk with the real you?"
"I'm in my lair, and I'm preoccupied. You'll understand if I don't reveal the location, given who your friends are?"
"Yeah," she said. She was still looking around, watching as a group moved by, pushing wheelbarrows of burned wood. "I… I was telling myself that there was no point to taking your offer, that I could use my power and make more money legitimately. But that's not true at all, is it?"
"Walk with me?" I asked.
She nodded.
I led the way through my territory with my clone as I talked. "Crime does pay. I made the offer to you because I thought it would be the best way to get your Dolltown residents the money they needed to get their old lives back. Or get as close to their old lives as possible."
"I kind of hate you," she said.
"Why?"
"You're making it out like I'm a bad person because I won't betray Flechette and my own moral code to help them."
"I don't blame you for your decision. I don't think any less of you."
"But you wouldn't make the choice I'm making."
"No. I didn't."
"And you've done more to help my people than I have."
"You've protected them to the best of your ability through this city's darkest hours."
"You really think we're past that? The bad days?"
"Yes."
I winced as the grinding resumed, this time inside my shoulder socket. A makeshift rigging inside the cavity caught the metal shavings, while Bryce held the tube to suction the metal shavings out. So far, no assassination attempts. Good.
"I don't know what to do," Parian admitted. "This is… seeing it makes me wish I'd done something like it."
"I'm not going to push you towards one choice or another."
"I know. You made that clear when you gave me the money with no strings attached."
"Look," I said. "I know Flechette was saying my perspective is warped, but I think the system… you know, society, it's like a series of rules and expectations that we established under some general expectations. But recent events have made it pretty clear that those expectations, those assumptions, they might not apply."
"Because of us? Capes?"
"Yeah. At the end of the day, barring some extreme examples like powerful dictators, there's always the fact that any bad person who doesn't have powers can be killed with a gun, a knife, or even a good punch in the right place. That's not the case with us parahumans. The balance of power is pretty damned off-kilter. Things aren't fair."

So, Parian feels bad indeed for the bloody money but she knows that they'll be useful for her people, even if they're not enough, as I predicted. She also hates herself for being forced to turn her back to her morals, even if its necessary for her people's good.

I understand Parian perfectly and I agree with her viewpoint. The only viewpoint here I don't agree with is Skitters. About powerful dictators and parahumans. There were powerful real life dictators who were assassinated: Benito Mussolini, Nicolae Ceausescu, Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gaddhafi. Powerful dictators are still humans and they can be killed like any ordinary person if their people decide that they're getting sick and tired of them and can't tolerate them anymore. Also, every parahuman can be killed by a gun or a knife, with very little exceptions. Without her forcefield, Glory Girl can be shoot and killed even by a non-powered person (well, before she was normal, not now); without her OP costume, Skitter can be stabbed to death; Parian can die from a single punch well placed. Yes, Crawler can regenerate, but even he can die if Sundancer will attack him with full force, without holding anything back. Even if some of them look like monsters (AND behave like monsters) parahumans are still normal humans who just happen to have powers+ an alien organ who developed inside their brains. Stop treating parahumans like they're gods, Skitter. The only god here is Scion and not even he is a god. He's not Jesus, despite looking like Him. Just an alien having some very powerful powers.

He can be killed, very, very hard, probably, but I'm sure he can be killed.

"Are you making that imbalance better or worse?"

"I'm… addressing the problem. I'm saying there's no point to trying to hold on to the old status quo when it's based on a foundation that no longer exists."
"So you're going to take over the city."
"Yes. Because at least for right now, I can give these people what they need."
I moved my clone's 'head' and followed a group of kids who were running away from my lair, carrying six-packs of water bottles.
"And later?"
"I don't know."
We walked in silence, past a bonfire where scrap wood was being burned. Brooks and Bryce, meanwhile, set to shoving my arm back into its socket. All of the ambient pain disappeared in an instant.
Parian needed the money, she needed the assurance that she could help the people she'd failed. I understood that.
"I can offer you one last compromise," I said.
"What?"
"I can't guarantee it'll work, I can't say if anyone else will accept the proposal, and I don't know what's going to happen long-term, but we don't have to call you a member of our team. We don't have to call you a villain."
"But I'd take territory for myself anyways?"
"Yes."
"Others would call me a villain, just because I wasn't fighting you guys. They'd know I was cooperating with you."
"Not necessarily. Maybe the people in charge, the Protectorate and Wards, maybe they'd understand it, but the people on the ground level wouldn't."
"The media would out me."
"I think we control the media. Or enough to throw some doubt into the mix. The rules are pretty simple. You take territory, you hold it, and you ensure that there's no crime or parahumans operating there without your consent."
"And Flechette-"
"I don't know her. I can't say how she'll react, but maybe if you explain nicely, maybe if you frame it right, you could convince her it's for the greater good. So long as she convinced the other heroes to leave your territory alone, let you enforce the law there all by yourself, you wouldn't have to fight them."
"And if she didn't-"
"That's up to her. Or you."
She stared around my territory. It wasn't pretty, there was still devastation everywhere, but things were getting better. It was maybe the only place in the city where things were improving as fast as they were. We weren't taking two steps forward and one step back. It was all forward momentum. Not even a week had passed, admittedly, but it was progress. And it was apparent.
"I don't think I could accept if Flechette doesn't agree."
"Okay." The alternative was unspoken. If she does…
"I hate you," Parian said, and it was answer enough.
Brooks was finishing stitching up the incision in my shoulder. I already had two pieces of scrap spider silk at the ready – one to cover the hole in my costume and another to serve as a sling until my shoulder was stronger. If I adjusted my cape, I could cover the arm so the injury wasn't too obvious. I stood from the chair and stretched, then reached for my cell phone.
"I can live with that," I told her, speaking through my swarm-clone. I clicked through my contact list and called the man who was plotting to kill me.

Brooks is the BEST NON-POWERED MEDIC in this entire story. He did a very good job with Skitter's arm. Also, Bryce helped. But only because he's scared shirtless by Skitter, not out of the goodness of his heart. Skitter proposed Parian a reasonable solution: a non-aggression pact between them, with Parian being free to control her territory as she wishes, without having to work for Undersiders. But Parian refused because she knows that Flachette is too heroic at heart to agree even with this arrangement+ she'll never trust Skitter's word, and I don't judge her for her decision. So, she'll go to New York and try to have her people healed, be sure that they'll have better lives away from this Damned City, and she'll also try to be happy with her girlfriend. I'm proud of you, Parian, proud of every decision you're taking, you have a heart of gold. If only more people would be like you...

I don't think that Parian actually hates Skitter, as she said. I think she's more pissed on her because she feels like Skitter wanted to force her to be something she doesn't want to be. But hate? Nope, there's no hate in her heart for Skitter or for Undersiders. If there are people that Parian really hates, I'm sure that S9 members are these people. I hope with all my heart that this won't be the last time when I'll see Parian. Or Flechette.
PS: I'm sorry but I might not update every day as usual because I'm pretty busy lately. But I'll still update at least once at every two days "hugs"

Good night and sleep well, my friends.

rafuki22 · Aug 2, 2018

blackarrow said:
Hello, my friends. Before I'll start this Chapter, I have to tell you something really funny. About my crazy parents. I already told you that my father started reading Worm. He's now at Arc 4, he reads pretty fast, especially when he have some free time in his hands. Coincidence or not, his first favorite character is....Lisa. We both have the same tastes when it comes to certain characters. But my father, being the crazy and eternal teenager he's, told my mother that he's in love with Lisa (he didn't specified which Lisa so my mother believed that she must be a real person). My mother got MAD, calling my father a perverted man for having a crush on a 17 years old girl (yep, he told her Lisa's age), especially since she's 4 years younger than me, his daughter. She phoned me to complain to me about "feeling cheated on" Finally, he told her the truth, and she gradually calmed down. Lisa, Lisa, you're tearing my family apart!!! lol:lol Well, before you'll start wondering why I'm so freaking crazy sometimes...just look at my parents and you'll see half of the reasons. I love them to death anyway!
I came up with a Ballistic joke that might works...or not. You all know the meme: hide yo kids, hide yo wife....Well, when it comes to Ballistic, you don't have to hide your wife or kids from him because he's not a killer. But you still should hide something. Your GODDAMN CAR. Because he will never spare it from his unleashed anger. I can hear all of you sighing in unison at my sucky joke. I understand your pain. I'm sorry. Let's start this Chapter already and see how Skitter will handle her new wound and the spike in her shoulder that Flechette gave her with admirable generosity. Thank you, Flechette, you're a sweetheart when you want to be Colony 15.7

Skitter is made out of steel. She doesn't even need local anesthetic, this wound is laughable for her. Well, in a fight between parahumans, you will never see mundane wounds, dr Brooks, all of them are the most interesting one, even going so far to become WTF is this shit? How you're not already dead? Watch how Skitter will become paranoiac over dr Brooks, probably thinking that he's going to assassinate her at Coil's orders. Don't worry, Skitter, Coil already planned to have Trickster assassinate you during Mayor Mission, this good doctor Brooks will only treat your wound and nothing else.

Hmm, I'm surprised that Skitter described this PAIN as a 7. I expected her to say 0 when she doesn't move her arm and maybe, maybe 1 when she moves it. Maybe I'm overestimating her too much. Leaving the joke aside, even Brooks is surprised of her high pain tolerance. Well, if Bakuda EVER did something good (I mean directly because indirectly her bombs were used against Leviathan and S9), is that she created and used a bomb who made Skitter like this, almost immune to most of the pain. Also...Bryce, you're a fucking charmer as always. You're still not going to change, you little bastard, talking like this with Skitter, while she takes care of her territory and her people. You're unable to take care of yourself, you have no right to judge COMPETENT people's actions.

Yes, you'd have survived, Bryce. You'd have killed all S9 members by yourself, by just being such an annoying ass that they'd have started to kill themselves. You'd have been a hero, the greatest non-powered hero in the history of humankind. Too bad that Skitter stole this fabulous and unique chance of yours. Bad, bad Skitter. "sighs" Sierra, make your brother keeps his mouth shut, because he's so ridiculously stupid that he almost make me feel sorry that he didn't ended in Siberian's stomach. Btw, speaking about Siberian acting cannibalistic like this. Now I wonder if Manton can taste what she's eating. He can see and hear trough her and control her movements. But what if he can taste her food? What if he makes her eat humans because he's a cannibal himself and have to take care of his needs? I'm very interested to know this Manton better and to see how far his craziness and inhumanity can go.

AWESOME SIERRA IS AWESOME. She scared the crap out of her cretinous brother by pointing how DANGEROUS and SCARY Skitter can be if she's provoked, especially by ridiculous villains who keep underestimating her. Sierra, I think Bryce I'll-Win-A-Darwin-Award-One-Day pissed himself. Now, he's going to help Skitter while his sister will probably have to buy some diapers for him so he'll be protected next time when he'll see the Queen of Hive. Bryce, when you'll become at least half as cool as your sister? I'm still waiting for you to change and become a MAN, not the cry baby you're still now.

So, she's going to use the local anesthetic...I'm surprised, I was under the impression that Skitter is going to ignore that such thing like local anesthetic exists. While Brooks is going to do his job, Skitter will watch her territory with the help of her laptop, surveillance cameras and bugs. This girl can't rest not even in moments like this one. Bryce would have cried like a newborn if he was in her situation. Well, he already lost a hand, and when she found him (the second time) he was unconscious. I still can't decide if Bryce is the most annoying non-powered character or the most pitiful one. The good thing is that he's not as bad as Emma.

Well, this was unexpected. Parian decided to visit Hive, and I'm not sure what to think about her decision. Maybe she wants to tell Skitter that she changed her mind about not becoming a villain and will accept her recruitment proposition. But this is improbable to happen, because Flechette will never agree to have a villain girlfriend and my impression- from the dialogue they had with Skitter and between them- is that both girls care for each other's opinions and decisions. Maybe she doesn't want Skitter's money, seeing them as bloody money. But I don't think that she'll sacrifice her people for her pride and moral integrity. The money, as bloody as they're, are necessary for them to become normal humans again, not to look for the rest of their lives like their tormentors. And Parian loves her people more than she loves herself. I have no idea what Parian wants, maybe she just wants to tell Skitter "thank you" for her help before leaving the City that Killed the Innocence forever.

So, Parian feels bad indeed for the bloody money but she knows that they'll be useful for her people, even if they're not enough, as I predicted. She also hates herself for being forced to turn her back to her morals, even if its necessary for her people's good. I understand Parian perfectly and I agree with her viewpoint. The only viewpoint here I don't agree with is Skitters. About powerful dictators and parahumans. There were powerful real life dictators who were assassinated: Benito Mussolini, Nicolae Ceausescu, Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gaddhafi. Powerful dictators are still humans and they can be killed like any ordinary person if their people decide that they're getting sick and tired of them and can't tolerate them anymore. Also, every parahuman can be killed by a gun or a knife, with very little exceptions. Without her forcefield, Glory Girl can be shoot and killed even by a non-powered person (well, before she was normal, not now); without her OP costume, Skitter can be stabbed to death; Parian can die from a single punch well placed. Yes, Crawler can regenerate, but even he can die if Sundancer will attack him with full force, without holding anything back. Even if some of them look like monsters (AND behave like monsters) parahumans are still normal humans who just happen to have powers+ an alien organ who developed inside their brains. Stop treating parahumans like they're gods, Skitter. The only god here is Scion and not even he is a god. He's not Jesus, despite looking like Him. Just an alien having some very powerful powers. He can be killed, very, very hard, probably, but I'm sure he can be killed.

Brooks is the BEST NON-POWERED MEDIC in this entire story. He did a very good job with Skitter's arm. Also, Bryce helped. But only because he's scared shirtless by Skitter, not out of the goodness of his heart. Skitter proposed Parian a reasonable solution: a non-aggression pact between them, with Parian being free to control her territory as she wishes, without having to work for Undersiders. But Parian refused because she knows that Flachette is too heroic at heart to agree even with this arrangement+ she'll never trust Skitter's word, and I don't judge her for her decision. So, she'll go to New York and try to have her people healed, be sure that they'll have better lives away from this Damned City, and she'll also try to be happy with her girlfriend. I'm proud of you, Parian, proud of every decision you're taking, you have a heart of gold. If only more people would be like you...
I don't think that Parian actually hates Skitter, as she said. I think she's more pissed on her because she feels like Skitter wanted to force her to be something she doesn't want to be. But hate? Nope, there's no hate in her heart for Skitter or for Undersiders. If there are people that Parian really hates, I'm sure that S9 members are these people. I hope with all my heart that this won't be the last time when I'll see Parian. Or Flechette.
PS: I'm sorry but I might not update every day as usual because I'm pretty busy lately. But I'll still update at least once at every two days "hugs"

Good night and sleep well, my friends.

You should not take everything skitter says at face value, I just remembered recently, thanks to a user called sun tzu (please,do not read about him, there are spoilers), because I do not like skitter, I will not tell you , because you probably would not care, and because to give you the full picture I would have to spoil you.
Ps:You and I would make a bad team,i assure you.
Pss:No tenia ninguna razon en particular para decirte eso.

KnownParadox · Aug 2, 2018

blackarrow said:
But my father, being the crazy and eternal teenager he's, told my mother that he's in love with Lisa (he didn't specified which Lisa so my mother believed that she must be a real person). My mother got MAD, calling my father a perverted man for having a crush on a 17 years old girl (yep, he told her Lisa's age), especially since she's 4 years younger than me, his daughter. She phoned me to complain to me about "feeling cheated on" Finally, he told her the truth, and she gradually calmed down. Lisa, Lisa, you're tearing my family apart!!! lol:lol

Meanwhile, somewhere, somewhen in this wide Multiverse of ours...

Lisa's eternal, smug grin, always perched on her face like some kind of fleshy pink caterpillar, grew just a teensy tiny bit larger for no apparent and or justifiable reason.

This, of course, did not go unnoticed by Skitter, Warlord of Brockton Bay, defender of the weak and innocent, who had dreams of being a hero, turned her head to look at Lisa while commanding her horrifying and ravenous swarm of terrifying little creatures to attack the underage portion of hero's known as the Wards, specifically Vista, the adorable 14 year old girl who honestly did nothing wrong except defend citizens of the Bay, because she was the most dangerous.

"Lisa? Did something happen?" said Skitter, who raised a questioning eyebrow behind her mask, a disturbing depiction of a black widow spider's face.

"Nothing, nothing.

I just had the strangest feeling, like someone was giving me credit for something I probably had nothing to do with yet definitely would accept credit for anyway." Lisa admitted.

"I think-"

"Well anyways" Lisa's smirk somehow grew larger.

Lisa parted herself on the back.

"Good job me." She nodded to herself.

"Now go back and... sting innocent children with wasps or whatever you do on your own time" Lisa said.

"Right..." Skitter said to herself going back to her horrific task, already rationalizing and then compartmentalizing away her feelings on the subject.

AmbarGriss · Aug 2, 2018

KnownParadox said:
"Right..." Skitter said to herself going back to her horrific task, already rationalizing and then compartmentalizing away her feelings on the subject.

Yep, that's Taylor allright.

blackarrow · Aug 3, 2018

KnownParadox said:
Meanwhile, somewhere, somewhen in this wide Multiverse of ours...

Lisa's eternal, smug grin, always perched on her face like some kind of fleshy pink caterpillar, grew just a teensy tiny bit larger for no apparent and or justifiable reason.

This, of course, did not go unnoticed by Skitter, Warlord of Brockton Bay, defender of the weak and innocent, who had dreams of being a hero, turned her head to look at Lisa while commanding her horrifying and ravenous swarm of terrifying little creatures to attack the underage portion of hero's known as the Wards, specifically Vista, the adorable 14 year old girl who honestly did nothing wrong except defend citizens of the Bay, because she was the most dangerous.

"Lisa? Did something happen?" said Skitter, who raised a questioning eyebrow behind her mask, a disturbing depiction of a black widow spider's face.

"Nothing, nothing.

I just had the strangest feeling, like someone was giving me credit for something I probably had nothing to do with yet definitely would accept credit for anyway." Lisa admitted.

"I think-"

"Well anyways" Lisa's smirk somehow grew larger.

Lisa parted herself on the back.

"Good job me." She nodded to herself.

"Now go back and... sting innocent children with wasps or whatever you do on your own time" Lisa said.

"Right..." Skitter said to herself going back to her horrific task, already rationalizing and then compartmentalizing away her feelings on the subject.

Man, your small fan fiction is funny even if bringing the adorable Vista in discussion made me suddenly sad.

( Poor Vista. Everytime when I'll remember what kind of bad things Taylor did as Skitter, I'll include attacking Vista with brutality during PRT Headquarters Mission. That was worst than a lot of other things. Btw, you're a talented writer. Do you have fanfics so I can read?

blackarrow · Aug 3, 2018

rafuki22 said:
You should not take everything skitter says at face value, I just remembered recently, thanks to a user called sun tzu (please,do not read about him, there are spoilers), because I do not like skitter, I will not tell you , because you probably would not care, and because to give you the full picture I would have to spoil you.
Ps:You and I would make a bad team,i assure you.
Pss:No tenia ninguna razon en particular para decirte eso.

Oh, so do you think that Skitter actually wanted to recruit Parian when she proposed her that non-aggression part? Wow, the little sneaky Skitter

. She learned from Tattletale the art of manipulation. But she's not good at all because Parian didn't accepted her proposition and I think that she'll never accept. Skitter can't manipulate people not even to save her life. This is how bad she's.

Maybe we would make an APARENTLY bad team, because we have different ways to see some things, but I can assure you of something: opposites attract and they might have a good relationship, no matter what kind of relationship. As a heroic team, you'll be the one who'll save everyone- including the worst kind of villains, I'll be the one who'll secretly shoot the villains you'll save. And still maybe we'll get along well.

KnownParadox · Aug 3, 2018

blackarrow said:
Btw, you're a talented writer. Do you have fanfics so I can read?

Oh god no!

That little thing right there seems to about my limit, writing that took way to long and probably almost gave me a stroke, I can't imagine writing actual full length chapters.

Also I'm busy enough as it is IRL.

blackarrow · Aug 4, 2018

Hello, my strong and brave friends. Time for the next...Interlude. The third Interlude of this Arc. Let's see if I can guess this time who's the central character of this new Interlude. If I'll fail again to guess, I'll give you all the occasion to ask me whatever question you want, no matter how personal or even uncomfortable will be

. And I'll have to give you an answer. Ok, let's do it, let's make this happen. This Interlude will be either about Alexandria or Eidolon. That would make this Interlude the third Chauldron Interlude. More of Doctor Mother. JOY.....NOPE. I don't hate her as much as I hate Coil or Heartbreaker, but I dislike her a lot. I'm more interested in people working for her than in her.
Btw, before I'll start, I'm going to tell you my first 10 favorite characters, in the right order. I'm sure you won't be surprised about my choices, I think you already got used with me and my way of thinking about people. So: Lisa, Taylor, Weld, Legend, Sierra, Marissa, Aisha, Hannah, Brian, Sabah, with the honorable mention of Faultline, Marquis and Amy. You can probably see some patterns here.
There are also 2 super-villains that I love to hate. Even if I want them to have a fate worse than death, I also miss them especially when they're gone for some time already (and I know they're still alive). Well, you probably guessed: Jack and Bonesaw. The BEST MONSTERS of this story. You can't live with them, you can't live without them. When they'll make another awful, devilish apparition? So many Chapters without them and I'm stuck with the annoying and terrible villain like Coil, or dr Mengele- wanna be Doctor Mother

. Yes, of course I'll be happy with anyone who'll put an well-deserving end to Jack and Bonesaw's pycho tyranny, but as long as they're alive, I want to see them again and be terrified by the new madness they'll come with

. Ok, time to start Interlude 15 (Donation Bonus #3)

August 20th, 1986

She was being poisoned by people with smiles on their faces.
She hated those smiles. Fake. Pretending to be happy, pretending to be cheerful. But she'd spent enough time here to know that her friends and family would be crying the second they thought they were out of earshot. The strangers had a weariness that spoke to the inevitable. The older they were, the more reality seemed to weigh on them.
Somewhere along the line, they had stopped telling her that the chemotherapy would make her better. The smiles had become even more strained. There was more emphasis on making her comfortable. Less explanation of what was going on.
So when her mother came in to check on her, bringing the mug of heated chicken broth, she pretended to be asleep. She hated herself for it, but she couldn't stand the lies, the fakeness.
If it wouldn't have given her away, she would have winced as her mother sat down by her bedside. It meant she might be staying a while.
"Becca," her mother murmured from behind her. "You awake?"
She didn't respond, keeping her breathing steady. She tried to breathe through her nose, so the sores that filled her mouth wouldn't sing with pain at the contact with the air.
Her mother ran one hand over her head. Her hair was mostly gone, and the contact was uncomfortable to the point that it was almost painful.
"You've been so brave," her mom whispered, so quiet she was barely audible.
I'm not brave. Not at all. I'm terrified. I'm so frustrated I could scream. But she couldn't. Everyone had painted her as being so courageous, so noble and peaceful in the face of the months of treatment. But it was a facade, and she'd passed the point of no return. It was too late to break composure, too late to stop making bad jokes, faking smiles of her own. She couldn't complain or use her mother's shoulder to cry on because everyone would fall apart if she did.
She was their support.

Ok, its a flashback told from the POV of a new character (or an already known character), called Becca. She seems to be a young cancer patient who tries hard to be as strong as she can in front of her imminent demise, strong for her family at least. She seems like she lost her hope in a possible cure but she hides her negative feelings because she doesn't want to see her mother more sad than the poor woman is already. I already like this Becca, she's hopeless, yet she's thinking at people dear to her and doesn't want them as hopeless as she's. She takes her hopes and empower her family with them.

"My little superhero," her mother said. Rebecca could feel her mother's hand on her bare scalp once more. She wanted to slap that hand away, yell at her mother. Don't you know that hurts? Everything hurts.

"You've been trying so hard. You deserve better."
And just like that, from the tone and the word choice, Rebecca knew she was dying.
She felt a mixture of emotions. Relief, in a way. It would mean the chemotherapy could stop; she could stop hurting. There was anger too. Always some anger. Why couldn't her mother just tell her? When would they get up the courage to deliver that news?
Apparently not tonight. Rebecca heard the scrape of the chair moving as her mother stood, the muffled footsteps as she retreated down the hall.
Tears had been harder to come by since the chemo had started. Most days, her eyes were red and itchy, her vision blurry, too dry to cry. But it seemed this occasion deserved them. For a long time, she lay on her side, staring out the window at the cityscape of Los Angeles, tears running sideways down her face, across the bridge of her nose and down to her ear, soaking her pillow.
There was a sign that caught her eye, because it was so bright a yellow against its immediate background of blues and dusky purples. The classic logo of a fast food restaurant.
It struck her that she would probably never get to eat there again, never get a special kids meal with the dinky plastic toy that was meant for kids ten years younger than her. She'd never forget about the toy afterward, letting it clutter the top of her dresser along with the other colorful trinkets and keepsakes.
She'd never get to read the third book of the Maggie Holt series, or see the movie they were making of the first book.
She'd never have a real boyfriend.
It was dumb, but those stupid trivial things hit her harder than the idea that she'd never see her family, her friends or her cats again. The steady tears became sobs, and her breath hitched, making her entire chest seize in pain. The involuntary clenching of her empty stomach was twice as bad, and she started to think she might need to throw up. Or dry heave. Experience told her that would be worst of all.
She'd started moaning without realizing it, quiet and drawn out, trying to replace those painful lurching sobs with something else.
"Do you need morphine?"
The gentle voice startled her, interrupting both the moans and the sobs. Morphine wouldn't help the most basic, terrifying, inevitable reality she faced. She shook her head.
There was a whispering.
"I'm going to increase the drip just a little, Rebecca Costa-Brown."
"Who?" Rebecca stirred, turning around to see who was speaking. A black woman with long hair in a doctor's get-up was messing with the IV bag. But… no name tag. And there was a teenage girl with pale skin and dark hair standing behind her, wearing knee-high socks, a black pleated skirt and white dress shirt.

Ha....................HA..................HA............I was so damn right. This is another Cauldron Interlude. Well, hello, Doctor Mother. Hello you too, Woman in Black that may or may not be a projection of Doctor Mother. Alright, I guess this master of manipulation and pragmatic villain called Doctor Mother found about the existence of Rebbeca and is going to propose her to become a parahuman working for her in exchange of curing her. Because the vials with powers created by the Doctor can cure any sickness, right? Even the cancer. I can see Doctor Menge....Mother manipulating poor Rebecca until the girl will accept anything the "good" Doctor will offer to her in exchange of corrupting her soul.

I'm not going to blame Rebecca if she'll accept the deal. She's desperate to LIVE and I think anyone (maybe even myself) will accept this deal with the devil for a little bit of living. Survival instinct and nothing else.

"You're not one of my doctors."

"No, Rebecca. Not yet," the woman replied.
Quietly, Rebecca asked, "Are you one of the doctors that takes care of people that are dying?"
The woman walked around to the end of the bed. The teenager stayed where she was. Rebecca gave the girl a nervous look. She was staring, her expression placid, hands at her side.
"Who are you, then?"
"Shh. Lower your voice. It would be a shame if the nurses happened to come by and eject me."
"So…" Rebecca started, making a conscious effort to speak more quietly, "You're not supposed to be here."
"No," the woman replied.
Rebecca closed her mouth. She could feel the effect of the morphine. If nothing else, it was helping ease the uncomfortable sensation where her stomach had been cramping, her skin feeling raw against the stiff hospital sheets. She didn't know what to say, so she fell silent instead.
"To answer your question, I'm a doctor, but not one that works in this hospital. I'm more of a researcher and scholar than anything else. And I came to make you an offer."
"Shouldn't my mom be here for this?" My mother makes all of the decisions.
"Normally yes, when dealing with a minor. But this is a private deal. Just for you."
"I don't understand."
"You've heard about the superheroes? On the television?"
"Yeah. There's, like, a bunch. Twenty or something?"
"No less than fifty, now. They're appearing all over the world, with thousands upon thousands estimated to appear by the turn of the millennium. I confess I have something of a hand in that. Which is why I'm here."
"You… make superheroes appear?" Rebecca could feel herself getting foggy with the morphine.
"I make superheroes, but it's not easy. The risks are high. The files?"
The teenager on the other side of the bed stepped forward, pulling off her backpack. She reached in and withdrew a file folder.
The woman moved the wheeled, adjustable bed-desk that still held the chicken broth Rebecca's mother had brought. She moved the plastic container and put the file folder down. Opening it, she spread out the glossy photographs that were contained within, until six images sat side by side.
A man with gnarled skin like the wood of a tree. A woman with tentacles everywhere. A beetle-man. A boy with skin that seemed to be melting like wax. A burned husk of a body. A little girl without eyes, only flat expanses of skin where they should be.
"Right now, in the early stages of my project, only one in seven succeed. Two of those seven die." The woman tapped the pictures of the burned body and the boy with melted skin. "Four experience unfortunate physical changes."
"They're monsters."
"Yes. Yes they are. But of those seven, statistically there's one who experiences no major physical changes, who gains powers. All anyone has to do is drink one of my formulas."
Rebecca nodded. Her eyes flickered over the photographs.
"And I've stumbled on a little side-benefit, Rebecca. I mix those potions a certain way, and it not only helps reduce the severity of any physical changes, but it also has a restorative effect. The body heals. Sometimes just a little. Sometimes a great deal. I think we could heal you."
"Heal me?"
"I'm not asking for money. Only that you take this leap of faith with me and help me build something. I know the risks are great, I wouldn't normally ask someone to face them, but I suspect you don't have much left to lose."
Rebecca extended a hand to touch the photos, but it was herself she looked at. Her fingers so bony, her skin mottled yellow with bruising around the knuckles. I'm already a monster.

FUCK YOU, Doctor Mother, for taking advance upon the desperation of a girl, you're such a horrible person, despite your sweet appearances and tongue. You're the perfect example of a monster hidden beneath an angelic exterior. A monster worse than many. I'd rather prefer HONEST monsters like Jack or Bonesaw, than this one who pretend to be something else than she's. Look at what this beautiful monster did to those poor unfortunate souls. That little girl without eyes. That woman with tentacles everywhere (I can't even make a "I've seen enough hentai to..." stupid joke because I feel terrible sorry for the Tentacles Woman only by hearing about her)...all these people were sacrificed because a fucking doctor is obsessed to have an army of parahumans at her disposition, an army that she calls "heroes" despite some of them being ferocious villains.

For what do you need your army, you poor excuse of a Doctor and even a poorer excuse of a Mother? Why do I have a feeling that this Rebecca will become part of Triumvirate and will get Alexandria as her code-name?

August 21st, 1986

"I think we can mark this as a success," the Doctor spoke.
Rebecca opened her eyes. She'd seen something fragmented but profound, but it slipped away as fast as she could think to recollect it. She staggered to her feet, wobbled. The girl in the school uniform caught her before she could fall.
"I'm not a monster?"
"No. In fact, I don't know if it could have gone better."
Rebecca extended one arm. Her skin was a healthy pink, her hand thin but not so emaciated as it had been.
"I'm better?"
"I would guess so. In truth, I'm not sure how the regeneration affected the cancer, it might even have exacerbated the symptoms. For the time being, however, you seem to be well."
"I feel really light."
"That's promising."
Rebecca allowed herself a smile, letting go of the girl's hand. She could stand under her own power. Everything around her appeared sharp. She hadn't realized how bad her vision had become.
Even her mind seemed to be operating like a well oiled machine. Had the drugs and poison made her stupid?
No. She'd never been like this. It was like her brain had been a bicycle and now it was a Ferarri. Even as her eyes flicked over the interior of the warehouse, she could tell she was processing faster, taking in details and sorting them better, as if her thoughts were no longer limited to the confines of her skull.
"What can I do?"
"I've yet to start categorizing the results. For the time being, I'm playing a game of battleship, creating what I can and logging the results. I hope to find the patterns and the factors at play, given time."
"You're going to keep doing what you did with me?" Rebecca bounced in place. It took so little effort to move so high. She was better. She was alive, like she hadn't been for months and months.
"I'm going to find an alternative as soon as possible. The risks are too high, at present. You can understand that what I have is valuable, and every time I approach a potential patient, I face the possibility that I'm going to be exposed."
"They'll stop you?"
"They'll try. I have her to guard me," the Doctor nodded in the direction of the dark-haired girl. "But I'd rather work without interference."
"So what do we do now? What do I do?"
"I have ideas. Would you object to accompanying me for some time? I could use another bodyguard."
"I don't even know what I do."
"Nor do I. But I think it would be a bad idea for you to return home."

At least Rebecca is healed now which is very good. I'm happy for her. But because she wanted to live, now she's trapped. She can't refuse Doctor Mother, whatever she'll ask her to do, because the Doctor will remove her power and the cancer will return. The Doctor doesn't even have to kill her, she'll let the cancer to all the job. So Rebecca should become Alexandria and create Triumvirate along with Legend, Eidolon and Hero (because this is before Hero was killed by Manton) Its possible that Hero got his powers from Cauldron as well. The Triumvirate and Protectorate was Doctor Mother's plan. I have to admit, despite being such a HUGE bitch, Doctor Mother is a very, very smart HUGE bitch. Smarter than she appears to be.

Rebecca stared down at her hands, clenched and unclenched them. What would her parents say? What would the doctors and nurses say?

She walked across the empty building. By the time she reached the other end, she was floating, her feet not even touching the ground. She set her hands on the wall, dragged her fingertips through the concrete, then crushed it in her hands. It should have ruined her skin, left scrapes or torn her fingernails, short as they were, but it hadn't.
I used to be a shadow of a person, barely there. Now I'm something more in every way.
When she turned around, the girl in the school uniform was whispering in the Doctor's ear.
The Doctor spoke, "Two years, then you decide if you want to stay."
Rebecca looked down at the concrete dust that had settled in the lines and folds of her hands, met the Doctor's eyes and nodded.
May 1st, 1988
"Alexandria," the Doctor called.
Alexandria waited patiently as Contessa adjusted her cape, then strode through the door. The Doctor was there, of course. Professor Manton, too. The boy with the math powers was there, standing next to a boy who was staring off into space.
"She's young," Legend said, sizing her up.
"She's also one of my best yet," the Doctor said.
"I've heard of her," Hero said. "Los Angeles?"
Alexandria nodded.
"You took down Strongarm and Mongler. It was impressive," he said.
"Thank you."
The Doctor spoke, "She's as strong as any parahuman we've recorded. Flies at speeds that match your own, Legend. Near-perfect memory retention, accelerated processing and learning."
Legend gave her another serious look. She wore a black costume with a skirt, knee-high boots and elbow-length gloves. A heavy cape flowed behind her back.
Her black hair was held back out of her face by the metal visor that covered the upper half of her face.
"It's more typical for heroes to wear brighter colors," he said. "It conveys a more positive image." His own costume was a testament to that philosophy, blue with flames and lightning stencils in white.
"Black's more utilitarian," the Doctor said. "Harder to see in the dark."
"And it's easier to get the blood out," Alexandria added.
Legend frowned. "Do you get a lot of blood on your costume?"
"I hit really hard," she said, deadpan.
He didn't seem to appreciate the humor. It didn't matter.
"Okay," Hero said, folding his arms. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Alexandria. But I'm not sure I see the point of this, Doctor."

Hero being Cauldron ex-agent confirmed. An Cauldron agent being killed by another Cauldron agent who went nuts and out of control. Ah, the irony! Hello there, Manton when you're still sane. Well, as sane as someone who make experiments on people can be

. Hello there, younger version of Number Man. You're the Cauldron person I'm the most interested in. Hello there...Contessa. Who the hell is Contessa anyway? Is she the Woman in Black, the supposed Doctor Mother's projection? Great, another stupid noble code-name. I hate this kind of names more than one can imagine. Contessa means countess in italian. So, we have Regent, Marquis, Kaiser, now Contessa. When we're going to have a King, Queen, Prince, Princess, etc? Fucking idiot codenames

rofl:. Tomorrow I'll make a list with all codenames I hate/dislike and the ones I like. So, Rebecca is now Alexandria, it wasn't so hard to see this transformation. The smartest and physically strongest Triumvirate member- the Brains and Muscles of the group, Legend is the most caring and compassionate member- the Heart of the group and Eidolon is the most powerful member- the Wizard/God of the group. Hero is...I have no idea. The Tinker and the member who have the biggest chances in the future to die? I don't agree with Legend about what he said about colors and heroes. There are a lot of famous heroes who wear black, yet they're HEROES: Black Panther, War Machine, Blade, Cloak, Black Widow and...how we can forget Batman? Not everyone in bright colors is a hero and not everyone in black is a villain. Hate this kind of judgement of someone after the clothes they wear. Doctor Mother wears white yet her heart is as dark as Alexandria's HEROIC costume. Legend, if you like to wear blue, this doesn't mean everyone should follow your dressing style.

"You each committed to assisting my enterprise, in exchange for the powers I could grant."

"Yeah," Hero said.
"Now I have two things I'd like you to consider. The first is… well, you could consider it a new arrangement."
"Alright. I can keep an open ear," Legend said. Eidolon and Hero nodded in agreement. "What's your proposal?"
"It's not my proposal. Alexandria?"
Alexandria felt her heart skip a beat as the three heroes turned their attention to her, but she kept her emotions from her face.
"This room, I would argue, contains the most powerful parahumans in the world, Scion excepted. The good you accomplish is undeniable. Even if villains outnumber the heroes, powers have come to benefit the world in the long run. A golden age, if you will."
Legend nodded.
"But we know that trigger events tend to produce damaged, disturbed and unbalanced individuals. Any traumatic event will do that, and a trauma punctuated by the acquisition of superpowers is going to leave a lasting impression. Trigger events produce more villains. We know this."
The Doctor cut in, "And I'm producing more heroes than villains. For now, the proportion favors us, and you've been able to keep the criminal element in line. For the most part. But even as I expand my operations, I have come to the realization that I can only produce so much. And the rate of parahuman growth is expanding. The next twenty years are projected to produce a total number of six hundred and fifty thousand people with powers, worldwide."
Alexandria spoke, "I've looked at the numbers, at the growth, the trends, checked and double checked them. Even if the rate decreases, we're going to get outpaced and we're going to get outpaced hard. The people with trigger events will outnumber the Doctor's clients, and we'll wind up with three to ten villains for every hero that steps forward."
Legend, Eidolon and Hero were paying attention.
The Doctor spoke, "Alexandria and I have discussed this at length. A recurring worry is that as much as I've been able to gift you three, you four with exemplary abilities, we could see other threats of comparable power."
"Is there any evidence of this?" Hero asked. "You haven't explained how you create the powers, but what you've said leads me to believe you're producing something purer than what everyone else gets."
"Purer? Perhaps. But the purer something is, the more fragile it becomes. The process seems to be influenced heavily by psychological strain and stress. Almost an inverse of the trigger event phenomenon. You know there's a possibility that the formula can become tainted, giving inhuman characteristics to the unfortunate subjects. This is despite the most sterile conditions. I'm improving the results over time, with Professor Manton's help, but there are no guarantees."
"The point we're getting around to," Alexandria spoke, "Is that even if the Doctor can get better results with time and effort, the explosion in the natural parahuman population is inevitably going to produce an individual with powers that outstrip our own."
"So we lose in the long run?" Eidolon asked. "We're doomed?"
"No. Because I'd like to propose a solution. A way to assert control. I want to band together. Form a team."
Legend leaned against the wall. "There are teams forming already. Yes, we'd be powerful, influential, but I don't see how that addresses the problems."

Ah, so Doctor Mother is LYING them that she only wants to create heroes to compensate for the humber of villains that exist in world, hoping that in the future there will be more heroes than villains. Hate to disappoint you, Doctor Mother, but your logic sucks. Or, your apparent logic sucks. Not everyone who went through trigger event became villain or a dangerous villain. Undersiders (except for Alec and Rachel) are not dangerous villains, Faultline's Crew are good people (well, 3 of them are Cauldron experiments, but they're still good), Parian is a rogue, Canary is a rogue and so on. There are people who remained good despite everything they went through. On the other side, there are monsters who got their powers from Cauldron. Shatterbird, Manton, Coil....do you have any explanation for them, Doctor? Any excuse? Alexandria, you're almost the PROPHET OF TRUTH. There's an individual with powers that you all can't just beat, unless you kill the original body. One of the Doctor's colleagues. Manton.

I wonder how Alexandria will react when Doctor will want Manton free and alive.

"Simple. We do what the government's been pushing for. We regulate. We bend to the government's yoke, all four of us together. We follow their stipulations and regulations."

"That sounds like a horrendously bad idea," Eidolon spoke. "Why?"
"Because if it was us four, together? We could afford to push back if they pushed too hard, and they'd know that. And just by being there, we could make the project attractive enough to bring others in."
Legend turned, "And how does this benefit you, Doctor?"
"It doesn't. Not directly. That's why this is Alexandria's proposal."
"But," Manton spoke, his voice gravelly for his relatively young age, "We could send some of our clients to you. Happier clients are better for business."
Legend folded his arms. "And you'd want to be in charge, Alexandria?"
"No. I think you or Hero would be a better choice, to portray a kind face and a positive image. You two wear the colorful costumes."
"Not Eidolon?" Hero asked.
"He's too powerful. Not saying either of you aren't, but we wouldn't be able to convey the impression that it's the government in control of the heroes if it was Eidolon front and center."
Legend nodded. "You've given this a lot of consideration."
"More than a little," Alexandria admitted. "I have an eight stage plan to incorporate parahumans into society, I've also researched and developed plans for marketing and monetizing capes. America is the most powerful country in the world, and it's a capitalist nation, first and foremost. We'll use that."
"Seems to be getting away from the idea of doing good deeds for the sake of doing good deeds," Eidolon said.
"It is, but that's inevitable. The post-baby boomer generation is growing up. Couple that with the explosion in parahuman numbers, and this situation threatens to get well out of control. We need structure and organization if we're going to keep things intact."
"There's no guarantee your plan will survive contact with government," Legend said.
"There's one guarantee."
"What's that?"
"I'm estimating that it will take at least five years to establish this plan nationwide. In that span, we'll start with only a few groups in the largest cities, we'll gradually and gratefully accept involvement and oversight from government and law enforcement. We'll also create a sub-group for minors with powers, so we can strictly structure their environment and development. Those are the key points. That gives me time to address your doubts."
"Again, how?"
"I expect we'll be able to employ the remainder of the plan, the eight-stage integration of parahumans with the public, because I will be in a position of power in the government. I, my civilian self, can be in charge of the government-sponsored superhero teams within eight years."
"There's too many holes in that plan. People will wonder why Alexandria and your secret identity aren't in the same place at once."
"There's more than one solution to that. For one thing, I can work faster and better than my unpowered peers. For another, the Doctor thinks she can find a suitable body double with similar powers before the deadline. I designedthis costume to be elegant without being attention-getting. No color, as you pointed out. And I don't seek leadership of the team. Instead, I will content myself with working to guide legislation to where we need it."
"It seems so manipulative. Everything people feared we'd be doing," Hero said.
"I have booklets of paperwork you can look over. All of the math, all of the projected issues for the future, and all of my proposals and plans. You don't have to give me an answer right away. Just consider it."
"Okay," Hero said.
"And," the Doctor said, "I think it goes without saying that everything said in this room stays in this room?"
There were nods all around.

So, the whole Protectorate idea was Alexandria's biggest project and she's the supreme leader behind the curtains while also being a hero loved by the public. I appreciate Alexandria, she's a fucking genius and a well meaning person but the sad thing is the she's getting more and more morally corrupted

. She believes in Doctor Mother's lies and manipulations OR she pretends to believe because she's afraid what the Doctor will do to her if she'll fight back. We don't know how strong this Contessa is- maybe strong enough to defeat Alexandria in a fight if Alexandria will try something against the Doctor. Then the Doctor will remove Alexandria's powers, condemning her to death. Alexandria is a good person with a heroic heart but is trapped in her personal hell- she have to do even the things she doesn't like if she wants to live. I have a lot of feelings for her. And most of them are of pity and hope that this girl will free herself in a way or another and will find her peace.

"Good. Thank you. There's one more thing I would like to show you. If you'll accompany me?"

She turned to the girl in the suit and the young man with the thousand-yard stare.
"You know where to take us."
The girl in the suit placed her hands on his shoulders, tapping one twice. In response, the boy raised his hands, bidding the back wall of the room to fold out into an area that shouldn't have been there. Bright sunlight streamed down around them, a salt-scented wind blowing in their faces.
"My god," Legend said.
"He gained a very valuable set of powers, but there was an unfortunate effect on his perceptions. He sees too much at once. He's effectively blind and deaf. He agreed to work for me in exchange for care and comfort."
Eidolon and Hero advanced to the edge of the window, staring out at a landscape of tidy concrete buildings and overlarge trees. There was a coast there, too.
"I will be locating my operations there in the future. Doormaker will shuttle you to and from my base in the future."
"Where is it?"
"Another Earth."
"Like Earth Aleph? The one Haywire opened the portal to?"
"In some respects, yes." The Doctor gestured, and Contessa squeezed the boy's shoulders again. The portal shut. "My assistant will hand you the booklets Alexandria prepared for her project. Doormaker will then take each of you home in turn. Thank you."

Wow, the guy who can create portals to different Earths is called Doormaker for real. I called him once door maker and now I'm surprised about how inspired I was

lol. Gosh, I don't feel pity for him since he prefers to be blind and deaf only to have this power and help Cauldron. If he wouldn't want to help Cauldron, he would have just asked them to remove his power (and give it to someone else) so he can be normal again. No happiness for anyone to have this power if you can't see and hear. I'm trying to understand how he can sees too much at once if he's blind. Maybe he sees the world where he's bringing others but he can't see something else- he becomes blind once he stops using his power because his brain is tired of seeing billions and billions of people and thousands of places at the same time and his senses are getting shut down. Anyway, SUCKS to have this power if the consequences of using it are like this. Contessa knows Morse code. She's educated and doesn't seem to behave like a projection, more like an independent person.
Alright, this Alexandria/Cauldron Interlude is pretty long (like all the goddamned Cauldron Interludes) so I have to split it in two parts. Sorry, the next part will come soon.

I like Rebecca alias Alexandria, she's my second favorite Triumvirate member after Legend but I'm afraid for her. I'm afraid that she'll become more and more dark in the future, her changing personality ironically reflecting her choice for her costume. I'm afraid that even if she might save herself from Doctor Mother, on the other side she'll become her worst enemy. Or maybe she'll become a fanatical supporter of Doctor Mother, killing anyone who'll opposite her. Poor young and idealistic Rebecca, what a maybe fatalistic choice you've made!

God night and sleep well, my friends.

rafuki22 · Aug 4, 2018

blackarrow said:
Hello, my strong and brave friends. Time for the next...Interlude. The third Interlude of this Arc. Let's see if I can guess this time who's the central character of this new Interlude. If I'll fail again to guess, I'll give you all the occasion to ask me whatever question you want, no matter how personal or even uncomfortable will be . And I'll have to give you an answer. Ok, let's do it, let's make this happen. This Interlude will be either about Alexandria or Eidolon. That would make this Interlude the third Chauldron Interlude. More of Doctor Mother. JOY.....NOPE. I don't hate her as much as I hate Coil or Heartbreaker, but I dislike her a lot. I'm more interested in people working for her than in her.
Btw, before I'll start, I'm going to tell you my first 10 favorite characters, in the right order. I'm sure you won't be surprised about my choices, I think you already got used with me and my way of thinking about people. So: Lisa, Taylor, Weld, Legend, Sierra, Marissa, Aisha, Hannah, Brian, Sabah, with the honorable mention of Faultline, Marquis and Amy. You can probably see some patterns here.
There are also 2 super-villains that I love to hate. Even if I want them to have a fate worse than death, I also miss them especially when they're gone for some time already (and I know they're still alive). Well, you probably guessed: Jack and Bonesaw. The BEST MONSTERS of this story. You can't live with them, you can't live without them. When they'll make another awful, devilish apparition? So many Chapters without them and I'm stuck with the annoying and terrible villain like Coil, or dr Mengele- wanna be Doctor Mother . Yes, of course I'll be happy with anyone who'll put an well-deserving end to Jack and Bonesaw's pycho tyranny, but as long as they're alive, I want to see them again and be terrified by the new madness they'll come with . Ok, time to start Interlude 15 (Donation Bonus #3)

Ok, its a flashback told from the POV of a new character (or an already known character), called Becca. She seems to be a young cancer patient who tries hard to be as strong as she can in front of her imminent demise, strong for her family at least. She seems like she lost her hope in a possible cure but she hides her negative feelings because she doesn't want to see her mother more sad than the poor woman is already. I already like this Becca, she's hopeless, yet she's thinking at people dear to her and doesn't want them as hopeless as she's. She takes her hopes and empower her family with them.

Ha....................HA..................HA............I was so damn right. This is another Cauldron Interlude. Well, hello, Doctor Mother. Hello you too, Woman in Black that may or may not be a projection of Doctor Mother. Alright, I guess this master of manipulation and pragmatic villain called Doctor Mother found about the existence of Rebbeca and is going to propose her to become a parahuman working for her in exchange of curing her. Because the vials with powers created by the Doctor can cure any sickness, right? Even the cancer. I can see Doctor Menge....Mother manipulating poor Rebecca until the girl will accept anything the "good" Doctor will offer to her in exchange of corrupting her soul. I'm not going to blame Rebecca if she'll accept the deal. She's desperate to LIVE and I think anyone (maybe even myself) will accept this deal with the devil for a little bit of living. Survival instinct and nothing else.

FUCK YOU, Doctor Mother, for taking advance upon the desperation of a girl, you're such a horrible person, despite your sweet appearances and tongue. You're the perfect example of a monster hidden beneath an angelic exterior. A monster worse than many. I'd rather prefer HONEST monsters like Jack or Bonesaw, than this one who pretend to be something else than she's. Look at what this beautiful monster did to those poor unfortunate souls. That little girl without eyes. That woman with tentacles everywhere (I can't even make a "I've seen enough hentai to..." stupid joke because I feel terrible sorry for the Tentacles Woman only by hearing about her)...all these people were sacrificed because a fucking doctor is obsessed to have an army of parahumans at her disposition, an army that she calls "heroes" despite some of them being ferocious villains. For what do you need your army, you poor excuse of a Doctor and even a poorer excuse of a Mother? Why do I have a feeling that this Rebecca will become part of Triumvirate and will get Alexandria as her code-name?

At least Rebecca is healed now which is very good. I'm happy for her. But because she wanted to live, now she's trapped. She can't refuse Doctor Mother, whatever she'll ask her to do, because the Doctor will remove her power and the cancer will return. The Doctor doesn't even have to kill her, she'll let the cancer to all the job. So Rebecca should become Alexandria and create Triumvirate along with Legend, Eidolon and Hero (because this is before Hero was killed by Manton) Its possible that Hero got his powers from Cauldron as well. The Triumvirate and Protectorate was Doctor Mother's plan. I have to admit, despite being such a HUGE bitch, Doctor Mother is a very, very smart HUGE bitch. Smarter than she appears to be.

Hero being Cauldron ex-agent confirmed. An Cauldron agent being killed by another Cauldron agent who went nuts and out of control. Ah, the irony! Hello there, Manton when you're still sane. Well, as sane as someone who make experiments on people can be . Hello there, younger version of Number Man. You're the Cauldron person I'm the most interested in. Hello there...Contessa. Who the hell is Contessa anyway? Is she the Woman in Black, the supposed Doctor Mother's projection? Great, another stupid noble code-name. I hate this kind of names more than one can imagine. Contessa means countess in italian. So, we have Regent, Marquis, Kaiser, now Contessa. When we're going to have a King, Queen, Prince, Princess, etc? Fucking idiot codenames rofl:. Tomorrow I'll make a list with all codenames I hate/dislike and the ones I like. So, Rebecca is now Alexandria, it wasn't so hard to see this transformation. The smartest and physically strongest Triumvirate member- the Brains and Muscles of the group, Legend is the most caring and compassionate member- the Heart of the group and Eidolon is the most powerful member- the Wizard/God of the group. Hero is...I have no idea. The Tinker and the member who have the biggest chances in the future to die? I don't agree with Legend about what he said about colors and heroes. There are a lot of famous heroes who wear black, yet they're HEROES: Black Panther, War Machine, Blade, Cloak, Black Widow and...how we can forget Batman? Not everyone in bright colors is a hero and not everyone in black is a villain. Hate this kind of judgement of someone after the clothes they wear. Doctor Mother wears white yet her heart is as dark as Alexandria's HEROIC costume. Legend, if you like to wear blue, this doesn't mean everyone should follow your dressing style.

Ah, so Doctor Mother is LYING them that she only wants to create heroes to compensate for the humber of villains that exist in world, hoping that in the future there will be more heroes than villains. Hate to disappoint you, Doctor Mother, but your logic sucks. Or, your apparent logic sucks. Not everyone who went through trigger event became villain or a dangerous villain. Undersiders (except for Alec and Rachel) are not dangerous villains, Faultline's Crew are good people (well, 3 of them are Cauldron experiments, but they're still good), Parian is a rogue, Canary is a rogue and so on. There are people who remained good despite everything they went through. On the other side, there are monsters who got their powers from Cauldron. Shatterbird, Manton, Coil....do you have any explanation for them, Doctor? Any excuse? Alexandria, you're almost the PROPHET OF TRUTH. There's an individual with powers that you all can't just beat, unless you kill the original body. One of the Doctor's colleagues. Manton. I wonder how Alexandria will react when Doctor will want Manton free and alive.

So, the whole Protectorate idea was Alexandria's biggest project and she's the supreme leader behind the curtains while also being a hero loved by the public. I appreciate Alexandria, she's a fucking genius and a well meaning person but the sad thing is the she's getting more and more morally corrupted . She believes in Doctor Mother's lies and manipulations OR she pretends to believe because she's afraid what the Doctor will do to her if she'll fight back. We don't know how strong this Contessa is- maybe strong enough to defeat Alexandria in a fight if Alexandria will try something against the Doctor. Then the Doctor will remove Alexandria's powers, condemning her to death. Alexandria is a good person with a heroic heart but is trapped in her personal hell- she have to do even the things she doesn't like if she wants to live. I have a lot of feelings for her. And most of them are of pity and hope that this girl will free herself in a way or another and will find her peace.

Wow, the guy who can create portals to different Earths is called Doormaker for real. I called him once door maker and now I'm surprised about how inspired I was lol. Gosh, I don't feel pity for him since he prefers to be blind and deaf only to have this power and help Cauldron. If he wouldn't want to help Cauldron, he would have just asked them to remove his power (and give it to someone else) so he can be normal again. No happiness for anyone to have this power if you can't see and hear. I'm trying to understand how he can sees too much at once if he's blind. Maybe he sees the world where he's bringing others but he can't see something else- he becomes blind once he stops using his power because his brain is tired of seeing billions and billions of people and thousands of places at the same time and his senses are getting shut down. Anyway, SUCKS to have this power if the consequences of using it are like this. Contessa knows Morse code. She's educated and doesn't seem to behave like a projection, more like an independent person.
Alright, this Alexandria/Cauldron Interlude is pretty long (like all the goddamned Cauldron Interludes) so I have to split it in two parts. Sorry, the next part will come soon.
I like Rebecca alias Alexandria, she's my second favorite Triumvirate member after Legend but I'm afraid for her. I'm afraid that she'll become more and more dark in the future, her changing personality ironically reflecting her choice for her costume. I'm afraid that even if she might save herself from Doctor Mother, on the other side she'll become her worst enemy. Or maybe she'll become a fanatical supporter of Doctor Mother, killing anyone who'll opposite her. Poor young and idealistic Rebecca, what a maybe fatalistic choice you've made!

God night and sleep well, my friends.

Jajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajaja...Ja.

10moorem II · Aug 4, 2018

About doormaker, his preferences were never touched upon.

It's highly likely he didn't know what would happen. As for the whole losing/transferring powers, that is a very rare thing to happen in Worm. The people who could do so could be counted on one hand.

KnownParadox · Aug 4, 2018

10moorem II said:
The people who could do so could be counted on one hand.

One hand and will enough fingers to hold a cup of power juice...

Not a lot, is what I'm saying here.

Birdsie · Aug 4, 2018

So much Cauldron hate

.

Nice reaction.

Vegetalss4 · Aug 4, 2018

blackarrow said:
Ah, so Doctor Mother is LYING them that she only wants to create heroes to compensate for the humber of villains that exist in world, hoping that in the future there will be more heroes than villains. Hate to disappoint you, Doctor Mother, but your logic sucks. Or, your apparent logic sucks. Not everyone who went through trigger event became villain or a dangerous villain. Undersiders (except for Alec and Rachel) are not dangerous villains, Faultline's Crew are good people (well, 3 of them are Cauldron experiments, but they're still good), Parian is a rogue, Canary is a rogue and so on. There are people who remained good despite everything they went through. On the other side, there are monsters who got their powers from Cauldron. Shatterbird, Manton, Coil....do you have any explanation for them, Doctor? Any excuse? Alexandria, you're almost the PROPHET OF TRUTH. There's an individual with powers that you all can't just beat, unless you kill the original body. One of the Doctor's colleagues. Manton. I wonder how Alexandria will react when Doctor will want Manton free and alive.

So, I am not objecting to your read that Doctor Mother is lying, or your suspicion, nor am I confirming it.
That kind of judgment should be your own, until you have finished the story and it can be discussed without fears of spoilers, but your objection here don't make any sense to what Doctor Mother said.
She admits right in the bit you quoted that she creates villains. She just claims to create more heroes than villains.
pointing to individual villainous Cauldron capes or non-villainous* natural capes, don't actually prove anything, because it's about how common each are not about them being unique.
For comparison consider that we could still spend all day mentioning people that died before twenty in the modern era or that got to be older than 60 in the medieval ages, but that it's still true that the average lifespan is a lot longer now than it was then.
Now of course Doctor Mother could still be lying, either about the effect, her motivation or both. I'm just saying that your counterpoint really doesn't prove that.

*Even if anecdotal evidence meant anything I don't get why you choose a bunch of villain natural capes as example, after all she didn't claim they'd all be complete monsters, just villains, and even if they commit robbery and assault instead of mass murder they still count, both for cauldron capes and natural capes.

AmbarGriss · Aug 4, 2018

Contessa, love my life

blackarrow · Aug 5, 2018

Birdsie said:
So much Cauldron hate .

Nice reaction.

I'm usually a pretty emotional person. I'm not the kind of person who read/watch something and the only thing I have to say is: 'oh, that happened. Ok. Nevermind.' I usually invest a lot of emotions in everything I read/I watch and I suffer/enjoy along with the characters, for characters and their trials. Worm is not an exception, especially since it's so dramatic, even tragic in most of its parts. I lost the count of how many times I cried reading Worm and screamed at characters to do a certain thing or to not do a certain thing.

blackarrow · Aug 5, 2018

Vegetalss4 said:
So, I am not objecting to your read that Doctor Mother is lying, or your suspicion, nor am I confirming it.
That kind of judgment should be your own, until you have finished the story and it can be discussed without fears of spoilers, but your objection here don't make any sense to what Doctor Mother said.
She admits right in the bit you quoted that she creates villains. She just claims to create more heroes than villains.
pointing to individual villainous Cauldron capes or non-villainous* natural capes, don't actually prove anything, because it's about how common each are not about them being unique.
For comparison consider that we could still spend all day mentioning people that died before twenty in the modern era or that got to be older than 60 in the medieval ages, but that it's still true that the average lifespan is a lot longer now than it was then.
Now of course Doctor Mother could still be lying, either about the effect, her motivation or both. I'm just saying that your counterpoint really doesn't prove that.

*Even if anecdotal evidence meant anything I don't get why you choose a bunch of villain natural capes as example, after all she didn't claim they'd all be complete monsters, just villains, and even if they commit robbery and assault instead of mass murder they still count, both for cauldron capes and natural capes.

Ok, maybe I was so angry with her bullshit that I didn't paid attention to everything she said. My bad, you're right. But still her motivations for creating heroes (also, I have to mention that the heroes she creates are usually corrupt- they have to serve Cauldron one way or another) must be dark, because nobody would invest so many time and money to do good for mankind. She must have future motivations for her actions and I'm sure they're not very good. Why not recruiting heroes from rogues and even from villains (with the promise of money, fame, amnesty for everything they did) instead of creating them and forcing them to obey her afterwards (yes, she forces them to work for her since the alternative of their refusal is to be stripped by powers)? Why Canary wasn't given the chance to become a heroine instead of being locked in Birdcage? I'm sure she'd have accepted this alternative instead of spending her whole life in jail. And I think a lot of prisoners were in her position. There was no alternative left for them but to go to prison. Ethan was successfully recruited, I'm sure he wouldn't be the only one to accept to change his affiliation. Why all these efforts invested (when there are easier ways to attract heroes) if the Doctor is not planning something that will be useful for her first of all? Real life secret societies, Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Freemasons, all claim that what they're doing is for the good of humanity. Bullshit, they're doing for their own good, they don't actually care about humanity as a whole.
Let me clear, a woman who make experiments on people against their own accord and who subtle blackmail the heroes she created and who let criminals that she created as well roam free to do whatever they please instead of capturing/killing them (or even better, taking their powers away from them) is NOT a good person, no matter what she claims to be. Either the Doctor is delusional as hell or she's lying all the freaking time about her "good" cause. Even if she honestly wants to save the world in the end, her methods are so freaking wrong (especially when she have so many alternatives to do otherwise) that I'll never ever agree with her or see how how she probably wants people to see her: as a savior heroine. Hell, I don't agree with some of Skitter's methods to do the right things and she's much more better than the Doctor.

Even if one wants to do the right thing, their methods should follow a moral code as close as possible. If you start torture/kill/blackmail people who are not criminals then there's no point to try to do the right thing anymore.

Birdsie · Aug 5, 2018

blackarrow said:
never ever agree with her or see how how she probably wants people to see her: as a savior heroine

I think you're really pushing it. If anything, she's been admitting that her methods are far from perfect thus far in the story. As an educated deduction from what we've (you) seen in the story so far, she's like Amanda Waller. A tough "the ends justify the means" kind of woman.

blackarrow · Aug 5, 2018

Birdsie said:
I think you're really pushing it. If anything, she's been admitting that her methods are far from perfect thus far in the story. As an educated deduction from what we've (you) seen in the story so far, she's like Amanda Waller. A tough "the ends justify the means" kind of woman.

This doesn't help at all. I always hated that total amoral and remorseless bitch Amanda Waller and her methods. I hated her so much that I enjoyed her death in

Arrow

version of her character. Such a bitch who never cared about human life only about her purposes. People like Amanda and Doctor Mother make me wonder: what is the difference between them and the worst villains? No many differences but at least the worst villains admit what they are, they don't hide behind "good purposes". No, the ends SHOULD NOT justify the means. Only the most amoral and ruthless people will use this shit as an excuse for their actions. For example, if Tattletale or Skitter will act like Doctor Mother, under any pretext, they'll be no longer my favorite characters. Thanks you for pointing out that the Doctor Mother is similar with Amanda Waller (something that I didn't noticed before). Now I have one more reason to despise her.
Even Emily Piggot is much more better even if she's a huge bigot and she tried to kill Undersiders.
PS: My friend who already read Worm doesn't like Doctor Mother at all when I asked her about her opinion. Her reaction was like: Doctor Mother? I never liked her character.....She doesn't like Skitter either, but didn't told me why.
Second PS: While I like vigilantes who try to protect innocents by killing criminals, I dislike the well-meaning extremists who are ready to sacrifice innocents even for the greatest good. This is how I personally think, I was always thinking like this and I'm not going to change in the near future.

rafuki22 · Aug 5, 2018

blackarrow said:
Ok, maybe I was so angry with her bullshit that I didn't paid attention to everything she said. My bad, you're right. But still her motivations for creating heroes (also, I have to mention that the heroes she creates are usually corrupt- they have to serve Cauldron one way or another) must be dark, because nobody would invest so many time and money to do good for mankind. She must have future motivations for her actions and I'm sure they're not very good. Why not recruiting heroes from rogues and even from villains (with the promise of money, fame, amnesty for everything they did) instead of creating them and forcing them to obey her afterwards (yes, she forces them to work for her since the alternative of their refusal is to be stripped by powers)? Why Canary wasn't given the chance to become a heroine instead of being locked in Birdcage? I'm sure she'd have accepted this alternative instead of spending her whole life in jail. And I think a lot of prisoners were in her position. There was no alternative left for them but to go to prison. Ethan was successfully recruited, I'm sure he wouldn't be the only one to accept to change his affiliation. Why all these efforts invested (when there are easier ways to attract heroes) if the Doctor is not planning something that will be useful for her first of all? Real life secret societies, Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Freemasons, all claim that what they're doing is for the good of humanity. Bullshit, they're doing for their own good, they don't actually care about humanity as a whole.
Let me clear, a woman who make experiments on people against their own accord and who subtle blackmail the heroes she created and who let criminals that she created as well roam free to do whatever they please instead of capturing/killing them (or even better, taking their powers away from them) is NOT a good person, no matter what she claims to be. Either the Doctor is delusional as hell or she's lying all the freaking time about her "good" cause. Even if she honestly wants to save the world in the end, her methods are so freaking wrong (especially when she have so many alternatives to do otherwise) that I'll never ever agree with her or see how how she probably wants people to see her: as a savior heroine. Hell, I don't agree with some of Skitter's methods to do the right things and she's much more better than the Doctor. Even if one wants to do the right thing, their methods should follow a moral code as close as possible. If you start torture/kill/blackmail people who are not criminals then there's no point to try to do the right thing anymore.

First ... too optimistic!
Second, so all the people who invest a lot of time and money for the "good" of humanity are evil? because that is what you have implied.
I'm still annoyed that you thought you could kill the criminals I captured, it shows that you would not make many allies.

rafuki22 · Aug 5, 2018

blackarrow said:
This doesn't help at all. I always hated that total amoral and remorseless bitch Amanda Waller and her methods. I hated her so much that I enjoyed her death in

Arrow

version of her character. Such a bitch who never cared about human life only about her purposes. People like Amanda and Doctor Mother make me wonder: what is the difference between them and the worst villains? No many differences but at least the worst villains admit what they are, they don't hide behind "good purposes". No, the ends SHOULD NOT justify the means. Only the most amoral and ruthless people will use this shit as an excuse for their actions. For example, if Tattletale or Skitter will act like Doctor Mother, under any pretext, they'll be no longer my favorite characters. Thanks you for pointing out that the Doctor Mother is similar with Amanda Waller (something that I didn't noticed before). Now I have one more reason to despise her.
Even Emily Piggot is much more better even if she's a huge bigot and she tried to kill Undersiders.
PS: My friend who already read Worm doesn't like Doctor Mother at all when I asked her about her opinion. Her reaction was like: Doctor Mother? I never liked her character.....She doesn't like Skitter either, but didn't told me why.
Second PS: While I like vigilantes who try to protect innocents by killing criminals, I dislike the well-meaning extremists who are ready to sacrifice innocents even for the greatest good. This is how I personally think, I was always thinking like this and I'm not going to change in the near future.

It shows how little you know, I'll win the bet, and if I do not win it in worm, I'll do it in ward.

Birdsie · Aug 5, 2018

blackarrow said:
This doesn't help at all. I always hated that total amoral and remorseless bitch Amanda Waller and her methods. I hated her so much that I enjoyed her death in

Arrow

version of her character. Such a bitch who never cared about human life only about her purposes. People like Amanda and Doctor Mother make me wonder: what is the difference between them and the worst villains? No many differences but at least the worst villains admit what they are, they don't hide behind "good purposes". No, the ends SHOULD NOT justify the means. Only the most amoral and ruthless people will use this shit as an excuse for their actions. For example, if Tattletale or Skitter will act like Doctor Mother, under any pretext, they'll be no longer my favorite characters. Thanks you for pointing out that the Doctor Mother is similar with Amanda Waller (something that I didn't noticed before). Now I have one more reason to despise her.
Even Emily Piggot is much more better even if she's a huge bigot and she tried to kill Undersiders.
PS: My friend who already read Worm doesn't like Doctor Mother at all when I asked her about her opinion. Her reaction was like: Doctor Mother? I never liked her character.....She doesn't like Skitter either, but didn't told me why.
Second PS: While I like vigilantes who try to protect innocents by killing criminals, I dislike the well-meaning extremists who are ready to sacrifice innocents even for the greatest good. This is how I personally think, I was always thinking like this and I'm not going to change in the near future.

Morality is often ambiguous. If an action has a bad outcome, then the action itself is wrong. Think of it this way: the sum of all happiness created by an action, minus the sum of all pain created by that same action. That's it. A simple equation to measure whether something is good or evil.

Where this entire thing breaks down is in the details. What do you do if there is no good choice? What if there is no bad choice? Is not making a choice... a choice? Is ignorance an excuse for amoral or immoral behavior? What about compulsion? Or obligation? Can you kill an unwilling innocent to save one million of them and call it good? How can we actually calculate that, or can it even be calculated?

It shows that we can't fix suffering. It's inevitable and core to the human condition. Bad things happen to good people, people die, and we can't do anything to stop it. This doesn't feel good, and it's not meant to. We have to cope with our suffering. And many people will have different opinions due to differing circumstances between them. People learn from observation, therefore characters like Mannequin, or Doctor Mother achieve their goals in methods that they learned or discovered to be most effective.

Mannequin just wants to spite the name of goodness itself. He isn't an icon and doesn't think of himself as one. He does it for the simple satisfaction of seeing wide-eyed idealists fall to disillusion like he had. This motive is most likely caused by the Simurgh's influence, but it doesn't change his method. His method is personal and close.

Doctor Mother... we don't really know what she wants. We have no evidence that would push us in the direction of thinking what she's saying is true. Nonetheless, we can see in the story that she is cunning, which would lead me to theorize she's using the best methods for achieving whatever her goal is. She's not after money, because she accepts favors instead. She's not after power, because the favors are limited in number and scope and she doesn't seem to have powers and isn't hedonistic in the traditional sense, at least from what we've seen. It could be she wants to destroy the world, or save it, or a myriad of other things.

The question is, seeing that all people have differing learning experiences, circumstances, understanding, motives, and methods. Can we judge? Perhaps we can. Or perhaps it would be too presumptuous? Can it even be determined?

Also, wow. Did I just get philosophical? I apologize. It's like a reflex. I start thinking and writing down and it just... spirals down into this.

blackarrow · Aug 5, 2018

rafuki22 said:
It shows how little you know, I'll win the bet, and if I do not win it in worm, I'll do it in ward.

Ok, I'm ready to bet with you on everything you want (except money). But don't make the bet too expensive because I don't want to feel very sorry for you when you'll lose.

blackarrow · Aug 5, 2018

rafuki22 said:
First ... too optimistic!
Second, so all the people who invest a lot of time and money for the "good" of humanity are evil? because that is what you have implied.
I'm still annoyed that you thought you could kill the criminals I captured, it shows that you would not make many allies.

I'm always optimistic. This is an annoying (for some people) trait of character I took from my dad.
You know what? You're kind of cute when you're annoyed like this.

I like to talk to you. You're fun to talk with and I even appreciate some of your ideas.
Depends of who is going to invest money and time for the good of humanity. In Worm-verse, so far Doctor Mother and her people didn't do too much good, except for creating corrupted heroes. On the other side, they did some pretty amoral things that I can't agree with not even if someone will torture me with paper. So, they're wasting money and resources for some purpose that is still a mystery for me, even if I have theories, but their methods are awful and terrible. Maybe they think themselves as being good people but for outside observers they don't act like god people. I highly DOUBT that Weld or Parian would do half of the terrible things that Cauldron lead by Doctor Mother did/does, if they had their money. This is the difference between really good people and people who see themselves as being good.
As for me not having many allies in a fictional situation of being a fighter for justice, don't forget something: the BEST vigilantes always work alone.

rafuki22 · Aug 5, 2018

blackarrow said:
Ok, I'm ready to bet with you on everything you want (except money). But don't make the bet too expensive because I don't want to feel very sorry for you when you'll lose.

Do not you remember the bet we made? It's on page 42.
But I will not bet anything, because even if I win, you can pretend that you won.

Let's read Worm and its sequel Ward by Wildbow (One chapter/every day)

Anti-nihilist(maybe).

Anti-nihilist(maybe).

Not a sphere

Totally not four rats in a trench coat

Not a sphere

Anti-nihilist(maybe).

Not a sphere

Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy

Totally not four rats in a trench coat

Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy

Anti-nihilist(maybe).

Anti-nihilist(maybe).

Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy

Anti-nihilist(maybe).