Hello, my sweethearts. Before we'll see what Rebecca is planning to do with Taylor- either force her -using what she's very good at: blackmail and/or violence- to make her give up at her "unacceptable" requests, OR recruit her for Cauldron, especially if Accord will manage to convince Cauldron's leaders that Taylor will be an excellent addition for their group, much better than rotting in the Birdcage, I have two things to tell to my fellow readers, both of them related to Worm, of course
. First: I think I have a favorite non-canon ship already. I don't know how many people will agree with this ship (and I don't really care for the matter
) but I think that Danny/Hanna will make an excellent couple. They're both mature and experienced adults, serious and hardworking and stoic, they went through a lot of shit during their lives, they lost people they cared for, Hanna will make a GOOD mother for Taylor and an GOOD wife/excellent protector for Danny, their ages are close enough -Danny is around 40 years old and Hanna must be 30 and something, Hanna will be patient and kind with Danny, Danny will be understanding and gentle with Hanna, they have idealistic views of life as they're in general idealistic people who reject the corruption and evilness around them. Yep, they'll make a very good couple but I don't think this ship actually have a chance. Danny still can't get over his wife's death and Hanna prefers to remain single, focusing only on her career as a hero. Plus she can't get over her horrible war memories
. They're both broken people who deserve all the happiness, but they don't know how/where to find it.
Another thing: my friend asked me what I'd have done if I were in Tagg's place, regarding Taylor's requests and the possibility to allow or prevent a bloody war. Well, I hate to put myself in this bastard place, but I'd have handle the situation MUCH MORE BETTER than him anyway. I'd accept Taylor's requests and prevent any war in this way (I'll do everything in my power to prevent the war no matter how many concessions I'll have to do) but with one condition. If she'll not keep her promises: stop the Undersiders and help the heroes, then I'll throw her (and the rest of the Undrsiders) right into the Birdcage, without any trial and without caring that they're minors. I'll give her a single chance to prove herself, if she'll fail then no other chance for her or her teammates. Anyway, the fact that I'll be willing to give her a chance matter a lot since, as a Director, I'll be rather known as Miss No Second Chance, but I'll make this personal sacrifice because: 1) no more wars, 2) to show my personal gratitude for the good deeds that Taylor did. This is what Tagg should do but...Tagg is Tagg, can't expect to find intelligence and common sense in his faulty brain. I think that if the stupidity would hurt, Tagg will be FOREVER hospitalized due to chronic pain :lol.
Now back to our Chapter and Tagg/Rebecca shenanigans
Cell 22.4
She's not only confident, but arrogant as hell. Well, for someone with her powers, she can not be arrogant, but then I remember that Legend is basically her equal, yet he's surprising humble so...being so powerful doesn't mean that you have to be arrogant too
. She's very convinced that she'll break Taylor's spirit, in a way or another and she's not afraid to admit that she have means to do it. She also make a separation between her identities: her civil and her "heroic" identity. Why? Maybe because, deep down inside her, she feels bad for what she did/is doing as Alexandria (experiments on unwilling subjects, possible kill for Cauldron's best interests) and she wants to consider Alexandria as a separate personality/entity from Rebecca, not wanting to see herself as Alexandria anymore OR she's getting crazy and detached from reality (either because of her Passenger- I suppose that Cauldron parahumans have Passengers too otherwise they were unable to use their powers without a Passenger- who might affect her better judgement, or because of her own actions: she fell deeper and deeper in the bottomless pit of evilness that she slowly, but sure, started to lose her mind, her idealistic and noble views from the start of her career being replaced by disillusionment and corruption until her mind started to crack and break under so much pressure and moral alterations).
Who are you now, Rebecca, and how did you become who you are?
What are you doing with Rebecca, Alexandria, and why don't you let her alone?
I want to feel sorry for Rebecca, I honestly want to feel sorry for her, but...I can't
. She's not a victim of Doctor Mother (well, we can say that Doctor Mother manipulated her when she was vulnerable and desperate enough to live, but it was her decision to accept Doctor Mother's offering, its not like Cauldron's leader mind controlled her or blackmailed her
) or Number Man, she's her own victim. She's the one who allowed Alexandria's darkness to destroy the light of her soul. I can't feel sorry for people who messed with their own life while being aware all this time that what they're doing might be wrong.
She's such a bully and blackmailer, she induces me nothing but disgust and horror that someone like Rebecca can be considered a hero. She blackmails Taylor that she's going to kill or arrest her teammates. This is very low, Rebecca, but I can't expect too much coming from someone who have no problem kidnapping people with families and normal lives and turning them into monsters. Rebecca, I swear to everything I hold dear, if you'll bring any harm to Tattletale (I don't want any Undersider to suffer but Tattletale is my precious girl
), I'm going to print a fanart with you, glue it onto my punching bag and punch the hell out of your image until my fists will bleed. This and I'll fill an entire notebook with every imaginary torture that Siberian can use on you (because only Siberian can really hurt this bitch). Wildbow, you're fantastic for making me hate so much someone who is a hero, never happened to me before to hate a hero to guts
.
Well, I also believe that Rebecca is bluffing right now, hoping that she'll break Taylor's resistance and make her comply to her demands instead of her having to copy with Taylor's demands. She's playing a dangerous game here because, even if she's bluffing, Taylor can snap and fill her VULNERABLE lungs with bugs, and she probably know this (she knows how much Taylor cares for her teammates and she also know that she's not entirely invulnerable). She knows too that Taylor was a victim of bullying and is not wise to expose such a victim to even more bullying, but she's still doing it anyway. Because she's Rebecca and she can do anything she wants
.
Taylor is an angel of patience in comparition with me. I'll seriously snap if this bitch would threaten my friends like this. I'll kill her (or try too) and I'll kill Tagg then I'll attack everyone else who'll try to stop me
. I'll not have the patience, neither the will to listen her arrogant babbling, accept more bullying and especially hear that my friends will be killed soon. This bitch is so proud because she fought Endbringers. Unimpressive. She's a big "hero" with some of the greatest powers and is normal for this female version of Superman to fight against monsters without fear or tiredness. Not even Behemoth could kill her, she doesn't have any reason to not want to fight Endbringers when she's theoretically invincible. Anyone with her powers would have done the same in her place
. Skitter wasn't invincible neither super-strong yet she managed to help heroes in their fight against Leviathan, save those sheltered civilians and give Leviathan a second anus, all without being a super-human like Alexandria. This is what I call heroism. Bitch sacrificed her dogs to save a teammate, Tattletale was very close to die only because she wanted to get precious information about Leviathan, Kaiser- a violent nazi leader- sacrificed his life despite not having very impressive powers and not having any real reason to fight for a City populated by liberal white, black, asian people, gay, druggies, everything that Kaiser hated (well, I know that he did it for his children but still, what he did was hella heroic
). These are what I call heroic deeds, not what this Superwoman did while knowing that she's invincible then looking so smug and proud of herself that Endbringers are afraid of her (she's like a very terrible and annoying version of Superman). Heroism means stopping Cauldron from making horrible experiments on people, not helping them and doing these experiments yourself. Heroism means trying to understand and accept Taylor's requests, not making the situation worse by going after her friends with the intention of capturing/killing them. Heroism means admitting when you're wrong and trying to remodel yourself into a better human being, not becoming even worse than you're already.
You, Rebecca, you're not a hero, only a twisted, crooked idea of a hero.
You, Alexandria, you're the poison that contaminated Rebecca's soul.
Bambina, Bambina...I remember this name but I don't know where I saw it. Hmmm, I have to look at my characters' special list. So, Leviathan Fight: Bambina - a female villain who fought against Leviathan. She's a kid (one hell of a brave kid indeed) but she's also a mass murderer and she have a pretty toxic relationship with her mother. Well, welcome to the dark and unfair world of abusive parents and abused children, Danny
. Not everyone is a good parent like you. In fact, only a couple of parents are good like you, most of them are PURE CRAP as Calle confirmed what I always knew. No wonder why their children become psychopaths and criminals when they grow up
. Bambina is still a kid and she'd already a murderer. With nightmarish parents like these, you can't expect to see educated, dutiful and scrupulous children. I swear, there are only 5 GOOD FATHERS and 2 GOOD MOTHERS in the entire story, which is pretty disappointing, because I refuse to believe that Earth Bet is the home planet of every single crap parent in the multiverse.
5 good fathers, who are really good fathers, despite their flaws: Danny, the best father without any doubt; Marquis -despite being a villain and a criminal who want his daughter to become like him, he is still a good and carrying father; Alan Barnes -an asshole, but he loves his daughters and he protects Emma even if she's a bitch who started all the conflicts; the mayor Christner- who'd do anything for his daughters and son; Mr Alcott, Dinah's father.
2 good mothers: Kayden and mrs Alcott, Dinah's mother (Krouse's mother should count too because she seemed to be really concerned about her son and his activities but she's not from Earth Bet).
Sadly, these are the only examples I can think of. Annette was a great mother, but she's dead and I'm counting here only the living people.
Poor, poor Danny, now I feel terrible for wanting to see him assisting at Taylor's bullynterogation
. He learned now too much...in the hardest way possible.
Alexandria managed to capture Regent. Capture him, not kill him, which is pretty good, given the circumstances. But...did she really managed to capture him or this is a bluff and "Regent" is actually a mannequin dressed like Regent to trick Taylor into believing that he was caught? As I said many times, I'm a paranoiac being and I don't believe if someone is dead/captured until I see their real body and I get the confirmation (from more characters than one or two) that they're indeed dead/captured. Alexandria is very smart, she's a Thinker, she can play mind games to catch Taylor in her trap, making her believe that her friends are in danger. Why she didn't carry Regent's tranquilized body in the interrogatory room and show him to Taylor so all the doubts about his capture will be shattered and Taylor will not have any other choice but to submit to her if she doesn't want to see all her teammates sharing Regent's fate
? You know what, Alexandria? I don't believe you, I don't think you managed to injure and capture Regent and I dare to say that it is just a mannequin posing as him. Not because she doesn't want to hurt them (I'm sure that Alexandria would kill Undersiders without any hesitation at the first occasion; this woman have not a single scruple) but lets not forget Tattletale, who probably expect an attack coming from heroes and she must be well-prepared (when Tattletale wasn't well-prepared against any kind of menace?
) and I'm not sure if Alexandria herself will go so far to hurt and capture Undersiders in their own territories, when there's a possibility to be seen/filmed by people and having the few scraps of reputation being destroyed completely. She cares too much to maintain a good public image (even if is already broken beyond repair) to risk being labeled as the "corrupted heroine who break teenage villains' bones, despite them taking good care of their territories and her being a powerhouse enough to make them surrender without pulling a fight". This will be the last thing she'd want to hear and be seen doing
.
Yes, yes, yes, Taylor, Rebecca and Tagg are BULLIES, they're the upgraded versions of Sophia and Emma. They're big bullies who deserve nothing but...the worst kind of punishments. Even if this is nothing but a bluff (and I'm sure is a bluff because Alexandria wouldn't have any means to notice Imp. Only Dragon, Othello and emotion based Masters are confirmed to notice Imp and if you look at their powers, is pretty logical- I think Othello can notice Imp because both his versions can switch worlds and when a version from another Earth replace his Earth Bet version, that version is able to notice when Imp becomes unnoticeable, probably because Imp traps her own body between worlds, so her body still exist on Earth Bet but is visible on another Earth or this is how I imagine her power working knowing that each power is distributed between dimensions). Alexandria doesn't have any power to allow her to notice Imp so she's playing a clearly mind game with her stupid mannequins dressed as Undersiders
. Fuck you and your manipulation, Alexandria, I already hate you too much and now you're playing with Taylor's mind and feelings like they're your personal playground. You're such a low life form, such a bully without conscience and mercy for people you torture. You know what is going to be really fun? If Taylor will snap and attack you. You play stupid games, you'll win stupid prizes
.
Accord, what the hell are you doing? This bitch is trashing your people and you don't do anything to stop her
. You and your (not so) quickly solutions for everything. Another detail that help me feel a little better because Alexandria didn't attack anyone for real. Citrine can turn her powers against her or nullify them. Citrine is strong as fuck; the only reason for not fighting against Butcher was that if she'd have forced Butcher to kill herself, she'd have been cursed with the 14 Butcher personalities as the immediate result of her "victory"
. But I can see Citrine being more than capable to fight even people like Alexandria- maybe not defeat her but put up a pretty good fight. This and Accord is already Cauldron's man. Alexandria should know this and she won't be so stupid to fight against Cauldron's interests when she's so devoted to them. Not because she fears them, but because she blindly believe in their cause and she won't do anything to sabotage them, even when is necessary for her
.
I don't think that you ever loved the noble hero Hero, Rebecca. If you loved him even a little, you wouldn't say "yes" when Doctor Mother asked you to let his killer escape. You would have avenge him by finding and killing Manton without any concern about what Doctor Mother wants or not. This is what a true friend would have done
. Taylor would have moved Earth Bet from its orbit around the Sun to avenge Undersiders and her father if a psycho would have killed them, because she's a TRUE FRIEND. You're just a stupid genius servant of Doctor Mother and nothing else. Poor Hero, instead of being avenged by someone he believed to be his friend and partner, he was avenged by an AI with a heart bigger than his partner and "friend".
I think Flachette can kill Alexandria. She can penetrate Endbringers' skin, more resistant and strong that Alexandria's human skin. Flachette can simply shoot or stab her through her heart if she's faster than Alexandria or Alexandria doesn't expect her attack.
Wait a minute...wait a minute...WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE...........YES, YES, YES, YES, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES, Alexandria is dead (told you that her lungs are her weakness, I'm proud of myself), Tagg is dead
. Play stupid games, WIN STUPID PRIZES
. Indeed. Two bad, bad and irremediable people were punished in the most severe way for daring to manipulate Taylor with ridiculous and sick mind games. So many Irregulars were avenged through Alexandria's well deserved death, Cauldron remained without another important pawn (Taylor killed two of their pawns and thanks to her, Manton was killed as well. She's going to become their number one enemy, right?
), another Director is making a trip to Hell and I pray that Tagg will be replaced with a truly noble and decent man or woman. I'm sure no Undersider was hurt or captured, but Taylor's actions make me so PROUD of her
. Told you that she's going to kill the biggest and meaniest people if they threaten her friends. Kudos for Miss Militia for refusing to shoot Taylor when she had the occasion, she could have killed her (and everyone would have praised Miss Militia for putting down a killer) but she didn't want because she realized that Taylor was RIGHT
. Because, long time ago, a frightened and traumatized little girl, Hanna, had to kill turkish soldiers to avenge her murdered friends and save the still living ones. Taylor had to kill two evil people to avenge her supposed murdered friend and save the still living ones. Nobody can understand Taylor BETTER than Hanna (and me).
Next stop...BIRDCAGE. No way that Taylor will still be locked in a normal CELL after the stunt she pulled
. Well, I wholeheartedly agree with this development because I want to see Taylor being badass and making her own laws in Birdcage too until the inevitable prison breaking (Tattletale have connections with Dragonslayers, right? Saint, their leader, is responsible now with Birdcage, in Dragon's absence, right? Hmmm....hmmmmm). The problem is that I don't really want to see a prison breaking because there are so many dangerous criminals there who doesn't deserve to ever be free again. Maybe if only people like Taylor, Paige, Marquis and Amelia will escape...but this is Worm so we don't always have nice things
.
I LOVE THIS ARC SO FUCKING MUCH
.
But...poor, poor Danny....
Good night and sleep well, my friends.
