Hunting Horrors: 2.6

Ok… you... you could only describe what you’d done as having fucked up. You’d fucked up well and deeply on this and now you were seeing the results of that full bore. A dead pall fell upon you as you realized just what you’d done as your most shameful creation led open rebellion against you.

You bounded, scrambling across roof tops with a power which surprised even you.

“She’s just ahead of any major massed forces I have in the area... she’s chosen her route specifically to avoid where I’d been pushing optimum routes for gathering and swarming in useful amounts.” Your faithful, and most useful servant spoke up, she'd been getting good at using a limited number of insects to make useful sounds. Ugg... you should have expected that though, Tattletale was nothing if not a devious witch.

A sick thought gurgled up though you as you worried just how far this little fuck-fest would spread.

"Let me guess... she was suggesting the optimizations..." You asked bitterly, and feeling stupid. Dumb bitch Amy, failed again to do anything more than fuck things up when it’s something important... something to care about. You could have done without the surge of self-hate which that pulse of thought promoted.

"No mistress... She never really said anything to me... like that. But she has been watching closely." Your currently favorite thrall spoke up. "I've been pulling together groups of bugs out here ever since you gave me permission to act, I don't have anything to properly deal with her here yet but they're closing in. I've also found a few places with explosives stashed away in the corners, and weapons too. None of them seem recently disturbed."

That was... interesting. And something you didn't like the sound of.

"Just when did you find them?" You asked, knowing yet dreading the answer, your armored feet finding purchase against slightly slick stone as you continued to scrabble your way across the rooftops.

"We knew about them before we got here, before everything else was in place. She's moving quickly, and my objectives aren't completely clear Mistress."

Fuckity fuck.

Ugg... for all your power that bitch had you leading around by the dammed clit. This was a mistake, the whole dammed thing was a fucking mistake and it was quickly spiraling out of your control, you needed some way of stopping her, you needed to make sure that she couldn’t get to a phone.

If the ass-brained bitch decided to out you for what you’d been up to you knew that it would be over... everything you wanted and hoped for, everyone around you would come down upon you like bricks. You’d even seen it happen before, you’d been around the cape world too long not to. It didn’t matter that Shatter-Helix had been one of the most upstanding heroes until a few years back. You remembered clearly how they’d gone right after him after it had been uncovered that he’d been using civilians to boost his power. Every torturous death he inflicted made him stronger, made his powers just a bit more versatile. Such that when they’d figured out what he was actually up to, he’d become a juggernaut, and a major player seen in a similar light to Dauntless.

The Triumvirate and other upper echelons of the Protectorate came down on him like fire on high, the expanding powers which he gained from what turned into a murder spree would have stymied most others.

People never even mentioned his name any longer.

"You're closing in Mistress... but she's about to make contact." You did not love this shit at all.

"Fuck... ok fuck subtlety, just swarm them, fuck them up as hard as you can without killing them. I'll deal with the rest."

A brief sound of assent and in moments you would find yourself staring at a visibly swelling mass of bugs flying out from every corner as they all but washed across the landscape. A grand pestilence, which you'd created, never truly appreciating the scope of what you'd wrought.

Not until this moment that is.

You winced a bit at the idea that you’d probably just unveiled your most useful trump card to the world with this move, winced a bit more for not truly realizing the magnitude of the order which you’d given before you’d given it.

Either way, you’d arrived, your targets moving with their faces covered as they ran though the insect masses which bore down upon them. And yet it was not enough. The swarm here, thick as it was, wasn’t thick enough to truly cover and impede their advance, endless as they were they hadn’t gained that critical mass needed to do more than annoy and impede.

Silently you cursed, they were about to make contact and quite likely the contact itself was chosen specifically because it would make your life difficult in some way or another. Pierce wasn’t a big name on any scene, but he wasn’t going to be a push over either, you’d seen some of his fights online before, the places where they happened always were a hazard zone afterwards.

You didn’t at all like the idea of fighting him what little you knew.

You landed with a thud before his abode, the multiple eyes of your mask blinking in unison, swarm parting before your presence. At the mouth of the bar stood a single person, lean and stylishly dressed in purple formal pants and a jacket, coppery hair cropped short and wearing a plastic mask molded to his face. It made him seem either effeminately masculine, or masculinely feminine.

He was a trans-man, you remembered, Tattletale having connected it possibly with his power set. You’d never be able to figure out if he were actually male or female just to look at him, so androgynous was his general frame.

“Well then tall dark and ugly, I'd rather not be doing this right now, but it’s hardly polite to refuse a lady in need." He pulled tight the fingerless gloves which he wore, stance defiant as his pressed white shirt peeked out from behind the short purple coat. "You know, I wondered why the little lady would want to be tossing around such big deals when she called me a bit earlier. But you look like an entire can of worms. I don’t know why she didn’t want the PRT involved but I can assure you that if we fight here it’ll escalate quickly.”

Fuck you too.

You were going to take this ass home with you. Anger surged through your body, a biting defense against the fear and loathing which made your blood run cold at the thought of what your mistake could be doing now, with the time and space which this parahuman had apparently bought her.

You charged.

Fast as you were you weren’t fast enough, the androgynous parahuman intercepting you with a foot slammed against your charging motions.

Pain blossomed where contact had been made, sharp and in multitudes.

Fuck… that, hurt way more than you cared for.

You looked down at your arm, multitudes of thin sharp spikes jutting out from your body and his shoe. The spines perforated the surface of contact, you could swear to feeling the painful tingle of their presence scraping against your bones. And yet each one was so thin as to cause almost no bleeding.

And impaled on the ones in his shoe were a swathe of insects, he shook them and the spines off quickly.

A boxing stance, and then he jumped back into the doorway.

“I’ll say it again. Leave or this will get real messy… REAL quick.” He warned, you could almost see the smirk behind his mask.

You merely grunted with effort as you dove forward once more, enhanced strength slamming down with Vorpal claws extended. He snapped backward with singular effort, smashing his arm against a wall to leave a trail of spines to sprout. And more importantly... to spread.

Nothing could ever be easy could it? You groused, conveniently forgetting how well you’d done against the Undersiders in the first place.

The gathering swarms began to clump together in properly epic proportions, obscuring vision even as you watched the street expand into a deadly garden of razor spines. Each one lengthening and spreading.

Again you acted, this time with a payload of your gas. You’d been holding back on that, the less of it used the less likely anyone could get a chance to analyze your sleeping sickness once you got on the move, but as it stood this place warranted a more direct approach.

Getting into position was tricky at best, the spines being able to inflict huge amounts of damage to you if you weren’t careful. But It would prove to be a tricky proposition as your opponent struck out, further denying you leverage and mobility within the small area where the spines spread. In fact the only thing that seemed able to comfortably traverse the spiny carpet which the floor had become was Pierce himself.

You could practically see the smug grin which he wore beneath the mask. “Ready to give up? All your bugs or not, theres nothing you can do here.”

Infuriating. In particular because you could see his power forming tiny spikes where everything landed, killing any insects which tried to swarm him before they could get far.

...

And yet you’d already won.

Just behind him, finally, hidden by the other insects, one of your Sleeping sickness bugs got in close enough to spray the contents of it’s swollen abdomen into his face.

It was over in but a moment more as the sleeping sickness took hold, leaving the cocky trans-man to stumble and rock before finally collapsing in a heap. Ha! Take that!

“Bundle him up. I’m going after the others.” You snarled, clearing the spines as you did.

“I have already followed your instructions mistress… they’ve been subdued. But someone nearby has called the PRT, there’s a response team on the way to the scene.” Skitter informed you. “I took some of the explosives from the stocks which I found and I’ve been having some of my bugs plant them where ever I could place them in the area, arranging for maximum distraction.”

Well… lovely… you were going to tell her blow up the bar... and now she planned to blow up the neighborhood to cover your escape. You were starting to have second thoughts… about everything.

“Ah… hold on that one.” You didn’t like it. You didn’t like it at all. You’d done a lot to people, hurt them, and changed them. But you’d never killed anyone. At least... now that you thought about it, your stomach curdled at the order you’d given earlier. “Did you capture the targets... alive?”

“Only one of them. My attempts at restraining Grue were not successful, and he’s stopped breathing.”

Shit!

You didn’t waste a moment as you found your way down to your parahuman’s. Grue thankfully was still breathing despite what you recognized as a mega-dose of black widow venom circulating within his system, and mixing with some sleeping sickness agents within his blood.

Thank goodness you weren’t a murderer...

“Going to take me home to spank me mommy?” Tattletale grinned widely, her body wrapped neatly in a pose which said much about how little she’d attempted to fight back. “A merry chase and he believed me. Now you’ve got two parahumans for the price of one.”

She practically glowed with satisfaction, clearly from the distress which she’d caused as you tried to hunt her down. You remained silent upon your approach.

“Ooo! Angry! I love you when you hate me.” The bitch smiled smugly self-satisfied. “Well, one more thing before you make me hurt like I was meant to, you let Aisha go just like I promised Grue you would… now not even my favorite little bug bitch will be able to find her. I love you so much it hurts… but you’re pretty predictable when you’re mad.”

You paused. Tensed.

“Now hurry up Mistress.” She spoke the words mockingly. “You’ll need to get out of here... The PRT should be here soon, and you’ve got three of us to get home.”

A roar of frustration, terror, and hate crossed your lips like a wild animal cornered as you ran Vorpal blades though the Tattletale’s chest, leaving gaping raking wounds exposed while making only the most minimal of efforts to not allow them to be fatal.

You’d been fucking played like a fiddle.

And you still needed to get home just like the little bitch had said.

She simply laughed her way through the pain. “I… can… drive for you again mistress. I live to serve.”

Fuck. Again.





[][][][][][][][][][][]





Current Satisfaction: (15/50) -3 ... Fuck… fucking… Tattletale.
Conflict: Lvl 2 [16/20 to next Level]
Gained: Parahuman Resources – Grue, Pierce



You need to secure a way out…
[] Blow up the bar and everything else around. Escape in the carnage.
[] Blow up the bar… and hide. You just need to wait them out till you can leave.
[] Blow up the bar and let Tattletale take you home… you don’t really like this idea but it’s the least risk.
[] Just make a run for it.
[] Hide without detonating anything.
[] Let Tattletale take you home… without any kind of cover.




After this shit you feel the need to lay low a couple of days… what the hell will you do? (3 Choices. Multiple conversions count as 1 choice.)
[]
[]
[]