Sorry for this being a day late, being back at work has drained my motivation more than I expected.

The PRT was like a kicked anthill. Taylor found herself a seat in the corner and leaned back, ignoring the phantom aches that spread along her bones and considering her options.

There weren't very many of them. She could feel her stolen power flensing away, slipping from her fingers.

'Have you managed to work out where all the excess juice is coming from?'

"From us, Taylor. The- when I bonded myself to you, the Shard of the Parasite had also done so. I thought it of no importance- it was being pried away as we wielded the Warp and its dampening effect on our power was limited."

'But then Noelle grabbed us, while we were blazing through our energy. Which explains why Luna is a functioning psychopath instead of a dribbling monster. Her birth wasn't just Noelle, it was Noelle and the Warp and the Shard finding a new host almost immediately.'

"Precisely. More than that, the Shard being torn from us opened the valve, so to speak, increasing our access to the Warp. Hence our…juicing. But the rent it left in your soul is closing, cutting our access. Fortunately, this also means we are unlikely to 'burn out' once more- my initial prediction was not quite correct. I would say that we have more like four or five hours of increased power, should we be sparing and marshal our resources carefully."

'Well, that's a silver lining, I guess. I might have accepted burning out in return for being able to ash Noelle, but this is probably for the best.'

The Emperor murmured agreement and Taylor tutted under her breath.

'Plan B then: hope the Protectorate know what they're doing.'

"If they know what they are doing, they will call in the Triumvirate."

'You want to bet on that?'

"Not especially."

The bustle continued, but Armsmaster cut through it as though there was no crowd in his way.

"Circaetus. Come with me." He said, his tone hard and uncompromising. Taylor levered herself to her feet, shrugging.

"Sure thing, chief." She muttered. They had made it four steps before she spoke again.

"Hey, Armsmaster. You mind me asking- what happened with Stalker? She got carted away pretty quick."

Armsmaster stiffened, but his voice remained level.

"She was bitten by numerous venomous spiders. Nobody noticed until it was too late- temporary paralysis."

"That could kill her." Taylor murmured. Armsmaster nodded, his posture bitter.

"Luna seemed to hold a particular grudge against her. It would seem that, when she attacked Shadow Stalker shortly before you killed her, she-"

"She had a sleeve full of spiders. A weapon none of us saw." Taylor finished. Armsmaster grunted in sour agreement. Taylor went quiet as she mulled over the potential repercussions of that.

'Armsmaster's going to lose his rank. Wasn't his fault but we've lost a Ward, another severely injured along with two Protectorate members also severely injured, two more MIA, major threat still out there so it isn't over yet. We might get an entire shake-up for the Protectorate, the boss is a failure and both heirs presumptive are in no condition to take over.'

"Do not forget that the PRT leadership will take a heavy blow as well. They may try to deflect blame onto the one whose information provided the attack."

Taylor slowed for a second, immediately speeding back up and catching up to Armsmaster.

'You think they'll try and scapegoat me?'

"Historically, Independent Heroes have been scapegoated. And you were outed, Taylor. Your clone inflicted much of the damage."

Taylor flexed her fingers.

'I hate that you're right, but you're right. How do you think we play it?'

"How would you like to play it? Submit and join, or…"

Taylor didn't get the chance to reply as Armsmaster sharply turned a corner and led her into a large conference room, half a dozen armoured PRT Troopers blocking the door. Taylor eyed them but followed, stirring her power regardless. She didn't need to fear: the room was crammed with Protectorate Heroes and PRT members- officers, she thought. Director Piggot stood at the front of the room, her face stony. Taylor inclined her head to the woman and sneaked through, to lean on the wall at the back as Armsmaster made his way over to Piggot. They conferred briefly: Taylor took the time to do a headcount and mental roll call.

'Armsmaster, Assault, Velocity, Aegis, Clockblocker, Gallant, Chariot. Assault's still injured. Aegis and Gallant can't do shit against Noelle, neither can Chariot or Velocity. This isn't a combat force, it's a suicide squad.'

There was still New Wave, of course, but Taylor very much doubted they would be effective- and the very thought of Glory Girl clones gave her the creeping shivers. No, it was definitely time to call in the big boys.

"As all of you are doubtless aware, during an engagement with the Travellers and Raijin a presumed A-Class threat was unleashed. This threat, currently codenamed Echidna, has inflicted losses upon the Protectorate response teams, primarily through the use of clones." Piggot announced, her tone quieting what slight chatter there was more effectively than any shouting. Taylor stirred.

"So we're calling in the Triumvirate, right? We're going to have Eidolon and Legend fly over and ash her?"

Piggot gave her a cold look.

"We are exploring our options."

"My- Battery and Dauntless are still in that thing, are you insane!" Assault barked, almost immediately. Taylor didn't look at him, though she did offer an apathetic shrug.

"I do empathise, Assault. But look at the damage she's already caused. Noelle isn't going to sit around and do fuck-all, she's going to go hunting. And we've got some juicy targets here in the Bay."

Taylor folded her arms across her breastplate.

"You can't tell me that you aren't already shitting yourselves at the thought of Noelle getting hold of Lung, or Kaiser- or the Butcher, in the worst-case scenario."

Silence descended, before Assault broke it.

"We can't just write off Dauntless and Battery." He said, his tone ragged but firm. Taylor huffed out a breath.

"I agree." She admitted, "But I can't see how we can do anything with what we have. None of us have the firepower, unless Armsmaster has some serious stuff hidden in his room."

She turned to look at Assault, meeting his eyes. A fresh voice spoke up, distracting her.

"You were able to break free of Noelle and distract her. Don't you have the necessary strength?"

Taylor glanced across to her new inquisitor, taking his measure. A slender, dark-skinned man, who wore his PRT uniform with cool confidence.

"And you are?" she prompted. The man inclined his head.

"Calvert. Commander Calvert. I would appreciate an answer, Circaetus."

Taylor sighed, as though put-upon.

'Any advice?'

"You know the three rules of politics?"

'Deny, deny, deny?'

"Close. Lie, misdirect, counter-attack - anything but the truth."

"Alright commander. I'm going to tell you the truth. My power- it's a bit more complex than I let on, alright? I copy powers, best I can tell, but I don't have an unlimited supply of energy. It all comes from one pool."

"Which is why you lost your power after fighting Lung. Your energy was used up." Calvert said, nodding. Taylor gave him the finger-guns, though inwardly she shivered. There was something off about that man.

"'Xactly. Thing is, going up against Noelle- I got a big old boost when I woke up. Best guess, I'm tapping into her power to regenerate or something. Can you guess the flip-side of that?"

"The boost is running out." Assault said aloud. Taylor pointed at him.

"Yep. We got maybe two, two and a half hours before I'm back to normal and would struggle with Lung- and even then, I don't have anything that can drop Noelle before she regenerates. We need some serious flying artillery."

"Thank you for your input." Piggot said. She didn't sound particularly grateful, but Taylor did have the ability to be tactful now and then. Instead of speaking she simply leaned against the wall and carefully flexed her fingers, trying to concentrate. There was still something off here, but she couldn't quite pin it down.

'I should've kept the Bakuda bombs with me instead of dropping them to fight Luna. Could have used them on Noelle when she was trapped.'

"Our mistake was not using them on Luna in the first place. It meant we were without them when needed, and they would have made eliminating Luna much more efficient."

'Yeah, I guess. So long as she didn't get her hands on them. Still, she's gone and done now. Just…so long as she can't regenerate through the injuries we gave her.'

"While not impossible, I find that very unlikely. We pierced her heart. That sort of regeneration would require something like a Perpetual, she showed no indications of such advanced regeneration. Once we are done, we will find her body and burn it to ash. Will that ease your mind?"

'Immeasurably. I should've burned her on the spot.'

"With the clones closing in and Armsmaster defending five injured alone? The minutes needed to burn Luna would have seen Armsmaster overrun, the injured killed or maimed further, and New Wave likely attempt to engage Noelle when she arrived. Losses would be even greater than they are now."

Taylor grumbled to herself, closing her eyes.

'Yeah, yeah. Maybe. But you're right, you can't live on maybe. Still doesn't mean I like it but I have to agree with you, she's gotta be dead. I put that stake through her heart, I felt her die. Can't see her living through that.'

"Indeed. Now, I must ask- why tell the Protectorate that you only have two hours of power left? You have more like five."

Taylor smiled, narrow and cold.

'Because Coil was at fault for this. He was the one to hide that thing in the city, and I'm not going to forget him. I'm going to find him, I'm going to rip his spine out and I'm going to beat his friends to death with it. And I'm going to use those four extra hours to find him.'

"I have no objections to that. In regards to destroying Noelle while preferably not killing her hostages, I may have an idea. It would require a deal of work and synchronisation, but Legend can freeze with his attacks, yes?"

'Think so.'

"In that case, if Legend can freeze Noelle and someone has the power or the technology to identify the positions of the hostages we can carve off the pieces of Noelle that contain the hostages and drag them free. After that it is simply a matter of finding sufficient firepower to reduce Noelle to ashes."

'And you have to think that either Legend or Eidolon or the Bakuda bombs could manage that. Assuming the Protectorate are smart enough to call them in.'

"Surely they will be. Our clone was dangerous. A clone of Lung, or the Butcher, could be utterly devastating."

'Yeah. I hope they don't do anything stupid. And I especially hope that the Butcher doesn't get grabbed. It already spreads to its killer, if the clones inherited that…'

"Let us hope it cannot."

Taylor sighed, head dropping onto her chin, She stayed there, not thinking, just listening and trying to coax the Warp more effectively through her frame to extend her hour of power, so to speak, until something caught her ears.

"I'm sorry, I could have sworn that someone just suggested setting Hookwolf free to try and persuade the Empire to help us?"

Commander Calvert definitely rolled his eyes as he looked at her. Taylor admired that sort of disrespect.

"Given your arguments for the danger Echidna poses, I would have thought you would be pleased to have some additional help. Besides, you don't seem to have objected to Tattletales' presence."

Taylor scoffed quietly.

"Tattletale has a useful analytical power and her only crimes as far as I'm aware are robbery and, what, endangerment? Hookwolf is a walking ball of steel and viciousness with a list of murder charges as long as my arm. Apples and oranges."

Calvert simply shrugged.

"Regardless, we must have more forces if we are to confront Echidna, and there is no guarantee that Protectorate heroes will arrive in time."

"By that logic we may as well invite Coil to dinner and see if he has a failsafe. After all, Noelle was in one of his bases." Taylor riposted. A flicker of unease ran through the meeting- and slightly more. One mind among the mass flickered with something…interesting.

'Hmm. Did you feel that?'

"Something more personal that might be expected from a mention of Coil. A mole, perhaps?"

Taylor shrugged, resting back again and closing her eyes, senses spreading throughout the room. Immaterial tendrils of power touched every mind as she spoke again.

"I mean sure, Coil covered himself by deleting all the files. But we all know what he did. We all know that he was probably planning on unleashing Noelle. Can't see him getting much sympathy if he's ever caught."

There. There it was. It was easy enough to hide emotions on the surface. The mind, however, was not so accommodating. Taylor tracked the skein of amusement at her audacity, found the trail of concern looped into it and let herself find the mind she wanted. She opened her eyes, letting them rest on her prey.

Commander Calvert. And what she could see of his mind without intruding and alerting him was clear.

'Woo. Now that is interesting. Coil doesn't have a mole in the PRT…'

"He is the mole in the PRT."

'And all of a sudden unleashing Noelle makes so much more sense. Piggot and Renick are going to catch a bollocking over this and Coil is a Commander, well placed to rise. You have to admire that sort of…gumption.'

"Be careful, Taylor."

'What?'

"Don't get worked up. If you start giving off sparks in the middle of a meeting people are going to wonder why."

'I'm not getting worked up.' Taylor said, her thought-voice mild. 'I'm already absolutely furious. It's thanks to him that Browbeat is dead, that Militia got injured, that Dauntless and Battery are- it's his fault. And he's right there. Laughing at me.'

He was close. So close that Taylor entertained the thought of leaping at him, tearing his throat out, crushing his skull or- so many other ways. Her fingers tightened, her lips thinning before she mastered the sudden urge, pushing it down. Her fingers, hidden by her folded arms, dug into the fabric of her coat with bruising force. Calvert met her gaze levelly.

"I take it to mean that, should we enlist Hookwolf and the Empire, you would not be inclined to fight beside us?"

Taylor inched her jaw open, forcing her tone to civility.

"Can't say I would. If the Empire jumps, maybe, but not if Hookwolf is released. Try recruiting Alexandria or someone first."

"In the event that Alexandria agreed to assist us, you would be surplus to requirements." Calvert riposted. Taylor let go of her coat and spread her arms, letting joviality leak into her tone.

"But that's exactly what I want to happen. I'm not going to cry over being able to go home and leave it to the Protectorate."

It might be a nice change, she didn't say. Tensions were high enough, so she just shrugged.

"But I guess what you do isn't up to me." She said, affecting a nonchalant tone. Calvert slowly shook his head.

"No, it isn't." he said, turning away from her. Taylor fixed her eyes on him, taking in his appearance and fixing it in her mind before her eye was caught by a man she vaguely recognised as the Deputy Director of the PRT, hurrying into the room and moving to Director Piggot.

'This might be interesting.'

Piggot leaned across, listening to Renick talk before clearing her throat.

"Protectorate Thinkers have assessed the situation," she said, her cold tones slicing through the chatter, "And confirmed that Echidna poses an A-Class threat. As such, Protectorate teams will be arriving shortly to reinforce us."

'An A-Class? They're underselling it.'

"Perhaps they are attempting to prevent a panic."

'Or they're too scared to have all the heavy hitters arrive. All the big brawlers would be worse than useless against Noelle.'

"True enough."

"So we're actually going to get the heavy mob in? Maybe I'll be able to sit this one out after all." Taylor said aloud. Piggot glanced at her.

"As an A-Class threat, there is no requirement that capes be present. We do not know who will answer so I would- I would appreciate it if you would remain close by." She said. Taylor shrugged.

"I've got nowhere to go." She said. Commander Calvert coughed and Taylor felt a flare of smug satisfaction in his mind. She turned her helmet to him.

"Something to add, Commander?"

"Just that I would have expected you to leave. You seemed quite set on it earlier. Then again, I suppose you have reason to be wary, Miss-"

Taylor surged forwards and slammed her hand on the table, the resounding blow echoing around the room and causing almost everyone to jerk away from her.

"You weren't about to out my identity to this whole room, Commander? Especially when there may be infiltrators from any group in here?"

Calvert kept his faint smile, seeming unruffled and for a moment Taylor was tempted to ram her fist into his smiling mouth and suffocate him.

"Of course not. My apologies for sparking your…caution."

Taylor let out a quiet, incredulous laugh, but didn't reply to him. Instead she looked at Director Piggot.

"Director. I'll be outside if you need me." She told her, before leaving without another word.

'You think Coil was insinuating that he'd hurt my father?'

"Most likely. Or, not insinuating that he would hurt your father, you shouldn't know his identity. Insinuating that someone would harm your father, however…"

'Yeah, I know. But surely no-one can mobilise in time? And some shit like that, it's not done.'

"Tell that to Lightstar and Fleur."

'I heard the guy who did that got strung up.'

"From a reputable source, or from rumours?"

Taylor chewed her lip, thinking.

'Shit. But if we go running now, there goes any attempt at playing it off. None of the Wards know us and Sophia is in a coma. All they have is Luna's word, and she's hardly a convincing source. If we can play it cool, we might be able to convince them that we're not Taylor.'

The mental gymnastics required for that sentence caused her step to slow slightly with effort, but she picked it up again.

'We give it a couple of hours, see what the lay of the land is. If we get even a sniff of intent from Coil though, all bets are off.'

"And how do you intend to respond to the increased pressure to join the Protectorate, since they will certainly attempt to use your identity as leverage."

Taylor shook her head.

'They do that, they confirm every reason I have to refuse. It'll hurt Dad, but we don't…we don't need him.'

Even in her mind her tone wobbled at that. It would hurt, leaving her Dad and going rogue, but it would be for the best. Taylor refused to be kept under the thumb of an organisation so slipshod that a supervillain could be a ranking officer without any suspicion being raised. One could argue that it just spoke for the competence of Coil, but…Taylor wasn't feeling all that charitable. She made her way through the crowd, ignoring everyone until a flash of white caught her eye. Glory Girl was a dejected sight, sitting in a chair in the reception area with her shoulders slumped and chin dropped. Taylor strode through the crowd, taking the seat next to her friend.

"Glory. You look about as happy as I feel."

Glory Girl glanced at her, huffing out a weak laugh.

"Circ. You're alright?"

Taylor shrugged.

"Yeah, more or less. How's your sister?"

Taylor watched as Glory clenched her fists, fingers creaking under the strain.

"She has a concussion and a broken arm." She bit out, her tone low and hard. "She'll recover, but I should've been there. I should have been there from the start, Circ."

Taylor chewed her lip, deciding to approach this topic with care.

"Glory. You shouldn't blame yourself. I didn't think you'd be needed." She said. Glory shook her head.

"I don't mean that, Circ. I mean that- I left Amy there and went to fetch my Mom and the others. If I'd been there, I could have done something. I could have stopped the clones, or helped them escape, or- Browbeat might still be alive if I'd been there."

Glory's voice rose at the end of her statement, before she choked it back down. Taylor let her breath out slowly.

"Maybe, Glory. But you didn't really see the clones. They were out for blood, mine especially, and there's no guarantee that you would have saved everyone. You might have been hurt yourself. And you did save us, Glory. Arriving at the last minute and helping me stop Noelle, it really made a difference, you know?"

Glory huffed quietly.

"I- yeah. Yeah, I get it. But still."

"I know what you mean." Taylor admitted quietly. She reached up to scratch at her nose, tutting quietly as her fingers met her mask, and turned the motion into a thoughtful cupping of her chin.

"You know, I was thinking the same. It's…the other clones were bad, but mine was worse, you know? She was clever, strong, vicious. I can't help but think that if I was more careful, if I'd not been grabbed by Noelle, Browbeat would still be alive. The Wards wouldn't be injured. If I hadn't been chasing Raijin, Noelle would still be in the base."

Taylor looked down, resting her head on her chin, arms folding across her chest in a movement that was almost like hugging herself. A gentle hand rested on her arm.

"Hey, Circ- don't beat yourself up, alright? Noelle, that's the thing right? She'd still be there if you hadn't found her. It's not your fault."

Taylor sighed.

"If I'm not allowed to think that, you aren't either." She said, injecting some levity into her voice. Glory stared at her for a moment, eyes looking into blank helmet, before she smiled ruefully.

"Yeah. Yeah, I get you, Circ. You think we're going to be going after Noelle again?"

Taylor nodded.

"Protectorate is being called in. If we're lucky the real heavies will deal with it, but we shouldn't get too complacent."

Glory nodded. Taylor let the conversation lapse for half a minute, maybe, before she made a decision.

"Glory. You know- my clone, right? She looked just like me. Just different hair and eyes. Pretty sure Stalker recognised me."

Glory looked at her again, frowning.

"She recognised you? You think that you might get-"

"Outed? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I won't be anonymous for long. But I- I kinda don't want you to first see me from some newspaper leak or something. So…I…guess if there's a free room, it's face reveal time?"

'Wow. That was incredibly awkward. I thought I'd gotten over all that.'

"Apparently not."

Glory, understanding as she was, just nodded.

"Sure thing, Circ. You know if there's anywhere to go?"

Taylor rose to her feet and looked around her, stretching out her senses until she nodded.

"Over here, there's a room that isn't being used."

The two of them wandered over, finding that the room in question was in fact something of a tour waiting room. Bustling as the PRT HQ was, there were more than enough rooms- this one was entirely empty. The two of them walked in, Taylor automatically extending her powers around them before she checked the room for cameras. Nothing. and no-one. Apparently the PRT wasn't quite that paranoid. She turned to face Glory, who had taken a seat on a table and was watching her with interest.

"So, yeah. I'm probably a bit bloody, but I guess we better get this over with, right?" Taylor said. Glory shrugged, a smile touching the corners of her mouth.

"I've never seen you so nervous, Circ."

Taylor huffed.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh a minute." She growled, before she reached up and eased her helmet off. The scarf she wore underneath moved slightly, and Taylor tucked her helmet under her arm so that she could scrub the scarf against her face to wipe away some of the blood, before tugging it down. She let a tired smile form on her face in response to Glory's own.

"Taylor Hebert, at your service." She said, holding out a hand. Glory smiled at her, hopping to her feet and shaking her hand gently.

"Victoria Dallon. You've, uh, you've got some red on you."

Taylor let out a laugh, barely quashing the hiccough in it. Glory let go of her hand and patted her on the shoulder.

"You alright?"

"Wasn't I the one asking you that?"

Glory grinned at her.

"Yeah, but you seemed kinda shaken at taking your mask off. So, y'know, thought I'd ask."

Taylor scrubbed at her face with the heel of her palm, her smile still in place.

"I- yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Glory."

"Anytime, Ta- uh, I'm just gonna keep calling you Circ. Your name just sounds…"

"Weird?" Taylor asked, pulling her scarf back up. Glory nodded.

"Weird, yeah."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Can't bring myself to call you Victoria." Taylor admitted, putting her helmet back on and shrugging.

"Well, there we go. Now you know what I look like, just in case you end up seeing me on wanted posters."

Glory scoffed.

"Optimistic, aren't you? You know- if you do get outed, New Wave'll be an option. Just in case."

Taylor smiled at her friend- best friend, if she was honest.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Glory."

Glory waved her hands airily.

"You've been saying that a lot."

"I've had a lot of reason to." Taylor replied. She sighed, walking back out of the room with Glory behind her. She supposed that she should find someone to work out what was happening, but she just couldn't be bothered at the moment. More than that, she felt like there was something in the air. Something was about to happen, something important. She couldn't say how she knew it, she just did. They had just arrived in the reception when a PRT Trooper burst through the doors, hands waving.

"Clone!" he shouted, drawing attention from everyone. Everyone started moving towards him as he bent over, sucking in great, heaving gasps of air, chest heaving from his sprint.

"Clone- there's a Circaetus clone approaching, alone."

Taylor exchanged a look with Glory, pushing through the milling crowd to the doors.

"Nobody panic." Taylor ordered, raising her voice. "Glory and I will deal with it."

"Try to take it alive. I'll distract, you come in when the time is right." Taylor added in a lower voice. Glory Girl nodded sharply to her, taking off as soon as they left the building. Taylor strode through the gradually lightening night, looking for the clone of herself. She could feel it, not far away, a shambling mockery of a person. Soulless, in the worst way, animated by malice and shuddering hatred. It was advancing at a leisurely pace: Taylor went to meet it without hurry. She saw it draw into sight, a twisted mirror of her form. It was clad in a bloodied PRT uniform just like the one Luna had worn, though this was torn and ragged. It had hair perhaps a few shades lighter than her own, a curly mess around its head, and it was moving as though it didn't quite know how to walk- almost a limp. Taylor took a few more steps, flexing her fingers as she caught its attention.

"Aren't you a long way from home?" she called. It looked at her, a crazed look entering its eyes and mouth dropping open.

"Mother." It called, whining and piteous. Taylor frowned.

"Mother, it is here…the fake…the first…"

It wasn't speaking to her, she realised. It was shouting out to something: Noelle perhaps? Luna had spoken of Noelle with nothing but seething disdain, but this one called with whining, pleading desperation. It dropped it's head back down, gurgling thickly before it blinked, some semblance of intelligence coming into the muddy eyes.

"You." It rasped, "First of us. Weakest of us. Mother wants you. Wants your head."

'So it can speak. How fascinating. The other clones were functional, I wonder if it's only mine that are a mess?'

"Perhaps the augmentations are troubling it. It would be easy enough for the nerve enhancements, in particular, to go wrong."

'Hmm.'

"Come on, then. I haven't got all day." She said aloud. The clone responded with a shrieking warcry and a headlong charge.

"Conserve your powers."

'Got it.' Taylor replied, fixing her eyes on the clone as it charged forwards.

'Charging in without pause.'

"Maybe you and it have more in common that I thought."

'Hilarious.'

"I frequently am. Duck!"

Taylor leaned back and bobbed her head down under a wild haymaker, flashed out her left hand to deflect the following jab and rocked its head back with a slashing straight blow. The clone staggered, an exaggerated motion of wind-milling arms and wobbling legs and Taylor moved in, slicing blows at the stomach and ignoring the flashes of pain from hitting solid bone, even through her gauntlets. The clone found its feet and lurched forwards with a snarling shriek, hands coming down. Taylor met it halfway, her fingers interlocking with it and forcing it into a struggling contest of pure strength.

The clone had the advantage in strength.

Taylor had backup.

Glory dropped from the sky behind the clone, wrapping it in a full nelson and lifting from the ground, Taylor twisting her fingers to break the lock and slithering away as the clone howled and fought, threshing in Glory's grasp. Though it was taller, Glory was stronger and held it off the ground.

"Hold it still." Taylor called, stepping forwards. The clone fought harder as it saw her approach, a jumble of curses billowing from it, but Taylor ignored the shouting, pressing her hands to its head and letting a spark of power flow through her fingers.

"Sleep." She ordered it, pulsing strength through her hands. The clone went limp, flopping in Glory's grasp, and Taylor smiled grimly.

"Well, that went well." She said. Glory landed and pushed the clone onto her, watching as Taylor shifted her copy into a fireman's carry.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Wow. They really do look like you, don't they?"

Taylor huffed out a quiet laugh.

"Not all the time. But yeah, close enough. This one wasn't nearly as bad as Luna, though."

As she spoke they began moving back towards the PRT HQ: Taylor carefully limited her use of power, but used the slightest touch of strength to begin mapping the clone out. All she needed was a fraction of a fraction of power, the Emperor grumbling in the back of her mind as he assessed the alterations to the clone.

"The bone structure alterations have been fully made, reinforcement and lightening. There are early signs of malnutrition, however- should it live, bone disease would be a likely result. No extra organs, we haven't begun that change yet. Nerves have been altered, but the alterations haven't taken correctly…reduced dexterity is certain. Brain alterations, hard to be sure but it would appear that this particular clone has enhanced hormone production and metabolization, though the actual implementation is shoddy at best- it would explain the tendency towards sudden violence and near incoherence."

'Would also explain how Luna seemed almost unimpaired by a broken arm. High adrenaline levels plus slightly enhanced healing makes it less of an issue.'

"That is likely the case. Breathe a little easier, Taylor: unless Luna had augmentations that we haven't yet built into our genetic code, she wouldn't have the secondary heart or additional organs required to survive your attack."

'What a thrill to hear.'

The two of them returned to the Headquarters, shoving through the door. Armsmaster was just moving towards the entrance as they moved back in, his halberd dropping as he saw them.

"Brought you a present." Taylor told him, dumping her clone on the ground. A circle formed around it, though Armsmaster just nodded at her.

"Did it say anything useful?" he asked, the other Protectorate members and Director Piggot grouping up behind him. Taylor shrugged.

"Not before I knocked it out. Want me to wake it up?"

Armsmaster lifted a hand.

"Wait. Here."

He reached behind him and produced a set of handcuffs, presumably from some hidden compartment on his armour. He weighed them in his hand, what Taylor could see of his expression thoughtful.

"How strong is it?"

"A bit stronger than I am. Not that strong, though." Taylor estimated. Armsmaster nodded and tossed her the handcuffs; Taylor wasted no time in clicking them onto her clone before she gently tapped it on the temple.

"Wakey wakey."

The clone jolted, torso snapping upright. A snarling, rasping noise spewed from its throat, a primal sound of violence and unrestrained hate. Taylor sighed to herself as the clone continued to spit and hiss, any semblance of coherence devoured by its faulty augmentations. Taylor brought back her hand and coiled power along it, smacking the clone in the back of the skull. Power flashed from her hand under the impact, unseen but not unfelt, pouring through the nerves and brain and dampening the deleterious effects of its own biology. The clone coughed and snarled, but words began to form among the ragged hate. It wouldn't cure it- nothing would, save a complete bodily reconstruction- but it would make it understandable.

"Youuuu! False lords, pretenders to the throne of power!" the clone roared, voice so like her own. Taylor frowned behind her mask, baffled. Then again, her clones were crazy. Who could know what they were thinking?

'And no, I have no intention of trying to work out what's wrong by diving into its mind. That place is a mess.'

"I doubt you would find anything of use anyway."

"You defenders of the weak, leaving them to writhe and squirm upon this earth! You, who would choke the strong and shackle them, chain them to the bonds of mercy! I bring upon you tidings of utter doom!" the clone ranted. Armsmaster stared blankly at it, evidently waiting out the rant. Taylor wasn't quite so patient- her clock was ticking. She dug her fingers into the clone's shoulder, pressing into flesh with enough force to bruise.

"Enough pseudo-religious ranting. Why are you here?" Taylor asked, stepping a little so she was in its line of sight. The clone snarled at her.

"False hope, false prophet! Your death is preordained, at the hands of my great Mother, She Whose Might Eclipses All!"

Taylor rolled her eyes, though the clone was still ranting, her tone slackening a fraction. A cunning edge rolled through it, malicious and base.

"My Great Mother has ordered that the false Prophet be killed, for her transgressions. Her order, that shall be obeyed. Follow her will and ye may be spared, as the other denizens of this stinking slum shall not! Stand against her, and you will fall as all others will- even now She moves against the false Empire, to baptise it in blood and flame!"

That was bad news. Noelle could get a lot of cannon fodder from the Empire, but the clone wasn't yet finished with its interrogation. Director Piggot stepped forwards, her tone uncompromising.

"What, exactly, does your Mother want from us?" she demanded. The clone leered up at her, an expression of absolute malice etched on features so familiar to Taylor.

"She has ordered that this one, this weak template of mine, be brought to her. There it will suffer for harming her, and for harming her children, and her beloved! It shall know pain, and sorrow, and torment, and all who stand with it shall know the same!"

The clone broke into a ragged cough, spitting blood across the ground with violent force. It grinned up, face made gruesome by the gore and the blazing madness.

"I may die, but you will follow, Template. I will laugh at your pain, just as we already have. Just as the First and Failed would have had it not been so weak."

Weak, Taylor reflected. That wasn't a word that could apply to Luna, though in the madness of the clone…oh well. Really, the only question was whether the PRT was willing to sacrifice her in the hopes of placating Noelle. From the expression Piggot now wore, she suspected that the answer was a resounding 'no'. Really warmed Taylor's heart- though she really wished she could be certain about it. Piggot shook her head.

"Do you have any more questions, Armsmaster?"

Armsmaster dipped his head in thought before he replied.

"I doubt it would answer, in any case."

Piggot grunted in agreement.

"Circaetus. Your clone is yours to deal with."

Taylor looked down at it as it laughed, cackled at her. She sighed, stepping away from it with a tired step. The life of her double, planted in her hands.

Really, there was only one thing to do.

"My apologies." Taylor said aloud, just before she closed her fingers around the clone's skull and wrenched, bolts of eldritch power snapping through her bones for an instant. The grating cackle was replaced by a ripping crunch of bone and the clone collapsed, a smile still fixed on those features that were so like hers. A smile, trapped there for eternity.

Taylor wondered, for a moment, if she would be so lucky.

"It wasn't worth anything. The augments that it was born with were defective- it would have died within days." Taylor told them, her voice smooth and calm and empty. A shrug shifted her shoulders. Piggot inclined her head.

"A fair decision. Clean this away! Circaetus, I'll ask you not to leave. If Noelle truly is attacking the Empire, we may need your assistance."

Taylor just shrugged as Piggot walked away, left to stand in silence with Glory Girl. She almost feared to look at her friend, to see the judgement there, but she was no slave to her fear. She turned, glancing across to see that Glory wore a grim expression, her brow set in a troubled frown.

"It really would have died soon?" she asked quietly. Taylor nodded.

"Nervous system enhancements, mainly focused on the brain, meant that it essentially had brain damage. It would have been lucky to last another two days, given the way it was struggling to speak."

It was a mercy, Taylor thought, but she didn't say so. Glory still seemed troubled by the action, though she said no more. Taylor could already foresee issues stemming from that, but- she had no other choice. There was no other choice. Not for her, and not for the clone.

"Come on." She said after a minute of silence, making a motion to tap Glory on the arm that she swiftly abandoned.

"Let's see what Director Piggot has next for us."

Director Piggot was not alone when the two of them found her again. There were several Heroes crammed into the room with her- Lady Photon, representing New Wave. Armsmaster, of course, still leader of Protectorate East-North-East for the moment, but there were two new men. One wore silver and gold armour and had a monstrosity of a weapon slung on his back- Chevalier, Taylor thought, one of the top heroes in the whole Protectorate. The other wore a long robe and carried a staff, which was identifier enough in itself. Myrddin. Two powerful heroes, then.

"Wow, backup actually showed. Colour me amazed." Taylor cheerfully commented, barging past the guards on the door and strolling in. Piggot gave her a sardonic look but didn't comment on her entrance.

"Circaetus. You were a topic of discussion, actually."

Taylor brought a hand to her chin, barely crushing her inclination to pose dramatically.

"Oh? Me?"

Piggot nodded.

"Indeed. It would seem, at least from the words of your clone, that Echidna is fixated upon you."

Taylor felt her blood run cold at the considering way Piggot said that.

'If they decide they're going to throw me to the wolves, can we teleport out?'

"We can step into the Warp, at least. They will not be able to pursue us there."

'Jump through the window, teleport halfway while they're distracted. Grab Dad and head for Alaska or something. Or Europe, maybe. The Protectorate has a presence in Canada.'

"Amusing as your paranoia is, I doubt it will be needed."

'Don't say things like that. It's terrible luck.'

"However, we believe that this may give us a chance to take advantage of her obsession. Assuming that you are willing to cooperate, of course." Piggot said. The last part was added a little grudgingly, Taylor noted. She shrugged,

"Well, sure. I can't help for too long, but I can do something. Doesn't mean much if we can't take out Noelle, though."

Armsmaster cleared his throat.

"I have looked over the Bakuda bombs you provided, and what stocks we have here. I have been able to identify those bombs which inflict a time-lock effect, which I believe will be effective against Echidna."

"But it'd trap the others that she's taken, too." Taylor commented. Chevalier cleared his throat.

"I believe," he said, his voice deep and gentle, "That if Echidna can be distracted by you, we can work to free them."

Taylor shrugged again.

"You guys are the strategists. Do we even know where Noelle is?"

Armsmaster cleared his throat.

"Given the words of your clone, we believe that she is pursuing the Empire Eighty-Eight."

"Who could be anywhere. Great. You want me to stand on a tall building and call her like a puppy?" Taylor asked, diplomacy briefly vanishing as pain crackled through her arm. The Emperor muttered an apology and the pain vanished, but Taylor knew what it meant- she was running out of time.

"That was rude. Sorry. But tell me you've got an actual plan, because winging it doesn't seem to be working against Noelle. She regenerates too fast and she's too fast and strong- and then there's those clones of hers. They're a pain."

Armsmaster took the lead again, his tone as calm as ever.

"Echidna herself is dangerous, but I think we've all seen that her clones are the real threat. Echidna can be isolated and distracted, which means we have to separate the clones. You were able to escape, yes?"

"Tore my way out with a telekinetic cyclone." Taylor confirmed, nodding. Armsmaster continued with barely a pause.

"While we have to assume that the other prisoners will not be able to replicate your feat, we can carve Echidna apart so long as we have the right team. Taking away the prisoners will allow us to wear her down with ranged assaults before we use the bombs. All we need is a suitable distraction and a parahuman capable of cutting Echidna apart."

"She's not that tough." Taylor mused. "New Wave probably can't manage it, but…huh. Purity and Kaiser might be able to."

"Which makes it a priority to assist the Empire, assuming that your clone was right when she told us that Echidna intended to attack them. Lady Photon, we would like to ask if you and the other flight-capable members of New Wave could keep watch on the city. If Echidna attacks the Empire, we should see and be able to react." Armsmaster continued, building from what Taylor had said. He paused for a breath before speaking again, waiting until Lady Photon gave him her agreement with the plan and left the room.

"Circaetus. In the event that we engage Echidna, can we count upon you to distract her while we organise an assault upon Echidna?"

Taylor sighed.

"Sure. Sure, whatever. So long as it doesn't take too long- I don't have that much time left, remember?"

Armsmaster inclined his head.

"Of course."

Taylor leaned against the wall, looking at Chevalier.

"So, how did the two of you get here so quickly? I haven't seen any other backup around."

Chevalier looked back at her, mask to mask.

"Strider owed me a favour, so I called it in. Myrddin and I brought a couple of others over from our teams- Protectorate doesn't want to commit too heavily until we're sure that it's a real problem. They recognise Echidna is a danger, but dropping everything is something we'll only do if we have an Endbringer level threat."

Privately Taylor felt that Noelle definitely had potential to hit that level, but she supposed there was something to be said for conservatism. The stronger members of the Protectorate were key in fending off Endbringers, or at least limiting the damage they could do. Having them constantly in battle would risk having them out of commission when they were really needed.

Still, she couldn't help but wish that they would just turn up and deal with Noelle, before she got any stronger. The chances of clones of Lung and Butcher really weren't something she was happy about.

"Is it just the two of you? Or did you bring more help?" she asked, instead of venting any of her other thoughts. Chevalier shook his head.

"We brought some others, but not that many. We were a bit pressed for time- some of the people we've brought are hand-to-hand as well, so we can't really send them in. But we'll do what we can."

"Probably a good choice." Taylor muttered, before she sighed.

"Well, I'm glad to have you here. I was starting to think I'd have to deal with Noelle on my own, since the Protectorate was running out of people. And I don't think I'm quite up to that."

Chevalier nodded at her.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that."

'His confidence is refreshing.'

"Didn't you think that about the others?"

'Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that I'm right this time.'

Taylor leaned against the wall and waited, closing her eyes and slipping into a half-dose. She could hear Chevalier and Myrddin talking, but was content to simply wait, keeping half an ear open for anything interesting. There wasn't much, though she gathered that they had brought eight Protectorate or senior Ward members with them- Gully, Tecton, Wanton, Campanile, Raymancer, Shuffle, Myrddin, Chevalier.

Taylor hadn't heard of most of them, and it sounded like several were brawlers. They might possibly have a use if Noelle fixated upon her, though.

'I wonder why she is so fixated on us?'

"We injured her. We escaped her. And more importantly, we drove her into a murderous frenzy while we were the only people in the room."

'Oh. Yeah, I'd nearly forgotten that. Her anger is all pinned on us, isn't it?'

"That would be my guess."

'Fabulous.'

Taylor remained still as more people entered the office, voices muttering before they spoke up.

"Assault has interrogated the Travellers." Armsmaster announced. Taylor stirred slightly, moving just enough to let him know that she was listening. Whether he noticed or not, he continued to speak.

"The Travellers originate from Earth Aleph. They were transported here a few years ago, during a Simurgh attack: none of them had powers until, according to both Ballistic and Sundancer, they came across a number of vials and drank from them."

Taylor opened her eyes at that, hearing Myrddin make a noise of confusion.

"They gained powers from…drinking from vials?" he asked. Armsmaster nodded, his expression dour.

"So they insist. Apparently they all drank one, except for two members of the group, who split a single vial between them. One left the group shortly afterwards, apparently gaining no powers. The other was Noelle- she was the leader of the group, but it seems that her increasingly uncontrolled powers and insanity left her more and more unsuitable. The Travellers have been moving between cities so much thanks to periodic rampages by Noelle, likely being covered up or taking less noticeable targets. They've been seeking a cure and a way back to Earth Aleph ever since they arrived."

'Powers from vials? That doesn't sound right at all. Powers here stem from the Parasite, don't they?'

"They do. But if someone has managed to find a way to replicate those powers, of at the very least trigger powers without the inherent instabilities of the normal way, we could find ourselves facing an entire army."

'Yeah. That could be a problem. First things first, though, Noelle.'

"Did they say anything that might be useful for us?" Taylor asked. Armsmaster shook his head.

"Just that Echidna has at least some degree of strategic and tactical skill and should not be underestimated. We've already seen that- she used her clones to keep Velocity and I occupied while sending others to attack the first aid post. But the clones do not seem likely to execute complicated plans with any level of ability."

Taylor nodded silently, still wondering at the prospect of power in a bottle. And what sort of person would see something like that lying around and just drink it, of course, but the cynical part of her said that that sort of stupidity was par for the course. Armsmaster opened his mouth, but whatever he wanted to say went unheard as he tilted his head and pressed a finger to the side of his helmet.

"Lady Photon has found Echidna." He announced without preamble, looking at Taylor.

"She's moving towards Empire territory with a contingent of clones. The Empire will surely retaliate as soon as they can."

"Sounds like we had better get going, then." Chevalier remarked. Armsmaster gave a sharp, terse nod.

"Follow me."

The out of town heroes were nervous, Taylor thought. She could hear it, smell it, taste it. Chevalier and Myrddin hid it well, but the others…Raymancer was twitching, a muscle in his thigh jumping on a regular beat. Taylor couldn't blame him- he was just a kid.

"He's probably older than you are, Taylor."

'Not where it matters. He doesn't have our advantages, but he's still here. Brave, but not the brightest.'

She felt the amusement from the Emperor at the last description and rolled her eyes.

'Yeah I know, sounds familiar. Still, it's pretty fucked up that a bunch of teenagers are heading out to face a cannibal monster. And it's not even dawn.'

"'It's not even dawn'?"

Taylor hesitated, momentarily tongue-tied as she tried to work out her own meaning.

'I must be getting tired. But I mean, you know, dawn is a thing. It gives hope to see the light. We're still in the dark, on a night when Noelle has crashed through us all like a runaway train. It's- it's a morale thing, maybe?'

The Emperor remained quiet, a thoughtful pause before he replied to her.

"It seems to me, Taylor, that your comment may have pertained to you, more than anyone else."

Taylor let out a soft hiss through her teeth, just quiet enough that she didn't draw any attention. The Emperor was not discouraged by her silence, continuing to speak.

"This is the first time we've ever really failed." He said, his tone solemn and thoughtful. Taylor closed her eyes, letting her senses spread around her and find all of her allies. The Emperor was unperturbed.

"Against Oni Lee and Hookwolf, we were badly injured but we saved the family. Against Lung, we drove him into retreat and crippled his power. Against Hookwolf we won, we broke the Merchants even if Hookwolf struck the blow, we defeated Raijin convincingly even if the Teeth forced us to retreat. We have rarely been utterly bested. But against Noelle we were overwhelmed. Our clone killed and maimed, and we were forced to flee without our dead. Our only victory was killing Luna, and that came too late."

Taylor drew a long, deep breath through her nose.

'If this is supposed to be comforting, it isn't.'

The Emperor laughed softly.

"I've never been good at that sort of thing. Sometimes I think that if I was, my sons- well, that's the past. You can probably imagine."

Yeah. Yeah, Taylor could imagine. She might naturally be inclined to side with the Emperor's view of things, but some of the memories of the Primarchs- some of those memories haunted her. And they weren't even hers, really. But that was something for another day.

"But. We aren't done yet. Noelle had the element of surprise, and she had Luna- she had us, in a very real sense. She has lost much of her power, and our allies still stand with us. We will triumph, Taylor. Dawn will come."

Taylor let a slow smile curve her lips, warmth spreading through her chest.

'Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Alright, I take it back. You're terrible at the comforting thing, but you're alright at the inspiring thing.'

"How nice of you to say so."

The truck they were riding in lurched to a halt and Taylor rose to her feet, feeling the blockages in front of them. Krieg, Victor, Crusader. Not the heaviest hitters, but hopefully they could talk them down.

"I guess this is our stop." Chevalier commented, and the group piled out after him. There weren't that many of them: New Wave had sent only fliers, Armsmaster was on his bike. They had mostly brought the ranged combatants- Gully and Tecton, both geokinetics as far as Taylor knew. Raymancer, some kind of energy-ray blaster. Chevalier, who had a gun and knew better than to get trapped. And Myrddin, who was a wizard.

Not that there was anything wrong with being a wizard. Using the Warp was basically magic, so what if Myrddin thought he was magical? It was a neat explanation.

Anyway. Taylor refocused on the now, following Chevalier and Myrddin out of the back of the truck. The three Empire capes seemed a little less cocksure now that they had three major heroes and a bunch of backup looming over them, but they held their ground. Krieg would be the one to speak, Taylor knew. She wasn't disappointed.

"What is it that brings the Protectorate here?" he demanded, his tone uncompromising. Taylor took a peek at his thoughts and saw- ah. They knew that Noelle was on the way. Already marshalling to confront her, maybe even already confronting her. Her suspicions that there were more moles in the PRT than Coil were only growing. Chevalier responded evenly, though his voice was unyielding steel.

"The A-Class threat Echidna indicated that she intended to attack the Empire. Bearing that in mind, we've come to request a truce until she is dealt with."

Armsmaster moved to stand beside Chevalier, his armour still crusted with gore in places. Krieg didn't seem to look at him, but Taylor sensed the anxiety Krieg was feeling ratchet up a notch.

"We…have received reports that an unknown Parahuman has been wandering the city." Krieg said, his tone careful. Taylor perked up at that, seeing where it was going next.

"Kaiser believed that it would be better to confront them himself."

Chevalier didn't flinch, didn't pause.

"Well, that parahuman is a Brute on Lungs level with the ability to clone any parahuman she can absorb. So I'd advise that you tell us where she is before it's too late."

Krieg hesitated, his indecision clear and agonising.

'You think he'll go for it?'

"Any leader knows that a bad decision is better than no decision. He is an experienced lieutenant, he will act."

"If you agree to a truce, I'll take you there." Krieg said, looking at Chevalier before his mask swept to Armsmaster. Armsmaster nodded.

"Acceptable." He said. Chevalier raised a hand in a wave.

"Agreed. Now take us there."

Kaiser wasn't quite as nonchalant as he seemed, Taylor knew. They had managed to catch up to the leader of the Empire Eighty-Eight before he found Noelle, but his lounging posture wasn't quite as easy as it might normally have been. Taylor supposed that it could be to do with the concentration of powerful Protectorate aligned Capes in his close vicinity, but she was certain that he was at least a little shaken by the rundown on Noelle.

"We were attacked by several of the clones- probably Dauntless, now that I understand it. They were easy enough to repel. I had Cricket and Stormtiger track them to what I assumed was their base." Kaiser explained. Taylor hummed to herself.

"She was trying to lure you in. In an enclosed area her speed, strength and regeneration give her a massive advantage." She said aloud. Kaiser glanced at her.

"Yes, I suspect that is the case. Regardless, I hope that you have a plan to deal with that particular aspect of …Echidna."

Taylor grinned under her mask, said nothing. Chevalier intervened.

"We do have a plan, but it could require more firepower. I'd expected Purity to be here."

Kaiser was reluctant to answer that, Taylor could see. Trouble in paradise?

"Purity is indisposed, at the moment. I will contact her, but I cannot guarantee that she will be able to assist us."

Well, at least Kaiser seemed willing to team up. That was a good sign, though if Purity didn't turn up it would be a bit awkward. She brought a lot to the table. Taylor cast that thought aside, instead edging through the room until she was as close to the warehouse that the clones had retreated to as possible, stretching her abilities out. Pain flashed through her in a second of agony as control slipped, but it faded again. The slips were becoming more frequent, she absently noted. That wasn't a good sign.

"They're in there." She said aloud, motioning to the warehouse. "Noelle's too big to miss, but there aren't that many clones. A dozen, maybe."

Armsmaster tilted his head, carefully holding out a hand. There was a small communications disc in his palm, similar to the one he had given Taylor just hours ago, and it crackled to life. A familiar voice came through- Tattletale.

"I've spoken to the Travellers, Echidna doesn't get mass from her power like Lung does. She needs to assimilate it. It's possible that the cloning and the damage is causing her to run out of resources, so to speak."

"Doesn't that mean that she might start using her prisoners as fuel?" Chevalier asked quietly, his tone deadly serious. Tattletale muttered over the line before her voice rose to coherency again.

"It might. I don't think she will unless she has no other choice, though."

"So we need to cut them loose as soon as we can." Myrddin stated, his smooth tone at odds with his serious expression. Kaiser seemed a little less invested, but Taylor knew that he was smart enough to understand that freeing the prisoners would be useful. No meat, no regeneration. At least, assuming Noelle played by the laws of physics. If her regeneration was fuelled by some eldritch parasite it would be as useful as a chocolate fireguard.

"So what are we doing? Do we call it off and wait, or do you want me to try the distraction?" she asked, a question to the whole room. Chevalier didn't say anything, but Armsmaster frowned.

"This may be our best chance." He replied, tone as calm and even as ever. "Do you think you can distract Echidna efficiently enough?"

Taylor shrugged.

"I've got time. How are we going to do this?"

Armsmaster gave the warehouse a considering look, and Taylor thoughtfully assessed the distance between them. The road wasn't that often used, but it was built for trucks and transport, making it wide and empty. The streetlights were half out, casting deep shadows across the asphalt, though the creeping fingers of dawn were beginning to dispel the shadows.

"If you can enter, do you think you can escape and lure Echidna after you?"

Taylor let power flow through her limbs, the strange itching in her shoulders returning. She ignored it for the moment, waving a hand with studied nonchalance.

"Sure. The clones in there don't seem as dangerous as the earlier ones- they aren't moving right. And Noelle is fast but I can deal with that."

'We can deal with that, right? Push her and run?'

"We have the power for it."

"Good." Armsmaster said. "Once you have lured her out, we can attack from all sides, pinning her with Gully and Tecton and using our other members to attack. If we can cut the prisoners free, we can then trap her- Kaiser, we'll need your help for that."

Kaiser spread his hands in a gesture of benevolence.

"I have already agreed to aid you."

"And then, once we cut her up, we drop the bombs and let her stop being a problem." Taylor finished. Armsmaster nodded at her.

"That is our intention. If we are forced to deal with the clones, do you think you can continue to distract Echidna for us?"

Taylor gave him a grin that he couldn't see, hidden by her helmet.

"I'll do my best."

"That's all we can ask. Does anybody have any other suggestions?"

Nothing. Even if anyone did- well, they were still more or less winging this. It was risky and nasty and Taylor glanced at Tecton thoughtfully, the bulky Tinker impassive in his armour.

"Hey, Tecton. You think you can collapse that warehouse?" she asked, indicating it. Tecton snapped his head to her.

"Collapse it? Not from here, but I can get close then probably."

Taylor grinned slightly at that. Armsmaster cleared his throat.

"What are you thinking, Circaetus?"

Taylor pointed at the building.

"Well, it's full of clones, right? If I go in and push them all back, then Tecton can collapse the building on the clones after Noelle bursts out. That'll cut down the odds a bit."

Armsmaster looked at the building- Taylor suspected that he was running calculations of some sort. Eventually he nodded.

"Very well. Tecton, accompany Circaetus to the building- remain silent."

Tecton agreed quietly and Taylor rolled her shoulders, flexing her fingers.

"Well, come on then. No time like the present." She murmured. They moved out of their position in the warehouse office, spreading across the road. The Protectorate took the right, the Empire on the left: Fenja, Menja, Kaiser, Stormtiger, Rune, Krieg. Crusader and Victor remained in the office with Othala, their powers better suited to remaining away, while New Wave stayed together and left from the other side of the office, better to take flight and soar over the building when the time came. Taylor licked her lips, creeping closer to the warehouse where Noelle squatted, Tecton on her heels.

"Taylor," The Emperor abruptly stated, "You should be prepared to use the Void Prison."

'Do we have the strength to use that without breaking ourselves? We're stronger than when we pulled it on Lung, but it drinks a ton of power.'

"Even if we did not, I might have suggested it. This is not like fighting Lung: Noelle does not regenerate as efficiently and it is not our only option for a final attack. If we can isolate her it will trap and harm her, long enough for the bombs to be placed."

'You sure? We can get a minute out of it?'

"At our current strength, yes. Equally, I would advise making use of our predictive abilities to make sure we cannot be seized by Noelle."

'Yeah, I get it. Burn through it as fast as we need because there's no point in saving it now. Alright, alright. Let's go and play bait.'

"Over there." Taylor whispered to Tecton, nudging him towards the corner of the warehouse. He reached it and raised a hand to her, nodding. Taylor drew in a deep breath and rose from her hunkered position, striding towards the door. A stray thought crossed her mind- she wished she still had her staff.

The doors exploded inwards as Taylor struck them with a wall of force, striding in after it.

"Noelle! How lovely to see you again, darling." Taylor shouted. The noise Noelle made was part disbelief and part rage, but it was clear enough.

"Kill her!" the monster roared, and Taylor felt three clones rush at her. A grin settled on her mouth. Too easy.

From the right, a clone leaping and Taylor thrust her hand out without looking, a bolt of force hurling it into the wall with crushing force. From her left, charging and Taylor turned, right hand coming out and parrying a lunging punch and her gauntlet hit the chin, power still running through it and the anti-armour field melted skin and bone and muscle and Taylor let the headless body drop and spun back to her right, third attacker and lightning flashed from her hand to stagger and delay before she stepped in, pressed her hand against the clone's skull and crushed it in a telekinetic vice.

"Try again." Taylor called, and Noelle surged into motion with a howling scream, sanity abandoned in the face of Taylor's presence. Taylor could see it now, the cloud of rage that consumed Noelle: when Taylor had driven her into a berserk rage earlier she had done much the same as with her Dad, made it too strong. Noelle would be driven to murderous violence every time she saw Taylor.

If it made the monster sloppy, Taylor was content with that.

Taylor drew in a breath as Noelle surged forwards and the future twisted around her, laid itself out in innumerable paths, strings and thread in her mind and her eyes and a tentacle lashed forwards. A single step and it missed by less than an inch, Taylor whirling back and ducking a second, a clone leaping past her as she bent at the waist and she was moving back, dancing away and she was in the doorway, clones charging and Noelle lurching and Noelle flung herself forwards, a mountain of twisted and scarred flesh.

Taylor stepped into the Warp, two steps and she emerged behind Noelle and thrust her hand out. The wave of force caught Noelle mid-jump and carried her through the air, crashing onto the asphalt and Taylor whirled on her heel, a second wave of power striking the clones and hurling them back and Taylor ran for the entrance, dived out, rolling and her hands came up, a tornado of force springing around her with razor edges, Noelle howling as tendrils were shredded by the force and the future called to her and Taylor dragged herself back, regaining control of herself and shouting at Tecton to collapse the building. Tecton struck, the warehouse giving way and falling with controlled power and Noelle turned to Taylor, half a dozen maws gaping and screaming and light descended from the skies and hammered her into the ground, craters tearing open in grey-red flesh. Taylor moved, sprinting out of the blast zone as fast as she could, a tearing pain in her leg flaring before it was muffled. She'd used a lot of her time pulling that little display.

A hand wrapped around her arm and hauled her clear of a flailing tendril, dragging her out of the way. Taylor gasped a thank you to Armsmaster, who ignored it in favour of sizing up Noelle.

"I've scanned her body. There are currently four prisoners, two kept in the rear of her body and two in the centre." He told her, tone terse and clipped. Taylor nodded.

"Cut her in half?" she suggested. The grunt she received in reply was an agreement.

"We'll need time. Can you distract her?"

"Do my best." Taylor muttered, repeating herself. Armsmaster tapped her on the shoulder.

"Go."

The two of them burst into action, sprinting at Noelle. Taylor cut right, darting in front of Noelle with lightning trailing around her fingers, letting it lash out at the thrashing tentacles and hammering limbs. Noelle shrieked in outraged hate, most of her attention turning to Taylor and Taylor slid to a halt, piling power into a wall around her that met the swinging tendril. The impact knocked Taylor back a step but she heard the tendril crunch, flesh pulverising with the force of the impact and Armsmaster sprinted across the road behind Noelle, halberd in hands. It was a thing of beauty really, to watch his leap, the halberd drawing back before it sliced down with whipping force. Blood spurted in a gory shower as Armsmaster landed on Noelle, hacking again and Noelle screamed in pain, dragging her grotesque bulk into a rear and Armsmaster leapt away. A dozen attacks struck Noelle in the chest as she reared, bolts of light and power and chunks of rubble smashing into her and Noelle wobbled, came crashing down. A tentacle slashed out and grabbed something behind her, a clone, and Taylor saw her whip it through the air and was already moving. Taylor vaulted a tentacle, sprinted, saw the clone smash into another body and the flier dropped and Taylor slid across tarmac, catching the falling figure in her arms. Rune coughed and gasped, her left arm clearly crooked and broken but alive. Taylor rose to her feet and pulled Rune up.

"Get out of range." Taylor snapped, turning back to Noelle just in time to see a massive sword descend from above. Fenja- or Menja, Taylor had no idea which- had grown to almost twenty feet tall, her sword extending the same and it sliced heavily into flesh, ripping through putrid muscle and fat and Noelle wailed in pain as it butchered her flesh. A tentacle slashed out and struck the giant on the breastplate, knocking her stumbling back before Noelle dragged herself with terrible speed, a massive limb scything through the air and smashing into a leg. The Empire twins grew more resilient as they grew, Taylor knew, but apparently not that resilient: bone cracked and the giant fell with a cry of pain, Noelle roaring with salivating triumph. Taylor started to move, but Myrddin and Chevalier were already there. Myrddin swept his staff through the air, shouting a word that sounded like nonsense, but in the trail of his staff a rune formed, glowing with dark light. It exploded with terrible force, pushing Noelle back and Chevalier let out a roaring shout as he rushed forwards, his sword rising and expanding, falling to chop through what was left of the meat holding Noelle together. Almost a third of Noelle's mass fell away, cut clear with the two prisoners inside and Noelle turned on them, howling in incoherent pain and fury and Taylor reached out and wrapped force around her, lifted her and flung her almost ten feet. A small distance, but Noelle was heavy and the distraction was enough: Chevalier hacked through the dead lump of meat of the ground and hauled out first Battery, then Dauntless. He threw Dauntless to Myrddin, the two of them running for the warehouse office as Taylor closed in to protect them.

She wasn't needed: a wall of silver metal sprouted from the ground before her, a thicket of spikes that were abruptly bloodied as Noelle smashed into them.

"Back! Circaetus, back!" Armsmaster shouted and Taylor retreated, the time Kaiser had bought with his wall of spikes allowing her to cross the distance between herself and the regrouped Capes with speed. A swift look around told her that the fallen giant had been retrieved by her sister, shrinking down and grabbed as Noelle was distracted. Good. Better to not give her more resources.

"We've freed half the prisoners. Now for the other two." Armsmaster said, his halberd in both hands. Kaiser joined them, arms folded and posture stiff. Blades and spikes continued to burst from the ground, but Noelle was smashing a path through them, her bulk and strength too much for the metal to withstand.

"Where are the other two prisoners?" Kaiser asked. Armsmaster replied, his halberd slowly lowering in his grip.

"At the centre of her mass, one on each side. Completely cocooned."

Kaiser nodded at that.

"Circaetus, can you hold her still for a moment? I will need to be accurate."

Taylor could still feel that itch in her shoulders, intensifying the more she drew on her power, but she continued to ignore it.

"I can pull something like that."

"Good. Armsmaster, mark them for me. Stormtiger, when I have marked the prisoners try to cut them loose. Circaetus, hold Echidna in place."

The spikes began to give, the mangled howling from beyond piercing the air, half wolf and half horse. Taylor widened her stance and lifted her arms.

"Here we go." She whispered.

Noelle smashed through the stakes in a welter of blood and ribbons of flesh, her howl gurgling and choking and awful. Taylor poured power through her frame and reached out to her, telekinetic force closing from every side in a suffocating prison.

The itch in her shoulders grew even stronger, something forming there, but Taylor swatted it away and focused. A thousand tendrils of force reached from her, wrapping around Noelle and pinning the massive creature in place, blood thundering through Taylor's mind and her bones fracturing under the pressure and the beat of her heart sharp in her temples, one eye tinged red with blood and Kaiser threw up his arms. Blades erupted from the ground, larger than the ones before, carving through dense meat and flesh and Noelle let out a liquid, bubbling roar as she threshed and struggled against Taylor.

"Hurry!" Taylor gasped, struggling to hold the rampaging behemoth in place. Stormtiger stepped forwards and the air rippled, claws of wind shrieking through the air. Gore erupted as they struck, carving bloody furrows in Noelle. A barrage of attacks from the other Capes followed, ripping through Noelle and exposing her innards to the world. There were no organs there, just more rippling, pulsating meat. Taylor felt her gorge rise for a moment at the sight, but quashed the moment of weakness as a wave of spectral figures swept past her: Crusader's ghosts. They swarmed over Noelle, her shrieking struggles intensifying, and Taylor fell to a knee as the effort of maintaining her grip started to wear at her, irregular bolts of pain churning through her. The ghosts were swift and relentless, tearing at Noelle with spears and bare hands and meat began to give way, ghosts burrowing in like swarming ants on a carcass and Taylor dragged in a breath as she saw a half-dozen ghosts haul a limp body from the churning mess of flesh that was Noelle, fleeing immediately.

"They have Grue. Only Raijin left." Armsmaster called. The bombardment being directed upon Noelle grew heavier as Myrddin and Chevalier returned, Myrddin's bolts and Chevaliers gunblade hammering at Noelle. Chevalier approached at a charge, his sword flipping to his side before he leapt and slashed. Flesh parted and the ghosts on his heel darted into the mess, returning with a limp body in their arms.

"We have them both! The bombs!" Kaiser shouted. Noelle tilted her head back and screamed even more loudly than ever, a ringing howl that hit a pitch that sent them staggering.

Taylor's power failed her for a second and Noelle broke free.

Taylor brought her arms in front of her, vision in one eye completely gone and a wall of force rose from her. The blow Noelle delivered still knocked her off her feet, sending her sailing through the air and bouncing on the ground, bones breaking and splitting and reforming themselves with implacable speed. From the corner of her eye she saw Armsmaster leap away, Kaiser being struck himself but the Empire leader was caught by a squad of Crusader ghosts, Armsmaster rushing back to delay Noelle with Chevalier close behind. A squealing scream came from the darkness as Taylor rose, seeing half a dozen clones haul themselves free of the warehouse rubble and charge at her. Taylor raised a hand, tried to cudgel her spinning thoughts together, lightning sparking weakly over her fingers and her grip on the Warp wavering. The clones approached fast, twisted and shambling and Myrddin dropped to the ground before her, his staff slashing out. A blast of explosive force struck two of the clones, pulverising them mid motion. A third ducked under the blast to be met by Krieg, the Empire Cape ploughing through the clone with a shoulder charge and rushing another. The fifth clones raised its hands, a ball of light forming between them as the sixth ducked Krieg and charged with blades of light sprouting from its arms, legs, chest, pushing from the bone and flesh. Taylor found her senses, a darting lance of telekinetic force whipping from her pointing finger and hitting it in the skull with shattering force. She turned to the last, but a chunk of rock was already cracking it across the skull: the ball of light detonated with crushing force, reducing the clones torso to a twisted, pulpy mass.

"You're welcome." Rune called down from above, her arm still clutched tightly to her body. Taylor gave her a dismissive wave and turned her attention back to Noelle. Armsmaster and Chevalier were keeping her distracted, aided by a swarm of pale ghosts from Crusader, but she was gaining the upper hand. Myrddin saw the same thing, a sigh ruffling through his beard.

"Perhaps I can distract her." He offered. Taylor put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"Don't worry. Save what you've got." She told him, walking towards Noelle.

'We can still use it, right?'

"Less than a minute without harming ourselves, but yes. We still have the power."

'Good. Time to finish this off, then.'

Armsmaster was caught by a tendril, turning into it and jumping to reduce some of the force as it swatted at him. Chevalier ducked behind his enlarged sword, a limb smashing into it and sending him staggering and Taylor raised her voice.

"Hey! Noelle!"

Noelle turned, the lure on her bulbous form swaying to look at Taylor. Taylor spread her hands.

"I'm here. Come on."

Noelle yowled in hate and began to lurch forwards and Taylor drew on the Warp as heavily as she could and wrenched her arms wide open.

The air itself bent to her will, fleeing from Noelle in an instant of endless, silent obedience. Taylor felt her grip waver and wobble before the Emperor spoke.

"My apologies Taylor, but I cannot spare the power to block your pain."

'Just fucking do it!'

Pain blossomed in every limb, exquisite, excruciating. Taylor threw back her head and screamed as her own power tore her apart, rebuilt her, but she could see Noelle through the fog of agony, see the monstrous form being torn apart by the vacuum and Myrddin was closing in, running towards Noelle. Just a few seconds longer and Taylor fell to her knees, forcing her pain through the Warp to fuel her failing body and her grip was loosening, struggling with it but she held on, held on as tendons snapped and reknitted and blood vessels burst before they forced themselves back together, the scream Noelle was emitting lost in the empty space. A tentacle lashed out, a dying animal, and Taylor saw the lure atop Noelle look towards her and the tentacle moved, writhed and slashed towards her, kneeling on the ground with arms spread in some sick parody of a martyr. Taylor threw back her head and closed her eyes, bitterly realising that she couldn't stop the tendril without freeing Noelle, saw it slash closer and closer and a figure clad in shining steel stepped before her. The tentacle was skewered by a dozen slender blades as Kaiser moved to protect her, Armsmaster leaping in a second later and looking at Taylor, looking at Noelle.

"Good work." He told her, his voice distant and echoing through the pain that fuzzed her ears and blinded her eyes and filled her mouth with the taste of blood, her nostrils with the stink of gore and Armsmaster lifted a small detonator and clicked the button as Taylor finally failed, powers slipping from her grasp for an instant. A kaleidoscope of blinding light filled the area, Taylor falling heavily to her side as her powers slipped, returned to her a second later and her vision slowly returned, spotted with white and rainbow dots, as the pain faded again, leaving only the faint itch in her shoulders. A hand reached down, wrapping under her arm and Armsmaster hauled her to her feet.

"Circaetus. Status?" he asked, his tone nearly concerned. Taylor coughed as she tried to answer, swallowed some blood and let more dribble into her scarf before she cleared her throat.

"Sore but alive. Noelle?"

"See for yourself." He said quietly. A step, two, and Taylor found her footing and her hand found a space in the air that she couldn't pass. She let her fingers rest against it, blinking her vision back into function and looking up.

Noelle reared before her, the lure endlessly screaming and the meaty, twisted maws of her form gaping, locked in eternity, a glittering bubble of wrongness that sealed her in. Taylor let her fingers scrape over the bubble, turning her head.

"How long will this last?" she asked, softly. Armsmaster came to stand beside her, his tone grimly soft, almost contemplative.

"As far as we know, forever."

Taylor let out a croaking sigh, feeling water gather in her eyes and run down her face unbidden. Her voice wobbled, but she paid that no heed.

"We- we actually did it. We won."

"We won." Armsmaster agreed, and Taylor had the sense that he was smiling.

The camaraderie was broken by a harsh, tearing cough from behind and a croaking, snarling voice. The two of them turned to see a clone- a Dauntless clone, almost certainly the last- fallen on the ground, a blood- red grin on his face. His lower body was limp and mangled, but his laugh was threatening, marred by hate and spite.

"Won? You've not won, Circaetus. Not you."

"What do you mean?" Armsmaster asked, his voice hardening. Taylor felt an awful premonition creep along her spine, clawing at her. The clone let out a wretched, twisting giggle.

"The Creator…she wasn't pleased with Circaetus. Not at all. And she had two clones left. So she sent one to tell you. And the other- the other…"

A racking, rasping cough assailed the dying clone, a sputter of blood from the lips but he still lived, lived long enough to deliver the last of his message.

"She sent the other to Circaetus' father."

Acid and ice flooded Taylor's veins and she was moving, running, deaf to the shouts behind her. Her feet hammered on the ground and the Warp protested, fought her but she overcame it, forced it to her will and the portal opened before her. Taylor flew through the Warp, feet finding solid purchase on ethereal ground until the doorway opened and she leapt forth, ignoring the ethereal frost that crept onto her coat as her powers lashed around her. She landed with a crunch, boots on the ground and she nearly sprinted towards her house, only the faintest sliver of caution remaining to keep her steady. It could be a trap, and she slid to a halt with the itch in her shoulder blades a burn. There was something there, but she didn't have the time to investigate and her eyes caught sight of a trail of blood. Her veins ran cold as she followed it and found the body, slumped next to a dumpster with head smashed to unrecognisable pulp and Taylor let go of the breath she had been holding, air dragging cold into her lungs. Into the house, then, to find her Dad, without a second of pause or hesitation, blood thundering for battle as she stepped back into the Immaterium and teleported to her Dad.

He slept as peaceful as a babe, resting in the arms of dreams and Taylor sank to her knees next to him, relief choking her throat and crushing in her chest. She wanted to weep, but knew she didn't have time, there could be anything in here. She swept the house, every step laced with murderous purpose, but she found nothing. Her reachign swathe of power, an invisible veil to find any threat, was just as fruitless. Something had killed the woman outside, but...there was nothing here. No threat, so she returned to her Dad, weariness and regret sweeping through her. He hadn't even woken up. More than just crippling him, her well-intentioned meddling with his mind had left him vulnerable. But she could fix this. Even if it cost her the comfortable relationship she had with him, the useful ignorance.

'Can we break the block?'

"We have just enough time." The Emperor replied, quiet and solemn. Taylor let out a long, quavering sigh, bending over her father.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, regretting that she couldn't take longer. That she couldn't fix his ills as she went, but his life mattered more. She reached into his mind, finding the stubborn block that congested his thoughts and his feelings and she curled power about it, shredding and twisting until it came loose, dissolving inside his mind. He awoke then, a groggy gasp leaving his mouth and Taylor tightened her grasp on his mind, catching his consciousness in an unbreakable web.

"Sleep. Sleep, and forget." She whispered. Her Dad stared at her with uncomprehending eyes before they clouded over, sinking back into slumber, and Taylor slowly rose to her feet.

'Things won't be the same, will they? The Protectorate won't just leave us be.'

"No. But we will weather this, Taylor, as we have weathered all else. But now, you need to sleep. Sleep, rest, heal in soul and body. Things will look brighter in the morning."

Taylor glanced out the bedroom window, seeing that it had begun to rain through the crack in the curtains. A wave of her hand marshalled her rapidly dwindling powers, opened a portal to the Warp and a few steps brought her to her workshop, to collapse in a chair, pulling off her helmet and scarf with hands that shook with exhaustion.

'Yeah.'

"Sleep, Taylor. Sleep, and awaken strong again."

Taylor smiled to herself at the Emperor, quietly reassuring her in his own way, before she let her head fall back and her consciousness drift away, into the sleep of the exhausted and victorious.

Interlude- Luna

Breath came rasping in the throat of a dead woman and fingers clenched around wood, a movement that might have been called rigour mortis if the fingers had not tugged, pulled at the wood. Luna fought to dislodge it, feeling her heart struggle to beat and the wood moved a fraction and

Luna came back from death once more, fingers clenching and struggling and too weak and her heart tried to beat and

Luna woke again, lungs failing to inflate and the wood moving only a fraction as her heart began to regrow and she struggled, pain in her chest and her skull and her strength wasn't enough, wasn't enough and

Life returned to the broken form and Luna stretched out for it, sobbing in her soul as she died and lived and died again, searching for even the slightest shred of power, of something more and

The wood tore free of her chest as she found it. Death claimed her a moment later but she awoke, power scraping in her bones and the muscle of her heart slowly contracted, the beat thrumming in her ears and she pulled in a gulping breath and laughed with the pleasure of it. Power surged through her, bending to her will and she flowed smoothly to her feet, fear and pain left behind and she felt her bones align, fuse and her heart grew stronger and

Luna fell to the ground as the power left her, leaving her bones weak and muscles aching. She gasped in pain, her heart thumping with desperate agony before it stabilised. She scrabbled in the dirt, one hand clutching at her chest as she tried to reach for the power she had felt, had wielded for a moment. She found only the unyielding barrier of the Warp, so close and yet so far, the buzzing of the swarm in the back of her mind. Luna sucked in another breath, curling into herself until the pain in her chest receded and she could think again.

Taylor. Taylor, Taylor, Mother. Mothers child. She was Mothers child. To wield the Warp was her birthright, but too far away, she realised. She compared the feeling she had just experienced to the fuzzy, shaky memories inherited from her mother and found the similarity. Taylor had been wielding power with such abandon that it had lingered in the air, saturating the ground and in Luna's struggle she had called to it, absorbed it, used it to fuel her regeneration even if she couldn't shape it or command it herself. If it had not heard her plea- if Taylor hadn't been overflowing with might- she would still be fallen on the ground, trying to dislodge the wood from her heart until she was found. Still there was the nagging voice, the call of the meat-vat that had birthed her whispering to her, but Luna ignored it as she shakily stood. Noelle had no idea what she was to face. Taylor would destroy the monster, and Luna had no intention of being caught. She slowly made her way to her feet, closing her eyes against the pain in her head, hearing the siren whisper of the Warp. It called to her, just as it called to all of Taylor's children, all of the clones. She was just stronger, better able to ignore it.

It still filled her with hunger in this desperate moment, but the buzzing and chittering of the swarm drowned it out. She slowly made her way through the darkness, one hand pressed against the crates to steady herself until her gait evened out, the pain receded a fraction. She looked up, saw the faintest greyness of dawn beginning to spread across the horizon. A new day. A morbid curiosity drew her to the monster Noelle, the meat-vat still trapped and spitting in rage, buried under a mountain of containment foam. It was starting to force a way through, but the going was slow. It was speaking aloud, ranting to the clones around it. The monster liked to do that, perhaps thinking it made it seem like some general or master. To Luna it only made the madness of the monster clearer.

"Circaetus! Circaetus will die, the PRT will not defend her from me!" raged the monster, still deep in the throes of fury. Luna grinned to herself, witnessing what her mother had wrought. A tentacle tore from the foam and lashed out, wrapping around a clone of Mother and squeezing the life from it with explosive force. Luna watched with interest as the two other clones of Mother- her sisters, one could say- stood blankly, slack and uninterested. Useless puppets.

"You." Noelle rasped, the tentacle flinging aside the mangled body and curling around a second clone.

"Take a message to the PRT. And you, take a message to Circaetus. Find her father and kill him!"

"Father." Moaned the second clone, eyes dull and posture slumped. Noelle let out a rasping hiss.

"Yes, your Father. Kill him for me, darling."

"Yes, Mother." The clone groaned, turning and shambling away. Luna watched him go, calculating. On the one hand, what better way to harden Taylor's heart than to have her Father killed?

But. On the other hand…how dare Noelle presume she had the right to order such an attack? How dare she send a failed scarecrow creature to perform such a task! Luna's grin faded, consumed by a teeth-baring snarl, her fingers clenching. No. No, she would not allow it.

No-one would hurt Taylor like that.

No-one but her.

The clone was giggling to itself as it approached Taylor's house. Luna watched it, sneaking after it. Her bones still ached, her limbs were a little weak, but she had confidence in her ability to defeat one stuttering puppet. She had followed it all this way, tracking it, assessing it, but now was time to strike. She waited until it hesitated, sliding up behind it and attacking before it even knew she was there.

Luna leapt at her clone-sister, driving her foot into its' Achilles tendon to bring it to its' knees before she wrapped an arm around the neck, locking her other hand behind the head and squeezing. The clone struggled, writhing against her and letting out a choked, rasping scream but she held the choke in place, squeezing, squeezing. She let out a breathless laugh, strained with effort and pleasure as the clone fought her, hopelessly squirming. It wouldn't last much longer, but there was no reason to-

The clone rammed an elbow back in a desperate move, slamming into her ribs, nearly in the centre of her chest. Pain flared there and Luna choked in a grunting gasp, her hold slipping. The clone twisted and pushed itself up, cracking the top of its head against her chin. Her jaw slammed shut, teeth barely missing her tongue, and she fell back with a hissing snarl. The clone whirled on her, eyes blazing with madness.

"Sssister!" it snarled, hurling itself at her with reaching hands. Luna met it with a snapping jab to the nose, but it barrelled through and knocked her from her feet, sending them both to the ground. Luna coughed at the impact, arms knocked wide and the clone wrapped fingers around her throat. Luna tried to gasp in air, failed, eyes bulging, vision sparking and she curled her fingers into cups and brought them up with vicious force, slamming them onto the ears. At least one eardrum burst and the clone reeled back with a cry of startled pain, hands reaching up. Luna didn't pause, pulling her left fist back before she slashed it to the throat and her right elbow came across, a short, swinging blow that hit her clone-sister in the temple. Her sister fell off and Luna rose to her feet, baring teeth in murderous glee fuelled by adrenaline. The other clone rolled and came to her feet, swinging wildly at her. Luna punched the wild haymaker away and struck again, a straight blow to the nose that broke it. The clone staggered and Luna curled her fist, slashed a blow to the eye and kicked the clone back into the alleyway they had come from, a rasping chuckle leaving her throat.

"I guess there really isn't any question of which of us is stronger, is there?" she asked, striding after it. Her swarm buzzed around her, but she let it rest. She could bring them down, of course, but beating her sister to death was so much more…satisfying. She started to chuckle at the very thought, laughter leaving her mouth in giggling, hiccoughing fits.

"Come on, sister. Don't leave me like this. Don't let me down. Give me a fight!"

A grating snarl came from the darkness and rose to a berserker shriek. Luna felt a shudder of pleasure run up her spine and laughed aloud, flinging her arms wide as her sister burst from the darkness.

Luna blocked two blows, ducked a third and caught a fourth in the ribs, grunting and skipping two steps aside. Her sister kept pressing, throwing short, quick blows in. Luna tucked her arms against her ribs and dodged them, waiting for an opening. It came as the clone feinted and threw a looping uppercut that Luna leaned back from, returning a savage blow to the nose before she curled a fist towards the temple. The clone, staggering, caught its footing and grabbed her arm, twisting and wrenching over her shoulder in a throw. Luna landed, rolled away from a stomp and laughed in delight,

"That's more like it!" she crowed, springing back at her sister. They met in a flurry of blows, reinforced bone and enhanced muscles cracking against each other. Luna's sister sneaked in a blow to the ribs but it was hasty, met the bone plate that encased her torso with only the slightest pain and Luna rammed the heel of her palm into her sisters right eye, pulping it. The other clone lurched back with a cry of pain, hands reaching up to the eye and Luna snaked in, flat of her hand hammering into the throat. Her sister choked and Luna drove a blow into her chest, hammering her into the wall and hitting, hitting, punching with vicious force. She laughed on every punch, thrill coursing through her and lightening her limbs, hitting and hitting until her sister slumped, the hastily raised guard dropping. Luna hit her in the face, grabbed her and slammed her head into the wall, switched to gripping the clone by the shoulders and flung it into the opposite wall. A second grab and she hurled her sister to the floor, grinning and stepping towards her sister. The other clone rolled over and swung a weak backhand that Luna caught, driving a fist into her sisters' face and knocking her back down. Her sister lolled limply on the ground and Luna grinned.

"Thanks for the fight, but it's over now." She told her double, reaching down and hauling her to her feet. Luna glanced around, her eyes alighting on a dumpster near, and she grinned. It was an easy matter to drag her sister over to it, banging her head against the metal when she struggled before she opened the dumpster and threw her sister down, her head resting on the lip of the dumpster.

Luna grinned again, savouring the moment before she slammed the lid down with brutal force. Blood spattered her face, her clothes and she grinned wider, metal in her mouth as she brought the lid down again, again, a shudder of pure pleasure racing through her spine and she hit again, one last time. She let the body collapse to the floor, broken and shattered, and beamed down at it.

"Just as I thought, sister. I am the strongest of us."

Strolling from the alley she paused for a moment, eyes fixing on Taylor's house as a thought touched her mind. Perhaps she should go in, do what the other clone had come to attempt…but then again, why? When Taylor's father found out about her secret life, the argument would be…yes. Yes, Daniel Hebert had a part left to play. She could always come back, once his use was done. But that was no reason to leave just yet. There were yet more people to visit that might sate her hunger, before she left Brockton Bay for the time.

Smiling under her fresh mask of blood, Luna set off into the darkened streets. No rest for the wicked, it would seem.

The Barnes house wasn't as well defended as its owners had thought, Luna mused as she slithered through a window. Oh, the alarms and locks would certainly have repelled most normal burglars, but her bugs…no, her bugs could chew through the alarm wires and keep them silent. It was an easy task to slide the window open with a mass of insects and creep into the house, the house where dear, dear Emma slept. The greatest betrayal Mother had ever experienced…only death could expunge such a stain. And Mother…it would lift such a weight off her, that she would never need to repay the betrayal. It was a kindness.

Luna spread out her swarm, letting them find the family. Alan Barnes was in the kitchen, coffee on the boil. Zoe Barnes was asleep, in her room. The other child, whose name Luna didn't care to remember, was nowhere to be found- a little annoying, but otherwise convenient so long as Luna was swift. And Emma…dear, foolish Emma, sat in her bedroom, staring at a laptop. Luna let a smile edge her mouth, the dried blood of her sister cracking under the motion as she found the correct door. Such a happy, happy night. But no. She paused as a noise came from downstairs, the yowling of a chair being dragged over tiles. No, no. She had to be rational about this. Kill the biggest threat first, and then she could take her time with the rest. Luna turned her back to Emma's door, ghosting away and slipping down the stairs without a creak. She crept through the prettily furnished living room, seeing Alan Barnes sitting at the table in the kitchen, coffee sat before him. She smiled gently as she reached out and pulled a knife from the block. Alan started to turn his head at the faintest scraping of the knife, the very tip touching the wooden block, and Luna leapt.

She wrapped her free arm around his shoulders, clamping her hand over his mouth as she drove the knife into the base of his skull. It was a hasty blow, made sloppy by her speed and she clucked her tongue at herself as he jerked and tried to rise. A second stab and he went limp, a third making sure. Luna dragged the blade free, relishing the fresh coating of crimson that sprayed warm against her skin as she let him slump. She ran her free hand over her face, savouring the iron and copper stink before she plucked the coffee from the table and took a sip.

Not bad.

Luna procured two more knives, slipping them into the pockets of her uniform, and strolled back towards the stairs with coffee in hand, sipping as she went. It was decent, she concluded as she was almost three-quarters of the way up the stairs. Not more than that, but it was hot.

"Alan? What was that-"

Luna bounded the last three steps with sudden violence, eyes focused on Zoe Barnes. The woman had come from her room, drawn by the noise and her mouth opened in shock upon seeing Luna. Luna slashed her hand forwards, flinging the near-boiling coffee out. It hit Zoe in the face and she reeled back with a wail of pain and shock, Luna making the last three steps in a single bound and ramming her fist into Zoe's stomach. The older woman folded over and Luna left her there, turning to Emma's room. Emma emerged, eyes widening and mouth opening as she saw Luna.

"Taylor?"

Luna leapt at her, fist driving into the mouth and knocking out a tooth, ramming Emma's head back into the door. Emma staggered, eyes closed with pain and Luna grabbed her arm, slammed it into the door and plunged the knife forwards. The blade pierced the palm, sinking into the wood and Emma screamed even louder than Zoe had. Luna ignored the screeching, repeating the process with the other hand before she left Emma there, wailing like a banshee. Zoe Barnes rose to her feet: Luna curled her fist and drove her knuckles into the side of her head, knocking the older woman down again before dragging her back into her bedroom. Sheet and curtain ropes provided bindings to secure Zoe, as well as an extra wad of material: Luna left her there, groggy and weeping with pain and confusion. There was no point in a punishment that left no witness, after all. Luna returned to Emma, wriggling like a pinned butterfly on the door, burbling noises of panic spewing from her bloodied mouth. It brought a laugh to her mouth as she drew her third and final knife.

"Oh, Emma. Don't cry so. I thought you had left those days behind."

"Taylor! Taylor, please, no, I don't- Sophia will-"

Luna stepped forwards and pressed a hand over Emma's mouth, silencing the babbling.

"Shh, darling, shh. Sophia won't do anything. I've dealt with her already. But I don't want to hear your justifications…open wide."

The knife hand lifted, knife held loosely in two fingers as Luna pried Emma's jaw open and forced the balled-up wad of material into her mouth, muffling her pleas. Emma hung there, her struggles weak and limp, eyes filled with tears that poured down her face. Luna laughed, smiling at the warmth that spread through her.

"Oh, darling Emma. There you were with your taunts and tricks, and you were still weak all along. It's almost Shakespearean. Not that you'd recognise the works of the Great Bard, but…oh well. And you're so pretty…"

Luna raised the knife and sank it into Emma's cheek, drawing the blade down with measured slowness. Emma shrieked through her gag, an answering cry of despair coming from the bedroom. Luna chuckled.

"Oh, no. I'd like to let your mother watch, but- you know, even if nobody is sure of how people trigger, it's supposed to be the worst moment of your life. Watching your daughter die in front of you- no, I'd say that could have an effect. And while I'm certain I can deal with one fresh trigger, any good chef knows to control their ingredients. So she'll have to stay through there, on her own. It's all your fault, you know?"

Emma gurgled through the material, weeping more profusely than ever. Luna sighed, bringing a thumb up to wipe away some of the tears, pressing the digit against the fresh cut Emma now sported to draw a stifled cry and the attention of those eyes. Those terrified, tear-wet eyes. So beautiful.

"It's not a spoiler to tell you, darling Emma, that you won't walk away from this. Sophia is hospitalised. The rest of the PRT is busy. There isn't going to be a saviour, or a hero. There's just you and me. And I'm not feeling very merciful."

Luna saw the distance enter the eyes, Emma fading away from her mentally, and tutted. No, that wouldn't do. She dug her thumb into the bleeding cut, the fresh burst of pain drawing Emma back to her.

"This could all have been avoided if you hadn't been so cruel, Emma. If you had just let Taylor be your friend. But…as you sow, so you reap. You broke Taylor's heart, darling Emma…so I'm going to return the favour. Try not to scream too much, my dear…though this will certainly hurt."

Luna savoured the look Emma wore as she leaned in with her knife, before the muffled screaming began anew.

And that would be the end of the Echidna Arc. The Luna and Taylor sections are going on at roughly the same time- I just split them to maintain the flow of each one.

As always, reviews are appreciated. Hopefully this time they won't be glitched- it took almost a week before I could view reviews on the last chapter, but I don't think that's a common glitch. I'll try to keep to the two-week schedule, so I'll see you then- and, as always, I hoped you enjoyed. See you.