58 Party Poopers

Of the two of them, the only one I recognise is Prism.

A somewhat new member of the Protectorate, graduating from the Wards program just last year and the only reason I know anything about her is that she is one of the capes that Legend himself has taken under his wing as quasi protégé.

You can see it in the way she walks. The calm assurance that she will be fine no matter what happens. Clearly she is being groomed for some kind of leadership position.

He must clearly already trust her a great deal to be willing to send her after the Butcher with only on cape as immediate backup.

It's not like he can go himself after all. No one wants to risk a member of the Triumvirate becoming the next Butcher.

Well, personally I think it'd be quite funny, but I don't think that's a particularly popular opinion.

The street enters a strange sort of three way stand off that really looks like the start to a bad joke.

On one side there's me, a Clown dressed up as a bloodstained prisoner with tentacles coming out of my back and large clawed hands, then opposite me stands a gaggle of men and women dressed in leathers decorated by bones and desiccated heads with other such paraphernalia, one of whom is bleeding rather severely.

Lastly is a pair of young women, making the stand off turn into a triangle.

They are dressed in resplendent, skin-tight and colourful costumes that show off their muscled bodies, Prism more than the other woman, and managing to do so without even seeming sexualised.

Prism and whoever the other person is, hideout probably told me but I kind of tuned out most of the things she said, both face us, eyes flitting between me and Butcher as if they aren't sure who to go after.

"Welp!" I shout while clapping my hands together, drawing everyone's attention to me as I lift one of my hands, pointing a thumb over my shoulder.

"I've got places to be~ so I'll be the first to leave.~ Pleasure meeting you, bye!~" I quickly explain, my constructs dissolving and returning to their 'sources' and I spin around and just start casually walking away before a sudden shout makes me pause mid-step.

"Stop! You can't just leave! You have committed several crimes, including but not limited to murder! You will come with us peacefully or I will have to use force!"

With deliberate slowness, I twist my torso around slightly so I can look behind me at the one who just spoke, finding it to be the hero I don't care to know the name of.

Without responding, I share a brief glance with Butcher and see that he is just as amused by her outburst as I am.

Clearly she doesn't really understand the situation here.

Butcher is stronger than both of them put together and I can fight him to a standstill, without even going all out, yet she seems to think that she has the upper hand here?

Heh, that's actually pretty funny.

"Well~ if you really want me to stay?~" I say leadingly before turning back to Butcher before she can respond. "Say, I'd be willing to put our differences aside for a moment if these heroes really want the numbers to be even~ what do you say?~"

My innocent question has the result I expected it to as Prism quickly pulls her teammate back a step to shut her up and speaks up herself.

"We are only here in response to a call about the Butcher showing up. That is our primary goal, no one else need get involved unnecessarily."

Despite the professional tone, I can 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 her unease at the thought of having to deal with us both at the same time.

No doubt she already understands that even without me here, she isn't going to capture the Butcher. That just wasn't in the cards in the first place.

With what I know of the PRT, she is probably just here to show the public that the heroes are actually doing something and maybe in the hopes of weakening the Teeth by taking in the other capes and normals.

Either way, Uppercrust doesn't want me fighting when I don't have to, so it's none of my business really.

With that in mind, I simply shrug my shoulders and continue walking, as if I was never interrupted.

A moment later and I hear the sounds of battle from behind me, but I don't bother to watch.

I've already fought the Butcher and I doubt watching them do the same will be nearly as entertaining.

A short walk later and suddenly I can hear the sound of a car starting, despite the empty street.

Following the sound, I keep walking until a black Porsche suddenly appears before my eyes as I pass through Hideout's power field and I don't hesitate to open the passenger side door and let myself inside.

I've never been much of a car person, but it doesn't take a genius to know that this is a nice car. Probably her personal car too.

Neither of us say anything for a while as she focuses on driving and I simply lean back and reminisce on my most recent fight.

Multiple things stand out to me about it, beyond the simple enjoyment gained, and 𝘣𝘰𝘺 was there enjoyment gained.

For one, I have really gotten a knack for this whole fighting thing. It feels natural to me now, even though I'm still relatively new.

It's like I was born to fight. To hunt.

Like I'm a predator finally coming into my instincts.

Though I can't deny that I got a little lucky there at the end.

It was only a couple days ago that I realised that I could actually detach my extra appendages. Not only that, but I also keep some level of control over them, even if they are not connected to me.

I've been experimenting with it and while I won't be making any long term items, I 𝘤𝘢𝘯 at least leave some clusters of whatever material is in the sacs in my back around as a kind of trap.

Something that Butcher experienced personally.

That is where the luck comes in though.

The Butcher can see arteries and hearts and stuff. Plus the start of our fight shows that he can see my 'source' travelling through my body, which means that it was only by chance that he didn't see the trap before it could spring.

Of course, crediting everything to luck would be a mistake as there was plenty of planning that went into it.

Like my little display at the start that served to make him let his guard down, enough that while the glitter bomb was in the air he never noticed me preparing the trap.

It's a shame that we couldn't finish our fight, because while I know it seemed that I was the victor, I'm pretty sure he has another trick or two up his sleeve that might have been able to turn the tables.

Not to mention, next time he won't be underestimating me, and there will be a next time, make no doubt about that.

My contract lasts until he leaves the city after all, so we'll probably fight a few times in the coming month.

I'm looking forward to it.

"Are you ok?"

The words startle me out of my thoughts and I turn slightly to give Hideout a glance, even as she keeps her eyes on the road.

A smile blooms on my face and I make sure to do my best to sound like a schoolgirl in love when I respond.

"D'aww, so you 𝘥𝘰 care?~" I coo at her.

The only sign of her annoyance is the slightest twitch of her brow and tightening of her hold on the steering wheel.

Only after taking a deep breath does she respond, her voice tight and controlled.

"You had two swords digging a hole straight through you. I just need to make sure that you don't need medical attention."

I nod sagely at her words.

"Indeed, they got me good. But you should have seen the other guy.~" I jest, getting no more than a short exhale of breath to show for her amusement.

The rest of the drive was done mostly in silence, with the occasional small conversation sprouting, all the while I was wondering what the others are getting up to now that I'm not with them.

Hopefully they're having fun at least.

...

Jinx has one single opinion on what he is and has been doing for the past week or so.

This sucks. Why did I ever let Tear convince me that this was a good idea?

Anyone who claims it was actually my idea is lying and will be shot.

At least James isn't making things difficult. In fact he's actually making things a whole hell of a lot easier, for which I am grateful.

But who ever said starting a drug empire would be easy?

It's still kind of weird to be working with a literal child though. Then again, misfortune does not discriminate, and he has been doing well enough anyway.

It hasn't been long since Tear left for greener pastures, something I knew she would do. Both because that's just the kind of person she is and also because there's no chance that when I finally manage to make a friend that they would actually stick around.

No, I couldn't be that lucky.

But even then, I'd say things are looking up for me, even if I keep spending a lot of time worrying about when the other shoe is going to drop and everything is suddenly going to go to shit once again.

Still, with the drugs that the kid has been making, I've been making steady progress in bringing together the scraps of the gangs left over from Tear's grand opening.

Some people have started calling it the twenty minute war, since it's rare for so many parahumans to fight each other at the same time.

But things are working out rather well all in all.

I'm already in the process of recruiting some capes for James while also putting out feelers for the more difficult to recruit capes, to see if any of them might be wanting a fresh start with us.

All in all, I'd give it a month or two before we are distributing drugs across the entire city and by that point the amount of money we will be making will be substantial to say the least.

The only problem I can really see is Cu Chulainn, who has become something of an independent villain, claiming a small plot of land and fighting anyone who tries to intrude on it.

It really seems as though he simply wants to be left alone, something I am more than happy to respect as I have a rather strong desire to not be folded like wet paper.

After finishing yet another boring day of phone calls and managing, I decide to give the kid a visit. Make sure he's actually eating instead of just spending all his time in his 'lab'.

I suppose it's a Tinker thing, to get so lost in their work that they neglect the needs of their bodies.

I'm pretty sure there's a term for it, like a Tinker fugue or something.

These idle thoughts leave my mind as I enter James' lab and am quickly faced with a sight that is probably only a step or two down from what it's like to watch Bonesaw work.

In the middle of the room, on an operation table that is low to the ground, is a man who is convulsing wildly inside his restraints while a cacophony of sounds play around him.

At the same time, there is James, standing over the man with a variety of tools by his side.

He injects the man with clinical precision and I watch with a morbid sense of fascination as the man's skin slowly starts to turn inside out.

You know what? Never mind.

I'm sure he's got things handled by himself.

I'll just go get back to work.

Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

-----------------------------

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

I still haven't slept since after I wrote chap 55. In other words, by my count I have been awake for about 43 hours.

So.. wooo, I guess?

It's definitely a new personal record, but it's going to have to come to an end as I am about to collapse. I'm pretty sure I'm going to sleep for like, 13 hours at least.

I'll time it and update you next chapter :)

Edit: Was just looking through this and realised that I missed an opportunity right at the start for a skyrim meme. "Stop! You have violated the law!"

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