Jack fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding neck. The wound was far from fatal, Bonesaw's modifications to their bodies had made sure of it.So Rachel did not relent."FUCKER!"She pounced forward, kicking Jack down and again stabbing at his throat with the knife. She felt the resistance of the armoured mesh beneath the flesh, but that did nothing to stop her. Rachel stabbed, and stabbed, and stabbed. Her bloodcurdling roars overshadowed Jack's attempts at speaking.Rachel felt something grip her shoulder. A cold hand, firmly grabbing onto her. Not to pull her away, no. More as a gesture of reassurance. She quickly began ignoring it as her knife's dull edge continued to stab.Jack's eyes widened in shock and fear at that point. He desperately clutched for his knives. Like wind brushing against her hair, Rachel felt something repeatedly brushing against her body. But she ignored that too.All of her focus was in killing Jack. She only saw red.Blood splattered across the floor as Rachel wildly continued to stab down. Her knife breached the protective implants, but still she did not stop. Jack's hand fell down, limp, by his side, but still she did not stop. At some point her knife slipped from her bloodied hands, but she merely switched to using her knuckles to smash Jack's head against the ground."FUCK! YOU! FUCK!"She felt the cracking of his skull. She felt his eyes popping underneath her knuckles. It did not hurt her hand, for some reason, but the adrenaline in her veins was too distracting for her to notice."ALWAYS FUCKING EVERYTHING. TRYING TO KILL THE ONLY ONES I CARE ABOUT."Brain matter stuck to her fists. Her face and shirt had become a bloody mess. Her missing index and thumb were only an afterthought."I'M FUCKING DONE WITH YOU. WITH ALL OF YOU."Then, with another swing, she finally began to slow down. Her arms felt tired.Her chest hurt. Breathing was hard. She'd been blinded by Jack's blood, quite literally. Someone offered her a handkerchief from the side, which she used to clean the gore from her eyes.All that remained of Jack's head was a red smear on the ground. His brain was splattered all around. Not even Bonesaw would be able to piece him back together.Rachel turned to look at who had given her the handkerchief. The same person who had placed a hand on her shoulder. The Siberian. Sharing her invincibility with her. Protecting her.And as the adrenaline drained from her, she immediately remembered Angelica, who still lay not too far away.The dog too had been drenched in Jack's blood… But someone had stepped closer and bandaged the wound on Angelica's neck. Likely saving her life. William.The man held Angelica's head on his lap, carefully stemming the bleeding and cleaning the wound."She'll survive." He reassured Rachel. Then looked down. "The same does not apply to him. Shame, I would have liked to keep his brain around to study his passenger. But maybe it's better that way."The Siberian let go of Rachel."...are you going to kill me now?" Rachel asked. Without fear. No, there was only exhaustion in her voice.She was so tired."Of course not, Rachel." William shook his head, gesturing for her to come closer. "I did what I could, but your power would likely help more."Hesitantly, Rachel took a step towards him and crouched over Angelica. Reaching towards the dog with her power.It felt… Easy. Easier than usual.Angelica's wound began to heal as the familiar layers of gray muscles formed around her."Hm. It's the same power. I guess I was wrong." William mumbled to himself, then stood back and smiled at Rachel and Angelica. The Siberian, on the other hand, walked closer and crouched next to the dog, petting her monstrous form. The door on the other side of the room burst open as Bonesaw rushed in."Mister Jack!" She shouted, a worried look on her face as she ran to his corpse. "Oh Jack…"There was a melancholy to her voice… But not sadness. Bonesaw looked at Jack the same way a child would look at a broken toy. Except that the toy was an old one, one the child no longer wanted to play with.Bonesaw turned to Rachel. Smiled. Then turned to William."I can't get him back together with this. She smashed his Gemma to little bits, I'd have to use a vacuum cleaner to get it all. And lots of improvisation… I guess this makes you the new leader, mister Manton.""No, Bonesaw." William shook his head. "That's not what the rules say. We may have lost Jack, but that's no reason to disregard the rules he set in place. Or well, the rules that King before him had set in place, unofficially."Both Bonesaw and William glanced towards Rachel. She didn't immediately understand what they meant. She did not know about those 'rules'.But it was not hard to piece things together.Angelica nuzzled against the side of Rachel's face.The less trained dogs always followed Angelica's lead. Not because she was older - sometimes her new dogs were even slightly older than Angelica - but because her trusted dog always acted without fear. Because she showed a kind of strength that few other of Rachel's dogs had.It was the same with the Nine.Rachel glanced down to the other side of the room, where members of the PRT had been fighting a few minutes prior. They'd stopped, probably because they had heard the sound of Rachel killing Jack, and because Jack had stopped taunting them to keep the fights going.Rachel had killed Jack.So now, she was the top dog of the Slaughterhouse Nine. She was the leader. Like… a certain someone had been with the Undersiders. The name escaped Rachel. But her mind did not feel as confused now that Jack was gone."I guess Jack called it. Calling you 'Wolf Queen' of all things!" Bonesaw chuckled."I just want to be left the fuck alone…" Rachel snarled."Of course." William merely smiled, in a way Rachel did not understand. "What do you want us to do with them, then?" He pointed to the PRT personnel below. Naked and bloodied.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.Rachel almost said 'whatever the fuck you want'.But then more memories came to the surface.'Freeze! Hellhound! You're under arrest!'That was never my name.Rachel remembered being pursued by the PRT. Losing some of her dogs. No matter where she went, they always chased her down. Even in Brockton Bay, the only way she was able to keep her dogs was by allowing someone to put a leash on her, keeping her contained. Training her to fight against people she did not care about."Kill them. Or make them suffer. Whatever." She growled as she spoke those words.Bonesaw jumped in joy. "Oh! Oh! Can I? Can I?"Rachel kept quiet as she watched the monstrous thinker wait for her permission."...sure.""Yay! Thanks, sis!"Bonesaw ran out of the room with a skip in her step. Some of the PRT officers below had heard part of the exchange, and were now shouting things Rachel didn't care about. She simply petted Angelica and led her out of the room to somewhere more quiet. To the greenery outside. William and the Siberian followed in tow."You already know, don't you?" William asked.And for the first time Rachel knew what he was implying.They're not going to leave me alone. Never."Nothing has changed. I'll just run. Again.""Seems like a waste." William shrugged and did not insist any further."Do you have something better?""Maybe. It's your call, in the end. We could claim another Earth to ourselves. Live as gods, hunting down any who would threaten you.""...would we be left alone, then?" Rachel asked, finally a tinge of hope in her voice."No," William shook his head, "never. Not as long as Cauldron is around."Cauldron?The organization Blackwall was now part of. Blackwall… and Taylor.'That girl is the person you should be mocking, spitting on! A wannabe hero without the balls to do anything heroic! Planning from the start to betray teammates for fame!' The arrogant hero shouted in anger.'...is this true?' A boy, Rachel's leader, asked. Not to Taylor, no, but to another of Rachel's friends. One that could tell the truth from lies.'Yeah,' Rachel's friend confirmed, sighing.Rachel's mind became empty. She only saw red. Anger. Betrayed, by someone she had trusted. Someone that she had allowed to get close to her dogs."And… What if they're gone? Will I be left alone, if Cauldron… If the PRT and Cauldron are broken?"A kind smile appeared on William's face.
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"NO! PLEASE. DON'T DO IT!" A PRT officer screamed."Hush now…" Bonesaw whispered. She ignored the officer's screams of agony and fear as she stitched his mouth closed. "She doesn't like to hear you shout."Rachel watched in apathy as one of her dogs stood up. A weak burst of Rachel's power was all that was needed to immediately bulk him up. As the day passed, Rachel's power came more natural to her. It took less time, less energy, and was more powerful.The PRT officer was freed by Bonesaw. His eyes were filled with fear, even as Bonesaw instructed him to run along into the forest. He followed the command, breaking into a desperate sprint."Hunt! Play!" she ordered the dog, then let his leash go. The dog burst into a dash, shooting forward and quickly running behind the fleeing officer. The dog was going slowly, giving time for the officer to find a hiding spot. He saw it as 'playing', rather than a true hunt.He'd still tear the head off the officer all the same once he found him."If you get my dogs hurt," Rachel looked to Bonesaw, "I'll kill you.""Don't worry sis! I installed contingencies! If they trigger while fleeing, a whole bunch of mechanisms will go off, including a scent that will tell your dogs to back away and come back."Rachel narrowed her eyes but did not say anything more.William watched from afar. The Siberian was nearby, holding Labyrinth's head in her lap and caressing her long hair, a motherly smile on the striped woman's face."Do you need me to change something about the costume?" Bonesaw asked.Rachel placed a hand on her mask, feeling the solid bone and metal that it was made up of. "No. It's fine.""Okay!" Bonesaw ran up to Rachel and hugged her from the side. Rachel… let it happen. There was something about Bonesaw's behaviour that put Rachel at ease. Bonesaw was closer to a wild dog than a person. She followed her whims. The same could be said for the Siberian. William and Labyrinth kept their distance, content to be left alone, and that too was fine with Rachel.Rachel's own pack of dogs now numbered in low four digits, and only Bonesaw's tech allowed her to fully take care of all of them.Most of the PRT had either died or triggered. Below their feet, hiding underground, was another army ready to be deployed. Monsters like Beast, parahumans turned into a more canine form. Creatures that Rachel disliked. But she still understood their use. None seemed to resonate with her power like Beast did. Bonesaw always grumbled about not being able to repeat her first 'masterpiece'.Rachel felt… content. Not happy. No. Faces popped in her mind anytime she thought of happiness. Faces she now recognized. The smug grins of Tattletale and Regent. Grue's serious expression. Skitter's undecipherable and shy eyes.She was happy then.But then they had betrayed her. Abandoned her to Jack's cruelty. That past happiness had now turned into unbridled rage.Rachel looked at her pack. To her army. It had grown so large. And it would grow even more in the days to come."After this," Rachel spoke to Bonesaw, "we will begin the true hunt.""Hm? Oh! Finally!" Bonesaw cheerily smiled and gestured towards the Siberian. Rachel didn't glance back to see William's reaction.The man stood up and walked her way."Where will we begin?" He asked, though he already suspected the answer."The place that hurt me the most." Rachel answered, growling.Brockton Bay.