[AMY IN DISPATCH (2025)) CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“…Oh wow, she really does look like Vicky.”

The words hung in the air for a moment, and then the Council exploded with noise.

Evil Amy, sporting a fake mustache, slammed her gavel down hard enough that the imaginary courtroom shook.

“ORDER!” She declared. “ORDER IN THE COUNCIL OF ME! AGAIN!”

The projection froze mid-frame: Hunter, bloodied and shaking, a mass of thin black wires writhing uncontrollably around her. 

Amy Prime leaned back in her chair, wearing the hollow, thousand-yard stare of someone who had lived through that exact kind of nightmare. “…I don’t like that you opened with that.”

Crazy Amy, currently draped sideways over her chair, lit up. “I do! Look at her. This is absolutely a Victoria Dallon starter kit. Blonde, beautiful, and with an athletic build. The only difference is that she seems more inclined to ballet than basketball. We even picked up chronic stress damage in her toes.”

Pure Amy made a small, distressed noise. “She looks so scared…”

Smart Amy adjusted her oversized glasses, squinting at the image. “Physiognomic similarity aside, the resemblance is statistically improbable unless—”

Shaper’s presence cut in.

[SIMILARITY: ACKNOWLEDGED]

[NON-INTENTIONAL REPLICATION] 

[FACT: DOPPELGANGER]

“Oh good,” Amy Prime muttered. “Even the alien parasite agrees we look alike.”

Evil Amy pointed her gavel at the projection. “Focus. The point is not that she looks like Vicky. The point is that we didn’t help her because she looks like Vicky.”

There was a beat.

Then several Amys exhaled at once, as if they hadn’t realized they were holding their breath.

“…Oh thank god,” Pure Amy whispered.

Crazy Amy frowned. “Wow. Our standards really are in hell, huh.”

Amy Prime rubbed her face. “Do you understand how badly that could have gone? If this were Ward, someone who looks like that, powers like that, losing control like that—”

“—it would have gone exactly like canon,” Smart Amy finished quietly.

The projection resumed.

Hunter convulsed, wires lashing out at every sensory cue, of which there were far too many—

—and then their hand reached out.

Panacea, visibly bloodied, costume shredded almost beyond recognition.

She touched Hunter, and made a simple biological rewrite that allowed the out-of-control parahuman to finally calm down.

Crazy Amy blinked. “…Huh.”

Pure Amy clasped her hands. “We helped her!”

Evil Amy narrowed her eyes. “We helped her correctly.”

Amy Prime stared at the image like it might disappear if she blinked. “... Holy shit. Did we actually learn from our mistakes?”

Shaper hummed—or they thought it hummed, due to its lack of any human-like orifice—pleased in that deeply unsettling, inhuman way.

[INTERVENTION: STABILIZING]

[ETHICAL BOUNDARIES: MAINTAINED]

[OUTCOME: ACCEPTABLE]

“…Did it just compliment us?” Crazy Amy asked.

“I hate that,” Amy Prime said flatly.

On the projection, Panacea stepped back, visibly shaken, but her voice came out calm.

“I’m Amy. What’s your name?”

Hunter swallowed. 

“Hunter.”

Pure Amy smiled, watery but genuine. “She gave her name.”

Evil Amy folded her arms with a snort, but didn't argue. 

Smart Amy nodded. “Exchanging names in this situation indicates a restored sense of agency and reduced dissociative risk.”

Crazy Amy squinted. “Also, she didn’t run away screaming, which is a plus.”

Amy Prime leaned forward. “Okay. Let’s be very clear about what this means.”

Every Amy looked at her.

“In Ward,” Amy Prime said in a whisper, “we would have made a mistake that permanently altered her personality, creating a gap just big enough for her passenger to wedge itself in and make things exponentially worse.”

She gestured at the image. “Here? We don't immediately imprint on her… and we actually give her the control she desperately needs.”

Silence ensued.

“So…” Pure Amy said softly. “We didn’t doom her.”

“No,” Amy Prime said. “We didn’t. Not this time at least”

Crazy Amy grinned, wild but tinged with a certain fondness. “Wow. We’re actually improving as functional human beings.”

Shaper stirred again.

[TRAJECTORY: ALTERED]

[FAILURE STATE: AVOIDED]

[FUTURE: UNKNOWING BUT PROMISING]

Evil Amy straightened, mustache bristling with authority. “Ruling of the Council: Hunter is not a doomed narrative device. She is her own person, in a world that might actually let her become something other than a titan.”

Amy Prime sighed. “Extremely low bar, but still proud.”

Crazy Amy pumped a fist. “We didn’t fuck it up!”

Pure Amy smiled. “I’m glad she’s here.”

However, despite the good cheer, the gavel hadn’t even finished echoing when the room went quiet again. This time, though, it was uncomfortably quiet.

Amy Prime frowned slowly.

“…Okay. Counterpoint.”

Evil Amy froze mid-victory pose. “Why do you always say it like that?”

“If Hunter is here,” Amy Prime continued undeterred, staring at the frozen projection, “then this isn’t just a fun crossover AU.”

Smart Amy’s fingers stopped tapping, and even Pure Amy’s smile faded.

“What are you trying to say?” She asked.

However, unlike the two, Crazy Amy’s grin stretched just a little too wide. “Ohhh. I know this one! This is the part where the universe reminds us there are consequences to our actions.”

Amy Prime exhaled through her nose. “Hunter isn't a random occurrence.”

Smart Amy nodded slowly, dread creeping in. “Yes. Her presence implies canon welding.”

Evil Amy frowned. “English.”

“It means,” Smart Amy said, stressing out the last syllable, “that if the conditions that allowed her to cross over still exist, then other characters from Ward may also be… inbound.”

Pure Amy’s voice was small. “…Like who?”

No one answered.

Then Crazy Amy smiled.

“Teacher.”

Pure Amy flinched. 

Amy Prime closed her eyes. “Yeah.”

“And Goddess,” Crazy added cheerfully. “Can’t forget her. Love a woman who thinks free will is optional.”

Evil Amy grimaced. “I veto both.”

“You don’t get to veto causality,” Smart Amy said flatly.

[CORRELATION: CONFIRMED] 

[PROBABILITY: ELEVATED] 

[EVENT CHAINS: NON-ISOLATED]

Amy Prime leaned back, closing her eyes. “If Teacher’s in the deck… then we are looking at a possible exchange of knowledge—”

“—and Cauldron interference,” Smart Amy finished.

Pure Amy hugged herself. “And Goddess…”

“…which means,” Evil Amy muttered, “this world could start turning into ours.”

Crazy Amy’s grin sharpened. “Which means the plot just got interesting.”

She laughed rather loudly, but once it petered out, silence fell again. 

“…But,” Pure Amy said carefully, “if Hunter is different here…”

Amy Prime opened one eye.

“…maybe everything else could be different too?”

That landed. 

Smart Amy considered it. “Divergence of any kind could alter how things turn out. Teacher, without his reach on Earth Bet, is not as scary.”

“Still a problem,” Evil Amy said.

“Obviously.”

Shaper contemplated.

[VARIABLES: DIVERGING] 

[OUTCOMES: NON-DETERMINISTIC]

[PREPARATION: ADVISED]

Evil Amy nodded slowly. “If Ward’s ghosts are crossing over…”

Amy Prime leaned forward, something like resolve in her eyes.

“Then this time, we won't repeat the same mistakes.”

Pure Amy smiled. “We protect as many people as we can.”

Smart Amy adjusted her glasses. “And we do not, under any circumstances, let Teacher gain any type of influence.”

“Or Goddess,” Evil Amy added.

Crazy Amy grinned. “Council ruling?”

Evil Amy raised the gavel. “If Ward is coming with us…”

She brought the gavel down.

“…then this time, we’re ready.”

Amy Prime groaned. “This is definitely going to be a mess.”

Crazy Amy beamed. “The interesting kind.”