(And Siberian wouldn't get cloned because it's not a person.)

That sounds like a better plan. And then they really will need to kill all the clones.

The Siberian won't get cloned because she is immune to powers. "Not a person" is complete nonsense.

While she's gone, Ellie and Cherish can see the final result with Butcher. She's very disconnected. There's still what Bonesaw and Mannequin say is a perfectly functioning system equivalent to a human body, but its different nodes are in separate cases all around the building.  Nobody even knows what would happen if she tried teleporting, since her body is covering more area than her usual range, so she's mercifully unconscious.

Siberian reappears early and without Noelle. She doesn't talk, of course, but points to herself and holds up two fingers.

Two Siberians?

"Two Siberians. She didn't clone you, did she? You?"

The Siberian shakes her head. "But she had another Siberian anyway?" Nod.

"Well. This just got more interesting."

Signficantly so. Where'd it come from? Could one of the Geneses have thrown a Siberian-like? Both projectors, there were enough clones that they'd cover a fairly significant range of variations.

"Now what?"

"We could tell Legend. Having the heroes clear up our messes is something of a tradition.

Or we could ignore it; now that the clones have a the Siberian there's no way anyone misses the link to us."

"Might be amusing to see their reaction."

"Indeed.

I suppose it's technically an option to handle it all ourselves, but that's a lot of work to put everyone else in exactly the same position as if this hadn't started."

"We'd regain control of clone production." And she'd get a lot of extra shades, and maybe even a Siberian.

"Oh, we can take Noelle back from the heroes easily. They won't have a Siberian. If they lose it'll be harder since the clone army will have more captives, but that would also mean more powers for you."

"So tell them and let them try first, then pick up the pieces from whoever's left?"

"And make it look like that was the plan all along."

"Easy to remember."

They wait until everything's ready here, first. The clones have had time to consolidate and who knows how the heroes are doing, so they don't want to fall behind.

And they go out in force. Jack, Siberian, Burnscar, and the Keres ought to be enough to safely deliver the message without surrendering their base.

Yes, they don't want to be less than intimidating, but allowing someone to skip their checker to the top of the hill and crown themself would also be bad.

And there's still some hope of Cherish not being recognizable, so best not waste that. Even if it does mean an extra trip for her to find the location and then give them directions.

On the approach, Jack waves a white towel on a stick for truce. Not that anyone would trust a truce, but it at least gets the message across. Legend does come out, keeping a safe distance and a hair trigger. It helps that none of the Nine here can fly.

Yet. Growth mindset.

"What do you want?"

"We're delivering a message. Have you talked to, I think she's calling herself Phoenix?"

"I know the name."

"The sixth Traveler, the one who makes clones. She's not happy about it, but has been handed over to her own creations and they're using her to build an army. At the Teeth's old hideout. They killed most of the Teeth; you'll want to remember that later. Depending on who they're clones of, the only difference is in what order they want to kill everyone."

"We're not allying with you, if that's what you're asking."

"No, of course not. We're going to stand out of your way and watch. Have fun!"

"And give my regards to Eidolon, next time you see him."

"One more thing. They have a Siberian."

"Are you done?"

"Yes, I think we're done."

"Good." Legend fires on them. Not the beams that moved people around at the window but deadly weapons, scoring the ground deeply where they land. Burnscar vanishes into a recently conjured puff of flame, and Jack takes one of the Siberian's hands. The other is offered to Ellie if she wants it.

And then Legend streaks off toward where they came from.

Ellie uses the Siberian's hand.

"I do hope he doesn't do anything terribly rash at the headquarters before we can get back."

"Rushing to wherever the Siberian isn't, I assume. We'll see how that turns out for him."

He leads the way back toward the former Protectorate, not especially hurrying.

If he does kill the Butcher, maybe she'll be able to spot the difference.

He's not careless enough to kill the Butcher. Certainly not crazy enough.

But there's a lot of collateral damage. Most of it is from the Siberian running around flattening buildings until there's nothing that would suffer from further flattening. Legend doesn't waste a laser targeting the giant flashing "9" over the building; he's got priorities. Tackiness is not the worst of the Nine's crimes. But Shatterbird dodges a shot while it's behind her and part of the the barely-standing glass structure crashes.

"That's probably it, then," Jack says. "See anything?"

Promising. She looks.