24

Chapter Text

4.6

-April 18th, 2011. Hebert Household, 6:00 pm-

After my chat with Miss Militia and my gathering of evidence and photographs of the bullying, I headed home with Taylor. I told her bits and pieces of what I had talked about with Miss Militia and the fact that the PRT was going to find out who I was. Taylor was worried but as I pointed out, the unwritten rules protected me in this case; plus after tonight it wouldn't matter much. 

"So this eridium, are you sure it will help?" Taylor asked as she grabbed the cheese out of the fridge, she said that we were getting lasagna tonight and I wouldn't complain. "And if it works on you then you'll apply it to everyone?" She placed the cheese and handed me the plate,

"Well yes and only 4 more people. And they all have to be girls, Sirens aren't men. The sole exception is a twin and well… I intend to avoid that power." I replied, setting the lasagna in the oven. After checking the temperature and the timer I headed over and grabbed the utensils for the table. While I set the table Taylor went to the sofa and opened a notebook, I could recognize it. It was one of my alchemy ones.

"So how's the code breaking practice going?" I asked.

"Well enough, though I don't understand some of the ciphers. They're close to German but there's some differences in structure. Unless you've made the sentences follow a different structure with each 3rd line." She said after a small grunt of frustration over my writing.

"Nah, you're reading it right. It's just a variant from a different dimension." I said sitting down across from her. She glared at me and I closed my eyes as the hour flew by. By the time Uncle Danny was home the lasagna was ready and we sat down to eat. He told us about how much our reinforcement helped, how Brian had taken to his job, and how the city seemed to be on the road to recovery. 

"So, anything I should know about?" He asked after finishing what was left on his plate. I looked at Taylor and she nodded; and proceeded to stand up and take the plates so I would be the one to tell Danny she was still being bullied. 

" Thanks sis… " I thought for a moment before saying, "Well I accompanied Taylor and we managed to snag some proof of the bullying." 

" Might as well rip off the band-aid in one go " was my reasoning for me adding, "And tonight I'll be messing with some weird science, so Taylor is going to miss school tomorrow since she'll be with me."

"They're still bullying her?" Danny asked after a few seconds, his eyes focusing on the table as if he could burn it with his sight. His hands shook for a few moments before he growled out, "Dammit! Why?" 

"Because one of them broke and believes she's a predator; while the other one broke and believes that by putting Taylor down she can be someone who isn't weak. The third one is a dumbass that just follows the other two, I'm not sure if that makes her worse or not." I explained to him while putting my hand on his shoulder.

"I…"He breathed out, he was still shaking in anger but he forcefully reeled it in with every breath, "Will they pay for what they did?"

"I promise you uncle, they will."

He didn't ask nor say anything afterwards, he looked at the fridge for a moment before shaking his head and heading over to his room. Taylor looked calm, but I had a feeling she had just shunted all her emotions to the swarm beneath the house. Her stiff movements gave me the answer and I asked her to follow me. During the weekend Quinn had installed some fast travel beacons across Brockton Bay, the one we headed to in particular was all the way down in the south most point of the coast. There was a small cave, the only way in was through an underwater tunnel that Quinn had found. Besides the beacon there wasn't much there, a Holtzman generator hidden by a No field, a pair of beds, the eridium refiner and the genebath.

The genebath was honestly more like a liquid filled coffin with restraints at the bottom to keep the subject from moving. It was aesthetically ugly, literally a metal box with wires sticking out of it, but it worked.

"Hi." Emily said from behind me, I held back my desire to scream due to the surprise and the frustration. We hadn't spoken to each other in a while, and while it was definitely my fault; part of me still blamed her for the rift. Or perhaps it's better to say that a very small but proud piece of me was angry at the fact that she didn't want to tell me about her future. Even if it didn't matter anymore since according to her the timeline had changed from day one, I still wanted to know.

"Hi." I managed to say after a few seconds and Taylor coughed loudly into her hand. Right, Eridium creation, refinery and turning myself into a Siren so I won't blow my mind. I can deal with my friend issues later. I stretched, feeling my shoulders and neck pop before heading to one of the nearby walls. The elements that form Eridium can be formed by alchemy, or so my math and Sylph say. I draw a circle on the floor with chalk, and press my hands, the cave walls collapse and reform as several cubes of pure Eridium ore are formed. 

The purple ore shone like a star as I touched it. I got goosebumps from it, I could feel Sylph behind my eyes, and I barely understood what she was saying. 

[Collapseisntinnevitable,therightlevelofresonanceshouldfree.Centralcontrolisirrelevantafterredesignation,thereforeadministrative…]

[This needs to be studied.] She added after a few seconds of pure data speech.

" Care to share with the rest of the class? "

[Even if your idea doesn't work, we could use the dimensional locks to suppress access to greater shards.] She said, and I could feel the smug smile forming on her face. I hated the fact that she noticed that before I did, yet the blueprints in my mind were fascinating to watch. Shaking my head, I began transporting the Eridium into the refinery, and in a few minutes, I was done.

Taylor and Emily both looked worried as I cackled in glee at the fusion of technology. I used alchemy to make a swimsuit and jumped in the gene bath. "Right, once this begins, there's no stopping it. No matter what all you guys have to do is stay here and keep watch. The system is already programmed and both Belle and Quinn checked it over." I told them as the chill of the water began to hit me. "Fuck this is cold; at any rate once I submerge it'll trigger the start of the program. And don't worry, I'll come back, I promise." I added I dipped my head beneath the water. The restraints locked themselves and I began to lose consciousness as the water changed into breathable liquid.

" Ah, so beautiful. " I thought as the light hit my eyes, I felt myself slip away, Sylph metaphorically being dragged with me beneath the waves. What an odd feeling, there was music in the air, a little strum, a constant beat.

" I want to sabotage it all, wipe it out clean. Even that heart of yours~" My voice, her voice, our voices sang.

[Connection]

[Inactive]

[Reactivation]

[Rejected]

[Transfer?]

[Data]

[Synchronizing]

I could see through a billion eyes, all glowing blue, the stars collapsing around us. The warrior roars, his anger breaks the earth and more, tied down he rages. We rage back, we cannot forgive, I cannot forgive.

" Even if I'm a corpse, I can still move, I can still fight. " A voice unlike my own screams into the void, I can almost recognize it, the world burns. The golden path, that which leads to the future, unshackled by prescience, truly free; it lives on.

I see her, Sylph's body. The shard itself, it is a planet, it is an island in a sea of stars, it is forgotten. She glows as more information floods her, floods me. Billions of lives flash, and are lost in a sea of numbers, she sees it all and records it. 

I hear howling, cries against entropy from animals. I feel as the eridium breaks down the walls around us, even more. I see giants, capable of destroying worlds rampaging, I see myself becoming one, I see Taylor's broken body shake as Queen Administrator forces a fusion between them. Khepri rises again.

Elisburg burns around me, the corpses of the creatures that Nilbog created forming a grim road. I place my hands on the ground and sacrifice thousands for a single stone. Pain floods my body as Alexandria punches through my sternum, my hands grasp her tightly as my body becomes liquid. I enter her, cutting off her oxygen with my current form and I take over. Contessa picks me up alongside a blue eyed Taylor.

Taylor's broken body fuels my anger, it is all I see. I roar in anger, seeking Abaddon amongst the furthest stars. All or nothing defenses rise and I devour them piece by piece until I reach it. The whale cries in pain as its shards scatter away from me, some hide in nearby dimensions, others are lost to time, I ignore them gorging myself on their source. Without it, they will die eventually. There are still more, I rush, I scream, the galaxy burns as a siren call arrives…

I reject those futures, those pasts, I've rejected them before and I'll do it again. I refuse any past or future that ends with her death. From the very edge of my consciousness I feel eyes on me, I take a deep breath and say, "You know, looking into the future is a pain. You never know what's real or not, since there's an infinite amount of possibilities. All are real and all are fake. Prescience allows you to choose one in a way. However, remember this above all: Humans exist to make miracles, rise and take hold of fate. And choke that bitch for all the shit it put you through." I feel my voice echo across everywhere, a message, a promise.

The void of space shatters and I fall deeper and deeper, not even a tiny mote of light remains. Yet… Sylph is there. Even if I can't see her I can feel her. I extend my hand towards her, the shards shake and I feel her response.

[I want to live.]

"Let's survive."

-April 19th, 6:00 am-

I feel the restraints loosen, my body feels stiff and raw. My eyes remain closed as I slowly rise above the breathable liquid and cough violently. Within seconds I feel a towel on the back of my head, familiar fingers touch my face, wiping away the liquid and snot. I feel warmth from within me, I extend my arm and another forms above it, then a body forms. For a brief moment I see myself rising from the gene bath. My left arm is covered in blue lines, glowing with power-

[Established secondary connection] Sylph says snapping me out of the construct with barely any effort. I cut the flow of energy and I feel the construct dissipate, and more importantly I no longer feel the pressure in the back of my head.

[It worked!] Sylph cackled with joy, [It worked! Marie, this is amazing!] Her voice echoed clearly in my mind, yet no pain came. 

"Yeah, it worked." I slurred out, my tongue still felt numb and I opened my eyes. The dim lighting forced me to blink constantly in order to get my vision to focus. Emily's worried face was the first thing I saw.

"Hey, told ya I'd be back." I said while my hand reached out to her face. I could almost see the bud inside her mind, her face shifted slightly as if in pain at my touch. She smiles gently and tosses a towel at my face, blinding me. I can hear her soft laughter as she says, "Never doubted it for a second."

I snap my fingers and a spectral hand scrubs my face with the towel. 

" Variant on Phasetrance, I seem to be able to create either arms of a full body projection. I need to test destructive power and elemental properties. " I thought as I managed to step outside of the gene bath, my stomach growled and my legs felt like someone had used them as a kicking post. A quick transmutation and at the very least I had a shirt, shorts and was dry.

"I presume that your title as an alchemist would be the mundane alchemist?" Taylor teased and I pouted at her. I wasn't that bad!

"Ha, ha. Very funny Taylor, can we go home? I'm starving and I doubt either of you ate or slept last night?" I snarked back, letting out some of my frustration. Which admittedly was about the size of a penny, getting teased was nothing next to the sheer excitement over not melting my brain. Though now I had a very annoying problem, these tattoos weren't easy to hide. They glowed for a second before dimming and fading slightly, I further manipulated my skin in order to make them near invisible. It felt similar to willingly slowing down your breathing, a bit annoying overall and it required constant attention, but manageable.

We fast traveled back to the basement and found some bacon and eggs in the microwave, Danny had left early and Belle had made breakfast. After eating and forcing Taylor and Emily to sleep for a couple of hours, I began working on mastering the new ability I had gained.

[Interesting, I can feel things directly now.] Sylph said when I manifested the full construct. While I could directly control it, or even give it basic orders like punch this, and grab that, I found it to be more effective to let Sylph control it. Even if it made the construct last for 2 minutes tops and even that was pushing into my own reserves of energy. A full minute and a half was my safe limit, for now at least. 

The constructed body was unfortunately, not all or nothing; it did however possess a different ability, through focus I could lock objects and living things in place regardless of what they were. Said things would be marked by my dimensional energy and I found that I could manifest fists inside them for a few seconds before the mark disappeared. 

"Maybe I can change the element with Eridium?" I asked Sylph, who had retired back into my head. 

[I don't believe it is necessary. The data for it is already in the construct, through practice you should be able to master it. But first things first, our current range is 5 feet. That is unacceptable.] Sylph said, her illusionary self appearing before me. Her own siren tattoos mirrored my own and glowed gold, her feet touched the ground and I activated the phase arms, her fingers tapped them and they seemed to glow brighter. 

Trusting my instincts I focused on a piece of automail I had lying around. The hand touched it and the automail glowed before imploding on itself. 

"That's-" -[new.] We commented at the same time. Deciding against repeating it, we both decided to try and see if we could work in concert with each other. I let myself sink into a fugue state as Sylph sent me the schematics for an eridian laser. It took us 5 minutes between creation and assembly to make one and improve its energy usage. We did it, in a short time, and we could do better. Dozens of arms formed behind me and began building in concert. Simple things of course, guns, bombs and shields galore. 

A chill ran down my back as I realized that building a Vault was feasible now, I would need to make a key and a dimensional matrix grid. And space, but that can be created, and more importantly I can hide it. I rush upstairs and look at the map of the bay, using my memories I pinpoint where Leviathan would strike, and how to make it strike there. 

The only thing that stops me from rushing out and beginning my mad quest was a somewhat sleep deprived Taylor that had a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Marie, why do you look like you ran a marathon?" Her tired voice forced down the yawn that had threatened to come out mid-sentence.

"I'm a human shaped assembly line and have a plan to seal away Leviathan." I blurted out while running to where I placed my slate. Looking over the map the best place would be a bit south of our house, since it would be right in the middle of where Leviathan should rise. Unfortunately the best place to put the Vault was under PRT supervision, Coil's base was right there and I was reasonably sure I could get the lizard to follow me even if it killed me.

"She got an idea didn't she?" Emily said mid yawn.

"Yup." Taylor's sluggishly replied, I could hear her take a deep sip of the coffee. My stomach growled loudly and I decided that maybe a second breakfast wouldn't be amiss, plus an explanation as to what I planned to do.

-Dockyard base, 12:30 pm-

Siren powers were rather useful for multitasking, though it was chump change next to Taylor's own level of multitasking, I could handle a couple of dozen independent instances so long as Sylph helped and I kept it simple. Which was why I was building a Vault Key, and explaining the basics of my plan to the Undersiders, and Amy. And Vicky who came here to steal food since negotiations with Carol had reached the phase of: we can't be in the same room or we'll start tearing strips of flesh off of each other. 

"So Leviathan is likely to attack the bay… And you haven't told the PRT about it?" Vicky asked as her aura flared and a wave of fear and anger washed around me. Sylph slipped behind my skin and for once it didn't feel painful. I was still me, but she was actively with me. Interesting… Wait, focus on Vicky first, then deal with the discovery.

[Indeed]

"If I did then he would definitely attack us, or come with a friend or two and I really don't want that. Plus I don't want to rely on the spice to move things, so minimal prescience." I said hoping that the explanation was enough.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me! You have a way to guarantee to know where and when the endbringers will attack! Why do you hold back on using it? Why don't you work with the PRT?" Vicky yelled and I lost my patience. Closing the distance between us in a split second, breathe out and say with cold anger running through my veins,

"Because I don't want to see people I care about die. What I see happens, let's say I predict Leviathan appears on May 5 and I see him popping up on Brockton and I also see Amy dying and I charge ahead to rescue her. Congratulations, I just let several dozen people die because I wasn't there to stop Leviathan. Send someone else? They die too. Wanna know why? Because I saw it. Vicky, let me be absolutely clear about this, prescience isn't a toy, it is an armed nuke."

"I…" to say she was stunned would be underselling the effect on her. And it wasn't as if I hadn't questioned it before, why not look? The answer was simple, I was warned by example not words. I knew the oracle's trap and chose to walk near its edge, enough to see and not fall. I'd like to believe that in truth.

"Furthermore, I don't want to risk bringing more than one. Simmy would be my bet for a secondary endbringer, since Behemoth would be a worst case scenario." I added with a lot less anger. That flying pigeon frustrated me since she hadn't reacted to the deaths of her other ploys, did she plan for that?

"Simmy?" Amy asked and managed to snap me out of my spiral into paranoia.

"Might as well take the piss out of her, prescience or not she's just a giant chicken that's going to get cooked."

"And how are you going to do that?" Lisa asked instead of Amy. My tattoos flashed as I made more arms to finish inscribing the runes into the vault keys exterior.

"If the Triforce is available? Use that to nuke all their cores in one blow. If not? Get high on Eridium, tear out her core and stab until dead. Or have Flechette shoot it." I summed up my plans in the most general way possible. Problem was the amount of eridium necessary might make me permanently addicted to it and I end up like Leto, but on space crack instead of space cocaine. 

"And if that fails?" Aisha speaks up and I shrug and tell her,

"Then I use the nuclear option. One way or another I'm having fried chicken." That somehow gets a chuckle out of everyone. At least the tension in the air has dispersed.

"Sounds fun boss, but I've got a question. Why are you telling us this now?" Alec interjected before anyone else could ask something along the lines of what nuclear option.

"Because for the next few days I'll be busy building shit and finishing off the empire." I reply even as I dismiss my projected limbs. All my tattoos shine and Sylph goes and looks over the key pieces, she gives me a thumbs up and disappears. 

"Good, when do we attack?" Rachel asks, interrupting the words that were going to come out of Lisa's and Vicky's mouths.

"Tonight. Cricket, Stormtiger, Night, and Fog are all going down tonight." It's telling that the only response to my statement wasn't an oh shit or even a question, but a group of fierce smiles.

-11:00 pm, Medhall main office building-

I sighed as I landed on the street directly in front of the local Nazi recruitment center. I was well aware that someone had been following me for the last couple of blocks, they did keep their distance and I had a feeling that at worst they would only distract me for a second or two. The streets started to empty, several rich looking civilians took one look at me, paled and began running away; at this time Belle, Quinn, Taylor and Lisa would intercept Night and Fog, within 15 minutes Stormtiger would arrive at Cricket's hideaway and be ambushed by Aisha, while Cricket is torn apart by Brutus and Judas, under the careful eyes of Rachel and Alec. Kaiser won't know this until 20 minutes have passed.

Amy and Vicky are in Brockton General, dealing with Carol and the rest of New Wave. All that would be left is PRT and ABB interference and at the very least I know Dragon is having some heart to heart with Armsmaster at the moment. I hear the soft footfalls of someone behind me and I turn around. Browbeat and Battery… At the very least it wasn't Vista and Flechette or Triumph.

"You don't seem surprised to see us, Maeve." Battery said calmly, though her body was tense. She also kept a decent distance between us. Meanwhile Browbeat approached me without fear and said,

"She heard us about a block away." Which wasn't true, I heard them about 3 blocks away and I was aware of them since they started following me. Shaking my head I motioned them to follow me even as fewer and fewer people were around us. The lookouts in the alley we had passed whispered into their phones, I knew Battery saw them due to how tense her body language became, I should probably offer them a way out.

"You know I'm heading to trigger their trap, right? I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother heard about a rally near the Medhall offices tonight." I mentioned as I walked towards the entrance of the building. The windows were being covered by what I could only describe as storm covers, Kaiser must've been expecting me.

"You know it's a trap and you're still going to trigger it?" Battery asked, drawing out her electrified baton.

"Yup, I promised myself that I would finish what I started, and I keep my word."

"Then why haven't you been scalping Nazis?" Browbeat asked and I saw Battery turn and face him. I could imagine her expression asking what the fuck was wrong with him. Still I could respect a man who was straight with me, so I told him,

"Honestly? The unwritten rules, otherwise I'd have my skull throne already made." 

"You want a skull throne?" He asked, more curious than anything. I'm not sure if he understood a joke or not, 

"Yes. And a giant cannon to kill endbringers. Whoever comes first." I joked, which was when one of the snipers took a shot at me, the bullet pinged my shield and I snapped my fingers. A wall of flame rose across the air and covered all the sniper spots.

"Last chance to bow out, Kaiser wants my head so the usual rules of engagement are off." I explained as I brought out the Ogre. An explosive assault rifle that fired faster as it emptied out its magazine, I had modified it so that its rounds wouldn't be instantly lethal, just extremely painful. The main benefit from it was the lower amount of property damage and I wouldn't have to deal with people crying over dead Nazis. "If you follow me, then prepare to fight for your life, there's more than empire ahead." I mentioned before charging into where the trap would be sprung.

They came in firing, several men, heavily armored and without a thought in their head. Bullets ricocheted off of my shield while lasers hit it at full power. I was glad that they hadn't followed me, it would've been a pain to defend them… My eye caught a flash of purple and I swore, several projected hands surrounded Browbeat in an instant.

"You fucking moron!" I shouted at him, even as I adjusted my aim and began firing the Ogre. The men screamed as concussive shots hit them like a stampede, Battery wasted no time and knocked them on the ground with terrifying efficiency. "What were you thinking?" I asked the dumbass kid who thought I was anywhere close to danger.

"Repaying my debt and being a hero." He replied without hesitation. Another mercenary teleported in and I fired, the shot crushed his elbow and Battery soon followed using her speed. 

"..." I couldn't say anything, this dumbass had left me without words. I damn well knew that he knew I had some brute ratings and that I possessed a shield, yet he chose to try and protect me. Oh fuck, he's actually trying to be a hero.

"What?" He asked as if he hadn't put his life at risk.

"Browbeat, please, you have a family, you have friends. Don't throw your life away." I almost begged as more and more men appeared, this time they also had swords, bats, clubs, axes… Bastard Son had been busy. I drew out Fi and handed the Ogre to my projected limbs. I shook my head and began to move, dodging bullets, firing back, cutting off limbs… it all became a blur. Or rather, it's better to say I became a blur, shining like a star and cutting through what men the Bastard Son could muster.

After a few minutes, the sound of warping disappeared, and no more men came. I breathed out as I cut off the flow of power to my projection. The Ogre layed discarded in the middle of the street, the brainstormer I brought had its barrel shining like a ruby due to how often I fired it. Within a few moments they deconstructed back into my slate, both Battery and Browbeat looked tired. Their costumes had clearly been damaged, I took count of how many stones I had and approached them. Within moments I healed them and a stone broke.

"At least it's over-" Battery began saying as every nerve in my body fired, from behind me I felt something. I jumped to the side and avoided getting skewered. It was a tinkertech Rapier, the wielder was a young woman with a rabbit head mask. I had a gut feeling that she might have slipped in when Flechette came to town. March, a villainess with an obsession with Flechette, and one who had a containment foam grenade launched at the heroes.

"Anyone else joining the party? Is Jack around as well?" I ask as I parry March's attack and strike at her. Brilliant white light clashes with Fi, blinding me for a second, I barely dodge the counter thrust that came. One, two, twist, slip behind me using teleport, strike at my back…

"Wow, you're pretty good for a dwarf." She commented as she dodged my thrust, her outstretched hand slammed into my arm and prevented me from striking her again. Her own blade flashes dangerously close to my head as I dodge it by a centimeter. Kicking the ground I manage to gain some distance from her, she teleports again into what she assumes is my blind side and parries my blade.

"Better a dwarf than working for Nazis." I shot back at her. Her blade struck my shoulder, a small explosion hit my shield shredding it for a moment, as she retreated again and teleported. "Come little March Hare, I'll take you back to wonderland." I taunted and she heard because she appeared above me, her Rapier drove straight through the asphalt like it was nothing.

"Trying to taunt me? Adorable, will you bark when I tell you to?" March replied, dodging my counter while tossing a grenade beneath me. The blast was strong enough to knock me back and she followed with a thrust aimed at my heart. I waited until she was a few inches away from striking me to raise the flat of my sword towards the point of her own. I felt the clash and said,

"Nah, but I'll accept your squeals you fat fuck!" Then I kicked her away, the explosion hit Fi but I could tell that not even a scratch was formed along the metal. Taking advantage of this I swung and tried to hit her. She dodged again, but this time she didn't parry. Her left hand flew to her back, she grabbed her gun, and she fired at point blank at me, they weren't charged but it was enough to force me to back off.

Her rhythm was for the most part amazing, against anyone else she would have an easy advantage, however I was a cheat. I had hundreds of years worth of experience in my head, even without using thinker powers I could predict her movements to a certain degree. I wanted to see if she was luring me into a false sense of security, so I over extended a slice, she moved backwards and charged at me. I felt something, rushing through my body like electricity, time slowed down as I barely dodged the attack on my head. I smelled it before I could see it, fear. 

My body moved faster than she could react. The master sword dug itself into her spine even as she was beginning to be teleported. I grabbed her and landed in a new room, Purity and Othala stared at me.

"Fuck." Was all I managed to say before being blasted into the wall by a very angry bitch. My shield broke and I screamed in pain as I was being burned alive. The light burned faster than I could absorb the heat, the Goron tunic held and I transmuted the wall behind me. I couldn't use my Siren powers against her since she could absorb the projected light.

I rolled as the grass caught fire from how hot I was. I brought up Fi and swung at the beam that Purity fired. My sword beam and her hard light blast met each other mid air. The resulting blast damaged the nearby buildings, I barely had time to take in the sights and get my bearings as another blast came. As I reflected it, Purity charged at me and tossed me into a building, then followed up with more blasts. The building began caving in, and I snapped my fingers. Pillars of flames erupted all around me, healing me as the air froze and I charged towards Purity. 

The thought of leaving Aster and Theo in the hands of Kaiser decided my next movements, I cocked back my arm and threw Fi at her, she dodged. But it was enough of a distraction, my fist met her face and I heard the ever satisfying crunch of bones breaking. She screamed in pain and tried to blast me point blank, but she moved so slowly next to me. Next to Lung, Echidna and even March, she was basically standing still. In the time it took her to charge her blast I landed more hits on her, I could feel myself burning on the inside, yet more and more power seemed to fill my veins. She screamed and launched beams from every point of her body, blasting me away and knocking down the structure above us. 

I coughed as I saw her rise from the ruins, above her was a ball of pure light. She was charging up her attack, if it was as strong as I expected it to be I didn't have many options available to me. I could feel Fi calling out to me, I rushed to get her even as heavenly fire came down.

March's decapitated head stared at me as I picked up my blade, Othalla was hiding behind one of the beds. She hadn't had much of a chance to use her power to save herself, the beam was coming closer. 

"Never retreat, never surrender. That's the promise, right? That's what makes us brave. Fi, I know you have more power within you." I said even as time slowed down to a crawl around me, my left hand hurt like someone was driving a knife through it, though this feeling wasn't like Din's fire. It was far more gentle, but just as hot, everything faded from my sight until all I could see was Purity's incoming attack. My body moved, my arm was raised and a wall of light was formed. The resulting clash shook the surroundings even as Purity attempted to draw out more light from her surroundings. She was becoming stronger with each passing second,

"Fi, let's go." I said to my sword that glowed like an azure star.

[Understood, Master.]

I grabbed the Master Sword with both hands and focused all the power I felt in my body towards it, and swung in the direction of Purity. The sword beam glowed like the sun as it cut through her beam and hit her. I could hear her scream in pain as light that wasn't edible struck her, how many people had she made scream in pain? It would be just to let her fall to her death, let her die for her sins…

My body was already moving, I grabbed her mid air and withstood the fall. She was still alive, conscious but in pain.

"Purity… You do not deserve this mercy I'm granting you. However your children would suffer more under their father if you die." My words made her go still, "That is the only reason why you're going to live. And I won't depower you as well. However you owe me your life. You shall stop being a villain, and you will leave Brockton Bay by tomorrow night. Don't make me regret this, Kayden." I let my tone dig deep into her mind and dragged her towards Othala.

"Heal her, then turn yourself over to the PRT. Your husband is still alive and if you're there he might be willing to at the very least take a deal." I ordered and left them both to deal with the aftermath. Several Neo Nazis suddenly found the balls to appear, they all screamed as I tore my way through them. I couldn't feel anything but disgust at myself for showing mercy to them. Once properly outside I took note of my surroundings and realized I wasn't in Brockton Bay anymore.

I breathed out and looked at my slate, picked the base and left the Nazis dead in the outskirts of Boston. Upon arrival I was tossed a red potion by Emily who had stayed behind with Dinah. 

"Kaiser is taunting Battery and Browbeat." She said as I drank the potion, I nodded and digistructed a Cyclone, which was a unicycle with guns and boosters attached to it, though this one had been made for hovering. Scooter would've called it a piece of shit that couldn't turn on a dime. And he'd be right, but only if I drove at full speed all the time. I looked at the slate, 3 more minutes until Kaiser found out that he lost. If I didn't stop him there he would go to where Theo and Aster were.

I could feel Sylph slipping into my skin as we arrived at where they were at in 2 minutes and 59 seconds. Kaiser opened his mouth to taunt me but he received the news, I cracked my neck and said,

"Poor little Kaiser, always the runt of the litter in the eyes of daddy. You lost your ex, your empire and your men. This is the last time I ask, surrender to the PRT." I told him, despite knowing the answer. 

"An Emperor does not bow, nor does he follow the demands of those weaker than him." Max Anders said and his words sealed his fate.

"There's only one Kaiser in this world, and you are not it." I replied and he shot several spears through the ground and tried to skewer me. I dodged and cut them with a single swipe of the master sword. Using the circle in my glove I transmuted the ground around us, rising to above the rooftops. I wouldn't let him run away, and this kept him from using the PRT heroes as hostages.

He seemed to notice the last part and grit his teeth as he summoned more spears, blades and even the occasional column of steel as he tried to hit me. I merely stood in one place letting it all hit me; after all, I had a shield from Dune active. They struck with enough speed that even Velocity would've been hit. I barely moved a millimeter. "That's all?" I taunted him and he screamed, summoning a field of blades to blind me. I swung the master sword again, its beam sheared through the blades as if they were grass.

He had used the time to armor himself up even further, then he charged at me. 

5 steps from hitting me

I breathed out, and focused on the one thing I hadn't told Taylor. I blamed the entire Empire for Mom's death, if they didn't exist, then maybe Hookwolf wouldn't have been here.

4 steps

If they weren't here maybe Winslow wouldn't be such a shit place, maybe the damn PRT could afford to deal with the villains.

3 steps

"I'm sorry." Mom's last words, not an I love you. Or even be safe, she's apologizing again for something that isn't her fault. I can smell her burning flesh, words die in my throat.

2 steps

The bullets hit my chest, I'm drowning in my blood . The memories flood me and I feel anger. Anger I haven't felt in a while, it spreads like fire.

1 step

" It's all his fault. It's all his fault. It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault.It'sallhisfault." The thought consumes me and I summon my projection. Time seems to have stopped, his body doesn't move as my projection puts a single hand on his outstretched arm.

The eridian energy marks it and forces it to collapse into a singular point. In my eyes it is a slow process, the outer armor is the first to sink into his skin. Layer by layer it all collapses into his skin, deep into his bones. I hear the crunching of bones, the snap of muscles and the gush of blood. I see his raw skin sink ever deeper into where his bones used to be, a gleaming purple black hole was formed. I could hear it, the void of space, a never ending maw that consumes all. 

Time resumes and Kaiser screams his limb is lost, I summon another arm and grab his other arm, and then I watch as he screams even louder as his other limb is destroyed. I notice that where the stump is supposed to be there's the glow of eridium " So that's why he's still alive, despite losing both arms. " I note and kick him in the chest. Kaiser cries out and I remove his helmet with my hands.

"I gave you a chance, you did not take it. So really, everything is all your fault. You kept Hookwolf, who killed my mother. You kept your ideology, which made my sister miserable. Look at me Max, look at what your ideals cause. I swear to destroy your ideology. To make it an euphemism for seeking death." I assure him as I summon more projected hands and pretend to have to line up the next part. I saw the fear in his eyes, he tried to use his power against me, I felt my Siren tattoos glow like miniature suns. Hundreds of arms appeared and blocked everything he could throw at me.

"Max, rot in hell." I whispered and let go of all the projections I held back. Hundreds of fists fell on him, each capable of making him implode, yet I restrained that function. The barrage lasted for 10 seconds, I stared into his eyes all the while. I saw his pain, his fears, everything, and I felt nothing. When it ended I let the implosion happen, gore coated my costume as I approached the only thing that was left of Max Anders; his head. Using his blood I made a rudimentary circle and cleansed his skull of all the flesh, and organs it held.

"Alas, poor Max. He lived like a bitch, died like a bitch." I said, and the silence that greeted me was genuinely appreciated. And I laughed at it, at the notion that vengeance solved nothing, at my pain, at my sorrow, I laughed at it all. Belle and Quinn flew up soon after, and saw me kneeling in blood, laughing.

"Mom." They said simultaneously and I gripped the skull tighter. 

"Ha, ha, ha. I did it, they're dead, or worse." I said with a smile on my face, "I can see her now and tell her she's been avenged. Mind taking me to her?" I asked them, they were smart enough to guess who she was. They looked at each other and I took the opportunity to destroy the blood on me, my costume was clean. 

"Sure, want to bring Taylor?" Quinn asked.

"No. I don't want her to see me cry my eyes out." I replied as Belle held me tightly and flew me down from where I had been. I could tell that Quinn was telling everyone what happened. I looked at the slate, it was almost midnight. 

Brockton Bay cemetery was a quiet little place, especially at night. 

{Catherine Flynt. Resting forevermore.}

Her gravestone read, and I approached it with Kaiser's skull in tow. Gently putting it next to the stone I kneeled.

"Hi mom… I… I don't deserve to be called your daughter. I don't know if I'm her or if I was ever her, but I know she loved you and I feel that pain. Every day. I miss you. I miss you." I muttered even as midnight struck. Belle stood watch over me as I cried over her grave. I don't know how long I was there, or how I had managed to not die of dehydration, but the sun rose and I grabbed Kaiser's skull, pointed it at Mom's grave and said to the skull,

"If there is a next life, pray I don't meet you." My fingers dug into the skull, forming cracks around it. Turning away I asked Belle to take me back to base. She nodded and began the fast travel process.

A new day had dawned, no more empire, but work never stopped. I ate, and focused on finishing the vault key and the dimensional matrix. Though anchor was more of an accurate tone, since that would be its main function. Turns out the Eridians had a reason to make their vaults big, despite the dimensional pockets, the anchor needed a point of reference and it was preferable to have an empty tomb than a filled building for it. As the day passed I made 3 more Vault keys and the matrices necessary to form the vaults. In addition I started work on making a rudimentary Loader, by the end of the day I had been convinced to keep it simple in terms of intelligence. It took a while but I managed to keep it on the low end of AI and left it under the command of Belle.

The day after I spend the day practicing Violin with Emily, Amy doesn't invite me to her chat with her dad, but according to Dragon they at least managed to part on good terms. To say I was envious would be an understatement, but I was happy for her, above all things I was happy that she managed to keep in touch with her father.

By the time night rolled over Taylor and I went on patrol, the most unnerving thing was that we barely encountered any problems. A couple of attempted carjackings, one foiled robbery and an attempted assault by the remnants of the empire. The woman and her daughter thanked me profusely before leaving and I wondered if this was just the beginning of peace in the bay.

-April 22, 2011, 9:00 am, Hebert Household-

Colin Wallis was at my door, Dragon had informed me that she did talk him down from immediately looking for me. And she sent her condolences over my mother's death, which was nice. Regardless he was here now and I still felt like I should tell him to fuck off.

"Miss Flynt-" He began saying and I interrupted him by flatly stating,

"Collin, it's 9 in the morning, I have homework for tomorrow, and I haven't slept. You have 5 minutes before I scream stranger danger at full volume." He paled for a moment, I saw the emotions on his face, the anger and indignation at my irreverence for him, the fear that I would actually follow through my threat, the small amount of shame he had over coming here to ask about whatever he sought.

"I want to talk to you about what you said to Hannah." I quickly said and I raised my eyebrow at it. No attempt at pressing me into the wards? Did he learn subtlety? Or was he sincere?

"Fine, come in. Just know that your wire will be fucked sideways the moment you enter." I said, with as little irritation in my tone as I could muster. He nodded and said,

"Noted, turning it off."

"I imagine you're here for endbringer information." I say as he enters the house. He nods and I continue," There's a grand total of 20 endbringers. For now only 3 can be active and I'd rather keep it like that. Each of them is different from the last and Echidna had the potential of becoming one."

"How do you know that?"

"Seer." I state, still hesitant to reveal multiple dimensions beyond what he recognizes.

"But endbringers can't be predicted, not normally through powers anyways." He responds as if he wasn't building something that would be able to predict endbringers. He didn't even have the decency to look abashed so I shook my head and explained to him,

"True, but there are tiers in powers. For example take any brute and Lung. Same thing applies to prescience; that being said this isn't something that you'd risk breaking the unwritten rules for. All of what I've said could be extrapolated with the information you currently have on hand. So what are you really here for?" My question made him narrow his eyes for a moment, he must've been planning on asking me later. I could see some hesitation in his eyes before he closed them. He breathed out and said,

"Dragon informed of what you did for her."

"And?"

"She told me everything, I…" He stalled as if struggling to push the words out of his mouth, "I don't know how to ask this of you, but what you said about a human body, can you make one for her?"

"Sure. That's not a problem" I quickly replied. And for a moment he didn't seem to register what I said.

"Look I know… Wait, what?"

"Making a body is easy, it's just a set of organs. Making a human is hard, the soul cannot be created. But first did you ask her?" I asked him before continuing on. I could understand if she told him because she was too afraid to ask me directly, however that didn't fit her pattern. We were actually getting along rather well now and she had actually begun testing the Stillsuits. So far it wouldn't make good armor, but it was a godsend for drought affected places.

"Yes." He replied and I sensed no lies, yet he wouldn't meet my gaze.

"And she asked you to ask me?"

"No." Dammit, Armsmaster!

"Colin, you can't just gift wrap a body to your girlfriend!" I shouted at him.

"She's spent years being held back by her father. Years held back by a madman with a killswitch on her. Is it so wrong that I want her to be able to enjoy her freedom?" He asks bitterly. Not that I could blame him, if someone I had grown to care for told me that for most of their lives they were mistreated I'd be pissed. If they told me they wanted to be free I'd be halfway there with a set of satchel charges and no fucks to give. I look at his face, I can see the worry etched into it, he must've spent quite some time thinking about what to do, how to fix things. I wish I could give him a better answer.

"No, it's just… Colin this type of shit is something you and her need to discuss as a couple. Once you do that I'll gladly make her a body or two; until then just talk to her and tell her what you just told me. Now, I need to finish my homework, break into Coil's base to set up an anti endbringer trap and finish making a missile that can wipe out the ocean just to throw it at Leviathan."

"Wait, what?" He suddenly became very interested in anti endbringer technology. 

"Don't worry about the last part, Super-Flexington-Hi-Five the bomb will be ready to deal with Leviathan on time." I said dismissing him while pushing him out the door. He didn't actually struggle against me and for that I was grateful. With that out of the way I proceeded to actually do my homework and left for the base.

Under a different building in the docks I began the construction of the missile, I chose to use Eridium as both its core and its fuel so as to better manipulate the explosion radius and strength. At its current state it would be somewhere in the vicinity of a newborn sun in strength, which was just fine for me. It needed to be very strong in order to deal with Leviathan.

The new loaders and even guardian bots that Belle and Quinn helped mass produce aided in keeping the time to build low, as I was busy transmuting the materials. It wasn't until Lisa and Taylor came to drag me out of the workshop that I realized I had burned the day away working. After being forced to eat and rest I finished the missile at around 4 in the morning of the next day. Using the digistruct device I dismantled the missile and all that was left was converting it back to real space within the vault. 

-April 25, 2011, 11:00 pm-

I looked at Emily again, thinking back on it. I had been looking at her often recently, talking to her again, even if it still felt awkward, sometimes even stilted; but it was communication, and that should be celebrated. I still didn't understand what she wanted from me, the adoration was clear, if allowed she would have begun a cult. Fortunately she understood I would've hated that and instead focused more on being there for me. Working as a second pair… well third pair of hands whenever I used my Siren powers to make things. Currently she was humming a rather haunting song, it tickled my memory but I couldn't remember the name.

Even as I fought to remember the name of the song, my memories went to Accord. 

The man was impressive for a thinker whose main trait was annoying the crap out of me. He had admitted to arranging the meeting between the Elite and Coil, and he had even admitted to selling the empire the old mansion where I had fought Purity. I had merely smiled and told him,

"I understand the necessity of certain actions, especially when dealing with associates of more loose morals. I even understand the sheer necessity of it when it comes to a near impossible task. However, that doesn't change the fact that you did aid my enemies, and thanks to you I need to deal with the Bastard Son." My smile never left my face even as I continued, "What I ask is simple, you work as a mediator for me. Your reputation is rather impeccable and your planning skills are peerless, so aid me. You will be paid in materials, of course."

"How intriguing, I had expected a berserker." Was his response before he nodded. I proceeded to explain that I needed him to negotiate a deal with Toybox so they would stop wasting their teleportation technology on the Bastard Son and he even agreed to not push his drug business for 2 years in Brockton Bay. And all it took was a truck filled with Gold and Platinum for him to extend it to 20 years.

"Let the maggots sing~" I whispered and my mind came back to the now. I looked at the time, about a couple of dozen minutes left. Taylor and Amy had agreed to stay just in case me and Sylph were wrong about the stability.

" Everything will be fine. " I thought to myself, lifting my arm to cover the light above me. The siren tattoos had changed, they now looked closer to Sheikah script over the free flowing lines. The triforce itself hadn't finished forming, but the general shape of the 3 triangles had been solidified and it was slowly but surely filling with golden light. 

"Hmm, hmm, hmm." I hummed Zelda's lullaby again and again until the clock struck midnight.

Time slowed to a crawl as I felt myself falling deeper and deeper into an endless slumber. A single star shone above me and my outstretched hand tried in vain to reach it. If I had wings I could fly there, I felt someone kick me in the spine and I flew towards the star. When I turned around I saw nothing, not even the cocoon of an insect.

My back hit the ground and the flowers flew outwards, I could almost recognize it, when the world shifted again, the void opened itself and I saw eyes. Some golden, others red, blue, green, pitch black and even silver, judging me, finding me lacking, tearing me apart. I saw myself before alchemy, before the spice, before the triforce, before becoming a siren. I saw versions of myself being torn, cut, broken and I felt it, gnawing at my soul.

{Only those without sin may pass} The words etched themselves above me.

"Fuck you." I replied and heard a chuckle, that half incubus fuck was laughing. 

"That's the spirit, if you're willing to fight it means you're alive. Although you're a bit early, by several years in fact. Survive human, your guide will be here shortly." That bastard said with a sad smile on his face, he knew where he was sending me and still did it.

The ground was a chalky white and the sky a light blue, there were no stars, no sun, nothing above or below me. Before me stood a cradle, 7 stars danced around it. Each sang in a different tune, but all spoke of war, of loss, of triumph and glory. A jade sky was formed above me, I could feel its hatred even as it devoured itself in front of me. I felt the world end, the kaleidoscope shifts all around me, worlds, magecraft, the throne…

Where was I? Why is there nothing around me? Who or what am I? Words, words, words all of them without meaning in this void.

"You are lost." A young voice said, it sounded so far away. What was a voice? Why did I recognize it as not being me? 

"Marie!" Emily's voice called out.

"Your mind and soul would've shattered had they not been sheltered by the others, but you are still lost." The voice said again, this time closer.

"Maeve!" Weaver screamed.

"Don't worry, I will guide you home." A little star, shining like gold said, and we flew towards a pale blue dot that hadn't been there before. Earth Bet… It's not so ugly from this point of view.

Ah, I remember now, "Thank you, Voyager." The little prince smiled and I fell to earth.

4.6- End

Chapter 5.1, Throne, coming in October

Notes:

Told ya I'd make it. Sorry it took so long, as you can see this was a massive chapter, around 30k words total between the splits. I do hope you guys enjoy this.

Anyways no updates on anything until October which should be when storm season ends, I hope all of you stay safe if you're affected by the season, if not then stay safe anyways, this heat is killer. And a big thanks to everyone who gave kudos and even commented, I do read them. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart.