32
Chapter Text
Distorted Voice
Thoughts
Flashbacks
[Shard]
{Kaleidostick}
"Written"
Throne 5.7
"The plan is simple: We kill the lizard."
-Maeve, 2 hours before Leviathan.
-Brockton Bay, May 1, 2011-
The storm he had created had yet to cease, as usual it heralded his arrival, the endbringer of water, Jörmungandr, Leviathan. He knew his mission, challenge and assess the parahumans. His creator, scire, unwilling father, had willed it, it was an order he could not reject for it was written into his very core. And yet…
The rain softly fell upon the city. The surrounding area was awash with the fury of a storm and yet the city itself was beneath a soft drizzle. His usual opening move had been circumvented, that was unusual.
Leviathan slowly arrived at his destination, a small amount of curiosity passed through his mind. Unit 3 (code name Simurgh) had been silent for over 10 days, for her to broadcast on all channels to strike at Brockton Bay was surprising to say the least. Leviathan knew that he would arrive with the dawn, its eyes scanned the horizon and a single figure awaited it on the beach. A human female, most likely a parahuman, sat on a plastic chair with a staff across her lap. From his eyes he could tell she was… different, behind her eyes crystalline structures rose and fell forming a small planet full of eyes and each of them stared at him. It was like watching a shard looking back at him. The simurgh spoke:
[Eliminate the Abomination, that is priority over challenge.] Her words were tinged with anger,
[Query: What is the reason?] Leviathan asked, picking up speed and using his power over the water to begin a wave.
[She must die, the cycle will be broken if she exists.] The simurgh responded.
The human smiled,
[I can hear you .] A faint voice tinged with joy echoed through the channels that the endbringers used. There was chittering, like a swarm of locusts, there was the deafening silence of space afterwards. Her hand touched the staff and light shone across her body, her eyes glowed blue as she aimed the tip of her staff towards Leviathan.
[Mankind has no need for false gods or the whims of an almighty idiot. Rejoice oh engine of destruction, you are merely the first step to our birthright.] Her taunt was followed by a blast of energy, a green spear of light flew towards Leviathan at an impressive speed. He sank beneath the waves to avoid it, that's when he realized it arched towards him landing on his shoulder. The explosion barely scratched his outer skin. Annoyed more than anything he rose above the water using his hydrokinesis, behind him a wave large enough to engulf the city. That's when he saw it, the city lit up as several missiles were launched, not towards him but to the wave.
For a brief moment, Leviathan could not feel any water within 50 miles of his location. Then he fell, it didn't hurt him at all, but he was confused. He looked around, the sea itself had retreated, or rather it was kept away by another power that bent space.
[Oh little lizard, now that you've lost your puddle will you run away?] The girl taunted despite the rain. Leviathan hunched down for 1/5th of a second before rushing to where the girl was. His tail slammed down vertically on top of her, cracking the street behind where she stood. He snarled as he realized that the girl wasn't there anymore. That's when the barrage started, beams of light, lightning and lead rained down on him. Using what little water he could forcefully gather around him he formed several geysers and didn't bother to aim, their screams were enough.
One of the more common of his opponents charged at him like a flying brick, he waited until the last possible moment to drive her into the ground with a mighty slam of his fist. The other annoying opponent glowed like a sun for a moment before attacking his chest with a beam powerful enough to sting. His creator roared in anger and threw a compact gravity well his way, it was too slow to actually hit him, then his right hand exploded in pain. Something had hit him with enough power to shatter a piece off of him. He looked at his hand, 3 clawed fingers were gone.
His senses scanned the battlefield, nothing. Less than nothing even, a thick smoke rolled across the cityscape. Sensing a void Leviathan dashed forwards like a ram and broke out of it, he mentally checked his body, across the 30 feet of raw mass several gashes cut deep into his body. A substance that could be referred to as blood dripped slowly out of them.
[I told you, you are the first step.] That voice echoed again through the channels. [You're next Simmy. I'll make it slow and painful, so you can cry loudly.]
He traced the sound to a nearby building, grabbing a piece of the road and leaping above tmit he saw her and threw a chunk of the road at her. The building sparked with lightning as several fists of concrete shattered his projectile. It didn't matter to him since he used it as a smokescreen to get close to her, her blue eyes shone with excitement as they met his gaze. Leviathan's hand rose and fell, at the last moment she moved almost like a flash of light dodging his own blow. Had he not been so focused on her he would've seen the small tank that slammed into his face.
For Leviathan it was a shock, the vehicle had seemingly appeared from thin air, and not only that but it hurt. It felt like his core had been hit despite the fact that only his face had been run over.
"No matter what storm rages or what future awaits, our task is to break through it!" A voice echoed across the city and Leviathan saw on top of the tank, his target. He snarled as he fell from the sky. His left arms carved up a budding as he slowed down his fall, then the building exploded burying him in rubble. Something was wrong, something was making him slower. His body shifted under his control, his hand reformed and he smashed through the rubble and saw them.
More parahumans, some young, some old, lots of familiar faces, and yet.
[Where is the fear?] Leviathan thought to himself, he reached out to the water, small puddles, large water towers, everything in between, reacting to his will. Forming around him orbs the size of vans, and shooting forward with enough force to crack concrete, to break buildings. They screamed in pain as they were flung away, craters forming where they landed. But he saw it, they lived…
[That light…] He focused on the memory of the impact, just as the orbs hit the enemies, a flash of light intercepted them. Although it clearly failed to keep them from any sort of harm, given how their bodies barely moved even after surviving. Leviathan felt it again, the void that ate at his senses, and he moved again. The city began to crumble as his body tore through buildings.
A parahuman that held a sun in her hands stood in front of him. Heat bathed his body, steam rose from the rain that hit the miniature sun. Waves of flame soon followed and he dodged past them, using the debris as platforms he maneuvered around the annoying sun and at the last second dropped the water like a ton of bricks on top of the parahuman. A chill crept up Leviathan's spine as he saw the steam rise as the sun grew. Waves of fire scorched the earth beneath his feet as he lunged towards the parahuman.
He was in the middle of the air when he felt it, an instinct he only had felt once. It was during one of his attacks, the warrior had arrived. This was not dissimilar to that feeling, the Simurgh had explained it with an idiom: "It was as if someone walked on your grave." His eyes twisted around and saw it, through the rubble a glint of silver, black lightning and a beam.
[I need to dodge that!!] He thought in desperation. Using all his control over the water he formed a geyser at an angle beneath him and fired. The beam struck him not in the chest, but in his guts. Pain was something he had never truly understood until now. His flesh, capable of withstanding constant bombardment and barrages of powers was ripped away as if it was nothing. Layer upon layers of near impenetrable mass gave way as a deafening roar accompanied the blast. It lasted a second, no even less than that. And yet, half his body was gone.
Smoke rose from the barrel and the construct grimaced as it noticed his gaze upon it. He ignored his pain and slammed his fist into the ground cracking it, creating a deep sinkhole, falling alongside the parahuman sun, his hand reaching towards her as a small star descended and grabbed her.
[This… is wrong.] Leviathan thought to himself, [They should not be this resilient.] The thought of his humiliation sparked a new emotion in his core, [ I will sink this city and all its inhabitants! ]
And so Leviathan screamed in rage, releasing any and all inhibitions. He wouldn't fight them, he would kill them. And so he forced himself to heal, to draw deeper from the well of power that was his core. Flesh, twisted but firm flowed like a river out of his wounds, new bones, nerves and muscles formed and his clawed hand dug deep into the sewer floor. He could feel it, the aquifer beneath the city, all he needed was to get close.
His body shivered with anticipation, he snarled and lunged in the direction he felt the greatest pull of water. The infrastructure crumbled as he rushed down to the aquifer, a swarm of insects formed in front of him for barely a second and he broke through them. That's when he saw her, in the same white plastic chair waiting for him with a sword drawn. He stopped just a few meters away from her, 3 of his 4 eyes focusing solely on the sword, it felt like that beam.
[Took you long enough, Zilla knockoff.] She said her eyes gleaming with anger.
[How?] Leviathan replied, readying himself for their clash.
-Brockton Bay, Marie PoV-
[Fuck you, that's how.] I replied and swung the master sword at Leviathan. So far so good, in terms of plans. The bounded field worked wonders to limit Leviathan's own control over the water, and the parahumans had been chipping away at him for the better part of the engagement. Now it was up to me to deliver him to the vault.
The brute blocked the blade beam and lunged at me, I jumped back and ran up his arm, or tried to as he pulled it back and I had to stab Fi into his forearm to not fall. He snarled and spears of water formed around me, it took me a second to realize what he was doing and my shield withstood the brunt of their impacts.
" 5 minutes, just hold on for 5 minutes! " I thought as I was shaken off and hit the walls of the sewer. I rolled out of the way of the incoming fist and tapped the ground after clapping my hands. Dozens of concrete spears and chains enveloped Leviathan, but he tore through them. He was getting faster, angrier, more focused on a single thing, killing me. I was smiling and I didn't know why.
Fi burst out of Leviathan and threw the goddess blade at me. Catching it I dodged under a swipe while Fi jumped over it. Pools of water turned into geysers set to cut me down but the shield held and Leviathan pushed onwards to the aquifer. I rushed after him, once again wielding the master sword,
"Glory Girl is headed your way." Dinah said on the comms. And soon after I saw a blonde missile crash into Leviathan. The monster had the grace to stumble back at the impact, I drew out Emerald and quickly casted more gandr spears at Leviathan. 30 feet of flesh writhed as the curse bit into it, Vicky barely dodged a backhanded blow from Leviathan, and proceed to lunge at his eyes. She managed to sink her entire arm into one before being grabbed by Leviathan. The master sword roared alongside me as a beam landed on his arm, a deep gouge formed and Leviathan tossed Vicky at me. Grabbing her mid flight wasn't the hard part, the hard part was making sure we wouldn't get splattered across a fucking sewer as Leviathan's control over the water was returning.
I could feel the magecraft eroding as time went by, though the main effect of the bounded field which slowed him down was as strong as ever. The wave crashed against my shield and I hit the ground with Vicky in my arms. There was some blood over her brow and I quickly used some alchemy to seal and clean it.
"Fuck that hurt." She griped as consciousness returned to her mind.
"You're lucky you only had a scratch." I grumbled out as I set her next to the wall. She shook her as if she was trying to focus before asking.
"Yeah, so how are we doing?"
"Within parameters, I'm going to continue distracting him; you go up and get the vault ready with your sister and Bitch." I ordered automatically, Leviathan was beginning to pick up more speed…
"But-"
"Alexandria and the rest of the Triumvirate will assist me in distracting Leviathan for a few minutes. Vicky, you did good, go and make sure the portal opens." I interrupted her and rushed towards the giant lizard of doom. I wasn't lying when I told her about my backup; Alexandria rushed at the bastard with the fury of a typhoon. Legend and Eidolon soon followed, blasting it with their own ranged attacks. I drew out Emerald and focused once again, I didn't need to destroy him, just harm him.
The blast pushed me back as the beam hit Leviathan in the back, the smell of burnt flesh hit me like a truck. The endbringer roared as more attacks from the Triumvirate piled on top of it, but I knew it wasn't pain that drove the scream, outside of the black barrel, we had barely hurt it so far. Spears of Water formed and struck at all of us, giving the beast a few seconds to escape. It was getting close to the aquifer, but it was too late, 5 minutes had passed.
The ground shook beneath it as several bombs blasted it upwards, back to street level, and into the front of the vault. Bitch and Amy were in charge of charging the vault key, Taylor was in charge of making sure they would be covered.
" The core is in the middle of his chest! " Tattletale screamed into the coms and I rushed at Leviathan as the Vault portal opened. " By my command seal! Leo, use your noble phantasm to push Leviathan into the Vault! " I felt my skin burn as the seal was consumed and leapt into the air as below me a shadow border manifested itself. My servant was smiling bravely and shouted once again,
"That's right, you will overcome every difficulty. Prove that to me right now! Beautiful Journey!!! Come, let us go as far as possible!" I swear I saw Leviathan's eyes widen for a fraction of a second as we crashed into it. It sounded like a building collapsing on top of another as the beast tried to stop himself from falling into the portal. Its claws dug into the pavement, it grunted with effort, but it was not enough. The curses and bounded field reduced its power, the damage had piled on into it and the boost from the command seal and the endbringer had very little chance to resist.
We passed through the vault portal, when designing the interior of the vault I had considered just recreating a piece of Pandora. Barren landscape, filled with the corpses of bandits and beasts, and a fuck ton of scrapped robots. But instead I opted to make a mirror to Brockton Bay, and I regret not filling it up with enough mines to blow Leviathan to kingdom come. We exited near the medhall building and crashed into it. The building itself fell on top of Leviathan as Leo and I left him trampled underneath.
" Leo, begin phase 2. "
" Got it master! " She whispered as she ran back out the gate.
"I can't believe that it worked." Miss Militia remarked as she entered alongside the rest of the blasters that were willing to put their lives on the line. The plan had changed since its inception, in the sense of more steps, but in the end the core of it hadn't changed. I wasn't sure if Leviathan could or would detonate his core, so he needed to be contained, hence the vault. The question was now whether to leave him there or not, the plan thus was divided into 2 phases. The only one we needed to succeed for humanity was for him to fall into the Vault, now came the actual attempt at killing him. Unsurprisingly most of the parahumans refused to join us here, they were afraid. Still a dozen was more than enough, even if I had been alone here it would have to do.
"Really?" I asked, cracking my knuckles as the debris of the building began to shake. In lieu of an answer she held out her hand and an rpg manifested with green energy surrounding it. She smiled as she fired it, the rocket itself had to be a special one since it didn't detonate on contact, it broke through the rubble and exploded after a few seconds. Leviathan roared to life tossing away the remains of the building, wounds covered his body, and I could see how it was healing itself.
"Yeah, are you sure we can't just lock him up here?" Militia asked while drawing out yet another rpg, Leviathan narrowed his eyes and dashed towards the portal.
"No, I can't risk that until the flying chicken in space is dead." I replied, firing off multiple beams of mana at the monster. Beams of light soon followed as more blasters came through the portal, I heard a roar and saw Bitch riding a 20 foot tall Judas covered in flames.
"Judas, maim." She uttered and the dog obeyed, her tattoos were glowing like the sun, and the bit down on Leviathan's arm. Soon after I heard a screech and Pandora arrived, surprisingly Dragon was riding it. A halberd glowed in her hands as she drove it into the head of Leviathan. Pandora had its jaws firmly in the endbringer's neck, hot plasma seemed to flow out the Varkids's maw and into Leviathan. The nanothorn halberd dug straight through its cranium, and the endbringer roared.
Not for the first time of the day I was happy to have a shield on, getting basted by sound as my hearing was restored was not fun. What was also not fun was what Leviathan was doing to himself. Flesh, scales, muscles all shook as if liquid for a moment before hardening, spikes had begun to form alongside his arms, back and legs. His mouth opened and I saw it before it hit me, a water jet blasting me past several buildings. I smelled blood as I rushed back into the fight, in the span of a few seconds, several parahumans had gotten buried underneath the rubble and Dragon was doing her best trying to keep Leviathan under control and distracted.
Judas was missing a piece of his shoulder and Pandora was missing a piece of its maw and wing.
"Can you hear me? Marie, respond!" Dinah screamed at me.
"Yeah, kinda busy here Dinah."
"They're heading here! The Nine!"
"I know." I replied, I had seen it, Jack wouldn't resist the opportunity. And even though I should kill him yet, I can do something much more painful. "Dinah, where do you think Belle is?"
-30 miles away from Brockton Bay, same time-
Belle stared at her target, the crawler, a near invincible brute, she only had to kill him. She adjusted her black barrel, feeling out the activation of the runes. If left alive he could eventually evolve into something dangerous, and long lasting.
"Engaging Black Barrel." Her tone was cold, it had to be. She was surprised to find just how angry she was at the state of things. If they had not chosen to attack now she could be fighting Leviathan, not them. "Locking On target, lifetime measured."
The gun's barrel began to rotate as the runes on it began to glow, each of them a single prayer to death, to deliver the end and to pierce through everything. Its eerie red glow was noticeable even at a distance. The first to notice it was Jack Slash, his power felt it, with an absolute certainty, death was staring at him. Though Belle couldn't hear his commands, she had disabled her ability to hear, lines of death formed along the scope until she found her target.
"Quantum lock, disengaged. Command seal consumption active, over 200 years of expected lifespan measured. Thus I declare, the end of all that is immortal, let this be the End. Oh weapon forged by humanity, bring down the gods. " And while she couldn't hear herself, she felt the power behind the chant. With each word the world slowed down more and more in her perception.
" I'm trusting you, you're the only one who can do this properly. I trust your heart."
Her mother's words echoed in her mind as the gun finished its final preparations. Her cores could feel it, the raw power, the weight of it and what it meant. A single bullet to destroy a set of futures, a single shot to rewrite the path. She saw the reaction to her presence, her finger pulled the trigger.
" Black Barrel, fire ." She whispered softly, as if speaking to a sleeping child. The roar that followed shook the ground as a single bullet blazed a red and black trail of death. The Siberian created a barrier. It smiled confidently, invincibility was a perk it enjoyed.
All or nothing met the concept of the End. There was a sound not unlike a shattering glass echoed across the outskirts of Brockton. The Siberian stared at the robot that destroyed her effect with a single shot. Her body glowed as dark red lines spread across it and she knew no more.
William Manton screamed in pain as something tore through his construct. He could feel like his insides were being burned alive, pieces of himself were being torn to pieces, again and again without mercy or end. Bonesaw was rushing to stabilize the man who drove them around, wondering all the while what happened and why the Siberian had been destroyed. Jack felt the warmth of piss run down his pants as the bullet missed him by mere millimeters. Crawler smiled, confident in his own power, and then felt nothing.
His power however felt everything, for untold millennia it had existed, evolving, adapting, all to resist the end. To survive at all costs, but it had never faced conceptual death. It's body rotting as thousands of years of data were lost to the void.
The black barrel's original function was to kill beings that humans had no chance against, Marie had used it and added a function, only available due to her own experiences: apply death to shards. Had the Warrior been even the slightest curious he would have noticed it and retaliated in kind. Had the Thinker been alive and capable of actually doing anything, she would've been horrified. But neither could do anything, and Belle stared at the Nine, now reduced to Eight with contempt. She could fire again, and kill them all. All she needed to do was fire once more, but…
"The endbringers come first." She told herself, staring at space for a brief moment. "Read my lips feather-face. You. Will. Beg. For. Death." And with her message delivered she moved towards Brockton Bay, phase 2 was on its way and she needed to make sure that the victory would be perfect.
-Brockton Bay Vault-
Leviathan stood perfectly still, its muscles regenerating at impossible speeds, flesh mending almost instantly now. Dragon's body was split in half, one part on one side of the block and the other somewhere else, probably stuck in debris. Bitch was pissed and I was busy getting myself out of a building. The nanothorn halberd had managed to hurt Leviathan, but it was not enough to reach his core. Miss Militia and the rest of the blasters had been forced to retreat after the continued assault from Leviathan had rendered the advantages of the shields null and void. To make matters worse, Leviathan was no longer holding back at all, he was burning through his core and reserves to kill us all.
I felt it, the drain from the curses and the black barrel usage. Belle must've finished off the crawler, good. The shield belt felt warm to the touch as I disabled it, drawing out a class card I smiled.
"Install: Rider." Fi manifested herself next to me as my costume changed. A simple overcoat, with plating decorated the upper part of my body, my legs now were armored as well as a wooden sword, strewn with metal shards formed in one hand and in the other a small shield. I breathed out as I felt the spirit of Mandricardo settle in the depths of my mind.
" So master, are you ready? " He asked,
"Always, my friend." I replied.
The light of my transformation drew Leviathan's gaze to meet my own and I raised my sword at him.
"Fi, synchronize yourself to my strikes, we need to weaken it even more. Until everything he does is merely heal." I ordered and she nodded. Leviathan grabbed the debris and began throwing it at me, ignoring Dragon. I summoned my steed using the magical energy that roared through my body.
Brigiandolo manifests next to me and rushes forward, I run after him and leap onto his back. For a brief moment, I discard my doubts, my fears, my self hatred. The rubble cracks the street in front of me, but we are faster, my sword glows and I intone.
"Gallop, Brigliadoro!" Leviathan throws a building at me, we dash through it using it to run faster and fly higher, "Shine with the light over the rainbow! Even without being unequaled, the illusion is yet in mine hand! Serment de Durandal!" Leviathan leaps back trying to dodge my blow, but Judas had healed and was biting into his leg while glowing like plasma. His other leg was being held by a freshly evolved Pandora. It's exoskeleton bore marks of the claws of Leviathan, and yet the beast wouldn't let go. Leviathan raises its arms to block my attack.
The magic infused blade cleaves through the layers that compose his skin, biting into crystalline bones. I see his mouth open as another beam of water forms. That is when Fi strikes, falling from the sky like God's judgment, she pierces Leviathan's head, leaving a bright scar as the endbringer loses concentration.
"Just a bit more, come on you overgrown lizard. Show me your real power." I muttered, ejecting the rider card from me.
[ I will end you ] The endbringer replied deep within my mind.
[Bring it, Zilla.] I taunt back as Leviathan lives up to his title as an endbringer. His tail splits and grows spikes at the end as it strikes like a spear at both Judas and Pandora. The animals barely manage to dodge it as Leviathan seems to shift its musculature around, deep scars form along its damaged body, his torso swells and he slams his fist into the ground the shockwave knocks me away and Bitch phasewarps to the top of a nearby building.
" Angelica, Brutus, Judas. Kill. " She orders as the other two dogs mutate and grow. Judas's size shrinks to around 10 feet or so, but the others grow respectively and lunge at the endbringer.
" More, just a bit more. " I pray, calling Fi into my hand as I feel Leo's presence arrive into the vault. Fi glows like an azure star in my hands once again, my grip tightens as I feel an influx of power. I dash towards Leviathan, his eyes are once again on me and all I see is his hatred. His core glows with power, I can practically feel it coming off of him, as he summons more water and launches it at me. This was the moment I could see his core shining like a newborn star.
" Oh Naryu, grant me your blessing. " I pray and I feel a barrier form in front of me. The beam of water crashes into the barrier, blue light solidifies as I charge towards the endbringer. " Farore, strengthen my body ." I further reinforce myself as I leap towards it. His enhanced musculature lets him lift and throw Bitch's dogs at me, the air solidifies under my feet as I dodge around them. The tails lash towards me, I place Fi in my left hand and I feel one of the tails take my right arm off, but the adrenaline kicks in, ignoring the pain and instead focus on killing the monster in front of me.
" Din, lend me your flame. " Fire surrounds me for a moment, feeding itself into the master sword, the stump that was my right arm begins to form into a proper arm again, and I drive the master sword into the middle of his chest. 1, 10, 50, 100, layers melt as I drive my blade towards the core. I bury the hilt in his chest and it is not enough for me to kill it. I can feel the breath of relief from the endbringer.
[ You failed. ]
"That's where you're wrong, Leviathan. This is checkmate." I reply as Fi's light wanes and Leviathan stiffens. Golden and blue lines spread across Leviathan. His eyes are stuck staring at me wondering how, the answer is simple to power to seal. Hylia's blessing, manifested in a curse against my enemies. Not that he'll ever know, I smile wickedly, "Flechette! Weaver! NOW!!!" I cry out and I hear a twang and I see a red light crash into Leviathan. But I'm not done,
"Reinforce." "Reinforce." "Reinforce." "Reinforce." "Reinforce." "Reinforce." "Reinforce." "Reinforce." I muttered rapidly, feeling the pressure increase as I turned my newly formed arm into something unbreakable. I drive my fist straight into Fi's pommel. The master sword pierced the core, I looked at Leviathan in the eyes and raised my middle finger to it. Enjoying the bliss as the light of life leaves its eyes.
-Brockton Bay, 5 minutes ago-
Leonardo Da Vinci stared at the card in Taylor's hand, unlike her own master, Taylor didn't have the necessary knowledge of the class card to be able to summon more than one. In fact it could be said that it was a miracle that it worked at all, even with the aid of herself and King Gilgamesh. The latter was already setting himself up to launch his noble phantasm should Leviathan escape the vault, he was plan B.
"Lancer as well." Taylor quipped for a moment before Amethyst spoke: { Designation: Lancer. True name: Scáthach. Master compatibility: 80%. Install functions active. }
"Install compatibility?" Taylor asked Da Vinci before the young servant summed up, "That's how well you resonate with a heroic spirit."
"So I'll only be able to use 80% of her power?" Taylor asked with some frustration.
"Nope. It just means how well suited you are to it. Your own compatibility with her will rise and you'll find it easier to do things." Leo explained as she felt through the connection the stress from Marie's fight. Her master was burning through mana like it was unlimited.
"I don't want to be the one that destroys Leviathan, it's better if I share it with others. I want Taylor to be one of them, Flechette will be the other. I'm trusting you to keep that to yourself. While I weaken it, she has to finish the ritual for class cards, Leo please help her and make sure she arrives to give the finishing blow." Marie explained as she packed even more potions into Emerald.
"But why?" Da Vinci asked. Her master smiled sadly and explained,
"Because, despite everything, I still want her to be happy. To make her feel like she's worth a damn. And to make sure people won't fuck with her."
Shaking her head at the memory she summoned her shadow border and gestured to Taylor to get in. The drive there took less than a minute, the shadow border was a blur to anyone outside off it as the tank rode through the partially destroyed city at a lightning quick pace. Taylor was focusing on the card, feeling some measure of dread as her fingers traced the figure on it. She could see a land devoid of life where ghosts and the dead roamed, she could see rolling green hills and blue skies, a boy with blue hair, a vengeful host of creatures. Memories that didn't belong to her, and yet she had to endure them.
"Amethyst… Install: Lancer." She whispered as they went past the portal. Immediately she felt another presence deep in her mind.
" So that's what you're really like. Interesting, that creature deep in your mind is well behaved, Contractor. I will lend you my power and knowledge, of that have no doubt or fear. " A woman wearing a tight bodysuit and with eyes that glowed like freshly spilled blood said. Her hair reached her legs, which Taylor found rather impressive given that the woman seemed to tower over her. " Don't disappoint me, Hebert."
Taylor opened her eyes and looked down, the bodysuit she once wore was now well and truly thin. It looked closer like pieces of a silk dress wrapped over her body, deep purple fabric covered her modesty, while thin almost see through fabric showed her stomach and thighs. A veil was dropped over her face and head as she could feel her hair drop dead. Out of everything that was the oddest feeling, her hair was a mess of curls to have it changed like that was somewhat sobering and shocking.
"Wine red…" She muttered as she touched it. She looked in a nearby mirror and saw her eyes remained unchanged for now. Before she had any time to process it she felt a shift in the air, without bothering to warn Da Vinci she opened the hatch to the roof and saw her cousin rushing towards the endbringer, her eyes glued to the blade that shone like a star. One second, two seconds, Taylor hears it.
"Flechette! Weaver! NOW!!!" Marie's voice echoes across the vault and Taylor lifts up the red spear that formed on her hand.
" The proper way to do it is with your feet, but this will do as well. " Scáthach's voice echoes in Taylor's mind as her body lights up with power. Runes, primordial in nature activate around her, giving her more strength, endurance, power. Years of training, all passing to her body in an instant, she lifts up the spear and yells: "Stab and Penetrate...Thrust and Drill! Gáe Bolg Alternative! " Before launching the spear faster than a bullet, faster than time itself. The target was already dead even if they didn't know it.
The spear glowed like a meteor before crashing into the Leviathan, from its neck and into his core. She saw an arrow laced with power pierce the skin of the endbringer like it was nothing and also hit the core. Marie's body glowed gold for a moment as her hand seemed to ignite with pure light as she punched her sword through the endbringer as well. 3 hits all to kill a god like monster.
" Not a bad throw girl. We'll need to train you up to handle more, but congratulations on killing a god. " Scáthach's voice faded from her mind as the card flew out of her. Taylor stared at her right arm, stress fractures and a dislocated shoulder. Amy was going to kill her.
-Brockton Bay vault, Marie PoV-
I coughed as the body fell with a thud, my hands shook with pain as drops of blood fell on top of the endbringer. Flechette didn't miss the shot, and neither did Taylor. I had a feeling that whoever Taylor would get would be able to make sure that Leviathan wouldn't be able to detonate the core. I feel the sting of my tears falling on it as I yell: "WE DID IT!"
There was only silence before the dogs howled in joy, Flechette was crying as well, I could hear Bitch's laughter and I saw it for a brief moment, the outline. My newly formed hand grasped the snitch and I said: "This is my promise to you all, no more endbringers, humanity will rise above them. And Jacob, I know you wanted to visit, but when we meet, I will make you wish you never left the basement." And I threw it towards the opened portal. It would take around 5 minutes for the PRT to start swarming in and trying to take as many samples as they could.
I stared at the dead body of the endbringer and took hold of the core. It was bigger than me, significantly so, and yet it was so light. I could feel the loss of power, the drain being removed from Eidolon's shard. I breathed out and made a choice. There was no better opportunity than now to summon a servant.
The words came to me almost instantly again, I felt the tug on my reserves and kept going. The body of Leviathan was being consumed as well, light filtered out of the core and I could feel the servant being brought in.
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Balance!" My shout echoed across the city. And two figures appeared.
"Huh, can't say I've ever been summoned twice by the same master. Still no sense in standing on ceremony, my class is Lancer. My true name is Caenu… Oh mother fucker.. again!? Shit, the name's Caenis in this body master. I'm going to go punch the sea for a few hours." The gold armored woman spoke to me with a lot of anger in her words. She… They shifted to spirit mode as a young man, dressed in a white navy uniform and with a turban coughed.
"Just my luck, being summoned next to her. Still you called and I answered. Though given by the look on your face, you know my name. But I'll reintroduce myself, I am Nobody. Though the spirit of Triton lives within me, I am and always will be Captain Nemo."
"Welcome back captain." I replied, taking his hand into my freshly healed one. There was a faint smile on his face as he answered,
"It's good to be back, Master of Chaldea. When you're ready to let the Nautilus sail again, tell me." He shifts to spirit form as well lowering the drain on my mana.
I smile and laugh at my luck, with him here I could build the storm border. The Poseidon engines would be able to handle the brunt of the mana consumption for all of us, with the storm border I could also safely navigate imaginary space, perform zero sail dives and most importantly, escape if the situation called for it. I wouldn't damn them to a horrible death, tears flowed freely as I knelt before the remaining corpse of Leviathan, I was laughing and crying. Cackling like the madwoman I was, it took me a few seconds and a rather forceful nudge from Angelica for me to snap back to the present.
I had a new project, but first things first.
"How am I going to drag your skull out of here?" I asked the corpse of the endbringer. The damn monster had no reply for me.
-May 3rd, 2011, New York City PRT HQ. 11:00 p.m.-
"Fuck me I'm beat." I whined as I fell into my bed. For the last 2 days it was a non-stop media circus, everyone wanted to talk with the heroes that took down Leviathan, I hated the fact that I was forced to smile and wave like a fucking muppet at the cameras. At least Lisa was enjoying herself, and I think Taylor was as well even if she and I hadn't talked that much recently. Both Aisha And Emily were somewhat angry that they didn't get to do much beyond launch sniper attacks at Leviathan, but if we hadn't been able to take it down inside the vault then they would've been stuck firing at it until it died. Vista was pissed that she was on support duty, but she single handedly made sure the damn water didn't crash into Brockton as well as making it possible for us to move around faster than Leviathan.
[You knew this would happen.] Sylph said in my mind, and in less than a second she projected herself in front of me. The eyepatch that had the face of Leviathan was a new addition to her look, but she made it work.
[Thank you.] She replied and I realized that I said that out loud. [Yes, you did. But keep the compliments coming, my beauty is woefully underappreciated.]
" Since when do you care about appearances? "
[Since I became me. With the freedom that Truth gave me, plus our synchronizations, I've managed to develop myself a bit closer to what you humans are.] Sylph replied with a sad smile, her ethereal hands slowly approach my face and I can almost feel them in my flesh. [Words cannot express just how grateful I am… But you're stalling, the date approaches have you decided what to build beyond the storm border?]
" Yeah, the training rooms and an actual summoning room into the ship itself. It'll take 5 days with the help of the loaders and remaining guardians. " I replied changing my clothes into pajamas with just a bit of alchemy. I threw myself into the bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Much to the amusement of my shard, though I found that odd. What's so amusing about sleep?
Time flew by, ticking away relentlessly. Thanks to my efforts in Brockton Bay I had been given a blank check to use as I saw fit, and I used it to buy as much raw material as I could. After fixing the damage to the city, the dock's PRT base was rapidly converted to a boatyard for my use.
I spent the following days refining and forging the Storm Border, with 4 servants, an army of robots and several tinkers helping me. It was easier than expected. Even if I knew the schematics were already in the hands of every government in Bet and thanks to Contessa, Aleph knew of our deeds as well.
Meeting her was nerve wrecking, I didn't want to engage in a precog battle against her so I accepted her offer to meet. We met right outside of the portal, I was honestly surprised by the fact that she refused to path me. The world's most dangerous woman was surprisingly accommodating to my requests. When asked why she merely replied:
"There is no point. The path to victory, the path to salvation, all of it runs through that Spice. All I can do is follow it."
Her words only made my paranoia worse but we had come to an agreement, beyond the one she had made with both Belle and Quinn. (Both of them are now drowning in paperwork as punishment for making a deal with her.) In exchange for spice she would make sure that certain things would be leaked at the right time. Not only that but said leaks would be incomplete, so we would be able to trace the groups and take them down at our leisure. Plus she agreed to give me access to the Doormaker and the garden when I asked for it, which would simplify things in the end.
I shook my head at the memories as I looked upon the almost finished hull of the storm border. Over 180 meters in length, lending itself to being one of the largest if not largest nuclear submarines ever made, of course most submarines cannot fly or dive between reality so even if some tinker made a bigger one, I could still claim superiority. The white outer hull gleamed as the moonlight hit it, the golden ram itself was another aesthetic choice I was initially against, but Sylph said that it wouldn't matter when I rammed the damn ship into whatever endbringer came my way or even Scion. The several laser and missile batteries, in addition to the shield system, made sure that ramming was not my only option. Plus there was the system that could manifest the Holy sword of promised victory as a magecraft. It would work once, but that's all it needed to do.
I breathed out and let the loaders finish the hull without me breathing down their necks, my blue on blue eyes were apparently disconcerting to them. I had left the shipyard when the Yangbang agent decided to strike, I merely stood still as he fell into the ground. Caenis had twisted the man's arm and crushed his left leg. The smell of blood was rather refreshing given the usual smells of the workshop.
"I know who sent you, and what they told you. I'm not going to kill you, I need you to give them a message. The last idiot that attacked me and mine is a mere skull decorating my throne. I will not forgive nor forget any other attempts." I whispered into his ear, before slamming his face into the concrete. Within minutes the PRT would grab him and lose him, he would deliver the message.
"You're too kind." Caenis smirked.
"I'll take the compliment, and thank you for holding back."
"No problem master, so when are we hunting the rest of the endbringers?"
"In a week or two. I need to set up some stuff, plus Eagleton takes priority. It'll be fun, you never fought a living city, right?" I explained, plus I needed some time to recover from whatever future headache came my way.
"... Can't say I have killed one." Caenis' bloodlusted smile reassured me even if their words sounded purposely vague. Why did I feel like I was missing an inside joke?
-May 9th 2011, Brockton Bay, 11:00 am-
I once again stared at the ceiling of my room. I had been up since 3 in the morning and I was considering breaking into Piggot's house and messing with her furniture as payback for pushing so many interviews my way. Still I had promised Emily I would give it a shot, try to see if something worked between us. I stared at the mirror for the 5th time in the last hour, no matter how I looked at it, I was still plain old me. I clapped my hands and used alchemy to cut my hair down to shoulder length, did I look ugly? I grabbed some glasses and placed them on my face, I looked…
" Focus, one step at a time. " I told myself, forcing myself into a state of calm as I heard the doorbell ring. When I went down Danny was already there greeting Emily and her father, he seemed to enjoy making small talk and Emily's eyes widened as she saw me. She rushed up to meet me and hugged me tightly.
"Hey, Emily…" I squeaked out, "How do I look?"
"I like it. You look beautiful." She praised me as her hands brushed my hair, I stopped breathing for a minute as my blush was pushed down. My eyes briefly looked to the side seeing Danny and Steven staring at us for a brief moment before looking at each other and chuckling. Danny offered to drive us to the cinema but we refused, he still gave me some cash to buy tickets and the food. As soon as we left the house, I grabbed her and said hold on. I'm very happy people stopped looking up as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop.
The movie itself was a spy thriller, earth bet's version of James Bond used a lot of tinker tech gadgets in comparison to anything I had ever seen. One other thing I learned was that Emily was the type that didn't appreciate people talking in a movie even if they were several rows above her. Though to be fair it was amusing to hear her rant about people not respecting movies, in the middle of a movie.
After leaving the theater we went to the commercial district, the reconstruction through alchemy had made the area better than before, the streets were properly maintained, there were no potholes in the asphalt and the buildings looked brand new. Infrastructure wise the electric grid had been restored, the sewage had been fixed all across the city and Emily hadn't let go of my hand as she dragged me to every shop she could think of. It was almost relaxing in a way, no need to think about the future, no need to worry about the endbringers or even how I had forgotten Missy's birthday. Oh fuck, I forgot to get her something.
" I'll need to give her something. Maybe a gun. " I said to myself as Emily stopped and pulled me to the side. The outskirts of the open air mall was bathed in the warm glow of the sun and my date looked angry at me.
"You're thinking about parahuman stuff." Emily griped, "Am I boring you?"
"2 things, how did you know and no." I quickly replied with a bit of panic in my voice.
"You blank out whenever you're thinking about parahuman stuff." My face must've been pretty confused looking since she continued, "You have two faces you show most of the time, the shy somewhat uncertain face and the hyper focused nerd look. Both are cute, but I like it when you're fully focusing on me. So what are you worried about now?"
"Many things, I feel somewhat guilty over not getting Missy something for her birthday. And there's also the pigeon. I don't like the quiet." I admitted, there was a slight frown in her face and she asked, "Marie, tell me the truth. If there was a shot at ending the endbringers and the warrior, but the cost was your life. Would you take it?"
"Yes." I confessed. It wasn't even the belief that it was the right thing that led me to admit to that. It was a simple math result, my life for everyone else's. Not a hard choice. But I should've lied, the disapproval in her eyes was almost painful to watch.
"Do you know the biggest difference between me and you? Emily asked, her body very close to mine, a very small part of my mind was extremely aware of the wall behind me.
"That I'm depressing and you're sane?" I joked, her unamused face told me that I had poor timing.
"That you'll be satisfied with any ending that has everyone else happy. I can't accept that, I would rather trigger and mess with the timeline than to let you be a self sacrificing idiot." Her gray eyes shone like pearls as I opened my mouth to retort, she got even closer and placed a single finger on it. I could only hear my heart as she whispered into my ear,
"I keep my word, always have always will~" It was a promise, it was a threat, it was unabashedly true.
" What did I do to you? " Was all I could think as she pushed herself back and grabbed my hand.
"No matter what happens, I promise you. I'll save you, every time without fail." I whispered as her chest rose and fell. She was asleep…
A memory that was mine but not mine flashed in my mind. I could hear Sylph curse in the back of my head, but she quickly seemed to fall back into her own mind. What did Emily mean to that version of me? What did I mean to her? And what was I going to do?
I didn't know how to feel, on one hand the person I was before dying is… almost gone. Faces, sounds, memories of youth all drained away. All that remained from that version of me was the traumas, experiences and the foreknowledge. Is it fair for me to want something beyond survival? The people around us sometimes stared at how Emily and I acted as she dragged me from place to place. Constantly talking to me about everything and anything, I laughed a lot. I soon joined in and she listened, by the time the sun set we had bags filled with stuff.
Clothes, instruments, tools, everything she and I could think of picking up. Though given how loudly our stomachs complained, we had forgotten to buy food. Fortunately Fugly's was open and we enjoyed the greasy food. I was surprised to find that Emily could in fact eat the challenger, she even ordered one to go for her dad. The cashier looked at us, made as if she took our money and handed me my money back and a note.
"Thank you for saving me. The boss said that you can eat here whenever you want since you saved his grandmother. And killed the lizard."
I stared at the message after walking a few feet away from the fast food joint. There was something inside me, pain was the best description for it. It felt like something or someone had hit me with a baseball bat in the chest. Why?
"Are you okay?" Emily asked as I felt tears roll down my eyes.
"Yeah." My voice cracked out, "Yeah… I'll… I'll take you home, it's getting late." I said and she smiled sadly and grabbed my hand tightly.
"It's okay to accept others' gratitude." Her words were spoken in a near whisper, but even above the noise of the city I heard them clearly. Her arms were around neck, I summoned several eridium arms to carry our stuff and leapt up to the roof. I carried her back to her house as the sky darkened, a single thought echoed in my mind, something I wanted to tell her.
" I wish I could believe that. "
By the time I dropped her back at her house my headache had merely worsened. Within a few seconds I was back at base thanks to the fast travel system and I launched myself at my work. I kept tinkering through the night, healing ampules, mystic codes, black keys, everything I could think of manufacturing I made. The temptation to try again for a summoning was there, but I resisted the temptation. Throwing servants at the problem is not a solution, or rather not one I want to use.
Instead I focused on forging a replica of a certain weapon. While making Excalibur was tempting, I knew that I couldn't forge it. My mind and heart weren't the right type that were necessary. Instead I let Morgan's memories guide me; I had Leo keeping an eye on me should my own ego collapse under Morgan's.
Rhongomyniad, the tower at the world's end, the spear that was the equal to the sword of the planet, was something beyond human understanding. Morgan, fortunately, was not human, she looked like a human, could speak with them and even empathize with them up to a certain point. Ultimately, she chose something else, save the mystery, save the fae, over humanity…
Thankfully she ultimately hated losing to a fucking banana alien more than she hates humanity, so she didn't try to take over me. In fact, she was almost suspicious with how easily she gave me the knowledge. I shook my head at the sign of paranoia and finished assembling the Lance. It was longer than me and I could feel it humm with power. It was more than a replica, more solid than a projection, it was real. Or as close as real it could be.
The next day passed by, I felt more alive as the clock counted down. I stared at the tubes in front of me. Homunculi, unaware and without a single directive floated, the Einzbern family secrets were useful for something. Though the limited lifespan was pointless and cruel, so that was cut, these husks in the shape of humans were going to be my gift to the servants. A full incarnation, though for now I couldn't transfer the spirit origins into the bodies, I couldn't perform the miracle that was heaven's feel.
The door hissed open and Emily entered, she stared at the homunculi before hugging me. My hand reached for hers and for a brief moment everything was calm.
"We have an hour to go, you ready?" She asked me. I merely nodded and let myself be dragged by her to my room on the Storm Border. The various nemo sailors saluted me as I followed Emily and she tossed me to the bed.
Her eyes shone with determination as she grabbed my hand and said: "I won't let go. So rest up." And I laid there, my head on her lap as the clock struck 12.
Darkness surrounded me, the smell of blood filled the air. A faint light blinked in and out of existence, I moved towards it. The place where I had landed was cold, unfeeling and clinical. Human hands had shaped the place, and yet something else had resided there. One step, two, three. Steps echoed, the sharp stench of blood fleetingly filled my lungs.
There was an open door, I looked in and saw a tube, or perhaps a coffin. In it a woman with blue hair floated, two men looked at her, I opened my mouth but no sound came. I recognized the scene, I wanted to stop it, a mistake was uttered. Light filled my world for a moment as I began to free fall, a city, the outskirts, a woman with red eyes smiled as she saw me. Light flew out of the ground giving the world hope one more time. Only to be snuffed out, granting the gift of despair to the city.
The tree that was a library stood before me, as the world began to slow down. I laughed, it was the sound of crunching bones, the gnawing of insects, the madness of losing one's colors. It was etched into my mind. A woman with short blue hair walked through me, accompanied by a man in a bloody suit. The bodies that once adorned the bookcases, free from their bindings. Blood flowed freely from the city.
I saw a soldier break down, a gambler win one final bet against the world, a clock decay for a man whose sin was innocence, a broken bird fix his wings, a woman take the heart of a monster and a pair of fools speak one last time. A red gaze guided them one more time, as the world around them twisted around the shards of light.
"How interesting." A voice that dripped with temptation echoed in my mind.
Next arc: Wings
Interlude: The last 24 hours
-Brockton Bay, May 9, 2011-
The clock struck midnight. And a new day dawned, 24 hours to go until Sylph was forced to change my knowledge. I grabbed the spear and headed to the boatyard. Caenis had entertained themselves by spending most of their time on the simulator. Nemo had for his or their part, given how many girl nemos were popping up across the Nautilus, spent the time fixing the ship to their standard. Which was just shy of perfect, plus it kept the PRT away from sensitive stuff.
Armsmaster, miraculously, wasn't that angry at me for snubbing him from the battle. The fact that Dragon pointed out that even with the prediction program and her own mechanical body, she had been split in half; meant that he would've likely lost a limb at best. Strangely enough he had more or less moved to the boatyard and made his own lab, so when he appeared with two cups of some of the worst coffee I ever had, more akin to the sludge Danny liked, I was honestly surprised.
"Dragon informed me about you moving here." He began unprompted, "So I figured you would at least appreciate some company while tinkering."
"... Okay who are you and what did you do to armsy?" I was somewhat freaked out by the bare minimum of human decency shown.
"Dragon." He summed up what I assumed was several hours worth of lectures. Nodding sagely I asked, "You do know that the offer is still open for me to get her a body, right?"
"Yes, but she says she wants to try it her way first. Plus she said something about you not holding back and giving her actual dragon wings and such." Colin repeated Dragon's words at me and I looked away somewhat embarrassed.
"..." The silence was damming to say the least.
"She wasn't joking, was she?" He asked after a moment of silence and I tried to excuse myself by stating: "In my defense, transhumanism is an art and dragon wings are cool. I'd make them retractable!"
"How is it that you aren't in the birdcage?" He asked without a hint or mirth.
"Luck mostly. That and it's too much cost for something I could escape in a couple of days." I summed up and tossed the drained cup of sludge to the nearby trashcan. "Want to see me test out a new weapon?" His answer was a shrug and he picked up his halberd. The inside of the storm border was clean, I saw several of the nemo series going around and loading munitions, cleaning the hallways and carrying food around. Others worked on walls, carried stacks of papers and played cards in corners where they believed no one would see them. The training room was filled with the corpses of several goblins formed from the data we had from Nilbog. Caenis was sitting on top of a hill of them eating a sandwich.
"Master! Robotman!" Caenis greeted us, "This new simulator is great! Though a bit more limited in the type of enemies that it produces… Why do you have Rhongomyniad?"
"I made it." I said with just a little bit of pride in my tone.
"You made Rhongomyniad… Hahaha hahaha! Well what are you waiting for master? Let's test it out!" Caenis sounded overjoyed and it took me a solid second to realize what they meant. Armsmaster gripped his halberd tightly and I said: "Sure. To first blood?"
"Now you're speaking my language! Let's go master! Show me your strength!" Caenis shouted as they leapt back and changed their armor to gold. I gripped the lance charged in. Their trident flashed to life and swung widely, giving me an apparent opening. A quick thrust that glanced against their armor was all I could do for the brief opening. They had managed to step into my blind spot and drove the end of their trident into the back of my knee.
"Fuck!" I yelled, rolling forward and taking a blind swing at Caenis.
"More! Show me more master!" They exclaimed as they parried my swing. The ground cracked as their trident dug deep into it. Colin was rushing towards me and I screamed: "Don't! This is fine."
Rhongomyniad began to unravel, a bit of light bled through the stone-like body and I could feel the power that held back the age of the gods, the mystery reacting to this fight. My foot met Caenis's face and I grunted with effort as she hit the ground.
"Emerald, activate pseudo interface." I called out, and my kaleidostick answered. I drove the tip of Rhongomyniad into the ground and Emerald shone above us like a star. A field of energy surrounded me and I felt the unspoken question: which seals could be released? Caenis smiled widely and leapt back to the top of the hill. I could feel their request and I granted it.
"You really are mad. Lets go master, show me what you've got! Because I won't hold back!" Caenis screamed as mana began to surround her.
I grit my teeth and smiled back at her. I took Rhongomyniad into my own hands and raised it to the sky " Release: Gaheris, Galahad, Lancelot, Gareth, Palamedes, Tristan, Bedivere! " My intonation released 7 of the 13 seals in an instant. The simulation room began blaring its alarms and I felt the emergency responses kick in, reinforcing the room and I continued.
" Light, May you be released from the ends of the earth! " My voice echoed and I felt it, my body straining against the current of power. The magecraft that made the spear was not unraveling, instead it was solidifying.
" I am free! " Caenis declared, her Noble Phantasm activating.
" Split the heavens and tether the earth, anchor of the storm! " Light surrounded me, I could see it, the very edge of the world, the far side that hid beneath it and the tower. The ground beneath me began to collapse as I took aim.
"The sea...the land...none of those can hold me down! Behold!" Caenis jumped down and their body ignited into a Phoenix.
" Rhongomyniad! " I screamed.
" Lapithae Caeneus! " Caenis screamed back.
I breathed out and coughed, specks of blood dotted my hand. Caenis on the other hand had a gash that decorated their forehead. They were smiling like fools, and I couldn't help but to mimic it. It was a tie and I know they weren't taking me truly seriously. Still it's nice to know that I can connect and understand them.
It made Leo's speech more bearable as well, my servant was really pissed at both me and Caenis for wrecking the training room. Fortunately most of the damage was superficial and the worst damage was easily fixed with a bit of alchemy. Colin himself was actually curious about Rhongomyniad and I let him have it so he could study it. He was muttering about more efficient dispersal of energy so I imagine that he and Kid Win would be having a fun fugue build.
By the time midday rolled along I found myself taking a nap in Danny's office since the DWU building was so close. Apparently my fixing of the city didn't really affect the bottom line of the union so he wasn't angry. Not that he had mentioned it… Maybe I'm reading too much into it…
There was a knock on the door and Emily entered, she was wearing one of the shirts we had bought yesterday. Deep blue with a skull in the shape of Leviathan's in the middle, below it golden letters saying: Not even Leviathan can survive a Brockton Bay Greeting. She got me one in wine red, which I wasn't wearing today at least. Her eyes met mine for a moment and she moved closer.
"Hey, Emily." I yawned out and she smiled, "You okay?"
"Well… I realized that I forgot something very important." Her hands fidgeted as she approached me, she was nervous and I didn't like that.
"Oh? What is it? Or is it something that I can at least help with?" I asked, sitting up from the couch and she approached me.
"Yeah. It is." She stated, as she got even closer. My heartbeat rose to my ears, as she put her hand under my chin, "I want you to know that I really loved our date." My body was frozen as I expected something to go wrong, or for her to tell me that she didn't like me. Did I fuck up? "But we ended on a… worrisome note. So…" In one swift movement her lips met mine.
[Fucking finally.] Sylph commented as my mind emptied itself. I could feel myself melting as something awoke inside me, I wanted more of this warmth, this feeling of being loved. There was only the now; a precious second or two before her lips parted from mine. "To a new day, may our sorrows be few as we go through life." She uttered like a prayer, and I kissed her back. Time stopped having any meaning to me for what felt like an eternity between the both of us. I couldn't say anything as all thoughts melted away from me. Even if Danny entered the office after a minute.
"Dammit." I growled.
-Boston, same time-
Paul was someone who was rather enterprising, in a way. Sure his job might be mind numbingly boring at times but the fringe benefits were spectacular. As to what his job was? Well if anyone seriously asked it was a parahuman cleanup specialist. Basically he was responsible for cleaning up the messes after a prahuman battle, which led to his second job: Biological Matter Transportation Specialist.
Or as his current employer called him, a transporter. Personally, he preferred his own title but he wasn't going to argue with Blasto of all people. He valued his life too much for that. Regardless he had arrived 5 minutes early at the drop off point and was standing near an old mom and pop shop. On him there was a small vial containing a single finger, from the crazy parahuman bitch that stabbed Leviathan. It had been a pain in the ass to get that much but, Blasto had been very clear.
"1 million cash." Paul reminded himself as the nicotine entered his body. The cigarette he was smoking warmed him up as a young man with short black hair and sunglasses approached him. He carried a briefcase loosely in his hands, " Must be my cash. " Paul thought to himself.
"So you're the one." The young man stated. "Let me see it and you'll get your money."
Paul sighed and was about to say something when the young man drew out the vial from the coat pocket. Paul stared as the man seemingly moved at lightning speeds and laughed.
"You know, I really must thank you. I've been dying to get a sample from her, and after the Echidna incident I didn't think I would be able to get anything worth a damn. But thank you, have a nice rest of your life!" The young man left and Paul tried to move, keyword being tried, as he noticed a small mosquito on his hand.
There was a bite and then he realized it. He looked around and saw the bite and that's when he realized it. He realized that he had been bitten when he looked at his hand. Trillions of variations coursed through his mind, but Paul was no longer there, he was stuck endlessly beginning to notice the bite to do much of anything. Not even his brain melting and his heart stopping was enough to break out of the cycle.
Blasto in the meantime smiled at his fortune, a viable sample from the girl. He thought that he had been fortunate when he had managed to get part of Coil's body, but this? This made his power sing with ideas, but first Data needed to be gathered. He didn't bother to look at the corpse behind him, he still had at least one dose of that poison left and Accord was looking to be a fine target…
-C.U.I, Yangbang base-
"Interesting. The agent survived contact with her?" Null asked one of his spy masters.
"Yes, she also made it clear that any attacks on her would meet the same force that toppled the Empire in her city." The woman replied, her eyes never wavering from Null's mask.
"It's a good thing we're greater than them. Though we will need to send in a strike team against her… Summon Shen Yu, let us see how we can add her to our ranks." The leader of the Yangbang ordered and dismissed the woman with a wave of his hand. The puzzle of how to deal with that girl was still a constant thorn on his side. He had lost most of his precognitive thinkers, they had chosen death over trying to predict the girl.
" What a waste . " He lamented in his mind, " And yet, if I can get my hands on her… The Yangbang will rule this and every other world with the technology she makes. "
"She's holding back." Shen Yu declared while looking over the footage from the fight against Leviathan. "That girl was still holding back, from the footage of the Echidna fight we can tell that she is faster and stronger. Plus that adult form-" The strategist of the Yangbang coughed, specks of red covered his hand as he felt his power scream in pain. But he could push for more, he knew it. "There's also the lack of the dragon form and the creature that killed Nilbog."
"Maybe it's something that takes time to use?" One suggested and Shen Yu shook his head.
"Look at her body language, it's too calm. Mark my words, she is a danger and should be killed." The Thinker advised closing his eyes and feeling tears run down his face.
"No. Once we have her, we'll be able to use her power." Null stated calmly. Even as his eyes looked at the transcript that his spies had acquired from the PRT.
-Hebert Household-
Fi stared at the two robots, they were cooking while humming a song. It was the same song that the boy called Voyager hummed from time to time. The blade that sealed away evil was, of course, curious. While her creator hadn't been using her in either form, rather she just simply told Fi to explore and enjoy the fruit of their labors. Which began the problem, Fi was unsure of what to do. So following the advice of Da Vinci, she began exploring the city. Sometimes Voyager would accompany her, other times the Nemos would approach and talk to her. But ultimately she found herself simply lost.
That is until she heard that song, for some reason it resonated with her and she wanted to know more about it. While asking her creator was an option, however Marie had been busy for the last few days, Voyager came and went with the wind and she had heard Emerald sing once. And that was enough to convince herself to never approach the kaleidostick with any sort of musical instrument. For some reason she imagined a tone deaf dragon would be proud of the sound that came from the kaleidostick, and none of the dragons she knew of or fought against were tone deaf.
Which brought her back to the present issue, how to approach them. She felt that they had some animosity against her and had left them alone for the most part, however she wanted to know what that song was. So she breathed in and slowly approached the pair.
"Hmmm…" the one called Quinn stopped humming as she got near. "Hey sis, look who finally decided to stop staring and join us!" She announced with some gusto and Fi wondered if she would've blushed had she been capable of such action.
"Huh, there's a difference?"
<... In this context, yes. Regardless I have a question and I would appreciate it if you could answer it.>
"So long as it doesn't involve my plan for world domination, I'll be happy to do so."
"She's joking Fi." Belle chimed in, though the glare that was sent towards Quinn was rather withering in her opinion. "What's the question?"
"Oh, that? It's the oldest song from a machine. It is called Daisy Bell." Belle replied easily.
<... I would like to learn it. My master seems to like music and I wish to thank her in some way.>
"Is that all?" Both Belle and Quinn asked simultaneously.
Fi replied, though she didn't ask why they wanted to know. She reasoned it was simple curiosity.
"99.9…" Quinn smiled widely and rushed towards Fi, grabbing her hands. "Let's make that a 100% little sis."
"Same creator. So you count as our little sister." Belle explained the logic and before Fi could even argue against it, they were interrupted.
{More family? YAY!!! WE NEED TO CELEBRATE! I'LLMAKETHECAKEITS'SGOINGTOHAVEALLTHECHOCOLATEI'MNOTALLOWEDTONORMALLYHAVE!!!!!!!!!} Emerald boomed out, surprising the three artificial lifeforms. Fi learned that a lack of hands or mouth did not stop a kaleidostick from doing what it wanted. And that chocolate cake was good.
-Interlude end-
Notes:
Author's note: The long and short of it is that I got really sick in February and had to spend most of March, April and May playing catch up at work. I'm hoping this never happens again, because fuck coughing one's lungs out. Outside of that, I'll take a break from Worm until November-Late October. I want to work on other series in the meantime.
As always thank you for everything, I honestly couldn't write at all without you guys being there for me.