lol

Ascent 9.1

2005, July 26: Hyunmu's Lab, Babylon

My new hangar was ready, but I wouldn't have enough time to complete Project: Gamera. The next endbringer was in two or three weeks and though I had faith in my ability to build a mecha, I wasn't that fast. Even with all the resources of Cauldron, there were aspects of hextech that could not be foisted off onto others.

That didn't mean Project: Gamera was worthless. The giant turtle chassis and oversized barriers would take too long and needed to be postponed, but the scales of the serpent? Those, I could do.

Each scale was a drone meant to fly from the snake's spinal column. After locating an injured target, they would cast Barrier, Heal, then Teleport, evacuating people to a designated safepoint. If I could make a few dozen, they could easily keep casualties to a minimum even without the rest of the mech.

My real concern was not my tech, but myself. The next endbringer was Leviathan. In a way, he was even more of a danger to me than the Simurgh. While I did not have a Shard in the traditional sense, I did have a trigger event, the moment when it all began.

I "arrived" on Earth-Bet in 1999, when Leviathan hit Kyushu and his tidal waves struck Busan. My memories before then were hazy, even with the Ymelo. Perhaps it was because the "me" from before was not truly me. I did not identify with the young boy who drowned in Busan and so the Ymelo's spiritual magic failed to fully take hold in that regard.

What that meant for me was that my earliest memories were of drowning to death, of salt water filling my lungs. I remembered being fished out by an aid worker and stuffed into the back of a van.

I also remembered that power line toppling down and the electrified wire slashing across my eyes. I still felt it, that indescribable, searing agony, the darkness that only made the shouting ring so much louder in my ears…

I could not forget the day that made me. Ahri's orb would not permit me to forget.

Just the thought of it sent an uncontrollable shiver down my spine. Back in the Madhouse, I used to borrow their simulated training ground, forcibly drowning myself with the Ymelo to try and overcome my fear. Yet, I couldn't quite see that twisted form of exposure therapy through to the end, not before the Simurgh hit DC.

I had a feeling that the fear of the sea was one I would wrestle with for the rest of my life.

Still, I refused to be helpless. I threw myself into my work with abandon, adding to the Worldstone Network and enchanting as many drones as I could. The sea was my phobia, and Leviathan, its manifestation. I wasn't sure if I'd freeze up then, but I refused to be passive or sit out the fight completely.

Whenever I wasn't in my lab, I was in the salt flats of Bolivia, expanding my range and tolerance for the Mask.

In that, I ran into a wall.

'Why do you fear the waves?' I heard Wolyo growl in my mind.

'Are we not greater than the sea? What is the sea before the End?' Farya questioned rhetorically.

They were helping in their own way, but they did not understand. Never mind childhood trauma, the simple concept of fear was a foreign one to them because the Kindred did not, could not fear. They understood that fear was an emotion, and one typically felt by mortals when they encountered the Kindred, but there was a certain detached distance in that understanding.

So, their means of helping was to remind me that I was so much greater than my fear. It was to remind me that I was powerful now, because that was the language they understood.

'I know that. A phobia is not a conscious decision,' I said tiredly. 'I know intellectually that this fear is nonsensical, but my body remembers nonetheless.'

'Humans are emotional creatures. Is it the end you fear?'

'We are. It gives us the motivation to strive for greater things, but also hinders us at times.'

'You are more than human. The sea was not your end.'

I sighed as they withdrew from my mind. They were right, but I couldn't just "get over it" any more than I could suddenly grow gills. It was an ugly thing, deep-rooted and primal. At this point, I felt like my own fear was as much an obstacle as my body's ability to withstand the Kindred's influence.

'What would happen if I wore the Mask for Leviathan?' I asked. I had to. I knew the answer, but knowing that I had an ace up my sleeve that I couldn't use rubbed me raw.

'You would lose yourself to us,' Farya warned. 'Before, we were not part of your soul. We are one now. You touch upon our domain all the more closely.'

'Shouldn't that come with better resistance to death magic?'

'Why should it? Humans are such fragile creatures. You are changing, but so long as you allow this fear to rule you, you will never wield our domain in truth.'

I sighed and stood, dismissing the Mask. I was just thinking in circles at this point.

Ultimately, there was no easy way to get better. Crippling phobias weren't things patients could reason themselves out of. I could nearly drown myself in simulations, but the only way to fully overcome it was to face Leviathan. I'd prepared, done what I could, but I wouldn't know until the trial by fire.

X

2005, July 28: Eagleton, TN, USA

Rebecca finally nagged me away from my training.

Miracle of miracles, she and the Kindred were of like mind. They were both insistent that I not use the Mask in combat.

Granted, my soul-furries were worried I'd go insane as I embraced conceptual Death and Rebecca was afraid I'd take another multi-year nap, but they agreed. Worst of all, I had nothing to say to argue against them.

Which was why I was out here in Eagleton, Tennessee. I'd built a great deal of armaments and most of them weren't likely to drive me insane. There was no point in building a massive arsenal if I never mastered my own weapons, so that was what I was out here to demonstrate.

I strolled out of the Doorway, clad in full regalia. My white cloak and armor reflected the Tennessee sun while the True Ice protrusions kept me pleasantly cool.

Well, pleasantly cool for me. Everyone else felt the bitter chill of the Freljord, just slightly north of biting.

With Isolde slung over my back and Curtain Call collapsed into its pauldron shape, there was no denying my identity.

I approached the checkpoint and looked around. Eagleton was the site of one of the few S-class threats in North America that were still active. Namely, the Machine Army.

Originally, the small town boasted approximately five thousand people. I wasn't sure on what exactly happened, it was before my time and I had bigger concerns than to access Cauldron's case files on it, but a tinker created a self-updating, self-enhancing AI hivemind. For unknown reasons, it was unconditionally hostile towards humans.

The Machine Army operated by "infecting" metal or ore, turning buildings, furniture, and appliances into murderous facsimiles of itself. It then waited until people interacted with it before killing the unfortunate bastard. Given enough time, entire buildings could be put on tracks, turning them into mobile siege weapons.

By the time anyone knew what had happened in Eagleton, more than half its populace was dead. The rest were evacuated to other cities in the state. Since then, the town became known as Site Q3, the third such quarantine zone.

Understandably, the quarantine zone was rather large. There was the town itself. Then came a no man's land of about two-thirds of a mile in width, all barren dirt and gravel where not even grass was permitted to grow. Surrounding that were barricades and elevated encampments of concrete. That way, the guards could see any machines making their way through.

The PRT troopers here were unlike many other branches. They worked in conjunction with the National Guard and exclusively used lethal ordinance. They also constantly took a measure of the distance to the nearest building to ensure that the Machine Army wasn't creeping up on them during the night.

The Protectorate members were likewise the sort that didn't know how to hold back. Given the lack of organic life in Eagleton, many of the "problem children" across the country tended to get sent here, where their willingness to shoot first and ask questions never could be of some use while they learned to better control their powers.

"Hyunmu? Holy shit, it's Hyunmu," someone shouted as I walked closer. The speaker was a young woman, probably in her early twenties, who wore a gray bodysuit speckled with red.

"Hiya, do you know where Colonel Sanders is?" I asked her with my best PR smile. I didn't recognize her on sight, but she was probably one of those "problem children" sent here to learn to use her power in an environment where rampant destruction wasn't quite so costly.

"Cluck Bucket? Yeah, he's in his office. Fair warning, he's not happy," she said with a cocksure swagger.

"Well if you keep making KFC jokes about him, no wonder."

"Hey, he's never happy. He's one of those hardass military types. You know, the ones that sleep with a pistol under their pillow."

"Yeah, I get it."

"Cinereal, by the way. Come on, I'll take you to him," she said. I recognized her, though only vaguely. She would eventually become the head of the Atlanta Protectorate in canon. "Why are you out here anyway?"

"Honest answer? PR."

"PR? Seriously? Shouldn't you be kissing babies and feeding the homeless or something?"

I shrugged. "We have very different ideas about PR."

"Really?"

"Yup. All forms of PR are about sending a message. Doing charity work sends one type of message."

"And this?"

"This sends another."

She shrugged. "If you say so… I don't think Cluck Bucket will like being turned into a spectacle."

She led me inside and upstairs to a bare bones office. I noticed that most things in the building were not made of metal. Where possible, things like door handles and window frames were made of fiberglass and hard plastic, probably as insurance against a worst case scenario.

Now that we were inside, her behavior changed completely. The cocky, almost arrogant attitude was replaced by a more stern facade as she knocked sharply.

"Colonel, Hyunmu to see you, sir."

"Send him in, Cinereal," I heard.

I walked inside to find two men. One was an older gentleman, probably in his forties or fifties. He had broad shoulders that stooped slightly, the result of a spinal injury that he hadn't had fixed for some reason.

The second man was younger, in his early thirties by my guess, and had a cautious, studying look. His nametag told me he was Assistant Director James Tagg. If I remembered right, he'd been one of the responders to the Simurgh in canon. Without a Lausanne, he'd been stationed where his more gung ho attitude would fit, namely as PRT liaison to the National Guard here.

I saw no problem with it. Though his policies as Director of Brockton Bay were idiotic in the extreme, he wasn't that man yet. He hadn't had to monitor Simurgh bombs for years and his possible neuroses were a known quantity to Cauldron. So long as he was kept from the highest echelons of power, he was an effective enough leader in his own right.

"Colonel Sanders, I was told you would be briefed about my arrival," I began. "Has Chief Director Costa-Brown told you why I'm here?"

"She has, son," he said gruffly. He looked at me like I was some poor private thrown into 'nam. Then again, from his perspective, that was likely true. "I don't know how she got cleared for this, but I don't like it."

"I'll be fine, sir. I'm not exactly a normal person."

"No, I guess you're not. You're the wunderkind who's supposed to be the next big thing. That doesn't mean I'm letting you go in there without some assurances."

I nodded. I'd expected as much. It just showed that the good colonel was a responsible adult. "What can I do to ease your mind, colonel? Like it or not, I do plan to go inside."

"You'll be taking a team of our finest." He held out a finger, forestalling my objections. "No. Take the team, or take my head before you go, son. The only way you're going inside without protection is over my dead body."

He wouldn't budge. It seemed that whenever I met a good, responsible adult who took his job seriously in Earth-Bet, it was to my immediate detriment. I considered just ignoring him. I could simply Door my way to the center of Eagleton.

Then again, that sent the wrong message. While I could have Fortuna smooth things over for me, I didn't want to rely on her like that. The whole affair would just make me seem arrogant and uncooperative, the kind of person who couldn't be counted on when it mattered.

In the end, I agreed to take a team with me, a team consisting of six of their strongest capes, Cinereal included. I could handle it. After all, if I couldn't, Lily #1-192 died for nothing.

"Yes, sir. I'll take your team. It is unnecessary, but I appreciate your protection nonetheless," I said diplomatically.

He barked out a rueful laugh at that. "You think so? No plan survives contact with the enemy, son. Don't underestimate those metal freaks out there. And don't go inside the buildings, no matter what."

"I don't plan on it, sir."

X

Annabelle Troy

I was practically vibrating with excitement. Somehow, Hyunmu was given the green light to go into Eagleton. I didn't know why and I didn't really care. I seldom got to cut loose, even out here, and I was thrilled to test myself. Maybe, if I did well, I could get reassigned back home.

I wasn't the leader of Hyunmu's guard detail, that honor went to Stalwart. He was a big, beefy brute-changer who could morph his hands into whatever shape he wanted, including giant, shovel-like shields that could withstand tank rounds. He didn't look happy to be sent on what looked like a high-stakes babysitting mission.

The seven of us were standing around next to the gate to the no man's land. Though I'd been working with these people for almost a year now, I didn't know a lot about them. What I did know was that I was one of the most destructive members of the team, Hyunmu and his freaky ghost-furries excluded of course.

The teen of the hour looked pretty nonchalant about all of this. Normally, thirteen year old kids didn't get sent into S-class quarantine zones. They sure as hell didn't look like this was a grocery run either. I wasn't sure if this was admirable or downright freaky.

"Why are we going into Eagleton exactly, kid?" Stalwart asked gruffly.

"He probably thinks a sample will help with his tinkering," Mach-One said. He was a short, sandy-haired man with the laziest name I'd ever heard.

To be fair, he had jet wings coming out of his back. The wings were made of some kind of organic metal that the eggheads couldn't make heads or tails of.

He probably had standing orders from the colonel to take Hyunmu and ditch us all if things went tits up. It was unfair, but that's just how things were sometimes. Everyone knew here Hyunmu mattered more than us. He could retire if he wanted and he'd still matter more, just for his potions alone.

"No, it's nothing like that," Hyunmu said. "I have no interest in the Machine Army for tinkering purposes."

"Then what's the deal, kid?"

"What else? We're going to destroy Site Q3. Door, geographic center of Eagleton," he said plainly, as if he was discussing the weather. As we watched, a portal opened up to an area we'd all seen through satellite imagery, rendering Mach-One's involvement completely irrelevant. He walked through without a care in the world. "Well? Are you coming?"

The six of us hurried after him. I didn't think he'd leave us behind, but no one wanted to take the chance.

We quickly surrounded him, taking up a defensive stance. Already, the buildings around us were starting to move. The traffic stop had dismantled itself into whirling blades. Its red light was aimed our way, probably a laser.

"This is a horrible idea," Stalwart said. "We're fucking surrounded."

Hyunmu laughed. "Good. I can't miss then."

"Is this really the time for movie one-liners?" I barked.

"Of course. If you don't mind, please get ready to warm everyone. I think they'll appreciate it, Cinereal."

I was about to tell him off, but the temperature suddenly dropped a few dozen degrees. It went from "humid Tennessee summer" to "polar wasteland" in about four seconds. Our breaths came in ragged gasps as our bodies struggled to deal with the temperature drop.

I looked back at him. What the fuck had he done? Since when did he have a freezing field? And why the hell would he deploy one now?

"My armor has it. I've had it for years now. And I haven't even started yet," he said. I hadn't realized I'd spoken aloud. "Now would be a good time to warm everyone, Cinereal. I'm not very good at controlling this yet. Don't get me wrong, you won't die, but you're about to have a rather shit time of it."

"What the hell are you–"

He cupped his hands over the crystal on his chest. I'd dismissed the gem as a bit of vanity, but apparently it was some kind of tinkertech.

An orb of azure energy filled his hand and the temperature dropped another several notches. Then, when my teeth began to clatter, he tossed it into the air.

"Anivia's Grace."

I would never question Hyunmu again. If I could help it, I never wanted to be on a mission with him for the rest of my life. Let someone else deal with his bullshit. I wasn't even sure if the little fucker was human at all anymore.

The orb in his hand morphed into a crystalline eagle, or maybe some kind of ice phoenix. It let out an ear-piercing screech as it rose into the air. Though it had been palm-sized at first, it rapidly grew until its wings seemed to cover the sky.

It was impossible to describe. The eagle was just a projection, a stylistic choice made by Hyunmu that deviated from his turtle theme. And yet, I couldn't help but feel a certain regality about it, a sense that I was looking upon something more noble than anything else I would ever see in this life.

Perhaps the choice wasn't up to Hyunmu at all. He hadn't made an ice phoenix because he wanted to try something new, but because whatever an "Anivia" was, it was always a cryophoenix.

Then, with a second shriek, it flapped its wings. Each flap brought forth a cyclone that threatened to drive us to our knees. I felt as though I was witnessing a miracle, something that couldn't be explained by technology alone, no matter how brilliant the tinker.

Then came a cold I'd never felt before, and hopefully never would again.

The polar ice caps? The Antarctic Sea? Even the emptiness of space. I knew with absolute certainty that nothing in the natural world could compare with this. This was winter's bite made manifest, the idea of cold distilled into a glorious eagle. There was a bone-deep surety in my mind that this kind of chill wasn't survivable.

All around me, the Machine Army that had begun to mobilize shattered. Concrete became brittle and wore away on the wind, as if time sped up and brought nothing but ruin. Steel itself distorted and froze before joining stone.

The icy storm expanded, covering more and more ground. I saw the Machine Army try to return fire, but bullets shattered in the wind and lasers fizzled out, robbed of all heat and motion as though a god had decreed it.

Until finally, the storm came to an end. The great eagle let out one last shriek of victory and vanished into the air, dispersed into newly fallen snow.

The Machine Army was no more. Eagleton had an area of approximately three square miles. The containment zone added another mile and a half in diameter if we'd truly arrived at the geographic center. And yet, I had no trouble seeing the concrete barricades from where we stood. Everything, from the buildings to the traffic lights, had been eroded away, frozen and shattered into so much dust until nothing but level ground remained.

"Well, that takes care of that," Hyunmu said cheerfully. It was as if he hadn't just eliminated an S-class threat with two words. He then dug around in his pocket and handed us each a potion. "Sorry about the cold. I know that wasn't pleasant. Fine control is still a work in progress, which is why I don't use this often."

"I… What the fuck?" Stalwart summed up our thoughts.

"Ehehe, I did say you guys wouldn't be necessary, right? I mean, I do appreciate your willingness to fight for me, but I meant every word I said. I came to eliminate Site Q3."

I'd always thought of myself as strong. I was a breaker-shaker with incredible destructive power, regeneration, and area denial. Everyone said I had great potential, that I'd likely end up leading a Protectorate branch one day so long as I kept my nose out of trouble and got a handle on my powers.

I understood now. If I was "strong," what the fuck were the Founders? Or this absolute monster who stood completely unfazed in an S-class containment zone?

The worst part of it all, the part that terrified and humbled me, was that Hyunmu said he did this for PR. He said all PR was about sending a message.

Well, message received.

Author's Note

Hands up if you forgot Andy was afraid of the ocean. He did used to run simulations for himself in the Madhouse, using Fortuna's willingness to interrupt him to keep his own exposure therapy from going too far, but that was only six months or so before the Simurgh. Problems don't go away just because you nap for a few years.

Cinereal is known for her no nonsense, tough on crime attitude. She also got into some trouble in her youth because she's not very good at holding back. It's my headcanon that she did a brief stint in Eagleton before resuming her role in the Atlanta Protectorate and eventually becoming its head.

She isn't given a name in canon, but she's in Georgia so I gave her the most basic white name I could think of.

I'm not wanking Anivia. There are two instances in LoL lore in which Anivia creates a cold so powerful that it shatters steel. One is when she blessed an Avarosan warmother (Ulla "Shatter-Spear") to never fall in battle.

The other is when an unnamed southern king led an invasion of the Freljord and disrespected her. She was so pissed off at the king that she made a winter storm that wiped him and his army out, literally shattering his army to pieces. Then, in maybe the most excessive act of overkill in LoL lore, she made that storm last for a full century.

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