Throne 5.3
" Watch, Indra! I will burn it all! Vasavi Shakti!!!"
-Lancer
Side A
-April 28, 2011. 11:15 am, Dockyard Workshop-
"Even so, I cannot see myself. So I can change the outcomes." I whisper to myself, bitterly laughing all the while. I hated being right about my paranoia over the spice. Fuck I need to make the damn black barrel.
Leviathan would arrive soon, and I had several fires to put out. First things first, stopping Bakuda, then finding out why the fallen are moving against Nilbog, and finally making sure Leviathan dies. I feel the heat before even turning my head and I see Bitch alongside Amy teleporting in.
"You look like shit." Amy quips as she lays a hand on me, I feel her searching for damage and injecting me with a bit more energy. The only thing that was genuinely different was the high that followed, it was closer to dosing myself with eridium than what she had done to me before. My tattoos glowed in agreement with my assessment.
"You should see the other guy." I quipped, "Amy, do you want to stay here as part of our backline, or do you want to come with me?" I asked with a small laugh leaving my mouth, I nodded towards Bitch who grunted and nodded back.
"She's coming with us. She needs practice." Bitch answered before Amy could. The look of astonishment was something I wish I could've saved in film,
"Just for that I should stay here." Amy sassed for a moment before she shook her head, "But then what would be the point? Also, nice dress really brings out the entire crazy magical girl vibe you've been giving out." She quipped and I had to force my rising blush down. I cleared my throat and began, "Right, Bakuda is trying to lure us out. My plan is simple: I go and be loud and obnoxious, while everyone else erodes her support. So what I propose is the following: we hit the ABB warehouses and stashes along Brockton."
"And we didn't hit these before, why?" Amy asked and I came up with a better reason than: I honestly forgot they existed given how insignificant they were without their heavy hitters.
"The Empire had greater priority. Without Lung and Oni Lee the ABB lost cohesion and the lieutenants were tearing each other apart. Even if Bakuda did unite them, I'd rather she waste her time searching amongst the survivors for people she could manipulate, rather than have more bodies to use as disposable bombs." Not a single lie was uttered but it was still bullshit.
"That's a lot more calculating than I expected of you. Also disposable bombs?" Amy muttered with some begrudging respect.
"Had to take advantage of the chaos somehow. And yeah, Bakuda is that type of parahuman. There are some that are no better than flesh golems, I'll deal with them; everyone else would be up to you and Bitch." I replied as Dinah and Lisa entered the workshop. That did remind me that I could make her a mystic code, ideally it would be Volumen Hydragyrum. Da Vinci materialized next to me,
" Master, preparations for the shadow border are complete. It should only take a couple of hours to build, then we can use it. " Da Vinci mentioned telepathically, I couldn't help but smile at the news. The shadow border would only need the paper moon system in order to dive into imaginary space, which meant I could set up various fast travel points across the world, or escape from any shard based attacks.
I blinked in surprise as Tattletale glared between me and Da Vinci, "Great, telepathy. Anything else that servants can do?" She asked with a sly smile adorning her face. There was more confidence in her tone, her body language was also more relaxed. Which was contrasted by the fact that she was wearing her outfit, which meant she was expecting trouble or going to cause some. Dinah herself was fully suited up and the nagging on the back of my mind told me Aisha was right outside the door, probably with her own costume on. And despite my best efforts Emily had her own costume on.
"It's just between Master and Servant. In addition it's not true telepathy, we don't read each other's thoughts." I explained before ordering, "Now Belle, get in contact with Grue and Regent, have them near the dockworkers office. Quinn, you're in charge of Dinah, Aisha and Emily, you're to cripple their movements. Lisa, Belle and Da Vinci I need you to hack their communications, once that is set up, Da Vinci I'll need you to pick up Taylor and Voyager. Just grab one of the cars, pick them up and take them to city hall."
"She can't reach the pedals." Lisa quipped, and both me and Da Vinci glared at her. Belle coughed nervously and said: "Sorry to interrupt but Quinn is coming back with Taylor."
"Quinn is with Taylor?" I asked for clarification, since it meant that she was near enough to the attack.
"Yes, we decided that she would be patrolling today while I began working on making the parts for the assembly of the Black Barrel Replica. Unfortunately we were unaware of the plan to attack until Oni Lee began. Speaking of him, mother, is Oni Lee alive?" Belle asked, her voice was less synthetic sounding than before and yet it was colder. Ah she was angry at me… Good girl.
"It depends on if he survived the blast." I answered quickly, I didn't know what type of bomb Bakuda had given him; plus I'm more than sure that being stuck in the mirror dimension was a death sentence for him.
"Anyways, Belle you'll have to boost production on everything, we need a loader army or two. And if you can get some decently sized guardians up and running I would be grateful for that as well." I added and I could feel Lisa trying to predict what I was referring to, "I'll explain everything after we deal with the ABB, and if the Merchants decide to do something stupid, we'll bury them as well."
"You're cleaning house… What the hell is coming Marie?" Lisa asked, and I shook my head, "Lisa, I swear I'll explain everything to everyone after we deal with Bakuda and the ABB." She looked unconvinced but she nodded at my words.
15 minutes later and everyone had left the bass. Belle, Lisa and Da Vinci were all working on identifying the voice channels and transmission systems used by the ABB. Somehow Bakuda had gotten the equivalent to tinkertech wireless and then abused the fact that I hadn't been looking for her to set up several bombs across the city. While the others attacked various brothels, drug houses and safehouses; I focused on disassembling the bomb factory that she had set up.
"This one is also clear. Still, 4 out of 5 members with small bombs strapped to their heads is not good." Amy said, her tattoos glowed green under her new costume. Dark blues and grays adorned a bodysuit that had both a full mask and a hood. Her hands were the only thing that weren't covered in bulletproof silk, in addition I had added some heat proofing to it to prevent any errant fireballs from really damaging her. Though any attack would need to contend with the shield, which was designed to tank several explosions without issue. We still needed to get her a codename that wasn't Panacea, but that was a problem for future me.
"How many more?" Bitch asked as she knocked out another ABB goon with her bare hands, her own tattoos glowing bright red as fire coated her body and she phasewalked closer to me. My own tattoos were glowing gold as I summoned more hands to disassemble and reassemble the bombs that had been planted inside the idiots. Or victims…
"Not that many, her backer, whoever it is, gave her a lot of toys to mess with." The air shimmered behind me and one of my spectral hands grabbed the man as he materialized behind me. He didn't have time to scream as I filled his body with eridium and he shattered into glass. 3 more needed to appear before she would be forced to move, I needed her to use her best gadgets against me as the others tore through her safehouses, a tip to the PRT mobilized the actual PRT members, while the wards were forced to defend the rig.
This time the grunt came in with several bombs strapped to him, Amy phaselocked him as I used alchemy to break down the additions that Bakuda had given him. Her main contributions were the mimic Grey boy bombs, the body modifications were all Blasto's work. There was also one more thing, the same command that had chained Rune, which meant the Bastard Son was the backer.
"First Toybox, now it's Boston… The list of idiots is growing isn't it?" I asked in a low mutter as I aimed a blast of pure mana at the next idiot that appeared. He didn't even get to shout as he was burned to cinders. "Alright, that's enough. Amy, call Vicky and tell her to go to city hall; if the rest of your family is willing, have them accompany her. Bitch, call your dogs. We need to get moving since the dumbfuck is going to start raging in a few minutes and I have no intention of giving her a stationary target. We'll head to her main base, Belle guide Bitch while I make sure everything goes according to plan." I ordered, focusing on the guidance of the spice.
Every step of everyone but me and Taylor stretched out before me, like watching several screens at once. At this very moment Belle will have finished the hack on the communications, Quinn with her group have finished their own raid, Danny is safe with Grue and Alec. Judas licks my face as I scratch him behind his monstrous ears, Bitch whistles and I jump on his back. Taking aim at the wall I destroy it with pure mana before we leap out of the building. The rooftops are relatively empty, as we make our way to city hall.
"Taylor, how are things on your end?" I asked through our comms.
"Fine." She replied tersely, before adding, "Marie, did you know Bakuda would do this?"
"Yes and no, some things refuse to change, even with my interference. Or maybe it's better said I didn't intervene in time to stop her." I replied, we both were avoiding talking about the museum. I could feel both Da Vinci and Voyager frowning at our hesitation, but there would be time to decompress later.
"You're talking about killing her when you met her, aren't you?" Taylor guessed and I chuckled dryly before answering with a half-hearted, "Yeah."
"For what it's worth, I don't think that you should kill her." Taylor added suddenly, forcing me to shake my head and say,
"Taylor…"
"I'll do it." Taylor interrupted me and I bit my tongue. I was touched and worried, I couldn't let her start killing people, not even Bakuda. If anyone had to carry that burden between the two of us, it should be me.
[Let her help you.] Sylph reasoned in the depths of my mind. But I didn't need help killing, I needed help stopping myself from just using that as the only solution.
"Tay… I appreciate the offer, but I'll do it. Keep an eye on the Rig, I'm counting on you." I implored and heard a grunt of acceptance, the Rig became blurry the more I looked at it through the future.
Without Oni Lee, the ABB remnants had to rely on the Elite and their deal with Toybox teleporters to get Lung out of the Rig. And that meant Bastard Son would be there, Taylor and the Wards would deal with him. This would also push the wards to be more accepting of her, even if some did hate me. Plus Voyager was with Taylor, and he was very interested in the prototypes in Kid Win's lab.
Bombs began going off in the distance, not a single one would kill or harm anyone, just destroy property. Especially since Belle had hacked the signals and made a dummy signal that was being broadcast back to Bakuda. Who would've noticed it had she not been focused on me and my approach to her base.
"Smells like a trap." Bitch commented as we stopped near the abandoned office complex. The main base was beneath it, and the entire thing was a giant bomb, waiting to go off at the whim of Bakuda. Which was funny given the original purpose of it being a bomb shelter, don't know how the fuck Calvert managed to con his way into getting another fucking complex, though given that this one isn't as thorough as the endbringer shelter, I guess this was plan B.
"So are you going to do your magic trick?" Amy asked as she stroked Angelica's muzzle. The mutated dog grinned like a puppy at the affection, Bitch let out a snort of amusement.
"Yeah, I am. I'd suggest moving back a dozen feet or so." I suggested as I used alchemy to see the base. A quick scan let me admire the work that she put into it, the subsequent destruction of said work was no less admirable. I drew out Emerald and took to the sky with a simple jump, wings of pure mana flowed outwards and lifted me just below the cloud barrier, I focused.
I had options, I could whip up an explosive that could bury her. I could have Bitch phasewalk us in there, make a hole with alchemy, flood the complex with gas and ignite it. But I chose something flashier, something that couldn't be ignored. "Time to pull a magical girl feat." I muttered as Emerald simplified the ritual to the point all I needed to do was focus my will.
One runic circle, two… five total spinning counter clockwise in order to refine and focus the raw mana I was controlling. Focusing my own power I saw the wind around me shift away. From a distance I knew what it looked like, a small green sun rising over an empty part of the city, a very small part of me wanted to shout out an attack name.
That was a lie, I struggled to hold back the grin that threatened to form as the runic circles glowed and the barrel was made, the air around me felt cool to my skin as I fired. There was first a moment of absolute silence, then a roar, like a fleet of jet engines at full blast deafened me, the beam hit the first circle. Then the following and the following, each time decreasing in size until it was no wider than 15 feet and it hit the building, piercing its structure down to the basement where Bakuda saw the men she gathered reduced into atoms. Some ran but the beam followed them, turning them into ash if it killed them immediately, a few were unlucky
Amy and Bitch jumped down with the dogs and felt a tug on my reserves of energy, the Rig was under attack and Voyager was fighting. Taylor must be fighting.
Flying down I saw her try to escape, Amy snapped her fingers and Bakuda was phaselocked in place. It was a funny sight to behold, a young woman frozen in a bubble of pure energy, her hands and feet twitching in order to prime the explosives that I disabled; behind her gas mask I could smell the fear radiating off of her.
I walked towards her and grabbed her mask, "You know I really need to say thank you. I knew my peace wouldn't last, I knew I would be unmasked and I worried. I feared it would be someone like Leet or the Yangbang who would make me show my real face." If the snitch that had been following us since we were halfway here didn't fly out the hole I made, I doubt Bitch and Amy would've noticed it. My hand tightened around the mask as I began pouring eridium into it, there was sizzling as the mask began to burn and melt into her skin. Using reinforcement magecraft, I made it nearly unbreakable.
Amy let go of the phaselock and I threw her to the walls. She coughed as her body crumpled into the ground, I smelled iron. From the corner of my eye I could see unfinished bombs, made in haste, further back were several monitors that looked over the various destroyed facilities. Some looking at my friends destroying the safe houses, good. I breathed deeply, it was time to put on a show.
"You fucking bitch." She spat out with our venom. Bitch took one step forward and phasewalked next to her, and stomped on her knee, there was a sickening crack as she asked,
"Yes?" Never let it be said that Rachel didn't have a sense of humor.
"Not you! Your fucking leader!" Bakuda snarled as she glared at me, I had to admire the fact that she didn't scream as Bitch raised her boot again and slammed it on her knee. Another crack was heard, I merely smirked and let loose a bit of heat,
"Bakuda, I know you're working with the Elite. The question is why? Why do something so stupid? Did I fail to make it clear when I killed Coil and Kaiser?" I asked, Emerald's head began glowing with the heat I was outputting and focusing on it.
"You're an idiot, they're working for me!" She shouted with confidence and madness. Her body spasmed with pain as I brought Emerald just above the knee of her right leg,
"Sure they are, by the way how's that emergency bomb activation going? Did you try using your other foot?" I said as I swung and amputated her leg. Amy stilled, "Toe rings are a good idea, except we took over your signal. Now once again, why the Elite?"
"Fuck you bitch! You broke the rules! Someone had to punish you!" She screamed as if she hadn't broken them all. Or tried to, I felt something in me give way as I straightened my back and glared at the mad bomber.
"You tried to harm me and my family." I said calmly, summoning various hands, "You killed a friend of mine. And you dare whine about a little pain?" Faster than anyone else could react I sliced off her other leg and lifted her body up with the eridium powered ghost hands, "Listen well you morons with delusions of grandeur. To you who hide behind a parallel dimension, hear my words. Your vaunted knowledge is worth nothing! Everything you do, your haven, your lives, mean nothing and will reach nothing. And to you, who hide behind the excuse of contracts, I swear upon my name; pray that your death is swift. Pray for the mercy of a bullet to the brain, because I will destroy you and everyone under you. I am Maeve, and from my words a new world order will be born." I drove one of the phantom limbs into her stomach, beginning the process of crystallization.
Bakuda's screams began annoying me so I grabbed her throat and destroyed her vocal chords with alchemy. "And if you doubt my words, ask Kaiser if I don't fulfill my promises." I added as I filled Bakuda with eridium. By now the eggheads over at Toybox had managed to change the frequency so Belle's block wouldn't hinder them. Bakuda disappeared and in 5 seconds she would explode, the only thing remaining of her would be her head, which had a nearly impenetrable helmet stuck to it. A final fuck you to toybox and a warning, I knew that their boss would be pissed.
Amy approached me and asked, "Was that necessary?"
"Yes. Had I not broken her like that she would've had just enough spite to do something stupid, like detonate the glass bomb under city hall. Had I killed her then Toybox wouldn't have bothered to grab her, thus keeping their confidence that I couldn't reach them. Had I not stretched out her pain, the rest of the Elite wouldn't understand the definition of sunk cost. That isn't to say that they won't continue their attacks, but this will give us a breather." I explained and she turned her face away from me. I grabbed her hand and felt shaper trying to scan me and worse. I let it, she couldn't kill me and I knew she was afraid.
"Amy, believe me when I say that this was the best possible option." I said and only tightened my grip, Amy stopped using her shard and breathed deeply.
"The fucked up part is that I believe you. How bad was the first timeline that torturing and killing Bakuda is a mercy?" She asked and I didn't hesitate, I already told Taylor and Lisa, might as well tempt the Red Queen.
"Taylor saved all that was left of earth-bet, and got two bullets to the back of her head as a reward. You broke and drowned in depravity, the remaining endbringers had free reign on humanity. Believe me when I say this Amy, not even killing me would stop me from stopping that future." I replied with as much conviction as I could find in me. Bitch put her hand on my head and said, "Satisfied?" She asked Amy, who chuckled, "Very." Amy said as she removed her mask, "I'll help you, even if it's to repay you for these powers. And for freeing me from my misery. "
"Thank you." I muttered as a greater drain hit me like a truck, I stumbled as Voyager used his noble phantasm. I smiled, slaying a dragon is always a good way to be a hero.
Side B
I suppose I should start from the beginning, however that would take too long, so I'll sum it up; I am Taylor Anne Hebert and I am a Parahuman. Though thanks to the tinkering of my cousin I probably classify as a monster of a Parahuman. At the moment I was looking over all of Brockton Bay through countless eyes and ears while also paying attention to what was going on in the Rig. Belle had dropped us off using the teleporting craft that Marie had built. She had modified it so that it would work in more than one direction and thanks to that we were safely nestled somewhere in the Rig, far enough from the patrols and the cameras didn't reach us.
[Query: Why not eliminate the escalation shifter?] My passenger asked me directly. One of the few perks of what Marie had done to me, a direct connection to my powers. Even if it sounded more robotic than the actual robot.
" Because there's a difference between self defense and murder! Plus he's Lung, he could be useful against the endbringers. " I answered, not fully convinced as I understood the point that Queenie was trying to bring. A not insignificant part of myself was all for it, possible uses for Lung's corpse as a surprise weapon against those that would recover him flowed into my mind and pieces of the swarm under my control stilled, their bodies unmoving and awaiting orders. Yet, killing him was also not a good idea, the morals of the situation aside he was more useful alive, which is why the PRT had him heavily sedated.
[Reply: Illogical. Amendment: Greater chance of conflict and data, hesitant approval of tactic. Advice: Talk to aberration about circuit installation. Siren data 40% incompatible with current restrictions if reports are accurate.] My passenger replied clinically, I could feel their frustration over the limits that had been imposed on them.
" Queenie, her name is Marie, not aberration and I will talk to her. " I chided, firmly reminding them that I wouldn't tolerate their descriptions.
[Reply: Aberration is more accurate, (best) host is unwilling to communicate with the parental unit. Is unwilling to converse deeply with Negotiator and Shaper about-]
" QUEENIE! Shut the fuck up! You don't see me talking about how jealous you are of Sylph! " I shot back at her and felt her presence grow in anger in the back of my mind. There was a tense moment of silence as Queenie replied;
[... Understood.] And the presence faded slightly, sulking in a corner. I still didn't know what Sylph had said to her or done, but Queenie had taken it poorly. Regardless it was a useful button to press whenever they got too close to annoying me. At the same time I saw Marie fly up to the sky, her eyes glowed deep blue as her staff swung down. 3… no 5 energy circles blazed outwards and I could feel the very earth shake as the sky twisted itself and fire was formed.
" Oh… Fuck! " I thought as I ordered all the bugs to run as a beam that was as quiet as a roar from a great beast tore apart the building and the complex beneath. This was the moment the bastards from Toybox and the Elite decided to invade the rig. It was less a kaleidoscope and more of a shift in reality, the air itself twisted as a team with tinkertech armor and weapons dropped into the hallway near the cell where Lung was.
Almost immediately the Rig's alarm blared to life and I left the ship. Voyager shimmered into reality next to me and said, "Enemies, I'll fight… Cover me." His voice, though dream-like, was focused and had an odd edge to it. I nodded in response and he disappeared, according to Da Vinci it was called spirit form and it was a way to save on energy. I called it bullshit since they could slip in and out of anywhere while in spirit form.
Regardless I focused on the small swarm of bugs I had with me as the greater swarm flew towards the Rig. I heard an explosion and caught the tail end of a conversation from two of the troopers. They were cursing like sailors as the shield that covered the rig was disabled. I drew out one of the swords that Marie had made and began rushing to where the enemies were. The wards were rushing out of their rooms to various key points in the structure, ignoring orders from their superiors to hide.
Had I been ignorant about Sophia then I might've been impressed. A part of me was angry at them, where were they when their teammate was shoving me in a locker full of shit? Pushing me down a flight of stairs? The swarm buzzed in anger as I pushed part of it to them, something I still did despite knowing better.
"Pushing down your emotions in an attempt at being objective isn't the best way to deal with trauma. Taylor, I'll probably sound like a hypocrite but you need to work through your issues."
Lisa's words echoed in my mind as I ran past a dazed PRT trooper, I had my spiders making a bandage for his bleeding head. The armed goon took aim at me and the bee that had snuck behind him stung him on the inside of his ear, making him flinch. I dashed towards him, the small sword shining under the lights and swung, his fingers and rifle fell to the ground. He screamed as I jabbed him in the throat, he fell back and part of my swarm arrived, the ventilation system was extremely useful for spreading my swarm around. The spiders began to make quick work of the goons that had already fallen.
Vista was closest to where Lung was and was under fire, the troopers next to her were split between getting her to fall back and thanking her for making some cover as they pushed forward. A heavy woman was being escorted by a lot of troopers as more grunts wearing ABB colors and emblems charged out of their pocket dimension. I formed several bug clones and had them charge screaming. Forcing them to focus fire on the clones, they fell like waves, but it was enough. The PRT troopers and their boss emptied their magazines on them, I suppose it's somewhat telling that I didn't even flinch.
"Fucking Brockton Bay! First the damn Nazis and now these chucklefucks!" The woman snarled, grabbing a communication device from one of her men, "To all PRT personnel I, Emily Piggot, formally declare the ABB a terrorist organization and as such allow for emergency engagement rules under the Foundational charter. I repeat, kill on sight is allowed until the end of the emergency period, all wards are granted emergency authorization to use any and all means available to them to survive and defeat the enemy."
"And you Weaver! If you can hear me, you get your ass over to the holding cells! They're after Lung." Piggot ordered my clone who I had snap to a salute and disperse.
"Fucking parahumans… Get New York on the line, we're going to need…" She continued issuing orders as I let my attention focus on where I was heading. Voyager had been appearing all across the Rig as more and more of the ABB goons poured out. It was interesting to say the least to see a golden light punch various dozens of goons within seconds of each other. I ducked under the jab that would've hit me, with my free hand grabbed the limb and severed the arm at the elbow. The man screamed, my bugs flew into his mouth, some bit into his skin, I drew one of the syringes that had the healing potion and jabbed it into the open wound and saw it seal off. Then I slammed his face into the wall and continued moving. According to my mental map, I was around 3 minutes away from Vista.
Then I saw one man, with a metal leg and a needle. I didn't hesitate, I sent several brown recluse spiders to bite the man. He jabbed Lung, and screamed as several spiders dropped enough venom into his blood to kill an elephant.
The rest bit Lung in an attempt at forcing the rage dragon to focus on healing… It was not enough. I should've poisoned him while he was unconscious, even if it would've made him wake early.
Imagine for a minute being next to an explosion, now multiply that by several hundred times and from everywhere. That is what I felt as Lung roared to life. Green veins spread across silver scales and skin as flames began to spew from his mouth. I sped up, Vista saw Lung burn his own men,
"W̸̮̯̭̫̽̉i̷̟̹͎͑̀͝t̷̜͋͛̂͊c̶͔̘͉̔̔͗͂̐͌͝ͅh̶̛̪̗͈̙̻͋̆̈́̆͐̆.̵̢͛̆̔̅͒ ̵̲͗̓̓̊̍̕W̸̻̯̬̗̝̠̜͒͂̃̆̾̑͘h̸̝͉̕e̸̹͓̩̊̇̈̒̒̔r̵̠̘̝̬̤̺͂͒̔e̴̳͍͕̦̱̙̫͑̔͑̇̆̌̕ ̷̳̣͈̰̰̭́͆̌a̴̲̭͈͒͛͠͝r̸͔͇̟̩̲̰̺͛̐̔́̑͊è̶̖͙̙̃͠ ̷̢̈́͗͋́̋̈́͝ý̷͍̯͈͔͚̑͜o̷̡̨̡͍̳͓͙͒͆̕u̴̙͒̌͊̂͘?̴̮̎̽́" He spoke as his size grew, his maw formed and another roar escaped his mouth. I leapt over Vista and threw my sword at him, it bounced off his skin, I leapt after it and swung down, it failed to even scratch the natural armor. The heat was unbearable for a moment when the corridor lengthened and Vista said,
"Get back, we gotta regroup!" My stomach growled in response and I ran towards her. Lung roared and laughed as he grew, his body spasmed as flesh tore and metal rose. I focused and called out to the insect that Marie had gifted me. I kept it sleeping most of the time, the few times I let it stay up was when I fed it from what Belle recommended, it was good practice for alchemy…
"Vista, how big can you make space?" I asked.
"I'm a shaker 9." She replied as if stating the obvious, which in hindsight she did have a point. "I've never reached a limit so far."
"Okay, I've got a plan." I started and Lung fired a gout of flame towards us. Voyager appeared and stopped the flames with what looked to be a piece of a spaceship.
"T-Weaver, are you okay?" He asked me, he wore what seemed to be a spacesuit with a bomber jacket on top, aviator goggles rested neatly on his chest. There was something different about him…
"Nice costume change." I quipped and I looked at vista's face. There was some awe and what I could only describe as incredulity.
"Thank you, Master's energy output stabilized and allowed for temporary spirit ascension. I can't wait until she's strong enough to let me and Da Vinci at full power all the time." He confessed with clear joy in his tone. Voyager faced Lung and shouted in challenge, "Let's go you big gecko, I've seen real dragons before and not a single one of them looked as weak as you!"
As if responding to the taunt Lung rushed towards us and Voyager met him halfway through the corridor. The little servant ducked and weaved between the strikes of the growing dragon, landing a few quick but weak hits. Lung grew and Voyager just seemed to speed up in response, the bugs I had nearby burned as Lung kept flinging fireballs around.
"You said you had a plan, right?" Vista asked as we escaped the battle.
"Yeah, I need you to expand a circle I'll draw, if we can keep Lung in there for a few seconds I'll be able to weaken him enough so that Pandora can either kill him or put him in a coma." I summed up my plan as Aegis and Kid Win approached us. Clockblocker and the former Traveler girl were escorting a woman to the hospital wing. Browbeat and Flechette were dealing with more mindless ABB members.
"Who's Pandora?" Vista asked as the insect appeared. According to what Marie had told me the Varkid species of insects were a major annoyance due to how adaptable they were, if they weren't killed they could grow stronger, and immune to what was used against them. And Pandora was no exception, the Varkid had grown to the size of a truck, the exoskeleton tanked blows from both Belle and Quinn and I had seen them tear through buildings as if they were made of wet tissue.
Pandora made a sound not unlike an engine filled with rust. I could feel its instinctive need to attack and kill everything rising, but I forced it down.
"That's Pandora." I said with some pride infecting my voice.
"That's a biotinker weapon." Gallant said, for some reason Marie didn't like the guy. And with him complaining about Pandora while Lung was fighting Voyager, I couldn't fault her. He had managed to save some people on his way here though, so he wasn't a fake hero hopeful at least.
"A bit late to whine about that." Aegis interjected before I could get a word in. "That's one of Maeve's creations, the one she used against Fenja and Menja?" I nodded and he grunted in response. "Okay, if even Legend didn't bother to make a fuss about it, then we won't either. Got it Gallant?" I blinked, had my mask not covered my full face he would've sent my mouth agape.
"Fine." Gallant replied tersely, he breathed out and added, "Weaver, you said you had a plan. How can we help?"
"Really, that easy?" I asked, surprised at the change in tone. Even if his posture did indicate that he didn't trust me.
"Look Maeve hates my guts and I don't trust you. But at the same time, I can push past that and help deal with the giant death dragon that's just a few floors down." He admitted with what I could only assume was bitterness in his tone.
"Right, Maeve gave me a device that can alter matter, the issue is that it's short range unless used with a specific circle, so I need to make the circle, then lure Lung into it. Then we hit him with everything." I explained and Aegis sighed.
"Of all the times for Clock to not be here." He muttered while scratching the back of his head.
"He's escorting people out." I said without thinking. The rig shook as Lung grew and Voyager crashed a rocket into the rage dragon's chest. More of my bugs burned as the heat intensified, I saw Vista's body tense as the room grew again.
"...You can see through your bugs?" Kid Win asked and I nodded. "Okay, that's cool. Like real cool, maybe if we get Armsmaster we can set up a good surveillance network." And that was oddly enough truthful. Even if the rest of his friends tensed at the implications.
"Okay, I'll help the kid keep the Lung busy. Gallant, take a few pot shots to draw Lung attention. Kid Win, stay with Gallant and provide covering fire. Weaver, here." Aegis said, handing me an earpiece, "I don't know how long we'll be able to keep him distracted, when ready tell us and we'll lead him here. Vista, I'm counting on you to give us the largest possible area."
"Pandora, go and help them, cover them if need be." I ordered out loud. Might as well make them think I needed to do so, the beast growled and rushed ahead, I could see Voyager fighting Lung again. The servant wasn't doing any permanent damage, yet he smiled fearlessly. He saw Pandora, waved his hands and dive kicked Lung in the maw.
Kid Win drew out, what I assumed were, stun lasers and dismantled them while behind cover. In less than a minute he created a laser rifle, and fired. The beam hit Lung in the eye, Aegis screamed as he threw himself into the fight. I saw his body burn and adapt as each second passed, he jumped and Voyager grabbed him before throwing him with a spin. The impact must've shattered his arms and legs, yet Lung stood dazed for a second.
My body was moving even as my mind saw the fight play out, Gallant kept hitting Lung with blasts of energy. The outermost layer of the circle was done, now all that was left was the inner layer and the specifications. Pandora bit into Lung's arm, drawing blood and the dragon's ire. A giant claw coated in flames crashed soon on its head, deep cuts broke through the hardened exoskeleton, yet it didn't reach the brain. I forced Pandora to retreat temporarily, Aegis had recovered and jumped with enough strength to appear as if he flew straight into Lung's jaw and smashed into it like a cannon. The rage dragon was still growing, its wings were beginning to unfurl, and the heat haze around him only grew.
Kid Win cursed and dismantled the rifle, within seconds he created a round orb, the blinking light made me shudder. If it was what I thought then I needed to hurry. I really need to have Marie tell me what to do to just clap my hands and let me do alchemy.
"Weaver, how's the circle?" Gallant asked while blasting Lung, the dragon reacted with a fireball, which almost hit the ward had Voyager not uppercutted him.
"10 seconds then bring him here!" I shouted and Vista nodded, the arena shrunk behind them. I sped up, there was no time, the circle was done, Kid Win dropped his bomb on the floor and Voyager appeared next to me with a tired looking Aegis and Gallant. Half a second later Kid Win appeared.
"That…" Vista said as the sound of an explosion was heard, Lung screamed in pain as his flesh was torn apart.
"I'm very fast." Voyager said as if it was nothing, "I'll protect all of you, Weaver be ready. The big gecko is almost a wyrm and I'd rather not fight one of those again." He added before going back and hitting Lung. I could tell he was bringing him closer with each second that passed.
"Vista!" I yelled.
"On it! On giant fuck you circle coming right up!" She yelled and space shifted, the ground became a void for an instant as the world twisted and flexed as if made from clay. Vista made a canyon of metal, walls that once only reached a dozen of feet or so threatened to reach the sky, jagged points of metal disencouraged climbing, and the opening on the roof was a thin line that let the afternoon sun in. The circle was now massive and Lung rushed behind Voyager, he was nearly 20 feet tall now. I pressed my hand against the circle and activated the stone on my bracelet.
A white void greeted my sight for a moment.
" Not yet." A voice echoed.
I felt a shiver run down my spine as I saw what made Lung so damn near indestructible. The composition of his scales, the growth of his muscles, how his mind now functioned and most importantly the cocktail of drugs that was in his system. I couldn't kill him, not with the energy that was left inside the stone. But I could do something else.
Lung screamed as lightning scarred his body, stripping scale and flesh like a cat o' nine tails made of plasma. The beast stared at me and roared, trying to force its body to stand while alchemy tore at it. I couldn't help it. I smirked, "I suppose Marie did infect me with something" I thought. "Stay down you overgrown lizard!" I yelled as the alchemy finished its work. The stone fell from my bracelet and became dust.
Lung was a mass of open wounds, the wings that once threatened to unfurl lay torn behind him, his once silver scales now stained blood red. His left arm was mangled beyond recognition, his right only had a single digit left, the others had been burned away. And yet…
"̶͖̝̗͌̅̆̅͜W̴̦͓̟̏į̷͔̠͙̞͊̂̍ţ̸͍͉̘͛c̶͈͕̲̖̽h̷̗͑̓̾!̸̺̍̃͂ ̸̧̦͎̪̰͒͛͘͝Ȋ̵̫̲͖̪͚ ̴͙̩̘͕̌̎̐ȧ̸̋ͅm̶͖̽̉̂̐͊ ̸̣̰̹̗̈́̑L̴͎̜͂̀͊̓̃ů̶̗̬͚̔n̴̯̓͝g̴̡̿̔̔͊͘.̸͉̲̱̫̀̉̇ ̷̼͚͐͑̒̕͜Í̸̝̜̅̂̕ ̸͕̋̑͛̓w̵̨̡͕̖͇͂̈́̎͛i̷̧͍̳͋́́l̸͓̺̑͐̈́͜l̴͋̌͜ ̵̯̲͇͙̾͘ṋ̷̃é̶̟͉͇̈́ͅv̵̰̿e̴̛̖͗́͝r̶̢̙̱̟̂ ̴̤̅̌̊f̸̘̳̏̚a̶̺͓̍ͅļ̶̼̣̲͗͊̊̕l̸̢̬͇̉̏̈́!̴̛̺̀͒͑"̸͓̲̱̓̿̽̅͗ He roared while standing and with a broken jaw. His eyes glowed with hatred. The dragon of Kyushu, he truly deserved that title. Yet I couldn't feel despair, I still had Pandora and Voyager.
"I'll be the guide. Humanity's dreams. Humanity's hope. I'll deliver them all to the distant starry sky. We'll reach it one day. Pale Blue Dot." Voyager intoned far above us. For a single moment I saw it, earth, our little planet from so far away. And above it was Voyager, in his hands a small light that shone brighter than the sun.
For a brief moment I saw what Voyager saw whenever he looked at humanity, our potential, the beauty of things we created. Even through all the war, and the destruction there was always hope for a better tomorrow, that was what made him smile.
[Humanity… Unlimited Potential, so many paths. And yet…] Queenie, no Queen Administrator muttered. Their voice echoing in my mind for one moment, a sea of shards connected like a web, spreading across creation. It was beautiful.
"We're so small…" I replied. Against the vastness of infinity, we're so small and yet… I had perceived this once through the haze of the spice, and the answer was the same as back then. We move forward, through despair, through pain, we endure and surpass it. Because we're…
[Small bonfires that stand against the coming night. I understand, the cycle leaves nothing. Host Taylor , I finally understand. I swear, you will be my last and greatest host.] Queen Administrator finished my thought and swore. I could feel something click inside my head. Like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Lung's screams brought me back to reality, I felt recharged and ready to fight for more time, but Lung? Lung's body was burned away, his dragonic shell giving way to a far weaker human one, albeit one that was healing and forcing himself to stand, his eyes still glowing with hatred. Unfortunately for him, Pandora was still around.
The insect had grown yet again, blazing red with jaws that shone like onyx stars. I let it drive its jaws into Lung, but stopped it from snapping him in half. The rage dragon cursed me and tried to form a fireball, but it was too much, and too late as well. He had burnt himself out and fainted as Pandora threw him into the ground.
The insect raised its head and screamed in victory, I glared at it and ordered it to go back to base and hibernate. I felt it try to defy it, and when realizing it couldn't, it sulked and went to its room.
"So, not bad for our first team up, right?" I asked as the wards laughed.
Chapter 5.3 end
Notes:
Another chapter down. Just a few more to go. I knew fate would be long, but damn I underestimated how long it is
Thank you, all of you. For reading this and my other works. Words cannot accurately describe the joy I get whenever any of you comment. As always see you soon.