After failing to save the people in the hospital, I began going around the crashed transports looking for survivors.
The first transport only had three people. All of them were dead. Unsalvagably.
I went to the next. Five people, two were alive but injured and unable to escape. They would suffocate to death without assistance. I drew my khopesh and began cutting through the wreckage, making a hole big enough for them to crawl through.
Then I dove inside. The cabin was filled with smoke and one end was partially on fire. I manipulated the air and forced the smoke out of the transport.
Both of the survivors were already unconscious. I was going to have to get them out myself.
I cut through their harnesses and immediately had to make a huge portal outside the transport to intercept another steel beam. The other side of the portal pointed away directly on the other side of the transport.
I grit my teeth as I foresaw her destroying the other downed transports before I could get there.
Pushing myself, I physically grabbed the two heroes and teleported out with them, not having enough room inside the transport to make a portal inside.
I set them down in the triage area then opened another portal to the transport I foresaw the Simurgh would attack next and rushed through,
I immediately opened two large portals, one in front of and one behind the transport, as the transport was assaulted by a hail of concrete, rebar, and even a few cars.
The Simurgh changed angles, striking from the sides and above instead. I was forced to take in more power and raise a telekinetic dome around the transport.
Scrap began slamming together into a metal shape. There was a flare of power from within it. Wrong. Off-script. No futures I'd seen had shown me this happening. A pulsing blue glow, arcing like lightning from within the metal construct. Tinker-tech that looked eerily similar to Kid Win's alternator cannon, except scaled up significantly and far more crude as it had been hastily slapped together. My stomach dropped.
She'd changed her plans and made a weapon in a matter of moments.
A huge beam of roiling plasma shot out from the crude device she'd put together in moments.
I was forced to throw myself backwards away from the wreckage to avoid being caught in the blast
I slammed into a brick wall and sensed the four survivors die as the transport was vaporized. Blistering heat washed over me even from this distance. I had to cover myself in ice so I wouldn't catch fire, and shield my eyes with my arm so I wouldn't be blinded from the intense light. Even then I had to heal my retinas after it was over.
"Shit!" I cursed to myself in frustration.
Looking up, I saw Legend hammering the Simurgh with blasts of light while Alexandria closed in, fists raised, while Eidolon went straight for the plasma cannon. A wave rippled from Eidolon and the cannon collapsed in on itself like a tin can under extremely intense magnetic forces.
The Simurgh dropped the broken plasma cannon, already moving. Flying north towards the next pillar of smoke in the distance. The only bright side was that the plasma cannon had been destroyed by Eidolon so it was no longer a threat. But who was to say she wouldn't just make another? Or some other weapon?
Still holding onto as much power as I could, while being able to move, I teleported over there and immediately cut open the back hatch of the damaged transport with my khopesh.
I opened a portal to the triage just outside the craft and rushed to the entrance, looking inside
There were nine people unconscious, five dead.
I telekinetically ripped off their harnesses and began pulling them out.
I could feel a pressure on my mental barriers as the Simurgh entered range for her scream.
I had to pull them out carefully or I'd end up killing them by accident. The hole I'd made was too small. I wasn't going to have enough time to save them all.
I tried to raise a barrier to buy myself enough time to save even just a couple more.
I looked over my shoulder and saw the debris coming, only for it to be intercepted by a hail of lasers from Legend. Most of it was vaporized or blasted to pieces.
I felt hope spark within me. If Legend was helping me, I could get everyone out alive.
And I did. I had to maintain my barrier as some things were getting through. But I managed to get everyone through the portal.
I was about to move on to the next wreck, already reaching out to the threads of fate, twisting them to have Legend help me again—
My armband crackled to life.
"Attention! The Slaughterhouse Nine are attacking Ellisburg Quarantine Site! The walls have been breached! Nilbog's creations are escaping! A state of emergency has been declared! We need a Triumvirate response, immediately!"
My blood ran cold. The threads of fate slipped through my fingers, unraveling like poorly weaved fabric. Legend… I couldn't hold him. No version of the future let me keep him here.
I looked ahead and saw it. Legend and Eidolon abandoning the fight, flying off to the east and vanishing into the horizon. Only Alexandria would remain, and that was almost certainly because she had business with me.
I understood the logic. Nilbog had the potential to be an existential threat. Simurgh would only destroy Las Vegas.
But logic didn't make it easier. That small glimmer of hope I'd felt for just a moment, was blown out like a candle in a storm.
I could already see the Simurgh making something new off in the distance. This time she was taking her time, using the attacks of the capes trying to fight her to break, shape, and melt the metal pieces into shape.
Snarling I drew in as much power from the Warp as I could, collapsing to my knees, and fired several beams of molten energy at whatever it was. I blasted holes through it.
She couldn't see me. Couldn't predict me. So she couldn't anticipate my attacks and use them to the benefit of her device.
The Simurgh didn't even need to move. Several buildings exploded as if yanked apart by invisible hands. Metal supports, pipes, glass, and wiring floated into the air. Cars were dismantled and both fuel tanks and batteries swirled around her along with numerous smaller computers and personal electronics, as she began constructing nine large devices, twenty midsized devices, and dozens of smaller devices.
It was worse… How did it get worse? How the hell did everything I do just make things worse?!
I was at a loss. I felt hopeless. And that was torture for me. As part of Tzeentch, hope was a part of my very being so despair felt like burning barbed wire being dragged across my very soul.
I couldn't do this. I had no idea what I was doing. This wasn't a fight I was ready for.
"Tzeentch… I need help…" I muttered.
I refuse.
"You… What do you mean you refuse?!" I demanded furiously.
I am not here to clean up your mistakes, child. You did this and so if you wish it fixed you will do so yourself. I can change your body such that it could withstand more power. But your mind is still tragically human. So you would risk madness as you stretch beyond your limits. But ultimately this is your battle and I shall not fight it for you.
I cursed mentally. Giving up control to Tzeentch had been the only way I could see possibly winning this. If he refused, I didn't think I had any other choice than to accept more power and hope I could stay sane.
"Fine! Do it! Anything!"
I took a ragged breath, trying to relax, and suddenly like a switch was flipped I was a passenger in my own body as Tzeentch took over.
He immediately drew in as much power as he could without destroying our body. Pure agony coursed through me, it was so intense it felt like I was dying as energy seared me from the inside out. At the same time my mind was wrenched open and exposed to the Warp. So many voices, so many emotions, so much death. I was in Hell. I wanted to scream but I couldn't. Tzeentch was in control right now, not me. He held our body up with telekinesis, forcing us to remain standing. Blood seeped from our eyes, mouth, and nose only to be dragged back inside as Tzeentch began changing us.
I felt everything he was doing. Every spell he cast. He cast a spell to render us imperceptible but there was something weird about the spell that I couldn't quite place. He was changing our brain and nervous system in ways I couldn't even begin to comprehend. Our flesh and bone bubbled, warped, tore, and split before mending itself in new shapes. My armor and robes began to warp and flow like water into new shapes, to accommodate the changes he was making.
Massive wings sprouted from our back, an extra pair of arms sprouted just beneath my original arms with new musculature and skeletal structures to support them. The skin of our second set of hands was blue and bird-like talons extended from the fingers where nails should have been. Our bones and muscles grew more and more dense.
The more we changed the less the power Tzeentch was using hurt… No… I realized the only changes that were doing anything were the changes to my brain and nervous system. The rest were completely superfluous.
"S… Sto…p! On… ly n-ne… need… change… b-brain! Wh… at… a-are… y… you… d-doing?!"
Consider these changes to be a gift. If you don't like them, by all means, reverse them.
As control was finally returned to me I groaned in frustration. I didn't have time to deal with these mutations.
I was still holding the power that Tzeentch had used to make me like this and I could barely think. What I was about to experience terrified me but I had to try. Anything to fix this mess.
I took in more. There was no physical pain my body could take it now but the more I took in the more I could hear. The more I could see. The more I could feel.
Thoughts, emotions, death, destruction, pain, suffering. The tides of the warp crashing against my soul and bending against me. Daemons in the Warp and…
"M-m… om…?" I groaned, tears welling in my eyes.
The spirits of the dead…
In front of me was my mother. Annette. She looked sad and terrified and awed all at once. I had no idea what she was seeing as she looked upon me. Was it my physical form? Whatever Tzeentch and I looked like in the Warp? Both? I didn't know.
She looked like she was trying to speak to me but I couldn't hear. There was too much! Too much noise! Too many emotions! Daemons, ghosts, and the living all clawing and vying for my attention.
"So…rr…y…" I wheezed an apology to her. I didn't even know fully what I was apologizing for but I felt like I had to say it.
I took in more and more power until it did start to hurt again. But I hardly noticed the pain at all. Was I even in pain? I didn't know. How could I?
I was drowning. Drowning in a storming ocean of thought and devastation.
I fought against it, struggling to claw my way to the surface and just stay afloat. But the harder I fought the more the warp fought back. I screamed and the Immaterium screamed back.
My eyes drifted up and through the screaming vortex of emotions, daemons, and souls given form in the warp, I saw a strange winged creature.
What was that?
I felt like I should recognize it, like it was important, but I didn't. I couldn't think. I could hardly breathe! Breathe? Was I breathing? No… No… I was choking. Suffocating. Drowning. Drowning! Drowning!
I struggled and thrashed, clawing at my face, at my throat. Metal rent and flesh tore. Blood poured. I didn't even register it. I was drowning.
Something broke, splitting off of me. A tiny fragment. Little more than a splinter. I didn't register that either.
I saw a light. A face. A woman and a giant lanky bipedal man-owl-thing behind her. A… L something… Lo… Lord…? Lord of… What? Lord of… something… I should have known this but I didn't.
The woman… familiar… Knew her… important… hard to think… She was… important… Had… Hadtothink! Had… to… Light, woman, important. M-m… Mother… She was… my mother?
The owl said something. Couldn't hear. Too much. Too much! Painsorrowhopeagonytoomanyvoicestalkingscreamingprayingallatonce!
Mo… An… Annette… She wrapped her arms around me.
Couldn't feel it. Couldn't feel anything. Could feel everything. Felt too much all at once all of it blending together.
Light. Mother… Annette… Hugging… Second set of arms moved, returning the embrace.
I was breathing, I realized. Hyperventilating. Heart beating too fast. Pain.
Face was bleeding.
Metal on ground. A mask. Torn apart.
I raised a hand up and knit my flesh back together, barely even cognizant of what I was doing.
The mask was important. Didn't know why. Melded the pieces back together and put it back on.
Looked up and saw lights.
Lights, not good lights like owl. Too-many-winged-thing… dangerous… Many many bad lights… W…Weapons…? Dangerous… Need… Needed… stop.
Something on my back moved. Wings? The ground started getting further and further away.
Held onto Mom, and the owl thing came with us. Using its light to get my attention and bring me back whenever I started to drown.
"Attention! The Slaughterhouse Nine are attacking Ellisburg Quarantine Site! The walls have been breached! Nilbog's creations are escaping! A state of emergency has been declared! We need a Triumvirate response, immediately!"
Victoria's blood ran cold. This was the worst possible time for the Triumvirate to leave. The Simurgh wasn't behaving like she normally did. They needed every heavy hitter still here.
But as she looked over she could already see Legend and Eidolon turning and flying off. But Alexandria stayed for some reason. That was somewhat encouraging. At least one of them was still here!
Victoria saw the Simurgh putting something together. Another piece of tinker tech just like that plasma gun the Simmurgh had made earlier. Albeit more carefully constructed.
Against her better judgement, she abandoned search and rescue duty to try and break the machine before it was finished.
Several other capes joined her, including Crystal and Aunt Sarah. Laserdream and Lady Photon.
She flew close and tried to punch it only for the main device to be pulled away and for her strike to be intercepted by a hot steel beam which deformed on impact. It was bent at an almost perfect ninety degree angle. She then saw it move only to block a blast from Laserdream that cut it.
Victoria grit her teeth. Swooping down she grabbed a broken streetlight and tried to swing it at the machine the Simurgh was building. Only to hit another piece of metal, helping shape it in the process.
The Simurgh was using their own attacks to make the pieces she needed for whatever it was she was making.
She saw the glass and wires be ripped out from the inside of the broken street light she was holding, floating off and joining the growing metal construct.
Alexandria flew at it, intent on trying to destroy it, but the Simurgh simply slid the construct away before Alexandria could reach it.
"This is hopeless!" Victoria shouted in frustration.
Suddenly a beam of molten energy shot past her, missing her by less than a foot as it blasted through the Simurgh's machine. Followed by eight more beams. Fortunately none of the rest of the beams got anywhere near her.
She looked to see where they had come from and saw Circe near a crashed transport.
"Good job, Circe!" Glory Girl shouted, though she was so far away she doubted Circe had heard her.
Not even a moment later several buildings all but exploded under telekinetic force, their constituent pieces stripped apart and floating around independently. Metal supports, glass, electrical wiring, water pipes. Along with them every computer, phone, and television in any of the buildings floated out as well, and were disassembled for their parts. The same went for cars on the streets.
All of these materials were being reassembled to make more weapons. Dozens upon dozens of smaller weapons, twenty devices the size of small cars, and nine large devices that dwarfed all the rest.
The Simurgh was very clearly not happy that whatever she had been building had been destroyed.
Victoria looked on in horror. What the hell were they supposed to do against this? The Simurgh had never gone this far before. Something was different this time and she had no idea what it could be.
She glanced back at Circe.
She'd predicted the Simurgh's attack… It couldn't be that, right?
Suddenly, something strange happened with Circe in the distance. Her armor rippled and flowed like liquid metal, the fabric of her robe reshaping itself around her. An extra pair of arms burst forth beneath her originals. Unnatural, blue flesh twisted into slender, taloned limbs. From her back sprouted two vast wings, each feather a shifting kaleidoscope of color. Even from here, Glory Girl could have sworn she could make out pale runes of some alien script dancing across those feathers before vanishing again. Her heart thumped as an almost‑audible whisper seemed to echo from those symbols, scratching at the back of her mind. She shook her head, but the Simurgh's scream swallowed the echo. Had that been real, or just her imagination?
Glory Girl had stayed still for too long and was hit from behind by an engine block from a car.
She started falling but managed to catch herself.
"Glory Girl!" Lady Photon called out in worry.
Victoria waved and shouted back. "I'm fine! Sorry!"
She flew up and tried to destroy one of the car-sized things the Simurgh was making. But it was futile. At best the Simurgh would sacrifice one of the dozens of smaller weapons to protect the larger ones. At worst, her own attacks were being used to help make different parts of whatever the Simurgh was building.
The small weapons started coming online, firing lasers, plasma, and lethal bolts of electricity.
She was nearly incinerated by a volley of plasma fire, which ended up hitting Alexandria instead of her.
Circe had managed to destroy one of these things so what was she doing right now? Why wasn't she helping destroy the rest?
She glanced over where she'd seen her last and saw Circe tearing at her own face and throat. Sparks flew as her talons ripped through her own mask and blood poured as she tore into her own flesh.
Victoria's eyes widened in horror. What the hell…? What was wrong with her?! Why was she tearing at herself like that?!
"Circe!" She shouted. She was about to try and fly over to her but out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the Simurgh's guns aiming at Vista who was standing on a nearby roof. Vista didn't see the gun, completely oblivious to it.
Victora flew over to Vista, getting between her and the gun. "Watch out!" She shouted as the gun fired. A laser struck Victoria in the chest but was deflected by her barrier. The next beam hit her in the shoulder and the next missed entirely as Vista warped the space between her and the laser.
Victoria hissed in pain and clutched at the wound in her shoulder. "Agh! Fuck!"
"Are you alright?!" Vista asked, worried.
Victoria took her hand away from the wound and saw blood on her hand. She grimaced and tore a strip off her cape and held it out to Vista. "I'll live. But could you help me bandage this up real quick, Little V?"
Vista nodded. Taking the strip of Glory Girl's cape, she wrapped it tightly around the injury and tied it off. "There. That should help until you can get Amy to help you."
"Thanks…" She smiled at Vista then turned her head to look at the Simurgh. "I think things are getting a little too hot this close to the Simurgh. You should fall back. Try looking for people trapped in buildings and stuff out of range of her telekinesis and preferably out of range of her scream."
"No way! I can help! I can—" Vista objected.
Victoria cut her off by grabbing her shoulders. "Missy, please. I'm terrified and I have my invincibility. The Simurgh's not acting how she usually does and both Legend and Eidolon are gone. It's just whoever's still up and Alexandria left. It's a really bad situation. If we need to get whoever's still alive out of here fast you're probably our best bet at doing that. So fall back. Please."
Vista hesitated a moment longer before sighing. "Alright. Just be careful and keep track of how much time you have left."
Victoria smiled and patted Vista on the shoulder. "Trust me, I have been. Now get out of here. We'll talk later."
With that Victoria flew back into the air and saw Circe had stopped mutilating herself and had seemingly healed her own injuries. She had her mask back on and her inhuman lower arms were crossed in front of her in a way that made it look like she was trying to hug someone but there was nothing there.
Her wings began to flap and she ascended unsteadily into the air, clearly not used to having wings.
Something was still very clearly wrong with her beyond that though. Victoria had no idea what it was but it was concerning.
Victoria tried to fly over to Circe to talk to her and to try and help her out as she could hardly fly straight, but the Simurgh was making it damn hard to get to her. Circe nearly crashed into a building but seemed to catch herself with her own telekinesis and used that to help herself fly straight.
When Circe was satisfied with her position she raised her staff and two of her other arms, while the fourth continued to hold onto nothing, and shouted incoherently as she launched nine balls of blue fire from each hand and her staff. The twenty seven missiles of unnatural fire spiraled through the air, and each one hit one of the Simurgh's weapons and exploded. Destroying the weapons in the process. She targeted the largest ones that were still being constructed and were the closest to being finished first. The biggest of the weapons took nine fireballs each and she struck two of them. The third group of fireballs spread out and hit nine of the smaller guns, a single fireball being more than enough to destroy those ones.
All at once, all of the Simurgh's remaining weapons turned on Circe.
Victoria's eyes widened and she flew away as fast as she could, not wanting to get caught up in that.
All of the Simurgh's guns that were complete, including the ones the size of cars, fired at once. The spot where Circe had been flying was completely vaporized in a massive unrelenting barrage of lasers, plasma, and lightning, as was the building behind her, the building behind that, and a deep molten crater formed in the road on the other side.
Victoria was sure Circe had been vaporized until she realized there was no call out from her armband announcing her death or injury.
Looking around, she saw Circe falling off in the distance only to catch herself and flip herself back up right. Except she was facing the complete opposite direction from the Simurgh. She slowly turned around, as if she was looking at something that had been circling around her, guiding her. She seemed to register the Simurgh's presence again and unleashed another volley of fireballs, destroying even more of the weapons.
The ground erupted. Sewer pipes, buried power lines, chunks of concrete and even the shattered fragments of guns Circe blasted apart were wrenched skyward, repurposed by the Simurgh's furious telekinesis into fresh armaments.
The Simurgh moved. As she did, she tore even more buildings apart for materials to produce more weapons.
Circe had teleported again and unleashed another volley of fire. As soon as they struck, the Simurgh immediately responded by trying to blast her with everything she had again.
Circe moved again and tried to attack the Simurgh directly but failed to do any significant damage. Only getting through a few of the Simurgh's weakest outermost layers.
The Simurgh seemed to be completely focused on Circe and every time Circe attacked, the Simurgh seemed to escalate even more.
Was… Was the Simurgh getting frustrated?
The Simurgh started firing randomly in every direction. As if she had no idea where to aim. But how? Wasn't she a precog?
But Circe was a precog too, so was Circe predicting where the Simurgh would shoot or…
Circe appeared near Glory Girl, very obviously unsteady and muttering to herself incoherently. Her body trembling and twitching erratically. Something was very obviously wrong with her.
Circe's armband crackled to life. "Circe! This is Dragon! You're running out of time! You need to evacuate the area immediately!"
Circe didn't even seem to register the voice, already raising her staff again. "Circe? Circe, can you hear me?! Please respond or at least start moving away from the Simurgh!"
Glory Girl took the opportunity and quickly flew over to Circe, grabbing her by her human arm. "Circe, it's me, Glory Girl. Didn't you hear Dragon?! You've got to get away from the Simurgh!"
Circe turned her head to look at Glory Girl, still twitching and muttering complete gibberish. Barely seeming to recognize her at all. Finally able to get a good look at Circe's mask she saw it crudely welded back together, with very obvious seams from where her talons had rent the metal apart earlier.
"Shit… What the hell happened to you…? Come on, I'm getting you out of here!" Victoria started pulling Circe away, intent on taking her back to the medical area.
Circe thrashed and screamed, trying to break free of her grip. "Hey! Calm down! Damn it, stop struggling! You're gonna hurt yourself!"
Her staff started glowing and for a moment Victoria was worried Circe might try to attack her.
Then blood began seeping from the brightly glowing eye holes of Circe's mask, the mask seemed to begin moving with her face as she opened her mouth and started screaming, only to devolve into a violent coughing fit, spitting up blood. Her body began jerking violently as if she was having a seizure. She kept trying to scream as she continued to cough and wheeze. All the while the light on her staff grew brighter and brighter.
Panicking Victoria held onto her, trying to keep her from hurting herself as she was having her seizure.
After a few moments hundreds of coruscating rainbow beams, each giving off a soul chilling inhuman shriek, blasted forth from the staff. Each striking the weapons the Simurgh had been using and making from all different directions as the beams took chaotic curving and spiraling paths through the air. Several of them hit the Simurgh in the chest blasting a crater in it a few inches deep and large enough to be visible from a distance that continued to radiate color.
Then Circe's body locked up entirely and the light faded from her staff and eye sockets. Her ruined mask returned to its original shape and position, seemingly a normal mask again rather than following the movements of her face.
Finally she went completely limp in Glory Girl's arms. Seemingly having fallen unconscious.
Victoria glanced at the Simurgh who fortunately didn't seem to have any idea what direction that attack had come from. She then took off, away from the fight. Bringing Circe back to the triage area for medical attention.
Alexandria had backed off from the fight. Watching as Circe tried to battle the Simurgh. She could already see the futility of Circe's actions. All she was doing was breaking the Simurgh's weapons. Nothing she was doing would actually stop her.
The first time Circe actually attacked the Simurgh directly, she had managed to hit the Endbringer which is more than most could say. But she'd done almost nothing. The second time, with her final attack, she did manage to leave a visible scar that was still glowing. But Alexandria knew it was purely cosmetic, it would surely regenerate in time as with all damage done to the Endbringers. But to the other heroes? The Simurgh rarely if ever took damage. With her precognition she was the most capable of avoiding, dodging, blocking, or killing her attacker before they could hit her. So to them, that glowing crater meant something.
Every surviving cape seemed to have seen her have that seizure when she cast that final attack, appearing to have pushed her power beyond the limits of what her body could withstand, and they all saw the scar she left upon the Endbringer. And thus they all rallied, as if taking after her example with renewed hope.
She didn't share their hope. While she understood how it might be a rallying point for them, she knew the Endbringers and that wound wasn't going to turn the tide. However, she certainly wasn't going to complain about a sudden boost in morale. So she'd use it to lead the battle against the Simurgh, knowing this wouldn't change the ultimate outcome of the battle.
More interesting was how the Simurgh reacted to Circe. It was like the Endbringer couldn't see her or predict anything she was going to do. And the more Circe did the more the Simurgh escalated in response. Frustration maybe? Or did she see Circe as a threat in some capacity?
And, of course, Alexandria had watched Circe's transformation. How she had begun breaking down, tearing at herself. That wasn't a symptom of the Simurgh's power and by that point Alexandria was pretty sure Circe hadn't been in the area of effect long enough to become a Simurgh Bomb anyway... A limitation of her power, perhaps? Something like Burnscar? Maybe the more power she used the more unstable she became? Or perhaps it was a particularly bad panic attack of some sort.
Alexandria looked back at the Simurgh who was already rebuilding the weapons Circe had just destroyed.
In the end, Circe had failed to truly accomplish anything.
But she had proven to be a major distraction for the Simurgh. And to be impossible for the Endbringer to predict. She was a blindspot for Contessa too…
Would that mean she was a blindspot for Scion too then? If she was, then perhaps they could have a weapon to use against him.
This needed to be investigated further…
For now though, she had a very angry endbringer to deal with… And possibly an escaped crazed biotinker later.
Nothing could ever be easy, could it?
Hopefully this version of the chapter clears up a lot of the issues from the first version. It's still probably not perfect but hopefully it works a lot better than the first.
As always I'm open to any questions, comments, or criticism!
woke up in a hospital bed looking up at the ceiling of wherever I was. I had no idea where I was and my head was killing me.
"Ugh…" I groaned as I raised a hand to my head and started healing myself. As I did, I registered I had wings and an extra set of arms.
The memories came back. I'd asked Tzeentch for help. He'd altered my brain to withstand more power and changed my body and armor. Then I saw my mother's ghost… I didn't remember what happened next but with my post cognition I was able to see it.
In the end I'd gone through all that, done all that, and all I had to show for it were these stupid mutations! All I'd done was make things worse for everyone…
I was currently back in Brockton Bay. In the medical wing of the PHQ. Panacea had healed the damage I'd done to myself.
Fortunately, they'd had enough common decency to not take off my mask.
"You're finally awake." A voice stated.
Still laying on my back I let my head roll to the side to look at whoever it was and saw Alexandria sitting in a chair beside my bed.
I sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. "I wish I wasn't… Ugh… I'll save us both some time. You want an answer… I assume this little chat is private?"
"It is. I made sure of it. So?" Alexandria asked.
I thought back to the hotel. I saved everyone I could but I couldn't save everyone. And in the end more people likely died because of my actions. How I provoked the Simurgh.
"I get why you do it. That doesn't mean I agree with your methods, but I get why… If you'd asked me yesterday, or hell even a few hours ago, I'd have agreed to keep my mouth shut but I wouldn't have joined you."
Alexandria crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "And now?"
I gave a sad smile under my mask and chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm still not going to join you, but… I'm at least willing to work with you. Just not as a full member of Cauldron with all that entails. Think of it as a similar arrangement to the relationship I tried to establish with the Protectorate and PRT. I'm not a Ward, but I'm willing to work very closely with them. Allies. We have the same ultimate goal after all. I just have different opinions on the methods by which to go about achieving the end result."
I sat up and slid my legs off the hospital bed, moving to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, as I turned to face her.
"You can consider me a similar but separate organization. And I'm willing to formally declare us allies and partners. But I'm maintaining my independence."
Alexandria uncrossed her arms and sat forward, arms on her knees, helmeted gaze fixed on me. "You'd build an organization on par with Cauldron, and keep it separate? No. You claim you're an organization like Cauldron unto yourself. That's beyond ambition. That's pure hubris."
I shrugged. "Is it? Do you know how many things like Kairos I can summon? What shapes they can take? Everything they can do? Do you know everything I'm capable of? You saw my offensive capabilities against the Simurgh, but raw firepower isn't my greatest strength is it? Thinker nine I believe you gave me?" I chuckled at the number. How appropriate… "And disregarding my own abilities, do you think I'm incapable of acquiring normal assistants and employees? Despite my issues against the Simurgh, and though I may not have the same kind of resources as you right now, I think it's quite fair to say I can make an organization like yours. Especially since I can see your past so I know exactly how you did it…"
I let that hang in the air for a moment. The tension was thick enough you could cut it with a knife.
Then I leaned back and sighed. "Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to step on your toes either. I know your plans, your experiments, and everything else that you personally know. So I know what I can do and how to avoid interfering with your operations. Like I said, I'm willing to work with you. We have the same ultimate goal. I just have different ideas of how to go about it…"
"You keep saying that. What is it you think you can do that we can't?" Alexandria demanded, sounding somewhat annoyed.
"Magic." I responded simply.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes." Alexandria grumbled in a warning tone.
"Good because I'm not joking. I'm not a parahuman. Panacea healed me so she can tell you, I don't have a Corona Pollentia or a Gemma. I do have different brain structures right now, because of these mutations, but nothing I can do comes from Scion or Eden. It's magic. Not parahuman powers masquerading as magic like Myrrdin's but real honest to god magic." I summoned a ball of warpfire to one of my lower hands and examined it.
"I could do a ritual and show you your own past lives. I could transmute lead to gold or summon the souls of the dead, assuming they haven't reincarnated already. I could push your soul out of your body and show you the Sea of Souls. But you'd write off any evidence I could show you as parahuman powers. So let me ask you this. Scion is an alien god-thing who can bend the very laws of physics to his whims. Parahuman powers already defy science. You know things exist beyond human understanding. So… Why is magic beyond the realm of possibility?"
I closed my hand and snuffed the flame, looking back at Alexandria.
"You can't possibly expect me to actually entertain this question, right?" Alexandria asked with her arms crossed.
"I do, actually. Here's another question. Do you believe in the existence of souls? That there's something after death?"
"It's hard to believe in god when there's a super powered extraterrestrial creature threatening to destroy all of mankind across the multiverse. Or if it does exist it certainly isn't benevolent." Alexandria responded.
I shook my head. "That's not what I asked. Ignore christianity or any other current human religion. Whether or not god exists or is good or evil, doesn't matter. Do you believe in souls? That there is more to us than just our physical forms?"
"This is ridiculous." Alexandria scoffed.
"Indulge me."
She stared at me for a moment before sighing. "Ugh… This is insane. I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation with you… Fine… I have no idea. I'd like to think souls exist, that there's more waiting for us after we die, but I've seen no proof one way or the other so I don't know. And you've already said you can't show me evidence."
"No I didn't. I said you wouldn't believe any evidence I did show you. Because you're too focused on parahumans and the physical world. But you'd like to believe in souls. Alright. That's a start. So hypothetically if souls do exist, what then? Again this has nothing to do with god, we're leaving that out entirely right now. But souls on their own. If they exist that implies there is more to the universe than just the physical reality in which we exist right now. Correct? After all, they aren't physical. We can't see them, feel them, taste, smell, or hear them. So they aren't physical, but they do exist. And if that's the case, what are souls made of?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, some kind of energy?"
"Yes but there's more to them than that. They're made up of the thoughts and emotions of the individual they were when they were alive. Thoughts and emotions are the energy they are made of. What is energy? The dictionary definition is: the property of matter and radiation which is manifest as a capacity to perform work. What is magic? According to the dictionary magic is: the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. So the simplest way to understand it is, magic is the ability to harness these energies to 'perform work' in the physical world."
"So you're telling me you use souls to cast 'magic'?" Alexandria asked flatly.
"The energy souls are made of to be specific. I don't take actual existing souls to create a ball of fire or mutate my own flesh. This gets into where souls exist and the mechanics of it and that's a much longer conversation than I think you want to have right now. We would essentially be discussing an entirely alternate set of physics. So let's leave it at this. I know for a fact souls are real, I know how they work, what they're made of, where they exist, and some of the mechanics of the realm in which they exist. And with my knowledge, I'm able to manipulate the energies of this realm to cast spells, empower runes and sigils, conduct rituals, and even summon spirits among many other things. And… I can teach others to do the same. And that's where the differences in our methods come in."
I leaned forward and looked her in the eyes. "You plan to create an army of parahumans to fight Scion. Using the powers he and his dead mate gave you. What's to stop him from just taking them away, or using a kill switch in the corona pollentia of every parahuman in existence to wipe you all out with a snap of his fingers?" I snapped my fingers just to emphasise my point. "They're his powers. And his dead mate's, of course. I know you suspect she didn't have time to fully limit all of them but if you really think you're going to find a power from her that'll kill him, you're more delusional than you think I am. But I can teach people something he can't control. Sorcery. And that, Alexandria, is our only real shot at winning this."
"You expect me to just accept that magic is real and your powers aren't a product of Scion?"
"Before Scion showed up, would you have believed in alien gods or superpowers?"
"That's different. The entities are physical creatures that operate within the laws of physics. We just don't understand science to that level." Alexandria argued, but I could see the cracks in her resolve.
"Is it really? How? I could say the exact same thing about magic. It's just another facet of reality that humanity doesn't understand yet. Just another kind of science, the same as whatever Scion is and how parahuman powers work. In fact it makes even more sense because I can actually explain it to you and teach you how to do it yourself. Whatever your logic or justifications, magic is not any more outlandish than Scion and superpowers. It just doesn't fit within your narrow view of how the world works. Just like all of this didn't fit your world view before Scion showed up and forced you to wake up to the reality that there are things far beyond your understanding. And now here I am, an anomaly in my own right… The only difference is that Scion just got here first."
Alexandria was silent for a long moment. "I can't believe I'm actually entertaining the idea that magic exists…"
"And yet you are… Look. I don't expect you to drop everything and start learning magic in favor of what you've been doing. Admittedly I didn't put on the best display when I faced the Simurgh so you probably think even if magic is real it must be pretty weak… That said… You saw how the Simurgh reacted to me. Why would she keep escalating the way she did every time I did anything against it unless there was something to my abilities that posed a serious problem for her in some way shape or form? Especially considering my subpar performance during that fight. She wouldn't. If I was a normal parahuman, she'd just treat me like any other cape. You've never seen her act like that before have you? All of that for me and I only just started learning. I'm still a novice. Imagine when I've actually mastered magic… "
Another crack. Deep this time. She didn't argue. That was telling. And I could sense the faintest glimmering of hope. That was enough. I'd planted the seeds in her mind. The seed of change and of hope. She was still skeptical about magic, but she'd keep thinking about this conversation and it would be her own thoughts that ultimately changed her skepticism to acceptance. And that last line, a thread of hope dangling in front of her. That would be the catalyst that kickstarted her change.
It was only a matter of time now. Until then…
"Well, anyway, as I said it's just a difference in method and I suppose philosophy. So I won't be joining Cauldron. But I will build something like it. Different in method, but aimed at the same end. And our organizations can work together. Be allies. Even collaborate. But I will be independent. So, do we have an agreement?"
I held out my hand to Alexandria.
She stared at me for a moment before she finally reached forward and shook my hand. "I suppose we do…"
I smiled under my mask. "Great. Now, could you give me a few minutes alone? I really need to fix this crap. I can't go home with giant wings and four arms."
Alexandria nodded and stood up. "Fine. But you have another guest waiting for you, when you're done. Glory Girl wanted to talk to you when you woke up."
I sighed and looked up at the roof. "That'll be a fun conversation…" I said unenthusiastically. I was still embarrassed about my mental breakdown and how she had to pull me out of there. So I wasn't looking forward to it.
Alexandria left the room, leaving me alone to try and fix the mutations Tzeentch inflicted upon me.
Unlike the previous chapter, I'm actually quite confident in this one and am very satisfied with how it turned out! Personally I think I hit the Tzeentchian notes this version of Taylor should be displaying quite well in this one!
I'd have included the talk with Glory Girl in this version too, but I felt like the end of Taylor's conversation with Alexandria was a natural end point for a chapter and I think it works well enough on its own.
But let me know what you guys think. If you have any issues with the direction, thoughts on what might be able to be improved or done a bit differently, or criticisms please do let me know so I can try to address it or fix it! I can't do anything if I don't know what I'm doing wrong, after all.