{The preview for book 2 has been posted, with the current title 'Rewire'. After this chapter there will be an Epilogue. This chapter may be broken down and extended at a later date but, for now, enjoy and thank you all for your support and comments.}
A woman stood atop a white stone cliff, overlooking a great sprawling valley, the grass an endless ocean of green. She fixed her gaze on a tiny settlement at the base of the cliff, sheltered in shadow, and on one side had access to a bubbling brook. The sight of her people made her frown, her fists clench, and anger stirring deep in her soul.
The faint breeze stirred, carrying it with the whisper of the distant ocean, far beyond the horizon, and sent shivers rippling across her skin. She rubbed her arms and stepped back, looking out across the valley once more. Behind her, a shadow flittered; then, from it, a dark figure emerged, and took shape, glowing as if filled with starlight. The woman didn't panic as the glowing woman stood beside her, following her gaze.
"This is as it must be," said the stranger.
The woman glanced at her, eyes flashing, a tempest within. "Why? Why must we suffer and starve?"
"For the first of our warriors to be born; the first of three," supplied the stranger.
The woman's eyes widened. "Why do need warriors?"
The stranger looked at her and tilted her head. "For a war, of course."
Chapter 25 Home
The first wave of Brainiac's drones descended as the League appeared. Every available member, a wave of colour and power, swept into attack. All except for Dick, whom followed Jason into the latter's apartment, thoroughly confused. In his typical smugness Jason didn't explain why Max had ordered them there, despite Dick's questions. If he was really being honest with himself he agreed to it on some thin hope he'd see Max; after that, or what he'd say to her if he even saw her, he really had no clue. But that was how it was with Max. She left him speechless at the best of times.
Jason strode ahead, seemingly focused on another task and was gone before any questions could be asked. Restless and eagre to return to the fray – he'd be lying if he said he was going just to fight – he wanted to be done with the apartment, and whatever seemingly important task he'd been assigned. It had been humiliating when Batman had agreed to it, having seen the plans Max had drawn up.
Given a few minutes he wandered about the apartment, idly studying a bookshelf. It was crammed with a strange assortment of books, not exactly what he pictured Jason reading. Well, he didn't exactly picture Jason as the bookish type period. As he looked at it he began to realise how little he knew Jason, how much he really didn't understand. He idly picked a book out – Cloud Atlas – and opened the front cover when something small fell to his feet. Frowning, he set the book back on the shelf and picked up what he realised was a small polaroid picture, likely used as a bookmark. He looked at the inscription on the back.
6-5-14 Gotham
Turning it over his blood froze. It was Jason. And Max. Younger, by a couple years it seemed. They were sitting close together, a radiator behind them, and a whiskey bottle in hand. Max was smiling with such a light he hadn't seen before, not even with him, and Jason looked just as happy – and just as in love. Which was strange, since the date tied in awfully close to the events where Bruce discovered Jason's new line of work – in fact, the date was right in the middle of it. Max had been there, as what? His lover? Partner? Shades of Max were becoming illuminated in the final hours.
"What's that in your hand?" Jason's thundering voice shattered Dick's wandering thoughts.
Dick looked up. "You and Max."
Jason's face briefly played out a myriad of emotions before the corner of his mouth twitched, his lips pulling into a thin line. There was a shadow of amusement in his fox-like eyes, a bitterness he hadn't expected.
"Long time ago. Back then I didn't realise one very important thing about Max."
"And what's that?"
Jason slowly took the picture from his hand and looked down at it. "Max will happily take everything you give her – heart, pretty words, cheap dates and booze – and all she'll ever give you back is broken promises and a cold bed."
Dick opened his mouth to argue, to defend Max but he couldn't find the words – and that made him feel ashamed. Angry. Hurt. Frustrated, too, that he couldn't shove away the feelings he had for her. That he felt he'd never lose. Forever haunted by her haunting gaze and thrilling laughter.
"Come on, I need your hand with this – then we can go back to the fight. The quicker we get this done the quicker we can go."
Silent, Dick followed Jason into a small bedroom, where a frail woman sat in an arm chair. Jason approached her softly and whispered something into her ear. Light faintly flickered in those glassy eyes as she glanced up at Jason, then nodded and took his hand as he helped her out of the seat. She wobbled uneasily. Dick shot to her side and she instantly began to lean on him. They led her outside the apartment, where a woman awaited beside a black sedan. She met Jason's gaze and nodded, then opened the door. The frail woman was bundled inside and the door closed behind her. The other woman climbed wordlessly into the car and soon the sedan pulled away from the curb.
"Where is she going?"
"Somewhere safe." Jason turned to him. "Now let's go kill some aliens. Max is about to begin."
"This is not going according to plan," cried Flash as he blurred between robots, taking them down one by one. "They're barely paying any attention to us."
Bruce nodded grimly beneath his cowl. "They're looking for her. Keep them distracted until the signal is given. Do anything you can to keep them focused on you." He looked skywards where Superman was ploughing through the flying scouts. "Superman, draw them further north – try and act like you're trying to keep them from the Docks. We'll act like she's there."
Superman shot away with a clap of thunder. Bruce turned his attention back to the fray, to the drones spreading out across the city. They were hunting and they were fast. It was an uphill battle to keep the numbers down and distracted, to keep Brainiac's attention spread thin. On that thought Bruce looked to the ship, which hovered ominously above. Brainiac had yet to appear. He was waiting. Max had yet to begin, which explained his quiet. Once she began there would be a massive surge of energy. She told him Brainiac would flock to it in an instant. All she needed was five minutes; after that, nothing Brainiac could do would stop it. It was just five minutes but it might as well have been an eternity, especially if Brainiac was fixated on her. He'd pay no attention to them.
He leapt into the car and raced off down the streets, spraying the ground drones with a hail of bullets. Turning sharply he made his way down to the Docks. It had to seem like there was a slow losing fight on the Docks, that that was where she was going to appear. There was every chance Brainiac would see through it, of course but Max had given strict instructions. It was a sound plan. It was clear she hoped he'd go to the Docks but played it that if he didn't, he'd still be far away from her, wherever that was. There was at least half a dozen areas she could appear.
"Batman," came the crackled voice of Dick through the comms. "Jason and I are on our way to the Docks. How are we looking?"
"We're fighting an enemy that has no interest in us, only Glitch," he replied gruffly.
On the other end Dick chuckled. "We've got our orders. You trust them?"
"No." It was a sound plan, carefully detailed, but did he trust Max? He was still wary of her, and what would really happen when she was done. Naturally, he had his own plans in place if she double crossed them. If she even stepped out of line the measures he'd set up would snap into place. There would be no escape for her. Regardless, he'd be glad once it was all over.
Dick's comm went quiet. Bruce knew Dick was putting a lot of effort into not going after Max, to do as she ordered. It was admiring and made Bruce proud, and grim, too. Her death would cripple him, if it didn't break him completely. There would be scars. Big ones.
Shaking off thoughts of the aftermath, knowing the only good they'd do would be to distract him, he sped up and swept onto the main road that ran by the Docks. Several drones lay destroyed on the road, Superman standing by them. Bruce stopped sharply and jumped out. As he did a sharp piercing noise split the air, drawing their gazes to the skywards. Bruce's mouth flattened into a thin line.
"It's begun."
Behind him he heard Dick and Jason stop on their bikes. A second later one bike screeched away.
I was a storm of wild energy, no stability what so ever. My whole body thrummed with it, thundered with bolts of power through my limbs. I felt so alive and yet, it was like I was standing on the edge of a cliff. At the depths of my mind I felt her stir, stretching up through the layers of consciousness, tugging to be set free. Only, I had no idea how to. I stood in the middle of Gotham Park with only the instructions of my people embedded into me, and the plan given to me by my people's guardians.
The girl within me surged again, her consciousness brushing my own, a whispery voice piercing the thin veil between us. Let go.
Closing my eyes I plunged deep into the energy stored within, a well of seemingly endless energy. It stretched out before me like the universe itself, full of writhing ribbons of energy. Bursts of colour splashed out like bolts of lightning, each as thunderous as the last. Slamming through me. Staring out I realised all of it was me; the raw, untapped energy. All bound up, trapped. Contained with a mortal vessel. That was why I had been made; only this energy stored within someone like me, a genetic monster – not made to last but to do a job, to hold the energy until it was the right time. All fears I had about not being strong enough fell away. I summoned the energy – every inch I could and I forced it out. One big explosion of energy.
The world burst into white.
Sharp, as vivid as the galaxy itself, the world changed around me. The park was there but out of focus, as if viewed through warped glass. What was achingly clear was the rivers of energy flowing around me. Clear and warm, colourless. It wasn't mine, I realised. It was the earth. Yet it was so familiar. What I had seen before had been my senses flooded by what was before me; now, my body accepted, and I wasn't so blinded. I felt free.
Beside me, a figure appeared. It was her. She stared out across the park, her eyes unreadable.
"Its's like I'm back on Kalera," she murmured; her eyes suddenly darkened. "Let's get this over and done with." Turning to me, her eyes were intense and dizzying. "Take my hand."
I reached out to take it when something caught my gaze. A dark figure slammed into the ground, rising up from a plume of smoke. Though I'd never seen him before, not in the flesh anyway, an ancient part of me knew him. His name whispered through me. Brainiac. He stood up straighter and seemed to be looking around. Little did he know he was too late. I'd already begun. There was no stopping me now.
A smile began to tug at my lips when I saw another figure appear in the park. My stomach sunk. No. Dick had arrived. Did he think to distract Brainiac, to buy me time? But I was already good. He had to know that no matter what Brainiac did it was too late. I had won. I had to tell him, had to make him understand that he should leave. Be safe. My heart constricted.
You can't speak to him. If you break the process now he'll see you and he'll kill you, said the girl – her real name came to me as her own memories began to flitter amongst my own. Ellia.
I watched as Dick launched at Brainiac. From the way he fought, dodging and nimbly keeping from reach, I knew he was just trying to buy time. But he'd tire and make a mistake. If Brainiac got him he'd kill him.
Don't get emotional now. Don't toy with the future- Brainiac's hand snapped out and caught Dick, then slammed him onto the ground. I owed him too much to abandon him now, to leave him to die. Not when he didn't have to. I knew what I had to do.
He was about to die. As Brainiac loomed over him, ready to kill him, Dick thought how it'd be nice to see Max one last time. He tried to move but his limbs refused to respond. There was no pain, nothing. Though his breath was laboured and he swore he tasted blood in his mouth, he knew that there was some bad damage. He sucked in a ragged breath and stared up. If he was going to die he was going to stare Brainiac in the eye; not because he was deluded enough to think Brainiac might feel guilty but rather that it might make the end easier, if he felt brave enough to stare death in the face.
Brainiac's hand came above him. A few seconds and it'd be over. The hand moved. A bright exploded above him, burning his eyes, blinding him. The light quickly dimmed and a dark shadow fell to the side of him with a thundering bang. He blinked and tried to see what had happened. Beside him, Brainiac lay on the ground, face down. Glancing up, he saw – he saw Max. Only, she was glowing and semi-transparent, like she wasn't really there. She looked down at him with sad eyes and knelt down, scooping him up as he weighed nothing. It felt weird to see right through her but be able to held by her, like she really was there. How hard had he hit his head?
She was walking but saying nothing. He tried to move but his body wouldn't respond. He didn't want to think about a possible spinal injury or what it'd mean. If he wasn't dreaming he was relieved to be alive. She stopped suddenly and set him down, gently, like he was made of glass. Without speaking she brushed a hand over his cheek, sending sparks shooting into his skin. A warm spread out from her touch, making him feel sleepy, his eyes heavy. Darkness tugged at him, warm and whispering, a gentle lullaby in his ear.
With a kiss on his cheek he watched as she stood up and turned around. He wanted to call out to her, say something. What, though? What did he- darkness pulled him under as he watched Max dissolve into a burst of light. Her kiss had felt awfully like a goodbye, he realised as the darkness fully claimed him.
It was like molten metal had been poured over me; every inch of me burning, becoming little more than a consciousness. The surging energy flowed from within me and out into the raging vortex of energy, which thundered and writhed before me. A violent clash of light, streams being sucked in from the darkness which bordered the park. My people, one by one, going home. I wanted to scream and beg for the pain to go away but I had to continue. It wasn't over yet. The vortex before me spluttered and slowed, just for a second. Panic roared within me, prompting a surging wave of energy from within – harder than before, and the fire continued to burn me.
With no physical body I knew it was my essence – the soul or consciousness or whatever you believed made you, you – that was burning. There was no freedom from that. Not yet anyway.
Keep going. It's almost done, urged Ellia, infusing her own strength with mine, her energy funnelled in as well.
I felt her anticipation for the end; not to re-join the people but to die. There was nothing else for her there, with our people and, on earth, she didn't see a future. Yet, how could she? She'd always lived within me, never even watching really, lost in her own realm of darkness and foggy thoughts. Broken only by the times when I subconsciously called on her, like I did years ago to escape the facility. What life had she really lived? It was right to surrender mine; my purpose was done soon and I wasn't made to live beyond it. I'd come to accept that. Yet Ellia was different. She was an aid, someone whom had the chance, when the time came, to return with the others. Only, I knew she had no interest to do that.
I saw her beside me, resigned but eagre – what life had she lived? My energy began to fade, drawing my focus. I looked to the vortex and saw the threads of energy begin to fade, fewer and fewer passing through, until only the occasional one appeared. Finally, after a seemingly eternal wait, one more final slipped through. My energy began to crackle. I felt so weak, so tired. Something tugged at me, like I was encased in string, and someone was tugging me some place. I didn't know where. I was growing too tired to care. Looking to Ellia I realised she wasn't feeling the same. If I left now she'd be lost to this place, eventually slipping into the void, becoming nothing. She saw it as her only future but she hadn't had the chance to live, not really.
Turning to her, I think she realised – no, she must've sensed what I thought because she instinctively began to pull away. I latched onto her before she could escape, and surged the last remaining remnants of me left, and drew on her own dwindled reserves. It wasn't much. Certainly not enough for two but I'd known my trip was one way. I smiled at her.
Don't you dare. This is my choice. I want this, she hissed angrily.
"Ellia, it's time for you to live."
And I pushed, surrendering swiftly to the tug of the string, and fell into the darkness. Within it, I heard a song, and fell to its tempting tune.