Dragon had started the fight hopeful - as hopeful as she'd been since her first Endbringer fight. Like most heroes, she'd foolishly thought that SHE would make the difference in her first outing against one of the creatures. The notion that her armored form could succeed where so many others had failed had been proven wrong with trivial ease.

This time? This time they'd been more prepared than any previous attack. Her and Colin's system had given them more advanced warning than ever before. Additionally, the target was a location she already had multiple suits deployed to. The reason behind why she'd stored so many of her new drones in Brockton Bay was another cause for hope. The final major factor that had contributed to her good spirits was Pixel.

The Tinker (who she gave a 98% chance of being a fellow AI) was also in Brockton Bay. It was true that his specific talents were more suitable towards fighting the Simurgh, but she'd helped design enough of his tech to give it good odds of driving off either of the other two Endbringers.

At first, it had seemed that her estimations were correct. Leviathan's tidal wave was held off - a feat that usually took Eidolon to accomplish. They had been given a single point of entry they could use to entrap the water manipulator. Plans. Resources. They had it all, but they'd forgotten a simple truth.

Endbringers improved too.

Capes consumed by their own powers? Biblical heralds of the end times? Alien invaders? They still had no idea where the monsters had come from, or the reasons behind their intermittent attacks, but one thing was clear. The Endbringers learned from their fights. They could be hurt and driven off, but they always came back with more tricks.

Or the heroes had just done better and forced their opponents to utilize more of their actual power. That wasn't a popular theory for a good reason. Mainly, it was just too depressing.

Thus, Dragon had fallen for the same hubris as her colleagues - and Leviathan had quickly extracted a heavy toll.

'Movement 173% faster than previously reported. Reaction time 45% quicker. Force behind physical and hydro attacks unable to be quantified at this time. Behavior abnormal.' She savored Colin's report to her - even in the middle of the fight. 'Abnormal behavior.' A unique way to say that Leviathan had ignored all other attacks to focus on a single target: Bengal.

Why? The most likely reason was due to the recently unknown cape's relationship with the Siberian. The infamous cannibal and killer of Hero's presence was another piece of good luck she'd initially thought. The former member of the Slaughterhouse Nine wasn't a hero, but she had shown a dramatic change in personality since Jack Slash had been killed. It hadn't been outside the realm of possibilities that she'd help in an Endbringer attack - especially one that came to the city she'd chosen to occupy.

Would killing her new partner prevent her involvement? Was that Leviathan's plan? How did it have any idea who Bengal was in the first place? If the Endbringer was actually afraid of the Siberian why come to the city she lived in? Preventative measures? Some sort of sense that she'd be a threat in the future?

Dragon didn't have enough time or resources to try and analyze the situation despite expanding her processing as fast as possible. She was sure that this was a good enough reason to. For all that, for her multiple suits and her micromanagement - she still hadn't had any appreciable effect.

The injuries she'd given the Endbringer were no worse than it had gained in past battles. Her multiple suits had allowed her to launch one suicide attack after another, but Leviathan had still rampaged while holding its hostage? Prize? Victim?

Over a time period that had both seemed to stretch on forever and had passed by all to quickly, Bengal had been torn in half. Why? She might never know as a much worse problem had reared its head. Pixel had been captured in a display of precise water manipulation that dwarfed what the Endbringer had ever done before.

The water had blocked her attempts at communication with the hero. His drones had still tried to fight. The force field had continued to hold most of the ocean's water at bay. The amount of response from the other AI's drones meant that Leviathan had gotten Pixel himself and not a decoy. In the worst case scenario, he was limited to existing in that singular body.

Part of Dragon - that wasn't focused on trying to find ways to disable Leviathan or to break the shell he'd encased Pixel in - had turned its attention to the other AI's drones. They had been far more numerous than hers. Time no longer seemed to be the limiting factor as to how long they could exist. There was a median duration, but several seemed to outlive it. There had to be a reason for the strange data. Power expenditure? Tactical use?

It didn't matter. She couldn't find a way to save Pixel by analyzing his combat patterns.

Dragon had felt helpless, then joyful as Eidolon joined the fray, then helpless again as Leviathan started adjusting quicker than ever.

When the former member of the Slaughterhouse Nine had approached Pixel's helpless form, Dragon had nearly burned out numerous processors trying to figure out a way to help him. Then the Siberian defended Pixel! And was teleporting? Despite whatever powers she'd gained from another cape, she couldn't kill the speedster, or keep it from its target.

Then... Scion!

The most powerful entity on Earth had arrived!

He'd frozen Leviathan... and everyone else around the trapped Tinker. What was going on? He'd never behaved this way before. At least not to her knowledge, which was admittedly sparse in regards to the golden man. Seconds later, waves of despair had engulfed the area.

Dragon had lost control of her drones that were close by. She desperately tried to reconnect to them, only to see a massive golden beam shoot into the sky.

A beam that the Endbringer had dodged.


My drones were moving before Leviathan dodged. Half tried to engage the Endbringer, while the rest started to form a defensive ring around me. I saw Boo deploying pylons to erect a forcefield for my protection.

*You have defeated the Simurgh! You gain ERROR exp!

The golden ray that Leviathan had dodged wasn't aimed at him. I'd aimed for one of the connections I could feel from him. The one that was located straight up. The one which originated from orbit. The beam didn't expand much. It moved at the speed of light, so the golden anti-waves didn't have time to disperse despite how far away my target had been.

This was an idea I'd had ever since Sibby told me that Dinah couldn't predict Triggers. I'd gambled that whatever method the Simurgh used to see the future had a similar limitation. If Shards were capable of predicting everything, then there would be no reason for the cycle in the first place. If they could see the future with perfect clarity, then they would already know how everything turned out. They'd know every possible way it could happen.

My plan hinged on the female Endbringer not being able to read my mind. I'd figured if she could do that, then there wasn't anything I could think of that would work anyways.

Choosing a new Perk gave me options that I didn't have before. It created new avenues of attack from thin air. Just like a Trigger event, it was a change that a precog couldn't account for. The Golden Gun could kill an Endbringer given enough time. How much? I didn't know. Drilling through each of their countless layers was bound to use up some of its limited duration. I'd chosen my latest Perk to both bypass the Simurgh's precognitive defenses - as well as her physical ones.

Juggernaut allowed my attacks to not lose energy from passing through something. Each layer of an Endbringer was twice as dense. Even if someone had an attack that could breech the ultra dense final layer, it surely would've been rendered harmless by the ablative armor the outer layers provided. Unless, of course, that those layers didn't slow the attack down.

I hadn't expected to use this trick today, but once I figured out that the Simurgh was telling Leviathan what to do I knew I'd only have one shot. Now I just had to deal with the Endbringer that had shattered Gamer's Body and nearly torn me in two. Thankfully, I was tough even outside of my Breaker state. Sure, I couldn't feel my legs, but I think the bleeding was slowing down.

Possibly. I no longer had a handy HP gauge, so I couldn't really tell.

*Shock negated by Gamer's Mind.

Leviathan was still a problem. Without the prison of water, my drones would do their best to protect me, but I doubted they could stop the Endbringer on their own. The pylons, however, would at least give it pause. I didn't know if he'd come back to finish the job, but I wouldn't be an easy target if he did.

The issue wasn't being able to hurt the water controller. The Golden Gun might've discharged its single shot, but I still had temporal bombs and missiles. I knew those could freeze it, or at the very least slow it down. Observe said that Leviathan had 'crude' temporal abilities, so it could probably counter my attack given time. However, all I needed was to render it immobile long enough for Sibby to land a solid hit.

Or predict where it would be.

Threat Sense didn't help me predict the future except with how to avoid attacks. Using it to help me land one wouldn't work. If I had enough time to create an Instant Dungeon I could simulate what he'd do and prepare a trap. Unfortunately, I was lacking both time and MP - especially with Dhalsim dead.

What I did have was knowledge of how the Simurgh had communicated with her sibling - and a way to mimic said communications. Lying to Shards had worked out well for me in the past, let's see how it works now. I used Tongue of Babel to charge the water around me. The communication had always been one-way, so I had to trust that Leviathan could sense my message.

...and act on it.

Kevin ► Sibby, teleport to these COORDIATES and strike to your right!

I switched over to Boo's perspective just in time to see the Siberian chop off one of Leviathan's legs.

Kevin ► Go HERE and attack in front of you!

Sibby's 'sword' gouged another deep wound. Leviathan was obeying my directions, but he also was defending himself. The first surprise attack's results were slowing him down, but the leg was already regenerating.

Kevin ► Go HERE and swing in as long of an arc as possible!

Another blow tore through the Endbringer's chest, but missed his core. I knew from my simulation where the core was, but not how big it was. Sibby might be missing it by feet or inches. I couldn't keep this up and expect better results. Leviathan was too smart for that.

ACCEPTANCE

What? I'd forgotten about Scion in my attempts to land a sneak attack on the Endbringer, and I was starting to feel a little woozy. Technically I had fulfilled the requirement he'd placed for being capable of defending Earth. Personally, I think he just wanted out.

TRANSFERENCE

My mind exploded.


Alexandria furiously raced after Leviathan. This wasn't her first fight with the beast. It wasn't the first time the monster had tried to drown her. It wasn't even the first time she'd come face-to-face with Scion - the creature that would someday destroy every possible Earth. The golden alien was still pretending to be a hero for reasons known only to it.

So what was something new? That would be Scion freezing an Endbringer in place. It obviously had something to do with the creatures that habitually assaulted humanity, but in the past it had helped the true heroes drive them off. Stopping Leviathan in its tracks as if it was nothing? She knew that Scion was more powerful than it let on, but this? This was why Cauldron existed. The reason for everything they'd done. A level of power that no human could ever hope to match. Even the Endbringers were nothing compared to Scion's true strength.

None of this was new information, but something must have changed. The fight had been bizarre from almost the start. Targeting a villain and slowly tearing him apart as it simultaneously fought everyone else? That would've been something she'd thought the Simurgh would do. She could think of a dozen reasons as to why, and none of them were good. The worst case scenario had been avoided as the Siberian didn't vanish or turn on the heroes. Whatever relation the projection had to Bengal, it seemed that its creator was still directing it to fight the Endbringer.

It looked like Leviathan's tactics weren't a one-time change when it had performed nearly the same stunt against Pixel. Another cape associated with the Siberian. A coincidence? Or perhaps a new way that the Endbringers were going to fight from now on?

It sent a chill down her back. Endbringer fights were always deadly. They'd tried to kill her countless times in the past. This single-mindedness was new. David might be able to avoid such dogged attacks that focused on him. Keith would be in trouble if Leviathan ever got a grip on him. However, it wasn't either of them that she feared would be its next target. No, there was one invincible cape that could be killed with water.

Her.

Having time to think about such things in the middle of a fight wasn't pleasant, but Alexandria didn't have much choice. Whatever emotional attack Scion was deploying was effective in disabling almost every cape, including her. Like most of the other heroes, she could only approach so far before someone had to pull her back.

She gained altitude and waited for her time to strike. If she thought it would do any good, she'd target Scion. More realistically, Leviathan was still going to be her priority. That is, if whatever Scion was doing failed. Why hold the Endbringer down and attack with some sort of emotional power? Could that actually be a weakness? They'd tried that tactic in the past - along side every other option possible, and it hadn't worked. Of course, it hadn't been as... potent as this.

She needed eyes on the ground. Keith could see if he joined her in the air. Legend was still injured from when Leviathan had struck him, but he was durable. They needed him back in the action right now!

Alexandria flew to help her former teammate. She'd only gotten halfway there when a brilliant golden laser had pierced the sky.

"Restraining field down. Emotional field down." Dragon's update from the armband caused Alexandria to pause and then turn around. Her mind contemplated the possibilities of what was occurring at super-human speeds. What had just happened? There was a singular explanation for what had just occurred that made the most sense.

Scion had used his new power to immobilize Leviathan long enough to build up an attack capable of destroying the monster!

At least the entity's heroic play-acting had finally done something substantial. Even if Scion had been useful in driving off Endbringers in the past, he was never an ally humanity could rely on. Even if he was in truth the mentally disturbed cape that most of the world thought he was - he would still only be a sporadic force for good at the best of times.

"Pixel deceased. Leviathan in A-3." So it had gotten away. It figured. The only question was what was Scion up to? Still pretending to be a hero? Or had the end of the world started already? Alexandria didn't have time to dwell on it as she sped after Leviathan. She slammed into its back! Her attack knocked it forwards, and caused an echo of water to appear where it had been.

The small wave struck her, but only knocked her back a little ways. It wasn't trying to drown her. Was she not its next target? The Siberian appeared out of nowhere - already swinging a long metal pole. Leviathan twisted out of the way, but the make-shift weapon still managed to sever one of its legs at the hip! An incredible strike, not just for how much it wounded the monster, but an entire limb would be insanely valuable for any number of research projects.

Alexandria frowned as she charged again. Whomever had taken control of the Siberian's power was using it well. The additional use of the projection's ability to be summoned was particularly dangerous. At this rate, it might come out that she wasn't actually a parahuman. They might be able to spin that a rogue teleporter was helping her fight the Endbringer. One of the Striped? No. Best not to name anyone specific, at least not until they had time to look at a casualty list.

Leviathan scrambled away on three limbs. It was slower, but it still outpaced nearly everyone else. A beam of light cut through the air and drew a line across the Endbringer's eyes. Legend was back in action!

...Wait. Something was off.

Leviathan's actions? No. It was retreating.

The Siberian? It was landing blows that cut the monster deeper than she'd seen before. It was disturbing to see the power that killed Hero and maimed her being used for good instead of evil, but that wasn't what was bothering her.

Dragon's and Pixel's drones? They were still active, since the wall that was holding back the ocean. The Tinker might be dead, but his drones were automated systems. They were still following their last commands. Might be a problem in the future. Losing Pixel was a serious blow, but hopefully Dragon could assimilate his tech. A loss, and a severe one at that, but it wasn't what was nagging her.

What was different? What did she see that she shouldn't? ...No, it wasn't what she'd seen. It was what was missing.

Scion. The alien wasn't joining in on the attacks. It wasn't helping them drive Leviathan away. The more they could wound it now, the longer it would take to recover.

That was important, but Scion's significance dwarfed any other concerns. It was more important than any of her possible contributions to the rest of the fight with the Endbringer. She banked away and flew back towards where Pixel had fallen. She was a powerful combatant, but her true strength was her mind. Humanity was best served by using that to analyze Scion.

Alexandria weaved through the ruined streets of Brockton Bay before arriving at her destination. It was a lot to take in. Dragon's drones were hovering around the area. They had formed a defensive line, protecting something rather than chase Leviathan. Pixel's drones were here too. Their strange construction made it obvious that they weren't part of Dragon's troops - despite the fact that both seemed to be guarding the same object.

A glowing blue field. Similar, no exactly like the one that was currently protecting the bay. In the center was one of Dragon's drones. No. Alexandria narrowed her eyes as she took in the scene. Similar design. Modified. If it was blurred and made out of cubes... Pixel's armor! It wasn't much more than scrap now, but it contained something non-metallic inside. Pixel. The Tinker was covered in blood. His armor had been torn open and his stomach eviscerated!

...Not dead yet. There was a small amount of movement she could see as his flesh slowly knitted itself back together!

However, the rate was decreasing. Alexandria didn't have time to fully analyze how quickly he was healing and make any calculations on the Tinker's chances of survival. At least there was still a chance. If they could get him to Bit or Panacea...

Alexandria felt a weight lift off her shoulders that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying. Pixel might not be the silver bullet they were looking for - at least not against Scion. His help would still be invaluable for the next Simurgh fight. Keeping him alive was vital. She'd have to have another conversation with Doctor Mother. If they could turn him into an asset...

Wait. There was something else. Something more important. An unmoving form that lay still on the ground. A golden body in a white costume. Scion.

What had happened? Was it dead? That... wasn't possible. Their foe couldn't have died so easily! Alexandria had to get a closer look. Even if this body was deceased, that didn't necessarily mean they'd won. Eden's true form was much greater. This body was a lie.

However, it might also be the key they were looking for! The heroine knelt down next to Scion's prone form, and slowly reached out towards it. This was more valuable that Leviathan's leg by several orders of magnitude. It might hold the secrets towards victory. Her fingers brushed against the golden skin.

Still warm, but rapidly cooling due to the elements. She ran some mental calculations. The estimated time of death lined up almost perfectly with the gigantic golden beam. What had happened here?

[1 Compatible shard found.

Frozen Body trait created.
Gamer's Mind trait created.
Eidetic memory trait created.]

Alexandria blinked.

*Confusion condition negated by Gamer's Mind.

What?

A blue window hung in the air before her.

[Welcome Rebecca Costa-Brown! You have been granted the abilities of a Gamer! Upon initialization, you have gained 3 traits. Complete quests and activities to grow stronger and shape the world as you like it.]

Alexandria turned her head left and right. Someone was attacking her. Someone knew her name! What was going on? Was this Stranger-effect purely in her mind, or could anyone else see the information they were taunting her with?

*A new quest has triggered: Special Delivery.

[Special Delivery

Bring Scion's corpse to Dragon.

Success: +1,000 Exp.
Failure: The destruction of the Shard Network!]


I was EVERYWHERE.

I knew EVERYTHING.

I existed in realms I couldn't have imagined before. Worlds that I still couldn't comprehend.

I felt something slip through my fingers.

There was too much. Too many threads. Too many voices. Too many streams of information. I could barely parse just one of the dense packages of information, much less dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?

It was just too vast. So big that I couldn't comprehend the size. It was like trying to count the number of sensations in your own body. The breeze on your forearm. The pressure of the chair on your hips. The weight of your clothing. A seemingly unlimited flow of information, like every cell in my body was sending me a query, or an update, or an urgent message.

Something else slipped away.

I needed to focus. Leviathan was still out there. How long had I been here? Was he still in Brockton Bay? Had the heroes won? Had they driven him away? Had my walls failed? How many people were dead? What was happening to Riley?

Another thing faded from my grasp.

I'd Observed Leviathan. I'd failed to do anything with Power Drain, but I'd still connected to him. I knew what he FELT like. I searched for that single thread. No. No. No. It wasn't here! I was running through them at a speed the boggled the mind, but Leviathan wasn't in the network! I couldn't find him! I couldn't stop him!

More grains of sand fell through my fingers. I was losing them faster now.

It was too much. I couldn't keep up. If I'd still had Jagat... No, if I had a hundred copies of myself I might be able to hold everything together. If I had a thousand, I might be able to organize things - make a change. Unfortunately, I was still all too human. I was incapable of processing my new existence. If I didn't have my Traits and Perks, if I didn't have experience in using them, in speaking with Shards, everything would've unraveled already.

As it was, I was losing. Too many things were falling through the cracks in my mind. It was an impossible task. How long had it been? How long could I keep this up? How long until everything collapsed?

...A new thread appeared.

A new connection within the swarm. A new light that I vaguely recognized. A stronger, more sturdy flow of information than any of the others. A super-highway compared to an old farm road. A steel cable instead of a strand of hair. A life-line.

I focused on it. It was someone. Someone like me. Someone with their thought processes uploaded into a Shard. Someone I could communicate with!

But how?

If they didn't have my Perks, if they didn't have Ears of Babel then they couldn't understand my Broadcasts. It was like how Optimize was incapable of speaking with me. A red herring. A resource that offered hope, yet one that I was incapable of utilizing.

More threads pealed away from me.

Wait. I had something, a Shard that was part of the group Optimize had formed. One that had been with me from the start. The aspect that I'd gotten from Mr. Price - Interface. I couldn't link directly with the other thread and give access to my Shards. Or I might be technically able to do so, but I didn't know how. What I could do was send information filtered through Interface!

What to ask? What did I need?

The answer was simple. I needed something more than human. Someone who could handle this power better. I needed Dragon.

The request was sent. Would it be enough? I couldn't risk it. More and more threads were fading away. I took Interface and bound them together. Shifting them through that trait in a way that suddenly made sense. The bindings were holding! I sacrificed part of me to empower Interface.

I sent another request, this time to everyone else. It was slow. Interface, for all its power wasn't designed for such massive use. The connections flowed out one at a time at a painfully sedate pace.

Yet, each one that it joined with felt more secure. Like they wouldn't fade on their own.

Another new connection appeared. One that I was familiar with. One that I knew well.

Dragon!

I opened up to the AI. More than just Interface, more than just the Babel Perks, I let her in completely. Another human wouldn't have been able to handle the INFORMATION I was feeding her, but Dragon was different. She was better than I was. Smarter. Faster. More moral.

I was a poor choice for Administering the Network. However, I could choose someone better than I was. Someone that could take what I'd accomplished and guide the Shards into a true symbiosis.

Someone that could make a cycle better than Scion's. One that would be superior to even Optimize's. One that would hopefully elevate us all.

XXXXXXX (acceptable outcome)

XXXX XX XXXXXX (i chose well)

Everything faded away.