1.3
Taylor and I were chatting in the back seat of the SUV on the way to her house when we were physically wrenched out of our conversation.
"Everyone, hold on!" Melissa barked as she jerked the wheel hard to avoid an oncoming van that had swerved into our lane. She ended up side-swiping the truck next to us, which was better than being in a head on collision. The van still slammed into Melissa's door, pushing our vehicle further into the truck on our right, causing it to jump the curb and crash into a lamppost.
The cars following us careened into our SUV and the truck triggering a sizable pile-up. The van's driver, who had caused the accident, managed to regain control of her vehicle, and continued speeding away.
When Melissa called out her warning, time seemed to slow for me. I pulled Taylor into my arms, using my body to cushion her from the impact with the interior of the SUV. Her left arm was caught between my shoulder and the door. I heard it snap.
Time speeded back to normal as the vehicle finally stopped rocking from the various impacts. In the front seat, Melissa had hit her head hard against the driver side window. Blood was welling from a cut near her left temple.
I had a decision to make. I could leave my two wounded companions to wait for mundane medical treatment, or I could use my magic to heal them. I had no idea how many other injured there might be in the rest of the pile up. Nor how urgent their medical needs might be. Could I risk that someone might die waiting for an ambulance?
I think only there's one way a true Hufflepuff could answer that question.
"Are you two alright?" Melissa asked, holding her hand to try to stem the bleeding from her head wound.
"I think my arm might be hurt," Taylor admitted, her voice tight with pain.
"Justin, how about you?" my bodyguard checked.
"I am fine. And I've got a secret that I think it's time to share." I waved my hand, casting a diagnostic spell on Melissa. A glamor of her head with the wounds highlighted and analyzed appeared beside her. Both ladies gasped. Reading the diagnostic, I was able to tell that she had a minor concussion, a scalp laceration, bruising, and a lightly wrenched neck. Nothing too drastic. I had the spells necessary to cure it almost instantly. But first I had to deal with their shock and amazement.
"Justin, what the hell is that?" Michelle's voice grew tighter.
"You're a cape!" Taylor caught on more quickly. "A healer, like Panacea."
"Not exactly," I admitted. "But I can heal. Melissa, would you like me to treat you?"
"If you think you can." She didn't sound too certain.
I move my hands around her head, chanting quietly. My hands began to glow, and the light spread to her head. You could watch the cut closing on her forehead. I touched her neck with a shimmering hand, and she groaned in relief. Casting the diagnostic spell one more time to be certain showed her completely healed. "You should be alright now."
I turned to Taylor and said, "You look like your arm is hurt. Do you mind if I look at it?"
She was holding her left wrist in her right hand, keeping the arm as still as she could. Her growing pain was evident. Nervously she nodded at me. I moved my hand over the arm casting a diagnostic just to be certain. It was a greenstick fracture. Just the sort that could be cured without resorting to vanishing the bone and using Skelegro. "Alright, I'm going to give it a try."
Once again, my hand glowed as I moved it along her broken limb. The light seeped into her skin, fusing the bone together. It took less than a minute before the fracture was completely healed.
"Things are about to get pretty weird," I said, then put my hand on my chest and transfigured my shirt and pants into a copy of the black and yellow costume I had designed earlier. It was a single tight bodysuit primarily in black with yellow panels with a gray hexagonal pattern on the sides. The yellow pattern continued onto the chest piece in a V-shape, with three larger hexagons making a triangular icon in the center. The mask covered my head except for my mouth and chin. It was black with yellow panels on the side and a smaller yellow tri-hexagon on the forehead.
"What the hell, Justin?" Melissa gasped.
"Suffice it to say I recently acquired powers. Since then, I've developed a costume and was planning on going out to be a hero. I believe this emergency is bringing my anticipated debut forward. I can't just leave these people here hurt and possibly dying."
"What's your name?" Taylor asked.
"I was thinking of using Myriad," I answered.
"No, you can't! I was going to use Myriad." Taylor realized what she said and clapped her hands over her mouth.
"I suspected you might have a secret as well," I said.
I realized that I was beginning to develop a 6th sense that could identify parahumans. I had experienced the odd sensation a few different times since waking up in this world. But I had no way of telling what it might mean. Because I had no idea what I was detecting, I had more or less ignored it. Taylor was one of the people that set it off and, if she was a parahuman, that would explain what I was sensing. 'Looking' more closely at her I got the concept of insect control. I imagined that was her power.
The realization of the meaning of the niggling calls that had occasionally impinged on my attention over the last few days also made me conscious that the three people in the van that hit us were all parahumans, though they had moved too fast for me to get any idea of what their powers might be.
"Um. I'd really rather you not tell anyone that. I can control lots of smaller creatures. That's why I wanted to use the name Myriad. It reminded me of a passage from the Tao Te Ching.
The myriad creatures rise from it yet it claims no authority;
It gives them life yet claims no possession;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It accomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit.
"That book was the last gift my mother gave me." Taylor's voice took on a melancholy tone as she spoke of her mother. "Myriad creatures pretty much describes what I can do, allowing them to accomplish tasks for the benefit of others."
"Then it sounds like you'd better use the name then and I'll come up with another. What do you think of Manifold? It means pretty much the same thing," I asked.
"Middle of emergency is probably not the time to be quoting poetry or figuring out names," the security professional reminded us. "If we're going to help, then we need to do so. And if we're not, then we need to get out of here. For the record, I'm very much on the side of getting out of here."
"I really want to help," Taylor insisted. "But my costume isn't finished and what there is of it is at home."
"It may not be perfect, but I think I can help," I replied, transfiguring her outfit into a costume that was similar in design to mine. I made her colors blue and gold thinking that she seemed more like a Ravenclaw. The mask covered more of her face, being cut flush with her upper lip leaving only her mouth and chin visible. On the other hand, her hair hung loose out of the back. A few more charms and the suit was rendered unbreakable, shielded, and cushioned.
"Did you want a costume too, Melissa?" I offered, only half in jest. She might not have powers, but she was a badass with years of training and experience.
"No need." She grabbed a lower-face mask out of the glove compartment. I had seen her wear it if either she or one of us had a cold.
I grabbed onto both ladies and disapparated to the roof of a building nearby. From that vantage I could see there were more than a dozen cars and trucks involved in the pile-up. People were just beginning to stagger out of their vehicles. I could hear moaning and smell gas and smoke.
While my companions recovered from the disorienting teleport, I made my suggestions. "Taylor, if you can, you should direct your creatures from up here. I need to know who is the most hurt and where people are trapped. Also look out for fire. If I get to it soon enough, I may be able to put it out. Melissa you'll have to be her bodyguard and communications link as she doesn't have a phone." I put my bluelink headset on under my mask.
"What about you?" my watcher demanded.
"I'm going to help them." With that I jumped down from the second story roof, clutching a pipe to slow my descent. Quickly taking in the scene, I moved to where I saw blood. One man was leaning against his cracked window, blood smearing the glass.
I held my hand to catch his head and vanished the window. Like Melissa, he had a compression wound and minor concussion. I was able to quickly heal them.
"Stay still until the ambulances get here. You should be alright, but they can make sure."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Manifold. I'm here to help!"
Without another word I moved to a minivan where a distraught mother was trying to get to her toddler. Her rear doors were both pinned shut by other vehicles and she was too big to climb back from the front seats. Luckily, she was near the back of the snarl of cars. I was able to push the small truck that was blocking one side of the van back far enough to free the path to the side door.
The door was too damaged to open, but a quick reparo fixed that, opening the way for the mother to get to her child.
"AAAARRROOOO!" a metallic shriek reverberated off the Downtown buildings. I looked up and saw a silver-winged dragon climbing towards the sky. Someone was flying in front of it.
They were moving towards us.
"That's Lung!" Melissa informed me through my earpiece. "He's coming this way. We've got to get out of here."
"Too many people are still trapped. Too many can't run. We've got to protect them." I growled.
"Twenty-two people in thirteen vehicles," Taylor elaborated loudly enough that I could hear her through Melissa's phone. "Most are moving. Three are unconscious. Five are more seriously injured – broken bones at least."
"That's too many for you to save," my bodyguard argued.
"Everyone, take cover!" I yelled pointing to the dragon. "Help those that can't run."
The person flying in front of the steel beast noticed us and turned sharply, trying to draw the dragon away. Unfortunately, that brought him too close to the villain who swatted him out of the air with a buffeting wing.
My mind plotted the arc of his descent. He was going to crash twenty yards in front of the pile up. I rushed forward, throwing a cushioning charm on the hard pavement. He slammed into the suddenly yielding ground.
"He's coming!" Taylor yelled. A dark cloud of insects gathered, forming a wall between Lung and me. A blast of flame burned through her swam and rushed towards the young hero lying stunned on the ground.
"Protego Horribilis!" I shouted, throwing out both of my hands as if to push back the oncoming attack. A golden half-globe formed.
The dragon's flame splashed against it spreading to illuminate the shield's form and licking around the edges. The temperature of the air behind the barrier jumped upwards but neither the hero nor I were damaged.
Thoughts and memories raced through my mind at lightning speed. The red-clad hero was Aegis, a member of the government super-team's teen auxiliary. He was tough enough that he was already pulling himself to his feet. But he would be no match for Lung at this size.
I had seen wizards face dragons before during the Tri-wizard Tournament. The winning tactics had included attacks targeted at weak points, distractions, outmaneuvering them, or overwhelming the great beast with numbers. I decided to try as many of these methods as I could, hoping for other capes to arrive, making up the crowd needed to overwhelm him.
As soon as Lung took a breath, letting up on the torrent of flames, I dropped the shield and cast "Expecto Patronum!" sending my badger patronus racing into the sky to confront the dragon.
"W'aarroo?" Lung let out an unintelligible but obviously confused utterance as he back winged to put a building between him and the giant glowing specter.
"Not this time lizard," yelled a three-story tall valkyrie as she slammed into Lung with her shield, knocking him into the side of a building.
A green streak shot from a different side street. It exploded when it struck Lung at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, blowing a crater in the metal scales.
A truck flew out of the sky, smashing into Lung's chest, driving him further into the building. Once he was down, ground fighters poured in to take advantage of his momentary weakness.
Assault and Battery relied on hit and run tactics. Armsmaster and Hookwolf were tearing through Lung's armor in an almost coordinated effort. Stormtiger, Rune, Miss Militia, and Shadow Stalker were showering the monster with ranged attacks. Even Taylor was getting into the action with swarms attacking Lung's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
I disapparated to a ledge across the street from the ruined building in which most of the fighting was taking place. From there I was able to rain down stunners and blasting curses on the villain. They didn't seem to be doing anything, so I took a page out of Krum's book and tried the conjunctivitis curse. It hit, but if it did any damage, the dragon's regeneration was healing it too quickly for it to matter.
Just as the attackers appeared to be gaining the upper hand, Lung seemed to explode, lashing out with his arms, wings, and tail as he rolled to his feet. A thrashing claw ripped Battery open as it sent her flying half a block away. Assault raced after her, his armored costume burning. Fire erupted from all parts of Lung's body forcing Armsmaster and Hookwolf to retreat as their metal exteriors started to glow red.
But the dragon's main ire seemed to be focused on the giant that put him on his back. As Fenja closed in, her sword raised, he blasted a tightly focused stream of white fire at her face. It was only her twin, Menja's tackling Fenja out of the way that saved her life. Instead, the flaming lance burned a trench across Menja's back, cutting through her armor like a laser.
Faster than one would expect from something his size, Lung crouched on the half-melted street readying to launch himself into the sky.
I realized my direct attacks were useless, so I decided to try using the environment against him. A shouted transformation spell changed the pavement beneath Lung's feet to water. Like my other spells, I could have cast this silently, but as silly as it sounded yelling the spell with lots of emotion actually made it stronger, more effective. In this case it meant I was able to create a pool that half-swallowed the twenty-five foot tall dragon.
As his superheated scales met with the water, a massive cloud of steam was created. This scalding fog obscured the area. But I did not have to see my target to be able to reverse the only spell active in the space with a wide-area counter-spell.
To avoid any immediate retribution the dragon might send my way, I disapparated to where I had last seen Battery. She looked like she'd need some healing.
"Who are you?" Assault immediately asked when I appeared ten feet away.
"I'm Manifold. I'm here to help. I may be able to heal her, at least some." I pointed to the bloody woman he was hovering over protectively.
"Do it," he ordered anxiously.
A quick diagnostic showed she was wounded more badly than I would be able to heal, at least not without a lot of potions. Most healing spells were of the first-aid variety unless you got into some of the advanced rituals, which I did not know. Most complex healing used potions for their greater and more varied effects.
Three verbal castings of vulnera sanentur, a couple of episkys and a brackium emendo had closed the worst of her deep lacerations, healed the superficial cuts and bruising, and repaired her cracked sternum. But she would need more medical attention for the injuries to her internal organs and several units of blood to replace all that she'd lost.
The man in red watched anxiously as I worked. When I moved back, he rushed to check her progress.
"She'll still need a lot of work in the hospital, but she should make it," I said gently. "You should get her to safety. She's alright to move as long as this lasts, which should be about fifteen minutes. Petrificus totalus."
He looked at me wordlessly for a moment, his mouth working but nothing coming out. Giving up trying to speak, he lifted her in his arms and raced away.
Lung was half-covered in creepy crawlies as he tried to dig himself out of the road. The other capes were attacking him as the opportunity arose, but he was breathing fire and throwing fireballs at any possible enemy.
I summoned Rune to me as the dragon targeted her floating metal plate. It melted almost immediately when the fire washed over it. I vanished it before it could splash over a group of civilians huddled behind a minivan.
As soon as she was on the ground I disapparated to the other side of the battlefield, in part to get a different perspective but mostly to be away from the girl. I couldn't let her die, but I wasn't interested in talking with the nazi teen.
"The fire's spreading," Taylor said through Melissa's phone. "That's the most dangerous thing to everyone. Can you do anything about it?"
"The others have Lung occupied at least temporarily," Melissa offered in support.
They could see the big picture from where they were, so I listened. "Let me try."
Popping around the area I cast flame freezing charms on every conflagration I could find. The fires still burned, but they would do no more damage to either people or buildings. I was liberal with my use of aguamenti as well, cooling off things and drenching embers.
Rune did not know how to stay out of trouble, but this time it was Stormtiger that saved her from Lung's flaming attack. All it cost him was a badly burned arm.
I summoned them both. The older man was thrashing wildly in pain. I stunned him. When Rune objected, I stunned her as well.
The man's injury was too much for me to heal. I cast what I knew but burns required potions to fix. I might be able to brew the basic anti-burn salve, but the more advanced elixirs required magical ingredients unavailable on this world. There simply were no unicorns or ashwinders.
"Yes!" Taylor shouted.
"They've got him," Melissa added. "But stay alert. Looks like the Empire may be causing trouble."
I looked over and Armsmaster, with half his armor shredded or dangling by a wire, was standing in front of an unconscious and slowly shrinking Lung. Facing him was Hookwolf with the giant twins standing behind him.
"He invaded our territory, killed our people, and burned my friend. No fucking way we're gonna let you take him to your revolving door holding cells. He's dead, here and now."
"That's not going to happen," Armsmaster stated flatly. "You're help in taking him down was essential. We're willing to treat this like the Endbringer Treaty. You go your way, and we go ours. But if you try to murder this man in cold blood, we're going to stop you. And you know we can."
"You think you can, but you're hurt too. And more of my team is on the way. Think about it, tin man. He's going down – here or at the Birdcage. Are you willing to risk it for five days grace for this scum?"
"Not going to happen," the Protectorate leader repeated.
The two men locked eyes for several minutes.
Stormtiger woke with a painful wail that cut through the tense silence.
That broke the deadlock. Everyone looked at us. I was still kneeling over the maimed gangster.
My newly developed power sense told me that Taylor was approaching me from my rear. I glanced back. She and Melissa were coming together. My bodyguard had her hand casually resting on her holstered pistol.
I silently stunned Stormtiger again.
"I've done what I can for him, but he needs more," A quick sonorus ensured everyone could hear me. "I'm keeping him asleep to avoid the pain. If he doesn't get to Panacea or Othla soon, he's probably going to lose the arm."
"And Rune?" Menja asked me, pointing to the sleeping teen.
"She tried to stop me from treating him," I said. "I can try to patch you up if you shrink back to normal."
"You're a healer?" Hookwolf asked.
"I'm many things," I replied. "But I can do some healing. I'm not great with burns, so I can't make any promises."
"Let's just get to Othala," Fenja said as she started shrinking. Her sister followed suit.
"Alright," Hookwolf said, then turned to Armsmaster. "If Lung gets out, we'll burn the city to get to him if we need to. So don't fuck this up, tin man."
The tinker did not reply as the Empire capes gathered their unconscious compatriots and disappeared into a nearby alley. The other Protectorate heroes moved around Lung, making sure he was secured while Armsmaster walked up to Melissa, Taylor, and me.
"Who are you and what is your role in this disaster?" the armored man asked.