Chp.11: Incandescent
I've got no way of making the [WORDS] almost invisible on this like I do for SB and SV so that reduces the impact a bit, so apologies for that.
[ATTACK]
She walked the streets of the city she was to destroy with heavy steps.
There had been faint wisps of cloud in the sky before her sand had risen, and the strong wind blowing in from the coast had brought with it the pleasant freshness of the sea.
The asphalt beneath her feet was still warm, radiating the heat of a summer day, and people had been out in droves.
Khepri didn't want to be found yet. The urging in her head had grown strong of late.
[DESTROY]
It was the pounding of war drums, the mindless roar of an angry crowd, the stern commandment of an angry god.
She would perhaps have resisted harder, fought the encroaching rage, had not the thought of the heroes attempting to treat with her been so tempting.
Khepri had been avoiding the issue with Dragon, refusing to talk about it despite her friend's worry and sticking to relatively mundane conversations, not wanting to acknowledge the pain she was going to have to cause.
Despite that, the shimmer of hope still pulled her onwards.
[RUIN]
Perhaps if the issue was forced, perhaps if Eidolon could understand… well. Khepri didn't know.
She would give them a chance to the best of her abilities, and see what came of it.
She would try.
They hadn't found her yet, despite the increasing urgency of their search.
[ATTACK]
The heroes had become surprisingly skilled at it after the first few years, knowing that she would bring the fight to them if they did not find her first, usually wiping out one of the searching groups in the process.
Khepri could see that fear now, in the nervous breaths they took, the way their fingers trembled slightly, or how they would glance over their shoulders too often.
She had been keeping to the side streets more than normal, as well as turning herself invisible, and she could admit that she was avoiding the confrontation as much as possible.
She was certain her team would be here.
[DESTROY]
They wouldn't have waited for Shepherd, not when they didn't know how long he would be.
Not for an Endbringer fight.
"Khepri!" The megaphone would've echoed around the city, had her sand not dampened the sound.
Her friends… Mattock. Acacia. Magellan.
[RUIN]
"We know you don't want to do this. Please, can we talk?"
Counterpoise.
Yes, she thought. She would try.
()()()()()
Arthur Crowley stood next to the Triumvirate, trying not to show his fear.
They were at the triage unit by the edge of the city, where they normally stayed until the fighting started.
That had been the rule since Tunis.
In that battle Khepri had not been found quickly enough and she had attacked the camp in response, trying to draw out more defenders.
Tunis had been before Dragon had invented the armbands, and because of that when the medics were killed the communications centre was also destroyed.
She had waited for a short time but not enough capes had shown up to satisfy her and the city suffered for it.
Kabul had been caused by their arrogance. They had sent only the strongest capes in, using the rest to help the civilians escape, and now where Kabul once stood there was nothing.
"She is not..." Eidolon began, but he trailed off when the whirling sand began to slow.
Eventually it stopped, hanging in the air like tiny stars, a tapestry of gold and brown.
Arthur reached out and gently waved his hand through the floating grains.
They drifted away in gentle currents, as though they were suspended in water, and he had to admit that the sight was beautiful.
It only reaffirmed his decision, but that did little to assuage his nerves. A rift opened in the sand, following the main road into the city, and Arthur had the brief image of himself dressed as Moses.
The thought almost made him giggle but he clamped down on the hysteria.
Alexandria turned to look at him and he assumed that she was warning him not to start laughing.
Khepri stood at the end of the newly formed valley, far away but still visible.
He could see some movement too, and assumed that the nearby capes were scrambling to get away from her.
There had been some anger at the pre-battle announcement of their attempt to talk, as well as the fact that so few people had been informed that the Endbringer had even been in contact.
A few of the local capes had even looked as though they might attack Arthur after he finished explaining the plan, but Legend stepped up and talked them down.
"I'll take you closer," Alexandria said in a low voice.
He barely managed to nod before she picked him up under his arms and they were flying faster than he was comfortable with.
She set him down about fifty metres away from Khepri before quickly retreating, trying not to appear aggressive towards the Endbringer.
Khepri had brought her sword to a low ready position at the Triumvirate member's approach and didn't lower it until the cape had flown away and rejoined her teammates.
A part of him was unsettled by the eerily still air, blocked off by the walls of sand around them, but the majority of his attention was, rightfully, on the Endbringer in front of him.
It was the first time he had seen any of them in person. He wasn't sure how the capes in these fights stood it, but his respect for them grew the closer he got to her.
The others wanted him to stay further away, but if she wanted to kill him she would and standing far away would only make the whole thing seem silly.
She was tall, but proportionally so, and it wasn't until he was a few metres away that he truly appreciated her size.
Even then, compared to her brothers she was small. The thought was humbling.
Khepri moved, and he jumped slightly, but she only sank her sword into the asphalt tip first.
She let go of it to rest her hand on the tip of the handle and he knew that the Thinkers watching would be going mad over the confirmation that the weapon wasn't actually attached to her.
Arthur took a deep breath as he finally worked up the courage to match her gaze.
Khepri's mask was as bone white as ever, smooth and showing no wear, and the scrutiny of her eyes beneath it were almost too intense to bear.
It was an unblinking stare that had his heart in his throat.
"Khepri," he paused to swallow and wet his mouth. "Thank you for giving us this opportunity."
There was a stir in the watching capes.
Most of them had retreated to a safe distance and were listening in via his armband.
The Endbringer nodded slowly, and even he could hear the rumbling of conversations starting up over the confirmation that she could understand him.
"We know tha-"
"Why are you here?" [BREAK THEM]
Khepri's voice was the whisper of the desert, the quiet echoing of cracking ice, the slithering of sand along rock and stone, but despite all of that it was still understandable and clear.
The background rumbling increased in volume then stopped abruptly after Alexandria said something into her armband, and Arthur was thankful that she was keeping the situation from escalating.
"We were hoping that there could be an end to the attacks. That this destruction could come to an end."
He didn't exactly like the words chosen, but he had also been firmly instructed to keep his responses within certain guidelines.
Khepri waved her hand in a casual dismissal.
"Why are you here, Arthur Crowley?" [CRUSH THEM]
"Me?" he asked, uncertainty beginning to rise in his gut.
Khepri's tone was soft and accompanied by a quiet, hollow echo.
She tilted her head to the side, her attention never leaving him.
"What makes a man stand before a monster, weaponless, and ask her for understanding?" [DEVASTATE THEM]
Arthur blinked, opened his mouth to speak and found that instead of all the complex responses and variables drilled into his head in preparation all he could think of was the last time he said goodbye to his sister.
"Someone had to."
"Someone had to," she agreed. "It did not have to be you." [BREAK THEM]
"My sister..." he began, before giving up all thoughts of being smart or charismatic and instead settled for the truth.
"I had to." Lucy Crowley's smile sat in the forefront of his mind. "How could I not?"
Khepri nodded slowly at this.
"I understand." [CRUSH THEM]
He returned his focus to her, too late to stop the disbelief from showing on his face. Khepri gave a soft laugh, and Arthur didn't like how nice it sounded.
She gestured to herself.
"We are not what you think." [DEVASTATE THEM]
"You mean the other Endbringers?"
"They are not inviolate. Nor am I." [BREAK THEM]
There was silence at her words.
"I do not expect your sympathy." [CRUSH THEM]
"Surely then you want this to stop too?" Arthur asked, hope filtering into his voice.
"My desires are irrelevant." Khepri looked up, at the Triumvirate hanging in the sky, and all present grew more tense. [DEVASTATE THEM]
"I have told you I cannot stop, yet you persist. You lie to each other with such ease, humans. How am I to know that you do not lie to me? That this is not a trap?" Her voice was calm, on the surface, but Arthur could feel a buzzing, angry undertone to it that seemed to reverberate through his chest. [BREAK THEM]
"Everything I said earlier is tr-"
"What are the words of mankind but wind and wishes?" [CRUSH THEM]
"Then how can I prove that we are genuine? What can we do to show you that this is real, that we would work to free you and your siblings from these chains?"
She didn't reply at first, continuing to watch the capes above her.
"I understand hate, too." [DEVASTATE THEM]
She returned her attention to him and Arthur could see her eyes searching his face, but he was unsure of what she found there.
"There are no simple answers," Khepri whispered, as thought she was quoting something. She considered him for a moment. [BREAK THEM]
"Step closer, Arthur Crowley." [CRUSH THEM]
He trembled for a moment, the thrum of fear strong in his veins. He almost didn't until her hand tightening on her sword told him of his fate if he were to run, or refuse.
"Can I ask why?"
Her eyes narrowed and he knew she was either scowling or glaring at him from behind her mask.
"You will see." [DEVASTATE THEM]
The drums were almost overwhelming now, more than Khepri could handle.
[ATTACK DESTROY RUIN BREAK CRUSH DEVASTATE]
She could practically taste Eidolon's desire for a fight, and the few memories she had of Alexandria were damning.
[ATTACK DESTROY RUIN BREAK CRUSH DEVASTATE]
Khepri had given no indication of acknowledging her but Flechette was in the crowd, close to the Triumvirate, and while she knew there was a slim chance of it she also knew what Cauldron were capable of.
[ATTACK DESTROY RUIN BREAK CRUSH DEVASTATE]
They would try to end her if they thought they could.
[ATTACK DESTROY RUIN BREAK CRUSH DEVASTATE]
More than that, however, was that Crowley's attempt had only made Eidolon worse.
[ATTACK DESTROY RUIN BREAK CRUSH DEVASTATE ATTACK DESTROY RUIN BREAK CRUSH DEVASTATE OBEY]
Khepri would not be able to free herself. She would require assistance, and so she reached out to the human before her and touched a single finger to his forehead.
He only had enough time to notice that her finger was warm before Barcelona was gone.
He saw two golden figures circling a star, circling all stars, a scarab and a desert, life growing from nothing, death scouring a world the howl of a wounded wolf a-roar-of-grief-of-rage-the-cleansing-sun-the-scouring-sun-all of eternity.
Arthur screamed as his soul burned.
He saw her.
()()()()()
Dragon watched as Eidolon reacted instantly, blasting Khepri away, while Alexandria swooped in to take the unconscious man to safety.
Legend followed his fellow Triumvirate member forwards, launching a mass of lasers at the Endbringer.
A local Brute, Testudo, flew down to Khepri's sword and reached out to pull it from the ground.
He didn't slow down to do it, and the scream of pain when he dislocated his shoulder told them all that they needed about trying to move it.
Khepri herself had already jumped to her feet and dodged the first wave of attacks.
Her shoulder armour seemed to grow as she moved, the golden material travelling down her arms and encasing her hands in clawed gauntlets.
Dragon already had a suit flying towards the fight, in the hope of de-escalating it, but before she could get close enough the sand hovering in the air began to spin again, faster than before.
There was no warning for it, no acceleration.
One moment it was perfectly still, then in the next they were at the heart of a hurricane.
As her armbands began listing off the casualties and fatalities Dragon knew that any hope of Barcelona surviving unscathed was lost.
Rage coursed through her as she drowned a man in sand.
[OBEY]
It was too late to stop now, too late to stop the beating in her head. Eidolon had set her off, pushed her over the edge and now people were dying for it.
Another cape shot something at her but it only glanced off her armour, barely leaving a scorch mark.
She threw the corpse lying at her feet at him and didn't stay to watch them both crash through the brick wall behind him.
[SUBMIT]
Khepri hadn't bothered retrieving her sword yet.
Today wasn't the day for clean kills.
No, she thought, as the stalked through the darkened streets.
[FIGHT]
They would know of her anger, regardless of the source, and perhaps in the future they would listen to her warnings.
There was a group of local capes up ahead who were completely unaware of her approach.
She wanted to blame them too, for pushing so hard against Arthur's plan.
[OBEY]
Perhaps if they had been given more room, if she had been given time to properly finish… well. It didn't matter now.
She swept out of the veil in complete silence, her gauntlet already tearing straight through the torso of the parahuman in front of her.
The woman dropped to the ground, dead instantly, and her companions had only time to feel the briefest shock before Khepri was among them.
[SUBMIT]
They suffered a similar fate, aside from the youngest.
He had been smart, or at least practical.
The boy had manipulated the plastic in his friend's costumes and she had, for moment at least, thought they still lived.
[FIGHT]
Khepri had taken her attention off him briefly and he used that opportunity to run.
She broke his legs.
()()()()
As Khepri left she felt Queen Administrator turn her attention to the now unconscious cape and knew that when he awoke he would've second triggered.
It didn't bother her at all.
Queen had her foibles, like Khepri did, and if the shard wanted to go around playing with the capes she was merciful towards then the Endbringer felt no need to stop her.
A lone hero flew blindly past and she reached out to grab his leg.
His ankle broke under the pressure, then the rest of him did too when she used the limb to beat him into the ground, making sure he was dead. Stupidity like that was useful to no one.
Khepri realised she had paused too long to finish him off when Alexandria's first hit landed.
Her punches blasted the nearby sand away in shockwaves but the Endbringer was quick enough to catch each one on her armour, leaving only scratches.
The other two Triumvirate members quickly followed up and Khepri found herself leaping around, forming her sand into platforms for her to reposition in mid air.
She focused on Eidolon, letting the mental hand gripping her psyche influence her actions even more.
He had decided to use some kind of momentum-based brute power, from what Khepri could tell of it, and was taking point with Alexandria, trying to surround the Endbringer.
Legend would then blast her the moment they disengaged even slightly, and the combined actions of the three of them meant she could barely avoid damage.
They kept this up for half a minute until her sword, which had been left where it was planted in the road, rocketed into Legend's back.
There was a sickly crack and the hero began to fall to the floor. He started to glow as he did and she knew that he would heal by himself soon.
The other two took less than a blink to check on him but in that time she had rearmed herself.
Khepri hooked Alexandria and threw her to the ground, then spun and slashed into Eidolon.
The sword gave off crackles of electricity as it ionised the air around it with its speed, then Eidolon was gone.
His passing was marked by a large hole where the sand had been blasted away, showing the sea beyond.
Khepri had already turned and launched herself downwards, but Alexandria rolled away from the crater she was in and Khepri's sword instead only pierced the concrete below.
Then the Endbringer was on the offensive, combining strikes from both her weapon and the dagger-like claws of her gauntlet.
The Brute tried to back off but Khepri grabbed her foot as she turned away and pulled her back in.
Alexandria punched at her torso, blowing the sand away, and the cape hiding nearby, one that she had dismissed, threw his hand out.
There was a great explosion of light and Alexandria used the brief moment to slip free and away.
Khepri roared, then struck her sword through the man's stomach.
[OBEY]
Magellan coughed up blood. She froze.
[ERADICATE]
He managed to smirk at her, a triumphant, defiant thing, then slumped down. Her blade was slowly being covered by a crimson sheen, but still she didn't move.
"Magellan?" she asked, reaching out to tilt his head up.
"Magellan, please. Don't... don't joke now."
His eyes were still and empty.
"Magellan!"
Alexandria landed nearby but she didn't try to engage.
Khepri ignored her, kneeling in front of her teammate and holding his face between her palms, the sword hovering in place.
"No… no no no. You were meant to be with the others!"
She felt a phantom pain in her throat, constricting and choking.
"Why are you here? Why did you leave them?"
Her chest was tight and burning.
"I was keeping you safe!"
"This was always going to happen, eventually," Alexandria said, and a distant part of Khepri noted that she did actually sound sympathetic. "It was inevitable."
[OBEY]
Khepri's mind went blank, then red.
She stood slowly, slipping Magellan off her blade and carefully lowering him to the floor.
He had been funny. And kind, in his own way. He had accepted her, and now...
"Inevitable." Khepri stated. She tilted her head back to look towards the sky. "Inevitable," she muttered again, tasting the word.
Khepri turned to face Alexandria fully.
"I warned you," I said, faint memories of a cell and overwhelming fear rising to the fore.
[OBEY]
Khepri raised her arm to the sky. Alexandria paled, then pressed her armband as quickly as she could.
"Evacuate the city!"
The pleased roar of the presence in her mind helped ease her passage into the sky.
She had only enough control left to ensure that the Brockton Bay team and-.
A shudder ran through her.
They would be safe enough, she knew, as they were already leaving.
[OBEY]
The sandstorm began thickening, whirling faster and faster, an marbled orb of yellow and brown.
The nearby beaches were drawn in too, as was the ground beneath the city, and earthquakes began to shake along the coast.
Alexandria tried one last time to stop her, before she would have to leave or risk being choked to death, flying in fist first.
Khepri backhanded her and the cape screamed in pain as three rents opened up in her face, the flesh seeming to disintegrate.
Alexandria fled.
Barcelona was covered now, the storm having turned into a completely opaque sphere, the sea outside being torn up and thrown into the air from the speed.
The clouds above were descending, pulled inwards by the lowered air pressure, long tails of white all leading to the city.
The buildings near the edge were already obliterated, worn down near instantly, and those further into the city were wracked by lightning and howling winds.
[SURRENDER]
Khepri stood in complete darkness, unmoving, and surrendered herself.
K:[Fury]
Barcelona imploded.
()()()()
Huge huge thanks to Evil Atlas and BurnNote, more than normal. There was a lot of editing for this chapter.
I'm working on a laptop while on holiday so some of the formatting might be a bit iffy.
The 1st person was not a typo.