A Waken 17.12

Nothing prepares you for reality.

"The fuck?" Mockshow shouted.

Unknown.

Right?!

The Wards scrambled back as David soared past them and into the stadium through the wall.

Alexandria shot through the air like a bullet in chase, a hard elbow sending one of the capes in the air bouncing across the rooftops. Her emotions were so raw I didn't need my power to feel them. Having my power only made the pain of betrayal more vivid and personal.

He was her friend. Even up until this moment, she hadn't wanted to believe David had done what he did. She loved him.

The dozen capes who'd accompanied him were slow to react at first. The ones with invasive presences in their Shards being the slowest. Curious. Only when the sounds of crashing and crunching echoed from the stadium did they react.

Then the light showered down from above and Legend flashed into the group. He fired beams from both hands, driving the cape party in multiple directions. Hero teleported in as Damocles retreated, grabbing her from behind and attaching something to her back.

His head snapped toward me.

His emotions were a lot less raw than Alexandria's.

"Get going."

Damocles spun, a sword materializing in her hands and cleaving through the air. Hero dodged by an inch and raised his hand to shoot a beam from his palm. The device attached to Damocles' back exploded, throwing her forward and spinning end over end.

The street below was chaos again but this time everyone was running away. The police were pointing people down the street and the Wards had pulled back to talk to their communicators.

The Wards.

With only a single hesitant glance toward the stadium, I pressed my feed down and flew through the fight between David's capes and Hero and Legend. No one attacked me as I went and on the other side, I landed hard beside the Wards.

"The fuck is going on?!" Mockshow asked.

Grace pointed at her. "No fucking cursing!"

"Doesn't matter," I said quickly. "Broken triggers are happening all over the place." I looked away. "Veda, how many?"

"Seven," she lamented.

"Seven," I repeated.

"Did she just say seven broken triggers?" Raymancer asked.

"Yeah," Tecton confirmed. His head turned as the fight expanded to blowing up the street and shearing the corner of a building. "We—"

People are the only thing that matters.

Correction.

I tilted my head. Okay, fair. "The broken triggers are worse. We have to contain them or thousands of people are going to die. Maybe more."

"Ray?" Grace asked.

I left them to their deliberations. Having their aid would help but it sure as hell wasn't going to be enough. "Veda, I need teams now. We're dealing with the broken triggers before they get worse."

"You're certain?" she asked.

"Is Relena's message working?"

"It is reducing the severity of the riots," she explained. "Blue Cosmos is less eager to listen. Many bystanders are also lingering in areas."

"Then yes."

Blue Cosmos could be handled if it was just them. Phantom Pain too. They weren't as much of a threat now as the broken triggers. There was still the whole martial law thing I thought I'd heard someone mention about Djibril, but we'd deal with that later. David too, assuming his former friends…

I glanced toward the stadium. Whatever battle Alexandria and David were having was getting loud. Did he not have the freezing power then?

Procrastination.

Right.

If Count was behind Azrael's death in some way, then she did it to make this fight happen away from Houston. I didn't know why on Earth that mattered but I'd ask her when I saw her.

"We don't have time," I pressed. I turned to the Wards. "Call it in if you have to. I'm going."

"We'll go," Raymancer decided. "But the protocol for this is to evacuate the area, not deal with the trigger."

Consideration.

I grimaced. "That's fine."

The air flashed and Stargazer dropped down from above. The suit landed in the middle of the Wards and Veda said, "Defiant is taking lead in New York. Nix and Nyx in Los Angeles."

The cities Hunch was worried about… And he'd dismissed Houston. Huh.

"Hi," Mockshow said. "Again, I guess?"

"Hello," Veda greeted as the teleporter ring spun up. "It is good to see you again."

We flashed and dropped onto a rooftop.

"Shit," Wanton mumbled.

"No fucking cursing," Grace mumbled back.

Too late.

I stepped 00 up to the edge of the roof and looked down. We'd arrived at what looked like a food court, but it was hard to tell. People were running away at the edges, crossing the street to the sidewalk below us. All the tables, benches, and chairs were warped, distended, and twisted around. It was like one of those paintings with all the melted clocks. Melted clocks that were half in one place and half in another.

It looked familiar actually.

Like looking at a wall of mirrors that all reflected and twisted into each other. Where had I seen that before?

"Next one," I said.

"Wait." Grace raised a hand. "What about—"

"That'll either fade or it won't," I interrupted. "Either way it's not spreading and we can't risk going in ourselves. Veda can drop some Helpers around here and see what happens."

I didn't think they'd find anything thoug—

"We can't just ditch all the people down there." Grace stepped up to the ledge and looked down. "My power's not much use against this sort of thing. I'll make sure everyone stays back until help arrives. Send warning if anything changes."

"Mockshow," Tecton called. "Back her up."

Olive snarled. "But—"

"If people are hurt or need evacuating your power might come in handy. Go."

I think we all knew he was trying to keep her somewhere safer but no one said anything. Not even Olive. She just huffed, walked her robo-lion up to the ledge, and grabbed hold as it jumped off the roof. Grace crouched, looking around as I backed up to Stargazer.

"Next one," I said.

We teleported again.

"Shit!" Tecton broke into a sprint instantly, slapping his hand into the ground.

"In the spirit of Grace"—Raymancer raised his hand and a lens appeared in front of him—"no fucking cursing."

I shot forward, cutting through the air and slamming a sword into one of the walking cars. I thought it was a car. It sort of looked like one, if the tires were twisted up into legs and the body could bend without regard for basic sense. The vehicle crumbled from the blow and then twisted around it before the hood slapped me to the side.

I gasped, feeling the force of the blow flow through me. 00 was thrown through the air and I struggled for control before crashing through a wall and landing in someone's living room.

A woman scrambled back from me as I shook my head. "Out the back," I told her. "Go!"

Beams of energy began scouring the street as I pulled myself up. The car was pummeled, shuddering from each below before violently blowing apart. Only as the vehicle monster was shredded by the barrage did I notice the woman fused into the undercarriage.

"Wait!"

The entire living room was thrown back against the wall as 00 shot out of the building. I was too late. A beam hit the woman in the chest and… And there was relief there. Peace. The wreckage of human and machine collapsed as I landed and slid to a stop.

They both wanted it to end.

I don't understand…

Destination.

No, she just died why is—

I looked up the road and my eyes widened. "Oh no."

Two more cars, a truck, and a bicycle were stumbling around the road, plus the apparent heaps of three other vehicles. I couldn't see the people in the cars or the truck, but it looked like a bicycle delivery boy had been absorbed into his bike and was choking as he hopped about on distortedly long pedals.

Multiple simultaneous triggers.

Just like with Aisha.

"What do we do?" Wanton asked.

"Contain them!" Tecton shouted. A stone wall extended along a street, separating the sidewalk from the building and alleys. My fellow tinker bowed his head as the makeshift barricade rose. "They're already dead."

The heaps. I didn't see any capes nearby. They were being fused into the machines… If there was no safety involved—Administrator?

Restriction.

One Restriction for no, two for yes.

…

Restriction. Restriction.

Gritting my teeth I drew both swords and flew up off the ground. "Tecton's right. We contain them."

Raymancer fired another barrage. The beams started curving on the outside, slamming into the multiple tire legs of the walking truck. The vehicle writhed and crashed into the ground. It shook violently, a mechanically-infused scream filling the air.

I glanced up and down the street. "People are hiding on the road." I turned the power on my swords to full. "We need to pull them out."

I swung both blades across my chest. Green light shot forward, scouring the road and cutting one of the walking cars in half. The front end continued moving, revealing a pair of legs sticking out from the inside.

Can we save them?

Restriction.

I grimaced and shot forward. There was a man and a woman huddled against the trunk of a car. I rammed the walking car away from them, slid one sword back into my waist, and held 00s arm out.

"Grab on!" I shouted.

The woman reacted first. When the man didn't she let go, grabbed both his hand and hooked them around my arm, and then grabbed again.

"Hold on!"

I lifted off, swinging my sword up and shooting another green wave into the writhing car. The vehicle was cut at the corner, severing several fingers with it.

I'm sorry.

Consolation.

This is what you were arguing about, isn't it?

Restriction. Restriction.

All this chaos. Global chaos incited all at once. It must be sending ripples through the Shard network, stretching it to the absolute limits of its already degraded state.

Is it too late to fix it?

…

Administrator?

Uncertainty. Unknown.

Damnit.

I flew the couple up and over the wall as Tecton extended the barrier across the street. I dropped them onto the street on the other side. Wanton was gone, replaced by a swirling vortex that had a trio of kids on the edge. It pulled back and rotated them around to the other side of the wall before it fully closed.

"Tecton!"

Another large hand slapped the ground, and the street under Raymancer lifted. He peered over the wall and fired his power. The beams curved, arcing over the barricade wall and exploding on the other side.

"Get me to the other side!" Tecton said.

I moved away from the couple, arm still out. Tecton grabbed hold of it and I lifted us both into the air.

He held firm and grimaced as we rose. "Oh no."

I cursed.

"Ray," Tecton called. "We've got two more—Moncars one block over… Yes. I said Moncars. You know what I mean!"

"Keep walling in the first three," I decided. "I'll handle those two."

I lowered us to the ground and Tecton let go. He hit the ground hard, but his armor took the shock and he slapped the ground. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

I shot forward, swinging one blade as I charged. The street was chaotic as people scrambled to escape. Some ended up bouncing into each other and causing tumbles. The blade cut into one of the cars and I slammed my shoulder into the second.

Reaching under the hood, my throat started rising into my mouth as I found someone's face.

"I'm sorry," I told them. Not sure they could hear me.

There was so much panic. Confusion. Desperation. This close, it was a damn air horn in my ears. Moving my hand over I caught the underside of the bumper and launched myself into the air.

The car strained and flailed.

The damn thing was strong. No. Not strong. Every time it moved the air vibrated. I could see the ripples. I felt the ripples.

Gritting my teeth as the energy went right through 00's armor and the GN Field, I heaved. 00 strained, hoisting the transfigured human overhead. I released the bumper, letting the car fly before it crashed into the area Tecton was isolating.

"They have some kind of shaker or striker effect," I warned. "It goes through my armor."

Almost immediately, Tecton started thickening his walls.

I flew back down, grabbing the second vehicle by the rear bumper and lifting it like the first. That one flailed less. It took me a moment to realize I didn't feel anything from it.

The host was already dead.

I dropped it into the prison anyway, just in case.

Below, Raymancer continued firing. It made sense. Cruel as it was, it looked like this trigger was killing its hosts. With the risk that they might meander and hurt others… Fuck it. I just wanted their suffering to end.

Raymancer did too.

The fact they had some kind of power effect that could pierce my armor was just the excuse we needed to put these people out of their misery.

I glanced around, searching for any sign the trigger had spread. I didn't see anything. It must have hit the intersection and not gone further than that. It could be worse.

"Veda. How many more?"

"Taylor."

"Tell me."

"Five."

Seven and five made twelve. It had only been what? Ten or so minutes? "Any more in Chicago?"

"Not that I can see. The city has been more receptive to Relena's message and the local authorities are being proactive."

I landed by Tecton and looked at him. "Veda's not seeing any more broken triggers in the city. Any word from Grace or Mockshow?"

He rose up, slowly surveying his work. "They think there are people still alive inside the field. Myrddin is on his way to see if there's anything he can do."

I nodded. "If we're lucky it'll be like Imp's trigger. That one wasn't very lethal. The only people who died were struck by accident…"

"One can hope. Wait." Tecton turned. "Imp is Aisha Laborn right? How was that fixed?"

Administrator… Can we…

Unknown.

We fixed Riley. Sort of. We did something.

Turning my attention, I peered across the void to her. Administrator was close but we couldn't quite reach one another. The distance was so small it seemed absurd. We'd managed to connect when Riley messed with that piece of Mannequin's corona. How did she do that?

"Newtype?"

"Thinking," I told him.

How did Riley do i—What am I doing? "Veda. I need to talk to Riley right now."

"Who's Riley?" Tecton asked.

I'd curse myself but I didn't care at the moment. "Veda."

"One moment. We need help in New York. An additional two broken triggers have occurred. The Protectorate is attempting to contain them but they are at their limit."

"I have to go," I told Tecton.

"Who's Riley?" he asked again.

The world was going to find out eventually. "Someone who can help. Let Veda know if you need help. She's listening."

Tecton flinched as I lifted off the ground. "What about the brawl between the Triumvirate and whoever those other guys were?"

Oh, ri—

I froze as I crested the rooftops. The area around us was urban with mostly two and three-story buildings. I could see far, and with 00's cameras even farther. I recognized the costumed cape two miles away as Breach. Aisha saw him helping the Cauldron bunch during the saga with Dragon.

Count stood beside him, watching me.

She'd traded her costume for a suit and fedora. Her eyes peered out from the brim of the hat. She was here now? Wh—Oh. Duh.

"Stay safe, Tecton. Door please, New York City."

I dropped down between a pair of buildings, scanning the…volcanic eruption.

It fucking looked like a volcanic eruption!

The skyscraper ahead of me looked like a damn volcano.

The molten rock was black at the edges where it cooled, but it rolled onward like a wave. Windows shattered from the heat, showering down onto the street below. I shot forward, flying low and twisting both GN Drives to face up. The resulting thrust sent 00 slamming into the street but shredded the glass shower.

There were dozens of people around me, seemingly frozen in place. Not frozen. Held still. Eyes turned to look at me. The presence of the Shard pressed down almost instantly, its flailing and chaotic noise splitting into my skull.

The fuck?

Restriction.

"Veda?"

"There are five events in New York," she explained. "I am trying to gather force field projectors to deal with the lava. It appears perpetual and is rapidly converting the matter inside the building."

I looked up.

Too much. Too damn much. Again.

"How many people inside?"

"Doormaker is evacuating, but I predict the structure will fall within fifteen minutes. The trigger on the street appears to be localized. Those closest to the epicenter cannot move at all but those on the fringes are being killed if they shift position."

I glanced around, noticing the cars for the first time. They were a bloody mess inside and out like the occupants had been turned into a slurry and the vehicles left to careen into one another and pedestrians.

Many people remained trapped, frozen in place in the street save for the movement of their eyes. Would they die if we tried to move them before the trigger ended?

I glanced around. The lava was rolling down from the middle of the building, but it was at least two hundred fifty feet tall. If it fell it could kill everyone trapped in the street and some of the surrounding buildings.

With a deep breath, I just started throwing out ideas. I leaned into that little nudge in the back of my head, pressing it and saying whatever came to mind.

"Not just force field projectors," I ordered. "Get Kyrios over here, and Glaci—Labyrinth! We need Labyrinth!"

I rose 00 up and flew over the trapped crowds. That lava was going to start falling eventually, and probably before the building itself fell.

"And tombstone!" I added. "Stalling the building's collapse is more important than not feeding the power…"

Why was I here?

00 was of little use in this situation. Veda hardly needed me to tell her all this. She'd figure it out on her own.

And I only felt the presence of three shards.

The one bouncing around on the street below as if it couldn't pick who its host was supposed to be, the one in the building that was literally burning its host and healing them all at once, and the one behind me.

I turned, looking down a T-intersection. The image was wrong. Twisted. Bent into odd geometric patterns that bent one another and then turned into themselves. Blue and red fractals in the vague shape of a multi-limbed thing… Fractals that spread from everywhere it touched as it stumbled and flailed down the street!

"I need Lily!" Reversing course, I flew up and over to get a better view. My eyes widened. "Send me the Tierens."

Because of fucking course there was an army of smaller fractal creatures spreading from everywhere the broken trigger touched!

I drew a beam saber, ignited the beam, and threw it into the giant fractal. The saber cut into the shape, making it flinch and twist. The Shard and the host attached to it both reacted to the pain and the pleasure they felt was demented and manic.

My stomach turned. Did they not realize what was happening? Were both that addled, or had they gone mad?

I'm sorry.

Necessity.

I watched the saber closely as the GN particles faded. Only once they'd completely bled off did it contort. Good.

There was a flash as Stargazer appeared. Kyrios and Dynames rose, and a dozen Tierens spread out to either side of the street.

"GN blades and beams will work," I informed Lafter and Lily. "Hold them back!"

"Emergency services are en route," Veda informed me just as Stargazer teleported away.

I charged, darting down and drawing the buster sword from over my shoulder. With my other hand, I raised a longsword and fired. The giant fractal let out a warbling shrill, recoiling happily from the beam fire. Dynames flew over to a rooftop and began firing as well, drawing the twisted titan to rear up as I flew past.

I drove the Buster Sword into its flank and continued diving. As I tore a gash into the thing I spun, swinging the blade down and slamming it into the ground. The smaller fractals surged, some blasting back from the blow and others scrambling over one another to swarm me. A solid wall of GN Particles met them as Lafter rushed the horde with one shield. The other split open, projecting a blade that she then swung into them.

The Tierens opened fire then, just as Stargazer dropped two more onto the roof with Lily.

I slashed with my swords and fired beams down their lengths. More of the smaller fractals came rushing from the alleyways. How far had they fucking spread?

A look up the street suggested far. There was gunfire and someone shooting lasers a few blocks north.

I had no time to linger on that. Lafter cut a swathe through the horde while the Tierens barraged the front ranks. The more we struggled the more the smaller ones seemed to focus on us.

On the rooftop, one of the Tierens loaded a stake into the back of Dynames' rifle.

Lily hesitated, unsure.

"Do it," I told her. I turned my mind away from the host. "We can't save everyone."

She accepted that and pulled the trigger.

The air thundered, the rooftop quaking as Dynames' GN Drive-powered Gungnir fired. The street exploded, asphalt and the remains of cars blasting out and up into the giant fractal. It warbled louder and flailed, falling off its many limbs and colliding with a nearby building. Again I turned my mind away. I couldn't think about the people trapped inside.

We had to hold the horde here or more people would die.

Connection.

Will that work?

Attempt.

I nodded and spun around. My blade sheared a fractal in half as it jumped at me. The things died when struck hard enough. Unfortunately, their bits seemed to simply twist whatever they hit into new Fractals.

"Cutting is starting to look like a bad idea." Lafter projected another shield, bashing back a group of fractals. One low to the ground grabbed hold of Kyrios' leg. The GN Field flickered a bit over the armor but held. Slapping the suit's thigh, the thing's 'head' flattened and Lafter kicked it away. "What's the plan?"

I frowned. There was no time to look around and assess. Veda would handle everything else. "Keep holding them all here. We—"

I twisted, raising one arm, and swung a GN Drive over. The giant fractal slapped me, sending 00 tumbling through the air and into a wall. I crashed over someone's dining room table and kept going until I got my feet behind me. The thrusters fired and the whiplash knocked the wind out of me.

There were people in the building. Shaking. Crying. Trying not to move after realizing what happened if they did.

It was the corona. It was locked in place while the Shard bounced around chaotically. Those closest to the trigger point were fully frozen, but those farther away could move everything but that one part of their brain.

"Hold on," I told them. "Just hold on."

I propelled 00 forward, careful to avoid causing any more damage to the building. Lafter punched the giant fractal's head and followed the blow with a knee. She flew over the thing as it fell, unleashing the GN carbines to pepper the street below. Lily fired the Gungnir again, this time blowing the contorted monster trigger into the ground and shattering the road entirely.

At least we weren't over one of the old subway lines.

Sheathing a longsword, I took hold of the Buster with both hands.

I spun the blade through a rush of smaller fractals, twisting the GN Drives around and then pointing both straight up. Gritting my teeth I braced myself for the sudden G-forces of slamming my suit down into the collapsing street, blade carving through the apparent neck of the giant fractal. Landing in the crater, I pulled the blade free and swung through a leg.

The Shard and host were still there.

Lafter tackled it from above, using Kyrios like a ram to slam the thing back down. More fractals began to merge, wiggling out of the crater and shimmying themselves free.

What were the odds of two perpetuating matter transforming triggers this close together?

Restriction. Restriction.

We really should have thought of this earlier.

Restriction. Restriction.

I flew up, joining Lafter in a brief retreat. A Tieren loaded Dynames again, and again Lily fired. The stake hit and the giant fractal quaked like a rag doll from the blow. Squinting, I noticed one of the other stakes suspended inside.

The GN Particles should have faded after a few seconds.

Dimensional phasing. "We need Bakuda's warp bombs." I did the math in my head. "Four of them, modified to put something out of phase. We shower the street and wipe them all out at once."

"Can she produce that effect?" Veda asked.

"She'll figure it out." I turned my head and grimaced. "They're moving through the side alleys! Lily! Keep that thing down! Lafter, take the left!"

The Tierens were already moving, splitting into thirds. One stayed on the main street, Haros pulling replacement bazookas and magazines through Doormaker's power to keep them loaded on ammunition. Ammunition we couldn't keep replacing at this rate.

Again. No time to worry about that.

I pulled to the right, flying over the emergency responders and capes who'd arrived. Gregor and Labyrinth were in front of the lava building. Gregor poured a foam out of his hands, building a barrier as lava started rolling out of the building's front doors. Labyrinth was standing, waiting for the range of her power to expand. Mouse Protector was with her, and a squad of troopers from Brockton Bay.

I left them to control that problem, flying down the street and slicing my sword through the first fractal to emerge onto the street. A police car swerved out of my way as I abruptly stopped. It crashed into another car, but the officers quickly scrambled out and drew their weapons.

"Go help down there!" I told them. I pulled my sword free and raised the brace over the right GN Drive. "I'll hold them. Tell your dispatcher this way isn't safe!"

The brace split, opening to reveal a trio of stakes tucked inside between the compressors.

Setting one foot back and leaning forward, I fired all three. The stakes exploded the alleyway, blasting it out and up and shredding the wave of fractals inside. It was just buying us time. We needed to stop them from multiplying.

"Bakuda?" I asked.

"She is working on it," Veda revealed.

It wouldn't be enough.

The triggers were becoming a domino effect. For all, I knew there were already more in the city. This was the Simurgh's fucking plan! That bitch was going to turn the entire planet into a hellscape if it got rid of any organized resistance that could oppose her.

She was coming early. Dinah called it a week ago.

I'd never considered her attack would precede her descent!

This couldn't go on. It wasn't even about the next Endbringer fight. If this continued the cost would become apocalyptic! What if the triggers didn't end? What if the panic kept feeding into more panic. A fucking infinite feedback loop!

That's what Administrator was arguing about before. Restriction. Restriction. It was starting. The Network was coming undone. Restriction.

My jaw dropped.

Or this was just the foreshock that preceded the real disaster. Restriction. Restriction.

No.

I stepped back, swinging my sword up and slapping the first fractal to jump at me through the still bellowing dust and debris. I floated back out of the next one's way, firing my longsword's carbine into the next. More came and I kept attacking. I smacked and shot, making them work for every step they forced me back.

The Tierens began firing as they took position, explosions of GN particles blasting the fractals back and stunning them. Further up the road, Lafter was having better luck. She projected the GN Fields from her shields, and let the Tierens beat back any attempts to get around her. There were capes with her now, one with a brute power that seemed to immunize him from the fractals, and Chris.

His suit was firing red beams down the street, barraging one side of the road as fractals tried to get around Lafter. Mouse Protector was beside him, swinging a beam saber through the few who got through before they reached him.

"I always wanted a lightsaber!" she screamed. "This is the best day of my life!"

Vista must have the Brockton Bay PRT building so locked down Director Noa felt no qualms sending the rest of the Wards and Protectorate to help elsewhere.

I kept fighting with just the Tierens for a few moments.

Colossus ran up behind me, a smile on his face.

"No worries!" he exclaimed. "We got—"

A fractal jumped and collided with him. My heart started to sink as his body began to twist up just like everything they touched. I'd almost called him an idiot.

But then he was fine.

"I can do this all day!" he said, charging in again.

And he was fine again. Literally. Just—One second he was being twisted up and the next he was just standing there. And the fractals that collided with him were vanishing.

"I haven't lost a battle yet!"

You've got to be shitting with me.

I swung over his head, catching a fractal that tried to get past him. Swinging around, I let Colossus take the lead and simply run into the contorted figures one after the other. I slashed and fired, knocking away any that tried to get past him and weren't stopped by the Tierens. Colossus just kept charging, constantly returning to being perfectly fine with whatever fractal struck him suddenly absent.

His power was deleting whatever power effect caused him injury. He was a power negator.

How is a cape this powerful so obscure?!

Suggestion.

Right. Focus.

The reprieve was little, but enough.

We needed to solve the triggers. A permanent solution. Not simple fire fighting.

Riley.

I forgot. "Veda, is Riley there?"

"I'm here," she answered.

"Sorry. I—" I grimaced as fractals began emerging from the road. They just kept coming and Colossus couldn't delete them fast enough.

"Just tell me," she said.

I flew up, firing onto the street, but they were multiplying too damn fast now. Four bombs from Bakuda weren't going to be enough.

"How did you do it?" I asked her. "I need to know how you managed to pull me into Shardspace?"

"I—I don't know. That wasn't what I meant to happen."

Colossus pulled back punching and kicking wildly to strike as many Fractals as he could. A pair of fliers came overhead and began throwing lasers down from the sky, adding to my firepower as we tried to hold the rest back.

Behind us, Mantellum—good idea Veda—started down the main street, walking through Fractals unharmed. Tombstone was raising a barrier to block the streets off. EMTs and police were attending to the people trapped all along the road, but it was clear we couldn't move them. We needed to protect them until—

"Problem!"

Labyrinth called, pointing with one hand as lava finally spilled down onto the road. The building looming over us all was melting down like a candle and it had started to bend. The first drop was small, but it quickly began bubbling up and multiplying. More followed. Those vanished into portals Labyrinth projected, but her concentration was already straining.

Maybe we should have gotten Vista. Fuck. Hell, what did I know? Vista might be in another city handling another trigger. It didn't matter now. We were about to start losing people. Labyrinth couldn't open multiple worlds at once, and she couldn't very well—

"Labyrinth!" I screamed. "Warp one of the people away!"

She blinked and her head snapped around. "Oh."

"Is that a good idea?" one of the capes beside me asked. "I thought we couldn't move them!"

"If we don't they're all going to die! Labyrinth!" I bit back. "Test one."

Her face paled, and I wouldn't blame her for telling me to fuck off.

It was fucked, but the entire situation was fucked.

She didn't hesitate though. She threw a hand out, picked a person trapped close to the lava already falling onto the ground, and pulled him into her power. There was a pause as everyone who'd noticed stopped and stared.

Then Labyrinth's face broke into a wide grin. She swung her hand around and people started warping away.

Yes!

She turned her attention completely from the building, and Gregor poured a half dome of hardening foam around her as the lava broke free. People vanished one by one. I didn't know the mechanics of why and I didn't care. So long as they didn't move, they lived. Even if they got tucked away into another dimension.

So long as their relative position to their corona remained unchanged, nothing went wrong. I had a cusp of a concept for how that could actually work. Why it worked.

It would wait.

"Move the emergency responders next," I called. I focused back on the fight in front of me, retreating as the fractals continued multiplying. "Get a teleporter and go through the buildings! We'll hold out until—"

Until what?

I kept firing and slashing, my tension skyrocketing as our cordon shrank bit by bit. The fractals were becoming a damn tidal wave. They were crawling over one another now. The big one had even grown? I could see it in the rear cameras as Lily kept firing to keep it back.

Smaller fractals spilled over the main street regardless. The Tierens moved with just barely enough time to avoid being trapped, but we didn't have anything to stop the onslaught. Stabbing the Buster Sword down, I drew my second longsword and fired in both directions.

It wasn't enough.

There weren't enough of us to sto—

Flashes pulled me back to the road ahead of me. A stream of yellow and blue that cut, tore, severed, and disintegrated the wave pouring towards my side.

The suit crashed, the rooftop to my right crumbling and collapsing underfoot. The beams continued to fire, a single red light shining from inside the dust.

The suit that emerged was different from before. It wasted no time, leveling the long rifles in each hand and projecting a further half-dozen funnel-shaped drones from its back. The cascade of firepower intensified and poured into the road. Beams tore into and burned the fractals they struck.

The suit was far more refined than the last one, streamlined. Thrusters more carefully tucked into thicker armor. A bright purple glowing peeked out from under the plates. My momentary sense of threat gave way to the fact that his bitterness was well buried, though maybe not as deeply as he thought.

Great. Now I'm happy to see Leet.

I spun around. 00's thrusters ignited and I tore through the air before the first Fractal could collide with one of the people frozen on the street. I smacked it away and pushed back the next with the thrust of the GN Drives.

Back the way I'd come, a familiar ripple shook the air behind Leet.

A dozen capes surged forth, going to the battle to hold back the fractals. Blasters blasted. Brutes began body blocking. One cape started projecting clones of himself, each slightly different from the original in size or shape. They took the main road and filled the gap, actually beating back the fractals with the bombardment of powers.

My com crackled because he could still fucking do that.

"You have a plan?" he asked.

"Working on it."

The single eye on his suit looked away from me. "Work faster, unless you'd rather level the city to stop this."

He said that and felt like he could actually do it.

Shit.

"Cut him out," I said. Veda did so and sent me a message when she'd finished the task. She was already re-configuring the encryption. I could figure out why, but now wasn't the time to worry. Too many lives were at stake. "Riley."

"I don't know!" she pleaded. "I'd been trying to talk to passengers for years! Uncle Jack was always trying to make me stop but I n—I don't know how I did it! It wasn't supposed to do that! I was just trying to broadcast a signal and see what came back!"

My head rose.

"Door please, Buster Sword."

The portal opened and I grabbed my sword through it. Bringing the blade around, I leveled it at the big fractal and let the blade open. The Gungnir inside fired, tearing through and blowing a limb clean off the monster. As it crashed back down the blade closed and I returned to slashing my way through the smaller fractals by the dozen.

Broadcast…

Restriction! Restriction!

Will it work?

Unknown.

More capes joined to my right, adding to Lafter's barricade, Chris' firepower, and Mouse Protector's defense screen. Leet jumped down from the building, forming a line with Teacher's capes to hold back the horde I'd left behind. Lily and I continued battering and bashing the center back, buying time for Labyrinth to continue pulling people away.

There were many, but she'd almost finished with those on the street.

I'd have a chance soon.

A chance to change everything.

What happens to me?

I kicked a fractal back and swung my sword overhead to beat away the one trying to jump over me.

Administrator. What happens to me?

She was slow to reply. Flash had appeared behind me, grabbing Labyrinth and teleporting her away by the time she answered.

Unknown.

Gregor a half dozen other capes turned, fliers and movers grabbing them up to ferry them out of the approaching lava's path… The lava!

As soon as the last responder and cape were teleported or flown out of the way, I flew up. "Mantellum, Colossus. Keep going forward. Teleporters move those who can't move. Everyone else switch sides! We contain the trigger and let the lava wipe them out!"

I flew over the giant fractal, joining Lily in flight. Other capes followed, plus movers who teleported or flew those who couldn't move themselves. Stargazer flashed in three times, grabbing the Tierens and everyone else nearby.

Looking down, I could see flashes of light and movement in some buildings and windows. I knew there were people in there trapped by a broken trigger who could never save themselves. People we couldn't save either. Even if Labyrinth went as fast as humanly possible—faster even—she'd never be able to reach all of them.

We couldn't save them. People dying, not because they couldn't be saved, but because there wasn't enough time to save them.

The cost of a broken world.

Doesn't matter, does it? If we don't start fixing this, it all ends.

Restriction… Restriction.

Okay then.

I came about and began firing below. I'd been right before when I saw others firing down the street. There were a dozen more capes up the road, plus police, troopers, and more. People who could flee were being evacuated in droves, directed away as pure firepower poured into a sea of fractal creations that actually couldn't advance through the hail we were raining down on them.

In the distance, the lava building began to fall.

A bright light streaked through the darkening sky, cutting the building at its halfway point. The cry echoed over the city as Hashmal fired, its hulking frame standing astride two buildings three blocks away. The machine's weight strained both structures, but they held as it fired.

The parahuman-made volcano collapsed into itself, tumbling and exploding into its own structure rather than falling onto the surrounding buildings.

"Veda?"

"It will buy Labyrinth more time," she explained. "I missed the cape."

I nodded, flying down to the ground and joining a line of brutes and strikers battling back the fractals. There were so many of us now we were advancing. Fire seemed to destroy them completely, leaving nothing to continue creating more of the minions. Two capes—Spitfire and another I didn't know—were pouring an inferno down from the buildings ahead, thinning the herd and giving us the space to beat it back. While another just behind me snapped her fingers and set ablaze whatever she looked at.

The lava idea was even better than I thought it would be.

Within two minutes we'd completely contained the minions and could stop fighting. The flame capes continued using their powers while the rest of us stood watch. Explosions echoed in the distance, and I knew Bakuda had made it in time. If she could stop the fractals on the other sides from spreading, then we'd have contained the trigger.

Lifting off the ground, I looked over the smoke as the center of the disaster zone erupted. Bakuda was rocketing through the air on the left. Small objects dropped to the ground in her wake. The air rippled and warped behind her. Multiple kinds of bombs. Ones emulating Vista and Stratos' powers, plus one that seemed to shear the air and another that produced columns of flame. On the right, Leet was still firing along with others. They seemed to be holding their lines.

Lily fired one last Gungnir, knocking the big fractal—the actual host—back and into the molten mound.

I flew closer with a few others. Lafter flew over as Bakuda landed on a rooftop. The big fractal flailed but seemed unable to escape. It burned, smoking and curling up as the lava turned the entire twisted host into a two-story burning man.

Looking down, I could feel the trigger's host go silent. Dead. That they'd died happy was not a consolation.

"That's it, Veda." I glanced back toward Hashmal. "Do you want to do it, or—"

The machine's beak split open and the beam cannon fired. The light blew into the molten mount that had once been a structure, killing the parahuman inside and ending the trigger before it could spread any further. With the main fractal trigger over, the remaining minions were no longer moving.

They hardened, becoming whatever bits of asphalt, car, or concrete they'd been before.

"It had to be done," she lamented.

"I know."

The hosts were dead. With that, the broken triggers with self-perpetuating effects ended and we could maybe save everyone else still trapped in the surrounding buildings. It was the choice that saved the most lives.

The only kind of choice that existed if something didn't change.

"Riley. Veda. I need to make some modifications to 00."

"To what end?" Veda asked.

I narrowed my gaze. There was no question. This was the path Administrator and I had always been on.

No matter what came of it, this was where the choices she and I had made came from.

Affirmation.

For better or worse.

Agreement. Destination.

Here we go.

"We're going to reconfigure the GN Field," I explained, "and finish what Administrator and I began."