Panacea gave a gasp of shock and slight fear as soon as her hand touched Nina. As soon as she did that Keagan already knew that it was going to be a long night.
"W-what happened to her?"
"A forbidden move, one in which she broke her limits and allowed her power to flourish."
"That explains fucking nothing."
Keagan knew that, but he wasn't exactly eager to tell her and the other occupants of the room that Nina had used what had to be at least thirteen different kinds of magic, more than half of them probably forbidden.
"That's all I can explain it as," he said curtly. "Is there nothing you can do?"
She shook her head, hand still pressed against Nina's arm as she tried to analyze what was happening to the girl.
"I wouldn't know where to start. Her cellular makeup looks like a war field. Half of her is partenergyright now, and that energy is doing its best to consume the human part of her. Meanwhile, the human part of her is ripping itself apart, and constantly re-healing itself while it alternates between absorbing and rejecting said energy. And that's without talking about how half of her internal organs are just a slurry of muscle or the fact that every bone in her body is fractured, or that my power is saying that she's both blind and able to see. This is so out of my league that it's ridiculous. I-I'm sorry. There's a very good chance that your friend might die."
Alexandria gave a fake weary sigh. "Is there truly nothing you can do, child? She's suffered so much already."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but whateverthisis, I'm not qualified to deal with it. I'm not sure anyone is."
Alexandria then turned to Eidolon, who shook his head gravely. The two of them were there to keep hold of the fiction that they were their teachers, whilst Legend was out there making sure that everyone in Boston was okay. Keagan had to admit the two of them were doing a pretty good job at pretending to give a shit. If Keagan were an observer, like the doctor and Panacea were, he'd totally believe that this was a scene between two mentors and their wards.
"It's not often that I get healing powers that work on others besides myself, and none of them would be able to fix something of this magnitude. I'm sorry Alexandria. I know losing a student like this must be painful, but at this point, perhaps all we can do is-"
"I can try something," Keagan blurted out, already regretting this. "I've got some healing items that could help."
Keagan did possess a number of healing items, but he had no idea if they would work on Nina. His only idea was to combine them all and hope that they counteracted everything that Nina had done to herself.
Damn it, Nina. I wanted to keep some of these under my belt just in case. Ugh, who gives a fuck at this point. Most of America just saw the two of us solo Leviathan and making him run like a bitch. Learning that I can heal will just have them put me in a hospital for PR.
That…wasn't a terrible idea, actually. It would actually help the two of them out a lot. Hmm, maybe he could even do something for charity as well. It was something to discuss with Nina-once he stopped her from turning into ash and regenerating, of course.
"What do you need?" the doctor asked urgently. "Every minute counts right now. Even if you're not sure if it will work, it's possible that anything you have at your disposal could save her."
"Yeah, I know," he said under his breath. Then louder, he said, "First, I'm gonna need a tub, big enough to submerge her in."
Eidolon snapped his fingers, a purple glow around them, and Keagan could only watch as Nina's hospital bed morphed itself into a huge clawed-footed bathtub that looked like it came straight out of Victorian times.
"This big enough?" he asked nonchalantly.
"..yeah, this should be fine," he said, doing his best to ignore the weirdness that was Eidolon's powers. Besides, he could do weirder. "Alright. Let's get this started. Summon Lazarus Pit."
A glowing green substance began to fill the bathtub, quickly flowing upwards until All but Nina's head was submerged. The girl gave a few painful moans as the liquid touched her skin, but a few whispered condolences from Alexandria in her ear, as well as the woman gently caressing her head, had her calming down in moments.
She probably thinks it's Miss Militia…
"Summon Spirit Water."
A small blue vial of the liquid appeared in his hand, and he poured the contents into the tub as well. For a minute, it looked like the two healing liquids refused to mix, and Keagan held his breath, but after a minute, the two settled and became a new cyan color.
Panacea placed her finger on Nina's cheek.
"Holy shit."
"Is that a bad holy shit, or a good one?"
"It's a 'where the ever-loving fuck did you find this crap? holy shit.' I don't know exactly what these do besides heal, but they're working. Slowly, but they're working."
"Oh, okay. That's good." This felt like playing Monopoly and Operation at the same time, but with an added effect that Nina might become an eldritch portal if he didn't fix her soon.
"Summon Felix Felicis."
It may not have been a healing potion, but if Nina was going to make it past the next twenty minutes, she was going to need all the damn luck she could get.
...
Twelve hours.
That was how long it took for Glyph's teammate to heal her. That was how long she and the unnamed doctor watched the world's first molecular-micro-Tinker surgery. That was how long it took for Amy to believe in magic. Because that what it had to be. Something that beautiful on a cellular level; she couldn't really believe that any Tinker could do this, that something that mind-blowing amazing could be made by any mortal.
A variety of liquids, some of them added to the mixture in the tub, which was now a deep ebony color, some of them forced down Glyph's throat, all contributed to the regeneration process. It slowly dawned on Amy, halfway through the procedure, that she was watching Takedown molecularly re-assemble his teammate on an atomic level.And that was just with the liquids!
Sometimes he would have to change his costume and chant something which she was ninety percent sure were spells 'they're specific codes that I inputted into certain items for voice recognition.' Sure.That'sthe real reason why you conjured a fucking wand.
Other times he would summon items likestaffs, staves, a golden fleece, even a sword who the fuck makes a healing sword?
Wasn't that just counterintuitive? to use on her. And Amy noticed that not only was he healing her, but some of the things he was doing were alsostrengthening her, making her tougher on an unseen level, something that went beyond biology.
She could only assume that it was something to make sure that she didn't end up breaking her body doing whatever she had done again.
But what truly caught her attention was the so-called, 'Spirit Water.'
A single drop had landed on her as Takedown had poured it into the tub, and her power had informed her that it was water, the purest water she'd ever encountered, but that was it.
No, the thing that caused the regeneration factor was the energy that was intrinsically laced with the water, as if the energy had been present at the time of the water's formation.
Amy wasn't completely sure, but it seemed to focus on purification; ie, it saw wounds as a physical infection of the body and purified them away, as well as boosting the mental health levels of the one being healed.
It was beautiful. And it was just one of the more beautiful things that she had seen today. She had to see more, learn more, maybe even do more. If she could learn to do half of the things that he could with a biological organism-
"Remarkable," the doctor said softly as he gazed down at Glyph's repaired body. "She looks to be in perfect health."
And a biological scan showed that she was in better shape than that. A significant amount of regenerative serum and nanites still resided in her blood, boasting her self-healing abilities to a nearly godlike level.
Her skin was thicker, the individual cells seeded with some kind of energy that made it impossible to pierce it. Her eyes could now naturally see through several different spectrums.
Her bones and muscles were unusually thick, and Amy hazarded that only an Endbringer would be able to even fracture a bone of hers.
Her blood was now capable of acting as nanomachines themselves, and her body would no longer age or produce waste materials.
Takedown had just molded his teammate's body into the biological version of the Mona Lisa.
Said parahuman yawned as he stretched, several bones popping as he did so.
"I think I've done everything I can," he said. "I've literally exhausted everything in my inventory. After this point, if I start going any further, I might start turning her into…something else."
"She's fine on this side," said Amy, feeling somewhat unwilling to let go of Glyph's hand. "She'll have a bunch of additions, but you've put arranged them in such a way that she won't be overwhelmed by them when she wakes up. She will need some more sleep though, considering she was in extreme pain for the first three-quarters of the operation. She's technically only been asleep for three hours, so at least three more'll be fine."
"I will have to give her a full physical," the doctor said hurriedly. "But as soon as she's passed that, she can go home."
"Awesome. Can someone contact Miss Militia and call her over here? She's a good friend of Glyph's, and I didn't really want her to see Glyph when she was about to self-destruct."
"I'll call her and bring her personally," said Eidolon, startling Amy. He and Alexandria were still here? They'd been so quiet! "I'm sure she'll be elated to see her back on her feet. Alexandria, will you stay and guard her?"
Takedown was only wearing a silvery cloak that covered the upper half of his face, so it was easy to see his mouth twist not a frown.
"Guard her?" he asked, confusion thick in his voice. "Why would she need guarding?"
Alexandria gave a low chuckle, her head cocked to the side as she considered him. "You know, with how you act, I constantly forget that you are not only the younger one in your duo, but you're also the one with the least amount of time in our world. You two destroyed Leviathan in such a way that our Thinkers say we won't see him participate in an Enbdringer battle for the nextone hundred years."
"...which is a good thing, right?"
"No, it was agreat thing. It was so great that now the entire world is watching you. People will want to see you do that again, or even actually kill an Endbringer. You have just given the world more hope than any of us have had since Behemoth appeared. People will do anything to make sure that you attend the next Endbringer battle, even if you're not prepared to, or don't want to. Those people who've now had a taste of hope, they'll kill, kidnap, or even endeavor to Master you. Others will see you as the greatest nuclear deterrent that the world has ever seen.
"Two parahumans able to cause such extreme damage to an Endbringer? Anyone will do anything to have you on their side. You being associated with the Protectorate, even only through us, has seen our recruitment rate rise up three hundred percent. Just this morning, one of my advisors has told me that we've had two hundred parahumans join the Protectorate nationwide. Any organization will risk even our ire if that means that they can get their hands on you. And we haven't even mentioned the enemies you've made."
"The Fallen," Takedown whispered, his voice so full of ice that Amy could swear that the room's temperature lowered a few degrees instantly.
"Not just them," Alexandria corrected. "There are specific villains and organizations that endeavor to take over cities that have been hit by Endbringers, not only did you thrash the fastest Endbringer, Boston only suffered minimal damage because of your shield, and most of it is things like flooding damage, something that the government will be happy to pay for, rather than the reconstruction of an entire city that's being fought over by dangerous villains.
" Only five people died yesterday, and all of them were civilians. Three of them were old people who suffered strokes and heart attacks after learning that Leviathan was going after their city. And the other two were a middle-aged man who slipped and fell down a flight of stairs, and a thief who somehow managed to drown in a foot of water. These are the lowest casualties that we've ever seen, both civilian and cape. Everyone is watching you now. Every move you make can affect nations. It would not be an exaggeration to say that you and Nina could literally hold the world hostage. It might be today, tomorrow, or even two hours from now, but someone will make an attempt on you."
Takedown gave a small huff of laughter. "Let someone try and do something like that to us," he said softly. "They'll get the shock of their lives if they even step foot near us."
And somehow, that incredibly vague sentence sounded like the deadliest threat Amy had ever heard.
"Don't get overconfident," warned Eidolon. "There are capes who've been in this business for the same number of years that you've been alive. You're incredibly strong, but you've never seen capes like them before."
"I'm not being cocky," Takedown said irritably. "That's Glyph's thing. I'm just saying that the both of us take a lot of precautions, and anyone's who's prepared to take us on in that manner should be prepared to run afoul of them."
And with that, he left the room, Eidolon disappearing only seconds behind him in a flash of green light.
With extreme reluctance, Amy let go of Glyph's wrist, opting to go after the Tinker, ignoring the doctor's question of where she was going. (And Alexandria's sly grin.)
"Um, Takedown? Sir? Can you please wait up?"
The boy turned towards her, a question in his barely visible as he considered her.
"Panacea?" he asked carefully. "You wish to tell me something?"
"Um, yeah," she said, her voice cracking, vainly doing her best to ignore the fact that she was blushing like crazy. "So, um, listen: the kids in my family and the Brockton Bay Wards will be having a late lunch at a pizza place not too far from here. They, uh, have a 'heroes eat free,' policy that Weld texted us about, and I was wondering if you would like to come? Uh, Glyph too, if she wants to join."
He blinked slowly down at her, and she suddenly realized just how blue his eyes were. Idly, she wondered if he had enhanced himself on the same level as his teammate, and that thought sent a warm tingle throughout her body.
"...okay. A good meal sounds like something I can get behind, and Glyph needs a bunch more calories to maintain her new body. I can look for it-"
"Actually, if you give me your number, I can text it to you," she blurted out. She could feel something like butterflies flutter in her stomach as she subtly squirmed under his gaze. Damnit, what was wrong with her? She normally only felt this way around… Vicky…
Apparently, Takedown apparently figured something out, as his smile suddenly held a glint of realization, and his stance shifted to something more…flirtatious. He rattled off a number to her, one that she had to ask him to repeat because she'd been too busy looking at his eyes(something that made his grin widen a bit more) and as she said goodbye to him, she could just barely hear him say something before he disappeared in with a crack.
"Huh. Three months here, and I still got it."
She licked her lips as she saved the number into her phone. Glyph might be the human equivalent of a work of art, but Amy couldn't forget the one who'd sculpted what had basically been living ashes into what she was now. It was only due to professional curiosity, she told herself as she put a star next to his number. He was a very skilled healer, and the two of them could learn a lot from each other. And if that eventually led to something else…well, she had a way better chance with him than she did with Vicky, didn't she?
Ş̷̧͈̼̹͈͚̘̠̱̬̦̫͖͊̏̔̈́͋͆̑̾̄̐͆͝ͅḫ̶̛̻̺̞̘̠̍̓̓́ả̵̜̟͉̰̊̔̍̽͆͘͝͝p̵̢̧͉̗͙̙̝̈́̐̅̌͆͜e̴̢̢̛̖̖̣̙̼̹͖͇͇̲̯̍̂̉́͒̇́͝͝ͅr̸̡̯͚̜͍͍͍̱͕̯̘̖͙̃͊͆̈́̑͘ ̸̤̞͇̹̤̜̼̱͘ͅg̸͔̣͓͈̘̑̈́̀͆̎̓̈̈̈́a̸͕̣͆̌̽̾̎̇͊v̸̝̰͈͙̓̃̈́̂͐̔̈́̂̈́͊̋͝͝ͅe̷͈̩̳̳͉̟͓̙̘̟̖͒̅̎̎͛̚͘ ̸͇̮͈̈́͐ͅt̷̛̖̃̈̃̔́̓̈͋̏͊̍̿̂̿h̸̺̥̜̺͖̱͌̅͌̄̈́͊̐̀̊̒̍̑̕ȩ̷͎̟̰͉̥͕̈̈́͋̈́̂̈́̔́͝ ̷̖̫̩̻̾̌̇̎̂̽̽̌̚̚͝͝S̴̡̢̢̙̬̥̪͉̝͐̔̓h̷̺̭̦̞́ǎ̸̞͑̊̒̃̈́͊͐͒̏̐̊͝͝͝r̶̡̙̦̞͉̲̤̙̯͍̯̙͍͆̋̃̆͗̅͂̽̎d̴̼͉̞͚͎̭̀̇ ̸̤̦̭͔̫̙̬͍̪͍͆̎̈́̃̋ȩ̸̘̤̝̺̟͌̋̌̀̋̈́̇͝͝q̴̧̛̘̥̬̦̯̔̄̃̋̎͊̾̊̍͐̊̎̈́͝ų̴̢̲̠̟͈̗͇̖̩͖̝̰̰̌̎͋͆̑͝͝i̴̛̛̼̮͙̪͍̔̾͆̓v̸͎̰̀a̷̛̬̼̝̞͔̳̖̱͔̓̆̽͊̓̃̽́̌̈́͊̊̔l̵͍̰͚͈̈́͝ͅȇ̸̤͖̌ṅ̵͖͔͛̈́̾̀͘͝t̷̗͗̇̿̍̆̂̉́̈̈́́̀͘ ̴͍͍̳̮̜͍̘͈͎̘͊͐̓ő̴̺͚́́̌̈́͋̋̉͑̈́͜͝f̵̨̣͍͎̣͈͆̈́̉͒̃̌͘ ̷̨̖̬̜̼̦̳̅̏͊͑͊̈́͠ͅa̸̦̹̝̭̼̭͒̂͘ ̷̞̒͂́̎̓̐͌͋̓̀̀̈́̈́͘l̶̼͈͛̔̿̊̎͌͜͝͝ͅą̷̡̧̢͖͍̓́̚ȕ̵̠͔̯͇͕̱̺g̶̦̥͒ḫ̸̢̼̰̩̠̺̑͂ ̴̧̡̹̱̩̫͍̭̠̟̤͈͖̾͂̐͘ą̶̢̲̫̫̺̹͎̬͎̣̺̤͈̑̚s̶̢̡͓̯͙̭͎͚̜̰̪͖̯̎̿̋̄͛͋̇͆̕͠͠ ̴̭͒̈̓̈́́͝s̵̭̼̦̞̩̲̱̙̞̗̰̱̽̉̏͗̓̀̒̎̔͌̎̚̕͜h̷̨̛͙̱̮̮̮͈̣͔̪̰̣́͆̂̋́̎̕e̴̡̛̛͈͕̖͊͌̂̐͒͗̇͊̽͑̎ ̴̧̻̖͚̠͕̥͉̟͕̻͗̇̇̽̈́̀̋̈̿͊͘̕͘͜͝m̵̢̨̧̢̦̞̠̗̼̼̼͇̪͎̳͆́͆͛̌̇̾͆̒͆͠͝a̸̢͖̦̠̭͎̱̜̜͖͉̠̓̂̒̍̈́͒̊̑̒͋͜͝͠n̷̨̧̛̻͚͕͙͌̐̅͑̽̓́̿̈́̀̚i̶̧̧̛̘̩̦͉͓͎̳̱̤͉̤̘̎̇̂̀̃́p̵̢̡̖͍̝̠͎̙͆͒͊̅̒͗̋͋̔̀̿͘ͅų̵̧̧̪̮͈̗̪̻̱̰̩̦̽̌̀̓͂̌̕̕̕͠ͅl̶̯͎͙̖͎̥̝̬͒̎͑͝͝ą̷͛͆̊́͝ţ̶̨͉̟̻̙͍̫̘͉̗̠̪̤̉̉͊͝ê̶̪̞͎̺̤͙͓̲̞̝̽͒͜͠d̶͈̬͊̽́̄̆͌̽̕ ̸̛̛̹̹̝̘̹͈̟̳̖̀͊̾͆̽̒̀t̸̡̯̞̲͈̑̅̓̌͛̇̒̿̕͜h̷̨̭̝̗͆͊̄̽͘e̴͍͌̾̈́͠ ̸̭͈̖͍͇͈̝͇͓̐́n̷̘̳̮̫͙̠̩̄̓̍̈́̃͂̃ȩ̵̜͙̭̣̝̫̖̤̲̪̂̊̿c̵̹͓̈́͑͒̀͑̀è̸̤̞͖̦̭̠͍͇̻̦͚̾͆̋̈̈́͛̾̃͘̚s̷̢̛̜͚̦̹̩̀̄̀͂̅̍͑̌̕͠͠s̷̢̠̈͌̇͗̇͛̈́̈́̈́͊̇̓̏̚ͅą̸̜̹̩̲̦̅̄̈́̿̂͛̉̈r̷̢̡͓͙̟̭͓̥̣͇̳̊͆̀̿̀̂̀͌͑́͗̋͘y̵̡̱͖͎̭̪͇̞̰̺̪̪̤͕̍̀͆͗͑̐͜͠ ̴̧͔͔͚̝̝̭̩̻̞̞̲̊̐̍h̶̨̛̞̳͍̼͓̪̯̀͝ͅó̵̮̖͎̤̪̼̜̘̦̰̘͔͓̲͋͑̀̚ŗ̴̲̳̳̫̫̼͑͆͋̏m̸̡̨̮̜̩̥͙͚̘̮͍͔̃̈́̅̇̿̊̑́̈̚ͅo̷̰̺͔̜͂̏̈́̑͜͝ͅn̸̢̨̮̩͇͕̳̫͕̿̉̈́̾̋͛e̶̙̺̰̘͚̤̯͕͓͈̳̤͓̮̐ ̵̨̪̹̟͔̙̝̥͚͖̗̞͊̆̽̋́̅̈́̽̋̍̌̾͘͘ć̶̨̘͕̬͉̩͉̦͈͉̕h̸̡̽̀͋͗̔̔a̷̖͛̋n̸̳̳̮̰͖͎͔̪̲̩͚̈̍g̴̛̭̭̘̺̿̀̄͛̔͆̑̈́͗͒͆̑̌͠ę̶̡̆͂͊̆͂̓̆̅̽̃̚͠s̸̼̠̾͆̈̽͌̓̽͑̇ ̴͍̟͙̘̞͗̓̑̓͌̆̋̎͂͂̕î̸̳̋͋͝ņ̴̛̳̟̱̣̯̎̄͐̓́̈͛̚̕ ̸͚̯͌͛́͌̂̔̑͂͑͂̑̉̚͠͝h̸̛͔̘̀̓̀̓̋̆̈́̀̄ë̸̛̖̲́͐́̏̀͛̈́͑͝r̵̛̞̯̣͍͕̪̣̥̲͚̺̣̠͑̾̑̂̎̎͑̿͜ ̵̡̺̃̂̄̈́͌̓͑̌̏͆̈́̓̓͛͜͝h̷̡̛͉͎͓̦͕̝̝͓̰̰͇̻̳͗̾̌͊̾̆͊̽͑̿͘ͅö̵̺̤̦̲̱̙̝̪͖̠̫́͊̄̅̎̐͐̒̈́́͜͠ş̸̧̧̜͍̣̳̩̹̣̭̽͋̉̈̃̇́̀̄̅̄͘͘ͅt̴̛̬̯͉̂͒̊͑̂̓͆͐͋̅͌̈́͝͠'̷̱̦̮̣͓̳̫̳͔̰̞̋͋̃̉͛͝s̶̡̡̨̛̟̯̳͙̮̰̗̻̈́̑͜ ̵̧̛̥̟̈́̀̈́̔̓̎͝͝b̶͈̩̮͉̺͓͖̘͗̑͂̏̀̀̑̃͆̌̆̿͜ͅo̵̡͇̙͊d̸̢͕̝̻͕͉͕͗̒̚ẙ̶̧̙͚̥̹̲̥̩͉̰̻͇͌͆͊̀͛̃̌͐͋̋̂̿͐͝.̵̡̣͕̭̦̬̗̉̐́ͅ ̶̢̬̩͙̗̠̭̦̘͖͈̖̥̺̦͛̀̽͗̃͆̾͝͝͝T̵͔̯̝̜͗̇̓̍̾͛̓̓̈́̃̇͋͠͝h̷̰̍́̓̓͛͗a̷̦̺̞̔̌͊̚t̷̨̢̧̢̟̻̠͔̣͕̻͗̓̎̿̍̊̈́͜͝ ̵̜͍̠̪̅n̸̛̗͕̲̄̓̆̔͐̉̉͝͝͝ȍ̸̡̻̭̱͈͕̍̈̏̈̕ń̵̢̲͊-̵̢̨͖̠̼̠̙̞̬̻͍͍͐͆̊̎̔͜͜͝ȟ̸̬͔̮̲̌̔̈́̿ͅơ̵̢̡̢̢̝̘̗͖̩̮͙̳͙̂͑͂s̷̰̼̹͎̠̲̟͆̄͐̈́̉͌́̾̃̈ṯ̵̩̩͉̣̈́͒ ̴̨̤͗̋̔̂̅̃̌̔̚̕̕̕̚͝h̶͙͚̥͖̞̼͕͇͔̬̝͇̪̅͆͑̍̃̈a̷͕̬̭̺̹̿̀̀͂̾̇̀͋͛̃̽̿͘̕͝ͅd̴͕͇͇̦̼̙̫̥͖̋̌́́͆̍͐̾̾̃͐̽̚̚ ̷͎̬̺͙̲͕͇̦͑̎͒͠ͅb̵̢̺͎̱̻̣̣̣̟̋̂̋̊̀̑̕͜į̴͕͕̈̌̑̎̀̑̓̔̓̈́͘o̸̟̹̜͓͎͒́͛̏̓̇͘l̸̢̰̳͉̟̯̞͂̀̐̈́͜ơ̸̡̢͖̙̬̜̗̳͇͔̼̱̍̄̀͗̀͗̊͌̆̈́̕̕͝ͅǵ̴̨̦̌͛̄̌̂̒̚͝͝ī̷͈̰̺͍̫͙͖͙͔͔͚̠̟̩̤̎̆́̂̏̀́̾͂̂̌̌͝c̷̡̬̪̭̱̰̙̦̜̙̦̓̍̾a̸̛̭̾̈́̌̔̈̈́̍̅͋̈́̅̈̃̚l̴̮̳͊͋̌̃̓̐̓̆͛̽͘͝ ̸͚̰̾ą̸̡͈̻̞̩͉̗̘͙͗͗̏͌̂͗̋̍͌̒̈́̈́͌̑̀b̸̧̙̫̺̗̣̈͌̓̈̓͘ĩ̶̧̙̮̺͙̬͍͈̦̼̪̱͙͖͗̋̒͂͐̀̈́͆̒͗̎̽̓̕͜ĺ̷̖̞̮̣̭̺̻͚͉̳̙̮͕͓̙̏͠i̵̡̛͇̳͉͔̝̓̅̌̒̓́̇̆̐̚͝t̸̰͛̄͘i̴̛͓̖͗̋͒͌̒͛̓̂̎̆̀͗̍̕e̶̬̥̺̠̖͋̾s̶̡͚̘̥͍̮̤̪̰̠̳̳̜̎́̒̔͛̐̄͜ͅ ̴̧̛̼̳͔͚͍͕͓̜͒͊̚ṯ̷̢̡̧̛̫̯͇̗̲̟̲͔̤̭͊̌̎̈́̎͊̈́̏̂̄͆̉̚͘ḩ̸̻̩̫̝̺͚̗́a̶̢̘͕̘͔̙͙̎̃́̓̾̓̓̀̀t̶͍͈͚̙̠̪̾́͐̎ ̷̡̧͎̝̦͔͚̣͓͉̼̱̟̥͕͑̀͆̃̅̌ṣ̵̡͙̤̘͇̺͖̿̿̄̌̀͂̕͝h̸̪̲̖̯̝͙͈̩͉͓̬̪̻̅͜͝ȩ̶̧̗̪̯̱͚̥͔̰̲͋̿̽͗̽̈́̅́͂͑͗̈͌́͜͜͠ ̸̡̢̣͍̜̖̬̣̇̍̐͜h̸͎͆̐̈́͋͆̀͋̋̈͛͋̀̈́̎̍ã̶̞̞͚̫̻̱̩͇͈̫̖̞̦̭̊͗̀́͗͊̀̾̽̚̕d̶̠̙̹̗͈̟̤̭̜̀̈́̑̃͆͌̍̓̀ ̷̡͎͓̰͉̬͔̱̫̫͍̜̗̎͗̂̌̒̐̈́̍̐͛͠͝͝n̸̢͍̗̠̰̲͎̬͕͉̻͕̗̝̋̎ė̶̡̧̮͚͇̘̠̈́̆͑̎̀̉͠v̶̨̤͙̱̥̣̲̘̙͚̇̏̓͋̾̊e̴̢̛͚̤̥̮͋̽̓͗͌̏̅͂̉̎́̚̕r̷̢̢̨̡̗̤̺̳̟̰͚̭̺̭̹͐̄̈͐̆̏̀͂̌̎̌̕ ̸̢̛͖͈̘̬̟͆̀̃̾̎̓͒̊̂͗͗̆̽̕ë̴̖̹̥͉̆̋̿̾̌̍̚͠͝ń̴̨̡̹̙̳̬̺̞͉̮̳͖̻͎͂͐̀̂̋̽͌̿̃͠ç̴̛̞̬͓̻̻͎̣͚͙̭̜̦̈́̀͌͊͐̉͆́͜͝o̶͚͎̙̗̻̦͖̙̩̙͐̐ù̴̡̡̟̩̘̮̩̮̻͑̌n̴̫̼̫̤̫͕̮͎̮̞̣̒͒̄t̷̡̛̳̭̮͚̟̅̈́͐͜e̵͖̬̳͖̝̩͈̝̟̮̒̓̂̀̽̅͌͋͝r̷̢̛͍͔̝̠̻͍̯̖̯̤̪̻̹̓̾̈́̈́̉̆͜e̸̪͍̪͓͚̳͇̽͐̌̽̏̓̓͐̔̑̕ͅď̴̢̞̯̝͚̲͓̿̏͌̐̇͐͆̓̕̕ͅͅ ̶̨̝̘̳͓͈̟̼̙̩͓͕̰̆ͅb̸͍̝̰͍̖͈̣̄̎̅̔̐̿͆̋͂e̸̡̱̤͔̪̯̿ͅf̷̧͖͖͙̳̙͈̜̑͛̉̄̔͌̑̈́̽̋̕͜͝͠ͅǒ̶̡̪̜͚͉͔͉̎̈͛̃̀ͅr̸͚͑̉ę̶̰̫͚̫͑͘,̶̨̢̢͙̳̦̟̝͇͍̜̳̣̭͊͂͑̇̄̆̌̓̒̀̃̂͗͠͝ ̵̢̛͔̙̼̹͇̱̺̜̘̽̈́̀̕a̵̭̳͍̹̖̺͖̝̫̬̤̱̗̹̍̀̋̃̚͜ǹ̵͔̙̗̟̮̽̃̀͆̔̆̊̈́̌͂͝͝͝d̸̨̨̜̯͚̭̦͒͌͝ͅ ̴̻̰̠̼̗̤̯̝̞̮̫͔̎͊͛̀̾͊̑́̄͊̄̑̒͋ͅt̴̢͚͍̲̺͈̱̻͒̈́͒̐̊̀̈́͆̓̈̄͒͘h̵̛̹̞̰̺̤̜̫͋̂͆̽̎̆͑͘ͅa̵̢̳̲͇̪̻̳͍͚̺̟̘̥̬̙͐͋́̿̍̅̚t̶̠͎̲̜̃̈́̏̓̅͂̃ ̸̢͖̠̻͉̝͚͚͑̒̈́̄͐̎̂͌͑͐͆̔͊͠͝w̶̤̖̮͖̘̥͙͔̌̌̓̊͑̎͑̆͌̽́̕͝ḁ̴̡̛̤̳̦͉͔̣̅̍͐̊̇̐̾̓̇̆̅͗͘s̶̡͖͖͈̯̘̜̬͉̫̹͎̙̹̔̑̍̅͒̎̈́̆̓̌͋ ̵̯̖̭͙̘̩̣̫͐̈́̃̂̏̾̒̐̽͝͝ͅͅs̷̩̝̱̩̻̐̒̃͐̃̋̾͒͒̈́͘̚o̷̡̧̠̬̰̻͖̜͙̥͒̆̿̕m̸̢̞̼͉̪̯̻͙̳̬̜̜̥͖̓͜ễ̶̺͗t̷̢̛̟͓͚̙͎̩͍̒̔̓̔͊͠h̶̜̯̰̗̞̼̺̟̉i̴͙͔͓̘͓̹͓̳̠̾̎̃n̶̩̪̮͇͕̜̲̮̟̖̻̣̿̾̊̆̊́̿̎̆͒͘̚̕͝ǵ̶̨̣͖̟̫̥̱̭̻̪̜̖͉̼͗́̅̽ͅ ̷̨̬̹̈́́̽̌̀̔̿̋̈̌̕͘̚͜͝͠t̴͈͇̹̗̖̮͔̙̤̲͚̫̏͐̈̏̋̏̕h̸̡̨̧̨̥̻̗̰̝̫͓̑̇̐̀́̕a̴̡̞̘̜͇̩͖̼̰̟̙̖͔̔͑̾̄̒͋̒̔͘͘ͅͅt̵͈̲̪͂̓͛͐̿̌͋͑̽̊̆̅͝ ̸̢̦̝̳̹̦̼̯̬̱̭̪̞̲̣̈́̚s̵̳͖̲̋̓͌̽̊͆̿̎̑̀h̸̨͓͎̜̦͎̜͎̫̩̐̋̔̆̍̒̓́̅̎e̴̛̯͍͕̟̝̣͔̯̮̗̜̊̊̐̎̈̐͆̌̀͂ͅ ̸̛͈̟̹̥̤̦̲́̀̓̊͆̂͋̒͠w̶̺̐̚o̵̳̺̭͇͐͗͑͛͛̃͐͒̏͊͂̂u̴͍͇͙̳͉͗͋l̴̲̪̪͙͔̗̳̤͚͒͊̃d̴̗͎̙͙͍̳̥̝͚̝͚̑ ̸̝͖̭̰̬͈̪͕͖͚̄̄̏̔̋͒̔͆̍̅͒̀̑͒q̵̩̼̈́̌̋̈́͌͘͝u̷̞̦̔͗̔͑̂̅͘ì̸̜̫̠̹̘́̋̊̂͋͝͝͝c̶̼̗͕͍̘̯̹̕k̸͙̀̅̊̓͌̀̔́͒͑̽͋̓̏ḻ̷̠̘͇̜͍̤͛̀̅͌̒̄̌y̸̧̡̡̛̞̥͇͕̤͐̋̿̃͋ ̷̝̬̬̟̫̔͐́̐̄̈́̿͛r̷̤̻̾ȩ̵̘̮͇͚̜̖̥̝̱̩̦̲̥͉́̔̐̀͌́̃̆͗͠͠c̶̛̞͙̰̺̈͗͂̎̃͒̍̚̕̕̕͘t̶̢͖̓͂͘i̸̡̠̭̦͓͚̽̌̂̎́͑̅̀̈͋̆̆̈́ͅf̷̝̖̺̼̲̜͆̌̉͑̄̒̚̚͝y̵̨̘͈̐́̒.̶̧̛̳̦̦̬͖͕̼͚̪̈́̒̆̎̅̐̓́͐͛̀̈͘͠.̷͚͉̦̻̄̆͌̄̈̓͛͛̋̈́̊͘͠.̶̢̛̛͈̟̣̹̫̼͉̆̂̎̆̃͗̈́̽̇̒͑͜͝͠
...
When Nina woke up, she was surprised to realize three things. Number one: she didn't feel like absolute shit. In fact, she felt fucking fantastic, which surprised her, as she had really expected to wake up looking like Might Guy had after one-shotting Madara. Two, Dinah, of all people, was curled up next to her, the little girl's eyes gazing at her with a small smile on her face. Three, Miss Militia(Mom!) had Nina's head in her lap, softly singing a Kurdish lullaby that she faintly remembered.
"Dinah? Mom?"
Her surrogate mother merely did that thing where she smiled with her eyes, her hand softly stroking Nina's hair.
"Good morning, Treasure. You're looking better this morning."
"Yeah, that surprises me too," Nina said as she sat up, displacing Dinah who pouted at her. "I kinda expected to be wrapped up in bandages. Who fixed me up? Panacea?"
The snort of laughter came from Dinah. "She had a 00000.001% chance of helping you. I don't think you can give her the credit."
"Then who else could-!" The answer came to her in a flash. "Keagan!"
"...I'm going to pretend you said Takedown and move on," Militia said sternly. Nina gave a sheepish grin as she rubbed the back of her head. Right, secret identities were really important here. Her refusal to wear a mask didn't mean she could just out him.
"Anyway, yes, Takedown healed you. Apparently, whatever you did to harm Leviathan did the same amount of damage to you. You just got out of a twelve-hour reconstruction surgery six hours ago."
Suddenly, her mother's stern gaze softened, and Nina was brought in for a tight hug.
"Please, never scare me like that again," she whispered. "I've lost too much to those monsters. I don't want to lose my child to them as well."
"...I asked the clone that was taking care of me in Brockton to bring me here," Dinah added quietly after a moment. "The numbers…they were all over the place, and they sometimes got really bad. 50%, 35%, 22%, 0%...I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to come and see if I could help, but my power was useless. If it wasn't for your clone, then I'd probably be in a hospital bed too."
Ah, that little quirk that Nina had figured out. By releasing pure Shard energy into a parahuman, Nina could help them increase the strength of their power dramatically, or remove the limitations and restrictions that their power gave them.
When using this technique on Dinah, the younger girl could specifically focus on certain futures that she wanted to see and could ask as many questions as she wanted without suffering from a Thinker headache.
A bit overpowered, but like hell, Nina was going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"I'm sorry I worried the both of you. I could tell that Leviathan was learning way faster than we thought he would. I had to stop him as quickly as possible. I probably won't ever use that move again, since Behemoth will just absorb it and Ziz would probably use it to make me crash into an orphanage or something."
"The chances of that happening are-!"
Miss Militia quickly put a hand over Dinah's mouth.
"Maybe that's not the kind of prediction we shouldn't be asking about," she said quickly. "Also, I didn't recognize you before, but aren't you Dinah Alcott? The mayor's niece? We've been searching for you ever since you were taken from your home."
"Nina saved me," she said simply. "Which was really cool, because the numbers never saw it coming, so it was like a surprise, but a good one this time. That's why I like Nina, even though she keeps changing the future. She almost always makes sure that the future ends up nice."
Militia gave her daughter a fond look. "Yes, she does do that a lot, doesn't she? My little Nina, the bane of precogs."
Nina couldn't stop the goofy grin that spread across her cheeks. This was perfect, in every way that she could have ever thought of. She had Militia as a mom, Dinah as a little sister, and Keagan as a grumpy younger brother who thought too much. The only thing that could make it better was if Keagan was in the room, right now, grumpily telling her how she wouldn't get a freebie like that again.
But of course, Earth Bet was still Earth Bet, even on its good days.
"Well, I came to check on my apprentice, but I see that one of my best members already has that in hand," said Alexandria's amused voice.
Miss Militia quickly got to her feet and snapped into a salute.
"Ma'am! I-I didn't expect you to be here. How-how long have you-."
"At ease, Militia," the heroine said, causing her mother to relax from her pose. 'I already know about you and Nina's relationship. I'm just glad she has someone who can truly give her the support she needs. And who is this little one?"
Dinah hesitated before answering, and the response she gave… didn't answer the Triumvirate leader's question.
"You're the Unbreakable Lady," Dinah said, her eyes laser-focused on the Flying Brick. "You're one of the ones who make it to the End."
"...how interesting," Alexandria said quietly, softly closing the door behind her. "And…can you tell me exactly what happens at the End?"
"Sometimes, there's an army of heroes behind you. Sometimes, it's just you, Legend, Eidolon, Nina, the New Boy, and The Lady in the Hat. A lot of times, Nina and the Boy are the last ones standing. You didn't use to make it that far before. You always died in Brockton. Then Nina came…and you started appearing at the End more and more. I don't know why. And now with the Boy, a lot of people who were never there end up being there too."
The tension in the room was palpable as Alexandria asked her next question.
"Do we win?"
Dinah scrunched up her face. "It's a solid 50%. I never used to get solid numbers like that before they came along. The scales, they're exactly even, and I don't know the reason why we end up winning half of them. I only know that if any thing happens to the Boy or Nina, we always lose. Right now…it can go either way."
"How very…interesting," Alexandria said again, and this time, Nina could hear the hunger barely hidden in her voice. "I don't think I've ever met someone who could see the future as clearly as you."
Dinah nearly shrugged. "I could never see the future as clearly as I could before Nina helped me. If someone took me from her, then I'd be less than useless to them."
There was some kind of hidden conversation that Nina couldn't see, but before she could start to decipher it, Alexandria turned her attention to her.
"Anyway, that interesting tidbit aside, I wanted to talk to my apprentice, hopefully in private?"
As much as it sounded like a request, it really wasn't.
"Of course Ma'am," Militia said. Then, giving a quick hug to Nina, she walked out of the room.
Dinah also pulled her into a hug.
"Don't get mad," she whispered into her ear. "She just wants to talk. She'll say mean things sometimes, but as long as you don't lose it, it'll always go well."
"But how can I trust her?" she muttered back, giving the girl a tight squeeze.
"She needs you, and that means she'll do anything to keep you on her side. Even tell you the truth."
And with that, the little girl sipped her way out of the room.
Alexandria didn't waste time.
"Well, aren't you full of surprises? Strengthening Pre-cogs to such a degree? How long were you going to hold that little card over our heads?"
"I was gonna tell you when you told Legend where Case 53's come from. So, probably never."
"You know, the two of us are on the same side," she said, leaning against the wall. "In fact, if you look past the power differences, you and I are more alike than you think."
"I will never be anything like you," Nina spat, acid dripping from her words. "There is nothing that you can say or do that will ever convince me that we are alike!"
"Oh, really? So you haven't imprisoned thousands against their will because you know better? You haven't taken advantage of both heroes and villains to get the power that you needed? You haven't lied to your best friend so that you could keep using them for their strength?"
Nina's mouth went dry. "Wh-what? No-no! I haven't lied to Keagan?"
And that was when Alexandria's smirk turned into a shark like smile. "Oh, so you've told him how to get home?"
What?! How had she known?!
"I've told him," she said weakly. "He knows that I don't have enough power or durability to do it yet."
"But you didn't tell him that with one of his tools, you could do itnow, did you?"
"...how'd you find out?"
"We have a Contessa," she said in an amused tone. "Finding out what leverage we could use against you took ten minutes. Keagan loves his familysomuch that he would do anything, work withanyonewho he knew even had a sliver of a chance of sending him back. Even those he considers the devil."
"You don't have our powers, so they might not even interact with each other the way me and Keagan's can," she said confidently. "And we both know that Cauldron isn't to be trusted. Even if you told him, he would never help you save the world from Scion, especially since you can't send him home."
"Actually, Contessa says that pairing up Doormaker with several of Keagan's artifacts will allow Keagan to see his family again. Of course, it would kill Doormaker, but Keagan's dimensional teleportation artifacts can easily work without him being here," Alexandria said simply. "And whilst this would undoubtedly make the final fight harder, I'm sure if wereallyencourage Keagan, he'd even sacrifice himself to make sure that Scion died, especially since he has multiple means of resurrecting himself."
"Fuck you," she hissed. "Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to fuck up everything that I've worked for?"
"Because I need you to understand that weneedto be kept in the loop!" Alexandria fired back, true anger in her voice now. "We need to be involved in the process of saving the world! You keep brushing me off, saying we're nothing alike when you're my mirror image from thirty years ago! You would've enslaved an entire city to give them paradise! I have killed families, friends, coworkers, even potentiallovers, all for the sake of saving the Multiverse! I have personally ripped apart entire dimensions of people so that we could have the best chance of survival!
" Every evil act I have done, every man and woman I have killed, every child I have sent to their death, has all been for a reason! To kill the Enemy! Notoncehave I taken pleasure in the things that I do! Not once have I done it just to be malicious! And you know that!
We are not just caricatures of Mad Scientists! We donotrun the world because we think it is fun! We donotpat ourselves on our backs for imprisoning and enslaving hundreds of people!"
And suddenly Alexandria was in her face, poking her in the chest hard enough that she could feel it.
"You want me to stop doing horrible things?Help me! Help me to see that there is a brighter path ahead! Help me to find ways that are more efficient to stop the Enemy! Help me to find theheroic waythat you so proudly preach about, and stop us! Make Cauldron defunct! Show us the better path! Show us what our mistakes are! Don't run away and make plans behind our backs, plans we know nothing about, plans that make us scramble to find solutions whilst we look like fools!
"Contrary to your beliefs I donotwant to get in between you and Keagan! I think that the two of you are amazing! The two of you make me happy! Because the two of you are a stronger duo than even Hero and Eidolon were! You make me feel that all thebloodsoaking my hands wasworth it!But if you refuse to work with us, if you refuse to stopplaying around, and pretending your happy family doesn't have a deadline with a giant golden gun at the end, then I willrip your little family apart, just like I have done to countless others! I will make sure that Keagan associates your name with the lowest filth imaginable, and I will ensure that once everything is done and over with, he will find you andkill you himself!"
With her rant over with, Alexandria moved back, taking a deep, calming breath as she did so.
"I don't mind you having a family," she said gently. "I don't mind you being happy. I don't mind you trying to make the best of a bad situation. But stop fighting us. We are the only ones who know what is going to happen. We are the only ones who are preparing. We are the only ones who are ready for the fight that is to come. Together, Contessa says that we can achieve things so great, that we can finally see the stars, that the Endbringers and villains will be nothing but an unpleasant footnote in our history, that the story of creatures like the Slaughterhouse Nine will be shared as a ghost story to frighten younger children into behaving for their parents. But to see this world as a reality, we need to work together."
Alexandria took a step towards the door. "Keagan will be here soon. The Wards will be treating you to a late lunch. Contessa says that you'll appreciate the company."
Then, in a softer tone, she said, "You can tell him. You can tell him, and you can explain to him why you hid it. We can all sit down with him, and ask him to let us explain. Keagan isn't unreasonable. He'll listen. You know this. Go out today. Have fun. Eat junk food. Be a normal girl who gets to meet her new friends. But tomorrow, come talk to me. Please."
With those parting words, she was gone, leaving Nina to dwell on what to do. Five minutes later, Keagan walked in.
"Yo, loser, I know you're awake. Well, mostly because the doctor told me, but still. Listen, we're gonna have lunch with the Brockton Wards and the New Wave kids. I know you just wanna fangirl over them, but we gotta talk about a few things to make our cover story more believable. I know you hate these…hey, you okay? You look kind of peaky."
Keagan. Sweet, nice, brave, loyal Keagan. Keagan who she already saw as a member of her new family. She didn't want him to hate her. She didn't want to fight him, not now that she knew him. She didn't want to see his face twisted up in rage and sorrow as his world was turned upside down again. Especially not because of her.
I'll tell him. But not today. Today is supposed to be a good day. For everyone.
She jumped up from her bed, walked over to Keagan, then pulled him into a huge hug.
"Nina?" he asked hesitantly, slowly hugging her back. "Are you sure that you're okay?"
"Of course, you noodlehead. Now run your game plan by me."
"Sure, just try not to freestyle this one, alright?"
...
Dean was kind of nervous. Actually, scratch that, he was very nervous. This was possibly the biggest thing he'd ever faced in his career.
He had to hang out with the Hopebringers.
Or, at least, that was what everyone was calling them on the news. The first humans to ever really save a city, utterly thrash and Endbringer and do it
with little to no property loss at all. A truly unbeatable Protectorate record. Fitting for those who studied directly under the Triumvirate. However, he and Aegis seemed to be the only ones who knew just how big this was. The others were just excited.
"I've got to ask Glyph about her finishing move! That super dragon kick?! Shebent space so that he couldn't dodge it! I couldfeel it!If I can replicate what she did, even on a way smaller scale, I would be so cool!" Vista said, stars in her eyes.
"You're still talking about Glyph? What about Takedown?! I've never seen that kind of tech before!" gushed Kid Win. "Stopping Leviathan's hydrokinesis, a forcefield generator strong enough to break an Endbringers arm?! And that suit?! Like, are you freaking kidding me?! I didn't even understand one thing that I was looking at! Neither could Armsmaster or Dragon! They're scrambling to figure out just how that trident thing worked!"
"Hah! Can you believe Shadow Stalker decided to miss out on this?" snickered Clockblocker. "Oh man, she's gonna be so jealous when we get back!"
Gallant grimaced beneath his helmet. Shadow Stalker had been quite…vehement, about staying in Brockton, stating that 'Boston's a lost cause, losers. Just a city full of sheep about to get slaughtered.' Which had of course been extremely rude. And now, becuase of her attitude, she got to miss out on the fight of a lifetime, as well as meeting the ones who did it. Of course, this meant that she was going to be insufferable when they got back home, but it was her loss.
Aegis tried to calm them down. "Hey guys, I know this is super cool and all, but we should really try our best to be professional. These capes are probably gonna be our new bosses in about ten years, so we really need to make a good impression now while we have the chance. And that meansno flirting or pranks, Clock. I'm not afraid to put you on toilet cleaning duty for a month if you embarrass us."
"Hey, that's not fair! What if Glyph sees past this smooth, white facade and finds something she likes?"
"Clock, she was only that fucked up during the battle," Shielder said with a grin. "Now that she's not half-blind anymore, I don't think you stand a chance. Especially not with Takedown there."
"They're not dating," Panacea said sharply. Then, turning pink, she added. "At least, there's no evidence of them dating They're more like co-workers. More brother and sister than boyfriend or girlfriend."
"I don't know Ames," Victoria-Glory Girl teased. "Training hard with the Triumvirate, the two of them alone for hours on end? And Glyph's not afraid to show off her body, so I find it hard to believe that there's not even a spark between them."
"Vicky, stop teasing Amy. Amy, just chill," Laserdream said, rolling her eyes. "Amy, you're smart and pretty. If Takedown and Glyph aren't already dating, then that means he doesn't go for just looks. Most tinkers like intellectual feedback, someone that they can talk to on an even level. Just stick to Biology, and you'll be fine."
Panacea turned an even darker shade of pink but just nodded in response.
Everyone's emotions were charged up, radiating excitement, wariness, joy, disbelief, even a little lust, in Amy's case. (secretly, he was kind of glad for it. Maybe now she'd be able to get her emotions about him and Victoria in order.) The mood was festive, and the entire city was filled with similar emotions. Dean had to restrain himself not to just end up laughing like a lunatic. This was the greatest amount of happiness he'd felt in a long time.
And then he saw them.
"They're here," he said, warning his friends, who scrambled to look at least somewhat impressive for the newcomers.
Confidence. Cockiness. The two of them were filled to the brim with it. It was the kind of arrogant mixture that only the highest capes carried with them, an internal assurance that they could handle anything that came their way, and from what he'd seen last night, those two could easily back up their claims.
Glyph was as gorgeous as ever, every step filled with an assurance that she could take on the world. Dressed casually in a form-fitting tank top with a black sweater thrown over it, blue jeans, and leather boots, one could almost believe her o be a civilian, except for two things. One was her looks; her signature purple eyes were now a dark, rich, wine red, with the tips of her long black hair dyed a dark purple.
The second one was the Tinker next to her.
Takedown was wearing the sleekestpower suitthat Dean had ever seen. Hell, the thing looked so damn futuristic that it made him feel embarrassed in the Tinkertech costume that he normally wore. With no segmentation present, the suit looked like one solid piece that had been painted on him. Hot-rod red with gold accents and a little bit of silver here and there, the suit practically screamed 'Tinker'.
Even more surprising was the little tag-along behind them. A girl, probably no older than Vista, dressed in casual clothes, her face covered by a domino mask, and…was she riding on a cloud?
"Yo, BB Wards! What's happening!" greeted Glyph as she got close to them. "Damn, you guys look amazing! Vista, I love your visor, that looks so cool! Does it come with a heads-up display?"
"Um, no, ma'am, Glyph. It's just for protection," Vista said. Dean was impressed. One almost couldn't tell that the girl was nervous as hell.
"Ugh. Tinker's, am I right? Always keep the good stuff for themselves," she said, poking her partner in the ribs.
"I'm sorry that we as Tinkers do not exist to provide society with cool shit that'll blow them up," Takedown said flatly. "Aegis, Laserdream, a pleasure to meet you. I've followed both your team's careers. You look like you're on the path to greatness, both of you."
He shook both of their hands and nodded to them, a huge sign of respect, considering he probably outranked them in every possible way.
"Oh, Aunt Sarah's the team leader you know?" Crystal said, a tone of nervousness in her voice now. "I just help out. Also, nice to meet you again, in uniform, this time."
"It's an honor to hear that from you Sir," Aegis said easily. "I'd also like to apologize for the Boston Wards; If they had the time, they'd be here, but they wanted to make sure that the city was safe."
"Laserdream, nice to officially meet you as well. Aegis, no need to apologize. I'm sure that as Wards, your responsibilities are unending. Tell Weld that I'll stop by and talk to him soon."
Then, to everyone's surprise, he turned to Amy.
"Panacea," he said, his voice somewhat deeper now. "Always a pleasure to meet you."
Amy turned a dark red but kept her composure. "Likewise, Takedown."
Dean blinked in pleasant surprise. Huh, so it wasn't as one-sided as he had thought.
"And I'm Oracle!" piped up the little girl on the cloud. "I can see the future!"
"Hello, Oracle," Aegis said. "Are you a local Cape? You're quite young."
Oracle happily shook her head. "Nope. I'm just hanging out with my big sis today."
Dean could see half the group's eyes widen while Dennis choked on his spit. Glyph had a sibling?! How come they hadn't been briefed on this?
"Alright, alright, c'mon everyone, let's go eat, yeah? I'm starving, and this knucklehead needs a few dozen pies in her," Takedown said, poking his partner back. Glyph merely stuck out her tongue before she laughed at him.
...
The pizzeria had been emptied out just for them, so it was only capes inside the building right now. They were all seated in a massive booth, and for some reason. Oracle had chosen their seating arrangements.
"The numbers are better that way!" So Glyph sat with Crystal and Vista on her left and right respectively, whilst Takedown was seated next to Panacea and Kid Win. (Dean didn't think that anyone missed how Takedown's arm had casually gone over Amy's shoulder, least of all the girl herself.
He, Aegis, Clockblocker, Shielder, and Victoria were all seated on the ends of the booth Oracle was seated above their heads, eating on her cloud, merely watching as the two superior capes engaged their peers in conversation.
"So, do you know any other space bending moves?" asked Vista slyly.
"Eh, no easy ones. When I bend space, it's usually because I'm breaking natural laws in some ways. I'm sure I can find a feasible way to actually weaponize it, but for now, I'm stuck at brute-forcing it right now. Nowhere near your level."
"Still, the Dragon Projection was still pretty cool," Crystal said as Vista preened from the compliment. "It was beautiful, the ways the jaws snapped shut when you kicked Leviathan."
Meanwhile, Kid Win and Panacea were engaging Takedown about his armor.
"So, I couldn't help but notice, but your armor seems very reminiscent of the human body," said Panacea softly, her finger gently tracing a line of silver on the bicep.
"Well, that's because it is. When the armor forms, first there's the Neurological and Circulatory systems, which are also the control layer and plasma channels. After that, there's a base muscle layer, then the bulk of the muscle layer and exostructure form, and finally, the 'skin', which is the red and gold parts that you see. The first few iterations I had before this were actually an exoskeleton armor before I upgraded to this."
"But what's it made of?" asked Kid Win curiously. "The suit looks like a perfect seal. It's more reminiscent of bodysuit than power armor."
"Oh, that's because this is all made from gold-titanium Nano particles."
"Holy-nano particles?!"
For about half an hour, the group of them weren't parahumans or warriors. They were just teenagers meeting new friends, and hanging out for fun.
Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end.
Surprisingly enough, it was Victoria who asked the question that quelled their enjoyment.
"So what happens now?"
"What do you mean?" asked Glyph as she eyed what may be her sixth whole pizza. (Good Lord that girl had an appetite!)
"I mean, you two. Where do you guys go from here?"
The two of them tensed up slightly, surprising the other Wards.
"Well, we can't really tell you everything," Nina said slowly. "Classified and all that jazz. But we can give you the bare basics. One thing you should know is that the two of us will be stationed in Brockton."
"Really?! THat's gonna be so cool!" said Vista happily.
But Nina shook her head. "We're not allowed to interfere unless the situation is growing out of hand. You and the Brockton Protectorate will still be the main authority in the Bay. I'll just be dispatched to the smaller towns that the ENE branch could never really cover because of how volatile Brockton was. We've got a few things to do."
"Like what?" asked Clockblocker, noticing just how serious the two were behaving.
"Without going into depth? For one, a lot of people want us to replicate what we did to Leviathan on the other Endbringers. Beat them down so bad that they won't be able to come back," Takedown replied. "However, that's a very hard thing to do, since the next guy on the list is Behemoth, the closest thing to a perfect dynakinetic, and that means a majority of our tools and attacks from the Leviathan battle are useless. Glyph and I will be making another game plan to deal with that."
"Plus, we plan to do some community work, a few outreach programs here and there," added Glyph as she grabbed a slice of pepperoni. "A couple of those outreach programs will involve seeing of we can bring back sunken or destroyed cities that the Endbringers messed with, as well as destroying S-ranked threats."
Huh. S-rank rather than S-class threat. A curious choice of words…
Vicky swallowed as she asked her next question.
"H-how do we know we can trust you?"
Immediately, the entire table burst into noise.
"What the hell Vicky!"
"Glory Girl, are you serious?"
"They nearly killed Leviathan,for fuck's sake!"
Takedown raised a hand in the air, instantly silencing them.
"We scare you." It wasn't a question.
Hesitantly, the blond girl nodded. "You're…so strong. Stronger than anyone I've ever met, stronger than anyone I've ever heard of. Glyph's evil clones managed to beat the Triumvirate, and everyone's letting the last one roam around America because there's nothing anyone can do to stop them. Takedown, your giant robots, even if Leviathan destroyed them easily, they could probably sink a city the same way he could. Even destroying one of those things could condemn a city if it was too close. I mean, last night, I watched you guys solo Leviathan.
"I've always prided myself on my strength. I've always been happy to be a hero. But…at this point, what's stopping you from just…taking us all? From taking over the world?"
"Well, for one, I have better things to do with my time than babysit several billion humans," Takedown said nonchalantly. "Plus, I'm too lazy to be a good ruler, and Glyph's too dumb."
"Fuck you, I could be a bitching queen," Glyph said around a mouthful of pizza.
"Guys, I'm being serious!" To Dean's surprise, he saw tears well up in Victoria's eyes. He'd known that she'd been scared the whole day, but he'd just assumed that it was nerves. Was she actually scared of the two parahumans?
"There's no one that can stop you if you turn evil! There wouldn't be a fight, just a slaughter! You two are one-man armies that came out of nowhere, and we're just supposed to trust you have good intentions, just like that? Your powers don't make sense; your tech has no theme; we only heard about you after my home nearly got taken over, and even though a lot of people complained, we all know that we can't stop you! So, I want to know-with your kind of power, why did you choose to be heroes?"
"...I want glory," Glyph said quietly after a moment. "I want power, excitement, the adoration of millions. I want to be remembered millions of years from now as the strongest human being that ever lived. But I don't want to hurt innocent people to do that. I don't want to kill families to show how strong I am. I-I've always wanted to be thehero, the good guy, the one that everybody loves. I was nothing more than a footnote in my old life. No one gave two fucks whether I lived or died. I never want to go back to that…but I never want to make anyone feel like that either."
"...Some people just aren't meant to have power," Takedown said slowly. "Some people are meant to be normal, to be average, to fade into the background. Not everyone has to be exceptional. Not everyone has to be the main character. Parahumans scared me.They still do. You could be out walking, and just…die… because someone had a bad day. Not because you were a bad person or anything, but because someone stranger than you decided that you weren't worth living. I choose the path of the hero to keep myself in check. I don't want the responsibility of having to choose whose life to save. I never wanted to be special, or to stick out. I had my entire life planned out. Then I got powers…and it all went sideways. I tried to be normal, tried to keep out of this life, but it kept dragging me back. I can't pretend that I'm not exceptional anymore, so I have to use my gift for good. Because I don't think I could stand having the ones I love to look at me in fear and disgust.
"This probably isn't the answer you were hoping for. We're not heroic patrons, brought up at the knee of justice, truth and honor. We're humans. We're kids. And the entire world is banking on us to make miracle after miracle, to be perfect icons, to be the next role models of heroism. I think that's what you wanted too, right Victoria? You wanted reassurance that we were pillars of justice?"
"Yeah. I did."
"I can't promise you that. We might snap. We might get mind-controlled. We might have to choose between several hundred lives and several million. We might just leave, fuck off from this world and never come back. I can't promise you perfection. I can't promise you a hero. But I can promise you this; I have a goal to reach. There's a monster, bigger, and stronger than anything you've ever seen or faced, strong and experienced enough to make us look like children. And Glyph and I have to kill that monster. So I promise you this; until that Final battle happens, I will do everything I can to make sure that I walk on the straight and narrow path. That I do what is right, not what is easy. Now, the question for you that I want to ask is this: If we did go rogue, if we did decide to enforce our will on the Earth…
"Would you roll over on your belly and die? Or would you fight?"
...
Hours after they had said goodbye to the Wards, and Dinah had been put to sleep, the two of them sat on the rooftop of an apartment building, watching the night sky as they talked to each other.
"So, someone was getting cozy with Pan-Pan."
"Look, it was just harmless flirting, and I was surprised that I even got a reaction like that from her. Right now, the only connection between us is healing. And we both know she's yandere for Victoria."
"Well, she didn't look at Vicky once while we were there. She couldn't keep her eyes off of you. And hey, alternate reality! Maybe she's more selective here!"
"Sure, and maybe you'll grow a few brain cells in this reality too."
A moment of silence between them.
"Keagan…what you said to Vicky… I think you're wrong. I think you're an amazing hero. Better than me at least. I'm not doing this because I think it's the right thing to do, even though it's a big factor. I'm doing this because I want the world to look at me and sing praises. I'm selfish."
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be famous Nina. Wanting to be special isn't a crime. You just shouldn't let it control who you are. Honestly… I wish I was more like you. You have backbone, spirit, and courage. You were ready to do what it took to be a hero. I got into it because I was dragged into it."
"Keagan, I was fucking useless as a hero. An entire year here, and my greatest achievements were stopping muggers and bashing in Hookwol's head every Thursday night. The one week you decided to step up and be a hero, you made a plan that basically destroyed an Endbringer. I just got myself fucked up and had to wait for you to put me back together."
"...god, we're pathetic, aren't we?"
"Little bit, yeah."
Another long stretch of silence as the two of them considered the future.
"Keagan…we're gonna have to be serious after today, huh?"
"Yup. Our free time's gonna be shit from now on. In three months, we've got a date with a spiky boi, and in six…we fight the Simurgh. God, just saying it makes me want to puke."
"Me too. But we've gotta do it, because aside from us, who really can? Whether we fuck her up even worse Leviathan, seal her up, or just yeet her into the cosmos…we can't let her live. Maybe we get Tohu, Bohu, and Knonsu the next fucking day, but we can't let that one live, Keagan, because even if she's weakened to the point where she's physically no stronger than a baby, I think she could kill us in minutes."
"Yeah. Yeah. you're right. We kill Jack, we kill her, we kill the S-classes, bring some peace and order to this fucked up world…and then we tango with the Golden Boy. We're not quite in the Endgame Nina…but we're pretty damn close."