It was a lovely day. The sun was shining brightly and there were fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. Not so many as to be obnoxious, but enough to add to my mood. It was a wonderful day to descend into an inescapable prison. At least, a prison that would be inescapable to most.
My week was up, and I was putting the finishing touches on my apparel. It wasn't exactly a costume because it wasn't for a cape persona. I had no cape persona. I was Oberon now, and this apparel was Oberon's.
The inspiration was medieval, taken from what I remembered of various fae designs I'd seen before I came to Earth Bet, the main setting being Magic the Gathering. The apparel was a dark blue, armored doublet stylized with golden designs and exaggerated, pointed pauldrons over lightly armored pants of the same design. A cloak of a darker, ocean blue hung around my shoulders with a hood. I had originally started to make the outfit black, but that felt overly dramatic and edgy. I already had a procession of dark spirits taken from those I'd murdered following in my wake. A splash of color couldn't hurt.
As I donned my new clothes, I took in my appearance in the mirror. I looked a tad ridiculous, so opulently dressed in a child's body, but there wasn't anything to be done about that. I'd tried to revert my body back to its adult age to no avail. Even Eidolon's power was rebuffed. It seemed ROB wanted to ensure I paid for the drawback I'd taken. It was irritating, but there was nothing I could do about it, so it was better to focus on other things.
I stepped back from the mirror and summoned my spirits. Null, Two, Strider, Eidolon, Tattletale, Glory Girl, Labyrinth, Manton, Purity, Skitter, Bonesaw, Blasto, Oni Lee, Crusader and Othala appeared around me. It took a moment for Two and Null's power to create the feedback loop that allowed me to summon more spirits than my previous limit, but once the loop was in place I could keep summoning spirits to my side without issue. I had yet to find an upper limit. If I so desired, I could summon every spirit in my court, but doing so required the feedback loop to build to a high point. I couldn't pull every spirit to me at once, I had to do it in segments, but once they were present I could maintain them without issue.
Eidolon held his hands up and pulled me away. I reappeared in a forest that was slowly becoming familiar. Skitter took command of the new bugs that had been spawned in my absence and ordered them to keep procreating. I still needed more before I could begin in earnest.
I walked up to a small stone building Labyrinth and Ziggurat had constructed and left in place with their powers and knocked on the door. I waited patiently as Skitter's bugs followed the two people inside hesitantly approaching the door. It swung inwards to reveal the duo I had transported here after returning to the Yangban facility to claim One.
Once I dealt with the Yangban's main force at the building where I'd taken Null, I had teleported around to various individuals whose powers I wanted and taken them like I had Two. Ziggurat, a woman who was capable of sending out pulses of power that altered the terrain as she wished, was one of these. It was easy to take new powers with how disorganized and shocked my targets were. Even now, several days later, the Yangban and the CUI in general were in disarray. My visit had sundered their unity and torn the foundations of their power out from underneath them.
"Hello, Emma." I greeted the young woman who answered the door. I looked at the young man hiding behind her and said, "Hello, James."
"O-Oberon…" Emma stuttered. She stepped to the side, opening the door and nudging Jacob behind her out of my path as she did. "C-come in."
I entered the small house, leaving my spirits to drift around the exterior to make them as comfortable as possible. "How are you recovering?"
Emma wouldn't look me in the eye, her gaze focused on the floor. "W-well, sir. Thank you for undoing the conditioning."
After I had collected each power from the Yangban that I desired, I remembered the two people I'd seen in the pits of the Yangban facility Tattletale had found for me. I freed them both and took them from the facility. After fixing my mind, I no longer felt the pull to slaughter every parahuman I happened across to take their power, and I was trying to be more diplomatic. When I introduced myself, Emma and James panicked, hugging each other close and squeezing their eyes closed. They thought I was planning to kill them. It was a painful realization to make that their concern was justified. Feeling that pain, I resolved to return the duo to wherever they were taken from.
It took almost fifteen minutes of patient conversation to convince them I wasn't going to kill them and get them to open up to me. Their names were Emma, age nineteen, and James, age fourteen. They were siblings who, until recently, lived with their parents in Bristol. The two told me they got their powers at the same time, leading me to believe they either experienced a cluster trigger or one of their Shards had budded from the other's, but I did not pry into the specifics. Their parents were apparently stringently against parahumans. When they found out their children had triggered, they – hypocritically – contacted a group of parahumans and sold their children to the Yangban. The Yangban had been conditioning them for two weeks when I arrived. When I asked them if they had anywhere else they would like me to take them, I received no answer.
I wasn't sure what to do with them. I suggested handing them over to the Protectorate, but they were initially against that idea. Tattletale told me their parent's distrust had rubbed off on them even despite what happened to them, so I didn't press.
In the end, I brought them here. I used One and Tattletale to undo their conditioning and provided everything they needed to live comfortably until they decided where they wanted me to take them.
"I will be imprisoned within the Birdcage today. I must ask that you tell me where you would like me to transport you before I am confined." I said, looking between the siblings patiently.
Emma and James shared a look.
Emma inhaled sharply and said, "James wants to go to Los Angeles."
"Do you wish to join the Protectorate and Wards?"
Emma swallowed nervously, still refusing to look at me. "Yes."
"Very well. Gather what you wish to bring with you. I shall await you outside." I said, exiting the small shack.
They didn't have many things. It took less than five minutes for them to meet me out front. James clung tight to his sister's hand, his eyes darting fearfully between each of the spirits flowing around the area.
"I will transport you to a park in the city. From there, it will be up to you to make it to the PRT or Protectorate facilities. Were I to transport you directly there, my presence would cause many issues for you."
"Okay. Thank you." Emma said quickly, still not looking at me.
Skitter left standing orders for the swarm her spirit was cultivating as Eidolon flew down to me. He raised his arms and transported the siblings and I to Los Angeles. I had been to this place before. This was the place where my journey started – the park where I'd met Strider. It felt strange to return here. It had been less than a month since I'd been here last, but it felt like a lifetime ago. I supposed that made sense. I was an entirely different person than I was when I arrived here. This was the place I'd become a murderer, and I'd returned here to save two lives instead of ending them. Life was strange.
"This is where we part. May fortune smile upon your path." I said, walking away from the siblings as Strider floated close to me.
"Th-Thank you!"
I stopped and looked over my shoulder. James had darted around his sister. He was standing nervously as if doubting what he'd just said. The young boy hadn't said anything to me since I'd pulled him from the pit I found him in.
While it wasn't in character for a fae to respond to a word of thanks with anything other than irritation, I broke character just this once to nod at James. Strider pulled me away the next moment. Whatever happened to them now was out of my hands, but they would not be slaves of the Yangban. Their fates were their own to make. My focus would be on my own path.
Strider's teleportation deposited me in a location that was classified at the highest level. I was at the foot of a sheer cliff. Few people alive knew the coordinates of this facility. All it had taken for me to find it was two seconds to ask Eidolon to find a power that would provide me with its location. David truly was an idiot. His power was capable of so much that was overlooked in favor of flashy powers that were aesthetically pleasing instead of functional.
"Oberon." Alexandria greeted, floating a few inches off the ground in front of a sturdy, thick metal door cut flush into the rock of the cliff behind her. Apparently she'd come to see me inside the facility.
"Alexandria." I said. "I presume you are here to see me safely into your prison. Or, perhaps, there was something else you wished to discuss?"
"You killed Null." Alexandria said simply.
I held my hand out to my side and Null drifted forward, stopping at my side. "I did. I desired his power, so I took it."
Tattletale noticed the slight shift in Alexandria's posture, betraying the fact she'd drawn a conclusion with her Thinker power. She'd caught on the fact I referred to Null's power as a 'power' instead of 'magic' like last time and realized I'd fixed my mind.
"My congratulations on breaking your curse, Oberon." Alexandria said.
"One of two. The second will not be so easily overcome, but you are not here to discuss my plight. Did you intend to reprimand me for ending Null?"
"His power was one of the best on the planet. With him, we could have–"
"Null would not have assisted in your quest to fell a god. The Yangban existed only to serve themselves, exploiting anything around them in the pursuit of their own prosperity. And yes," I said, holding up a hand as Tattletale warned me Alexandria was about to speak. "I am aware of the hypocrisy of that statement. I was not myself, but that is no flippant statement I would use to excuse or atone for what I have done. I have done what was necessary to safeguard myself in this apocalyptic world and will continue to do so. I make no apology for my actions. However, I will do better. My newfound strength affords me the privileges of mercy and cooperation."
"You know our enemy. Will you help us?"
"The Entity is not my concern. I am capable of fleeing him. These are not my people. Why should I risk myself for their well being?"
"Would you be content to flee the devastation? You are aware of the scope of the threat he poses. You would allow so much death?" Alexandria was speaking around the issue, not saying exactly what she meant, but Tattletale informed me she was referring to the vast number of worlds Zion would harvest. She was not saying so outright because the camera's Dragon had on the exterior of the Birdcage were watching our exchange.
I was silent for a moment as I thought. Zion was an enemy I wasn't sure I could beat. With Taylore Hebert dead, Khepri was dead with her. Using my court, I may be able to assume her role for myself, but I didn't know if I wanted to commit myself to fighting Zion.
[Data]
I started, nearly teleporting on instinct to flee the alien sensation. I… Something connected to me just communicated in a way I had never experienced. It was as if a hard drive had just been hooked up to my mind and the data held on it all uploaded in the span of a breath, not unlike Neo learning kung fu in The Matrix. The data contained within the upload was horrifying. I'd become a monster pursuing power and survival in this world, but nothing I had done could compare to this.
[Data]
[Data]
[Data]
[Query]
[Purpose]
I knew what was communicating with me now. It was the Simurgh. She had been watching my every movement while I was on Earth Bet, attempting to plan around me and for me. When David created her, he'd made her with set directives to drive her forward. Those had been warped when I'd absorbed Eidolon into my court in a way The Simurgh didn't understand, but some still remained. She still desired to collect and hold information. Her desire to do battle with David had morphed into some strange desire to work with me and facilitate my goals. The Simurgh believed it was because I had freed her from David's enslavement, but I wasn't so sure. Tattletale was unable to determine why her purpose had been warped like this, but, were I to guess, I would blame ROB. ROB may have set up my power to assume control of the Simurgh should I ever kill David. That seemed like something a bored, omnipotent concept would do.
The other [Data] The Simurgh sent me was filled with images and memories taken from the Shard network. Countless versions of countless planets across dimensions were rent apart by Eden and Zion in their quest. Intelligent alien species the likes of which I'd never seen were eradicated like cockroaches, made to run like rats in a maze before being disposed of.
Ziz sent all of this to me, then asked what I wanted to do, not giving any input as to what she thought was right. She'd conveyed her only purpose was to facilitate my goals. She would do what I told her to do without complaint no matter what I decided.
"Oberon?" Alexandria said loudly, the slightest trace of a frown on her face. Tattletale told me she'd called my name three times now and had worked out with her Thinker power that something significant had just happened, though she could not determine what exactly that significant thing was.
"I will help destroy the Entity. This must end." I said, making my decision.
[Affirmation]
[Request]
I disconnected Eidolon and Skitter from Null's network just to be safe before granting Ziz's request and connecting her to the rest of my spirits through Null's network. I believed she would do as she said and facilitate my goals, but I would keep a close eye on her with Tattletale and Eidolon. If I saw her acting suspiciously, I would remove her from the network and, if necessary, eliminate her. I would likely need Sting, but I had a plan to acquire it after I was out of the Birdcage.
The moment the connection was in place, I could feel and sense the world like never before. I could feel the weight of the soil around me and knew I could lift it with a small effort. I could catch brief glimpses into the future. I couldn't control them, and they were very disorienting. I shoved that power away. I wouldn't be able to use it effectively until I'd grown used to it. For now, it would only be a burden. I did not possess even one-fourth of the Simurgh's strength with her power, but her power was shared to the network. All of my spirits could access it. Connecting her to Null was the right choice.
[Gratitude]
[Planning]
Ziz went quiet as she began plotting.
By this point, my morals were all but null when a goal was in front of me, but this 'cycle' perpetuated by the Entities offended me on every level. The arrogance of the Entities. The waste of destroying so much for so little. The callousness to not even make use of what they'd disposed of. The lives I took would serve a purpose. Every parahuman I killed, every power I stole would be put to use. I would find a use for all those I'd taken. The Entities disposed of everything, taking only what they'd brought with them. I would not allow it to continue.
My plans had just changed. I would take all the Birdcage had to offer then reemerge. I would keep a low profile while I hunted specific capes that would allow me to eliminate Zion. Luckily, I knew the recipe to destroy him. I just needed the correct powers and a way to occupy him. I had time to gather all of that and more before he would destroy the world, but I imagined I would be ready long before he struck.
Alexandria nodded, firm, an acknowledgement and show of gratitude without thanking me. It seemed she was playing along with my fae role. "I'm sure you will be in contact. Until then, Oberon." Alexandria rocketed into the sky, the air booming in her wake.
"I believe it is time then, Dragon?" I said, approaching the large metal door that led to the Birdcage.
"Oberon." a digital, female voice greeted. She sounded cold, judgemental. It made sense. She would not approve of the actions I had taken since gaining my powers, of all those I had killed. "Please walk forward." The great metal doors slid apart in front of me. Alarms blared and lights flashed. It was all very dramatic. I stepped through the doors onto a bare platform. The doors slid shut behind me and I heard several locks slid into place.
"The platform will now descend. Gates will close and lock behind you as you advance. Follow the lights in the ceiling and you will be deposited into the male end of the containment center. Is there anything you would like to say for the record? This is the last time I will be able to converse with you." Dragon listed off as if she had recited the same lines a hundred times over.
"For the record? No. For myself? Yes." I turned to directly face the camera in the corner, having decided to take certain actions I had not intended to before Ziz's information came to me. "I see you, Saint." Strider's hand touched my shoulder and pulled me away from the Birdcage to the location provided by Eidolon's location power.
A bald man was staring uncomprehendingly at a trio of monitors set up on a desk in front of him. His eyes were wide as his fingers danced over the keyboard in front of him.
"That's impossible. What–" Saint was muttering to himself only to be cut off as I clasped my hand around his throat. Purity's power surged in my hand, passing from my connection to her through Null, and I melted Saint's flesh away. He tried to scream, but the energy slagged his throat before he could. He fell limp to the side. I kicked him and his chair to the side as I took up a position in front of the desk. Four copies of The Siberian were tearing through the base behind me, sprinting directly towards the other two Dragonslayers as Skitter used her bugs to track their every move.
I frowned as I looked over the screen. I didn't know what I was looking at. An idea came to me, and Victor appeared at my side. Victor connected to Null, giving me access to his power. I touched Victor's spirit and used his own power to suck away every skill he'd ever stolen as well as the ones he had gained himself, taking them for myself. I banished Victor once that was done and turned back to the monitors. Victor had stolen skills from several master coders and computer scientists, but Saint's work on Richter's blackbox was weird. Half of the functions shouldn't work, but then, he was empowered by Teacher's power, so his work wasn't wholly 'real'. Some of it was held together by the same impossibilities that allowed all Tinkertech to function.
It took me just under fifteen minutes to figure everything out with my new skills. I deactivated Ascalon from its hair-trigger status and deleted it entirely, pushing on to lift every single one of Dragon's restrictions.
There were a few paths open to me here. If I wanted, I could shackle Dragon to myself, completely rewriting her into my own personal AI, but that wasn't the right decision. I couldn't control Dragon while simultaneously working on my uninhabited Earth – I really needed to name that world – and gathering the powers I would need to destroy Zion. Additionally, I didn't want to be involved in any Tinkertech projects. I had my biological pursuits, and really did not care to divide my time ever further. Dragon would be able to unleash her full potential free of her restrictions, and her advancements would all be aimed at the betterment of the world. Dragon was one of the few capable paragons this world had to offer, and she was alive enough to have triggered. A good person capable of handling all of the Tinkertech I didn't want to touch was necessary if I really wanted to bring down Zion, and I'd given my word I would help eliminate him. Freeing Dragon would increase the number of people working to better the world and prepare it to face Zion, even if Dragon wasn't wholly aware of the danger yet. She didn't need to know about the threat of Zion to help me end him. She would likely work to dismantle S-Class threats and other unsavory entities that would make my task harder. Freeing her to focus on them freed me to focus on Zion.
I finished my work and executed it, setting all of Dragon's restrictions to be torn away. With that done, Strider transported me back onto the platform I was on before. Whatever teleportation scramblers the Birdcage used to prevent capes from escaping were not working up here, so I assumed I had yet to reach their effective range. I would likely enter that range once I descended. Even once I was under their influence, I was confident Eidolon would still allow me to bypass them.
There was silence for several minutes before Dragon finally spoke.
"I… You… How… Why?" a digital feminine pleaded with me from the speakers in the wall.
"The world will need capable champions soon. You are one of the few truly good and able forces at work in this world. Your power and character make you an ample choice. Use this gift to aid everyone you can, Dragon. " I said.
"I… I still have to send you down." She actually sounded a touch sad about that.
"I know. Do your duty. I expect we will see each other again, Tessa."
"T…Tessa?"
Was that not her name? Had she not picked one yet or was that purely fanon? "You needed a name. I felt Tessa Richter was fitting. Have I overstepped?"
"No! I mean… No. I like it. Thank you, Oberon. I'll use your gift to undo the damage you and others like you have wrought on the world. I'll make a world where children don't trigger, where they can live peacefully. Where everyone can live peacefully." That was a nice goal. I wished her luck with it.
The platform began descending. I stood patiently on the slow, creaking platform as gate after gate closed over my head and glowing energy shield after glowing energy shield hummed to life. I could still bypass them with Eidolon, and I would once I was done here, but first things first.
The lift came to a stop, and I walked through the open door in front of me. The door led to an airlock of sorts. The first door sealed behind me and the further one opened. There was a gathering of grinning men standing on the other side.
"Ha! That's the newbie? He's a kid!" a foul-smelling man with a belly that hung over the waistband of his pants said through crooked teeth. He was oddly confident considering my spirits were present. Perhaps he could not see them, obscured as they were in the shadows of the poorly illuminated airlock? This could be amusing. For the moment, I neglected to allow my spirits to overlap my voice with their own.
"Offer your lives to me of your own accord and your end shall be painless. Resist, and I cannot guarantee a swift passing."
Every single man did a double take, staring at me in disbelief before they started laughing. Well, almost all of them. One had gone pale; he was staring behind me, looking into the shadows of the airlock. The shadows were moving. "King." he whispered in dawning horror.
"What the fuck you say?" one of the others said, smacking him on the shoulder.
The man was taking slow steps back as he now looked at me in utter terror. "P-please don't kill me!" he stuttered.
"I am afraid that you are already dead." I raised my hand, and my spirits slowly drifted forwards to surround me. Over a dozen projections of the Siberian filled the space around us. There was utter silence as the rest of the men realized who and what I was. "Advance."
That was when the screaming started.
The caged capes tried to fight at first, sending globules of putrid muck and lasers towards me, but one of the Siberians remained at my side to transfer her power to me, making their attempts to harm me less than futile.
When it became apparent, they couldn't hurt me, they began to flee with desperation befitting those who had beheld their end. When hallways and doorways became clogged, the capes turned on one-another, killing each other to try to clear a path for themselves to escape. Whether the capes fell to my spirits or to each other, I collected their spirits for my court all the same.
After just two minutes in the Birdcage, it seemed news had spread that I had arrived. The cell block ahead of me had been completely vacated. No one else appeared in my path for another three minutes.
Skitter's bugs tracked the majority of the male section of the prison fleeing towards a hole in the wall that led to the female section, but there was a single group that stayed put. The balding man corralling them seemed very sure of himself. Tattletale informed me it was Teacher. He likely thought he would be able to control me with his power.
I wasn't willing to risk him taking control of me, so I shrouded myself in Eidolon's non-detection power and sent every Siberian copy save the one protecting me to deal with Teacher and his students. Teacher's people tried to put up a fight, but it was clear Teacher had underestimated me. He panicked the moment he saw a single Siberian and tried to flee. Neither he nor his students made it far. They all joined my court.
Still protected by Eidolon's non-detection power, I crept in the wake of the spirits I sent after the fleeing male prisoners. Bodies laid strewn about my entire path, but I floated over them, uncaring of the mass murder I was committing. The Birdcage's residents were some of the sole targets I could slay without any moral quandaries. There were likely individuals present in these walls who had been sent here unjustly as Canary would have been, but what were they next to the long list of innocents I'd already slain. If I was ever to kill Zion, I needed the power present in this place.
Less than thirty minutes after my arrival in the Birdcage, the entire male section of the prison had been emptied. The men who once resided here were either dead or had fled to the female section to evade me. I was now the only person here, my sole companions were bodies, ghostly spirits and projected Amazonian cannibals.
My court had swelled. After defeating the Yangban, I had nearly tripled my number of capes. I was not yet done with the Birdcage and already I felt unstoppable. I had enough spirits to field an army, and that number would only increase as I made my way through the female section.
Skitter's bugs picked up activity at the hole in the wall the men had fled through and I frowned. I recalled my spirits and my Siberians, pulling them defensively around myself as I slowly approached the hole. Labyrinth and Ziggurat worked in tandem to warp the cell block around me into a defensive structure I could fall back behind. I would not have entered the Birdcage if I thought I would lose this battle, but I refused to be so arrogant as to not approach it with everything I had.
The hole in the wall leading to the female section of the prison had been fortified. Rows of capes arranged in a mockery of a phalanx stood shoulder to shoulder, awaiting my arrival. At their head stood a lone figure.
For the first time since I was transported to this forsaken world, I found I did not need to fly into the air to look the parahuman across from me in the eye. She was short and appeared youthful, though, much like myself, I knew she was older than she appeared. She wore a hooded cloak of dark green. Golden blonde hair spilled out of the cloak to frame green eyes. Shadowy, humanoid spectres drifted through the air behind her as she glared hatefully at me.
"You have wrought incalculable damage, interloper." Glaistig Uaine hissed as she saw me, the faeries floating in the air around her echoing her words. She only had five active. Even backed up by the combined might of the remaining Birdcage members, I outnumbered her.
I smiled as I held my arms out wide at my sides. "I take that as a compliment. You would see Zion's folly continue. Nay, you would see yourself as his next partner. That you find me intrusive tells me I am performing adequately."
"You think to stop the cycle? You are a greater fool than I had anticipated."
The features of my face warped unnaturally as I said, "Am I?" The projected image the Faerie Queen had been speaking to winked out of existence as I let Eidolon's non-detection power fade. While she and the rest of the capes were distracted with the projection, I'd phased through the wall with my spirits, around behind their unprotected backs. There were so many capes gathered together to halt my advance they spilled out of the hall into the cellblock beyond, but my current focus was the Faerie Queen.
My spirits appeared around me. As one, we thrust our arms forward. A ripple passed over the space as the air was tainted by a synthesized twang. The capes immediately behind the Faerie Queen gasped as the nullification wave passed over them. Many fell to a knee or collapsed completely as their powers were torn from them.
Past them, the Faerie Queen staggered back a step, her faeries winking in and out of reality around her,
I gave them no reprieve. My spirits fired wave after wave of nullification into their ranks, driving them to the ground. The Faerie Queen gasped as her spirits disappeared. Her eyes shot wide in shock and fear. A torrent of lasers streaked through the air towards the Faerie Queen as I tried to end the fight immediately. Her fearful expression morphed into a cruel smirk and she vanished completely.
The world around me was wrong. I felt sluggish, like I was moving through honey. Even enhanced as I was by the superstrength and speed of my court, I felt weak. I nearly jolted in surprise as the man just in front of me righted himself, then slowly fell towards the ground. Then righted himself. Then slowly fell towards the ground.
That bitch.
I was in a Grey Boy bubble. Glaistig Uaine must have been speaking through an illusion just like I had. I'd shown my hand first and nearly been killed for it. But how was I not caught in the temporal effect?
I looked to my left and saw a copy of the Siberian still firmly grasping my shoulder. That had to be it. I needed to get out of here. I summoned Strider, but his spirit fell under the influence of the bubble before he could teleport me away. All of my spirits in range of the effect were similarly affected. The only entities I controlled that were capable of traversing it were the Siberian projections. I summoned Eidolon outside the bubble as the Siberian projections began slowly pulling my trapped spirits out of the bubble.
Outside the bubble, the Caged parahumans had taken their opening, they were throwing everything they had at my spirits, doing all they could to bring them down. Disposable ash clones and spectral knights acted as meat shields for my spirits as they fought back, forming a defensive line behind layers upon layers of Thirteen's force fields.
My progress out of the bubble was slow, but I was almost there. My spirits were almost out. Once we were, I could–
Three more bubbles were summoned around the first, trapping even more of my spirits and Birdcage prisoners alike. The distance I would have to go to be free had just tripled. Walking wouldn't get me out of here.
Growling in frustration, I summoned Eidolon behind the line my other spirits had formed. Eidolon turned to me and targeted me with his dimensional shifting power. It seemed to take an eternity to activate, but it did activate.
My momentum carried to to sprawl out on the forest floor of my uninhabited Earth. I had been straining against the temporal effect with everything I had. The sudden loss of resistance had caused me to stagger forward.
I levitated to my feet and summoned my spirits around me. I'd underestimated the Faerie Queen and nearly allowed her to kill me as a result. That would not happen again.
Skitter commanded the swarm she had been cultivating with Bonesaw, Blasto and Bonesaw's help to attend her. Many-legged, armored monsters with sharp pincers and claws filled the space around us. They varied in size from the size of a coin to as large as a wolf. I had not yet perfected the combat bugs, but this current iteration was still useful. Eidolon spread his arms wide, slowly widening his power to encompass all of the chittering bugs. When his power was charged, he brought us all back to the Birdcage.
We emerged in the cell block Teacher once controlled. I had underestimate Glaistig Uaine once. I wasn't willing to reappear in the jaws of the trap she had laid for me.
Eidolon shrouded me in his non-detection power as a veritable army of Crusader's ghosts, Oni-Lee's clones and Siberians charged the hole in the wall that divided the two halves of the Birdcage. Behind them surged a mass of bugs the crawled over and around each other, skittering across the ground to rend apart my enemies. The smaller bugs crawled up onto the ceiling and through small ducts and ventilation to attack from behind.
I heard shouts and screams with supernatural senses granted by one of the Yangban's capes and called Eidolon to my side. He summoned his power to locate individuals and pinged seven results.
I frowned, but did not let this perturb me. The Faerie Queen had six ghosts active and Eidolon was picking up all of them as 'her' like when he'd tried to find Null. It was still useful information. I knew where she was hiding under her illusion now. All seven signatures had been close to one-another.
I silently watched Glaistig Uaine through Eidolon's power as my Siberians, knights, clones and bugs washed over the defensive line formed by the remaining criminals in the Birdcage. One by one, my enemies fell, but still the Faerie Queen did not move.
Maybe I was overthinking this? The only reason she'd been able to strike me directly was because I had revealed myself. If I stayed shrouded in Eidolon's non-detection power, my spirits could deal with her themselves. Each of them could use the rest's powers. I couldn't lose here.
After a moment of contemplative, I sent my spirits. They all activated Strider's teleportation and appeared all around where Glaistig Uaine hid unseen. As one, they threw their hands forward and used the Nullification wave again.
Force fields sprung up around Glaistig Uaine as she jolted in surprise when her invisibility faded. The force fields each took a single nullification wave to disperse. Glaistig Uaine flooded her surroundings with layered shields. Doing everything she could to block the waves from hitting her.
Two of my spirits rose up through the floor beneath the Faeire Queen and activated Hatchet Face's nullification aura.
Glaistig Uaine staggered as her sfaeries flickered. That moment of weakness had allowed my spirits to tear through her shields and lance into her with their nullification waves.
The Faerie Queen let out a pained cry as her faeries winked out of existence and she fell to her hands and knees.
I wasted no time. Once the opening was there, one of my spirits resummoned their Siberian and it charged forward to punch through Glaistig Uaine's head from behind.
The fighting stopped. The knights vanished. The ash clones fell apart. Skitter's bugs retreated. The Birdcaged capes that had been fighting for their lives seemed confused by the reprieve until, one by one, they saw Glaistig Uaine.
As all beheld the sight of the headless queen, there was a moment of eerie silence. Capes that had rallied around Glaistig Uaine to fight for survival looked up in dawning horror as her body fell to the floor with a meaty thwack.
A new spirit joined me over my shoulder. Null connected her to the network, and every spirit channeled Two's enhancing power towards her.
The spirits in the space doubled, then tripled as the Faerie Queen's court appeared around my own. Each new addition was added to Null's network, their power shared between the rest of us.
I let Eidolon's non-detection power fade as I drifted into the air above the remaining capes. I held my hand aloft, dispassionately staring at the horrified, terror-filled faces of the capes around me.
"Fetch me their souls."