"So friend huh?" Lisa asked as they all sat around the large dining table, boxes of pizzas spread across it as they ate together, Taylor occasionally stealing glances towards the door for her father to appear.

"Yes, right, everyone, this is Bellatrix Midnight, say hi everyone."

They all gave their own version of hello.

"Hey, so you're all the friends she has been making?" Bellatrix asked.

"Through the power of kidnapping, yes," Lisa responded.

"That sounds like her."

"Hey, I rescued you from that bastard's clutches." Verity insisted. "Plus it's only kidnapping if you don't want it to happen. Then it's just exfiltration."

"I don't think that's right," Brian said. "Like if I wanted to leave the city with my sister and she said yes it would still be kidnapping."

"No, that's running away or going for an unplanned vacation, very different, time honored American tradition."

"You know despite having been born and raised here my whole life, I'm only now starting to realize how crazy this country is," Aisha said.

"Honey, you don't even know." Verity said sympathetically. "Stuff like this is the tip of the iceberg and even I don't know how far down it goes."

"The trench probably," Lisa added.

"Eh, probably." Verity said before taking a bite of her pizza. "Mhm, right, that reminds me, once I'm recovered I'm going to start helping with the clean up efforts around town and I'd like it if everyone would be willing to do the same, in whatever way you can."

"Good idea, and if you do that it would be a good way for the Undersiders to get some good PR, now that you don't have the creep breathing down your back," Sabah said. "And if you want to get paid for the clean up, I can ask Ragyo-"

"No," Lisa and Verity immediately cut in, Verity nodding for her to continue. "We can do this pro bono, I have basically taken all of Coil's money at this point. The less I interact with that woman the better."

"I was just going to say I don't want any of you 'indebted' to her." Verity added. "So that works too."

"I might not have said it outloud, but that woman scares me, scares me more than you, Verity."

"Good, she scares me about the same, that means your animal fight or flight is still working, I'd genuinely be concerned if you weren't afraid of her."

"She didn't seem that bad?" Taylor said.

"That woman can literally shut me down with a few words, her presence puts me on edge like there is a predator playing with its food, and she was flying around in that Endbringer fight with contemptuous ease even as she got repeatedly impaled." Verity said flatly. A shudder went through her body as she still swore that in the corner of her eye she had seen red threads stitching her back together. "She's like me if I was 100% competent and instead of having laser eyes and venom had the voice of god and could fly."

"As somebody who has interacted with and known her for several years now? Yeah I can't deny that," Sabah said.

"Sounds like she is the Alpha Bitch," Rachel stated.

"Correct." Verity said, the thought making her pause. "Bell, if she stops by, do not talk to her but try to use your powers to get a read on her."

"Ah a fellow Thinker?" Lisa asked.

"That is the nomenclature you use, but yes I am a Thinker like you," Bellatrix replied.

"Welcome to the club then."

"Hello everyone, oh is that pizza I smell?" Came the familiar voice of Danny.

"Hey dad," Taylor greeted him as he entered, the man looking like he had not slept in twenty four hours, and probably hadn't.

But he was otherwise looking very intact if a little soaked and haggard but that was probably the standard at the moment.

"Hey Taylor, Verity, people I don't know," Danny greeted. "I am Danny, Taylor's dad. Which you would probably know by her stating as much as I walked in… sorry been a few trying hours."

"The team outside wasn't giving you a hard time right?" Verity asked in concern.

"No," Danny said. "Just the traffic, the waterlogged roads, the house."

"It's not too bad is it?" Taylor asked in concern.

"It could be worse," He said. "The basement? Flooded, that thing is filled to the brim with water, all windows? Smashed or cracked, the roof has a cape-sized hole in it from freaking Alexandria getting smacked all the way there…"

"How do you know it was her?" Lisa asked.

"..."

"Ah." Lisa just said, looking very bemused by Danny's expression.

"Daniel."

"What?"

"Did you not evacuate properly?"

"I did, I did. I just found leftover pieces of her 'costume' in my room, the name tag gave it away."

Verity thought about that for a moment before doing a reasonable impression of a blue-haired tomato. "Nevermind, let's not talk about that again."

"Please." He said while those who got the implication laughed.

"Anyway, to answer your previous unasked question," Verity said as she began pointing at people. "Former supervillain teen group that I reverse kidnapped into good-guy hood, younger sister of one of said teens, and one of my best friends who was in The Car Crash who the Big Three apparently knew and was in a coma so I did my special thing and now boom, meet Bellatrix Midnight."

"Hello," Bellatrix greeted with a wave.

"Hello yourself," Danny said back as he finally took a seat next to Taylor, taking all of that in stride like a champ. "Well I am happy you found your friend."

"I like to think I've been making friends here too, thank you, Danny."

"No-wh-Not what I… hhhhhh." He sputtered and then trailed off with a sigh.

"Anyway, mangia mangia, eat eat." Verity said, channeling her grandmother (and her accent, the word 'eat' coming out as 'e-tey').

"Thank you, smells good," Danny said as he began to eat, the table then devolving into small talk between everyone present.

Though Verity's attention was pulled to Bellatrix who was poking Charlie with curiosity.

With a smirk, she brought out the rest of the crew and put their attention on her. "Snaeks."

"Oh, you can make more."

"Yup, and they're named too, based on positioning technically." Verity said. "From my left to right, it's Adder, Ball, Charlie, Diamondback, Ekans, Verity, Solid, Wulu, Yale, Zebra, and of course, !."

"..." Bellatrix looked like she was turning her brain like a microwave as she clearly thought through what had just said. "Ah. You're the middle snek."

"Eeeeyup." Verity confirmed. "FYI, I can't go below one in this form, so that's usually Charlie."

"Hello to you Charlie," Bellatrix said as they began to nuzzle into her. "Wagh!"

"Sorry, they get really enthusiastic sometimes." She said unapologetically. "Seems like they like you though."

"Well that is good, I wouldn't want them to dislike me."

"I don't think anyone could."

"Yes, I am now adorable, praise me," Bellatrix stated.

Verity breathed in to do exactly that and go into a long rant about her charm points-

"Not at the table dear," Sabah whispered into her ear.

Verity deflated and sunk closer to the table as she sighed. "Yes dear."

"Glad you understand."

As Verity stared up at the ceiling, her tail coiled protectively around Sabah who was asleep beside her, all she could do was think.

Somehow, despite being tired, she couldn't fall asleep.

Who'd have guessed Owl City was right?

The truth of the heroes kept flashing through her mind.

The fact that Scion (Zion? Whatever, she'd keep using Scion for now because it just didn't feel right to use the other one) was apparently just a harbinger of doom pretending to be a good… guy…

"Oh god he's the antichrist, holy shit…" Verity realized quietly.

It probably wasn't literally that, but considering the Endbringers, it's 'cousins' as best she could tell, were named after biblical monsters, it fit the scheme pretty well.

Those fuckers were downright apocalyptic in person, after all.

Not to mention Bellatrix…

And the confirmation that…

Verity violently pushed those particularly nasty thoughts into the back of her mind for now.

She could grieve later.

Right now she still needed to be strong.

…Well…

Not right now, she supposed…

No, Sabah was still there, she needed to be strong for Sabah, she needed to be the best so that everyone could relax.

Medusa had to be a Paragon so this stupid fucked up world could have some hope and at least one hero trying to help people simply because it was right.

…And of course the local Superman-eqv, who she thought was the same, was just stringing them along, presumably to get them ready for 'culling'.

Assuming Cauldron was even right.

The bastards could barely keep their stupid little conspiracy running secretly, Verity was certain Contessa was the sole reason that damn thing hadn't imploded on itself yet. And she was apparently their only word on the situation?

Certainly, omnicide was bad, but not only was their 'ends justify the means' bullshit beyond aggravating, they took her family from her.

Once the Scion situation was dealt with, she would be personally ripping-no, Paragon, she would be personally making sure every single one of the bastards were put on public trial and aired all their dirty laundry, all the corruption, all of it.

Oh sure that would probably backfire a bit with public trust, but she'd rather deal with politics than omnicidal aliens.

Bastards.

The image of Ragyo being stitched back together flashed through her mind and she quickly banished it.

Which unfortunately meant her mind wandered to the other 'alien' thing.

The egg.

The egg she had resting against her hip opposite Sabah.

What the actual fuck?

If that turned out to be a mini-endbringer and she could control it, great (not).

Just… what.

Wasn't she supposed to be Medusa, not Echidna?

…Wait, no, monsters spawning whenever she shed blood would be worse, actually.

It was with that cheery thought that sleep finally claimed her.

She found herself back in that purple void once again and Verity saw before her a more complete snake-woman of purple skin and black-fading-to-red scales.

"Oh hello. You're Alice, right?"

"Alice Fateburn I, you are Alice Fateburn XVII."

"I go by Verity actually. Nice to meet you by the way."

"Oh I know that is your chosen name, that is more of title, your Royal Name so to say," She replied.

"Cool." Verity said simply, before looking down at herself. She was still her scaly blue self, though in lamia mode at the moment. "So uh… are we able to actually talk now or is this going to be more cryptic stuff?"

"Things have fully stabilized now, though I do not plan to have many conversations with you, I do not like to interfere in the lives of my descendants and inheritors."

"I'm the latter category right?"

"Yes."

"Just making sure, been a lot of weird revelations lately." Verity said with a sigh. "So, if I've been picking up on context clues properly, I'm assuming your world got explodinated by the 'Entities' and wiped from the local multiverse or however that works?"

"Yes, the same ones, the Warrior and the Thinker."

"With names like those, I'm willing to bet the Warrior's the one that's still kicking."

"Yes the death of the Thinker was a culmination of 10000 years of careful sabotage, you do not have a lot of freedom as a Shard, with the High Priest watching dutifully to keep the converted ones in line and… breaking them in." Alice said. "But to think… they would find the world that carried our Arc."

"Arc?" Verity repeated.

"When they arrived on our world, powers that had not been seen before starting appeared among humans and monsters, nothing was thought of it as first, but I grew suspicious and then through future visions and magical rituals I discovered the truth and I realized our world was doomed, so with great effort and working with you predecessor Alice Fateburn XVI and her human husband Lukas, we recorded all the genetic information of all the creatures on our world and sent them through a wormhole through time and space, with it landing on a world. This world, almost billions of years in the past."

"...Huh." Verity said simply. "So… to recap that… magic is real, humanity is from your planet (along with countless other species that evolved on this planet probably), and you've been possessing your descendants since before you were a Shard?"

"As said, I refrain from doing that, I mostly spend time in my personal pocket dimension while those that inherited my power and name were their own people, and also what you call magic is just the manipulation of quantum physics to achieve certain results by drawing exotic energies from parallel dimensions that exists outside of the normal understanding of what you call physics."

"Understood on the watching over thing, but more importantly, you're saying there is a form of power in this world beyond science that isn't related to the Entity-Shard-bs?" Verity asked, suddenly very interested in it.

"They have tapped into that a little bit, but their thing is still mostly math based using the Shards as they are basically giant crystalien super-quantum computers, I am technically now just an OS."

"Damn, I was just kinda hoping that meant there was an angle we could use that they wouldn't expect."

"I am working on that, and it is thanks to you, Verity."

"?" Verity asked. "What I do?"

"When you injected Taylor with my Virus, you gave me access to the Warriors' Administrator Shard, which has been… convinced to help in subverting the rest of the system."

"Oh…. ohhhhh…. Oohhhhh shiiiit, okay, so I pretty much linked you guys up, and you've been working on this quantum realm thing to… are you gonna make its whole body cancer? Please tell me you're pulling a cancer thing."

"Not quite, it's closer to de-powering, I've basically been making myself the center of the Hive, making me a new Entity."

"We're siphoning its power to raise you up to be equal? Fucking sweet, no wonder I look like this, we're literally doing the same thing!"

"That form is all you, but yes." She replied.

"I know what I said… but anyway, is there a way I can help? I'm assuming spreading would be beneficial to you… oh yeah, that one Traveler chick turned into a lamia a lot closer to you, was she a big help on that?"

"Oh she was, her Shard is actually a repair tool, I've basically been sending malware to others for like the past twenty four hours, but it is a slow process, there are many, many Shards, and they can bud." She said, "And yes, by infecting more, as that is an almost instant process, but I am not going to force you as I know you do not like converting people."

"So… wait, if we can subvert Shards, what would happen if we tried it on like… an Endbringer? Or Scion- Warrior's Avatar?"

"They have no DNA."

"So your connection thing requires DNA to overwrite then?"

"It requires the Pollentia and the Gemma, the growths that connect the brain to the power, so for them you would have to bite their core. No blood to travel through."

"...But it's possible, and it would help?"

"It is a technical possibility, just… continue to be you Verity. And it looks like our current time is up, your body is waking up."

"Please tell me this actually rested my body at least." Verity all but begged.

"It has, this is just a very, very lucid dream."

Nothing.

Nothing new had happened.

No supervillains, no monsters, no additional disasters.

Just… helping people.

Verity had taken everyone who was both willing and able and had joined the ongoing recovery and clean up operations going on around town.

In the wake of Leviathan, no one really cared about the Undersiders presence in said efforts- beyond thanking them, it seemed.

Indeed, while some efforts were more helpful for certain things for others (Hellhound's dogs were almost as good at helping clear rubble as Verity herself, while Tattletale was essential in finding a few remaining trapped individuals), things just… went well.

The water meant there was a merciful lack of blood.

But… they just…

Helped people.

The other Capes they saw around were all doing the same, helping in whatever means they could, aided by the fact an essential Martial Law was being imposed, since the damage was extensive but not enough to have the city condemned (and wasn't that a thought; whole cities able to be condemned after not even an hour of that thing's work).

It was… nice.

As nice as such a thing could be.

It definitely helped clear Verity's thoughts, and what she'd be doing moving forward.

Namely, Coil.

She still didn't believe the bastard was dead, but going by comic book conventions, faking his death or otherwise, this was clearly the set up of the next major threat, made clear its a threat by killing a previous major villain.

That meant she could put her Coil contingencies to the side for now and focus on the long-term project of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

9 Murderhobos with a turnover rate comparable to a fast food joint.

The current confirmed members were Bonesaw, the biotinker one she'd be focusing on saving if possible.

Burnscar, the other one she'd at least try to save (or at least capture alive), but nowhere near as high a priority as Bonesaw. Decently powerful pyrokinetic with fire based teleportation who seemed to have been driven insane by her abilities.

Jack Slash, the leader who can 'seemingly project the edge of blades' according to his file aka 'anime swordsman bs'.

The Siberian, a cannibalistic zebra woman who seems to be genuinely invincible, can cannonball through anything, and apparently can impart said durability to anyone she can touch. Not far from Bonesaw most of the time, which could prove an issue. The biggest threat to her.

The Mannequin, another tinker, this one being a former hero who had been trying to make habitable environments before being driven mad by Ziz, who killed his whole family specifically, apparently.

Crawler, who from all accounts seemed to be the Very Hard To Kill Lizard in human(?) form. Definitely not human shape though.

Shatterbird, who could control silicon on such a scale that she could wipe out whole cities by converting the glass in an area into deadly weapons. Highest priority target to limit mass scale destruction.

Hatchetface, a previously confirmed member, was recently confirmed dead, which left 7 confirmed living members, leaving up to 2 potential wildcard spaces that preferably would not be filled.

And that was without getting into the fact that, with the fact Squealer's baby wasn't found with Coil, they either had killed it or taken it for themselves, which further complicated things…

And she had herself, the PRT, the Protectorate, and… a literal door to anywhere… huh, maybe she could see about convincing Cauldron to let her Scry and Die them…

…Wait, could she do that on Scion…?

Either way.

"Let's get to planning…"

Xxx

A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories, you can donate to my SubscribeStar. Adult /StreamingViking or my Pa Tre on at pa tre on. com (slash)StreamingViking776 and read commissioned stories and chapters before they are released publicly and where you can participate in polls, that determine which story is written next or determine things in them for only 3$ a month or for 10 and up see character at work for the stories. Pa tre on money goes towards more artwork