"...and throughout the world celebrations over the death of Leviathan are still ongoing, even days later." The newscaster was reporting, a smile on her lips. "Even now crowds have gathered pretty much anywhere they are able to revel and party." The screen changed to show immense amounts of people gathered in places such as Times Square in New York and Trafalgar Square in London. "And both the Canadian and Japanese governments have declared the day that the Endbringer was killed a national holiday."
The newscaster's smile widened as the display over her shoulder changed to the image of an iconic monster. "And speaking of Japan, Godzilla has seen a renaissance in the public consciousness, most prominently in his homeland. The 'kaiju' genre of entertainment lost popularity primarily due to the real life actions of similar beings, but the King of Monsters' involvement Leviathan's fall have not only brought him back into prominence, but seen him adopted as a sort of mascot, particularly by those that survived Kyushu."
The newscaster shifted some papers on her desk, glancing down at them before looking back at the camera. "In related news, economists are projecting an economic boom in the coming months and years. With Leviathan dead, sea trade is being seen as a viable option again, and many companies are already scrambling to be among the first to take advantage of the new opportunity. Among them is Excelsior Industries, who established a new subsidiary for commercial shipping within a day of Leviathan's death. When reporters asked about the uncommonly quick implementation, Lara Croft, Head of the American Special Projects Department of Excelsior, admitted that the company actually has multiple sets of paperwork ready to be dated and filed to take advantage of the unlikely event of an Endbringer's death. As an example she said that the company is already looking into aeronautics and space travel in case the feat with Leviathan can be replicated on the Simurgh."
"It's still hard to believe that Leviathan is finally dead." Danny Hebert said as he watched the news with his daughter. "Especially with so little damage to the city." The smile on his face said that he was definitely not unhappy about the situation.
Taylor could easily understand why. Leviathan's emergence had been what had begun Brockton Bay's downward slide. Now he was not only dead, but the boat graveyard that had been in large part a result of that decay was gone, meaning that the city would likely become a very lucrative port again. Especially considering the notoriety that being the city an Endbringer died in would bring as well. People were already making their way to Brockton Bay on a sort of pilgrimage to see the spire of rock where Leviathan had died, which still stood, out in the waters of the bay.
As for Leviathan's body, it was currently in the process of being removed by the PRT. They no doubt wanted to study it extensively, in case it held any secrets that would help in the fight against the others.
"Yeah, it still seems really surreal." Taylor said with a smile as she sipped her tea on the couch, having decided to spend some time with her dad, as she hadn't really done so in some time.
And it really did. She remembered being terrified when Leviathan approached, observing from one of the buildings behind where the initial fighting was expected, ready to perform search and rescue for anyone that might be dragged away by one of Leviathan's waves. In the end she'd just ended up being a spectator to the monster's death.
It was strange to think that she was a member of the team responsible for killing him yet hadn't really done anything herself. Not that she was complaining. Unless something changed drastically, sending a few wasps at the monster's face wouldn't have really done much.
"But it sounds like you're going to be very busy soon." She added, her smile widening as his did the same.
"Yeah. Like the news said, I've heard that shipping is really ramping back up worldwide. Within the next couple of months we should be seeing the first ships come into port. A lot of the old dock workers that had to leave to find other employment have already approached me about returning to work once that starts happening." The happiness and satisfaction in his voice couldn't be feigned, and it made Taylor immensely happy. She'd seen the stress her dad had been under for years, long before everything started going truly wrong for them with her mom's death, due to the lack of work for his people, and the recent turn in fortunes had reinjected some life into him. First had come the work from Excelsior in clearing the boat graveyard, rendering down the rusted hulks to clear space, and now this.
"Speaking of being busy, how about you? How are things at Excelsior?" He asked as he took a sip of his beer, not paying as much attention to the news now that they were talking about the massive jump the stock market had seen pretty much across the board.
"Less busy than you'd expect." Taylor admitted, thinking about her cover job, which she actually did need to perform every once and a while, if only for appearances sake. "We're capitalizing on Leviathan's death through a bunch of new investments. There's the new shipping company, as you just heard, so you'll definitely be seeing a lot of business from that direction, but we've also acquired a rail company for overland shipping to and from ports. I know the Union worked on the trains whenever they came in for some extra money, so you might be seeing more work from there as well, at least until the rail union comes back." She said, recalling that the rail union had essentially dissolved in Brockton Bay, which had allowed the Dockworkers Union to step in in order to supplement their income.
Then she noticed the look on her dad's face, fond amusement mingled with pride, and she blushed, hunching over a bit. "What?"
"Just… you." He said with a chuckle, a smile on his face. "'We are capitalizing', 'we have acquired'. You've really taken to this job, haven't you?"
Taylor blinked, considering that. It was sort of true, she supposed. It might be a cover for her real job, but she was proud of being a part of Excelsior, of all the good it had done already, having been created by a hero group specifically to be able to affect more change than just punching assholes in the face could. Some of the products that they were trying to get through the FDA, for example, could help a whole ton of people, seeing as they included a cure for freaking cancer.
She'd always wanted to be a hero, but while she'd intellectually always known that there were other paths beyond being the next Alexandria, having been raised in a world of heroes and villains she'd never really understood that fact, not truly. Now she was seeing it, along with why the Unbound had created Excelsior in the first place.
That said, she was still a bit baffled by where their tech and techniques came from. That was something she hadn't been let in on yet, which was understandable. She'd only been a member for… was it really only a month? Jesus… In any case, far too short a time to trust her with those sorts of secrets. She was partially convinced they were time travelers, what with Cortana and some of their tech. Maybe from a parallel Earth, since they didn't appear to know the local timeline.
It wasn't really all that unlikely, to be completely honest. Powers were bullshit, some more than others. Everyone knew that. If the Simurgh could drag things over from other Earths, there was no reason some crazy, futuristic Tinker couldn't make a time travel machine.
Well, there might be a reason, but if so, she didn't know it. Powers violated the laws of physics all the damn time, after all.
In the end she smiled at her dad. "Yeah, I guess I am. Dunno that it's really what I'd ever imagined for myself, but… It's something I can feel proud of being part of." She said, speaking not just about Excelsior, though her dad wouldn't be able to tell.
His smile widened, and he reached over to ruffle her hair, making her squawk in indignation. "I'm glad. I'm really proud of you, and I know your mother would be as well." He said, his smile turning a bit sad at the end.
Taylor's own smile appeared on her face. "Thanks, dad." She said softly, before they both refocused on the news, which was now talking about some political scandal or other, both of them feeling content, despite the missing piece in their lives.
Alice sat on the sidewalk of the small suburban street, in front of what would normally be a thoroughly ordinary house in any town in America.
It wasn't that, however. The house, the entire neighborhood, had a myriad of huge yet varied rents and cuts on every surface, the walls, the roofs, the ground… It was like a drunken giant had wandered through while swinging an equally huge knife with no rhyme or reason. It made the entire neighborhood look like one of those 3D puzzles she'd seen, if it had been assembled by a blind Parkinson's victim in the middle of an epileptic attack.
Of course, there was also the fact that there were blood and body parts scattered everywhere, adding to what might generously be called 'ambiance'. There was a skull with the spinal cord still attached hanging from a lightpost. Intestines had been hung along a house like Christmas lights. Several dozen arms and legs were arranged into the shape of a disturbing tree in one of the yards. And blood flowed like water along the drains.
And in the distance, just like with Amy, standing alone like images she'd seen of Mount Fuji, an enormous mountain made of shards of crystal, gleaming in the light that made it through the overcast sky.
An object that she now understood more of thanks to the other occupant of this nightmarish space, which was currently held in her arms.
Curled up against her side was a monster. It was vaguely shaped like a human prepubescent girl, but it was gaunt, limbs long and thin, ending in claws, and almost every inch of its visible skin was discolored from dried blood, with long, blond hair that was almost completely copper colored for the same reason. Its only clothing was a long, tattered doctor's coat, just as bloody as the rest of it.
Alice's arm was around Riley Davis as she rested after a crying fit, gently soothing her even as she considered the situation further. The young girl would never recover, she knew. Not fully. She could perhaps remake herself into someone healthier, but multiple factors had left her severely emotionally stunted. Even this crying fit she'd just gone through was an extreme rarity, but one that Alice was glad to see.
Riley shifted in her arms and looked up at the older woman with shadowed heterochromatic eyes. Alice looked back down at her, smiling gently and reassuringly even as she once again suppressed a flinch as she always did at the sight of the words 'Good Girl' carved into the girl's forehead, the wounds still raw and open as though they'd just been made, making an even more gruesome spectacle due to the simple fact her face was that of her normal self.
"Thank you, Miss Liddell." Riley said, her voice contrasting with her appearance in sounding normal. "It's been a long time since I've done that."
"It's no trouble at all, Riley. That's what I'm here for." She said gently. She leaned down and kissed the top of the girl's head, not minding the blood that was left on her lips. "You're doing really well. I'm very proud. I'll be back soon, okay?"
Riley curled up on the ground as she nodded, her eyes drifting shut as the dreamless sleep that enveloped her whenever Alice wasn't around began to take hold again. "Ok, Miss Liddell. See you then."
Alice ran her fingers through the girl's matted locks before leaving her Otherland with a sigh.
Alice opened her eyes, removing her hand from her patient's shoulder, watching the now unassuming looking young girl sleep soundly on the bed they'd set up in the special containment cell. She then practically collapsed back onto the armchair she'd set next to the bed and did what she always did after one of her daily sessions with Riley.
She wept.
She cried long and hard, tears of sorrow, tears of fury, tears of grief, tears of absolute hatred towards the monster known as Jack Slash. She wept long and hard, letting loose everything she kept bottled up while helping her patient.
She didn't know how long she cried, it was always a while, but when she finished she opened her eyes to find a cup of steaming hot tea prepared just how she liked it sitting on a small table that hadn't been there before. Sitting at the table's other side, sipping on his own tea as he waited for her to get a handle back on herself, Harry watched her sympathetically.
Alice took some long, slow breaths to calm herself down completely before picking the cup up and bringing it to her lips, not minding the slightly scalding temperature, just enjoying the comfort of the hot, soothing liquid as it filled her mouth and from there seemed to relax her entire body.
The two of them were silent for several minutes, Alice taking comfort in her friend's presence as he waited patiently for her to make the first move. FInally she spoke. "I never thought I'd hate anyone as much as I did Bumby, Harry." She said quietly as she gazed into her cup. "But Jack Slash is quickly proving how wrong I was." She took a deep, cleansing breath. "I don't want him to just die. I want him to suffer, even if only a millionth as much as he's made others suffer."
"I don't blame you." He said softly. "If anyone deserves it, he does. But I'll be satisfied with making sure he never hurts anyone again."
Alice nodded firmly in agreement and took another, deeper drink of her tea. Then she bowed her head, her curtain of lustrous dark hair hiding her face. "I knew that taking this path, of caring for the damaged and broken, wouldn't be easy, but…" She took another shuddering breath.
Harry reached over and took her hand, which she squeezed in a death grip. "We'll get the bastard. I don't intend on leaving this world till he and the rest of his crew are dead."
Alice nodded firmly, managing to squeeze his hand even harder, before relaxing her grip. "From what Riley said, Burnscar might be salvageable, at least slightly, if we could only get rid of her power and get her on a UNSC antidepressant, but the rest need to die."
Now it was Harry's turn to squeeze her hand. "If you say so." With that he let her hand go and resumed drinking. "What about this 'passenger' business Riley told you about?" He said, complying with Alice's demand that the girl never be referred to as Bonesaw in any way if it could at all be avoided.
Alice looked up at him, switching mental gears, before beginning to explain what she'd learned from her patient.
Hannah watched as her old friend walked into the cafe they'd elected to meet at, eyeing her carefully and with concern.
Melissa Short, more widely known as the hero Mouse Protector, looked like she hadn't slept much lately, her brown hair lanky and her already fair skin paler than usual, with dark circles around her eyes.
Not that Hannah was surprised. It could be nothing but nerve wracking, if not outright terrifying, to know that the Slaughterhouse Nine had targeted you specifically. She'd have trouble sleeping if it was her, and for all of Melissa's usual bravado, even she wasn't immune to fear when something particularly dangerous showed up.
Her fellow ex member of the Inaugural Wards team flopped down on the chair across from her, giving her an attempt at her usual toothy grin, though it didn't look nearly as secure as usual. "Hey Ems." She said before turning to address the waitress that came over to take her order, asking for an espresso and a slice of cheesecake.
"Hello Mel. I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you till now, but things have been… hectic." She said apologetically, which Melissa waved away.
"You don't need to apologize. It's not like you're wrong. Been about a week since I ended up here and we had the death of a freaking Endbringer. I'm sure the PRT has you guys hopping." The other woman said with a small smirk. "How goes the aftermath?"
Hannah took a sip of her own coffee, considering what she could say in public. "The PRT has been busy removing Leviathan's body for study." She said at length. "A large amount of the public wanted to leave it where it is, but it's too valuable for something like that."
"What about the bigass pillar of rock Nevermore pulled out of the ground?" Melissa asked as she blew on the coffee she'd just been handed, a slice of cheesecake sitting in front of her. "That's going to be in the way now that shipping's going to be returning, right?"
"Not as much as you'd think." Hannah replied with a shake of her head. "Leviathan ended up closer to the stretch of beach near the Boardwalk than any of the actual docks. Any impacted docks are going to be used for smaller ships, and the city already has plans to refurbish the rest, including refitting some for the larger ships. Last I heard the pillar is going to be turned into some kind of monument."
"Can't say I'm surprised." Mel said as she speared a piece of cheesecake on her fork. "Leviathan's death isn't a small thing, obviously." After eating the piece of cake she continued. "What about the Unbound? The higher ups have to be worried about them now." The smirk on her face said that she definitely didn't mind if some of the PRT higher ups were uncomfortable.
Hannah let out a breath through her nose as she sipped her coffee. "That is a slight understatement." She said a bit dryly. "Beast Boy turned into literal Godzilla, and Nevermore was able to call down meteorites that the Thinkers have determined were mostly made up of debris created by Ziz's destruction of most of the assets in space, to say nothing of his manipulation of the earth under the Bay and ability to kill Leviathan with some sort of energy spear. To say nothing of the weapons satellite that dropped a massive pillar of fire on the monster."
"Is it still there?" Mel asked as she cut another piece of her cheesecake. "I mean, shouldn't Ziz have already turned the thing to scrap, like she did pretty much everything in orbit."
"It's still there." Hannah confirmed. "As far as anybody has been able to tell, it's as if the Simurgh hasn't even noticed it."
Mel raised an eyebrow. "That's bullshit. Ziz not notice something that can royally fuck up an Endbringer? I call hax."
"She hasn't altered her position at all." Hannah said. "Either she really hasn't noticed, or she's up to something."
"I'm voting on the latter." Mel muttered as she ate.
"Despite all of that, the ENE PRT is mostly focused on preparing for the inevitable aftermath of Leviathan's death." Hannah said.
Mel eyed Hannah for a moment before sighing. "Fuck. The Fallen?"
Hannah nodded before deciding to change the subject. "Well, enough about that, how are you?" She asked as she lifted a hand to request another drink. "Where are you staying?"
"The Unbound set me up with an awesome apartment near downtown." Mel said with a slightly more genuine grin as she finished off her cheesecake. "They must be loaded, because it has its own pool and hot tub. And I don't mean the building does, I mean the apartment." Then her grin dropped. "They said they'd be keeping an eye on me, and they'd have someone at my side within seconds of trouble, but…"
"But it doesn't really help with the fear." Hannah murmured.
Melissa hunched in on herself. "I hate this. I hate feeling like a scared little mouse being chased by a rabid cougar." She grit her teeth. "Jack said they were specifically after me, and the Unbound were just a bonus. If they hadn't been there…" She took a shuddering breath. "I'm good, Ems, but I'm not stupid. I'd probably be so much worse off than dead if it wasn't for the Unbound."
Hannah nodded slowly and took Mel's hand, the other woman squeezing it rightly. "They won't get you, Mel. I won't let them." It was mostly bravado, and they both knew it, but it still made Melissa smile.
"Thanks, Hannah."
Harry was relaxing on the couch in his room with Teleute, the two of them enjoying their biweekly movie night. The credits had begun to roll on the fourth Mission Impossible movie, and Teleute shifted where she was leaning against Harry as she lay on the couch, munching on a chip with an amused smile on her lips.
"That was enjoyably absurd." She said with a small laugh.
"Definitely, but maybe I should talk to Cortana about making some gadgets for everyone." Harry said with a grin. "I'm sure the younger members would love them, and even John and Chief would probably find a use for them."
Teleute shook her head ruefully. "Boys and their toys." She grabbed another chip, eating it relaxedly as the music from the credits continued. Finally, at length, she spoke. "So, about that idea of yours we'd discussed…"
Harry looked down at her as she rested her head against his shoulder, her head tilted so she could look up at him with her deep, dark eyes. "Yes?"
"I asked during the movie, and the relevant ones have agreed to assist. Many are quite eager, actually." She said with a smile.
"Excellent." Harry said with a smile of his own which dimmed slightly. "I hope that wasn't too much of an issue. I wouldn't want to have ruined movie night for you."
Teleute chuckled lightly. "No worries about that. I may be much diminished, being only a tiny portion of my full self, but I'm still more than capable of making the inquiries you needed and enjoy the movie with you without issues."
"Good. In that case, I guess it's time to take the next step in the preparations." With that he picked up his phone and made a call. "Cortana? Yeah, put me through. …Uh huh, I know, I can wait. Just make sure we're taken seriously." With that he proceeded to wait with his phone to his ear, Teleute turning the volume down on the TV as she continued to snack, waiting.
Finally the phone was answered, and Harry smiled as the person on the other end responded. "Good evening, Mr. President. I have a proposal for you that I wish to discuss…"
Ugh, I wanted this out a month ago, but a severe case of writer's block hit me shortly after I finished the latest chapter of Ballad, and it wasn't till recently that I was able to figure out how to get past it. Once I did this flowed nicely, with one or two stumbling blocks.
In any case, this chapter was mostly to show some of the aftermath of the Leviathan fight, and set up future plotlines.
I've had people ask me how much longer we'll be in Worm, since it's already been a while, and I'd say we're about halfway there. I don't have a firm timeframe, because my plans tend to be fluid, but I've got an outline of what points I want to hit before we move on.
I'm sorry if that isn't the answer you wanted, but I've stated before that this is one of the most important worlds for the growth of both the team and Harry himself. A lot of important things go on here, which you'll see by the end.
Not much else to say, so I guess it's time to get to my usual reminders.
As I've stated previously in some of my other fics, my best friend and their roommate have a biweekly podcast. Yes, I know, everybody and their mother has a podcast these days, but I beg you to hear me out. It's called 'Two Idiots and a Dog', and they talk about pop culture in general with different shows for different topics. So far they've done 'Idiots on Film', talking about classic or important movies (or movies they just like), and another one called 'Idiots Unleashed', where they just take a topic their Discord members vote on and talk/argue/rant about it without a filter. Their latest episode of 'On Film' was on the new 'Sisu' movie, while their latest 'Unleashed' was on 'The Terminator Series'. So if you're interested, that's 'Two Idiots and a Dog' on most podcasting resources, including Youtube, now. Please check it out. For me? *puppy dog eyes*
Secondly, I am, as always, truly grateful for those of you who are willing to send a buck or two my way out of the kindness of your heart. I relied on all of you when I wasn't working, and it definitely still helps even now that I'm gainfully employed. Thanks to you I have more of a cushion to get things I still need or pay essential bills. Like Final Fantasy XIV. (Speaking of, Ryuma Hyurinmaru on the Coeurl Server, Crystal Datacenter, North America, Astral Prime FC).
I used to have a poll on what to update there to incentivize donations, but I recently realized that part of the reason I have trouble motivating myself to write is that I've been letting others dictate what I write, so that's no longer a thing. I apologize, but as of now, I don't have anything to really reward patrons with other than my gratitude.
If you'd like to send a few cents my way anyway, I'm at Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. However, if you'd rather donate a one-off amount rather than a monthly sub, I also have a Ko-Fi. That's ko-fi dotcom /athanmortis78653 .
I think that's all I have to say, so I'll go ahead and sign off. Thank you all for reading, and your patience, and I hope to see you all next time!