Chapter 20: The Fate of the Pen
It was 7:23mw when the Fellowship arrived in the Hub to find everything eerily quiet and still, compared to the usual bustle of activity around the Sue-Slayer headquarters. They stood on the marble steps leading up to the Tower, looking around at the silent department buildings surrounding them.
"Well, this doesn't bode well," Hawk said, heaving a deep sigh. "Let's head inside and see if we can find anyone still manning the place."
The automatic doors slid open before the nine companions as they entered the Tower. The main hallway stretched in front of them, and their footsteps sounded strangely loud on the white floor tiles. Hawk led the way, heading for the secretary office at the back of the hall.
Something crunched under her boot. Looking down, she found that one of the framed posters lining the hall had fallen and the glass had broken across the floor. The tattered poster stared back up at her: the KI emblem of the pen and crossbow, but the motto In Honore Auctoris had been torn off. A sinking feeling settled in Hawk's stomach as she stepped over the glass and continued down the hall, the characters and Aura close behind her.
There was a light on in the secretary office. Hawk stepped in warily and looked around. "Hello? Anyone here?"
"Hawk?"
Hawk turned to see Veronica emerge from the back office. For a split second, Hawk thought she saw something black in the blonde secretary's hands, but when she looked again, there was nothing but several report sheets. Veronica was staring at the characters crowded in the doorway, but then her eyes strayed back to Hawk, wide and almost alarmed.
"We weren't expecting you to return so soon," Veronica exclaimed. "Was the Quest successful then? Did you destroy the Pen?"
Hawk's expression was grim. "Not exactly. But what's been going on here? Where is everyone?"
Veronica bit her lip. "The President ordered all the available field agents to Middle-earth to fight against the Sue army that's sweeping across the world. They were supposed to ambush the Sues just south of Mirkwood, but there's been total radio silence from Middle-earth for three days now. All we have left here at the Hub are the staff, but we have no protection if the Sues decide to invade."
Hawk was nodding, her mind elsewhere. Veronica's information lined up with the report Sauron had given them about the Sues' victory over the agents, and she processed it quickly. "The President," she said. "Is the President here? We need to speak to Lance immediately."
"He's up in his office," Veronica answered. "I'm sure he'll want you to report ASAP."
Hawk was already turning back towards the door before Veronica finished. "We'll be up in the Tower. If there's any sight or sound of a Sue anywhere near the Hub, let us know immediately."
~o~o~o~
They rode the elevator up to the top floor. It was a tight squeeze with all nine of them, but no one seemed to mind. There was a grim silence and gravity that hung over the entire Fellowship.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Hawk stepped out onto the blue plush carpet and knocked on the door to the President's office. Her heart was pounding and heavy inside of her, and her thoughts were churning. Even though she knew it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help but feel responsible for the fact that the Quest had been unsuccessful in its mission, and she hated how helpless she felt. Her only hope now was that Lance Morgan would have some idea of what they could do with the Pen and how they could keep the rising tide of Sues at bay.
"Enter," came the comfortingly familiar Welsh voice from within.
All of them filed into the office, Hawk in the lead.
The President was sitting at his desk, his chair swiveled so that he could look out the wide window behind him. From this high up, the wide green stretch of the Hub was visible for miles upon miles, extending away into a grey haze. Beyond, there was darkness lit only by the pinpoints of silvery light that were the thousands of worlds orbiting the Hub.
"President," Hawk said, her voice stiff and urgent. "I fear that the Quest has been unsuccessful. The Hearth of Doom failed to destroy the Pen, and we barely escaped. Orinthia is alive, and it is she who is leading the Sues to conquer Middle-earth. But she won't stop there. She wants to see all of KI crushed and every world suffocated under her power. The Fellowship has done everything we can, but there is nowhere left that I can think to turn." She swallowed. "We need your help to advise us. What are we to do with the Pen to keep it safe from Orinthia?"
Slowly, Lance turned in his chair to fix Hawk with his grey eyes. His face seemed worn and tired. "The Pen is still safe?" he asked, his gaze scanning over the characters.
Legolas stepped forward and inclined his head. From his belt pouch, he drew forth the Pen. "I have kept the Pen safe to the best of my abilities. But we spoke to the Suethor who created the Pen, and she claims there is no way to destroy it and that no power can defeat it. There is little hope in continuing to run. What must we do?"
Hawk put her hand on the desk. "We are also aware that time is against us. Orinthia has issued an ultimatum that if we do not hand over the Pen by tomorrow evening, she will begin to kill the agents she has captured. Moreover, she plans to invade the Hub and trap us here sometime tomorrow. We must at least rally to hold the fort against her until we figure out what to do with the Pen."
The President stared at the Pen wearily for a long moment, then his gaze returned to Hawk, distant and dejected. "It's over, Hawk," he said in a subdued voice. "If the Quest for the Hearth of Doom has truly failed and there is no way to destroy the Pen, then our last hope was in vain. It's over, and we have lost."
Hawk's throat was constricting, and she felt as if she were fighting for each breath. She could feel the wetness of anger and despair welling up in her eyes. "No!" she said fiercely. "No! There has to be some way. President, you can't give up now, not yet. We lost Porter. We lost so many agents. We cannot let their sacrifices be in vain. I refuse to give up!"
"Hawk," Lance repeated, his voice strained, "it's over. We've lost this war. The best we can do now is hand over the Pen to Orinthia so that more agents do not die. There aren't enough of us left to fight, and Orinthia will take the Pen in the end, one way or another."
"No!" Hawk snarled. "We are KANON Institution, and we have fought against the rising evil of the Sues since the very dawn of time. We have stood between the Sues and the canon worlds and protected the characters without backing down until now, and we will continue to do so."
She turned to find all the characters watching her with intense expressions warring between hope and despair. Aura stood at the back with a plaintive look in her eyes. Hawk turned back to Lance. "If there's anything I've learned from being an agent in Middle-earth, if there's anything I've learned from these characters, it's that there's always hope. Despair is always the greatest weapon of the enemy, but hope comes unlooked for if you refuse to give in to the darkness. If there's any message in the Story worth listening to, it's that you cling to hope until the bitter end, no matter what. And that's what I intend to do. If Frodo could find a way, so can we."
Hawk gripped Lance's desk, her eyes blazing. "I know that if we rally, we can hold off Orinthia, and I refuse to believe that there is no solution to destroying the Pen. Are the odds against us? Sure. But since when have we just laid down and given up? I won't go down this way, not today, not tomorrow. I'll die fighting before I surrender the Pen or see KANON Institution fall!"
"And I look forward to it." A sickly sweet voice spoke suddenly from behind Hawk. "Unfortunately for you, your President is correct. It's over for you."
Hawk whirled around. Standing in the doorway to Lance's office was Orinthia, flanked by a squadron of Sues.
The characters immediately went for their weapons, which they had strapped back on after leaving Earth, and Aura lifted her hands, Sue light gathering in her palms. Orinthia seemed completely unconcerned however with their display of resistance. She snapped her fingers and a tall, black-haired elven Sue clad in bikini armor stepped to the front, dragging Porter forward. Hawk's gut clenched and it took everything in her not to scream.
Orinthia seized Porter from her lieutenant and theatrically pressed her blade to his throat. His crystal-blue Stu eyes stared vacantly forward, as if not seeing Hawk or the characters, and his entire form was uncharacteristically limp. Hawk's hands curled into fists, shaking fiercely at her side.
"Here's the way this is going to work," Orinthia purred in a disgustingly smug voice. "All of you are going to surrender your weapons, and then we are all going down to the courtyard where my Sue army is assembled. There, in front of everyone, you are going to give me the Pen. And if at any point you attempt to defy or cross me, I'll start by slitting dear Porter's throat and then follow up by Sue-ifying each of your character companions one-by-one. And since, as you so boldly announced, you'd rather die than see KI fall, I'll keep you alive and un-Sue-ified until the very end, Hawk, as a little reward for thwarting and resisting me for so long."
The Sues disarmed the Fellowship, and the black-haired lieutenant took Hawk's Sue-medallion, crossbow, and pack containing extra liquid logic, IC juice, typo-mine, and all her other Sue-Slayer supplies. Hawk looked desperately over at Lance, hoping against hope for some final salvation, but the President just averted his eyes and refused to look at her.
They were all forced into the hallway and to the stairs, since they wouldn't all fit in the elevators at once. Fëanoria seized Hawk's arm and she almost lashed out at the Sue, but Orinthia met her eyes and slid her perfect, almond-shaped nails across Porter's throat in a clear threatening message, and Hawk let herself go limp.
"How did you know we were here?" Hawk asked, her voice dull, as they reached the tenth floor. "You weren't supposed to come until tomorrow."
Orinthia shot her an exquisitely smug smile. "I see that a certain dark lord ended up blabbing after all." Her smile went sharp. "I'll make sure he gets some special attention for his treachery after I get the Pen, but that matters little now. But, let's just say, a little blonde bird informed me that you had arrived ahead of schedule."
They reached the main floor and the Sues marched them out into the main hallway. Veronica stood in the doorway to the secretary office, watching the procession impassively.
"Meet my secret agent and spy," Orinthia crooned, waving a hand delicately at Veronica. "Without her, my entire operation would have been much more difficult, but I can thank her for providing me with inside intel, as well as up-to-date KI equipment and crashes in KI's systems that gave me the time I needed to get a foothold in Middle-earth before the irksome agents showed up."
She plucked something from Veronica's hand and held it up, revealing a small black orb that flickered and glowed faintly in its center. "A mini palantír, one of several created by a Sue I had dealings with years ago who was Celebrimbor's long-lost sister. Very useful for communicating across worlds, but no longer necessary for me. Thank you for your service, Veronica darling."
"You traitor!" Hawk's vision went red around the edges and she would have lunged towards the treacherous secretary if Fëanoria hadn't still had an iron grip on her arm. "Why would you betray KI, you scum?"
Veronica refused to look at Hawk. Instead, she faced Orinthia with lowered eyes. The Sue Queen smiled and reached out, grasping Veronica's chin in her fingertips. "Yes, you've done quite well, and I think it's time you get what was promised to you."
Veronica looked up hopefully, and Orinthia shot Hawk a sharp smile. "Hate, fear, and anger are strong motivators, but love is the strongest and trickiest one of all. There was a time when my love for Eledhil drove me to do what I did, but I put that behind me when I realized what a slippery and unreliable thing love is to grasp. However, I am benevolent enough to grant to others what I myself could not have."
She smiled at Veronica. "Have your reward, my little blonde spy."
She pressed her fingers to Veronica's forehead. The KI secretary gasped as light flickered from Orinthia's fingertips, piercing into her skin. Before them, she began to change, her hair growing longer and more luscious, her thin body growing hourglass curves, and her facial features growing daintier, until she was the perfect image of a brand-new Sue. Orinthia stepped back and casually pushed Porter into Veronica's arms. "You have betrayed your friends and your Institution for your little self-ship. Well, I hope you enjoy it. He's yours now."
Hawk glared poisonous daggers at Veronica as she was pushed forward once again.
A moment later, she was blinking as they all stepped out onto the wide marble steps of the Tower, looking down into the main courtyard of KANON Institution. Ringed around the steps were an army of Sues, each one more perfect and exquisite and dainty than the next. Amongst them, Hawk caught glimpses of former KI agents, who, like Veronica and Porter, had been transformed into Sues and Stus.
Orinthia raised her arms. "My Sues, our time of cowering on the edges of the worlds, banished to our own half-formed realms, is over. A new era is before us: the Age of the Sues. The canon worlds will be yours, along with all the characters therein. No more shall you be hunted down and slain like animals for merely wanting to live in the worlds you were created for and to love the characters you were created to desire. The Stories will be whatever you want to make of them. Canon is dead!"
She turned to the nine members of the Fellowship standing at the top of the stairs. "It is time. Give me the Pen!"
There was not a single sound in the courtyard. The very air seemed to be holding its breath. Hawk's heart pounded.
Legolas was standing between two Sues, gazing downwards. Slowly, he lifted his eyes and met Hawk's gaze for a second, sad, frightened, but also determined. Then he drew forth the Pen.
~o~o~o~
Legolas stared at the Pen in his hands. The pseudo-elvish flickered, reflecting in his eyes and drawing him in. His fingers tingled with the desire to feel once more the flow of power and energy that had swept through him when he had used the Pen at the Hearth of Doom. Everything had led to this moment. The fate of the world was in his hands.
Whispers surrounded him, luring calls to take up the Pen and wield its power.
There were only two choices before him: either he wielded the Pen or Orinthia did.
His breath seemed to roar in his ears. His fingers tightened around the Pen.
He could not let Orinthia have the Pen. He could not let her wield its terrible powers to destroy his world. He had to save his Story, even if he became a villain to do so.
Suddenly, he heard another voice over the whispers of the Pen. In his mind's eye, he saw the room covered in drawings and Irene Moore's keen eyes as the Suethor of the Pen had stared into his soul. Her words echoed in his mind.
"There is no way to destroy the Pen. Even I could not do so if I wanted to. It is made with a magic stronger and more ancient than any that could be found in Middle-earth or any other world. There is nothing more powerful than the Pen."
There is nothing more powerful than the Pen.
There is nothing more powerful than the Pen…
Suddenly, clarity filled Legolas's mind as the answer blazed clear before him. He finally knew what he had to do.
He did not hesitate. With a swift movement, Legolas held up the Pen and uncapped it. As in Isinguard, time seemed to slow down as he lifted the Pen and wrote in the air with it, leaving a trail of fiery golden letters that sizzled and sparked before him.
There is nothing more powerful than the Pen.
A single sentence formed in the air.
The Pen's power was no more and it became nothing but an ordinary writing tool in the Pen-bearer's hand.
There was nothing more powerful than the Pen…except itself.
The moment he put the period on the sentence, the letters flared and exploded in a scattering of sparks like a golden firework. The sparks gathered around Legolas and lifted him up, until he was floating in the air, his long dark hair drifting in an invisible breeze, his hand still uplifted and his finger gripping the Pen. The sparkling light gathered and swelled and gleamed upon the Pen's surface so brightly that everyone in the courtyard had to cover their eyes.
An explosion of light blasted through KANON Institution. Liquid light streamed over the Fellowship and over Orinthia and over the army of Sues. Legolas fell back to the ground, released from the spell, and sank to his knees, and the Pen dropped from his lifeless fingers and rolled to a stop at Orinthia's feet.
The Queen of the Sues seized the Pen, but no pseudo-elvish flared over its surface. It lay in her hand, dull and unresponsive.
"No, no, nononono."
Orinthia uncapped the Pen and lifted it, shaping letters in the air with its tip, but it was no use. No magical letters appeared in the air. Nothing happened.
"It's over." Legolas's breath felt strained and his limbs weary as if he'd just run beyond even his elven endurance. There seemed to be a dark mist before his eyes. "The Suethor's Pen is no more."
"NO!" Orinthia shrieked. Once again, she attempted to write with the Pen, but just as before, nothing happened. A stir of unease flickered through the gathered Sues as they began to realize what had just happened.
"NOOOOO!" Rage boiled on Orinthia's face. She spun around and released a blast of Sue magic straight at Legolas, her face contorting into something monstrous with her fury that not even her unearthly Sue beauty could disguise. All Legolas felt was a searing pain in his chest, then he fell backwards and darkness wrapped itself around him.
~o~o~o~
The other characters of the Fellowship cried out in dismay as Legolas crumpled before Orinthia's attack. The Queen Sue's face was flushed with wrath, and swirls of dangerous light glimmered underneath her porcelain skin. She whirled on the rest of the Fellowship.
"You think that was a victory," she snarled, "but, oh, you are mistaken. I still control Middle-earth and all the Sues. I will still bring down KANON Institution and fill all worlds with my Sues. I hate the Story! I hate you useless, meddlesome characters! And I hate you self-righteous Sue-Slayers! I will unleash my destruction on everything you love, starting with the remnant of this pathetic Fellowship!"
Light gathered in her hands, growing into a powerful blast of Sue magic.
Faramir stepped forward, his grey eyes grim. To his right, Eówyn stepped up beside him and gripped his hand fearlessly.
Gimli joined them, his hand linking to Eówyn's. Merry and Pippin then stepped forward, and Pippin took Faramir's hand. Finally, Sauron took his place, laying his hand on Gimli's shoulder and completing the line of characters. Their eyes blazed, their faces set and determined, ready to face their inevitable end.
Orinthia's eyes grew even harder and crueler, and the Sue light in her hands glowed more brightly. The six characters tightened their grips on one another's hands. Orinthia's light grew to a brilliant flare and then she released it in a blast of destructive power aimed directly at the Fellowship.
Suddenly, just before it consumed the characters, it was met by a barrier that stopped it short.
"You will not harm the characters or the Story!"
Hawk had stepped forward, her hands outstretched. The air seemed to ripple and fold around her, keeping Orinthia's magic just barely at bay.
"What-?" Surprise mingled with the fury on Orinthia's face. "You're no Sue. You should have no power over my magic."
Hawk's lips twisted into a grim smile. "You forget that there's one thing more powerful than a Sue. Every Sue was created in the beginning. Every Sue has a Suethor."
Hawk flung her arms wide. "And I am a Suethor!"
A shockwave blasted back from Hawk, scattering Orinthia's magic and causing the Queen Sue to take a staggering step backwards. Hawk stepped in front of the Fellowship, her arms outstretched. "I am a Suethor, and you will not harm the characters or the Story I love."
Another shockwave burst from Hawk. Already caught off balance from the first wave, Orinthia staggered as the second blast hit her squarely. She lifted her hand, trying to use her magic to deflect Hawk's attack, but her Sue light sputtered and went out.
With their leader suddenly under attack, the Sues faltered, clearly unsure of what they should do. Taking advantage of their uncertainty, the Fellowship leapt into action, attacking the nearby Sues who had taken their weapons. Gimli head-butted the Sue holding his axe square in the stomach, driving the air out of her in a very un-Sue-like whoosh and causing her to let go of his axe which he seized even as it dropped. Merry and Pippin tag-teamed and stomped on the feet of the Sue holding their daggers, while Eówyn roundhouse-kicked the Sue who had her and Faramir's weapons, which the Gondorian Ranger grabbed as the Sue toppled over backwards. Sauron bent the full power of his terrifying eyes on another Sue, who dropped his mace and fled, shrieking shrilly. Armed once again, the characters held off the pressing Sue army, protecting both their fallen Pen-bearer and Hawk.
For the first time, fear entered the eyes of Orinthia. Every blast of power she sent at Hawk was deflected by Hawk's newly-awakened magic, and she could not land a blow. Around her, her Sues were falling before the invigorated onslaught of the characters. She redoubled her efforts, pouring all her ancient powers of Suedom into her attacks.
Hawk's powers faltered as she felt Orinthia's attacks intensify. Even though their powers were close to equal, Orinthia had far greater control over the magic she had wielded for the past two millennia, whereas Hawk's powers were strong but untested and wild. Slowly, the Queen Sue began to regain the ground she had lost.
Suddenly, Hawk felt someone standing at her side. She looked down to find that Aura had stepped up beside her, eyes fierce and expression determined. She met Hawk's eyes, and almost as if they were drawn by some fate greater than either of them, they joined hands. Together, side-by-side, the Sue and the Suethor lifted their linked hands, their magic mingling and growing, stronger, stronger, stronger…
A blinding light grew around them, something ancient and powerful swelling from their combined force. Brighter and brighter, it flared. Orinthia threw her hands up, trying to dispel the attack, but her own magic flickered and wavered and finally broke. Hawk and Aura's light swept over her. Orinthia let out a final, lingering scream of rage and fear as the light pierced through her. Her body was transparent and paper-thin for a single split-second, then she exploded in a burst of golden sparks and shreds of ashy paper. Orinthia, Queen of the Sues, was no more.
Hawk sank to her knees.
The shockwave of Orinthia's explosion sent a shiver of power cascading over the gathered Sues. As one, they all seemed to shudder and shake themselves, as if coming out of some dark dream. They stared about in bewilderment and sudden fear, their large eyes wide and their hair flowing elegantly about them. First one, then another and another, stopped fighting.
Hawk closed her eyes as she realized it was all over. The Pen was no more, Orinthia had been overthrown, and the Battle of the Hub was done.
They had won at last.
A/N: So there we have it: the fate of the Pen is sealed at last. There will be one more chapter that wraps everything up, then a short little epilogue to conclude it all. And as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter and the story :D