Chapter 17

Power lit up my soul. A metaphysical weight lifted as stored energy finally crystallized into something tangible. With barely a thought and a whispered word of power, every bit of debris that surrounded and crushed me was atomized. I rose up on a column of golden light, red lightning crackling around me. My symbol of power, a black coat with silver trim rested lightly over me. I knew without needing to look in a mirror that one eye had a golden pupil with red sclera, the colors inverted in the other. The colors of both Order and Chaos, intermingled.

I felt invincible.

And the Simurgh looked scared.

It was a heady feeling. Addicting. Even if it did feel like my soul was on fire.

One neat thing about the sudden power boost? It allowed me to act on previously only theoretical knowledge of my abilities. After all, every Magus of the Clocktower was taught the theory of True Magic and Advanced Magecraft. They just didn't have the skills or raw power to use said theories.

I didn't have that problem anymore.

Priority one, protect the civilians.

I took a deep breath, muttered a few words in my pseudo-latin placebo spellcaster language, and then clapped my hands together. With a flash of light Canberra vanished as I teleported the entire city several miles away, leaving just the flat plain at the foot of a mountain around the Simurgh and the still standing defenders. And yes, that was easier than the alternative of trying to protect all the civilians and infrastructure or teleporting the Simurgh herself. I'm not sure what she was made of, but the crystalline material of her flesh and core was so dense that I knew from a cursory scan that it would take less mana to just move the city. Moving just the people might have been a tad easier too, but in the long run it would take less energy to just move it back when we were done than to help repair the place.

Next, the Scream.

"Be silent!" I commanded, my voice having gained a three toned nature. It was still mine, but behind it could be heard both the deep resonance of Order and the deeply disturbing buzzing whine of Chaos. "You have upset the balance, Endbringer. It shall be restored!"

Was I channeling my inner schoolboy nerd/ Doctor Fate a bit? Oh you bet I was.

I wove another spell, this one practically simple by comparison, and with a flick of my finger, a few hundred symbols manifested and scattered amidst the remaining defenders, a pentacle of silver light landing to rest on all of their foreheads. A temporary, but very powerful psychic protection, as well as protecting them from things like foresight. I saw a handful of backline members and even Alexandria herself stumble as their Thinker abilities suddenly dipped in quality or outright failed.

"Begone with the light!"

A beam of energy flew from my palm and carved through the air. The Simurgh did not sit idle, her formidable telekinesis ripping out a veritable plateau of earth to serve as a shield, enough densely packed material to block firepower on par with Legend's output.

It was a shame that at the last moment, a portal opened to redirect the beam around her shield and directly into her back, driving her facedown into an undignified pile of dirt, wings, and metal from her tinker-tech.

"Strike while she is grounded!"

I barely needed to give the order as dozens of capes attacked by instinct and training, but others, still stupefied from the sudden change in scenery, were spurred into action and added their powers to the mix. Endbringer flesh began to be chipped away by the onslaught and hope held for a brief moment as I gathered more power into myself.

The Simurgh decided she was done playing with kid gloves. With another psychic scream, the Simurgh unleashed an omnidirectional wave of force. The capes closest to her were atomized, turned into a fine red mist. Only the toughest, like Alexandria and Chevalier, were merely thrown back instead of killed outright.

Hm. Interesting.

"The Simurgh is no longer abiding by the Manton Limit," I said musingly, the words heard by all on the battlefield. "She probably never had one in the first place. She has been… toying with us."

I twisted space like a pretzel until I was standing next to Eidolon. Alexandria would have been my first choice, but she was engaged hand to hand with the Simurgh. "Why did you place Flechette alone?"

He shot me a look of annoyance. "We didn't. She had an escort, but Endbringer fights are chaotic." He had his matter disintegration power still ready, but it looked like it's power was waning.

"Unfortunate," I said, then focused my mind upon one of the fallen capes. "I shall place what protection I can upon her until we find the true core. In the meantime…"

My psyche delved into the space between dimensions, guided by my newfound power and raw intent. I seized the massive crystalline object that was growing on an empty alternate Earth, soaking in the power of the sun, and began eagerly stealing it's power. I didn't retain it though, instead using myself as a conduit to then transfer that power into Eidolon. "Your passenger is starving. Feed the damn thing."

Space distorted again as I appeared next to Flechette. She no longer had any kind of highground, but had found a rocky outcropping to take cover behind. "Holy-! You! You pushed me off a building!"

"That I did," I confirmed.

"...Well thanks. Probably saved my life," she admitted begrudgingly. "How are you…?"

"Powers are bullshit," I said simply. "Hold still a moment." I waved a hand over her and a series of complex runes and sigils appeared on her costume before vanishing again. "Spells of protection. You are not invincible, but a stray rock won't kill you anymore either." I held up my hand as a boulder torn up from the Simurgh's telekinetic maelstrom almost struck us. Power flared right before it touched me and it exploded into dust. "That might have tickled, but better not to risk it."

I created a brief gate of light and stepped into the first-aid tent. Several injured capes, some of whom I'd been responsible for dragging out of the line of fire, were in various states of recovery, but there weren't many capes here with strong healing powers, so most of them were just getting basic triage from some brave nurses and doctors who had volunteered. Civilians.

I believe that they were braver than the rest of us capes combined. At least we had powers in the face of an Endbringer. Those men and women had nothing.

"Duplicatus," I murmured.

Light split off of my form and coalesced into multiple copies of myself. They began to move through the tent, healing magics already being put into effect. I nodded in satisfaction as they got to work and with another spell, placed a powerful barrier around the medical tent. It would take Behemoth himself to pierce the thing.

I took to the skies and surveyed the battle. A smile formed as I saw how the battle was progressing.

There were multiple reasons why Endbringer battles tended to be one-sided and casualties immense. Endbringers themselves were forces of nature, it was true, but we had a fair number of capes capable of standing up to them when they worked together. So Endbringers made sure we couldn't do that. They hit us before we could rally a defense or had some kind of side objective that would usually put us on a clock and ensure our forces were split trying to save people, fight them off, and prevent their no doubt disastrous goal.

Basically, preventing our heaviest hitters from actually coordinating and disrupting our coherency as a whole.

By removing the civilians from the equation and making sure there wasn't another kind of agenda for the Simurgh to pursue, as well as preventing the Scream from causing further casualties, I'd given us a massive edge. By juicing up Eidolon, the most powerful superhero on the planet, I'd truly turned the tide.

I watched as the Triumvirate in all their glory hit the Simurgh from all sides.

Eidolon swooped in, a beam of focused gravity ripping away one of her wings. When she retaliated with a hail of razor sharp rocks, driven by her telekinetic fury, the strongest of the Triumvirate raised a hand and called forth a shield that deflected all of her projectiles away. He swooped in and fired off a matter disintegration beam that targeted her tinker-tech weapon, forcing Ziz to shield it with her own body, layers of crystalline flesh being stripped away in a matter of moments.

She Screamed again and flew on a direct course for Eidolon before Alexandria placed herself in the Simurgh's path. Using her unbreakable body as both weapon and shield, she slammed into the Simurgh's stomach and shoved backwards, her own flight overpowering the Endbringer's. Once they were a safe distance from her teammate, she laid into Ziz with overwhelmingly powerful punches, each one denting or outright tearing away chunks of flesh. Black ichor flowed like water and the Endbringer's regeneration worked overtime to repair the damage.

Legend wouldn't let it though. From above he rained down beams of energy, all of them precise and deadly, searing away the Endbringer's flesh quicker than it could return. Literal flying artillery, more dangerous than a tank battalion and infinitely more mobile.

It was a truly awe inspiring sight, especially when the remaining defenders rallied and struck in turn. None of them could equal the Triumvirate on their own, but they had far greater numbers and many of them stood if not as equals then at least as peers of the three strongest heroes. Chevalier's blade grew massive and he brought it down without so much as a grunt of effort, the blade knocking Ziz from the sky. While she was down, Myrddin rained destructive energies from one of his pocket dimensions, power saved from one of Eidolon's strikes if my senses were correct. Other powers were added to the mix and the Simurgh faltered. I could practically see the thought patterns forming and then she spread her wings and blasted everyone around her backwards. She leapt into the air and began flying up and away into orbit. Somewhere only a select handful of capes could follow.

So we did. The Triumvirate and I ascended with her, Alexandria still striking with earth-shattering force, Eidolon with his more esoteric effects, and Legend with his lasers. The air began to chill around us, the oxygen growing thinner. A mere thought put up a field of air around myself, but I spotted Alexandria and Legend beginning to slow and drop back. They still needed air to breathe it seemed, though Eidolon had a power in place to protect himself. I debated giving them a shield similar to my own, but dismissed the notion. They'd done what they could and if I got taken out by the Simurgh, then they'd find themselves in a difficult position. No, it was down to just me and Eidolon at that point.

"How are your powers?" I asked.

"Better than ever!" Eidolon said triumphantly. "I should be asking you the same thing. You've been pulling some high level abilities out."

I assessed my condition. "I have power to spare, but I am still limited by my body's ability to channel such energies. I suggest we hurry. We have a chance to actually end one of these monsters, once and for all."

"Agreed."

No more words were needed as the two of us began to gain on the Simurgh. She could fly fast, but not as quickly as my magic allowed or whatever power Eidolon was tapping into. Seeing Eidolon fight at the height of his strength was an incredible thing. It made me realize why he was often considered Cauldron's best bet against Scion, even if he still paled in comparison to the Warrior Entity's Avatar.

Lightning blasted out from the tips of Eidolon's fingers in a shower of sparks, the power of the electric bolts shattering the very air as they raked the Endbringer's back and slowed her progress. A power swap and beams of what looked like condensed fire lashed at her. I followed up with a burning crimson orb that was nearly as hot as the Sun's surface. It missed by a wide margin, my aim still not as keen as that of more experienced heroes, but I was confident it would have done tremendous damage had it connected.

Phenomenal cosmic power or no, there's always still room for improvement.

I hissed as Ziz spun in midair and lashed out with a telekinetic strike, the move so quick and smooth that I didn't even see it coming. The blow threw me backwards far enough to begin losing sight of her and Eidolon and made my ribs feel like broken glass, but raw will and magic kept me in one piece rather than a splattered mess. I growled to myself and sped upwards to try and catch up. Eidolon was charging up some kind of power, I wasn't sure what exactly, but my senses told me it was powerful. At the base of her largest wing, I could just see a hint of an iridescent shine. The corner of her core, just barely peeking out. Eidolon had a clear shot.

And the Simurgh had one on him.

Her tinker-tech cannon began to burn with light even as Eidolon's hand began to move. I had a choice. Eidolon's attack might have been able to kill her. But he was surely ignoring his defense to get a power that strong. I didn't hesitate, slamming into Eidolon and knocking him off course as a burst of energy passed right through the space he had just been occupying. At the same time, his own attack faltered and then faded.

He shot me a furious look. "I had her!"

"Your life is not worth even one of them."

"That bitch has killed thousands and condemned even more to living in quarantine zones!" Eidolon snapped back. "Of course killing her is worth it!"

"Even if that leaves us weakened for the final battle?" I asked mildly. Eidolon faltered in place and I appealed to both his sense of duty and his ego. "You are the strongest hero. We'll need you when the time comes."

That made him pause before giving a begrudging nod. "Fine. She's getting away, can we…?"

"My body and soul are spent. If you wish to pursue her, you would have to do so alone." The burning had only gotten worse as the battle progressed. I couldn't maintain that level of power for much longer without some serious repercussions.

Eidolon looked conflicted, glancing up at the still ascending Ziz, before finally nodding slightly. "It's over. This will go down as one of the most successful Endbringer battles yet."

I smiled, grim and bloody as I began to heal my wounds. "Say that again when we've actually killed one."

We drifted back down together, eventually meeting Alexandria and Legend where they had stayed and waited in tense anticipation. "That was reckless," Alexandria said.

"We had her on the run," Eidolon disagreed. "But… Not today."

"Another time," I promised them. "I am still acclimating to this power. We are parallels, you and I."

"How so?" Eidolon asked.

"I am like a fresh newborn, still unused to his new body. You are like an old man, experienced and wise, but spent. Perhaps now we can work on restoring you to your former peak."

"I do feel pretty amazing, thought not like when I first gained my powers. What exactly did you do?" He asked.

"Your shard- passenger if you prefer- is dead. Or as dead as one of those things can get anyways. A 'living' shard is actively feeding off of a power source in another universe and so is in no danger of failing. But your shard has no such instructions, so with each use of your powers, it gets weaker and weaker. You can replenish this strength by feeding off of other shards. Doing so to a living parahuman would kill them though, which is why I connected you to one that was killed during the course of this fight," I explained.

"Interesting," Alexandria said. "But why has Eidolon's power been waning so much quicker when we all gained our powers around the same time."

Hell…

"You hit a peak in your strength as you have said, Eidolon. Then your powers began to weaken. Ever so slightly at first, but, in doing so, you discovered fear. Fear that you could not defeat Scion. You needed worthy opponents to overcome your limits," I said as gently as I could. "In doing so, your shard's power was drained even quicker, weakening you even faster. A self-defeating cycle."

Eidolon froze in midair as he processed my words. "You… You're lying. That's not possible."

"If Contessa had put a bullet in your skull right after taking that vial, then the Endbringers might never have appeared. At this stage though, it is no use. The Simurgh has supplanted the cycle and uses it for her own ends." I fixed him with a steady look. "Do not give in to despair. You could not have known, none of you. What is done, is done, do your penance by continuing the fight."

Eidolon looked utterly lost and confused. He turned and vanished with a burst of light without another word. Alexandria shot me an annoyed look. "Was that true?"

"Every word."

"...Fuck."

"Indeed. Find him. Ensure he doesn't do anything drastic. I shall restore Canberra to it's proper place. Find me when you are ready to speak further. I have much information that Cauldron might find useful."

"You're much more… talkative now."

"I'm far more powerful than before. Such strength inspires confidence in even the meekest of individuals. Oh and before we part," I grinned, though there was nothing friendly in it. "I am going to kill Jack Slash and the rest of his group. I don't care that they spawn many triggers in their wake. They are a plague and a curse. Will that be an issue?"

Poor Legend looked confused, but Alexandria gave a slow shake of her head. "If you're as strong as you claim now, then their purpose is served. Do what you will."

I dipped my head in acknowledgement, then parted space before me as if walking through a door. I found myself standing amidst my comrades of the Protectorate ENE. "Hello everyone, how are things here?" I asked jovially.

"Chaotic. You moved an entire damn city," Armsmaster growled at me. "Can you-"

I gathered power and clapped my hands again. With a grand flash of light, the city was restored to exactly as it was, every person, pet, vehicle, and even insect in it's place. "There. Do me a favor?"

Armsmaster eyed the chaos as capes began to run around like directionless sheep. "What?"

"Catch me."

I removed the coat and felt the power leave me. The burning in my soul became an inferno of agony and I collapsed, my teammates crowded around me.

/
Colin moved forward and caught his- friend?- as he fell like a puppet with no strings. The strange jacket dissipated into motes of light, leaving Magus in just his normal costume.

"Well," Assault said. "That was… eventful."

"The kid just turned around an Endbringer fight, solo," Dauntless said. "I'd call that 'revolutionary'."

"Hard to believe," Miss Militia agreed. "Are we sure she's gone?"

Colin opened his mouth to reply, but Dragon's voice echoed from all of their armbands as one. "This is Dragon. The Simurgh is confirmed to be back in orbit and in a sort of healing stasis. Canberra is officially safe. We won."

A ragged cheer went up from the defenders. It wasn't without it's grief as several capes had still lost their lives, but Colin knew that this was perhaps the most successful Endbringer defense ever. He would have to get a tally once everything was settled.

Colin had a feeling that Mak would still blame himself for every casualty despite having prevented so many. He could at least give it to him accurately.

"I can't believe it," Velocity sat down, taking off his helmet and wiping away some of the sweat that was there. "That was… insane. This is going to change everything, isn't it?"

Colin felt his stomach clench. It would. The power dynamics of Brockton Bay couldn't survive with Magus having spontaneously developed powers on par with any member of the Triumvirate. But then, they had known that was a possibility since the young parahuman had revealed himself. It was just a matter of time and that time was here. But that was a problem for later. For now, Colin resolved to enjoy the victory. An entire city had been saved. That was something worth celebrating.

A/N: I've reached a point in my life where I hate writing fight scenes. Used to love it. Used to be my favorite part of writing. Now it just kind of feels like a slog. Maybe I've written too many of them or maybe I'm just bad at it. Anyway, hope everyone had a good weekend and enjoy Veteran's Day if you got it off. I'm off to work tomorrow :)