Note: Happy 50k words!
-The Light of Brockton Bay-
- Victoria's POV
Ames had called me for help. Something had happened during the Wards meet and power testing, and Da'at was freaking out. Enough so that they had evacuated the building, she said that Piggot said what caused it was "classified." Amy had left the building and called me to come in and help her calm down. How could I say no to that? This is the first person Amy had ever really started actively being friends with. Sure, she was "friends" with some other people, but she never really put in that effort that friendships had. She was never the person to ask to hang out.
Da'at was the first person in a long time that she has been friendly to. Amy's worried that the PRT might go a little overboard during the arrest. I mean, Da'at is attacking the PRT headquarters right now, and that's something a villain would do. Da'at didn't seem like that kind of person when we met at the mall, though. People are thinking she got her powers less than a month ago; that, paired with the video of her during the jailbreak, paints her as emotionally unstable. But I wouldn't say she's a villain. I just have to talk a little sense into her; maybe rough her up slightly.
I'm taking the lead along with Armsmaster. After this is done, I have to ask Da'at how she managed to talk to him so easily. He's always so grumpy and won't ever change his mind; it kind of reminds me of Ames. Miss Militia said Da'at's most likely inside the Wards common room, which I'm guessing is where the freakout happened. There's the faint smell of tear gas in the hallway we just passed. Miss Militia said Da'at's shown yet another power. Seriously? I know I have a few, but she apparently just pulled Labyrinth's out of nowhere. Labyrinth may be a mentally ill teen, but that power is no joke, and Da'at just gets it randomly! I shouldn't be grumbling too much, though. My power is pretty good too.
We arrive at the Wards common room, and our pace slows. I can see the thin line of white light that separates the normal PRT space and whatever Da'at is doing. "Remember, Da'at has been shown to have similar powers to Lung in this form. Increased strength, some kind of pyrokinesis, explosions, and her tinkertech sword and cannon." Miss Militia reiterates. Me and Armsmaster enter the library first, followed by Assault and Battery, then Miss Militia, and finally Dauntless and Velocity. They had said Dauntless would usually take the lead, but with me here, Dauntless can take a rearguard position.
The room was off-putting, to say the least. Miss Militia had said it still had some of the Wards common room look, but it must have completely disappeared in the last few minutes. There were rows of burnt mahogany bookshelves extended up and touching the ceiling. A green carpet covers the entire room, except for the spot where it has already turned to ash. Tables and chairs made out of the same wood were either sitting normally or flipped and broken into pieces. What really got my attention was the orangish-red light that illuminated the entire room with no source to be seen.
I floated with my aura turned off. I wouldn't want to alert Da'at before the fight started. The smell of smoke was in the air, but it wasn't suffocating. The visibility in the room was surprisingly clear for all the fires around. Are the fires even real? They don't seem to be spread, and they aren't heating this room to a deadly level. It takes a minute before we find the person we're looking for, or at least I think they are.
She wasn't on fire like we expected. Her hair was pitch black, and her clothes were in tatters now, extending behind her like a cape. I could only see a blackened skeleton under her clothes; her exposed skull had dark smoke inside of it, blocking whatever was inside of it from view. There was the faint glow of fire emanating from the middle of her chest. Da'at was shambling around a clearing. Her sword, which was now pitch black, was dragging along behind her.
"Everything I once held dear, painted an unrecognizable black." Her voice was weird; it grated against the ears. This... wasn't what I signed up for. I expected her to be going on a rampage, but this, this is just depressing. I step into the clearing. "Hey, Da'at. I'm not sure what caused this, but I know that we can still get you out of this. Just... please stop this. Ames is worried enough that she sent me here. You don't want to worry her, don't you?"
The fire in Da'at's core shined just a little brighter at the mention of Amy before dimming again. "I have already burnt away my future. There is nowhere left for me to go; no more bridges to cross." Da'at's stance changes, her sword still being dragged behind her, but now it has both her hands on it. "I don't believe your words. You're one of them. Nobody has ever helped me, and no one ever will. All I have left-." Da'at suddenly swings her sword overhead straight at me.
"Is myself"
The sword extends with a line of opaque black smoke and slams into me at a slight angle. I get knocked to the left, and my forcefield flickers off for a moment. Armsmaster is the first to move from our side, as he takes his halberd and charges at Da'at. Assault throws a nearby chair and speeds it up to break-neck speeds. Da'at dodges to the side and brings up her long sword to clash with Armsmaster's halberd. I fly towards Da'at while bringing my fist back and blast her with my aura at full strength. 'Sorry Da'at. I'll try to not hurt you too much.'
What I didn't expect was for her to completely ignore my aura and try to bash me with her hilt. "I've felt worse fear than that." My fist and the hilt collide. I feel my shield break again, but Da'at gets sent tumbling backwards. She manages to land on her feet by digging her sword into the floor. Dauntless takes the opportunity and shoots his lance towards Da'at. She jerks to the side and jumps a few feet into the air. Da'at swipes her sword with two hands horizontally and extends it towards Miss Militia. Dauntless parries it with his shield, hard light sparking off and black smoke sizzling.
The glow in Da'at's chest has been steadily increasing. Armsmaster is on her again, but Da'at's pretty good with the sword. After sharing a few blows, Armsmaster gets a good parry, which leaves her open for a split second. The next swing of the halberd hits her directly and surprisingly electrocutes her. I see a few of Da'at's ribs shatter from the impact and her arms twitch from the electricity. Battery, who has been sneaking around the side of the battle, bursts forward and punches Da'at in the skull. A chip flies off from her eye socket.
Da'at threw her now-flaming fist at Armsmaster. She was slowly coming back to the form we were expecting, but at this point, it was sort of half and half. Armsmaster skidded a few feet backwards, but Battery continued to throw punches while swiftly dodging any blows that came her way. Da'at swung in a wide arc, and her blade extended. I wasn't there to take the blow, and Dauntless was out of the way. Battery was barely able to duck under the blade as it exploded a bookshelf when it missed its target.
I know Miss Militia has an open shot at Da'at now because she fires at Da'at with a sniper rifle. I really wasn't expecting Da'at to just parry the bullet with her sword, though. Like, that was sick as fuck, and if we weren't fighting right now, I would ask to see it again. "Where was this effort when I needed it?" Her hair slowly lit on fire. She swung her sword onto the ground, causing a small explosion that forced Battery to retreat. "Where were you when I was being beaten by your Ward?"
Wait, what? She was beaten up by a Ward? Da'at swung a sloppy but very fast horizontal swipe, which missed and sliced a nearby table in half. "You must have known!" The heat was picking up fast. "I'm all out of matches. I'm all out of hope." Da'at is now in the form shown in her jailbreak fight. "Maybe you can make a good substitute." The fires in the library expanded and grew. 'Shit, we're on a time limit.'
I race towards Da'at and release a blow without holding back. She ends up shifting, so her arm takes the blow; it shatters on impact, and I quickly fly back with a wince. I really hope that doesn't stay when she reverts back. Da'at seemed to be staggered from the huge blow; she held onto where her arm once was and swayed slightly. Now I feel bad. Armsmaster doesn't care and charges. He brought his armour meant for Lung so he could handle the heat. He swung the halberd to disarm Da'at before using the motion to swing around and bash the end of the halberd into Da'at's face.
Da'at fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. I couldn't help but feel bad for her. This is brutal. That blow obviously did something because the fires that were picking up slowly died down as Da'at was motionless. Da'at herself slowly went back to the form we found her in. "In the end, it's all useless." She picks herself up, and I start to see... blood? "Every day I woke up, I knew deep down I was a failure." The fires were gone, and the red glow was replaced with a faint white light. Da'at started to stand up, blood dripping from her fingertips. "Maybe I should take Sophia's advice and give up—permanently." The air in the room contorted as space itself shattered like glass. "Maybe then I will be happy once more."
Having the space around you shatter isn't a pleasing feeling. It feels like it should have hurt me in some way, but it didn't. Slowly the cracks that litter my vision reform, and I'm in a room that is completely different. The entire room was devoid of any furnishings; the tables, bookshelves, chairs, and posters were all gone. The whole room looks to be made of skin, and the floor squelches under my foot slightly. 'Ew, that's disgusting.' I quickly take to the air and hover a foot above the ground. Blood stains the entire room, forming pools on the floor and dripping from the walls.
The PRT heroes looked to be in different levels of shock, with Armsmaster looking indifferent at worst. "Ugh, I'm going to be sick." Battery looks like she's going to throw up. I think back to one of the words she said, Sophia. I didn't recognize that name, but some things were starting to get pieced together now. A Ward beats her up, and now someone named Sophia tells her to go kill herself. I don't think she would freak out if she saw a Ward who beat her up for stealing, but a Ward that beat her up and told her to off herself. That sounds like bullying, and a very bad case of bullying at that.
"Hey, everyone." The PRT heroes turned towards me. "Who is Sophia?" They all remained silent, but I could see it; Miss Militia looked ashamed.
Armmaster speaks up. "I haven't heard that name before."
He's lying through his teeth. I'm seeing this fight in a completely different light now. "I'm getting to the bottom of this afterwards." I fly up close to Armsmaster. "People may call me dumb and hot-headed, but I'm not. If what I'm thinking has happened is true. Well, I'm sure my mom would love to tear the PRT a new one."
"There is no meaning left. I just want to sink into their warm embrace." Da'at rises from a pool of blood nearby. 'Oh Scion, is she just going to get more horrific as the fight goes on?' Da'at is wearing a lab coat that is covered in blood stains. Her wrists and neck have deep cuts on them and are actively dripping with blood. Her eyes have been gouged out, and two bleeding holes are all that's left. She has minor cuts everywhere else, but none of them are nearly as bad as those first ones.
"I can't withstand this grief. Please just let me share it." The flow of the blood falling from her wrists increases as it collects into a pair of whips in both hands. I turn briefly to the PRt heroes. "We will be continuing this talk later. But right now we have to win this fight. It looks like taking enough damage in her last form caused her to change. She has to run out of steam eventually." Armsmaster looks like he's about to speak, but Da'at interrupts.
The whip in her left hand lashes out and strikes Armsmaster's shoulder guard. It snaps in half at the blow; Armsmaster winces but doesn't seem to be hurt by it. Miss Militia opens fire on Da'at as I turn back to face her again. The bullets pierce Da'at, but she doesn't seem to be affected by it. A whip from one hand flies towards me and another toward Miss Militia. I dodge out of the way and Dauntless blocks with his shield. Honestly, I'm starting to feel bad for Velocity. He can't really do anything against brutes; he usually goes after people who are about as strong as regular people.
Armsmaster charges again with his halberd. The ground is affecting how well he can move, though. I hate this fight now, and I really don't like the reasons I suspect are behind it, but Da'at needs to be knocked out for things to continue. I fly towards Da'at and dodge a whip that comes my way as I fly, only for it to suddenly change directions and slam into me. My shield drops, but before it can come back, I feel something grab my leg.
"The hands of our lost loved ones. What could be better than sinking into their embrace?" Hands made of congealed blood grip my leg and attempt to pull me down. The strength of my flight can resist them. More hands start to reach out from the pools. I punch the one on my leg, and it explodes into droplets of blood. The PRT heroes are fighting their own sets of hands. Armsmaster is getting overwhelmed; every time he cuts one with his halberd, the wound just closes over.
I rush over to help him. I smash a few before Armsmaster strikes with the side of the halberd instead of its blade. "You can't cut the hands. Use blunt attacks." Honestly, his observation makes sense. Even Miss Militia, with her regular bat, was doing better than him with his halberd. I fly towards Da'at again, prepared for unexpected attacks. I hear Miss Militia fire something I recognize as a shotgun behind me. I briefly think I might be hit by the spread before I see a slug round zip past and hit Da'at square in the chest. Da'at reels back slightly, but the blood from the floor holds her in place.
More slugs are shot as I fly forward. Hands of blood rise from the ground and block the shots. "How many scars must I have before you're happy, before I'm happy?" She whips with her left hand, and I dodge upwards. The whip changes direction suddenly, but I'm prepared and dodge again. I punch her with enough force that it rips her out of the blood holding her in place. She flies backwards, landing in a pool of blood before sinking an inch and standing up. "Sink with me!"
The hands of blood that are constantly forming change shape. They now resemble large, straight spikes. Several shoot out from different directions. I dodge two from my left and right before a third hits me from behind. I hear Battery yelp out from behind me. A spike had grazed her arm; it was bleeding, but the cut was minor. The spikes didn't seem to be degrading back into pools of blood. A slight ripple in the nearby pool alerted me to the incoming attack. A spike flies past me, but I punch it mid-flight.
The spike cracks in half, and I'm left holding the large spike of blood. I launch it towards Da'at, and it pierces her leg and pins her to the ground. Assault sees this and starts to copy my idea. Miss Militia launches another slug, but her rate of fire decreases with the amount of dodging she's forced to do. The only reason she can fire is Dauntless' shield blocking some of the spikes. Armsmaster shoots a grappling hook from his halberd into the ceiling above Da'at. Hands attempt to intercept his flight path but are too slow to catch him.
He swipes down with his halberd, but Da'at catches the blade with her hand. "Barely broke the skin." Armmaster pulls on his halberd, causing him to move towards Da'at. He attempts to punch her face, but a hand grabs his waist and tosses him a few dozen feet back. The overall squishiness of the room lessens the fall. It did distract Da'at enough for Assault to launch a spike of blood right into the side of her abdomen.
That blow caused an actual reaction. Da'at grasps the side that was hit. I hit the flat side of the spike and drove it deeper before punching her in the gut. A much bigger arm rises from the pool below. The hand itself is bigger than a person. It swipes at me in an attempt to grab me. I punch through its index finger and escape through the gap. Battery bursts forward and dodges the big hand. Her punch collides with Da'at, and I see it spark.
I know she can expend most of her charge to release an electric-based attack, but that leaves her vulnerable. I quickly swoop down and catch her in my arms. As I start flying her away, I'm about to ask why she would do that, but then I look back at Da'at. The blood around her was thick and clotting; she didn't seem to be able to unclot it. Velocity blurs beside Da'at before dropping his breaker state to punch her face.
Without her whips to slash in a wide angle, Da'at is forced to try and punch the speedster. Velocity weaves behind her before sending out another couple of punches. The blood starts to flow regularly again, but Da'at looks like she's on her last legs, at least for now. Miss Militia launches a few more slugs while Dauntless strikes with his arclance.
Finally, Da'at reels forward. The constant assault of hands stops. The spikes that were left over dissolve into liquid blood once again. The heroes regrouped while I floated in between them. "Da'at, please stop this," I begged. The girl didn't seem to be listening. The pool in front of her rippled, and everyone tensed in preparation. Slowly something emerged from the pool. It looked like the upper half of a human body. It reached towards Da'at. "Mom?"
Da'at's shaky and bloody hand reached to take the figure's hand, but just as the two met, the figure's hand dissolved back into liquid. "NO! Don't leave me again." The figure slowly crumbled back into the pool. "She always gave the best hugs." The pools of blood slowly dried up, the floor and walls seemed to harden once more, and Da'at's wounds closed again. "All I wanted was to be embraced again." I started to feel a familiar pressure in the air. "All my loved ones left me to sit and wither. I was broken, so I sat and collected dust." Space shattered once again.
"Abandoned and alone."