I assume from the emoji that this is a joke but on the off chance that it isn't, let me assure people that the book was first. I remember people at my alma mater putting on a play inspired by the book in 1981 or 1982 that someone described as the "good parts version of the good parts version." One of the jokes from the book is that it's the good parts version of a much longer and more tedious work.apparently the book came after the movie, there were so many people looking for 'the book the film was based on' that they decided to make one.
I have seen a post describing "the only remake of Princess Bride I'd accept", with the remake being The Muppet's Princess Bride
Kermit as Westley, Miss Piggy as Buttercup, etc I forget the full line up. maybe I can find it again.
yeah, I've heard tales about the book coming after, but my old copy of book had a copyright date in the 70s and the film didn't come out until '87. They may have gotten confused by a reprinting after the movie came out. *shrugs*
The book definitely came before the movie, and was written by William Goldman, who wrote the script for the movie. Which is why the movie is one of the most faithful adaptions of a book ever. I've got both the book and the movie, and they're both awesome, in slightly different ways.
- Location
- England
@komakesthings on Tumblr has been doing drawings of some of the memorable scenes.
The most important part is casting Cary Elwes as the Grandpa (Peter Falks role in the original) and the only human in the whole thing.
The most important part is casting Cary Elwes as the Grandpa (Peter Falks role in the original) and the only human in the whole thing.
Part One Hundred Eight: Epilogues 3
- Location
- Australia
A Darker Path
Part One Hundred Eight: Epilogues 3
[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
11:55 PM, Thursday June 30, 2011
Roof of the PRT ENE Building
Flechette
A warm breeze blew across the roof of the building where the current crop of Wards (and one other) sat in a circle on folding chairs, around a radio perched on a small footstool. Most of them wore civilian clothing, with domino masks to protect their identities from any importunate fliers. Lily was pretty sure that no hostile cape in the world would come near the PRT building on this night, when Atropos was part of the gathering.
Browbeat looked over at where Atropos was fiddling with her new teleporter. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are we up here again, rather than down in the Wards base? We all know that nobody's going to say a word about you being down there."
"Because it's nice up here." Lily stretched out in the chair. "You can relax and look at the stars, and just for a little while, nothing matters."
"Exactly." Miss Medic nodded. "Just chilling and relaxing. Soda?" She reached into the small cooler beside her chair.
"Yes, please." Lily caught the bottle that Miss Medic tossed to her, and opened it. "It's definitely a lot less frantic than the last time we were out and about at night."
"So, I never really heard all the details about that." Chariot, predictably, had something with wheels on his lap that he was fiddling with. "Was it really that bad?"
Vista shuddered. "It was worse. Glory Girl was doing her best, but her force field kept going down, so I had to wedge holes between the blasts for us to fit into until it came up again. And we didn't always fit."
"You did well enough." Atropos was idly spinning a throwing knife between her fingers. "Flechette, charge this for me?"
"Sure, okay." Lily leaned across and gave the blade a charge.
Aegis looked around. "Um, just out of curiosity, what's that for? Is someone about to attack?"
"Nah, just tidying up some loose ends." Atropos tapped a button on the teleporter and a portal opened in mid-air, about one foot square. She threw the knife and it vanished into the portal, which closed a moment later.
"Did you just kill someone with that?" Gallant didn't sound thrilled with the idea. While we were sitting here watching you, went unsaid but was heard by all anyway.
Atropos didn't bother denying it, which wasn't exactly a change for her. "They totally had it coming."
Clockblocker sat up. His helmet off, he was wearing a white domino mask. "So, you mean to say you had a teleporter the whole time, but you kept pretending it was you being sneaky in the shadows? Kudos, is all I gotta say."
"Oh, a lot of it was me totally being sneaky in the shadows." Atropos had gone back to fiddling with the teleporter. "I didn't get my first teleporter until just before Gesellschaft tried to sneak those drugs and guns in by boat."
"I remember that." Kid Win, like Chariot, was working on something. As far as Lily could tell, it was the shoulder-pad from his power armour. "You told them not to come, but they came anyway. And … boom."
"That's the occupational hazard when it comes to dealing with Atropos," agreed Tenebrae, who already had a soda in hand. "I learned early on that if I think I know what she's up to, she's at least three steps ahead." He reached across and clinked his bottle against Paladin's. "And just saying, Atropos, I truly appreciate what you've done for my family."
"Damn right." Figment, Tenebrae's little sister and the newest member of the Wards, appeared to be hovering in midair in a seated position, like a flyer showing off. Lily knew intellectually that Figment had the ability to make something effectively invisible and untouchable, but it was almost impossible to make herself believe what she'd been told. As far as her brain was concerned, there never had been a chair there. "I wouldn't have an awesome sister and bro, which would totally suck."
Paladin nodded. "Trust me, it'd be worse from my side." Leaning forward, he turned the radio up. "I think it's nearly time."
"It is." Atropos had another throwing knife in hand. "Flechette, if you don't mind?"
"What are you doing with those?" Even as she asked the question, Lily gave the blade the same level of treatment that she had the first one. "And don't just say 'tidying up loose ends'. Without context, that means nothing."
"Oh, you'll figure it out soon enough." Atropos generated another foot-square portal, and flicked the second knife through it. The portal closed just as quietly as the first one had.
"And now for a special announcement by New York PRT Director Emily Piggot, speaking live from her office. Director Piggot?" Everyone sat forward at that, even Figment, who had never served under her.
"Thank you. My name is Emily Piggot, and I've been a PRT Director for ten years now. I am announcing my retirement as of five minutes after midnight, but before that comes into effect, I would like to make one other statement. You see, just over four months ago, Atropos killed the Simurgh in Canberra, Australia, in a highly spectacular and widely publicised manner. At that time, she accepted a proposition to kill the other two Endbringers, although she had to sacrifice Eidolon's powers to make it work. In all the time since, the Endbringers have never been seen or even detected, so the PRT feels comfortable in stating that as of this moment, July the first of two thousand and eleven, Behemoth and Leviathan are officially gone." She paused for a moment. "I will make the point now that it was Atropos herself who settled on today's date to make the announcement. And on that note, I'm also done. Piggot, out."
Lily tilted her head. It may have been her imagination, but she was sure she could hear cheers rising across the city. The feeling was incredible, that she'd had a part in … wait a minute.
She turned to look at Atropos, who had two throwing knives spinning idly through her fingers. Flicker, flash. Flicker, flash. And then they vanished again, by some trick of legerdemain that she couldn't quite fathom. Two knives … just now … Connections started clicking together in her head.
"What?" asked Atropos innocently. "That was a pretty good speech, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, totally," agreed Clockblocker. "Director Piggot was a hardass, but she never backed down when it counted."
Atropos stood up. "Don't mind me. Just stretching my legs." She strolled off toward the edge of the roof.
Lily knew a cue when she saw one. Climbing to her feet, she ignored the questioning glances of the others and hurried after Atropos. "Those knives …" She didn't know how to ask the question.
Atropos tilted her head slightly, as though nodding, and Lily knew she was right. "I hate to make people into liars. The Endbringers were shut down but not dead, until now."
Lily glanced around. The other Wards were still sitting around the radio, listening to the rising tide of celebrations, so they hadn't heard any of this. Which was of course Atropos' intention.
"But you said …" she began, again trailing off.
"I never said they were 'dead'. I said their threat was Ended. And it was, until some rich idiot decided last month that he was going to dive the Mariana Trench and look for Leviathan's body." Atropos snapped her fingers. "Now, that's all he'll find."
"Right." Lily nodded. It all made sense, if she looked at it through the lens of 'if I were Atropos'. "Why didn't you do this before? I mean, I could've charged those knives for you at any time."
"My first teleporter opened two-way portals. The water pressure down there would've come out like a solid block of stone doing twice the speed of sound. And the magma down where Behemoth is wouldn't have been any friendlier." Atropos' tone was matter-of-fact, as though talking about the weather rather than brutal forces of nature that would absolutely kill anyone nearby.
"Ah." And that also made sense. Lily nodded in understanding. "Thanks for letting me know."
"You're welcome. I'll just say my goodbyes, then I've got places to be." Atropos headed back toward the gathering.
Lily dawdled on her way back, think about what was going to happen once people heard the news. The next few days would be busy, if only to keep people safe from the results of their own excesses of celebration, but they'd be worth it. Knowing for a fact that the Endbringers were dead was a bonus all of its own.
By the time she'd returned to the group, Atropos had shaken hands with Tenebrae and gotten hugs from Miss Medic and Figment. Lily wasn't quite into hugging, but she offered a fist-bump, which Atropos readily returned.
"Well, I'll see you around. Toodles." Atropos touched two fingers to her hat brim, and vanished.
"And that happened." Clockblocker shook his head. "Is it bad that I don't even see it as weird anymore?"
"Not in the slightest." Kid Win slapped him on the shoulder. "Trust me, buddy, we are living in the best of all possible worlds."
That was a pretty good description, Lily mused. It was a world where she could go and see Emily any time she wanted.
Life was good.
Friday Afternoon, November 18, 2011
Victoria Dallon
If there was one thing Vicky knew how to do, it was smiling for the camera. She'd been doing it since she got powers (and before), and she'd known all about the concept of 'public image' for almost as long. So this wasn't nearly as problematic as it might have been for some.
Hovering two hundred feet up, she fluffed her hair out and looked over at her camerawoman, who also happened to be her cousin. "How do I look, Crystal?"
Crystal gave her a thumb's up. "Amazing. Rolling in three … two … one … go." At the word 'one', she hit the button to record on the digital video camera she had glued to her eye.
"Hi!" Vicky flashed a grin and waved to the camera. "Most of you probably know me already as Glory Girl, but I turned eighteen three days ago, so that name's starting to get a little bit dated. Also, wow, 'Glory'? Quite apart from the dirty jokes—and yeah, I've heard them all—isn't that just a bit pretentious? So, I've decided to change things up and rebrand as … Beacon!"
As she spoke the name, she pulled a three-hundred-sixty-degree spin, twirling out from under the cloth she'd wrapped herself in. This revealed her new costume: more hard-wearing than skin-tight, but retaining the white-with-gold-accents from her older costume. Like the rest of the New Wave fliers, she'd decided to dispense with the skirt, going neck to toe instead. In the middle of her chest (some female capes went with the plunging neckline look, but she'd seen that go bad way too many times) there was a stylised image of an oil lantern, adding a golden glow to her costume there.
They gradually began to descend to the ground below, but there was more in the script. Crystal was an old hand at this, and knew her lines. "Tell me, Beacon, what are your plans now that you've rebranded?" As she spoke, she took hold of the camera with a small force field and moved it away so that they were both in picture.
"I'm glad you asked me that, Laserdream." Vicky shot the camera a gleaming smile. "You see, I've enjoyed my time in New Wave, but that isn't really my thing anymore. From what I understand, the team intends to stay in Brockton Bay for the foreseeable future, not that I blame you all, considering how nice the place is now."
"I'll say." Crystal gestured at the sparkling waters of the bay, swivelling the camera in that direction. "The Boat Graveyard's been cleaned up, and look! There goes the ferry!"
"This is exactly what I'm talking about," agreed Vicky. "But I want to be a superhero and fight crime. Thanks to everything that's happened over the past year, there's just not a lot of need for crimefighting here in Brockton Bay, so I'm going to be moving along. I'm thinking I might go to Chicago and join the Protectorate there."
The fact that this was where Dean had gone to once he aged out of the Wards into the Protectorate might have had something to do with this decision. While their breakup had been occasioned by her discovery that he'd gotten powers from Cauldron instead of the way she had, she'd decided in the end that it didn't matter to her anymore. If they had any possibility of getting back together, she wanted to give it the best chance she could.
"We'll definitely miss you." Crystal gestured downward. "But you're not the only one leaving New Wave, are you?"
"No, I am not." Vicky watched as the camera tilted to follow the gesture, and continued to descend. "Everyone who knows of the Rogues' Guild is probably aware that my sister Amy, better known as Panacea, has been spending a lot of time on the Boardwalk in the company of Parian. Well, I'll let her tell her own story today."
They landed on the sidewalk, in front of the small storefront. In one window, there were fluorescent flowers, mushroom people that waved to passers-by, and a happily panting dog with rainbow fur that gradually changed colours. The other window, by contrast, showcased dresses and other clothing, all of obviously high quality. The sign that stretched across the entire storefront read: BEAUTIFUL THINGS.
Vicky walked ahead and pushed open the shop door, grinning at the muted lion's roar sound that was produced instead of a normal jingle. She held the door for Crystal, then moved along once her cousin had it.
Within, the shop was comfortably lit. Amy and Sabah, having been fully aware this was happening, were waiting as Vicky came in with Crystal. Amy wore a flowing gown with animals and plants of all kinds embroidered upon it, while Sabah wore her Parian costume without the mask. Hand in hand, they smiled for the camera.
"Hi!" Amy said, waving happily. "I'm Amy, otherwise known as Feronia."
"And I'm Sabah, otherwise known as Parian." Sabah also waved. "Welcome to Beautiful Things."
"Well, this is different," observed Crystal, panning the camera from side to side. "Gorgeous pets and plants to order on one side, and high fashion on the other. And may I say, you make a lovely couple."
Amy blushed fetchingly at that. "I still can't believe we're together. I remember the first time we met, she made a doll for me. Then she gave me her number."
Sabah squeezed her hand. "I couldn't concentrate all afternoon, until she rang me that night. The only thing I remember about that conversation was her asking me to tell her about fashion."
"Well, you should've seen Amy showing that doll around." Vicky moved up and hugged them both, making sure to stand behind them so she didn't block the camera's view of them. "So, did you want to tell everybody about your plans for the store?"
"Totally," agreed Amy. "For one thing, we're thinking of going into wedding catering. I mean, you can see how amazing Sabah is at making clothing that makes you look good. For my side of things … well, talking flowers that direct guests to the bride's or groom's side aren't exactly out of the question. And that's just for starters."
"That brings up an interesting point." Crystal moved so the picture was framing them all. "Why Feronia? What's the context there?"
Amy grinned at the camera. "Because 'Panacea' is actually the name of the Greek goddess of healing, but I do so much more than healing. Whereas 'Feronia' is a Roman goddess of wildlife, fertility, health and abundance." She gestured at her side of the shop, and the camera obediently panned in that direction. "As you can see, I do some pretty wild things with life."
"That's for sure." Crystal moved the camera in the other direction, to take in some of the intricate stitchwork on Sabah's handiwork. "And Sabah, you're still going to be part of the Rogues' Guild?"
"Of course." Sabah smiled at the camera when it panned back to her. "We both are. Amy and I still help put on a show every Saturday. It's where we first met, and I intend to keep it going as long as possible."
"Awesome." Vicky smiled at the camera, then watched as it did one last pan around the whole shop. "So, anyone who's interested in seeing something new and fun, or wants to see a true master of needlework in her element, come on down to Beautiful Things, or catch the Rogues' Guild on the Boardwalk on Saturday afternoons. And I'm totally not saying that just because Amy's my sister. They really are that good."
Crystal was behind the camera this point, so she was able to turn it off without the classic 'reaching for the camera' scene that spoiled so many online clips. "And we're offline," she announced. "Good spot, people. I think that'll turn out nicely."
"Thanks." Sabah put her arm around Amy's waist and hugged her. "That'll give us some really good publicity."
"Not as much as when you unmasked." Amy snuggled into her embrace. "People were mobbing the Guild for weeks. They were just blown away."
"Yeah, well, you can only pull a reveal like that once," Crystal observed pragmatically. "Nowadays, it's 'Parian? Yeah, she's cute' and they leave it at that. Nobody even remembers why you wore a full-face mask for so long."
"Well, this is going on my channel, and it's gonna stay at the top for as long as I can keep it there." Vicky gave her sister and future sister-in-law another hug. "It's the least I can do for you."
"Thank you." Sabah gave her a grin. "Any time you want to come in and browse, or maybe order something special, be sure to ask for the friends and family discount."
Vicky chuckled. "As opposed to what?" She laughed out loud as Amy poked her tongue out at her. Leaving Crystal to chat with the couple, she pulled open the shop door—grinning at the roooaaaarrrrr—and set off on a stroll along the Boardwalk.
After all, nothing improved name recognition like being seen out and about.
Relevant Side Story
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Cauldron Base, Some Other Earth
Atropos
When I stepped through the portal, my first impression was someone spent far too much time in hospitals. The corridor was white, the floor was white, the walls were white, and the ceilings were white. Someone with powers had to have created it, especially given that I was pretty sure these corridors went on for hundreds of miles.
Overhead, an entire ceiling panel flickered, then returned to its steady white radiance. This said to me that the place would eventually break down, which suited me just fine. The sooner the better.
But I wasn't here to destroy an altar to a year-dead agenda. That could happen on its own. I was after people.
My boot-soles sounded only the whisper of footsteps on the smooth floor, just the way I liked it. For weapons I had my shears and my pistol; I was pretty sure anyone I might meet would be either utterly immune to anything mundane I could throw at it, or I'd be able to beat them easily. Ending was confident about the latter.
Then I heard the muttering, up ahead. It didn't sound like a recording of any sort—not that this looked like the kind of place that would have recorded messages—but I had to get closer to make out the words. So I got closer, careful with my footsteps so that no human ear would be able to make out my approach.
"… is my creation, not theirs. They want to take it away from me. All because of her. Well, I'll fix her. I'll make another Eidolon, another Alexandria. She's just another villain, another murderer, another monster in the dark. I'll—"
I'd heard enough. The voice was cracked with either disuse or overuse, but I suspected I knew who it was. Moving forward, I stepped around the corner. "Hi," I said. "So, I'm here about your extended auto warranty …"
Doctor Mother stared back at me.
Over the last year, it was obvious that her solitude had caused some switches to flip in her head, and not in a good way. Basic hygiene had gone by the wayside, as had the habit of changing clothes more than once a month, apparently. It seemed obsession over an impossible task had taken over. And from her ramblings, I knew exactly what that impossible task was.
"You!" she screeched. "You're her! You can't be here! Nobody can get here!"
"I can." It was self-evidently true. "You're talking about Doormaker and Clairvoyant, yeah? They got taken out of here, along with all the other victims of your little mad science fair. Depowered and living good lives now. Why didn't you go?" Maybe if I talked to her enough, reason would snap back into place.
"I hid!" She cackled in triumph. "I had food, and I had water, and I had my flesh garden! If I mix the right formula, I win and you lose!"
"The flesh garden is dead." It wasn't quite true, but it was close enough. With Ending's assistance, I knew how to push it the rest of the way. "How are you getting your victims?"
This was a serious question for me. Two hours ago, a fourteen-year-old boy had vanished from Brockton Bay. One hour ago, he'd been returned as a slavering, misshapen monster out for blood—my blood—and bearing a fresh Cauldron mark.
He'd had no idea how to use his powers, and I'd subdued him with relative ease. Then I fed him a power-erasure grape and turned him over to Amy and Riley to put back the way he'd been. After that, I picked up the gear I needed and set the coordinates for a place I'd been assured was long since abandoned.
"Had one subject!" She was gleeful now, riding the high of her cleverness. "Could pull and push people! Pull from your world, push back again!"
I sighed. One more broken victim of Cauldron to deal with. Once I put a stop to Doctor Mother's idiocy, Cauldron's legacy would be Ended, once and for all.
"Okay," I said as I moved toward her. "I'm going to take you to your 'subject', then you're both going—"
My threatscape flared as an attack came in from behind. I rolled out of the way, my long-coat flapping in the sudden breeze. Yup. Custodian, right on time.
Fighting Custodian would be different than any other conflict I'd taken part in. There were no vital organs to shoot or stab, no nerve points to hit just right. She could be Ended, but I lacked the tools. Still, that didn't mean I couldn't End her involvement.
Pushing up my sleeve, I typed commands into the teleporter as I ducked out of the way again. She was hard to evade, being able to fill an entire space the way a normal humanoid combatant couldn't, but I managed it for long enough. Then she had me spread-eagled against the wall, a constant gale blowing straight at me.
Doctor Mother came to stand in front of me, hands on her hips. "You'll do nothing. Don't you understand what you've done? You're in the hands of Cauldron now!"
"What Cauldron?" I asked, forcing my words out against the constant press of wind. "Alexandria is … doing her job, the way … she was supposed to. Legend … the same. Contessa … relaxing on a beach. There is no Cauldron … anymore. No need for you."
"Always will be a need!" Her eyes glittered with her convictions, and her hatred for me. "Cauldron is my life! We fight the monsters!"
"You are the monsters. Time to End this." I snapped my fingers.
The portal—one-way, so no takesie-backsies—formed right in front of me. Caught unawares, Custodian poured into it; an instant later, she was gone, to roam the uninhabited forests of some distant Earth until her life force gave out. I honestly didn't give a fuck.
Stepping forward as the portal cut out, I flexed my fingers and reached into my pocket. This next bit was going to be pure theatre, but that was the way Ending and I did business. Just because we had it all mapped out didn't mean we couldn't have fun with it.
"No!" She darted back and put a bench between us. "No! I'll stop you! I will!" A row of vials sat in a rack on the bench, each bearing a liquid of a different colour. She snatched the closest one, popped the cork, and raised it to her lips.
I brought my hand out of my pocket, holding a water pistol. Just as she opened her mouth to drink, the single squirt—bearing a solid dose of Riley's concoction—went in first. She was already committed, though, and swallowed the lot down, staring defiantly at me.
While she was still waiting for her powers to kick in (which they never would) I moved in smoothly and jabbed her under the breastbone in just the right place to semi-paralyse her diaphragm, just as I'd done with Madison, nearly fifteen months ago. She folded like a cheap coat.
I found her last 'subject' in a cage, ragged and hungry. It seemed she'd had to starve him to force his compliance. I put his power out of its misery with a grape, then dropped him through a portal to the front steps of the Brockton Bay General Hospital. It was a reasonable bet that someone there would have an idea what to do with him.
Doctor Mother went next, to the steps of the Parahuman Asylum. She wasn't a parahuman, but she definitely needed an asylum. Theoretically, I could've Ended her psychosis, but I really couldn't be bothered.
That done, I mentally cracked my knuckles and set to work destroying every single vial the last member of Cauldron had hoarded for herself. Then I headed for the chamber holding the flesh garden. It was time for Scion's partner to meet her final End, and of course I knew exactly how to achieve it.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Houston, Texas
Paladin
Banking around the Monarch building, Theo came to a hover and brought out his big gun as he took in the sight of the oversized mecha tromping down Main St. "Paladin to Control, I have it in sight. It's just trashed the Mecom Fountain, and it's heading for the Museum of Fine Arts. Clearance to bring it down?"
"Paladin, you have clearance to fire. Be aware, there's an independent cape, Flare, headed your way."
"Copy that. Firing now." He lined up the targeting dot on the mecha's chest and pressed the trigger. The plasma cannon warbled its rising hum of imminent destruction, then a massive blast of white-hot energy erupted from the barrel and impacted with the mecha. It lurched, put off its stride, but didn't fall. Smoke started rising from his aim-point, but he was more concerned with the way a turret on his shoulder had swivelled to line up on him.
Abruptly, a glowing figure swept in from the side, bombarding the mech with spiralling blasts of energy. One after the other, the turret guns exploded, leaving the mech defenceless. Theo's visor darkened just enough to make out the thumb's up gesture the glowing feminine cape gave him as she passed by. "All yours!"
"Thank you!" he shouted back, and re-targeted the mecha. This time, when he hit it in the chest, something blew in there, and great gouts of black smoke started pouring out. The mecha jittered in place, then suddenly sat down in the ruins of the fountain it had just demolished. "Paladin to Control, mecha has been stopped. It's not going anywhere."
"Copy mecha has been stopped. Good work, Paladin."
"Wasn't just me. Credit Flare with a solid assist." He dropped to a lower hover, keeping an eye on the stricken Tinkertech machine in case there was an escape attempt.
Flare dropped down beside him. "Nice shooting," she said conversationally. "You nailed that bad boy but good."
But even over the noise of his boot jets, Theo's suspicions hardened into certainty. It wasn't impossible for two capes to have the same blast signature, but he knew that voice.
Turning to face her, he retracted just enough of his faceplate for just her to see him, and nobody else. "Thanks … Kayden."
Without his polarising lenses, she was just a solid white blur to him, but he could've sworn there was a dropped jaw in all that. "… Theo?"
He nodded, and brought his faceplate back down. "Long time no see." Emotions roiled inside him. There was so much he wanted to say to her, to scream at her, but now was not the time. "Can we talk? Later?"
Her head dropped slightly. "Yes. Later."
Later
Empire Café
Kayden
As Theo sat down, Kayden noted how much he'd grown up and filled out in the last five years. She felt a twinge of guilt at not having been there for him during that time, but the threat hanging over her had never allowed her to have that indulgence. He did seem to have turned out alright, so she took some consolation from that.
"A little on the nose, don't you think?" Well, he certainly wasn't tiptoeing into the conversation. "Literally meeting in a place called the Empire."
"It was established long before Max's organisation." She tried hard not to sound defensive, but it crept through anyway. "Nothing political about it. Just good food."
"I'll take your word for it." Apparently meaning it, he began to peruse the menu.
She stood the silence for as long as she could, but she wasn't made of iron. "Theo … please. You asked me here to talk. Can we talk?"
He put down the menu again. "You left me. Ran out of town and … left me. To rattle around in that goddamned house and my memories of Max. Why?" She got the impression there was a lot more he wanted to say, but he was too polite to shout at her in public.
"I didn't have a choice." His snort of derision stung her, and she leaned forward. "I didn't. Atropos showed up in my apartment and told me that Max was dead and I had thirty minutes to be packed and heading out of town. And that if I stayed, I'd likely die." There'd been more to it than that, of course, but she was giving him the basic version. "If they already had his identity, the chances were that they were sending people to his house right then. I'm sorry, but I had to get Aster out of there. She was my priority. She's always been my priority."
He blinked, and some of the tension drained out of his shoulders. "… yeah, I guess she'd do that, wouldn't she?"
Something about the tone of his voice gave her the hint. "You've met her?"
"You could say that." He chuckled wryly. "We went on an adventure together, back when people were still stupid enough to attack her. She got us home safe and sound, but it was kinda fraught there for a bit."
"Ah." She clasped her hands over his and looked at him squarely. "Well, you've turned out to be a fine young man. And I see you're …" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "… a Tinker. Not what I'd expect, from your parentage."
"It's … a bit more complicated than that. I—" He cut himself off, raising one arm. "Hey, Aisha! Over here!"
Kayden frowned, looking around. She hadn't expected anyone else to be showing up. Who is this Aisha?
In the next moment, a young black woman darted between the tables and threw her arms around Theo. "Heyyyy, Theo!" she crowed. "Nicely done, big guy!" Planting a solid kiss on his cheek that strayed somewhat onto his mouth, she dragged a chair over to the table and plonked herself down before turning her attention to Kayden. "Who's your friend?"
"Aisha, this is Kayden, my stepmom from back when. Kayden, this is Aisha Laborn. She and her brother and cousin took me in." He could've stopped there, but there was a glint in his eye as he continued. "They're my family now."
Kayden stared, especially at the way Theo was holding Aisha's hand. Ah. "I, uh, I'm very pleased to meet you—"
"Waaiiiit a minute." Aisha pointed her free hand at Kayden. "I've heard that name. Theo told us all about you. Who you were married to. And what you did in your spare time."
"Theo. You didn't." Kayden stared at him, in the hope that this would turn out to be some elaborate prank.
"You left me behind!" Theo was being careful not to shout, but he was clearly having to work at it. "I thought I'd never see you again! They knew who Max was, and all the rest of it! So when they asked me … I told them!"
"Personally, I blame Riley." Aisha's expression suggested that she'd had nothing to do with it. "She just can't let something go."
"Uh huh." Theo rolled his eyes. "Right." He turned his attention back to Kayden. "Yes, you were nice to me. But you never stood up to him on my account, not once. Brian and Aisha and Riley took me in. They shared everything they had with me. Brian taught me how to fight. Aisha taught me how to braid hair. Riley taught me that everyone deserves a second chance. And that's why I'm sitting here, talking to you."
"And that's why he called me to come meet him here," Aisha added. "Basically, I'm a referee. Though I'm totes on his side."
Kayden took a deep breath, then let it out. God, Max would be fuming right now. Of course, he'd also be fuming that I'm living my best life with Aster.
What the hell do I care about how my long-dead asshole husband thinks?
"Okay, yes, I did all that." Her voice was low, but she kept her eyes on Aisha. Theo already knew all this. "I did a lot of things I regret now, to fit in, and it was easy to do it. To think of people as things. Of some people as less than others. I still struggle with it, sometimes."
"Struggling with it means it's still got a hold on you." Aisha's tone was dry, academic. "Or are you trying to say you're not really a Nazi anymore? Let me guess, you've got that 'one black friend' which means you aren't actually a racist?"
"No, I don't." Kayden grimaced. "I know some black people, but I wouldn't call them my friends. I guess … I've still got some of the old prejudices in me. Five years away from Max doesn't get rid of ten years with him. But I'm trying. I'm a hero here, now. A new identity, a new life. Does that count for anything?"
Aisha held up her hand, finger and thumb a fraction of an inch apart. "Little bit. But tell you what. I'm willing to be your one black friend if you're willing to keep working on it. Deal?"
Kayden frowned, realising that she was being thrown a lifeline in her relationship with Theo. "Why? What do you get out of it?"
"Because Theo still cares for you, duh." Reaching out, she slugged Theo on the shoulder. "And I care for the big lug. So Imma give you a chance to get back into his life, but on his terms." Raising her eyebrows, she extended her hand toward Kayden. "Okay?"
With the feeling that she was making a huge leap into the unknown, Kayden accepted her hand. "Okay. And thank you."
Aisha gave her a remarkably evil grin as they shook hands. "Oh, don't thank me yet."
Relevant Side Story
Decades Later …
Atropos
I drifted, between sleep and wakefulness. Memories washed through my mind, of times long past and days just gone by. Of the world gradually settling down and becoming a more gentle place, needing only a nudge or two from me here and there to make it work.
Other cities had followed the Brockton Bay example, to a greater or lesser degree, but we remained the shining star. With the new Cycle, shards working alongside humanity, the space program had begun anew. Parahumans couldn't venture too far from Earth before their powers failed, but humans riding in Dragon-designed ships could.
I'd married, raised a family, seen my children raise their own families. It had been a good life, and all due to an errant shard, dropped off as a prank to screw over Scion and his partner. Well, the other entity had succeeded beyond all expectations.
I opened my eyes, to see my family around my bed. My son Dan, named after his grandfather, now greying and bent himself. His son Brian, and finally my great-granddaughter Laura, just turned sixteen. Raising myself in my bed, I smiled at them. But there was one other who walked among them unseen: a tall skeleton, hooded, with a scythe.
I knew him well. For most of my life, I'd walked alongside Ending, sharing my views with him, as he shared his with me. Ours had been a profitable partnership, on both sides.
IT'S NEARLY TIME, he said, but in the glow of his eyes I saw a hint of regret.
I know, I know. You think I could spend this long with you, and not be aware when someone's due to go?
I raised my eyes to my family. "You've probably guessed why I wanted you here now." My voice was a little drier, a little raspier, than when I was a girl, but they all heard me. "I've reached the end of my path. But there's one more thing I've got to do. Laura?"
"Great grandma?" Laura came to my bedside. There were tear-streaks down her cheeks; I raised my hand and wiped one away with my thumb. She didn't look all that much like I had, back in the day, but my mind's eye insisted on telling me that anyway.
"I'm passing him on to you. Don't take any crap from him, okay? He might be a nigh-unbeatable power, but you're in the driver's seat." Taking her hand, I clasped it tightly. Goodbye. Help her keep us all safe.
YOU KNOW I WILL. For a moment I was back in the Shard Bar, clasping his bony hand in mine, then I was in my bed once more, and Ending had passed from me.
I saw the moment that Laura felt his presence for the first time, in the way that her eyes widened. "Whoa …"
It was amazing how unbearably light I felt at that moment, as though a decades-long burden, entirely unnoticed until now, had been lifted from my shoulders. "The costume is in my closet. It should fit you just fine …" My voice had faded to a whisper by the time I finished.
My sight was dimming now, and all I could feel was Laura's hand in mine. She squeezed, and I tried to squeeze back, but I had no strength left.
I felt my heartbeat slow and stop, and then Ending was gathering me in his arms.
LET'S GO.
Where to?
ETERNITY AWAITS.
And I went.
The END.
Part One Hundred Eight: Epilogues 3
[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
11:55 PM, Thursday June 30, 2011
Roof of the PRT ENE Building
Flechette
A warm breeze blew across the roof of the building where the current crop of Wards (and one other) sat in a circle on folding chairs, around a radio perched on a small footstool. Most of them wore civilian clothing, with domino masks to protect their identities from any importunate fliers. Lily was pretty sure that no hostile cape in the world would come near the PRT building on this night, when Atropos was part of the gathering.
Browbeat looked over at where Atropos was fiddling with her new teleporter. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are we up here again, rather than down in the Wards base? We all know that nobody's going to say a word about you being down there."
"Because it's nice up here." Lily stretched out in the chair. "You can relax and look at the stars, and just for a little while, nothing matters."
"Exactly." Miss Medic nodded. "Just chilling and relaxing. Soda?" She reached into the small cooler beside her chair.
"Yes, please." Lily caught the bottle that Miss Medic tossed to her, and opened it. "It's definitely a lot less frantic than the last time we were out and about at night."
"So, I never really heard all the details about that." Chariot, predictably, had something with wheels on his lap that he was fiddling with. "Was it really that bad?"
Vista shuddered. "It was worse. Glory Girl was doing her best, but her force field kept going down, so I had to wedge holes between the blasts for us to fit into until it came up again. And we didn't always fit."
"You did well enough." Atropos was idly spinning a throwing knife between her fingers. "Flechette, charge this for me?"
"Sure, okay." Lily leaned across and gave the blade a charge.
Aegis looked around. "Um, just out of curiosity, what's that for? Is someone about to attack?"
"Nah, just tidying up some loose ends." Atropos tapped a button on the teleporter and a portal opened in mid-air, about one foot square. She threw the knife and it vanished into the portal, which closed a moment later.
"Did you just kill someone with that?" Gallant didn't sound thrilled with the idea. While we were sitting here watching you, went unsaid but was heard by all anyway.
Atropos didn't bother denying it, which wasn't exactly a change for her. "They totally had it coming."
Clockblocker sat up. His helmet off, he was wearing a white domino mask. "So, you mean to say you had a teleporter the whole time, but you kept pretending it was you being sneaky in the shadows? Kudos, is all I gotta say."
"Oh, a lot of it was me totally being sneaky in the shadows." Atropos had gone back to fiddling with the teleporter. "I didn't get my first teleporter until just before Gesellschaft tried to sneak those drugs and guns in by boat."
"I remember that." Kid Win, like Chariot, was working on something. As far as Lily could tell, it was the shoulder-pad from his power armour. "You told them not to come, but they came anyway. And … boom."
"That's the occupational hazard when it comes to dealing with Atropos," agreed Tenebrae, who already had a soda in hand. "I learned early on that if I think I know what she's up to, she's at least three steps ahead." He reached across and clinked his bottle against Paladin's. "And just saying, Atropos, I truly appreciate what you've done for my family."
"Damn right." Figment, Tenebrae's little sister and the newest member of the Wards, appeared to be hovering in midair in a seated position, like a flyer showing off. Lily knew intellectually that Figment had the ability to make something effectively invisible and untouchable, but it was almost impossible to make herself believe what she'd been told. As far as her brain was concerned, there never had been a chair there. "I wouldn't have an awesome sister and bro, which would totally suck."
Paladin nodded. "Trust me, it'd be worse from my side." Leaning forward, he turned the radio up. "I think it's nearly time."
"It is." Atropos had another throwing knife in hand. "Flechette, if you don't mind?"
"What are you doing with those?" Even as she asked the question, Lily gave the blade the same level of treatment that she had the first one. "And don't just say 'tidying up loose ends'. Without context, that means nothing."
"Oh, you'll figure it out soon enough." Atropos generated another foot-square portal, and flicked the second knife through it. The portal closed just as quietly as the first one had.
"And now for a special announcement by New York PRT Director Emily Piggot, speaking live from her office. Director Piggot?" Everyone sat forward at that, even Figment, who had never served under her.
"Thank you. My name is Emily Piggot, and I've been a PRT Director for ten years now. I am announcing my retirement as of five minutes after midnight, but before that comes into effect, I would like to make one other statement. You see, just over four months ago, Atropos killed the Simurgh in Canberra, Australia, in a highly spectacular and widely publicised manner. At that time, she accepted a proposition to kill the other two Endbringers, although she had to sacrifice Eidolon's powers to make it work. In all the time since, the Endbringers have never been seen or even detected, so the PRT feels comfortable in stating that as of this moment, July the first of two thousand and eleven, Behemoth and Leviathan are officially gone." She paused for a moment. "I will make the point now that it was Atropos herself who settled on today's date to make the announcement. And on that note, I'm also done. Piggot, out."
Lily tilted her head. It may have been her imagination, but she was sure she could hear cheers rising across the city. The feeling was incredible, that she'd had a part in … wait a minute.
She turned to look at Atropos, who had two throwing knives spinning idly through her fingers. Flicker, flash. Flicker, flash. And then they vanished again, by some trick of legerdemain that she couldn't quite fathom. Two knives … just now … Connections started clicking together in her head.
"What?" asked Atropos innocently. "That was a pretty good speech, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, totally," agreed Clockblocker. "Director Piggot was a hardass, but she never backed down when it counted."
Atropos stood up. "Don't mind me. Just stretching my legs." She strolled off toward the edge of the roof.
Lily knew a cue when she saw one. Climbing to her feet, she ignored the questioning glances of the others and hurried after Atropos. "Those knives …" She didn't know how to ask the question.
Atropos tilted her head slightly, as though nodding, and Lily knew she was right. "I hate to make people into liars. The Endbringers were shut down but not dead, until now."
Lily glanced around. The other Wards were still sitting around the radio, listening to the rising tide of celebrations, so they hadn't heard any of this. Which was of course Atropos' intention.
"But you said …" she began, again trailing off.
"I never said they were 'dead'. I said their threat was Ended. And it was, until some rich idiot decided last month that he was going to dive the Mariana Trench and look for Leviathan's body." Atropos snapped her fingers. "Now, that's all he'll find."
"Right." Lily nodded. It all made sense, if she looked at it through the lens of 'if I were Atropos'. "Why didn't you do this before? I mean, I could've charged those knives for you at any time."
"My first teleporter opened two-way portals. The water pressure down there would've come out like a solid block of stone doing twice the speed of sound. And the magma down where Behemoth is wouldn't have been any friendlier." Atropos' tone was matter-of-fact, as though talking about the weather rather than brutal forces of nature that would absolutely kill anyone nearby.
"Ah." And that also made sense. Lily nodded in understanding. "Thanks for letting me know."
"You're welcome. I'll just say my goodbyes, then I've got places to be." Atropos headed back toward the gathering.
Lily dawdled on her way back, think about what was going to happen once people heard the news. The next few days would be busy, if only to keep people safe from the results of their own excesses of celebration, but they'd be worth it. Knowing for a fact that the Endbringers were dead was a bonus all of its own.
By the time she'd returned to the group, Atropos had shaken hands with Tenebrae and gotten hugs from Miss Medic and Figment. Lily wasn't quite into hugging, but she offered a fist-bump, which Atropos readily returned.
"Well, I'll see you around. Toodles." Atropos touched two fingers to her hat brim, and vanished.
"And that happened." Clockblocker shook his head. "Is it bad that I don't even see it as weird anymore?"
"Not in the slightest." Kid Win slapped him on the shoulder. "Trust me, buddy, we are living in the best of all possible worlds."
That was a pretty good description, Lily mused. It was a world where she could go and see Emily any time she wanted.
Life was good.
<><>
Friday Afternoon, November 18, 2011
Victoria Dallon
If there was one thing Vicky knew how to do, it was smiling for the camera. She'd been doing it since she got powers (and before), and she'd known all about the concept of 'public image' for almost as long. So this wasn't nearly as problematic as it might have been for some.
Hovering two hundred feet up, she fluffed her hair out and looked over at her camerawoman, who also happened to be her cousin. "How do I look, Crystal?"
Crystal gave her a thumb's up. "Amazing. Rolling in three … two … one … go." At the word 'one', she hit the button to record on the digital video camera she had glued to her eye.
"Hi!" Vicky flashed a grin and waved to the camera. "Most of you probably know me already as Glory Girl, but I turned eighteen three days ago, so that name's starting to get a little bit dated. Also, wow, 'Glory'? Quite apart from the dirty jokes—and yeah, I've heard them all—isn't that just a bit pretentious? So, I've decided to change things up and rebrand as … Beacon!"
As she spoke the name, she pulled a three-hundred-sixty-degree spin, twirling out from under the cloth she'd wrapped herself in. This revealed her new costume: more hard-wearing than skin-tight, but retaining the white-with-gold-accents from her older costume. Like the rest of the New Wave fliers, she'd decided to dispense with the skirt, going neck to toe instead. In the middle of her chest (some female capes went with the plunging neckline look, but she'd seen that go bad way too many times) there was a stylised image of an oil lantern, adding a golden glow to her costume there.
They gradually began to descend to the ground below, but there was more in the script. Crystal was an old hand at this, and knew her lines. "Tell me, Beacon, what are your plans now that you've rebranded?" As she spoke, she took hold of the camera with a small force field and moved it away so that they were both in picture.
"I'm glad you asked me that, Laserdream." Vicky shot the camera a gleaming smile. "You see, I've enjoyed my time in New Wave, but that isn't really my thing anymore. From what I understand, the team intends to stay in Brockton Bay for the foreseeable future, not that I blame you all, considering how nice the place is now."
"I'll say." Crystal gestured at the sparkling waters of the bay, swivelling the camera in that direction. "The Boat Graveyard's been cleaned up, and look! There goes the ferry!"
"This is exactly what I'm talking about," agreed Vicky. "But I want to be a superhero and fight crime. Thanks to everything that's happened over the past year, there's just not a lot of need for crimefighting here in Brockton Bay, so I'm going to be moving along. I'm thinking I might go to Chicago and join the Protectorate there."
The fact that this was where Dean had gone to once he aged out of the Wards into the Protectorate might have had something to do with this decision. While their breakup had been occasioned by her discovery that he'd gotten powers from Cauldron instead of the way she had, she'd decided in the end that it didn't matter to her anymore. If they had any possibility of getting back together, she wanted to give it the best chance she could.
"We'll definitely miss you." Crystal gestured downward. "But you're not the only one leaving New Wave, are you?"
"No, I am not." Vicky watched as the camera tilted to follow the gesture, and continued to descend. "Everyone who knows of the Rogues' Guild is probably aware that my sister Amy, better known as Panacea, has been spending a lot of time on the Boardwalk in the company of Parian. Well, I'll let her tell her own story today."
They landed on the sidewalk, in front of the small storefront. In one window, there were fluorescent flowers, mushroom people that waved to passers-by, and a happily panting dog with rainbow fur that gradually changed colours. The other window, by contrast, showcased dresses and other clothing, all of obviously high quality. The sign that stretched across the entire storefront read: BEAUTIFUL THINGS.
Vicky walked ahead and pushed open the shop door, grinning at the muted lion's roar sound that was produced instead of a normal jingle. She held the door for Crystal, then moved along once her cousin had it.
Within, the shop was comfortably lit. Amy and Sabah, having been fully aware this was happening, were waiting as Vicky came in with Crystal. Amy wore a flowing gown with animals and plants of all kinds embroidered upon it, while Sabah wore her Parian costume without the mask. Hand in hand, they smiled for the camera.
"Hi!" Amy said, waving happily. "I'm Amy, otherwise known as Feronia."
"And I'm Sabah, otherwise known as Parian." Sabah also waved. "Welcome to Beautiful Things."
"Well, this is different," observed Crystal, panning the camera from side to side. "Gorgeous pets and plants to order on one side, and high fashion on the other. And may I say, you make a lovely couple."
Amy blushed fetchingly at that. "I still can't believe we're together. I remember the first time we met, she made a doll for me. Then she gave me her number."
Sabah squeezed her hand. "I couldn't concentrate all afternoon, until she rang me that night. The only thing I remember about that conversation was her asking me to tell her about fashion."
"Well, you should've seen Amy showing that doll around." Vicky moved up and hugged them both, making sure to stand behind them so she didn't block the camera's view of them. "So, did you want to tell everybody about your plans for the store?"
"Totally," agreed Amy. "For one thing, we're thinking of going into wedding catering. I mean, you can see how amazing Sabah is at making clothing that makes you look good. For my side of things … well, talking flowers that direct guests to the bride's or groom's side aren't exactly out of the question. And that's just for starters."
"That brings up an interesting point." Crystal moved so the picture was framing them all. "Why Feronia? What's the context there?"
Amy grinned at the camera. "Because 'Panacea' is actually the name of the Greek goddess of healing, but I do so much more than healing. Whereas 'Feronia' is a Roman goddess of wildlife, fertility, health and abundance." She gestured at her side of the shop, and the camera obediently panned in that direction. "As you can see, I do some pretty wild things with life."
"That's for sure." Crystal moved the camera in the other direction, to take in some of the intricate stitchwork on Sabah's handiwork. "And Sabah, you're still going to be part of the Rogues' Guild?"
"Of course." Sabah smiled at the camera when it panned back to her. "We both are. Amy and I still help put on a show every Saturday. It's where we first met, and I intend to keep it going as long as possible."
"Awesome." Vicky smiled at the camera, then watched as it did one last pan around the whole shop. "So, anyone who's interested in seeing something new and fun, or wants to see a true master of needlework in her element, come on down to Beautiful Things, or catch the Rogues' Guild on the Boardwalk on Saturday afternoons. And I'm totally not saying that just because Amy's my sister. They really are that good."
Crystal was behind the camera this point, so she was able to turn it off without the classic 'reaching for the camera' scene that spoiled so many online clips. "And we're offline," she announced. "Good spot, people. I think that'll turn out nicely."
"Thanks." Sabah put her arm around Amy's waist and hugged her. "That'll give us some really good publicity."
"Not as much as when you unmasked." Amy snuggled into her embrace. "People were mobbing the Guild for weeks. They were just blown away."
"Yeah, well, you can only pull a reveal like that once," Crystal observed pragmatically. "Nowadays, it's 'Parian? Yeah, she's cute' and they leave it at that. Nobody even remembers why you wore a full-face mask for so long."
"Well, this is going on my channel, and it's gonna stay at the top for as long as I can keep it there." Vicky gave her sister and future sister-in-law another hug. "It's the least I can do for you."
"Thank you." Sabah gave her a grin. "Any time you want to come in and browse, or maybe order something special, be sure to ask for the friends and family discount."
Vicky chuckled. "As opposed to what?" She laughed out loud as Amy poked her tongue out at her. Leaving Crystal to chat with the couple, she pulled open the shop door—grinning at the roooaaaarrrrr—and set off on a stroll along the Boardwalk.
After all, nothing improved name recognition like being seen out and about.
<><>
Relevant Side Story
<><>
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Cauldron Base, Some Other Earth
Atropos
When I stepped through the portal, my first impression was someone spent far too much time in hospitals. The corridor was white, the floor was white, the walls were white, and the ceilings were white. Someone with powers had to have created it, especially given that I was pretty sure these corridors went on for hundreds of miles.
Overhead, an entire ceiling panel flickered, then returned to its steady white radiance. This said to me that the place would eventually break down, which suited me just fine. The sooner the better.
But I wasn't here to destroy an altar to a year-dead agenda. That could happen on its own. I was after people.
My boot-soles sounded only the whisper of footsteps on the smooth floor, just the way I liked it. For weapons I had my shears and my pistol; I was pretty sure anyone I might meet would be either utterly immune to anything mundane I could throw at it, or I'd be able to beat them easily. Ending was confident about the latter.
Then I heard the muttering, up ahead. It didn't sound like a recording of any sort—not that this looked like the kind of place that would have recorded messages—but I had to get closer to make out the words. So I got closer, careful with my footsteps so that no human ear would be able to make out my approach.
"… is my creation, not theirs. They want to take it away from me. All because of her. Well, I'll fix her. I'll make another Eidolon, another Alexandria. She's just another villain, another murderer, another monster in the dark. I'll—"
I'd heard enough. The voice was cracked with either disuse or overuse, but I suspected I knew who it was. Moving forward, I stepped around the corner. "Hi," I said. "So, I'm here about your extended auto warranty …"
Doctor Mother stared back at me.
Over the last year, it was obvious that her solitude had caused some switches to flip in her head, and not in a good way. Basic hygiene had gone by the wayside, as had the habit of changing clothes more than once a month, apparently. It seemed obsession over an impossible task had taken over. And from her ramblings, I knew exactly what that impossible task was.
"You!" she screeched. "You're her! You can't be here! Nobody can get here!"
"I can." It was self-evidently true. "You're talking about Doormaker and Clairvoyant, yeah? They got taken out of here, along with all the other victims of your little mad science fair. Depowered and living good lives now. Why didn't you go?" Maybe if I talked to her enough, reason would snap back into place.
"I hid!" She cackled in triumph. "I had food, and I had water, and I had my flesh garden! If I mix the right formula, I win and you lose!"
"The flesh garden is dead." It wasn't quite true, but it was close enough. With Ending's assistance, I knew how to push it the rest of the way. "How are you getting your victims?"
This was a serious question for me. Two hours ago, a fourteen-year-old boy had vanished from Brockton Bay. One hour ago, he'd been returned as a slavering, misshapen monster out for blood—my blood—and bearing a fresh Cauldron mark.
He'd had no idea how to use his powers, and I'd subdued him with relative ease. Then I fed him a power-erasure grape and turned him over to Amy and Riley to put back the way he'd been. After that, I picked up the gear I needed and set the coordinates for a place I'd been assured was long since abandoned.
"Had one subject!" She was gleeful now, riding the high of her cleverness. "Could pull and push people! Pull from your world, push back again!"
I sighed. One more broken victim of Cauldron to deal with. Once I put a stop to Doctor Mother's idiocy, Cauldron's legacy would be Ended, once and for all.
"Okay," I said as I moved toward her. "I'm going to take you to your 'subject', then you're both going—"
My threatscape flared as an attack came in from behind. I rolled out of the way, my long-coat flapping in the sudden breeze. Yup. Custodian, right on time.
Fighting Custodian would be different than any other conflict I'd taken part in. There were no vital organs to shoot or stab, no nerve points to hit just right. She could be Ended, but I lacked the tools. Still, that didn't mean I couldn't End her involvement.
Pushing up my sleeve, I typed commands into the teleporter as I ducked out of the way again. She was hard to evade, being able to fill an entire space the way a normal humanoid combatant couldn't, but I managed it for long enough. Then she had me spread-eagled against the wall, a constant gale blowing straight at me.
Doctor Mother came to stand in front of me, hands on her hips. "You'll do nothing. Don't you understand what you've done? You're in the hands of Cauldron now!"
"What Cauldron?" I asked, forcing my words out against the constant press of wind. "Alexandria is … doing her job, the way … she was supposed to. Legend … the same. Contessa … relaxing on a beach. There is no Cauldron … anymore. No need for you."
"Always will be a need!" Her eyes glittered with her convictions, and her hatred for me. "Cauldron is my life! We fight the monsters!"
"You are the monsters. Time to End this." I snapped my fingers.
The portal—one-way, so no takesie-backsies—formed right in front of me. Caught unawares, Custodian poured into it; an instant later, she was gone, to roam the uninhabited forests of some distant Earth until her life force gave out. I honestly didn't give a fuck.
Stepping forward as the portal cut out, I flexed my fingers and reached into my pocket. This next bit was going to be pure theatre, but that was the way Ending and I did business. Just because we had it all mapped out didn't mean we couldn't have fun with it.
"No!" She darted back and put a bench between us. "No! I'll stop you! I will!" A row of vials sat in a rack on the bench, each bearing a liquid of a different colour. She snatched the closest one, popped the cork, and raised it to her lips.
I brought my hand out of my pocket, holding a water pistol. Just as she opened her mouth to drink, the single squirt—bearing a solid dose of Riley's concoction—went in first. She was already committed, though, and swallowed the lot down, staring defiantly at me.
While she was still waiting for her powers to kick in (which they never would) I moved in smoothly and jabbed her under the breastbone in just the right place to semi-paralyse her diaphragm, just as I'd done with Madison, nearly fifteen months ago. She folded like a cheap coat.
I found her last 'subject' in a cage, ragged and hungry. It seemed she'd had to starve him to force his compliance. I put his power out of its misery with a grape, then dropped him through a portal to the front steps of the Brockton Bay General Hospital. It was a reasonable bet that someone there would have an idea what to do with him.
Doctor Mother went next, to the steps of the Parahuman Asylum. She wasn't a parahuman, but she definitely needed an asylum. Theoretically, I could've Ended her psychosis, but I really couldn't be bothered.
That done, I mentally cracked my knuckles and set to work destroying every single vial the last member of Cauldron had hoarded for herself. Then I headed for the chamber holding the flesh garden. It was time for Scion's partner to meet her final End, and of course I knew exactly how to achieve it.
<><>
Friday, June 17, 2016
Houston, Texas
Paladin
Banking around the Monarch building, Theo came to a hover and brought out his big gun as he took in the sight of the oversized mecha tromping down Main St. "Paladin to Control, I have it in sight. It's just trashed the Mecom Fountain, and it's heading for the Museum of Fine Arts. Clearance to bring it down?"
"Paladin, you have clearance to fire. Be aware, there's an independent cape, Flare, headed your way."
"Copy that. Firing now." He lined up the targeting dot on the mecha's chest and pressed the trigger. The plasma cannon warbled its rising hum of imminent destruction, then a massive blast of white-hot energy erupted from the barrel and impacted with the mecha. It lurched, put off its stride, but didn't fall. Smoke started rising from his aim-point, but he was more concerned with the way a turret on his shoulder had swivelled to line up on him.
Abruptly, a glowing figure swept in from the side, bombarding the mech with spiralling blasts of energy. One after the other, the turret guns exploded, leaving the mech defenceless. Theo's visor darkened just enough to make out the thumb's up gesture the glowing feminine cape gave him as she passed by. "All yours!"
"Thank you!" he shouted back, and re-targeted the mecha. This time, when he hit it in the chest, something blew in there, and great gouts of black smoke started pouring out. The mecha jittered in place, then suddenly sat down in the ruins of the fountain it had just demolished. "Paladin to Control, mecha has been stopped. It's not going anywhere."
"Copy mecha has been stopped. Good work, Paladin."
"Wasn't just me. Credit Flare with a solid assist." He dropped to a lower hover, keeping an eye on the stricken Tinkertech machine in case there was an escape attempt.
Flare dropped down beside him. "Nice shooting," she said conversationally. "You nailed that bad boy but good."
But even over the noise of his boot jets, Theo's suspicions hardened into certainty. It wasn't impossible for two capes to have the same blast signature, but he knew that voice.
Turning to face her, he retracted just enough of his faceplate for just her to see him, and nobody else. "Thanks … Kayden."
Without his polarising lenses, she was just a solid white blur to him, but he could've sworn there was a dropped jaw in all that. "… Theo?"
He nodded, and brought his faceplate back down. "Long time no see." Emotions roiled inside him. There was so much he wanted to say to her, to scream at her, but now was not the time. "Can we talk? Later?"
Her head dropped slightly. "Yes. Later."
<><>
Later
Empire Café
Kayden
As Theo sat down, Kayden noted how much he'd grown up and filled out in the last five years. She felt a twinge of guilt at not having been there for him during that time, but the threat hanging over her had never allowed her to have that indulgence. He did seem to have turned out alright, so she took some consolation from that.
"A little on the nose, don't you think?" Well, he certainly wasn't tiptoeing into the conversation. "Literally meeting in a place called the Empire."
"It was established long before Max's organisation." She tried hard not to sound defensive, but it crept through anyway. "Nothing political about it. Just good food."
"I'll take your word for it." Apparently meaning it, he began to peruse the menu.
She stood the silence for as long as she could, but she wasn't made of iron. "Theo … please. You asked me here to talk. Can we talk?"
He put down the menu again. "You left me. Ran out of town and … left me. To rattle around in that goddamned house and my memories of Max. Why?" She got the impression there was a lot more he wanted to say, but he was too polite to shout at her in public.
"I didn't have a choice." His snort of derision stung her, and she leaned forward. "I didn't. Atropos showed up in my apartment and told me that Max was dead and I had thirty minutes to be packed and heading out of town. And that if I stayed, I'd likely die." There'd been more to it than that, of course, but she was giving him the basic version. "If they already had his identity, the chances were that they were sending people to his house right then. I'm sorry, but I had to get Aster out of there. She was my priority. She's always been my priority."
He blinked, and some of the tension drained out of his shoulders. "… yeah, I guess she'd do that, wouldn't she?"
Something about the tone of his voice gave her the hint. "You've met her?"
"You could say that." He chuckled wryly. "We went on an adventure together, back when people were still stupid enough to attack her. She got us home safe and sound, but it was kinda fraught there for a bit."
"Ah." She clasped her hands over his and looked at him squarely. "Well, you've turned out to be a fine young man. And I see you're …" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "… a Tinker. Not what I'd expect, from your parentage."
"It's … a bit more complicated than that. I—" He cut himself off, raising one arm. "Hey, Aisha! Over here!"
Kayden frowned, looking around. She hadn't expected anyone else to be showing up. Who is this Aisha?
In the next moment, a young black woman darted between the tables and threw her arms around Theo. "Heyyyy, Theo!" she crowed. "Nicely done, big guy!" Planting a solid kiss on his cheek that strayed somewhat onto his mouth, she dragged a chair over to the table and plonked herself down before turning her attention to Kayden. "Who's your friend?"
"Aisha, this is Kayden, my stepmom from back when. Kayden, this is Aisha Laborn. She and her brother and cousin took me in." He could've stopped there, but there was a glint in his eye as he continued. "They're my family now."
Kayden stared, especially at the way Theo was holding Aisha's hand. Ah. "I, uh, I'm very pleased to meet you—"
"Waaiiiit a minute." Aisha pointed her free hand at Kayden. "I've heard that name. Theo told us all about you. Who you were married to. And what you did in your spare time."
"Theo. You didn't." Kayden stared at him, in the hope that this would turn out to be some elaborate prank.
"You left me behind!" Theo was being careful not to shout, but he was clearly having to work at it. "I thought I'd never see you again! They knew who Max was, and all the rest of it! So when they asked me … I told them!"
"Personally, I blame Riley." Aisha's expression suggested that she'd had nothing to do with it. "She just can't let something go."
"Uh huh." Theo rolled his eyes. "Right." He turned his attention back to Kayden. "Yes, you were nice to me. But you never stood up to him on my account, not once. Brian and Aisha and Riley took me in. They shared everything they had with me. Brian taught me how to fight. Aisha taught me how to braid hair. Riley taught me that everyone deserves a second chance. And that's why I'm sitting here, talking to you."
"And that's why he called me to come meet him here," Aisha added. "Basically, I'm a referee. Though I'm totes on his side."
Kayden took a deep breath, then let it out. God, Max would be fuming right now. Of course, he'd also be fuming that I'm living my best life with Aster.
What the hell do I care about how my long-dead asshole husband thinks?
"Okay, yes, I did all that." Her voice was low, but she kept her eyes on Aisha. Theo already knew all this. "I did a lot of things I regret now, to fit in, and it was easy to do it. To think of people as things. Of some people as less than others. I still struggle with it, sometimes."
"Struggling with it means it's still got a hold on you." Aisha's tone was dry, academic. "Or are you trying to say you're not really a Nazi anymore? Let me guess, you've got that 'one black friend' which means you aren't actually a racist?"
"No, I don't." Kayden grimaced. "I know some black people, but I wouldn't call them my friends. I guess … I've still got some of the old prejudices in me. Five years away from Max doesn't get rid of ten years with him. But I'm trying. I'm a hero here, now. A new identity, a new life. Does that count for anything?"
Aisha held up her hand, finger and thumb a fraction of an inch apart. "Little bit. But tell you what. I'm willing to be your one black friend if you're willing to keep working on it. Deal?"
Kayden frowned, realising that she was being thrown a lifeline in her relationship with Theo. "Why? What do you get out of it?"
"Because Theo still cares for you, duh." Reaching out, she slugged Theo on the shoulder. "And I care for the big lug. So Imma give you a chance to get back into his life, but on his terms." Raising her eyebrows, she extended her hand toward Kayden. "Okay?"
With the feeling that she was making a huge leap into the unknown, Kayden accepted her hand. "Okay. And thank you."
Aisha gave her a remarkably evil grin as they shook hands. "Oh, don't thank me yet."
<><>
Relevant Side Story
<><>
Decades Later …
Atropos
I drifted, between sleep and wakefulness. Memories washed through my mind, of times long past and days just gone by. Of the world gradually settling down and becoming a more gentle place, needing only a nudge or two from me here and there to make it work.
Other cities had followed the Brockton Bay example, to a greater or lesser degree, but we remained the shining star. With the new Cycle, shards working alongside humanity, the space program had begun anew. Parahumans couldn't venture too far from Earth before their powers failed, but humans riding in Dragon-designed ships could.
I'd married, raised a family, seen my children raise their own families. It had been a good life, and all due to an errant shard, dropped off as a prank to screw over Scion and his partner. Well, the other entity had succeeded beyond all expectations.
I opened my eyes, to see my family around my bed. My son Dan, named after his grandfather, now greying and bent himself. His son Brian, and finally my great-granddaughter Laura, just turned sixteen. Raising myself in my bed, I smiled at them. But there was one other who walked among them unseen: a tall skeleton, hooded, with a scythe.
I knew him well. For most of my life, I'd walked alongside Ending, sharing my views with him, as he shared his with me. Ours had been a profitable partnership, on both sides.
IT'S NEARLY TIME, he said, but in the glow of his eyes I saw a hint of regret.
I know, I know. You think I could spend this long with you, and not be aware when someone's due to go?
I raised my eyes to my family. "You've probably guessed why I wanted you here now." My voice was a little drier, a little raspier, than when I was a girl, but they all heard me. "I've reached the end of my path. But there's one more thing I've got to do. Laura?"
"Great grandma?" Laura came to my bedside. There were tear-streaks down her cheeks; I raised my hand and wiped one away with my thumb. She didn't look all that much like I had, back in the day, but my mind's eye insisted on telling me that anyway.
"I'm passing him on to you. Don't take any crap from him, okay? He might be a nigh-unbeatable power, but you're in the driver's seat." Taking her hand, I clasped it tightly. Goodbye. Help her keep us all safe.
YOU KNOW I WILL. For a moment I was back in the Shard Bar, clasping his bony hand in mine, then I was in my bed once more, and Ending had passed from me.
I saw the moment that Laura felt his presence for the first time, in the way that her eyes widened. "Whoa …"
It was amazing how unbearably light I felt at that moment, as though a decades-long burden, entirely unnoticed until now, had been lifted from my shoulders. "The costume is in my closet. It should fit you just fine …" My voice had faded to a whisper by the time I finished.
My sight was dimming now, and all I could feel was Laura's hand in mine. She squeezed, and I tried to squeeze back, but I had no strength left.
I felt my heartbeat slow and stop, and then Ending was gathering me in his arms.
LET'S GO.
Where to?
ETERNITY AWAITS.
And I went.
The END.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Such a wonderful ending to the story!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Talk about an ending.
SanguisAnima
Σ Series Z10/0 Group A 4A-GELU Mk1
- Location
- nowhere important
That's definitely one good way to END a story.
Glad I was here for it.
Glad I was here for it.
- Location
- Australia
It's actually 12 hours old for me, but I'm glad you got to read the Ending in 2024.
DALuc1f3r
(Verified Boojum)
- Location
- Scotland
its january 1st 2025 2:13 am for me, nice way to start the new year off, with the end of a great story
- Pronouns
- They/Any
Yes, those of us not living in the future do have that - or, y'know, we're still waiting for the new year to drop. These staggered release schedules are just so annoying for international markets!
It was an excellent ride the whole way 'through, Ack, and often a very, very cathartic read. Thanks for this, and for all you do!
- Location
- NY, NY
I'm also on the "ENDing in 2024" side of the world - thanks, this was great fun.
And the accelerated conclusion was much appreciated, hope it didn't deplete your backlog too badly!
And the accelerated conclusion was much appreciated, hope it didn't deplete your backlog too badly!
- Location
- Australia
Nope. I wrote that all up day by day.
It came together in my head, in the last few days.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
Well, there's a legacy for you. Phenomenal cosmic power, at the cost of becoming the monster to hunt other monsters in the dark. Good luck, Laura; nuclear launch codes are nothing compared to what you were just given.
Do I recall something about Abaddon returning in a few centuries to collect the shard? Could be an interesting debrief.
- Location
- Australia
Yup.
It absolutely would be.
He might even let Ending stay on, given how effective he's been.
- Location
- California
I almost imagine Ending being 'protective' of Taylor and her line.
When she got pregnant the shard laid out a 200 step plan to end any stress she'd have over the next 9 months.
Plans set up to make sure she was able to end obstacles to her being there for each family milestone.
Why? Because she was his partner.
When she got pregnant the shard laid out a 200 step plan to end any stress she'd have over the next 9 months.
Plans set up to make sure she was able to end obstacles to her being there for each family milestone.
Why? Because she was his partner.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
Effective, sure, but maybe underutilized by then? Queen Administrator should be up to the task of maintaining things. Ending could tackle a new world.
I think Warhammer 40K would be a fitting test of his skills.
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
There's only two I'd accept. The first is that Muppets remake. I'd throw money at the screen to see it.
The second was the 'home movie' remake they did during Covid. That was GENIUS to a degree that is mindblowing.
Anything less, just isn't worth the effort to make.
Apropos of nothing, @Ack: do you mind having your characters borrowed for a multicrossover fic (I'm going to have to ask a few others here, I guess)? Maybe I can try writing again? I dunno? It really has been an inhumanly long 2016 for me; I really would like it to end. Who knows, maybe by the time I wrap up my story, it really would be 2025. Maybe it would be a better time for everyone, though I doubt it. But maybe? Maybe? Maybe?
SanguisAnima
Σ Series Z10/0 Group A 4A-GELU Mk1
- Location
- nowhere important
Yknow, Ack, I just thought of something.
How well would Ending and Taylor take to the idea of Atropos doing a highlight reel with the BGM set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way"?
How well would Ending and Taylor take to the idea of Atropos doing a highlight reel with the BGM set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way"?