Flames (Worm AU)

[Fencer]

The Empire was getting clever. They'd started to implement some… questionably reliable security measures. Honestly it seemed like they were just throwing everything at the wall and waiting to see what might slow me down. If I was still doing the sneaky ninja routine that might have actually given me a little pause. Unfortunately for them, I was done being sneaky. The fifth safe house I'd hit in the two days since getting off my pain meds was a collapsing, half on fire, ruin. And the mooks the Empire used to defend it were piled on the sidewalk with a couple broken limbs each.

Cash in a sack, machine guns half disintegrated, and a bunch of drugs I didn't feel comfortable reselling fully burned to ash. With one last nod I went airborne and invisible. I'd kept my word and left civilian identities out of this, but I sure as hell wasn't letting them off the hook. I had nothing to defend and they had everything to lose. Plus given Coil still wanted them gone I was going to push them as hard as I could until they were dead or destroyed. At the rate I was going it should only take a couple weeks until they did something extra specially stupid that I could exploit.

{}{}{}{}

Rain and I had moved all the contraband from his house and the two of us had moved into a warehouse Coil procured instead. Apparently, child protective services were a bit less susceptible to bribes than other government agencies and whatever Coil had been doing to keep them off of Yammamoto's back had stopped working. So now the two of us were runaways living out of a barely livable mess. It honestly kind of sucked but neither one of us was willing to put money into any kind of business that could be traced back to us when the Empire still had so many normals and capes.

Idly I rolled a joint between my fingers while Rain counted out stacks of stolen money.

"You've been playing with that thing for a couple days now." Rain noted without actually looking up from what he was doing. "You planning to actually smoke it or are you trying to decide how much to charge for it?"

"Thinking about both. Feels wrong to sell something I wouldn't use myself. And honestly this is about the only drug I could see myself using. Probably sell alcohol to teenagers too, but anything else I look into… addictive, highly addictive, causes brain damage, causes depression, causes yada, yada, yada." I let myself fall back fully onto the couch. "I mean yeah, I'm on board for the whole villain deal, and getting people something to take the edge off is one thing. But there's numbing the pain, and then there's full blown escapism. Given how bad the latter can go…" I shrugged and rolled the joint between my fingers again.

"You know for someone who's perfectly willing to kill the competition your kind of a softy."

"Fuck off." I muttered.

I wanted to keep my reputation and territory clean. Was that so wrong? Sure, I wouldn't be pulling in as much cash as the Merchants, but there were plenty of other ways to make cash. Strip clubs, hookers, loan sharking, protection rackets. More cleanly, I could invest in local business like the Yakuza used to do before Japan went to shit. Then I could just let the cash come to me. I was really liking that plan. It wouldn't be fast cash, but it would be stable cash. Better yet if I funded certain types of businesses, I could send my little minions there for job training which would prove useful after the collapse. Farmers, butchers, brewers, carpenters… Oh yeah. Investing had a lot of long term benefits I could use.

Letting possible profit slip away annoyed me, but if I negotiated with the other groups maybe I could keep exclusive rights to the low end stuff and let whoever had the stomach for it deal the harder drugs. Probably Trickster and Regent.

"I'm just saying, it's been a few days now. Smoke it, sell it or put it away." Rain shrugged as he finished bundling another set of bills and marked down the amount in his ledger.

With a glare I stuck the joint in my mouth and lit the tip of my pointer finger with purple fire. A few puffs later and I found myself coughing.

"Fucking! Ugh! Smaller puffs!"

Rain chuckled at my misfortune and I settled for glaring at him. I worked a touch of Indigo fire into the smoke and blew a smoke ring ten feet to burst against his chest. Smug bastard only laughed harder.

Five minutes later the last of the loot was counted and locked in the vault. I'd also stopped half way through the joint I'd been smoking. It just… I didn't want to relax. I wanted to be planning and plotting or just doing something! Even if it was nice to feel a bit mellow for once it just… Fuck, normally I was better with words than this, but it just didn't feel like something I really wanted to keep doing. I didn't hate it. I just didn't really want it. Maybe wine would be more my speed? Mom had liked a glass of wine after a stressful day.

I really needed something else to break up the monotony. Sure, I was waging a gang war almost single handed, but that was easy and repetitive. I needed something else to keep me occupied and I was fresh out of books on wilderness survival. Maybe I could get my hands on military manuals for setting up a base or something? Even if those weren't a perfect match for what I had planned they would probably be a good place to start.

I was just contemplating getting something to eat when the sirens went off.

Rain sat bolt upright and I slumped back against the couch closing my eyes as I counted the sequence of the sirens. When it hit a four count and kept going, I started to curse.

An Endbringer was coming here. Dad was out of the city already Rain had no one tying him to the city any longer either. We could empty the safe of cash and just run. Well, fly. It would be the safest option. But long term? Not showing up to this fight would hurt my reputation, a lot. This was my home, not standing up to fight an Endbringer here… That said something about a cape. And if the Protectorate really did go easy on us so that we were here to throw against the Endbringers? Would failing to show up cost me that dubious safety net?

Alright so I needed to fight, but if I was going to do this... well, there was no reason to be an idiot about it. I pulled out my phone and hit the speed dial.

"Lisa, which one is it, and where's the meeting?"

"It's Leviathan, and the meeting point is the PRT headquarters."

"Got it." I hung up and turned to Rain.

"Come on. There's a shelter a few blocks from here."

"We're not going to fight?" Rain fell in step beside me as we moved toward the door.

"I'm not sending a hydrokinetic to fight Leviathan. You might as well be throwing spitballs for all the good it would do. I'm going to fight with projections, and I can do that just as well from one of the bunkers." I grabbed the bug out bags and slung one at Rain while the other went over my shoulder. "Come on, we want to be in there well before the shelters start to fill up."

I slipped a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses out of my front pocket and over my eyes. If anyone got really close, they might notice the glow of my projected prosthetics, but it should be enough. Before opening the door, I poured almost my full reserves into a single projection. A copy of myself in costume with the hood down and eyes glowing indigo formed behind me and flew out of the skylight. That was the best I could do, and being there to die in person wouldn't help any either way. It would just have to be enough.

{}{}{}{}

People were talking. They were talking around my real body in hushed whispers as we all huddled in the stark light of fluorescent bulbs, and they were talking around my projection at the PRT headquarters. Between being squeezed in, all the noise, and the effects of that stupid fucking joint, I was starting to freak out. Just a bit.

"Yamamoto," I hissed.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to close my eyes, ignore the world, and try to focus on what I was doing before we left." I caught him nodding out of the corner of my eye. "If someone tries anything while my attention is elsewhere, feel free to stab them."

"You got it boss."

"Good."

"I'm sorry I was a little distracted by something. Could you repeat that?"

Vista rolled her eyes and held out the wristband again, before repeating the instructions. I took it with a nod but held up a hand to stop here as she went to leave.

"I'm happy to have a way of staying informed during the fight, but I'm only here as a projection. Will that cause problems for however this thing works?"

"I, I don't know. You'd have to ask Dragon or maybe Armsmaster? Even if it can't read you properly it should work fine otherwise?"

"Fair enough. Thank you."

The girl nodded more firmly and headed off.

"Well now. Not even showing up in person for an Endbringer attack. How… disappointing." A voice called out loudly enough to draw attention. Turning I was unsurprised to find Kaiser leading what little remained of his Empire.

"Yes well, I figured it was in my best interest not to give anyone the chance to stab me in the back. After all, some people have shown they can't follow the rules."

I could just make out the man's eyes narrowing into a glare behind his helmet. And I could easily hear the hushed whispers spreading around us. Funny thing was, while I hadn't said it, I was at least as concerned about the Protectorate trying something stupid. Them coming to my house hadn't exactly been acceptable either.

"You try my patience, girl."

"I've also tried your new security measures. They're shit, in case you hadn't heard yet."

There were a few quiet laughs from the people around us.

Kaiser looked about ready to start taking more shots but unlike… wow, literally everyone else I've gotten into verbal sparring matches with, he actually seemed to know when to stop digging. He broke the rules, I spanked him for it. Here and now, when trust meant literally everything, the longer he talked the more I could point that out, and the worse things would turn out for him. It wouldn't even be a challenge. Maybe he'd been hoping to catch me on a bad day, but I could have spun this even on my worst day.

"I was hoping that we could negotiate an end to hostilities." He tried for a more conciliatory tone of voice. "There's far too much bad blood now on both sides to even entertain another invitation to join the Empire. But I see no reason we could not be... neighbors."

I actually blinked at that before chuckling.

"Did you just ask me to stop fighting a gang war, which I'm winning near single handed, so we can be neighbors?" I chuckled some more. "Oh, Kaiser, had this offer come earlier I might have split the city with you and been happy keeping a decent corner to myself." That would have been before I knew I was working for Coil and learning what he had planned, but it was true. "But now? No, I don't think so. There's only enough room in this city for one of us, and I intend to be the last woman standing."

His metal gauntlet creaked.

"You've been lucky so far, Morgana. Foot soldiers are one thing, but capes are quite another. You are rather badly outnumbered."

"Hmmm, maybe, but I don't think so. I'm not the kind of problem you can simply beat into the ground by force. And really that's the only tactic your Empire knows."

"You'll regret this." He seethed.

"I doubt it." I smiled back and let my eyes glow all the brighter.

"Is there a problem here?"

Taking in the new face at a glance I immediately decided to ignore Kaiser in favor of giving the newcomer my full attention. The slight would hopefully sting Kaisers pride more than anything else I could say.

"Legend! Wonderful to meet you! Big fan. So sorry you're visiting our city for something like this."

The man raised an eyebrow and tilted his head towards Kaiser.

"Hmm? Oh them. No, no issues here. Just the dying remnants of an empire trying to deny the inevitable."

Kaiser snarled.

"You'll regret those words once the truce ends, Morgana! No one crosses the Empire." His piece said Kaiser turned and marched away.

Grinning I leaned in towards Legend and whispered. "I thought he'd never leave." Legend for his part looked baffled.

"Why are you so relaxed, this is an Endbringer attack? But you're cracking jokes and poking other villains."

"I'm just a projection." I took a moment to set up my armband. "Having my real body here wouldn't make me any more effective and it would just put me at extra risk." I shrugged. "Oh, I'm afraid alright, but I'm doing everything I can. Either it will be enough, or it won't. If it isn't…" I shook my head. "But if the city and I make it through this in mostly one piece? I can't show weakness. Not when most of those in attendance are going to be my enemies again tomorrow." I grinned and let it grow past human limits as my teeth sharpened to points.

Legend just shook his head.

"I heard about what happened with your father. You made quite the splash with that power play of yours. Threatening to out an entire gang of Villains… That's very worrying behavior."

My smile vanished, replaced with a glare.

"Legend?"

"Yes?"

"Bite my underage ass." I deadpanned as I flipped him the bird, which separated from my hand and morphed into an actual bird. A pretty red eyed raven that cawed in his face before landing on my shoulder where I could pet it. Legend opened his mouth to say something, but I talked over him.

"They stomped all over the rules to try and recruit me. They got exactly what they deserved for their trouble. If the rest of the bay is smart there won't be a repeat."

The raven dipped into my hood and vanished, its flames merging back in with the rest of my projection. I was now thoroughly done with this conversation so I turned and slipped away into the watching crowd.

I probably shouldn't have been that antagonistic towards the head of the Protectorate. Was that the pot or the upcoming fight getting to me? Both? I needed to calm down and focus. If I wanted to do any good at all here, I needed to be at my best.

I nodded to the Travelers and the Undersiders when I saw them, but I kept my distance. No reason to give away the fact that we were all on speaking terms. That was a surprise best saved for when we nabbed the city for ourselves.

I think I'd ask for a bit of the city near the boardwalk. But not the boardwalk itself. Something close enough that it usually stayed calm, but far enough away that a strip club or bar wouldn't ruin the boardwalks aesthetic and get me unwanted attention. Or maybe I could get the boardwalk and some of the surrounding area? It might be a bit much for just Rain and I, but I was hoping to find a couple more capes at least. Might actually be doable if I could get the support I wanted.

On the other hand, the boardwalk was a decent percent of the cities life blood and the Protectorate guarded it jealously. That might be a little too hot to hold after all.

Thoughts of conquest were derailed by Legend getting up on some makeshift stage and starting a speech. Ah well, I'd worry about that after the fight. And there would be an after! Anything else… didn't bear thinking about.

{}{}{}{}

It was raining. Only that description didn't do the reality justice. The sky was never ending, overlapping sheets of water that fell like frigid little daggers.

I was so damn glad that my body was safe and dry in a shelter.

Leviathan slipped out of the waves like oil gliding off of glass. Its tail twitched lazily back and forth and it's head tilted slightly from side to side as it eyed our ragtag battle line. There wasn't any signal, or order or anything like that. There was a moment of stunned hesitation where people like myself who had never faced this before hesitated, and then the experienced capes lashed out and the rest of us followed suit as quickly as we could.

I led with a weak probing attack a half dozen crows of disintegrating fire held together with only a touch of Indigo to make them stable and lasting.

I almost lost track of them in the midst of everything else but I wasn't reliant on only my eyes to follow them. I could feel their location and lead them to the target easily enough. One was dispersed after getting clipped by someone else's attack, but the reminder arrived just fine.

I could feel them burrow into Leviathan's hide. Quickly at first but slowing rapidly. They progressed maybe four inches before four ran out of power and the fifth was dispersed by Leviathan's water shadow.

So that worked, but how well? Even if I threw everything I had into it, I wasn't going to be able to destroy it entirely. Not even close. Not with diminishing returns like that. Not even multiplying the effects to my limit. I needed a better strategy than just trying to turn the fucker to dust.

Leviathan moved.

I'd seen videos of mudslides, avalanches, and tsunamis. They had come up when I was researching environmental risks of different regions. Watching Leviathan move was like seeing one of those guided by intelligence, and set to fast forward.

He tore through the line of defenders, sending capes flying just by his passage and the effects of his water echo. The armband started to list casualties; I hesitated a moment. I could do damage, others would be running S&R. I could just keep blasting away… But that wasn't really a plan of action so much as a lot of desperate flailing. I needed to think. I needed a plan. And there were a lot of injured capes in need of help right this second.

Mind made up I zeroed in on the nearest downed cape. She had a green outfit that looked like bike leathers and a domino mask. Her legs were bent backwards. I checked for a pulse then told gravity to bother someone else before lifting her in a princess carry and flying full tilt towards the healers.

She moaned and thrashed a bit but I just held on all the tighter as my real body fought back my gag reflex. This was insanity. This was why I wanted off the damned hell world. As long as the Endbringers existed no one was safe. Not really. We were all just living on borrowed time clawing back at an enemy we could never fully stop.

What the hell was I supposed to do?! I could hurt the fucking thing, but stop it? No never. Could I destroy its head?

My thoughts skipped a beat as I descended to the healer tent. If I could destroy the head would that kill it? Did I have the power to actually pull that off? That would be a long shot. That one probing shot hadn't gotten deep… but it had been like trying to burn through layers. Each layer was tougher to dissolve. Maybe not by a full order of magnitude but still...

I very carefully did some guesstimating, feeling out just how much energy I had to work with and how potent I could make it.

I laid the wounded woman down on an empty bunk and launched myself back into the air as soon as I escaped the confines of the tent which was already filled with bloody, screaming, defenders. I had sentenced Bakuda to worse, but she deserved it. I killed Hookwolf, but that had been fast. These people were here to protect, and they were being brushed aside like ants. It was disgusting.

I didn't think my reserves would be enough to behead Leviathan. I couldn't be sure. I had no frame of reference for what I was considering. I needed a smaller target… Or maybe thinner. As I got back into the air, I realized everyone was flying search patterns. He'd slipped past us. Oh God it was loose in the city and we didn't even know where. We needed to slow it down, hobble it.

The knees had been thinner than its neck. With a grimace I started chasing after the few reports of wounded as they came in. It wasn't much of a plan, but if I could slow the fucker down for everyone else to hammer it… Maybe I could do something here after all.

{}{}{}{}

I finally found the fight just in time to see Armsmaster squaring off to fight Leviathan, on his own. Like a fucking dumbass. Sure, I was looking for the fight all on my lonesome, but I was just a projection. Robocop was here in person to get flattened. Which was why I honestly forgot to do anything when he started dancing around Leviathan's every move.

"Ok… need to remember to take him seriously if I ever have to fight him." I couldn't quite keep the awe out of my voice.

This was why people kept trying to fight them wasn't it. No matter how overwhelming they might be there were capes who could stand against them. Even if it was only for a short time. It was impressive, breathtaking if I was going to be fully honest. I was still very much questioning his sanity, and his plan to dual wield polearms, but he obviously had some idea of what he was doing.

He ducked and weaved and grapple-lined his way around attacks. I used the distraction to pick my moment. He might be doing alright for now but I doubted it would or could last. Even in power armor he was only human and the Endbringers just weren't.

Leviathan did something and Armsmaster missed a step. One of his halberds went flying and I made my move before Leviathan could finish the job.

It was a bandsaw blade; a perfect loop with inward facing teeth circling Leviathan's leg just below the left knee. I hardened the blade with what little of the green flames I had at my disposal. I charged it with disintegrating red fire. Then just to be sure I pumped it full of purple and multiplied everything about it to the absolute maximum of my ability.

"Fuck you!" I screamed out and sent the final two mental orders to my construct; shrink and spin.

Leviathan, jerked to a stop and spun on its good leg. I could almost see imaginary hair standing on end as it turned to face me like a cat with its hackles up. In just a few seconds I'd cut near halfway through, but the resistance was mounting fast and progress was slowing. Oh well, I needed to keep its focus and keep pushing. That left me with nothing but pure indigo fire for illusions and projections. I wasn't even going to bother trying to hijack its senses. I didn't have time to try and work out however this thing might interpret the world around it. But I could certainly put on a show.

I swelled and grew until I was a match for Leviathan in size. My cloak billowed out behind me beating like a real pair of wings playing up the raven imagery. The spear I'd never actually gotten a chance to use in a real fight formed in my hands a match for my new size and I brandished it before me.

The light from my eyes was intense enough to cast shadows under the darkness the clouds and sheets of rain brought with them. All the while my saw blade dug deeper and deeper into Leviathan's leg.

"Come and get me, fucker."

Leviathan moved, still lightning fast, but not so fast as it was before, and with a noticeable hitch in its stride. Good.

It plowed right through my spectral body. With a grin I spun. The head of my spear was the only solid part of my projection at the moment and I brought it round to slam against Leviathan's head, knocking him in the direction of his injured leg. It gave and he toppled to the ground. I solidified the rest of my projection for the extra weight and traction as I slammed the spear point into his chest, doing my best to pin Leviathan to the ground until I could finish cutting off his leg.

Leviathan spasmed and slashed at my body with water and claws. For all that making my body solid let me apply more force it made my body more fragile and after just a moment I was forced to fully dissolve into a cloud of indigo fire before reforming my giant self.

Leviathan used the break to regain its feet. I was all ready to start on round two but our standoff was interrupted by Armsmaster slashing across two of Leviathan's eyes with a halberd blade surrounded by grey fog while swinging past on the grapple line his second weapon contained.

Leviathan ignored the loss of two eyes to lunge for me again. With a deceptive twist I was only capable of thanks to this body's nature as a projection I flowed around the charge like a matador my cloak whipping around me as if it possessed a mind of its own and stabbed my spear into Leviathan's back. It only produced a shallow cut, but with adrenaline pumping through my veins it felt like victory.

A moment's attention on my bandsaw blade curdled that sense of victory. I was progressing but the last two inches of the damned things leg had slowed progress to a crawl. I was pretty sure the kind of progress I was making every five seconds needed a micrometer to measure. With a growl I pushed harder than ever before the thin band of crimson and purple showing through the thin gap of Leviathans leg glowed all the brighter and the beast thrashed as I managed to a bit more than double the disintegration once more. It was going to come at a price though. I could only maintain this for a short time. It didn't matter. I would make this work.

Armsmaster once more came out of nowhere swiping at Leviathan's feet with the strange grey cloud that seemed to rip through Leviathan's out layers. Then a barrage of lasers strafed Leviathan's back. A quick glance up showed Legend circling around for another pass. Leviathan pivoted pushing off with his tail and trying to run only for Alexandria to tackle him from the side slamming him into an office building.

I lunged in striking the Endbringer in the chest with my spear and trying to force it further into the building all the while I pushed as hard as I could to burn through his leg.

"Tidal wave inbound." The armband I was wearing like an earring announced.

In a moment I was the only one on the street fighting to hold the bastard still. I was so close now, less than an inch to go and I'd have taken the bastard's leg! Even if I never fought these monsters again, I could hold my head high and say I'd done more than most anyone else.

The wave knocked me off of him and when I found my feet again, he was gone. Moving for the cost, based on where the band saw was heading. I followed at full speed. A black and purple shadow racing over the city. I landed behind it, swiping at its back driving it on out of the city. Its tail lashed out at me knocking me away but a blast of pure light I recognized as Purity's took full advantage, hammering it. More effects poured on it. Herding it, chasing, harassing. Leviathan's water shadow blew outward knocking away anyone foolish enough to get close and it bolted for the water. I was just close enough to see it leap into the air, and it's left leg separate at the knee. The main body slid into the water without so much as a ripple, the severed leg came down with a splash.

I sat in the bunker scarcely daring to breath as I waited for confirmation. If that wasn't enough to send him running then I was fresh out of ideas. There was nothing more I could do except buy time. Size and spear just couldn't do more than cosmetic damage against that thing.

Almost a minute later the arm band squawked to life again.

"Leviathan has retreated."

In the bunker my hand snaked out and clamped down on Yammamoto's shoulder. Sharp eyes glanced back at me and I gave my Lieutenant a shaky grin and a tight nod. Relief sparked in his eyes as I closed mine to go about doing what little more I could. There were probably still wounded to recover.

We'd made it through the attack. What came next… would be near impossible to predict. I hadn't been paying attention to the never ending list of wounded and dead, but if the Empire hadn't lost someone I would be stunned. Never mind the Protectorate or Wards. I hadn't seen any sign of the Merchants. I sort of wanted to go after them for that on principle alone. Not that they would have done any good but still.

The city had been a wounded creature for as long as I could remember, this might very well be it's killing blow, and if it wasn't would there be enough left here to make a gang truly profitable? I couldn't make money in a place where no one had money to spend. Blowing out a breath I forced my real body to relax even as I hunted through rubble for survivors. That was a worry for another day. For now, I still had a job to do.

 

[Fencer]

Hello amazing readers! For the past 8 to 10 months my update schedule has been a very slow, burning, dump truck full of also burning garbage. The reason being that I lost my reasonable welding job and started working on a road crew that didn't believe in free time for their employees. You've all been pretty amazing and patient while I did my best to bring you updates when I could. The fact I've been getting mobbed by plot bunnies certainly hasn't helped anything. (The plot bunnies are only posted on ff.net if anyone is wondering.)

I'm here to inform you that, with a little elbow grease that should be changing shortly. I've left my road crew job and started a new welding job. Oh forty hour work weeks how I've missed you so! Now I need to get back in the habit of regular writing, and even the mindset to an extent, but I've come back from flat out 6 month periods of not writing when I first got into this hobby before. So I'm not worried about that, it's just a matter of time before I find my groove again.

Now even when I do find said groove again I'm currently writing three fics, not counting distracting enticing plot bunnies. The order of my writing rotation is; Archer, UFME, Flames. So keep an eye out and please just a little more patience as I settle into this new schedule.

 

[Fencer]

AN: Yo, so I meant to get to work on Flames today. That did not happen. And I felt a little bad about that but... eh? My jobs been throwing overtime at me which is good for my wallet, but not great for the muse. I've started working on the next update but in the meantime I thought you guys might like this. It's from my FF.net snippet thread and is a different take on a Worm X KHR cross.

Everything was frozen in a moment of perfect clarity. Dad's lifeless body tied to a chair not ten feet away, red slowly dripping from the two bullet holes in his chest forming an expanding pool around him. The smell of copper hung sharply in the air from the blood, it mixed with pungent cigarette smoke, and just a hint of sulfur from the gunshots. The man standing in front of me was dressed in khaki slacks and a black button down dress shirt, blond haired with a cigarette half burned down and glowing cherry red where it hung between his lips. But most prominently of all was the pistol being pointed at my chest. Fleetingly I was almost disappointed that Hollywood lied and there wasn't a wisp of smoke from the just fired gun. More than anything though, in that moment I knew down to my bones that in spite of everything… I wanted to live. Even in the face of death, especially in the face of death, I had a will to live.

Something in the back of my mind seemed to click into place. Energy and heat surged just under my skin, racing out from my heart to fill my entire body. My body held it in for a moment but there was too much energy moving too quickly. A heartbeat later it burst free.

The abandoned warehouse, the hitman, Dad. They all disappeared in a maelstrom of orange flame.

{}{}{}{} Max Anders

"What do you mean Victor is dead?" I bit out. "It was supposed to be a simple hit. Take out Hebert and his daughter, cow the rest of the dockworkers into submission. How did two civilians manage to kill a moderately powerful Rain?"

Brad shrugged and went back to cleaning his nails with a knife.

"One of them went active. Sky flames, strong ones too."

"... even then, a fresh active killed Victor?"

"Firestorm, Max. The whole place went up like it was soaked in gasoline."

"Damn… it's been so long since the Bay had any Skies. I'd forgotten just how ridiculous they can be."

"Not since the vigilante's managed to off Lavere." Brad tapped the flat of his blade against his palm. "This is going to get messy, boss. Triad won't like her running around loose. Not with Kenta running the show, well, not if the rumors about why he's so far from China are true. The vigilantes are going to scramble to get her under their thumb. No idea what the snake, or the mercs will do. But if we try to bring the newbie on board sooner or later there's going to be blood between them and Vic's wife. Not sure even a Sky is worth our only Sun with the control for healing."

I closed my eyes and thought carefully about what I knew about each group and Skies in general.

"Your right, and that's assuming the new Sky wouldn't realize Victor was one of ours, possible but unlikely given he was white and didn't dress like one of the snakes men. It's all too likely they're already against us."

"So, hunt em down and kill em?"

"... No." I tapped a finger against the arm of my chair. "Not yet at least."

"Oh?"

"There's been some very quiet studies done over the decades, starting with a Russian Cloud during the cold war. Even an inactive sky can cause a citywide increase in flame activation rates. Something about their flames reaching out for harmony brings them to the surface in others. Like a mating dance drawing out potential partners. An active Sky has a much more pronounced effect. Even a few fresh recruits of middling flame strength would be valuable. The longer she stays alive the more potential recruits she'll set loose on the city. Even if we're competing with the rest for them the chaos alone could be beneficial so long as we are prepared."

Brad made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat and nodded slightly.

"Besides, they're alone and untrained, it would take years, decades really, for them to become a credible threat to our organization as a whole. We'll simply have to monitor the situation and step in before they grow too powerful. With a little luck they'll find an inoffensive niche to fill and we'll be able to ignore their existence entirely and just reap the benefits of their presence."

"Well, that's boring, but I guess it works for now. Though I'll be surprised if they last more than a few weeks."

"Perhaps. If they have even the general awareness of one used to the rougher parts of town, that and a Sky's vaunted intuition might be enough to keep them alive until they find their feet."

"I'll believe that when I see them alive and thriving." Brad dismissed airily. With a grunt he left his seat to wander off.

{}{}{}{} Kenta

"A Sky?" I gave the pitifully weak Storm my full attention. "You are sure of this?"

"Yes, sir." They answered promptly without raising their head. "I've only met the one Sky when I left the city with you last year but… I could never forget that feeling."

I leaned back fully in my chair. A Sky. In my city. The Flames roiled under and over my skin casting a purple glow on all around me. Not as annoying as most Mists on a personal level, but infinitely more vexing to contend with. Always pushing and questing and testing and never strong enough to bind me. What few Skies I'd met that might come close were inevitably incompatible. Truly coming so far from Triad controlled territory and staking my own claim where no Skies held dominion was the best decision I'd ever made. If the baby Sky decided to try my patience as so many had before I would kill them. But if they could behave...

The pitiful excuse for a Storm was one of the few active Flame members I could lay claim too. And while Lee was skilled, he had never fully recovered from a head injury in our youth, and that left him singularly disadvantaged compared to most Mists. This was an opportunity. A risky, annoying opportunity, but one I might not be able to let pass.

Perhaps…

"Do we know the allegiance of this Sky?"

"No one has claimed them yet."

Not a guarantee, they could just be staying silent. But if they were not aligned with an enemy...

"Tell the men to stay alert for any news of this new Sky. If they wander into our territory… We will send them to the mercenaries. With any luck they will click and the Sky will be out of the city as often as they are in it. If they trespass a second time I will see them dead."

The man simply nodded acknowledging his orders.

"Now, tell me, why has the protection money came up a thousand dollars short this month?"

{}{}{}{} Colin Wallis

I glared down at the work bench, more specifically my heavily modified flame reactive halberd. Making it carry a charge from my Lightning flames was child's play, a metal baton could have done that much. Getting it to multiply the effect of my Flames so I could expand less Flames was significantly more difficult.

"Colin."

"Hannah." I didn't bother looking up from my project.

"The warehouse fire was one of us, someone new."

That was interesting enough to give her my full attention.

"You didn't recognize the Flame signature?"

"Didn't even need to get close enough to check it. They were Sky flames, Colin."

"... Damn it. Do we know who? Are they one of the gangs?"

"No way to tell just yet. We'll have to be on the lookout."

"Damn, as if things weren't bad enough, already. I'll have to pass word along."

"Do you think they'll send more support?"

"...No. Much as we might not like it this city isn't as important on the national level. But we might be able to recruit more locally soon."

She hummed noncommittal and started to strip her pistol.

A Sky. Damn it all to hell. If one of the gangs got their hands on a Sky… Or worse if this Sky decided to form a new gang. We really would need to be on our guard in the coming weeks. The city might not be as volatile as Chicago, or Vegas, but things were tense enough. A Sky might be enough to start a gang war just by existing.

But if we could draw them into our cause… I took a deep breath and forced my muscles to loosen up. It would be good to recruit a Sky. It would. They wouldn't be ready to join the fight any time soon, they wouldn't be taking over command from me. The leaders would likely pull them out of Brockton Bay and send them elsewhere for training regardless. This was my command. No wet behind the ears Sky would change that.

Now… If we could just convince the Pelham's to come out of retirement to help contain this. Not that it was likely. Their son and niece were still in high school and dependent on their parents after all, their daughter being a college freshman wasn't much better. Though with a Sky lose in the city, and given their parents history… How likely were they to go active? Well, if nothing else that might get me in the door long enough to try convincing them again.

{}{}{}{} Aisha Laborn

"Come on, Lisa. Can you find them or not?" I glanced around, last thing we needed was some skin head shit heal getting the drop on us. Yeah we had flames, but there were enough Nazi shits who could light up in technicolor that it wasn't a guarantee of safety. No matter how lazy and quiet the dumb shits were most of the time.

"Don't rush me. This isn't exactly something I have a lot of practice with." The blonde snarked back. "Though they are making it easier with just how much they are leaking their flames." She closed her eyes at the next corner then decisively turned down a back alley. "You know your brother is going to have a fit about this don't you?"

"What doesn't he throw a fit over? But this is a Sky!"

"Don't get your hopes up, girl. You have any idea how unlikely a Guardian Bond is?"

I waved that off.

"You don't win the lottery if you don't play. And if we don't click? We still might get a Sky in our corner. That would be huge! Like, no more bottom of the barrel snatch and grab shit, we could actually move up in the world!"

The Misty cynic just hummed doubtfully. This, this was the problem with this city. No one had any freaking ambition. Not the big gangs, not the regular people, and not even the people I hung out with. 'Always keep your head down, stay under the radar, forget the big leagues, just focus on staying alive.'

Yeah, staying alive was important, but it didn't do a hell of a lot of good if you weren't really living. Right now, all we were doing was surviving on scraps. That just wasn't good enough for me. I didn't really want to be one of those dicks enabling people like Mom. But I sure as shit didn't want to spend the rest of my life squatting in abandoned warehouses and barely having enough to stay fed and warm.

Sure, this was a long shot, and it wouldn't turn things around overnight even if it did work out perfectly. But looking into it couldn't make things worse, and having a Sky on call? Yeah, that could definitely make things better. It was better than just waiting for things to get better on their own.

Surreptitiously I spiked my flames internally. Brian was stuck on the obvious uses of Hardening, but that was because he was boring. I wanted to be hard to notice, and I'd bend common sense over a table to make it happen. This wasn't a part of town where I could just wander around.

"I wish you wouldn't do that. It's always a pain trying to remember that you're here."

"You want to deal with the headache or you want to deal with a couple pissed off Storms and a Cloud?"

"Fiiine. This is less annoying than running for our lives. But if we don't find this Sky soon, we're going to have to bug out anyway. We're just lucky there only passing through the edge of Empire territory."

"Man, they better not be a skinhead, or I might as well just convince Brian we'd be better off moving."

Lisa chuckled but she didn't sound amused.

"Probably, yeah. Shame all the nearby cities are more likely to just kill outsiders."

"I get it, I get it. Shits fucked all over and we've only got crap options."

"That's the only reason I'm even entertaining this goose chase. Either this falls in our favor or we're going to need a real plan. Not just our next minor score. I'm talking some major haul and then tearing out of here as fast as we can with a real destination in mind."

"... I didn't realize things were that bad." I really hadn't. Sure, we were only just getting by. But we were small enough that the big dogs weren't interested in rooting us out.

"That fucking snake is poking around trying to find us. No one knows what exactly his deal is, but last time he went poking around after a small time flame active, they disappeared. I can think of at least a half dozen reasons for them to disappear like that. I don't like any of them."

I shivered and it had nothing to do with the weather.

"Yeah, point. So, we make this work or we get the hell out of here?"

"Honestly? I'm all for making this work and getting the hell out of here anyway."

"Think you could convince everyone else?"

"... Maybe. Brain's going to be the sticking point. And maybe this Sky if we can win them over. Beyond that? I just don't know what we could actually hit that would bring a big enough pay off. Not without taking a massive risk."

I bit my lip. This wasn't really my thing. Stealing wallets, and some snatch and grab, sure. Figuring out how to pull in enough cash to get six teens out of the city to who knows where? Lisa was right we would need to hit something big for that kind of cash.

"You and Brian will figure something out."

She shot me a cheeky grin, but it seemed just a bit hollow. Then her head swung to the left. I felt it too. A small burst of unfamiliar flames that sent a shiver down my spine. They felt warm and soft and inviting. Like a promise of hot chocolate on a cold day. If that wasn't the Sky we were looking for I was a freaking Cloud. Three quick back streets later we found her leaned against a chain link fence.

A lean girl, maybe sixteen with long wavy black hair and eyes that glowed bright orange.

She was powerful. Just being this close to her was enough to drive that point home. Lisa and I weren't weak. In terms of just power we were on the same level of the Empire's better fighters, just with a hell of a lot less experience. This girl though… I'd seen Kenta fight once, at a distance. She wasn't quite that strong, but she wasn't far off from it either. And there was no telling just how much power she'd burned going active and stumbling across the city leaking flames like Mom's sink.

This really might be the opportunity we needed. This girl might just turn everything around for us.

I purged my flames. I didn't need her fighting them to pay attention to me.

"Yo," her head whipped around to stare at us as she forced herself into a shaky as hell fighting stance, "easy, easy. We're not looking for a fight. Though we were looking for you."

She rocked on her feet not lowering her fists and not saying a word. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lisa open her mouth. I cut her off before she could fuck this up.

"Look I know this whole deal is crazy and you're probably freaking out. Never mind whatever kind of shit show you must have been through to bring your flames out without training. Believe me, we both know just how much that sucks." The girl glanced between us and seemed to hesitate.

"But listen, you think things are bad now? You keep leaking flames like that you're going to be in even more trouble."

"She's right." Lisa cut in. "Anyone close enough with active flames can feel yours right now. If they're as good as me they can even track you while you're letting them off like you are. This is Empire territory. Sooner or later someone will notice. Then their flame active members are going to come looking. No offense, but you don't really look like a fighter. Not yet anyway."

"I…" The girl started then hesitated, her fists came down a little and her stance eased up a bit. "I don't have anywhere to go. I can't, I can't control this." She waved her hands and small licks of flame flickered between her fingers filling the alley with more of the wonderful feeling of Harmony.

Lisa nodded thoughtfully and took a couple slow steps forward.

"That's pretty common for someone who just went active, but we can't afford to wait for you to exhaust yourself. Listen, that fire? It's called Flames of Dying Will. It answers to your willpower. You're confused, you don't have a goal in mind, but your emotions are probably still all over the place from whatever made you go active. The flames are just acting up without a goal, but they answer to your will. You need to want them to calm down. Take a few deep breaths and just," She glanced my way and grinned, "just focus on staying hidden."

I rolled my eyes. Getting the new girl to try my trick should be copyright or something. But if it kept us under the radar… Whatever, I could work with it.

She closed her eyes and almost slipped into a trance.

I nearly missed it. One moment there was an upset Sky standing in front of me and the next it was like she blurred into the background. Like she was a part of the city instead of a person. It wasn't the same as my trick, it might, might, be even better.

"Sky's are bullshit." I muttered to Lisa. Girl just snorted and stepped up to take the Sky's hands in her own.

"Ok that's good. Keep doing that. Now, I know you don't know us, but you can crash with us for now. With any luck we can all help each other out."

The girl's eyes snapped open and stared at Lisa like she could look clear through all her bullshit. Hell, Sky, she might just be able to. Finally, she nodded to herself.

"...Ok. I'm Taylor."

I grinned and slung an arm around Lisa's shoulders.

"Aisha, and this is Lisa. Girl, I'm betting you feel like shit right now but I promise, this is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship!"

AN: This one is actually really tempting for me. No Endbringers, No Scion, No Cauldron. It's a full crossover, but given the setting is so far removed from Japan or Italy it isn't immediately relevant, which means the first few story arcs can be dedicated to Taylor finding her feet and some of the major changes made. Then I've worked out a great plot to follow on the setting up stages which leads to Tay getting roped into the larger criminal world which KHR established, comes complete with Reborn shenanigans and lots of fight scenes, assassinations, etc. Also cooking. I don't know why but my muse latched onto the idea of Taylor and company running a restaurant that sets itself apart by imbuing effects into the food through Flames. I know it's weird, but it's amusing me. This fic is up for adoption.

 

[Fencer]

AN: I swear this story usually flows better. Sorry, for the delay. If I'm being perfectly honest my mind is on my Star Wars story. I don't even want to think about rewrites so Archer is just sort of in limbo in my mind, but Using the Force Made Easy is just…. So easy to get stuck on right now. Butterfly storms are like drugs for my imagination. I had other ideas for what could or should happen in this update. Different ways the conversation could have played out, details I could have added… None of them seemed to come together though. It just… I don't know. This fic could be dragged out so much longer and maybe I'll find my enthusiasm for it. Hell if I know. Weirder things have happened in my writing.

But I'm also starting to look at the end game. What has to happen, what should happen, what can I just skim over. Three fics is starting to feel like two too many if I'm honest. I miss being able to focus on something more completely. Even as I say that I don't know that I could ever really limit myself to just one fic when I have ideas still unwritten. Never mind that it's nice to be able to switch gears when writers block rears its ugly head. Screw it, don't worry too much about my rambling. Enjoy the update folks. Sorry it's short.

{}{}{}{} Taylor

Making a solid flying carpet to ferry the wounded back to the aid station wasn't nearly as strenuous as trying to saw through Leviathan's leg. But it wasn't exactly easy either. Solid projections took more energy the simple visual projections, and that was already more intensive than just messing with someone's senses directly.

Making it ignore gravity without using the purple or red flames to mitigate the cost was just exasperating things.

Setting down three more injured capes I took a second to assess just how much energy I had left to play with. Not much, probably not even enough for another run.

Ditching my armband, I let my projected body settle into incorporeality. There wasn't much else I could do right now. And cell towers were likely down so my real body couldn't phone Dad yet… though when the broad strokes of the attack leaked, he would likely hear about what I pulled and probably realize I was fine.

The shelters wouldn't be opening just yet either. Not until the PRT had a chance to give things at least a cursory look for bodies, tinker tech, and whatever else they might be worried about.

… I hated not having anything to do. Standing around feeling useless sucked.

Hearing a trio of light thumps behind me I silently cursed myself for tempting murphy on a day that was already such a shitshow. Turning on my heel I was unsurprised to see Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon. Given what I'd just done I suppose it was to be expected. Didn't mean I actually wanted to deal with them. A black cat with indigo eyes formed under the edge of my cloak before leaping into my arms where I absently began to stroke its fur to it's obvious delight. The quiet rumble of it's purring the only sound in the street. Watching Legend's mouth twitch into a grin even as Alexandria's lips pursed was an absolute joy.

"Morganna," Alexandria spoke with a kind of strained intensity, "we need to talk."

"We really don't, but if you feel the need? Far be it from me to stop you. Say what you will."

I desperately buried any and all impulses to show respect or fear. I couldn't afford to show anything but confidence. The cat illusion rolled in my arms proffering its belly for me to scratch before idly swiping at my hand with its little paws. Maybe I should get a real cat? They were adorable. And vicious. I liked vicious.

The Woman's pursed lips morphed into a full blown scowl. Which was when Legend stepped forward.

"Before anything else, thank you for joining the fight today. That was quite the move you pulled, taking off his leg."

"And we are hoping we can count on you to do it again." Alexandria cut back in.

"... I'm flattered, but frankly I doubt that would be a good idea." I answered while prompting the cat into the shadow of my robe where it vanished.

"I don't think I could make that work against Behemoth. And I doubt Ziz would care. Beyond that… I came to this fight as a projection and I was still too close for my tastes. Honestly getting near Ziz would be ridiculously dangerous for anyone else if she got her hooks into me."

Alexandria scoffed.

"That, thing, getting control of any cape is dangerous."

I shrugged. I wasn't in the mood to argue or point out just how much more dangerous I was compared to the average cape in terms of direct and indirect threats. My illusions alone would be the stuff of nightmares if I were more vicious and indiscriminate in their use.

"Still not interested in risking my life for battles that will only ever delay the inevitable."

"That is the other topic we need to discuss." Eidolon finally joined the conversation. "Freedom of speech does not extend to people shouting fire in a movie theater."

I snorted and flexed my power causing my form to ripple as if consumed by indigo fire before returning to stability,

"Unless the theater is in fact on fire." I countered with a smirk. "Anyone who stops to sniff the air can already smell the smoke, even if the flames aren't visible yet."

"And where exactly do you plan to run to, if you are right and the whole of the world is on fire?" Alexandria's voice was full of scorn. Not admitting anything just humoring me.

"Well, Professor Haywire's research certainly provides a clue. Wouldn't you agree?"

"No one has managed a stable portal to an alt earth." Legend countered neutrally.

"Not yet."

And if they never did, I'd just have to settle for a smaller community, hidden away somewhere far from any civilization. An uninhabited island. The middle of a forest. Some valley tucked away at the base of a mountain. The location would determine the number of people I could bring. An alternate Earth was just the best possible outcome. And while I wouldn't place any bets on Coil, I knew the man had contacts I could prod for ideas, and I was certain Lisa was thinking about it in her free time. Even ignoring that, making noise would help get the word out and set others to thinking on the issue as well.

"Still, powers are a historically recent development, and we've got a decade or two in which to figure things out yet."

"Enough word games." Alexandria slashed an arm across her torso. "You will stop suggesting to people that the collapse of society is imminent or you will find yourself a much higher priority of the Protectorate."

My little smile disappeared and I rallied my waning flames. A brief pulse and there were three of me standing equidistant around the three heroes. Silently we began to circle them.

"You know, I am growing ever so very tired of the threats of petty tyrants." All three bristled at that label. "I know I'm not invincible." I gestured to the scar across my eyes. "But the last group to make that particular play are all dead." I reached out with my flames and let them sink into the hero's, snaring them under my control. The city around us started to fade from their sight. And I slipped in a minor suggestion that would prevent them from speaking.

"I just maimed an Endbringer, and that was simply the most straightforward application of my abilities." To their senses we now stood in an infinite white void. "I'm not even here, and you all are at my mercy because you ignored my more subtle abilities." Now I was more than three to their senses. I was a multitude, multiplying endlessly, and from under every hood came the glow of indigo eyes. The heroes' heads swiveled left to right unwilling to take their eyes off of any of me.

"The Empire murdered us, and you did nothing. Lung came and burned whole blocks, and you did nothing. Bakuda threatened to blow the whole city into the stratosphere, and you. Did. Nothing. Now I am here, and suddenly that's one insult too far? Because I rock the boat? No. Let us be honest. I worry you, because I am right."

In a moment there was once more only one of me. Black feathers floated to the ground where all the others had been.

"It's too late to change your policies now. Come after me and all you'll manage to do is make it obvious that you want to silence the truth. So you'll do what you have been doing, nothing. I never saw the golden age of heroes. I don't have any hope that we can kill the Endbringers. Or even that this world can be saved. You can't even keep the villains in check here, never mind the rest of the world. So, you go right on playing your game of trying to tape the world back together again. And I'll prepare for when you inevitably fail. And when you do, I'll do my best to ensure something survives."

I still had a bit of flame left to work with… But it wasn't much, and I didn't want to listen to anything they might have to say. I released them from my illusion and let the flames disperse, bringing the entirety of my attention back to my physical body in the Endbringer shelter.

I idly patted Rain's shoulder to let him know I was back with him fully and leaned against the wall to wait. Soon we would be out of here. We would have to check our base. But tomorrow… Tomorrow was going to be busy. Ghoulish as it might be some of my enemies were doubtless dead. And that was an opportunity I could ill afford to ignore.

Now if only I could convince myself I'd sold that bluff. I might be able to make it hurt, but actually stopping those three, or whoever they could put on my tail? They had a whole country to draw from. Someone out there had to be a hard counter to me. Failing that they might just be able to bury me in bodies. I had things to do, and I really couldn't afford to be looking over my shoulder every step of the way.

{}{}{}{} Legend

"That could have gone better." I muttered as reality faded back into focus.

"Cocky, brat." Eidolon muttered.

He was doing his best to hide it, but I'd known him too long. That last display had unnerved him just as much as it had unnerved me. She hadn't been wrong either. A threat at the tail end of a truce period had not been the way to address her and she'd caught all of us off guard. In a real fight we wouldn't have just stood there and given her time to do whatever she'd done, but how much time did she need? How close would she have to get? That had been an obvious illusion. How subtle could she make them? Could she direct us like artillery? Point us at our own allies?

"Threatening her probably didn't help anything." I suggested with a pointed look.

The women to whom I directed that look glared back mulishly before nodding with a sigh.

"She has a point. The idea has already spread to other villains and the Protectorate. Likely a few civilians and members of the PRT as well. Stopping her wouldn't stop the spread and people would likely realize why she was such a priority.

"It's a miracle it hasn't happened sooner." I offered.

"It has happened before." She countered with a dismissive swipe of her hand. "But every time before this… We had time to bury the information. To discredit the source. Something. She managed to blindside us."

"Contessa can't map her?" Eidolon's question was sharp.

"She can. But not perfectly. The girl is… clouded. The best she can manage long term is a general direction for her actions. And Morganna had to be brought to her attention first. Not impossible like the others, just fuzzy."

Eidolon grunted. Something vaguely angry and looked away.

"... Have we considered just giving her what she wants?" Seeing their heads snap to look at me when I asked that question actually pulled a grin out of my tired mind and body. "Let her pull together whatever funds and supplies she can find enough people willing to start over and just send them on their way. We could do it easily enough. And if whatever makes her hard for Contessa to find could be strengthened, expanded…" I shrugged. "A colony hidden from sight might not be a terrible idea."

I couldn't see through Eidolon's mask but Alexandria at least seemed to be thinking about it.

"...Maybe." She admitted. "Something to discuss at the next meeting at least."

I nodded absently then lifted off. There was more to do before I could head home. And the sooner I saw to it the sooner I could be on my way.

 

[Fencer]

AN: First things first! A round of thanks to Functionality for agreeing to beta my work in general and not just Using the Force Made Easy.

Now, onto a less pleasant topic. I finally worked out what it is about this fic that I don't like. I'm trying to do too many things at once. Taylor's goal of getting the hell out of the danger zone to start a colony could be a fic on its own. So could the whole hearted gang leader approach, though those two at least go well together. The alt power with the bent of exploring the full capabilities of all types of KHR flames is practically an entire plot line all on its own and that… That's where I overreached. Not really surprising given I jumped into this story with no long term plans. The rough timeline I plotted out somewhere along the way… It would take too long. Honestly that's my biggest issue with it right now. I just don't have the drive or interest to see this through to its original conclusion.

Oh, I could go back and purge lightning flames from the story. Or stop adding new flame types with the end goal of them blending together into sky flames. I suppose I could just keep pushing but… Honestly this fic is just going to die if I force myself to try that. And I've got little interest in going back to do rewrites either.

I don't want to spend entire arcs adding more OC Lieutenants and fleshing out Taylor's development as a crime lord just so I can justify her getting more flame types as different situations trigger different emotional responses and priorities. I feel like this story needs more for a proper ending. Taylor hasn't earned her final victory. But I've been losing interest for a while and finally putting my finger on my issue with this story is not helping. So, I'm giving this story an ending even if it isn't the ending it deserves.

Sorry folks. This… is not how I wanted to do this. But it's about all I can offer you.

---

{}{}{}{} Time skip, roughly one and a half years post Leviathan attack

It was time. I had manuals on everything from mining operations to livestock breeding. We had an estimated population of a terrifying three and a half thousand. With people who knew every trade I could think of and their families. We had doctors, fishers, brewers, potters, masons, electricians, plumbers and damn near three hundred farmers of varying levels of experience.

I'd sunk several small fortunes into acquiring tools, livestock, solar and wind powered generators, as well as custom made battery powered equipment, given we wouldn't have a steady source of gasoline any time soon. Hell, I'd even bought some age of sail fishing boats!

It hadn't been easy. Most people who wanted to join my gang had initially resisted the idea that I'd be using my influence to find them actual honest employment. That wasn't really what they were signing up for. But once I explained the logic? They went willingly. Not always happily. But always with grim determination if nothing else. And wherever they went? They spread my theory about how the world was going to come apart at the seams.

It was almost too easy. Force some business to accept one of my people as an employee instead of asking for protection money. And make it clear to both employer and gang that my people would pull their weight or else. Employer inevitably asks why the hell I'm doing it and then they get read into what was coming. Suddenly I don't just have some barely trained apprentice coming with me when I start my colony. I've got an apprentice and their mentor. And the mentor's immediate family. And maybe their extended family as well. Hell, I had a lot of people get roped in by virtue of being someone's inlaws! Frankly it was almost a surprise we didn't have more people.

With all those people came other benefits as well. Thanks to all the extended families signing on I'd gotten a surplus of talents that were important, if less immediately relevant. Included in that list were lawyers, a psychologist, five types of specialist doctors who were less critical than the general surgeon I'd enlisted, or Panacea, but still good to have. I'd also picked up a slew of middle management types I could use to help keep things organized, a dozen teachers, and the entire staff of a medium sized daycare center. I was pretty sure the last would end up being a priceless acquisition given just how busy all the adults and teenagers were going to be getting us established during the first few years.

After a lot, and I did mean a lot of debate, we'd settled on a form of government somewhere between a true democracy and a dictatorship.

I was nominally in charge of literally everything because I was the only one who had been studying everything involved in establishing a functioning colony. If I said we needed to focus on something? We would damn well be focusing on it because for at least the first few years, if not decades, we would be one bad mistake away from all of us dying. On the other hand I needed to know what people were thinking and feeling and there would be lots of things to decide that were not critical or time sensitive. And with a population number under four thousand we actually could count every vote so long as we didn't put literally everything up for a vote.

It would be interesting to see if our ad hoc system held up under pressure, but for now it would do.

Panacea being on board meant I didn't need to worry about any STDs or genetic illnesses spreading through our limited population. It also meant that we would have a full generation before plagues became an actual concern. Which was good given we'd be interacting with an entirely new ecosystem.

Honestly? There would likely always be more we could do to prepare. But we were ready. We could make this work. We would make this work. It was time to stop stalling and commit.

I made a point of going over my notes and plans one final time. Just to make sure I hadn't overlooked anything. Then I made a call.

"Hey, Taylor. What's up? You don't usually call this late." Charlotte, my personal assistant asked after picking up on the third ring.

"I've gone over everything with a fine tooth comb a dozen times. I need you to start making calls, Charlotte. We're ready."

"Wait… you mean it? It's actually happening?!"

"Yes. Send out the word for people to make their final preparations. I'm giving them a month to get all their affairs in order and everything we need moved over, but the advance team should be ready to go in a week. They'll need at least three weeks to get the temporary housing set up and all of the critical projects started before the majority of our community arrives."

"I'll get started as soon as we're done then. Anything else I should let people know?"

"Hmm. Well, the poll results are in. Our new world will be called Terra, because it does in fact sound classier than Earth Gamma. Our Country, if you can call it that when we're only going to have one settlement for however fucking many generations, will be Australia. Seems John's argument about it being fitting given it'd be populated with criminals amused more people than calling it New America. And finally, the name of the city is going to be Alexandria, because I don't care how many people voted for it. We are not calling the city New Hope."

Charlotte's strangled laugh at my frustration with the other leading candidate for our city's name was absolutely uncalled for.

"Put the word out, Charlotte. Then get your own affairs in order. We're getting off this dying world before anything else goes wrong with it. No more Endbringers. No more Slaughterhouse nine. No more idiotic Protectorate heroes bitching and moaning about whatever stick they have shoved up their asses. We're getting out and making sure something survives, and we're doing it now, while we still can."

"You got it, boss."

Hanging up I dialed another number.

"Hello, Morganna. Ready to take us up on our offer?"

"Yes. My advance team will be ready in a week and the rest of my people should be ready to go in a month."

"Excellent. Door Maker will be ready when you are. Give us a call when you have an exact time."

"Of course. I'll talk to you soon, Contessa."

Hanging up I blew out a breath and went to the fridge I kept in my office. I pulled out a bottle of sweet red wine and poured myself a large glass. There was a lot to do in the coming weeks and I likely wouldn't have much time to relax for the next two or three months at least. So here and now, before everything became a whirlwind of preparation and problem solving, I was going to take the rest of the night off to relax while I still could.

"To new beginnings." I toasted to myself, before draining the glass. Pouring myself a second to savor, I pulled out a novel and leaned back in my desk chair, intent on enjoying the rest of the night.

{}{}{}{} One month later.

Looking over the crowd of just under three thousand people all I could feel was pride. I'd done this. Convinced them, gathered them, inspired them, led them. This was everything I had worked for. Everything I'd dreamed of and more. I'd busted my ass, bent my morals into a pretzel, fought, bled and killed for this. And faster than I had ever dreamed possible we were going to make my dream a reality.

"Today is a great day." As I spoke into the microphone the crowd fell silent and turned their attention to me. "We've all worked tirelessly to prepare for this. To make it happen. And because of all of your hard work we've gotten to this point faster than I ever dreamed possible. More prepared than I'd ever dated to hope."

All through the crowd people stood straighter, pride evident in their faces and postures.

"This will not be easy. There are going to be difficulties, trials, and tragedies. There are going to be days when you will be convinced you were out of your mind to agree to this. Days when you would give anything to turn around and come back here, to chocolate, and the internet, and supermarkets. But we will make this work! We will forge a life for ourselves and our descendants without the near constant fears we've all learned to live with. A world without Endbringers. A world without wandering mass murderers, and terrorists or the threat of war. A world where we are all one people united by our goal of a better future."

I took a moment to compose myself as I looked out over the crowd.

"I want to thank each and every one of you. I know this wasn't an easy choice to make. I know you are all betting on me being right. On my ability to plan and lead. On your neighbor's ability to do the jobs this community will require of them. Hell, you're even betting on the weather and wildlife being something we can handle to a certain extent. You are all brave beyond measure for agreeing to this. And we are going to need that bravery in the coming years. I am so very proud to be going into this with each and every one of you. So, without further delay, it's time to settle our new home."

Turning I faced the back wall of the massive warehouse I'd gathered my people and the last of our supplies together in.

"Door to Alexandria on Terra." I spoke clearly, and just like that the wall was replaced with an open portal. The murmuring from the crowd skyrocketed, but quieted as I turned back and spoke into the microphone once more.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's get moving. We have a lot of work to do." My piece said I turned and walked through the portal. Warm fresh air washed over me and I smiled.

It was a beautiful new day, and a beautiful new world.