Hello, my lovelies. Ok, I was asked two very interesting questions and I'll answer them here, as I'm usually doing. First: as a huge fan of SCP Foundation and someone who noticed the similarities between the Foundation and Cauldron, what can I say about their ethical work? Which one is more ethical in their actions? Well, easy question. The Foundation is immensely ethical in their actions compared with its Wormverse's cousin. I'm not saying this because I'm a fan of it, I can explain my way of thinking. Let's start with the easiest explanation, shall we?
1) Foundation doesn't kidnap people, they use prisoners (criminals, rapists, arsonists, etc) or at worst political prisoners. They even let them choose what they want: accept Foundation's tests or return back to jail (in some cases, the other option is death but D-class still have options. Their consent is demanded and respected)- 2 points.
1) Cauldron kidnaps people: sick, dying people, homeless?, people without families? and volunteers. Only volunteers are NOT kidnapped and their consent is demanded, but the others...no such luck. They can't even choose to die if they can't take anymore. -0 points.
2) Foundation contains anomalies, in this way protecting the normal people that can be hurt or killed by any supernatural objects, places, animals, people, they're unlucky to find or meet. Some anomalies are humanoids and I agree that is unethical to keep them locked in cells and expose them to tests and experiments but these humanoid anomalies are very dangerous not only for normal people but also for themselves. Some of them have abilities that can barely control or not control at all and the Foundation are doing their best to help them understand and control their supernatural abilities and even to get rid of them and return back to society as normal humans when it's possible. Sometimes, the Foundation physically and mentally torture the humanoids (unethical as hell
) so this is the reason why I give them only 1 point.
2) Cauldron creates anomalies and set them free in the world, even if some of these anomalies are sociopath monsters (Shatterbird, Manton) or tragically monsters (Sveta), so they can kill accidentally or not as many people as they can. Cauldron doesn't protect people from monsters, they create monsters that prey on innocents. Yes, they probably want to create an army of parahumans useful against Endbringers and possible Scion but...seeing how many people of both sides they sacrifice and not knowing how useful they can be against such invulnerable foes isn't worth it. Isn't worth it at all -0 point.
3) Foundation saved the world many times. They have the means to reset the world everytime when everything else fail and they did it. But they used the "reset button" only when the world was beyond saving- when the entire humanity was infected with mortal viruses/cognitohazard/infohazard bullshit or it was turned into : I have no mouth but I must scream type of victims. The Foundation's only solution left was to...put the humanity out of its misery and restart it using clones. Not cruel but necessary because there were no more sane/healthy/not transformed into whatever horrors people left- 1 point.
3) Cauldron saved the world once. How they did that? I don't know yet. Was ethical enough or they had to kill thousands of people in the process? A mystery. But I'll give them that. They saved the world once- 1 point.
4) Foundation fights against super-shady capitalistic organizations (sometimes they collaborate with them, depends of their common interests) and fucking evil and disturbing religious cults -1 point.
4) Cauldron encourages the existence of villains, dictators, crime lords and even mass-murderers and collaborate with them with no fucking problems, even when they ruin lives -0 point.
5)Foundation is ruled by a group of Overseers, each of them having an equal vote in the organisation. They even have an Ethic Committee and sometimes the Overseers listen them- 1 point.
5) Cauldron is ruled by Doctor Mother and Number Man, they take all the decisions for Cauldron without nobody else questioning their authority. They obviously don't have an Ethic Committee -0 point.
6) Foundation uses amnestics to make people forget the anomalous events. But, before they invented amnestics, they murdered civilians in cold blood
-0 point.
6) Cauldron uses brainwashing to make people forget their entire identities and Contessa is send to silence the witnesses -0 point.
6-1 for Foundation. So, Foundation OWNS Cauldron any-FUCKING-time. As shady as Foundation can be, Cauldron is much more shady and amoral. They both are great heroes/villains of their respective worlds but Cauldron acts more like a villain than a hero, despite having utilitarian intentions. Well, they were times when I wanted to strangle to death every single Foundation member but never as often as when I want to strangle to death Doctor Mother. I mean, I always want to strangle to death Doctor Mother but it's not for me to decide her punishment. Irregulars should have this right and I can't take it from them. They lost already too much
.
I'll answer to the second question during this Chapter, when I'll find a favorable moment. Let's start
Scarab 25.6
Khonsu allowed himself to be struck by Alexandria, using the impact to float back at a higher speed. The act gave him the positioning he needed to draw his spheres closer to the Jaguars' contingent.
Moord Nag appeared, riding her shadow's skull like a surfer might ride a wave, except there wasn't any joy in the act. Her arms remained still at her sides, her head not fully erect, eyes almost looking down, as if she watched the skull with one eye and Khonsu only merited her peripheral vision.
So, last Chapter, we had this Cauldron meeting where all the saints invited there agreed to help against the Grumpy Buddha, forming Cauldron's Backed Team of Time Buddhas' Annihilators. Saints? Yep, all of them were fucking saints, in a way or another.
-Weaver is the rebellious saint that will be a great battle tactician in the upcoming fight against Khonsu
.
-Tattletale acted like a saint with conscience, judging Doctor Mother for how easy is for her to sacrifice 5000 people to Moord Nag's pet power
.
-Chevalier, Dragon and Defiant can form the Triumvirate of Heroic Saints, they are all pure heroes. Defiant, how big of an asshole you're before the CHANGE and what a big MAN you are now. I'm so freaking proud of you, dude. I'm sure that Chevalier will do anything in his powers to stop Doctor Mother from killing 5000 people to satisfy the warlady's demands, I'm just not so sure how he can do that without having the guard dog Contessa biting his ass. He's a great badass hero but Contessa is bullshit OP and before he'll be able to slain her with his giant sword she'll probably decapitate him with a small fork
.
-Faultline was another saint with conscience, refusing Doctor Mother's money or any other kind of favor for her collaboration. This woman is one of the most righteous and ethical mercenaries I've ever seen. Too bad that she and Tattletale doesn't get along. Imagine the team they'd have made
.
-Glaistig Uaine is the demented, but weirdly pretty moralistic (since she only demands dead bodies, not living beings, and only when she knows that is the right time to add more "fairies" to her army for the great war...the war against Scion?!?), saint of "fairies" and Moord Nag is another demented and utterly amoral saint of Shadow Pet monsters
.
-Marquis is the saint of his daughter, ready to do anything in his powers just to see her walking out of Birdcage as a free woman which is admirable (I don't understand why Doctor Mother didn't invite Amelia instead of her father. Even if she can't kill Khonsu, she can still create like hundreds of different viruses that can hurt the Endbringer pretty bad,buying enough time for the other fighters to attack. She can modify her viruses in a way that they'll not affect humans, only the monster they're fighting against, we're talking here about the most powerful Striker in existence (Amelia is a Striker, right? I hope I got her main Classification right. She can also be a Thinker- knows about biology and a Master- look what she did to her sister's mind). Amelia could be such a powerful weapon against Endbringers and Cauldron just missed this chance with her
.
-Ultimately, we have Saint himself. A smart hacker but with such an ugly face tattoo (I think that most of hackers would spit on him seeing that ugly ass tattoo; they'll feel embarrassed to have someone like Saint representing them) and who tried to be Teacher's good student but failed because Teacher's freedom was denied as part of Doctor Mother's favors for heroes' help. SUCK TO BE YOU, Teacher
. I don't get why Teacher was invited there as well, it's like Cauldron invited total random people and hoped that some of them will accept the invitation, no matter how awful they're. For God sake, they invited even someone like Jack Slash (hope they invited him in order to capture and brainwash him or kill him because if they expect from him to HALP them on his own accord, then they're not only incredible amoral, but also incredible stupid. I can barely tolerate amoral people, but stupid amoral people is too much. Yeah, expect HALP from the man who's planning to destroy the humanity
). Saint, you just got an F. Study better next time
.
Enough with this recap, let's see what Cauldron's Backed Team of Time Buddhas' Annihilators will do against Khonsu.
The shadow's head had taken on the appearance of a serpent's skull, complete with fangs, and the body was a column behind it, stirring around Moord Nag without touching her.
It lunged, and fragments flew off Khonsu's shoulder as the shadow made contact, rubbed against him. It was as though the shadow's body were a series of circular saws, a rasp.
Khonsu's field made contact with the shadow's body, catching the middle of its body. Moord Nag didn't even flinch as her serpent was trisected, the middle section dragged away.
"Weaver, how the fuck did you get to South America?" It was Tecton. "The Director is flipping out."
"Not revenge. It doesn't matter. I-" I stopped short as a fresh circle appeared. The placement, the timing…
Legend had been caught.
"Weaver?"
Legend became a blur within the field. Then, in a matter of two or three seconds, the entire space filled with a red light. It slowly became white. Khonsu's power apparently affected all of the space above the bubble, reaching into the stratosphere. It was like a pillar of light.
It was impossible to say exactly how he did it, but Eidolon managed to catch the light before it could turn the battlefield into a smoking ruin. It condensed into a ball, swinging around past Eidolon as if he were a planet and it was in orbit, and then flew into Khonsu and Alexandria with a slingshot turn.
Alexandria had been stripped of much of her costume, but she fought on without a trace of modesty. Legend, too, seemed unfazed, unaffected by however many years he'd spent in Khonsu's trap.
Phir Sē's death was confirmed in the last Chapter, I almost forgot about him. I don't understand how he died because he had his personal Nightcrawler ready to protect him, but maybe the man wasn't so fast to teleport both of them at the right moment. Well, what can I say...his daughter will survive and I'm fine with this
. Anyway, RIP Phir Sē, you're...an interesting guy, to say at least. Now I can't stop imagining what kind of couple someone like Phir Sē and Doctor Mother would have made if they'd ever had this opportunity. Such a
genocidal cute couple made in
hell Heaven and Willdbow just killed this opportunity total offscreen. Just IMAGINE:
Phir Sē: For the good of humanity, I'm ready to sacrifice my whole family and my entire country.
Doctor Mother: For the good of humanity, I'm ready to sacrifice 5000 people just to make psycho warlords happy.
Phir Sē: I'm not very good at expressing my feelings in english, but you're definitely the woman of my dreams, Doctor.
Doctor Mother: You're making me blush, kind sir.
Phir Sē: I can make you the happiest woman in the world if you'll allow me.
Doctor Mother: Yes, we can do plenty of ruthless and utterly amoral utilitarian acts together.
Phir Sē: You're a treasure, Doctor.
Come on, Wilbow, you just killed this promising pairing offscreen, no less (I even had a ship name for them: Time Lords -mainsteam, but fitting). You meanie.
Back to the fight, NO TIME FOR ROMANCE WHEN WE HAVE A MOTHERFUCKING FIGHT WITH A MOTHERFUCKING BEAST
.
Moord Nag can make her Skull Shadow Pet grows at huge proportions, big enough for her to ride it. Does it have a name? Ok, I guess that I'll stick with Skull Shadow Pet until I'll know its name. Moord Nag must have a permanent pissed off mode, I swear. She was tense during the Cauldron meeting, she's tense during this fight too. She doesn't like what she's doing, this is clear for now
. She have control over her power so I can't say exactly that her Passenger is the one pulling the strings of her mind and behavior. But Echidna was in control of her power too, her Passenger masterfully piloting her. What if Moord Nag is in control of her power but she isn't in control of herself? If she was a psycho or simply nuts she'd have enjoyed this fight but there's no joy in her behavior, as Weaver observed. Probably she doesn't like that she have to kill 5000 souls for her power but she can't do anything in this matter because her Passenger is the one pulling the strings and she have zero free will left. Some parahumans are victims themselves to their own assholes Passengers, this is a thing that I easily noticed. What if this warlady is a victim of her own Passenger? I know so little about her yet I feel like I know her for Chapters. She's hard to be read yet she seems easier than most people. Someone like...Bitch? Simple yet complicated? "sighs" I don't know if I want to just dislike her or dislike her AND feel pity for her, I'm not sure yet, but I want to see more of her. Hell, I'm torn apart between wanting her to die at the end of this battle because 5000 of souls will survive if she's no longer alive and wanting this complicated piece of shit to survive because I want to see how much she's still human and how much she's alien. Maybe...for the sake of 5000 people, she can die but I will get an Interlude about her and other parahumans like her? Glaistig Uaine too? That will be a compromise between my moral side and my curious side
.
Spider silk extended between me and the various capes around me. These guys were South American. Three out of four would be in league with the various criminal factions and cartels. One in four were 'heroes'. I couldn't tell the difference between them. The cues and details in their costumes weren't ones I was familiar with. The choices in color, style, attitude and more were too similar. A cultural gap I couldn't wrap my head around, in any event.
Things were confused further by the fact that, by many accounts, the villains running or serving within the cartels were the ones sponsored by the government. The 'heroes', in turn, were rogue agents.
Califa de Perro, King of Dogs, howled and joined the fight, ready to capitalize on the success. In the same instant, I sensed my bugs being eliminated. Notdying, per se, but being eradicated from existence. The ones who'd been following after the column had been caught inside.
It was the moment I realized that the motherfucker was reinforced. He had forcefields set between layers, so he couldn't be wiped out in a matter of good hits like Behemoth had been. It was eerily reminiscent of Glory Girl.
Still, he was feeling the hurt. Moord Nag's shadow ripped into the site of the injury, widening it, danced back as Khonsu swung one arm at the skull, clipping and shattering one antler, and then lunged again, driving itself into another injured area.
The Endbringer teleported, and thanks to the Thanda, we were collectively teleported with it. My bugs, Moord Nag's shadow, and several tinker-made mechanical soldiers were left behind, as we found ourselves on a beach riddled with stones the size of my fist. Silos bigger than most apartment buildings loomed just over the hill.
I like how Phir Sē's people are helping because they can show gratitude to someone who helped their boss. It's nice of them. Real gratitude is a very rare thing during these days and must be treasured like a diamond
. Moord Nag's beast is a pretty strong combatant but not even it managed to hurt Khonsu enough so heroes can have a chance to kill him, he only retreated for a while then he'll probably return more once he'll be healed enough. Or he'll have his orders from Simurgh. I still think that Eidolon is responsible of Endbringers' creation and his first Endbringer was Simurgh- she's like a queen general of the other Endbringers, because she's the smartest and more powerful one. Gosh, for Eidolon' sake, I hope that his power is responsible for creating these monsters, not his own will, because if he consciously created them only to have stronger adversaries, then he's the BIGGEST MONSTER IN THE WORLD, bigger than the monsters that he created. God, don't make Eidolon so colossal irresponsible and with such a little respect for human life because that will be worse than anything he ever did for Cauldron or Cauldron ever did for themselves
. That will make someone like Jack fucking congratulate him. If it was his Passenger alone and he isn't even aware of what it did behind his back of his mind, then he's more like a tragic monster than an actual pure monster. Still a monster because he's the host of his Passenger and his Passenger responded to his PERSONAL NEEDS AND WISHES, but someone more like Sveta (Gosh, I miss my artistic little lady, when I'll see her again?) than Jack. Still a tragic monster that should be stopped before more millions of people will die due to Endbringers (I talked with my father- he's currently at the next Arc, and we both agree over Eidolon more or less consciously responsibility for Endbringers and my father said that the only way for humanity to permanently stop them is through Eidolon's death. If he will die, the his Passenger will have no reason to keep Endbringers alive and they'll naturally die. I was like: but Eidolon is a hero and if it isn't exactly his fault, he should not die for the sins of his Passenger. Maybe he can convince his power to destroy the Endbringers and then everything will be fine without him having to die. My father was like: what if he can't convince his Passenger to help him destroy their creations? What if only his death will be enough for these biological weapons of mass destruction to stop existing? Besides, Eidolon is not without sin. Remember him knowing about Cauldron and helping them? -He then asked me what I'll prefer: the death of one single shady and sinful hero or the death of more millions of innocents and cool heroes? I answered that if it was Legend in Eidolon's place, I would not like at all the idea of him dying, but with Eidolon I can make an exception. My father liked my answer and told me that sometimes I'm pretty wise. Just SOMETIMES?) Ok, I'm pretty obsessed with this theory and I realized that I'm rambling. Let's move on.
Speaking about Legend, this man is so incredible badass its hurt. He literally turned into light to avoid getting killed in Khonsu's time fields because...light is faster than time. Good that I paid attention in physics class.
Randomly, Teacher: You're getting an A.
Me: NO, FUCK, NOOOOO FROM YOU "runs with the speed of light"
.
My phone rang. I felt only alarm for a brief second, my blood running cold.
"Weaver, where the fuck did you go?"
I didn't push the offensive. I'd been working on that in the therapy sessions, not treating social interactions like fights. Calm, patient, I dragged my finger down the side of the screen. The text scrolled down.
Indiscriminate, January 20th, 2012 // Khonsu
Notes: First appearance. Scion/Moord Nag victory. List of all one hundred and sixty three targets and casualty numbers here.
Lüderitz, April 2nd, 2012 // Leviathan
Notes: Loss? Driven away by Eidolon. Secondary targets Swakopmund, Gamba, Port-Gentil and Sulima.
Target/Consquence: Moord Nag. Guerilla tactics continue, losses in notable but not devastating numbers, but his target survives.
Manchester, June 5th, 2012 // Simurgh
Notes: Defeat, no kill.
Target/consequence: still unknown. Tie to Lord Walston?
"But," he said, echoing me as he cut me off. "Take a second and think about what you say next. Grace asked me to call because, I'd like to think, I'm a pretty calm, laid back guy. All things considered, anyways. But I'm on the verge of being pissed at you, and saying the wrong thing now will push this from me being angry in terms of something professional to me being pissed because of something personal."
So many Endbringers attacks lately, these monsters simply went crazy after Behemoth's death. They just can't stop attacking. Or Eidolon can't stop waiting for a GOOD fight. Or both. Btw, now I think it's time to answer to the second question: if there's another Endbringer besides Simurgh, Leviathan and Khonsu, then what kind of powers I think that it will get? Simple speculation, judging by the fact that each Endbringer represent an element: Simurgh- air, Behemoth- earth and fire, Leviathan- water, Khonsu- time, I think the next Endbringer will represent space. Something like the Endbringer version of Vista, able to manipulate the space around it. And if there's another one...I don't know...metal or wood? With powers over nature? But I think that the space Endbringer will not be far away from the time one
.
Taylor breaking rules with no care at all. Well, I don't like authority too but I respect the rules even when I don't agree with some of them. Taylor shares my dislike for authority but unlike me, she doesn't give an ant' shit about respecting the rules. She switched the sides, but she's still playing by her rules. Classical Taylor
. She even managed to piss off Tecton which isn't an easy feat. Good job, Taylor, but you still forgot to call him a fucking Tinker to make sure that he'll be permanently pissed. "shakes her head" Poor, poor Tecton.
I stopped at the entry that followed. I clicked it. The one for Bucharest.
The video box opened up, but it was dark, the camera covered by my hair at the outset. There was only audio.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." It was Grace.
"Are you hurt?" Tecton's voice.
"Golem is. Shit."
It was only a second later that it became clear just why Annex was swearing. The city shifted. Roads narrowed, doors splintered and were virtually spat out of the frames as the door frames themselves narrowed.
The image on the camera veered. I'd seen the shift coming, and the bugs on the faces of the buildings let me know that the attack was coming a fraction of a second in advance. As buildings on either side of me lunged closer together by a scale of five or six feet each, spikes sprung from the elaborate architecture, from gargoyle's mouths at either side of a short flight of stairs, from the sign that bore a store's name, a blade rising from a manhole cover… ten or twelve spikes, for me alone, each fifteen or twenty feet long. They criss-crossed, came from every direction.
The camera had gone very still. Then, slowly, it moved again, examining the surroundings. Blades and prongs surrounded me, poised ready to prick and gouge like the thorns of a rosebush, all around me. My fingers rose to the camera's view, wet with blood.
"Heroes, be advised," Dragons A.I.'s voice came over the armband, "The Endbringer Bohu appears to follow a strict pattern. The city is condensed in twenty-four minute intervals, followed almost immediately by the miniature Endbringers producing barriers, walls, pillars, blocking apertures and more. The next phase, occurring gradually over the next ten minutes, will produce deadfalls, pitfalls and a smoothing of terrain features. Following that, we should expect more complex mechanical traps to appear, after which point the cycle will start anew. Be advised that she attacks with the spikes as she enters each phase. Disparities in reports suggest that she is feinting in some cases, feigning an inability to do so."
I could see her. Bohu. She was a tower, spearing into the sky, gaunt and stretched thin to the point where her head was five times longer than it was wide. Her body widened as it reached towards the ground, reached into it, extending roots and melding into the landscape. Her narrow eyes were like beacons, cutting through a cloud cover that was virtually racing towards the horizon in the gale-force winds. Her hair, in tendrils as thick around as my arm, shifted only slightly, heavy as stone, despite everything. She dwarfedthe other Endbringers in scale, one thousand three hundred feet tall, and her body extended into the city. I couldn't even guess at the radius she controlled.
Beside her was her sister, Tohu, who would have been almost imperceptible if it weren't for the glow around her. Tohu, with three faces. Legend's white and blue mask, Eidolon's glowing shroud, and Kazikli Bey's red helmet, each twisted to be feminine, framed by the long hair that wove and wound together to form her body. It condensed into cords and ribbons, and the ribbons and cords, in turn, condensed into her chest and lower body, two torsos made with overlapping versions of the hairstuff, small breasted, with only one pair of legs at the lower half. The colors were extensions of the costumes she was copying, predominantly white here, but with streaks of crimson, green and sky blue highlighting the ridges and edges.
Her four hands were long-fingered, claw-tipped extremities in shapes that served as mockeries of the people she was mimicking. Two of Eidolon's hands with the blue-green glow around them were holding a forcefield up to protect her sister, while a white-gloved one focused on using Legend's lasers to target capes who thought flying up and out of the city was a good idea. Not that it was easy to fly in winds like this. Not the sorts of winds that an aerokinetic like Kazikli Bey could make, capable of slicing someone with air compressed into razorlike ribbons. A hand in a red gauntlet was gesturing, redirecting the wind to blow down, across, and in crosswise currents that formed brief-lived whirlwinds.
Mother of all Gods, there are two more Endbringers
. Female ones. Sisters, no less. Tohu and Bohu. Tohu means nothingness and void in Hebrew and Bohu means emptiness, desolation in the same Hebrew. If you turn them into a noun: tohu-bohu you get chaos and disorder (I'm so happy that Willbow uses so many hebrew terms, he pays a lot of attention to jewish culture -being a proud jew myself, I can't help feeling happy when I see a famous non-jewish writer knowing so much about jewish stuff. Thank you, Wildbow
). It's easy to understand why these sisters are synonim with chaos and disorder. Bohu is literally shaped like a tower and she seems to have space warping powers (I swear that I didn't read further in the Chapter when I was talking about a potential space warper Endbringer. I'm just as shocked as you probably are about how exactly I was with my speculations). So, Bohu can turn the landscape into a hellish area filled with traps and all the things that can kill you. Even her appearance is like she's part of the city itself. Weird but exciting to see in action Endbringer. She also is the first Endbringer (as far as I know) who attacked my CITY. Bucharest. Well, the Earth Bet version of my city. But still is creepy to think that Bet Bucharest was turned into a horror landscape by a monster
. I feel literal shivers. Tohu is the other sister and she....she's the CONFIRMATION that Eidolon created and still create Endbringers. I don't need any other confirmation, Tohu is enough. She have 3 faces of 2 heroes and an unknown pahahuman, it's possible that she also have 3 powers, one power for each face she took. Eidolon care use 3 powers at the same time. Yep, now I don't have any doubt that Eidolon's power or Eidolon HIMSELF is responsible for all this shit. I wonder how Doctor Mother will react when she'll realize that Cauldron created (again) more or less of a tragic monster. Will she take his power away from him? Will she order his death? These are the only solutions for Doctor Mother to fix her fuck-up.
"Thoughts?"
"We've been through a lot," I said. "I owe you a lot."
"And we owe you in turn. We're a team, Taylor. You have to recognize that. You know that. We've been together far, far longer than you were with the Undersiders."
Paris, December 19th, 2012 // Simurgh
Notes: Victory by Scion.
Target/Consequence: see file The Woman in Blue. See file UnitedCapes.
Los Angeles, May 17th, 2013 // Tohu Bohu
Notes: Victory by Eidolon/The Guild. Tohu selects Alexandria, Phir Sē, Lung. Target/Consequence: unknown.
"See you, Taylor. Have a happy birthday."
"Thank you," I said, hanging up.
Eighteen, I thought. I stood and stretched, swaying a little as the craft changed course. A two-fingered swipe on the screen showed the craft's course and our ETA. Another two-fingered swipe returned me to my desktop.
And in the midst of it, they'd wedged in space for an addition. It made for a break in the flow of the footpaths. It forced an abrupt turn, a hesitation as you tried to work out the way to your destination. Accord had drawn out the city plans, and the Undersiders had altered it to make room for this. For a marking.
Two masks, resting against one another, one almost resting inside the other. One laughing, the other not frowning, but the expression blank. They were cast in bronze, set on a broad pedestal, four feet high.
"I thought I'd see you first, Regent," I said. "A kind of apology, for not coming sooner. For not being there at the funeral, if there was one."
"I've hurt people for touching those." The voice sounded just behind me, in my ear. I jumped, despite the promises to myself that I wouldn't.
Then again, she wasn't someone you could anticipate.
"Imp," I said.
I turned around to look at her.
TIME SKIP. 2 years passed since Taylor became Weaver, a heroine breaking every single rule that was imposed on her. Big deal FOR HER as long as she knows that she became so indispensable to heroes that no way they'll punish her anymore no matter how many rules she broke/will break
. So many Endbringers' attacks during these two years, the new Endbringers were especially active. Simurgh targeted someone called Woman in Blue. I have no idea who this parahuman is, can't be the Fairy Queen because she wears green, not blue. Someone unknown for now. But someone powerful enough if she was targeted by Simurgh, no less. I'll keep an eye on the further mentions of this Woman in Blue (I hope that is not her codename because it's pretty awful 🤮). Tohu and Bohu can select 3 parahumans (3 powers) just like Eidolon, as I correctly observed first time. Eidolon still won despite them choosing some of the most powerful parahumans in the world: Alexandria, Phir Sē, Lung. Eidolon's power is going to create even more powerful Endbringers, right? Because he can still win against the current Endbringers, they're not strong enough for him.
Eidolon, your fucking obsession with fight and violence is fucking destroying the damn world 🤬. Maybe is not your fault but you should RELAX for a while and concentrate on everything else, like personal life, I don't know, find a girlfriend, a boyfriend, get married, have kids, you can ask Doctor Mother to be your wife, I don't care. Just....STOP already.
with dedication, the whole world
Do you know what this time skip means other than showing what a great but rebel heroine Taylor became in the meantime? Jack fucking Slash and his army of over 9000 clones (I know how many clones should be but I couldn't stop making a pathetic over 9000 joke, ok?) are more than ready to show the world their collective middle fingers and condemn it to absolute destruction and death. Bonesaw needed two years to finish cloning her happy big family, right? Well, now it's time for them to fucking rise and fucking shine. Great times overall. I hope that Taylor's training sessions with Theo will prove to be very useful because Theo needs all the skills, bravery and power for his confrontation with Jack (well, I can expect from Jack to start cheating once he'll notice that he have no chance to beat Theo otherwise. Because this is what a good chaotic villain is usually doing when they feel like they're losing everything. They cheat. Jack is a chaotic villain and he must follow all the chaotic villains' rules, isn't right?
) I hope that everyone is ready for S9 Clones and I know that my hopes and expectations are extremely low when it comes to them, but maybe...MAYBE Cauldron will help too, right? At least a bit.
I like how Taylor and Tecton became such good friends over the time they spend together fighting against world menaces. For Taylor, Tecton is no longer just a fucking Tinker, he's a friend and an excellent colleague. For Tecton, Taylor is no longer the annoying ex-villain, she's someone that he can trust with his life. They're only friends, I prefered them to be much more but friendship is sometimes a better choice. What about Taylor and Theo? They're just partners? She's just his teacher and boss? Not a words about their current relationship. What if...ok, a girl can dream. But I'd really like a little romance at the workplace and Theo would be such a great boyfriend material choice for Taylor, she needs someone like Theo in her life
. Well, the end of the world is near and all I are is for romance. I feel like a thirsty idiot. But a thirsty idiot romantic at heart, WELP!
I wonder how many people were sacrificed for Moord Nag to keep hurting Endbringers a little
. Thousands? Millions? I'm afraid that Jack will have nothing left to kill if Skull Shadow Pet was very busy during these two years. Well, other people who call themselves heroic or righteous seem to do a better job as fucking the world than you, Jack. You're so fucking pitiful, you have a single job to do and you kind of fail to do it properly. Well, I shouldn't blame you because you're kind of a Sleeping Beauty during this time, I just wanted to point that there are people around doing your job better than you're doing it yourself
.
"Tattletale said you'd be back today."
"I figured she'd know," I said.
"Was it worth it? Leaving?"
I hesitated. "Yes."
I hesitated, I thought.
Here and there, there were people who shouldn't have been paying attention to the scene. A young girl inside one of the buildings with the graffiti-mural on the exterior, holding a baby. A boy was standing a little too far away to see, but he didn't approach to get a better view.
There were a small handful of others.
I looked at the rings on the memorial. "Heartbreaker's."
"He collected them. I uncollected them."
"I'd heard he died."
Imp nodded slowly. "Said I would. I told you I'd kill his dad for him."
"And you recruited the kids," I said. I used my bugs to track the bystanders, my eyes to note more who fit the criteria. Boys and girls, some narrow in physique, most with black curls, others with that pretty set of features that had marked Regent and Cherish. Some were fit on all counts, others mingled two of the qualities and skipped a third. Heartbreaker's offspring, unmistakably.
"I'm glad," I replied. Glad on more counts than I'm willing to say.
"She's been going to the fights, helping out here when we send for her. I haven't been going to the fights, so I dunno how much you've seen her there. She's been checking in on me, wandering around here with her dogs and scaring the everloving shit out of people until I come to say hi, then she leaves for another few weeks. I've probably seen her the most."
Aww, her colleagues allowed her to visit Undersiders, as gift for her birthday
. The best birthday gift, admit it, Taylor. You guys are so sweet, you're gonna make me a diabetic. Willbow is sweet too, because I have the chance to see MY Undersiders again. I missed them so much. Rachel and Aisha are doing pretty ok and Rachel is still travelling back to Earth Bet to see what Aisha is doing. I'm gonna cry, I swear
. They even dedicated a whole monument for Alec. Someone who sacrifice their own life for another human being DESERVE A MOTHERFUCKING MONUMENT. Self-sacrifice is the most humane thing someone can do. I have nothing but admiration and respect for these people
.
But the most impressive thing is that Aisha managed to kill the most Evil Casanova that humanity have ever seen alias Heartbreaker alias Nikos. Not only that she killed him but also she took his children with her. She RESPECTED the promise she made in Alec's memory ❤. Come on, Wilbow, you just stole from me the PLEASURE to see this monster SUFFERING and DYING onscreen. Not fair, not fair at all
. I wanted to see Aisha killing him in every small detail not just to have her saying that she just put an end to his absolute terror over his family and numberless other victims. "siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighs" Maybe an Interlude about Heartbreaker's family will show me what I just missed. When I said that Aisha is basically Arya Stark of Worm, I knew I was right. Not only that both of these girls are freaking badass but they're also WONDERFUL HUMAN BEINGS who are doing their best to protect, help and avenge people who can't protect themselves and are mistreated. My dark, adorable, murderous vigilantes-heroines, how much I love you two
. Aisha also adopted Heartbreaker's children. She's going to be their mother and teach how to live a better life and how important is to have someone who love you instead of treating you like shit and using you. Maybe Lisa will help her raising them too? Gosh, Aisha and Lisa- BEST ADOPTIVE MOTHERS FTW
. I'm so crying right now, I feel so moved by what Aisha just did. Not only that she slained the most horrible monster and saved his family but also she took his children under her protective wing. She did so much GOOD in a span of two years, I can't stop crying and smiling at the same time. Aisha just became my second favorite Undersider, I'm so sorry Rachel, but this little poltergeist ninja mommy is pure awesome, I can't even find enough words to describe how impressed I'm by her actions. And the fact that she'll raise FERAL MASTERS...I seriously wouldn't want to raise them even if I feel so sorry for them (but Masters fucking terrify me and Masters like these little Heartbreakers double terrify me), tells a lot about how determined she's to make Alec's proud of her, whoever his soul is wandering now
. Ok, Aisha, everytime when I feel like the world described in Worm is so hellish, filled and ruined by so many monsters (and when I saw monsters, I'm not referring at Endbringers this time) and I kind of want to Apocalypse to come and clean it completely, I remember that they're still people like Aisha or like Taylor or Tecton, people who still fight for what is good and right and who surely doesn't deserve to stop existing
. For these people I want the world to be saved, despite its ugly side. These people and others like them represent the beautiful side of the world, a side that still survived despite everything. These people give me hope and convince me to not hate their world.
I wonder how Aisha managed to kill someone who could have notice her based exclusively on her emotions and turn her into his loyal assassin or even worse, his sexual slave. Someone probably helped her, she couldn't kill him by herself simply because of his power. But who? Who was so altruistic to help Aisha kill the beast? I can think at 3 people doing it for various reasons. Heartbreaker's kids themselves, Contessa or Citrine. Let's study each one's reason.
Heartbreaker's kids: they're sick and tired of their father and they used their own Master powers to help Aisha kill him without falling under his control. They probably tortured him before he died. Fucking karma, Nikos, you bitch
.
Contessa: Ok, Lisa agreed to help Cauldron for (knowing Lisa) some favors. Lisa wanted to support Aisha in her attempt to take Heartbreaker down. For what kind of favors Lisa could have asked Doctor Mother? Money? Lisa have endless money. Power? Lisa is powerful enough. Sending Contessa to help Aisha kill Heartbreaker seems like the favor that Lisa wanted from Doctor Mother. Of course that Doctor Mother agreed, there was nothing precious for Cauldron to lose with Heartbreaker's death
.
Citrine: Accord trusted Undersiders and his Ambassadors with his plans before his death. Citrine probably took over Ambassadors and continued to remain an important ally for Undersiders. Lisa wanted a favor for Aisha from Citrine and Cintrine was ok with that. Citrine probably turned Heartbreaker's power against himself, allowing Aisha to give him the final blow
.
Maybe the next Interlude will be about Heartbreaker's family and will show who was Aisha's mysterious partner, because she couldn't kill him by herself.
It's Angelica, I realized. The dog lumbered forward, moving at a good clip, but certainly not the speed the dogs were capable of when they went all-out. Rachel was controlling the speed of the other dogs to allow the wounded animal to keep up.
"Rachel," I said. I was overly conscious of how we'd parted, of the way I'd left the group and the awkward conversation during the New Delhi fight. "Listen-"
She wrapped me in a hug, her arms folding around me.
Foil and Parian appeared in a nearby building, the same building the girl with the baby was watching from.
Tattletale arrived next. Grue appeared at the location with more Red Hands as she stepped outside. Where the others had been modest, approaching with a kind of leisure, she almost skipped for the last leg of the approach. She hugged me briefly, then kissed me on the cheeks. The mandibles, really, where the armor framed my jaw. Whatever.
But the Red Hands walked in formation around him, and one, a young woman, walked in step with him, close enough that their arms touched. They could have held hands and it would have been just as blatant.
"Happy birthday," he said, after I stepped back.
I eyed the young woman. She was a rogue, in the dashing villain sense, wearing a mask around the eyes, and old-fashioned clothes with lace around her ample cleavage. Her jacket and slacks were festooned with belts, bearing utility pouches and knives. The glove that wasn't red had a knife attached to each fingertip, a brace around it to keep everything in place.
"Oh. Skit- Taylor, meet Cozen. Second in command to the Red Hand."
They're married.
"She is pregnant," Imp said.
"An endbringer with a lowercase 'e'," I said. "It looks like Jack may have made his challenge to Theo. It's starting."
Taylor is sooooo jealous because Brian got a wife
. Taylor, should I remind you that you're the one who left Brian not viceversa? You have no right to be jealous because the man is now married with a woman who probably love and support him. Cozen is probably what Brian always needed but never got from his ex-girlfriend: an emotional support and stability. Yes, she's a villain but I don't think she's that bad. Brian would never accept a mass-murderess as his wife. To think that first time when I heard about Red Hands I was afraid that they're similar with S9 but now I realize that they're more like Undersiders and Ambassadors as long as they're Undersiders' allies. Maybe this girl makes Brian happy and if Brian is happy then I'm happy for him too. Cozen is probably Brian's best choice in the matter. Taylor, if you ever loved this guy, then be happy for his happiness
.
I like how Aisha taunts Taylor implying that Cozen is pregnant then denying it as a joke. She knows that Taylor is jealous and she intends to really piss her off
. Just be careful, Aisha, you won't like Taylor when she's super-pissed. Besides, I don't want Taylor to lose her cool and hurt Cozen, will only end in tragedies. Many tragedies
.
Well, not like they have time for childish jealousy anyway. Slaughterhouse Over 9000 Clones Nation begins their attack. Happy times
.
Good night and sleep well, my friends.
