How to Beat Fried Worms
Disclaimer: Worm is owned by Wildbow because nobody was willing to abuse themselves with it.
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Chapter 98: Hope
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Colin Wallace, Armsmaster, was on edge. Everyone was as the hours, the days ticked by. They knew that it was time. The Endbringers could be early, could be late, but they always operated within a given range.
And the last Endbringer attack took place in November. It was time. They were due.
Getting an alert from Dragon mere seconds before the sirens started going off almost felt like a relief. It meant that the tension, the anxiety, the waiting was over.
Now? It was just a matter of coordinating people.
Phone calls were made, video calls were deferred, Brandish attempted to make some half-hearted offer of sending Panacea to assist the first responders that Armsmaster had to shoot down.
The girl wasn't even 18. He didn't care how valuable she -could- be. Panacea hadn't volunteered herself and the girl was too young.
She didn't need to see what was going to happen.
The Endbringer sirens were sounding through the air, the dual-tone eerie in the artificial stillness as people made their way to the shelters. The Capes that could fight, that would fight, knew that was the warning that they needed to muster up at the nearest Protectorate facility.
The turnout in Brockton Bay was the worst that Colin had seen in years. The Empire, reviled by everyone that was both sane and decent, would usually send a handful of people. They would rotate their Capes into combat.
It was the key reason why, despite being universally hated by a solid 60% of the population, they were tolerated. It didn't stop any of the legal authorities from trying to apprehend the Neo-Nazi scumbags but it did keep them from taking lethal actions unless their leashed rabid dog, Hookwolf, took to the field.
And now they were dead. And Brockton Bay wouldn't be sending as many capes to the meat grinder with their loss.
Colin was pulled out of his dark musings as a cape joined the assembling group. A man in black armor with silvery-blue whorls engraved around it. In the center of the chest, standing out prominently, was a round, clear red gemstone with black impurities mixed through it. On the backs of his wrists were more of the same.
That... was not some Tinker's first super suit.
"Name and specialty?" Miss Militia asked, just as unfamiliar with the black-clad cape as he was.
"Telos," the person, a man judging by the voice, answered without any fanfare. "Reality manipulation. Heavy assault specialist."
Clear and concise. Exactly what Colin needed with so little time available-
The man gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath as an update flashed along the screen inside of his visor.
The Simurgh was dropping on Canberra, Australia. ETA in 30 minutes. Strider would be turning up inside of five minutes.
"Gather up!" Armsmaster shouted to the assembled capes. Nearby, distinctly seperate, the Wards watched on nervously. "We're leaving in five minutes!"
Some were more obviously worried than others. Fenja and Menja had crawled out of the woodwork, wearing their old gear. None of Brockton Bay's independent 'heroes' had shown up, nor had any representatives from Coil.
It was almost universally members of the Protectorate. Himself and Miss Militia, Assault and Battery, Velocity and Dauntless
Only nine people in total.
Armsmaster queued up another diagnostic on his suit and halberd. There wasn't enough time to do anything else, to make any more preparations or plans. There was some brief, aborted chatter by some of the assembled Capes but the tension drove everyone into a nervous silence.
Finally, Colin got a notice in the peripheral of his vision and he straightened out of his parade rest. He uncrossed his arms and said "Strider will be here soon. Get ready."
The words had barely left Armsmaster's mouth when a man appeared within a yellow circle drawn on the ground. The new arrival wore an outfit in black and blue with a pair of goggles covering his eyes and a cap atop his head, offering him an oddly professional look.
Strider.
The mass-teleporter looked around and nodded once before-
With a blink, Armsmaster noticed the difference immediately. The air was an unpleasantly hot 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the winds against his face were blowing strong. Looking up, the Tinker saw a white speck in the sky.
The Simurgh.
"Alright, everyone!" Armsmaster shouted as he turned to survey the group that had come with him. "Wait until you recieve an armband and your orders! The Simurgh is a precognitive Master with a wide-range telekinesis ability that she uses to maintain a debris barrier. Most important is her Trump aspect! She can copy the capabilities of all Tinkers within range of her scream!"
It wasn't anything new. They hadn't discovered anything new about the Endbringers in years.
But it never hurt to repeat the warnings, even if people chose not to listen.
Case in point?
Telos. The armored Shaker was looking up at the Simurgh rather than paying attention to what Colin had to say.
"Of course," the Shaker muttered as he shook his head, his words almost inaudible over the nervous din that surrounded the groups. "Let's follow the same playbook that's failed so far."
Colin gritted his teeth at the disrespect but kept silent.
Telos would learn, soon enough.
"Everyone!" a new voice shouted, amplified through a set of speakers that had been brought for the occasion. Turning, Colin saw Alexandria hovering in the air and speaking. "You know why you're here! You know what's at stake!"
The flying Brute turned to point upwards to the descending star.
"The Simurgh has the lowest direct fatality rate of the Endbringers but that does not mean she is the least dangerous! If anything, she's the most!" Alexandria shouted, her words echoed by the speakers. "Her Scream will twist people! She will turn them, and it will be so subtle that it can go undetected for months! Possibly years! But when that moment comes, you could find yourself covered in the blood of your family, of your-"
"Shut the fuck up, Rebecca!" another voice, far louder and omnipresent interrupted the woman. Colin turned, looking for the source, and saw Telos approaching the Brute. "We all know! This isn't new! You're just doing the Hopekiller's job for her!"
Between one step and the next, Telos nearly tripled in size. The massive suit of armor approached the floating woman, a scowl on her face.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Alexandria, now named Rebecca, demanded.
Colin felt a pit forming in his stomach.
That level of disrespect wasn't new to the man. He'd met one Cape in particular that would freely act so glibly, especially in regards to someone's identity.
"Upsilon," Telos declared. "I told you that I'd see you all in Canberra, Becca."
Upsilon? Colin wondered how many names one Cape could have. Because that was not -just- Upsilon. That was Alec Mist. That was Goonion. That was Apollyon.
How many other handles was the monster operating under?
"...You knew," Alexandria said, her voice losing its heat. "You always knew."
"Yes," the armored giant stated. It turned to face the descending angel and a weapon appeared in its right hand. It was an unusual weapon, to say the very least. The edge glowed with some form of wicked, silver light that had goosebumps crawling down Colin's back and it was held to a pitch-black fuller with rivets that glowed with the same silvery-blue light as the filigree on the armor. "And I'll be ending her games. Here and now."
"Are you really arrogant enough to think you can succeed where we've failed?" Alexandria demanded, rage creeping into her voice. "What can you do that we haven't already tried?!"
"Very simple, Rebecca Costa Brown," Upsilon said as the giant began to walk towards the city center, where the Simurgh was likely going to touch down. "I'm going to win."
Colin gripped his halberd so tightly it felt like his fingers might break.
The arrogance!
The gall!
Upsilon was surrounded by a blue aura and placed one foot in front of the other-
Before taking off with such speed and force that countless Capes around him were knocked to the ground!
Colin watched the man go, running at speeds even Velocity would struggle to match, and sighed in frustration.
Upsilon would learn the hard way, then.