While I can't say I like Emma here, I do certainly like her character. Understandable, if not quite justified. And it takes a skilled writer to remind us that the bad guys are people too, so I salute you for that.
Yet, they stand against our Glorious Overlord Annatar. And for that, their choices are to either bow in service, or be culled on the icy blade of Iphannis.
Regardless of their fate, I eagerly await seeing what lies ahead.
How did Emma ever get a chance to see Taylor after triggering before she joined the E88? Just sheer luck?
Also, wow, Emma. Her response to seeing visions of Annatar making an army of monsters is not to go to the PRT--the guys who deal with Nilbog constantly--but to join up with a gang of Nazis. The guys who basically made the "army of monsters" trope into a modern-day IRL thing (though Imperial Japan kind of had them beat in many regards).
I love how Emma continuously says that Annatar has done all of these horrible things--mastering her teammates, using and abandoning people, discarding people who aren't useful to her--and then, when asked if she actually knows if any of those things are true, she basically answers "not really, no". Like, christ, Emma, you yourself just admitted to joining the Empire to use them against Annatar. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at fucking castles.
The thing about forgiveness is that it is not solely for the sake of the wrongdoer. Forgiving another person brings healing and release to the forgiver. Withholding forgiveness is harmful to oneself more than anything. Here, Taylor's rejection of Emma resulted in creating her (potentially) worst enemy. But Taylor's forgiveness of Sophia gave her a best friend, and strongest ally. The whole scenario plays out so beautifully I have to wonder if this was the authors intention. If Emma really wants to stop Sauron, she needs to get on her knees and beg for Taylor's forgiveness. Instead, she's gunning for revenge, in the face of her own hypocrisy. Eye for an eye leaves everyone blind, and fighting fire with fire burns everything equally.
I do like the way that Emma talks about her best friend suddenly turning on her for no known reason, while knowing full well that she's the 'weak normal human' that's been abandoned for a bad ass parahuman. The way she's aware of the bitter irony of this is very well written.
This chapter does raise the question of whether or not Emma told Kaiser that Sophia was Shadow Stalker. She might not have, because she obviously blames Taylor for what happened (even if she knows that she's at fault at least as much) and might just want Sophia as her friend back. But joining a gang of Nazi's isn't a great way to be friends with a black girl. On the other hand, having Shadow Stalker's identity 'leaked' and revealing what she did to Taylor and how it was covered up would cause a massive scandal for the Protectorate and PRT and be an enormous propaganda coup for the Empire 88, and it's not like the Protectorate could explain the nuances of the situation without outing Taylor as Annatar. But given the clear parallels being drawn between Emma and the way Taylor used to be, Emma most likely just wants her friend back (which this absolutely would not help with) and is very good at rationalising bad decisions. So I would say that it's up in the air whether Sophia is safe or not.
How did Emma ever get a chance to see Taylor after triggering before she joined the E88? Just sheer luck?
Also, wow, Emma. Her response to seeing visions of Annatar making an army of monsters is not to go to the PRT--the guys who deal with Nilbog constantly--but to join up with a gang of Nazis. The guys who basically made the "army of monsters" trope into a modern-day IRL thing (though Imperial Japan kind of had them beat in many regards).
I love how Emma continuously says that Annatar has done all of these horrible things--mastering her teammates, using and abandoning people, discarding people who aren't useful to her--and then, when asked if she actually knows if any of those things are true, she basically answers "not really, no". Like, christ, Emma, you yourself just admitted to joining the Empire to use them against Annatar. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at fucking castles.
It's like she's completely incapable of real self-reflection and empathy. She might have a point about not trusting Sauron, but it's just buried beneath her avalanche of apocalypse-grade stupid. I want to see things unfold here, but I'm not convinced she won't just run into traffic.
Emma, in her self-rationalization, decided that the best thing to stop a teenage Sauron is to aim Annatar right at the E88. Emma, did you know last time someone fucked with Annatar, they got the case of death?
She's going to destroy the Empire, dear Emma, and it's all your fault.
Edit: It is also noted that by this action, Emma is also burning bridges with Sophia because she sided with the white supremacist group.
Emma, in her self-rationalization, decided that the best thing to stop a teenage Sauron is to aim Annatar right at the E88. Emma, did you know last time someone fucked with Annatar, they got the case of death?
She's going to destroy the Empire, dear Emma, and it's all your fault.
Edit: It is also noted that by this action, Emma is also burning bridges with Sophia because she sided with the white supremacist group.
It seems terribly unlikely, but still! Maybe Emma is playing the long game in plan "Make Sophia Like Me Again"
Step 1 - Get the E88 to pick a fight with Taylor
Step 2 - ???
Step 3 - With the E88 destroyed because of Emma (and not because of Taylor, shut up) Sophia will ditch the stinky ringmaker and go back to being Emma's BFF.
It seems terribly unlikely, but still! Maybe Emma is playing the long game in plan "Make Sophia Like Me Again"
Step 1 - Get the E88 to pick a fight with Taylor
Step 2 - ???
Step 3 - With the E88 destroyed because of Emma (and not because of Taylor, shut up) Sophia will ditch the stinky ringmaker and go back to being Emma's BFF.
Most likely is that Emma is playing a game she's not aware of. No mention of Coil recently. He's still around and I don't remember any mention of Dinah, so I'd bet he has her. I still don't understand why Kaiser would pull this. It's obvious where I'm going with this now.
There's no mention of any fighting between E88 and Coil for territory. So, E88 and Coil make a deal. Annatar figures prominently on Dinah's predictions as an opposing force for both E88 and Coil's organization in the near future (months maybe). Coil consults Dinah for the best numbers on getting rid of E88 while remaining on top, feds Kaiser something like Annatar knowing all the E88 civilian IDs (the ones Coil knows) and Annatar's own ID.
This also gives a good excuse/reason to reinsert Faultline's crew back into the spotlight, with the former-Coil-employee connection.
Or not. I'm also convinced the Rune interlude was all Emma playing it up to turn Rune away from her Annatar worship, so.
Holy shiiiiiitttt Emma. Holy shit. You might wanna slow down the Train there because I swear you are starting to read like Skitter.
Which is so ironically funny.
You definitely have a point girl. Annatar is dangerous. But you are falling so goddamn hard for the trap of most Thinkers. Garbage in, Garbage out. And trust me, looking undefended at the soul of Marion, post Sauron? That is gonna scramble some shit. Not to mention from reading this chapter I am getting the distinct impression that your power is fucking with you so hard.
Great work Lithos! I mean that seriously, this was a great read.
I like this Rune. I say Annatar loots her for her team for when the Empire gets the cane.
Emma, on the other hand, can go Second Trigger in a dark alley for all I care. She sees Annatar's potential, but sticks to her view that Taylor is too weak. To resist the temptation to just stomp everyone flat, in this case.
Silly girl, Taylor's not laying about with a mace yet and she's not wearing armor spikier than the average hedgehog either.
Yet. I'm sure you'll keep your record going and cause your best friend to make the best decisions, Ems!
Man, you pronounce "crush" really weird, Hookwolf.
...and it's not like you've got a finger to point. I've heard that you're dating a Merchant toyboy. (Hey, if one of @themanwhowas's OCs can be in this fic, so can others!)
He turned back to them, his armor glinting like silver in the light from the streetlamps outside and the dashboard in front.
So... they're using something other than sodium vapor lamps in the streetlights in the Bay, then? Because those would make him glint orange, like a flame in the dark.
"Annatar is a dangerous parahuman, Rune, there's no question about that. But the longer she goes unchecked, the more dangerous she grows."
Kaiser, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Mr. Pot. I feel there's a lot of things you have in common. ...especially since I found him in a septic tank.
"And the more powerful she gets," said Oracle grimly, "the more she'll abuse that power. We have to stop her."
Not like Annatar. With her strong arms and pretty hair and that voice that seems to just reach into the very deepest core of your bei- ...you okay, Rune? You've gone all flushed and short of breath.
Oracle was watching her like that again—that piercing, roving look. Rune shuddered, and was about to open her mouth when Oracle looked away.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I know that makes you uncomfortable. It's just—it's hard to help myself."
Suuuuurvey says:
(See the rest of this conversation for my basis for this. "True believers" don't get worried when someone offers to tell them the truth, Rune.)
Please—don't tempt me to look if you don't have to. I know you hate it when I do.
You know, to a certain kind of morally depraved person* who's willing to ignore things like "context," this conversation has... you know... a certain flavor of subtext!**
* Hello! *waves*
** Shipping.
Drawn inward, curled up as she was, Oracle looked like nothing so much as a kicked puppy.
Are you sure? Maybe you should kick her a few times, just to make sure.
"My best friend threatened to—to hurt me." Oracle murmured. "Really badly. I don't—I didn't know why. I had no idea. There were no hints, no signs, and then suddenly she was just—gone."
Oh, that must be SO HORRIBLE for you! What'd she do then? Make sure you were ostracized at school? Bully you for YEARS? ...no? None of those? She just... dumped you and threatened you to keep you away from someone else?
Gee. That's just... so heart wrenching. Hold on. You stay right here while I go get the world's smallest violin to play for you.
"Betrayal's a bitch," said Rune firmly. "You don't have to tell me that."
Oracle flinched. "Yeah," she murmured, hands still covering her face. "Yeah, it is."
Whups! Hey, Oracle! You just dropped something! Looks like a knife, in exactly the right style to stab your best friend in the whole world in the back with! Oh, it's got a label! "If found, please stab back into Ta-" and the rest is unreadable... 'cause of all the blood.
"I didn't understand her," Oracle said lowly, her voice frail over the words, "and it cost me. It's—it's scary, not to understand."
"I mean, unless it's something terrible and designed to hurt you. Hey, random question, did your mom die when you were younger? Make you cry for a week? No reason, you understand."
"How do you think Kaiser heard her identity?" Oracle asked. "I told him."
Okay, let's just... ignore the other things for a moment here to focus on this for a second. THIS... is, as has been noted in thread (extensively), a major, major thing. This is the kind of thing that DESTROYS ORGANIZATIONS. The knowledge that someone in their group is willing to straight up break the gentleman's code (not just sneakily edge around it when possible) is... very problematic. Because it means that OTHER people will view them as fair game because of it. It's hard to raise children when people know you're actually Purity, for example. Running a company is a bitch if people know you're Kaiser. You can't enjoy romantic dinners with Victor if everyone knows his face!
Like... I know that the PRT plays fast and loose with the "unwritten rules" in canon. But... they at least pay lip service to them in PUBLIC. They don't unmask someone who STOOD AGAINST LEVIATHAN and emerged (sorta) VICTORIOUS.
Basically, all the PRT has to do is let it slip "accidentally" that Kaiser threatened Annatar's family and that Oracle told him how... and the E88 has a major problem on their hands. As it is now, the E88 has a certain... cachet among the black hats. No one really LIKES them, but... they know Kaiser at least pretends to be a man of his word, to be better than the other rabble. But... if he's willing to ignore certain conventions AND has someone who can, will, and HAS violated those conventions.... What's to stop them from dealing with that issue... permanently?
"She's dangerous," Oracle growled. Rune flinched, shocked by the venom in her words. "She's like me—only about a hundred times worse. And she won't let you hide, if you want to. She'll take you by the hair and force you face to face with the ugliest parts of yourself, and then leave you to rot."
And this, this right here... is where she should have lost Rune. She should have lost just about ANYONE WHO'S EVER TRIGGERED. I mean, the implication (at least to me) is that Rune's a 2nd gen trigger. Or at least from a family/clan of Capes. So... maybe her Trigger wasn't as... extreme as others. But... it's STILL A TRIGGER.
Between outing someone and MAKING THEM TRIGGER, Rune's ability to give a shit should be... uh... gone?
"Yeah, I know. It was… stupid isn't the right word. Evil, more like."
You joined the NAZIS. Like... the NAZI NAZIS. The full on "we hate all these people 'cause they ain't white and straight and the right religion" NAZIS.
If, at ANY point, you end up on the same side as FUCKING NAZIS, you are ON THE WRONG SIDE. There is no "set it right" when you're working with FUCKING NAZIS.
And I'm not going to put anyone else through that unless they ask me to."
"You did it to Annatar," Rune found herself saying.
Ooh. Let's just chalk one point up for Rune, shall we?
"That," Oracle hissed, "was different. Annatar is a monster. She's powerful, dangerous, and she's willing to hurt anyone who gets in her way. It was damn time she got a taste of her own medicine."
Uh... huh. Yeah, I'm just gonna point out that you're staring into a mirror right now. (Also: "It's different because I'm doing it to her and she deserves it! So there!")
A lot of other people have already pointed out the blatant self delusion and hypocrisy Emma's showing here, so I'm not going to go into it. But... it IS there. In spades.
She did that to me because she didn't think she could use me.
I... uh... *glances at the last diary entry* Well. I can't exactly ARGUE with that.
But, on the other hand... I can't exactly fault Taylor for deciding to close the book of Emma and throw it onto the "Do Not Read" pile, either. What was she supposed to do? Hug it out? There are Things that cannot be forgiven. There are Words that cannot be taken back. And Taylor... was entirely within her RIGHTS to decide to walk away from someone who no longer meant anything to her. To someone who had systematically spent time and effort destroying and betraying everything built up over a lifetime.
I mean... let me be clear: I pity Emma. But I do NOT have sympathy for her. Where she is now is the results of her actions. Of her choices. They were not good choices. They were not wise choices. They were choices made by a profoundly damaged teenager seeking guidance from another profoundly messed up teenager. But they were HER choices. She knew what she was doing. She MADE the choice to cut Taylor out of her life. She made the choices EVERY DAY to continue to tear down a girl who'd done nothing to her. Who'd been her best friend. Every. Day.
As has already been pointed out by others: Sophia was just... following the nature that she had learned from others. You don't fault an abused, feral dog for snapping at you. That is its nature. You try to help it. You try to teach it. You try to heal it. Sophia... had no one who was willing to show her the way until Taylor decided (for TOTALLY selfish reasons, it's true) to do so.
But Emma... she KNEW what was Right. She knew what friendship was. She knew what trust and loyalty and caring was. And she chose, continually, to turn from it in order to tear Taylor down.
No one trusts a betrayer. No one. Once they've turned on someone... they will ALWAYS have the stain about them. Everyone who knows them will wonder "Is this the day I find their knife in my back?" To paraphase the old saying: "If someone will betray with you... they'll betray ON YOU."
Emma made her choice. Every day. She doesn't have the RIGHT to object to the results of those choices NOW.
So... again: I pity her. But she will find no sympathy in my heart.
With Annatar, I got words and images. They overwhelmed me, almost made me throw up. Fire, ash, and dust that blocked out the sky… armies of monsters, consuming everything in their way… and her eye above it all, watching, commanding the slaughter and destruction.
Yeah, or maybe she just didn't want to have to always watch her back, waiting for you to decide now would be a good time to measure your knife against her spine.
"Anyway, I guess if we're doing the unmasking thing…" Rune reached up and, with a touch of trepidation, lowered her hood. She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you," she said. "Janice Rush."
"I mean, since you'll probably just tell everyone who I am anyways the second you decide I'm not 'on your side' enough."
Seriously, this is something I... just can't see Rune doing here? She knows that Emma has unmasked capes before. She knows that Emma has all but screamed from the rooftops that she'll do anything, ANYTHING, to stop Taylor. She knows that Emma CAUSED TAYLOR'S TRIGGER.
I can't believe she'd willingly unmask here. Not with only knowing Emma such a short time AND knowing that she's proven to be incredibly untrustworthy already.
Fire, ash, and dust that blocked out the sky… armies of monsters, consuming everything in their way… and her eye above it all, watching, commanding the slaughter and destruction." She clasped her hands together, and Rune saw that they were trembling.
Some people seem surprised by how delusional Emma is being. Remember that in canon, ever since the alley Emma attacked Taylor solely because it allowed her to delude herself into thinking that it made her strong. We know this was a delusion because Emma always crumbled whenever anybody stood up to her, so what she's doing now is entirely in character (and eerily reminiscent of the worse parts of Skitter).
...whoa the user's rule-breakingAs is explained in clear and concise language in the second rule of Sufficient Velocity, usage of 'retarded' as a pejorative is against the rules of this forum. You have been infracted for this before, and as such I will infract you for 25 points and give you a three-day threadban from this thread.
The moment I smelled sulfur, I knew where I was. This place had haunted my dreams for weeks.
I stood at the top of a dark tower, ablaze with red, ravenous flame that to me felt like nothing more than the gentle warmth of a fireplace. I rested my hand against one of two spires that pierced up into the sky, made of a dark black material that was neither metal nor stone but felt a little like both, faintly reflective and warmed by the flames. Something was meant to hang between them, but instead there was just empty space.
Stretching out below me was a barren, blasted land. The ground was black and covered with soot, cracks revealing angry red earth beneath. Further east stood a volcano; I could not see the flame, but I could feel the heat, and watch the hot ash ejected into the sky. It blotted out the sun, a grey smoke cloud hovering ever above.
And yet this land was still inhabited. Wretched camps sprawled out across the landscape, dirty and sooty because no one cared to clean them. I couldn't see its inhabitants as individuals from so high up; instead, they were as a mass of insects, writhing and diseased, just waiting to devour any I set them against.
I didn't know why I kept seeing this place in my dreams. I didn't want to. There was something corrupt here, something evil and wrong. There had to be. How else could a land be broken like this?
Purpose, spoke a voice. An imperious, bold voice. Deep. Masculine. I had never heard it before, and yet I knew it just as well as my own. Purpose changed this land.
"What purpose could justify this?" I asked. "This is terrible!"
Look.
Another world unfolded in front of me. The waking world.
I saw heroes and villains fight and kill and die over mere fallen leaves, trivial and insignificant, just waiting to blow away in the wind. I saw men and women moving in the shadows, manipulating and influencing and yet too paralyzed and scared of failure to come out into the open and change things.
I saw the Endbringers and the terrible stars buried within their breasts, how they only destroyed and never created. How frail and feeble the world's reply, how little they truly worked together.
I gasped and sank to my knees, clutching my head. The sound was so wasteful, so discordant; it was so loud and chaotic I feared my ears would burst. I heard it all but I couldn't understand, I couldn't grasp it. It was pointless. There were too many voices, singing too many things.
I saw elves and dwarves and men sneering at each other, fighting and killing over trivialities, defying their leaders and their betters and the West. I saw people who could, should, have known better, following foolish, prideful, incompetent leaders, against their own sense and their own interests.
I saw a world where one man broke what another built.
"No! Stop!" I begged, my eyes pressed firmly shut. "Please, stop! I can't bear this, you're hurting me!"
This is the world you live in, said the voice. If you don't like it? Change it.
The vision burst apart. And, in its place, I saw another world.
Order and craftsmanship replaced chaos. I saw forests with each shining leaf in its proper place. I saw cities that machined their people the way they machined their art. A world that ran like clockwork, in beautiful precision. In cooperation and harmony. Everyone finally working together.
And above it all was the sound of one voice. Mine. Slow and smooth and calm, telling a story of a better world. Of my world.
"I-it's beautiful," I whispered. And I knew that something in me wanted to rebel, to reject this place in disgust, but that part of me was sleeping now, and my heart held only desire.
It is.
"How do I get there?"
Build it. You exist to build.
My vision cleared; once more, I stood and looked out from atop my tower. But not over the destroyed lands that had been there before. Instead, I looked out and saw a plain, green with trees, filled with people and animals and men and ringed on three sides by mountains. Even the tower itself had vanished; I looked down and saw that I was standing on nothing.
Then it started to change.
I watched the plants wither and die, their life and their essence sucked away into the black metal-stone of the tower, bursting from the ground already warm, reaching up to wrap around me once more. I watched a peaceful mountain erupt into a volcano, its ash blotting out the sun, drawing all the heat into its own fiery pit. I watched orcs attack, killing and eating men and animals alike, and setting up camp on the plains.
It was the same horrifying view as before. But now I understood it. What it was. Why I had made it.
There were no unnecessary things in Mordor, an entire land consumed by purpose, to become three things. Orodruin, Mount Doom, the forge. Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, the anvil. The Uruk-hai, the Orcish armies, the hammer.
"Tools," I whispered. The forms of my Ring-Bearers appeared before my eyes, flickering and shimmering as if they were but a mirage. I tried to will them away, but they did not go. Soon I forgot why I had wanted them to.
Tools, agreed the voice. A workshop fit to build a world. Not so beautiful, perhaps, but a workshop should be judged by its creations.
"I see that now." When I looked out from atop Barad-dûr, I no longer saw the fire or the ash, the corruption or the decay. I saw the possibilities. The things I could build.
And this place is one thing more. The voice had grown warm. It sounded unaccustomed to it. Home.
The truth of the word unfolded in my heart, like the stinging petals of a razor-sharp flower. "Home," I echoed.
~~
My eyes opened onto the twisted fabric of my bed, lit only by the moon to the east. I was breathing hard, panting, my brow dripping with sweat. I was shivering, my skin prickling as I sat slowly up, clutching my legs as though they were an anchor.
Another bad dream. But this time, beneath the fear and the uncertainty, I felt a strange wistfulness, a sense of loss that stayed with me even after waking. It bothered me. Could I truly want this?
I looked toward the nightstand beside me. 3:09, read the dim LED lights of my clock. I knew I needed to sleep, and yet my hand wandered over to the table. Past my wallet, my phone, my keys. Past the Jewelry Box.
Instead, I picked up a small metal lighter, its surface scratched and dented. I hadn't used it in weeks, yet still I carried it. I flicked it open now, the metal case clinking against itself, and then spun the wheel. An obedient flame burst to life, calm deep blue at its base stretching to bright flickering white at its tip.
I stared into the flame for a long time, feeling the heat, smelling the smoke and watching the flicker, until my heart was still and untroubled once more.
It had been an ugly place. I still didn't like it, but... it really did feel like home, somehow.
I closed the lighter and went back to sleep.
~~~~~~
Thanks to LithosMaitreya not only for writing Ring-Maker, but also for giving me advice on this omake! He helped out a lot. He gets a Zippo lighter. skyrunner also betaed this chapter, and receives a candy "eyeball" on a stick, a local delicacy in some parts of the world.
"The bank job was a distraction," said Alex. "Coil knew the Protectorate would be out of the Bay today, so he hired us and the Undersiders to get the Wards busy on a high-profile crime. Meanwhile, his guys kidnapped a middle-school girl from her campus."
