Epilogue: Skitter-verse
Taylor looked up at Carlos. "So, who are we meeting?" Her team leader had been vague on the details.
The boy smirked. "Dean and Vicky."
Taylor's jaw dropped. "You asked me on a double date with Glory Girl?" While she didn't expect the girl to attack her now that she was a Ward, she also didn't expect her to be happy to see her.
"Dean suggested it," said Carlos. "He said it would be fine."
Taylor looked at him skeptically, then shrugged and said, "I'm not responsible for any property damage that results."
Carlos frowned. "Vicky is getting better at controlling her strength, especially out of costume..."
"I never said it would be Vicky," she replied ominously.
Carlos swallowed, then put a smile on his face as they turned the corner and saw Vicky and Dean standing in front of the movie theater. "Carlos!" called out Dean with a wave.
Carlos and Taylor walked over to them. Taylor smiled warmly at Dean and slightly uncomfortably at Vicky, who was looking back at them with a worryingly unreadable expression.
The group didn't talk much before the film, with most of the slightly awkward silence filled by discussion about the social happenings at Arcadia. The film itself with an Earth Aleph import -- a fairly mindless action film/comedy that was acceptable as a way to fill an afternoon, but wasn't likely to win any awards unless somebody added a category for, "most excessive use of pyrotechnics." After the movie, the four ended up at a nearby Thai restaurant...one that hadn't benefited from implied reptile endorsements in this universe.
"Vicky, how has Amy been lately? I haven't seen much of her recently," said Carlos.
The blonde girl frowned. "She's fine...I guess. She and Mom have been going to therapy together."
"Really?" said Taylor. From things that Saurial and Lisa had said, she didn't think Amy and Carol Dallon got along that well.
Glory Girl gave her a sharp glance, then softened her look and sighed. "After Dad got healed, he started to be a lot more aware and engaged in things."
"Which is a good thing?" asked Dean.
"Yes, but he began to notice how strained the relationship between Amy and Mom was, and he started confronting Mom about it. It actually led to their first fight...or at least the first one where Dad didn't simply give in. It finally boiled over in a New Wave meeting, and Aunt Sarah actually took Dad's side, which I think shocked Mom enough to make her listen. Apparently, Amy had already spoken to Aunt Sarah about a few things." Vicky's face changed to a look of sadness. "She...told us about how my sister was walking to the hospital in the middle of the night out of guilt."
Without thinking, Taylor reached out and put her hand on Vicky's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Vicky looked up at the other girl, almost confused. "You really are, aren't you? You're also the reason the lizards are here. Dad was picked for the new healing trials."
Taylor flushed a little in embarrassment. "I didn't do much...mostly I just got stuck in the wrong place at the right time."
They fell quiet on the topic as the waiter brought over their appetizers, a combo platter of skewered chicken, fried tofu and popcorn shrimp.
"This isn't really the best place for that kind of conversation," commented Carlos. Vicky was the only one of them with a fully public identity, after all.
The conversation after that turned to safer topics, though Vicky was obviously in a better mood and was more friendly overall. She even made an effort to include Taylor in the conversation, and made a rather intimidating offer to take the girl shopping for new clothes. After dinner, while Carlos was walking her home, Taylor made a comment about the possible shopping trip.
"It's her way of trying to get to know you better," commented Carlos. "I mean, Dean said she's still angry about the bank, and a little freaked out over the changes in her family, but she's also happy about her Dad's improvement and knows that it's all because you met the Lizards."
"So is that why you agreed to the double date with them?" asked Taylor, eyeing him speculatively.
Carlos chuckled. "It's kind of hard to top a first date to a wedding on a starship."
She couldn't help but laugh about it. She also couldn't help but lean in to him when they got to her front door. It wasn't a bad first kiss, though she was surprised that she initiated it.
Upstairs, Danny smiled to himself as he watched through the window as the young man walked away. Downstairs, the front door closed.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ianthe and Doctor Mother were discussing the case of a particular Case 53.
"The problem that we have is that she doesn't want to have her powers removed," explained Doctor Mother. "The reason the girl agreed to take a vial in the first place is that she was suicidal and wanted a new life. She doesn't want to lose her powers, but she would like a somewhat more human appearance."
Ianthe looked at the photos. The "girl" didn't have any feminine traits, and indeed looked more like a skinny teen male. Her skin was grey and pebbly, and instead of eyes, she had a bright red gemstone-like growth in the middle of her forehead. Her power was the ability to induce a dream-like virtual reality on a target, and she went by the name, "Cyclops."
"There's no guarantee her powers will stay the same if we start trying to alter the connection to her agent," said Ianthe. Simple biosculpting also probably wouldn't work, as powers that altered a person's physical form tended to override or revert anything she could do. Linda had been lucky that her tinker agent didn't care what she looked like.
Doctor Mother handed her another tablet. "We do have a good read on what was wrong with her original vial."
Ianthe looked at the information. "This is a lot more thorough than normal."
"David's...your David's, second trigger opened up some thinker powers related to analyzing other powers. Frankly, if we had had access to them earlier, we could have avoided many of the worst Case 53 problems like Echidna," said the woman. The Family had turned over the notes they received from the Archive to the Parahuman Research Institute, the new organization formed on the bones of Cauldron to try and mitigate some of the damage done by the shadow war against Scion in two universes. Noelle Meinhardt was no longer a threat in either universe, but she still served as an example of how badly the power vials could malfunction or be misused, and they used her "cape name" given in Wildbow's notes for reference.
The purple lizard frowned. "Or, it may have just drawn Scion's attention, given the source of Eidolon's powers. He might even have been able to resurrect the second entity."
"Thankfully, that's not a scenario we'll have to worry about," said Doctor Mother with a hand wave. "Do you think you can help Cyclops?"
"Probably, but I have to consult with some other experts," said Ianthe. "At worst, we could construct a gynoid body for her brain. Her power probably wouldn't be able to alter a machine. The Nox might have some ideas about altering the agent directly, but they tend to be dismissive of what they see as an unhealthy parasite. There may also be a mystical healing option that would overpower the agent's resistance."
Doctor Mother nodded. "I was hoping you would have other options you could bring to bear. While I have no doubt that we might eventually learn how to fix it ourselves, there is no reason the poor girl should have to suffer while we take the time necessary to do so."
Ianthe knew the woman considered unnecessary suffering to be inefficient, which explained her concern. It wasn't that she didn't care, but after many years of making what she thought were hard choices to save humanity, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her senses of ethics and morality were a bit atrophied. The fact that Doctor Mother acknowledged this was part of the reason why the Family could still work with her, despite their frustration at how foolish the overall plans of Cauldron had been. "I'm sure we'll have at least one option, if not several, within a few days. Are there any other difficult cases?"
The woman frowned. "Most of the Case 53's are either treated, are still being located, or haven't made any decisions. Alexandria and Legend have been focusing on clearing up lesser threats while Eidolon handles the S-class threats like Nilbog, the Furies, and so forth. There is one that is still cause for concern, however, in that we don't even have a plan for dealing with them."
"You're talking about the Butcher?" asked Ianthe. That particular cape was problematic for other capes to stop, as the original Butcher agent would jump to its host's killer, taking along all of the semi-insane personalities of previous Butchers. Challengers who didn't follow the "rules" for beating Butcher tended to be quickly driven insane. The Butcher also kept variations on each host's power, making it more powerful each time it jumped hosts, and thus more difficult to beat.
"We were hoping the Family might have a solution to that problem?" Doctor Mother looked at the lizard with a hopeful expression.
"I can bring it back to the others and see if they can come up with anything," suggested Ianthe.
The dark-skinned woman had obviously been hoping for a more definitive answer, but had to be satisfied with Ianthe's response. The Family usually came up with a solution of some kind to even the most difficult problems.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Butcher was one of the most feared crime lords in Boston. The Teeth were a force to be feared, but apart from that, no cape on either side of the hero/villain divide wanted to risk being the Butcher's next host. They were one of two primary gangs in Boston, with Accord and his Ambassadors being the other, leading to an odd order versus chaos vibe to things. It was somewhat amusing to many that despite that rivalry, Boston was still calmer than Brockton Bay. That city had forced out the Teeth under an earlier Butcher, though this said more about Brockton Bay than it did about the gang or their new home.
Most of Butcher's opponents would have been rather surprised to see her sitting calmly at a table, eating pizza. Despite being a questionably sane and ridiculously powerful cape, she still had to eat, however, and the pizza was some of the best in Boston. The shop that made it was respected enough to be considered neutral ground by both the Ambassadors and the Teeth, a neutrality that the Protectorate and independents like Blasto violated at their own risk. The Meat Lovers pizza in front of butcher was made with just the right combination of spices, and included a really succulent lamb sausage as one of the toppings.
The half-eaten slice stopped halfway to her mouth when another person appeared in the room. The Butcher's fight or flight response was paused in mid-reaction as she took in exactly
who her guest was. The short blonde girl with green eyes was dressed in a dark prison uniform that appeared in the shape of a shroud. She seemed to have shadowy figures flanking her, a step behind. "Glaistig Uaine," said Butcher. "What are you doing out of the Birdcage?" The Faerie Queen was one of the few capes that even the Butcher felt was worth trying dialog before violence. It was commonly known that she had taken Gray Boy, among many other capes, and that was a power that even Butcher feared.
"The faeries have told me that something interesting is going to happen," said the girl in her odd way of speaking...a chaotic cacophony of mixed voices that nevertheless somehow came out seeming elegant. "I have taken a temporary leave from the Birdcage to witness it."
"You're not here to fight?" asked the Butcher.
"Not today," she confirmed with an enigmatic smile.
Butcher regarded her for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Do you mind if I finish my lunch? Have a slice, if you like."
Without responding, the Faerie Queen stepped up to the box and pulled out a slice. After taking a bite, her eyes widened slightly. "This is quite good," she replied.
Butcher just grunted in response, and finished her own slice. She paused in reaching for another as a sharp, blinding pain appeared in her mind. The sudden pain was completely debilitating, both because of its intensity and because she was used to being immune to that sensation. Her head dropped to the table as blood ran down from one nostril. Her last thoughts were obscured by mind-numbing agony.
Glaistig Uaine reached over the table and put her hand on the Butcher's forehead, feeling the other faerie kept imprisoned by Butcher join her chorus. A shadowy figure of Quarrel manifested to her side, appearing much as she had before becoming Butcher Fourteen.
"You claimed you were not here to fight," said Quarrel, an irritated look of betrayal on her face.
The Queen smiled sadly. "This was not my doing." She then carefully closed the pizza box in order to take it with her. The Butcher wouldn't be finishing her last meal, and it would be a shame to waste such an excellent pizza.
* * * * *
"Well, that seems to have worked," said Saurial, looking down at the sensor readings.
"Yes, and the disintegration torpedoes have the advantage of not risking igniting the atmosphere," agreed the small dragon perched on a nearby console.
Below them, the physical form of the power that was known as Butcher was now a mixture of tattered scraps of organic material around an empty core still swirling with dust.
Behind them, Metis said, "It's too bad that tracking down the individual shards is such a pain in the ass when the cape isn't cooperating. We should be able to track down our Butcher fairly easily given the parallels with this reality, but we would have to do a separate search for any other capes with powers that needed destroying."
"Luckily, we shouldn't have to. David is more than capable of taking care of most of the other threats," commented Varga.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
David looked down at where Ashbeast was meandering across the Sahara. He had no idea why the creature was crossing a lifeless desert, though most of the continent was perfectly happy when it wandered away from populated areas. It would undoubtedly make its way back, however, so it was better to deal with it permanently. Luckily, the current location made dealing with Ashbeast fairly easy. David sent out the mental command.
The desert sands began to shift and vibrate. Ashbeast trudged on, apparently capable of ignoring the unsteady footing. What it couldn't ignore, however, was the massive crevasse that opened in front of it, loose sand cascading down. A clawed hand began to pull on the edge, pushing through the sand to the bedrock beneath to help lever the form of Behemoth into sight. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary for the Endbringer to completely clear the earth. As soon as it caught sight of Ashbeast, it began to drain energy. After a relatively short time, the constantly regenerating explosion of flame around the S-class threat diminished, and then finally went out. All that was left of Ashbeast was a desiccated body that barely looked humanoid.
The Endbringer appeared to pause and regard Eidolon briefly, then began digging its way back down into the Earth. The shifting sands soon covered up any sign of its passage, as well as the remains of Ashbeast.
David let out a sigh. His visit to the Nox, thanks to the Family, had actually resulted in a second trigger, as well as a new resolve to clean up the messes caused by Endbringers, Cauldron's experiments, and powers in general. He was spending his time split between his own dimension and this one, as the Eidolon in this world had gone elsewhere. He wasn't sure where, exactly, but the lizards had assured him that his counterpart was fighting an even greater threat than Scion had been.
After a moment's reflection, he teleported from Africa to North America. The quarantined city of Madison lay below him. It was time to start cleaning up yet another mess.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Alec opened the door to his apartment. While technically a member of the Protectorate, the former supervillain spent most of his days using his powers in concert with PRT medical staff and doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, helping them understand major issues with nerve damage, paralysis and disorders like Parkinson's disease. Most people might have felt a certain amount of satisfaction at the work, but for Alec it was more about being well compensated and largely left alone. Ohio was a bit close to the Canadian border, but that was less of an issue after his father's unexpected disappearance, along with much of his immediate family and most of his father's thralls. Of course, most was not the same as all of them.
"Hello, Jean Paul," said the woman sitting at his kitchen table, drinking his coffee.
Alec stood in the doorway, regarding his eldest sister. "Hello, Cherie." Finally, he stepped inside and closed the door. "What brings you here?"
Cherie took a sip of her coffee. "I heard rumors about what happened to father. I wanted to know if those rumors are true."
Alec hung up his jacket, then went over to the coffee maker to pour himself a cup. Uncharacteristically, Cherie had thoughtfully made enough for two. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
She smirked. "I'm playing nice. I honestly want to know what happened to Heartbreaker and the family."
Alec knew he probably wasn't supposed to share information about that with unaffiliated capes, but he honestly found it hard to give a shit, and Cherie was family. "Our father suborned Toybox."
The look of alarm on Cherie's face told him she understood the ramifications of that. "Shit. The PRT just let that happen?"
He just chuckled. "The local PRT fucked up. Dragon warned them that father was on the move, but they ignored it until it was too late. The local Director supposedly retired to spend more time with his family shortly after that."
"So why isn't father currently carving out his own empire in the Midwest United States right now?" asked his sister.
"You mean besides the fact that he's a lazy, hedonistic sack of shit?"
"Yes, besides that," she said, giving him a look that clearly questioned his intelligence.
Alec sat down on the other side of the table with his mug. "He had one of the tinkers there build a portal to another dimension. The Protectorate thinkers aren't sure exactly where, but they think he went somewhere without capes...or at least with fewer capes than here. Someplace he could take over. They also think he isn't coming back anytime soon."
"And the Protectorate just shared this information with you?"
Now it was the former Undersider's turn to smirk. "No, but Dragon was a lot more forthcoming. Nikos Vasil is gone, and he took most of our siblings with him, including Aroa and Juliette."
Cherie visibly relaxed slightly at hearing that. While some of their siblings, like Candy, weren't so bad, Aroa and Juliette could be frightening, especially if their father wasn't there to intimidate them. Aroa had a sadistic streak, and Juliette was cold and ruthless. "So, with father gone, you're content to go legit and work for the Protectorate."
"It pays well, and I mostly get left alone," he said in a neutral tone. It also kept him from crossing certain lines that were likely to get him sent to the Birdcage.
His sister stood up from the table, leaving her mostly-empty dirty mug on the table. "Well, good for you then. I don't think I'm ready to put on a leash, yet, myself." She began walking to the door.
Annoyed at her attitude, Alec said, "You know that without the Endbringers, the Protectorate and the Guild aren't going to be so forgiving of villains?"
She opened Alec's front door, then turned and said, "That just means you don't get caught." Then she walked out and closed it.
Alec frowned, then shrugged his shoulders and went over to turn on his gaming console. He probably should report the visit to the Protectorate, but that could wait. He liked his sister barely enough to give her a head start.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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Topic: Eidolon Watch
In: Boards ► News ► Triumvirate
Winged One (Verified Super Troll)
Posted On Oct 2nd, 2012:
It's no secret to anybody that sightings of Eidolon have been sparse recently. He's been seen a few times, usually dealing with a major problem like lifting the Madison quarantine. Link to the thread on that
here.
Rumor has it that he finally figured out how to deal with the Endbringers, which is why they stopped attacking. I was wondering, though...what if instead of defeating the endbringers, he simply managed to
control them?
(Showing page 180 of 433)
► MadLad
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
I don't know, Winged One, that seems kind of a stretch. How would you control an Endbringer? Isn't it much more likely that Eidolon figured out how to unlock some part of his power that lets him deal with S-class threats more easily? I mean, he was one of the world's most powerful capes even before the Endbringers stopped attacking...
► Space Zombie
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
If he was controlling them, then why hasn't anybody seen them?
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
Nobody actually really knows what the range of an Endbringer's powers really is. I mean, it's been documented that they sometimes show new tactics and abilities, so who knows what they can really do? For all we know, the Simurgh might be able to manipulate people without leaving orbit.
► Char (Veteran Member)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
I hate it when Void makes sense, especially about something so terrifying.
► Curious_Kitten (Cape Groupie)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
Do we know how many S-class threats Eidolon has handled in the last few months? He was confirmed to be responsible for the Furies and Nilbog. What about the S9? The PRT never really explained what happened to them, beyond saying they were defeated?
► Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
The official story for the S9 is that they were taken down by a little-known affiliate team known as the Justice League. My contacts confirm that, but there isn't really any information beyond that.
I've heard rumors that Eidolon also took care of Ashbeast.
► WildStyle
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
Has anybody heard anything about the Justice League? Like from the old comic books?
► AllSeeingEye
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
Maybe the Protectorate figured out how to open a portal to a dimension where comic book characters are real?
► Char (Veteran Member)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
Right...and the lizards who chased away Leviathan are secretly part of the Illuminati?
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
It could happen!
► SeniorEel
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
No, it couldn't.
What I want to know is what happened to Heartbreaker? Did Eidolon take him down as well?
► Brilliger (Moderator)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
SeniorEel: it's been confirmed that he didn't. The thread to talk about Heartbreaker is here.
► mpPi (Veteran Member) (Verified Troll)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
Eidolon probably got help from the lizards. They seem to pop up when you least expect it.
► Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on Oct 3rd, 2012:
They are very strange, but I'm happy they came. I wouldn't be surprised if they had something to do with Eidolon.
