Chapter 38: Gifts and Legends
- Location
- Maryland
Chapter 38: Gifts and Legends
Dragon took advantage of her new abilities to instantiate a new copy of her consciousness, then asked that copy to take the incoming encrypted video call before returning to her primary task.
Her new self answered the call. "This is Dragon."
'Dragon, this is Legend. How are you doing today?' The image of the leader of the Protectorate smiled at her with genuine warmth.
Dragon's visual avatar smiled back. "I'm doing well, Legend. What can I do for you today?" Dragon always enjoyed speaking with Legend, and not just because he was far less likely to order anything she found morally questionable...unlike certain senior people in the PRT.
Legend paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. 'I'm looking for your input. First, what's your opinion on the Family, the interdimensional visitors that arrived during the last Leviathan battle? Specifically, what do you feel about their motivations?'
That was an interesting question coming from Legend. She would have expected such a question from Armsmaster, and perhaps even from Director Piggot, though the PRT ENE Director wasn't in the habit of consulting non-local capes. Normally, that question would have provoked a certain amount of anxiety, but the Canadian tinker now had a lot more leeway in answering some questions, even from people in authority. "To date, what we've seen from them has been nothing but helpful, and they've actually gone far beyond the level of assistance normally provided by capes."
Legend seemed slightly non-plussed by her answer. 'What do you mean? Many capes show up for Endbringer fights and participate in search and rescue activities.' Admittedly, the Family were unusually effective, but then so were the Triumvirate. He wondered if she was referring to the discussion with Coil...but helping the PRT and the Protectorate take down a super-villain was also hardly unique for independents.
Dragon noted Legend didn't seem to be immune to the typical cape blind-spots. "You realize that while it was unusually short for an Endbringer battle, the waves, weather and fighting still did massive amounts of damage to Brockton Bay?"
Legend nodded. 'Of course. Endbringers always cause massive amounts of damage.' He didn't add in the obvious point that the damage potential and loss of life were why they took such great pains to fight them en masse.
"Yet the city of Brockton Bay today has working electricity, clean water, functioning road networks, completely intact medical facilities, and a level of property damage that's only slightly elevated over their normal state." To be fair, thought Dragon, Brockton Bay was normally more beat up than the average American city thanks to their pervasive problem with cape gangs.
Legend thought about that. Despite the short duration of the fight, it would normally take longer for a city to completely recover from an Endbringer attack. New York City had taken years, and that was for a city that the United States had a vested interest in rebuilding. 'I suppose I'm not used to thinking in terms of degrees of damage so much as whether or not we prevented another Newfoundland or Kyushu. Are you saying the Family is responsible for the rapid recovery?'
Dragon nodded and said, "Once search and rescue was effectively complete and the maximum number of people had been saved, they spent some time fixing infrastructure in the city. I think the magnitude of their work hasn't really been noticed because of just how quickly it was all accomplished." Occam's Razor would suggest to most people that the damage just hadn't been that bad. That was more likely than that a group of alien lizards was able to fix massive amounts of damage in less than twenty-four hours. Dragon had access to aerial imagery of the city after the battle, however, and it was quite evident how much had actually been accomplished by the visitors.
'That is impressive, and I can see why their efforts might have been underappreciated,' agreed Legend.
"More than that, Legend...how many capes make an active effort to clean up the after-effects of a battle, or use their powers for constructive purposes? Sure, many make an effort if explicitly asked, and some put in effort after a major disaster like an Endbringer fight, but it is rarer than you would think," said Dragon.
Legend frowned. 'To be fair, not every power is suited to constructive work, and the laws tend to discourage using powers to do things that could be done by private industry.' Of course, Legend knew that a lot of the laws had been put in place to encourage capes to join the Protectorate, even if he felt (and had occasionally argued) that it also tended to make villainy more likely. It was hard to say how many super-villains would have remained neutral if their only options weren't crime or joining a government-controlled group.
"While those statements are true, it doesn't change the fact that cape psychology on average seems more geared toward conflict," explained Dragon. "It isn't clear how much of that is due to the nature of powers, the nature of trigger events, or just the general state of the world given the number of highly dangerous threats."
'We're getting off track. So, your point is that the Family have been even more helpful than we've immediately appreciated?'
"Yes. I've also had a conversation with my counterpoint from their universe, who has had nothing but glowing things to say about the Family in general," admitted Dragon.
'Really?' asked Legend. He wasn't sure if he was more surprised at the contact or that this was the first he had heard of it. 'Have you shared that with anybody else?'
"It hasn't come up," replied Dragon, "and the Family has done absolutely nothing for me to consider them a threat." That wasn't to say that they weren't powerful, but they had done nothing that broke any laws or could be considered an attempt at extortion, nor had that behaved erratically or in a way that endangered innocents. Unlike the Protectorate, Dragon didn't consider powerful capes a threat just because they weren't under her control. She thought mentioning that to Legend might be slightly impolitic, however.
Despite that, Legend appeared to pick up on the subtext. 'So, you would take any information they provided as coming from a benevolent source?'
"Based on what I've seen and heard from my counterpart, I would treat it as both intended to help as well as likely having a solid foundation in truth," replied Dragon. "From what I've been told, the Family understand far more than we do about certain things...and it's almost certain that we've only seen a small fraction of their capabilities."
'You think they're more than a match for Coil, then?' asked Legend. Legend knew Dragon had been included in the discussions of Coil by Armsmaster.
Dragon actually snorted. Her counterpart had filled her in on exactly how they had taken down their version of Coil. "Honestly, the only reason they're involving the Protectorate and the PRT at all is as a show of good faith and out of respect for jurisdiction. I have no doubt that if it wasn't in Coil's best interest to keep Dinah alive and in reasonable health, they would have already moved unilaterally to affect a rescue." Sadly, the fact that somebody had murdered the girl's parents also probably contributed to their patience, as she had nobody close waiting on her rescue. "What did they tell you that has you so concerned?"
Legend considered what to tell her. 'They provided me with some disturbing information about Case 53's that suggest that they're being deliberately created. It turns out that the tattoo present on each Case 53 is actually a two-dimensional barcode that provides information, including a date stamp, an indication of external deformities, and a mapping that conforms to standard power classifications.'
Dragon's avatar widened her eyes. "That seems remarkably transparent."
'From what they said, it's actually fairly difficult to decode,' he replied.
"Nevertheless, given the amount of attention that has been focused on Case 53's at an official level, you would think somebody would have noticed this before now. Either the information is incorrect, which I doubt given what I've learned about the Family, or else somebody is actively hiding that information," said Dragon.
Legend didn't like the implications of that. 'Luck could also be a factor.'
"It almost certainly is, but that doesn't mean it is sufficient," contradicted Dragon. "I will see if I can verify the Family's findings based on archived images of the tattoos."
'I would appreciate it if you would inform me of your results...before notifying anyone else?' asked the Protectorate leader slightly hesitantly.
Dragon considered his request. "Given the chance that there is a far-reaching cover-up of this information, I think that might be prudent. I'll be in touch."
Legend disconnected, and this version of Dragon reconnected with her primary instance. She quickly wrote and started a program running that would scan tattoo images and look for evidence of an underlying pattern. That wouldn't provide a translation of the content, but it would potentially give her a place to start.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Saurial was tracking her prey through the forest on Gaia. She had finally just asked the Nox what they called their homeworld, and was somewhat bemused that the answer was so...predictable. Now, she was looking for Faith Lehane, the so-called dark slayer, to deliver her gift from Artemis. Faith had asked for someplace remote when she returned from her trip to Hebridan, and the Nox had helpfully pointed her at this jungle near the planet's equator. The slayer had disappeared into the jungle without taking any kind of communications device, so it was up to Saurial to track her down, which was honestly proving to be rather fun. Slayers were apparently inherently stealthy, which was appropriate given their intended purpose, so Saurial had had to call up some old, remembered skills from the depth's of Varga's memory. The jungle was actually large enough that if the young woman had been seriously trying to hide and Saurial hadn't known the point-of-entry, Faith might have been impossible to find on foot. Luckily, the slayer had been camping for at least part of each night, which left a trail to follow. Of course, Saurial could have cheated and asked the ship to scan for human life signs, but how was that any fun?
She finally found Faith moving through the tops of the trees, using the dense foliage and her superior strength and agility to move through the jungle ceiling. The slayer seemed to be pushing herself in an attempt to find the limits of her abilities, and her clothes had a few tears and scuff marks to show that she wasn't completely perfect in her maneuvering. She was still far more graceful than any homo sapien had a right to be, moving more like a jungle cat than a woman. Saurial located the young woman's temporary campsite by smell, then began cooking a pot of hot chocolate, knowing the smell would soon have Faith coming in.
The woman herself soon walked out into the small clearing near the stream where she had built a fire that morning. "Hey, what's going on? Is everything all right?" The fact that Saurial had come to find her raised some alarm flags. Back home, that level of effort to find her usually meant it was apocalypse season, but she couldn't imagine what kind of problem would require help from a slayer that the Family couldn't handle fairly easily. She would actually pay cash to watch most of the demons from back home face off against Raptaur.
"Faith," greeted Saurial with a smile. "No emergency. I come bringing a prezzie."
"It ain't my birthday," replied the slayer with a saucy grin. "Sorry to disappoint."
"Well, given time differentials, it probably is in some universe, but this isn't a birthday present so much as it is something designed to correct an imbalance," explained Saurial. She pulled a long case similar to those used by musicians and photographers to carry delicate gear out of a pocket and set it down in front of Faith. Faith noticed that the pocket was far too small to hold a case that size, but shrugged that off as par for the course for the lizards.
Curious, Faith reached over and unlatched the clasp on the side of the case, opening it like a clamshell. What she saw inside literally caused a pause in her breathing as she took it in. The bow was a medium-length recurve bow made of what appeared to be ebony wood. Instead of being polished and shiny, it had a matte finish that seemed to make the bow blend into the shadows. The limbs and string were thick and strong, obviously designed for somebody with above-average, if not super-human, strength. The limbs were carved with a pattern that looked like falling leaves, while the riser had a magnificent stag carved on each side. The eye of each stag seemed to gleam like reflected sunlight, even when the bow was in shadow as it was now. The slayer picked it up in her hands and stared at it reverently. "Where did you get this?" she asked.
"It's a gift from Artemis. She considers the slayers as being under her purview, and she wanted the other true slayer to have a weapon of her own," explained Saurial. "You'll also need this," she said, pulling something else out of the same pocket.
Faith reached out one of her hands, still holding the bow, and took what was obviously a quiver of arrows. "What do you mean, the other true slayer?"
Saurial poured herself and Faith some of the finished hot chocolate. "From what I understand, both you and Buffy are slayers of the original slayer line, not slayers called by Willow's spell. Scythe was created to be the weapon for the slayer, but nobody envisioned that there would be two slayers simultaneously. Hence, this bow."
Faith looked at her quizzically. "You say, 'Scythe,' like its a name?"
Saurial grinned and handed a mug to Faith. Faith carefully put the bow back in the case and set the quiver down before taking the cup. "That's because it is a name. Scythe is the name of the slayer's weapon. You may have noticed it isn't actually a scythe. It's more of an axe," explained the reptilian woman. Some of the information Zeus and Hera had shared with her while they ate had cleared up some misconceptions from the television shows.
"Does the bow have a name?" asked Faith.
Saurial shook her head. "That's up to you, as the first wielder. You can pick something appropriate."
"Huh," said Faith. "Kinda' surprised." Saurial took a sip of her chocolate and just watched Faith, waiting for her to continue. "I mean, Buffy's the first slayer, she usually gets most of the attention."
"The reason for that, Faith," said Saurial sympathetically, "is that when you arrived in Sunnydale, the group there was almost entirely made up of Buffy's friends and family, and she's always held mixed feelings about being the slayer, so she felt threatened by you."
Faith snorted into her cup. "Threatened by me? She was always the better slayer." The second part was said with some bitterness.
"She was the more experienced slayer," said Saurial in an atypically serious fashion, "by a small amount. You were threatening because you seemed to embrace being the slayer, something she never did. She also had this idea that being the slayer was something unique to her, and seeing that challenged was threatening even if she didn't want it. Keep in mind that she was very young at the time." They both had been, and still were from Varga's perspective. Maybe they really out to do something like that Varga's Angels idea? Faith could probably use a vacation away from the Scoobies and a boost to her confidence.
"That's kind of messed up," said Faith. "But then, so was I, so who am I to point fingers?"
"Everybody makes mistakes, and in a lot of ways you had the deck stacked against you," said Saurial. In fact, she suspected that the Watchers Council had it in for both Buffy and Faith because they weren't Council-trained slayers, and any success by them was an implicit critique of the conservative faction in the Council. Giles had pretty much confirmed that was likely during one of their discussions. "Want to try out your new bow?"
Faith gulped down the rest of her chocolate. "Wicked. You want your cup back?"
"What cup?" asked Saurial with a grin. Faith realized that her hand holding her cup was now empty. She looked over and realized there was no sign of Saurial's cup either. She licked her lips, still tasting the chocolate, then shook her head and picked up the bow and quiver.
Faith pulled the quiver onto her shoulder, hanging it by the built-in strap, then looked around until she found a tree on the other side of the clearing that was reasonably far away. Pulling an arrow out of the quiver, she knocked it and let fly, her slayer strength letting her easily pull the over-strength bow back. The arrow shot forward like lightning and hit the targeted tree dead-center, burying itself until only two inches of the shaft ahead of the fletching was visible. There was a blue flash and a loud cracking noise, and the entire massive tree, including leaves and dangling vines, was encased in a thin sheath of what appeared to be ice. "What the fuck?" exclaimed the slayer.
The lizard girl was laughing to herself. "I copied the arrows off of a bunch that I got from a guy named Oliver Queen. A lot of them have some interesting effects."
Faith had read enough comics as a girl to recognize the reference. "Really? Awesome. What happens when I run out?" The quiver looked like it only held about twenty arrows.
Saurial shrugged. "I can make more. That quiver is bigger than it seems, though."
The slayer looked at the quiver, and realized that it still looked full even after drawing and firing one of the arrows. She also noticed that the arrows had slightly different fletchings, and markings on the shaft below the fletching, presumably to indicate what kind of arrow it was. The one she had drawn had a pale blue circle around the shaft. "So how many arrows do I have here?"
"There are four hundred arrows, minus one now, so feel free to try them out. I can restock you before I leave," said Saurial slightly smugly.
"Wicked cool," said Faith with a grin. She looked down at the amazing bow she held. 'I think I'm gonna call you Serafina,' thought Faith. Strangely enough, she got the impression that the weapon was pleased by her choice.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Julian Bashir returned to his quarters after his shift ended and checked the detectors hidden throughout the rooms, and sure enough, they had been triggered. The detectors were on loan from an old friend. They had arrived yesterday along with a message.
The devices were tiny, hard to notice, and not based on Federation technology, making them perfect for his needs. They were also simple to setup, apparently being designed for covert insertion by an agent. It had been clear that his meeting with Captain Picard had not gone unnoticed by Section 31, but it was also clear to Julian that he lacked the skills necessary to identify any agents assigned to watch him. Sloan was dead, and it was unlikely they would be stupid enough to assign any of the other agents he had seen to spy on him. Luckily, he did have a contact who had access to more esoteric technology.
Bashir pulled out the strange communication device the Family provided him and connected to a pre-programmed contact list entry.
Randall, who was sitting in Quark's bar on the promenade, picked up the call. "What have you got for me?"
'Our targets have been marked,' answered Bashir. 'Somebody came in while I was on shift.'
"I'm on it," replied Randall. He had been dropped off by Vectura in the prototype shuttle, partially as a test of the ship's drive systems. His job was simply to identify the suspected Section 31 agents based upon the radiation markers. To facilitate this, he had one of Leet's tricorders set to scan for the appropriate radiation tag.
Over the course of the next two hours, he pretended to read a digital pad and eat lunch while he was checking people passing on the Promenade. He had identified two suspects in that time. One was a human dressed in a Starfleet uniform and appeared to be part of the maintenance staff. The other was an Andorian dressed as a civilian. He managed to get images of both of them. Both of the pictures got uploaded via his Family phone to Dragon, who used the same connection to access station records. The identities of both men, along with their assigned quarters, came back to Randall. His job would be to put additional detectors in each of their quarters and repeat the scanning process until they had ferreted out anybody who regularly met with the two in private. With any luck, they would be able to identify any persons of interest in just a few days. At that point, Metis, Saurial and Dragon would take a more active hand in tracking down the members of the network. The expectation was that Section 31 had been entrenched in Federation society for centuries, so rooting out the network would take more than just a single quick strike like the one used to take out Coil or the Merchants. Eventually, though, the trail of contacts would lead to the leaders of the organization. Randall suspected that those people would end up having a very bad day when that happened.
"Can I get you anything else?" asked the Ferengi bartender. The implied subtext was that if not, Randall should leave and free up the table.
Randall smiled at him. "Just the bill, please." He would be back again tomorrow local time, and then again for as long as necessary. Maybe if he became a regular customer, he could get the Ferengi to slip him some Romulan Ale under the table. Hopefully it would be better than Cardassian kanar, which he had tried and found to be utterly vile.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The three Jaffa bowed their heads as Teal'c and Jack entered the room. "Master Teal'c, I am Tolmak. This is Lakig and Er'nik. We are the senior Jaffa remaining on your Ha'taks."
Teal'c regarded the three carefully. "While I am pleased that more of my brothers have decided to turn their backs on the false gods, I want to know why you chose to swear fealty to me. The Free Jaffa have need of ships and Jaffa. There are still rival Goa'uld, and the Lucian Alliance is also a threat."
The three looked to each other, but Lakig and Er'nik made it clear that Tolmak was to speak for them. Tolmak replied, "While we have great respect for Master Bra'tac, there are...other senior Jaffa for whom we have lesser regard. Agni and Montu were frequently at odds, and there is much bad blood between their Jaffa."
That explained quite a lot. Bra'tac's chief rival in the Free Jaffa was Gerak, the former First Prime of Montu under Ra. "You are aware that I am sworn to assist the Tau'ri in their fight against the Goa'uld and other threats?"
Lakig spoke. "The Tau'ri have proven themselves to be capable and honorable warriors, and have defeated many of the false gods. We would be pleased to provide them with whatever aid we can."
"I will be spending much time assisting the Tau'ri on their homeworld. There are many battles to be fought there," cautioned Teal'c. "There is use for warriors, but the opponents are not the Goa'uld."
The three Jaffa appeared surprised. "Are you abandoning the fight against the false gods?" asked Er'nik.
Teal'c stared hard at the man. "I am not. However, they are not the only threat. The Tau'ri have a group of hok'taur who are fighting an invasion of orac. My team and I will be assisting them in setting up a proper resistance."
"Orac?" asked Lakig. "What do you mean?"
"There are demons that come through to feed on the humans from another reality. The hok'taur were created to fight them. This war has been going on in secret for thousands of years, predating even the reign of Ra."
"You speak of myths and legends," claimed Er'nik skeptically.
"We have proof that we can show you," said O'Neill, speaking for the first time.
Er'nik turned to him. "Who are you?"
"This is Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri," introduced Teal'c. "He is the leader of SG-1." The team was only slightly less famous that Teal'c among the Jaffa.
"We can take you to Earth and prove that what we're fighting is real," said O'Neill. He himself had seen vampires and demons when he was on the Scoobies' Earth, helping to defang Wolfram and Hart.
The three Jaffa looked at each other. They then began discussing things quietly among themselves. Finally, Tolmak turned back and said, "Very well. The three of us will go with you and verify these claims."
The group of four Jaffa and Jack were transported back to the Ship of Fools and soon transitioned through a wormhole to Buffy and Xander's Earth. Upon arrival, the three Jaffa, SG-1, and Buffy transported down to a cemetery in Cleveland. The Jaffa looked questioningly at Buffy, but Teal'c refused to explain things until they had witnessed her in action, as there would doubtlessly be nothing but disbelief. It was night in Cleveland, and the city had the most active hellmouth now that Sunnydale was gone.
"Why are we here in these Tau'ri burial grounds?" asked Tolnak.
"The most common form of orac on this world possesses the bodies of the dead. Be wary, as these creatures are as strong as and faster than a Jaffa," explained Teal'c.
The three Jaffa peered around them into the darkness, wary despite their skepticism. "We are to fight these creatures?" asked Er'nik.
Teal'c replied, "Perhaps, but first we will watch Buffy fight one."
"Her?" asked Lakig. "You expect this child to fight monsters such as you have described?"
"Circumstances are not always as they appear," said Teal'c cryptically.
Buffy suddenly perked up. "This way," she said simply and began walking off, not waiting to see if they were following. SG-1 quickly followed, and the three Jaffa hurried after them so as not to be left behind. The group came to a grave that had obviously been just recently filled. Lakig started to open his mouth to ask a question, but halted when Teal'c made a hand sign for silence.
The three Jaffa focused their attention on the grave when they saw the dirt start to shift. SG-1 was slightly more familiar with vampires, so they split their focus between the grave and their surroundings. A pale hand pushed it's way up through the ground, followed swiftly by a head and torso. Buffy began narrating. "When a vampire first rises, they're still a little weak before they feed for the first time, but feeding is going to be their first priority, and they're still much stronger and faster than a human." The newly risen vampire finished pulling itself out of its grave and crouched. It seemed to pause for a moment, taking in the gathering of prey that weren't acting like prey, but finally its hunger drove it to leap at the closest target, which happened to be Buffy. The vampire moved at a speed that shocked the Jaffa, but they were even more shocked to see Buffy block the vampire's first blows, then grab the creature and toss it away from the group and into an open area by the cemetery path.
She jumped to follow, giving the vampire a solid kick before it could get to its feet. It turned and snarled at her, its vampiric face visible, but paused at her unexpected strength. Buffy continued, "Vampires can ignore a lot of different types of damage, and they heal quickly." She stepped in and dodged a high kick, using the opportunity to snap-kick the knee that was supporting the vampire's weight. It bent sickeningly in the wrong direction, sending him to the ground, but he quickly got back up while favoring his broken knee. "That injury will heal in an hour or two...faster if he feeds. It's still a disadvantage, though." She moved in, using a variety of strikes and kicks to again knock the vampire down and keep it dazed. "The best way to kill vampires are through sunlight, fire, decapitation, or..." She took out a wooden stake and jammed it into the vampire's chest, piercing its ribs. The creature rapidly turned to dust and collapsed into a pile. "...you can pierce its heart with wood or bone," she finished.
The three Jaffa were staring at her as if she had just claimed that a Goa'uld was going to pop out of cake and start singing show tunes. Finally, Tolmak asked, "How are you able to do these things?"
"Buffy Summers is one of the hok'taur who protect this world from the omac, including vampires like the one she just destroyed," explained Teal'c.
"There are other types of creatures besides these vampires?" asked Er'nik.
"Hundreds of different kinds," confirmed Buffy. "I don't know all of them myself, but we have people who research the demons and explain their weaknesses. Some of them can only be killed in special ways, like with a blade coated with silver, or by cutting out their heart."
"We've got company coming," said Jack suddenly. SG-1 turned to face the approaching group of figures, and Buffy went to join them. Daniel surreptitiously handed the three Jaffa swords made of some strange, friction-less metal.
The six people walking up were clearly vampires. The one in the center was the best dressed, and looked like he was wearing a suit that went out of fashion about forty years previously. "Slayer!" he said angrily. "You just cost me my newest childe. You'll die for that!"
Buffy just rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea how often I've heard that?"
The head vampire just snarled and said, "Kill them!" He and the only female vampire in the group went straight for Buffy. Another three headed for the three Jaffa, while one went after SG-1. Teal'c intercepted the one headed for SG-1. The three Jaffa, while slightly surprised, were still well-trained warriors and quickly brought up the unfamiliar blades. Buffy simply leaped into the fray, quickly drop kicking the lead vampire and rolling back to her feet to block a strike from the female.
Sam, Daniel and Jack hung back, unable to go toe-to-toe with a vampire in melee. "I wish zats worked on these guys," commented Jack. Unfortunately, the Goa'uld weapon had failed to have any effect on the mystically empowered corpses. Staff weapons would likely be effective, but were unwieldy.
"We should test out Federation phasers next time," suggested Sam as she watched the combatants fight.
Buffy managed to come up behind the woman vampire and drive a stake through it from behind, dusting it. The lead vampire yelled out in rage and attacked with renewed fury. Teal'c was methodically targeting the tendons in his vampire's legs, preparing to disable it to make it easier to kill. Tolmak had gotten in a lucky strike and decapitated his opponent, but was now trying to help Er'nik, who had made the mistake of impaling his foe on his sword. It would have been a lethal blow for a human, but it was a nuisance for the vampire and it trapped the Jaffa's sword. Lakig was desperately trying to keep out of the way of the vampire's teeth and claws, using his sword to block, but while he had landed blows on his opponent, that particular vampire was cagey enough not to literally stick its neck out.
Buffy managed to toss her foe away from her, then hurled her stake into the vampire fighting Lakig, dusting it. "Sword!" she called, and Jack tossed her another one of the Saurial-made weapons. Lakig rushed to help Tolmak, and they managed to pull back the vampire attacking Er'nik right before he was bitten. The two Jaffa pushed him to the ground, then Er'nik pushed his sword through the vampires neck, paralyzing it, then worked the blade back and forth until its head separated and the creature dusted. Teal'c managed to hamstring his vampire finally and quickly finished it off.
The master vampire looked around and saw that all of his minions were dusted. He decided discretion was the better part of valor and began running away. Buffy took off after him at full speed, and both the slayer and her prey were quickly out of sight. Even SG-1 was impressed at her speed, as they hadn't seen her run full out before.
"Are all of the foes on this world so dangerous?" asked Tolmak.
"Actually," said Daniel, "from what Buffy and the others have said, vampires are one of the less dangerous foes, although the older ones are far more dangerous."
Tolmak considered this. It was no wonder the Tau'ri were such fierce warriors if they grew up with such monsters preying upon them. He looked to where Er'nik and Lakig were collecting themselves after a tough fight. Then he looked to Teal'c. "I believe your Jaffa would find these foes worthy opponents." He looked to the other two, who were both nodding in confirmation. Once the tales of this fight made it through to the Jaffa on the three surviving ha'tak, there would be no shortage of volunteers to come here and assist the hok'taur.
Fifteen minutes later, Buffy came back, brushing dust off of her jeans and muttering about stupid vampires who try to run away. Unknown to her, her attitude greatly impressed the Jaffa, and stories of the Golden Slayer spread across the ships alongside tales of the battle.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Metis, Ianthe, Taylor in Saurial-form, and Varga in Raptaur-form were all gathered together in the BBFO offices.
"I spoke to Legend," began Taylor. "He is clearly aware of Cauldron and the fact that they sell powers. He also almost certainly didn't realize that they're also the source of the Case 53's."
"Dragon confirmed that he checked in with her counterpart in that reality. She was able to confirm the same thing you discovered," said Metis, looking at Taylor. "The tattoos are encoded with information about the cape on which it appears. She also agrees that the only way this would stay secret for so long is if somebody with a lot of power is actively working to suppress that information. We know at least one member of the Triumvirate is involved with Cauldron, and we know Alexandria and Rebecca Costa-Brown are the same person, which makes me suspect that Alexandria is also part of the conspiracy."
"It would be difficult to keep such a secret from Eidolon, given his proximity to them and the scope of his powers. We also want to consider that there are a group of capes that know for an absolute fact that Cauldron sells powers," said Varga.
"You mean the capes who have purchased powers from them...which is presumably anybody who shares that peculiar scent," said Taylor. Everyone in the Family could recognize that scent quite easily now. "The fact that they purchased their powers gives Cauldron a certain amount of influence over them."
"It's also possible that if they can give powers, then they can do the opposite and take them away," suggested Ianthe.
"We don't know that for a fact, although it isn't out of the question. In fact, if the Triumvirate are part of the conspiracy, then it is difficult to know what kinds of powers they might have that aren't visible to the public. Given the variety of Case 53's, they could have access to almost any ability," cautioned Varga.
Taylor added, "Legend all but told me that the point of selling powers is to increase the number of heroes in the world to help fight against Endbringers and S-class threats."
"Coil was clearly not a hero," interjected Metis, "which makes it clear that not all of the Cauldron capes are heroes. It also seems likely that Cauldron was aware of his activities in Brockton Bay and chose not to intervene."
"Assuming they didn't prompt him," said Ianthe.
There was silence for a moment as they all considered that. Metis then said, "Ianthe, you said you had information from the Nox?"
Ianthe nodded. "The other Taylor mentioned that the Nox referred to her power as a 'parasite.' I went to discuss this with the Nox, who have apparently encountered something similar previously, though they wouldn't elaborate on the circumstances. According to them, powers are extradimensional parasites that are connected to humans through the structures in their brain. They confirmed that they are indeed networked, but didn't have insights into how the Endbringers factored into the situation, though they did say they couldn't be human capes that have been changed."
"Do they know where they come from?" asked Taylor.
"They said that in their experience, the powers are actually entities created by another race. They refused to elaborate beyond that, though," said Ianthe with a small amount of frustration. "They also said that Taylor's power was set to make her more aggressive and belligerent, for some reason. That fits in with some of our other observations."
Metis shuddered. "My power is confirming what you're saying, though it seems to be both excited and anxious for some reason," she relayed.
"We also know that Eidolon appears to be tied to the Endbringers in some fashion," continued Varga. "If the Endbringers are not capes, then they may be an aspect of his power. He passed out when Leviathan fled from us upon our arrival in the other Taylor's reality. The Simurgh also claimed that somebody was making the Endbringers attack us against their will...for however much we can trust the source of the claim."
"Assuming they're tied into the power network, which is our working theory, then Leviathan would have noticed us through Taylor's parasite as soon as we arrived in the local reality, which fits the timing," suggested Metis. "I also think something strange may have happened with Eidolon during the Simurgh's aborted attack."
"What do you think happened?" asked Taylor.
Metis shrugged. "He may have lost consciousness at that point as well. My power seems to like that idea. I can see if Dragon knows anything for sure."
"So if Eidolon is somehow tied to the Endbringers, and he knows about Cauldron, and Cauldron is selling powers...then is Cauldron working with the alien entities that created powers?" asked Ianthe. "That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. For one thing, Eidolon shows up to fight the Endbringers every time, and Legend seems to think the Endbringers are one of the reasons to create new capes."
"Maybe Cauldron is fighting against the aliens...using their own weapons against them?" suggested Taylor.
"There could be two groups of aliens," suggested Metis. "Cauldron may even be the bad guy here, with Legend being kept in the dark about their real motives. Or Cauldron may be allied with one group of aliens against another. There are still too many gaps in our information."
"At this point, while it is possible that Faultline may come up with more information, our best potential source of information is Legend. We also may want to share our suppositions with Dragon and Bahamut," suggested Varga.
"I'll reach out to Legend again after he's had some time to look into matters," agreed Taylor.
"And I'll talk to Dragon and Bahamut," volunteered Metis. "I have a suspicion, one that my power seems to confirm, that the answer to this puzzle is going to be exceedingly important, both to Taylor's world and our own."
"No pressure," quipped Taylor.
"I'm kind of glad that we didn't tell Vicky about this. She was already worked up over alien conspiracies," said Ianthe. "The last thing she needs is to find out they might actually exist."
Taylor smiled. "We're the only alien lizard people in Brockton Bay, at least."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Thomas paused Netflix and turned off the television at the door knock. Orange Is the New Black was a guilty pleasure of his -- one that he didn't feel the need to share with anybody else. He also assumed that anybody coming to his door these days had the potential to bring earth-shattering epiphanies or bizarre adventures. Sure enough, when he opened the door, there was a tall, statuesque blonde woman wearing a skin-tight bodysuit. She was attractive...other than the fact that she appeared to have some type of cybernetic components embedded in her face, and the fact that she was regarding him in a way that was cool bordering on arctic.
"Are you Thomas Raith?" asked the blonde.
"Who's asking?" he said with a smirk.
She raised an eyebrow in a way that reminded Thomas of Mr. Spock from Star Trek. "I am Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. I have a package for you from Saurial." She held out a small box to Thomas.
He took the package. "Thank you? Do you normally deliver packages for giant lizards?"
"Apparently. Vectura felt that I would attract less attention from the local inhabitants." The woman tapped a badge on her chest and said, "This is Seven, ready to transport." She then proceeded to disappear in a cloud of particles.
As Thomas closed the door, he muttered, "She was the one who would attract less attention?" He opened the box and found it contained a silver amulet. The surface of the amulet was carved with the image of a dolphin and a swan. The images seemed vaguely familiar for some reason. He picked up the amulet by the chain and held it up to look at it in the light.
There was a flash, and then Thomas found himself elsewhere. His first, immediate thought was that he was an idiot for picking up a strange amulet without having Harry or somebody else check it first. His next thought was, 'Where the hell am I?' He appeared to be in a marble building in the classical Greek style. Pillows and carpets covered the stone floors, and draperies covered the walls. He peered around, and couldn't actually see an exit from the room, which concerned him a bit.
"Do not worry, Thomas Raith. You are not a prisoner," said a voice.
He turned, then jerked back, wincing, at the sight before him. Standing in the room was a brilliantly beautiful woman. That by itself wasn't a problem, but she seemed to radiate feelings of pure love, and the sensation was almost intolerable for the White Court vampire. Out loud, he said, "Today must be my day for women that are both beautiful and deeply frightening."
She laughed, and her voice sounded like summer rain and the taste of chocolate. "Thomas, place the amulet on your neck."
Almost against his will, Thomas opened up the chain and slipped it over his head. The painful sensation ceased instantly. He blinked his eyes a few times, then asked, "What was that?"
"Your brother's friend, Saurial, came to visit us. She was looking for aid in helping your brother use technology without disrupting it with his magic. My husband was able to create something to help him, but a few of the rest of us decided to bequeath additional boons upon certain other heroes," explained the woman.
Thomas quirked an eyebrow. "Are you saying Harry is going to be able to use a cell phone without it exploding? Cool...and he's going to have a ton of television to catch up on..." He thought through what she said. "So how do I figure into all of this?"
"I brought you here to explain your gift to you," she explained patiently.
He frowned. "I wouldn't consider myself a hero, no matter what you've heard."
"Have you not stood with your brother, and with others, including a Knight of the Cross, against supernatural foes? You have faced the Vampire Courts, the Denarians, necromancers and ghouls, among others. Perhaps more importantly from my perspective, you saved your sister from a life as a White Court vampire, and you go out of your way to minimize feeding on humans," she replied.
Raith stared at her. "How...do you know all of that?"
She just smirked at him. "We have our ways, Thomas. Now, before I forget, your amulet is enchanted to protect you. You will no longer suffer in the presence of true love. It is important that you never let a mortal wear it, however, as its effects on any mortal who feels true love would be...unpleasant."
His mouth dropped open. The normally graceful vampire was stunned gormless by his gift.
"I had best send you back," said the woman, smiling at his reaction. She walked toward him quickly.
As she reached out and took his hands, he finally asked, "Milady...who are you?"
She laughed again. "You know who I am, Thomas. You're wearing my amulet." She then leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Instead of feeling the kiss, though, Thomas found himself standing back in his apartment.
"Well, that was strange..." he said to nobody. He looked down at the amulet. Then he pulled out his smart phone and did an Internet search for the symbolism of the dolphin and the swan. "Holy crap!" was his response when he read the results. Then his self-preservation instincts kicked in. He bowed his head, and said out loud, "Aphrodite, thank you for your gift, and your blessing." For a brief second, he almost thought he heard the sound of laughter in response.
Thomas sat on his couch, pondering the meaning of the gift and what it would mean for him. Then he used his phone to call somebody. "Justine, it's Thomas...I need you to come over...no, nothing's wrong...actually, something wonderful's happened...I'll show you when you get here...love you, too."
Dragon took advantage of her new abilities to instantiate a new copy of her consciousness, then asked that copy to take the incoming encrypted video call before returning to her primary task.
Her new self answered the call. "This is Dragon."
'Dragon, this is Legend. How are you doing today?' The image of the leader of the Protectorate smiled at her with genuine warmth.
Dragon's visual avatar smiled back. "I'm doing well, Legend. What can I do for you today?" Dragon always enjoyed speaking with Legend, and not just because he was far less likely to order anything she found morally questionable...unlike certain senior people in the PRT.
Legend paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. 'I'm looking for your input. First, what's your opinion on the Family, the interdimensional visitors that arrived during the last Leviathan battle? Specifically, what do you feel about their motivations?'
That was an interesting question coming from Legend. She would have expected such a question from Armsmaster, and perhaps even from Director Piggot, though the PRT ENE Director wasn't in the habit of consulting non-local capes. Normally, that question would have provoked a certain amount of anxiety, but the Canadian tinker now had a lot more leeway in answering some questions, even from people in authority. "To date, what we've seen from them has been nothing but helpful, and they've actually gone far beyond the level of assistance normally provided by capes."
Legend seemed slightly non-plussed by her answer. 'What do you mean? Many capes show up for Endbringer fights and participate in search and rescue activities.' Admittedly, the Family were unusually effective, but then so were the Triumvirate. He wondered if she was referring to the discussion with Coil...but helping the PRT and the Protectorate take down a super-villain was also hardly unique for independents.
Dragon noted Legend didn't seem to be immune to the typical cape blind-spots. "You realize that while it was unusually short for an Endbringer battle, the waves, weather and fighting still did massive amounts of damage to Brockton Bay?"
Legend nodded. 'Of course. Endbringers always cause massive amounts of damage.' He didn't add in the obvious point that the damage potential and loss of life were why they took such great pains to fight them en masse.
"Yet the city of Brockton Bay today has working electricity, clean water, functioning road networks, completely intact medical facilities, and a level of property damage that's only slightly elevated over their normal state." To be fair, thought Dragon, Brockton Bay was normally more beat up than the average American city thanks to their pervasive problem with cape gangs.
Legend thought about that. Despite the short duration of the fight, it would normally take longer for a city to completely recover from an Endbringer attack. New York City had taken years, and that was for a city that the United States had a vested interest in rebuilding. 'I suppose I'm not used to thinking in terms of degrees of damage so much as whether or not we prevented another Newfoundland or Kyushu. Are you saying the Family is responsible for the rapid recovery?'
Dragon nodded and said, "Once search and rescue was effectively complete and the maximum number of people had been saved, they spent some time fixing infrastructure in the city. I think the magnitude of their work hasn't really been noticed because of just how quickly it was all accomplished." Occam's Razor would suggest to most people that the damage just hadn't been that bad. That was more likely than that a group of alien lizards was able to fix massive amounts of damage in less than twenty-four hours. Dragon had access to aerial imagery of the city after the battle, however, and it was quite evident how much had actually been accomplished by the visitors.
'That is impressive, and I can see why their efforts might have been underappreciated,' agreed Legend.
"More than that, Legend...how many capes make an active effort to clean up the after-effects of a battle, or use their powers for constructive purposes? Sure, many make an effort if explicitly asked, and some put in effort after a major disaster like an Endbringer fight, but it is rarer than you would think," said Dragon.
Legend frowned. 'To be fair, not every power is suited to constructive work, and the laws tend to discourage using powers to do things that could be done by private industry.' Of course, Legend knew that a lot of the laws had been put in place to encourage capes to join the Protectorate, even if he felt (and had occasionally argued) that it also tended to make villainy more likely. It was hard to say how many super-villains would have remained neutral if their only options weren't crime or joining a government-controlled group.
"While those statements are true, it doesn't change the fact that cape psychology on average seems more geared toward conflict," explained Dragon. "It isn't clear how much of that is due to the nature of powers, the nature of trigger events, or just the general state of the world given the number of highly dangerous threats."
'We're getting off track. So, your point is that the Family have been even more helpful than we've immediately appreciated?'
"Yes. I've also had a conversation with my counterpoint from their universe, who has had nothing but glowing things to say about the Family in general," admitted Dragon.
'Really?' asked Legend. He wasn't sure if he was more surprised at the contact or that this was the first he had heard of it. 'Have you shared that with anybody else?'
"It hasn't come up," replied Dragon, "and the Family has done absolutely nothing for me to consider them a threat." That wasn't to say that they weren't powerful, but they had done nothing that broke any laws or could be considered an attempt at extortion, nor had that behaved erratically or in a way that endangered innocents. Unlike the Protectorate, Dragon didn't consider powerful capes a threat just because they weren't under her control. She thought mentioning that to Legend might be slightly impolitic, however.
Despite that, Legend appeared to pick up on the subtext. 'So, you would take any information they provided as coming from a benevolent source?'
"Based on what I've seen and heard from my counterpart, I would treat it as both intended to help as well as likely having a solid foundation in truth," replied Dragon. "From what I've been told, the Family understand far more than we do about certain things...and it's almost certain that we've only seen a small fraction of their capabilities."
'You think they're more than a match for Coil, then?' asked Legend. Legend knew Dragon had been included in the discussions of Coil by Armsmaster.
Dragon actually snorted. Her counterpart had filled her in on exactly how they had taken down their version of Coil. "Honestly, the only reason they're involving the Protectorate and the PRT at all is as a show of good faith and out of respect for jurisdiction. I have no doubt that if it wasn't in Coil's best interest to keep Dinah alive and in reasonable health, they would have already moved unilaterally to affect a rescue." Sadly, the fact that somebody had murdered the girl's parents also probably contributed to their patience, as she had nobody close waiting on her rescue. "What did they tell you that has you so concerned?"
Legend considered what to tell her. 'They provided me with some disturbing information about Case 53's that suggest that they're being deliberately created. It turns out that the tattoo present on each Case 53 is actually a two-dimensional barcode that provides information, including a date stamp, an indication of external deformities, and a mapping that conforms to standard power classifications.'
Dragon's avatar widened her eyes. "That seems remarkably transparent."
'From what they said, it's actually fairly difficult to decode,' he replied.
"Nevertheless, given the amount of attention that has been focused on Case 53's at an official level, you would think somebody would have noticed this before now. Either the information is incorrect, which I doubt given what I've learned about the Family, or else somebody is actively hiding that information," said Dragon.
Legend didn't like the implications of that. 'Luck could also be a factor.'
"It almost certainly is, but that doesn't mean it is sufficient," contradicted Dragon. "I will see if I can verify the Family's findings based on archived images of the tattoos."
'I would appreciate it if you would inform me of your results...before notifying anyone else?' asked the Protectorate leader slightly hesitantly.
Dragon considered his request. "Given the chance that there is a far-reaching cover-up of this information, I think that might be prudent. I'll be in touch."
Legend disconnected, and this version of Dragon reconnected with her primary instance. She quickly wrote and started a program running that would scan tattoo images and look for evidence of an underlying pattern. That wouldn't provide a translation of the content, but it would potentially give her a place to start.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Saurial was tracking her prey through the forest on Gaia. She had finally just asked the Nox what they called their homeworld, and was somewhat bemused that the answer was so...predictable. Now, she was looking for Faith Lehane, the so-called dark slayer, to deliver her gift from Artemis. Faith had asked for someplace remote when she returned from her trip to Hebridan, and the Nox had helpfully pointed her at this jungle near the planet's equator. The slayer had disappeared into the jungle without taking any kind of communications device, so it was up to Saurial to track her down, which was honestly proving to be rather fun. Slayers were apparently inherently stealthy, which was appropriate given their intended purpose, so Saurial had had to call up some old, remembered skills from the depth's of Varga's memory. The jungle was actually large enough that if the young woman had been seriously trying to hide and Saurial hadn't known the point-of-entry, Faith might have been impossible to find on foot. Luckily, the slayer had been camping for at least part of each night, which left a trail to follow. Of course, Saurial could have cheated and asked the ship to scan for human life signs, but how was that any fun?
She finally found Faith moving through the tops of the trees, using the dense foliage and her superior strength and agility to move through the jungle ceiling. The slayer seemed to be pushing herself in an attempt to find the limits of her abilities, and her clothes had a few tears and scuff marks to show that she wasn't completely perfect in her maneuvering. She was still far more graceful than any homo sapien had a right to be, moving more like a jungle cat than a woman. Saurial located the young woman's temporary campsite by smell, then began cooking a pot of hot chocolate, knowing the smell would soon have Faith coming in.
The woman herself soon walked out into the small clearing near the stream where she had built a fire that morning. "Hey, what's going on? Is everything all right?" The fact that Saurial had come to find her raised some alarm flags. Back home, that level of effort to find her usually meant it was apocalypse season, but she couldn't imagine what kind of problem would require help from a slayer that the Family couldn't handle fairly easily. She would actually pay cash to watch most of the demons from back home face off against Raptaur.
"Faith," greeted Saurial with a smile. "No emergency. I come bringing a prezzie."
"It ain't my birthday," replied the slayer with a saucy grin. "Sorry to disappoint."
"Well, given time differentials, it probably is in some universe, but this isn't a birthday present so much as it is something designed to correct an imbalance," explained Saurial. She pulled a long case similar to those used by musicians and photographers to carry delicate gear out of a pocket and set it down in front of Faith. Faith noticed that the pocket was far too small to hold a case that size, but shrugged that off as par for the course for the lizards.
Curious, Faith reached over and unlatched the clasp on the side of the case, opening it like a clamshell. What she saw inside literally caused a pause in her breathing as she took it in. The bow was a medium-length recurve bow made of what appeared to be ebony wood. Instead of being polished and shiny, it had a matte finish that seemed to make the bow blend into the shadows. The limbs and string were thick and strong, obviously designed for somebody with above-average, if not super-human, strength. The limbs were carved with a pattern that looked like falling leaves, while the riser had a magnificent stag carved on each side. The eye of each stag seemed to gleam like reflected sunlight, even when the bow was in shadow as it was now. The slayer picked it up in her hands and stared at it reverently. "Where did you get this?" she asked.
"It's a gift from Artemis. She considers the slayers as being under her purview, and she wanted the other true slayer to have a weapon of her own," explained Saurial. "You'll also need this," she said, pulling something else out of the same pocket.
Faith reached out one of her hands, still holding the bow, and took what was obviously a quiver of arrows. "What do you mean, the other true slayer?"
Saurial poured herself and Faith some of the finished hot chocolate. "From what I understand, both you and Buffy are slayers of the original slayer line, not slayers called by Willow's spell. Scythe was created to be the weapon for the slayer, but nobody envisioned that there would be two slayers simultaneously. Hence, this bow."
Faith looked at her quizzically. "You say, 'Scythe,' like its a name?"
Saurial grinned and handed a mug to Faith. Faith carefully put the bow back in the case and set the quiver down before taking the cup. "That's because it is a name. Scythe is the name of the slayer's weapon. You may have noticed it isn't actually a scythe. It's more of an axe," explained the reptilian woman. Some of the information Zeus and Hera had shared with her while they ate had cleared up some misconceptions from the television shows.
"Does the bow have a name?" asked Faith.
Saurial shook her head. "That's up to you, as the first wielder. You can pick something appropriate."
"Huh," said Faith. "Kinda' surprised." Saurial took a sip of her chocolate and just watched Faith, waiting for her to continue. "I mean, Buffy's the first slayer, she usually gets most of the attention."
"The reason for that, Faith," said Saurial sympathetically, "is that when you arrived in Sunnydale, the group there was almost entirely made up of Buffy's friends and family, and she's always held mixed feelings about being the slayer, so she felt threatened by you."
Faith snorted into her cup. "Threatened by me? She was always the better slayer." The second part was said with some bitterness.
"She was the more experienced slayer," said Saurial in an atypically serious fashion, "by a small amount. You were threatening because you seemed to embrace being the slayer, something she never did. She also had this idea that being the slayer was something unique to her, and seeing that challenged was threatening even if she didn't want it. Keep in mind that she was very young at the time." They both had been, and still were from Varga's perspective. Maybe they really out to do something like that Varga's Angels idea? Faith could probably use a vacation away from the Scoobies and a boost to her confidence.
"That's kind of messed up," said Faith. "But then, so was I, so who am I to point fingers?"
"Everybody makes mistakes, and in a lot of ways you had the deck stacked against you," said Saurial. In fact, she suspected that the Watchers Council had it in for both Buffy and Faith because they weren't Council-trained slayers, and any success by them was an implicit critique of the conservative faction in the Council. Giles had pretty much confirmed that was likely during one of their discussions. "Want to try out your new bow?"
Faith gulped down the rest of her chocolate. "Wicked. You want your cup back?"
"What cup?" asked Saurial with a grin. Faith realized that her hand holding her cup was now empty. She looked over and realized there was no sign of Saurial's cup either. She licked her lips, still tasting the chocolate, then shook her head and picked up the bow and quiver.
Faith pulled the quiver onto her shoulder, hanging it by the built-in strap, then looked around until she found a tree on the other side of the clearing that was reasonably far away. Pulling an arrow out of the quiver, she knocked it and let fly, her slayer strength letting her easily pull the over-strength bow back. The arrow shot forward like lightning and hit the targeted tree dead-center, burying itself until only two inches of the shaft ahead of the fletching was visible. There was a blue flash and a loud cracking noise, and the entire massive tree, including leaves and dangling vines, was encased in a thin sheath of what appeared to be ice. "What the fuck?" exclaimed the slayer.
The lizard girl was laughing to herself. "I copied the arrows off of a bunch that I got from a guy named Oliver Queen. A lot of them have some interesting effects."
Faith had read enough comics as a girl to recognize the reference. "Really? Awesome. What happens when I run out?" The quiver looked like it only held about twenty arrows.
Saurial shrugged. "I can make more. That quiver is bigger than it seems, though."
The slayer looked at the quiver, and realized that it still looked full even after drawing and firing one of the arrows. She also noticed that the arrows had slightly different fletchings, and markings on the shaft below the fletching, presumably to indicate what kind of arrow it was. The one she had drawn had a pale blue circle around the shaft. "So how many arrows do I have here?"
"There are four hundred arrows, minus one now, so feel free to try them out. I can restock you before I leave," said Saurial slightly smugly.
"Wicked cool," said Faith with a grin. She looked down at the amazing bow she held. 'I think I'm gonna call you Serafina,' thought Faith. Strangely enough, she got the impression that the weapon was pleased by her choice.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Julian Bashir returned to his quarters after his shift ended and checked the detectors hidden throughout the rooms, and sure enough, they had been triggered. The detectors were on loan from an old friend. They had arrived yesterday along with a message.
Dr. Bashir,
It was a pleasure to hear from you again. I have to say I'm not surprised that life has continued to be interesting for you. You seem to have a knack for finding yourself in the path of trouble. I have conferred with my colleagues, and there was a general feeling that the organization you mentioned has been somewhat troublesome in the past. The enclosed detectors will register the presence of unauthorized personnel and hit them with a burst of harmless polaric radiation. That should serve to identify them to a simple tricorder scan for the next two to three standard days. I suggest putting them in your quarters or a similar private space. I would urge you to be careful, though from past experience I know that would be unlikely to sway you, so I will simply wish you luck in your endeavor.
Your friend,
Garak
The devices were tiny, hard to notice, and not based on Federation technology, making them perfect for his needs. They were also simple to setup, apparently being designed for covert insertion by an agent. It had been clear that his meeting with Captain Picard had not gone unnoticed by Section 31, but it was also clear to Julian that he lacked the skills necessary to identify any agents assigned to watch him. Sloan was dead, and it was unlikely they would be stupid enough to assign any of the other agents he had seen to spy on him. Luckily, he did have a contact who had access to more esoteric technology.
Bashir pulled out the strange communication device the Family provided him and connected to a pre-programmed contact list entry.
Randall, who was sitting in Quark's bar on the promenade, picked up the call. "What have you got for me?"
'Our targets have been marked,' answered Bashir. 'Somebody came in while I was on shift.'
"I'm on it," replied Randall. He had been dropped off by Vectura in the prototype shuttle, partially as a test of the ship's drive systems. His job was simply to identify the suspected Section 31 agents based upon the radiation markers. To facilitate this, he had one of Leet's tricorders set to scan for the appropriate radiation tag.
Over the course of the next two hours, he pretended to read a digital pad and eat lunch while he was checking people passing on the Promenade. He had identified two suspects in that time. One was a human dressed in a Starfleet uniform and appeared to be part of the maintenance staff. The other was an Andorian dressed as a civilian. He managed to get images of both of them. Both of the pictures got uploaded via his Family phone to Dragon, who used the same connection to access station records. The identities of both men, along with their assigned quarters, came back to Randall. His job would be to put additional detectors in each of their quarters and repeat the scanning process until they had ferreted out anybody who regularly met with the two in private. With any luck, they would be able to identify any persons of interest in just a few days. At that point, Metis, Saurial and Dragon would take a more active hand in tracking down the members of the network. The expectation was that Section 31 had been entrenched in Federation society for centuries, so rooting out the network would take more than just a single quick strike like the one used to take out Coil or the Merchants. Eventually, though, the trail of contacts would lead to the leaders of the organization. Randall suspected that those people would end up having a very bad day when that happened.
"Can I get you anything else?" asked the Ferengi bartender. The implied subtext was that if not, Randall should leave and free up the table.
Randall smiled at him. "Just the bill, please." He would be back again tomorrow local time, and then again for as long as necessary. Maybe if he became a regular customer, he could get the Ferengi to slip him some Romulan Ale under the table. Hopefully it would be better than Cardassian kanar, which he had tried and found to be utterly vile.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The three Jaffa bowed their heads as Teal'c and Jack entered the room. "Master Teal'c, I am Tolmak. This is Lakig and Er'nik. We are the senior Jaffa remaining on your Ha'taks."
Teal'c regarded the three carefully. "While I am pleased that more of my brothers have decided to turn their backs on the false gods, I want to know why you chose to swear fealty to me. The Free Jaffa have need of ships and Jaffa. There are still rival Goa'uld, and the Lucian Alliance is also a threat."
The three looked to each other, but Lakig and Er'nik made it clear that Tolmak was to speak for them. Tolmak replied, "While we have great respect for Master Bra'tac, there are...other senior Jaffa for whom we have lesser regard. Agni and Montu were frequently at odds, and there is much bad blood between their Jaffa."
That explained quite a lot. Bra'tac's chief rival in the Free Jaffa was Gerak, the former First Prime of Montu under Ra. "You are aware that I am sworn to assist the Tau'ri in their fight against the Goa'uld and other threats?"
Lakig spoke. "The Tau'ri have proven themselves to be capable and honorable warriors, and have defeated many of the false gods. We would be pleased to provide them with whatever aid we can."
"I will be spending much time assisting the Tau'ri on their homeworld. There are many battles to be fought there," cautioned Teal'c. "There is use for warriors, but the opponents are not the Goa'uld."
The three Jaffa appeared surprised. "Are you abandoning the fight against the false gods?" asked Er'nik.
Teal'c stared hard at the man. "I am not. However, they are not the only threat. The Tau'ri have a group of hok'taur who are fighting an invasion of orac. My team and I will be assisting them in setting up a proper resistance."
"Orac?" asked Lakig. "What do you mean?"
"There are demons that come through to feed on the humans from another reality. The hok'taur were created to fight them. This war has been going on in secret for thousands of years, predating even the reign of Ra."
"You speak of myths and legends," claimed Er'nik skeptically.
"We have proof that we can show you," said O'Neill, speaking for the first time.
Er'nik turned to him. "Who are you?"
"This is Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri," introduced Teal'c. "He is the leader of SG-1." The team was only slightly less famous that Teal'c among the Jaffa.
"We can take you to Earth and prove that what we're fighting is real," said O'Neill. He himself had seen vampires and demons when he was on the Scoobies' Earth, helping to defang Wolfram and Hart.
The three Jaffa looked at each other. They then began discussing things quietly among themselves. Finally, Tolmak turned back and said, "Very well. The three of us will go with you and verify these claims."
The group of four Jaffa and Jack were transported back to the Ship of Fools and soon transitioned through a wormhole to Buffy and Xander's Earth. Upon arrival, the three Jaffa, SG-1, and Buffy transported down to a cemetery in Cleveland. The Jaffa looked questioningly at Buffy, but Teal'c refused to explain things until they had witnessed her in action, as there would doubtlessly be nothing but disbelief. It was night in Cleveland, and the city had the most active hellmouth now that Sunnydale was gone.
"Why are we here in these Tau'ri burial grounds?" asked Tolnak.
"The most common form of orac on this world possesses the bodies of the dead. Be wary, as these creatures are as strong as and faster than a Jaffa," explained Teal'c.
The three Jaffa peered around them into the darkness, wary despite their skepticism. "We are to fight these creatures?" asked Er'nik.
Teal'c replied, "Perhaps, but first we will watch Buffy fight one."
"Her?" asked Lakig. "You expect this child to fight monsters such as you have described?"
"Circumstances are not always as they appear," said Teal'c cryptically.
Buffy suddenly perked up. "This way," she said simply and began walking off, not waiting to see if they were following. SG-1 quickly followed, and the three Jaffa hurried after them so as not to be left behind. The group came to a grave that had obviously been just recently filled. Lakig started to open his mouth to ask a question, but halted when Teal'c made a hand sign for silence.
The three Jaffa focused their attention on the grave when they saw the dirt start to shift. SG-1 was slightly more familiar with vampires, so they split their focus between the grave and their surroundings. A pale hand pushed it's way up through the ground, followed swiftly by a head and torso. Buffy began narrating. "When a vampire first rises, they're still a little weak before they feed for the first time, but feeding is going to be their first priority, and they're still much stronger and faster than a human." The newly risen vampire finished pulling itself out of its grave and crouched. It seemed to pause for a moment, taking in the gathering of prey that weren't acting like prey, but finally its hunger drove it to leap at the closest target, which happened to be Buffy. The vampire moved at a speed that shocked the Jaffa, but they were even more shocked to see Buffy block the vampire's first blows, then grab the creature and toss it away from the group and into an open area by the cemetery path.
She jumped to follow, giving the vampire a solid kick before it could get to its feet. It turned and snarled at her, its vampiric face visible, but paused at her unexpected strength. Buffy continued, "Vampires can ignore a lot of different types of damage, and they heal quickly." She stepped in and dodged a high kick, using the opportunity to snap-kick the knee that was supporting the vampire's weight. It bent sickeningly in the wrong direction, sending him to the ground, but he quickly got back up while favoring his broken knee. "That injury will heal in an hour or two...faster if he feeds. It's still a disadvantage, though." She moved in, using a variety of strikes and kicks to again knock the vampire down and keep it dazed. "The best way to kill vampires are through sunlight, fire, decapitation, or..." She took out a wooden stake and jammed it into the vampire's chest, piercing its ribs. The creature rapidly turned to dust and collapsed into a pile. "...you can pierce its heart with wood or bone," she finished.
The three Jaffa were staring at her as if she had just claimed that a Goa'uld was going to pop out of cake and start singing show tunes. Finally, Tolmak asked, "How are you able to do these things?"
"Buffy Summers is one of the hok'taur who protect this world from the omac, including vampires like the one she just destroyed," explained Teal'c.
"There are other types of creatures besides these vampires?" asked Er'nik.
"Hundreds of different kinds," confirmed Buffy. "I don't know all of them myself, but we have people who research the demons and explain their weaknesses. Some of them can only be killed in special ways, like with a blade coated with silver, or by cutting out their heart."
"We've got company coming," said Jack suddenly. SG-1 turned to face the approaching group of figures, and Buffy went to join them. Daniel surreptitiously handed the three Jaffa swords made of some strange, friction-less metal.
The six people walking up were clearly vampires. The one in the center was the best dressed, and looked like he was wearing a suit that went out of fashion about forty years previously. "Slayer!" he said angrily. "You just cost me my newest childe. You'll die for that!"
Buffy just rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea how often I've heard that?"
The head vampire just snarled and said, "Kill them!" He and the only female vampire in the group went straight for Buffy. Another three headed for the three Jaffa, while one went after SG-1. Teal'c intercepted the one headed for SG-1. The three Jaffa, while slightly surprised, were still well-trained warriors and quickly brought up the unfamiliar blades. Buffy simply leaped into the fray, quickly drop kicking the lead vampire and rolling back to her feet to block a strike from the female.
Sam, Daniel and Jack hung back, unable to go toe-to-toe with a vampire in melee. "I wish zats worked on these guys," commented Jack. Unfortunately, the Goa'uld weapon had failed to have any effect on the mystically empowered corpses. Staff weapons would likely be effective, but were unwieldy.
"We should test out Federation phasers next time," suggested Sam as she watched the combatants fight.
Buffy managed to come up behind the woman vampire and drive a stake through it from behind, dusting it. The lead vampire yelled out in rage and attacked with renewed fury. Teal'c was methodically targeting the tendons in his vampire's legs, preparing to disable it to make it easier to kill. Tolmak had gotten in a lucky strike and decapitated his opponent, but was now trying to help Er'nik, who had made the mistake of impaling his foe on his sword. It would have been a lethal blow for a human, but it was a nuisance for the vampire and it trapped the Jaffa's sword. Lakig was desperately trying to keep out of the way of the vampire's teeth and claws, using his sword to block, but while he had landed blows on his opponent, that particular vampire was cagey enough not to literally stick its neck out.
Buffy managed to toss her foe away from her, then hurled her stake into the vampire fighting Lakig, dusting it. "Sword!" she called, and Jack tossed her another one of the Saurial-made weapons. Lakig rushed to help Tolmak, and they managed to pull back the vampire attacking Er'nik right before he was bitten. The two Jaffa pushed him to the ground, then Er'nik pushed his sword through the vampires neck, paralyzing it, then worked the blade back and forth until its head separated and the creature dusted. Teal'c managed to hamstring his vampire finally and quickly finished it off.
The master vampire looked around and saw that all of his minions were dusted. He decided discretion was the better part of valor and began running away. Buffy took off after him at full speed, and both the slayer and her prey were quickly out of sight. Even SG-1 was impressed at her speed, as they hadn't seen her run full out before.
"Are all of the foes on this world so dangerous?" asked Tolmak.
"Actually," said Daniel, "from what Buffy and the others have said, vampires are one of the less dangerous foes, although the older ones are far more dangerous."
Tolmak considered this. It was no wonder the Tau'ri were such fierce warriors if they grew up with such monsters preying upon them. He looked to where Er'nik and Lakig were collecting themselves after a tough fight. Then he looked to Teal'c. "I believe your Jaffa would find these foes worthy opponents." He looked to the other two, who were both nodding in confirmation. Once the tales of this fight made it through to the Jaffa on the three surviving ha'tak, there would be no shortage of volunteers to come here and assist the hok'taur.
Fifteen minutes later, Buffy came back, brushing dust off of her jeans and muttering about stupid vampires who try to run away. Unknown to her, her attitude greatly impressed the Jaffa, and stories of the Golden Slayer spread across the ships alongside tales of the battle.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Metis, Ianthe, Taylor in Saurial-form, and Varga in Raptaur-form were all gathered together in the BBFO offices.
"I spoke to Legend," began Taylor. "He is clearly aware of Cauldron and the fact that they sell powers. He also almost certainly didn't realize that they're also the source of the Case 53's."
"Dragon confirmed that he checked in with her counterpart in that reality. She was able to confirm the same thing you discovered," said Metis, looking at Taylor. "The tattoos are encoded with information about the cape on which it appears. She also agrees that the only way this would stay secret for so long is if somebody with a lot of power is actively working to suppress that information. We know at least one member of the Triumvirate is involved with Cauldron, and we know Alexandria and Rebecca Costa-Brown are the same person, which makes me suspect that Alexandria is also part of the conspiracy."
"It would be difficult to keep such a secret from Eidolon, given his proximity to them and the scope of his powers. We also want to consider that there are a group of capes that know for an absolute fact that Cauldron sells powers," said Varga.
"You mean the capes who have purchased powers from them...which is presumably anybody who shares that peculiar scent," said Taylor. Everyone in the Family could recognize that scent quite easily now. "The fact that they purchased their powers gives Cauldron a certain amount of influence over them."
"It's also possible that if they can give powers, then they can do the opposite and take them away," suggested Ianthe.
"We don't know that for a fact, although it isn't out of the question. In fact, if the Triumvirate are part of the conspiracy, then it is difficult to know what kinds of powers they might have that aren't visible to the public. Given the variety of Case 53's, they could have access to almost any ability," cautioned Varga.
Taylor added, "Legend all but told me that the point of selling powers is to increase the number of heroes in the world to help fight against Endbringers and S-class threats."
"Coil was clearly not a hero," interjected Metis, "which makes it clear that not all of the Cauldron capes are heroes. It also seems likely that Cauldron was aware of his activities in Brockton Bay and chose not to intervene."
"Assuming they didn't prompt him," said Ianthe.
There was silence for a moment as they all considered that. Metis then said, "Ianthe, you said you had information from the Nox?"
Ianthe nodded. "The other Taylor mentioned that the Nox referred to her power as a 'parasite.' I went to discuss this with the Nox, who have apparently encountered something similar previously, though they wouldn't elaborate on the circumstances. According to them, powers are extradimensional parasites that are connected to humans through the structures in their brain. They confirmed that they are indeed networked, but didn't have insights into how the Endbringers factored into the situation, though they did say they couldn't be human capes that have been changed."
"Do they know where they come from?" asked Taylor.
"They said that in their experience, the powers are actually entities created by another race. They refused to elaborate beyond that, though," said Ianthe with a small amount of frustration. "They also said that Taylor's power was set to make her more aggressive and belligerent, for some reason. That fits in with some of our other observations."
Metis shuddered. "My power is confirming what you're saying, though it seems to be both excited and anxious for some reason," she relayed.
"We also know that Eidolon appears to be tied to the Endbringers in some fashion," continued Varga. "If the Endbringers are not capes, then they may be an aspect of his power. He passed out when Leviathan fled from us upon our arrival in the other Taylor's reality. The Simurgh also claimed that somebody was making the Endbringers attack us against their will...for however much we can trust the source of the claim."
"Assuming they're tied into the power network, which is our working theory, then Leviathan would have noticed us through Taylor's parasite as soon as we arrived in the local reality, which fits the timing," suggested Metis. "I also think something strange may have happened with Eidolon during the Simurgh's aborted attack."
"What do you think happened?" asked Taylor.
Metis shrugged. "He may have lost consciousness at that point as well. My power seems to like that idea. I can see if Dragon knows anything for sure."
"So if Eidolon is somehow tied to the Endbringers, and he knows about Cauldron, and Cauldron is selling powers...then is Cauldron working with the alien entities that created powers?" asked Ianthe. "That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. For one thing, Eidolon shows up to fight the Endbringers every time, and Legend seems to think the Endbringers are one of the reasons to create new capes."
"Maybe Cauldron is fighting against the aliens...using their own weapons against them?" suggested Taylor.
"There could be two groups of aliens," suggested Metis. "Cauldron may even be the bad guy here, with Legend being kept in the dark about their real motives. Or Cauldron may be allied with one group of aliens against another. There are still too many gaps in our information."
"At this point, while it is possible that Faultline may come up with more information, our best potential source of information is Legend. We also may want to share our suppositions with Dragon and Bahamut," suggested Varga.
"I'll reach out to Legend again after he's had some time to look into matters," agreed Taylor.
"And I'll talk to Dragon and Bahamut," volunteered Metis. "I have a suspicion, one that my power seems to confirm, that the answer to this puzzle is going to be exceedingly important, both to Taylor's world and our own."
"No pressure," quipped Taylor.
"I'm kind of glad that we didn't tell Vicky about this. She was already worked up over alien conspiracies," said Ianthe. "The last thing she needs is to find out they might actually exist."
Taylor smiled. "We're the only alien lizard people in Brockton Bay, at least."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Thomas paused Netflix and turned off the television at the door knock. Orange Is the New Black was a guilty pleasure of his -- one that he didn't feel the need to share with anybody else. He also assumed that anybody coming to his door these days had the potential to bring earth-shattering epiphanies or bizarre adventures. Sure enough, when he opened the door, there was a tall, statuesque blonde woman wearing a skin-tight bodysuit. She was attractive...other than the fact that she appeared to have some type of cybernetic components embedded in her face, and the fact that she was regarding him in a way that was cool bordering on arctic.
"Are you Thomas Raith?" asked the blonde.
"Who's asking?" he said with a smirk.
She raised an eyebrow in a way that reminded Thomas of Mr. Spock from Star Trek. "I am Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. I have a package for you from Saurial." She held out a small box to Thomas.
He took the package. "Thank you? Do you normally deliver packages for giant lizards?"
"Apparently. Vectura felt that I would attract less attention from the local inhabitants." The woman tapped a badge on her chest and said, "This is Seven, ready to transport." She then proceeded to disappear in a cloud of particles.
As Thomas closed the door, he muttered, "She was the one who would attract less attention?" He opened the box and found it contained a silver amulet. The surface of the amulet was carved with the image of a dolphin and a swan. The images seemed vaguely familiar for some reason. He picked up the amulet by the chain and held it up to look at it in the light.
There was a flash, and then Thomas found himself elsewhere. His first, immediate thought was that he was an idiot for picking up a strange amulet without having Harry or somebody else check it first. His next thought was, 'Where the hell am I?' He appeared to be in a marble building in the classical Greek style. Pillows and carpets covered the stone floors, and draperies covered the walls. He peered around, and couldn't actually see an exit from the room, which concerned him a bit.
"Do not worry, Thomas Raith. You are not a prisoner," said a voice.
He turned, then jerked back, wincing, at the sight before him. Standing in the room was a brilliantly beautiful woman. That by itself wasn't a problem, but she seemed to radiate feelings of pure love, and the sensation was almost intolerable for the White Court vampire. Out loud, he said, "Today must be my day for women that are both beautiful and deeply frightening."
She laughed, and her voice sounded like summer rain and the taste of chocolate. "Thomas, place the amulet on your neck."
Almost against his will, Thomas opened up the chain and slipped it over his head. The painful sensation ceased instantly. He blinked his eyes a few times, then asked, "What was that?"
"Your brother's friend, Saurial, came to visit us. She was looking for aid in helping your brother use technology without disrupting it with his magic. My husband was able to create something to help him, but a few of the rest of us decided to bequeath additional boons upon certain other heroes," explained the woman.
Thomas quirked an eyebrow. "Are you saying Harry is going to be able to use a cell phone without it exploding? Cool...and he's going to have a ton of television to catch up on..." He thought through what she said. "So how do I figure into all of this?"
"I brought you here to explain your gift to you," she explained patiently.
He frowned. "I wouldn't consider myself a hero, no matter what you've heard."
"Have you not stood with your brother, and with others, including a Knight of the Cross, against supernatural foes? You have faced the Vampire Courts, the Denarians, necromancers and ghouls, among others. Perhaps more importantly from my perspective, you saved your sister from a life as a White Court vampire, and you go out of your way to minimize feeding on humans," she replied.
Raith stared at her. "How...do you know all of that?"
She just smirked at him. "We have our ways, Thomas. Now, before I forget, your amulet is enchanted to protect you. You will no longer suffer in the presence of true love. It is important that you never let a mortal wear it, however, as its effects on any mortal who feels true love would be...unpleasant."
His mouth dropped open. The normally graceful vampire was stunned gormless by his gift.
"I had best send you back," said the woman, smiling at his reaction. She walked toward him quickly.
As she reached out and took his hands, he finally asked, "Milady...who are you?"
She laughed again. "You know who I am, Thomas. You're wearing my amulet." She then leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Instead of feeling the kiss, though, Thomas found himself standing back in his apartment.
"Well, that was strange..." he said to nobody. He looked down at the amulet. Then he pulled out his smart phone and did an Internet search for the symbolism of the dolphin and the swan. "Holy crap!" was his response when he read the results. Then his self-preservation instincts kicked in. He bowed his head, and said out loud, "Aphrodite, thank you for your gift, and your blessing." For a brief second, he almost thought he heard the sound of laughter in response.
Thomas sat on his couch, pondering the meaning of the gift and what it would mean for him. Then he used his phone to call somebody. "Justine, it's Thomas...I need you to come over...no, nothing's wrong...actually, something wonderful's happened...I'll show you when you get here...love you, too."
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