Chapter Text
Alexandria was a fixture at Endbringer fights. She had been to more than almost anyone, and if that was the kind of thing where one could be an expert, she was one.
That was why fighting Tiamat was so disconcerting. It wasn’t Tiamat herself, not exactly. No, it was the contrast between Tiamat – the so-called ‘goddess’ – and the Endbringers that shook her.
The Endbringers were inhuman engines of destruction. They didn’t seem to feel pain. They didn’t seem to have emotions. They came to a place, did their horrible deeds, and then left once they had either caused enough devastation or been driven off. It never seemed like it was personal. Terrible and cruel, yes, but not personal.
Tiamat was the opposite in some ways. Her behavior was almost human in the worst ways, reveling in the destruction she caused and vindictive in her application of violence. She reacted to being attacked, and it seemed like being attacked was her only goal – her intentional environmental destruction being obviously done only to draw a response from the heroes fighting her. The only blessing in the whole thing was that she didn’t seem intent on killing her foes. She certainly caused plenty of death, but it seemed to be mostly incidental, and she didn’t pursue fleeing foes or spare a moment to finish off those she had injured if there was something more interesting to do.
The worst part was that Alexandria had a vague sense that the creature was flirting with her.
It was almost enough to make her forget her anger at the fact that no one had spotted the cape with dimensional travel abilities which had accidentally brought an Endbringer-level threat back to Earth Bet with her. What was the point of working with the world’s most powerful precog if she was going to miss major things like that?
The girl – Black Witch – had at least tried to help with the fight. Her mastery over elemental forms that were capable of slugging it out – briefly – with an Endbringer-level-threat had certainly been missing from the few reports she had read on the girl. Her weird glowing sword had been mentioned in one of them, though no one had speculated that it could get the attention of a high-end creature. While she had ultimately managed to do little more than distract Tiamat up until she used the sword, that was still impressive.
Black Witch had first come to her attention as a Thinker that was helping the local government clean up their gang problem. In many cities, Cauldron might have acted to curb that influence – poor environments lead to more triggers, and more triggers raised the chance of finding the magic bullet which could deal with the biggest threat of all. Cauldron wanted things stable, but not too stable. However, Brockton Bay was a special case since it was part of their ‘hands off’ feudalism project.
Before the girl had appeared, it had looked like Coil would conquer the city as his own personal domain. After a few weeks of her help, however, the man had quietly let them know that he would be relocating his operations to a different city. When she had looked into it a little deeper, she had found evidence that he had tried to use her predictions for his own ends, but he’d eventually given that up and fled for greener pastures.
The sword caused something else unsettling to happen, however. Tiamat revealed herself to be more powerful than she had let on, which was absolutely terrifying. Was the same thing true of the Endbringers? She had caught too many glimpses of that possibility in past fights to dismiss the idea out of hand.
Of course, Black Witch paid for that. Tiamat might have dropped the game for a moment, but the hit she had delivered had been impressive and had thrown the girl well away from the fighting. After that, it was almost disturbing how Tiamat fell right back into the game and Alexandria had no choice but play along. If the god wanted the assembled capes to attack her under threat of murdering civilians, there really didn’t seem to be a choice. Another few moments passed, and Alexandria started to despair of the goddess ever being satisfied.
“Enough!” a new voice bellowed, and Tiamat came to a complete stop, turning to frown at a distant point.
Alexandria glanced between Tiamat and the newcomer. The newcomer was nearly nine feet tall and wearing little aside from a set of oversized gauntlets and greaves. She was also carrying the crumpled form of Black Witch in one arm and her own severed head in the other. Almost instinctively, Alexandria flew to her side.
“You,” the woman commanded, looking toward Alexandria. “Ensure that this one is safe. She has done her part for today and paid a terrible price for it.”
She found herself with an unconscious teenager pressed into her arms. The girl was unconscious with blood dripping from her nose and ears. Not a good sign at all.
“You ruin all of my fun, you headless harlot,” Tiamat growled and started stalking in their direction, again ignoring the attacks of the few capes brave enough to launch them.
Freed of her burden, the headless woman drew a massive sword with her free hand and thrust it toward the monster.
“Your fun is an affront to all that is good and just,” she declared.
Then she raised her sword above her head, pointed into the sky. “Come to me, ye unquiet dead! Shake off the chains of your grave in the name of justice undone! Rise and serve!”
The sword pulsed with a blinding blue-white light and Alexandria was forced to squint, even behind her visor. The woman crouched slightly before leaping toward Tiamat. Her blade crashed into Tiamat’s hastily raised claws, carving deep gouges into them in a way that the attempts of some of the world’s most powerful heroes had been unable to. For the first time in the fight, the monster was genuinely forced back.
Alexandria cradled Black Witch as she lifted off, planning to rush her to the medical tents and get back to the fight as quickly as possible. However, she had to stop as she caught an odd movement below and watched a dozen people crawl their way out of the wreckage of what had been an apartment building only an hour before. They were bloody and torn, each bearing wounds that should have been fatal, but they were walking under their own power. She turned again as a low moan made her aware of ghostly apparitions tearing themselves free of a graveyard several blocks away.
All around her, more specters and ghosts and corpses were joining the horde. Many of them charged against Tiamat where they did little good. Others descended on the monsters which were still scuttling about and harassing the remaining civilians. Against Tiamat, they didn’t seem to have much effect, but against the smaller monsters they fared better.
Before Alexandria rushed back to the tents, she spared one last glance at the fight between the headless warrior and the scaley monster. Unlike the one wielded by Black Witch, the warrior’s sword seemed perfectly capable of stopping the monster’s attacks without being damaged and the ineffective attacks of the growing undead horde gave her openings to exploit, causing actual injuries to the creature.
Alexandria quickly made her trip and handed her burden off to some of the doctors and headed back toward the fight.
On her way back, she could see the ghostly hulls of ships, no doubt wrecks that from the bottoms of the great lakes, gliding across the sky. She was hopeful that the fight was going to go in their favor, but she was equally afraid that the experience was going to lead to dramatic changes in the world.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Amy Dallon, who very rarely went by the name Violet Witch, watched in horror as Taylor was brought back from the front lines of a battle against first the Simurgh and then Tiamat. She looked small and withdrawn, covered in blood and shaking uncontrollably. She used some of her limited magical energy to hit her with a healing spell which seemed to help for a moment, but she was quickly back to shaking. Amy started to feel numb as she was powerless to really help her girlfriend.
A few months ago, as far as Earth Bet had been concerned, she had been in a bad place. Her father was barely there. Her mother was alternately absent and mean. Her sister was her only real lifeline, but ever since she had started high school, she had been spending more and more of her time with Dean. Amy was alone and it was getting worse.
Then Taylor decided to show up and change everything. It wasn’t always in good ways – she certainly could have done without Tiamat in her life – but the overall result was a lot better than before. She had powers, even if she was only starting to learn how to use them. Even without more training, she knew a handful of spells which could have served as a solid basis for a cape career. They were more suitable for a support role than active crimefighting, but she was fine with that. She even preferred it.
Now she looked worse than Amy had ever seen her. She knew that Taylor had grown a new body after being decapitated at least once, but this seemed to be something she couldn’t heal. It was horrifying and she was powerless to help her.
“What did she do?” Annette asked, stepping from a portal beside Amy and shaking her out of her thoughts. No sooner was she through the portal than she turned to look toward the fighting. The doctors were too busy working to really notice her arrival. “Oh, that idiot. How did she even survive? A summoning like that is a fourth-year project and she…”
With a shuddering breath, Annette stepped back. “Alright, I need a few minutes and then we’ll take her back home. I suspect we’re going to need an expert. Keep the area clear,” she told Amy. “Maybe hit her with a healing spell every so often, too. It can’t hurt.”
For her part, Amy could only nod mechanically as Annette started to chant a long spell that Amy didn’t recognize.
“What is she doing?” one of the doctors asked, finally noticing the strange woman with no mask chanting in the middle of the medical tent.
“Magic,” Amy supplied. “I don’t know exactly what. I think she’s going to take-“ she almost stumbled on the right now “-Black Witch somewhere that she can get help.”
The doctor, looking tired and harried, could only give a slow nod. There was no way he was going to step between a cape and whatever cape business she had while the fighting was still going on. “Alright, I’ll do what I can to evacuate this area. Security will probably set up outside, though.”
Amy hit Taylor with another healing spell. “Please.”
A few long minutes and several healing spells later, Annette stepped back, shaking her head. “It’s a real mess. I’m going to have to take her to my mother. I don’t know what’s going on, but if anyone… It’s our best shot.” With a gesture, a Gate opened itself in the middle of the room. “Help me get her through. I would appr-no, if you want to come, please do. I could use your help. However, I don’t have my anchors set up, so time will still flow here until I get a chance to come back and fix it.”
Amy considered the question for just a moment before she nodded and popped the brake on the wheeled bed Taylor was resting in. There was no way that she wasn’t going with Taylor. Her life had certainly been more insane since Taylor showed up, but she wouldn’t give that up. Not for anything.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
“The monstrous women have been spotted as far south as Indianapolis. So far attempts to contain their spread have been ineffective. In a statement today, the PRT warned civilians not to approach these creatures and to call nine-one-one if they-”
“-marry a monster girl? That’s what one Milwaukee man is petitioning the state governor for permission to do today. He and his maybe-bride-to-be showed off-“
“-believe in Justice! As our Lady on High has shown us, not even the grave is a barrier to the cause of the Just! You need to cast off-“
“-headlining the event is none other than Gordon Lightfoot, who will be playing a new version of his hit song with an added verse in honor of the Battle of Madison. All proceeds will go-“
“-does not prove anything about the existence of human souls. You say that they were ghosts, but capes have long been known to create projections! We have seen weirder-“
Madison Clements turned off her television, leaned back in her chair, and blew out a long breath. Ever since the ‘Battle of Madison’ had turned her first name into a source of mild embarrassment, things were changing, and they were changing fast. No one could agree on exactly what had happened, though there was a considerable amount of video floating around.
First, the Simurgh had appeared, which was horrible, but also normal – which was even more horrible, really. Then something else had appeared, which wasn’t normal. She looked like a half-lizard woman with no sense of modesty, and she had proceeded to beat the Simurgh to an un-bloody pulp before sending the false angel running. If that had been the end of the battle, then it would have been one of the greatest days in history and the lizard-woman would have been lauded as a mighty hero.
But that hadn’t been the end of the battle.
With the Simurgh gone, the lizard-woman proceeded to pick a fight with just about every cape in attendance, including at least one newcomer that was apparently from the Bay and had spawned a dozen threads on PHO. She had been the first one to really hurt Tiamat which got her a lot of attention. The fact that she was kind of hot also helped.
Then the half-naked woman carrying her own severed head in one hand had showed up and called half of the dead people in the city and a large chunk of the state out of their graves to form an army.
That part had been shocking. When the ghost ships had showed up – including what was unmistakably the SS Edmund Fitzgerald – it had gotten surreal. While the individual undead couldn’t do a lot against the lizard-woman, the ships had crashed into her with a lot of force and staggered her, which gave the whole thing the appearance of a school of ghostly sharks circling the battle and waiting for openings.
Eventually, the headless woman managed to drive off the lizard-lady and vanished herself.
In the aftermath, a lot of recordings had started circulating, and the words the two had said to each other were a major point of interest. Already, there were a few fledging religions founding themselves around the two figures, at least one of which was headed by one of the capes that had been at the battle.
Aoife, the headless warrior, spoke of justice and duty and second chances in a way that Madison had to admit was a little inspiring. Tiamat, the lizard-woman, seemed much more set on hedonism and domination. Already, at least one sect of the Fallen had made a lot of noise about converting to Tiamat’s cause, and Madison could totally see why. They were still idiots, but at least Tiamat was evil in a human way, unlike the inhuman abominations they currently idolized.
The more immediate problem was the monsters. Girls. Monster-girls. They were admittedly kind of hot – had sprung up when Tiamat had appeared and started attacking people almost right off. The ghosts had pushed them back during the worst of it, but after Aoife left, the undead returned to their graves and the monsters… just kind of stuck around. They scattered in the wake of the battle and only a few of them seemed to keep any desire to harm people. A lot of them had… other desires when it came to people, however, and it was causing a huge mess.
The alarm on her phone started sounding, and Madison shut it off before getting up and doing a quick clean of her room. She got done just before the doorbell rang and she went to get it.
“I got the stuff,” Greg crowed, showing off a CD case in one hand.
“Gimme!” Madison said and made a snatch for it, but Greg held it up out of her reach. Being short sucked.
“Not so fast. Pay up, first.”
Madison huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Come upstairs. Mom could walk in.”
It didn’t take much urging for Greg to dash up the steps to her room. Her mother did not like Greg in any way, shape, or form, and Greg was well aware of that fact.
“Ten seconds,” Madison declared after she shut the door behind her firmly. It was almost a perfunctory attempt at bargaining given how often it happened.
“Thirty,” Greg countered.
“Thirty if you give me back ten dollars,” Madison declared. She had given him the money in advance, and if he was going to bargain hard on his delivery fee, she figured he could give her a discount.
Greg seemed conflicted for a minute. “Twenty.”
“Fine, twenty seconds.” Madison pulled out her phone and set a timer before setting her phone down on the desk. Then she pulled her top up, exposing her bare chest and hit the button.
Greg’s look of amazement never ceased to give Madison a thrill of… things. It wasn’t like she had any great assets to show off, but Greg still bargained for a few seconds of viewing time like it were the most precious thing in the world. It was amusing, but it was also a nice ego boost.
The timer went off and she pulled her shirt down. She didn’t bother stifling her snort of amusement when he made a whine of disappointment. “Just remember that if you tell anyone, I will murder you.”
“I won’t!” he protested a little too fast. Surprisingly, he hadn’t let slip anything about their illicit bargains, which was the only reason Madison kept making them.
“Now, set up the game. I’m supposed to be streaming in an hour!” Greg was not someone Madison had any interest in dating, but messing with him a little was fun. Plus, he had useful skills. There was nothing stopping her from buying her own games, but the real reason she had Greg do it was because he would always get exactly the right version and he would also do the installation for her. It saved a lot of hassle, and things really did work smoother, that way.
“Yes, ma’am!” Greg almost cheered and went to work.
An hour later, Greg had gone home, and she turned on the stream.
“Hey, guys, Flippin’Mad here again. Today, I’m streaming the new Aleph import wargame, Dawn of War Two. We’re doing campaign mode today, but once I figure this out, we’ll be doing matches tomorrow. Remember, invites to play with me go out based on the size of donations from the start of today’s stream!” She mugged for the camera as she started her stream.
Idly, she wondered what Julia’s little coven of bitches would have said if they knew that Madison the wallflower at school was secretly a moderately popular local video game streamer. Certainly nothing good, but Madison liked it. She liked the attention. While she didn’t really like her fans much – pervs that wanted to ogle a young-looking teen – she kind of liked doing it anyway.
It was certainly a good way to ignore a bit of the chaos in the world around her.