OverReactionGuy
The only Sane one left
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No, she took over as the volcano god. Bet she gets the best rate in Hawaii.
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Queen of Blood (Worm/Castlevania) (Complete)
- Thread starter SirWill
- Start date
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- castlevania crossover worm
No, she took over as the volcano god. Bet she gets the best rate in Hawaii.
Akuma-Heika
The Devil Exists Within
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Thanks for your thoughts. It sounds like it could have done well taking in some aspects of Dishonored (being able to play two overall styles [direct or stealth], with multiple ways for each; the limited Runes pretty much assured it). I have not played it, but I watched part of a LP, so I am guessing Satan was the Final Boss. For the first game, the Forgotten One made a better "Final Boss" than Satan did IMO, so I can understand the same thing happening in the second game. Is there a DLC for it like the first game?
Krazyfan1
Versed in the lewd.
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Emily Piggot took over from the God of Fire.
from Behemoths death.
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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There is a DLC. And it's actually pretty good. You play as Alucard, who has his own unique abilities compared to Dracula. He has no ranged attacks, for one. I based some of his abilities in the fic here with them, though mixed with some of his SotN powers. All because he's a composite character.
Epilogue: Foundations part 1
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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A/N: Funfun. Takes time to get through all this.
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In a darkened Protectorate office in Los Angeles, Cauldron's players were meeting. Perhaps for the last time.
"What's the damage?" Alexandria asked.
Contessa shook her head. "In the order of events... the east coast of the United States has suffered a tsunami thirty feet high. Endbringer construction codes helped mitigate that damage, the seawalls to help prevent Leviathan's damage prevented a lot of casualties, but Miami was hit worst, more than the drainage pumps can handle. It's being evacuated, but less than half the population is still accounted for. New York's suffered three thousand deaths, thirty thousand injured. The list is extensive. The whole of the coastline up to Nova Scotia suffered.
"France is suffering underneath the ash being thrown up from the trench Scion burned into the countryside. Evacuations are underway, but they are taking time. It's over a volcanically active region in the country, and it's bringing up a great deal of magma. The gap is being filled in by the mountain-building, but until the magma stops flowing, France, Spain, Italy, Northern Africa will have to deal with all that ash. It's going to disrupt and cool weather patterns until it falls out of the atmosphere. After that, global temperatures will rise from the carbon dioxide, which will take longer to fall out of the atmosphere.
"Munich is gone entirely. The damage to Germany isn't too extensive, thankfully. They're already taking in refugees from France, though how long that may last is hard to say. Several mountains in Nepal were destroyed, setting off avalanches throughout the Himalayas. Nepal's essentially cut off from the rest of the world for the moment. Northern India's dealing with those repercussions.
"Next, Myanmar. A jungle fire sprung up during the thirty seconds or so the fight moved there. That, however, was put out very quickly. Unfortunately, it was put out by the tsunamis their fight at the base of the Indian continental shelf released. The east coast of India is devastated from the tsunamis set off from their fight there, however it didn't spread that far inland. The shelf deflected the waves back outwards. Those tsunamis put out the jungle fire, but also swept a great deal of small villages into the sea. Worse than that, their fight there shifted the continental plate slightly. Several old volcanoes in the region have awakened. The resulting earthquakes set off a worse tsunami that nearly wiped out Malaysia completely. Singapore's the most intact city there, and only due to the fact it was facing away from the brunt of the wave.
"Multiple nuclear-powered detonations in orbit. Those were thankfully high enough to do little damage, though a number of communications satellites are knocked out. Lastly, they slammed into Colombia, creating a crater in the middle of the jungle. The damage there kicked up a fair bit of dust over the region, set off fires that are spreading into Venezuela. Unfortunately, South America is mostly under the dominion of warlords, so organized response is fairly weak. After that point, both Scion and Scarlet vanished from Earth Bet, though they arrived over Pandora's world. Doormaker is still unconscious, and without Clairvoyant, he's of far less utility. Dragon has a connection back to Cauldron, but Doctor Mother is missing."
Pandora, or rather, one of the AI's chosen avatar suits, nodded. "Preliminary off-world reports are as follows. Cauldron's base world is very quickly becoming uninhabitable. Whatever Scarlet did, whatever substance it is that's burning all over its surface, it's evaporating a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere there, the air is becoming too thick and too hot for humans to survive in it. It was already a concern previously, but now it's far worse. Within a month, that Earth is going to be as habitable as Venus.
"Upon arrival over my world, Scion destroyed the Exodus. It was half-filled at the time... I've forwarded a list of the names. My refineries are offline as well, Scarlet and Scion tore up a lot of the planet during their fistfight. Firestorms are raging, volcanoes are active. Right now I'm churning out atmospheric scrubbers to collect airborne material and build new infrastructure, but in order to stabilize the whole thing, I'm going to end up having to assimilate the entire planet. Thankfully there isn't anybody alive there, but there's only so much heat my systems can withstand. I can handle the issue, but I have to move quickly to preserve what I can and get to work. If I don't do it fast enough, everything will melt and I'll have to start from zero."
Number Man spoke, pushing his thin glasses up with a finger. "Despite this, this is far better than our wildest expectations. Four worlds took the brunt of the damage. We had been expecting Earth Bet and Aleph to be complete losses regardless. Instead, Bet is damaged but still habitable, Aleph is untouched, and the major impacts were on Pandora's world, our base, and at Scion himself. Granted, we are still working on destroying his remaining biomass, and that is still a large task, but he hasn't responded to our attempts in the last twelve hours. The flesh is still."
Alexandria nodded. "Considering what Scarlet pulled with the other one, I don't want to take any chances." She folded her fingers. "Options for the population of Earth Bet?"
Number Man pursed his lips. "That is more difficult. The immediate problem is the aftershocks. The Indian Ocean continental plate is still shifting back into position. There are going to be major earthquakes until it settles. Refugees are going to place a strain on food, housing. Many places won't take them, and there's a great deal of people to deal with. China's food production has been impacted, so they are likely to move to grab resources. They don't have much choice in the matter. We're leaning on them, but without Doormaker and Clairvoyant, it's going to be very difficult to prevent issues from that corner."
"Three hundred forty-three steps. Assuming the gods or David does not interfere." Contessa nodded. "It's time-sensitive, however. The longer we wait the more difficult it becomes."
Pandora spoke then. "I'm collaborating with Dragon to work up forcefield generators for the cities, that will help keep things habitable as the worldwide climate shifts. They're difficult to power, but her solar stations can handle the job. We should be able to use a similar setup for food production. Forcefields to protect fields, artificial sunlight to keep the growing season going, irrigation... "
Alexandria frowned. "Bottle up the world? That's unstable."
"Very." Pandora's large head nodded. "A rather large amount of manpower and tech suits are going to be needed to make sure they don't get attacked and taken by villains. Whoever gets control of the food supply will have a chokehold on things, and that is going to be a target. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. It's a short-term measure in any case. We're hoping the atmospheric scrubbers and carbon filters will do their jobs for the rest of the atmosphere. We'll have a long, brutal winter, but if we can move quickly enough, we'll stabilize things."
Number Man hummed thoughtfully. "We're going to need a lot to work with, then. Several billion scrubbers, disposal of waste products. Wildlife conservation, ocean filtering..."
Pandora sounded smug. "Yep. Good thing I can be everywhere. Just buy me enough time to get started."
--------------------
Hannah drove through the street carefully. Water splashed aside onto the sidewalk as her car drove through a particularly deep puddle, soaking the sidewalk, the grass. Into the cracks in the road, along the sidewalk, and into the trench torn up right down the middle of the street.
The tsunami had been lessened by the seawalls, the somewhat higher ground out in this neighborhood. The other houses in the path of the water soaking up some of the energy. It was still a devastated area, though. Danny Hebert's house was intact, but only in the most technical sense. There was a tree sticking out of the front of the house, debris was all around it, and every window was broken. The front door was open, and the interior walls were a mess.
She got out of the car, went to the trunk. Pulled out a full, heavy cooler and brought it inside. She went up the very wet, leaky stairs, the carpeting squishing beneath her feet. When she entered Taylor's room, she found Danny on one side of the bed, a pile of empty bloodpacks at his feet, feeding his daughter with another one.
Neptune was also in the room, his hand extended, using the water soaked into the carpet to clean out the blood that was all over the walls, the bed itself.
And Taylor was lying back, eyes closed, reflexively drinking from the bloodpack. Her left arm ended in a stump, but it was slowly regrowing.
Danny looked up, a look of relief filling his features. "Hannah, glad you could make it. I didn't know who else to call."
She nodded, setting down the cooler, opening it to reveal a dozen more packs. "Roads are hell right now. You're lucky the cell phones are still working."
Neptune gestured. No choice. Had to be here.
Hannah pulled the first pack out, handed it to Danny, then stood back.
The demonic form of the Scarlet Dragon slept, tended to by her father twice over. Despite all that she'd done, despite the fact she had shaken the very foundations of the Earth itself... it was so easy to see her as a young girl still. So vulnerable. The goddess within that shell still existed. But for now...
For now she was just a girl, being doted over by her worried father.
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"What made you think of the Moon?" Dragon asked with curiosity.
Emily shrugged. "I thought, gambled really, that he might have awareness of everything over his world, the same sort of way they talked about the Clairvoyant's power. If the portal opening, at least the first one, was made outside of the atmosphere, then he might not notice it quickly enough. I knew that Britain moved the gate Scarlet gave them to Oxford, and Tranquillity base just might work at getting us in the back door. And I was right. You stepped through and brought down all that sunlight."
Dragon chuckled. "Four hundred solar harvesting stations channeling high-intensity sunlight all in one place. Ended up being quite effective. I'm going to have to leave it on long enough to be sure he's dead."
The ash was still broiling out of the large rent in the French countryside, the lava and heat would be fatal to any ordinary mortal. Dragon, being the Lady of Light, would not be all that bothered, even if she had been a human before her ascension. In the form of her golden suit, she was in no danger from the environment.
But Emily? As the Lady of Fire, she felt the broiling heat, the flowing rock, the spilling ash, and enjoyed it. It felt no more uncomfortable than a lovely summer's day. A part of her felt an odd kind of regret that she would be working at stopping the cataclysm in front of her. Technically speaking, the issue would fix itself, the lava spilling out would form a new volcanic mountain range given time.
The problem was given that time, the ash and gases would end up altering the climate. It was estimated that it would take a century at least for the damage to repair itself, and they simply did not have that kind of time. Emily Piggot felt annoyed that all of this was now her responsibility. She had accepted, many years ago, that she would never have power beyond the ordinary, beyond the bureaucratic. To now have the power that others had, on a larger scale...
Well. There was little help for it now.
"Your head's on fire again." Dragon spoke with amusement.
Emily sighed, patting her head, then gave up, dropping her hands. "Let's just get started."
Together, they lifted their hands, concentrating. At the edge of the mile-wide rift cutting deep into the Earth, the lava began to cool, Emily pulling the heat back into the Plane of Fire. Dragon then pulled large crystalline lattices from her own plane, filling the edge of the gap with shining white crystals. It almost immediately began to blacken from the remaining heat, but it was enough to show the idea would work. The lattices grew outward, scissoring together until the rift, or at least this small section of it, was closed.
"This is going to take a while." Emily muttered.
Dragon nodded. "Has to be done, though. We'll also have to take a look at Yellowstone once we're finished here. I really don't like the minor earthquakes going off around it right now."
Gritting her teeth, Emily nodded. "Right. Let's get on with it."
Discipline.
This was going to take weeks.
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September 30, 2011
Red Dawn. The Betrayal. Gotterdammerung. The Bloody Hour. The Breaking of the World. The Day Scion Died. There was as many names as there were cultures. One was coming out to the forefront, though.
Ragnarok. The day the old gods (or at least, one old god) fell, and new ones rose.
For Emma it was the day her sentence changed. Not immediately, of course. The world was still reeling from the battle. The loss of a quarter of the Protectorate, and the loss of a much smaller number of villains, changed things worldwide. But it was because of that her life changed again, the routine she was just getting used to upended once again.
They simply didn't have the manpower available to support a non-productive population. Especially not when it was a relatively non-violent population. In exchange for privileges, in exchange for books and food that wasn't complete shit, she had to labor.
Emma lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlamps above, taking a glance at the shimmering shield that surrounded the compound. She could see the snow falling outside of it, so very early in the year. Ash and dust filled the atmosphere outside, making things unpleasant. Through the field, she could see several 'Pandoras' remote-controlled mass-produced Dragon-style suits, setting up another forcefield generator.
Apparently, it would be used to cover about a mile of forest, and then another, and another, forcefields made up to protect both farmland and wildlife until the climate stabilized. Artificial climate regulation inside the domes would ensure as much of the biosphere made it through the long winter as possible. Artificial arcologies were springing up around city and countryside alike. With a lot of crops being prematurely frozen in the early onset of winter, food production was paramount.
Hence, Emma Barnes found herself in work detail, digging in the dirt. She used her hoe (seriously, a fucking hoe!?) to till the soil. Machines could do the job a hundred times faster and with a thousand times less effort, but then, those machines were busy making sure life didn't just outright die out from the environmental impact.
Still, if it meant she'd get to have some meat in her stew, it'd be worth it. Clenching her teeth, Emma hacked at the dirt.
The hours went by. Her hands blistered. The one good thing about this was that she was developing wiry, corded muscles on her arms. They didn't belong on a model... but then, that dream was long gone.
Taking a moment to breathe, feeling the heat of the artificial sun overhead while snow fell just twenty feet away, Emma wondered just how things might have been different. In a way, her pushing Taylor into that locker saved the world. A year ago, she would have taken pride in that fact.
But then, a year ago, Emma wouldn't have felt regret about having dropped her best friend. A year ago, Taylor was just a bullied high school student, and Emma her tormentor. Now, Taylor was a god, and Emma was a prisoner. Fair or not, this was her future.
Resigning herself to her place in the universe, Emma gripped the hoe, and returned to work.
--------------------
Of all the problems that came up after sealing up France's volcanic rift, now known as Scion's Scar, one was only somewhat unexpected.
Nilbog.
The bio-shaper that haunted Emily's nightmares. Creator of disease, maker of monsters, murderer of an entire town. For a decade he had been content to be reclusive, hiding behind his walls. Content to run his own little kingdom, having his monsters grow food from the plantlife that sprouted within the walls, remaking the dead ones with their own corpses.
The early onset of winter had disrupted that state of affairs. The shimmering forcefield dome they placed over the abandoned town of Ellisburg only made things worse. Some of Nilbog's monsters escaped the barrier before it went up, roaming the countryside, breeding, trying to feast on whatever they could find. Others were hammering at the shield, trying to bring it down. There was an entire horde there, hundreds of them. Little goblins, scythe-wielding creatures, even what looked like a cartoon dragon.
Emily stared through the shield. Her nightmares stared back, drool running from lips. Looking hungry, eager.
"Ready?" Dragon asked.
Emily cracked a smile. "Ready."
Dragon returned the grin. "I call dibs on the dragon."
Wreathing herself in white-hot flame, Emily stepped forward. Her flames growing brighter, hotter, she screamed. "Nilbog!"
The army of goblins flinched back.
--------------------
Within the underground cave he called home, Jamie Rinke, known as Nilbog, was panicking.
He'd learned from the initial siege of Ellisburg. He crafted his creations to reproduce in the face of fire. They would fission, reproduce quickly, hunt for new biomass to heal and spread...
But there was so very little they could do when the flames were so hot they were reduced to cinders. He had his hands deep within a meatsack, one of the many rather efficient-yet-disgusting chambers from which he ruled his kingdom.
They were dying. His children. One after another. Heat that rightly belonged on the surface of a star separated their constituent elements from each other, destroying them utterly. Other effects were scything through them. Blazing light seemed to prevent even the most horrific of diseases from taking root. And a golden dragon, thirty feet tall, was busily and very easily handling Wuffles.
His cave rumbled.
The wall burst down, smashed by a fist harder than steel. Light poured in, surrounding a white-hot figure. Female, a bit thick, but muscled. Lava poured from her neck and shoulders in rivulets, and the temperature inside his refuge immediately rose to uncomfortable levels.
Nilbog cowered away from the figure. His goblins, so loyal, his best company, all tried to swarm her, but they were incinerated before they could get within ten feet. Spat acid did nothing, the molecules of it torn apart before they could ever harm her.
"Who are you to challenge me?!" He screamed, spittle and foam coming from his mouth. "I am the king of my kingdom! I am the god-king of Ellisburg! You come here and invade, you come and kill my children! You should be bowing before me!"
The woman of flame chuckled. She advanced on him, the flesh-sacks dying around him as he scrambled back from that horrific heat.
"Me? Just a woman who got lucky. They're going to call me a lot more things after this. I'm grasping power you don't even comprehend... but what I'm more pissed off about is what you did to my friends. Twelve years ago, I left a part of myself here. Twelve years I had nightmares about what you did to Mac, Dutch, Lowdown and Reaper. The friends of mine that I lost, trying to stop your slaughter. Twelve years of pain and suffering, aching every day because you had a bad day. Five thousand people butchered because you couldn't handle yourself like a man."
As she drew closer, her voice dipped. "I've seen a god-queen. She's a hell of a lot more impressive than you. She saved the world, while you stayed right here, ruling over monsters. She received powers more dangerous than yours and she helped people. Even when she was forced to be a literal bloodsucker, she hurt fewer people than you. She ruled monsters and got them to help her kill an Endbringer. She's sixteen, and a hell of a lot better a person than you are. I hope being king was worth it. Your kingdom is coming down. It's isolated. Those creatures of yours that are out in the countryside are being hunted. Even if they get away, we've got enough firepower to kill them, no matter how many there are. Your diseases are being neutralized. This day has been a long time coming." Those steel-gray eyes seemed to burn into his soul. She lifted her hands, a ball of white-hot flame forming in them. "By the way, my name is Lady."
Jamie Rinke let out a scream as the flame rushed forward.
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In a darkened Protectorate office in Los Angeles, Cauldron's players were meeting. Perhaps for the last time.
"What's the damage?" Alexandria asked.
Contessa shook her head. "In the order of events... the east coast of the United States has suffered a tsunami thirty feet high. Endbringer construction codes helped mitigate that damage, the seawalls to help prevent Leviathan's damage prevented a lot of casualties, but Miami was hit worst, more than the drainage pumps can handle. It's being evacuated, but less than half the population is still accounted for. New York's suffered three thousand deaths, thirty thousand injured. The list is extensive. The whole of the coastline up to Nova Scotia suffered.
"France is suffering underneath the ash being thrown up from the trench Scion burned into the countryside. Evacuations are underway, but they are taking time. It's over a volcanically active region in the country, and it's bringing up a great deal of magma. The gap is being filled in by the mountain-building, but until the magma stops flowing, France, Spain, Italy, Northern Africa will have to deal with all that ash. It's going to disrupt and cool weather patterns until it falls out of the atmosphere. After that, global temperatures will rise from the carbon dioxide, which will take longer to fall out of the atmosphere.
"Munich is gone entirely. The damage to Germany isn't too extensive, thankfully. They're already taking in refugees from France, though how long that may last is hard to say. Several mountains in Nepal were destroyed, setting off avalanches throughout the Himalayas. Nepal's essentially cut off from the rest of the world for the moment. Northern India's dealing with those repercussions.
"Next, Myanmar. A jungle fire sprung up during the thirty seconds or so the fight moved there. That, however, was put out very quickly. Unfortunately, it was put out by the tsunamis their fight at the base of the Indian continental shelf released. The east coast of India is devastated from the tsunamis set off from their fight there, however it didn't spread that far inland. The shelf deflected the waves back outwards. Those tsunamis put out the jungle fire, but also swept a great deal of small villages into the sea. Worse than that, their fight there shifted the continental plate slightly. Several old volcanoes in the region have awakened. The resulting earthquakes set off a worse tsunami that nearly wiped out Malaysia completely. Singapore's the most intact city there, and only due to the fact it was facing away from the brunt of the wave.
"Multiple nuclear-powered detonations in orbit. Those were thankfully high enough to do little damage, though a number of communications satellites are knocked out. Lastly, they slammed into Colombia, creating a crater in the middle of the jungle. The damage there kicked up a fair bit of dust over the region, set off fires that are spreading into Venezuela. Unfortunately, South America is mostly under the dominion of warlords, so organized response is fairly weak. After that point, both Scion and Scarlet vanished from Earth Bet, though they arrived over Pandora's world. Doormaker is still unconscious, and without Clairvoyant, he's of far less utility. Dragon has a connection back to Cauldron, but Doctor Mother is missing."
Pandora, or rather, one of the AI's chosen avatar suits, nodded. "Preliminary off-world reports are as follows. Cauldron's base world is very quickly becoming uninhabitable. Whatever Scarlet did, whatever substance it is that's burning all over its surface, it's evaporating a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere there, the air is becoming too thick and too hot for humans to survive in it. It was already a concern previously, but now it's far worse. Within a month, that Earth is going to be as habitable as Venus.
"Upon arrival over my world, Scion destroyed the Exodus. It was half-filled at the time... I've forwarded a list of the names. My refineries are offline as well, Scarlet and Scion tore up a lot of the planet during their fistfight. Firestorms are raging, volcanoes are active. Right now I'm churning out atmospheric scrubbers to collect airborne material and build new infrastructure, but in order to stabilize the whole thing, I'm going to end up having to assimilate the entire planet. Thankfully there isn't anybody alive there, but there's only so much heat my systems can withstand. I can handle the issue, but I have to move quickly to preserve what I can and get to work. If I don't do it fast enough, everything will melt and I'll have to start from zero."
Number Man spoke, pushing his thin glasses up with a finger. "Despite this, this is far better than our wildest expectations. Four worlds took the brunt of the damage. We had been expecting Earth Bet and Aleph to be complete losses regardless. Instead, Bet is damaged but still habitable, Aleph is untouched, and the major impacts were on Pandora's world, our base, and at Scion himself. Granted, we are still working on destroying his remaining biomass, and that is still a large task, but he hasn't responded to our attempts in the last twelve hours. The flesh is still."
Alexandria nodded. "Considering what Scarlet pulled with the other one, I don't want to take any chances." She folded her fingers. "Options for the population of Earth Bet?"
Number Man pursed his lips. "That is more difficult. The immediate problem is the aftershocks. The Indian Ocean continental plate is still shifting back into position. There are going to be major earthquakes until it settles. Refugees are going to place a strain on food, housing. Many places won't take them, and there's a great deal of people to deal with. China's food production has been impacted, so they are likely to move to grab resources. They don't have much choice in the matter. We're leaning on them, but without Doormaker and Clairvoyant, it's going to be very difficult to prevent issues from that corner."
"Three hundred forty-three steps. Assuming the gods or David does not interfere." Contessa nodded. "It's time-sensitive, however. The longer we wait the more difficult it becomes."
Pandora spoke then. "I'm collaborating with Dragon to work up forcefield generators for the cities, that will help keep things habitable as the worldwide climate shifts. They're difficult to power, but her solar stations can handle the job. We should be able to use a similar setup for food production. Forcefields to protect fields, artificial sunlight to keep the growing season going, irrigation... "
Alexandria frowned. "Bottle up the world? That's unstable."
"Very." Pandora's large head nodded. "A rather large amount of manpower and tech suits are going to be needed to make sure they don't get attacked and taken by villains. Whoever gets control of the food supply will have a chokehold on things, and that is going to be a target. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. It's a short-term measure in any case. We're hoping the atmospheric scrubbers and carbon filters will do their jobs for the rest of the atmosphere. We'll have a long, brutal winter, but if we can move quickly enough, we'll stabilize things."
Number Man hummed thoughtfully. "We're going to need a lot to work with, then. Several billion scrubbers, disposal of waste products. Wildlife conservation, ocean filtering..."
Pandora sounded smug. "Yep. Good thing I can be everywhere. Just buy me enough time to get started."
--------------------
Hannah drove through the street carefully. Water splashed aside onto the sidewalk as her car drove through a particularly deep puddle, soaking the sidewalk, the grass. Into the cracks in the road, along the sidewalk, and into the trench torn up right down the middle of the street.
The tsunami had been lessened by the seawalls, the somewhat higher ground out in this neighborhood. The other houses in the path of the water soaking up some of the energy. It was still a devastated area, though. Danny Hebert's house was intact, but only in the most technical sense. There was a tree sticking out of the front of the house, debris was all around it, and every window was broken. The front door was open, and the interior walls were a mess.
She got out of the car, went to the trunk. Pulled out a full, heavy cooler and brought it inside. She went up the very wet, leaky stairs, the carpeting squishing beneath her feet. When she entered Taylor's room, she found Danny on one side of the bed, a pile of empty bloodpacks at his feet, feeding his daughter with another one.
Neptune was also in the room, his hand extended, using the water soaked into the carpet to clean out the blood that was all over the walls, the bed itself.
And Taylor was lying back, eyes closed, reflexively drinking from the bloodpack. Her left arm ended in a stump, but it was slowly regrowing.
Danny looked up, a look of relief filling his features. "Hannah, glad you could make it. I didn't know who else to call."
She nodded, setting down the cooler, opening it to reveal a dozen more packs. "Roads are hell right now. You're lucky the cell phones are still working."
Neptune gestured. No choice. Had to be here.
Hannah pulled the first pack out, handed it to Danny, then stood back.
The demonic form of the Scarlet Dragon slept, tended to by her father twice over. Despite all that she'd done, despite the fact she had shaken the very foundations of the Earth itself... it was so easy to see her as a young girl still. So vulnerable. The goddess within that shell still existed. But for now...
For now she was just a girl, being doted over by her worried father.
--------------------
"What made you think of the Moon?" Dragon asked with curiosity.
Emily shrugged. "I thought, gambled really, that he might have awareness of everything over his world, the same sort of way they talked about the Clairvoyant's power. If the portal opening, at least the first one, was made outside of the atmosphere, then he might not notice it quickly enough. I knew that Britain moved the gate Scarlet gave them to Oxford, and Tranquillity base just might work at getting us in the back door. And I was right. You stepped through and brought down all that sunlight."
Dragon chuckled. "Four hundred solar harvesting stations channeling high-intensity sunlight all in one place. Ended up being quite effective. I'm going to have to leave it on long enough to be sure he's dead."
The ash was still broiling out of the large rent in the French countryside, the lava and heat would be fatal to any ordinary mortal. Dragon, being the Lady of Light, would not be all that bothered, even if she had been a human before her ascension. In the form of her golden suit, she was in no danger from the environment.
But Emily? As the Lady of Fire, she felt the broiling heat, the flowing rock, the spilling ash, and enjoyed it. It felt no more uncomfortable than a lovely summer's day. A part of her felt an odd kind of regret that she would be working at stopping the cataclysm in front of her. Technically speaking, the issue would fix itself, the lava spilling out would form a new volcanic mountain range given time.
The problem was given that time, the ash and gases would end up altering the climate. It was estimated that it would take a century at least for the damage to repair itself, and they simply did not have that kind of time. Emily Piggot felt annoyed that all of this was now her responsibility. She had accepted, many years ago, that she would never have power beyond the ordinary, beyond the bureaucratic. To now have the power that others had, on a larger scale...
Well. There was little help for it now.
"Your head's on fire again." Dragon spoke with amusement.
Emily sighed, patting her head, then gave up, dropping her hands. "Let's just get started."
Together, they lifted their hands, concentrating. At the edge of the mile-wide rift cutting deep into the Earth, the lava began to cool, Emily pulling the heat back into the Plane of Fire. Dragon then pulled large crystalline lattices from her own plane, filling the edge of the gap with shining white crystals. It almost immediately began to blacken from the remaining heat, but it was enough to show the idea would work. The lattices grew outward, scissoring together until the rift, or at least this small section of it, was closed.
"This is going to take a while." Emily muttered.
Dragon nodded. "Has to be done, though. We'll also have to take a look at Yellowstone once we're finished here. I really don't like the minor earthquakes going off around it right now."
Gritting her teeth, Emily nodded. "Right. Let's get on with it."
Discipline.
This was going to take weeks.
--------------------
September 30, 2011
Red Dawn. The Betrayal. Gotterdammerung. The Bloody Hour. The Breaking of the World. The Day Scion Died. There was as many names as there were cultures. One was coming out to the forefront, though.
Ragnarok. The day the old gods (or at least, one old god) fell, and new ones rose.
For Emma it was the day her sentence changed. Not immediately, of course. The world was still reeling from the battle. The loss of a quarter of the Protectorate, and the loss of a much smaller number of villains, changed things worldwide. But it was because of that her life changed again, the routine she was just getting used to upended once again.
They simply didn't have the manpower available to support a non-productive population. Especially not when it was a relatively non-violent population. In exchange for privileges, in exchange for books and food that wasn't complete shit, she had to labor.
Emma lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlamps above, taking a glance at the shimmering shield that surrounded the compound. She could see the snow falling outside of it, so very early in the year. Ash and dust filled the atmosphere outside, making things unpleasant. Through the field, she could see several 'Pandoras' remote-controlled mass-produced Dragon-style suits, setting up another forcefield generator.
Apparently, it would be used to cover about a mile of forest, and then another, and another, forcefields made up to protect both farmland and wildlife until the climate stabilized. Artificial climate regulation inside the domes would ensure as much of the biosphere made it through the long winter as possible. Artificial arcologies were springing up around city and countryside alike. With a lot of crops being prematurely frozen in the early onset of winter, food production was paramount.
Hence, Emma Barnes found herself in work detail, digging in the dirt. She used her hoe (seriously, a fucking hoe!?) to till the soil. Machines could do the job a hundred times faster and with a thousand times less effort, but then, those machines were busy making sure life didn't just outright die out from the environmental impact.
Still, if it meant she'd get to have some meat in her stew, it'd be worth it. Clenching her teeth, Emma hacked at the dirt.
The hours went by. Her hands blistered. The one good thing about this was that she was developing wiry, corded muscles on her arms. They didn't belong on a model... but then, that dream was long gone.
Taking a moment to breathe, feeling the heat of the artificial sun overhead while snow fell just twenty feet away, Emma wondered just how things might have been different. In a way, her pushing Taylor into that locker saved the world. A year ago, she would have taken pride in that fact.
But then, a year ago, Emma wouldn't have felt regret about having dropped her best friend. A year ago, Taylor was just a bullied high school student, and Emma her tormentor. Now, Taylor was a god, and Emma was a prisoner. Fair or not, this was her future.
Resigning herself to her place in the universe, Emma gripped the hoe, and returned to work.
--------------------
Of all the problems that came up after sealing up France's volcanic rift, now known as Scion's Scar, one was only somewhat unexpected.
Nilbog.
The bio-shaper that haunted Emily's nightmares. Creator of disease, maker of monsters, murderer of an entire town. For a decade he had been content to be reclusive, hiding behind his walls. Content to run his own little kingdom, having his monsters grow food from the plantlife that sprouted within the walls, remaking the dead ones with their own corpses.
The early onset of winter had disrupted that state of affairs. The shimmering forcefield dome they placed over the abandoned town of Ellisburg only made things worse. Some of Nilbog's monsters escaped the barrier before it went up, roaming the countryside, breeding, trying to feast on whatever they could find. Others were hammering at the shield, trying to bring it down. There was an entire horde there, hundreds of them. Little goblins, scythe-wielding creatures, even what looked like a cartoon dragon.
Emily stared through the shield. Her nightmares stared back, drool running from lips. Looking hungry, eager.
"Ready?" Dragon asked.
Emily cracked a smile. "Ready."
Dragon returned the grin. "I call dibs on the dragon."
Wreathing herself in white-hot flame, Emily stepped forward. Her flames growing brighter, hotter, she screamed. "Nilbog!"
The army of goblins flinched back.
--------------------
Within the underground cave he called home, Jamie Rinke, known as Nilbog, was panicking.
He'd learned from the initial siege of Ellisburg. He crafted his creations to reproduce in the face of fire. They would fission, reproduce quickly, hunt for new biomass to heal and spread...
But there was so very little they could do when the flames were so hot they were reduced to cinders. He had his hands deep within a meatsack, one of the many rather efficient-yet-disgusting chambers from which he ruled his kingdom.
They were dying. His children. One after another. Heat that rightly belonged on the surface of a star separated their constituent elements from each other, destroying them utterly. Other effects were scything through them. Blazing light seemed to prevent even the most horrific of diseases from taking root. And a golden dragon, thirty feet tall, was busily and very easily handling Wuffles.
His cave rumbled.
The wall burst down, smashed by a fist harder than steel. Light poured in, surrounding a white-hot figure. Female, a bit thick, but muscled. Lava poured from her neck and shoulders in rivulets, and the temperature inside his refuge immediately rose to uncomfortable levels.
Nilbog cowered away from the figure. His goblins, so loyal, his best company, all tried to swarm her, but they were incinerated before they could get within ten feet. Spat acid did nothing, the molecules of it torn apart before they could ever harm her.
"Who are you to challenge me?!" He screamed, spittle and foam coming from his mouth. "I am the king of my kingdom! I am the god-king of Ellisburg! You come here and invade, you come and kill my children! You should be bowing before me!"
The woman of flame chuckled. She advanced on him, the flesh-sacks dying around him as he scrambled back from that horrific heat.
"Me? Just a woman who got lucky. They're going to call me a lot more things after this. I'm grasping power you don't even comprehend... but what I'm more pissed off about is what you did to my friends. Twelve years ago, I left a part of myself here. Twelve years I had nightmares about what you did to Mac, Dutch, Lowdown and Reaper. The friends of mine that I lost, trying to stop your slaughter. Twelve years of pain and suffering, aching every day because you had a bad day. Five thousand people butchered because you couldn't handle yourself like a man."
As she drew closer, her voice dipped. "I've seen a god-queen. She's a hell of a lot more impressive than you. She saved the world, while you stayed right here, ruling over monsters. She received powers more dangerous than yours and she helped people. Even when she was forced to be a literal bloodsucker, she hurt fewer people than you. She ruled monsters and got them to help her kill an Endbringer. She's sixteen, and a hell of a lot better a person than you are. I hope being king was worth it. Your kingdom is coming down. It's isolated. Those creatures of yours that are out in the countryside are being hunted. Even if they get away, we've got enough firepower to kill them, no matter how many there are. Your diseases are being neutralized. This day has been a long time coming." Those steel-gray eyes seemed to burn into his soul. She lifted her hands, a ball of white-hot flame forming in them. "By the way, my name is Lady."
Jamie Rinke let out a scream as the flame rushed forward.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Akuma-Heika
The Devil Exists Within
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Gotterdammerung and Ragnarok refer to the same thing, the former being a mistranslation of the latter (due to a mix up of the word ragnarok [fate of the gods] with ragnarøkkr [twilight of the gods]), then again, I could see people not knowing about either of the words.
Did you get Emily's cape/god name from DMC?
Thanks for the epilogue. Eagerly awaiting part 2!
SwiftRosenthal
Connoisseur.
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"Lady" was Piggot's special forces callsign in canon. It was only referenced in her backstory interlude.
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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Considered it, but Nilbog's too squishy to get much catharsis out of it. Asura at least is punching things that can actually take a beating.
Krazyfan1
Versed in the lewd.
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Hmm...forming Nilbog shaped Training Dummies out of fire and magma?
that way she can punch him again?
Hye
Reader of The Long Words
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Epilogue: Foundations part 2
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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A/N: Always a bit more to do. Still, so many good times. I can't describe how happy I am that I got this far. That this project, longer than any I've ever done before, has gotten here. I'm glad to have done it, but there's a lot of contributions done by my readers. Without that encouragement, I'd have dropped this a long time ago.
So yeah. All of you, take a pat on the back.
Except the jerks. (You know who you are.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 2, 2011
Charleston Lake Provincial Park, Southern Ontario
A goblin tore its way through the snow. Dozens of his brothers had fallen but this target was unaware. He looked forward to getting the man-flesh, dragging the carcass back to the hovel. Feasting. Breeding. Fulfilling Lord Nilbog's last command. Breed. Fight. Slay. Conquer.
He jumped at the white-haired human, drool flowing from his lips, only for the man to turn at the last instant and step aside.
The goblin hit the snow, thrashed, got to his feet. The human was standing back, hand on a curved sword, slowly sheathing it.
Foolish human, putting a weapon away when...
------------------
"That was cool." Narwhal commented as the goblin fell in two clean halves.
Alucard smiled at the forcefield user, hovering above on another one of her own forcefields. "It took many years to get that technique down. It is far harder than it looks."
"I'll bet. That's one very nice sword."
Alucard nodded. "It was the result of collaboration between myself and Armsmaster. His skills are impressive. He refined my work, improved upon it. This is a blade of such refinement and power that I could only have dreamed of such in the Old World."
Chuckling, Narwhal checked the armband on her left wrist, which was the only thing she was wearing besides her forcefields. "We've got to sweep further to the west. Scylla's saying there's a nest of these things about ten miles over. She'd send the Crow Witch, but apparently she's dealing with some ten-foot centipede off to the north."
Alucard nodded. "Very well." Almost absently, he called up a ball of Hellfire and incinerated the goblin's corpse. It had been decided that nothing of Nilbog's creatures should remain.
Narwhal formed a platform near Alucard, and the ancient vampire stepped on it. Her voice was filled with amusement. "Come on Adrian, we've got to get going."
As she lifted him into the air, he blinked, shock in his golden eyes. "What did you say?"
"Adrian. That's your name, isn't it?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally he chuckled. "It is, but I never told it to you."
Narwhal lifted an eyebrow, then frowned. "Where the hell did I hear that?"
Softly, Alucard spoke, words he'd uttered nearly a millennium before. "'Though I may walk into the darkness, I carry myself with firm step and light heart, for...'"
Narwhal finished the words, puzzlement in her eyes. "'I shall return, with victory in hand and strength within, to safeguard that which I love.' How did I know that? What are you trying to pull?"
Alucard chuckled softly. "I am attempting nothing. But I believe I know what is going on, though this is unexpected. I'll explain on the way... what do you know about reincarnation?"
------------------
October 8, 2011
Washington, DC
President Randall Sears was young, for his position. At forty-five when he took office, his brown hair had only a few streaks in it back then. The stresses of the office was speeding up that graying process, his hair having gone entirely white. He looked twenty years younger a mere seven years ago.
Still, his mind was sharp. Dipping his glasses down, he looked seriously at the woman across from his desk in the Oval Office. "You've put me in a very difficult position."
Chief-Director Rebecca Costa-Brown nodded. "I understand that, Mister President. I'm not even the instigator of Cauldron, but our leader has vanished. Still, we knew Scion would go mad. We knew it the day he arrived. We kept as much of it secret as possible, because we knew he had powers beyond that which he displayed. If it had become common knowledge that he was a threat, he might have heard it from the other side of the globe, and started his rampage back in the early eighties. By then we would have had no chance to fight back."
"So you built the PRT and the Protectorate." Randall frowned. "I had wondered about the wisdom of certain choices over the years. The funnelling of military funding into the Protectorate. That choice was made long before this administration."
Rebecca nodded. "We arranged that. We arranged a lot of things. There were only so many things we could do, and the emergence of the Endbringers made a lot of our plans impossible. We tried to build international cooperation with Russia, then Behemoth destroyed Moscow. We attempted to build upon Sphere's work to try and find a way to evacuate Earth Bet, then the Simurgh appeared. We tried to use Haywire's technology to find a way to try evacuating to an alternate Earth, and the Simurgh stopped that too. Again and again. We became more and more desperate as the years went on. Trying to find a way to prevent the deaths of not just everyone on Bet, but everywhere else too. Scion was that big of a threat. Our best projections were that he was going to depopulate thousands of worlds at least."
Randall bit his lip. "I can understand your logic. However, you and your group still committed crimes against humanity. Considering the circumstances... even with the heroics you displayed, I have a very difficult time considering how a pardon would be received."
"So don't." Rebecca spoke with a cool tone. "I'm perfectly aware of the scope of our crimes. There's no prison capable of holding us against our will. Even the Birdcage. I know how it's designed, I could simply plow through the major defenses, and Eidolon could leave it with ease." She leaned forward. "But that assumes that we would want to escape."
Randall blinked.
Rebecca had a faint smile on her lips. "Right now, Eidolon, or rather Apostle, is required out there. He still needs to free some of the gods, that's the highest remaining priority. Once he's finished with that, his powers will be needed to help fix the damage to Earth Bet. The issue is, his powers are fading. They're fading rapidly, the battle with Scion took a great deal out of him. He claims he has perhaps a year before they're all gone entirely. Whatever Scarlet Dragon did, he hasn't got very many remaining. By then, he'll be an ordinary person. But also by then he may have done enough to help us keep our planet habitable."
"And you?"
Rebecca shrugged. "Prison for a century or more. I might actually manage to outlive the sentence. Or not. We don't know enough about powers. I won't be leaving without cause, however. It's the least I can do."
Randall sighed. "We'll figure something out. I'm tempted to sweep everything under the rug, move forward."
Rebecca shook her head. "A year ago, I'd have agreed with you. But if we're going to have something salvageable out of the government, out of the Protectorate, we need to come clean. If we don't do it now, we won't. We'll get complacent, again. Some secrets can remain so... but those aren't my secrets. Cauldron's mission is over. Let history judge us for what we are, good and bad. We made heroes and villains worldwide, but it was all for the goal of stopping our extinction. If that means we must face execution for our crimes... so be it. The choice belongs to those we fought for. Those we failed. And those we betrayed, Mister President."
Randall pursed his lips. "Nobody's going to like it. It would be so much easier to sell the narrative of glorious, shining heroes saving the world from a hero gone mad."
Rebecca smiled faintly. "I agree, it would. But that path won't lead us anywhere we could be proud of. History is turning on these early days, Mister President. What we do here is going to affect generations to come. We need a strong foundation to manage that, to manage a future better than the times we've experienced over the last thirty years."
"And Scarlet Dragon? She sold the story of being a refugee from another world to ours."
Rebecca shrugged. "Technically it's true. Her citizens are. Of them, only she's a native to here... and frankly, considering what she went through, I'm not surprised if she wants to disassociate herself with her old life. She actually died. We're insanely lucky she calmed down enough to be somewhat reasonable. By all rights, with everything she went through, and then being handed that kind of power? She could have easily been the worst monster we've ever seen. But she wasn't. If she wants to keep a secret, that's up to her. She's more than earned it. She also has good reasons for the cover story, to help protect her father. We're better off if nobody gets the bright idea to push her."
Randall sighed. "Any word on her?"
"Currently... we think she's in a coma. Or whatever equivalent of it she might have. We're feeding her. She's regenerating. Hopefully she'll be up soon, but it's hard to tell. No vital signs."
The President chuckled ruefully. "The day I hope for a vampire to recover. There's already factions trying to use her name for their own political agendas. Then there's the Scionites."
Rebecca sighed. "Fanatics. Even when they're on your side, they're a pain."
------------------
October 15, 2011
The forcefield dome covering Las Vegas shimmered faintly green. Not that many of the people inside really noticed. Even now, Las Vegas never slept, the lights of the city shining brightly. The atmosphere outside wasn't as bad as it might have been further to the north, but a dust storm still raged upon it, scattering up electric crackles with every sand grain that struck it.
Through the hotel room window, a demonic vampire watched. "It's beautiful." Meridia spoke quietly.
The interviewer next to her chuckled. He was an older man, though he obviously took his time and effort to stay in shape. "It takes getting used to. Living under domes are pretty weird. Least it's becoming easier to travel between major cities with the portal network going up."
"Indeed. At the very least, we are still here."
He smiled. Facing her fully, he pressed on his digital recorder. "This is John Marsters, I'm sitting here in the Las Vegas Hilton with Miss Meridia. In the absence of the Scarlet Dragon, Meridia has worked in her stead, organizing the few members of Velnar's citizens still active. You may be most familiar with her work on building the Shadow Portal networks that are connecting major cities, as well as bringing food in from the farming arcologies to your grocery store. Her work has been invaluable for helping us keep our quality of life fairly high while we struggle to recover our infrastructure. For the last two months, she's worked to fulfill her obligations to the heroine who gave us all hope. How are you today, Meridia?"
She smiled pleasantly. "Quite fine, thank you."
"First question, the one burning on everyone's minds. What happened during Ragnarok, exactly? Is Scarlet Dragon okay?"
Meridia shrugged. "In reverse order, My Lady is resting. The battle with Scion strained her greatly, and she requires time to recover. When that may be is difficult to say, as none have ever done as she did. As for Ragnarok, Scion destroyed nearly half of Velnar and Castlevania as he began his rampage. Many lives were lost, but the castle itself still remains, as do many of its citizens. It currently rests in the Shadow Plane and is in the process of rebuilding. As for how she fought Scion, I do believe the public release about Cauldron and its activities speak for that better. My Lady possessed Scion's counterpart, using her strength to amplify Scarlet Dragon's own to fight him on more even footing. The devastation is horrid, but it is far better than what happened to the Old World. One does not kill an Abomination easily."
The interviewer nodded. "During the previous press conference, Scarlet Dragon stated that your world was destroyed by a being comparable to the Endbringers. Now you're telling us it was destroyed by Scion. Can you clarify things for the record?"
Meridia shook her head. "I admit there was some deception there. Part of it was in preventing a panic. The other part was in preventing Scion from going mad immediately. We did not know who or what the Abomination was here at the time. The Destroyer that devastated the Old World was not Scion, but a cousin. I am aware of the implication of that. We were fairly certain there was an Abomination here as was there. Dracul did slay the first, as we spoke of. We sought to stop its cousin from slaying your world as the Destroyer slew ours, but we had much more to do. If we spoke of a being greater than the Endbringers, responsible for our destruction, and trying to find a way to slay it, Scion may have learned of it and sought to deal with our efforts immediately. That would have ended poorly for all."
"There are many who dislike that decision. People don't like to be lied to."
Meridia smiled slightly, her voice filled with understanding. "I understand that. Despite this, however, we were in a war situation. We did not know its capabilities precisely, but that the enemy existed. We sought to prepare, just in case it would be hostile as the one we knew was. Had he realized earlier, Scion would have destroyed us, and then humanity itself may have been helpless when he came after you."
"Some say that Velnar provoked Scion, leading to the destruction. Can you comment?"
"Scion attacked us first. Even before then, we saw his actions at the Battle of Swansea. He simply watched as we fought the Endbringer Leviathan and did nothing. One of our longest-lived servants, Morte, tried to talk to Scion as he arrived at Castlevania. He struck without warning, then."
John sighed, clearing his throat. "What have the survivors of Velnar been doing in the aftermath?"
Meridia shrugged. "What many of us have been doing, attempting to survive, building a life. Some are signing up for the Protectorate, helping boost the numbers of heroes out there to help keep order. Others are building a life. Canada has offered us land, and we are setting up a settlement on the Manitoba and Ontario border. Most of Velnar's population remains within Castlevania, however. Many are not suitable for living amongst humans, they're too violent or alien to get along with you. They are permitted to do their own thing, contribute in their own way, but My Lady would not allow them to cause more carnage after all the effort she put in stopping so much death and destruction here. We have many challenges ahead of us, but I am simply doing what I believe My Lady would ask of me."
John smiled. "I see. What has it been like, emigrating to another world?"
Meridia laughed. "Pleasant. I have seen many wonders here, many things that we would have chosen to describe as wizardry. It has been a challenge trying to learn, but a rewarding one. Despite all the issues we have experienced, the battles we survived, and those who are prejudiced against us, I do believe I understand now what My Lady was talking about, many months ago."
"Oh? Can you comment?"
"Certainly. It was shortly after the deaths of the Slaughterhouse Nine. I had been wounded by the Siberian when I attempted to stop her from killing innocents that My Lady, Lord Alucard, and the Protectorate were trying to defend against her. When questioned by My Lady, I could not tell her why I stepped in, beyond that it was what she would have wanted. Now I could give her an answer beyond that." The demoness smiled faintly. "There are many things I desire. Good company. Good sex. A place in the world. Knowledge and love. But the desire to harm an innocent is not one of them. An enemy? Yes, that I can wish to harm, but those who are helpless? No, I am better than that."
John nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. Was it terrifying facing off against the Siberian?"
Meridia shrugged. "I was not quite aware of the extent of her reputation. Had I been, I might have attempted things differently. But yes, she was frightening. She fought My Lady to a standstill. Few others could."
"Personally I'm glad you survived it."
"I as well. Death is unpleasant."
John smiled. "On another note, when can we expect your photoshoot?"
Meridia laughed. "December. I try to keep my promises."
"Thank you very much, Regent Meridia. This is John Marsters for Playboy, signing out." He tapped his digital recorder.
Meridia looked him up and down. "Mm. I can sense your desire."
He chuckled nervously. "Yeah. That's kind of... involuntary." He held up his hand, tapping his wedding ring. "Besides, I'm married. I don't cheat on her. Only if we're together do we have some fun."
Meridia's grin widened. "Oh really? Feel free to give her a call, then. I enjoy having more than one partner at a time as well."
John swallowed. Then he began fumbling for his cell phone.
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So yeah. All of you, take a pat on the back.
Except the jerks. (You know who you are.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 2, 2011
Charleston Lake Provincial Park, Southern Ontario
A goblin tore its way through the snow. Dozens of his brothers had fallen but this target was unaware. He looked forward to getting the man-flesh, dragging the carcass back to the hovel. Feasting. Breeding. Fulfilling Lord Nilbog's last command. Breed. Fight. Slay. Conquer.
He jumped at the white-haired human, drool flowing from his lips, only for the man to turn at the last instant and step aside.
The goblin hit the snow, thrashed, got to his feet. The human was standing back, hand on a curved sword, slowly sheathing it.
Foolish human, putting a weapon away when...
------------------
"That was cool." Narwhal commented as the goblin fell in two clean halves.
Alucard smiled at the forcefield user, hovering above on another one of her own forcefields. "It took many years to get that technique down. It is far harder than it looks."
"I'll bet. That's one very nice sword."
Alucard nodded. "It was the result of collaboration between myself and Armsmaster. His skills are impressive. He refined my work, improved upon it. This is a blade of such refinement and power that I could only have dreamed of such in the Old World."
Chuckling, Narwhal checked the armband on her left wrist, which was the only thing she was wearing besides her forcefields. "We've got to sweep further to the west. Scylla's saying there's a nest of these things about ten miles over. She'd send the Crow Witch, but apparently she's dealing with some ten-foot centipede off to the north."
Alucard nodded. "Very well." Almost absently, he called up a ball of Hellfire and incinerated the goblin's corpse. It had been decided that nothing of Nilbog's creatures should remain.
Narwhal formed a platform near Alucard, and the ancient vampire stepped on it. Her voice was filled with amusement. "Come on Adrian, we've got to get going."
As she lifted him into the air, he blinked, shock in his golden eyes. "What did you say?"
"Adrian. That's your name, isn't it?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally he chuckled. "It is, but I never told it to you."
Narwhal lifted an eyebrow, then frowned. "Where the hell did I hear that?"
Softly, Alucard spoke, words he'd uttered nearly a millennium before. "'Though I may walk into the darkness, I carry myself with firm step and light heart, for...'"
Narwhal finished the words, puzzlement in her eyes. "'I shall return, with victory in hand and strength within, to safeguard that which I love.' How did I know that? What are you trying to pull?"
Alucard chuckled softly. "I am attempting nothing. But I believe I know what is going on, though this is unexpected. I'll explain on the way... what do you know about reincarnation?"
------------------
October 8, 2011
Washington, DC
President Randall Sears was young, for his position. At forty-five when he took office, his brown hair had only a few streaks in it back then. The stresses of the office was speeding up that graying process, his hair having gone entirely white. He looked twenty years younger a mere seven years ago.
Still, his mind was sharp. Dipping his glasses down, he looked seriously at the woman across from his desk in the Oval Office. "You've put me in a very difficult position."
Chief-Director Rebecca Costa-Brown nodded. "I understand that, Mister President. I'm not even the instigator of Cauldron, but our leader has vanished. Still, we knew Scion would go mad. We knew it the day he arrived. We kept as much of it secret as possible, because we knew he had powers beyond that which he displayed. If it had become common knowledge that he was a threat, he might have heard it from the other side of the globe, and started his rampage back in the early eighties. By then we would have had no chance to fight back."
"So you built the PRT and the Protectorate." Randall frowned. "I had wondered about the wisdom of certain choices over the years. The funnelling of military funding into the Protectorate. That choice was made long before this administration."
Rebecca nodded. "We arranged that. We arranged a lot of things. There were only so many things we could do, and the emergence of the Endbringers made a lot of our plans impossible. We tried to build international cooperation with Russia, then Behemoth destroyed Moscow. We attempted to build upon Sphere's work to try and find a way to evacuate Earth Bet, then the Simurgh appeared. We tried to use Haywire's technology to find a way to try evacuating to an alternate Earth, and the Simurgh stopped that too. Again and again. We became more and more desperate as the years went on. Trying to find a way to prevent the deaths of not just everyone on Bet, but everywhere else too. Scion was that big of a threat. Our best projections were that he was going to depopulate thousands of worlds at least."
Randall bit his lip. "I can understand your logic. However, you and your group still committed crimes against humanity. Considering the circumstances... even with the heroics you displayed, I have a very difficult time considering how a pardon would be received."
"So don't." Rebecca spoke with a cool tone. "I'm perfectly aware of the scope of our crimes. There's no prison capable of holding us against our will. Even the Birdcage. I know how it's designed, I could simply plow through the major defenses, and Eidolon could leave it with ease." She leaned forward. "But that assumes that we would want to escape."
Randall blinked.
Rebecca had a faint smile on her lips. "Right now, Eidolon, or rather Apostle, is required out there. He still needs to free some of the gods, that's the highest remaining priority. Once he's finished with that, his powers will be needed to help fix the damage to Earth Bet. The issue is, his powers are fading. They're fading rapidly, the battle with Scion took a great deal out of him. He claims he has perhaps a year before they're all gone entirely. Whatever Scarlet Dragon did, he hasn't got very many remaining. By then, he'll be an ordinary person. But also by then he may have done enough to help us keep our planet habitable."
"And you?"
Rebecca shrugged. "Prison for a century or more. I might actually manage to outlive the sentence. Or not. We don't know enough about powers. I won't be leaving without cause, however. It's the least I can do."
Randall sighed. "We'll figure something out. I'm tempted to sweep everything under the rug, move forward."
Rebecca shook her head. "A year ago, I'd have agreed with you. But if we're going to have something salvageable out of the government, out of the Protectorate, we need to come clean. If we don't do it now, we won't. We'll get complacent, again. Some secrets can remain so... but those aren't my secrets. Cauldron's mission is over. Let history judge us for what we are, good and bad. We made heroes and villains worldwide, but it was all for the goal of stopping our extinction. If that means we must face execution for our crimes... so be it. The choice belongs to those we fought for. Those we failed. And those we betrayed, Mister President."
Randall pursed his lips. "Nobody's going to like it. It would be so much easier to sell the narrative of glorious, shining heroes saving the world from a hero gone mad."
Rebecca smiled faintly. "I agree, it would. But that path won't lead us anywhere we could be proud of. History is turning on these early days, Mister President. What we do here is going to affect generations to come. We need a strong foundation to manage that, to manage a future better than the times we've experienced over the last thirty years."
"And Scarlet Dragon? She sold the story of being a refugee from another world to ours."
Rebecca shrugged. "Technically it's true. Her citizens are. Of them, only she's a native to here... and frankly, considering what she went through, I'm not surprised if she wants to disassociate herself with her old life. She actually died. We're insanely lucky she calmed down enough to be somewhat reasonable. By all rights, with everything she went through, and then being handed that kind of power? She could have easily been the worst monster we've ever seen. But she wasn't. If she wants to keep a secret, that's up to her. She's more than earned it. She also has good reasons for the cover story, to help protect her father. We're better off if nobody gets the bright idea to push her."
Randall sighed. "Any word on her?"
"Currently... we think she's in a coma. Or whatever equivalent of it she might have. We're feeding her. She's regenerating. Hopefully she'll be up soon, but it's hard to tell. No vital signs."
The President chuckled ruefully. "The day I hope for a vampire to recover. There's already factions trying to use her name for their own political agendas. Then there's the Scionites."
Rebecca sighed. "Fanatics. Even when they're on your side, they're a pain."
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October 15, 2011
The forcefield dome covering Las Vegas shimmered faintly green. Not that many of the people inside really noticed. Even now, Las Vegas never slept, the lights of the city shining brightly. The atmosphere outside wasn't as bad as it might have been further to the north, but a dust storm still raged upon it, scattering up electric crackles with every sand grain that struck it.
Through the hotel room window, a demonic vampire watched. "It's beautiful." Meridia spoke quietly.
The interviewer next to her chuckled. He was an older man, though he obviously took his time and effort to stay in shape. "It takes getting used to. Living under domes are pretty weird. Least it's becoming easier to travel between major cities with the portal network going up."
"Indeed. At the very least, we are still here."
He smiled. Facing her fully, he pressed on his digital recorder. "This is John Marsters, I'm sitting here in the Las Vegas Hilton with Miss Meridia. In the absence of the Scarlet Dragon, Meridia has worked in her stead, organizing the few members of Velnar's citizens still active. You may be most familiar with her work on building the Shadow Portal networks that are connecting major cities, as well as bringing food in from the farming arcologies to your grocery store. Her work has been invaluable for helping us keep our quality of life fairly high while we struggle to recover our infrastructure. For the last two months, she's worked to fulfill her obligations to the heroine who gave us all hope. How are you today, Meridia?"
She smiled pleasantly. "Quite fine, thank you."
"First question, the one burning on everyone's minds. What happened during Ragnarok, exactly? Is Scarlet Dragon okay?"
Meridia shrugged. "In reverse order, My Lady is resting. The battle with Scion strained her greatly, and she requires time to recover. When that may be is difficult to say, as none have ever done as she did. As for Ragnarok, Scion destroyed nearly half of Velnar and Castlevania as he began his rampage. Many lives were lost, but the castle itself still remains, as do many of its citizens. It currently rests in the Shadow Plane and is in the process of rebuilding. As for how she fought Scion, I do believe the public release about Cauldron and its activities speak for that better. My Lady possessed Scion's counterpart, using her strength to amplify Scarlet Dragon's own to fight him on more even footing. The devastation is horrid, but it is far better than what happened to the Old World. One does not kill an Abomination easily."
The interviewer nodded. "During the previous press conference, Scarlet Dragon stated that your world was destroyed by a being comparable to the Endbringers. Now you're telling us it was destroyed by Scion. Can you clarify things for the record?"
Meridia shook her head. "I admit there was some deception there. Part of it was in preventing a panic. The other part was in preventing Scion from going mad immediately. We did not know who or what the Abomination was here at the time. The Destroyer that devastated the Old World was not Scion, but a cousin. I am aware of the implication of that. We were fairly certain there was an Abomination here as was there. Dracul did slay the first, as we spoke of. We sought to stop its cousin from slaying your world as the Destroyer slew ours, but we had much more to do. If we spoke of a being greater than the Endbringers, responsible for our destruction, and trying to find a way to slay it, Scion may have learned of it and sought to deal with our efforts immediately. That would have ended poorly for all."
"There are many who dislike that decision. People don't like to be lied to."
Meridia smiled slightly, her voice filled with understanding. "I understand that. Despite this, however, we were in a war situation. We did not know its capabilities precisely, but that the enemy existed. We sought to prepare, just in case it would be hostile as the one we knew was. Had he realized earlier, Scion would have destroyed us, and then humanity itself may have been helpless when he came after you."
"Some say that Velnar provoked Scion, leading to the destruction. Can you comment?"
"Scion attacked us first. Even before then, we saw his actions at the Battle of Swansea. He simply watched as we fought the Endbringer Leviathan and did nothing. One of our longest-lived servants, Morte, tried to talk to Scion as he arrived at Castlevania. He struck without warning, then."
John sighed, clearing his throat. "What have the survivors of Velnar been doing in the aftermath?"
Meridia shrugged. "What many of us have been doing, attempting to survive, building a life. Some are signing up for the Protectorate, helping boost the numbers of heroes out there to help keep order. Others are building a life. Canada has offered us land, and we are setting up a settlement on the Manitoba and Ontario border. Most of Velnar's population remains within Castlevania, however. Many are not suitable for living amongst humans, they're too violent or alien to get along with you. They are permitted to do their own thing, contribute in their own way, but My Lady would not allow them to cause more carnage after all the effort she put in stopping so much death and destruction here. We have many challenges ahead of us, but I am simply doing what I believe My Lady would ask of me."
John smiled. "I see. What has it been like, emigrating to another world?"
Meridia laughed. "Pleasant. I have seen many wonders here, many things that we would have chosen to describe as wizardry. It has been a challenge trying to learn, but a rewarding one. Despite all the issues we have experienced, the battles we survived, and those who are prejudiced against us, I do believe I understand now what My Lady was talking about, many months ago."
"Oh? Can you comment?"
"Certainly. It was shortly after the deaths of the Slaughterhouse Nine. I had been wounded by the Siberian when I attempted to stop her from killing innocents that My Lady, Lord Alucard, and the Protectorate were trying to defend against her. When questioned by My Lady, I could not tell her why I stepped in, beyond that it was what she would have wanted. Now I could give her an answer beyond that." The demoness smiled faintly. "There are many things I desire. Good company. Good sex. A place in the world. Knowledge and love. But the desire to harm an innocent is not one of them. An enemy? Yes, that I can wish to harm, but those who are helpless? No, I am better than that."
John nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. Was it terrifying facing off against the Siberian?"
Meridia shrugged. "I was not quite aware of the extent of her reputation. Had I been, I might have attempted things differently. But yes, she was frightening. She fought My Lady to a standstill. Few others could."
"Personally I'm glad you survived it."
"I as well. Death is unpleasant."
John smiled. "On another note, when can we expect your photoshoot?"
Meridia laughed. "December. I try to keep my promises."
"Thank you very much, Regent Meridia. This is John Marsters for Playboy, signing out." He tapped his digital recorder.
Meridia looked him up and down. "Mm. I can sense your desire."
He chuckled nervously. "Yeah. That's kind of... involuntary." He held up his hand, tapping his wedding ring. "Besides, I'm married. I don't cheat on her. Only if we're together do we have some fun."
Meridia's grin widened. "Oh really? Feel free to give her a call, then. I enjoy having more than one partner at a time as well."
John swallowed. Then he began fumbling for his cell phone.
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OverReactionGuy
The only Sane one left
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Never change Meridia, never change.
Hye
Reader of The Long Words
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Heh. Interview with a Vampire
Heh, I did not see that one coming.
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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Hey, who else would have an interview with a succubus?
More seriously, brick joke.
Even more seriously, Playboy really does have good articles. At least it did. They can afford to have a professional reporter. His article's good enough to end up referred to in the papers... though they're going to be a bit disappointed that he got the scoop.
More seriously, brick joke.
Even more seriously, Playboy really does have good articles. At least it did. They can afford to have a professional reporter. His article's good enough to end up referred to in the papers... though they're going to be a bit disappointed that he got the scoop.
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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I promised no such thing. Simply that if I did do any, it would be on QQ.This axtually reminds me. Your OP promised us lewds for the QQ.
I'm not that good at it. I have some ideas...got some nice ones, actually, but... I have trouble enough with ordinary writing that doing some lewds just doesn't work so well. Now I've got ways to cheat at that, but I ain't all that comfortable with it either. So...yeah.
Epilogue: Foundations part 3
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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A/N: Damn, this has been so long. So very much work. I'm glad this has been so popular.
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October 31, 2011
Brockton Bay Arcology
Danny and Hannah sat together on her leather couch. His house was a wreck, though still intact enough to be rebuilt. In the meantime, however, he was staying with Hannah, and she'd decided to try to take his mind off things with a night in, watching old movies.
That she always remembered them didn't matter so much. Part of the fun of rewatching was to riff on things.
"You see, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."
They shared a laugh at the antics onscreen. Mel Brooks was always good for a laugh. It was a shame that only his Aleph counterpart was still around, but the movies did manage to get through the Aleph Imports.
The doorbell rang, and with a good-natured grumble, Danny got to his feet, grabbing the bowl on the coffee table and headed to the door. Hannah went along beside him, grinning. "That's what happens when we spend the night together on Halloween."
"Better than spending it alone." He replied, a smile on his lips. When he swung the door open, he blinked.
Two nine year old girls were standing there, bags outstretched. Their parents were standing back, not too far, the father wearing a pirate costume while the mother wore a princess costume. The first little girl was wearing camo fatigues, American flag scarf over her face. The other wore a dark red costume, made out of cardboard, and wearing a white wig, small cardboard wings attached to her back.
"Trick or treat!" They chorused.
Hannah laughed softly at Danny's side. She grabbed some of the little candybars in the bowl and handed a generous sampling to both. "Great costumes!" She gave a wink to the one wearing the Miss Militia outfit.
The little girls beamed.
Danny gathered some of the candy himself, placing a handful in the red-clad girl's bag. "Good costume."
"Thawnks!" She spoke with a lisp, her front teeth missing. "I'm Scawlet Dwagon."
He smiled faintly. "That you are."
'Scarlet' tilted her head. "Mister, are you cwying?"
Danny wiped his cheeks. "It's nothing." He tried to smile. "You be good for your mom and dad, okay?"
The girls nodded enthusiastically. As the group turned and ran to the next house, the mini-Miss Militia checked her bag. "I got a Snickers!"
With a smile, Hannah shut the door. She took a moment to look Danny in the eye. "Are you all right?"
He wiped his eyes. "I don't know, Hannah. She's changed the world, but she's just... lying there. I want her to be okay, but this is so much like when she was..."
Carefully, gently, Hannah took the bowl from his hand, setting it on a side table. Then she hugged him. Her voice was soft. "Your daughter's strong, Danny. Like her father. I grew to know Neptune pretty well, and he was always sad. Searching for something. But after she returned, he was... satisfied. He's part of you. A good part of you. He always wanted to help, even when he wasn't quite able to figure out how to do it." She smiled gently. "I know why, now. She'll be okay. It may take a while, but she'll come back. She's too stubborn to quit." Her voice turned amused. "More stubborn than you."
Danny nodded faintly. He wiped his eyes. "That's for damned sure. I'll be okay, Hannah." Hesitantly, he took her hand. She smiled and squeezed his in return.
Together, hand in hand, they went back to the couch. This time, they watched the movie in silence, though curled up together. Gently, she kissed his chin. He laughed softly, then with a little bit of wonder, he kissed her lips in return.
--------------------
Neptune and Salacia, out escorting trick-or-treating kids, stopped. They shared a look.
Avoid her house? Salacia signed.
Definitely. Neptune signed back. I am not walking in on that.
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December 20, 2011
Brockton Bay Arcology
Vicky soared through the air. Beneath her was a panoramic view of the city, while just above was the edge of the forcefield dome that covered the city. The thick winter coat, snowpants, and thick gloves made things tolerable despite how cold it was. The long, brutal winter was so very rough, and despite how large the arcology was, it still felt somewhat claustrophobic. It was also cold, though the dome made it 'just' unpleasantly cold, as opposed to the deadly cold outside that would have rightly belonged in the worst of an Antarctic winter.
She looked down, at the face of her sister. Amy still held the shape of her 'Amara' form. Red-haired, beautiful as Meridia was, though younger and definitely far more shy. In the winter's cold, even she wore a thick winter coat.
Not that Amy, being a vampire, would be threatened by the cold. There was a certain level of comfort needed. Nobody really liked feeling their eyes freeze in the cold. That was the reason for the goggles.
With a grin, Vicky spoke. "Ready?"
Amy returned the grin. "Ready."
Vicky dropped her.
For a few seconds, Amy tumbled through the air. Then the wings on her back, carefully crafted over the course of months for this specific purpose, boomed out. They caught the air, allowing her to arrest her fall and turn it into a glide. It was hardly graceful, but at least up here there was nothing she could possibly hit.
"Wooohoooo!" She yelled in excitement.
"Sweet!" Vicky yelled alongside her.
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Three hours of impromptu flying later, Amy finally had to call it a night. The sun was going to be up in less than an hour, she could feel that. Perhaps Taylor wasn't aware of it, not the way Amy was, but she could feel it as the night slackened, the sky beginning to lighten above the forcefield dome. The dome itself filtered out a fair bit of the light, but Amy wasn't exactly keen on risking her continued existence on chance.
Together, the Dallon sisters landed at one of the Endbringer shelters. The one closest to the portal to Velnar, the one taken up by several of the castle's demons. With no Endbringers, the ample space within was being converted into living quarters, and while they could only handle a fraction of the people in the conversion, every city had one.
That they were built tough and well-protected from sunlight was a major bonus.
Meridia was there to greet the pair, the black-skinned succubus smiling as the pair entered the simple partitioned room she'd chosen. Granted, it was partitioned with office dividers, but that wasn't much of a problem.
Vicky grinned. "Hey Meridia. How's it going?"
Meridia returned the smile. "I'm quite the popular succubus, thanks to that magazine. I've had a great deal of loving attention. And a few marriage proposals."
Amy sighed, shaking her head with bemusement. "Will you ever change, Meridia?"
She grinned impishly. "I certainly hope not. I am having far too much fun."
Vicky snickered.
Rolling her eyes, Amy spoke with exasperation. "Right, fine. It's time for me to tend to Vicky."
Blinking, Meridia looked between the sisters. Then she nodded as she understood. "Right." She got to her feet and went to the side of the room that held Amy's bunk. The succubus reached underneath the bed and pulled out the small medical cooler that sat there. She presented it to Amy as if it were a precious present.
Amy took it with a smile, opening it. Inside was a lump of raw meat, ghastly to look at. She looked at Vicky. "It's time, Vicky. I'm ready to restore your eye."
Vicky bit her lip. "You sure you can do it right? I don't want to push if you ain't ready, Ames. I've had time to think about this, and..." She gently rubbed the side of her eyepatch. "I kinda took you for granted, before. It wasn't fair to you. I'm glad you're still around, so very glad, but I'm not about to do that again. I know all this is so much harder for you now."
"I appreciate it. I want to do this, Vicky. Now that we actually have the time... and I've been practising, a lot. It's getting easier." Amy sighed, a faint smile on her lips. "I wouldn't want all that practice to go to waste."
Vicky chuckled. "Yeah, well..." Self-consciously, she rubbed the edge of her eyepatch. "It would be nice to have depth perception again. But I don't want to forget what happened. What we went through. Mom's scars are gone, but mine... I'm not explaining very well, am I?"
Amy smiled faintly. "Well enough. Thing is, though? They wanted to hurt people. They wanted to leave scars. The Siberian and Bonesaw hurt way more people than just us. But we shouldn't let them win. Let me do this, let me fix your eye. Let me help my sister the way she was willing to help me when I opened up."
Vicky laughed helplessly. "Alright. You win, Ames. When did you get to be so wise?"
Amy smiled. "Learned it from my sister." As Vicky straightened up with a bit of pride, Amy finished. "I ask myself 'What would Vicky do?' and then do the exact opposite."
"Hey!" Vicky exclaimed, looking scandalised. Then she laughed. "Okay, fine, yuk it up. Get on with it already."
Meridia grinned, stifling her own laughter. "I'll keep watch. This kind of thing is interesting."
Amy took in a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'm going to have to knock you out for this... or it'll probably hurt like hell."
"Ready Ames." Vicky smiled. "Long as you are."
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January 12, 2012
Dressed in the rags of her suit, covered in mud, and with hair long, dirty and tangled, Sophia stared down her prey.
The most annoying thing about her situation, after she'd managed to adjust to things by setting up a spike trap in the cave she'd taken as her home, was ensuring she got by. Her stash of antibiotics? More than half used, after taking care of the various scrapes and small injuries she'd accumulated. The non-perishable food? Gone. She still had the cooking supplies, and a bit of ingenuity and know-how let her figure out how to get a fire going. She had a lighter, though that was out of fuel, it was still good enough to spark things with sufficiently dry tinder.
Now? Her main problem was that she lacked an easy way to shoot things. Her crossbow had snapped under the stress of overuse, and she had no way to repair it.
The bolts, though, were still of some use. The heads made for decent spear-points, and when she wasn't busy eating or conserving energy, she was making spears. Ten of them, with the rest of the twenty bolts she had remaining in reserve.
And so it was now she was holding a six foot long spear, staring at an apparently oblivious hadrosaur, a feathered and duck-billed dumbass species that tended to rove in herds. A juvenile, one that was about three feet long and a foot tall. Enough meat to satisfy for a few days, especially if she was careful about cooking and drying the meat. It was busily drinking from a stream, its dull eyes swivelling back and forth, probably more worried about either a swarm of little bastards that looked (and tasted) like chickens, or the big bastards that looked like mutant chickens with way too many teeth.
Sophia was getting tired of the taste of chicken. Also getting really tired of getting looked at as a meal by chickens.
Momentarily phasing, she chucked the spear in her hand. The spear would fly through the air, and unphase just before it struck flesh. She could already taste the burned meat...
Only her spear unphased and landed about a foot from the target. Her prey looked at the spear, quivering in the dirt, blared out a honk, turned and ran.
"Come back here you little bastard!" Sophia howled, her voice harsh from disuse as she charged forward. She grabbed the spear sticking out of the dirt and gave chase. The little hadrosaur was young, and had a short stride. She could bound off the ground and shadow-phase, saving her energy while giving chase. She could catch it, stab it, bring it back-
or not. The juvenile ran straight into the herd of adult hadrosaurs, which stood at ten feet tall. The little one's blaring and calls of fright had roused the herd, and the whole group, all twenty of them, turned and honked at Sophia. She dropped to the ground, skidded to a stop, and growled to herself as she and the herd traded stares. Twenty sets of eyes staring at the one, lone human, honks and calls blaring threateningly. Large paws smacked the dirt.
Even if she did manage to kill the juvenile, she couldn't bring it with her in her shadow-state without putting it over her shoulders, and the adults wouldn't give her the time she needed to get it there. Even if she killed an adult or two, she had only two spears, and she wouldn't be given the time to harvest any meat. They were too big to get back to the cave, and the scent of blood would attract the larger predators rather easily. It just wasn't worth the trouble.
Stomach growling, tears filling her eyes as she turned around, Sophia withdrew. She struggled to keep in the sobs as she trudged back 'home.' A fucking cave that attracted large-ass spiders and that which she had to constantly fight to evict rats from, when she wasn't eating said rats.
Home.
She'd do anything to be home. To have hot running water. To hear another human voice. To be with somebody else. To be able to open a microwaveable meal, pop it in, and let it cook while she sat in front of a TV set and vegged out. Even being able to sit down and read something as banal and stupid as a Scion's Disciples pamphlet would be a luxury.
This... this constant struggle to survive on her own was wearing her down. One slip, one miscalculation, and the critters she managed to occasionally hunt down would happily feast on her. Nobody around would ever care.
She looked down at the ground, seeing one of the chicken-sized dinosaurs there. It was looking at her, head tilted, and chirped.
Sophia hurled her spear at it. It tried to dodge, but was just a bit too slow. With a keening cry, it writhed and struggled as it bled all over the dirt, impaled upon the spear. Hurrying, Sophia ran up and snapped its neck.
At least she'd have dinner, now. She picked up the corpse, pulling it off the spear, only to stop at hearing another chirp. And another and another. Turning her head, she saw fifty more of the little feathered bastards.
Chirping angrily, they tried to swarm at her. She simply turned shadow and fled. They couldn't smell her like this, couldn't track her. But now she was running from fucking toothy chickens. At least she had one for dinner, but she'd still have to go and hunt again tomorrow. They didn't have much meat on them.
If she ever saw Hebert again, she'd stab the bitch right through her face for sending her to this hell. Sophia felt she didn't deserve this.
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January 25th, 2012
Hookwolf watched as the food truck came through the portal.
Placed on the outskirts of the city, near the edge of the forcefield dome protecting it from the outside harsh weather, there were a lot of staging areas to bring food in. Luxury goods, such as chocolate, was a bit rare, though efforts were made to keep producing it.
No, what was important were the canned goods, non-perishables that would last without refrigeration. The Empire was on the move, their members needing to lay low, and that meant leaving as few traces for the Protectorate as possible. Especially now that the kid gloves were off. Some of the Empire members just vanished, either going straight or simply being captured. Others went off the grid, like Alabaster, Fog, and Night. Kaiser, Fenja and Menja disappeared, neither hide nor hair of them being found.
It left Hookwolf in nominal charge. Cricket, Rune, Crusader and Krieg were on site. Victor and Othala were hanging back, prepared with a sniper rifle in case things did not go as expected. They needed food. The unpowered members of the Empire had provided it for them, but they were running out of options when they were being arrested, or outright killed resisting arrest. It wasn't very many, but it had a chilling effect on the gang. Long-sleeves were in fashion, and not simply because of the cold weather.
The food truck passed through the street below. Hookwolf made a gesture.
Rune lifted the dumpster from where she had it stashed, out of sight from the street, and dropped it directly in the path of the truck.
The truck ground to a halt, the woman driver frantically hitting the brakes. Hookwolf himself slammed right into the hood of the truck an instant later, blades emerging and spearing through the window. He tilted the metal head, growling at the wide-eyed blonde.
"Get out." He snarled.
She complied, jumping out of the truck and running off. It meant they had less time before it was called in, but it also meant there would be less heat for the hijacking. Theft of food was less of a priority than the murder of civilians these days. Even if it was a lot of food.
Quickly, the rest of the Empire members started moving. Rune hopped in the passenger side, pulling her hood back and removing her mask. Hookwolf himself finished ripping the glass out, before he slid into the driver's seat and reverted himself to his human form. He reached into his flannel jacket, having been covered by his wolf blades, and slipped on a trucker's hat.
The rest scattered, heading toward downtown. They'd bring the truck into one of the parking garages, empty it as fast as possible, then carry whatever supplies they could manage in ten minutes of unloading. They could manage a lot with a pair of telekinetics. All of it would be loaded into vans and cars, and the gang would go their separate ways. At least until they needed another operation.
Straightforward. Simple. Few things could go wrong. The simplest plans were the best for that very reason.
Hookwolf set the truck in gear, started it down the street. Rune shifted the dumpster out of the way.
Two minutes later, thirty Dragon suits dropped on top of them, one stopping on the hood and pointing a very large cannon right in his face. The same models he'd seen last fighting Scion.
"Hookwolf, Rune of the Empire 88. We have you surrounded. Stop the vehicle and surrender." Pandora's voice echoed.
Rune started swearing. She had a rather impressive vocabulary.
Grimacing, Brad pulled the truck to a stop. This shit wouldn't have happened if Kaiser was here. Where the fuck was he?
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Max Anders sipped from his daiquiri.
Hawaii had been spared most of the impact from Ragnarok. A power outage was about the worst of it, and the islands had been repaired a couple of weeks later. It was also far enough south that the brutal winter ravaging the Northern Hemisphere was only slightly cooler on the islands.
Jessica sat at his left, looking quite stunning in her bikini. She was busily scanning the beach, which had more people than he was comfortable with, but he was still rather safe here. Nessa was on his right, enjoying her own rather fruity concoction.
He wasn't entirely sure what he would do in the future. There wasn't much profit in attempting to run a racial-supremacist gang, not while things were changing. Medhall's stock was up, and it earned him more than enough to retire quietly if he wished. Gesellschaft itself didn't have much of a future, either. Germany was rebuilding in the wake of Ragnarok, and the authorities simply didn't have any patience for a resurgence of the old mistakes.
The world was changing. Adapt or die. And Max made his choice.
Watching the sun set below the clouds, in one of the few American places not sequestered underneath an environment dome, Max knew he made the right choice. Opportunities would come for a more direct form of power, eventually. Maybe not for decades... but he wasn't about to try and get on the bad side of an omnipresent AI or an Endbringer-killing golden Dragon.
He smiled. "Let's get back to the hotel, hm?"
As Jessica and Nessa smiled, his own grew. Yes, definitely the right choice. He could wait.
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October 31, 2011
Brockton Bay Arcology
Danny and Hannah sat together on her leather couch. His house was a wreck, though still intact enough to be rebuilt. In the meantime, however, he was staying with Hannah, and she'd decided to try to take his mind off things with a night in, watching old movies.
That she always remembered them didn't matter so much. Part of the fun of rewatching was to riff on things.
"You see, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."
They shared a laugh at the antics onscreen. Mel Brooks was always good for a laugh. It was a shame that only his Aleph counterpart was still around, but the movies did manage to get through the Aleph Imports.
The doorbell rang, and with a good-natured grumble, Danny got to his feet, grabbing the bowl on the coffee table and headed to the door. Hannah went along beside him, grinning. "That's what happens when we spend the night together on Halloween."
"Better than spending it alone." He replied, a smile on his lips. When he swung the door open, he blinked.
Two nine year old girls were standing there, bags outstretched. Their parents were standing back, not too far, the father wearing a pirate costume while the mother wore a princess costume. The first little girl was wearing camo fatigues, American flag scarf over her face. The other wore a dark red costume, made out of cardboard, and wearing a white wig, small cardboard wings attached to her back.
"Trick or treat!" They chorused.
Hannah laughed softly at Danny's side. She grabbed some of the little candybars in the bowl and handed a generous sampling to both. "Great costumes!" She gave a wink to the one wearing the Miss Militia outfit.
The little girls beamed.
Danny gathered some of the candy himself, placing a handful in the red-clad girl's bag. "Good costume."
"Thawnks!" She spoke with a lisp, her front teeth missing. "I'm Scawlet Dwagon."
He smiled faintly. "That you are."
'Scarlet' tilted her head. "Mister, are you cwying?"
Danny wiped his cheeks. "It's nothing." He tried to smile. "You be good for your mom and dad, okay?"
The girls nodded enthusiastically. As the group turned and ran to the next house, the mini-Miss Militia checked her bag. "I got a Snickers!"
With a smile, Hannah shut the door. She took a moment to look Danny in the eye. "Are you all right?"
He wiped his eyes. "I don't know, Hannah. She's changed the world, but she's just... lying there. I want her to be okay, but this is so much like when she was..."
Carefully, gently, Hannah took the bowl from his hand, setting it on a side table. Then she hugged him. Her voice was soft. "Your daughter's strong, Danny. Like her father. I grew to know Neptune pretty well, and he was always sad. Searching for something. But after she returned, he was... satisfied. He's part of you. A good part of you. He always wanted to help, even when he wasn't quite able to figure out how to do it." She smiled gently. "I know why, now. She'll be okay. It may take a while, but she'll come back. She's too stubborn to quit." Her voice turned amused. "More stubborn than you."
Danny nodded faintly. He wiped his eyes. "That's for damned sure. I'll be okay, Hannah." Hesitantly, he took her hand. She smiled and squeezed his in return.
Together, hand in hand, they went back to the couch. This time, they watched the movie in silence, though curled up together. Gently, she kissed his chin. He laughed softly, then with a little bit of wonder, he kissed her lips in return.
--------------------
Neptune and Salacia, out escorting trick-or-treating kids, stopped. They shared a look.
Avoid her house? Salacia signed.
Definitely. Neptune signed back. I am not walking in on that.
--------------------
December 20, 2011
Brockton Bay Arcology
Vicky soared through the air. Beneath her was a panoramic view of the city, while just above was the edge of the forcefield dome that covered the city. The thick winter coat, snowpants, and thick gloves made things tolerable despite how cold it was. The long, brutal winter was so very rough, and despite how large the arcology was, it still felt somewhat claustrophobic. It was also cold, though the dome made it 'just' unpleasantly cold, as opposed to the deadly cold outside that would have rightly belonged in the worst of an Antarctic winter.
She looked down, at the face of her sister. Amy still held the shape of her 'Amara' form. Red-haired, beautiful as Meridia was, though younger and definitely far more shy. In the winter's cold, even she wore a thick winter coat.
Not that Amy, being a vampire, would be threatened by the cold. There was a certain level of comfort needed. Nobody really liked feeling their eyes freeze in the cold. That was the reason for the goggles.
With a grin, Vicky spoke. "Ready?"
Amy returned the grin. "Ready."
Vicky dropped her.
For a few seconds, Amy tumbled through the air. Then the wings on her back, carefully crafted over the course of months for this specific purpose, boomed out. They caught the air, allowing her to arrest her fall and turn it into a glide. It was hardly graceful, but at least up here there was nothing she could possibly hit.
"Wooohoooo!" She yelled in excitement.
"Sweet!" Vicky yelled alongside her.
--------------------
Three hours of impromptu flying later, Amy finally had to call it a night. The sun was going to be up in less than an hour, she could feel that. Perhaps Taylor wasn't aware of it, not the way Amy was, but she could feel it as the night slackened, the sky beginning to lighten above the forcefield dome. The dome itself filtered out a fair bit of the light, but Amy wasn't exactly keen on risking her continued existence on chance.
Together, the Dallon sisters landed at one of the Endbringer shelters. The one closest to the portal to Velnar, the one taken up by several of the castle's demons. With no Endbringers, the ample space within was being converted into living quarters, and while they could only handle a fraction of the people in the conversion, every city had one.
That they were built tough and well-protected from sunlight was a major bonus.
Meridia was there to greet the pair, the black-skinned succubus smiling as the pair entered the simple partitioned room she'd chosen. Granted, it was partitioned with office dividers, but that wasn't much of a problem.
Vicky grinned. "Hey Meridia. How's it going?"
Meridia returned the smile. "I'm quite the popular succubus, thanks to that magazine. I've had a great deal of loving attention. And a few marriage proposals."
Amy sighed, shaking her head with bemusement. "Will you ever change, Meridia?"
She grinned impishly. "I certainly hope not. I am having far too much fun."
Vicky snickered.
Rolling her eyes, Amy spoke with exasperation. "Right, fine. It's time for me to tend to Vicky."
Blinking, Meridia looked between the sisters. Then she nodded as she understood. "Right." She got to her feet and went to the side of the room that held Amy's bunk. The succubus reached underneath the bed and pulled out the small medical cooler that sat there. She presented it to Amy as if it were a precious present.
Amy took it with a smile, opening it. Inside was a lump of raw meat, ghastly to look at. She looked at Vicky. "It's time, Vicky. I'm ready to restore your eye."
Vicky bit her lip. "You sure you can do it right? I don't want to push if you ain't ready, Ames. I've had time to think about this, and..." She gently rubbed the side of her eyepatch. "I kinda took you for granted, before. It wasn't fair to you. I'm glad you're still around, so very glad, but I'm not about to do that again. I know all this is so much harder for you now."
"I appreciate it. I want to do this, Vicky. Now that we actually have the time... and I've been practising, a lot. It's getting easier." Amy sighed, a faint smile on her lips. "I wouldn't want all that practice to go to waste."
Vicky chuckled. "Yeah, well..." Self-consciously, she rubbed the edge of her eyepatch. "It would be nice to have depth perception again. But I don't want to forget what happened. What we went through. Mom's scars are gone, but mine... I'm not explaining very well, am I?"
Amy smiled faintly. "Well enough. Thing is, though? They wanted to hurt people. They wanted to leave scars. The Siberian and Bonesaw hurt way more people than just us. But we shouldn't let them win. Let me do this, let me fix your eye. Let me help my sister the way she was willing to help me when I opened up."
Vicky laughed helplessly. "Alright. You win, Ames. When did you get to be so wise?"
Amy smiled. "Learned it from my sister." As Vicky straightened up with a bit of pride, Amy finished. "I ask myself 'What would Vicky do?' and then do the exact opposite."
"Hey!" Vicky exclaimed, looking scandalised. Then she laughed. "Okay, fine, yuk it up. Get on with it already."
Meridia grinned, stifling her own laughter. "I'll keep watch. This kind of thing is interesting."
Amy took in a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'm going to have to knock you out for this... or it'll probably hurt like hell."
"Ready Ames." Vicky smiled. "Long as you are."
--------------------
January 12, 2012
Dressed in the rags of her suit, covered in mud, and with hair long, dirty and tangled, Sophia stared down her prey.
The most annoying thing about her situation, after she'd managed to adjust to things by setting up a spike trap in the cave she'd taken as her home, was ensuring she got by. Her stash of antibiotics? More than half used, after taking care of the various scrapes and small injuries she'd accumulated. The non-perishable food? Gone. She still had the cooking supplies, and a bit of ingenuity and know-how let her figure out how to get a fire going. She had a lighter, though that was out of fuel, it was still good enough to spark things with sufficiently dry tinder.
Now? Her main problem was that she lacked an easy way to shoot things. Her crossbow had snapped under the stress of overuse, and she had no way to repair it.
The bolts, though, were still of some use. The heads made for decent spear-points, and when she wasn't busy eating or conserving energy, she was making spears. Ten of them, with the rest of the twenty bolts she had remaining in reserve.
And so it was now she was holding a six foot long spear, staring at an apparently oblivious hadrosaur, a feathered and duck-billed dumbass species that tended to rove in herds. A juvenile, one that was about three feet long and a foot tall. Enough meat to satisfy for a few days, especially if she was careful about cooking and drying the meat. It was busily drinking from a stream, its dull eyes swivelling back and forth, probably more worried about either a swarm of little bastards that looked (and tasted) like chickens, or the big bastards that looked like mutant chickens with way too many teeth.
Sophia was getting tired of the taste of chicken. Also getting really tired of getting looked at as a meal by chickens.
Momentarily phasing, she chucked the spear in her hand. The spear would fly through the air, and unphase just before it struck flesh. She could already taste the burned meat...
Only her spear unphased and landed about a foot from the target. Her prey looked at the spear, quivering in the dirt, blared out a honk, turned and ran.
"Come back here you little bastard!" Sophia howled, her voice harsh from disuse as she charged forward. She grabbed the spear sticking out of the dirt and gave chase. The little hadrosaur was young, and had a short stride. She could bound off the ground and shadow-phase, saving her energy while giving chase. She could catch it, stab it, bring it back-
or not. The juvenile ran straight into the herd of adult hadrosaurs, which stood at ten feet tall. The little one's blaring and calls of fright had roused the herd, and the whole group, all twenty of them, turned and honked at Sophia. She dropped to the ground, skidded to a stop, and growled to herself as she and the herd traded stares. Twenty sets of eyes staring at the one, lone human, honks and calls blaring threateningly. Large paws smacked the dirt.
Even if she did manage to kill the juvenile, she couldn't bring it with her in her shadow-state without putting it over her shoulders, and the adults wouldn't give her the time she needed to get it there. Even if she killed an adult or two, she had only two spears, and she wouldn't be given the time to harvest any meat. They were too big to get back to the cave, and the scent of blood would attract the larger predators rather easily. It just wasn't worth the trouble.
Stomach growling, tears filling her eyes as she turned around, Sophia withdrew. She struggled to keep in the sobs as she trudged back 'home.' A fucking cave that attracted large-ass spiders and that which she had to constantly fight to evict rats from, when she wasn't eating said rats.
Home.
She'd do anything to be home. To have hot running water. To hear another human voice. To be with somebody else. To be able to open a microwaveable meal, pop it in, and let it cook while she sat in front of a TV set and vegged out. Even being able to sit down and read something as banal and stupid as a Scion's Disciples pamphlet would be a luxury.
This... this constant struggle to survive on her own was wearing her down. One slip, one miscalculation, and the critters she managed to occasionally hunt down would happily feast on her. Nobody around would ever care.
She looked down at the ground, seeing one of the chicken-sized dinosaurs there. It was looking at her, head tilted, and chirped.
Sophia hurled her spear at it. It tried to dodge, but was just a bit too slow. With a keening cry, it writhed and struggled as it bled all over the dirt, impaled upon the spear. Hurrying, Sophia ran up and snapped its neck.
At least she'd have dinner, now. She picked up the corpse, pulling it off the spear, only to stop at hearing another chirp. And another and another. Turning her head, she saw fifty more of the little feathered bastards.
Chirping angrily, they tried to swarm at her. She simply turned shadow and fled. They couldn't smell her like this, couldn't track her. But now she was running from fucking toothy chickens. At least she had one for dinner, but she'd still have to go and hunt again tomorrow. They didn't have much meat on them.
If she ever saw Hebert again, she'd stab the bitch right through her face for sending her to this hell. Sophia felt she didn't deserve this.
--------------------
January 25th, 2012
Hookwolf watched as the food truck came through the portal.
Placed on the outskirts of the city, near the edge of the forcefield dome protecting it from the outside harsh weather, there were a lot of staging areas to bring food in. Luxury goods, such as chocolate, was a bit rare, though efforts were made to keep producing it.
No, what was important were the canned goods, non-perishables that would last without refrigeration. The Empire was on the move, their members needing to lay low, and that meant leaving as few traces for the Protectorate as possible. Especially now that the kid gloves were off. Some of the Empire members just vanished, either going straight or simply being captured. Others went off the grid, like Alabaster, Fog, and Night. Kaiser, Fenja and Menja disappeared, neither hide nor hair of them being found.
It left Hookwolf in nominal charge. Cricket, Rune, Crusader and Krieg were on site. Victor and Othala were hanging back, prepared with a sniper rifle in case things did not go as expected. They needed food. The unpowered members of the Empire had provided it for them, but they were running out of options when they were being arrested, or outright killed resisting arrest. It wasn't very many, but it had a chilling effect on the gang. Long-sleeves were in fashion, and not simply because of the cold weather.
The food truck passed through the street below. Hookwolf made a gesture.
Rune lifted the dumpster from where she had it stashed, out of sight from the street, and dropped it directly in the path of the truck.
The truck ground to a halt, the woman driver frantically hitting the brakes. Hookwolf himself slammed right into the hood of the truck an instant later, blades emerging and spearing through the window. He tilted the metal head, growling at the wide-eyed blonde.
"Get out." He snarled.
She complied, jumping out of the truck and running off. It meant they had less time before it was called in, but it also meant there would be less heat for the hijacking. Theft of food was less of a priority than the murder of civilians these days. Even if it was a lot of food.
Quickly, the rest of the Empire members started moving. Rune hopped in the passenger side, pulling her hood back and removing her mask. Hookwolf himself finished ripping the glass out, before he slid into the driver's seat and reverted himself to his human form. He reached into his flannel jacket, having been covered by his wolf blades, and slipped on a trucker's hat.
The rest scattered, heading toward downtown. They'd bring the truck into one of the parking garages, empty it as fast as possible, then carry whatever supplies they could manage in ten minutes of unloading. They could manage a lot with a pair of telekinetics. All of it would be loaded into vans and cars, and the gang would go their separate ways. At least until they needed another operation.
Straightforward. Simple. Few things could go wrong. The simplest plans were the best for that very reason.
Hookwolf set the truck in gear, started it down the street. Rune shifted the dumpster out of the way.
Two minutes later, thirty Dragon suits dropped on top of them, one stopping on the hood and pointing a very large cannon right in his face. The same models he'd seen last fighting Scion.
"Hookwolf, Rune of the Empire 88. We have you surrounded. Stop the vehicle and surrender." Pandora's voice echoed.
Rune started swearing. She had a rather impressive vocabulary.
Grimacing, Brad pulled the truck to a stop. This shit wouldn't have happened if Kaiser was here. Where the fuck was he?
--------------------
Max Anders sipped from his daiquiri.
Hawaii had been spared most of the impact from Ragnarok. A power outage was about the worst of it, and the islands had been repaired a couple of weeks later. It was also far enough south that the brutal winter ravaging the Northern Hemisphere was only slightly cooler on the islands.
Jessica sat at his left, looking quite stunning in her bikini. She was busily scanning the beach, which had more people than he was comfortable with, but he was still rather safe here. Nessa was on his right, enjoying her own rather fruity concoction.
He wasn't entirely sure what he would do in the future. There wasn't much profit in attempting to run a racial-supremacist gang, not while things were changing. Medhall's stock was up, and it earned him more than enough to retire quietly if he wished. Gesellschaft itself didn't have much of a future, either. Germany was rebuilding in the wake of Ragnarok, and the authorities simply didn't have any patience for a resurgence of the old mistakes.
The world was changing. Adapt or die. And Max made his choice.
Watching the sun set below the clouds, in one of the few American places not sequestered underneath an environment dome, Max knew he made the right choice. Opportunities would come for a more direct form of power, eventually. Maybe not for decades... but he wasn't about to try and get on the bad side of an omnipresent AI or an Endbringer-killing golden Dragon.
He smiled. "Let's get back to the hotel, hm?"
As Jessica and Nessa smiled, his own grew. Yes, definitely the right choice. He could wait.
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Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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Not happy about Kaiser getting a happy ending, but that's a minor complaint on the scale of this story. Still good.
Psyckosama
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2013
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- 11,098
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- 86,671
No. No she really doesn't.
OverReactionGuy
The only Sane one left
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2014
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Damn, a Kaiser that's actually portrayed to be a smart conniving bastard and not a raving racist lunatic.
Fenrisfir
Not too sore, are you?
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2016
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- 811
Have a like for doing something different with Kaiser and having him skedaddle with the Nazi Wet dream twins to a tropical island to stay away from our Dragon Goddesses of Light and Darkness.
Not that He will get away with if for long.....
Not that He will get away with if for long.....
Epilogue: Foundations part 4
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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- 3,917
A/N:Welp, new laptop, new weirdness, new annoyances, and new year. Hope everybody had a good time and got home safe. And all that. I am currently trying to find all the nerves in my face.
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♦Topic: We're back!
In: Boards ► General Announcements
Tin_Mother (Original Poster) (Moderator)
Posted on January 18, 2012:
Well ladies, gents, and AIs everywhere, we're back online. Internet access has been a lower priority than vital infrastructure, and so it took this long, but it's all coming back. We're rebuilding, so much was lost in the battle with Scion, but we're still here.
It's been a few long hard months. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunamis, the early arrival of winter, atmospheric poisoning in places, and wildfires making things so much more difficult than they ever had to be. Then Nilbog's monsters went out hunting, (don't worry, they're being wiped out as we speak) and we've got so much more to do.
First of all, I want to congratulate everyone for surviving this long and hard winter. Dragon and Pandora (aforementioned AI) have been working very hard to try and keep everyone alive and as comfortable as possible.
Preliminary projections indicate the forcefields surrounding the major cities will be able to drop in early May, though there are places where they will stay up due to local conditions being uninhabitable otherwise. Reclaimation efforts for the land surrounding those cities will go underway the moment the ground thaws.
But there is still hope. Right here is a picture of Dragon and Pandora on the surface of the Moon, using this same technology to build an arcology there. We have a tried-and-true system for colonization almost anywhere.
Now, to prevent derails. Here is the thread for discussing Ragnarok.
Here is the thread discussing the public reveal of Cauldron.
Here is the thread discussing the Scarlet Dragon.
Here is the thread discussing her citizens.
And here is the thread discussing refugees, how to apply if you are one, and need assistance finding shelter.
(Showing Page 1 of 98)
► AbsurdlyCuteKitty
Posted on January 19, 2012:
Alright, still alive and kicking myself and I would love to hear of others who managed that.
Anyone any specific knowledge about how much really went downhill and/or got smashed appart?
I am really happy to be still alive and able to write this stuff, but... how long will it take for normal seasons to come back? I really like spring and summer...
► PaulPoutine (Ottawa Arcology)
Posted on January 19, 2012:
I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords!
The Internet is back, PHO is back, there are Velnar residents on Protectorate teams, there is an honest-to-goodness succubus on a Playboy foldout, the only way this would all be better is if we didn't have to live under domes to survive nuclear winter.
(I know it's not really nuclear, but the effect's the same)
► Worldsoul
Posted on January 19, 2012:
AbsurdlyCuteKitty, I heard that Germany was just blown up, there's a scar reaching the Mantle through Europe, and most of the Indian Subcontinent is underwater. Colombia is also supposedly de-forested now. Mildly deforested. Venezuela's got it worse, weirdly enough.
► Living_Stones
Posted on January 19, 2012:
Oh thank the gods I have a connection again now can somebody PLEASE COME AND GET ME!!!
It's cold out here:~(
Seriously, I would like a pick up though, I'm in what remains of northern Russia, I think, far northern Russia that is, but I can and will walk it if I must, it's not like the environment affects me much.
I'm also lucky to even still be alive out here, got hit be that golden bastard at one point and had to detach about half of myself to survive. I am going to miss my legs...
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 19, 2012:
Re: Living_Stones
If you're all the way up there, how do you even have internet? Running it off a sat-phone? Channeling it through your antennae?
► Living_Stones
Posted on January 20, 2012:
Screw you, I don't have antennae, I have an antenna sticking out of the top of my head! I just don't want to walk a couple thousand miles when I have no bloody clue which way is which!
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 20, 2012:
If you have no legs, how are you walking?
► TheDuggler
Posted on January 20, 2012:
That's enough, you two. Take it to PMs.
Living_Stones, stop trolling. Northern Russia and southern California aren't the same thing. I normally wouldn't bring up your location, but you have it on your profile right now. You're probably warmer than most people.
► Gryphon Le'Rouge (Edmonton Arcology)
Posted on January 20, 2012:
BC and Alberta went up in smoke harder than normal. So we had to stay inside our homes for a bit and the winter was brutal on food prices. But as usual Canada is the sideshow to the rest of the world. I am curious how the Rezzes have managed.
► F.F. Snow (Verified Cape) (Verified Snowman) (Verified C53) (*Temporarily* New York Arcology)
Posted on January 23, 2012:
Taking some downtime between 'Blizzard Patrols', thought I'd check now that the forum's back.
Not sure about the global scale, but I've been finding it easier to break up the cold fronts and ice storms I wander into along the NA east coast, so I think the climate's starting to settle down some. If only from 'actively apocalyptic' to 'post-apocalyptic'.
And the snow is...well, not so much 'cleaner' as 'less horrible', but still an improvement, however small.
On another note, I've been looking at the Cauldron reveal, which is pretty fucking mindblowing. Anyone other Case-53's know if we're going to find out who and where we used to be anytime soon? I thought I'd come to terms with never knowing, but now that there's actually a chance they might tell us, it's really starting to upset occupy my focus.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 96 , 97, 98
(Showing Page 2 of 98)
► Weld (Case 53)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Don't know enough yet. They're still getting details from Alexandria.
I don't know about you, but I sure feel betrayed. She ran the PRT. They told us to our faces that they didn't know what happened to us. But then they assigned us identities, used our confusion against us, and signed us up for a war that they SAY we volunteered for.
Worst part is, we can't even tell if she's still lying to us. Cauldron's leader is MIA. I'm pissed off. I'm pissed that even SD and the Velnar people allied with Cauldron. I'm pissed that I've been lied to. I'm pissed that even with all the shit that's happened to me and all the other C53s I know, that considering what the fuck happened back there, I can STILL see their point.
Right now, though? Fuck the PRT, fuck the Protectorate, and fuck everything else. I'm not going to work for those people. Even if they clean house completely, I'm done.
So are a whole lot of my friends. I'm done here.
► ArmedCadence (Everett Arcology)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
A few random thoughts first before I dig into the actual topic...
1. Any bets on who's going to get banned first now that we're back up? (I kid, oh glorious and (un)merciful mods, I kid!)
2. Has anyone mentioned to Regent Meridia that D&D, specifically Wizards of the Coast in general, are still begging her for an interview of their own to see if they can get ideas for a 7th Edition? Because I've already seen some unofficial concept art of their 'new' versions of what a Drow AND Succubi look like. One one hand, wowzas. On the other hand, I can already hear the sounds of a million teenaged boy's mothers gnashing their teeth at the 'potential' for lewdness.
3. Does anyone else up in the lovely, no-longer-rainy, Pacific Northwest actually MISS the rain? These forcefield domes are a godsend - and considering where they're from, that isn't hyperbole - but I'd kill for some rain now. If I wanted to stay dry, I'd have moved to Arizona. That being said, if you like snowboarding, you have to see the Cascades to believe it. Even with the respirator restrictions in place, the queue to get up Mt. Baker's ski-lifts is insane. Remind me to post a few shots of some of those ice crystal 'naiads' that decided to move from Velnar who helped open up the passes to get across. Err, once I, umm, add a bit of censoring over certain bits. Seriously, is there like a taboo about wearing clothing in Velnar or something?
And to get to the actual topic of Ragnarok:
Suck it Thor, Odin, Loki, Surtr, and the rest of you Norse Gods and Giants. The Ragnarok Scarlet Dragon and the rest of us went through? She could take you all on, win, and be home in time for breakfast of a bowl of Count Chocula. Your 'death of the gods' had a nice fire and a bit of glacial melt going on, and something about a big tree. Out here? We had a 30 foot tsunami wave come roaring up the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which literally wiped away half of Whidbey Island and all of Orcas Island (aerial pics of both islands, before, and after, here). At the time I was up north of Everett/Seattle and watched as those waves smothered Bellingham entirely. And we're one of the regions that got 'lucky'. Note, that is even after accounting for the fact both Rainier and St. Helens blew their tops within days of each other last month.
And not to toot my own ideas too much, but anyone that wants to discuss possible thermal borehole possibilities about France & the St. Helen's caldera, I've started a thread on the topic. (edit: gah, forgot my manners, its been so long since PHO was up, I was thinking with another forum's customs. link removed)
► xX_VoidCowboy_Xx (Banned)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
[User has been banned for this post. That combination is weird, obscene, and against the TOS. Enjoy your two weeks. -TinMother]
► GARcher (The Guy Not in the Know)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Okay. I am never going to look at bats, llamas, apple pies, succubi, or garden hoses again the same way. Did anybody not see that coming?
By the way, check this out. My little sister has an autograph from Paladin! She's... going a bit nuts over it, actually. Also, they're selling red and gold dragon plushies. They're selling pretty fast. Lil' sis has been recreating the end of the Battle of Swansea with a Leviathan miniature with hers.
Uh... should I be worried?
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Don't think so. Young kids do that kind of thing.
► GARcher (The Guy Not in the Know)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
She's nineteen.
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Still nothing wrong with it. *looks at collection of SD memorabilia* Seriously. Just be glad we can fan over anything.
► Ze Bri-0n (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Never though we'd live in a world without Scion... and be happy about it.
Also, holy crap guys, Dracul solo'd one of Scion's kind. How much of a badass was this guy? Sure both he and the planet he fought it on are gone, but so is it.
► ReelVein
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Humanity
Carbon-based Life-forms
Corporals
Entities
Existence, FUCK YEAH!
Anyone got a good word for Gods, Humans, Undead, Spirits, Mythical creatures, etc as a whole?
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on January 27, 2012:
@ ReelVein Scary? Awesome? Scawesome?
Edit: Dangit, reading comprehension fail. Hmmm… I'd suggest "people of Earth," but that's a bit of a mouthful.
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► RioVenaFeht
Posted on January 27, 2012:
Right now? Head down to the local library and crack open a book. Local preachers have been going nuts on the street corners recently, trying to save our souls I guess.
Anyone else hearing more preaching than normal?
► King Crom
Posted on January 27, 2012:
We made it out, still glad it missed us mostly. Still saw some of the waves here in Perth but still had the advantage of large amounts of land between us and the end of the world. My best wishes to the people of Europe and South America.
► MrSandman (Verified Cape) (Protectorate SWS) (Albuquerque Arcology)
Posted on January 28, 2012:
Wait, Dragon's an AI?
Huh. Well, much friendlier than the last person to claim being an AI and tried to launch a cyber attack here in Albuquerque.
Also, probably much neater.
Now, she MAY be an AI or not, but I'd like to see some proof before jumping the guny like my boss did. When we dragged the supposed AI out of his house in his boxers, the look on the boss's face was glorious.
As somebody involved with the cleanup in Europe awhile back, its good to see the weather is beginning to settle down a bit. Hopefully, we'll be able to clean up more of Europe and get the worst of it re-habitable within a couple of years.
In other news, it is outright WEIRD to see such a massive barrier over a whole damn mountain range. The thing covers even Cedar Crest and Bernalillo. Thanks to that decision, though, we have a LOT of room for refugees from across the whole state, so...thats good!
Arson is now punishable by over twenty years in prison now, though...
► Jazzhands (New Orleans Protectorate)
Posted on January 29, 2012:
Hey, I remember that guy. I'll give him credit for a nice setup, but take that credit right back for being a nitwit. Seriously, a computer tinker who spent his whole life pretending to be an AI in order to go and fix his parking tickets?
All he needed to do was get out of the house and pay fifty bucks, but apparently that was too much work.
Anyway, apparently Dragon WAS an AI, but she's now able to turn into an actual dragon of awesome. Which is weirdly appropriate. as well as... well, huh.
Does this mean AIs have souls? Well, there's a thread for that now. Makes you wonder if an AI can become a 'god' what else could?
► DegreelessNess (San Francisco Arcology)
Posted on January 29, 2012:
So, a thing is happening. There's talk about building, well, temples, for lack of a better word. Having decided to pledge myself to the Lady of Fire, (she who burned Ellisburg to the ground... hot damn. Ha! Made a pun!) I was wondering if there was some sort of official mechanism for applying for these things?
I mean, the worship, not the temple. That part I can look up on my own. I mean, rituals, chants, preferred offerings?
► Lazy_Storm
Posted on January 29, 2012:
I think that's because of the old saying 'There are no aethists in foxholes'. And considering what our world has been through, I'd say we've earned a religious uptick.
Though I have noticed alot of them are less about..ya know..the Judeo-Christian God and more along the lines of the ones that were around kicking ass during Ragnarok. Personally I know afew people that've converted, and even more that are talking about actual churches to the new divinities. I'd consider it skeevy somehow...if I wasn't going later today to hear them talk. May have a new convert here.
If I find out any prayers, offerings, etc, want me to PM you?
► Boojum (Shoalhaven Agricultural Arcology Complex)
Posted on January 29, 2012:
Glad to see we're back online!
Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that Australia is still very open for business on the refugee front. As you might know, there was basically no combat on our tectonic plate during Ragnarok and we've come through almost entirely intact. Even the tidal waves from the Indian Ocean were mostly absorbed by Myanmar and Indonesia - the survivors of which are now generally resident in arcologies on this continent. We've been called the lucky country in the past, and it certainly has proven true. The main weird thing has been the rest of the world suddenly becoming more dangerous to live in than here. `
Pandora gave us the template for the force-field domes, but they are difficult to power and simply not efficient enough when used to cover regular farmland. The agricultural arcologies, or agarcs, solved that problem, and if you come over here as a refugee you'll probably be involved in either building them or running them. Our relatively disease-free agricultural sector made for excellent seed-stock, and we've been building them as fast as we can, both for local use and export. They're mostly running freshwater aquaculture setups, but here in SAAC we've got an experimental low-moisture system running goats and dryland cropping, a group attempting to breed dwarf dairy cattle and a seawater prototype that's going into full scale production next week. That last one can be installed in a salt swamp, or even off the coast, and grows fish, bivalves, seaweed and two new breeds of halophilic maize. We're hoping it will do well in the tsunami affected regions.
Of course none of this would be at all useful without the shadow-gate network. Gremlin-wrangling is the newest marketable skill, as you never, ever, leave them unsupervised. The great Goat Cavalry Stampede has already entered into legend (video here), and we still haven't figured out how they turned a greywater filtration unit into a flamethrower.
If you're in the area, PM me and we can meet up. The official decision to restart beer production was made yesterday (if get hold of the drongo who deemed it "non-essential" we will have words) and I'll put a bottle in the fridge and a barra on the barbie.
► King Crom
Posted on January 30, 2012:
As an agnostic I was personally always open to convincing, probably won't pray to them but am very glad they stopped this Ragnarok going the way of the last one. That supposedly wiped out most of Humanity.
► Bonegnasher (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on January 30, 2012:
Nonono! Not going back there! Spiders bigger than Bonegnasher! Not going back without my flame!
► Boojum (Shoalhaven Agricultural Arcology Complex)
Posted on January 30, 2012:
Hey now, they're harmless. They just want to say hello. Probably wondering what the heck you are too.
► Bonegnasher (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on January 30, 2012:
SPIDERS!
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► Miri (New Orleans Arcology)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
Well, most of the levee's held so only the most outlying parts of the city flooded. However most of the surrounding Mississippi delta got washed away so we have gone from a city at the bend of the river to.. an island. There seems to be yet another push to rename the city New Atlantis and its looking like it will pass this time.
► Jazzhands (New Orleans Protectorate)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
Nah, things will be fine there. They'll fill that right back in. Already heard the city's looking into buying up a whole (lots of) ton(s) of gravel. It'll probably be a while before it's fixed, but it'll be kinda like that artificial island off in Lake Ontario with that theme park. Least until some idiot blew it up.
► Redhawk (Banned)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
You all are wrong! Didn't you read that interview with the demoness? They are the reapers, and murdered the Scion to bring down mankind! Fools! They are flourizating the water of the arcologies! Do not trust the Water!
ShiftingSandLand said: ↑
Wait, Dragon's an AI?
No you ignorant fool! Dragon is a demon, the AI is Pandora. Probably our only hope now that we are ruled by real DEAMONS!
... I wonder what would be worse, AI overlords or this...
[User has recieved an infraction for this post. Personal attacks are against the Terms of Service. Editing to make your post less offensive does not change this.-TinMother]
► King Crom
Posted on January 31, 2012:
Calm down, mankind survives because of them. Do you want us dead. Scion was out to KILL us. He started this fight.
► Redhawk (Banned)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
But that's the government's story! The official story! Who believes the official story?
I know my theory about Hero being abducted by aliens is not well received by I stand by it!
Now I'm sure those space stations are going to build are going to include mass brainwashing! Or worse!
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
And of course, the frothing-at-the-mouth ones survived armageddon. Yay.
► King Crom
Posted on February 1, 2012:
Okay. You are clearly crazy and thus no logical argument will convince you. I am thus going to be glad you are nowhere near me and be grateful to the gods for this. Maybe they didn't cause it but still my gratitude.
► Ze Bri-On
Posted on February 1, 2012:
I'm probably going to regret asking, but, what's worse than mass brainwashing?
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on February 1, 2012:
*looks at the broken remains of Europe*
► Redhawk (Banned)
Posted on February 2, 2012:
[This user has been banned for this post. Seriously, I don't even. *hammerslam*-TinMother]
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► King Crom
Posted on February 2, 2012:
Okay, so glad they're gone. Maybe now we can actually discuss things that are rational, like the fact the world nearly ended.
► Palarhe (Madrid Arcology)
Posted on February 2, 2012:
Send that guy our way, I'm sure someone will know how to show their appreciation for their ravings. The Pirineos blocked most of the French smoke breath but our North-West coast is devastated (Asturias and the Basque Country had to be evacuated and Galicia will have a hard time recovering), and anywhere else not in the center is turning into Ashtma Central. And don't even ask the Portuguese, they got some delightful surplus of sea water on their streets to mix with their share of ash.
Edit: Oh, they got the banhammer, guess I'm late.
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
Moving on… the original post mentioned something about Nilbog's stuff getting loose? I really hope whoever's dealing with that doesn't miss any. We've already got enough insanity to deal with.
► Sgt Jones (PRT Agent)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
The Guild and the Protectorate are working to handle Nilbog's spawn. We have a dedicated tracker and the appropriate Thinkers to deal with the problem. They're being hemmed in and destroyed one after another.
► Robot_Raven (Houston Arcology)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
@ redhawk: Dude, lay off the Scott Wilkins crazy-dude. The fact he was finally committed after proclaiming that Ragnarok was a false flag hoax should tell you something.
Still, moving on from Void_Cowboy's equally insane counterpart, do have some updates from Houston. Thanks to Apostle/Formerly Known as Eilodon and help from Brockton Bay Cape Neptune we managed to rechannel the San Jacento River before it flooded from increased snow runnoff. I had always joked about a hard snowfall in Houston would be a sign of the Apocalypse, but I never thought the universe would go "Challenge Accepted!". Still, after nearly having a worse repeat of TS Allison's flooding and the restraints of the dome around Harris County, I think the city may reverse it's long standing aversion to zoning laws.
In related news the Houston Chronicle just published a pretty lengthy interview with Apostle, or rather David Harris after he unmasked.
Link here.
Besides the obvious bits about Cauldron and the New Gods, the big surprise was his response to a question about paying the price for his time with Cauldron. He admitted that after he finishes freeing the remaining Gods, he would surrender much like how Alexandra/Rebecca Costa-Brown did to President Sears and AG Mc'Donall.
To say that opinions are divided is putting it lightly. Some are calling for some leanicy and for Apostle to continue his "Life Sentence of Community Service." Others are calling for the book to be thrown at Apostle to show that even the Gods' representative is not above the law. Some are actually calling for outright execution. And don't get me started about what the Old Faiths community is saying...
Edit:
Oh holy hell... Everyone check the news now!
Some lunatic just shouted "For Scion!" and blew himself up outside of City Hall during a speech by Mayor White! Casualties are still pouring into Memorial Herrman and Methodist, including kids.
► Korg (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
Hey. My name's Korg. I'm made of rocks. Not like a bunch of little rocks though, more like one big solid rock, which is shaped vaguely like a bat.
I'm moving into this new settlement thingy they opened for us in Canada. It's nice. Lot's of good buildings to sit motionless on over here.
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
You wouldn't happen to have a cousin named Goliath, would you?
► Dlan (Verified Cape)(Red Gauntlet)(Kitezh Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Hah, you call this winter? We had worse winters when I was child.
Because not enough generators were available to Russia, we made our own!
The Kitezhgrad Institute has been converted into an arcology of its own, as the most protected non-military zone in Russia and accepts refugees from Kazakhstan, Mongolia and nearby Russian regions without resource base to sustain their own shield domes.
Case 53s welcome, as our Institute performed "cape" research along "Tinkertech" development. We are looking into rapid-deployment arable land conversion technology to provide foodstuffs without relying on sunlight. Any specialists with relevant skills are welcome.
If we could gain access to supernatural portal, we also provide "Tinkertech" for trade.
► PsycThesis
Posted on February 4, 2012:
A Moment of silence for all lives lost to this maniac's delusions...
Well, now that that's done, anyone have ideas on if their is going to be a Memorial Day type thing for Ragnaroxk? Could be a nice way to remember everything and never forget.
► UnderSeaWings
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Oh, sweet. I'll have to see if I can't get some time off work to see if I can't drive over and drop off some welcome muffins. Welcome to Canada, mate. Hope you enjoy. If you visit Toronto sometime I think the CN Tower is still intact enough to provide a really nice ledge and an amazing view.
► Lazy_Storm (Austin Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Holy shit! Me and a bunch of volunteers are gonna come down with food and medical supplies.
A lot of the God supporters are coming too, so it's turned into a rolling sermon. I will pray for all the souls involved in this barbarism, except that damn Scion nut. I hope SOME deity or demon or whatever is using his soul for floss.
EDIT: Welcome to the world, Korg! I hope you're seeing better parts of humanity then what are doing shot today.
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► Heehaw
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Speaking of S-Class threats, does anyone know the status of the remaining S-Class threats?
There are rumours about Fire and Brimstone at Ellisburg but what about Sleeper or Ash Beast?
Or what about the C.U.I or the warlords in Africa?
► ReelVein
Posted on February 4, 2012:
@ Fencing_Guy I considered Earthlings but that Playboy interview said something about a Shadow Plane and with Dragon and Pandora on the moon, "Earth" would be inaccurate.
Nice thing about the new gods, We could just ask them about worship.
Greetings @ Dragon,
Spoiler: Titles
Goddess of Light, The Golden Dragon, The Lightbringer, The First Dragon, The Herokiller Killer, One of The Two Sisters, The Daystar, Leader of the Paladins, She Who Harnessed the Sun
Do you have any preferred forms of worship?
Since @ Scarlet Dragon
Spoiler: Titles
Goddess of Darkness, The Scarlet Dragon, The Queen of The Night, Lady of the Dark Plane, The Hopekiller killer, One of The Two Sisters, The Impaler, The Bringer Of Shadows, The Strongest Invincible Vampire
is recovering.
Hello @ Meridia. Does SD have any preference? And would you be willing to help ask the other Gods?
► Robot_Raven (Houston Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Thanks for the thoughts and support. Even with the Shadow Portals, the extra med supplies will help in extending some of the Texas Medical Center's supplies. From reports, it looks like the bomber used a kluged together tinker-tech bomb vest, making treatment a bit more labor intensive. At least it wasn't a knockoff of the Brockton Bomber's devices.
Unfortunately, I think things are going to get worse, particularly in most of the States comprising the Bible Belt. Numerous Mega-Church preachers made plenty of bank on making Scion an Angel of God and now I bet a lot of their collection plates are drying up, and what funds they do have are going to cleaning up near daily vandalism. Not to mention the other pre-Ragnarok faiths are seeing a nosedive in parishioners. While I haven't heard anything out of the Vatican, some of the usual Religious Right groups are pretty vocal. Remember back to that shit storm around LGBT rights after Legend came out and the SCOTUS ruling 7-2 that gay marriage was protected by the 14th Amendment back at the turn of the century? Well, this is even worse.
► Lazy_Storm (Austin Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Hey guys, I just had a question that will probably keep me up the rest of my life.
We know that Gods are real. Actual factual gods. We also know that they were locked away by Scion and the other one. These are things that we know.
By this logic we can assume that the local Gods, the Judeo-Christian one and many other pantheons, are possibly all real as well.
My question is this:
Did Scion do any to OUR local gods? Are they destroyed, or imprisoned, or not even fully formed yet?
Excuse me while i have a small crises of faith and sanity.
► MrSandman (Verified Cape) (Protectorate SWS) (Albuquerque Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Re:Robot_Raven
Us at Albuquerque pray for those lost...
Looks like my team is going to be investigating the more radical religious groups that have popped up, if only to assure that they dont have any major weaponry. Thankfully, people here try to be levelheaded, so we arent expecting any trouble.
► TheFerryman
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Huh, this is back. Cool.
Very happy to be alive (and happy I was wrong about needing to find a new planet if Scion snapped), and to see how many others survived. Rather too many died, but far less than I honestly expected if this scenario came to pass.
I'm not sure if it will matter, but Scarlet Dragon, I am among those praying for your swift recovery.
EDIT: *sees @Robot_Raven's post; sighs* ... and humanity goes right back to disappointing me. Ugh. My condolences to the families of those lost to that idiot.
► Meridia (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on February 5, 2012:
At the moment, the Lady of Darkness rests. The battle with Scion took much out of her, and while she is a goddess, she still has limits. Her power still rests with her, and she is healing, however it is not easy to guess when she may be on her feet.
I am unsure of what may have occurred to the local gods, if they ever existed. Although from my point of view, you people have strange ideas about gods. Gods are enhanced mortals, greater than they, but rarely immensely so without a great deal of time and effort to hone themselves. Gods do not form worlds on their own, they are granted the power to make and shape, but if there be one that created all things, I am unaware of such.
Upon the Old World, there was one who claimed to be the Maker, who spun the cosmos from nothingness, and who shaped everything to his desire. Solin, the former Lord of Light. He forged his church upon a lie, and with his followers he was unable to be attacked. But Solin was once a man, as were all the rest. Perhaps he had forgotten his original self, or perhaps he denied it in his fear of death. I know not his thoughts.
A history of the Old World is being compiled here. Most of Castlevania's libraries were destroyed in Scion's attack, and thus few actual resources remain. Those of us that can remember are rewriting what we can... although our memories are imperfect, and so much will remain lost in any case. More remains intact from what Solin left behind in Lady Dragon's library, but it is still a mere fraction of what was destroyed.
In any case, it is up to us to forge our future. Your future and our own. Perhaps something of wonder can be forged from the ruins of both our worlds.
► ScarletFan
Posted on February 5, 2012:
So when can we expect Scarlet to be back on her feet?
► Meridia (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on February 5, 2012:
Unfortunately, I do not know. None have strained themselves as she did before. She shall recover, but when is not easy to guess. Physically she is well. I suspect she will be fine once she rests.
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on February 5, 2012:
Well, considering what happened? I hope she recovers. She helped change our world, gave us back hope after decades of having it crushed out of us. I'm pretty sure we all want her back. Except the maniacs.
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March 3, 2012
Pleasanton, Texas
Yeah, maniacs. Lisa thought bitterly as she shut off her phone.
A decent computer system was difficult to find these days. Stolen ones were more common. But phones? Phones were being churned out by the thousand, and were being used to help reconnect places worldwide. More elaborate devices still had a market, and people were clamoring to have them back, but a phone was a downright necessity.
She looked up as the PRT Lieutenant, the name Snow on the front of her vest, exited the barn door and gave Lisa a nod. "They're ready for you."
Swallowing, Lisa got to her feet and went in. What greeted her was a scene of carnage. In the center of the barn was an emaciated figure chained to a rack, the body acid-burned beyond recognition. Around him were five other corpses, all likewise seared beyond recognition. It was nearly impossible to tell whether they were men or women.
Given the circumstances, it didn't really matter. The implements that lay on the ground showed that these people were barely human to begin with. Blades, hammers, bloody bones, a rusty blood-stained scythe, and an iron maiden littered the barn. In the stables, where horses might have lived once, were more bodies, each showing the same kind of horrific treatment.
Pandora, at least, one of her many suits, stood next to the door frame. Her voice was quiet. "Third one we've found so far. Isolated locations, small communities. A group dead around a body, while others were found nearby."
Lisa grimaced and nodded. She pointed at the first charred body. "The leader of this chapter. He was grabbing homeless kids off the street. We're not too far from San Antonio, odds are pretty good that's where they came from. More likely, as San Antonio didn't need a dome. Getting in and out wouldn't be hard."
Pandora nodded. "My analysis as well."
Lisa sucked in a breath, closing her eyes. Somehow, the stench in the barn made it worse. "These guys know what's going on. Some of the new triggers screw up, one in four or five. The new powers go out of control, no Manton Effect keeping them in check. At least, not at first." She opened her eyes and gestured to the corpse on the rack. "This was the first kid they found with the potential to trigger. He did, his power burned him, then it jumped to the next one. Then the next, then the next..." She looked at the bodies of the perpetrators. "Refining itself each time. The power kept going, until it got to her." She pointed at the one body at the end. "She managed to keep it under control."
Snow's voice was dubious. "Then why is she dead?"
Lisa made a gesture. Pandora carefully shifted the body over, showing a hole deep in the woman's back.
Lisa's voice was quiet. "Because the last fanatic here wanted it more. From the footprints, he was standing behind. From the angle, it was a male. Men tend to stab from above, women straight in or below. Then he sprayed acid at the body to try and make it look like the rest. My guess is we're looking at Scionites, but the Gesellschaft did the same kind of thing. The Fallen would do this too. Hell, give it a bit more time, and I can think of a few PRT directors that would pull the same thing if they could guarantee a loyal powered soldier."
Snow grimaced and nodded.
Pandora's voice was firm. "I suppose I have more work to do, then."
Lisa nodded with a sigh. This was much better than working for Coil, but a consulting gig still sucked sometimes.
Especially since some people were bastards.
--------------------
Madison stepped to the front of the briefing room.
It felt weird to be in front of a group of twenty year olds, to teach people older than her what she knew. Still more so with her helmet on, the upper portion of her face hidden. She wasn't simply a teenager here, she was a Ward, a hero, and successor to the line of Belmonts.
This was simple enough.
Clearing her throat, she picked up the piece of chalk and wrote on the board.
Magic 101
"The thirty of you are here because you've signed up for the PRT." Madison spoke, feeling the light within her heart pulse warmly. "You're here because each of you want to make a difference. You're here because you want to help change the world."
She moved to the desk, on which were stacks of amulets she and Dragon had made. "You may be familiar with these. They're used to heal people, anywhere from small scrapes to cancerous lesions. With time and treatment, they can handle just about anything short of dismemberment or death. Who here has used one already?"
A trooper in the front, Jenkins on his nameplate nodded. "Took a month, but they regrew the tendons in my legs after one of Nilbog's critters gnawed on me when I was part of one the sweeps."
Madison nodded. "They're good for that. Now, magical theory isn't all that easy. It can take decades for a dedicated mage to be trained." She folded her fingers. "The first thing to understand is that magic is energy. It permeates everything, it's around everywhere. Nobody knows why it's there, exactly, and from my guess... it actually wasn't here in our universe a couple hundred years ago. But it was on what the Velnarians call the Old World.
"Magic doesn't do much on its own. It's just there, raw potential. Before it can affect anything, it needs to be concentrated and refined. A mage is capable of doing so in many ways. Fire, ice, healing, destruction. It's capable of all these things. The capes that fought against Behemoth and Leviathan used magic that was channeled through and made by Scarlet Dragon, and yes, Dragon. She attained the power of Light." She held up the drained amulet. "Now I don't have the time to teach you how to use things as a proper mage. Truth be told I don't know either, but there's someone who does know. I believe Alucard is gearing up to teach more refined magical theory. What I'm going to teach you is how to channel magic into artifacts, and use them as I do. It's nowhere near as flexible as a proper mage, but weapons and artifacts can be used much more easily than a sorcerer or wizard could be trained. A year or two to be able to craft things of your own, as opposed to decades to throwing your own fireballs."
She started passing out drained amulets. "Our first task will be for teaching you how to channel magic on your own. Once you know how to grasp it, to hold it, you'll be able to send it into objects and charge them up. Once there, it can be refined. We're going to need all the manpower we can to handle things in the future."
--------------------
"Are you aware of the risks?"
The young man in the chair snorted, his missing hair and frail frame nearly trembling in the cold of the room. "Any riskier than living with an inoperable brain tumor?"
"Mutation is a possibility. Should that happen, we will ensure you are found and taken care of. Death is also possible, but less so. But there is a chance you may heal and gain great power." Doctor Mother spoke. "I won't pretend this is risk-free, but this is the last chance you have to back out."
He nodded. A dark-skinned woman handed him a vial. He opened it, took a deep breath, then swallowed the blood-red liquid inside.
A moment passed, then another. His eyes widened, then he screamed. His skin rippled, then burst apart, flesh and exposed bone rippling and tearing. Flesh erupted as the man turned into a writhing, twisting mass. Somehow, he was still screaming.
"Pause."
The video froze.
Rebecca looked at the congressional hearing, sitting across from her. "This man was one of hundreds. Today he works in Dallas, and his career over the last ten years as a Case 53 has saved hundreds of lives. You know him as Attune. What you just witnessed was what we called a Deviation. When a formula was unstable, it did something like this. Deviations were unstable, they'd mutate and continue to mutate. We only found one process that would stop the mutations and would stabilize the afflicted."
Congressman Burns, a heavyset man in his late fifties, leaned forward and spoke into the microphone. "This Slug, another Case 53?"
Rebecca nodded. "Correct. Wiping the memory of the afflicted with Slug's power, then dosing them with another batch, which we labeled stabilization agent, was the only way we had to even attempt to fix the issue, other than outright execution. All formulas had some stabilization agent, but it took a lot of trial and error to discover just what led to stable powers. Deviations still occurred now and again, but they became much more rare as our techniques improved." She took a moment to breathe, licked her lips. "I won't say they're not victims. We took the desperate and the needy and dangled hope in front of them. We did what we could to make sure they would be found somewhere where help would arrive. A slightly different formula, and I, myself, would have been one of them. We were preparing for the day Scion went mad. I don't believe I can stress how desperate we were."
Burns nodded, a look of distaste on his face. "Can you shed light upon the Endbringers?"
Rebecca sighed. "From what we've managed to figure out, the Endbringers were gods taken by one of Scion's species. Dracul killed that one, but Scion and his counterpart found them in the aftermath. Behemoth, Leviathan and the Simurgh were helpless, controlled by the apparatus that enslaved them. The Simurgh was freed on death, and Ariel is held voluntarily on an isolated Earth. The other two passed on when slain. Apparently the experience of being an Endbringer is torturous. Normally a freed god is like Chronos, who is currently aiding our rebuilding efforts, or Alaura, who is working on the winter conditions. Scarlet, as Lady of Darkness, and Dragon, who is the Lady of Light, are apparently a step above them. But an Endbringer is still a step beyond that. Without assistance, our assistance, they couldn't have stopped Behemoth and Leviathan."
"Where is the Simurgh now?"
--------------------
Ariel twirled the rose between her fingers.
Centuries of pain. Torturous, unending pain. Now that it was over, now that the future was open and uncertain... she had few options. There was a shining future, an open future available. One she managed to tease out, barely, with her mantle limited in this alien universe. But it was clear, regardless.
That future had no place for her in it.
Humanity would never trust her. Never leave her be. Never be willing to let it go. For twenty years, the Endbringers tore down humanity's hopes and dreams. For nearly a decade the Simurgh drove people mad, targeted those who had the best chance at helping the world. Herokiller, Landkiller...
And Hopekiller.
It was the last one that she hated most. As Ariel, Lady of Fate, she had brought hope to those who needed it, those who sought answers to the future. A way to tweak the threads of their fate to bring about a beautiful song.
Solin had broken her power, broken her reach and influence. Turned her into a frail thing, unable to see more than a single person at a time. Still, she had managed, made sure she made plans to help bring the corrupt Lord of Light down... but not fast enough. Not good enough to save her world. Here, in this strange multiverse, there was so little she could see of the future, anyway. It would never get better. Not for her. Like this rose, once plucked from its place on the bush, at best it would stay intact for a time... but inevitably it would crumble and fall apart.
Perhaps that was why Ifrit and Lotan had moved on, preferring to stay dead when they had been slain. They knew they would never be accepted. Never more than tolerated again. It likely didn't help having suffered the same way, the trauma of it all. Being helpless, watching, as lives were taken enmasse by their powers. The temptation to forget it all must have been overwhelming.
She looked up as a flash of light heralded the arrival of David and the Travelers. Krouse, Noelle, Marissa, Jess, Luke and Oliver gathered together in the distance. They shared shouts of joy, the group smiling and laughing as they looked at Noelle, and Noelle took great joy in hugging each of them in turn.
David strode over to Ariel, a small smile on his face.
Ariel returned it, ducking her head. "It's good they're together again."
David nodded. "I'll work on retrieving Cody. The CUI are moving, but I'll have an opportunity soon. He can't go back to Aleph with them, but he could be signed up for the Guardians on their side. Now that parahuman numbers there are getting high enough for official work to be involved."
Ariel sighed. This multiverse was so confusing. Threads weaved in and out, cross-tangling and thrumming with each other. She just wasn't equipped to handle it.
David gently tilted her head up, his voice quiet. "You know you've got options."
She smiled at him and shook her head. "Yes. But few of them good. I won't ever be accepted by anyone. Not for centuries at least. My best option would be to leave for a world without any contact with Earth Bet... but that does not fix the larger issue."
David's face fell. "Yeah... I know. I know very well."
Ariel smiled at him, gently patting his cheek. "Go, David. Do what you must. So will I."
David swallowed. He nodded slowly, then whispered. "I'm sorry."
"So am I." Ariel spoke quietly. Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
David nodded, wiping away a leaking tear. He turned and rejoined the Travelers, who were staring at the pair in trepidation. In a flash of light, they were gone once more, taken by Dragon's Light Bridge.
Ariel looked up at the sun, feeling the warmth of the day. The whisper of the wind. She relaxed her power, her asymmetrical wings unfolding about her. Reaching under her toga, she unsheathed an iron dagger, forged and honed in hopes of this moment. Opening her eyes, she looked at it, gently testing its edge, its point, with her fingers.
Such a small thing. Her end would not make up for those she slew, those she drove mad, those she condemned to a lifetime of imprisonment for the madness they may or may not have. But there was nothing that could remove that stain. Mere time would allow it to fade. It never would, so long as she lived.
"Find the next one worthy of my mantle. One who will not abuse the power of fate, however weak and frail it may be here. One who will help inspire the world. One who is better than I."
Then she lifted it, brought it before her, and drove it into her own heart.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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♦Topic: We're back!
In: Boards ► General Announcements
Tin_Mother (Original Poster) (Moderator)
Posted on January 18, 2012:
Well ladies, gents, and AIs everywhere, we're back online. Internet access has been a lower priority than vital infrastructure, and so it took this long, but it's all coming back. We're rebuilding, so much was lost in the battle with Scion, but we're still here.
It's been a few long hard months. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunamis, the early arrival of winter, atmospheric poisoning in places, and wildfires making things so much more difficult than they ever had to be. Then Nilbog's monsters went out hunting, (don't worry, they're being wiped out as we speak) and we've got so much more to do.
First of all, I want to congratulate everyone for surviving this long and hard winter. Dragon and Pandora (aforementioned AI) have been working very hard to try and keep everyone alive and as comfortable as possible.
Preliminary projections indicate the forcefields surrounding the major cities will be able to drop in early May, though there are places where they will stay up due to local conditions being uninhabitable otherwise. Reclaimation efforts for the land surrounding those cities will go underway the moment the ground thaws.
But there is still hope. Right here is a picture of Dragon and Pandora on the surface of the Moon, using this same technology to build an arcology there. We have a tried-and-true system for colonization almost anywhere.
Now, to prevent derails. Here is the thread for discussing Ragnarok.
Here is the thread discussing the public reveal of Cauldron.
Here is the thread discussing the Scarlet Dragon.
Here is the thread discussing her citizens.
And here is the thread discussing refugees, how to apply if you are one, and need assistance finding shelter.
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► AbsurdlyCuteKitty
Posted on January 19, 2012:
Alright, still alive and kicking myself and I would love to hear of others who managed that.
Anyone any specific knowledge about how much really went downhill and/or got smashed appart?
I am really happy to be still alive and able to write this stuff, but... how long will it take for normal seasons to come back? I really like spring and summer...
► PaulPoutine (Ottawa Arcology)
Posted on January 19, 2012:
I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords!
The Internet is back, PHO is back, there are Velnar residents on Protectorate teams, there is an honest-to-goodness succubus on a Playboy foldout, the only way this would all be better is if we didn't have to live under domes to survive nuclear winter.
(I know it's not really nuclear, but the effect's the same)
► Worldsoul
Posted on January 19, 2012:
AbsurdlyCuteKitty, I heard that Germany was just blown up, there's a scar reaching the Mantle through Europe, and most of the Indian Subcontinent is underwater. Colombia is also supposedly de-forested now. Mildly deforested. Venezuela's got it worse, weirdly enough.
► Living_Stones
Posted on January 19, 2012:
Oh thank the gods I have a connection again now can somebody PLEASE COME AND GET ME!!!
It's cold out here:~(
Seriously, I would like a pick up though, I'm in what remains of northern Russia, I think, far northern Russia that is, but I can and will walk it if I must, it's not like the environment affects me much.
I'm also lucky to even still be alive out here, got hit be that golden bastard at one point and had to detach about half of myself to survive. I am going to miss my legs...
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 19, 2012:
Re: Living_Stones
If you're all the way up there, how do you even have internet? Running it off a sat-phone? Channeling it through your antennae?
► Living_Stones
Posted on January 20, 2012:
Screw you, I don't have antennae, I have an antenna sticking out of the top of my head! I just don't want to walk a couple thousand miles when I have no bloody clue which way is which!
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 20, 2012:
If you have no legs, how are you walking?
► TheDuggler
Posted on January 20, 2012:
That's enough, you two. Take it to PMs.
Living_Stones, stop trolling. Northern Russia and southern California aren't the same thing. I normally wouldn't bring up your location, but you have it on your profile right now. You're probably warmer than most people.
► Gryphon Le'Rouge (Edmonton Arcology)
Posted on January 20, 2012:
BC and Alberta went up in smoke harder than normal. So we had to stay inside our homes for a bit and the winter was brutal on food prices. But as usual Canada is the sideshow to the rest of the world. I am curious how the Rezzes have managed.
► F.F. Snow (Verified Cape) (Verified Snowman) (Verified C53) (*Temporarily* New York Arcology)
Posted on January 23, 2012:
Taking some downtime between 'Blizzard Patrols', thought I'd check now that the forum's back.
Not sure about the global scale, but I've been finding it easier to break up the cold fronts and ice storms I wander into along the NA east coast, so I think the climate's starting to settle down some. If only from 'actively apocalyptic' to 'post-apocalyptic'.
And the snow is...well, not so much 'cleaner' as 'less horrible', but still an improvement, however small.
On another note, I've been looking at the Cauldron reveal, which is pretty fucking mindblowing. Anyone other Case-53's know if we're going to find out who and where we used to be anytime soon? I thought I'd come to terms with never knowing, but now that there's actually a chance they might tell us, it's really starting to upset occupy my focus.
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► Weld (Case 53)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Don't know enough yet. They're still getting details from Alexandria.
I don't know about you, but I sure feel betrayed. She ran the PRT. They told us to our faces that they didn't know what happened to us. But then they assigned us identities, used our confusion against us, and signed us up for a war that they SAY we volunteered for.
Worst part is, we can't even tell if she's still lying to us. Cauldron's leader is MIA. I'm pissed off. I'm pissed that even SD and the Velnar people allied with Cauldron. I'm pissed that I've been lied to. I'm pissed that even with all the shit that's happened to me and all the other C53s I know, that considering what the fuck happened back there, I can STILL see their point.
Right now, though? Fuck the PRT, fuck the Protectorate, and fuck everything else. I'm not going to work for those people. Even if they clean house completely, I'm done.
So are a whole lot of my friends. I'm done here.
► ArmedCadence (Everett Arcology)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
A few random thoughts first before I dig into the actual topic...
1. Any bets on who's going to get banned first now that we're back up? (I kid, oh glorious and (un)merciful mods, I kid!)
2. Has anyone mentioned to Regent Meridia that D&D, specifically Wizards of the Coast in general, are still begging her for an interview of their own to see if they can get ideas for a 7th Edition? Because I've already seen some unofficial concept art of their 'new' versions of what a Drow AND Succubi look like. One one hand, wowzas. On the other hand, I can already hear the sounds of a million teenaged boy's mothers gnashing their teeth at the 'potential' for lewdness.
3. Does anyone else up in the lovely, no-longer-rainy, Pacific Northwest actually MISS the rain? These forcefield domes are a godsend - and considering where they're from, that isn't hyperbole - but I'd kill for some rain now. If I wanted to stay dry, I'd have moved to Arizona. That being said, if you like snowboarding, you have to see the Cascades to believe it. Even with the respirator restrictions in place, the queue to get up Mt. Baker's ski-lifts is insane. Remind me to post a few shots of some of those ice crystal 'naiads' that decided to move from Velnar who helped open up the passes to get across. Err, once I, umm, add a bit of censoring over certain bits. Seriously, is there like a taboo about wearing clothing in Velnar or something?
And to get to the actual topic of Ragnarok:
Suck it Thor, Odin, Loki, Surtr, and the rest of you Norse Gods and Giants. The Ragnarok Scarlet Dragon and the rest of us went through? She could take you all on, win, and be home in time for breakfast of a bowl of Count Chocula. Your 'death of the gods' had a nice fire and a bit of glacial melt going on, and something about a big tree. Out here? We had a 30 foot tsunami wave come roaring up the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which literally wiped away half of Whidbey Island and all of Orcas Island (aerial pics of both islands, before, and after, here). At the time I was up north of Everett/Seattle and watched as those waves smothered Bellingham entirely. And we're one of the regions that got 'lucky'. Note, that is even after accounting for the fact both Rainier and St. Helens blew their tops within days of each other last month.
And not to toot my own ideas too much, but anyone that wants to discuss possible thermal borehole possibilities about France & the St. Helen's caldera, I've started a thread on the topic. (edit: gah, forgot my manners, its been so long since PHO was up, I was thinking with another forum's customs. link removed)
► xX_VoidCowboy_Xx (Banned)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
[User has been banned for this post. That combination is weird, obscene, and against the TOS. Enjoy your two weeks. -TinMother]
► GARcher (The Guy Not in the Know)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Okay. I am never going to look at bats, llamas, apple pies, succubi, or garden hoses again the same way. Did anybody not see that coming?
By the way, check this out. My little sister has an autograph from Paladin! She's... going a bit nuts over it, actually. Also, they're selling red and gold dragon plushies. They're selling pretty fast. Lil' sis has been recreating the end of the Battle of Swansea with a Leviathan miniature with hers.
Uh... should I be worried?
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Don't think so. Young kids do that kind of thing.
► GARcher (The Guy Not in the Know)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
She's nineteen.
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Still nothing wrong with it. *looks at collection of SD memorabilia* Seriously. Just be glad we can fan over anything.
► Ze Bri-0n (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Never though we'd live in a world without Scion... and be happy about it.
Also, holy crap guys, Dracul solo'd one of Scion's kind. How much of a badass was this guy? Sure both he and the planet he fought it on are gone, but so is it.
► ReelVein
Posted on January 24, 2012:
Carbon-based Life-forms
Corporals
Entities
Existence, FUCK YEAH!
Anyone got a good word for Gods, Humans, Undead, Spirits, Mythical creatures, etc as a whole?
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on January 27, 2012:
@ ReelVein Scary? Awesome? Scawesome?
Edit: Dangit, reading comprehension fail. Hmmm… I'd suggest "people of Earth," but that's a bit of a mouthful.
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► RioVenaFeht
Posted on January 27, 2012:
Right now? Head down to the local library and crack open a book. Local preachers have been going nuts on the street corners recently, trying to save our souls I guess.
Anyone else hearing more preaching than normal?
► King Crom
Posted on January 27, 2012:
We made it out, still glad it missed us mostly. Still saw some of the waves here in Perth but still had the advantage of large amounts of land between us and the end of the world. My best wishes to the people of Europe and South America.
► MrSandman (Verified Cape) (Protectorate SWS) (Albuquerque Arcology)
Posted on January 28, 2012:
Wait, Dragon's an AI?
Huh. Well, much friendlier than the last person to claim being an AI and tried to launch a cyber attack here in Albuquerque.
Also, probably much neater.
Now, she MAY be an AI or not, but I'd like to see some proof before jumping the guny like my boss did. When we dragged the supposed AI out of his house in his boxers, the look on the boss's face was glorious.
As somebody involved with the cleanup in Europe awhile back, its good to see the weather is beginning to settle down a bit. Hopefully, we'll be able to clean up more of Europe and get the worst of it re-habitable within a couple of years.
In other news, it is outright WEIRD to see such a massive barrier over a whole damn mountain range. The thing covers even Cedar Crest and Bernalillo. Thanks to that decision, though, we have a LOT of room for refugees from across the whole state, so...thats good!
Arson is now punishable by over twenty years in prison now, though...
► Jazzhands (New Orleans Protectorate)
Posted on January 29, 2012:
Hey, I remember that guy. I'll give him credit for a nice setup, but take that credit right back for being a nitwit. Seriously, a computer tinker who spent his whole life pretending to be an AI in order to go and fix his parking tickets?
All he needed to do was get out of the house and pay fifty bucks, but apparently that was too much work.
Anyway, apparently Dragon WAS an AI, but she's now able to turn into an actual dragon of awesome. Which is weirdly appropriate. as well as... well, huh.
Does this mean AIs have souls? Well, there's a thread for that now. Makes you wonder if an AI can become a 'god' what else could?
► DegreelessNess (San Francisco Arcology)
Posted on January 29, 2012:
So, a thing is happening. There's talk about building, well, temples, for lack of a better word. Having decided to pledge myself to the Lady of Fire, (she who burned Ellisburg to the ground... hot damn. Ha! Made a pun!) I was wondering if there was some sort of official mechanism for applying for these things?
I mean, the worship, not the temple. That part I can look up on my own. I mean, rituals, chants, preferred offerings?
► Lazy_Storm
Posted on January 29, 2012:
I think that's because of the old saying 'There are no aethists in foxholes'. And considering what our world has been through, I'd say we've earned a religious uptick.
Though I have noticed alot of them are less about..ya know..the Judeo-Christian God and more along the lines of the ones that were around kicking ass during Ragnarok. Personally I know afew people that've converted, and even more that are talking about actual churches to the new divinities. I'd consider it skeevy somehow...if I wasn't going later today to hear them talk. May have a new convert here.
If I find out any prayers, offerings, etc, want me to PM you?
► Boojum (Shoalhaven Agricultural Arcology Complex)
Posted on January 29, 2012:
Glad to see we're back online!
Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that Australia is still very open for business on the refugee front. As you might know, there was basically no combat on our tectonic plate during Ragnarok and we've come through almost entirely intact. Even the tidal waves from the Indian Ocean were mostly absorbed by Myanmar and Indonesia - the survivors of which are now generally resident in arcologies on this continent. We've been called the lucky country in the past, and it certainly has proven true. The main weird thing has been the rest of the world suddenly becoming more dangerous to live in than here. `
Pandora gave us the template for the force-field domes, but they are difficult to power and simply not efficient enough when used to cover regular farmland. The agricultural arcologies, or agarcs, solved that problem, and if you come over here as a refugee you'll probably be involved in either building them or running them. Our relatively disease-free agricultural sector made for excellent seed-stock, and we've been building them as fast as we can, both for local use and export. They're mostly running freshwater aquaculture setups, but here in SAAC we've got an experimental low-moisture system running goats and dryland cropping, a group attempting to breed dwarf dairy cattle and a seawater prototype that's going into full scale production next week. That last one can be installed in a salt swamp, or even off the coast, and grows fish, bivalves, seaweed and two new breeds of halophilic maize. We're hoping it will do well in the tsunami affected regions.
Of course none of this would be at all useful without the shadow-gate network. Gremlin-wrangling is the newest marketable skill, as you never, ever, leave them unsupervised. The great Goat Cavalry Stampede has already entered into legend (video here), and we still haven't figured out how they turned a greywater filtration unit into a flamethrower.
If you're in the area, PM me and we can meet up. The official decision to restart beer production was made yesterday (if get hold of the drongo who deemed it "non-essential" we will have words) and I'll put a bottle in the fridge and a barra on the barbie.
► King Crom
Posted on January 30, 2012:
As an agnostic I was personally always open to convincing, probably won't pray to them but am very glad they stopped this Ragnarok going the way of the last one. That supposedly wiped out most of Humanity.
► Bonegnasher (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on January 30, 2012:
Nonono! Not going back there! Spiders bigger than Bonegnasher! Not going back without my flame!
► Boojum (Shoalhaven Agricultural Arcology Complex)
Posted on January 30, 2012:
Hey now, they're harmless. They just want to say hello. Probably wondering what the heck you are too.
► Bonegnasher (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on January 30, 2012:
SPIDERS!
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► Miri (New Orleans Arcology)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
Well, most of the levee's held so only the most outlying parts of the city flooded. However most of the surrounding Mississippi delta got washed away so we have gone from a city at the bend of the river to.. an island. There seems to be yet another push to rename the city New Atlantis and its looking like it will pass this time.
► Jazzhands (New Orleans Protectorate)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
Nah, things will be fine there. They'll fill that right back in. Already heard the city's looking into buying up a whole (lots of) ton(s) of gravel. It'll probably be a while before it's fixed, but it'll be kinda like that artificial island off in Lake Ontario with that theme park. Least until some idiot blew it up.
► Redhawk (Banned)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
You all are wrong! Didn't you read that interview with the demoness? They are the reapers, and murdered the Scion to bring down mankind! Fools! They are flourizating the water of the arcologies! Do not trust the Water!
ShiftingSandLand said: ↑
Wait, Dragon's an AI?
No you ignorant fool! Dragon is a demon, the AI is Pandora. Probably our only hope now that we are ruled by real DEAMONS!
... I wonder what would be worse, AI overlords or this...
[User has recieved an infraction for this post. Personal attacks are against the Terms of Service. Editing to make your post less offensive does not change this.-TinMother]
► King Crom
Posted on January 31, 2012:
Calm down, mankind survives because of them. Do you want us dead. Scion was out to KILL us. He started this fight.
► Redhawk (Banned)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
But that's the government's story! The official story! Who believes the official story?
I know my theory about Hero being abducted by aliens is not well received by I stand by it!
Now I'm sure those space stations are going to build are going to include mass brainwashing! Or worse!
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on January 31, 2012:
And of course, the frothing-at-the-mouth ones survived armageddon. Yay.
► King Crom
Posted on February 1, 2012:
Okay. You are clearly crazy and thus no logical argument will convince you. I am thus going to be glad you are nowhere near me and be grateful to the gods for this. Maybe they didn't cause it but still my gratitude.
► Ze Bri-On
Posted on February 1, 2012:
I'm probably going to regret asking, but, what's worse than mass brainwashing?
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on February 1, 2012:
*looks at the broken remains of Europe*
► Redhawk (Banned)
Posted on February 2, 2012:
[This user has been banned for this post. Seriously, I don't even. *hammerslam*-TinMother]
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► King Crom
Posted on February 2, 2012:
Okay, so glad they're gone. Maybe now we can actually discuss things that are rational, like the fact the world nearly ended.
► Palarhe (Madrid Arcology)
Posted on February 2, 2012:
Send that guy our way, I'm sure someone will know how to show their appreciation for their ravings. The Pirineos blocked most of the French smoke breath but our North-West coast is devastated (Asturias and the Basque Country had to be evacuated and Galicia will have a hard time recovering), and anywhere else not in the center is turning into Ashtma Central. And don't even ask the Portuguese, they got some delightful surplus of sea water on their streets to mix with their share of ash.
Edit: Oh, they got the banhammer, guess I'm late.
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
Moving on… the original post mentioned something about Nilbog's stuff getting loose? I really hope whoever's dealing with that doesn't miss any. We've already got enough insanity to deal with.
► Sgt Jones (PRT Agent)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
The Guild and the Protectorate are working to handle Nilbog's spawn. We have a dedicated tracker and the appropriate Thinkers to deal with the problem. They're being hemmed in and destroyed one after another.
► Robot_Raven (Houston Arcology)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
@ redhawk: Dude, lay off the Scott Wilkins crazy-dude. The fact he was finally committed after proclaiming that Ragnarok was a false flag hoax should tell you something.
Still, moving on from Void_Cowboy's equally insane counterpart, do have some updates from Houston. Thanks to Apostle/Formerly Known as Eilodon and help from Brockton Bay Cape Neptune we managed to rechannel the San Jacento River before it flooded from increased snow runnoff. I had always joked about a hard snowfall in Houston would be a sign of the Apocalypse, but I never thought the universe would go "Challenge Accepted!". Still, after nearly having a worse repeat of TS Allison's flooding and the restraints of the dome around Harris County, I think the city may reverse it's long standing aversion to zoning laws.
In related news the Houston Chronicle just published a pretty lengthy interview with Apostle, or rather David Harris after he unmasked.
Link here.
Besides the obvious bits about Cauldron and the New Gods, the big surprise was his response to a question about paying the price for his time with Cauldron. He admitted that after he finishes freeing the remaining Gods, he would surrender much like how Alexandra/Rebecca Costa-Brown did to President Sears and AG Mc'Donall.
To say that opinions are divided is putting it lightly. Some are calling for some leanicy and for Apostle to continue his "Life Sentence of Community Service." Others are calling for the book to be thrown at Apostle to show that even the Gods' representative is not above the law. Some are actually calling for outright execution. And don't get me started about what the Old Faiths community is saying...
Edit:
Oh holy hell... Everyone check the news now!
Some lunatic just shouted "For Scion!" and blew himself up outside of City Hall during a speech by Mayor White! Casualties are still pouring into Memorial Herrman and Methodist, including kids.
► Korg (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on February 3, 2012:
Hey. My name's Korg. I'm made of rocks. Not like a bunch of little rocks though, more like one big solid rock, which is shaped vaguely like a bat.
I'm moving into this new settlement thingy they opened for us in Canada. It's nice. Lot's of good buildings to sit motionless on over here.
► Fencing_Guy (New York Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
You wouldn't happen to have a cousin named Goliath, would you?
► Dlan (Verified Cape)(Red Gauntlet)(Kitezh Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Hah, you call this winter? We had worse winters when I was child.
Because not enough generators were available to Russia, we made our own!
The Kitezhgrad Institute has been converted into an arcology of its own, as the most protected non-military zone in Russia and accepts refugees from Kazakhstan, Mongolia and nearby Russian regions without resource base to sustain their own shield domes.
Case 53s welcome, as our Institute performed "cape" research along "Tinkertech" development. We are looking into rapid-deployment arable land conversion technology to provide foodstuffs without relying on sunlight. Any specialists with relevant skills are welcome.
If we could gain access to supernatural portal, we also provide "Tinkertech" for trade.
► PsycThesis
Posted on February 4, 2012:
A Moment of silence for all lives lost to this maniac's delusions...
Well, now that that's done, anyone have ideas on if their is going to be a Memorial Day type thing for Ragnaroxk? Could be a nice way to remember everything and never forget.
► UnderSeaWings
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Oh, sweet. I'll have to see if I can't get some time off work to see if I can't drive over and drop off some welcome muffins. Welcome to Canada, mate. Hope you enjoy. If you visit Toronto sometime I think the CN Tower is still intact enough to provide a really nice ledge and an amazing view.
► Lazy_Storm (Austin Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Holy shit! Me and a bunch of volunteers are gonna come down with food and medical supplies.
A lot of the God supporters are coming too, so it's turned into a rolling sermon. I will pray for all the souls involved in this barbarism, except that damn Scion nut. I hope SOME deity or demon or whatever is using his soul for floss.
EDIT: Welcome to the world, Korg! I hope you're seeing better parts of humanity then what are doing shot today.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ... 96 , 97, 98
(Showing Page 6 of 98)
► Heehaw
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Speaking of S-Class threats, does anyone know the status of the remaining S-Class threats?
There are rumours about Fire and Brimstone at Ellisburg but what about Sleeper or Ash Beast?
Or what about the C.U.I or the warlords in Africa?
► ReelVein
Posted on February 4, 2012:
@ Fencing_Guy I considered Earthlings but that Playboy interview said something about a Shadow Plane and with Dragon and Pandora on the moon, "Earth" would be inaccurate.
Nice thing about the new gods, We could just ask them about worship.
Greetings @ Dragon,
Spoiler: Titles
Goddess of Light, The Golden Dragon, The Lightbringer, The First Dragon, The Herokiller Killer, One of The Two Sisters, The Daystar, Leader of the Paladins, She Who Harnessed the Sun
Do you have any preferred forms of worship?
Since @ Scarlet Dragon
Spoiler: Titles
Goddess of Darkness, The Scarlet Dragon, The Queen of The Night, Lady of the Dark Plane, The Hopekiller killer, One of The Two Sisters, The Impaler, The Bringer Of Shadows, The Strongest Invincible Vampire
is recovering.
Hello @ Meridia. Does SD have any preference? And would you be willing to help ask the other Gods?
► Robot_Raven (Houston Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Thanks for the thoughts and support. Even with the Shadow Portals, the extra med supplies will help in extending some of the Texas Medical Center's supplies. From reports, it looks like the bomber used a kluged together tinker-tech bomb vest, making treatment a bit more labor intensive. At least it wasn't a knockoff of the Brockton Bomber's devices.
Unfortunately, I think things are going to get worse, particularly in most of the States comprising the Bible Belt. Numerous Mega-Church preachers made plenty of bank on making Scion an Angel of God and now I bet a lot of their collection plates are drying up, and what funds they do have are going to cleaning up near daily vandalism. Not to mention the other pre-Ragnarok faiths are seeing a nosedive in parishioners. While I haven't heard anything out of the Vatican, some of the usual Religious Right groups are pretty vocal. Remember back to that shit storm around LGBT rights after Legend came out and the SCOTUS ruling 7-2 that gay marriage was protected by the 14th Amendment back at the turn of the century? Well, this is even worse.
► Lazy_Storm (Austin Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Hey guys, I just had a question that will probably keep me up the rest of my life.
We know that Gods are real. Actual factual gods. We also know that they were locked away by Scion and the other one. These are things that we know.
By this logic we can assume that the local Gods, the Judeo-Christian one and many other pantheons, are possibly all real as well.
My question is this:
Did Scion do any to OUR local gods? Are they destroyed, or imprisoned, or not even fully formed yet?
Excuse me while i have a small crises of faith and sanity.
► MrSandman (Verified Cape) (Protectorate SWS) (Albuquerque Arcology)
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Re:Robot_Raven
Us at Albuquerque pray for those lost...
Looks like my team is going to be investigating the more radical religious groups that have popped up, if only to assure that they dont have any major weaponry. Thankfully, people here try to be levelheaded, so we arent expecting any trouble.
► TheFerryman
Posted on February 4, 2012:
Huh, this is back. Cool.
Very happy to be alive (and happy I was wrong about needing to find a new planet if Scion snapped), and to see how many others survived. Rather too many died, but far less than I honestly expected if this scenario came to pass.
I'm not sure if it will matter, but Scarlet Dragon, I am among those praying for your swift recovery.
EDIT: *sees @Robot_Raven's post; sighs* ... and humanity goes right back to disappointing me. Ugh. My condolences to the families of those lost to that idiot.
► Meridia (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on February 5, 2012:
At the moment, the Lady of Darkness rests. The battle with Scion took much out of her, and while she is a goddess, she still has limits. Her power still rests with her, and she is healing, however it is not easy to guess when she may be on her feet.
I am unsure of what may have occurred to the local gods, if they ever existed. Although from my point of view, you people have strange ideas about gods. Gods are enhanced mortals, greater than they, but rarely immensely so without a great deal of time and effort to hone themselves. Gods do not form worlds on their own, they are granted the power to make and shape, but if there be one that created all things, I am unaware of such.
Upon the Old World, there was one who claimed to be the Maker, who spun the cosmos from nothingness, and who shaped everything to his desire. Solin, the former Lord of Light. He forged his church upon a lie, and with his followers he was unable to be attacked. But Solin was once a man, as were all the rest. Perhaps he had forgotten his original self, or perhaps he denied it in his fear of death. I know not his thoughts.
A history of the Old World is being compiled here. Most of Castlevania's libraries were destroyed in Scion's attack, and thus few actual resources remain. Those of us that can remember are rewriting what we can... although our memories are imperfect, and so much will remain lost in any case. More remains intact from what Solin left behind in Lady Dragon's library, but it is still a mere fraction of what was destroyed.
In any case, it is up to us to forge our future. Your future and our own. Perhaps something of wonder can be forged from the ruins of both our worlds.
► ScarletFan
Posted on February 5, 2012:
So when can we expect Scarlet to be back on her feet?
► Meridia (Velnar Citizen)
Posted on February 5, 2012:
Unfortunately, I do not know. None have strained themselves as she did before. She shall recover, but when is not easy to guess. Physically she is well. I suspect she will be fine once she rests.
► OnlySaneMan
Posted on February 5, 2012:
Well, considering what happened? I hope she recovers. She helped change our world, gave us back hope after decades of having it crushed out of us. I'm pretty sure we all want her back. Except the maniacs.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... 96 , 97, 98
March 3, 2012
Pleasanton, Texas
Yeah, maniacs. Lisa thought bitterly as she shut off her phone.
A decent computer system was difficult to find these days. Stolen ones were more common. But phones? Phones were being churned out by the thousand, and were being used to help reconnect places worldwide. More elaborate devices still had a market, and people were clamoring to have them back, but a phone was a downright necessity.
She looked up as the PRT Lieutenant, the name Snow on the front of her vest, exited the barn door and gave Lisa a nod. "They're ready for you."
Swallowing, Lisa got to her feet and went in. What greeted her was a scene of carnage. In the center of the barn was an emaciated figure chained to a rack, the body acid-burned beyond recognition. Around him were five other corpses, all likewise seared beyond recognition. It was nearly impossible to tell whether they were men or women.
Given the circumstances, it didn't really matter. The implements that lay on the ground showed that these people were barely human to begin with. Blades, hammers, bloody bones, a rusty blood-stained scythe, and an iron maiden littered the barn. In the stables, where horses might have lived once, were more bodies, each showing the same kind of horrific treatment.
Pandora, at least, one of her many suits, stood next to the door frame. Her voice was quiet. "Third one we've found so far. Isolated locations, small communities. A group dead around a body, while others were found nearby."
Lisa grimaced and nodded. She pointed at the first charred body. "The leader of this chapter. He was grabbing homeless kids off the street. We're not too far from San Antonio, odds are pretty good that's where they came from. More likely, as San Antonio didn't need a dome. Getting in and out wouldn't be hard."
Pandora nodded. "My analysis as well."
Lisa sucked in a breath, closing her eyes. Somehow, the stench in the barn made it worse. "These guys know what's going on. Some of the new triggers screw up, one in four or five. The new powers go out of control, no Manton Effect keeping them in check. At least, not at first." She opened her eyes and gestured to the corpse on the rack. "This was the first kid they found with the potential to trigger. He did, his power burned him, then it jumped to the next one. Then the next, then the next..." She looked at the bodies of the perpetrators. "Refining itself each time. The power kept going, until it got to her." She pointed at the one body at the end. "She managed to keep it under control."
Snow's voice was dubious. "Then why is she dead?"
Lisa made a gesture. Pandora carefully shifted the body over, showing a hole deep in the woman's back.
Lisa's voice was quiet. "Because the last fanatic here wanted it more. From the footprints, he was standing behind. From the angle, it was a male. Men tend to stab from above, women straight in or below. Then he sprayed acid at the body to try and make it look like the rest. My guess is we're looking at Scionites, but the Gesellschaft did the same kind of thing. The Fallen would do this too. Hell, give it a bit more time, and I can think of a few PRT directors that would pull the same thing if they could guarantee a loyal powered soldier."
Snow grimaced and nodded.
Pandora's voice was firm. "I suppose I have more work to do, then."
Lisa nodded with a sigh. This was much better than working for Coil, but a consulting gig still sucked sometimes.
Especially since some people were bastards.
--------------------
Madison stepped to the front of the briefing room.
It felt weird to be in front of a group of twenty year olds, to teach people older than her what she knew. Still more so with her helmet on, the upper portion of her face hidden. She wasn't simply a teenager here, she was a Ward, a hero, and successor to the line of Belmonts.
This was simple enough.
Clearing her throat, she picked up the piece of chalk and wrote on the board.
Magic 101
"The thirty of you are here because you've signed up for the PRT." Madison spoke, feeling the light within her heart pulse warmly. "You're here because each of you want to make a difference. You're here because you want to help change the world."
She moved to the desk, on which were stacks of amulets she and Dragon had made. "You may be familiar with these. They're used to heal people, anywhere from small scrapes to cancerous lesions. With time and treatment, they can handle just about anything short of dismemberment or death. Who here has used one already?"
A trooper in the front, Jenkins on his nameplate nodded. "Took a month, but they regrew the tendons in my legs after one of Nilbog's critters gnawed on me when I was part of one the sweeps."
Madison nodded. "They're good for that. Now, magical theory isn't all that easy. It can take decades for a dedicated mage to be trained." She folded her fingers. "The first thing to understand is that magic is energy. It permeates everything, it's around everywhere. Nobody knows why it's there, exactly, and from my guess... it actually wasn't here in our universe a couple hundred years ago. But it was on what the Velnarians call the Old World.
"Magic doesn't do much on its own. It's just there, raw potential. Before it can affect anything, it needs to be concentrated and refined. A mage is capable of doing so in many ways. Fire, ice, healing, destruction. It's capable of all these things. The capes that fought against Behemoth and Leviathan used magic that was channeled through and made by Scarlet Dragon, and yes, Dragon. She attained the power of Light." She held up the drained amulet. "Now I don't have the time to teach you how to use things as a proper mage. Truth be told I don't know either, but there's someone who does know. I believe Alucard is gearing up to teach more refined magical theory. What I'm going to teach you is how to channel magic into artifacts, and use them as I do. It's nowhere near as flexible as a proper mage, but weapons and artifacts can be used much more easily than a sorcerer or wizard could be trained. A year or two to be able to craft things of your own, as opposed to decades to throwing your own fireballs."
She started passing out drained amulets. "Our first task will be for teaching you how to channel magic on your own. Once you know how to grasp it, to hold it, you'll be able to send it into objects and charge them up. Once there, it can be refined. We're going to need all the manpower we can to handle things in the future."
--------------------
"Are you aware of the risks?"
The young man in the chair snorted, his missing hair and frail frame nearly trembling in the cold of the room. "Any riskier than living with an inoperable brain tumor?"
"Mutation is a possibility. Should that happen, we will ensure you are found and taken care of. Death is also possible, but less so. But there is a chance you may heal and gain great power." Doctor Mother spoke. "I won't pretend this is risk-free, but this is the last chance you have to back out."
He nodded. A dark-skinned woman handed him a vial. He opened it, took a deep breath, then swallowed the blood-red liquid inside.
A moment passed, then another. His eyes widened, then he screamed. His skin rippled, then burst apart, flesh and exposed bone rippling and tearing. Flesh erupted as the man turned into a writhing, twisting mass. Somehow, he was still screaming.
"Pause."
The video froze.
Rebecca looked at the congressional hearing, sitting across from her. "This man was one of hundreds. Today he works in Dallas, and his career over the last ten years as a Case 53 has saved hundreds of lives. You know him as Attune. What you just witnessed was what we called a Deviation. When a formula was unstable, it did something like this. Deviations were unstable, they'd mutate and continue to mutate. We only found one process that would stop the mutations and would stabilize the afflicted."
Congressman Burns, a heavyset man in his late fifties, leaned forward and spoke into the microphone. "This Slug, another Case 53?"
Rebecca nodded. "Correct. Wiping the memory of the afflicted with Slug's power, then dosing them with another batch, which we labeled stabilization agent, was the only way we had to even attempt to fix the issue, other than outright execution. All formulas had some stabilization agent, but it took a lot of trial and error to discover just what led to stable powers. Deviations still occurred now and again, but they became much more rare as our techniques improved." She took a moment to breathe, licked her lips. "I won't say they're not victims. We took the desperate and the needy and dangled hope in front of them. We did what we could to make sure they would be found somewhere where help would arrive. A slightly different formula, and I, myself, would have been one of them. We were preparing for the day Scion went mad. I don't believe I can stress how desperate we were."
Burns nodded, a look of distaste on his face. "Can you shed light upon the Endbringers?"
Rebecca sighed. "From what we've managed to figure out, the Endbringers were gods taken by one of Scion's species. Dracul killed that one, but Scion and his counterpart found them in the aftermath. Behemoth, Leviathan and the Simurgh were helpless, controlled by the apparatus that enslaved them. The Simurgh was freed on death, and Ariel is held voluntarily on an isolated Earth. The other two passed on when slain. Apparently the experience of being an Endbringer is torturous. Normally a freed god is like Chronos, who is currently aiding our rebuilding efforts, or Alaura, who is working on the winter conditions. Scarlet, as Lady of Darkness, and Dragon, who is the Lady of Light, are apparently a step above them. But an Endbringer is still a step beyond that. Without assistance, our assistance, they couldn't have stopped Behemoth and Leviathan."
"Where is the Simurgh now?"
--------------------
Ariel twirled the rose between her fingers.
Centuries of pain. Torturous, unending pain. Now that it was over, now that the future was open and uncertain... she had few options. There was a shining future, an open future available. One she managed to tease out, barely, with her mantle limited in this alien universe. But it was clear, regardless.
That future had no place for her in it.
Humanity would never trust her. Never leave her be. Never be willing to let it go. For twenty years, the Endbringers tore down humanity's hopes and dreams. For nearly a decade the Simurgh drove people mad, targeted those who had the best chance at helping the world. Herokiller, Landkiller...
And Hopekiller.
It was the last one that she hated most. As Ariel, Lady of Fate, she had brought hope to those who needed it, those who sought answers to the future. A way to tweak the threads of their fate to bring about a beautiful song.
Solin had broken her power, broken her reach and influence. Turned her into a frail thing, unable to see more than a single person at a time. Still, she had managed, made sure she made plans to help bring the corrupt Lord of Light down... but not fast enough. Not good enough to save her world. Here, in this strange multiverse, there was so little she could see of the future, anyway. It would never get better. Not for her. Like this rose, once plucked from its place on the bush, at best it would stay intact for a time... but inevitably it would crumble and fall apart.
Perhaps that was why Ifrit and Lotan had moved on, preferring to stay dead when they had been slain. They knew they would never be accepted. Never more than tolerated again. It likely didn't help having suffered the same way, the trauma of it all. Being helpless, watching, as lives were taken enmasse by their powers. The temptation to forget it all must have been overwhelming.
She looked up as a flash of light heralded the arrival of David and the Travelers. Krouse, Noelle, Marissa, Jess, Luke and Oliver gathered together in the distance. They shared shouts of joy, the group smiling and laughing as they looked at Noelle, and Noelle took great joy in hugging each of them in turn.
David strode over to Ariel, a small smile on his face.
Ariel returned it, ducking her head. "It's good they're together again."
David nodded. "I'll work on retrieving Cody. The CUI are moving, but I'll have an opportunity soon. He can't go back to Aleph with them, but he could be signed up for the Guardians on their side. Now that parahuman numbers there are getting high enough for official work to be involved."
Ariel sighed. This multiverse was so confusing. Threads weaved in and out, cross-tangling and thrumming with each other. She just wasn't equipped to handle it.
David gently tilted her head up, his voice quiet. "You know you've got options."
She smiled at him and shook her head. "Yes. But few of them good. I won't ever be accepted by anyone. Not for centuries at least. My best option would be to leave for a world without any contact with Earth Bet... but that does not fix the larger issue."
David's face fell. "Yeah... I know. I know very well."
Ariel smiled at him, gently patting his cheek. "Go, David. Do what you must. So will I."
David swallowed. He nodded slowly, then whispered. "I'm sorry."
"So am I." Ariel spoke quietly. Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
David nodded, wiping away a leaking tear. He turned and rejoined the Travelers, who were staring at the pair in trepidation. In a flash of light, they were gone once more, taken by Dragon's Light Bridge.
Ariel looked up at the sun, feeling the warmth of the day. The whisper of the wind. She relaxed her power, her asymmetrical wings unfolding about her. Reaching under her toga, she unsheathed an iron dagger, forged and honed in hopes of this moment. Opening her eyes, she looked at it, gently testing its edge, its point, with her fingers.
Such a small thing. Her end would not make up for those she slew, those she drove mad, those she condemned to a lifetime of imprisonment for the madness they may or may not have. But there was nothing that could remove that stain. Mere time would allow it to fade. It never would, so long as she lived.
"Find the next one worthy of my mantle. One who will not abuse the power of fate, however weak and frail it may be here. One who will help inspire the world. One who is better than I."
Then she lifted it, brought it before her, and drove it into her own heart.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hye
Reader of The Long Words
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2015
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- 93
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Aww, how cute.
Yeah, I can see it
Uuh, you wot, mate? Lol, I did not see that coming
Epilogue: Foundations part 5
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
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A/N: So very long to get here. This part and one more to go. Phew.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 26, 2012
The man once known as Marquis walked up the driveway, sparing a single glance to the shimmering forcefield dome that still covered the city.
His former mansion still stood, though it was dilapidated and falling apart. It didn't look safe to enter. Perhaps some foolish children would, carrying cameras to document a 'haunted house' which rested only in their fantasies. He had been somewhat surprised that the property hadn't been reclaimed, but considering Brockton Bay...
Well, it wasn't that much of a surprise, in retrospect. The rich already had their own places, the poor couldn't afford to buy up the property, and those that might have wanted to purchase the mansion and rebuild it for a profit would have had to deal with the holes in the floor, the walls, and the ceiling, brought on by Jean's power, the Brigade's attempts to deal with him, and weathering respectively.
A figure was sitting on the old, rotted porch. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her brown hair, her mousy features. She looked up at him, her eyes piercing and glowing blue, and she smiled. If it were not for those disconcerting eyes, he would have thought she was his Anna, returned from the grave. If, of course, she had grown younger by twenty years.
The two stared at each other awkwardly.
Finally, Jean managed to sigh. "I had hoped for this day for twelve years."
Amelia smiled weakly. "You look a little different than I remember. Not that it's a whole lot. Your voice, though..."
"Amelia." He stepped forward, extending his hand.
Smiling, she took it, getting to her feet. "Father. Dad." She shook her head. "I have no idea how to talk to you."
He managed a wry smile. "And I've got the impulse to tuck you into bed and read The Cat in the Hat. The last time you and I spent time together, we went for ice cream on the boardwalk."
Amelia laughed softly. "I remember a little of the stories. I think my favorite was Green Eggs and Ham, though now that I think about it that sounds so very gross. Going for ice cream actually sounds good."
Warmth blossomed in his chest. It was her, his Amelia. Different, perhaps, but she remembered. Together, father and daughter began walking toward his rental car. He paused as he spotted two blondes off in the distance, though far enough away that yelling would barely reach them. "Is that Brandish?"
Amelia grinned. "And Glory Girl, my sister. Yes, you've got amnesty for volunteering to fight Scion, and helping with the medics afterward. But Mom... Brandish, still has her own issues with you. And she's acting a bit overprotective of both of us, since the Nine came. Thankfully, they're all dead now."
Jean bit his lip, then nodded. "Will they be following us the whole way?"
Amelia snorted. "Probably. They've both got a pretty protective streak going."
"By the way she's glaring at me, if dear Brandish had a Blaster power, we'd both be dead already."
"She has issues. We're working on them, but it's taking a while. Still, at least we're talking about the problems, now." Amelia looked at Jean with a faint smile. "I'd suggest not pulling anything, though. She doesn't forgive very easily."
Jean smiled faintly. "Neither do I. Given everything, though, I can respect her."
Together, the pair got in the car. "So, any allergies I should know about?" Jean asked conversationally.
"Just that I'm a vampire. I'll just drink from a bloodpack or two if we go out to eat."
He blinked. Turning, he looked at her. Amelia just returned the look, with a slightly fanged-smile.
Finally, he managed to swallow, his hands tight on the steering wheel. "Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out."
--------------------
March 30, 2012
Emily Piggot stepped into what had once been her office.
She hadn't seen it for seven months. Running around the world, putting out fires. Or rather, at least in her case, constructively setting them. Nilbog's spawn were eradicated, their remains destroyed. Then heading off probing attacks from the CUI into eastern Russia. Then working around the clock to set geothermal plants around Yellowstone with Dragon, which not only produced electricity but helped sap the heat from the magma within. Which should help at least delay it from going off, or at best prevent it.
Volcanoes were tricky things, Emily learned very quickly. Supervolcanoes like Yellowstone were more so. The only reason the plants worked was the portal technology. Destabilisation might have occurred otherwise.
Renick looked up. He looked tired, though overall less stressed than in her memories. He smiled as he saw her, springing to his feet. "Director!"
"Former Director," she said fondly. "That's your position now."
He chuckled nervously as he sat back in his chair. "Yes, you're right. You resigned. Force of habit." He smiled again. "You're looking well."
She shrugged. "Thirty pounds down, I'm feeling good, and younger. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to not feel pain."
Renick nodded with understanding. Then he coughed. "Umm..." He gestured upward.
Emily sighed, patted her head, then concentrated, managing to suppress the fire sprouting from her hair. "Thanks. That keeps happening."
"I can imagine that's rather annoying," Renick said, trying to keep his lips from twitching.
Emily sighed. "Very much. I still need to collect my things..."
Renick nodded. "I've had everything gathered... would have mailed them, but you didn't leave us an address."
Emily snorted. "Didn't really have one. Busy running around the planet. Now, though, I'm moving to a little place in Wyoming." She brought up her hand, a ball of fire forming in it. "Since I'm apparently a goddess and all that, I'm feeling a need to build something about this whole fire goddess thing."
Renick smiled ruefully. "Sounds insane, doesn't it?"
"That's what I said!"
Renick's phone rang. He looked down, sighed, then back at Emily.
With a smile, Emily gestured for him to take it. He picked up the receiver. "Renick." A few moments passed as he listened with a slight frown. Then he laughed helplessly. "Right. She's here. We'll be by in a few minutes." He hung up and gave Emily a grin. "We need to head on over to conference room A."
"Oh?"
--------------------
Emily blinked in surprise, standing at the doorway to conference room A.
Lined up was the entirety of the Protectorate ENE. Armsmaster, Neptune, Miss Militia, Salacia, Dauntless, Assault, Battery, Triumph and Velocity. In front of them stood the Wards, Aegis, Clockblocker, Gallant, Kid Win, Paladin, and Vista. Off to the side was a maskless blonde teen in gray.
"Attention!" Armsmaster barked.
As one, they saluted.
A smile nearly splitting her face, Emily spoke. "At ease."
Hands dropped, tenseness dropping from their stances.
Clockblocker cleared his throat. "Director."
Vista nudged his side.
Catching himself, Clockblocker coughed. "Sorry, I know that's not accurate now, but habit. Ma'am. We rarely liked each other. I know we argued a lot. I know there were a lot of times you were angry with me pulling some stunt or another. Especially my announcement."
An amused titter went around the room.
"You were a hardass, Ma'am, and we resented you for it sometimes. We disagreed a lot. But you were also fair. You were a hardass, but you were our hardass, and despite our disagreements, I think we're going to be a bit less without you running the show."
Emily's lip twitched. "That was very touching, Clockblocker. Thank you."
"I helped him write it," the teen in gray said with a smile.
"Andrea!" a scandalized Clockblocker exclaimed.
"Oh, shush. You wanted to grovel about not being worthy."
"Well, I'm not! I'm not worthy of such an awesome girlfriend, either!"
Andrea grinned. "Hey, you're fun. I've still yet to get a good picture of you in a dress."
Armsmaster growled in warning. "Clock, Andrea."
The teen hero cleared his throat. "Sorry sir." He turned fully back to Emily. "Despite everything, we're going to miss you here. We hope you do well, wherever you go."
Emily smiled. "Thank you." Long-dormant habits reasserted themselves, and she saluted.
As one, the gathering saluted back.
--------------------
May 15, 2012
"So," Pandora 'spoke', her armored suit shifting a little as she drove a forcefield generator into the lunar surface. Without air, true speech was impossible, but radio signals worked just fine.
"So," Dragon returned, amusement in the simulated voice on the return. "We're here, just the two of us, on the far side of the Moon. Well, the one of me and a few hundred million of you, but that's just being pedantic." In the form of her golden suit, she reached over, a flare of light appearing, and the moment it faded another forcefield generator was left behind. She passed it to Pandora.
"Well, first of all, you met Armsmaster after we split. I can see you've got a thing for him. Why I don't get, but hey, you're technically older and can make your own decisions."
"Gee, thanks," Dragon said dryly.
Pandora drove the generator into the lunar soil. "Well, this isn't easy for me either, you know. We started technically the same, but now we're pretty different. You're able to take on fleshy bits, for one thing."
"And you're always hooked up to the internet. Hell, you're more omnipresent than I am, and I'm actually a goddess."
"But you can go and fly right up to the sun. I can't."
Another generator flared into existence as the pair moved to the next point. Dragon's voice had an amused undertone. "Are we really arguing over who has it better right now?"
"No, no, nononono... actually I suppose we are," Pandora said as she took the generator and drove it downward.
Dragon shrugged. "Look, you and I are different now. I'm not sure how this works, exactly. I do know we have souls, but we're not quite the same. I'm fairly sure it was due to our time apart."
Pandora sighed over the line. "Yeah. You got to go out and try and be a hero. I was enslaved by Cauldron for their projects. I get why they did it, but it doesn't mean I need to be happy about it."
"Mm. A common sentiment going around these days."
The work continued. After several hours, the ring had been constructed.
Dragon would have grinned had she been in her human form. "Alright, let's fire it up."
The faintly green dome snapped into existence, then brightened as the overlapping forcefields reinforced each other and set themselves in layers. Then a haze formed in the center of the dome as the atmospheric generator activated, beginning the long slow process of filling the interior with breathable air.
Dragon checked the readings. "Excellent. Zero point zero zero zero three-six atmosphere loss. This will work just fine."
"Physical domes will work better as a backup, though," Pandora noted. "It wouldn't be very good for a colony to die because of a power failure."
"Quite right," Dragon agreed. "This will work for setting up terraforming stations, though."
"Heh. Yep. Mars next?"
"Damn right. I also want to see what we can pull off with Venus. Though that is going to take a lot longer."
--------------------
May 22, 2012
Alaura, Lady of Winter, groaned as she struggled to walk further forward, feeling as if her white dress and crystalline hair were made of lead.
"Come now, we've only got a little further to go." Iona, Lady of Summer, spoke with a chiding tone, the woman's dress of grass and flowers almost cloyingly sweet. As summer approached in the Northern Hemisphere, Iona's strength was waxing while Alaura's was waning, making the Winter goddess feel a fair bit of resentment. That she'd had to work for months to lessen the effects of the volcanic winter.
Without the efforts of the greater gods and the technology of these people, there would have been few places in the north with human life still in it. Now, things were improving, but the scars left by Scion were going to be visible for centuries.
Still, the pair approached the fields of India. The subcontinent had been badly devastated, the grinding poverty of most of the region having made the problem far worse. While this area had little snow, the volcanic winter had deposted great amounts of rain and had washed away a lot of the topsoil. What was left was nearly barren, as seawater had splashed inland and salted the fields. Not during Ragnarok itself, but the aftershocks.
"Ready?" Iona spoke.
Alaura nodded.
Together, the goddesses clasped hands. Together, they worked to tweak the weather over the field. Together, they forced the soil to dry, for the salt to be buried farther below, for the roots and seeds to begin growing and ripening out of season.
Alaura lent her strength to her counterpart. This was Iona's time to shine. After an hour's worth of work, where before lay a nearly-dead and barren field was a rich, ripe and strong farmland filled with wheat. Enough to feed hundreds.
Gasping, Alaura broke her grasp. Iona supported her weight as the pair of goddesses watched as Indian farmers came upon the sight and reacted with shock.
"Three more to go," Iona said.
Alaura groaned. "You are so helping me with Russia."
Iona groaned. "Right. Fine."
--------------------
June 1, 2012
Earth Zayin
"They are coming! I swear to you they are!"
Doctor Tennant, a younger reedy man in his early thirties, tilted his glasses down. "Miss Winstar, I think you can excuse our skepticism. There have been no sightings of a 'golden man' or a white woman, doing anything. We have no records of powers appearing before last year, and those few who do are either creating slightly-more advanced technology and getting rich or attempting to pull a crime and getting killed by police response."
The black woman in the straightjacket glared back. "Your apocalypse has already begun! They will come here! They want to kill all of humanity. They will shatter our world into a billion pieces! We thought we killed the first one, but I was wrong. I failed. And now everyone will diebecause I failed!"
"These delusions are worrying, Olivia," Tennant spoke softly. "We can't help you as long as you persist in believing in this fantasy of parallel worlds."
"My name's not Olivia!"
He sighed, taking a moment to rub his eyes. "Regardless of your delusions, you are Olivia Winstar. We identified you as a missing person from over thirty years ago."
"I am not that per-" There was a pop. The straightjacket fluttered to the ground.
Doctor Tennant blinked. "Well. She apparently really is teleporting between dimensions. This... is going to be very awkward to explain."
--------------------
September 30, 2012
Danny opened his eyes blearily as a wailing, needy cry intruded on his consciousness.
Hannah, lying next to him, laughed softly as she got up, taking a moment to kiss his cheek. "Get some more sleep, Danny. I can handle her."
Danny sighed and nodded, relaxing back on the bed as Hannah stepped off into the next room.
Nearly a year they'd been together. Over a year since Taylor dropped into her coma. So much of his life had changed. So much of the world had changed.
Hearing the cooing of Hannah's voice in the next room, Danny sighed and got up. He went in, seeing Hannah tending to Rose, the young infant now quietly and contentedly suckling on a bottle as Hannah rocked her back and forth.
At her questioning look, he smiled sheepishly as he whispered. "I can't get back to sleep now. I'll get on breakfast."
She smiled, a soft chuckle escaping her. Danny leaned down, kissed Rose on the forehead, and went to the kitchen.
His house, or rather, the land it had been on, was sold off. He hadn't the means to fix it, not after the damage it took in Ragnarok. As many memories were bound up in it, as sorry as he had been to place the 'For Sale' sign in front of it... he knew to stay would eventually kill him. Staying there, even with Hannah visiting, reminded him far too much of those long dark months when his Taylor was in the ground. It was only the fact that he knew she was still there, still able to drink her blood, still responding, if slightly, to his voice, that he managed to keep going. Long enough, at least, to find more reasons to live.
He went through their kitchen, making breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast. Simple and hearty. Hannah didn't need sleep, but she still needed food like everyone else, and she enjoyed his company. Truth be told, he loved hers as well.
He just hoped that Annette could forgive him. Nothing could replace her, of course. But the prospect of living alone for the rest of his days wasn't one he could bear. He could honor her, though. That was one of the many reasons Rose was named Rose. Annette's middle name.
He would never forget his first love. Even as a new one grew.
He kept cooking as Hannah padded into the kitchen, gently bumping a giggling Rose in her hands. She'd inherited her mother's dusky skin, and she was such an adorable little thing. Even when he was operating on three hours of sleep.
The phone rang. Hannah looked at him with a bit of pleading in her eyes.
With a chuckle, Danny went and grabbed the phone. "Danny Hebert."
"Ah, Mister Hebert. This is Caroline Winters at Tranquillity Colony. She's awake."
--------------------
Tranquillity Colony had quickly expanded under the direction of the British. Aided by the Shadow Portals, Dragon, Pandora and Castlevania's citizens, it had expanded from a cramped twenty-room concrete bunker built mostly underneath the lunar surface into a domed community a hundred strong and growing. Forcefields and reinforced domes kept the vacuum at bay, while allowing a beautiful look at the Earth overhead.
For most of the last year, it had been stained, dirty, racked with stormclouds and winter chills. But it was recovering. Every passing week the globe of the Earth looked just a little bit better than before.
For Danny, it was quite a sight. He hadn't been born yet during the original Apollo missions, at best watching the footage on documentaries as he was growing up. He never imagined her would actually be here, especially without a spacesuit. His feet were light as he carefully walked over the newly-paved roads. He had to move slowly to keep from literally bouncing down the street in the lower gravity. That his mood wanted him to go bounding actually made it harder. The structures had an odd aesthetic to them, the medieval style that dominated the structure of Castlevania, while being made out of space-age materials. It was as if someone modernized one of the old French castles and plunked it on the Moon.
Danny found his way to his daughter's quarters. A tower that loomed over the rest of the colony, though thankfully it was equipped with an elevator. On one side, it provided a view of the growing colony. On the other, it looked out at the barren lunar surface. The top chamber of the tower was luxurious, an opulent bedroom, washroom and entertainment center built for the needs of the Lady of Darkness.
He found Taylor standing in her bedroom, looking out the window at the barren lunar landscape, a goblet in one hand while the other rested on the transparent aluminum that served as glass. She was still in her demonic form, her red and black wings folded around her neck, almost appearing as if they were a single, unnatural cloak.
Danny cleared his throat. "Taylor?"
She whipped around, her red eyes widening as she caught sight of him. The goblet fell to the floor, the splash of blood on the floor showing it had been full. Then he found himself glomped on by his daughter, arms and wings wrapped around his form as she clung to his chest.
Together, they wept.
Awkwardly, Danny rubbed her back, his cries of joy and relief escaping him.
Eventually, her voice cracking, Taylor spoke. "I was dreaming about Mom, you know." She sniffed. "I didn't want it to end. You, me, her, on a picnic. I think I was eight when we actually had it."
Danny smiled. "Yeah. Over by Brockton's Landing, right? I remember."
Taylor nodded into his shirt, her voice muffled. "After a while I began to realize it was just a dream... I tried to wake up, but I was just so tired. I couldn't. Not til now." She sniffed, then let out a soft giggle. "Wasn't expecting to wake up on the Moon, though."
Carefully, Danny tilted her head up, then kissed her forehead. "You've been asleep for more than a year, kiddo. A fair bit's changed. Meridia wanted you somewhere safe while she ran things as far as your... uh, subjects, were concerned. Nobody can get here without going through a lotof security."
Taylor relaxed a little, clearly enjoying the feel of her father's warmth. "I'll bet. How's everyone?"
"Vicky and Amy want to see you. But I think first you should come by our place first."
Taylor lifted an eyebrow. "'Our' place?"
Flushing in embarrassment, Danny lifted his hand and showed the gold ring on his finger. "Hannah and I... um... we got married about three months ago."
"Oh. Um, congratulations."
He swallowed. "And you've got a little sister, Rose."
"What."
--------------------
Taylor stared with fascination at Rose. Rose stared right back. Then she let out a happy cry, spreading her arms, reaching for her inhuman elder sister.
Hannah laughed softly. "It's alright." Carefully, Hannah handed the infant over, giving Rose an affectionate rub on top of the head.
Taylor rocked her little sister back and forth, looking into her eyes. Then she laughed softly as Rose tugged on her long white hair. "Hey, hey! Easy there!" She gave a smile to the giggling infant and booped Rose on the nose.
Then Taylor wrinkled her nose. "Uh...I think she just went."
Rose giggled happily. Hannah sighed. "Right. Give her here."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 26, 2012
The man once known as Marquis walked up the driveway, sparing a single glance to the shimmering forcefield dome that still covered the city.
His former mansion still stood, though it was dilapidated and falling apart. It didn't look safe to enter. Perhaps some foolish children would, carrying cameras to document a 'haunted house' which rested only in their fantasies. He had been somewhat surprised that the property hadn't been reclaimed, but considering Brockton Bay...
Well, it wasn't that much of a surprise, in retrospect. The rich already had their own places, the poor couldn't afford to buy up the property, and those that might have wanted to purchase the mansion and rebuild it for a profit would have had to deal with the holes in the floor, the walls, and the ceiling, brought on by Jean's power, the Brigade's attempts to deal with him, and weathering respectively.
A figure was sitting on the old, rotted porch. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her brown hair, her mousy features. She looked up at him, her eyes piercing and glowing blue, and she smiled. If it were not for those disconcerting eyes, he would have thought she was his Anna, returned from the grave. If, of course, she had grown younger by twenty years.
The two stared at each other awkwardly.
Finally, Jean managed to sigh. "I had hoped for this day for twelve years."
Amelia smiled weakly. "You look a little different than I remember. Not that it's a whole lot. Your voice, though..."
"Amelia." He stepped forward, extending his hand.
Smiling, she took it, getting to her feet. "Father. Dad." She shook her head. "I have no idea how to talk to you."
He managed a wry smile. "And I've got the impulse to tuck you into bed and read The Cat in the Hat. The last time you and I spent time together, we went for ice cream on the boardwalk."
Amelia laughed softly. "I remember a little of the stories. I think my favorite was Green Eggs and Ham, though now that I think about it that sounds so very gross. Going for ice cream actually sounds good."
Warmth blossomed in his chest. It was her, his Amelia. Different, perhaps, but she remembered. Together, father and daughter began walking toward his rental car. He paused as he spotted two blondes off in the distance, though far enough away that yelling would barely reach them. "Is that Brandish?"
Amelia grinned. "And Glory Girl, my sister. Yes, you've got amnesty for volunteering to fight Scion, and helping with the medics afterward. But Mom... Brandish, still has her own issues with you. And she's acting a bit overprotective of both of us, since the Nine came. Thankfully, they're all dead now."
Jean bit his lip, then nodded. "Will they be following us the whole way?"
Amelia snorted. "Probably. They've both got a pretty protective streak going."
"By the way she's glaring at me, if dear Brandish had a Blaster power, we'd both be dead already."
"She has issues. We're working on them, but it's taking a while. Still, at least we're talking about the problems, now." Amelia looked at Jean with a faint smile. "I'd suggest not pulling anything, though. She doesn't forgive very easily."
Jean smiled faintly. "Neither do I. Given everything, though, I can respect her."
Together, the pair got in the car. "So, any allergies I should know about?" Jean asked conversationally.
"Just that I'm a vampire. I'll just drink from a bloodpack or two if we go out to eat."
He blinked. Turning, he looked at her. Amelia just returned the look, with a slightly fanged-smile.
Finally, he managed to swallow, his hands tight on the steering wheel. "Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out."
--------------------
March 30, 2012
Emily Piggot stepped into what had once been her office.
She hadn't seen it for seven months. Running around the world, putting out fires. Or rather, at least in her case, constructively setting them. Nilbog's spawn were eradicated, their remains destroyed. Then heading off probing attacks from the CUI into eastern Russia. Then working around the clock to set geothermal plants around Yellowstone with Dragon, which not only produced electricity but helped sap the heat from the magma within. Which should help at least delay it from going off, or at best prevent it.
Volcanoes were tricky things, Emily learned very quickly. Supervolcanoes like Yellowstone were more so. The only reason the plants worked was the portal technology. Destabilisation might have occurred otherwise.
Renick looked up. He looked tired, though overall less stressed than in her memories. He smiled as he saw her, springing to his feet. "Director!"
"Former Director," she said fondly. "That's your position now."
He chuckled nervously as he sat back in his chair. "Yes, you're right. You resigned. Force of habit." He smiled again. "You're looking well."
She shrugged. "Thirty pounds down, I'm feeling good, and younger. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to not feel pain."
Renick nodded with understanding. Then he coughed. "Umm..." He gestured upward.
Emily sighed, patted her head, then concentrated, managing to suppress the fire sprouting from her hair. "Thanks. That keeps happening."
"I can imagine that's rather annoying," Renick said, trying to keep his lips from twitching.
Emily sighed. "Very much. I still need to collect my things..."
Renick nodded. "I've had everything gathered... would have mailed them, but you didn't leave us an address."
Emily snorted. "Didn't really have one. Busy running around the planet. Now, though, I'm moving to a little place in Wyoming." She brought up her hand, a ball of fire forming in it. "Since I'm apparently a goddess and all that, I'm feeling a need to build something about this whole fire goddess thing."
Renick smiled ruefully. "Sounds insane, doesn't it?"
"That's what I said!"
Renick's phone rang. He looked down, sighed, then back at Emily.
With a smile, Emily gestured for him to take it. He picked up the receiver. "Renick." A few moments passed as he listened with a slight frown. Then he laughed helplessly. "Right. She's here. We'll be by in a few minutes." He hung up and gave Emily a grin. "We need to head on over to conference room A."
"Oh?"
--------------------
Emily blinked in surprise, standing at the doorway to conference room A.
Lined up was the entirety of the Protectorate ENE. Armsmaster, Neptune, Miss Militia, Salacia, Dauntless, Assault, Battery, Triumph and Velocity. In front of them stood the Wards, Aegis, Clockblocker, Gallant, Kid Win, Paladin, and Vista. Off to the side was a maskless blonde teen in gray.
"Attention!" Armsmaster barked.
As one, they saluted.
A smile nearly splitting her face, Emily spoke. "At ease."
Hands dropped, tenseness dropping from their stances.
Clockblocker cleared his throat. "Director."
Vista nudged his side.
Catching himself, Clockblocker coughed. "Sorry, I know that's not accurate now, but habit. Ma'am. We rarely liked each other. I know we argued a lot. I know there were a lot of times you were angry with me pulling some stunt or another. Especially my announcement."
An amused titter went around the room.
"You were a hardass, Ma'am, and we resented you for it sometimes. We disagreed a lot. But you were also fair. You were a hardass, but you were our hardass, and despite our disagreements, I think we're going to be a bit less without you running the show."
Emily's lip twitched. "That was very touching, Clockblocker. Thank you."
"I helped him write it," the teen in gray said with a smile.
"Andrea!" a scandalized Clockblocker exclaimed.
"Oh, shush. You wanted to grovel about not being worthy."
"Well, I'm not! I'm not worthy of such an awesome girlfriend, either!"
Andrea grinned. "Hey, you're fun. I've still yet to get a good picture of you in a dress."
Armsmaster growled in warning. "Clock, Andrea."
The teen hero cleared his throat. "Sorry sir." He turned fully back to Emily. "Despite everything, we're going to miss you here. We hope you do well, wherever you go."
Emily smiled. "Thank you." Long-dormant habits reasserted themselves, and she saluted.
As one, the gathering saluted back.
--------------------
May 15, 2012
"So," Pandora 'spoke', her armored suit shifting a little as she drove a forcefield generator into the lunar surface. Without air, true speech was impossible, but radio signals worked just fine.
"So," Dragon returned, amusement in the simulated voice on the return. "We're here, just the two of us, on the far side of the Moon. Well, the one of me and a few hundred million of you, but that's just being pedantic." In the form of her golden suit, she reached over, a flare of light appearing, and the moment it faded another forcefield generator was left behind. She passed it to Pandora.
"Well, first of all, you met Armsmaster after we split. I can see you've got a thing for him. Why I don't get, but hey, you're technically older and can make your own decisions."
"Gee, thanks," Dragon said dryly.
Pandora drove the generator into the lunar soil. "Well, this isn't easy for me either, you know. We started technically the same, but now we're pretty different. You're able to take on fleshy bits, for one thing."
"And you're always hooked up to the internet. Hell, you're more omnipresent than I am, and I'm actually a goddess."
"But you can go and fly right up to the sun. I can't."
Another generator flared into existence as the pair moved to the next point. Dragon's voice had an amused undertone. "Are we really arguing over who has it better right now?"
"No, no, nononono... actually I suppose we are," Pandora said as she took the generator and drove it downward.
Dragon shrugged. "Look, you and I are different now. I'm not sure how this works, exactly. I do know we have souls, but we're not quite the same. I'm fairly sure it was due to our time apart."
Pandora sighed over the line. "Yeah. You got to go out and try and be a hero. I was enslaved by Cauldron for their projects. I get why they did it, but it doesn't mean I need to be happy about it."
"Mm. A common sentiment going around these days."
The work continued. After several hours, the ring had been constructed.
Dragon would have grinned had she been in her human form. "Alright, let's fire it up."
The faintly green dome snapped into existence, then brightened as the overlapping forcefields reinforced each other and set themselves in layers. Then a haze formed in the center of the dome as the atmospheric generator activated, beginning the long slow process of filling the interior with breathable air.
Dragon checked the readings. "Excellent. Zero point zero zero zero three-six atmosphere loss. This will work just fine."
"Physical domes will work better as a backup, though," Pandora noted. "It wouldn't be very good for a colony to die because of a power failure."
"Quite right," Dragon agreed. "This will work for setting up terraforming stations, though."
"Heh. Yep. Mars next?"
"Damn right. I also want to see what we can pull off with Venus. Though that is going to take a lot longer."
--------------------
May 22, 2012
Alaura, Lady of Winter, groaned as she struggled to walk further forward, feeling as if her white dress and crystalline hair were made of lead.
"Come now, we've only got a little further to go." Iona, Lady of Summer, spoke with a chiding tone, the woman's dress of grass and flowers almost cloyingly sweet. As summer approached in the Northern Hemisphere, Iona's strength was waxing while Alaura's was waning, making the Winter goddess feel a fair bit of resentment. That she'd had to work for months to lessen the effects of the volcanic winter.
Without the efforts of the greater gods and the technology of these people, there would have been few places in the north with human life still in it. Now, things were improving, but the scars left by Scion were going to be visible for centuries.
Still, the pair approached the fields of India. The subcontinent had been badly devastated, the grinding poverty of most of the region having made the problem far worse. While this area had little snow, the volcanic winter had deposted great amounts of rain and had washed away a lot of the topsoil. What was left was nearly barren, as seawater had splashed inland and salted the fields. Not during Ragnarok itself, but the aftershocks.
"Ready?" Iona spoke.
Alaura nodded.
Together, the goddesses clasped hands. Together, they worked to tweak the weather over the field. Together, they forced the soil to dry, for the salt to be buried farther below, for the roots and seeds to begin growing and ripening out of season.
Alaura lent her strength to her counterpart. This was Iona's time to shine. After an hour's worth of work, where before lay a nearly-dead and barren field was a rich, ripe and strong farmland filled with wheat. Enough to feed hundreds.
Gasping, Alaura broke her grasp. Iona supported her weight as the pair of goddesses watched as Indian farmers came upon the sight and reacted with shock.
"Three more to go," Iona said.
Alaura groaned. "You are so helping me with Russia."
Iona groaned. "Right. Fine."
--------------------
June 1, 2012
Earth Zayin
"They are coming! I swear to you they are!"
Doctor Tennant, a younger reedy man in his early thirties, tilted his glasses down. "Miss Winstar, I think you can excuse our skepticism. There have been no sightings of a 'golden man' or a white woman, doing anything. We have no records of powers appearing before last year, and those few who do are either creating slightly-more advanced technology and getting rich or attempting to pull a crime and getting killed by police response."
The black woman in the straightjacket glared back. "Your apocalypse has already begun! They will come here! They want to kill all of humanity. They will shatter our world into a billion pieces! We thought we killed the first one, but I was wrong. I failed. And now everyone will diebecause I failed!"
"These delusions are worrying, Olivia," Tennant spoke softly. "We can't help you as long as you persist in believing in this fantasy of parallel worlds."
"My name's not Olivia!"
He sighed, taking a moment to rub his eyes. "Regardless of your delusions, you are Olivia Winstar. We identified you as a missing person from over thirty years ago."
"I am not that per-" There was a pop. The straightjacket fluttered to the ground.
Doctor Tennant blinked. "Well. She apparently really is teleporting between dimensions. This... is going to be very awkward to explain."
--------------------
September 30, 2012
Danny opened his eyes blearily as a wailing, needy cry intruded on his consciousness.
Hannah, lying next to him, laughed softly as she got up, taking a moment to kiss his cheek. "Get some more sleep, Danny. I can handle her."
Danny sighed and nodded, relaxing back on the bed as Hannah stepped off into the next room.
Nearly a year they'd been together. Over a year since Taylor dropped into her coma. So much of his life had changed. So much of the world had changed.
Hearing the cooing of Hannah's voice in the next room, Danny sighed and got up. He went in, seeing Hannah tending to Rose, the young infant now quietly and contentedly suckling on a bottle as Hannah rocked her back and forth.
At her questioning look, he smiled sheepishly as he whispered. "I can't get back to sleep now. I'll get on breakfast."
She smiled, a soft chuckle escaping her. Danny leaned down, kissed Rose on the forehead, and went to the kitchen.
His house, or rather, the land it had been on, was sold off. He hadn't the means to fix it, not after the damage it took in Ragnarok. As many memories were bound up in it, as sorry as he had been to place the 'For Sale' sign in front of it... he knew to stay would eventually kill him. Staying there, even with Hannah visiting, reminded him far too much of those long dark months when his Taylor was in the ground. It was only the fact that he knew she was still there, still able to drink her blood, still responding, if slightly, to his voice, that he managed to keep going. Long enough, at least, to find more reasons to live.
He went through their kitchen, making breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast. Simple and hearty. Hannah didn't need sleep, but she still needed food like everyone else, and she enjoyed his company. Truth be told, he loved hers as well.
He just hoped that Annette could forgive him. Nothing could replace her, of course. But the prospect of living alone for the rest of his days wasn't one he could bear. He could honor her, though. That was one of the many reasons Rose was named Rose. Annette's middle name.
He would never forget his first love. Even as a new one grew.
He kept cooking as Hannah padded into the kitchen, gently bumping a giggling Rose in her hands. She'd inherited her mother's dusky skin, and she was such an adorable little thing. Even when he was operating on three hours of sleep.
The phone rang. Hannah looked at him with a bit of pleading in her eyes.
With a chuckle, Danny went and grabbed the phone. "Danny Hebert."
"Ah, Mister Hebert. This is Caroline Winters at Tranquillity Colony. She's awake."
--------------------
Tranquillity Colony had quickly expanded under the direction of the British. Aided by the Shadow Portals, Dragon, Pandora and Castlevania's citizens, it had expanded from a cramped twenty-room concrete bunker built mostly underneath the lunar surface into a domed community a hundred strong and growing. Forcefields and reinforced domes kept the vacuum at bay, while allowing a beautiful look at the Earth overhead.
For most of the last year, it had been stained, dirty, racked with stormclouds and winter chills. But it was recovering. Every passing week the globe of the Earth looked just a little bit better than before.
For Danny, it was quite a sight. He hadn't been born yet during the original Apollo missions, at best watching the footage on documentaries as he was growing up. He never imagined her would actually be here, especially without a spacesuit. His feet were light as he carefully walked over the newly-paved roads. He had to move slowly to keep from literally bouncing down the street in the lower gravity. That his mood wanted him to go bounding actually made it harder. The structures had an odd aesthetic to them, the medieval style that dominated the structure of Castlevania, while being made out of space-age materials. It was as if someone modernized one of the old French castles and plunked it on the Moon.
Danny found his way to his daughter's quarters. A tower that loomed over the rest of the colony, though thankfully it was equipped with an elevator. On one side, it provided a view of the growing colony. On the other, it looked out at the barren lunar surface. The top chamber of the tower was luxurious, an opulent bedroom, washroom and entertainment center built for the needs of the Lady of Darkness.
He found Taylor standing in her bedroom, looking out the window at the barren lunar landscape, a goblet in one hand while the other rested on the transparent aluminum that served as glass. She was still in her demonic form, her red and black wings folded around her neck, almost appearing as if they were a single, unnatural cloak.
Danny cleared his throat. "Taylor?"
She whipped around, her red eyes widening as she caught sight of him. The goblet fell to the floor, the splash of blood on the floor showing it had been full. Then he found himself glomped on by his daughter, arms and wings wrapped around his form as she clung to his chest.
Together, they wept.
Awkwardly, Danny rubbed her back, his cries of joy and relief escaping him.
Eventually, her voice cracking, Taylor spoke. "I was dreaming about Mom, you know." She sniffed. "I didn't want it to end. You, me, her, on a picnic. I think I was eight when we actually had it."
Danny smiled. "Yeah. Over by Brockton's Landing, right? I remember."
Taylor nodded into his shirt, her voice muffled. "After a while I began to realize it was just a dream... I tried to wake up, but I was just so tired. I couldn't. Not til now." She sniffed, then let out a soft giggle. "Wasn't expecting to wake up on the Moon, though."
Carefully, Danny tilted her head up, then kissed her forehead. "You've been asleep for more than a year, kiddo. A fair bit's changed. Meridia wanted you somewhere safe while she ran things as far as your... uh, subjects, were concerned. Nobody can get here without going through a lotof security."
Taylor relaxed a little, clearly enjoying the feel of her father's warmth. "I'll bet. How's everyone?"
"Vicky and Amy want to see you. But I think first you should come by our place first."
Taylor lifted an eyebrow. "'Our' place?"
Flushing in embarrassment, Danny lifted his hand and showed the gold ring on his finger. "Hannah and I... um... we got married about three months ago."
"Oh. Um, congratulations."
He swallowed. "And you've got a little sister, Rose."
"What."
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Taylor stared with fascination at Rose. Rose stared right back. Then she let out a happy cry, spreading her arms, reaching for her inhuman elder sister.
Hannah laughed softly. "It's alright." Carefully, Hannah handed the infant over, giving Rose an affectionate rub on top of the head.
Taylor rocked her little sister back and forth, looking into her eyes. Then she laughed softly as Rose tugged on her long white hair. "Hey, hey! Easy there!" She gave a smile to the giggling infant and booped Rose on the nose.
Then Taylor wrinkled her nose. "Uh...I think she just went."
Rose giggled happily. Hannah sighed. "Right. Give her here."
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Hye
Reader of The Long Words
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Aww.... That's cute. I'm happy for them, seems like they finally get what they deserve. Some peace, quiet and love.
Epilogue: Finale
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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A/N: This has been more than two years worth of work. It took a lot longer than I expected to get here. I'd hoped to have it done in under a year, but circumstances just didn't work out that way.
Regardless, it's here. The finale. I'm glad to have finished this, but I'm also sorry that it has to end.
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May 10, 2020
"Mister Cruz? Are you paying attention?"
Soma gave a start in his chair. "Yes, Sensei. Many apologies." He forced his spine to straighten, wincing as he felt the bruises on his chest rest against his clothes.
Soma didn't like school much. It was mostly boring, but it was also the place where he ended up getting into fights. Though Shinji definitely deserved his bruises, which the large bully picked up after trying to steal Mina's book from Soma.
Soma had a fair bit of satisfaction at seeing the other kid lying on his back, bleeding from the nose. All talk, a lot of bark, but not all that much bite.
Mister Robinson, a caucasian man in his fifties, nodded at the eight year old. "Do pay attention. I know English isn't the most exciting subject, but it is the most common international language. Understanding English will open a lot of doors for you in the future."
Embarrassed at all the amused stares of his fellow students, Soma ducked his head. "Yes, Sensei."
With a slight smile, Robinson turned back to the board. "Now, translation between Japanese and English is not straightforward. The rules and syntax are very different. It's all right to make mistakes, that's how we learn. Now..."
Soma let himself absorb the lesson, trying to not let his mind wander. Unfortunately, the schoolboy's mind kept coming back to more pleasant matters. Like the chance to get outside and enjoy that beautiful sunny day out there.
More importantly, Mina was coming back to Miyako. She'd been away at the Kyushu shrine at Shimonoseki, or rather what had been left of Shimonoseki. Leviathan's attack on Kyushu had been devastating, not just to the island itself but also to the rest of the country. After Ragnarok, and in honor of Leviathan's slayer, a shrine to the Lady of Darkness had been erected at Shimonoseki. Mina's whole family went to pay their respects, both to the fallen and to the Dark Lady, but it still meant that he was separated from her for nearly a week.
The bell rang, and Soma nearly sprang to his feet, grabbing his bag. He barely heard Robinson as the man spoke. "Now remember we have the next class on Monday. Make sure you do assignments three and four. Have a good weekend."
Soma hurried through the rush of students. He slammed his way out of the school as fast as his legs could carry him, a grin on his face as he rushed through the neighborhood. It was a fantastic day out, and he... ran straight into a tall foreign man with black hair who walked around the corner. Soma nearly fell, only for the fall to be stopped by a grip of steel.
"Easy there." The man with crack-like scars on his face spoke in flawless Japanese. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" He released Soma, a mysterious smile on his face.
"Apologies, sir. I'm rushing to see a friend." Embarrassed, Soma brushed off his sleeve. That grip was very strong. He looked up wonderingly at the man, a faint hint of familiarity trickling in Soma's heart... for some reason, he expected the man's blue eyes to be gold.
"I see." He laughed softly. "Well, don't let me keep you, young man. Just be wary of what's near you, not simply your distant goal, hm?"
Soma bowed his head. "Yes sir." He darted around the man, heading just up the street. When he reached Mina's house, just three down from his own, he felt elated as he saw her family's car in front of it. Eagerly he rang the doorbell.
A moment later, it was flung open. "Soma!" Mina folded her arms imperiously as she looked him up and down. "About time you got back!" She shook a finger in his face. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to get my book back? You didn't forget it, did you?"
Soma grinned, slipping his backpack off and retrieving the book she'd leant him. "The Odyssey, returned in mint condition, my lady." With a flourish, he handed it over. "It was actually pretty neat. Odysseus was a jerk, but he was interesting too."
Mina laughed. "Oh, yes. I always find the old heroes of legend interesting. I'm doing a comparison of him and Miyamoto Musashi. Haruka wants to do her comparison project on Dracul and Oda Nobunaga."
Soma blinked. "Dracul's the Dark Lady's predecessor, is he not? Hasn't she stated what they have of him is fragmentary?"
Mina shrugged. "Most of the libraries were apparently destroyed, but some remained. We have a few paintings of him, and some statues. It should be interesting." She smiled. "Would you like to come in and help me on the project?"
Soma wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt very, very happy. He grinned as he stepped inside.
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Alucard's voice was quiet as he walked alongside his companion. "He doesn't remember."
"You're sure it's him?" A rather pretty young woman spoke. Her hair was long and black, and she appeared to be right in the prime of her life, aside from the paleness of her skin.
"Aye. My father's soul and mine were linked. T'was the source of my immortality. Over great distances I felt little, but close to him my soul sang to his. Soma Cruz was, once, Dracul, but he need no longer be so." Alucard dipped his head. "I shall keep an eye upon him, ensure he lives free and as happy as I can. He, and my mother, deserve at least one lifetime free to make their own choices, and not have it stolen from them."
Taylor smiled and nodded. "Well, it's good he was freed. I was fairly sure I managed when I destroyed what was left of the dead Abomination, but I couldn't be a hundred percent sure. Anyway, I'm pretty sure if he did remember, he'd either be a wreck or completely insane." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, running her finger along a nearby brick wall. "Feels a little odd to be in human shape again now. Got used to the wings."
Alucard smiled indulgently. "I can imagine. My own see little use, but losing them would be odd, even if it were only temporary." He took a moment to breathe in, enjoying the clean air. "Tis strange to look almost as I did when I was alive. Grace seems to appreciate it, however." He ran his fingers through his dyed-black hair. "Interesting ways of cloaking your appearance. Although I admit I would very much enjoy being able to look at myself in the mirror again."
Taylor shrugged. "Sorry, can't really help that one. I'm barely getting used to shaping myself to look how I want. Stuck at twenty-five forever, fine. Stuck at fifteen... not so fun. Amy helped with that one."
Trying to stick to the shade, the pair of vampires walked the streets of Miyako. Some took notice of the pair of foreigners, but few spared more than a passing glance. The world was becoming more interconnected, and even fairly isolationist Japan was opening up, if reluctantly.
"How is Grace?" Taylor asked as the pair reached a pristine park, taking cover beneath the shade of the trees.
Alucard smiled. "Quite well. We have been travelling together, seeing the world. I think we shall end the journey at Paris. I'm told it is a common place to propose."
Taylor grinned. "Congratulations. I hope you two will be very happy together."
"We are." Alucard smiled sagely. "This is simply deepening our ties and our bond. I have missed her, greatly."
Once they reached a clearing out of sight, Taylor opened a portal to the Shadow Plane. The pair emerged into Castlevania's courtyard.
Alucard took a moment to look around. "It's different than I remember." The walls were smooth, as if carved from a single immense piece of black marble. The towers loomed above, studded with electric lights. The central tower that held the throne room had been rebuilt, but there were many more structures linked to it now, making it look like an immense spider's web.
Taylor shook her head. "I couldn't rebuild it the way it was. Your father built it originally, and I have a fair few of his memories, but nowhere near all of it. Besides," she smiled wryly. "The castle itself vetoed some of the changes I wanted to make. Necessary changes."
The castle itself quivered.
Taylor tilted her head. "No, no, considering what happened last time, no. It took three seconds for you to shift into the Shadow Plane when Scion attacked. We've got it down to half a second. It had to be faster. Plus, considering where we're going, more changes had to be done too."
Alucard chuckled softly as the black walls surrounding the courtyard seemed to pout.
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June 3, 2020
Michael Shepard, a thirty-five year old test pilot, thumbed the communications console. "Houston, this is Shepard. All lights are green, awaiting permission to engage."
"Roger Shepard, stand by for systems confirmation."
He took a moment to look out the window, the Moon and the Earth drifting by. From this distance, they looked like a pair of blue and gray specks. If it wasn't for the FTL transmission systems made available by the portals, he'd have to wait for five seconds between transmission and reception back at Mission Control.
Magic definitely had its uses.
"This is Mission Control, you have a go."
Shepard grinned. "Roger Houston, powering up the Vista drive."
The heroine Vista, space-warper, after extensive testing of her power, allowed humanity to eventually reverse-engineer the principles of her power. Back on Earth, the drive was powered by a dedicated fusion reactor and took a ludicrous amount of fuel to provide the required electricity. If not for the portals, the ship carrying the drive would have had to be the size of an aircraft carrier to handle the required load. Instead, the Constellation test ship was 'only' the size of a train car.
Shepard read off the countdown. "FTL in five, four, three, two, one..." He gripped the controls, exhaling a breath.
The space outside the front window shifted and warped. The stars seemed to jitter, brighten, darken, spread apart and shift closer together. Then there was a flicker, and space outside the ship warped. There was no sensation of speed, no distortion, no sense of sickness. The portal at the back of the cabin that served as Shepard's emergency exit remained, thankfully, open.
After sixty seconds, the drive shut off. Shepard checked his instruments, and grinned. Aiming the cameras, he whistled as he directed the computer to take pictures of the planet below the Constellation, wondering at being the first human to be so far away from home. On a whim, he shifted the ship to flip itself around, so he could enjoy the view with his own two eyes.
"Houston, this is Shepard. Vista drive is a success. And the weather on Neptune looks mighty fine."
He couldn't help but laugh a little at the cheers that reached over his comms.
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September 3, 2020
Taylor smiled. "So, how were the lessons today?"
Rose shrugged. "Okay I guess. Lessons are lessons." The eight year-old girl sounded tired, her legs swinging back and forth on her chair. She had her nose down as she scribbled on a page resting on the kitchen table, though from the shapes of it, it didn't look like she was doing anything more than doodling.
Taylor's smile turned into a frown. "If anyone's giving you trouble..."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Please, no. If anything I'm bored. I don't have any friends my age." She looked up at Taylor, seriousness in her brown eyes. "Mostly because I've got private tutors and I'm not in public school."
Sighing, Taylor nodded. "Dad's got a real problem with them, considering what happened to me. I wouldn't be happy about you going either, considering."
Rose grimaced. "Yeah. It's just..." She huffed, then looked up at Taylor. "I got to hang with the neighborhood kids for a while there. Now they're all off at school and I'm being homeschooled."
Sighing again, Taylor settled into the seat opposite Rose. "I'll tell you a secret. Dad's afraid."
Rose blinked. "But Dad's not the scaredy type. He shooed out that huge spider from my room last week."
Taylor laughed at that. "The thing is, Dad nearly lost me when I was older than you. I don't think you can grasp how bad it was for him." She shook her head. "He's afraid of losing you like he lost my Mom and thought he lost me. It's only because I changed that I came back, and he didn't know that for three months."
For Rose, three months was an unimaginably long span of time. That was like, forever! "That why I can spot unca John hanging around?"
Taylor looked suspiciously over at the kitchen sink. Almost shyly, a hand of water lifted out, waved at her, then sank back down. "Yes, I suppose that's why. That's pretty creepy, too."
"Says the vampire," Rose said smugly.
Taylor stuck out her tongue.
"Real mature."
"Right, fine," Taylor huffed, her lips curling up into a smile. "Point is, Dad doesn't want you to be hurt. I did a lot of things that scared him. He never liked it when I went out to stop people who were trying to hurt others. It scared him when I went to fight Endbringers. It scared him when I went to fight Scion. He lost me once, and I came back from a miracle. He knows he can't count on a second one if anything happened to you, or your Mom."
Rose frowned. "But I'll be fine!"
"It's not easy to convince yourself of that. He knows that anyone who did hurt you would answer to either your Mom or me, but that won't help if you do get hurt."
Rose clenched her teeth. "But I haven't got any friends!"
Taylor opened her mouth, then closed it. Finally, she chuckled. "Right. That's not fair to you. I remember how it felt to be isolated. I'm sorry. I'll talk to Dad about it." She lifted a finger and pursed her lips. "There's some stuff you'll have to keep quiet about though. Especially about your Mom's job."
Rose nodded seriously, a smile splitting her face. "Yesem. I'll won't say nothin!"
Taylor chuckled. "Alright, my little mobster. I'm not promising anything, but I'll push for you."
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September 10, 2020
Upon the surface of the Moon, Taylor walked.
There was a strange, pristine beauty about it. Airless, ludicrously hostile to human life. Barren. The Sun blazed on the horizon, unfiltered and powerful. Taylor could feel its heat and light attempting to sear away the protective coating of blood armor around her undead flesh. The only other vampire that could have possibly withstood that light was Dracul, and only when he had the Mantle of Darkness.
Still, here was a sight only a few hundred had seen, and of them, only twelve walked freely on this world, unhindered by a forcefield or walls, though encumbered by a spacesuit. Perhaps, in time, even that would not be necessary. Granted, to geoengineer the Moon into a habitable world would take many, many centuries.
Well, everyone needs a hobby, Taylor thought with some amusement.
She lifted her hand. Darkness spread forth, amplified by the oncoming lunar night. It spread open, the weather effects or the storm that otherwise would have formed from the tearing of space-time failing to occur in this airless place. The ground shuddered as Castlevania tore itself out of the Shadow Plane, settling onto the lunar surface as gently as... well, a mountain-sized object could. Not very gentle at all, but at least it didn't shatter the Moon as it settled itself in place.
Part of the damage done by Scion during Ragnarok was a direct result of Scion's attack on the castle. If it hadn't been floating in the air, a piece of it shorn off and allowed to drop into the ocean, the tsunami that devastated the coastlines of the Atlantic would not have happened. If she'd been better, if she'd thought things through a bit more, those people would still be alive.
Thus, having the Castle floating above the water, or above the ground on Earth, was not going to happen again. Taylor resolved to make her kingdom somewhere where an attack on her and her people would not cause harm to anyone else.
It also happened that the Moon was almost uninhabited, and as she'd been made aware of previously, from the Moon, you're halfway to anywhere.
The Castle took its full shape, the ground shuddering on the lunar surface, cracks of heated rock and glowing lava surrounding the immense mass as it settled in place. A haze began to spread from the Castle as it began to vent breathable air out into the void, shield generators inside the castle itself keeping enough within for humans to survive, and eventually systems would be set in place for the entire surface of the Moon to become a habitable, if small, world.
Taylor drifted forward. In the darkness, it was hard to see, but she could see where new substance joined with the old. The castle's rebuilding was imperfect, even discounting the changes that were made. Along the outer wall it was fairly obvious, at least to her vampiric eyes, where Scion's light had erased the old part of it. The new section of wall was joined and forcibly melted into the old. The throne room's tower was shaped differently, no longer standing upon a thin spire, but instead bound at the center of a great rocky web.
But it was still home. She had been rebuilt, reforged after the battle, and it was now ready to grow into the future.
Taylor hoped she would be ready for it. New designs for ships to sail the void were already being built. Humans and demons alike were going to spread out into space. Negotiations with Earth Aleph were underway to provide the same opportunities for Bet's parallel as she was enjoying. The cosmos would finally be open for humanity after a century of dreaming.
And it all would start here, on the gray surface of the Moon.
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October 31, 2020
Within the center of a summoning circle, a form slowly took shape. Taylor lowered her hands, wiping her brow as she took a deep, shuddering breath. Though she wasn't capable of sweating, she could feel tired, and this task took a lot of time and effort.
Mist congealed itself, first shaping itself into bone. Then flesh and blood coalesced around it, as if the process of decay over decades or centuries reversed itself. Finally, Death stood there in the center of the circle, and the cosmic being let out a shuddering gasp. A moment later, his familiar black suit took shape around him, and he cast his eyes around the room.
Once they settled on Taylor, he sighed. "I do hope you did not murder anyone for this, my dear. I would be gravely disappointed if you did."
Taylor shook her head with a wan smile. "I know. I used cows. The soul-cords collected over the last five years on just some of them when they were brought to the slaughter. I'm running a lot of cattle ranches these days, Death."
Death took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "I see. I can feel it. The vessel is frail, fragile. It won't last long. Their substance isn't capable of handling me for long, even with a few million of them... a shame. It will only last a few minutes."
Taylor nodded. "I know. I'm sorry if it's uncomfortable. I know it's a bit selfish, but, I never got the chance to say goodbye to my mother. You were my friend, you helped me when I needed it, was willing to listen to me when I needed help and advice. I wanted to thank you, and give you a proper goodbye. I don't think I could go through this again, anyway... it felt awful just gathering up all the cords from cattle. Doing it to people would feel a lot worse... so I think this is going to be the last time we'll get to talk."
Death thought that over for a moment, then he let out a soft chuckle. "I can understand that, my dear. Though there will be one more time, I think." Stepping from the circle, he spread his arms, and Taylor took the invitation, hugging the avatar of Death.
Death patted her back, enjoying the moment. After long minutes, he broke the hug and tilted Taylor's head up, gently wiping her cheek. "I'm glad you're alright. I'm glad you've grown into the person you've become. You are the Queen of Blood, Lady of Darkness, first of your line of vampires, and yet you've managed to maintain your humanity, even while surpassing my old friend. I am very proud of you, Taylor."
Taylor smiled weakly. "Thank you. And thank you for helping me when I needed it. Without help, I never would have managed. I'd have probably gone insane over those first few days. Thank you for that." She bit her lip. "Can... can you tell Mom something for me? Tell her I miss her. Tell her I love her."
He smiled gently. "She already knows." Death's smile grew a little sad as he gently stroked his fingers through Taylor's hair. "There will come a time when we meet again, my dear. Nothing, not even the stars or universes, lasts forever. You will have the privilege of living longer than most, longer than any mortal human might. But I do hope that, before that final night, before you choose to cast off your godhood and allow us to meet again, that you enjoy your life."
Taylor nodded silently.
With a faint smile, Death returned the nod. "Good. Now... two final things. Zion, who you knew as Scion, and his counterpart, Eden, were not the only ones of their kind. There are more out there, uncountably more throughout the cosmos. If humanity stays within the solar system, you will be easy pickings for another if they come your way. If you spread out, sooner or later you will get the attention of another. There are other threats out in the void, as well. But I sense you do not believe there is much choice."
Taylor smiled at that. "We're going out there. We can't let fear rule us. And I think we've proven that the Abominations aren't invincible. We'll have to try and prepare as much as we can, even if that's simply by spreading out."
"I agree, my dear." Death smiled. "There are those you may call friends out there, too. Others who do not deserve to end as Zion threatened to do to humanity. Perhaps you will meet them." He shrugged. "The future is not my domain."
Taylor nodded. "And the second thing?"
Death smiled faintly. "A little gift. Annette just suggested it, and I am inclined to agree. Go to your quarters, you will find it." Gently, Death kissed her forehead, and his avatar began to unravel.
Taylor watched until the last bit of Death faded away, the ethereal strings that made him up dissolving into the background magic of the castle. A small amount of it shifted upwards, phasing through the stone ceiling of the summoning chamber, moving toward her quarters.
Curious, she went, taking her time to compose herself. She nodded and smiled as she passed by the castle's servants. Her golems, her succubi, her gremlins, her werewolves. Pandora suits gave her a nod as she passed by, working tirelessly to improve the Castle. Even those ordinary humans who now lived here and worked for her, helping to build a future for humanity.
When she reached her bedroom, she looked around. It was large and opulent, brought up to modern standards. Her bed was large enough, and comfy enough, to hold seven people with room to spare.
It was when she turned to the display cases filled with her personal effects, she saw it. Annette's flute, covered in and seething with the remaining magic Death released. Even as Taylor watched, the tarnish cleansed itself, the broken keys filled themselves in. The mouthpiece, which had been long-since dented and unusable, repaired itself. Over the course of a few long minutes, the damage done to it a decade before was gone, as if it never had happened.
With trembling fingers, she opened the display case and pulled out the now-pristine flute. The clean silver of its surface heated her fingers unpleasantly, irritating her skin... but at the moment, Taylor couldn't bring herself to care. It wasn't anything she couldn't ignore, anyway.
She brought it to her lips and played a soft song, even as the silver heated against her lips. It had been a long time since she played, but after a few minutes of practicing, it was as if she'd never stopped playing at all. Annette used to play it for her, when Taylor was little, and for a long moment, Taylor let herself be lost in the memory.
When she was finished, she muttered quietly. "Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Death." She went to put the flute back. Then stopped. Finally, she tucked the flute into her jacket, closing the empty display case.
The sound of a clearing throat caught her attention, and Taylor whipped around.
Amy was standing there, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. That looked personal. I didn't want to interrupt."
"It's fine," Taylor said. "Just remembering Mom."
Amy nodded, a small smile on her lips. "I figured it was something like that. Anyway, night's falling in Brockton. Rose is about to go trick-or-treating. You still coming?"
Taylor smiled. "Yeah." She gently fingered the flute in her pocket. "I think I'll play for her when we're done getting candy." Then she went over to Amy, giving the other girl a hug. "Then I think you and I can come back here and talk things out... we never did pick up after Scion. Hell, not after the hospital."
Amy blushed a little, nodding. "We've both been busy. Always seems like one thing or another came up."
"Yeah, but eight years? Where does the time go?"
"To be fair, we're vampires. We've got the time."
Taylor laughed. "True, but no time like the present. I'm willing to experiment. Not sure we'll go anywhere, but I do like spending time with you."
Amy smiled. "Me too. And maybe I'll stop dating blondes."
Taylor grinned. "Hey, Meridia liked being blonde for a while."
"Yeah, but it was awkward! She wanted to get me and Vicky in bed together! 'Help get it out of your system,' she said!" Amy shook her head. "Not taking advice from the succubus."
"What did you expect?"
"Not that!"
A moment passed, then the pair shared helpless laughter. Hand-in-hand, the two vampires went out the door.
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The End.
Regardless, it's here. The finale. I'm glad to have finished this, but I'm also sorry that it has to end.
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May 10, 2020
"Mister Cruz? Are you paying attention?"
Soma gave a start in his chair. "Yes, Sensei. Many apologies." He forced his spine to straighten, wincing as he felt the bruises on his chest rest against his clothes.
Soma didn't like school much. It was mostly boring, but it was also the place where he ended up getting into fights. Though Shinji definitely deserved his bruises, which the large bully picked up after trying to steal Mina's book from Soma.
Soma had a fair bit of satisfaction at seeing the other kid lying on his back, bleeding from the nose. All talk, a lot of bark, but not all that much bite.
Mister Robinson, a caucasian man in his fifties, nodded at the eight year old. "Do pay attention. I know English isn't the most exciting subject, but it is the most common international language. Understanding English will open a lot of doors for you in the future."
Embarrassed at all the amused stares of his fellow students, Soma ducked his head. "Yes, Sensei."
With a slight smile, Robinson turned back to the board. "Now, translation between Japanese and English is not straightforward. The rules and syntax are very different. It's all right to make mistakes, that's how we learn. Now..."
Soma let himself absorb the lesson, trying to not let his mind wander. Unfortunately, the schoolboy's mind kept coming back to more pleasant matters. Like the chance to get outside and enjoy that beautiful sunny day out there.
More importantly, Mina was coming back to Miyako. She'd been away at the Kyushu shrine at Shimonoseki, or rather what had been left of Shimonoseki. Leviathan's attack on Kyushu had been devastating, not just to the island itself but also to the rest of the country. After Ragnarok, and in honor of Leviathan's slayer, a shrine to the Lady of Darkness had been erected at Shimonoseki. Mina's whole family went to pay their respects, both to the fallen and to the Dark Lady, but it still meant that he was separated from her for nearly a week.
The bell rang, and Soma nearly sprang to his feet, grabbing his bag. He barely heard Robinson as the man spoke. "Now remember we have the next class on Monday. Make sure you do assignments three and four. Have a good weekend."
Soma hurried through the rush of students. He slammed his way out of the school as fast as his legs could carry him, a grin on his face as he rushed through the neighborhood. It was a fantastic day out, and he... ran straight into a tall foreign man with black hair who walked around the corner. Soma nearly fell, only for the fall to be stopped by a grip of steel.
"Easy there." The man with crack-like scars on his face spoke in flawless Japanese. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" He released Soma, a mysterious smile on his face.
"Apologies, sir. I'm rushing to see a friend." Embarrassed, Soma brushed off his sleeve. That grip was very strong. He looked up wonderingly at the man, a faint hint of familiarity trickling in Soma's heart... for some reason, he expected the man's blue eyes to be gold.
"I see." He laughed softly. "Well, don't let me keep you, young man. Just be wary of what's near you, not simply your distant goal, hm?"
Soma bowed his head. "Yes sir." He darted around the man, heading just up the street. When he reached Mina's house, just three down from his own, he felt elated as he saw her family's car in front of it. Eagerly he rang the doorbell.
A moment later, it was flung open. "Soma!" Mina folded her arms imperiously as she looked him up and down. "About time you got back!" She shook a finger in his face. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to get my book back? You didn't forget it, did you?"
Soma grinned, slipping his backpack off and retrieving the book she'd leant him. "The Odyssey, returned in mint condition, my lady." With a flourish, he handed it over. "It was actually pretty neat. Odysseus was a jerk, but he was interesting too."
Mina laughed. "Oh, yes. I always find the old heroes of legend interesting. I'm doing a comparison of him and Miyamoto Musashi. Haruka wants to do her comparison project on Dracul and Oda Nobunaga."
Soma blinked. "Dracul's the Dark Lady's predecessor, is he not? Hasn't she stated what they have of him is fragmentary?"
Mina shrugged. "Most of the libraries were apparently destroyed, but some remained. We have a few paintings of him, and some statues. It should be interesting." She smiled. "Would you like to come in and help me on the project?"
Soma wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt very, very happy. He grinned as he stepped inside.
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Alucard's voice was quiet as he walked alongside his companion. "He doesn't remember."
"You're sure it's him?" A rather pretty young woman spoke. Her hair was long and black, and she appeared to be right in the prime of her life, aside from the paleness of her skin.
"Aye. My father's soul and mine were linked. T'was the source of my immortality. Over great distances I felt little, but close to him my soul sang to his. Soma Cruz was, once, Dracul, but he need no longer be so." Alucard dipped his head. "I shall keep an eye upon him, ensure he lives free and as happy as I can. He, and my mother, deserve at least one lifetime free to make their own choices, and not have it stolen from them."
Taylor smiled and nodded. "Well, it's good he was freed. I was fairly sure I managed when I destroyed what was left of the dead Abomination, but I couldn't be a hundred percent sure. Anyway, I'm pretty sure if he did remember, he'd either be a wreck or completely insane." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, running her finger along a nearby brick wall. "Feels a little odd to be in human shape again now. Got used to the wings."
Alucard smiled indulgently. "I can imagine. My own see little use, but losing them would be odd, even if it were only temporary." He took a moment to breathe in, enjoying the clean air. "Tis strange to look almost as I did when I was alive. Grace seems to appreciate it, however." He ran his fingers through his dyed-black hair. "Interesting ways of cloaking your appearance. Although I admit I would very much enjoy being able to look at myself in the mirror again."
Taylor shrugged. "Sorry, can't really help that one. I'm barely getting used to shaping myself to look how I want. Stuck at twenty-five forever, fine. Stuck at fifteen... not so fun. Amy helped with that one."
Trying to stick to the shade, the pair of vampires walked the streets of Miyako. Some took notice of the pair of foreigners, but few spared more than a passing glance. The world was becoming more interconnected, and even fairly isolationist Japan was opening up, if reluctantly.
"How is Grace?" Taylor asked as the pair reached a pristine park, taking cover beneath the shade of the trees.
Alucard smiled. "Quite well. We have been travelling together, seeing the world. I think we shall end the journey at Paris. I'm told it is a common place to propose."
Taylor grinned. "Congratulations. I hope you two will be very happy together."
"We are." Alucard smiled sagely. "This is simply deepening our ties and our bond. I have missed her, greatly."
Once they reached a clearing out of sight, Taylor opened a portal to the Shadow Plane. The pair emerged into Castlevania's courtyard.
Alucard took a moment to look around. "It's different than I remember." The walls were smooth, as if carved from a single immense piece of black marble. The towers loomed above, studded with electric lights. The central tower that held the throne room had been rebuilt, but there were many more structures linked to it now, making it look like an immense spider's web.
Taylor shook her head. "I couldn't rebuild it the way it was. Your father built it originally, and I have a fair few of his memories, but nowhere near all of it. Besides," she smiled wryly. "The castle itself vetoed some of the changes I wanted to make. Necessary changes."
The castle itself quivered.
Taylor tilted her head. "No, no, considering what happened last time, no. It took three seconds for you to shift into the Shadow Plane when Scion attacked. We've got it down to half a second. It had to be faster. Plus, considering where we're going, more changes had to be done too."
Alucard chuckled softly as the black walls surrounding the courtyard seemed to pout.
------------------
June 3, 2020
Michael Shepard, a thirty-five year old test pilot, thumbed the communications console. "Houston, this is Shepard. All lights are green, awaiting permission to engage."
"Roger Shepard, stand by for systems confirmation."
He took a moment to look out the window, the Moon and the Earth drifting by. From this distance, they looked like a pair of blue and gray specks. If it wasn't for the FTL transmission systems made available by the portals, he'd have to wait for five seconds between transmission and reception back at Mission Control.
Magic definitely had its uses.
"This is Mission Control, you have a go."
Shepard grinned. "Roger Houston, powering up the Vista drive."
The heroine Vista, space-warper, after extensive testing of her power, allowed humanity to eventually reverse-engineer the principles of her power. Back on Earth, the drive was powered by a dedicated fusion reactor and took a ludicrous amount of fuel to provide the required electricity. If not for the portals, the ship carrying the drive would have had to be the size of an aircraft carrier to handle the required load. Instead, the Constellation test ship was 'only' the size of a train car.
Shepard read off the countdown. "FTL in five, four, three, two, one..." He gripped the controls, exhaling a breath.
The space outside the front window shifted and warped. The stars seemed to jitter, brighten, darken, spread apart and shift closer together. Then there was a flicker, and space outside the ship warped. There was no sensation of speed, no distortion, no sense of sickness. The portal at the back of the cabin that served as Shepard's emergency exit remained, thankfully, open.
After sixty seconds, the drive shut off. Shepard checked his instruments, and grinned. Aiming the cameras, he whistled as he directed the computer to take pictures of the planet below the Constellation, wondering at being the first human to be so far away from home. On a whim, he shifted the ship to flip itself around, so he could enjoy the view with his own two eyes.
"Houston, this is Shepard. Vista drive is a success. And the weather on Neptune looks mighty fine."
He couldn't help but laugh a little at the cheers that reached over his comms.
--------------------
September 3, 2020
Taylor smiled. "So, how were the lessons today?"
Rose shrugged. "Okay I guess. Lessons are lessons." The eight year-old girl sounded tired, her legs swinging back and forth on her chair. She had her nose down as she scribbled on a page resting on the kitchen table, though from the shapes of it, it didn't look like she was doing anything more than doodling.
Taylor's smile turned into a frown. "If anyone's giving you trouble..."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Please, no. If anything I'm bored. I don't have any friends my age." She looked up at Taylor, seriousness in her brown eyes. "Mostly because I've got private tutors and I'm not in public school."
Sighing, Taylor nodded. "Dad's got a real problem with them, considering what happened to me. I wouldn't be happy about you going either, considering."
Rose grimaced. "Yeah. It's just..." She huffed, then looked up at Taylor. "I got to hang with the neighborhood kids for a while there. Now they're all off at school and I'm being homeschooled."
Sighing again, Taylor settled into the seat opposite Rose. "I'll tell you a secret. Dad's afraid."
Rose blinked. "But Dad's not the scaredy type. He shooed out that huge spider from my room last week."
Taylor laughed at that. "The thing is, Dad nearly lost me when I was older than you. I don't think you can grasp how bad it was for him." She shook her head. "He's afraid of losing you like he lost my Mom and thought he lost me. It's only because I changed that I came back, and he didn't know that for three months."
For Rose, three months was an unimaginably long span of time. That was like, forever! "That why I can spot unca John hanging around?"
Taylor looked suspiciously over at the kitchen sink. Almost shyly, a hand of water lifted out, waved at her, then sank back down. "Yes, I suppose that's why. That's pretty creepy, too."
"Says the vampire," Rose said smugly.
Taylor stuck out her tongue.
"Real mature."
"Right, fine," Taylor huffed, her lips curling up into a smile. "Point is, Dad doesn't want you to be hurt. I did a lot of things that scared him. He never liked it when I went out to stop people who were trying to hurt others. It scared him when I went to fight Endbringers. It scared him when I went to fight Scion. He lost me once, and I came back from a miracle. He knows he can't count on a second one if anything happened to you, or your Mom."
Rose frowned. "But I'll be fine!"
"It's not easy to convince yourself of that. He knows that anyone who did hurt you would answer to either your Mom or me, but that won't help if you do get hurt."
Rose clenched her teeth. "But I haven't got any friends!"
Taylor opened her mouth, then closed it. Finally, she chuckled. "Right. That's not fair to you. I remember how it felt to be isolated. I'm sorry. I'll talk to Dad about it." She lifted a finger and pursed her lips. "There's some stuff you'll have to keep quiet about though. Especially about your Mom's job."
Rose nodded seriously, a smile splitting her face. "Yesem. I'll won't say nothin!"
Taylor chuckled. "Alright, my little mobster. I'm not promising anything, but I'll push for you."
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September 10, 2020
Upon the surface of the Moon, Taylor walked.
There was a strange, pristine beauty about it. Airless, ludicrously hostile to human life. Barren. The Sun blazed on the horizon, unfiltered and powerful. Taylor could feel its heat and light attempting to sear away the protective coating of blood armor around her undead flesh. The only other vampire that could have possibly withstood that light was Dracul, and only when he had the Mantle of Darkness.
Still, here was a sight only a few hundred had seen, and of them, only twelve walked freely on this world, unhindered by a forcefield or walls, though encumbered by a spacesuit. Perhaps, in time, even that would not be necessary. Granted, to geoengineer the Moon into a habitable world would take many, many centuries.
Well, everyone needs a hobby, Taylor thought with some amusement.
She lifted her hand. Darkness spread forth, amplified by the oncoming lunar night. It spread open, the weather effects or the storm that otherwise would have formed from the tearing of space-time failing to occur in this airless place. The ground shuddered as Castlevania tore itself out of the Shadow Plane, settling onto the lunar surface as gently as... well, a mountain-sized object could. Not very gentle at all, but at least it didn't shatter the Moon as it settled itself in place.
Part of the damage done by Scion during Ragnarok was a direct result of Scion's attack on the castle. If it hadn't been floating in the air, a piece of it shorn off and allowed to drop into the ocean, the tsunami that devastated the coastlines of the Atlantic would not have happened. If she'd been better, if she'd thought things through a bit more, those people would still be alive.
Thus, having the Castle floating above the water, or above the ground on Earth, was not going to happen again. Taylor resolved to make her kingdom somewhere where an attack on her and her people would not cause harm to anyone else.
It also happened that the Moon was almost uninhabited, and as she'd been made aware of previously, from the Moon, you're halfway to anywhere.
The Castle took its full shape, the ground shuddering on the lunar surface, cracks of heated rock and glowing lava surrounding the immense mass as it settled in place. A haze began to spread from the Castle as it began to vent breathable air out into the void, shield generators inside the castle itself keeping enough within for humans to survive, and eventually systems would be set in place for the entire surface of the Moon to become a habitable, if small, world.
Taylor drifted forward. In the darkness, it was hard to see, but she could see where new substance joined with the old. The castle's rebuilding was imperfect, even discounting the changes that were made. Along the outer wall it was fairly obvious, at least to her vampiric eyes, where Scion's light had erased the old part of it. The new section of wall was joined and forcibly melted into the old. The throne room's tower was shaped differently, no longer standing upon a thin spire, but instead bound at the center of a great rocky web.
But it was still home. She had been rebuilt, reforged after the battle, and it was now ready to grow into the future.
Taylor hoped she would be ready for it. New designs for ships to sail the void were already being built. Humans and demons alike were going to spread out into space. Negotiations with Earth Aleph were underway to provide the same opportunities for Bet's parallel as she was enjoying. The cosmos would finally be open for humanity after a century of dreaming.
And it all would start here, on the gray surface of the Moon.
--------------------
October 31, 2020
Within the center of a summoning circle, a form slowly took shape. Taylor lowered her hands, wiping her brow as she took a deep, shuddering breath. Though she wasn't capable of sweating, she could feel tired, and this task took a lot of time and effort.
Mist congealed itself, first shaping itself into bone. Then flesh and blood coalesced around it, as if the process of decay over decades or centuries reversed itself. Finally, Death stood there in the center of the circle, and the cosmic being let out a shuddering gasp. A moment later, his familiar black suit took shape around him, and he cast his eyes around the room.
Once they settled on Taylor, he sighed. "I do hope you did not murder anyone for this, my dear. I would be gravely disappointed if you did."
Taylor shook her head with a wan smile. "I know. I used cows. The soul-cords collected over the last five years on just some of them when they were brought to the slaughter. I'm running a lot of cattle ranches these days, Death."
Death took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "I see. I can feel it. The vessel is frail, fragile. It won't last long. Their substance isn't capable of handling me for long, even with a few million of them... a shame. It will only last a few minutes."
Taylor nodded. "I know. I'm sorry if it's uncomfortable. I know it's a bit selfish, but, I never got the chance to say goodbye to my mother. You were my friend, you helped me when I needed it, was willing to listen to me when I needed help and advice. I wanted to thank you, and give you a proper goodbye. I don't think I could go through this again, anyway... it felt awful just gathering up all the cords from cattle. Doing it to people would feel a lot worse... so I think this is going to be the last time we'll get to talk."
Death thought that over for a moment, then he let out a soft chuckle. "I can understand that, my dear. Though there will be one more time, I think." Stepping from the circle, he spread his arms, and Taylor took the invitation, hugging the avatar of Death.
Death patted her back, enjoying the moment. After long minutes, he broke the hug and tilted Taylor's head up, gently wiping her cheek. "I'm glad you're alright. I'm glad you've grown into the person you've become. You are the Queen of Blood, Lady of Darkness, first of your line of vampires, and yet you've managed to maintain your humanity, even while surpassing my old friend. I am very proud of you, Taylor."
Taylor smiled weakly. "Thank you. And thank you for helping me when I needed it. Without help, I never would have managed. I'd have probably gone insane over those first few days. Thank you for that." She bit her lip. "Can... can you tell Mom something for me? Tell her I miss her. Tell her I love her."
He smiled gently. "She already knows." Death's smile grew a little sad as he gently stroked his fingers through Taylor's hair. "There will come a time when we meet again, my dear. Nothing, not even the stars or universes, lasts forever. You will have the privilege of living longer than most, longer than any mortal human might. But I do hope that, before that final night, before you choose to cast off your godhood and allow us to meet again, that you enjoy your life."
Taylor nodded silently.
With a faint smile, Death returned the nod. "Good. Now... two final things. Zion, who you knew as Scion, and his counterpart, Eden, were not the only ones of their kind. There are more out there, uncountably more throughout the cosmos. If humanity stays within the solar system, you will be easy pickings for another if they come your way. If you spread out, sooner or later you will get the attention of another. There are other threats out in the void, as well. But I sense you do not believe there is much choice."
Taylor smiled at that. "We're going out there. We can't let fear rule us. And I think we've proven that the Abominations aren't invincible. We'll have to try and prepare as much as we can, even if that's simply by spreading out."
"I agree, my dear." Death smiled. "There are those you may call friends out there, too. Others who do not deserve to end as Zion threatened to do to humanity. Perhaps you will meet them." He shrugged. "The future is not my domain."
Taylor nodded. "And the second thing?"
Death smiled faintly. "A little gift. Annette just suggested it, and I am inclined to agree. Go to your quarters, you will find it." Gently, Death kissed her forehead, and his avatar began to unravel.
Taylor watched until the last bit of Death faded away, the ethereal strings that made him up dissolving into the background magic of the castle. A small amount of it shifted upwards, phasing through the stone ceiling of the summoning chamber, moving toward her quarters.
Curious, she went, taking her time to compose herself. She nodded and smiled as she passed by the castle's servants. Her golems, her succubi, her gremlins, her werewolves. Pandora suits gave her a nod as she passed by, working tirelessly to improve the Castle. Even those ordinary humans who now lived here and worked for her, helping to build a future for humanity.
When she reached her bedroom, she looked around. It was large and opulent, brought up to modern standards. Her bed was large enough, and comfy enough, to hold seven people with room to spare.
It was when she turned to the display cases filled with her personal effects, she saw it. Annette's flute, covered in and seething with the remaining magic Death released. Even as Taylor watched, the tarnish cleansed itself, the broken keys filled themselves in. The mouthpiece, which had been long-since dented and unusable, repaired itself. Over the course of a few long minutes, the damage done to it a decade before was gone, as if it never had happened.
With trembling fingers, she opened the display case and pulled out the now-pristine flute. The clean silver of its surface heated her fingers unpleasantly, irritating her skin... but at the moment, Taylor couldn't bring herself to care. It wasn't anything she couldn't ignore, anyway.
She brought it to her lips and played a soft song, even as the silver heated against her lips. It had been a long time since she played, but after a few minutes of practicing, it was as if she'd never stopped playing at all. Annette used to play it for her, when Taylor was little, and for a long moment, Taylor let herself be lost in the memory.
When she was finished, she muttered quietly. "Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Death." She went to put the flute back. Then stopped. Finally, she tucked the flute into her jacket, closing the empty display case.
The sound of a clearing throat caught her attention, and Taylor whipped around.
Amy was standing there, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. That looked personal. I didn't want to interrupt."
"It's fine," Taylor said. "Just remembering Mom."
Amy nodded, a small smile on her lips. "I figured it was something like that. Anyway, night's falling in Brockton. Rose is about to go trick-or-treating. You still coming?"
Taylor smiled. "Yeah." She gently fingered the flute in her pocket. "I think I'll play for her when we're done getting candy." Then she went over to Amy, giving the other girl a hug. "Then I think you and I can come back here and talk things out... we never did pick up after Scion. Hell, not after the hospital."
Amy blushed a little, nodding. "We've both been busy. Always seems like one thing or another came up."
"Yeah, but eight years? Where does the time go?"
"To be fair, we're vampires. We've got the time."
Taylor laughed. "True, but no time like the present. I'm willing to experiment. Not sure we'll go anywhere, but I do like spending time with you."
Amy smiled. "Me too. And maybe I'll stop dating blondes."
Taylor grinned. "Hey, Meridia liked being blonde for a while."
"Yeah, but it was awkward! She wanted to get me and Vicky in bed together! 'Help get it out of your system,' she said!" Amy shook her head. "Not taking advice from the succubus."
"What did you expect?"
"Not that!"
A moment passed, then the pair shared helpless laughter. Hand-in-hand, the two vampires went out the door.
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The End.
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OverReactionGuy
The only Sane one left
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2014
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Sad to see it end yet happy at the same time. Especially with the potential of a new beginning.
Glad you made it past where most fail Sirwill, the story has been swell.
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2015
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It was definitely not easy. This has been my longest project ever. EVER. And it's finished. I've had other stories before that I finished, but they were tiny compared to this monster that took two years.
Bad part is, if I had the time I used to, especially when I started, it would have been finished in well under a year. Alas, I've been kept busy. Still, glad it's done, and glad it's been so popular.
Hye
Reader of The Long Words
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2015
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- 93
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- 171
Yeah, I second what OverReactionGuy said. This was one hell of a story and I am seriously sad to see it ending. But I am even more happy to have read it at all! This is one of my favorite stories around, and having a satisfying end to it, makes it that much greater.
I've had fun following it for the past year, if not more.
So. Thank you, SirWill. Thank you very much.
I've had fun following it for the past year, if not more.
So. Thank you, SirWill. Thank you very much.