Aw, Crap (Worm/Marvel/DC)

[jcogginsa]

Tempting Fate 1.1​

I touched down at the Boston meeting place minutes after I got the message.
The new leader of the local protectorate, Miss Militia, and the leader of the Ambassadors, awaited me.

I walked toward them and as I reached them, they turned and walked with me.

"Most of the locals are already here," Miss Militia said, "Accord's contingencies for this occasion helped in the matter."

I turned to the man, "Your powers work on Endbringers?"

"Only in a limited capacity," Accord said crisply. "The more they are involved the less it works."

I nodded. Right now preparing for the coming fight was the top priority.

"Boston is a soft target," Accord continued. "We will need to strike hard and fast to end it before the city is lost."

-----

Ten minutes later, more teams had arrived. The Brockton Bay contingent and the ones from New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. Strider was bringing in new teams every few minutes, but the next two to arrive would come from a place even further than he could reach.

A scant two months ago, two alternate universes had make contact with Earth Bet. Not merely communicating information, but actual physical contact. And both worlds had a sizable number of heroes. Heroes who'd agreed to help when the Endbringers attacked. This was their first battle, but I hoped they would make a big difference.
There was a loud boom, as a thundering portal appeared. A Boom Tube, as the natives of the other earth called them.

The first nine through the gate were their the founders of their Superteam. The Justice League.
From the right, they were Static, Aquaman, Manhunter, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, The Flash, and Green Lantern.

My attention focused on their leader, Superman. He wore a skin tight blue bodysuit that, speaking as a married man, looked very good on him. The Centerpiece of the suit was on the chest, a red shield emblem with an S inside, as well as white fill-in. Other than the body suit and symbol, the costume included red boots, red strongmen briefs , a red cape with a white version of his emblem, a white belt, and white cuffs. What it didn't include was a mask.

Superman walked up to me and offered his hand. I took it, and shook.

The rest of the founders stepped aside, as more of their number entered through the portal. Local wards began handing out the wristbands Dragon had created.

The Portal closed as the last hero stepped through. A few minutes later, a new one opened, this one significantly quieter. The premier heroes of their world, the Avengers, stepped out. From the right they were The Vision, Captain Marvel, The Wasp, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, The Scarlet Witch, and the Black Panther.

Captain America's costume was a modified soldier's uniform. The chest had a white star and a vibrant blue whilst the abdomen sported red and white lines. The legs were a camoflage pattern of various shades of blue, whilst the sleeves were the same except in red. He boots were a deep blue and his mask was made of a blue helmet. strapped to his back was a metallic shield

----

The room was filled with capes from across three dimensions. I sighed inwardly. Now I had to brief them, tell them that they were probably going to die. And with all the capes here who had no real conception of what the Endbringers were, I would have to emphasize that. And the worst part was...

It wasn't anywhere near the worst thing that was gonna happen today.

 

[jcogginsa]

Tempting Fate 1.2

"We owe thanks to Dragon and Armsmaster for the early alert," I said with no preamble. I didn't need one.​

"Thanks to that, we have more time to prepare. Not much, but every amount helps. Further, I'm sure you all see faces around that you've never seen before. I can't go into specifics, but what I can tell you is that they are heroes from another world. Heroes who will help us protect our world. With their help, I am confident that we can make this a good day. But I can't in good conscience let you fight without giving you the basic facts. On a good day, one in four of you will die."

A murmur went through the crowd. I gave it a moment to abate, before continuing.

"I want to stress one thing. Do. Not. Underestimate. Leviathan. He possesses incredible strength, incredible speed, and a ruthless cunning. He may seem unintelligent, but that couldn't be further from the truth."

I paused, again to let the crowd process this.

"His greatest ability is hydrokinesis. He controls water on a macro scale. He creates tsunamis, torrents of rain. His every movement is mirrored by an afterimage of water, moving so fast it's like concrete."

Another pause.

"And, the factor that will make this fight so deadly. He can manipulate the water in the ground, disrupt it continuously until the ground collapses around you. He's sunken entire islands that way. Newfoundland. Kyushu. Boston is like them, a soft target. The Swampland and the Big Dig tunnel are hugely vulnerable to Leviathan's MO. That means that we need to strike hard, and strike fast. We don't lose sight of him for even a moment, we don't let up."

I turned to Armsmaster, and he began to speak up, explaining about the armbands.

Once he finished, I shouted "Those who have faced an Endbringer before, stand! Those who have not, follow their lead. If we do not send orders contradicting them, then they are your best shot at survival."

After that, we began directing capes to various leaders, organizing them by power and usefulness. Our alliance with the other worlds immediately bore fruit. They each had a high level weather manipulator amongst them. Storm from Earth Gimel's X-Men and Weather Wizard from Earth Dalet's Task Force X. They were being placed on a platform that would be elevated into the sky. If they could neutralyze Leviathan's storm, then keeping track of him would be much easier.

Minutes passed. And then, he arrived.

"Shields!" I cried.

They raised just in time to neutralyze his initial wave, but Leviathan himself smashed right though

Bastion CD-1, deceased. Invisible Woman, CD-1 down, Songbird CD-1, deceased. Quark CD-1, down. Resolute CD-1, down. Booster Gold CD-1, down. Argent CD-1, down. Shielder, CD-1 deceased. Unuscione, CD-1 deceased. Repeller CD-1, deceased. Marcel CD-1, Deceased

Leviathan moved to kill those who were down, but a red blur sped through the area, evacuating them.

Leviathan suddenly went still. I didn't hesitate, and loosed a powerful, continuous laser. The rest of the artillery division followed suit. I noticed Superman's heat vision cut deep into Leviathan, deeper than my laser was. I can't describe the happiness that caused.

Leviathan went into a tumble, practically launching his water shadow at us. We scattered.

Purity CD-6, down. Iron Man CD-6, down. Halo CD-6, deceased. Viridescent CD-6, deceased.


Leviathan sped towards Iron Man, but his water shadow did something abnormal. It stayed. A double of Leviathan, made entirely of water, threw itself at the other blasters. Meanwhile, the real Leviathan, complete with a new water shadow, rushed towards the armored hero.

I fired a staccato burst of curving lasers, trying to steer him away from Iron Man, all whilst trying to figure out why he was suddenly bringing out a new tactic.

The I realized what I had missed. I looked to the sea, and saw nothing.

No waves, no churning. A completely calm sea. How was it possible? It must be one of the heroes from the other world. That was the only explanation.

No matter. I had to focus on Leviathan.

 

[jcogginsa]

Tempting Fate 1.3​

My lasers sent Leviathan into a tumble, but he righted himself without pause. The water clones left in his wake surged out, keeping Superman and Thor from interfering.

A portal opened in between Iron Man and Leviathan, and the Hulk leapt through. He threw a punch, and Leviathan responded in kind. The thunderous collision shattered nearby glass, but The Hulk didn't even have time to fall before Leviathan followed up with a punch to the gut.

Two of Leviathan's clones double teamed the Hulk, whilst the melee division engaged the endbringer.
Wonder Woman and Alexandria lead the charge, Wonder Woman going for the left whilst Alexandria went for the right. Leviathan back flipped, and a water clone surged forth, carrying away Alexandria and Wonder Woman before smashing into several other capes.

Armsmaster CD-3, down. Chevalier CD-3, down. Weld CD-3, down. The Thing CD-3, down. Bambina CD-3, deceased. Hookwolf CD-3, down. Battery CD-3, down. Adamant CD-3, deceased. Hawkwoman CD-3, down.

Whilst Leviathan was low to the ground, a stream of identical women appeared nearby before disappearing, leaving only the one at the tail end of the stream. A cut appeared across the front of Leviathan's neck. The woman was Black Kaze. At one time bound for the Birdcage, she was given the opportunity to instead join a special team. They only ever went after S-Class threats, like the Endbringers. She was a survivor from Kyushu, and thus had a certain ill-will towards Leviathan that few could match.

The woman disappeared again, avoiding being crushed by a water clone. Green bands dug into Leviathan's wound, courtesy of the Green Lantern. He pulled, as if trying to pull the skin off of Leviathan's head. He broke off the attempt when Leviathan fired a bullet of water larger than the Lantern's body right at him.

I fired a burst of lasers at him, but he ducked away the moment before they would have hit him, causing them to strike a clone instead.

"I'm back in business," Iron Man's voice said over the wristbands. I looked for him, as he was no longer where he'd fallen. I saw a new suit in his colors, half as tall as the Endbringer, rocketing towards Leviathan. I remembered that he'd called it the Hulkbuster.

The Hulkbuster threw a punch, but Leviathan evaded it. As he sailed by, Leviathan grabbed hold of the Hulkbuster's arm. Leviathan used his afterimage to redirect his momentum and struck the Hulkbuster's elbow with his free fist. The arm severed instantly.

I tried firing on him, but Leviathan turned, flicking a spike of water straight through me. As I reflexively shifted into my breaker state, he tossed the Hulkbuster's arm into something behind him, causing an explosion.

The Hulkbuster led Leviathan behind a building, and I rushed to follow. A water clone crashed into me from the side.

Legend CD-4, down.

----

Fortunately, my power got me back on my feet a few moments later. That was an eternity in an Endbringer fight, but I'd at least still be in the battle.

A massive explosion went off in the sky. I looked up and saw Leviathan falling underneath it, above the Hulkbuster. Leviathan hammered the Hulkbuster as they fell. The two dropped right onto the John Hancock tower, crashing all the way to the ground floor.

Iron Man CD-7, deceased.

 

[jcogginsa]

Tempting Fate 1.4
​

The sound of booming thunder echoed throughout the city as Thor whirled his hammer, gathering an obscene amount of lightning from the cloudless sky. He bellowed a declaration of rage for his fallen friend at Leviathan. I couldn't hear it, but I could see the rage on his face.​

Thor fired his collected lightning in a single, gigantic bolt. It had to be taller and wider than the very building Iron Man and Leviathan had fallen through. It struck before the dust had cleared, and there was a large explosion. A cylindrical force field surrounded area, shielding the rest of the city from it's effects. The blast zone was devastated. I'd seen things similar before, in Moscow. It was like a nuclear bomb had gone off. Iron Man's remains were destroyed. Thor has given him the closest thing to a viking funeral that he could provide, for the moment.

Leviathan was nowhere to be seen. I cursed under my breath. Though impressive, a blast like that wouldn't have completely obliterated him. Couldn't have.

A frantic call came though the wristband

"Leviathan is under-"

A loud crash to the right. I turned, and saw Leviathan's hand slink back into a newly created sinkhole.

Tecton CD-8, deceased. Vista CD-8, deceased. Wanton CD-8, deceased. Daredevil CD-8, deceased. Mockingbird CD-8, deceased. Grace CD-8, deceased. Bean Sidhe CD-8, deceased.

Superman, having broken off from his fight with the Water clones, dived into the sinkhole, followed soon after by Vision, War Machine, and Green Lantern.

War Machine CD-9, deceased.

Leviathan burst from the ground, reeling from one of Superman's blows. Green Lantern and Vision weren't far behind. The Hulk crashed into Leviathan, sending both of them through a nearby building. The Hulk supposedly grew stronger the angrier he was. Must've been ten times stronger than he was before now.

I relocated myself to get a better vantage point. The Hulk had taken hold of Leviathan's right arm and was trying to pull it out of its socket. After a moment, he succeeded. The kind of power that would take- I could scarcely conceive of it. The Hulk certainly lived up to his reputation as the 'strongest there is.'

The Hulk raised the arm to bring it down on Leviathan, but the Endbringer jumped to his feet, grabbing Hulk by the ankle as he did. Leviathan spun, and hurled the Hulk over the horizon. With my enhanced vision, I could just barely see him exit the upper atmosphere. Superman flew over to the Green Lantern and said something to him that I couldn't hear. The green clad man took off after the Hulk.

Captain Marvel, the Gimel one, flew into the scene. Superman and the Vision fired their beams at the woman, who absorbed them into her left hand.

A Golden Lasso wrapped around Leviathan's remaining wrist. He tried to move, but the Lasso went taut and he ceased moving. I glanced at the origin of the Lasso and saw Wonder Woman and Thor, the Lasso tied to the handle of Thor's hammer.

A beast fell on Leviathan's back. I recognized the cape from Kyushu. Lung, now fifteen feet tall, gripped Leviathan's neck wound to hold on to him. Lung, along with other capes who needed time to gain strength, had been placed on an aerial platform to keep them alive until they had enough strength. A steel girder flew into Leviathan's left knee. It must have been treated by Fletchette, one of the New York Wards. We'd theorized that her powers might work against Endbringers, maybe even hoped, but this was the first actual proof of it.
Blades grew around Leviathan's right leg, then twisted and folded themselves around it to keep it in place. Several other blasters were now contributing to Captain Marvel. I joined in with a volley of my lasers.

Captain Marvel released her collected energy in a condensed beam from her other hand, which bored into Leviathan's hide, and into his innards. The wound grew deeper and deeper, but soon afterwards, Captain Marvel had to stop firing. I didn't know why exactly, but I assumed based on her heavy breathing it was some sort of fatigue caused by her power.

"Attention, we're trying something. Do not let Leviathan move," Mr. Fantastic's voice stated from the wristbands.

I noticed a group of capes walking towards Leviathan. The Shocker, Banshee, Black Canary, Siryn, Triumph, Barker and Silver Banshee. The Shocker raised his gauntlets and fired a vibrational blast at Leviathan. The other capes shouted, their sonic attacks joining in with Shocker's attack. The combined assault struck Leviathan and rumbled over him. Strangely, I heard no noise.

Moments later, Leviathan's flesh seemed to crack, his skin shattering in places. I didn't understand the specifics of how or why, but their combined attack was shaking Leviathan to pieces. For the first time in a long while, I thought that we might finally have the answer. We might finally kill him.

And then the Shatterbird sang.

 

[jcogginsa]

Baptism in Fire 2.1​

I awoke groggily.

I was in a field hospital. I could see Scapegoat walking around, healing capes. After he healed them, a man with wings would give him a vial of something, which seemed to heal Scapegoat himself. The room was packed, with new capes coming in by the minute

Subtly, I looked around the room. Most of the new arrivals, heedless of if they had other injuries, were bleeding near the wrist. None of them had on their wristbands. Something had clearly destroyed them all, injuring countless people in the process. I considered the possibilities, and made a conclusion. Shatterbird was the most likely suspect. If it was her, then most of the tinkers in the fight were probably dead or dying. Few would have prepared for a Slaughterhouse Nine attack in the middle of an Endbringer battle.

I was one of those few.

I sat up from the cot and, retrieved my halberds. As I walked towards the exit, I thought about the Nine, and their current membership. The group's mainstays were Jack Slash, Bonesaw, and the Siberian. Shatterbird might also be counted as a mainstay. Besides them, there was Mannequin, Hatchet Face, Burnscar, Winter, and the newest member Valefor.

----

Several minutes later, I arrived on the battlefield, courtesy of a teleport from one of the Gimel capes. In the distance, I could see Leviathan, now missing an arm, doing battle with Lung, as well as Menja, Fenja, and one of the Gimel capes, a giant man.

Suddenly, Leviathan shot a burst of water off in my direction. I took cover, but it wasn't actually aimed at me. A grenade fired a half-second after the shot hit home, and detonated off course, creating a huge field of crystal in the road. I jogged over to where the shot had hit, and found a woman I recalled was named Bakuda. She was a tinker, one who worked for the Guild S-class ops team. Her gear looked intact, which made sense. She had likely built it with the knowledge that she'd eventually fight the nine.

"Well don't just stand there, help me up!" she said angrily. I gave her a quick look over, it appeared that she had a broken leg.

My armband was still functional, as the field hospital was outside Shatterbird's range.

I sent a message over the com, "Attention, there is an injured cape in the area. Please send evac."

Once the message was sent, I turned my gaze back on the fight, but something caught my gaze. There, on the very edge of the crystal field, was a man. His leg had been transmuted into crystal, trapping him in place. And that wasn't the man's only misfortune. His face was coated in blood. In fact, it looked as if his face was simply gone. The Slaughterhouse Nine were well capable of doing that and keeping their victim conscious. In fact, it was tame by their standards.

Any thoughts of freeing him were dashed a moment later. Leviathan tossed Lung through the air, and he landed on the field of crystals. The flames that emanated from the bestial gang leader consumed the faceless man, reducing him to ash.

What a terrible way to die. Unnoticed, even by the man that killed him. No remains to identify him with. How long would his family hold out hope of finding him?

I gritted my teeth. Monsters like Leviathan and the Slaughterhouse Nine lived to kill, to destroy. If they had their way, everyone would wind up like him. I wouldn't allow it.

I strode over to Bakuda, and grabbed her grenade launcher.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she hissed.

"I'm going hunting," I answered.

 

[jcogginsa]

Baptism in Fire 2.2​

The first member of the Nine I encountered was Mannequin. He was doing battle with two heroes, ones from another dimension. One of them was a muscular black male dressed in yellow and black with some silver accoutrements. The other was in green and yellow, with an exposed chest that sported a tattoo of a stylized dragon. His fist glowed with yellow energy.

The two were close in, fighting in melee. That was likely as much Mannequin's choice as theirs. I couldn't use the grenade launcher without killing the two he was fighting, and that logic would apply to most blasters capable of taking Mannequin out in one hit. I readied the nanothorn halberd and continued watching. My combat program would study their movements and allow me to strike with the maximum chance of taking out Mannequin and minimum chance of hurting the other two.

Their battle was an exercise in repetition. Mannequin evaded their blows most of the time. Occasionally, he was forced to go slack and roll with an attack, but it was rare. To their credit, they managed to dodge Mannequin's attacks fairly well, at least the one in green and yellow. Mannequin didn't seem to be actively attacking the other one.

Before I was ready, a new combatant entered the mix. A short cape dressed in a blue and red costume with a web pattern and a spider symbol. He sprayed lines of webbing from his wrists, coating Mannequin's blades. Mannequin abandoned them, and slipped out from his melee. The psychopath lunged toward the new cape, unsheathing a second set of blades. His initial strike was dodged, and he stuck close to the scrawny cape, but his every attack was dodged with apparent ease. The cape jumped clean over Mannequin and fired another glob of his webbing at the back of Mannequin's knees.

The murderer staggered, and the young cape closed the distance with superhuman speed. A kick sent Mannequin into a wall, and his opponent slathered him in webbing. He was pinned. The young cape went back over to the other two capes, likely to check and see if they were okay. I emerged from my observation point, and strode over to Mannequin. I'd have preferred to pull off the rescue by myself, but so long as Mannequin died it didn't really matter.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the spider themed cape asked as he saw me.

"Finishing him off," I replied.

"You can't do that, he's helpless!" The cape insisted.

I turned to him, and said matter-of-factly, "As a law enforcement officer, I'm duty bound to put his life to an end."

"What kind of law forces you to kill someone?"

"A very astute question, Spider-Man," the cape in Green and yellow said.

I began to explain, "He has a kill order. It means that he has been tried and convicted of crimes against humanity, and every person in the United States and Canada has the right to end his life-"

"Pft, sounds like Canada all right," The black man said.

"As I was saying, as a member of the Protectorate, I have an obligation to execute him for the safety and well being of the public."

"What did he do to deserve this kill order?" Spider-man demanded.

"302 counts of murder, 510 counts of torture, over 1000 counts of assault, 52 counts of industrial sabotage, And approximately 2,115,000 dollars worth of property damage. And that's not even taking into account all the crimes he's committed in conjunction with others," I said flatly.

Spider-man had difficulty coming up with a response. Eventually, he just turned and walked off. The other two did not stop me from carrying out my duty. I continued my hunt.

-----

I froze as the man's eyes laid upon me.

"My, my," Valefor said as he stepped closer to me, "just what will you do?"

The answer was 'Stab him in the face.'

I had hoped my psychic shielding would protect me from his paralyzing gaze, if things came down to it. It worked. Then Valefor had fallen prey to one of the oldest tactics in the animal kingdom. Feigning weakness.
The man fell to the ground, his face turned to red mist by the nanothorns, and I stepped over him.

-----

The sound of gunshots ringing drew me here. I was on top of a three story building, watching the streets below. Hatchet Face, with fairly major wounds, was stalking an injured Glory Girl. Miss Militia, my old second in command, had given him those wounds, but right now she was being pinned down by sniper fire. I couldn't see who was firing on her, but my suit's computer could calculate the trajectory of the bullets, and pinpoint their origin point.

They were being fired from an office building down the street from Miss Militia's position. Too high for her to return fire with any accuracy. I began making my way to the location as quick as I could without letting the sniper see me. I was expecting Winter, as she was the only member of the Slaughterhouse who typically used a sniper rifle.

Once I was next to the building, I used my secondary halberd to pull myself up to the floor Winter was on, and entered. I crept around, looking for her. I quickly found the edge of her field, but there was a wall blocking her from view. I could probably bust through it, but I wanted to take her out with a grenade from range. Entering her field would make it harder to take out the rest of the nine, as it would drain the batteries of my suit and halberds.

Unfortunately, that choice was taken out of my hands when something slammed into me from behind. I crashed through the wall, and heard something large land next to me. I was roughly flipped over, and saw my assailant.

He was a huge, hulking brute. His veins bulged, his skin was a purple-red color. I recognised him from file photos. Crimson.

A dead man.

 

[jcogginsa]

Baptism In Fire 2.3​

My suit's batteries began to drain, meaning I was within Winter's range. Had to act quick.
I raised my halberd and fired a grapple into Crimson's eye. Not a second later, several thousand volts were coursing through him. The chain retracted, pulling me to my feet. A half second afterwards, a bullet struck the place where my head had been. Without missing a beat, I fired the grenade launcher in Winter's general direction. In the same instant, a bullet struck my chest and sent me reeling. My armor was robust, so it prevented the bullet from reaching my body.

The grenade missed Winter by a mile, but in the back of my head I'd almost anticipated being ambushed. The grenade detonated, creating a miniature black hole, or at least something with the trappings of a black hole. Winter was sucked out of the building, but disappointingly the hole dissipated before she was sucked in. Still, I'd accomplished my aim, which was to get Winter out of the equation.

I tossed the grenade launcher aside, it wouldn't be much use in close range, and dodged an angry swing from Crimson. I ran behind him and grabbed my other halberd. Crimson grabbed the chain and pulled, swinging me of his head. I froze the chain and used an internal device I'd created by studying Assault's power to direct my momentum into a kick at his chin. It didn't faze him.

I dropped to the ground and activated one of my armor's special features. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and I moved. I'd studied Velocity's power to create this effect, and it had the same limitation as his. Fortunately, my halberd's nanothorns worked around that issue.

Time returned to normal after a second of normal time, but by then my Halberd had already gone through his chest, disintegrated his heart, and come out the other side. I smirked and deactivated the nanothorns.

He punched me through a wall.

Okay, he'd clearly gotten modifications from Bonesaw. Crimson closed in, blood moving unnaturally around the hole in his chest, scabbing over instantly to staunch the wound. I charged to meet him, slamming my two halberds into his neck on opposite sides. I drew blood but failed to decapitate him, and he slammed into me. I went through another wall.

This was bad. Between my fighting and Winter's field, I was down to 25 percent power on the suit. I had a way to recharge, but it was not viable in this situation. The halberds were doing badly as well, and I couldn't afford to use the time freeze or the taser more than once. The nanothorns were done until I could recharge. The Velocerater was also unusable.

I sheathed the nanothorn halberd as Crimson charged once more. At the last second, I sidestepped him and swung the halberd's blade into the back of his neck. It didn't do much, but I'd expected that. My plan had three different avenues for success. A straight decapitation, which had failed. The second possibility was his momentum causing him to crash through the wall and out of the building, also a failure. The third possibility was freezing the axe blade, pinning him in place briefly. Success.

I ran, leaving the halberd behind. I had two, maybe three seconds of delay to get a head start. I had to reach the grenade launcher in time, hit him with it, and hope I wasn't killed by the splash damage.

I reached the room the grenade launcher was in with Crimson mere feet behind me. I lept for the gun...right as an explosion went off behind me. I grabbed it, and turned to see a projectile strike a dazed Crimson and explode. I looked, and saw Miss Militia being carried by one of the Gimel capes, a grenade launcher in her hand. She fired again, blowing Crimson back repeatedly. I waited till she only had one round left, then jumped from the building, tossing her a grenade the moment before I began to fall. Miss Militia, ever the professional, caught the grenade, loaded it, and fired in a single motion.

Miss Militia dropped from the cape's arms and shifted her weapon into a minigun. She fired at the ground to slow her momentum, as the Gimel cape flew over to catch me. Above us, spires of ice burst from the floor I'd been on.

Once we were on the ground, I turned to Miss Militia and said, "Winter?"

"Deceased," Miss Militia answered right back. Then, she asked a question of her own, "Why was Crimson alive?"

"A clone of some sort, obviously. The question is why."

"Back up," The Gimel cape said, "explain this clone thing."

I looked at the cape. A Young adult, simple red and white power armor. There had been red wings on his arms, but the were gone. Likely folded away. His face was visible through a clear yellow faceplate.

"The man we just killed was named Crimson. He's a former member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. Former because he was killed 11 years ago."

"Gotcha," the Gimel cape said. "Any idea why he was cloned?"

"The Slaughterhouse Nine was founded 20 years ago this month," Miss Militia said.

"And Jack Slash is thought to have taken over years ago during this month as well," I added.

"Demented anniversary celebration, got it. Know any cloners?" The Gimel cape added.

"Blasto, a local villain," Miss Militia stated.

"Do you know where his lab is?" I asked her.

Before she could answer, something drew our attention. Lung practically exploded, growing to at least twice his current size, his flames growing even hotter.

Wordlessly, Miss Militia pointed her finger in his direction.

 

[jcogginsa]

Interlude 2.h​

Many Moons Ago

I stared at my brother, gobsmacked.

"You're just making fun of me, again," I said, after collecting my thoughts. Obviously, what he was saying was impossible.

"I'm serious," Tom insisted, "Actual magical potions, Harry!"

"And I suppose you learned how to make these potions tending bar?" I asked. Skepticism wasn't my forte, but this was obvious BS, even by my standards.

Tom sighed, "Look, Harry, I know I made fun of you for this magic stuff before, but things are different now. You've seen the news. All those parahumans, it's obvious that magic really does exist. Can you really say with a straight face that Eidolon isn't magic?"

I studied the ground, before admitting, "No. Eidolon is definitely magic. But that doesn't mean there are potions capable of giving out powers."

"What about those Tinkers, like Hero. They clearly enchant objects. Why couldn't they make potions too?"
His logic made sense.

"Fine. So I believe you. Where did you find these potions?"

My brother grinned, "There are these people, called Cauldron."

That brought on another set of eyerolls.

Present Day

"Where have you been?" Chevalier asked as I landed

"Blasto's lab, before it was redecorated with fire," I answered gruffly. Wizards, like seniors, did not have to be polite. "The serpent's battle with the drake drew close, and I elected to vacate the premises. Wizard though I may be, I am nonetheless a man. Men best keep out of the affairs of dragons, for we are crunchy and go well with ketchup."

"Enough with the Tolkien, we've got a job to do," The cape next to Chevalier, Acoustic, sniped.

"And who, pray tell, are you?" I asked.

"This is Acoustic," Chevalier answered, "She's a member of an independent hero group called Quartet. Her ranks are Shaker 4, Trump 6. She can produce counterfrequencies which can nullify certain aspects of reality, and tune them to activate automatically when certain sounds happen within a certain range of her."

"Good. Once we find Shatterbird, we'll use her magic to counter hers," I replied.

"I'm not sure if I'll be in range of you two, if you fight in the air," she said.

"Worry not," I soothed her, "When Blasto was last in Chicago, I acquired a mount which should alleviate such an issue."

I opened a large hole into one of my worlds. Acoustic and Chevalier stepped back as my mount walked through.

Not As Many Moons Ago

I lashed out with my staff, creating sparkles of magic which exploded out in righteous fury.

Or rather, they would have, if they didn't disappear with a wave of my brother's hands. His arcane magics were strong. They'd reverted time to the moment before my spell had been cast.

"Be reasonable, brother," my brother called.

"You're a fine one to talk, considering you killed thirty men!" I shouted.

"I had to! They'd have killed us both if I didn't," the warlock replied.

"I'm supposed to believe that? Men don't simply kill for fun!"

My brother looked away, and said, "They were mobsters, Harry. They were going to kill us because the money I used to pay for the potions was there's."

"You stole from the mob?!" I demanded, more surprised than angry. Though still very angry.

"Yeah. I knew their petty guns wouldn't be a match for the magic we could get. With this kind of power, we could be great! Just put down the hockey stick and let's discuss this logically."

I took a deep breath, and exhaled, calming my nerves.

I pointed my staff and him, and spoke resolutely, "You've been corrupted by black magic. And I'll not let myself fall to the same corruption."

Present Day

I found her in the midst of an immense glass storm, which I suppose I should have expected. I drew an opening into a world of pure concussive light. She saw my attack coming by a mile, and formed a shield of glass to defend herself. To my surprise, the shield held, though not implacably. It had been reinforced, somehow, likely by either Bonesaw or Mannequin. Mannequin made more sense, meaning that it was most likely Bonesaw.
Chevalier made his approach, and fired a shot from his cannonblade. The thundering boom nullified Shatterbird's magic, and the shot smashed straight through her shield. Unfortunately the shot only clipped her.

Chevalier had to readjust his weapon as his mount moved unexpectedly. In the distance, Lung suddenly burst into an enormous fire ball, framing Sue the T. rex as she let loose a powerful roar. Chevalier aimed his weapon, and fired once more. Shatterbird's magic again failed her, and the shot, now a different form of ammunition, exploded in the midst of her glass storm. She fell towards the ground, and Sue's jaws latched around her ankles. The theropod slammed Shatterbird into the edge of a nearby building. The murderer's spine bent unnaturally. A normal person would have been crippled for life, if they even lived.

Sue whipped her head around, sending Shatterbird careening head first into a building in the other side of the street. As she fell to the ground, I waved my staff once more. A stream of energy flowed forth from the resulting gateway, causing the three story building to collapse onto the witch. She sang shrilly, bidding her reinforced glass to hold the building up so she could scramble away.

Acoustic raised her weapon, a Tinker Tech device resembling a megaphone, and hit the trigger. The sound of Chevalier's canon blade firing again resounded through the area, and the building fell atop Shatterbird.
We waited a moment, to see if the vile woman would resurface. Sure enough, the building's rubble soon began to rumble. Chevalier quickly fired his cannonblade, and I loosed a burst of concussive force. The top of the pile of rubble was blasted away. Shatterbird could not be seen.

Acoustic took to playing her megaphone, over and over. I began blasting the rubble periodically, to either kill her or force her out. After a few moments of this, something shot from the rubble behind me. By the time I'd turned, Acoustic had fallen from Sue, a spike made of opaque material lodged in her shoulder. Shatterbird emerged, the glass having changed form, merged together into a single object. It was fluid like liquid metal, and she reshaped it with ease. This was an entirely knew tactic, one I wagered was only possible because of her special glass.

Chevalier fired his cannonblade once more, but the nullifying effect didn't take hold and Shatterbird cut the projectile out of the air. Chevalier charged forward once more, aiming to bring things into melee, and she formed her arms into long blades. I drew closer to her, but it was a mistake. Spikes jutted from her back, and my own momentum would carry me straight through them.

Then, I was suddenly several feet back, and not moving. I looked around for cause, and then found him.

Epoch.

My brother.

He used his power to pause Shatterbird in place, releasing her the moment before Chevalier shot her point blank with his cannonblade. She went flying back, her armor distorted. He fired again, and she made to dodge, but my brother rewound her back into the line of fire, causing her arm to be blown off.
Suddenly, her fallen arm exploded, firing spikes of glass in every direction. In the next instant, I found myself in another location once more. I'd been fast forwarded by my brother. I turned back to him...and saw a spike had been stabbed through his throat.

He fell to the ground and I rushed over to him.

"Tom!" I cried as I cradled his body. He was already gone.

I turned to her, a white hot rage building in the pit of my very being. She was dashing toward me, but I cared not.

I opened a gateway between us, and a torrent of flames that burned only half as hot as my rage poured out, consuming her and anything behind her. I let the flames flow for a full minute, before closing the gate. I took heavy breaths as I took in the sight of her. She was, amazingly, still recognizable. Closer to me than she had been, her glass armor had been melted whilst it surrounded her. It had to have been a truly agonizing death, a fact which brought a cruel smile to my fa-

She screamed, and molten glass shot at me. My cloak caught fire. She was still alive!
"JUST DIE ALREADY!" I roared, as I jabbed my staff up under her jaw. A small gate opened, and flames rushed out. Through her eyes, her mouth, her nose, her temples, and back down the staff.
I fell backwards, satisfied that she was dead, and passed out.

Still Fewer Moons Ago

"Myrddin?"

I turned, and saw her. I smiled, which was getting to be a rarer thing these days.

"Mind if I take a seat?" she asked. I scooted to the side, and she took a seat next to me on the edge of the roof. Neither of us were in much danger of falling

"How is the world treating you, Becky?"

She frowned.

"You know I don't like being called that when I'm in costume."

I chuckled, "You're the one who told me."

"Yes, and you've been...distant, since then."

"Can you blame me? It's quite a shock, you must admit."


"That's true," she admitted, "but I know I can trust you, just like I can trust David, Alex, and Roy."

"Why? The others, I can see, you've fought alongside them for years. But why me?"

She stared at me. For a moment, I thought that she might lean forward and kiss me, like an old romance novel. But she didn't.

We watched the sunset together.

Present Day

I awoke in a medical tent. My costume had been removed, and my injuries treated. I felt numb. I just stayed there for a few moments, and listened to the room around me. In the bed to my right, someone was speaking.

"Then I slammed my shield into his face, and Batman detonated the explosive gel. It didn't put him down for good, but we couldn't pursue because of our injuries," Captain America said, obviously finishing a story.

"So, the long and short of it is, Jack Slash is still out there, he's just walking around without a face?" someone else, the Scarlet Witch if I recall, replied.

"Yes," Cap said succinctly.

"Okay then," Scarlet Witch spoke, "now that I know how you got cut up, what did you want to tell me?"

"Do you remember when the Hulk was tossed away earlier?" Captain America asked.
She nodded.

"Whether by unfortunate accident or deliberate intent, he crashed into one of the other monsters attacking this world. The Simurgh. He and the Green Lantern are fighting her now, but they won't make it if we don't send back up. The Protectorate tells me their precogs can't sense magic users, so we're gathering them up. We want you to lead them."

I stopped listening. This was something out of my league. Even I was predictable to the Simurgh. If she really was immune to the Simurgh's gaze, then she must be an even mightier wizard than I.

Suddenly, there was a crackle of lightning in the midst of the room, and two men appeared. One of them was Booster Gold, a cape who'd handed out business cards before the fight. This was rather odd, as Booster Gold was also standing about six feet to the left of me. The new Booster pointed to the other one, and said, "Two weeks from now, remember it."

Then he disappeared in another pulse of lightning.

The other man was clad in Black and Gold Power Armor, with red highlights. He walked up to me, bent down, and...embraced me, as if I were an old friend. I cleared my throat.

"...Who the hell are you?" I asked.

The Man's helmet folded away...and I gaped.

"...Roy?"

The Most Moons Ago

I smiled wide as I looked at my handiwork, a drawing of myself in robes, reading from a tome of magic. I didn't care what my brother said. I knew magic was out there somewhere, and I would find it, or my name wasn't Harry Potter.

 

[jcogginsa]

You are who you choose to be 3.1

My body hit the ground roughly, gasping for air and flopping around, trying to get on my legs. My Body looked around. My body was in a place...a room, my thoughts said. There was a blonde girl nearby...grinning?​

And a huge thing with a girl sticking out of it. My...mother.

The blonde began clapping, and made a high pitched noise from it's mouth. My body noticed her clothing was...covered in blood?

Why?

"Why?" my body asked. My mind was taken aback.

"Why are...why...why blood?" my body and mind asked together.

The blonde looked at her clothes, and shrugged, then said with a...giggle, "I forgot to clean up today."

The 'giggle' scared my mind. And my mind...remembered her now. Bonesaw. Dangerous. Very Dangerous.
My body scrambled away.

"Oh, don't run away! I need to examine your powers!" Bonesaw whined.

Had to get away. Had to get away. Had to-

My body's hand touched the ground, and it sank beneath the surface.

My mind went deep. Very deep. My body was...the ground? My mind was scared, my mind wanted to be out of the ground.

My body appeared on a street. There was no one in the street. There was a place with rooms, a building. My body went inside. It was a place with clothing. My body found a thing, a mirror, that showed my mind what my body looked like.

My body was odd. As my mind looked, my mind began to remember things. Words and their meanings. My hair was blond on the left, and brunette on the right, with a line of red separating them. It was an odd divide, in places the hair would start one way and end another. My body's skin was odd, splotchy. Most was Caucasian. Parts were Asian, other African. One of my body's eyes was oval shaped, the other almond shaped. My body had scars at various places. My body was both male and female.

My mind thought of raising an arm. My body raised it's arm. My mind experimented with that more, until my mind had an epiphany. My mind and my body were together, and they were I.

I was....

Who was I?

Who was I?

Who was I?

Who was I?

Who wa-

The mirror exploded.

 

[jcogginsa]

You are who you choose to be 3.2​

The glass struck...me, and went through me. But, my body...wasn't there. There was something, a force, where my body had been, and it pushed the glass back. The glass shattered and shrapnel came back at me, but the same happened.

Was this my power? Whoever I was, I was sure I was a cape. But this isn't what my power had been before. Before, my body became the ground. Now, my body became...a push. Or something

My body changed back. I tried to change it back, but something else happened. My hand grew...no, stretched, and flattened. My palm and fingers were thin. Incredibly thin. Perhaps a...molecule thick.

I waved my hand at the remains of the mirror...and it went right through it.

I fell backwards. My hand returned to normal.

What...what was going on?

I closed my eyes, and tried to use my power again. It was different again. I could hear, smell, and touch things for miles. I opened my mouth, and quickly shut it. Taste, I could Taste too.

I opened my eyes. Sight. But, this was different. My ears, my nose, my touch. It was all so much stronger than my sight. Why?

The...Endbringer, drew my attention. Leviathan. He had just begun making his arm blurry, and it soon slipped loose of the golden rope around it's wrist. He knocked his assailant...Lung, away with a sudden burst of water, then turned, jabbing his elbow into Lung's stomach, the blur making it pass through him, bloodily.
Leviathan fired himself into the air, leaving behind a trail of water clones. Thor roared, and fired off a bolt of lightning wider that he was tall. The lightning struck the steel beam impaled through Leviathan's leg, and a moment later there was a great explosion, blasting Leviathan's leg off.

Leviathan loosed a deluge of water at Thor. A flood, tall as the surrounding buildings and wide as the street, going as fast as a bullet. A red flash whipped through the area, pulling to safety everyone by Thor himself. Thor stood his ground as the deluge struck him, then in spite of it's pressure, pressed forward.

On a dime, the flood changed directions, flowing back toward Leviathan, even faster. Thor was swept up by the tide. The water disappeared, back to where in had come from, and took Thor with it.

By now, Lung was closing in on Leviathan once more. A trio of giants, Fenja, Menja, and Giant Man, flanked the beast. Leviathan jumped at Giant Man, spinning tail over end and bringing his remaining leg, now blurry like his arm had been, down on Giant Man's head.

I tried to focus on something else. Something less...

I watched people fighting Leviathan's water clones, for a while. Eventually, I caught notice of some one else. Glory Girl. Seeing her invoked feelings in me. Feelings I didn't recognize. Concern, awe, dislike? It was a jumble.

Glory Girl was in a bad shape. Her left arm was connected to her by only a strip of flesh, and her stomach had been...cut open. And her opponent, Hatchet Face, he made her powerless. Glory Girl, whatever she was to me, she was...

Tears began to stream down by cheeks, and my hands came together. I began speaking on instinct. A Catholic prayer, remembered from a childhood I new instinctively I'd never had.
Suddenly, a gunshot struck Hatchet Face in the shoulder, leaving his arm in a similar state to Glory Girl's. He turned, and received another shot to the chest. I widened my focus a bit, and saw Miss Militia. She made to fire again, but a bullet flew past her, grazing her arm.

It played out like that for a few minutes more, Hatchet Face trying to take out Miss Militia, who was unable to attack back due to another sniper. She'd been forced to flee several times. However, soon there was a commotion in a nearby building, halting the sniper fire, and Glory Girl made a move. Miss Militia had been steadily retreating, until finally Hatchet Face was far enough away that Glory Girl regained her powers. She curled a fist, and punched a nearby green sedan. The path was miraculously clear of most debris, save for glass and water. Part of that was down to Hatchet face himself, who had knocked aside the largest bits in his pursuit of Miss Militia.

The sedan crashed into Hatchet Face at high speed. Miss Militia ran back to Glory Girl, as Hatchet Face tried to push the sedan off his body. Once Miss Militia was out of his range, she turned and shot him through the head once more. I turned away from the scene. They were safe from Hatchet Face, but Glory Girl was still in bad shape.

I saw Bonesaw, and focused in on her. She handed a plain-looking man a syringe and pointed to something.
"Go inject the dragon man with this, pretty please?"

The man nodded, putting the syringe in a holster on his back pocket, and rushed off towards Lung. After a moment of thought, I shifted my focus to follow the plain man. He was making his way over rooftops using parkour. Before he got close enough, two women intercepted him. Agents of Shield, Natasha Romanoff and Melinda May.

The two women each produced a baton crackling with electricity, and engaged the man. In the back of my mind, I recognized their fighting style. Their opponent must have as well, because he evaded the attack with minimal difficulty. With perfect precision, he struck May in the solar plexus and kicked Nat's legs out from under her. May stepped back, as Nat made a move. She tossed her stun baton to her other hand, and jabbed it at the foe's knee. He sidestepped at the last moment, but it had been a feint to allow Nat's free hand to push her back onto her feet.

As she landed on her feet, her free hand was already drawing her Glock. The man made to move, but still took two bullets to the chest. The man flicked his wrists, producing a pair of switchblades that he flicked open a moment later. Nat holstered her Glock, at the same time tossing her baton to the ground. The Baton ricocheted up at the man's chin, which brought an odd pride to me.

The man backstepped to avoid the baton, but as it flew past him, May jumped in the air and grabbed it, slamming both her's and Nat's into his back. The man convulsed briefly, before sending one of his knives into May's stomach with a flick of the the wrist. Nat tossed a bolo at his legs, ensnaring them. He dropped back, tossing his remaining knife into the air. He kicked with both legs, shattering one of May's knees, before transitioning to a handstand. His timing was perfect, and the falling knife cut through the ropes. He flipped onto his feet, catching the knife in the process.

Nat closed in, now wielding a black Ka-Bar, and thrust forward. The man parried, but immediately after that May shot him in the back with her Glock. Nat took advantage on this and slashed his throat open. He reacted a moment before her attack, shifting position slightly so the bloodspray would blind Nat. The man pivoted, elbowing Nat in the mouth and turning to May. He threw his knife into her throat as she fired. He leaned slightly to the side, causing May's bullet to strike...

I shifted away from him immediately.

Nearby, at one of the shelters, a horde of monsters burst forth. Thousands. They rampaged, searching out victims. However, soon they began to halt in their tracks. I focused closer, and noticed what appeared to be red wisps of smoke travelling between them, seemingly hypnotizing them as it went. Then, once it had gotten everyone...it snapped, cracking the monsters in the chest with enough force to send them flying off their feet. Before they'd even hit the ground, the beasts had turned into humans. I found the origin of the smoke, a hero by name of Scarlet Witch.

Off to the side, there was a colossal flash of light, and a loud explosion. I looked at the aftermath, and saw Lung, standing nearly twice as high as Leviathan, and steadily growing, his body radiating unfathomably intense heat. Leviathan's flesh burned away with rapid pace, until it gradually slowed to a stop. Still, it was more damage than Leviathan had ever taken, as far as I knew.

Lung grabbed Leviathan by the head, and jumped. An explosion, larger than the last, detonated under his feet, propelling him high into the air. At a couple thousand feet in the air, he detonated again. Lung had become stronger than he'd been during his last fight with Leviathan, which was the closest thing to a known limit that he had. Did my power have limits? I wasn't sure. Then again, I wasn't sure what my power actually was.

And just like that, it was as if I flicked a light switch. My senses snapped back to normal, and information came to me, seemingly from thin air. My power... was to change my power.

 

[jcogginsa]

You are who you choose to be 3.3​

After that realization, I went somewhat numb for a bit. Perhaps five minutes. Then I decided to take my mind off of it with a distraction. I looked throughout the store for clothes. I had to try on a lot. I couldn't remember my sizes. Rather, I remembered several different sizes, none of which were right. My power, once I could put thought to it, proved to have limits. I could make coverings, they were crude, made of the ground, the air, the space itself. Better to go with real clothing, I thought.

My new outfit was...well, garish. Red, Black, White, green, lavender, navy, and at least three other colors, they were all present in some form. And the patterns were no less disparate. Even my shoes didn't match. Still, it covered me up, so I suppose it did it's job.

I took hold of a metal rod, which had been used to hold clothes, and made my way out of the store. The makeshift weapon felt right. I'd scarcely made my way out of the building when someone jumped in front of me. A woman with a mouse mask.

'Mouse Protector,' I thought

She looked at me, and gave a beaming, albeit strained smile. Understandable, given the situation.

"Are you okay?" She asked me. I was, more or less, though my only response that she could see was gaping like a fish. Had to sharpen my people skills.

"Fine," I stuttered after a moment.

She patted me on the shoulder, and asked, "What's your name, dear?"

She was trying to calm me down.

"My...uh-" I said dumbly

"Nice to meet you, Maya!" she said, "don't you worry your little head, I'll get you out of here safely."

"No!" I yelled. It surprised her, and it surprised me too. After a moment, I continued.

"I have powers. I can help you...I can help."

I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice. Why did I want to help? I was afraid, that much was certain, and I knew why I felt that way.

"Look," Mouse Protector said soothingly, "you just got your powers today, right?"

I nodded.

"Then you need to know: You don't have to do this. Having powers, that doesn't mean you have to go into this fight. It doesn't mean you have to risk your life. No one will blame you if you run from here, and no one will think less of you for doing it."

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

She seemed taken aback for a moment, then there was a stretch of silence. Then she said with a sigh, for she had to know how I'd respond.

"Because I can help."

"And I can too," I replied.

And that really was the end of it. She seemed to know she wouldn't talk me out of it, and I had made myself be resolute. I would go out there, and help. It was my instinct, and right now, instinct was all I had.