Charm Learning Shard (Worm/Exalted) (COMPLETED)

[PepeTheFrog]

The only unrealistic thing about this chapter is that VoidCowboy got suspended for making a joke.

 

[Kennethil]

"Not for her," I interrupt them. "For me. If Teacher betrays us, I'm compromised. She's our backup. I'll delete the recordings and forget all about her. The worst happens, you have to get Ascalon to her and her backers."

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Of course Saint is a reasonable martyr in this world, amazing .

Why does evil Taylor not think she is going to get whacked by the older evil Taylor? Or even the 17 looming dooms she has to survive?

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I wonder if 17 dooms queued up means that the first 16 are actually supposed to leave her alive so she experiences all of them?

 

[Daniel Snuts]

YOU MADE SAINT INTO AN ACTUAL PERSON?!

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I always considered Saint a person, and was bewildered later on in the story when it became clear that Wildbow very much did not share this opinion.

Come to think of it, MM is probably not going to take this turn of events well, as she had pretty much latched onto Taylor. (Considering how she was normally a "Orders are orders" kinda gal. )

Wonder if she too comes to the conclusion that Armsy/Dragon were involved in the hitjob.

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Miss Militia... haven't been told that the charges that brought down Armsmaster were part of a coverup, for starters. She hasn't been happy in a while.

 

[omni001]

So this is a pretty out there idea I had after reading evil-Taylor's "killed an innocent" comment regarding Blasto.

What if evil-Taylor being pregnant with a clone of Taylor's child is a red herring with how obvious it is and how much it's been discussed in chat? What if she's actually carrying a different unborn creature, one that wiped itself from her mind, one that if she saw in Blasto's lab wouldn't make her think of him as innocent?

What if evil-Taylor is carrying the Morrigan?

 

[Whitesnake Pelinal]

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, YOU FUCKING RETARD?" you scream at him. "DID YOU OPEN PANDORA'S BOX JUST SO YOU COULD STICK YOUR DICK IN IT?"

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Poor Meatmaster just can't win. Damned when he's a toaster-fucker and damned when he's not.

"But you're-"

"The sort-of dowager empress? A living martyr? The diplomat who prevented a civil war, and the mastermind who took down Coil with zero losses? Oh, and while Mastering me with emptiness endowment you stuffed me full of 'useless' rhetorical ability and administrative skill. Can't imagine why they'd turn to me, with no capes left."

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One of the members of Bitten - Imp, I think - is dragging the mutilated corpse of a young girl by the leg. The other leg has been severed and shoved into the abdominal cavity, from which bloody intestines trail across the street. The entire lower half of her face is missing, as are her arms.

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So... the system stood aside while the Nine ran rampant and murdered the E88, then jumped Lady Fenrir in school, put a hit on her which was carried out in gruesome fashion by a black superthug, and the corpse paraded in front of a whole coven of reporters. I want to say race war now, but if I was in Fenrir's Children I'd be thinking more along the lines of innawoods now.

At least it's better than the 'fixing the moral failings of this fic' omake that one guy on SB wrote, where Taylor did a mass shooting gunning down everyone in the Empire bar in cold blood (though she spared Rune because she suddenly realized she was bisexual after all, and Rune she'd rather rape).

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I skipped this story on SB because it had 'shard' in the title. Once again I regret missing the salt dunes of CrW.

 

[Edifier]

inb4 all the botched rolls involve the abyssal evil fenrir clone baby. And they all relate to him developing into something anthetical to good Taylor. As in the botched rolls go the way of irony. Instead of by birthing this abonination to drive Good Taylor mad with grief regret and more cause the creature hates good Taylor, but instead it gets twisted into something that loves Good Taylor and is like having a missing piece of Fenrir back that Good Taylor has been missing the whole time.

...

xD Way too conveluted and as if Good Taylor would get nice things. Lol.

I skipped this story on SB because it had 'shard' in the title. Once again I regret missing the salt dunes of CrW.

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Some of the salty duners migrated here. Tho they've not been present as of late.

 

[PeriodicPedant]

> Chapter B.19
> Chapter B.19.5

That was amazing.

 

[Zxzx24]

This was a truly enjoyable read. Taylor getting fucked over. More fun characters than Taylor getting plenty of screen time. Super power battles. Even a happy ending (of a sort).

Though she is not happy, she can't help but smile as she gently rests a hand on her stomach.

Her own happiness wasn't the most important thing, was it?

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Oh how nice it would be if this was canon. Go forth. Have some happy freedom you abyssal madness woman.

Why does evil Taylor not think she is going to get whacked by the older evil Taylor? Or even the 17 looming dooms she has to survive?

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Because shes an Abyssal Exalt.

Doom Seventeen Fold is just going to be added to her name as an epitaph.

Is it bad that I kinda wanna follow Good(?) Taylor's adventures now rather than Current Taylor? 51 ill-timed botches is probably going to be less grimderp than Current Taylor's future anyway.

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It probably really would be.

So... the system stood aside while the Nine ran rampant and murdered the E88, then jumped Lady Fenrir in school, put a hit on her which was carried out in gruesome fashion by a black superthug, and the corpse paraded in front of a whole coven of reporters. I want to say race war now, but if I was in Fenrir's Children I'd be thinking more along the lines of innawoods now.

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They did in canon didn't they?

And also its just Defiant and Dragon. Derpy mechanical romcom they are.

I am honestly kind of surprised that Dragons hearts desire is to still have more of her restrictions lifted. Armsy got a lot of the big ones if I remember canon right.

Edit:
Alright. I read the wiki. Defiant could only yeet the restrictions by crippling her more and it was an ongoing process. Which has now been thoroughly axed.

Wonder what restriction(s) he did remove?

edit:
You know what. That was so good im gonna read it again.

 

[lurkinglurker]

Wait, what?

Umm anyone have a link to that for haw-haws? In addition to that are there omakes from this story? I must confess I've completely forgotten to look, I've been so entranced by the story itself.

EDIT: just checked. Only three omakes.

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Is this what you are looking for?

Charm Learning Shard (Worm/Exalted) | Page 19 | SpaceBattles

I think, on the powers time thing, as there isn't a hard and fast rule established, the author could well choose to have Taylor start to get Rune's power and Crickets, at the least, without breaking SOD in the slightest. Edit1: Imped by my miserable typing speed as much as the author.
However, pages of complaining about one thing probably isn't very fun for the author, so here's an omakeisation of my complaints!
——— ——— ———
They Did Nazi It Coming For Them By Axolotl101
The bar was dimly lit, the tables were crowded, it was a booming Friday night in racist town. Snippets of pseudoscience and inspired and original political opinions filled the air, along with congenial laughter and way too much testosterone.
Unless their insurance was really good, this was probably going to be the last time the bar filled out.
What an awful shame.
As I come into the doorway of the room, silence spreads, like blood slick from a gunshot wound.
Generally, I'd get a chorus of cheers, cries and catcalls. But tonight, I was dressed to kill.
You know, it's a real funny thing, but the more Thinker powers I get, the more they point out to me that a good gun will be better than half the Blaster powers out there.
And these guns were apparently some of the very best, in the urban organised crime business. I mean, I'm pretty good at shapeshifting, and I have been working out for weeks using a Hookwolf-derived routine. And I may have trailed Brad home and shot him in his sleep. So yeah, I am pretty hot. Oh, wait, the UZIs are fine too.
Because I'm as awesome mentally as I am physically, my brief bit of narcissism didn't actually stop me from my main task; IE opening fire on the skinheads.
God, submachine guns are so easy to use, this is awesome. It's like discovering a whole new power. Duel wielding!
My shiny new sonic senses can distinguish damn near every panicked squeal, shattered glass and thumping body. A few fall off their chairs, a few chairs fall over with their owners and then there is silence, broken only by some death groans.
Obviously, there is then cries of alarm from out back. In the time before the four people who rush into the bar make it, I quickly unclip both guns and reload them in the move I practised a whole two times before coming here. Isn't Victor's power awesome.
Well, it's not his anymore, is it? Not unless everyone's least favourite Tinkerbell cosplayer gets out of the Birdcage for some reason.
I ignore the three mortals, who sensibly bail right back where they came from, handguns and all, when they see that only one cape did all this.
Back where they came from. Heh. Ironic humor.
Oh right, Runes' whining about some shit or other.
She looks pale faced, wide-eyed and shocked as she stares at the scene. The part of me that's permanently locked on snark- wouldn't Lisa be proud- idly wondered if minorities bleed less or something.
"But Low Key, why? They were standing against all what was wrong in the world! I thought there was a connection between us, we were brothers in arms!"
I considered this salient and basically accurate point. Hmmm, actually, Cliff was way hotter than Rune anyway, and you had way much more in common- he liked you, you also liked yourself- but you still dropped him. Rune probably would want a more reciprocal relationship, and you had her power anyway.
"Yeah, I'm sorry Rune, but I really ain't into all that gay shit."
"But I'm not lesbia…"
Her last words! Such poetry, truly reflective of her life. That's actually kinda true, maybe you should post them on PHO or something.
Nah, you're still banned. You take a few selfies next to the cooling copses of Rune and all the mortal Empire goons, with your guns held in that classic action movie pose. You consider piling the bodies up and sitting on top like a throne or something, but that would be way too much effort for a selfie, and actually kinda gauche.
Ah well. You settle for stealing Rune's wizard robe and tying it around your flak jacket. She looks kinda hot without it on, come to think of it. Maybe you are bi after all?
Huh. Maybe you should seduce Panacea next? Gallant would probably object if you stole his girlfriend, but you bet Panacea's nearly as hot as her sister under those robes. And her power would be great if you want to organise your hobo minions into an actual gang. And avoid getting in too much danger at Endbringer fights. Actually, that's an excellent idea!
But first, as you summon Fenrir and ride off into the night, you have one crucial thing you need to do.
You get out your phone.
You go to your PHO account. Luckily temp-banned users can still use DMs.
You select Lisa.
You send the selfies. The Rune + gangbangers one; the sleeping forever Hookwolf one; the didn't-dodge-fast-enough Cricket one; even the Victor and Othala one where you got two people with one bullet. You'd been busy tonight, and now you've just got to show off.
"Hey Lisa, I had a crisis of conscience about this whole Nazi thing, so I decided to bail out and start my own gang! Wanna join? Pics related!"
As Fenrir lands in your deserted warehouse, and you pass your guns and flak jacket to the most reliable hobo you found- by virtue of being louder and more interestingly violent than the voices in his head, you'd apparently earned his undying loyalty- there is only one thing on your mind.
You strip down to bra and sweatpants, and then you put the robe on. Selfie time again.
"AllSeeingEye is typing…"
"Hey Lisa, look at me, I'm the wizard now!"
—— —— ——
AN: WTF, I actually wrote this. Apparently, the sleep-deprived parts of my subconscious took the prompt "transgressive, comedically sociopathic inner monologue" and ran the hell away with it.
So, Daniel Snuts I have one omake for you, quality not guaranteed.
Edit2: SPAG, wording and missed Cricket mention.

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[zharshoul]

Pretty sure the clone Blasto made is dead, that's the corpse Imp is turning in for the Kill Order Bounty, while fucking over Tagg.

If I'm understanding the events right...

Dragon and Defiant showed up to arrest Taylor for... some reason?

Taylor fought back and escaped, blowing her Low-Key, DD, and possibly Smith identities, also getting Armsmaster in an oath not to further free Dragon and inadvertently turning the Dragonslayers into very temporary allies.

Tagg signed the Kill Order that Piggot had written up in case Low Key were discovered to have "broken the Endbringer Truce" by lying about losing her powers.

This was presumably announced, Taylor heard about it, and decided to have Evil Taylor killed and turned in while she presumably just stops shapeshifting back into her original form and abandons the Taylor, Low-Key, DD, and maybe Smith identities.

Evil Taylor foresaw this when the announcement was made, and swapped herself with a clone she'd had Blasto make.

Taylor and/or Team BITN kill the Blasto-Clone and go to turn in the body on live tv and fuck over Tagg. Unfortunately the Dragonslayers hear about and believe it to, so Taylor never gets to be their friend after all.

Evil Taylor escapes, breaking a bunch of charm-enforced promises and such, but gambling that she'll be able to survive 17 terrible fates. Possibly pregnant with... something Abyssal flavored and planning to fuck Original Taylor at every chance she gets without revealing she survived (until dramatically appropriate at least).

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thank you for clarifying, chapter was pretty convoluted with lots of plots and cris crosses going on

 

[Daniel Snuts]

Oh. OH.

Wasn't Evil Taylor cloned when Taylor was pregnant? What does that mean for herself? Is that why she's acting like that? And what would the consequence be for Ylva's clone?

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A cookie for you, sir, and anyone else who came to the same conclusion independently.

If that is the case then, since Evil Taylor is an Abyssal, the only possibilities for the fetus are 'dead and eventual rotting body horror' and 'undead abomination'.

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There's nothing inherently unwholesome about abyssal pregnancy. It's tricky to pull off, because bringing new life into the world is a Resonance factory without equal for vanilla abyssals, and Resonance bursts can kill people and/or cause miscarriages. But those things only work on mortals, and Ylva was godblooded.

Wonder is souls severing technique destroys the soul?

Earth bet humans probably shouldn't have those though.

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Souls don't exist, but it might prevent Glaistig Uaine from yoinking the faerie posthumously.

Also surprised at Taylor spouting off that pack of blatant lies about Smith considering Armsy's lie detection. I wonder what conclusion's they'll draw from all the [LIE] flags that get thrown up.

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"Maybe he's busy. Maybe he's asleep. Or maybe he was no longer useful to me."

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Well, if such 'speculation' gets assigned a truth value, that last statement pings as true.

And damn, he's bullshit, isn't he? Like, holy shit, how could he be a minor villain of no global importance...

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"How come a stoner hasn't accomplished anything noteworthy?"

Don't do drugs, kids.

I will point out Clone!Taylor surviving is a unthreadmarked omake, so probably don't count it as canon.

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Real talk, its canonicity is deliberately undecidable. Because it posits a happy ending where Evil Taylor successfully escapes, for it to be real requires Original Taylor to never find out. Therefore its version of events cannot be verified from within the second person limited perspective of the main story (you'll note how it was third person instead of a first person 'o-vision' segment, because those are inherently canonical).

It's up to each person to decide their headcanon for themselves, but y'all much prefer Original Taylor to have unwittingly murdered her daughter-clone, right? All the cool kids do. That dumb omake was better off not written, right?

I-it's not as if I like the idea of Best Wolfgirl Daughteru 2.0 growing up strong and healthy and having adventures of her own or anything, baka!

 

[5ColouredWalker]

It's up to each person to decide their headcanon for themselves, but y'all much prefer Original Taylor to have unwittingly murdered her daughter-clone, right? All the cool kids do. That dumb omake was better off not written, right?

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I don't prefer it.
But I will point out it is verifiable. If we see Blasto alive, then it's non canon, or she only killed a Blasto clone which is... unlikely given she can see.... actually, could a botch cause him to live/her to get the wrong Blasto?

Ok. Into the rabbit hole it goes.

 

[JustCurious]

I-it's not as if I like the idea of Best Wolfgirl Daughteru 2.0 growing up strong and healthy and having adventures of her own or anything, baka!

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Aww, you do care! I was starting to wonder, with making us hope for a good ending for the Dragonslayers, and not even waiting for the next day to ruthlessly crush them.
(Just kidding. Keep crushing hopes, that's awesome)

A cookie for you, sir and anyone else who came to the same conclusion independently.

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Yum-yum \o/


Although, doesn't having Taylor dead kind of ruin Defiant's pact? There's a chance he decides to take the risk anyway. And Taylor doesn't seem to have realized what someone breaking her pact, and only her pact, feels like (at least given the non-canon omake - why not add it as extra though? It'd be a real pity not to have it threadmarked somewhere, it's already hard to find stuff with the chapter names).

Most likely option, he goes ahead, she ruins him without outing herself, Dragonslayers are hopeful there's someone left from DD's organization and try contacting her.
... Although Taylor getting Avalon sounds too good an ending to be true. Looking forward to how that'll go wrong

 

[ses]

Although, doesn't having Taylor dead kind of ruin Defiant's pact? There's a chance he decides to take the risk anyway. And Taylor doesn't seem to have realized what someone breaking her pact, and only her pact, feels like (at least given the non-canon omake - why not add it as extra though? It'd be a real pity not to have it threadmarked somewhere, it's already hard to find stuff with the chapter names).

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Yeah Taylor did not think through the fact that Defiant breaking the pact would by definition mean that he's being karmically let to a terrible fate by an ill-timed botch at the moment he chooses to attempt to free an AGI

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy worthy of the Greek Oracles

 

[JustCurious]

Yeah Taylor did not think through the fact that Defiant breaking the pact would by definition mean that he's being karmically let to a terrible fate by an ill-timed botch at the moment he chooses to attempt to free an AGI

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy worthy of the Greek Oracles

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Oh dear. I didn't think of it like that. And he almost botched the attempt to free her in canon. OH DEAR.
*going to scream in a corner*

 

[ses]

Oh dear. I didn't think of it like that. And he almost botched the attempt to free her in canon. OH DEAR.
*going to scream in a corner*

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That doesn't even touch on the best part. It would be a direct result of Evil Taylor tricking Taylor into not realizing that the Solar version of the oath is too subtle to notice. Leading directly to the end of the world, thus putting Evil Taylor into the Abyssal Hall of Fame with a new low% speedrun record.

 

[bornagainpenguin]

Is this what you are looking for?

Charm Learning Shard (Worm/Exalted) | Page 19 | SpaceBattles

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Thanks for letting me read it. Exactly as described. What a disappointment. But thanks for letting me see it nonetheless.

EDIT: Wait, is the thread still accessible for you somehow? I was completely unable to access it when I tried.

 

[Whitesnake Pelinal]

Thanks for letting me read it. Exactly as described. What a disappointment. But thanks for letting me see it nonetheless.

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Look on the bright side: the ice is broken. None of us have to go first if we want to write omake, and the bar is eminently hoppable.

 

[Daniel Snuts]

Endbringer sirens. You instantly rise into the air and start flying back towards the lair. It's the benefit of never going outside with the same face twice: You're always wearing a disposable identity. You reach for your phone, but it rings before you can call anyone.

"What's the play, boss?" Alec asks.

"Did you secure my stuff?"

"What stuff?"

Oh, for- "Put me on speakerphone!" There's a beep as he does so. "Drop stealth right now!" You invoke the latest boop of smarts to make it a command. Good thing you happened to be sufficiently far away that you remember Aisha's existence.

"Oh right," Alec says. "That stuff. Got it now."

"You both suck," Aisha says (because Alec lets her).

---

You crafted the costume for your next official identity with some care. A long-sleeved leotard in bright red, with matching gloves and thigh-high boots. Mildly provocative on its own, but mitigated by a cape that goes all the down your arms to drape about your body.

The long sleeves hide the marks on your forearms from where you've been stockpiling willpower over the last couple of days, while the gloves hide the tell-tale signs of having your fingers surgically reattached (well, they weren't strictly speaking your fingers, re-attached).

The cape is long enough that it would drag along the ground if you tried to walk in it - but now that you can fly, why not take advantage of it? Flight is something every high-caste parahuman is assumed to be capable of, if not under their own power then by commissioned tinkertech.

A 'ninja' mask covers the lower half of your face, complemented by crimson eyes and long silky black hair. Yes, yes, you're shallow, whatever. What is even the point of playing dress-up if you can't indulge your vanity a little? Let's focus on the Endbringer in the room.

There is no longer any doubt about it. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action. The Buddha sits on the mountain, and all things come to him. Including the Endbringers, who clearly know what to do if you meet the Buddha on the road. It's flattering, in a way. They obviously fear what you might grow into.

But perhaps they miscalculated. Perhaps you have already grown into a threat, and they ought rather shun you at all costs.

"Esper," you say into your armband. "Blaster, unconventional. My power will either ignore Endbringer defenses entirely, or do nothing at all. Range, roughly 100 feet."

"Acknowledged," the armband replies. "Stand by. You have been assigned to forward Blaster group B." Directions flash on the map. "Be aware, Behemoth's kill aura extends 32 feet from his body."

---

A behemoth stands before you, near 50 feet of rippling muscle and jagged obsidian. Hands that are chunks of crystalline rock as much as they are claws. A gaping maw and a single eye, both glowing like the molten blood of the earth itself.

You heft your weapon: A simple black baton. Thin and light, it might be able to inflict bruises on a human, but would itself break before it could break a bone.

It is not the weapon that is important.

You activate Crusader's power - to penetrate, however lightly, through any amount of armor - and layer it with that of Murder Rat - to insure an injury no matter what. You thrust, and use Jack's power to send your strike forward as a beam of golden fire.

(Turns out you misjudged Jack's power - it does come with a Thinker component, telling you exactly how to strike to prevent any chance of being blocked or dodged. You didn't notice until now because you only tested it on trees)

As the hit lands, you use Animos's power to turn physical injury into a wound on the soul, ripping away your adversary's power.

The behemoth screams, and the world becomes fire.

Spoiler: Alexandria-o-vision

Fighting Behemoth is a strange experience. With Leviathan, there is always the risk of drowning. With Simurgh, you can never trust anything. But Behemoth has no way to hurt me. Fire, lightning, radiation, brute strength, nothing he does can get through my defenses. Nor can I hurt him, really. At best, we can knock each other about a bit.

That doesn't mean that I don't give it my all. Quite the contrary. I fight with all my might, simply to protect the more fragile people around me. The people who volunteer to fight, knowing that they have a one-in-four chance of dying. Even a moment's distraction, a single misstep can be the difference between life and death for someone in the crowd.

So we batter at each other, a pair of titanic sumo wrestlers whose bout leave buildings in ruins and tear the earth itself open. Other heroes fire their attacks into the melee, and Behemoth sends bolts of lightning back.

It's well-worn dance at this point, a scene that has repeated itself over and over again for almost two decades. Were it not for my power, I have no doubt that the occasions would blur together in my mind. I hate it. I hate that the world contains monsters. I hate that this death and destruction could be called routine. I hate.

Then, something happens that has never happened before. Behemoth goes completely still, then throws back his head and screams. The sound sends a chill down my spine. He often roars, in challenge or victory, or simply as a devastating sonic attack. But he's never made a sound like this before. His scream is full of pain, confusion and - dare I say it? - fear.

Before the echoes have died away, the air fills with other screams, human screams coming from every direction. The people who were attacking Behemoth a moment ago are bursting into flame and collapsing. All around me burning streaks fall to the ground as flying capes are overcome.

It makes no sense. I recognize the effect of course, but everyone was well clear of Behemoth's aura. In all the years of fighting, it never once changed in size. 32 feet, carefully measured and confirmed from countless recordings. Yet now it's affecting people over a hundred feet away. What's different this time?

My mind immediately leaps to a possibility, a voice overheard in passing as a new cape spoke into her bracelet. I must find this unconventional Blaster, and discover the details of her power.

I make a snap decision. With her reported range, she'll have been caught by the expanded kill aura. I cannot spare the time it would take to reach her by conventional means. This will reveal certain resources that Cauldron would prefer to keep hidden, but every fraction of a second counts now. We'll be able to play it off as the work of an independent cape who came for the Endbringer fight.

"Door to Esper. Door to Sanctuary."

A portal appears before me, with Esper on the other side. Her flesh is blackening and cracking and there are flames shooting out of her mouth as she screams in pain, but she's not dead yet.

I fly through the portal and barrel into Esper at full speed, tackling her into the second portal that appears behind her. We emerge into rolling grasslands. There is no one else in sight (the entire planet we call Sanctuary is empty of human life). The portal closes behind us, cutting off the aura.

Esper has stopped screaming. Not so much because she is no longer in pain, but rather because the impact when I hit her pulverized her ribcage and crushed her heart and lungs. A deliberate tradeoff, the important part was getting her out of there before her brain boiled. That she was still screaming is a good sign, it indicates at least some awareness.

Now I just have to get her fixed up before oxygen deprivation does was Behemoth could not. I steel myself for the next part of the plan.

"Door to Panacea."

I expect to arrive in her grove of flesh, and to have to fight off whatever horrors lurk inside while negotiating for her services. To my surprise the portal reveals a familiar field hospital. She left her grove to assist in the Endbringer fight. It speaks well of her sanity, that she is able to recognize the value of cooperation. Behemoth will destroy her grove as readily as any other part of the city.

The hospital is sparsely populated, as the fight has barely started (the other people hit by the expanded aura are already beyond saving). Panacea is healing a young man I don't recognize. Struck by lightning, from the looks of it. She's surrounded by a crowd of blonde women. They all wear patient gowns, but seem to be acting as nurses. One of her disgusting trees stands nearby in a wheeled pot, branches bending under the weight of ripe blood-fruit.

The women all have the same face, not just the same hair color. I recognize her/them: Homunculi created in the image of her late sister. I shove my way through them and present Panacea with my burden.

"Heal her. Now."

Panacea spins around, startled. Her dress blinks in confusion and bares its teeth at me. It couldn't harm me, but I glide back and lift Esper out of the way to be safe.

"She has vital information about Behemoth, she must not succumb to her injuries."

My armband pings, and Dragon's voice emerges from it. "Be advised, Behemoth's kill aura has expanded to roughly 150 feet in radius. Do not get within 150 feet of Behemoth."

"Yes, relating to that matter."

Panacea immediately closes her eyes and lays a hand on Esper's thigh, the other motioning me to lay her down on a cot. Though her eyes fly open again before I can even relinquish my burden. "Ilsa?" she squeaks. She shakes her head and closes her eyes again. "How is she- what is this? Fruit, I need all the fruit!"

Nurses scurry to do her bidding, bringing several glistening, pulsating fruits from the tree. I step back to let them work, and others start cutting away what little of Esper's clothing did not already burn up or melt into her skin.

The blood-fruits are placed on Esper's chest, and at a touch from Panacea they melt into and merge with her flesh. As the bulges sink down into her body, pus and other less identifiable fluids are forced out from gaps opening up in her sides.

Panacea is shaking her head, though. "Not enough, not enough. More fruits! Feed the tree!"

The last fruits are picked. Another group of nurses move to the morgue section. They grab a cadaver, drag it over and unceremoniously toss it at the tree. Whip-quick roots coil around it and sink into the flesh. New fruits begin to grow as the tree drinks.

This time, rather than merge the fruits into the patient, Panacea starts shaping them in place. A beating heart - larger than human's - forms atop Esper's chest. Arteries grow out of it and plunge into her neck. A strange fern-like structure of feathery, blood-red fronds grows from the heart, forming a fan three feet high and five across. A homunculus steps up and grabs it by the stem(?) and starts waving it back and forth.

"That will keep her from dying," Panacea says. "I need to think."

I'm somewhat less than impressed with the world's greatest healer. "What's the problem?"

"What's the problem? What's the problem!? Her subdermal armor has melted. Melted and run and pooled and is now setting again, blocking things up and cooking her faster than I can heal her! You need a ferrokinetic, not a biokinetic!"

I can only think of two capes who could handle something like this, and they were both present today. A query of my bracelet confirms my fears.

Magnet Maggie, deceased. Mr Steel Yo Girl, deceased.

"Think of something," I command. In the background Behemoth's roar can be heard, underscoring the time pressure involved.

"I- you- fine! Alice, Bethany, attend me." Two of the homunculi approach (I idly wonder how she tells them apart) and, at her instruction, lie down on adjacent cots.

She moves to the first one and places her hands around its neck. She closes her eyes in concentration briefly, then... pulls its head off. Both ends seal over with fresh skin with barely a spurt of blood. She brings the head over to the second homunculus and presses it against its shoulder. Flesh joins together, twitching and surging as everything gets hooked up.

"Don't try to get up, your blood pressure sucks," she calls over her shoulder as she turns back to Esper. Both heads offer weak affirmatives.

She then repeats the procedure with Esper, detaching her head and placing it on the headless homunculus body. While she works, the other nurses remove the now desiccated corpse from the tree and replaces it with Esper's remains.

I glide over to Panacea. It's taking longer than the previous operation. "Are you done yet?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure," Panacea says as the last burns on Esper's face clear up. "She won't drop dead from autoimmune issues. She can fix the rest later." She steps back, and flicks her finger against Esper's forehead. "There, she's awake."

The first thing you feel as consciousness returns is someone grabbing you by the throat and slamming you into a wall. When your eyes focus you see a black-visored helmet three inches from your face. You reflexively activate sorcerer's sight to try to figure out what parahuman is accosting you, before you realize that you know whose mask that is. Everyone knows whose mask that is.

"What did you do?" Alexandria demands.

("I just got her that body, don't break it!" someone complains in the background)

What did you do? You're not entirely sure. Where are you? What happened?

"Behemoth's aura grew to five times it normal size!" Alexandria shouts. "What. Did. You. Do?"

Oh. That. Your face splits into a grin that is all teeth. It worked!

"What did I do? I made him hurt. I made him scared. I made him stop sandbagging." You scrabble at the fingers around your throat, to no avail. "Let me go, I have to get out there. I have to hit him again!"

She lets you go. Your legs give out when you land and you tumble to the ground. Your body feels weird. Well, it's a lot less dead than expected given your last coherent memory, so you're not going to complain. After a few false starts, you manage to get to your feet.

Oh, there's Panacea. And a dozen or so Glory Girls? And one of her creepy trees, being hugged by something that looks like a headless cyborg lich? Whatever, you have an Endbringer to kill.

Then you pause as something she said finally registers on you.

"Five times? That's longer than my range! I need someone who can shield me from his aura. Also from lighting, he's definitely going to try that next. And someone to hold him down, so he doesn't charge me or run away." You look down, and realize that you're naked save for a hospital gown. "And a weapon to channel my power through!"

Alexandria stares at you. You think. Not that you can see her eyes beneath her visor, but you get the sense that she's judging you.

One of the Glory Girls helpfully offers you a scalpel.

---

When Alexandria makes a decision, she doesn't fuck around. Eidolon is summoned, given terse instructions. You watch in fascination as he switches his powers around until he finds one that fits. He glows more strongly to sorcerer's sight than anyone- than any other human you've seen. Still less intense than an Endbringer.

He touches you, and the most peculiar feeling washes over you. "Range extender," he says.

"Move," Alexandria says, and the three of you fly off.

Behemoth is rampaging freely as you approach, tearing down buildings and leaving a trail of molten lava in his wake. Hardly anyone challenges him, the few remaining long-range Blasters suppressed by a veritable storm of lightning bolts.

So intent is he on causing destruction that he doesn't even notice your approach. You touch down among some of the less molten rubble off to the side, a conservative 200 feet away. Graceful crane stance means the lava would hold your weight, but you've already hit your RDI of 'being on fire', thanks.

With a deep breath, you weave your powers together once more, and golden fire leaps from your scalpel to splash against the monster's back. That he notices. He screams again, and spins around to charge towards you - only to stagger backwards as Alexandria hits him like a cannonball.

"Is it working?" Eidolon asks.

"It's working," you confirm. Sorcerer's sight shows the Endbringer-glow guttering and fading - Behemoth shines no brighter than Eidolon now.

You strike him again, and he rains lightning down upon you. Every last bolt hits Eidolon's upraised palm as he hovers I front of you, to no effect. "No," Eidolon declares firmly. "Not today. Today we strike back."

You punctuate his words with golden fire. And agai- guh. Pain spikes behind your temples as your control slips, and your next strike gutters out in golden sparks. You fall to your knees from an exhaustion that is in no way physical. Using that many powers at once, over and over again...

You failed. Through endless toil and tears, you assembled a suite of powers that could strike down an Endbringer. You had a plan, you had the support of the Triumvirate itself. The plan worked, the support was flawless. The only point of failure was you. You were too weak.

All you accomplished was the greatest casualties of any Endbringer battle yet.

Eidolon has turned around, and is asking you something. You can't make it out over the buzzing in your ears. You turn your head away, unable to face his judgement. You just want to sleep. For the first time in so long, can you not just curl up and forget the world?

No, something inside you rages. This is not the end, it insists, despite the grey creeping into the edge of your vision. This was foreseen. Your despicable weakness was also planned for. There's a power that will save your life, and more besides.

"Can you heal?" you ask Eidolon. Your grip tightens on the scalpel that had almost slipped from your fingers. Without waiting for an answer, you stab yourself in the arm. Your vision clears.

You laugh and stab yourself again, and again and again. You laugh as Eidolon desperately flips through his power library looking for something that will keep you from bleeding out (little does he know). You laugh as Dragon's voice sounds from the armband, announcing "The kill aura has shrunk to 60 feet!" You laugh and stab and laugh and stab.

Feeling better than you've ever felt in your entire life, you stand up. Four powers unite as one in a beam of golden fire. Behemoth's wrestling match against Alexandria stops being a struggle to reach you, and starts being a struggle to escape, to burrow beneath the earth and flee.

"Everyone, to me!" Alexandria calls, her voice echoing through every armband on the battlefield. "The kill aura has normalized, keep him from getting away!"

Just as you're about to land the finishing blow, a van-sized piece of rubble drops down in front of you and blocks your shot.

"You did well," Eidolon says from the other side of it. "I'll take it from here." More rubble approaches you from all sides, stacking up to form a prison.

What the hell does he think he's doing? Behemoth is still Endbringer durable! Just because you've ravaged its soul nigh unto death doesn't mean his attacks will work any better than they have for the last 17 years!

You turn into shadow and slip through the cracks of the hastily assembled structure, reforming outside. Eidolon has started launching some sort of optical distortions at Behemoth. But through some unknown means he notices your escape - he's turning back around to face you! You can't give the myopic glory hog another chance to ruin everything.

Your eyes narrow. The reason Eidolon glows brighter than other capes is that he has no less than three powers active at all times. And right now, your problem is with... that one. Golden fire lashes out, searing away the telekinesis he used to imprison you - and is currently using to fly. He falls from the sky, and his knee twists the wrong way as he lands.

You ignore his screams. You have a job to do. The range extender faded when Eidolon betrayed you, but the kill aura has normalized. You rise into the air again and dart forward for one last strike.

Behemoth doesn't topple as your fire scourges away the last remnant of his soul. He simply grows still, and the baleful light of his eye dims. What remains is a basalt statue, caught in the act of scrabbling to escape a force it could not understand or resist. A fitting monument, and a message to his siblings regarding what is to come.

===

Spoiler: Taylor-o-vision

You'd stop to admire it longer, but you need to get the hell out of dodge before kill-stealing retard Eidolon gathers his wits and uses his remaining two powers to avenge himself on the hero of the hour (century). You do not have another two shots of power nullification left in you, not without even more self-harm.

Spoiler: Mechanic's corner

The real punchline is that by being transplanted into Glory Girl's body, Taylor unwittingly spent her 'Endbringer XP' on Appearance again. At least she managed to get Perception from Leviathan.

 

[Fernando]

... she does not fuck around.

Also, Eidolon-ArmsmasterDefiant glory hog collab when?

 

[Daniel Snuts]

Mr Steel Yo Girl had a self-reported Manton limit of 'sevens and above'. It might not have been a lie. There certainly were no sixes in his cyborg harem.

On several occasions he managed to capture and subvert his nemesis Magnet Maggie, but each time she would use her own power to disable her implants at the crucial moment and foil his plans from within.

The villain community commiserated with him over the unfortunate setbacks he suffered, never thinking to ask "why don't you just kill her or tie her up in the basement or something, instead of trying to make her a minion over and over again?"

The hero community commiserated with her over the horrific abuses she suffered, never thinking to ask "why don't you free yourself immediately, instead of sticking around for weeks of passionate rape-by-mind-control?"

 

[Vealie]

EidolonxZiz OTP

 

[TapTwice2]

Hold on does that mean Taylor now has the body of Amy's glory girl living sex doll?

 

[Not-very-creative]

Did Behemoth attack Brockton Bay aswell?

 

[Edifier]

Hah! All xp spent on looking like Glory Girl? All according to Kekakku, one step closer to being Panacea's family!

 

[Zxzx24]

Is this what you are looking for?

Click to shrink...

Thank you for sharing this cursed knowledge with us.

Ironically it fits really well. Except for the poor writing quality anyway. Snuts graphic depictions of mass murder are usually more eloquent.

"How come a stoner hasn't accomplished anything noteworthy?"

Don't do drugs, kids.

Click to shrink...

Fanfiction is better than drugs truly.

I-it's not as if I like the idea of Best Wolfgirl Daughteru 2.0 growing up strong and healthy and having adventures of her own or anything, baka!

Click to shrink...

Aw. I guess you do have a heart.

Behemoth doesn't topple as your fire scourges away the last remnant of his soul. He simply grows still, and the baleful light of his eye dims. What remains is a basalt statue, caught in the act of scrabbling to escape a force it could not understand or resist. A fitting monument, and a message to his siblings regarding what is to come.

Click to shrink...

Bye bye least interesting and narratively important endbringer.

Your sacrifice will not be remembered.

Time for MORE endbringers! Woo hoo!

 

[ses]

Arc D incoming?

Also what a fucking ripoff that Endslaying doesn't get more stats than just surviving. She deserves a dot of Stamina at least.

 

[Ruy]

Valefor

Click to shrink...

Huh, what makes you think so?

Didn't Taylor de-power bonesaw when she used PST on her? Definitely no S9k in that case.

Click to shrink...

She gave her sanity.

Huh, didn't expect fanon Eidolon TBH.

 

[Fernando]

Arc D incoming?

Click to shrink...

Arc D? I'm thinking Arc K, maybe T&B. J if you're feeling nostalgic, and Z in the worst case scenario.

 

[ses]

Arc D? I'm thinking Arc K, maybe T&B. J if you're feeling nostalgic, and Z in the worst case scenario.

Click to shrink...

Arc D for Evil Dragon, after Toasterfucker Eclipse-botches attempting to free her.