Interlude: Dragon, Paladin, Jack
SirWill
Know what you're doing yet?
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A/N: Yet again, I'm behind here because the last few chapters have been revision-heavy. And been busy in real life.
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Dragon's awareness expanded as she dragged Crawler with her. The literally monstrous serial killer writhed in her grip, now trying to get away from the powerful beam of Light Magic that was searing through him. Oh, he was adapting to it, but while he was doing that, it was ripping him to bits. He was flailing now, panicking, spitting globs of acid in all directions rather uselessly as they scattered into space.
By now, he knew he needed to get away, to give himself a chance to overcome the effects, if only by allowing him to heal faster than her power could damage him.
It barely mattered. While he could withstand, at least for a time, a point-blank blast from the Corona weapon, now enhanced by her newly-found power, it wouldn't help him much. Not with him tumbling away from the Earth at thousands of miles an hour. She could see his mouth moving soundlessly as they tumbled together through the void. Probably profanities.
Lovely. Dragon wouldn't ordinarily care, but his forelimbs were wrapped around her body, and she was actually having difficulty in getting free. She couldn't quite maneuver the beam of Light Magic to sear through the left insectoid appendage wrapped around her right, and she didn't have much desire to plow into their ultimate destination. Even if it was a long, long way off.
Still, the light of the sun was making her feel...strange. It was filling her, strengthening her, in more ways than she could have imagined. Was this how Taylor felt, when she basked in her power?
If Dragon could have, she would have grinned. She turned her head, opened the mouth slot, and unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning in his armored face. The electricity raced through him, ripping through his flesh and muscles, having little effect more than just a bit of pain in her opponent. But it was enough to shock and surprise him, and he reflexively let go of her, tumbling in the void helplessly.
As he flailed helplessly, Dragon felt her power build, growing deep within her chassis. It felt strange, but the knowledge came pouring in. Her body glowed white, her strength built to a peak, and she channeled that energy right at the helplessly tumbling Crawler. White fire burst from her in a beam, larger than Crawler's entire body, and he was lost in the glare. When the burst of energy slackened, she managed to spot a single piece of bone tumbling through space. Watching it for a few moments, she felt satisfied as it showed no sign of metabolic activity.
Still, even if Crawler did regrow from that chunk, it would be of little good to him, when he plunged into Jupiter in about four and a half years at this angle and velocity.
She turned herself in the void of space, basking in the unshielded light of the sun. It was....extraordinary. What she could see was...indescribable to human senses. Light of all kinds seemed to brush past her, greet her, and become a part of her. From radio waves to gamma rays, she could see it all. It was a harmony, a beautiful tapestry combined with music. She could have basked in the light for an eon and it wouldn't be enough.
Then she realized she had a problem. No sight of the Earth.
Dammit.
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"Quit your running!" Paladin hollered as she gained on Mannequin, leaping over parked cars and obstructions in the way. "You scared of a little girl? I thought you were a big bad member of the Slaughterhouse, not a little weakling!"
He twitched rather violently, but kept running from her. The serial killer slung himself around, trying to avoid her as he made progress toward the hospital, but she was faster than he was. The glass littering the streets would have given him the advantage, as he wouldn't have had to worry about hurting his feet on the shards, when most pursers would have.
Thankfully, the Cyclone Boots which gifted her this inhuman speed were more than tough enough to handle the shards. Unfortunately, Mannequin still had a fair lead, and his unconventional mode of movement, more tumbling and using long chains to swing from lampposts and whatever he could grapple onto, helped him stay in the lead long enough to reach the hospital parking lot.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" She muttered as Mannequin managed to spring from the ground and into a second-story window of the hospital, unimpeded due to the fact all the windows were broken. Goddamn Shatterbird.
Still, she jumped high, then used the Seraphic Shoulders of her armor to form ghostly angelic wings. They let her get the extra boost of height she needed to crash into the room, right behind Mannequin. She lashed out with her whip, smacking the white Tinkertech ceramics, and making him stumble into a wall in the hospital hallway. He fell apart on impact, his torso, head, arms and legs all flung in different directions.
It didn't help much, the unconventional nature of his body let him pull himself back together in half a second. He turned and regarded her, head tilting slightly, even as he made a slashing motion with his right arm. A blade, attached to chains, arced outward and cut toward her, but she deflected it with her gauntlet and smacked the whip across the torso of his body once more.
He was skilled. Good at what he did. He slung around weapons built into his body, trying to land a hit with those wickedly sharp blades of his, but Madison was unfazed. Block, counter, twist and lunge, her gauntlet burning with holy white fire. It slammed into Mannequin's torso, sending him sliding down the hallway without much resistance. She grinned as she saw cracks on his torso, which he seemed taken aback by.
"Tell me, does that hurt? I wanna know. Does it tingle, or burn, cause I've got some aloe for the burning." She called to him, even as she advanced on Mannequin. He scrambled away for a moment, regrouping himself before slots opened on his form. A red cloud boiled out from him, rapidly filling the halls. It enveloped Madison within a second.
"Oh, goddess, that stinks!" She yelled. "Did you have to let one out right now? What the heck did you eat!?" Her Light Magic amulet flared, both helping her see and...making her not get affected by whatever it was he was spraying around. She charged through the cloud, whip at the ready, slapping aside the blades-on-chains he attempted to counter with. She took a hit on her shoulder, the blade bouncing off the armor there, but it made her stumble. Just long enough for him to punch through a door and into a hospital room. There were three nurses within, cowering behind an overturned hospital bed and the room's bathroom door, which had protected them from the shattering glass.
Madison snarled. Mannequin moved to slash a nurse, when Madison dashed forward using her Cyclone boots and slammed both him and herself through the room's broken window, falling a story. As the ground neared, Madison flared the Seraphic Shoulders once more, letting him hit the ground on his own. He was stunned for a moment, and Madison dove downward, gauntlet flaring white fire.
He rolled out of the way, her fist slamming through pavement and leaving a small crater. He took advantage, slashing at her armored face, forcing Madison to roll backwards. Mannequin lunged at her, the clawed fingertips at the ready. Madison had a brief image of Dracul, lunging toward her with flaming claws.
Compared to him, Mannequin wasn't terrifying at all.
She rolled to the side, grabbing Mannequin's extended arm and slamming him into the pavement. She gripped the chain of the Vampire Killer with her gauntlet-covered hand, white fire coursing along the chain, and spun the burning end rapidly. The whirling chain not only burnt the red cloud spreading from Mannequin's body, but slapped against the mad Tinker's body repeatedly, gouging long marks in his white armor.
Mannequin grew desperate, more slots opening on his armor. Flame gouted from him, catching Madison's legs. Her greaves resisted the heat, but the smell of burned flesh was strong, and she was forced to roll away. Mannequin climbed to his feet, his arms swinging loosely.
He tilted his head, then made a gesture, a sweeping motion away from him. All the while the red cloud spewed from him, gradually thickening into a red haze.
Madison's lip twitched. "You're going to let me run?"
The white, featureless head nodded.
Madison unslung the Vampire Killer to its full length. "Then you don't know me very well. You've killed hundreds of people. Even now, I bet that cloud you're spraying around so liberally is supposed to kill me and a lot of others, isn't it?"
He shrugged.
Madison growled. "You know, I ain't in the mood for charades."
He shrugged again, then his fingers retracted. He pointed the empty arm toward her, and it was a moment of instinct that saved her life. Madison dashed to the side, her greaves flaring with light, as Mannequin shot at her with a goddamn cannon in his arm.
Fucking Tinkers.
Another shot, that just barely grazed her shoulder. It still nearly spilled her to the ground, as it was, it forced her to backflip and catch herself.
Mannequin lined up for another shot. Madison slapped her whip out, forcing the shot skyward, and causing a moment where the serial killer was off-balance. Then...he was surrounded by a blur, staggering as a figure moved in and out of the red cloud at rapid speed. The sound of metal striking ceramic echoed at a nearly painful rate, pushing the mad Tinker off balance.
Madison didn't waste the opportunity. She dashed forward, switching the Vampire Killer to her left hand, coating the weapon in white flame. With a cry, she stabbed the stake attachment at the crack in Mannequin's torso, piercing through the Tinker-made ceramics with a lot of resistance. The white flame easily consumed the now-vulnerable organs of the man held inside.
He stood stock-still for a moment, then collapsed, appropriately, like a puppet whose strings were cut. Madison yanked the whip's hilt from the body. Mannequin's limbs kept twitching, so she pulled her left hand back, and smashed each one methodically with her gauntlet, the heavenly flames giving the edge she needed to break the unnaturally strong materials that made up the infamous serial killer. Soon, he was a pile of burnt out, shattered ceramics on the street.
She looked to Velocity, who was holding a crowbar, giving him a smile under her face-concealing helmet. "Thanks for the help."
"Quite welcome." He said, sounding puzzled. "But...who are you?"
Madison frowned. What was in that red cloud? "Paladin, you know? Of the Wards?"
He tilted his head. "Huh. I know Paladin, but I don't recognize you. Something's weird."
With a sinking feeling, Madison turned. The red cloud wasn't dissipating. It was growing, boiling upwards now and creeping forward, beginning to fill the streets.
"Oh, fuck you guys so much." Madison muttered.
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Jack watched the Siberian advance upon Scarlet Dragon from well over two blocks away. Thanks to Shatterbird, he could enjoy the fresh air that billowed in from the ocean. And thanks to Alan, he had a pair of binoculars to see how things were going. Instead of glass, the lenses were made out of synthetic diamond, making it both tough and not needing much maintenance.
It was a shame they lost Shatterbird, but there wasn't much help for that now. The probable loss of Crawler, while an annoyance, wasn't as terrible. As nice as it was to have him along to hit hard targets or rush headlong into enemies, he wasn't exactly easy to shuttle around places. They usually needed to take a dump truck or something along those lines to ferry him around, and that usually wasn't too subtle.
Jack knew subtlety, when used properly, was the key to survival. It was one of the reasons he was still breathing after twenty years with a kill order on his head. One day, Crawler would have become more of a hindrance than a help when it came to spreading chaos. Honestly, that day had passed long ago.
But Scarlet Dragon, ah....she would be a beautiful nightmare. All Siberian had to do was disable her, bring her in, and the Nine could be reborn far, far greater, now. Even if they failed to bend her to his liking, everybody would know they lost one of the Endkillers to him. Oh, the delicious tragedy! Even greater if she became as feared as the very Endbringer she played such a large part in slaying.
The Siberian lunged, and the beautiful nightmare vanished in a pulse of shadow. She reappeared again, sword slashing at the Siberian's invulnerable skin. Jack felt a grin grow on his face. Now the blade would shatter, like everything else ever had, and....
Then the blade passed through the Siberian without resistance. Both combatants paused, as if in shock. Then the battle resumed, blows being thrown, that strange sword weaving in and out, striking the Siberian again and again. Finally, the black and white woman seemed to get tired of the engagement, ripped a lamppost out of the ground, and swung it at Scarlet. The red girl was now on the defensive, moving with extraordinary agility. Not quite enough, as it turns out, when the Siberian clipped her and sent her sprawling.
Siberian came in, slamming the post down on her opponent again, and again, and again. On the fourth time she lifted the post, though, she paused. Where had...
In a burst of red and black light, Scarlet appeared behind Siberian, blade extended and all the way through Siberian's body. It was hard to see, from this distance, but it looked as if the red girl was entirely unhurt, like every hit the Siberian inflicted meant nothing. Even as Siberian turned, Scarlet flapped her wings, getting some distance between her and the infamous invincible member of the Nine.
Magnificent.
A small smile graced his lips. So much potential, all in one package. Why do you even pretend to be a hero? Granted, most of the villains of this boring world weren't much better, but this girl had been given the power to almost literally bring hell to Earth and this is what she choose to do with it? It was disgraceful, all she could do compared to what she was doing? Jack would fully enjoy enlightening her. Shatterbird had done some damage, and been killed for it. But the damage done would sink into the red girl's mind, all these thoughts of I could have done more. It would make it all the easier when he and Bonesaw got to work.
Now that there was an opening, Jack simply had to add her to his company. All he would need to do was bring her around to his perspective, and he always managed that in the end. There were a lot of ways to do it. Convincing people usually worked, Jack had a peculiar knack for it. Others needed more...vigorous work, usually involving Bonesaw hooking up a car battery to the brain for a while. Jack doubted the latter would be needed here, though. All this power, and she can't save everyone. And those they do save would stare at her, silently blaming her for all those she couldn't save. The resentment builds, and sooner or later, she gives up trying to be good, and revels in destruction.
Jack had seen it many, many times. Some of them he even caused.
Hell, half the work was already done for him. She was a nightmare to behold as it is, she'd barely have to change things at all to join the Nine. Of course, some needed more convincing than others, and he was always willing to make his lesson in cruelty as spectacular as possible. He was already brainstorming ideas for the third act to this effect (Most of them involved that Castle of hers).
Something was odd, though. He could see that she was reveling in the battle with the Siberian, but nothing more than that. There was some healthy fear, but more... exhilaration than anything else. He didn't like being this close to the fight, due to the possibility of a thrown car coming his way, but he felt he needed to be. This one was frustratingly difficult to pin down, to read, to anticipate...
Siberian managed a lunge forward, got a grip, and tore the girl's left arm off. He couldn't hear anything from here, but he could hear the sound regardless in his mind. A wet, tearing wound as bone was pulled from bone. A scream of agony. He'd heard it so many times, and never got tired of it. The girl fell in a heap, then as Siberian came near, fist ready to finish her off, she vanished again, reappearing some distance away, her body trembling. Siberian picked up the severed arm, and slowly, deliberately, bit into it, chewing on the bloody stump.
Then Scarlet roared. Even at this distance, Jack heard that.
A red blur. Waves of blue, ice forming around the Siberian, and suddenly Scarlet was standing some distance away again, holding her blade in both hands.
Powerful regeneration indeed. Still, the Siberian was unstoppable. Jack had to respect that kind of determination. Faced with inevitable defeat, and she would fight on. She would be magnificent once she saw the true way of things, once she'd abandoned these delusions about being a hero. Her powers turned her into a monstrous demon, why couldn't she see that destiny itself wanted her to join the Slaughterhouse Nine?
I see you, little man.
It wasn't sound, but he heard it all the same. The last time he heard something like that was when Screamer was a part of the group. He quickly slid a knife from his jacket, turning to look. With all the damage Shatterbird did, the projecting voice could be coming from anywhere.
Such a shame, little Jack. Such potential wasted.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack spoke cooly. "A little trick? Not really something you heroes are known for."
An echoing laugh. Hero, am I? Perhaps once. Now, I simply am.
Jack turned this way and that, looking around the destroyed office that was his lookout. Nothing here, there, nor the next room....
Then he turned back to the window, and nearly stumbled off his feet. A figure stood there, hair white as snow, wearing a long black overcoat, ornately decorated with silver and gold, open to show his bare chest. His face was twisted into a contemptuous sneer, the eyes a deep, hellish red.
"Ah." Jack said, a carefree smile on his lips. "Neat trick, indeed. Teleport? Mind games? Hologram? All sorts of neat things around, if you know what to look for. Might I have the name of such a theatrical guest?"
A slight tic came from the corner of the man's mouth. "It's a real shame, Jacob. I can sense it on you. My touch, twenty years old. Faded. Weak. And filled with contempt."
Jack blinked. It had been a long time since he felt even slightly off his game. "I'm pretty damn sure I've never seen you before in my life."
A long laugh, filled with cruel humor. "Oh, I'm sure you remember, Jack. The moment you were touched by the fragment of the abomination. The power you wield even now. When it touched you, my power did as well." His lip turned up into a smile. "It touched you, evaluated you, and you were found wanting." He pointed outside, where the demonic girl and the invincible woman were tearing up the city block in their futile battle with each other. "You are up against something of which you have no comprehension. You face your end, and you are too blind to see it. Idiot."
With a glower, Jack flicked his knife, his power arcing out. The extended cutting edge simply...passed through, doing nothing.
The man, if anything, seemed amused. "I have spent ages beyond counting manipulating the fragments of the beast that grants you your powers. I had not thought I might do so again, but your power begs to be called. It reached to me, across a void you cannot comprehend."
Jack slid the knife away. "Neat trick, but if you're not really here, I don't have to worry about you, now do I? Care to join me in watching the show? Because this one's fun."
In a blink the man was standing directly in front of him, his fingers digging into the flesh underneath his chin. Jack froze as he felt the cold biting into his head as the man spoke, his words echoing harshly through his mind. "I do not need to be physically here for one such as you, little man. For I am Dracul, Lord of Darkness. I am the thing you pretend to be with you disgusting little mockery."
Dracul roughly pushed Jack with his hand, and for all of him telling himself it wasn't real Jack still stumbled from it. He rubbed his neck as he glared at the apparition in anger. "If you are a 'Lord of Darkness', as you say, then you would understand what I'm doing. I'm showing the world how it really is. It's fucked up. I'm just stripping away the veneer of civility to show what people really are. We're monsters, all of us. I've just embraced it. I can show everyone how much fun it is. I've felt the sheer joy of being without rules, without limits. I know the rush of unlimited freedom. Everyone trembles when I come to town. Can you say the same?"
Dracul cut him off with cruel laughter. "Oh, I know well the seduction of warfare. The joy of cutting a bloody swathe through my foes. Of seeing my enemies cower and tremble at my name. But you? You are a tiny gnat. For what end is your carnage pushed towards, hm? You commit horror after horror, and there is no purpose beyond your own pathetic pleasure. I learned much through my successor's eyes, and you little man are no different than countless others that have walked both mine and your world. Scrambling around pointlessly, biting everything that crosses your path, like a rabid dog."
"Hardly rabid." Jack smiled. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I will be known as one of the greatest men in history. The greatest monster of modern times. People will know my name a millennium from now. How many of the little peons down there are going to be remembered, hm? They're going to be lost in history, forever, as if they never were. At least when I kill them, they have the honor of being another number attached to my name."
Dracul simply smiled, a cruel, contemptuous thing. "Immortality through fame. Fool. Leaving a pathetic mark with no rhyme or purpose. A child befouling his bed, if only to ensure no one else will sleep in it." Dracul's hand was suddenly around Jack's neck again, the vampire pushing forward, slowly, relentlessly, until Jack's back hit the wall. "None will make a statue of you. There will be no kingdom of yours. You will be reviled, and the scars of those you've harmed will heal, and within a century, no one will care that you lived."
The hand around Jack's throat tightened, and Jack struggled to take in air.
Dracul leaned in closer, his voice intense. "You have watched her, yes? Do you wish to know something interesting?"
Jack gurgled.
Dracul's smile widened. "My power touched many when searching for a worthy successor. Thousands bear the slightest scent, the faintest marking, of when I sent it to search for one to sit upon my throne. You are one, Jack. You could have been the Dragon. You could have led this world into a new age, changed it to your vision. But you are a pathetic child. You would have been consumed by my power, ran around with it like an idiot, fulfilling every small whim, and never having a vision greater than simple destruction. I can see in your mind, little man. Your dreams are small. Your excuses are flimsy justifications to let yourself spill blood and giggle at the horror you sow. You did not begin this with a prize in mind, you do all this for the pleasure of it, nothing more."
Dracul was suddenly on the other side of the room. And Jack...quickly pulled his own hand away from his throat. He looked at his hand in fear, breathing heavily for a moment before he looked at Dracul.
The pale man grinned, his pointed fangs prominent. "In a millennium, there will be those who serve the Scarlet Dragon. There will be those who build monuments to her glory. There will be temples to her might. But you? Take heart. You and your merry band of children will be remembered, Jack. As just another cobblestone on the road to her kingdom. One name among many, no more noteworthy than any other."
Jack's hand trembled, before it stilled. His tone was dangerous as he spoke. "We'll see about that, won't we? I'll take your precious little dragon and turn her to the proper way of thinking. I'm sure she'll make a magnificent little guard dog for Bonesaw. She'll be a happy little psychopath, running around with my illustrious partners, soaking in the blood of everyone she comes across and reveling in it. Or how about having her turn those beasties on that island of hers loose? I can see the fires rising everywhere already!"
Dracul's grin widened, filled with mirth. "You still do not understand. One does not collar a dragon, little man. You are an annoyance, nothing more. In all your time wandering and murdering, you have accomplished nothing of respect. People fear you, but there are none who would follow your ideals without being as broken as you first." The smile dropped. "When I discovered a god ruined my life, I sought to kill that god. It took me eight centuries, but in all that time, every drop of blood I spilled was toward that ultimate end. The chance to end him. You? You simply kill. When I faced the abyss, I walked into it, letting it subsume me. My entire world feared my hatred. You, the moment you discovered the world was not what you believed, threw yourself into it without a care. You blinked. You broke. And instead of being relieved, you decided to make the world the nightmare you believed it was. Pathetic."
At Jack's shocked expression, Dracul barked out a laugh. "Yes, I know. Your mind is open to me, Jack. You show others the abyss. You drag them down to your level. You break them and twist them and turn their souls into twisted mockeries of your own, and you do it for the simple pleasure, regardless of the lies you tell yourself. You have nothing but your own twisted thrills and pathetic delusions. But she? Ah....she is more than that. She can master the darkness. As I only did long after I fell to it. You are beneath me, little man. And you are beneath her."
Dracul vanished.
Jack stood there, and for a long terrifying moment, he felt uncertain and alone. Then he began to chuckle, drawing his knife once more. "Well then....we'll see how high I can reach. We'll see if she's so goddamn unbreakable."
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Dragon's awareness expanded as she dragged Crawler with her. The literally monstrous serial killer writhed in her grip, now trying to get away from the powerful beam of Light Magic that was searing through him. Oh, he was adapting to it, but while he was doing that, it was ripping him to bits. He was flailing now, panicking, spitting globs of acid in all directions rather uselessly as they scattered into space.
By now, he knew he needed to get away, to give himself a chance to overcome the effects, if only by allowing him to heal faster than her power could damage him.
It barely mattered. While he could withstand, at least for a time, a point-blank blast from the Corona weapon, now enhanced by her newly-found power, it wouldn't help him much. Not with him tumbling away from the Earth at thousands of miles an hour. She could see his mouth moving soundlessly as they tumbled together through the void. Probably profanities.
Lovely. Dragon wouldn't ordinarily care, but his forelimbs were wrapped around her body, and she was actually having difficulty in getting free. She couldn't quite maneuver the beam of Light Magic to sear through the left insectoid appendage wrapped around her right, and she didn't have much desire to plow into their ultimate destination. Even if it was a long, long way off.
Still, the light of the sun was making her feel...strange. It was filling her, strengthening her, in more ways than she could have imagined. Was this how Taylor felt, when she basked in her power?
If Dragon could have, she would have grinned. She turned her head, opened the mouth slot, and unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning in his armored face. The electricity raced through him, ripping through his flesh and muscles, having little effect more than just a bit of pain in her opponent. But it was enough to shock and surprise him, and he reflexively let go of her, tumbling in the void helplessly.
As he flailed helplessly, Dragon felt her power build, growing deep within her chassis. It felt strange, but the knowledge came pouring in. Her body glowed white, her strength built to a peak, and she channeled that energy right at the helplessly tumbling Crawler. White fire burst from her in a beam, larger than Crawler's entire body, and he was lost in the glare. When the burst of energy slackened, she managed to spot a single piece of bone tumbling through space. Watching it for a few moments, she felt satisfied as it showed no sign of metabolic activity.
Still, even if Crawler did regrow from that chunk, it would be of little good to him, when he plunged into Jupiter in about four and a half years at this angle and velocity.
She turned herself in the void of space, basking in the unshielded light of the sun. It was....extraordinary. What she could see was...indescribable to human senses. Light of all kinds seemed to brush past her, greet her, and become a part of her. From radio waves to gamma rays, she could see it all. It was a harmony, a beautiful tapestry combined with music. She could have basked in the light for an eon and it wouldn't be enough.
Then she realized she had a problem. No sight of the Earth.
Dammit.
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"Quit your running!" Paladin hollered as she gained on Mannequin, leaping over parked cars and obstructions in the way. "You scared of a little girl? I thought you were a big bad member of the Slaughterhouse, not a little weakling!"
He twitched rather violently, but kept running from her. The serial killer slung himself around, trying to avoid her as he made progress toward the hospital, but she was faster than he was. The glass littering the streets would have given him the advantage, as he wouldn't have had to worry about hurting his feet on the shards, when most pursers would have.
Thankfully, the Cyclone Boots which gifted her this inhuman speed were more than tough enough to handle the shards. Unfortunately, Mannequin still had a fair lead, and his unconventional mode of movement, more tumbling and using long chains to swing from lampposts and whatever he could grapple onto, helped him stay in the lead long enough to reach the hospital parking lot.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" She muttered as Mannequin managed to spring from the ground and into a second-story window of the hospital, unimpeded due to the fact all the windows were broken. Goddamn Shatterbird.
Still, she jumped high, then used the Seraphic Shoulders of her armor to form ghostly angelic wings. They let her get the extra boost of height she needed to crash into the room, right behind Mannequin. She lashed out with her whip, smacking the white Tinkertech ceramics, and making him stumble into a wall in the hospital hallway. He fell apart on impact, his torso, head, arms and legs all flung in different directions.
It didn't help much, the unconventional nature of his body let him pull himself back together in half a second. He turned and regarded her, head tilting slightly, even as he made a slashing motion with his right arm. A blade, attached to chains, arced outward and cut toward her, but she deflected it with her gauntlet and smacked the whip across the torso of his body once more.
He was skilled. Good at what he did. He slung around weapons built into his body, trying to land a hit with those wickedly sharp blades of his, but Madison was unfazed. Block, counter, twist and lunge, her gauntlet burning with holy white fire. It slammed into Mannequin's torso, sending him sliding down the hallway without much resistance. She grinned as she saw cracks on his torso, which he seemed taken aback by.
"Tell me, does that hurt? I wanna know. Does it tingle, or burn, cause I've got some aloe for the burning." She called to him, even as she advanced on Mannequin. He scrambled away for a moment, regrouping himself before slots opened on his form. A red cloud boiled out from him, rapidly filling the halls. It enveloped Madison within a second.
"Oh, goddess, that stinks!" She yelled. "Did you have to let one out right now? What the heck did you eat!?" Her Light Magic amulet flared, both helping her see and...making her not get affected by whatever it was he was spraying around. She charged through the cloud, whip at the ready, slapping aside the blades-on-chains he attempted to counter with. She took a hit on her shoulder, the blade bouncing off the armor there, but it made her stumble. Just long enough for him to punch through a door and into a hospital room. There were three nurses within, cowering behind an overturned hospital bed and the room's bathroom door, which had protected them from the shattering glass.
Madison snarled. Mannequin moved to slash a nurse, when Madison dashed forward using her Cyclone boots and slammed both him and herself through the room's broken window, falling a story. As the ground neared, Madison flared the Seraphic Shoulders once more, letting him hit the ground on his own. He was stunned for a moment, and Madison dove downward, gauntlet flaring white fire.
He rolled out of the way, her fist slamming through pavement and leaving a small crater. He took advantage, slashing at her armored face, forcing Madison to roll backwards. Mannequin lunged at her, the clawed fingertips at the ready. Madison had a brief image of Dracul, lunging toward her with flaming claws.
Compared to him, Mannequin wasn't terrifying at all.
She rolled to the side, grabbing Mannequin's extended arm and slamming him into the pavement. She gripped the chain of the Vampire Killer with her gauntlet-covered hand, white fire coursing along the chain, and spun the burning end rapidly. The whirling chain not only burnt the red cloud spreading from Mannequin's body, but slapped against the mad Tinker's body repeatedly, gouging long marks in his white armor.
Mannequin grew desperate, more slots opening on his armor. Flame gouted from him, catching Madison's legs. Her greaves resisted the heat, but the smell of burned flesh was strong, and she was forced to roll away. Mannequin climbed to his feet, his arms swinging loosely.
He tilted his head, then made a gesture, a sweeping motion away from him. All the while the red cloud spewed from him, gradually thickening into a red haze.
Madison's lip twitched. "You're going to let me run?"
The white, featureless head nodded.
Madison unslung the Vampire Killer to its full length. "Then you don't know me very well. You've killed hundreds of people. Even now, I bet that cloud you're spraying around so liberally is supposed to kill me and a lot of others, isn't it?"
He shrugged.
Madison growled. "You know, I ain't in the mood for charades."
He shrugged again, then his fingers retracted. He pointed the empty arm toward her, and it was a moment of instinct that saved her life. Madison dashed to the side, her greaves flaring with light, as Mannequin shot at her with a goddamn cannon in his arm.
Fucking Tinkers.
Another shot, that just barely grazed her shoulder. It still nearly spilled her to the ground, as it was, it forced her to backflip and catch herself.
Mannequin lined up for another shot. Madison slapped her whip out, forcing the shot skyward, and causing a moment where the serial killer was off-balance. Then...he was surrounded by a blur, staggering as a figure moved in and out of the red cloud at rapid speed. The sound of metal striking ceramic echoed at a nearly painful rate, pushing the mad Tinker off balance.
Madison didn't waste the opportunity. She dashed forward, switching the Vampire Killer to her left hand, coating the weapon in white flame. With a cry, she stabbed the stake attachment at the crack in Mannequin's torso, piercing through the Tinker-made ceramics with a lot of resistance. The white flame easily consumed the now-vulnerable organs of the man held inside.
He stood stock-still for a moment, then collapsed, appropriately, like a puppet whose strings were cut. Madison yanked the whip's hilt from the body. Mannequin's limbs kept twitching, so she pulled her left hand back, and smashed each one methodically with her gauntlet, the heavenly flames giving the edge she needed to break the unnaturally strong materials that made up the infamous serial killer. Soon, he was a pile of burnt out, shattered ceramics on the street.
She looked to Velocity, who was holding a crowbar, giving him a smile under her face-concealing helmet. "Thanks for the help."
"Quite welcome." He said, sounding puzzled. "But...who are you?"
Madison frowned. What was in that red cloud? "Paladin, you know? Of the Wards?"
He tilted his head. "Huh. I know Paladin, but I don't recognize you. Something's weird."
With a sinking feeling, Madison turned. The red cloud wasn't dissipating. It was growing, boiling upwards now and creeping forward, beginning to fill the streets.
"Oh, fuck you guys so much." Madison muttered.
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Jack watched the Siberian advance upon Scarlet Dragon from well over two blocks away. Thanks to Shatterbird, he could enjoy the fresh air that billowed in from the ocean. And thanks to Alan, he had a pair of binoculars to see how things were going. Instead of glass, the lenses were made out of synthetic diamond, making it both tough and not needing much maintenance.
It was a shame they lost Shatterbird, but there wasn't much help for that now. The probable loss of Crawler, while an annoyance, wasn't as terrible. As nice as it was to have him along to hit hard targets or rush headlong into enemies, he wasn't exactly easy to shuttle around places. They usually needed to take a dump truck or something along those lines to ferry him around, and that usually wasn't too subtle.
Jack knew subtlety, when used properly, was the key to survival. It was one of the reasons he was still breathing after twenty years with a kill order on his head. One day, Crawler would have become more of a hindrance than a help when it came to spreading chaos. Honestly, that day had passed long ago.
But Scarlet Dragon, ah....she would be a beautiful nightmare. All Siberian had to do was disable her, bring her in, and the Nine could be reborn far, far greater, now. Even if they failed to bend her to his liking, everybody would know they lost one of the Endkillers to him. Oh, the delicious tragedy! Even greater if she became as feared as the very Endbringer she played such a large part in slaying.
The Siberian lunged, and the beautiful nightmare vanished in a pulse of shadow. She reappeared again, sword slashing at the Siberian's invulnerable skin. Jack felt a grin grow on his face. Now the blade would shatter, like everything else ever had, and....
Then the blade passed through the Siberian without resistance. Both combatants paused, as if in shock. Then the battle resumed, blows being thrown, that strange sword weaving in and out, striking the Siberian again and again. Finally, the black and white woman seemed to get tired of the engagement, ripped a lamppost out of the ground, and swung it at Scarlet. The red girl was now on the defensive, moving with extraordinary agility. Not quite enough, as it turns out, when the Siberian clipped her and sent her sprawling.
Siberian came in, slamming the post down on her opponent again, and again, and again. On the fourth time she lifted the post, though, she paused. Where had...
In a burst of red and black light, Scarlet appeared behind Siberian, blade extended and all the way through Siberian's body. It was hard to see, from this distance, but it looked as if the red girl was entirely unhurt, like every hit the Siberian inflicted meant nothing. Even as Siberian turned, Scarlet flapped her wings, getting some distance between her and the infamous invincible member of the Nine.
Magnificent.
A small smile graced his lips. So much potential, all in one package. Why do you even pretend to be a hero? Granted, most of the villains of this boring world weren't much better, but this girl had been given the power to almost literally bring hell to Earth and this is what she choose to do with it? It was disgraceful, all she could do compared to what she was doing? Jack would fully enjoy enlightening her. Shatterbird had done some damage, and been killed for it. But the damage done would sink into the red girl's mind, all these thoughts of I could have done more. It would make it all the easier when he and Bonesaw got to work.
Now that there was an opening, Jack simply had to add her to his company. All he would need to do was bring her around to his perspective, and he always managed that in the end. There were a lot of ways to do it. Convincing people usually worked, Jack had a peculiar knack for it. Others needed more...vigorous work, usually involving Bonesaw hooking up a car battery to the brain for a while. Jack doubted the latter would be needed here, though. All this power, and she can't save everyone. And those they do save would stare at her, silently blaming her for all those she couldn't save. The resentment builds, and sooner or later, she gives up trying to be good, and revels in destruction.
Jack had seen it many, many times. Some of them he even caused.
Hell, half the work was already done for him. She was a nightmare to behold as it is, she'd barely have to change things at all to join the Nine. Of course, some needed more convincing than others, and he was always willing to make his lesson in cruelty as spectacular as possible. He was already brainstorming ideas for the third act to this effect (Most of them involved that Castle of hers).
Something was odd, though. He could see that she was reveling in the battle with the Siberian, but nothing more than that. There was some healthy fear, but more... exhilaration than anything else. He didn't like being this close to the fight, due to the possibility of a thrown car coming his way, but he felt he needed to be. This one was frustratingly difficult to pin down, to read, to anticipate...
Siberian managed a lunge forward, got a grip, and tore the girl's left arm off. He couldn't hear anything from here, but he could hear the sound regardless in his mind. A wet, tearing wound as bone was pulled from bone. A scream of agony. He'd heard it so many times, and never got tired of it. The girl fell in a heap, then as Siberian came near, fist ready to finish her off, she vanished again, reappearing some distance away, her body trembling. Siberian picked up the severed arm, and slowly, deliberately, bit into it, chewing on the bloody stump.
Then Scarlet roared. Even at this distance, Jack heard that.
A red blur. Waves of blue, ice forming around the Siberian, and suddenly Scarlet was standing some distance away again, holding her blade in both hands.
Powerful regeneration indeed. Still, the Siberian was unstoppable. Jack had to respect that kind of determination. Faced with inevitable defeat, and she would fight on. She would be magnificent once she saw the true way of things, once she'd abandoned these delusions about being a hero. Her powers turned her into a monstrous demon, why couldn't she see that destiny itself wanted her to join the Slaughterhouse Nine?
I see you, little man.
It wasn't sound, but he heard it all the same. The last time he heard something like that was when Screamer was a part of the group. He quickly slid a knife from his jacket, turning to look. With all the damage Shatterbird did, the projecting voice could be coming from anywhere.
Such a shame, little Jack. Such potential wasted.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack spoke cooly. "A little trick? Not really something you heroes are known for."
An echoing laugh. Hero, am I? Perhaps once. Now, I simply am.
Jack turned this way and that, looking around the destroyed office that was his lookout. Nothing here, there, nor the next room....
Then he turned back to the window, and nearly stumbled off his feet. A figure stood there, hair white as snow, wearing a long black overcoat, ornately decorated with silver and gold, open to show his bare chest. His face was twisted into a contemptuous sneer, the eyes a deep, hellish red.
"Ah." Jack said, a carefree smile on his lips. "Neat trick, indeed. Teleport? Mind games? Hologram? All sorts of neat things around, if you know what to look for. Might I have the name of such a theatrical guest?"
A slight tic came from the corner of the man's mouth. "It's a real shame, Jacob. I can sense it on you. My touch, twenty years old. Faded. Weak. And filled with contempt."
Jack blinked. It had been a long time since he felt even slightly off his game. "I'm pretty damn sure I've never seen you before in my life."
A long laugh, filled with cruel humor. "Oh, I'm sure you remember, Jack. The moment you were touched by the fragment of the abomination. The power you wield even now. When it touched you, my power did as well." His lip turned up into a smile. "It touched you, evaluated you, and you were found wanting." He pointed outside, where the demonic girl and the invincible woman were tearing up the city block in their futile battle with each other. "You are up against something of which you have no comprehension. You face your end, and you are too blind to see it. Idiot."
With a glower, Jack flicked his knife, his power arcing out. The extended cutting edge simply...passed through, doing nothing.
The man, if anything, seemed amused. "I have spent ages beyond counting manipulating the fragments of the beast that grants you your powers. I had not thought I might do so again, but your power begs to be called. It reached to me, across a void you cannot comprehend."
Jack slid the knife away. "Neat trick, but if you're not really here, I don't have to worry about you, now do I? Care to join me in watching the show? Because this one's fun."
In a blink the man was standing directly in front of him, his fingers digging into the flesh underneath his chin. Jack froze as he felt the cold biting into his head as the man spoke, his words echoing harshly through his mind. "I do not need to be physically here for one such as you, little man. For I am Dracul, Lord of Darkness. I am the thing you pretend to be with you disgusting little mockery."
Dracul roughly pushed Jack with his hand, and for all of him telling himself it wasn't real Jack still stumbled from it. He rubbed his neck as he glared at the apparition in anger. "If you are a 'Lord of Darkness', as you say, then you would understand what I'm doing. I'm showing the world how it really is. It's fucked up. I'm just stripping away the veneer of civility to show what people really are. We're monsters, all of us. I've just embraced it. I can show everyone how much fun it is. I've felt the sheer joy of being without rules, without limits. I know the rush of unlimited freedom. Everyone trembles when I come to town. Can you say the same?"
Dracul cut him off with cruel laughter. "Oh, I know well the seduction of warfare. The joy of cutting a bloody swathe through my foes. Of seeing my enemies cower and tremble at my name. But you? You are a tiny gnat. For what end is your carnage pushed towards, hm? You commit horror after horror, and there is no purpose beyond your own pathetic pleasure. I learned much through my successor's eyes, and you little man are no different than countless others that have walked both mine and your world. Scrambling around pointlessly, biting everything that crosses your path, like a rabid dog."
"Hardly rabid." Jack smiled. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I will be known as one of the greatest men in history. The greatest monster of modern times. People will know my name a millennium from now. How many of the little peons down there are going to be remembered, hm? They're going to be lost in history, forever, as if they never were. At least when I kill them, they have the honor of being another number attached to my name."
Dracul simply smiled, a cruel, contemptuous thing. "Immortality through fame. Fool. Leaving a pathetic mark with no rhyme or purpose. A child befouling his bed, if only to ensure no one else will sleep in it." Dracul's hand was suddenly around Jack's neck again, the vampire pushing forward, slowly, relentlessly, until Jack's back hit the wall. "None will make a statue of you. There will be no kingdom of yours. You will be reviled, and the scars of those you've harmed will heal, and within a century, no one will care that you lived."
The hand around Jack's throat tightened, and Jack struggled to take in air.
Dracul leaned in closer, his voice intense. "You have watched her, yes? Do you wish to know something interesting?"
Jack gurgled.
Dracul's smile widened. "My power touched many when searching for a worthy successor. Thousands bear the slightest scent, the faintest marking, of when I sent it to search for one to sit upon my throne. You are one, Jack. You could have been the Dragon. You could have led this world into a new age, changed it to your vision. But you are a pathetic child. You would have been consumed by my power, ran around with it like an idiot, fulfilling every small whim, and never having a vision greater than simple destruction. I can see in your mind, little man. Your dreams are small. Your excuses are flimsy justifications to let yourself spill blood and giggle at the horror you sow. You did not begin this with a prize in mind, you do all this for the pleasure of it, nothing more."
Dracul was suddenly on the other side of the room. And Jack...quickly pulled his own hand away from his throat. He looked at his hand in fear, breathing heavily for a moment before he looked at Dracul.
The pale man grinned, his pointed fangs prominent. "In a millennium, there will be those who serve the Scarlet Dragon. There will be those who build monuments to her glory. There will be temples to her might. But you? Take heart. You and your merry band of children will be remembered, Jack. As just another cobblestone on the road to her kingdom. One name among many, no more noteworthy than any other."
Jack's hand trembled, before it stilled. His tone was dangerous as he spoke. "We'll see about that, won't we? I'll take your precious little dragon and turn her to the proper way of thinking. I'm sure she'll make a magnificent little guard dog for Bonesaw. She'll be a happy little psychopath, running around with my illustrious partners, soaking in the blood of everyone she comes across and reveling in it. Or how about having her turn those beasties on that island of hers loose? I can see the fires rising everywhere already!"
Dracul's grin widened, filled with mirth. "You still do not understand. One does not collar a dragon, little man. You are an annoyance, nothing more. In all your time wandering and murdering, you have accomplished nothing of respect. People fear you, but there are none who would follow your ideals without being as broken as you first." The smile dropped. "When I discovered a god ruined my life, I sought to kill that god. It took me eight centuries, but in all that time, every drop of blood I spilled was toward that ultimate end. The chance to end him. You? You simply kill. When I faced the abyss, I walked into it, letting it subsume me. My entire world feared my hatred. You, the moment you discovered the world was not what you believed, threw yourself into it without a care. You blinked. You broke. And instead of being relieved, you decided to make the world the nightmare you believed it was. Pathetic."
At Jack's shocked expression, Dracul barked out a laugh. "Yes, I know. Your mind is open to me, Jack. You show others the abyss. You drag them down to your level. You break them and twist them and turn their souls into twisted mockeries of your own, and you do it for the simple pleasure, regardless of the lies you tell yourself. You have nothing but your own twisted thrills and pathetic delusions. But she? Ah....she is more than that. She can master the darkness. As I only did long after I fell to it. You are beneath me, little man. And you are beneath her."
Dracul vanished.
Jack stood there, and for a long terrifying moment, he felt uncertain and alone. Then he began to chuckle, drawing his knife once more. "Well then....we'll see how high I can reach. We'll see if she's so goddamn unbreakable."
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