The Skittering Chaos Chapter 21
Big thanks to Scheissdrauf for betaing this for me as it certainly improved the quality of the piece.
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As I walk into the warehouse, the smell hitting my enhanced senses nearly makes me gag. Blood and filth covers everything, the floor, the walls, some demons. Most of them voided their bowels as they died and in some cases my insects even completely exposed their innards. Despite not being one that was squeamish, I still blast a way forward, my magical wind blowing away most of the blood, gore, body parts and filth out of my way as I move towards the warehouse's stage. Most would have needed the stairs to get up to the stage, but I've grown large enough from eating the Beast to simply do it in one step. Looking at the map, I pull out my phone and as I snap a picture, I feel some kind of magic behind me. There's the sound of a sudden displacement of air, rubber squeaking on blood, and the buzz of an old radio coming into tune.
Outside I coalesce my bugs into balls near where my imps and fellow former capes are.
"Someone just teleported in, he's powerful. Don't come in yet, but be ready if this goes badly" I say to them all as I can feel the power coming off of the Demon.
The newcomer cast off a presence that demanded attention, like a fire cracker going off in the night sky, the magical energy wafting off of him had my antennae buzzing and shaking in his presence, like a kid high on sugar. Other than his unkempt hair, the deer demon appears civilised in his rouge suit and glowing eyes, completely in contrast with the field of gore he stands in. Yet paradoxically, he seems completely at home in it as well. His smile is filled with sharp, predatory teeth, and combined with those eyes, I can't help myself as I raise my guns at him, my bugs already moving towards us. He has a tall, thin figure, combined with his obvious power and total focus on me as he stands there with that too wide a smile, those too large eyes, the radio static slowly diminishing the longer he stands there sets me on edge. It's like something in the depths of my consciousness has set me on edge at seeing this demon.
"Hello there my good mademoiselle! Hello! Mighty fine work you pulled off here with those ruffians," the demon speaks, his speech warbled and strange, with a tone as if it were coming from a low quality recording, or Gran's old radio she still had last time we visited. The spell he had on me, that cold spine tingling feeling, breaks, as if with a word he'd dispelled the deep, instinctual dread of seeing something not quite right. Even so, he continues. "Were I humble I'd say that I couldn't have done it better myself, but then even when arriving in this place, I had a bit more experience than most in the ways of magic and less allies to care about.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, allow me to introduce myself, the name's Alastor and it's a pleasure to meet you my dear, always a pleasure to meet a fellow chaos bringer, especially a speedy one such as yourself! Why I haven't seen this quick and brutal a slaughter since one of Lilith's ladies and her daughters fought their way through the tree fort of all those superhero wannabes! Hahaha," the demon says, throwing his head back as he laughs, before raising his hand. I can feel the magic taking form and adjust my aim for his hand, pulling on the trigger just as he snaps.
In an instant, the world shifts as the hum of radio static bombards me at full force for a moment before it quickly resolves and we are suddenly sitting in rather comfy and plush seats. My antennae twitch as I feel around us while I look, noticing we are still in the warehouse. It had been… two major magical spells at work here, done with just the snap of his fingers. First he pulled out chairs and the table between us from somewhere and then teleported us both to be sitting on the chairs, all in an instant.
"Sorry to be so abrupt, coffee?" the demon asks. My initial instinct is to refuse him. I have no idea who he is, but he is undoubtedly powerful. Though with him ignoring my guns from before, he either doesn't see me as a threat, he wants something, or I'd done something that he likes, possibly all three.
"Tea, please?" I ask, humouring the magical demon while re-centering my swarm back to the warehouse from where they'd moved from. With his power, he could likely hold back the entirety of my swarm through merely expelling his magic, but I've worked past these kinds of issues before. The deer demon does a little flourish and suddenly the pot of coffee is replaced by a fine china teapot, and he pours a bit of tea in the cup before placing it in front of me and summoning from his own "other place" cream and sugar. He holds up the small cream dish as he asks:
"How do you like your tea then? One lumps, two?"
"A bit of cream and one lump please," I answer and watch as he carefully puts a small amount of cream in my tea, before filling the small spoon just enough, stirring a bit, and then passing the tea over. I thank him before taking a small sip as Alastor lounges back in his chair, sipping from his coffee.
"Sorry to be rude," I say, trying to be polite like I had been some of the more powerful capes I met during my career. "But why have you decided to just pop up all of a sudden? What is it that you want?"
"Oh, not much my dear, a little celebration on a job well done, a thank you for giving me a bit of entertainment to enjoy, as well as maybe help encourage you to move up your schedule a bit, and progressing from being a thorn in the sides of Valentino's pawns, to being one in his. For that though, you'll need help, my help," Alastor said, his arms going out to emphasize his desire to "help" me.
"What exactly do you mean by help me? What would you do?" I ask. I doubt he'll actually want to join me, he feels too powerful. No, he'll want to manipulate me in some way, or control me.
"Why I'd help you protect what is yours, you keep fighting Valentino's pawns, and in return, I make sure that the boss-men of Hell can't come after you directly without going through me. Believe me when I say that even with your bugs, you'd likely need to find a different way of taking on Valentino and either of his two fellow compatriots," the deer demon said as he got up from his chair and walked over to the map. With a wave of his staff, Alastor changes the map, shifting it from showing a small localised area to the whole city. It then further shifts to show various different territorial powers, with the demonic triumvirate controlling the largest area compared to them all, even Satan had less territory than them, though his is far more centralised, and if what Adam said is true about what he could do, Satan could wipe out the whole city if the Pentagram floating above our heads is the super weapon that Adam implied it was. Before he continues, I interrupt his little presentation.
"If you are so powerful as to be able to stand up to the likes of Valentino, why exactly am I of interest to you, or do you have territory around here as well?" as I ask, he turns his head without moving his body, tilting it a bit.
"Territory? Ha! No no my dear, I don't deal in territory, politics or anything else of the sort. I merely enjoy the drama of the moment, the chaos as everything falls apart, which let me tell you, that little shindig I heard up on Earth Bet, unfortunate, but the aftermath has been wonderful to watch."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed it has! Do you know how many gangs have already been toppled, been torn apart, or have been fighting for their lives and livelihood since this all went down? Countless, and there are so many little dramas to watch, to root for, or to enjoy laughing at as they burn everything around them because of the stress. It's actually why I know about you, you've come up quite a bit on the radio chatter, explanation after explanation to each and every one of those vigilantes. Why, you'd think from their point of view that you actually did it, possess everyone that is," the demon explains, though the fact that he was listening in on the vigilantes struck me, and through radio, combined with how he sounded, and the staff, it fit with his theme.
"Can you listen through all the radios in Hell?" I ask, and the demon shrugs.
"Radio, broadcast, et cetera and all that, unless a visual medium is used, that's all Vox's forte. Myself, I prefer the simpler things, the far more wholesome radio show you can listen to while working on a car, doing the chores, butchering a pig, the thing to keep your mind occupied while the body works. Nothing like that mind rotting drivel known as television. But let's have less about me and more about you? Tell me," as he speaks, he snaps his fingers and two old fashioned microphones appear in front of our chairs. He takes a moment to down his coffee with a flourish of his fingers, and puts it back into his other space. If he's able to just hear through anything over the radio, what about this Vox? Has he been listening in on everyone this whole time? While I don't have a television at the moment, it might be best to keep any television that I might get away from any kind of important documents.
"How do you like Hell so far? Enjoying your stay here? How does the big bad… Actually, what should I call you? Skitter, Taylor? Or would you prefer one of your more recent names, the one that those above speak in hushed, traumatised tones, or maybe your hero name, hmm. Fly the colours of your heroic friends?"
"Skitter will be fine," after we killed Behemoth, Skitter was the least known of my cape names since the PRT all liked to focus on the hero Weaver in order to recruit capes into the Protectorate.
"Skitter then, how do you feel about a little interview, something for my show you see. Maybe act as a bit of inspiration for myself hmm? I do need to get some new material and interviewing the girl who every new arrival from Earth Bet is scared of because of that whole mastering thing," as he says it with his hand waving it off, as if it were no big deal that I'd done one of the worst things imaginable on a mass scale. As if my greatest sin was some kind of joke. I hold back the instinct to frown at him, to show my displeasure, and merely sip my tea. When and where is he from? Unless he was a master in life, he'd have to be either from before the silver age of capes with the rise of the PRT and their propaganda machine, or from another Earth entirely, one that didn't have such a massive social stigma against human masters, where hysteria will get one lynched in the streets if the public thinks they can get away with it.
"You're not interviewing me now?" I ask him, and he shakes his head as he sits down, pulling an unlit "On Air" sign he places on the table.
"No no, not yet at least, merely getting things set up in case you agree. Feel free to refuse, but it would be a good way of boosting your influence," He says that last part with a little up-beat tune following the syllables.
"and perhaps attracting any allies you might have that didn't make it through your little apocalypse. It would also attract your enemies but what's a little challenge hmm? Besides, you seem to have the general rabble well in hand," he says as he flings his hand out towards the room of corpses.
"I think I'll pass for right now," I say while at the same time feeling my allies gathering around the building, imps climbing up the ladders to the roof, Adam and Sherrel poking their heads in to see what exactly I'd been talking about, and spot Alastor. His head turns to them, moving far more than a human head should, his chin moving past his shoulder to look directly at them. At the same time, I sense something, and I hear the cracking of bones coming from Alastor that almost makes me want to grab my neck. I hear Adam's under breathed remark of "fuck me," and I form a small swarm near them, the imps on the roof, and those coming towards the building.
"Everything is in hand at the moment; just keep watch for anything else coming our way," I say through the bugs, before Alastor's head turns back to look at me, the horrible crunching sound accompanying it, even though I know it's an illusion. I see Adam shake his head again before he and Sherrel pull their heads out of the hole the Beast had made. As I'd watched them pull their heads back, Alastor had pulled out a pocket watch and hummed.
"Probably for the best, I don't really have that much time, friends of yours coming don't you know, so I might as well make this next part short. You see other than the interview, there is one last thing I was hoping that I could get help with," he said before getting back up and moving to the tacked on map, and with a snap, it shifted into an illusion of a far larger and less focused version of the map, displaying most of the city, all broken up into various different areas. I remember going over something similar when I was getting the maps ready for when we were preparing the raids on Crimson. A website called "TerritoryWatch" had a similar map which tracked all of the various gang territories at the moment, detailing turf wars, and the altering battle lines of the constant gang warfare. Though, as I focus on the area of the map where we are, the red colour of Crimson had shifted from dark red to bright yellow. Raz's colour was still there, but with a yellow border around their territory.
"Do you mind if I take a picture?" I ask, to which the demon shrugged.
"Go ahead," he says and I pull my phone and take a picture of that map as well.
"Now you are going to explain why I need protection I assume?" I ask and Alastor nods.
"Precisely so! from what I've seen and what I know, you are in a rather precarious position here, right next to Valentino's territory here," he says as he indicates the massive pink territory beside us.
"Now this might not be an issue, but with how you've been moving so far, you are going to get some push back, especially if you begin to splash too much," as he spoke, the image on the map changed as various different heads and faces began to appear, with myself at the bottom of the little mural, a tiny moth in a fluffy coat looking up at giants who loom over the mini me. I don't recognise most of them, but I do see Valentino there, among them, with three others right by him. Surprisingly the one at the top isn't some classical devil armed with a pitch fork and with a goatee, but rather a well dressed man with a top hat and an apple pin on his hat. Then I notice Alastor among them, around the middle of the mural, his original smile there alongside with his pupils being replaced by radio dials. I take another picture, then in an instant, the picture changes, showing off a trio of men, with the silhouettes of others near them, but those three were the clearest. One was the Beast, another, Valentino, with the final distinct one someone that I don't recognise. He was some kind of fat pig demon, dressed up in some kind of blue uniform with a flat blue cap, while he also wielded some kind of sub machine gun which looked like someone had stuck a wooden rifle stock to the back of a machine pistol. Once more, I take a picture.
"Would it surprise you to know that the vigilantes have a rat among them?" Alastor asked, to which I shook my head. I'd been infiltrating their chat logs enough that it was hard to not notice how easily they could be watched through non magical means. If there is some powerful demon who can just get everything they are putting in there, like Alastor can hear through any radio, then it'd obvious that they'd have someone in them watching over everything. They could even easily infiltrate it from there.
"I thought not. Now both of these men, in one way or another work or worked, for your big neighbour. Now Miss Skitter, how would you react if your subordinates were to end up getting killed one after another by a tiny gang? Would you perhaps squash them like a bug?" I can see where he's going with all of this now.
"I see your point. What exactly do you want for this protection then?" I ask, since I already knew that nothing's free. As I ask, Alastor's grin grew wider, and his eyes narrowed a bit, making him look rather self amused and smug.
"Just a favour, dear. A job I want done at some point. You know how it is, the usual and all that. It's a small price to pay for protection against one of Hell's powerful evils, wouldn't you say?"
"Is that so? And what exactly is this favour you want?" I ask, well aware of the deal making devil trope, and of how it usually ended for those foolish enough to make those deals.
With another snap of his fingers, the illusion changes, turning from the three men and a dozen more silhouettes, into a book, no, a grimoire. The navy blue book had gold etching all over it, with a stylised crescent moon on the front and an array of symbols in the midst of the crescent. All the while a large red gem stuck out of the spine of it, glinting as hidden lights reflected off of it.
"There is this book that belongs to one of the nobles in Hell, I merely desire it for a day, and right now, the noble that has this book has gone and lent it out to a small group of imps. For that first favour, retrieve it for me, and after that, you can even have the book afterwards."
As he explains, I spot something through one of my biters flying towards the warehouse. It looks like some kind of futuristic dropship, vaguely like some kind of VTOL with room in the back section for transporting cargo or troops similar to the ones the PRT sometimes used for rapid deployments when movers weren't available. Interestingly, the symbol on the side of the VTOL was that of an apple rather than one of Valentino's hearts.
The imps along with the other Merchants look up at the craft, Squealer grabs a few bugs in her hand and shakes them as if to grab my attention.
"Skitter, there's a helicopter that's coming pretty close, and I don't think it'll just pass by," she says as if I can't hear it already. With my bugs on the roof, I move them to the imps.
"Get off the roof, and let the VTOL through, we don't know who they are yet," I say, not wanting to make any more enemies.
"And when do you need this?" I ask, to which Alastor merely shrugged.
"Any time in the next year or so, I don't really have that much of a time limit, but I'd rather be prepared for my little plans. There's a certain man I'd love to get into contact with up on Earth when the time comes if you know what I mean?" He wants to contact someone up on the surface? Just like that? For a moment I can't help but think this might be alright, especially if his deals are so frivolous, but then, it only seems frivolous. Demon's, even those who used to be humans are natural tricksters, and deal makers are usually the worst. I doubt that Alastor is telling me the whole truth, and for all I know, this could certainly turn far worse for me, not to mention if whatever noble found out I stole the book from his imps. If Alastor wanted the book so badly, with his power he could easily just take it from them were it not for the possibility of the noble coming to take back his book. I don't really know what kind of power the nobles of Hell have, but I doubt it's insignificant.
"Well? Clocks ticking Skitter, do we have a deal?" Alastor asks, his hand reaching out as all around us green magic begins to swirl as the wind picks up, pushing away the blood and gore that's on the stage, even the table and chairs start to get pushed away as I stand up from my own chair. We on the other hand are unaffected, standing in the epicenter. My frown deepens as I look at his hand, feeling the immense power in it.
Without any assurances on what exactly he'd do with the book, how exactly can I trust that? Then there was the fact that this was the classic dealmakers move, to propose protection or something the person really wanted in return for favours. While just getting a book from some imps might not sound like much, what exactly did he want with it? Not only that, but he called me and him "chaos bringers". No doubt he would likely do something with that book that would just make everything here worse, and I'd be forced into helping him. Yet… there was Valentino to worry about. While Angel Dust had suggested a way for dealing with him, it would tie me up with him when I'd really rather just not have to answer to anyone. Though, Valentino honestly sounds like a better deal right now, since I would only have to sign exclusivity contracts with him to have him support me, but what could he leverage from that? Meanwhile Alastor here merely wanted one favour, but the possibilities that the book gave him, as far as I know with magic, are endless.
"Times ticking Skitter, they'll be here any moment, and once that happens, my offer will no longer be on the table," Alastor said, his grin growing larger, probably referring to the people in the VTOL. Why is he so insistent on getting me to make a deal with him?
Damn it, I wish Lisa was here, While she could possibly make the "who is this guy?" situation worse, she could also maybe help to figure out what Alastor's motivation here was beyond just getting that book. At the same time I watch through my biter as my imps are getting on on edge holding their weapons tight as the aircraft hums above us. From the back of the VTOL two figures rappel down while another simply jumps out with wings outstretched. She pulls out her weapon and my antennae start twitching as I feel the energy of it.
The latter crashes through the skylight, debris falling around her as she levels her laser cannon at us while I raise my guns at her. The wind around us ceases as Alastor's hand pulls back but otherwise he doesn't seem particularly perturbed by the sudden development. Rather, Alastor merely shrugs before speaking again:
"I can see you're not interested, well it's been a delight seeing your work but I must go, so many plans to put into place and all that, oh, and if you change your mind on that interview, please feel free to pop on by, tata!" he says with a playful lilt in his voice before with a snap I hear the sound of radio static again. With my antennae I pay attention to how he does so, trying to remember the magic for myself to possibly test in the future. Then, reality shifts and he disappears in that rift, the static quickly disappearing as quickly as it had the other two times.
Staring at the woman, I can't help it as my gaze is drawn to her weapon; drawing my attention like a moth to flame. My antennae focus on it, feeling how powerful it is, and I know I want it. I pull my eyes away to observe the woman carrying it. The wielder's an owl demon, garbed in some kind of latex suit; the way it clings to her, in a similar way to Lisa's costume, honestly makes me a bit jealous, accentuating every curve in a distracting way while leaving her feathered arms free. She had the kind of figure that I'd always expected to have, a slender, healthy and toned body. It was what had attracted Dad to Mom originally. Magic emanates off her clothing in ways I've never seen done before, but then I don't have much of a reference. Her feathers are black and white, a cape flowing off her back matching those feathers, but I doubt that it's actually just a cape as I can also feel power coming from it. It isn't as potent as Alastor's, but closer to that of the Beast. Her face itself is white, framed by a head of black feathers, with a black mane of long curly hair done up in a bun. At the same time, she has a black beak, and large predatory yellow eyes, watching me as I watch her, our guns pointed at each other.
"Who're you?" I call out to her, when two more figures fall through the sky light to land at her side. They're dressed like her, only their own cat suits still have sleeves. Though, unlike the owl, the two flanking her are barely there according to my magical senses, they have far less magic than the average sinner. As they stand up though, I can see why, and I swiftly pull out more guns from my other place while my swarm begins to chitter and buzz around us.
My clones. My evil clones finally found me. I'd been hoping that something had dealt with them, or that they'd ended up elsewhere. At least it's only two of them. The one on the left of the owl demon stands there holding onto the same kind of laser cannon. She has a pair of horns spiralling out of her head, like those of a goat. She looks almost like me, as I'd been back then if I'd decided to become a body builder after triggering. A bit younger, but the same wide mouth, curly black hair, and the need for glasses, or in this case, goggles.
The other clone is different, and I'm pretty sure she was the rat controlling one, Scurry. This girl's face was more animalistic, with large incisors peaking out of her mouth and a gnarled twist of a nose. Unlike the other two, she has a rat on her shoulder, and is wielding some kind of suppressed sub machine gun, of course, pointed at me.
After a moment of staring, the owl lady lowers her gun and asks:
"Taylor?" her voice hopeful as I pause. She'd said my name, my birth name. Did she know me? Wait no, of course she'd know my name, she literally has my evil clones beside her.
"My little owl… is that you?" she asks, and this time I feel my guns lower a bit. Little owl, Mom's pet name for me. Can it be her? Or is it a trick? But, if she isn't, then why are my clones following her?
If it isn't some falsehood, if this owl demon real is Mom, what has she heard about me from my clones? What have they been poisoning Mom's mind with? What have they been doing to try and destroy me while I was still alive? They were programmed to hate me. So what was it they were playing at? Though, can this really be Mom, or is she a fake, to get me to lower my guard? Mom can't be in Hell… right?
Would Mom be in Hell? My gut reaction says no, that it couldn't be possible that Mom, my wonderful, adoring Mother would be sent here, to the pits of Tartarus where those who sinned and had done evil ended up, those who deserved it, like me.
But then… she was a Lustrumite back in the day, and she never liked to talk about those days. Mom was a strident feminist for certain, or at least had been for a time, before Dad had de-radicalised her enough to get her to see reason. Then, since this is Christian Hell I think, she was kind of the one who didn't really worship anything. She wasn't exactly a militant atheist, not after university that is, but she had certainly been one that hated all the bible thumping that some people did.
If I remember correctly, those who don't believe go to Hell when they die. Mom certainly hadn't believed, so... maybe it really is her.
"It's me," I finally say, letting the guns aimed at the owl woman lower, but I keep the others trained on my clones. I watch as the her eyes light up, her smile widening as she can't help but give her biggest grin. It's infectious as I start to smile as well. I get to see Mom again. Or rather, I might. I don't actually know if this woman really is Mom or just some imposter that the clones had hired to pretend. It's hard to be sure with them around. Perhaps if my clones weren't here I'd have an easier time believing that this woman is Mom, but their presence puts everything into question.
As I ponder, my smile begins to falter. The woman claiming to be Mom notices almost immediately.
"Taylor, what's wrong?" she asks, and I don't answer for a moment, keeping my arms steady as my smile falls off my face.
"How do I know it's you?" I ask her, and the owl blinks a moment, then frowns.
"Taylor, you can't…" she starts before Scurry interrupts.
"I told you it'd be a bad idea to bring us along," she says, not looking away from me. She knows how much danger they're in, they can hear the chittering, they know about my bugs. I could kill them right now and be done with them. Without them around, Mom or this imposter could be truthful with me. It would be so simple. Empowered as I am, I might only have to worry about the laser weapons, and with the power of the Beast, I could escape faster than they could correct their aim.
But what if this is Mom, had the clones taken my response into account? They have all my memories from before Echidna. They'd know how I'd react, they'd know that I could never trust this, so why such illusions? Why try to trick me? Are they even trying to trick me? It certainly sounds like they are subordinate to the owl woman, but then, how can I know? How exactly could I try to figure out if this is Mom or not? For a moment, I almost wish Alastor was back, and maybe he would know a way of telling if she's a fake.
As I wrack my brain, slowly, a memory surfaces. During one of the monthly phone calls me and Dad had where we tried to fix our distant relationship, and tried to grow closer, like we both wanted. I remember how Dad had about one of the times when Mom had actually gotten sent to jail for a bit. It hadn't been for long, and it was just a minor thing as far as the law was concerned. But Mom had taken part in some of the hazing that the pledges of Lustrum's sorority took part in. Dad hadn't gone into the details, but he'd mentioned that Mom had said it had something to do with a rather extreme and particularly sexual hazing. One of the girl's parents had convinced her to press charges, Mom ended up in jail for a bit, but got out on bail pretty soon after and even back into the university because she was a part of Lustrum's main sorority.
"If you really are Annette, then you can tell me what happened that landed you in jail?" I ask aloud, drawing surprised glances between my evil clones, while the owl recoils, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape.
"How did… when did…" the owl sputters before looking back to my clones. "Did you two know about this?"
The two clones look between each other before shaking their heads. I can feel my grips on my guns getting sweaty, and with bated breath, I wait her answer, though with her response, it could be…
"When did you learn about that?" the owl demon asks.
"It was during one of Dad's calls to me while I was in prison. We were trying to reconnect, and he told me about how you went to jail once. I think he was trying to cheer me up," I say, and Annette nods.
"How much did he tell you?" she asks but I raise my assault rifle a bit higher. Aiming for the bug on her head but keeping my fingers off the trigger.
"Answer the question," I demand of her. The owl sighs, looking down and away.
"It was a while ago, a long time ago, and I've had a lot of time to regret it, but back then, when you wanted to join the sorority Lustrum was the leader of, you had to go through a hazing process. We all had little things we signed, saying that we understood that the sorority would haze us, and we consented and all that. We all went through it. I'm not going to say what it was… but… to say the least, they weren't exactly legal… and… well, some girl squealed about it to her parents one year. That was one of the years I was one of the sisters that was helping haze the pledges. And… well… someone may have gotten a bit out of hand with the pledges, and… and…" The owl was quiet for a long time as all three of us stared at her. She looked at us all, before sighing again. So, it really is her. It's… it's Mom. I… I feel my eyes begin to get wet as I take a deep breath and breathe it out, trying to calm myself, but I can feel my eyes growing wetter as I continue. Mom… she's, it's… it's really her. She's… she's here. I'd ask why and how, but… I already know just one reason why she's down here. A tear, drips down one of my cheeks as I start to lower my assault rifle and my other guns. With my bugs I feel my clones start to lower their weapons as well; taking this as a good sign, I start to walk forwards, towards Mom.
Mom looks up, having heard me drop down to the floor, and as she pushes her gun away to her "other space," her smile grows, tears starting to well up in her eyes as well. She's hesitant, but from how big I am now, my long strides quickly close the distance. Unable to hold back, I reach out and grab Mom with all four of my arms, and pull her in, picking her up easily as I bring her close, like she used to do to me back when I was still small. Mom mimics the old me, her arms trying to meet behind me, but only just can't. It doesn't matter as I lay my chin on her head as she buries her face into my coat.
"I-I missed," my breath catches a moment before I continue. "I missed you."
Tear start to fall in earnest as I feel them begin to drip down my cheeks now and I sniffle a bit. At the same time, despite this moment, I keep a watch over my clones, just in case they do anything, but they've holstered their weapons, letting them drop on their slings as they watch us, smiles on their faces. I hear Mom sniffle as well below me, and she hugs tighter, possibly seeking comfort in my larger form.
"I did too, my little owl," she says as we continue to embrace, my smile growing so large that it'd hurt to keep it like it is right now. For a moment I look up to the sky, and am able to see the white moon over the red one, the moon with a halo, and clouds orbiting it. Some might say I was cheated for not ending up in Heaven, after saving so many worlds, but could it have really been my Heaven, if none of my friends or family were there? I squeeze on Mom some more as I lower my head once more and nuzzle into Mom's feathers.
Maybe, but I doubt it.
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