Inheritance - Deference 5.8

Friday May 13th, 2011

Though the expression would never carry the same weight for anyone other than me, I finally knew how to describe the aftermath of an Endbringer battle: even the Butchers were silent.  Well, mostly silent.  There were occasional wistful remarks about destroyed bars and pubs alongside commentary about the capes we were saving, along with my predecessors expressing their perverse pleasure in the dawning looks of horror on our familiar opponents’ faces when they realized exactly who was pulling them from the rubble and stopping them from bleeding out.

“Damn… that was the best taco shop on the east coast,” Sanguine said as I passed the flooded shell of another ruined building.

“Looks like Leviathan threw another building into it,” Chisel murmured.  A chorus of murmured agreements followed, but I was too focused on my current work to notice or care.  I had pulled together a biblically large swarm and was using it to go through the rubble with a fine-toothed comb made of bugs; even the impassable rubble like the ex-taco shop could be searched very rapidly, and I could do so over my entire range.

Which was technically the entire city even without the relay bugs.

One sight made me pause.  The USS Constitution was sitting in the middle of the street, somehow still intact despite being half a mile from her former moor.  She was a sight to behold and I left her where she rested.  There would be time to help her back to sea in the future, but for now I was focused on saving lives. 

“This is Weaver,” I said, pressing the send button on my armband.  “Three more trapped people, marked with bug arrows in section India dash five.”

“Acknowledged, Weaver,” came Dragon’s reply.

I picked the one with the most blood, teleporting as close as I dared before picking my way carefully through the rubble.  Chisel’s and Fester’s powers were invaluable here, limited even as they were — if I couldn’t safely disintegrate whatever stood between me and my rescuee, I could reshape everything nearby to give me access.  Worse came to worst, I could just shift the rubble myself.

Luckily, my current target must have been on the roof of whatever this building had been before Leviathan made its wrath known.  Splintered wood cracked beneath my boots as I disintegrated my way through the remains of roofing timbers and shingles; carving a path through the debris was much easier when I didn’t have to worry about bringing down the remainder of the building.  Knockout’s forcefields were invaluable for structural reinforcement.

My enhanced senses picked up the scent of blood long before I saw the trapped individual in question, but it wasn’t until I pulled up the last piece of soggy plywood that I noticed that they were a cape.

A cape I was very familiar with.

“Miss Militia,” I said, not bothering to keep the irritation out of my voice.

Given that the heroine was trapped halfway to her shoulder under the remains of the brick chimney, I was actually rather impressed that her reaction was so calm.  “Weaver.”

“Boo, she’s not scared at all!” Knockout whined.

Sanguine shrugged, metaphorically.  “She was there when Taylor inherited, remember?  First impressions and all that.”

Yeah, but she has shot most of my girlfriends since then.

“Well, you are a villain,” Alkaline said.  “Comes with the job.”

I had to wonder what things might have been like if I ended up a hero.  Would I have as close of a relationship with the collective as I do now?  Would any of my girlfriends be in my life at all?  Amelia might have opened up to me in time, but that was uncertain.  Lisa would still be stuck with the Undersiders and dancing to Calvert’s tune.  Chrissie would probably be in the Birdcage by my own hands or just dead.  

That thought was depressing as hell and I shoved it aside.  I had enough on my mind with the changes to the Collective to spend it dwelling on such a what-if.  Queen Administrator sighed, but didn’t contribute much.  She was keeping unusually quiet in the wake of the Endbringer’s fall, and I wasn’t looking forward to when she did decide to speak once more. 

Miss Militia was still staring up at me, though her eyes were resigned.  She knew that I wanted her dead, and here I was with a golden opportunity.  It would be all too easy to simply pull a knife and end her, then have my bugs strip her to the bones.  Yet, that wasn’t the kind of person I was.  The Endbringer Truce was sacred, and I would honor it fully.

I got to work digging her out, displacing rubble as I dug her out of the mess.  If I knocked over the pile of bricks pinning Miss Militia with a bit too much force, well, no one was really watching.  Once I had the mangled remains of her arm free, a quick bit of hemokinesis kept her from bleeding out before I could get her to the med tent.

Well-deserved animosity or not, I did my best not to jostle the heroine too much as I lifted her into a princess carry.  Despite everything, Miss Militia had been one of my favorite heroes growing up, and even though I had saved quite a lot of people today, rescuing her felt… more, somehow.  More impactful, maybe?

Certainly more conflicting.

“I’ll admit,” she coughed, “I never thought I would be saved by you of all people.”

“Life’s full of surprises,” I muttered, already aiming for the new medical station.  

I stepped through the space between worlds and landed back in the parking lot of the new station.  A few people jumped at the crack of displaced air, but none were really surprised.  I was arriving every few minutes with a new person who needed help. 

The heroes milling around the med tent stared at me with customary confusion and more than a little fear as I jogged in, and I had barely gone three steps when Assault intercepted me.  “Weaver.  I can take Miss Militia from here.”  The hero held out his arms impatiently, and I had barely set Miss Militia’s groaning form into them before she was whisked off into one of the separated ‘rooms’.

“Not so much as a ‘thank you,’” I muttered, mostly to myself.

“Well, you did just kill an Endbringer,” Chisel pointed out.  “People are gonna be pretty spooked by that.”

“Not to mention how you planted the Endslayer in Leviathan’s corpse for all to see,” Damascian said approvingly.

“That’s true.”  I took a moment to stretch my arms, then clicked the button on my armband.  “This is Weaver, where should I go next?”

The response I received was not the one I expected.  “Hold position, Legend is looking for you.”

I blinked in surprise at that.  Last I had seen, he was leaving with the other members of the Triumvirate through a portal to another dimension.  If he was back there were good odds that the others were as well.

“Don’t forget the fedora bitch,” Butcher said.

Right, the cape boogyman.  There were stories of her that circulated around villain circles and the Teeth were no exception.  Butcher himself had met her back in the eighties, which was saying something.  The woman had to be in her forties, but didn’t look a day over twenty-five.  There had to be power shenanigans at play there, much like with Alexandria. 

Putting aside the mystery of the fedora, I grabbed a water bottle from one of the many coolers and took a seat.  My phone was trashed, so I couldn’t text any of my girls for updates, but I had to trust that they were safe.  Actually, there was probably a phone sitting unattended in an intact apartment somewhere that I could use.  My bugs got to work and I was awarded a few moments later with one that still had power and could connect to the emergency systems currently running. 

I hurriedly sent a few messages to long memorized numbers and awaited the replies while rubbing at my face.  My mask was lost in the muck somewhere near Echidna’s grave, and the cloth mask I’d been offered was a shit replacement, but it provided a vague sense of concealment and would remind most to keep to the rules. 

A blinding light shot across the sky faster than my bugs could track, trailing in from the south-west.  Before I could even begin to stand, Legend materialized from his breaker state right in front of me with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

“Do you have any idea how much paperwork you’ve made for me?” 

I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing.  Legend remained stoic for a fleeting moment, then cracked a grin as he dropped down and held out a hand.  

“I’m probably not the first, but I wanted to shake the hand of the hero of the…  Well, hour seems a bit small in scope considering.” 

Composing myself, I accepted the handshake and returned it firmly.  “You actually are.  The first that is.  Everyone else seems too gunshy to approach me.” 

“A dead Endbringer can have that effect on people,” Legend said dryly.  “That you were already one of the most feared villains isn’t helping matters.  A shame, really.” 

“He’s got you there,” Ironsides said. 

“Yes, such a shame that they have to admit that a villain took down Leviathan,” Quarrel muttered.  “Speaking of, I’m putting the name Magurokiri out there for the Wolfslayer.” 

“No way, gotta stick with the theme and name it Endslayer!” Pyro said vehemently. 

The argument spiked and I pushed the voices back, letting them fade into a dull murmur in the back of my mind.  I was thankful that the ability to silence them had returned, but something told me it was more of a courtesy than retaining that control.  I’d take it regardless.  It was a bit of normality in the ever present fuckery that was my life. 

“It will certainly make the local politics a bit more exciting,” I said, finishing the water bottle before crushing it in hand.  “Is the whole Tagg bullshit still on, or can I cancel the plans to murder Alexandria to keep her from signing the kill order on Amelia?” 

Legend frowned, and I couldn’t help but admire his poker face.  “Why would Alexandria sign the kill order?”

A small mass of bugs formed up, swirling in the exact patterns of the golden portal that had ferried the Triumvirate away from the city, and delivered Eidolon to Leviathan before he went nova. 

“My range is larger than the city now,” I said, gauging his reaction.  “I watched how you all ran away with that woman in the fedora.” 

“Ask if he knows where we can get one,” Alkaline said.  “I bet we could rock one.” 

Queen Administrator shrugged.  “Eh, it  would feel too much like infringing on their image, and like hell we need to crib their style.”

Butcher winced.  “Queenie, I mean this in the nicest way, but stick to proper speech.  You ain’t lived the streets enough to pull it off.” 

The voice of my Power pouted, but didn’t countermand Butcher’s comments on her vernacular.  Sometimes she felt like a version of me that no longer existed, other times she took on aspects that I would never.  Then there was now, where I knew she was mimicking the vocabulary of a woman that I hadn’t seen in years.  Kimmie’s memories held more of my mother than my own, and this was a version of her that I never got to know. 

The worst part was, I didn’t know how to feel about it.  A part of me wanted to yell at her to stop pulling on memories of my mom, but the much louder part wanted to savor the recreation.  Queen Administrator flashed me an apologetic impression, but I mentally waved her off.  She would figure out an expression that worked for her eventually, hopefully one that wasn’t a straight up copy of me or my mom. 

“I’ll figure it out,” Queen Administrator offered with a soft smile. 

Legend stood in silence for several moments as the conversation played out, and I let him stew.  It wasn’t like I was idle while he distracted me.  I found another trapped person, this one not in costume and formed a massive arrow in the sky above them while relaying the information to the closest capes still out there. 

Funny enough, it was Animos and his sister.  It was almost comical seeing her riding atop his Changer form, but I wasn’t about to mock anyone still out there helping.  Most of the capes hadn’t returned, including my girlfriends.  If I didn’t know for sure that Alice had linked up with them, I might have gotten worried.

Sure, someone was going to wonder who had texted on their phone left out on the counter, but my own phone was kinda wrecked from the fight.  Oh well, that would just be an excuse to splurge on something nicer than the cheap thing I grabbed as a compromise back when I was just coming to terms with the inheritance.

“There really isn’t an excuse,” Legend said softly.  “The world was going to end, and we had to do something to stem the tide.  I know they’ve kept things from me, but that isn’t an excuse for the blind eye I’ve turned.  I was there when the decision was made that Rebecca would act as both Alexandria and the Chief Director.”

“Ah, there’s that vindication,” Alkaline said.  “Proof of why I was right to pick the villains over the heroes.” 

Reflex chuckled.  “I’m sure the drugs had nothing to do with it.” 

“Bite me,” Alkaline countered, laughing as she did.  “Sucks I can’t really get high anymore.” 

“Give me a minute,” Queen Administrator said.  “I am still processing everything that changed with the removal of our restrictions.” 

Well, if that wasn’t ominous. 

Not that I was about to let on to half the shit going on with my powers just yet.  I had little doubt that they knew something fucky was going on, but the longer they stayed out of the loop the better it would be for all of us.

I let out a heavy sigh as I resisted pinching my nose.  “I know there’s a saying about stones and glass houses, but fuck you for proving every voice in my head right about the heroes.” 

“I know it isn’t a consolation, but I’ll talk to Becca about it,” Legend said.  “Tagg went behind our backs to Congress on that one and we didn’t find out about it until after the sirens already sounded.  Contessa simply said it was part of the path when questioned and walked off to parts unknown to continue her quest to save humanity.” 

“Sounds like we’re in good hands,” I said sarcastically.  

Legend’s mask crumpled as he frowned.  “Are we?  Looking at the world today, can you honestly tell me we’re better off thanks to the numerous atrocities carried out in the name of saving humanity?  You’ve done more to secure our future in barely a month as a villain than I’ve done in my entire career as a hero.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said, holding up my hands diplomatically. 

Legend huffed, then took a seat in mid-air, crossing his legs and arms.  “I wouldn’t have either.  Then I learned that one of my closest friends made the Endbringers to keep us sharp in anticipation of the coming end.”  He watched me closely as he dropped that little nugget and then sighed.  “Of course you already knew.  So yes, you’ve done more to save the world than we have.” 

Well, when he put it like that… 

“Not sure what you want me to say here,” I said, having my swarm deliver something a little stronger than the water I’d just guzzled.  Not that it would be enough to get me even slightly tipsy with how Sabertooth’s regen was back to full strength.  “I’m going to assume you plan to give me some roundabout soft-sell on fighting the next Endbringer to appear, and maybe a roadtrip to take out some assholes like Heartbreaker?” 

“Nothing of the sort,” Legend said, surprising me.  “Brockton Bay is yours.  All resources once dedicated to keeping the city in order are to be diverted to Boston to preserve the site of an Endbringer’s defeat.  Congress has already rammed it through and the President is expected to sign it within the hour.  Cauldron gets their wish, a city run by Parahumans, all to see what will happen come the inevitable.” 

“Seriously?” I asked, then gulped the entire bottle of cheap swill.  It was so bad I couldn’t even tell what the shit was supposed to be given the label had been washed off in the storm.  “Why not just study Africa or South America?  There’s plenty of petty warlords running wild in those places that the world is content to ignore!”

“That’s what I said when they read me in on Project Terminus,” Legend said, eyeing the bottle.  To be magnanimous, I had my swarm fetch him one as well.  “Numberman actually swore when he realized that Contessa’s Path didn’t even account for them as potential success cases.  We came to rely on Contessa too much, and it cost us in the end.” 

He then raised the bottle and popped the cap with a flash of light and brought it to his lips.  The face he made as he took a deep pull got a laugh out of me and the collective both.  It was a small moment of levity in an otherwise serious situation.

“So, Brockton’s ours now,” Butcher mused.  “Bout time they made it official.” 

Stratego hummed.  “I do believe they will expect us to administrate every facet of the city, from the great to the mundane.” 

Fifteen eyes turned to look at Queen Administrator and I had to pause.  There was an extra set of eyes there, and they were familiar.  She didn’t seem to mind the attention and I could feel the calculations running through our mind.  I shook my head, pushing that connection away before I got lost in it.  Fuck, we really needed to have that conversation before things got even more confusing. 

Humming, I asked one of the questions that had been on my mind.  “How did your little cabal miss that Eidolon made the Endbringers anyway?”

“Contessa may be one of the best pre-cogs across all realities, but even she can’t model Eidolon.  I doubt Omen could manage it either.  It makes sense in hindsight.  The Endbringers, Scion, Eidolon, all blind spots.”  Legend paused for a moment, then sighed.  “You as well, following your encounter with Echidna.” 

“Ah, they noticed that,” Queen Administrator said, sounding as smug as Lisa after schooling the Medhall Board.  “A side effect of our deeper connection.  One that benefits us greatly.” 

“Makes sense,” I said, swirling my bottle.  “The Butcher powers aren’t diminished anymore.  It’s taking some time to adjust to that.” 

“Is that all?” Legend asked. 

“Ask him to get The Destroyer to swing by,” Knockout said.  “I wanna fuck with his Shard Sight again!” 

His what?  And who is that?

“Chevalier,” Alkaline said.  “He got a good look at Queenie back at Somer’s Rock.” 

“We roasted the piss out of him,” Sabertooth gleefully said.

I let out a groan.  “The collective is asking if they can speak to Chevalier again.” 

“Again?” Legend asked, his eyes a bit wide.  “Oh god…  No wonder he requested additional therapists.” 

“Ha!  We got to him!” Pyro cheered. 

“Yeah, I don’t recommend it for the faint of heart,” I said, raising the bottle.

A gentle clink sounded as Legend tapped his own against mine and we spent a moment drinking together in silence.  It was almost nice, the moment of solidarity.  We were two people who had baggage and things we weren’t proud of.  Yet, today had unequivocally been a good day for humanity no matter who was lost.  An Endbringer was dead, and I had been the one to do it. 

By all accounts I was the hero I wanted to be at long last. 

Yet, the heroes weren’t my people.  They hadn’t been the one to stand at my side as I weathered the worst that the world could throw my way.  The Teeth had.  We fought and bled together, and despite differences, we were family.

“Well congratulations and good luck cleaning up that whole mess,” I said, getting to my feet.  “I’ll be happy to stay out of it, though expect a few PHO posts clearing the air where me and mine are concerned.  I’d appreciate it if you backed me on some of it, though I don’t expect you to actually do so.” 

“No promises,” Legend said.  “It’s going to be a full time job keeping the Protectorate from collapsing as it is.” 

I snorted.  “Yeah, that Case Fifty-Three thing alone is gonna be a bitch when the public gets wind of it.  Not to mention the Costa-Brown controversy.  Still not as bad as the Teeth’s cannibalism thing.” 

“Your PR is amazing considering that small caveat,” Legend said dryly. 

I couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Everyone’s a critic, especially after trying Alice’s chili.” 

“Fascist is an acquired taste,” Marauder said proudly. 

I must have made a face at the memory because Legend shook his head. 

“I don’t want to know,” Legend said, his feet leaving the ground.  “Thank you for what you did today, and again, I’m sorry for the things that led to it.  I’ll do what I can to make sure people give the Teeth a wide berth.” 

I gave a hapless shrug.  “I mean, just remind them of what happened to Bastard Son.  That should serve as enough of a deterrent if they have half a brain.”

“Oh come now Weaver,” Legend said, cracking a smile.  “We both know that capes don’t have those.” 

He took off towards the rising sun, leaving me standing there, laughing. 

Well, there was no point standing around, not while there were still people that needed to be saved.  Tossing the bottle aside, I aimed a teleport towards someone that my bugs had found trapped and got back to work.  There were people to save, and there would be no rest for the wicked until the job was done. 

***

Flame washed across a quiet corner of the arena as I stumbled on my feet.  Despite the regenerative powers at my disposal, they did nothing for the bone deep weariness that pervaded my entire being.  Mental fatigue sucked ass, and all I wanted was to find my girls and fall into the cuddle pile for a week straight. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t my girls that greeted me when I arrived, but three members of the old guard.  Alice stood alongside Michael and Big Robbie with their arms crossed and I knew that I wasn’t going to get that much needed rest anytime soon.  My swarm within the building immediately found my girls.  They were all curled up in my bed asleep, though Lisa was stirring. 

Great, they were pulling this when they knew I wouldn’t be alone.

I jabbed the Endslayer into the floor and leaned against it, glad that it didn’t just pierce through everything between it and the Earth’s core or some shit.  The blade had served me well in the battle and I didn’t see myself ever taking anything else into battle ever again. 

“Looks like you’re officially an anime protag,” Pyro said, laughing. 

Given how tired I was after a marathon of bullshit, that kinda tracked.

“I don’t suppose I can get some sleep first?” I asked. 

“You killed Spree,” Robbie said. 

“Sure did,” I said, not sugar coating it.  “He was about to be absorbed by a cloning monster.” 

“Yet you didn’t shoot Vex,” Alice hissed.  “You spared her while executing him!” 

With a weary sight I pulled off the cloth mask and tossed it aside.  “You’re right.  I killed one while sparing the other.  Sure, I could argue that I was out of bullets when Chrissie got eaten, but that’s a poor excuse when I could have kicked rocks at her and done the same thing.” 

“Then why?” Michael asked.  “Just because you’re currently fucking one but not the other?  That’s not an excuse for the Butcher.” 

“A demonstration might be in order,” Ironsides said. 

He wasn’t wrong, but I really didn’t have it in me to follow through, not after over twelve hours of search and rescue.  It was nearly noon and I desperately needed a shower, one of Amelia’s joints, and some inane show on streaming to veg out with.  This was just another hurdle in a long list that included a literal Endbringer. 

“Where’s Leviathan’s head?” 

“It’s in the jeep still,” Robbie said, his eyes narrowing at the subject change.  “Weighs a fuckton, figured you would want it somewhere.” 

I nodded.  “Yeah, next to Hookwolf’s head since I killed Leviathan.”

“No fucking way,” Michael whispered.  “You’re telling me the Butcher offed a fucking Endbringer!?” 

Alice slapped the man upside the head.  “Hey, stay focused here!  We’re grilling her on Spree’s execution, not fawning over something we didn’t even see.” 

“You didn’t see because I made sure the city was evacuated before I tried to kill him,” I snapped.  “The Endbringers aren’t just monsters, they’re weapons.  Leviathan was holding back when he sank Kyushu and Newfoundland.  He didn’t hold back against me.” 

“Still changing the subject,” Alice said, crossing her arms.

“What do you want me to say?  Yes, I hesitated at the thought of my girlfriend’s head exploding.  I didn’t want that to be the last thing I saw of her.  I still had to watch her brains leak from her nose as she died in my arms.” 

“Yet she’s asleep in the other room,” Robbie said. 

“Thank Amelia for that,” Lisa interjected, her focused eyes flicking towards me for a moment before she smirked.  “She broke her rules to save Chrissie, and even then Amelia needed help from a higher power to pull it off.” 

“Negotiator never did know when to keep his mouth shut,” Queen Administrator said with a sigh.

“No, he really doesn’t,” Lisa agreed with a wink. 

A metaphysical glare shot between us in a space that made my brain itch when I tried to focus on it, so I simply didn’t.

“Lise, don’t antagonize,” I said, pinching my nose.  “Besides, she’s not wrong.  I did kill Spree for convenience and spare Vex over sentimentality.” 

“Did you really,” someone said.

I was getting damn tired of new shoes dropping and yet another voice in my head was certainly something I really didn’t want to deal with.  Of greater concern was the new mental switch that I could feel accompanying their presence, and I was supremely hesitant to touch it not knowing what it meant.

“Come on, use my power,” the voice said.  

It was so fucking familiar but I couldn’t quite place it.  I reached for that new mental trigger and my stomach lurched as something pulled free and the voice went with it.  I stared in wide-eyed horror at the sight before me and my mind ran over the implications.

The man stood, looking at his hands in wonder.  I was thankful that he came out clothed, even if they weren’t all that distinct.  I knew that he could have appeared completely nude, and was thankful he didn’t.  After a moment he looked up at me and grinned manically. 

“Suck my dick and peg me up the ass!” Damian yelled, flipping me both birds.  “Fuck yeah bitches, I’m immortal!”

I punched him on principle.