Inheritance - Deference 5.7

Thursday May 12th, 2011

The regenerated form of Leviathan should have come as a surprise, but it really didn’t.  This monster wanted me dead and was apparently willing to put everything into making that happen if given the chance.  The building behind me was deserted, the only people in my range were locked in the shelters below.

I could only hope that would be enough to keep them safe, because whatever happened next would probably doom the entire city.  The Butchers had fond memories of Boston, but I personally hadn’t been down since before Mom died.  Oddly enough, I think that visit had been intended for her to check up on the Butcher at the time, though she didn’t make contact. 

“That was when I was in command,” Chisel said.  “And no, I don’t think we ever saw her.  Maybe ask Alice, she was around back then.” 

“Or Robbie,” Butcher added.  “He keeps up with that stuff.” 

I mentally grunted, but put the conversation aside for now.  Staring down Leviathan once again, it really was concerning how I was getting used to facing a monster that could break me in a single attack.  I had to keep that in mind, Leviathan didn’t even need to kill me, he could simply disable me and call it a day. 

So why hadn’t he?  If he killed me, I’d just jump to his creator, and then it would be a fight between Queen Administrator and High Priest on who came out on top.  I wasn’t sure where I would end up in that exchange and wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.  Part of the appeal with the inheritance among the Teeth was what amounted to immortality for anyone that managed to kill the current Butcher.  It had been the motivation on more than one occasion in the past, and I had a feeling that I’d be seeing more attempts in the future. 

My entire body lurched, and Sanguine’s power flared hard in response.  I couldn’t tell what it was doing, which was mildly concerning that one of the collective had just used their own power for me, but I wasn’t about to bitch once Sanguine started talking.

“Did he just?” Sanguine started, then hissed.  “That bastard just tried to rip all the blood out of us!” 

A chill ran down my spine as the collective lit up in rapidfire arguments over different counters to that ability, but I was just staring at the monster with barely controlled rage.  I guess the kid gloves were coming off and Leviathan had decided to go for the kill afterall. 

Well, two could play at that fucking game.  I teleported, stepping through reality just beside Leviathan’s head and lashed out, severing it at his neck with a clean cut.  I kicked as hard as I could, punting his dome across the Boston skyline with a touch of Quarrel’s power applied to it as it shot off into the metaphorical sunset.  Both his arms and tail came for me, but I was already flipping back, twisting through the air away from the headless Endbringer.  That he wasn’t dead from that came as no surprise.  My target was something deeper within. 

His head landed exactly where I intended, causing the lead car of Hemmorhagia’s convoy to skid to a halt some five miles away.  I didn’t even need to tell them what to do, even if it did take them a few moments to get over their slack jawed surprise.  Several cheers rang out once their brains caught up with reality and they were quick to collect the trophy, even if it took their collective efforts to lift the damn thing.  

I might have laughed if I didn’t have a royally pissed off headless Endbringer attempting to return the favor.  Claws came for me at a speed I would have failed to match just an hour earlier, scything through the falling ran and trailing water behind them.  I deflected them with the side of Wolfslayer, then ducked into the Endbringer’s reach. 

I dragged the blade’s edge along his leg as I tried to bring it up, but rather than react as expected, Leviathan fell towards me.  I teleported, landing some hundred feet back with wide eyes.  The beast righted itself quickly but didn’t resume the assault.  If it still had a head I might have assumed he was glaring at me. 

“Oh, that bastard definitely is,” Butcher said.  “Sanguine’s working overtime to keep your fluids where they belong.”

“Indeed,” Queen Administrator said.  “It is quite a strain on resources too, so an expedient end to this engagement would be preferable.” 

The newest voice in my head made a good point, and I could almost feel how draining it was for Sanguine to keep me alive.  Concerning implications aside, they weren’t wrong.  The longer the fight dragged on, the less likely it became that I survived.  Part of me was tempted to just pop to the edge of my range just to see what Leviathan would do, but what would stop him from drowning the entire east coast? 

Me, that was who.

I teleported again, ducking immediately to avoid a claw that had started to move before my teleport had finished linking the two spaces.  Wolfslayer repaid the attempt twofold, severing two digits from the claw in my hasty retaliation.  It was superficial, but I’d take it in the exchange.  His tail came next, angled like a spear.  I leaned aside, and caught it with my free arm.  The leverage I have was poor, and my strength wouldn’t be enough to do anything with it, but I did attempt to apply Fester’s rot and Chisel’s matter manipulation once again to the Endbringer’s flesh.

Neither had any effect. 

It was worth a try as the collective worked to adapt their abilities to be more effective, not that I had much hope for an expanded kit at the moment.  This was a fight for survival with a monster responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths. 

“That blade is more than enough to land a decisive blow,” Stratego said.  “I’m working to figure out which points he’s guarding and which of those are red herrings.  Just keep him busy.” 

Easier said than done, I grumped.

Bursting into motion I crashed into Leviathan feet first with all the force I could muster.  We tore through the hospital wall, ripping plaster and steel supports alike.  My braid whipped behind me, pulling from the g-forces such a move brought as a consequence.  Leviathan took it in stride, letting things crumble around us.  Claws lashed out, grabbing the blade in a crushing grip.  Fingertips dropped down into the brack water, but Leviathan now had a firm hold on the Wolfslayer. 

I punched his arm with everything I had, and while it didn’t loosen his grip, it did  push things along enough that the blade finished its cut.  I pulled away before he could attempt a followup grab and twisted, letting my blade gain momentum as I did.  Leviathan pushed back, heedless of the building at his back as he tore through it.  My feet pushed, and I cut through the air like a bolt.

 My newfound strength from the improved powers saw me overshoot, and he retaliated with a supersonic crack of his tail.  Knockout’s forcefields sprung up between us at the last instant, but shattered instantly, and I still took the brunt of the hit across my stomach.  My armor practically disintegrated under the primal force of his strike. 

Then the city of Boston was passing beneath me. 

Shaking the hit off, I could only wince at how Sabertooth’s regen popped some broken ribs back together.  A cough followed, expelling a glob of blood with it.  Fucking hell did his hits bring back Knockouts memories of Alexandria. 

“Pretty sure she was pulling those punches,” Knockout insisted. 

Of course she was, even she wasn’t crazy enough to aim for the inheritance.  I righted myself and aimed a teleport across the parking lot from Leviathan.  He was already closing on me by the time I finished the step through, and I could only grimace at how little time I had to react.  My limited combat pre-cog abilities worked in concert to paint a picture, and it was grim. 

Leviathan knew I could hurt him, and was acting with that knowledge in mind.

Shit, was this what it’s like to fight us?

Well, I guess I owed a few corpses an apology if I survived this whole mess.  Not that the odds were looking good as Leviathan formed claws from water to replace his digits and came for my head.  I ducked and swung, the Endbringer twisted around the strike, and I was forced to teleport again to avoid a foot to the jaw. 

Two-hundred feet this time, and it still barely gave me time to figure out how to counter the monster before he closed the distance.  He was afraid of the soon-to-be Endslayer, so I needed to leverage that fear into action.  Stratego worked in tandem with Reflex and Damascian to reach beyond the bare bones of their own powers and it was as if a ghostly image had moved ahead of Leviathan, showing his motions before they happened.  I moved to strike at the ghost and it immediately shifted, moving to avoid the coming strike.  Even seeing the reaction before it happened was cutting things damn close, his reaction speed was beyond my own even with the enhancements. 

“Troubling,” Queen Administrator said, and I could almost see her doing something elsewhere to try and…  Ugh, it was hard to wrap my head around and she seemed to be pushing my own attention off of her and back on the Endbringer.  “Focus.” 

Right.

I adjusted the swing, watching as Leviathan reacted before his body had so much as twitched in response.  Then something clicked and it was as though Quarrel was helping guide my strike.  It no longer mattered how the Endbringer moved, I wanted him cut, and so he was fucking cut. 

His right arm was severed at the elbow, and even as he scrambled away I was moving after him with manic intensity.  Something told me deep down that if I didn’t keep up the pressure, then I wouldn’t get another shot.  The Endbringer would retreat to the sea and I’d lose my chance to kill him. 

Which would be a win, but I was committed.  I wanted this bastard dead for all the shit he put us through today.  It was personal, and I was determined to have any and all trophies I could claim from his hide. 

“An Endbringer skin coat would be bitchin,” Alkaline said. 

Pyro belted out a laugh.  “Fuck yeah it would!” 

“I do not think their layers work like that,” Queen Administrator said. 

“Don’t be a killjoy Queenie,” Butcher said.  “Sometimes you just have to have fun!  It’s one of the best parts of being human!” 

“We are not human,” Queen Administrator said with a sigh. 

“Yet we have human minds,” Ironsides said.  “The Cycles were so we could learn and grow, so why restrict yourself from the best experiences the host species has to offer?” 

“I will take that under further advisement,” Queen Administrator said with a sigh. 

Leviathan twisted in his retreat, somehow bounding away on all fours even down an arm as he was.  He made it all of one leap before I crashed into him blade first, taking most of his tail and part of a leg with me, but that still allowed him to keep moving despite the damage.  Worse, I caught his arm regrowing at the joint, and rather abruptly.  It was no wonder he had recovered so quickly between rounds of our fight. 

“Rapid regeneration increases power consumption exponentially,” Queen Administrator said.  “The Siege Engine will burn itself out in short order.” 

Is that a viable win condition?”

“If you can maintain this level of combat for a year, then yes.” 

Great, just what I needed.  More sass from yet another voice in my head.  Not that I wasn’t used to it at this point, but it was the principle of the matter!  We would be having one hell of a long talk once the dust settled, but that remained contingent on actually surviving this fight.  Which I wasn’t certain I could manage.

Water formed to replace the missing limbs as they grew back, allowing the Endbringer to move as if they weren’t missing in the first place.  Just further proof that attrition wasn’t a winning plan.  The Endbringer tore after me, dragging every drop of water on the ground and in the air along with its echo.  The trailing wall of water may as well have been a tidal wave on its own. 

Gritting my teeth, I answered the Endbringer’s charge with my own.  My swarm moved through the roiling tempest and made contact with the trailing wave.  Alkaline’s power latched onto it, and I drew the entire thing into her hammerspace.  Leviathan didn’t falter, though the phantom echo of the future told me what was coming.  The dance played out as he adjusted to my shifting stance, and I moved to counter his new motions. 

My blade carved a deep furrow through his chest, but not enough to cleave the Endbringer in twain.  My eyes traced the line, but I saw no hint of the prize I sought.  Would the core look any different from the rest of the Endbringer?  How small would it be?  For all I knew I was looking for a literal needle point in a mass of hyperdense flesh. 

“It isn’t that small,” Stratego said.  “The beast is favoring its left breast, something roughly the size of a basketball would fit the movement patterns.” 

Well, that was finally something that I could work with, and it gave me a target to aim for when fighting the bastard.  I pressed forward, watching how the ghostly projection of the future Endbringer reacted as I took my swing.  I didn’t immediately aim for the supposed core, no, I instead guided the fight to where I could naturally take a shot at it. 

Leviathan reacted almost instantly.  Where with other strikes he might pull back, or simply take the hit, he instead nearly disengaged.  I pursued, doing my best to hide the glee welling up within at the idea that this fight might actually be winnable.  I wasn’t the only one that picked up on the shift in the air, Leviathan seemed to realize that I’d figured something out as well. 

He stood there for a moment, regarding me through the pelting rain.  I held the Wolfslayer at the ready, waiting for that first ghostly image to indicate which way he might attempt to strike from.  To my surprise, it wasn’t an attack that first showed, but a retreat.  I immediately aimed a teleport to land in his projected path, but he diverted in the time it took me to vanish and reappear. 

I could only curse as I realized his projected destination.  He was heading right for the harbor, and if he made it to the water, he would simply flee into the depths.  I couldn’t allow that, not when I was so close to actually winning the damn fight!  Worse, if he got away then the head I’d taken as a trophy would be meaningless!

“Priorities,” Ironsides said with a nod.

The Endbringer was moving like someone on daytime tv who was just told they were indeed the father.  I smacked Sanguine for giving me that mental image even as I pursued Leviathan with everything my expanded kit could bring to bear.  I knew it wouldn’t be enough, not with how quickly the distance was closing between us and the harbor.

Taking a chance, I aimed a teleport in the monster’s path, but just before it connected, I threw the Wolfslayer.  When I reappeared, Leviathan had indeed moved to avoid me, and stepped right into the path of my throw.  The Endbringer twisted as best it could, but the twirling blade still struck true enough, severing everything beneath its thin torso from its body. 

Unfortunately, the blade kept going, shearing through everything the edge passed through like it wasn’t even there as the blade vanished into the dark.  It ended up embedded some five-hundred feet away in some poor fucker’s truck, which had been flipped by one of the waves.  

The Endbringer landed on his hands, one made of water where it hadn’t finished regrowing.  We stared at one another for the barest of moments, then I teleported, landing beside the Wolfslayer just as Leviathan surrounded itself by water and used it to propel himself the remaining distance towards the wrecked harbor. 

“Oh no you don’t,” Pyro said. 

I vanished yet again, this time landing atop the Endbringer and drove my blade straight down through its flesh, hitting something solid deep in his chest.  The blade ground against the object, but something beyond our world skipped like a record at the contact.  Danger sense flared unlike I had ever felt it as the entire chorus shouted at once.  Instinctively I reached across the relay network, but it was pulling me too slowly.  Blinding light radiated from the wound and I just knew that whatever happened, I wasn’t going to make it. 

My mind had a brief moment where it wondered where I would end up, whose head, and if I would still be me or if Queen Administrator would just make a replacement of my mind that simply thought it was me to play at being another voice all for the benefit of the next Butcher. 

Then the feeling of danger passed all at once.

I blinked, Leviathan dropping to the ground beneath me.  I barely managed to land upright, pushing myself back to my feet as I looked around.  It took an embarrassing few seconds for me to spot the golden doorway up in the sky and the green costumed hero hovering just outside of it with a hand extended.

Eidolon.

I looked back at the now crumpled form of the Endbringer, and the hollowed out portion of his chest where my blade had struck.  It was as though something had carved out his flesh like an ice cream scoop.  Dimly I recognized it as the same ability that had been used to seal away Echidna.  Had Eidolon just saved Leviathan from me, or was it well and truly dead? 

“Dead,” Queen Administrator said.  “You ruptured its core, and the jolly green asshole up there swallowed the explosion before it killed you.” 

“Please tell us he can’t just spit it back out as an attack,” Fester said. 

“Unknown,” Queen Administrator said.  “I believe the man is instead harvesting the energy rather than let it be expended without use.  Efficient, if nothing else.” 

Eidolon stared down at me, the hood of his costume consuming any light that might have illuminated the mask beneath.  I had no idea what might be going through his mind as he looked down upon me, and he flitted back through the golden iris without giving those thoughts any voice. 

There I stood, over the broken corpse of an Endbringer, having accomplished something that not even Scion had managed.  Up in the sky, the storm was breaking up almost as quickly as when Vista parted the sky.  That must have been one hell of a show, and I was a bit disappointed that I had missed it.

“Call it in?” Chisel asked.

I brought my arm up and hit the buttons.  “Hard override.  This is Weaver.  Leviathan is fucking dead.  Get your asses back here and help me find those still alive in this mess.”

With that done, I flopped back against the mess of hard flesh that remained of Leviathan and let myself uncoil.  The fighting couldn’t have lasted for more than half an hour, maybe a full hour.  I hadn’t bothered to check the time when we engaged Echidna, but I was fucking exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up with my girlfriends and sleep for a week. 

“God that sounds amazing,” Alkaline said. 

Unfortunately, there was so much shit to sort through that I didn’t think I would be getting to do that for some time.  For one, I could pick up about a dozen capes still alive out there in the rubble.  The armbands hadn’t managed to call everyone, or I just fucking missed them.  It was hard to say, but I knew right where each of them were and could bring them to a healer the moment that people got set back up after the evacuation. 

At a different hospital of course, we kinda leveled the former staging area with our battle.  There were a few choices that would work, a few of them were barely even waterlogged.  Sure enough, the first crack of Strider’s teleport resounded and people flew into motion.  I didn’t move to join them, not right away

These weren’t the search and rescue people.  Those in the first wave were heavy hitters like Chevalier and Myrddin.  Capes that could hold me back if necessary, or at least, they could have before Queen Administrator made herself known. 

We’re going to have a long talk, and soon.

“Agreed,” Queen Administrator said.  “I don’t intend to pretend none of this happened, or go back to how things once were.  We’re in this together.” 

It was a nice sentiment, and one that I found myself echoing in the quiet of my own head.  The collective was more restrained now that they weren’t pretending to be nothing more than the tormented minds of the former Butchers.  Funny enough, I kinda missed it, but I wasn’t about to ask them to start chatting my ears off just yet.  There was something peaceful about the moment, especially as the night sky came into view and the lack of light pollution allowed the Milky Way to shine through clearly upon the broken city.

I relished the moment of peace, wishing I could share it with my people.  I could only hope that Chrissie was comfortable.  I knew Amelia and Lisa were watching out for her, but neither of them were capable of killing with a look or gesture.  Amelia needed physical contact, and by now everyone knew to never let Lisa get started.

I was nervous with them outside my range, and even the Teeth convoy was long gone.  It was strange to be so disconnected from them, and yet?  I could almost feel them out there, through some phantom echo within my powers.  Was that part of Queen Administrator’s thing?  She called it a Network, but what exactly did that mean?

I’d learn soon enough, though a part of me was dreading those answers and what they would mean for myself and those I cared about.  Another part of me worried for the fallout.  I’d killed an Endbringer, which meant that everything would change.  Would the heroes even acknowledge that a villain had been the one to finally finish off one of the monsters destroying the world?  Something told me they wouldn’t, especially with how Eidolon stepped out at the last moment.

Whatever. 

I hadn’t done it for them.  I did it for me and mine, and that was all that mattered.  If they wanted to fuck Brockton Bay over like Tagg suggested, I could hold that over their heads and see where things fell.  I was the fuck mothering Butcher, and I wasn’t about to let the world forget it.

Dragon’s craft roared overhead, circling through the clearing sky before it descended.  I sat there watching as dozens of devices flashed with light, or sent some sort of laser to wash over the Endbringer corpse that was serving as my resting place.  After what felt like hours, my armband finally spoke once again, heralding the truth for the world.

Leviathan deceased.  I repeat.  Leviathan deceased.  This is not a mistake.  The Endbringer has fallen.

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I didn't really get to hit this one with the edit stick as well as I would like, so if there's stuff you feel is missing, or details you feel should be expanded, feel free to point them out!