Preface

I wrote this sequence of chapters almost a year ago, 6.11 through 6.14. It's a four-part endbringer battle and looking back, I still point to it as the sequence of chapters of I am proudest of.

Honestly? I thought about ending the arc at 6.10, mostly because it fit the arc title of Omen well. Then I realized that ending an arc on an absurd cliffhanger was exactly the thing I said I wouldn't do so here's the whole fight. Aren't I a gracious spider?

Because of the chaos of an endbringer fight, I'm going to be jumping perspectives to try and capture a better picture of what's happening. Do keep track of who's perspective you're seeing through.

Omen 6.11

Andy Yusung Kim

2001, December 25: Washington, DC

The phone trembled in my hands as I tried to come to grips with what was happening. I tried to reconcile what I was seeing with what I knew and came up short. Two plus two made thirteen and I had no fucking clue how.

'Except, you do,' a traitorous part of me whispered. 'You know exactly why she's here, why she's early.'

I did. The Madhouse. The Worldstones. My potions. My predictions. Hell, maybe even me dropping hints off PHO. Too much. There was real potential for safety and stability in this iteration of Earth-Bet and she couldn't have that. The Cycle couldn't allow that.

She was the Hopekiller, the opposite of everything I was, everything I sought to be.

I looked down at that photograph and shivered as a profound sense of wrongness filled me. I wasn't Christian, I didn't think I could call myself that anymore, but there was something deeply wrong about her arrival today. Christmas, the holy of holy days. I knew that the world would never think of today the same.

The wail of sirens broke me from my stupor.

'Mom.'

That single thought consumed my mind. Mana filled my veins with arctic clarity and I was off. "Door! Home!" I roared.

I crashed through my living room like a focused typhoon. She was upstairs, polishing the bow of her violin.

Spikes of jagged ice sprouted from my feet, lifting me just that much faster as I ran straight through the kitchen island. I ignored the stairs entirely and stomped the ground, hurling myself through the ceiling towards mom. It didn't matter. The house wouldn't matter soon enough.

"Andy? Wha-"

"No time. Door, Babylon!"

I tuned out her surprised squawking and dumped her into a lounge set aside for my use. "Custodian, take care of her," I shouted as I ran through another Doorway into the Madhouse. There, I heard Rebecca's voice through the intercoms.

"This is not a drill. The entity in the sky above the Capitol Building has been identified by thinkers as a third endbringer. I repeat, that is the third endbringer. Do not approach. All Protectorate personnel, initiate evacuation protocols along the Worldstone Network. All other combatants and volunteers are to report to the Arlington branch of the PRT for organization. This is not a dri-"

I tuned it out as the message began to repeat. This wasn't supposed to happen, but we were as prepared as we could be. I knew that Protectorate members would be taking up stations at evacuation sites, each with their own Wayfinders and each Wayfinder tuned to a different city. Zero Day would organize the broader evacuation efforts while Hero himself would make sure to evacuate VIPs.

I Hexflashed to my locker before tossing everything I didn't need through a Door to Babylon. I was confident the Simurgh couldn't use my tech, mana baffled Shards, but there was no point in taking chances. The last thing we needed was my Dream Blossom Censer going off mid-fight.

There was too much going on. As soon as I'd emptied my locker, I took another Door to my room, where I picked up the Mask. It was finished, or close enough. Carefully, I clipped it to my belt. I knew that once I put it on, it wouldn't be just me fighting.

And then I froze.

I didn't need to go. Strictly speaking, I could just… leave. Two words and a single step would take me to Babylon, with mom. I could be away from all this fighting, away from the most dangerous endbringer. DC had more than its fair share of potions. The Worldstone Network would ensure large-scale evacuation in however much time we had before her song.

The words were on my lips, but I hesitated. I remembered the aftermath of every endbringer battle thus far. I remembered the sorrow and the helplessness. I remembered feeling like I'd never matter, nothing I do would ever matter.

I glanced at the Mask. Balance. Perspective. Eternity. Finality. "Is this part of the climb, Fox?" I wondered aloud. As if to answer me, or perhaps because it could sense the death drawing near, the Mask pulsed with eagerness. "I won't be helpless ever again. I won't sit on the sidelines ever again. Door, Arlington PRT."

X

The Arlington office stood only four blocks from the Pentagon and not much further from my own house. I'd only visited it once before, but I remembered it as a bastion of military professionalism. Perhaps because their office was so close to the Pentagon, most of their senior staff came either from the military or from a defense contracting company in the private sector. In other words, a revolving door. A highly sophisticated revolving door with many moving parts, but still a revolving door.

Now?

Now it was absolute chaos. The Doorway winked out behind me as I took stock of the crowd. Most were part of the local cape community and they looked suitably terrified. The vast majority had never seen an endbringer before and no one was looking forward to being the first to test the waters.

'Brave,' I thought. My respect for both the local indies and villains rose up several notches, as did my relief when I failed to spot Just-Ice and the rest of the Arlington Wards.

Off in the parking lot, I saw some kind of tinkertech airship land, crunching several cars out of the way. It opened up to unload a dozen capes before immediately taking off again in a new direction. Judging by the sigil and the naked horned lady amongst their number, the Guild. I wished Narwhal the best of luck. If she survived, I knew she'd go on to do great things.

A person in scaled white body armor and antlered helm appeared suddenly in a flash of light, depositing a team of people in the main atrium. Kirin White of the Moonwalkers if I recalled correctly. He was formerly of the Sentai-Elite. Before I could get a good look at him, he vanished again, presumably to pick up more teams. He wasn't featured in the main story, having come before Taylor's time, but I recognized him as the sole mover-eleven on record.

The name "Moonwalkers" was a very literal designation. It made sense that the hero turned merc would be tapped to pull a Strider.

Legend, Alexandria, Eidolon, and their respective teams were already here, probably given priority transport for obvious reasons.

It was… a disappointing number. We had maybe three dozen, as opposed to hundreds in a normal endbringer fight. I noticed that not a single Kingsman, Meister, or Custodes showed.

'They just started to ring the sirens,' I told myself.

But I knew the depressing truth: Most would look for any reason to not be here, to not be the first to test a new endbringer. I understood, and loathed them for it.

I stalked through the pandemonium towards Masamune, another former member of the Sentai Elite, before snatching a comms bracelet. There was no bomb in it and the AI was rather primitive compared to Dragon, but Masamune provided these to keep in touch during endbringer battles. I didn't give anyone a chance to comment on my youth before I was already away.

I kept walking until I caught up with my colleagues. Even Alexandria looked taken aback by my presence. Two rapid blinks. Practically shrieking with her.

"Andy, what the hell are you doing here?" Legend began.

"Hyunmu," I snapped. "And what else would I be doing? I'm fighting too."

"You can't-"

"I can. Right now, Lexi and I are the only two people who are completely immune to her song."

"That doesn't mean you can handle this," Eidolon chimed in. There was real anger in his voice, anger tinged with genuine concern. For all that people liked to give him shit, he did care. No, it might be that his problem was caring too much. His hood glowed with an emerald light and I might have been more intimidated if I didn't know it was a set of LED lights sewn into the hood. "An endbringer battle is nothing like you've seen."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Can. Must." I unclipped the Mask and hung it over my head, slightly skewed to one side. Its magic was almost alive, and it beckoned me to pull it over my face, to revel in the carnage to come. I stomped down the urge with iron discipline. "This? This is the Mask of the Kindred. It might help us kill the Simurgh but even if it doesn't, it'll be enough to give her a hell of a fight. Have you told them about the song and the time limit?"

Alexandria looked at me and nodded sharply. There was worry there, but also acceptance, acknowledgement that I was not a burden to protect but an ally to fight beside. "No, we have not. Any additions?"

"No, just make sure that all Wayfinder portals shut at half an hour after she starts singing. If the fight goes on longer than that, any cape still in the radius needs to rotate out. In fact, rotate at twenty. Any civilian… is to be left behind… Don't expose yourself to the song for longer than you need to."

"She tore up the PRT building and she's building something from the remnants. Any ideas what?"

A pit formed in my stomach. There was a lot in the Madhouse even without some of my more destructive projects. Pyrotechnical, Glace, Armsmaster, Zero Day, Bluesong, Metalmaru, and Hero. Not to mention Warptek and other tinkers who used to work here but had moved on. "Give me footage."

She tossed me a portable communicator, another of Masamune's creations from the logo. It was impossible to discern exactly what the Simurgh was doing, none of our drones could get close enough, but between the whirlwind of orbiting debris, the tech she was scrapping for materials was easy enough to identify. I'd seen it often enough; it was Bluesong's, a set of giant stereos she brought out for major PR stunts.

She was building a mic. But before I could say so, I heard a low drone in my ears. Behind me, the Ymelo began to pulse a faint blue.

"Speakers. Gives her song range."

"Yeah, we figured," Eidolon growled.

By unspoken agreement, we turned to face the crowd.

Alexandria began barking out instructions. The plan was simple enough. We had half an hour before we needed to withdraw out of range of her song. The stereos were a priority in order to hamper her range. Otherwise, we were to focus on evacuation of civilians. Support staff would fill capes in as they arrived.

"Go!" she barked, flying off towards the nearest stereo. Eidolon followed quickly behind her.

Legend was about to leave but turned and placed a concerned hand on my shoulder. "You don't need to do this."

I smiled wanly up at him. "Heh, always so noble…"

"Can you keep yourself safe?"

"You'll just have to trust me. Hey, I'm Cauldron too, and saving the world is what we do."

"Be careful."

With that, he was off.

I took a deep breath and forced a vicious grin as I reached for the Mask. "Well, let's see if angels can die."

The Mask covered my face and the world faded to black.

X

David Stabler

If I had any lingering doubts about the value of Contessa's new protégé, they were gone now. She was here, the third endbringer, and with all the bells and whistles Hyunmu predicted. She was early, but we were ready. I flew ahead on crystalline wings to engage the Simurgh, leaving Exalt behind to rally the troops.

That was my job, the big damn hero who faced the demon alone. I felt my blood boil and sing. Here, I wasn't David Stabler. Here, I was Eidolon, strongest hero alive. There was a pang of guilt at the battle-high that flowed through me, but I dismissed it with practiced ease. My powers slotted into place smoothly, charging to full potency just as the Simurgh began to sing.

They were all strong, jackpots even. Matter disintegration ray, crystal manipulation with a side of flight, and a sphere that turned my immediate surroundings into a blackbox against masters and thinkers alike. I was ready; it was as though a higher power was smiling down on me, telling me to strike down this disgusting mockery of an angel.

I'd gladly oblige.

The Simurgh launched a barrage of debris at me. Rebar, concrete, and broken masonry flew towards me at near bullet speeds. With a wave of my hand, a crystalline shield formed around me, weathering the attack with contemptuous ease.

I flew forward, slapping aside more of her salvo. The more of her satellites she sent against me, the easier it would be to draw a bead on her. I withstood several more salvos before taking aim and returning fire. A black beam that seemed to eat up all light lanced out from my hand. She dodged out of the way at the last second, turning what would have been a body shot to a glancing blow on a small wing on her left arm.

I smiled grimly as the wing began to visibly rot away, dissolving into flecks of microscopic sand. This was one of the strongest powers I'd seen in a while; I'd be sure to make it count.

'She can see any attack after it leaves the blackbox,' I realized.

Just then, the radio crackled to life. "All blasters, target the stereos. Brutes will run interference," came Alexandria's voice.

It was as good a plan as any.

Off in the distance, I could make out Legend and his cohorts. It was hard to see amidst the pandemonium, but my friend always had a habit of standing out. No matter the situation, Keith had a certain magnetic charisma that drew the eye. This was even truer as Legend. A corona of azure light surrounded the man, making him a literal beacon for others to follow. It was intentional; he was one of the few who could provide some semblance of coordination in such a chaotic battlefield.

Not for the first time, I wondered if powers had minds of their own. Or perhaps they were influenced by the personalities of their owners?

I shook the thought from my head. That was a mystery best left for the good doctor. Now, now was game time.

I made a beeline for one of the other stereos, confident in my friend's ability to destroy his own target. The stereo was almost in range of my disintegration ray when the Simurgh began to retaliate in truth.

Half the materials orbiting her formed into a single, massive hand. It was large enough to have entire cars as fingernails. It reached for me in an effort to swat me out of the sky.

I fired, the black beam of light striking the palm. It was too thick. Six cubic feet of material dissolved in an instant, but more took its place. Left no other option, I retreated a ways before launching a crystalline dagger towards the stereo. If I could break her tinkertech, we'd still come out ahead.

The crystal stopped in midair, a mere inch from its target. She took telekinetic control over something moving at well past the speed of sound.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I was disappointed in myself anyway. Just because I was the creator didn't mean the material was beyond her telekinesis. I'd clearly underestimated her awareness if she managed to pick out a single shiv amidst the entire battle.

And then the hand was on me again, leaving me no room to think. What had to be hundreds of tons of masonry and metal reached for me with grasping fingers.

I raised shields upon shields of emerald crystal. Each had diamond-like durability and I knew that even the thinnest pane would stop a bullet. The first shattered like glass.

The second too.

Then I wised up and remembered something Hero used to ramble on about. He was fond of talking our ears off about one super-science or another and though most of it went in one ear and out the other, I wasn't incapable of learning.

The third shield was a series of convex, oblong shells, similar to half of a sunflower seed. They stacked on top of each other to form a flower that took the incoming weight at an angle. Every hit sent peals of thunder through the city as first dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of scales scalloped themselves against the endbringer's assault.

Hundreds shattered, but that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The rain of crystal shards was turned into my own counterassault, a hail of projectiles leaving behind a thousand sonic booms in the air.

It sounded a bit like the pattering of raindrops.

My return barrage ripped straight through her diminished shields. I grinned as I saw the attack about to hit her, only for her to tuck in her wings and spin like a corkscrew, deflecting every one of them away with her own feathers.

I growled in frustration. By now, I could see even without Hyunmu's preliminary analysis that she was far, far more intelligent than her brothers. I still thought my disintegration ray could deal the finishing blow against her, but I'd need a way to penetrate her defenses and keep her distracted.

Just as I was wondering how I'd manage that, I heard the earth-shaking bang of Legend's unrestrained attack.

I'd seen him cut loose dozens of times now. Even so, it still took a moment for my mind to associate my kindly best friend to the blue nova of destruction he became. There was nothing fancy about his lasers now. No freezing effects. No electricity. No rainbow of colors meant to wow the public. The beams swerved from his hands like the many heads of a hydra and struck with pure, unmitigated force, turning whatever they hit to a cloud of dust.

The blasters cheered at their leader's power. And then, I saw the false angel smirk.

She shot me a cocksure grin, before extending a long, almost dainty hand. Every speck of dust and splinter froze in the air. Then, with a flick of her finger, she sent it all down into the crowds below.

It was horrific. The cloud descended with the speed of bullets, effectively sandblasting the civilians trying to evacuate. I saw flesh ripped from bone as they were scoured with the impromptu sandstorm. The ones who were lucky enough to not get hit immediately choked on the strangling cloud, their lungs torn to ribbons by millions of cuts and abrasions from within.

I imagined I could hear my friend's anguished cry. He always cared too much. No matter how many of these fights we led, he took every civilian casualty as a personal failing. In my battle-high, I experienced a moment of perfect clarity brought on by my familiarity with the man.

I drew myself away from the stereo I was originally targeting. There was no point in splitting off if she could divide her attention the way she'd been doing so far. Instead, I drew closer to my friend. I could see Alexandria lead her team to flank the Simurgh. She and her brutes made a flying pass at the Simurgh. They weren't able to grab a hold of her, but they did manage to harry the endbringer.

With the kind of coordination that could only come from decades of cooperation, Legend and I fired as one. Both of our attacks struck her rings, filling the sky with a tremendous explosion.

Then, I heard someone on Alexandria's side shriek in pain and terror. She'd stuck around just a little too long and received a face full of superheated sand. Apparently, she'd grossly overestimated her own brute rating because she dropped like a stone.

"Night Owl down," my bracelet spoke.

I remembered her vaguely. She was a recent vial recipient who joined the Baltimore Protectorate. There wasn't anything special about her as far as I was aware, but she stuck out in my mind because she practically worshiped the ground Alexandria walked on. Even her costume was a copy of her idol's, with the only difference being a stylized owl instead of a tower.

"Night Owl deceased," my bracelet spoke again. She apparently didn't survive the fall.

Legend and I glanced at each other before turning as one to strike down Legend's original target. The Simurgh sent a wave of debris to block his laser, but I generated a crystalline wall of my own to counter it.

The destruction of the first of six stereos got a cheer out of the combatants, but it was short-lived. There was simply too much going on. My bracelet came alive with a litany of downed and deceased capes as I rejoined the fray with a scowl.

Author's Note

HERE WE GO! I can finish this up and drop the story, as is tradition.

Did the Simurgh only start singing after Eidolon locked in and charged his powers? Why yes, it's almost like it's her directive to provide him a foil.

Some capes introduced are canon, others are not. Kirin White for example was introduced in Wildbow's PHO Sunday.

Thank you for reading. To reach a wider audience, and because I enjoy a more forum-like setup to facilitate discussion, I like to crosspost to a wide variety of websites. You can find them all on my Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/fabled.webs.