[Finally!]
I flinched, my eyes snapping back and forth in the black void of our otherwhere, looking for the voice. It was here, but not here. In my head, and not me, but not the not-me from before. More people come to take my Elle away?
[Fuck me, we get a slow one?]
Who’s there?
My leg was doing a slither dither, and my head a tingle wiggle. Why so?
[What is this? What happened to the fight?] [Phew! Sorry not sorry, but suuuuuper glad you died, Fifteen. It really sucked being shut out like that.] [We can get rid of them if we want, Nine.]
So many, and all at once! Why was my head up for rent? Someone call the super!
Much rude, talk talking all at once like this. Make a curly q and get in the queue! [Well yeah, but then we’ve gotta listen to them. Get enough shit out of Ten as it is!] [Yo, Sixteen! Who turned out the lights?] [Heavensword… Oh god, I was really the Butcher…?]
Excuse ‘em me! Failure to single file, and you will be asked to leave the Juniper! [Yup. Sixteen’s loopier than a roller coaster. Fuck my life.] [For fuck’s sake, would you please just use my goddamn name?] [Wait, Fifteen, did you not realize you killed Fourteen, or did you just think you weren’t because we weren’t there?] [The madhouse is back into full swing…]
Hey! Listen! [I don’t… It’s all so confusing…] [Sixteeeeeeen? Yoo hoo! Comprendes Ingles?] [No. Making your life a living hell is the only solace I get after you lucked into killing me, you f—]
Too many! “Out!” I screamed, shake-shaking my noggin. Needed the bad out, to focalize on protecting my Elle—
The fog over my thoughts wavered before melting away. Right, I had needed to focus, so my power… tweaked…
What.
[Geez this one’s off to a good start, amiright? So, Sixteeeeeen… You blind or what?]
My heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t me. The power I’d just used, tweaking the chemicals in my brain—it wasn’t either. Oh god.
A scoff. [If there ever was a God, he’s pushing daises,] a cruel voice growled. Butcher. The original. I had never heard his voice before, but I knew it was him. Not a certainty from deduction. No, I recognized him as easily as I would recognize a recording of myself. And the one before him—Footloose. I’d never even heard that name before, but I knew it was them, and… and…
Please no.
[Whaaat?! Never heard of me?! C’mooon!]
[Shut up,] another voice growled. Deimos. Another name I knew—and this one I did know, though I shouldn’t have known him just by the sound of his voice. Just thinking about Deimos was terrifying, which was a problem with his power. Butcher Thirteen, the leader of the Teeth when Jess and I hid in that freezer a couple of years ago. [I’m trying to enjoy the horror of her realization.]
Cold certainty flooded me. This was real—a point that the next voice drove home quite well.
[Things are off to a marvelous start as usual…]
Alvíss. Klaus. My father. No, my uncle. Oh god. Elena hadn’t been lying. I remembered it like I was there. Like I… I…
#
I was standing over the Butcher’s mangled, crushed body in shock. My blood was still pumping, the panic and desperation lingering despite having avoided being exploded into tiny bits. I’d only wanted—needed to stop them, to buy Elena and time to get away. If the Butcher was dead… if I became—
[Gave Six quite the chase didn’t you, Seven?]
Oh god.
#
I stared down at the baby—the little human in Alexia’s arms that I had helped create. Elena only had eyes for Alexia and the baby, her face lit up with beaming, unbridled joy in a way I’d never seen before. I couldn’t blame her. Hell, I was right there with her. My thoughts were glued to the baby as surely as my eyes, which were currently drinking in every inch of him, every minute detail—searing this moment into my memory.
I helped bring this little boy, my nephew, into the world. I did that. Me.
He was still upset, but I could hardly blame him for that. A clean delivery by our standards still translated to an earthshaking experience for him. Everything he ever knew, his entire world had just been ripped away from him as he was literally dragged kicking and screaming into a new one—ours.
“What are you going to name him?”
Elena started at my words, and I grinned. She had actually managed to get so lost in the moment she forgot I was here. I’d never let her live it down.
The two exchanged a look, then Alexia gave me a weary smile. “We were thinking W—”
#
I shoved the memory aside as best as I could. That’s not your name, it doesn’t matter, just ignore—
[Your name? What—?] Klaus interrupted before his confusion became horror. [Oh god…]
[Oh shit, Sixteen is Seven’s kid?! Uh, kinda kid? Whatevs, plot twist!] [Fascinating… I wonder if that has any bearing on the normal transfer?] [I’m confused. You don’t seem to have a—]
Look, this isn’t what 's important right now, so would all of you shut up for one—just one— goddamn minute?! [It’s like a wacky sitcom! Or Freaky Friday, but you’re sharing a body instead!] [Everyone stop. We need to focus on the Endbringer.]
Exactly, Caterpillar! Thank you! Shit’s going down, and you all talking over each other is really fucking distracting! [They’re always like this. It’s really annoying.] [Ooooo, what if Sixteen had a kid and— Wait, can you do that after the snip snip?]
Stop… Stop… [No one asked for your opinion, Three!] [Fucking right, DZ?!] [I am still waiting on an explanation for the lack of—]
Oh for fuck’s sake! I yelled, drowning them out. Diamondback, give it a rest! A friend— acquaintance— whatever took care of things for me, and that’s all you need to know, so stop asking about it! Now if you’re not helping with the goddamn Endbringer attack, quiet!
All of the talking in my head abruptly stopped, leaving me in disbelief.
[That was unexpec—]
Edict shushed Delible with a hasty, [Stop talking!]
All at once it clicked. Toro’s intense hatred for Edict suddenly made a lot more sense. Holy shit, Edict, your power works inter—
My leg abruptly gave away under me, and I yelped in surprise as I collapsed, having been unprepared.
[Not just internally. It works on yourself.] [I meant you too, June…] [Ten’s stupid ass power fucks us over again!] [Unfortunate. Being hampered is not what we need right now.]
I frantically grabbed at my leg. Nonono, is this shit permanent? [Kiss my ass, Toro…] [Focus! W— June. We need a plan. What can you tell us about what’s happening out there?] [Though the leg issue is moot if your power allows flight, Sixteen.] [Heh. Anyone want to take bets on Sixteen biting the dust before the Endbringer fucks off?]
My name is June, and my ability to fly does not make having a fucked up leg a non-issue, Caterpillar! [In your dreams, Ten.] [It’s not permanent, but it’ll last for hours. Can you fly? Pillar isn’t wrong about that being a good solution…] [Sucker’s bet, Nine. Now, if you want to get specific about how she’ll die, I might be interested.]
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I tugged myself up into the air, my leg dangling limply below me for a moment before I self-consciously adjusted the plates in my costume to avoid looking like I had a soggy noodle for a leg. For a brief moment, there was deafening silence in my head, then the noise returned with a vengeance.
[Fucking finally!] [Yes! Fantastic!] [Oh good. The leg is no issue then.] [Oh man, that’s dope as shit! Or should I say, that’s fly? Haha!] [Oh thank god, I was worried for a second there…] [Mmm… I wonder how this will change the taste of their fear…] [You inherit my powers, right? At least you’ll pull yourself back together if you fall and Heavensword isn’t around to catch you…] [Hmph. At least the new blood brings something worthwhile to the table.]
I winced at the myriad overlapping voices out of habit rather than actual pain and changed the subject while the rest of the voices continued to make background commentary of varying levels of excitement about my flying. Endbringer. Long story short is it’s a new one. Creates nightmares from the people it hits with its energy, and it keeps pulling out new shit. Earlier it made nightmares with powers, and just now it did a rapid burst to make a fuck ton of them.
[Okay, that’s good. Well, not good, but it’s good to know what’s going on. So these ‘nightmares’ are out there fighting people?] [Yowza, sounds like a real winner.] [There was more. I felt this overwhelming fear that kept coming and going…]
Is that what that was, Delible? Shit, I had no idea what was happening. Everyone was fighting, it suddenly all became so overwhelming, then I was here with all of you. [So we’re dealing with summoned minions and some kind of fear effect. We need to distinguish between real people and nightmares, and we need to avoid the fear. Fif— Oh, Delible, is it? Okay, what exactly is your power, Del?] [Someone—or maybe it was a nightmare? Either way, something cut off my head, then everything was dark, then you were babbling in my ear about losing an ‘Elle’?]
Her power is some kind of crazy regeneration, I thought, thinking back to her hand reassembling from shredded bits on the beach. And why’re you acting like you don’t know Elle? We literally introduced ourselves, names and all! [Hmm… You could possibly tell them apart using Three’s power? Or maybe his, but…] [Enough with all this talking talking talking! You’re the one that trapped us in here, right? So get out there and fucking fight, Sixteen!] [Ooo ooo mmm! Seven’s getting into this, huh? Haven’t seen this in a while. He must looove you, Sixteeeen.] [I… I’m not entirely sure? I’m stronger, and I recover, but…]
[Quiet.]
That lone word cut through the noise like a knife through hot butter, and while the voices continued to murmur unlike before when I mistakenly invoked Edict’s power, the sudden hush drove home that something was different about this voice.
[June, was it? This is all so sudden, having all of this thrust upon you in the middle of a fight for your life. It’s understandable to want to take your time, to find your footing.] Belial. The way he spoke, the assured cadence of it—his voice almost seemed to fill my ears. [There is a time for such things, but this is not it. You have a fragment of my power now. Look past this shield you’ve hid behind and see for yourself that you are correct. The fight rages on.]
[June, be careful!] Klaus urged, even as I reached for Belial’s power almost unconsciously, causing blood all around me to light up and push back the dark. [He’s a manipulator!]
[He’s right of course,] the villain—the serial killer—easily acknowledged, clearly unbothered by the accusation. [You have my memories as surely as you have your uncle’s. See for yourself.]
#
I watched from inside as Klaus crept towards the edge of the roof, Heavensword at his side and garbed in deep blue cloth and bones with a crown of dark steel atop her head. The two of them carefully looked over the lip at the PRT van below, and he used the remnant of my power to bring the officers’ constellations to life, both of us surveying the opposition.
“Three— No, four of them,” he quietly whispered. “Two at door, driver, behind driver.”
The pumping of lifeblood in the last one’s heart likely indicated a cape, but I carefully kept that to myself and away from the surface thoughts he would notice.
[Dun dun, dun dun], Six abruptly and loudly began to sing in our head, gaily sharing the beat to some spy thriller from Aleph they had seen once.
Rotlimb chuckled, prompting Danger Zone to snap at him, [Would you take this seriously for once in your lousy life?] while Klaus unconsciously growled aloud, “Goddammit, Footloose…”
The lifeblood of one of the officers at the door stirred—he was going to look up—but Heavensword was already tugging Klaus down, so I didn’t bother warning him, instead remarking, [Careful, or you’ll give away the advantage.]
She held a finger to her lips in her own silent beratement, and his eyes traced the tracks of red she had painted from her eyes down her cheeks. A reminder of their end goal—finding her son, his nephew—and a symbol of her mourning his loss until then.
The metal tip of Klaus’ glove unraveled into connected letters spelling, ‘Sorry,’ before seamlessly flowing back into place.
The two of them waited a short bit longer for the right moment, then they finally pounced when the two officers moved back to the van and slid open the door. She adeptly formed a thick slab midair for a rolled landing that killed her momentum enough to safely land on the actual ground while leaving the crushing weight to land on the officers at the door. Klaus meanwhile flicked his eyes at the driver long enough to send a burst of agonizing pain to disable him while touching the door. The door absorbed its own hinges, and he tossed it aside before reaching in and smashing the driver’s head against the steering wheel.
I felt Danger Zone’s power scream a warning, and I watched with detached interest as Klaus leapt away from the reaching hand of the cape before pushing agony into its owner. She collapsed with a gasp against the van, and he foolishly spared the collapsed Heavensword a worried glance. He only narrowly dodged the second, blind swipe of the screaming cape courtesy of a second warning from Danger Zone’s power and Footloose’s teleportation putting me on the roof of the van before the hand could connect.
Flames billowed out on his arrival, and a quick slap of his hand against the roof of the vehicle caused the side to balloon out and wrap tightly around the cape’s neck and limbs to hold the Striker tightly in place.
“Console, the Butcher is here! Officers down, send backup!” the cape yelled.
Klaus winced, asking, “Heavensword, are you okay?” [Pitiful. Five and Six were bad enough, but you’re fucking awful, Seven.] [A climactic finale to the fight, but can suave, super-spy Seven seal the deal?!] [Geez, that was close, Klaus…]
“Can’t move,” she wheezed out, sounding strained. “I feel like I weigh a literal ton.”
“Dammit. I’ll carry you away, okay?” [Girl, I told you that cheesecake would go straight to your thighs, haha!] [I repeat. Pitiful.]
“Don’t worry about me. Just question them,” she hissed back while I drawled, [Eyes on the prize, Klaus.]
“Dammit,” he swore again before leaping onto the street, careful to leave some room between himself and the Striker, who was rattling off information about how he had disabled the other victims. He sent another burst of pain and winced at her shriek of agony before gathering his resolve and demanding, “The PRT abducted a mother and her newborn son last week. Tell me what you know!”
“Really? This is your plan?” the cape taunted with a forced laugh. “Assault PRT officers, hope one of them knows something?”
He had never turned off the fragment of my power, and the lifeblood in the heart of the driver sang to me. [Driver was involved.]
Klaus moved to the driver. “You. You were involved. Tell me what you know!” he demanded while asking me, [This is your specialty, Belial. What do I need to say?]
[Oh, no no, I wouldn’t dream of interfering,] I smoothly replied while the driver spat a tooth Klaus had knocked loose at him in a wad of blood before snarling, “Fuck. Off.”
[What? No! Come on, help me!] Klaus pleaded while trying to ignore Butcher’s and Rotlimb’s laughter and the anger welling up in him. [This isn’t funny! The cape already called it in. We don’t have time for this!]
[Indeed you don’t. Unless you take her for… questioning.]
[I… I…]
#
I shivered as I pulled myself out of the memory. What the fuck. Why…?
[Why would I want you to see that?] Belial finished for me, completely unconcerned. [A serial killer. Isn’t that what you yourself called me? Then you should already know the answer.]
[It’s how he gets his kicks,] Klaus warily warned. [It’s all a game to him.]
[Perhaps that is how you view it, Klaus, but I consider myself a teacher,] Belial denied. [And were I you, I would be concerned with what’s happening out there.]
The blood of everyone fighting outside the sphere was lit up, visible in the darkness as they frenetically moved.
[I’ve listened to you talking to the others, June. A girl like you, I think you’re pragmatic sort. A girl like you would be anywhere but here if you could. Which means there’s a reason you’re here.]
Elle.
[Her certainly. Perhaps this ‘Faultline’ you thought about earlier. Maybe even your dear mother has grown on you, now that you see the truth.]
There was so much metal. I shouldn’t have been able to find what I was looking for, but Quarrel’s power found my target—the head harness for Elle’s mask. Her heart was pumping in overdrive, and she wasn’t moving.
I could practically imagine Belial leaning in to whisper in my ear. [You’re stronger than ever. Fifteen powers, all at your beck and call. Surely there’s something you can do to save them.]
Something was different—off. Not with Elle, but some of the others… What was it?!
[Ah, so close… Come now, a smart girl like you can figure it out…]
Something about the harness…? No, I’d notice something like that before him.
[Goddammit, Belial!] Klaus roared. [Stop toying with her and just say it!]
It’s got to be something about the blood… Some of the veins are obviously inhuman, but what if those are case-53s like Gregor and Newter?
[Oh my, listen to your uncle plead your case! But no.]
Dammit! What was I supposed to do? My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears— Wait. The hearts!
[There. See, Klaus? And you would hold her hand and stifle her growth.]
All of the collections of veins had a heart, but a lot of them had three! Redundancy? No, that didn’t matter right now. I had to stop them!
[Kill them! Fucking fight!] [Heavensword is out there! She’s protected you this whole time! Don’t abandon her, dammit!] [Yes! Puh-lease get in on that action!] [He’s… not wrong…] [It is unwise to remain. You can use Six’s power or even your own to flee. Don’t die as Four did.] [Oh? Going to stick around? This’s gonna be entertaining.] [I’ll never get tired of watching you work, Belial.] [Are you going to do something or not?]
My range was far enough to reach all of the fighting, and as I reached out to grab all the nearby metal, I realized I could do more. Each piece I touched made my awareness blossom outward as Alchemist’s power devoured surrounding materials, expanding what I had.
[Yes! Yes!] [Save her, goddammit!] [I’ve missed this! Have you all missed this? Don’t try to deny it—you’ve totally missed this!] [Be careful!] [It seems I am outvoted.] [Making an appearance in an Endbringer fight, what a thrill!] [Well look at this. Does kitty have claws?] [Unexpected.]
More. More. I reached my limit and blew right past it, my tendrils already seeking out the nightmares as Klaus’ and Quarrel’s powers made what I had struggled with for so long easy. I could do it. I could end this madness all at once!
[June, wait!]
No.
[Finally.] [Beautiful.] [This is gonna be bad…] [Do it!] [Here we go again…] [Woo!] [Oh god.] [This will be a sight.] [Fuck yes!] [Don’t do it, kid!] [I warned you.] [We doing this or what?] [Rip them to shreds!] [Make it good.] [Save her!!]
I crushed them.