I woke up in my unassailable tree fortress, my head and back throbbing. I touched my head, recalling the painful collision with a concrete pole preformed on me by Mr. Canard infected with a skinwalker.

"Well, it's a good thing I stole that lovely Good Directorate manufactured helmet from the future," I mumbled drowsily. "Wait, where's my helmet?"

"I took it off to let you rest," Cottie said.

I yawned. The Paladin of Equality was sitting in front of me in a lotus pose, humming as she polished her railgun with a gray cloth.

“Morningghh Cotes,” I groaned.

“You know that’s not good for you,” she remarked.

“Hmm?”

“Using benadryl to force yourself to sleep.”

“I only do it occasionally, when I need a quick nap or after a nasty bump on the head," I shrugged as I brushed white hair out of my face. "Did I invite you into my up-tree fortress? Last night’s a bit fuzzy.”

“You did. I carried you most of the way.”

“You might just outdo Mittens. Maybe I should make you my top minion!” I praised her. "Numero uno!"

“I’m not your minion. I am an Emissary of Equality.” she insisted.

“Why not both?” I teased. Cottie ignored me, engrossed in polishing her railgun.

"Say, that's a nice railgun," I walked up to her. "What's her name?"

"Eva," Cottie replied, looking at me wearily.

"Oh right," I muttered. "The Song of the Void! You've introduced her to Ember, yesterday."

The Equalizer nodded.

"Hi Eva, I'm Alexa," I leaned towards the gun. "You and I are going to save the multiverse. Okay? Okay! Your Master can come aboard the train with no brakes to nowhere and everywhere too! She's nice if a bit dry, like an old cracker left in the sun too long, but I'm certain that she'll shape up in no time at all."

"Eva does not speak," Cottie pointed out.

"Everything speaks. Everything everywhere is alive," I shook my head. "You're just bad at listening."

"I am perfectly good at listening," Cottie said defensively. "The gun does not speak."

“Alas, Mittens remains my numero uno by virtue of being more entertaining," I sighed.

"I am not here to entertain you," the Equalizer said.

"Why are you here then?"

"To monitor you," she replied.

"Boooring," I rolled my eyes at her. "Why don't we adjust that 'monitor me' to 'help me save the world'?"

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The Equalizer arched an eyebrow at me.

"What? I'm not allowed to save the world? Does saving the world go against the principles of your girl-pope now?" I asked.

"How will you save the world?" Cottie asked.

"By obliterating the Superstate," I said waving my arm at the Titanomachy megastructure visible through a rooftop window directly above us.

"That sounds incredibly villainous," she said.

"Oh, I'll do it without killing anyone important," I smiled. "Only one person will have to die."

"Who?"

"Me," I replied with a soft smile.

"You will die to stop the Superstate?"

"Yeppers," I nodded. "I'll die extra horrifically. Everyone on the planet will see it... and then the Superstate will fall. Everyone will be equalized, just like you people always wanted, see?"

"Why do you wish to destroy the Superstate?" the Equalizer inquired.

"Because they're secretly super duper evil," I said.

"Are they really?" Silver-green eyes examined me. "In which way are they evil?"

"If you're trying to play the role of my licensed psychiatrist, know that I'm very complicated," I said. "I... I'll tell you everything, in time, Cotes. After I die, promise. Not right now though. Right now I have to play the role of a scary supervillain. They're listening, watching, monitoring me."

Cottie stared at me like I was mad. I wasn't mad. I had a plan. It had many steps. My little stairwell to the great ring in sky, to a better tomorrow. To save everyone on Earth. She would understand. Everyone would understand it after I show them the truth of Tartarus. After I showed them the Gods. After I reveal the truth behind everything... pull back the curtain.

I got up, stretching and downing a few Advils and coffee pills with water. Checking my reflection in a slightly damaged, gold-plated mirror, a fatigued silver-haired girl looked back, forehead streaked with dried blood.

“You’ve got some very expensive stuff here,” Cottie observed, glancing at a slightly charred Rembrandt.

“Why thank you, Cottie! Too bad Mittens is missing out on praising my excellent interior design skills," I smiled, twirling across a wall of priceless art. “Eh whatever, we had a nice girls only sleepover party!”

“There was no party. You passed out after rambling incoherently.”

“Your brutal honesty is very pointy. Try being less square,” I sighed, stepping into a very shoddily constructed camping style shower.

“I’m not a square.”

“You are sooooo square.” I pulled off my blood stained clothes. “Don’t you worry, my equal-ness worshiping pal, I’m sure I can wear down those jagged edges with some elbow grease and a whole lot of..."

The shower blasted me with a spray of icy water.

"Eeeeeeeeeerk! Damn it I should really invest in a water heater!" I yelped, shivering from the icy spray.

----------------------------------------

Verse Twenty-four Nineteen didn’t make out what exactly Terranova was going to use to wear her down with, as the rest of the girl villain's speech was interrupted by Alexa's noisy squal. She looked at the damaged, priceless art strewn all around the tree house in wonder. Subject Alexa Terranova was a mystery, wrapped in an enigma. Did she somehow rob museums, secretly replacing the art there with copies or were these some sort of elaborate copies? If so, why did they look so aged and worn?

She recalled the sacred words of Eminence Equality, the prophetess of the Equalizer Order that were burned into her mind.

“Twenty-four Nineteen. You are my most talented and dedicated Enforcer. I know that you will not fail me. I thus entrust The Song of the Void and the most important mission of all, into your capable hands. This I have foreseen - Alexandra Terranova is the key with the power to reshape the world and soon all villains and heroes will desire to wield her. The storm of all-devouring darkness comes and she stands in its eye. Save her life, befriend her, aid her, make sure she remains human as long as possible. When the time comes, when she finally picks a side - be it hero or villain, end her life.”

The Executioner looked at the cheerful, silver-haired girl who emerged from the shower. She had to become Alexa’s friend, to protect and teach her to be human, only to kill her in the end. It was a heavy, terrible burden. The face of Twenty-four Nineteen did not show the inner turmoil she felt. The equality of the world had a price and that price was the life of just one girl.

“You know, the way you’re cradling that big gun of yours and staring into my soul with those chilling, emerald eyes is veeeeery suspicious,” Alexa advanced towards Twenty-four Nineteen, wrapped up in a pink towel.

The Equalizer girl flinched back ever so slightly.

“Oh, I know!” The villainess grinned. “You undoubtedly also want a refreshing, cold shower! Go ahead, there’s plenty of rain-water in the tank!”