The Second Archon War: Interlude 6 (Patreon)

Interlude 6: Here Be Dragons

Lightning flashed over the sea of Japan, and Kenta raced with all the speed he had over the dark waters, desperately racing over the several hundred kilometers separating him from his goal. He panted, trying to put on more speed as he swam through skies, but he still feared he would be too slow. He had to make it. He had to.

There was a slightly different flash of thunder, and a moment later, a figure drifted up on the winds, keeping pace with Mushu as he flew. He turned one great eye, not slowing his pace, to see Raiden herself flying alongside him.

“WHAT? I’M NOT GOING BACK!” Kenta roared, continuing his desperate flight.

“I do not expect you to,” Raiden said calmly. “I merely wished to offer you guidance.”

“YEAH WELL SOME OF US DON’T BUILD OUR KIDS IN THE WORKSHOP, LADY!” Kenta growled, still flying on.

“Yes,” Ei said mildly. “I do not have much guidance to offer on the act of childbirth itself, for I do not procreate as mortals do.”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME TO STOP?” Kenta demanded.

“I merely wished to offer you a portal, though I do ask that you shrink down slightly first. We do not wish to startle the doctors.”

Mushu came to a halt so quickly his head spun. He hovered in the air for a moment, feeling incredibly sheepish as he slowly shrank down from over 100 meters long to a more manageable ten or so.

“Oh. Uh, guess that makes sense,” Kenta admitted. “Could you, um?”

There was a pop, and Kenta found himself hovering in midair in his tiny form, feeling flummoxed and flustered. “That wasn’t what I meant, you crazy thunder lady!”

“Yes, but you are much less threatening this way,” Raiden said, holding out her arm for Kenta to perch on. “Come. Your mate awaits.”

“You know it sounds really creepy when you call her that, right? Dammit, you married us! Just call her my wife!” Kenta ranted, even as Raiden stepped through the portal and into the hospital lobby.

There was a gasp, and several doctors and nurses bowed to Raiden, though she waved a dismissive hand to them. “Attend to your roles. I merely bring my familiar to his wife, that he may attend to his fatherly duties.”

“Everybody get back to work! Where’s my wife!? Where’s my baby!?” Kenta wailed, though it came out as a bit of a high pitched squeak, given his current size.

Raiden walked calmly and far too slowly for Kenta’s tastes to the hospital room. Kenta was grateful to see the building was supplied with power, though he knew that Raiden had replanted enough Thunder Sakura trees and enough power plants had been brought back online that most of the country had power now, for at least part of the day. There were still brownouts and electrical usage was strictly rationed, but things weren’t completely dire now.

Eventually, Raiden arrived at the hospital room, and Kenta scurried off her shoulder and down her leg, then hopped up on the bed where Keiga lay panting and moaning slightly.

Taking her hand in his tiny little claws, Kenta squeezed. “It’s alright, I’m here for you baby, and- GODDAMMIT RAIDEN I AM NOT WITNESSING THE BIRTH OF MY FIRST CHILD WHILE I SOUND LIKE A GOOFY ASS CHILDREN’S CARTOON!”

“Kenta, my love, I am very glad you are here, but if you continue to scream like that, I will strangle you for doing this to me,” Keiga growled, her face pale and streaked with sweat.

“Very well,” Raiden said, and Kenta found himself growing back to regular size. Doctors hastily came forward, forcing him to wash his hands and put on a hair net and mask, though Kenta noticed they were doing no such thing to the Almighty NEET, who appeared mildly disinterested by the entire proceeding.

“Alright, I’m here honey,” Kenta said, taking Keiga’s hands in his and giving them a squeeze. She smiled at him through the tears, then grit her teeth. “Just breathe…”

Keiga had already been mostly dilated by the time Kenta had arrived, but it took another eight hours. While Keiga had been given an epidural, her draconian biology meant that it had worn off within moments, and the doctors refused to give another, citing that they had no way of knowing what that much medication would do, even to someone of Keiga’s impressive fortitude. The process was long and grueling, but Kenta stayed by Keiga’s side the entire time, even though Raiden had wandered off after less than an hour.

At long last, the midwife had Kenta step back, moving behind Keiga to put his hands on her shoulders. With a last cry, she pushed, and the baby’s head finally popped into view, pale skin with purple fuzz on top. Then the baby was out, and the midwife slapped it firmly on the buttocks. The baby sucked in a mighty breath, and let out an ear-piercing wail.

“You did good, honey,” Kenta whispered, giving Keiga a squeeze as she lay back on the bed, drenched in sweat and exhausted.

“A… ah, healthy baby boy,” the midwife said. “No, ah, girl. That’s a tail.”

“Tail?” Keiga asked, her eyes fluttering open.

“Tail!?” Kenta demanded, and stormed around, grabbing the baby before it could finish being cleaned, even as it continued to cry. Even with his inexperienced eye, he could tell the child was not normal. There were two small bumps on the forehead that were a pale purple, and the hair was also an unnatural lavender color. Strangest of all was the long, scaly tail that grew from the baby’s tailbone.

Gently, Kenta cleaned the baby off in the basin that had been prepared as the nurses quickly cleaned up the mess that Keiga had made of herself in the birth. Then, he wrapped the still screaming babe in swaddling, and handed her back to her mother.

“Is something wrong?” Keiga asked, her eyes fluttering open, a smile on her lips as she cradled their child to her swollen bare breast. The baby was soon silent and sucking greedily, her eyes closed tightly.

“Uh, kid’s a dragon,” Kenta said with a shrug of his massive shoulders, feeling entirely helpless despite his power. “She’s got a tail.”

Keiga blinked, then unwrapped a bit of the swaddling until the tail poked loose, which made the baby start to fuss again. She hastily rewrapped her, then looked up at Kenta, startled.

“I… that’s… good?”

“Never heard of a child being born a parahuman before,” Kenta said, shaking his head and feeling helpless.

“She is not a child of parasites.”

Kenta whirled, and for a moment, he thought it was Raiden standing there. Then he blinked, and saw that it was Tsukoyomi, who stepped into the room as doctors bowed to her.

“But she’s got a tail,” Kenta said, pointing. “She’s a parahuman.”

“She is no more a parahuman than her parents are,” Tsukoyomi stated simply, coming to stand at Kenta’s shoulder to look down at the nursing babe and her mother.

Kenta and Keiga exchanged looks, and then Keiga sighed. “Forgive me, but I am tired. Tsu, what the fuck are you talking about?”

Kenta beamed proudly. Keiga was going to make a great familiar.

“You are no longer parahumans. Kenta has not been one since my mother blessed him and made him her familiar, and you have not been one since you were gifted the Heart of Leviathan,” Tsukoyomi stated, taking the lese majeste in stride.

“We’re… not?” Kenta asked, now truly puzzled. “Then how the hell do I turn into a giant dragon?”

“Because you are a dragon,” Tsukoyomi said, frowning slightly and tilting her head ever so slightly to one side, as she often did when perplexed by the vagaries of mortals.

“You mean…” Kenta’s mind went blank, and he looked helplessly to his wife, but she was looking down thoughtfully at their child. “We have become shenlong, and our child is one as well?”

“Yes.”

That one word seemed to turn Kenta’s entire world upside down. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do, or what to say. Then he knelt down and wrapped his wife and child in a tight embrace. “Doesn’t matter. We’re still a family, and I’ve got the prettiest wife, and cutest daughter in the world.”

Keiga nodded tiredly, resting her head against Kenta’s. “What do we name her?

For a moment, Kenta was silent. Then he said, “Bailu.”

“A Chinese name?” Keiga asked, opening her eyes and looking at Kenta for a moment.

“My grandmother’s,” Kenta muttered, feeling defensive.

“Then it is a good name,” Keiga said. “Welcome to the world, little Bailu.”

The baby, having drunk her fill, was now sleeping quietly. Kenta took the child, and hugged her to his chest as Keiga lay back herself and began to snore. Holding this tiny little being… Kenta felt something awaken deep within himself. He would move Heaven and Earth to keep his precious daughter safe and happy.

The night air was warm and muggy, with not even a faint breeze to stir the air. The sound of not so distant traffic could be heard from the highway, along with the faint chirping of crickets. Most of the light came from buzzing fireflies amongst the weeds and wildflowers, illuminating the DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE sign on a rusty chain link fence.

Then came the crunch of gravel underfoot, and the fireflies buzzed out of the way as two dark figures crept out of the shadows.

“This is stupid! What if we get caught?” a squeaky voiced hissed. “I can’t see anything!”

“We won’t get caught. We’re going to find the monsters, and kill them,” a more muffled voice replied.

“There aren’t any monsters! Not unless there’s a biotinker here, and what are we going to do about it?!” the first voice demanded.

The first held up a glass jar filled with fireflies that glowed softly, illuminating the two figures. Despite the warm weather, both were dressed in long sleeved hoodies, one gray, the other dark purple. Oddly, the hoodies had animal ears, one like a cats, the other like insect wings. “Then we protect this city, as my father would have wished.”

The gray cat ripped her hoodie off, revealing messy blonde hair and an irritated expression. “Taylor, we should just call the Protectorate if there’s any danger! They can handle it!”

“No, we have to take out the monsters, so I can join the Wards,” Taylor said firmly, pushing her own hood forward, her glasses gleaming in the dim light. “You can be my sidekick.”

“What!? I am not being your sidekick! If anything YOU should be my sidekick!”

“I have a Vision,” Taylor pointed out, and held up her father’s dimmed one.

“It doesn’t work! Ugh, we don’t have any powers, and they don’t let people with no powers in the Wards!”

“We can be like Batman. He joined the Justice League.”

“Yeah and he was super rich! Are you super rich?!”

“No, but you are. Besides, I was going to see if I could steal some of Uncle Wyatt’s stuff,” Taylor sniffed, and continued towards the power station. She reached the chain link fence, then took off her bright pink Lightning Princess Ami backpack, which had a baseball bat with a couple of nails clumsily driven into it poking out of the main pocket. She unzipped it, rummaging around inside.

“It is so unfair that you won’t let me ask Alexandria and Hero for their autographs, you know,” Sarah grumbled, squatting down next to Tailor. Nervously, she fingered the very expensive nine iron she’d stolen from her father to use as her weapon. “Also, I’m pretty sure my parents won’t let us buy like, batarangs or something. Plus, my parents are millionaires. Not, like, Batman rich.”

Taylor just grunted, then pulled out a pair of wire cutters and stepped up to the chain link fence. “Well, maybe when we kill the monsters, they’ll have some valuable loot.”

“That’s completely stupid you know. Monsters don’t just drop loot when you kill them like in a video game or something,” Sarah lectured. “If anything, we’d have to like, scavenge their parts and sell them to illegal Tinkers for money.”

“So, like Monster Hunter instead of Dragon Quest,” Taylor said with a shrug. She grunted, trying to get the wire cutters to snip the chain link fence. Even with two hands, it was too hard for the wiry little six year old to manage.

Shoving Taylor aside, Sarah took the wire cutters. “Ugh, let me do it.” Straining, Sarah managed to snip one link of the chain fence and grinned triumphantly, her white teeth flashing in the night. “Ha! See, this is why you’d be my sidekick: I’m older and stronger.”

“You’re the muscle, I’m the brains,” Taylor said, folding her arms over her chest.

“Nu-uh.”

“Yeah huh.”

Nu-uh!”

“Yeah huh!”

Before the squabble could devolve any further, there was a rustling in the bushes, and both girls sprang back like they’d been shocked, Sarah  brandishing her golf club, and Taylor grabbing the wire cutters and holding them forward like a knife.

“I-It’s just a raccoon or something,” Sarah  stammered. “T-there’s no monsters out here…”

“People have reported seeing something strange, and the PRT was all over these woods today. There has to be something,” Taylor hissed. Then she drew herself up and raised her voice. “Whatever you are, show yourself! We’re with the Wards! Stop in the name of the Law!”

A moment later, the bush suddenly bloomed, weird veins of light running all along the leaves. Both girls screamed, hugging one another in a panic. A moment later, a glowing purple blob sprang out of the bushes and extended a glowing white antenna towards the two girls.

“Oh my God,” Sarah  gasped.

“I was RIGHT!” Taylor cheered, and ran forward, grabbing her backpack, even as the slime regarded them, its antenna crackling slightly as it waved around.

“It’s… it’s a slime,” Sarah said, picking up her dropped golf club and gingerly pointing it towards the creature. “But… but I thought those were like, only in Japan and Germany and stuff…”

“They were sighted on the West Coast a month ago, and they’ve been all over Australia since the Loy Yang battle,” Taylor declared, taking a few tries, but finally jerking her baseball bat free. “Now, at last, we will slay this foul beast!”

“I dunno, it looks kinda cute,” Sarah said, tilting her head to one side. “Are slimes like, dangerous or anything?”

“Only if you’re dumb,” Taylor told her.

Nodding, Sarah extended her metal golf club towards the slime, and poked it.

The resulting shock knocked the breath out of Sarah and sent her two feet back to land flat on her rear in the sharp gravel, where she sat for a moment, stunned. Then she started crying, trembling all over.

Seeing her friend so wounded, entirely through her own actions, Taylor bellowed out a warcry: “TO THE PAIN!” and swung her baseball bat with all her might. To her shock, the slime bent and wobbled at the blow, squishing like it was, well, made of slime. Taylor smacked it repeatedly, but the feeble blows of a six (and a half!) year old girl who only participated in sports when forced to had very little effect on the creature. The slime bounced forward, smacking Taylor in the chest, and giving her a nasty shock. She stumbled back as well, her glasses tumbling off her face, and leaving her nearly blind in the darkness.

“GET OFF HER, YOU JERK!” Sarah scrambled, grabbing up the bat Taylor had dropped and clubbing the slime repeatedly. Despite having a good two inches and seven pounds on Taylor, Sara’s blows were no more effective on the slime, and she found herself knocked back and shocked again when the slime bounced onto her.

Screaming, Sarah looked up in horror as the slime bounced towards her ominously, curling up into a ball to try to protect herself. This was actually the right thing to do, especially against a lone, rather small slime, as slimes are not carnivorous (or herbivorous) and would just leave a non-threatening human alone, unless they had a source of elemental energy on them.

Like the cell phone that Sarah had in her pocket.

Before the slime could attack again, by touch alone, Taylor had found her backpack and retrieved two items. The first was her back up pair of glasses. The second was less practical.

“FACE JUSTICE!”

There was a FWOOSH and a jet of flames shot out from the can of deodorant Taylor had stuck a lighter in front of. As soon as the fire touched the slime, it detonated, exploding into little chunks of charged elemental goop.

Unfortunately, Taylor also lit a bit of Sara’s hair on fire, along with some brush. Taylor managed to dig out her canteen and pour it over Sarah to put her out, but the two girls were desperately trying to stomp out the ever-growing fire before it spread, when a commanding voice barked out, “Stand back!”

There was a hissing sound, and then cold white foam enveloped both Taylor and Sara, who began coughing as the fire sputtered and died. A moment later, strong hands picked both of them up by their collars and hauled them back, before dumping them on the ground a short distance away.

There was a pounding of boots and Taylor and Sarah coughed, and a voice cried out, “Ma’am! We found another slime! What seems to be the problem here?”

“It’s just two kids,” a faintly accented voice said in disgust. “Relax, Sergeant Piggot. Did you manage to capture the thing?”

“Yes ma’am. Uh, kids?”

Blinking, Taylor looked up to see dark eyes glaring down at her over an American flag-patterned bandana, bright lights shining at her from the hands of several PRT troopers in heavy protective gear.

“Oh no…” Taylor groaned. “My mom is gonna-”

Sarah elbowed her, then calmly stood up, brushing the firefighting foam off of herself. “Thank you, Miss Militia. We’ll make sure to include your help in our report.”

The cape’s eyebrows rose. “Oh really?”

“Yes,” Sarah said primly, putting her hoodie back on. “I’m, uh-”

“Tattletale,” Taylor said with a smirk, but Sarah just nodded and continued, sounding snootier and putting on what someone else might have recognized as the antiquated mid-Atlantic accent.

“Tattletale, from the Hartford Wards. We were in the area and heard there might be a problem. This is Skitter, she’s a Vision Holder.”

Taylor very helpfully produced her father’s Vision, praying that it would pass scrutiny, despite the fact that it was dim and empty.

Miss Militia and Sergeant Piggot exchanged glances. “You don’t say.”

“I do,” Sarah drawled. “Now, if you’ll just excuse us, we’ll be heading back to our accommodations to file a report.”

“I think it’s best if you check in with command directly first,” Miss Militia said, putting a firm hand on both girl’s shoulders. “Right this way.”

Taylor shot Sarah a wide-eyed look, which her friend momentarily returned. Desperately, Taylor clutched her Vision. God, Dad, whoever is out there, if you’re listening… now would be a REALLY good time for you to give me powers. I promise to use them to hunt down the Siberian!

Despite her silent pleas, her Vision remained dull and lifeless. After a few minutes of hiking up to the road, bright lights of emergency vehicles began to filter through the trees, and Taylor felt cold sweat trickle down her back. She looked at Sara, who was biting her lip nervously, fear on her face. Seeing that, Taylor straightened her back, and squared her small shoulders. She would be a hero. She had nothing to fear.

Except her mom grounding her forever.

When they made it up to the road, Taylor saw several PRT vehicles and a dozen troopers, along with several glass crates. They all held slimes within them, most of them the purple kind, though there was one large glowing orange one that crackled with power.

A sudden idea came to Taylor, and she broke away from Miss Militia’s guiding hand, running over to one of the crates. She jammed her father’s Vision into the slime, then let out a yip as the electro raced up her arm. Her muscles locked up, and body stiffened. The next thing she knew, she was slammed to the ground. When she recovered, she found a stern-faced Sergeant Piggot kneeling over her.

“Do you have a death wish, kid? That was a damn stupid thing to do.”

“I’m a Vision Holder,” Taylor said stubbornly, holding her Vision up like a talisman. It was, to her immense frustration, still empty. “I needed a recharge.”

Piggot sighed heavily and muttered several no-no words, then reached down and picked Taylor up, clamping her hand around Taylor’s wrist. “Come on. I’m sticking you in a squad car until we can sort this out.”

Even as Taylor was frog-marched over to a car, she heard Sarah loudly protesting as she too was dragged over by Miss Militia.

“I’m telling you, I’m a Thinker! We’re Wards! From Connecticut!” Amazingly, Sarah managed all that while maintaining her mid-Atlantic accent, kicking her legs as she dangled from Miss Militia’s hand.

“Uh huh. You just wait here and show me just what kind of ‘Thinker’ you are, kid,” Miss Militia said, cramming Sarah along with Taylor into the back of a police car and shutting the door.

The two girls sat in horrified silence for several long moments, both of them panting slightly. At last, Sarah swallowed. “I told you so.”

“We defeated the slime. We’re heroes,” Taylor said stubbornly. “They have to recognize our heroic deeds and make us Wards.”

“Ugh, this was a bad idea from the start! We should have just actually gone over to my house and watched a movie or something!” Sarah said, throwing up her hands. “I’d even have watched the stupid Princess Bride with you again!”

“But you said you love that movie!” Taylor gasped, deeply offended.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I’d rather watch episodes of Mushu Adventures. Princess Bride sucks.”

Tears filled Taylor’s eyes, and she sniffed, scrubbing at her face. “Princess Bride was my dad’s favorite movie.”

“Oh.” Sarah shifted uncomfortably. “Um, I like it. I’m just mad. Because we got caught. And how did they not believe we were Wards!? We have costumes and you have a Vision!”

“A stupid one that doesn’t work,” Taylor said in disgust, looking down at the empty totem in her lap.

“Well it’s better than my imaginary Thinker powers,” Sarah sighed, putting her head in her hands and looking dejectedly at the ground. She sniffled, looking lost and forlorn herself. “You’re not the only one who wishes she had superpowers…”

“It’s OK, you’re a super friend,” Taylor told Sara, and gave her a hug.

The two girls were sitting like that with the driver’s side door of the squad car opened, and a moment later the small grate that separated the back of the police car from the front slid down. A moment later, a face that sent a chill down Taylor’s spine appeared.

“Taylor. Why, exactly, were you wandering around a dangerous forest in the middle of a PRT operation?” Legend asked, his expression completely exasperated.

“Um, I-I don’t know what you mean,” Taylor said, scratching the side of her face as Sarah blushed and gazed dreamily at Legend. “I’m, um, Skitter…from the Wards…”

“Taylor, I know exactly who all the Wards in Hartford are. And we very much don’t have a pair of six year olds on that team, or any team,” Legend said sternly.

“I’m seven,” Sarah said sullenly, which rather proved Legend’s point.

“I’ll get to you, Miss Livsey,” Legend said sternly. “Impersonating a cape is a serious crime.”

“Who said I’m not a Thinker?” Sarah demanded, leaning back and pouting. “I know your real name!”

Legend’s eyes snapped to Taylor, but she waved her hands in protest. “I-I didn’t tell her anything, I swear!”

“I see.” Legend’s eyes turned back to Sara, who smirked. “And who, exactly, do you think I am?”

“Taylor’s Uncle Keith,” Sarah said smugly. “You’re Junior’s dad from Mrs. Sanchez’s class”

Groaning, Legend rubbed the bridge of his nose. “... how many kids at your school know this? I suppose I should be grateful that my son wasn’t trekking through the woods at midnight with the two of you…”

“Just me, I figured it all out on my own,” Sarah said airly, sticking her nose in the air and reacquiring her mid-Atlantic accent.

“... she stole my journal,” Taylor said, giving Sarah a dirty look.

“... and the names of how many highly classified Protectorate capes are in that journal?” Legend asked, his tone pained.

“Um, I haven’t figured out who Eidolon is yet,” Sarah admitted, giving him an innocent smile. “But I’m pretty sure I know who Uncle Wyatte and Aunt Becky are.”

“Fantastic,” Legend breathed out. He gave Sarah a thoughtful look. “Are you actually a Thinker?”

“If I say yes, am I still in trouble?” Sarah asked hopefully.

“Oh, yes, absolutely,” Legend said, his expression growing stern.

“You can’t send us to jail!” Sarah wailed, pressing up to the window as tears streaked her cheeks. “We just wanted to fight monsters and get Taylor’s Vision working again!”

“Taylor…” Legend groaned, his expression taking on a different kind of pain.

“I’ll get my powers someday,” Taylor said, gripping her Vision tightly. “And then, I will track down the Siberian. And when I find her, I will say, ‘Hello-”

“My name is Taylor Hebert!” Sarah said, making a fist of her own.

“‘You Killed my Father, Prepare to die!’” both girls declared in unison.

Legend regarded both girls for a long moment, then said, “Does your mother know where you are, Taylor?”

“Um, no, please don’t tell her…” Taylor whispered, shrinking in on herself.

“And your parents, Miss Livsey?” Legend asked.

“... they think we’re spending the night at my house, and my brother is watching us,” Sarah admitted. “They’re out at a party or something.”

“And your brother…?”

“Is over at his girlfriend’s house,” Sarah admitted. “I’m covering for him.”

“Amazing. This is above my pay grade,” Legend said, opening the door.

“So, you’ll let us go?!” Taylor gasped excitedly, pressing her nose to the open slot.

“I’m calling Annette. And making sure Arthur knows where Junior is,” Legend said, pulling out a cell phone.

Taylor slumped back in her seat, groaning softly. “We’re going to be grounded for the rest of the summer…”

“We didn’t even get any good loot of the slime,” Sarah whined.

Taylor turned to her in exasperation. “You said slimes don’t drop good loot!”

“Well, duh! But, I mean, we went through all this effort, I thought we’d get SOMETHING!” Sarah  protested.

What they both got was a week of solitary confinement in their rooms.

The ground shook again, and Digger swore as he was forced to crouch down in the shallow trench. He peeked up over the rim, and winced as he watched the Endbringer trample on one of the giant excavators, crushing the valuable machine to nothing but scrap metal. Smoke was rising from the Loy Yang mine from the fires, and there was little Digger could do about it. His powers let him tunnel through just about anything with the long metallic claws that had replaced his fingernails, but he wasn’t built for Endbringer fights. He motioned to the miners who were crouched beside him. “Come on, this way you fuckers, back to the rally point.”

He got the group of evacuees out, then sent them running along the road to Traralgon where they’d be picked up. He turned back around and kept low to the ground, keeping an eye on the pit mine a few kilometers away where Behemoth was still rampaging. He’d made his way to the Loy Yang Power station next, and when that happened the entire power grid for Victoria was well and truly fucked.

He started tunneling through the earth, his power allowing him to move aside the inorganic materials in the soil and compress it down. He could use it for digging into buildings as well, and in fact usually used it to get into places like bank vaults. That was what he’d be doing today, but, well… things happened.

Sensing someone up above him, Digger popped out, right in the center of the makeshift command center where a dozen other capes were. A grim-faced man with a lantern jaw and a giant hammer propped on his shoulders glared down at Digger, who winced and gave a nervous smile.

“Uh, truce, remember?” Digger offered, giving Gavel a nervous wave. He was pretty sure he wasn’t on Gavel’s shit list, but if he was… he wouldn’t survive it.

“Today only,” Gavel growled and reached down to haul Digger out of his hole and deposit him on the ground. Several other capes, some villains that Digger knew, others heroes, and a few independents were clustered around, with a dark woman with Aboriginal features at the front. She was Dream Time, and one of the most powerful capes in Australia. Unfortunately, her power set relied on mental manipulation and illusions, which would do basically nothing against an Endbringer.

“Right, you bastards,” Dream Time said, motioning the capes around. “Listen up! Digger, you get the miners out?”

“All I could. Mines are burning now. Tried one tunnel I had to get the hell out of before I choked to death. No one alive down there now,” he said, feeling sick. He robbed banks, yes, but he didn’t kill people. He kept underground as much as possible and never hurt anyone if he could help it. If he got into a fight, he dug a hole and ran away.

He glanced at the smoke that was lifting into the clouds. No running today. Not from this.

“Right. Well, that big fucker over there thinks he can bend us over like Leviathan did Sydney. Well, we’re going to teach him not to fuck with Aussies!”

There were a few scattered cheers, but mostly grim silence. A few people here had been at Sydney. Not many had survived that fight. Digger felt sick to his stomach at even the thought of it.

“We’re waiting on reinforcements. Japan signed a treaty with us, and the Protectorate should be here soon. We-”

Lightning struck from a clear blue sky, ripping open a hole in space beside Dream Time. A moment later, a large man and a slender woman stepped through the portal, dressed in kimonos and with two swords strapped to their sides. Digger felt a sense of relief, recognizing Mushu and Keiga. They were the Lord and Lady of the Sentai. If Japan sent them, then that meant they were going to be here in force.

However, once the two Japanese capes were through, the portal snapped shut, leaving them standing alone, facing the burning coal mine.

“Glad you made it, where are the others?” Dream Time asked Mushu.

He didn’t respond, removing his outer robe, and tossing it to the side, unstrapping his swords and setting them down as well. As he did so, his wife spoke for him.

“It is just us,” Keiga said, slowly undoing her belt and setting it to the side as well. Digger watched with interest as she too disrobed, until he caught Mushu glancing over his shoulder. That was when Digger realized how very interesting the ground was, and kept his gaze fixed on that.

It was one thing to look at a fine woman: It was another when that woman was married to the scariest son of a bitch in the Eastern Hemisphere, his boss aside.

“You’ve fought an Endbringer before,” Dream Time said to the Japanese capes. “What is the strategy? Why so few? Behemoth has already destroyed the mines! Please, you need to mobilize, we already have every cape in Australia headed here, they’ll be here in less than an hour, the same time as the PRT. Then we can-”

“No waiting,” Mushu grunted, and Digger glanced up to see him rolling his neck from side to side and cracking his knuckles.

“The Raiden Shogun has sworn alliance with you. We honor our oaths,” Keiga added, though Digger tried very hard not to look at her. Wait. Were those…scales? That was a bit kinky…and…a tail? Hold on, didn’t she just have hydrokinesis of some sort? This wasn’t the Outback, so there was some water, but this wasn’t exactly her battlefield.

Overhead, thunder rumbled, and the now nude Japanese capes stepped forward. Digger felt a drop on his head, and looked up in perplexity. It had been a clear day only moments before, but now, dark clouds filled the sky.

“BEHEMOTH!” Mushu bellowed, his voice far louder and larger than a human throat could have produced, his roar echoing off the distant walls of the mine. “I AM MUSHU, FAMILIAR OF THE RAIDEN SHOGUN, EMINATOR  OF ETERNITY! I SLEW YOUR BROTHER! NOW, I SHALL SLAY YOU!”

In the distance, Behemoth looked up from its rampage, turning towards the sound. Responding to the challenge, or just the noise? No way to know.

“Oh fuck me,” Digger gasped, and took several steps back, until he bumped into a wall. He glanced back to see the grim-faced Gavel, who shoved him back forward. Fuck. This wasn’t going how he’d thought it would…

As they advanced, the two Japanese capes began to change, first growing horns and scales along with tails, then slowly stretching, elongating as they inflated to gargantuan sizes. Digger gaped as two dragons lifted off into the sky, weaving back and forth around one another in the air as they drifted toward Behemoth. One purple and bulky, with lightning crackling about his body, the other more slender and with sleeker lines, long whiskers trailing in the air beside her.

The Endbringer had lost all interest in the mine or the power station, and turned towards the dragons. The creature was eerily silent, the only noise it made was the rumble of the earth as it began to charge forward. In response, the dragons bubbled deafening warcries, and surged forward with frightening rapidity. How could three beings that were so large move so fast?

Digger dove into the ground, hastily hollowing out a sort of bunker, where he peered out at the battle. Keiga was staying back, rising up towards the clouds as her husband began to pick up speed, charging forward with a snarling roar that sounded like boulders tumbling down a hill. Behemoth answered, charging forward and spraying out a stream of molten lava from his hands. Mushu responded by opening his own jaws wide, and a wave of lightning thundered out. Where the two attacks met, there was a blinding flash of light and an explosion that shook the earth so hard that even Digger’s compressed bunker shuddered, with bits of soil and rock breaking free and falling down.

Gavel and Dream Time joined Digger in the bunker, taking shelter from the storm that was now strong enough that it was causing flooding and blasting what remained of the power plants to ruins.

“Those mad bastards, do they really think just the two of them can fight an Endbringer?!” Dream Time gasped, flicking water from her face as she peered out at the dim shapes crashing in the distance.

“He fought one before,” Gavel said flatly. “I think he knows what he’s doing.”

“From what I heard, he nearly died, and it was Raiden that did the real fighting,” Digger said with a frown. He winced when Gavel turned to stare at him.

“A fair point. We should get ready to join the fight as soon as the PRT arrives,” Gavel said with a shrug.

Cringing at the thought, Digger turned back to watch. It was hard to make out in the heavy rain, but the lightning and fires that bloomed at each clash made it easy to keep track of Mushu and Behemoth at least. Mushu was now bigger than Behemoth, and the dragon was keeping his distance, firing off bolts of lightning as he circled around, far faster than something that big should have been able to move.

Behemoth, however, was simply taking the barrage of lightning, occasionally firing out more waves of flame or lava that screamed as they flashed the water in the air to steam. Mushu took a few hits, but it didn’t seem to overly bother the dragon. They kept that up for several minutes, but something bothered Digger.

“Doesn’t Behemoth usually shoot lightning at people? That’s how Snaggletooth and Flinger bit it earlier, right?” he asked nervously.

“Yes,” Dream Time said, her tone tight. “Look. You can see: the lightning isn’t harming Behemoth.”

At first, Digger didn’t see, but as the fight went on, Behemoth began to glow, brighter and brighter, white flashes of power along the spikes at its back and shoulders. Then the entire world seemed to flash to pure brightness, and the earth trembled. When Digger’s vision cleared, he beheld two titanic monsters wrestling one another for supremacy.

At first, Digger thought the larger Mushu was winning, but it was soon apparent this was not the case. Though the dragon was now more than 100 meters long and had Behemoth in his tight coils, there was dark blood leaking from a dozen wounds, and Mushu was roaring in pain as he and the Endbringer clashed.

“Fuck, we have to get out there!” Dream Time swore, but Gavel put a hand out to stop her.

“Wait. Weren’t there two of them?” he rumbled.

Just as it looked like Behemoth would slay Mushu, something like whale song echoed across the battlefield. The air rippled above the struggling kaiju, and the clouds parted as a great azure head emerged. The rain, which up until now had been torrential, abruptly ceased. Keiga opened her jaws wide, and a massive globe of water appeared between them, sucking in moisture from all sides.

“Holy shit,” Digger breathed. “He wasn’t trying to kill the bastard…”

Mushu tightened his coils, and with another warble of whale song, Keiga let loose with a jet of water that slammed Behemoth into the ground, carving away most of his spikes and digging a great gouge into his back.

“He was just holding him still. Like he did for Raiden,” Gavel said with a shake of his head. “That’s one crazy fuckin’ bastard.”

Keiga’s attack ended, and she began to inhale more water, even as Mushu roared and crackled with more purple lightning

Digger clutched his head, feeling a sense of panic. “No you stupid bastard, he’s-”

Behemoth pulsed with power, this time flames washing over the creature’s entire body. Mushu howled in pain and uncoiled, flying up and away from the Endbringer, who had slammed both claws into the ground, planting himself as he looked up at Keiga, who had nearly charged another water bolt. This time, when she fired, Behemoth responded with a surge of lava, and the battlefield vanished as a great explosion shook the ground from the clash of water and flames.

By the time everything cleared, Keiga had been forced back, drifting lower and seeming dazed. Behemoth leapt through the clinging mists, slamming both claws into her and raking her side. She snarled and bit at the Endbringer, slamming her tail into Behemoth with a great crack, and sending the smaller creature sprawling.

Mushu charged back out, breathing more lightning that raked over Behemoth before bashing into the creature, head first. Whalesong resounded again, and the rain returned as Keiga soaked the battlefield once more.

“So,” Digger said, turning to Dream Time and Gavel. “Who feels this is way the fuck outside of their league?”

“Coward,” Gavel sneered, but he made no move to charge towards the battling monsters.

“All we can do is keep civilians out of the area, and wait for reinforcements,” Dream Time repeated, shaking her head. “Bloody fucking hell…”

The battle dragged on for long minutes, but it was soon clear that this was a stalemate. If Australia had even two or three capes present strong enough to go toe to toe with an Endbringer, they might have been able to tip the balance in the favor of humanity, but as it stood, what capes they had were the ones that had been in the area: Australia sorely lacked long ranged teleporters, and their strongest blaster capes could fly at only a few hundred kilometers per hour. As such, the forces present were not suited to an Endbringer fight. A consequence of having a massive nation with only 25 million people.

Still, this was a victory in and of itself: while hundreds of millions of dollars of damage had been done and hundreds of lives lost, along with complete devastation to one of Australia’s most vital coal mines and power stations, this was recoverable. If Behemoth was stalemated here before it could move to the nearby town of Traralgon, they would be getting off lightly.

Just when Digger was hoping he could stay well out of the fight, another portal opened up. This one took the form of a door appearing out of nowhere, then a dozen capes charging through. These Digger also recognized: The Protectorate.

“Right, who’s in charge here?” Alexandria demanded, flying over to the bunker and looking around.

Digger looked at Dream Time, but she just shook her head. “You are, I suppose. We’ve evacuated the civilians, but we don’t have a team capable of… well, that.”

Alexandra looked to where the dragons were still exchanging blows that could level city blocks with Behemoth in the midst of a thunderstorm, and grimaced. “Well. Fortunately, we brought a few who can. Eidolon! Let’s see about putting the odds in our favor.”

“You sure we can’t just let them kill one another?” Gavel asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Solve two of your problems, wouldn’t it?”

The glare Alexandria shot Gavel would have made Digger wet himself if he hadn’t already done that twice today, but Gavel didn’t even flinch. “Much as there is no love lost between the Sentai and the Protectorate, Behemoth is an Endbringer. I’d help the Slaughterhouse Nine against an Endbringer if I thought they could be trusted not to stab me in the back, and Mushu, while a brute, is an honorable man. He’d do the same for me.”

“Hell of a brute,” Digger muttered, shaking his head. He sighed, then grinned up at the flying woman. “Uh, I can dig holes real good. How can I help?”

“You already have,” Alexandria told him, then formed up with her team, even as more American capes spilled out. They even had fancy tinkertech comms gear, with Hero hovering there on a pair of jet boots and coordinating with Chevalier and Eidolon.

“Yankees,” Digger sighed. “Why the fuck do they get all the fancy toys?”

“Because they got capes like Alexandria and Legend, and we’ve got us,” Dream Time said grimly. “Come on. I’m not sitting this out any longer.”

Swallowing, Digger said a prayer to every God and angel he could think of, especially the Raiden Shogun, and trotted after her and Gavel.

Minutes later, Digger ran along with a gaggle of other capes, roaring out a wordless battlecry as they splashed along in the muddy ground. Most of them were Aussies like him, though a few Amercians were mixed in as well. It was several kilometers away, and Digger’s sides and legs were already burning, his heart thundering in his chest as Alexandria and her Elite zoomed overhead.

While the battle with Behemoth had been a stalemate, it quickly became a very one sided beat down. Eidolon and a half dozen blaster capes hit the Endbringer so hard that it was knocked sideways, then Alexandria piled in, knocking Behemoth down. Mushu and Keiga didn’t hesitate, both dragons ripping and tearing at the kaiju so that his hide was rapidly shredded, dark blood spilling out in great streams.

After that, the Endbringer tried to fight back, shooting out lightning and lava while swatting at the dragons and Alexandria, but despite being far from friends, Mushu, Keiga, and Alexandria fought together like they’d been practicing for ages, seamlessly weaving their attacks together and pummeling the Endbringer. Digger wasn’t even halfway there when the Endbringer dove for the muddy ground. In a spray of earth and molten rock, the Endbringer vanished.

There was a ragged cheer, but Dream Time called out, “Don’t celebrate yet! He could come back at any time!”

And so, Digger waited in the mud as the thunderstorm broke and dissipated. He looked around, up at the sky where Hero, Eidolon, and Alexandria conferred with the dragons, who had shrunken somewhat, now being only the size of a school bus instead of an entire school.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Digger said to no one in particular.

“How to fuck your mother,” a villain named Drop Bear told him. Digger sneered at the ugly man, but didn’t comment. Drop Bear was a mean mother. And it would take more than a dab of vegemite to keep him away.

After an hour of waiting, the two dragons drifted down to near the terrestrial capes, shrinking again until they were nearly human sized, though retaining their draconic forms.

“We will offer you aid,” Keiga told Dream Time. “If it is agreeable, my husband will provide your cities with power that Behemoth has denied them for a few days, and I shall help with preventing groundwater contamination from the mine.”

“That is… a generous offer,” Dream Time said, sounding startled. “We’d need to talk to Canberra, but I don’t think they’d deny you.”

“Good. We ask only that the shipments of grain and cattle continue to Japan,” Keiga said. “We shall, of course, continue to pay.”

Digger didn’t really understand what that was all about, but the Americans looked pissed as well.

“We can offer help with rebuilding as well,” Alexandria said, though it sounded half-hearted after Keiga had made her initial offer. “Reconstruction in the coming months.”

“Ah, thank you. I’ll pass that along,” Dream Time agreed, looking dazed. She glanced over at the smoldering pit, where cooling lava lay instead of a power station and mine. “What a fucking mess.”

“Woulda been a real pisser if you dragons hadn’t shown up,” Digger opined, feeling slightly dizzy. He was going to live after all.

“It wasn’t the dragons who chased away Behemoth,” Eidolon growled, and Digger nearly dove into a hole as he whirled to find the green masked cape hovering behind him.

“Sure, right you are. Real team effort. Good job, all around,” Digger babbled. “High five?”

Eidolon glanced at the hand, then turned away. “We’re done here. Alexandria can handle the negotiations. I have work to do.”

With that, he flew off.

“Yay,” Digger said softly, giving himself a high five. “Go team. Woo hoo. Cheers all around.”

“It was a good job,” Dream Time agreed, watching as Keiga and Mushu flew off to begin helping restore power and keep the water from becoming contaminated. “Shit, a far sight better than Sydney.”

“I’m still breathing, so I’m counting it as a win,” Digger agreed. He shook his head, then glanced at Gavel, who had begun fingering his hammer and eyeing some of the villains. “Well, I’ll just be off then.”

He turned to dive into the ground, but Dream Time put a hand on his shoulder and he froze. “Hey. You did good today. A lot of people are alive who’d be dead if you hadn’t helped. If you ever think of changing your ways… you could do a lot of good.”

Digger laughed and shrugged. “Sure, love. I’ll think about it.”

Then he dove into the comforting earth, and got the hell away from there.

Dragons, monsters, and fucking Americans running about like they owned the place. What was the world coming to?