Endbringers Hate Paperwork Part 5 (Patreon)

"Annette Rose Hebert, 1969-2008, she taught something precious to each of us," Myst whispered as he read the gavestone. "What's the point of having the power to change the world if you're not going to use it?" he mused as he reached out with telekinesis and pulled her coffin out of the ground, filling in the dirt under it so he didn't leave a mess. He reached out with his summoning power and summoned something that could help, calling forth a nine foot tall silver skinned humanoid figure with three sets of wings.

"If your request is worthy, ask!" a towering angel with shining topaz eyes announced as he glanced around the graveyard, pausing when he turned enough to see Myst. "Make your request."

"I want my friend's mother restored to life," Myst told him, ignoring the pair of old ladies standing on the trail staring at them in shock.

"Why should I interfere?" the angel demanded, his voice a smooth and commanding bass.

"I'll give you three reasons, because I asked, because she was killed by the manipulations of an abomination that feeds on chaos, and because her name is Annette Rose Hebert," Myst replied.

"Why…" the angel trailed off as he checked and realized where he'd been summoned. "Hebert?"

"Yes," Myst replied.

"That Hebert?" the angel asked, knowing that Taylor Hebert had an imbalance of karma that this would help address.

"Yes," Myst replied.

The angel used his resurrection power on Annette, restoring her to life then used restoration to clear up any lingering health issues. "If that's all, I should be going."

"Can you bring Hero back to life?" Myst asked. "Every story needs a hero."

"Fine," the angel replied and vanished, teleporting to Hero's grave.

Annette opened the coffin lid and climbed out of her coffin. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sorry about not opening the coffin, I didn't want to see your corpse," Myst admitted.

"Don't worry about it," Annette replied as she waved at the old ladies that were staring at them, a touch surprised that they weren't running or coming over to chat. "I need a shower."

"Do you want a lift or should I call a cab?" Myst asked, a touch surprised at how well she was taking coming back from the dead.

Annette shook her head, doing her best not to breathe through her nose. "I stink like a rotting corpse, I doubt they'd want me in their cabs."

"Point. Give me a second," Myst replied as he focused on what he needed and summoned someone that could help. He blinked when a purple haired teenage girl in shimmering blue silk robes appeared holding a sparkling wand. "Can you do-"

"Woah!" the girl said as she stepped back and waved her ivory wand at Annette, erasing the stench of death and restoring her dress to mint condition. "Much better!" she said cheerfully as she used another cleaning spell on Annette.

Annette let herself relax when she took a breath and realized that she didn't reek of death anymore. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," the girl replied. "What did you fall…" she trailed off when she noticed the open grave. "Are you a zombie?"

"No," Myst assured her. "I just asked an angel for a favor."

"Cool," the girl replied as she looked up at Myst. "Giant?"

"Probably," Myst replied, not seeing a point in mentioning his thoughts on his actual condition. "Witch?"

"Wizard," the girl replied. "Witches have familiars."

"Do you have a name?" Myst asked, wondering why she looked familiar.

"Amanda Strange," the girl replied. "Do you need anything else or can I get back to the tea party?"

"Do you have any books on magic I can borrow?" Myst asked hopefully.

"No…" Amanda trailed off as she remembered that she actually had notes for a spell. "Just a second, I have a glitter spell." She pulled a folded up pamphlet out of her pocket and levitated it up to Myst. "Sparkle was giving them out at her party."

"Thanks," Myst told her and smiled when the girl vanished, as he ended the summoning effect. "Do you still want a lift?" he asked Annette.

"Do I need to fill out paperwork or check with the PRT or the hospital before I call my family?" Annette asked, not sure if there was a standard program for coming back from the dead.

"Let me check," Myst replied as he sent Taylor a message. [Hey, can you ask Amy if there are forms for un-deading someone?]

0o0o0

"Give me a minute, I need to check something," Dragon told Armsmaster when she got a notice from one of her automated systems that there was a video she needed to review.

"Right," Colin replied as he swapped to looking at the schematics for his halberd, knowing it could take a couple of minutes. He'd barely finished pulling up his notes on metallurgy when an incoming file distracted him. "What?"

"I need a second option while I make sure my systems weren't hacked," Dragon told Armsmaster as she started running additional checks to make sure her systems weren't compromised.

Colin opened the file, wondering why he needed to see an image of the Simurgh floating in space. He jumped when five seconds into the clip a silvery skinned man with three sets of wings appeared and used a burning sword to cut through one of the Simurgh's wings, causing the endbringer to explode in a bright flash of light. "Is this a joke?" he asked, fairly sure it wasn't but having to ask because of the contents of the video.

"I don't know," Dragon admitted as she pulled up half a dozen images and video feeds from her other satellites and sent everything to Colin's computer, showing the attack and possible destruction of an endbringer from several angles. "I can't find any records of a parahuman with wings like that."

Colin replayed the video and hit the pause button when the cape appeared, freezing the cape's image on the screen. "Inhuman eyes, silvery skin, three sets of wings and a sword that burns brighter than the sun, it certainly looks angelic. Do you think the blast killed him?"

"No," Dragon replied as she opened another window on Colin's computer and played the clip in slow motion, letting Colin see the angelic cape vanish a split second before the blast would have obliterated anything in the area that couldn't take a nuke to the face.

"Teleportation, the ability to operate in space, some type of anti thinker power because the Simurgh didn't react and the ability to hit an endbringer hard enough to destroy it," Colin mused, not sure where you'd need to put the man's ratings other than high.

Dragon set a couple of bots the task of combing through news sites looking for any capes matching the description, wanting to do the search before people heard about it and everyone started posting about it. "There's always a chance that my systems were hacked."

"Have you tried contacting Nasa?" Colin asked.

"I wanted to make sure my network wasn't compromised first," Dragon admitted as she called Nasa on one of her other lines.

"Let me know if you need anything," Colin told her, deciding to break his routine and get a drink before the bars got flooded when people realized one of the endbringers was dead which he put as a higher probability than someone managing to hack Dragon’s systems.

0o0o0

"Nice work, you could bounce a quarter off her ass," Vicky told the mini Amys with a smirk, happy that her sister looked happy with the changes the dolls had made to her.

Amy pulled her attention away from her reflection in the old fashioned mirror. "It's weird not having freckles."

"In a good way?" Taylor asked, hoping her father didn't notice her own changes. 'At least I only went up half a cup size.'

Amy considered the question for a few seconds, trying to get her thoughts in order. "Yeah, I don't think I realized how much I resented the fact that I couldn't use my power on myself until I could request changes," she admitted, wondering if there was a way to see a shrink without having it plastered on the boards and getting in an argument with Carol.

"Sorry," Vicky offered.

Amy took a breath and then let it out slowly. "I might have to change my stance on cosmetic alterations."

"I suggest charging," Parian suggested as she sketched a couple more designs for Taylor's design. "People are less likely to bother you if they know it will cost a hundred dollars and they'll value it more if they have to pay for it."

"Not to mention it should cut down on impulsive requests," Vicky added.

"I'll probably need to buy malpractice insurance or something but it's worth checking," Amy mused, looking forward to having extra pocket change.

Taylor turned her attention back to the sketches of costumes that Parian had handed her to look over. "I'm still not sure I can pull off having a cape."

"There are a couple of good cosplay videos online that cover some tricks to keep capes from tripping you and having flight is worth the hassle," Parian argued, happy with her red cloak that let her levitate and fly around the shop.

"Worth a shot…" Taylor trailed off as she got a weird message from Myst. [What?]

[Can you ask Amy if there are forms for bringing someone back to life?] Myst asked as he flew towards the docks with Annette floating in front of him.

[Is this a hypothetical question?] Taylor asked, thinking it was a bizarre question to ask out of the blue.

[That depends, are you driving or walking in traffic?] Myst asked, wanting to make sure he didn't cause her to have an accident.

[I'm working on costume ideas with the girls and Parian, why?] Taylor asked.

[I summoned an angel to resurrect your mother], Myst replied.

Taylor blinked a couple of times as she mentally processed what he'd just said. [Where is she?]

[We're flying towards the dockworker's association, Merry Christmas], Myst told Taylor.

[I'll ask], Taylor replied as she turned to look at Amy. "Do you know what paperwork you'd have to fill out if you brought someone back from the dead?"

"That depends, how long were they dead?" Amy asked, thinking about the time she'd heard a nurse complain about the paperwork for a coma patient that had gotten screwed up.

"A year and a half," Taylor admitted.

"Ah… no clue," Amy admitted. "Myst?"

"Yeah, he brought my mother back to life," Taylor blurted, too excited to keep her mouth shut despite Parian being in the room.

"How did he manage that?" Vicky asked, thinking of her aunt.

"He summoned an angel," Taylor replied, thinking reality was a lot larger and stranger than she’d imagined.

Amy glanced at Vicky. "Where are they?"

"Docks, he's taking her to see my Dad," Taylor explained.

"Let's go!" Vicky stated, figuring her new friend might need emotional support if something went wrong. "Amy can check to make sure she's not contagious or unstable."

“She was brought back to life by an angel. If he was being honest, she’s not a zombie from a movie,” Amy told her. “That being said, I’d be happy to check her out and make sure she’s healthy.”

"Go, I'll email you the rest of the sketches tonight," Parian told Taylor, not wanting to delay her reunion with her mother.

"Thanks," Taylor replied as she pulled up her minion menu and selected the cloak of levitation then added Glory Girl's powers to it along with a high school education. She added telekinesis then swapped over to check the cloak's stats. 'Decent dexterity and mental scores, that works,' she thought as she hit the creation button, creating a crimson cloak. She pulled her cloak on then headed for the door.

Amy glanced at Vicky then flew after Taylor, glad that she could actually fly thanks to her new cloak, even if she'd miss Vicky carrying her places.

0o0o0

Greg stared at his computer screen as the video clip of Panacea falling apart in front of the hospital finished playing for the second time, not sure what he'd just watched. "What the fuck?" he muttered as he refreshed the page, wanting to make sure he had all the 'facts' before he posted in case someone had posted something important. He skimmed over the last couple of posts arguing about how Panacea didn't wear a mask so it couldn't have been Panacea, despite the fact that three miniature girls were wearing her costume.

'They're missing the point,' he thought, thinking about the girl that had bumped into Panacea. "Was the person that bumped into her a parahuman? Do we have to catch all three and stack them up to turn Panacea back to normal?" he sent the message, not sure why people weren't freaking out more about someone taking out the best healer in the world.

'Yeah, because that's going to work,' Dennis thought when he read Void Cowboy's message. "You have to catch them all," he tagged in using one of his throw away accounts, wondering if he should call Vicky and make sure Amy was alright. He glanced over at where Dean was on console duty. "Have you heard from Vicky lately?"

"I talked to her at lunch. She was planning on flying around and looking for trouble, why?" Dean asked without looking away from the screen he was supposed to be watching.

"Because there's a weird video about Panacea turning into three midgets," Vista replied as she pulled up the video that showed Panacea splitting into three miniature doll-like Panaceas when someone bumped her in front of the hospital.

Dean turned and stared at Missy. "What?"

"Huh," Dennis muttered when he clicked on a link that said, "Panacea in flight!" and saw a picture of the weird Panacea trenchcoat-wearing doppelganger flying on a flying carpet straight out of Aladdin.

"Take a look," Vista said as she walked over and played the clip so Dean could see it.

"You should check out the one with a fake Panacea on a flying carpet…" Dennis trailed off as the video swapped to showing Amy flying over the street wearing a white cloak over the clothes she'd worn to school along with Vicky and someone he didn't recognize with a crimson cloak. "Huh, the first one might be fake but the clip of Amy flying certainly looks like her, if you ignore the fact that she seems to be enjoying herself and might be airbrushed."

Vista took her phone back and skimmed over the last couple of messages. "What order?" she muttered, reading Void Cowboy's post. "Someone should probably tell Void that we have it handled."

‘Don't worry about it, we'll just keep trying until it works,’ Dennis typed in then grabbed his phone and called Vicky.

0o0o0o0

"Hey Dennis, what's up?" Vicky asked after the second ring.

Dennis relaxed as Vicky seemed happy and relaxed. "Is Amy safe? There are some weird videos on the boards of her falling apart near the hospital and flying through the air wearing a cape. Did you run into a trump or something?"

"We ran into a couple of capes, including a giant," Vicky replied. "Don't worry, Amy's fine, she's just making sure we don't have a zombie apocalypse."

Dennis twitched. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Mostly," Vicky replied. "There was a weird power interaction and someone came back from the dead, we're making sure they're actually alive and well rather than just reanimated and possibly infectious."

"Okay…" Dennis trailed off, not sure how to take that. "Have you seen the clips on PHO of the fake Amy falling apart?"

"Into three puppets?" Vicky asked, wanting to make sure they hadn't run into trouble.

"Yes," Dennis replied.

"Nope, I haven't checked PHO in a while," Vicky replied.

"Then how did you know about the puppets?" Dennis asked.

Vicky snickered. "We ran into a cape that makes puppets. Amy wanted a break from healing so we sent the A Team to cover for her."

"And the video of Amy flying?" Dennis asked.

"Someone gave her a magic cape," Vicky replied with a grin.

"A magic cape?" Dennis asked, wondering if she was messing with him.

"Powers are weird," Vicky replied as she walked over to where Myst was sitting on the ground so he wasn't looming over everyone. "Any other questions?"

"Who was the third cape with you in the video?" Dennis asked.

Vicky glanced over at where Taylor was standing next to her parents and Amy. "She doesn't have a cape name yet, but I have a feeling she'll make an awesome hero."

"We can always use more heroes," Dennis agreed. "I'll let you go, I just wanted to make sure Amy was safe."

"She's fine," Vicky assured him.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Good," Dennis replied then ended the call. "Amy's fine, they ran into a cape that can make magical capes."

Vista raised her eyebrows. "Magical capes?"

"That's what Vicky said," Dennis replied with a shrug.

"Do you think I can get a magic carpet?" Vista asked hopefully.

"No clue. We should probably wait a couple of days before asking, the new cape doesn't even have a name yet," Dennis suggested, knowing they'd probably need time to get their head on straight.

"Point," Vista agreed as she went back to looking at the thread. "Huh, Void is asking if she found a magic lamp or something and wished for a magic carpet and duplicates."

"Pretty sure she wouldn't waste her wishes like that," Dennis argued.

“Doesn’t sound like a waste to me,” Vista said, “flying is awesome and being able to send three healers to cover for you means you’d have more time off or could get more done.”

"Not what I'd wish for," Dennis said, as he considered what all he’d wish for.

"What would you wish for?" Vista asked, snickering when she read Pixie Girl's response asking about her third wish.

"I wouldn't mind the ability to give people immortality, I'm sure there are plenty of people that would agree to pay me a lot of money for more time, the ability to jump between realities wouldn't be a bad choice either," Dennis mused, thinking about his father and wanting to make sure he had more time.

"That's probably better than Pixie Girl's suggestion that Amy wished that Clockblocker was male," Vista said thoughtfully.

"What?" Dennis sputtered. “I’ve always been male!”

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, piping up. "I seem to recall there being more girls on the team."

"Speaking of nameless bitches, any idea why Sophia isn't here?" Dennis asked, deciding to ignore Vista messing with him.

Dean double checked the duty list and frowned when he noticed that Sophia was listed as suspended pending review. "The computer has her flagged as suspended."

"Let's hope it's permanent," Vista complained.

"I wouldn't mind, she's not worth the drama," Dennis argued.

"No complaints here," Dean agreed as he turned his attention back to the map of the city, waiting for something to show up or for Chris and Carlos to call so he had something to do.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Why?" Taylor asked as she walked over to where Myst was watching the ocean.

Myst turned to look at Taylor. "Why what?"

"Why bring her back?" Taylor asked, not sure why he'd decided to help her. "I'm ecstatic that she's back, but there are countless heroes you could have brought back instead."

"I could spin a tale about the balance of fate or life and death, it might even be true for this world but honestly, I don't have the patience to research every hero that died in battle or to misadventure over the last thirty years," Myst replied with a sigh.

"Why would you need to research them?" Taylor asked.

"I consider myself a decent person for the most part but I'm not a healer or a saint and I'm certainly not a martyr. I'd have to bargain for every soul and I'd have to draw the line somewhere. I took a risk because you're important, I'm not willing to do that for countless people I've never met and that I know nothing about. Besides, there's always a chance that one of the creatures I summon decides that I'm breaking some cosmic law and kills me."

"That," Taylor paused as Amy walked over with her parents, still trying to get used to the fact that they looked in their mid twenties thanks to Amy's tinkering. "What's the plan?"

Danny pulled a twenty out of his pocket and handed it to Taylor. "I suggest pizza."

"What?" Taylor asked.

Annette smiled at Taylor. "I want to hear all about your powers and your plans for dealing with Emma but I haven't had sex since before I died so I'm going to drag your father home and have my wicked way with him," she said matter of factly.

Taylor blushed as she turned and looked at Myst. "Right, so about that job?"

Myst laughed. "I wouldn't mind some help sorting through the junk in the warehouse I bought."

"Have fun," Danny told Taylor, figuring he'd look over the contract tomorrow.

"Let me know if you manage to summon any more dragons or interesting monsters," Amy ordered, curious if she could use some of the things she'd learned from Drax's biology to modify people.

"You're welcome to tag along," Myst told Amy.

Amy glanced at her sister, glad that Carol had called Vicky to get a progress report on the new cape. "Sure, my shift at the hospital is covered so I've got time."

"Great," Myst replied, looking forward to getting to know the healer and seeing if he could summon something that could cure Carol's insanity.