Magnetic Attraction 14: Leviathan 1 (Patreon)

Updated after so long!

Welcome back to Magnetic Attraction, folks!

-VB-

Magnetic Attraction
Chapter 14: Leviathan 1

-VB-

WAAAAAANNNGGGG~!

The Endbringer Siren rang hauntingly underneath the clouded city, rain grew more torrent with each passing minute, thunder rumbled ominously in the clouds, and lightning struck down every so often.

It was to this mess that I called my girls.

“Leave for Boston, now,” I ordered. And it was an order. I wanted them out of this mess. If they didn’t, then at least one of them would die, and I wasn’t about to have that. 

Nessa objected loudly on the other side of the phone, but I held it away from me until she finished. Then I brought the now slightly wet phone back to my ear. “I don’t care how you feel about my participation. I’ll live, but none of you can if you take so much as a single hit from that wet lizard. So leave the city, and come back when I call you.”

WAAAA-

Clarissa was the first to tell me good luck.

-AAAA-

Nessa followed suit. 

-AAAANNNGGGG~!

Jessica hesitated before threatening me with bodily harm if I didn’t come back.

Classical, right?

I cut the line and looked down. Flying above the PRT ENE Headquarters, I saw the preparations being made to combat Leviathan, and the process did not look promising. 

Capes were arriving by half a dozen each minute, but there were only thirty or so capes ready. On top of that, only Legend was here right now, though Alexandria and Eidolon are never missing from any Endbringer battle. I just have to hope that they’ll be here to help defend the city. 

What made me happy, however, was Lung’s lack of participation. This was good for me on two fronts: Lung’s escalation made any kind of Endbringer combat destined for another Kyushu because of how Endbringers matched and overwhelmed EB volunteers, and second, Lung’s lack of participation could be used against him when I finally went against him for the control over the city. 

But that was in the future. 

Leviathan would soon be here in the present. 

I looked down at the current roster of capes and spotted the Empire Eighty-Eight among them. Crusader, Alabaster, Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Cricket, and - of course - my dear brother Kaiser. 

I hoped all of them died today so I wouldn’t have to dirty my hands. Kaiser actually had a good chance of dying already, so it was well.

A shining blur of white light zoomed towards me from the periphery of my vision. I looked up and saw … 

“Purity,” I greeted her in her cape name.

“Eisengard,” she greeted me warmly in return. It’s good to see you.

I nodded, because I also honestly felt better about seeing Purity in this fight. She was a powerhouse no matter what others may have said, and having her here to blast Leviathan from afar and distract him even if it couldn’t hit her with its self-imposed limits? 

Again, it was good to have her because what’s better than an untouchable flying artillery firing down at your enemy in a warzone?

(Admittedly, I would also like her in my bed along with the rest of my girls, but I had to approach one event at a time.)

WAAAAA-

“For the city,” I affirmed.

She nodded and hovered near me rather than Kaiser. 

I looked down and saw Kaiser scowling towards me. Behind my shrouded cover, I grinned. 

-AAAAA-

She trusts me more than she trusts you.

Then I jerked up when I saw Legend fly up to me and stop.

-AAAAA-

“A pleasure to meet you, Legend,” I greeted politely.

Legend, complete in his heroic and thematic glory, nodded back to me. “You are Eisengard, yes?” he asked. “It’s good to see a new cape eager to fight on behalf of mankind.”

-AAANNNGGG~!

“This is the city I grew up in, no matter how shitty it is,” I replied. ‘I’ll be here to defend it.”

“Good. Good. Dragon would like for you and Purity to get her alert armbands.”

Right, forgot about that. All three of us floated down, and I was met with none other than Armsmaster.

“Armsmaster,” I called. The ENE Tinker saw me and nodded nearly imperceptibly. 

“Eisengard. Purity. Legend.” Then he reached out to the table behind him and the boxes there, and pulled out two armbands. Wordlessly, Purity and I each took one and clapped it onto our left arms. 

“[Please state your names.]”

We did.

“[Welcome to the Brockton Bay Endbringer Battle. Thank you for your service.]”

Geez, didn’t that sound like a death sentence. I supposed that Dragon couldn’t say anything grimmer than that, right?

“[Leviathan ETA 2 minutes and 15 seconds.]”

Lady, that was not a challenge.

-VB-

I flew back up, ignoring Legend’s speech in favor of quickly flying around the PRT ENE Headquarter and pulling every scrap of iron in my reach. Excepting any PRRT vehicles, I wantonly caused property destruction as I used my magnetic force to lift cars, trash bins, and dumpsters while rotating them to remove any unwanted materials. I stripped all metals even as Dragon complained, and compressed them into giant spears, each ten yards long and less than half a feet wide. 

Then I compressed them. I made them denser than osmium, the densest natural material on Earth. Around me, a cloud of iron dust swirled and buzzed angrily. 

Nearby, I saw a similar cloud, this one made up of insects. Skitter was there, eh?

“[Tidal wave!]” 

And that was all of the preparations I could do.

I saw a wave of ocean water surge up.

“[Shields up!]” Alexandria shouted.

A plethora of colors bloomed from atop the PRT headquarters, and I watched as the tidal wave burst through the shoreline, burst through the buildings, and then reach the 

What caught my attention right after was what Leviathan was doing. 

It went for the Rig, the Protectorate ENE base, and … destroyed it in one fell swoop. It just broke through the shields in one attack, cleaved the former oil rig in the same attack, and splashed into the bay. The rig exploded soon after.

… 

That didn’t happen in canon.

I took a deep breath in, but looking at the reeling wreck of the Rig, I couldn’t help but think … I shook my head. ‘Focus on fighting for survival. Kill it if I could.’ But the idea that popped into my head wouldn’t rest. It screamed “possible.”

With that new idea inmind, I sent out my iron dusts, dispersing them into the city, and I waited for Leviathan.

I, along with the other Shakers and Blasters, waited. 

Waited for the perfect opportunity while my unseen iron dust gathered around Leviathan’s frame… and began to grind away at a small spot, no wider than a mechanical pencil lead, on the small of its back. 

The rest of the capes just needed to keep it distracted long enough.

And if, if, my sudden inspiration was workable, then I might have a dead Endbringer at the end of the day.