Chapter 86 (Patreon)

The faint scrape of soles against gravel and dried soil was the only sound amidst the low hiss of wind across the landscape far outside of Vegas. A single pair of sneakers brushed across the ground, baggy jeans hanging behind. The wind picked up into a howl for a brief moment, the dust swirling past a head of blonde hair styled with a carefully crafted coif. A pair of glittering blue eyes glowed for a moment, examining the small structure that he’d found. He slid his hands into his hoodie and tilted his head to the right, his lips forming a thin line.

He had watched the battle, up until An Set had started to lose. He had figured the guy would be dead by now, but to his surprise the man was not only alive but alone. This was supposed to be one of the guys that would make his dreams a reality, that would be the heralds for his grand design. He was supposed to be amazing, and he was, he was impressive there was no doubt about that. The serpent-eel thing was really cool. The young man rubbed his neck and stared at the door, But he lost, that’s weird. Was there something wrong with his information? No, that can’t be right.

He held out his hand and felt the air, there was indeed nobody there except for his quarry. He’d been abandoned there. Something about some woman named Ishtar. He’d barely paid any attention to the news, it wasn’t important. Just things talking to one another about useless things. How could all those things call themselves people? They weren’t important enough to matter one bit in the greater story, so why did they even bother breathing? It seemed so pointless to him, so empty. Every time he had tried to talk to people about the things that really mattered, before the flash, their eyes had glazed over and they’d responded in pointless ways.

His thin-lipped expression curled into a bit of a smile. Sometimes they would not even remember him when he talked to them a second time. Like they had no idea who he was even if they’d met him just the day before. It made him feel like the hero in a video game and they were the npcs, saying the same things over and over as if that was all they were programmed to do. Up until the flash, my flash. His smile darkened and he hesitated, a grin cracking across his face. I wonder why I’m feeling nostalgic? That’s kinda funny. He chuckled and approached the small shack. 

It was barely a shack, more like a bunch of panels of sheet metal welded together haphazardly with wood making up the frame. He rest his hand against the door and felt the energy inside, closing his eyes and tilting his head back as he got a feel for it. An Set felt a bit off, as if the mana in his body was being restrained somehow. Interesting. He mused and pushed the door open, walking inside without a care in the world. He hummed merrily, the door shutting behind him just as he stopped and looked down at the dark haired man who seemed to be dozing off.

There are cuffs on his wrists. Are they restricting his powers? Why haven’t I heard of this? That’s not in the script.

“Hey,” He said.

An Set blinked and looked up, squinting for a moment, “A kid? Nah, you just look kinda young,” He mumbled, tilting his head to the right. There was a faint electric blue glow in his eyes. The young man liked it, it looked powerful. Maybe straining himself against those heroes had made him stronger somehow. 

That’s really cool, I like that.

“Name’s Otis,” Otis said with a grin, “Nice to meet you, An Set.”

An Set narrowed his eyes, “Otis, huh?”

“That’s right!” Otis said brightly, pulling his arms out of his hoodie and raising his chin, “The one and only!” He brought his hand up to his chest and leaned forward, “And you sir, have been chosen! I am going to become a god, and I want you to join up with me. The prologue wasn’t quite right for you, but I’m sure the next part of the story will be a great redemption arc.”

An Set raised an eyebrow, “Neat,” He said, dubiously.

“I know you have your suspicions but-” He started only to get cut off as An Set cleared his throat.

“Are you really Otis?” He asked, making the young man pause. That wasn’t right, no one should have heard of him yet, no one that was outside whom he’d been collecting. Now that he thought of it, that thing, what was its name, Craig? What happened to that thing?

“Yes,” Otis said with a bit of a frown.

“Great, you got somebody who wants to talk to you,” An Set grunted and thumbed towards the wall to his right, Otis’ left.

Otis glanced over and spotted a small device planted in the wall. He narrowed his eyes, Why didn’t I sense it? I should be able to sense any electronic device, I made sure. I only sense mana in here though.

Static hummed in the device for a moment before a rasp hissed its way out, “Hello Otis.”

Otis turned to face the thing and concentrated.

“Did you try to cut the signal? This is a mana-based telecommunications device, no electricity involved. A bit more complicated,” The voice said.

That was interesting, even a little exciting, what a twist! He broke into a wide smile, “Who is this?” He asked brightly, walking up to the device and leaning in towards it, “Can you see me?” He reached up and tapped it a few times, “It’s amazing you came up with this so fast!”

“I am Ishtar,” The voice hissed out. “Of course I can’t see you, why bother? The camera won’t work on you, right? I’ll forget this entire conversation if I look at you. I don’t want that.”

Otis paused and glanced up, The person all the things were talking about on the radio? His smile faltered just a small amount, More importantly. “How do you know?”

“I know a lot about you, Otis,” Ishtar said, “Most importantly, I know what you’re planning. I know what you want for Earth and all the people in it. I know you want everything to look like downtown Vegas. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing,” The voice paused and deepened to a threatening tone, “I am going to ruin everything you’re working for and put you down like the mad dog you are.”

Otis blinked, confusion flashing on his face. He looked over his shoulder at An Set who just shrugged at him, he looked back at the machine and frowned. “No, that’s not how this is supposed to work. This is my story. There aren’t supposed to be spoilers. You don’t get to-”

“I do what I please,” Ishtar hissed. “This is my story now.”

Otis’ nostrils flared, he clenched his fists as his mind worked through the options, the possibilities, how did this play into his story? He had so carefully crafted it, could it have been an influence from his imagination? He blinked, So that’s it! Yes! I get it now! Ishtar is my Posideon, my opponent holding me back from reaching my glorious goal. That’s what this is, right, just another character in the story. What tale is worth telling if there isn’t a villain, right? Of course. Even so, it made him a little irritated that she was taking so much spotlight. Maybe he should move his plans up a bit?

He cracked a wide smile, overjoyed, “Amazing! You are a really interesting addition! I like this twist!”

“So this is what you’re really like,” The voice sighed, “I had wondered.” She trailed off and let out another breath, “I hate you, with all my heart. I hope this hurts at least a little, though I doubt it. I’ll figure out your powers eventually.”

“Eh?”

A clank of metal sounded out behind him and he turned around, flummoxed, An Set got to his feet and grinned like a maniac, electricity sparkling on his skin. That’s a bit funky, I thought he needed to drink power from somewhere. There’s nothing here. The electricity intensified, magnified, Otis’ eyes widened and he broke into another smile, “Oh wow! What did you do?” He asked as An Set’s body began to break down, his skin turning an electric blue before bloating up like a balloon. 

“Good bye for now, Otis.”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

–

Chunhua stepped onto the debris and looked over the lake that had formed in the middle of downtown vegas. She had to admit, with the tree hanging over it and the blue sky reflecting down on it, it was beautiful. A helicopter flew overhead bringing in more rescue workers, although most of the work had already been done. The heroes from LA and the surviving heroes from Vegas and New York had come together to sift through the debris and find whomever they could. It was arduous, painful, and gut wrenching work.

She sighed and dabbed her forehead with a towel as her earpiece buzzed. She reached up and tapped it, “Euclidia?”

“Just Molly right now, please, I’m too tired for code names Chuchu,” The young hero whined into her ear. 

Chunhua smiled to herself, she wasn’t bothered by the nickname. If anything, the girl had earned it. If it wasn’t for her pushing herself to the brink none of them would have survived the events that had transpired. She sat down on a piece of concrete and sighed, rubbing her neck, “Alright, what’s up Molly?”

“They found Miss Chernovna, she’s alright, a bit banged up though, Handmaiden is back with her,” Molly said, “The Chairman threw a fit over her condition and is sending her home right now. I almost got haranged into it,” She sighed, “I don’t have that kind of range. LA was a bitch.”

Chunhua frowned, she still wasn’t sure about everything and had a hard time believing anything concerning Sonya Chernovna. She scratched her head and let it hang between her shoulders. Still, if it’s true, it's a relief that she was okay. “How is she really?”

“Upset about Firestorm,” Molly said, “Angry. She wants to hold a press conference about what happened while in a sling and covered in bandages. The Chairman shut that down pretty quick. Apparently she wants to see Vytal,” Molly laughed bitterly. “Goodness knows why,” She added sarcastically.

“He’s a bit busy,” Chunhua muttered, “How are Bluestar and the others holding up?”

“It’s… gonna take a while, I think,” Molly said a bit more softly.

“Yeah, I imagine so,” Chunhua said, looking up towards the disaster zone. “I’m gonna stay until things are under control here.”

“I figured,” Molly said with a sigh, “I’ll be here too.”

“You can head home, I’m sure your girlfriend-”

“Will understand,” Molly interrupted her, “You aren’t doing this alone and I’m good at logistics. Let me help.”

Chunhua chuckled, a real smile finally coming to her face, “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

“You would have managed,” Molly said brightly, “Like, seriously, you’re a fuckin badass.”

“I’m just another hero,” Chunhua said, “Just like the others. They put their everything into protecting the people of this city. Same with Sapporo and Pathfinder,” She said, the last name coming out with a bit of pain in her chest. She barely knew the man, only having met him a few weeks before, but it still hurt her to know that a comrade had died like that. She remembered the youthful face of the ‘master assassin’ that Ishtar had employed and clenched her fists.

“Sapporo still hasn’t woken up, doctors say he’ll be fine and Vytal’s already healed him up, but he’s still out,” Molly said sullenly.

“He pushed himself hard, just let him rest,” Chunhua said and got to her feet. As she did, she heard footsteps approaching behind her. She turned, seeing who it was, and reached up to her ear, “I gotta let you go Molly. Get some rest, okay?”

“Sure. You too.”

The connection cut and she put her hands on her hips before tilting her head, “Bluestar, Bandit, Lifesaver, what are you doing out here. You should be in recovery,” She said sharply, trying to regain some of the commanding persona she’d set aside during her talk with her teammate.

All three of them looked rough. Lifesaver wasn’t even wearing his mask, instead wearing a white medics outfit and baseball cap. They had bags under their eyes and their shoulders were slack but… Those eyes. She thought, hesitating as she met Bluestar’s gaze. The young guildmaster’s eyes were blazing, fierce. It was the same with Bandit and Lifesaver. She regarded the three of them for a few moments before sighing and nodding, “Alright, but don’t push yourselves.”

They sighed with relief as one and Bandit nodded to the others before darting off towards one of the rescue teams working near the east side, Lifesaver hurrying off after them. Bluestar stayed behind, though, and walked up to Chunhua.

“Thank you.”

“Just don’t push it,” Chunhua said.

“I got word from Miss Chernovna,” Bluestar said, “ASTA will be helping with the reconstruction and she wants to ask Vegas to let her build a memorial garden here,” She said, glancing at the artificial lake with a sad smile, “She kept raving about a ‘big ass statue for Nick’. She’s kind of kooky, isn’t she?” Bluestar choked and lowered her head, “What kind of guildmaster lets her people die like that, ma’am?” She asked, bitterness in her voice.

Chunhua let out a sigh and turned to the young woman, wrapping an arm over her shoulder before pulling her into a hug, “That’s one of the hardest parts of being a leader of warriors,” She said stroking her hair, “They’re going to fight, and they might die, and you just have to carry on and make sure that their deaths weren’t in vain. You have to stay strong for the others, even if it hurts,” She pulled back and tilted her head down, looking the young woman in the eyes, “But you don’t have to always hurt. There are people you can talk to and ways to deal with the grief. I lost a lot of men under me in the army, I understand.”

The girl’s lips trembled and she threw herself into Chunhua’s neck, sobbing. Chunhua held her for a while, letting her mind go blank to focus on the agonized person with her. “I’m here,” She murmured into the sobbing girl’s hair. “I’m here.”

She paid no mind to the blue sky as it flickered electric blue for just one moment, nor to the faint rumble in the ground beneath her feet from a distant blast.