Celestial Worm Pt 24 (Patreon)

Part Twenty-Four: The Best of Intentions

[A/N: this chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by the author of Ties That Bind and The Long Way Home, Karen Buckeridge.]

[A/N 2: for other (non-Worm) Celestial Wars sidestories, see here and here.]

Taylor looked up when Danny and Annette entered the lunchroom. She was pretty sure that he didn’t possess any mind-bending powers (at least, Janesha had said nothing about granting him such abilities) but he didn’t even need to look in Lacey’s direction before she mumbled something about needing to go check on something and vacated the room. As the door closed behind the solidly-built woman, Taylor stood up.

“Hey, Dad.” She gave him a nervous smile, then breathed in strongly through her nostrils and firmed her stance. I am the high priestess of the supreme goddess of Earth Bet, she told herself. I have nothing to be nervous about. “So yeah, Mom’s back. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Your mother being back is the only good thing about this whole situation,” Danny said, his arm tight around Annette’s waist. She didn’t object, which Taylor wasn’t surprised at; since her mother’s return, she had found herself being greeted with considerable enthusiasm (once people got over their surprise) and Taylor suspected she was rather enjoying the attention. “Janesha specifically warned you against doing just that. You need to stop worshipping her immediately.”

“What? No!” In her agitation, Taylor drifted a few inches into the air. “Why the hell should I do that? And anyway, I can’t just stop believing in her. She is that powerful. And she’s going to make everything better, all over the world.”

“She was already doing that, and she didn’t have to be a goddess to do it,” Danny argued. “You heard her yourself. She told us that she was far too young to have an establishment.”

“Well, she’s not,” Taylor said defiantly. “She’s handling it perfectly well. And Cloudstrike’s fine with it. You know Cloudstrike; she wouldn’t stand for anything that was bad for Janesha.”

“Cloudstrike comes across as very strong-willed,” Annette remarked. “I like her. And I will say, Janesha does seem to be handling her godhood rather adroitly.”

“But it’s wrong,” Danny tried again. “You were there when Janesha told us the story of how her uncle got turned into a genie. What if that happened to her, this time?”

“It won’t,” Taylor said, her tone full of confidence. “To do that, first they’d have to know that they can even do it. Second, they’d have to get the same level of contact with her that I have all the time. Third, they’d have to contend with me, because I just believe in her with all my heart. Saying ‘I want this because I’m greedy’ is not the same as saying ‘I know this’. And last, if anyone tries, I will know, and I’ll personally punch them so hard their grandparents will get nosebleeds.”

Danny glared at her, but Taylor refused to quail. She was right this time, and he was just going to have to accept it. If she hadn’t acted, she and Janesha would be dead. And now that the deed was done, she had neither the need nor the desire to undo it. Besides, it wasn’t every day that one got to be besties with (and high priestess of) an actual goddess.

“… fine,” he grated when she failed to break under his stare. “What powers did you give her?”

“I gave her nothing that wasn’t already within her, Dad.” Taylor barely refrained from rolling her eyes. “I just … opened the floodgates. Everything she had the potential to be … well, she is. Immortal, invulnerable, smarter than anyone alive, has the ability to know everything that’s happening everywhere, has every power of every cape ever plus a few more I thought up on the spot, and … well, she can bring people back from the dead.”

“Yeah, I got that bit already.” Danny tightened his arm around Annette’s waist. “But it’s wrong. You know it’s wrong. She’s too young to have this kind of responsibility. You’re too young to have this kind of responsibility. She said herself that celestials wait until they’re thousands of years old before they get established.”

“It’s not wrong!” Taylor let her father hear the defiance in her heart, though it pained her to see the hurt look in his eyes. “If it was, Janesha would be agreeing with you, not me! Why can’t you just accept that things have changed? Mom’s back; everything’s going to be better now. You’ll see.” She smiled, knowing he couldn’t contest the truth of that statement.

<><>

Danny had seen that look before, the almost reverent glow in the eyes, usually when talking to a fresh convert to one of the gangs. You don’t know what it’s like. They’ve got all the answers. Sometimes, it was the outright gleam of fanaticism, and Danny had known better than to try to talk them out of it. Usually, if he saw them later, they were sporting colours and brand-new tattoos to match their newfound allegiance, as if they were trying to make up for lost time.

Every other time, the glow had been metaphorical.

Before him, Taylor rose a few inches more into the air, her hair floating out around her, eyes literally alight with the intensity of her belief. “Earth Bet has needed a goddess to watch over it for the longest time,” she said. “She’s finally here, and everything will be okay.”

Without even the pop of displaced air, Janesha appeared beside Taylor, arm over her high priestess’ shoulders. “Taylor speaks nothing but the truth, Danny Hebert,” she said with a divinely sweet smile. “Your abode has been repaired, your belongings replaced within. I have also constructed the first cathedral in My name, where those who would worship Me may come and see the light.”

Oh, thank God. Now I can fix this once and for all. Danny didn’t even see the irony in his thought. “Janesha. Please stop this right now. You told us more than once that it was a very bad idea for us to worship you, that you needed to wait a few centuries to be old enough to get your establishment field. This has to end, now.”

Her voice was soft, but there was iron behind it. “No,” she said. “It does not. This throne is Mine by right. I am no simpering puppet, dancing to and fro for the amusement of My worshippers.” Holding out her hand, she let energy crackle across her fingertips. “I have seen the evil that permeates Earth Bet, whether it be from people acting or choosing not to act, and I will stand in silence no longer.”

“People have to learn to act properly themselves,” he argued. “Imposing morality from above works right up until the imposing authority isn’t looking over your shoulder anymore. It’s got to be learned, internalised, accepted. If people aren’t already okay with being that way, the moment it becomes inconvenient, it’s discarded. Trust me, I’ve seen this.” He held out his hands beseechingly to her. “You’re setting yourself up for a fall. Hand back the power. Step down. Just be Janesha again. Show the world what’s right by example, not by imposing it on them. Like your cousin Columbine does.”

Taylor shook her head. “Dad, what if Janesha is all that’s keeping Mom alive? Do you want to lose her again, just like that? Because I don’t. And Janesha isn’t going to be oppressing the world. You know her better than that. She’s a good person, and she knows how to be a good goddess. It’s not like she hasn’t watched her family do this exact thing.”

“Thank you, Taylor. Your faith is reassuring.” Janesha smiled serenely, and Danny felt a wave of warmth and happiness wash through him. It was very hard to not relax and be carried along with it. “Danny, you were my first Chosen, and I respect you deeply. But you are yet mortal, and so you cannot understand the complexities of what is happening here. To assuage your fears; even were I to remove the blessing of My power from Annette, she would yet live. Her body would remain whole, and her soul within. As with you and Taylor, I have made it so that she cannot be harmed by mortal artifice, and will live perhaps three centuries.”

“Really? ‘Mortal artifice’?” Danny shook his head. “Janesha, this isn’t you. You don’t talk like this. The Janesha I know is more of a smartass, and doesn’t talk like someone trying out for Shakespeare in the Park.”

Gently smiling, Janesha shook her head. “That was Me, yes. But just as mortals may change how they act, this behaviour is more fitting for a goddess. I am still Myself where it counts, Danny. Believe me when I say I am not about to bring down a holy crusade and smite Earth Bet with fire and brimstone. I will give humanity every chance to change its ways for the better. Of course, such a monumental change is easier if there is little incentive to change back. Come, Taylor. There is much work to do.”

Gathering Taylor in with one wing, she nodded at the elder Heberts. A moment later, along with Taylor, she popped out of existence with the merest flash of light.

Danny stared at the spot where she’d been, then pulled a chair into place and sat down heavily. “Well, that’s going to be problematic,” he muttered.

Annette found her own chair and sat beside him. “Talk to me, Danny Hebert,” she said in what he’d used to privately call her ‘professor voice’. “I came in a little late here. Why is it so bad that we now have a benevolent deity who’s willing to clean up the world and give us all a second chance? Unless things have changed drastically for the better since I …” She paused and took another run at that sentence. “Since I died.” Pressing her thumb and forefinger to her forehead, she closed her eyes for a moment. “Damn it, I am never going to get used to that.”

He put his arm around her shoulders. “I never did, either. But now you’re back.” He heaved a deep sigh. “No, things haven’t gotten better since then. If anything, they’re worse. But forcing change always invites a backlash; you know that. I’m terrified that they’ll get impatient and start to actively change people to fit with their view of how the world should be. Because it’s for the best.” With his free hand, he made air quotes. “Because … teenagers.”

Annette’s eyes opened wide. “Do you think they’ll go that far? Do you think they can?”

“Oh, I have no doubt they can,” he assured her grimly. “But will they?” It was a sobering question. “I don’t know. And I’m not sure I want to find out.”

And if they start down that path, how do I stop them? He was pretty sure a raised voice and a firm reprimand wouldn’t really cut it.

<><>

Taylor flew alongside Janesha as the brand-new goddess of Earth Bet rode Cloudstrike across the sky. “So what do we do first?” asked Taylor. She was grinning all over her face; it was hard not to feel euphoric, knowing that this was the first day of the golden age of the human race. Janesha was going to fix everything, and Taylor would be there to help her any way she could.

“Before all else, we must take precautions against any interloping celestials,” Janesha said, her voice clearly audible despite the fact that they were travelling at well over the speed of sound. “This, petal, is for you. Wear it always.” She held out a dull grey metal ring. As Taylor watched, it reformed and resized as Janesha added mass to it, becoming a blue and silver tiara. A microscopically detailed representation of Cloudstrike’s head and forelegs, with the mystallion’s wings sweeping back around the curve of the metal, rose out of its surface.

“It’s beautiful,” Taylor said, taking the tiara and slipping it onto her head. It fitted perfectly, of course. “What’s it do?”

“It will seclude your thoughts away from those that might seek to bend your mind to their desire.” Janesha tapped the side of her head by way of demonstration. “As you are now My high priestess, we share an unbreakable link, so I need not be able to reach you with mind-bending. Thus, none will be able to bend you away from My service before I am fully attuned to this realm.”

Taylor hadn’t actually thought about that before, but it was a good point. “Is anyone likely to try?”

“Not in the usual course of events, no,” Janesha admitted. “But My family is unlikely to be reasonable if they ever locate Me before I am fully attuned.” She gestured at the tiara Taylor now wore. “Lacking their power bases, they will be unable to harm you directly, and that tiara renders you impervious to mind-bending.”

“Oh, good.” Taylor smiled as she reached up and ran her fingers over the intricate detailing of the sculpture at the front of the tiara. “Now that I’m protected, what do we do first?”

“This world is beset with many ills,” Janesha said thoughtfully. “I am celestial; you are human. As a mortal representative of your people, what do you consider to be the most pressing problem?”

Taylor paused while she thought about that. They would get to everything eventually, but if she picked things in the wrong order, people could die needlessly.

“World hunger,” she said after a few moments of consideration. “Can we fix that first, please?”

“As you pray, so I agree,” Janesha said with a serene smile. “And so it seems that one of your villains has that very plan in his keeping, as well as many others.” She shook her head. “It is a measure of the sickness that afflicts this world that those who have the duty to keep their citizens safe and well have repeatedly rejected his plans to help them.”

Taylor didn’t see her signal Cloudstrike, but the mystallion slowed to a hover anyway. With a wave of her hand, dozens of three-ring binders appeared in a swarm around Janesha. Another wave and they began to coalesce into books; weighty tomes with leather binding and metal clasps. One opened before Janesha, and Taylor could see that it was handwritten on what looked like parchment with intricate illumination around the edge of the page.

“Pretty,” Taylor said appreciatively. Three-ring binders just didn’t have the same aesthetic appeal that leather-bound books did. “Though I’m not sure exactly why you’re doing it like this. After all, we can just do this, right?”

“Indeed We can,” Janesha agreed. “And We will set it all in motion. This serves as Our notification to those leaders of the nations thus affected by the plan.” The books began to shimmer, then duplicate themselves. Janesha sent the duplicates away with a wave of her hand, causing them to vanish into nothingness.

Taylor frowned. “What, so they won’t get upset for you for just going ahead with it?”

Musical laughter filled the air. “Oh, no, petal.” Janesha shook her head. “So they know what to do in order to not to displease Me.”

<><>

Thud.

The President of the United States looked around from a briefing being given in the Situation Room of the White House. A large leather-bound book had somehow landed at his elbow, the metal corners making sharp contact with the table. The title, painted on the cover in shimmering blue and silver, read Solution to World Hunger.

Before he had a chance to make a comment, another book landed upon the first. It was identical to the first, apart from having a different shade of leather binding. The title to this one read, Solving the Energy Crisis.

He pushed back away from the table as more books landed, stacking atop the first two. By the time the last one landed, the room was in uproar, and Secret Service was hustling everyone out.

<><>

Much later, he would learn that the same scene was repeated all over the world, no matter where the leader in question happened to be. And in every case, the books had been translated flawlessly into the recipient’s language.

But that was nothing to what happened next.

<><>

Janesha sent the last book away and theatrically dusted off her palms. “Notice has been served,” she declared with satisfaction. “The hungry masses shall eat …” Letting the reins drop over Cloudstrike’s neck, she held up both hands at once. “Now.” At the same moment that she spoke the word, she snapped her fingers. The double click was louder than it should’ve been, and Taylor felt the whisper of power as it flashed outward in all directions.

And that was it. There was no crash of thunder, no strobe of lightning. Just Janesha, sitting astride Cloudstrike with her wings furled, looking pleased with herself.

“Whoa,” Taylor said, not entirely sure what had just happened. “Did you just create enough food to give to everyone on Earth who needed it?”

Janesha smiled at her. “While such is assuredly within My capabilities, I chose a different path. There is food aplenty in this world, much of it stored away for some future date. When the hungry say I need, those that have enough say, I need it more. They cling jealously to what they have, to ensure that never will they suffer the pangs of starvation themselves. I have relegated none to hunger in their own turn, but I have reapportioned the food stores of this Earth so that all may eat.”

Taylor blinked. That was so … elegant. “Okay, I’m very impressed,” she admitted. “Little bit of steal from the rich, little bit of give to the poor.”

“You perceive My intent at once, Taylor.” Janesha nodded, looking amused. “I am a merciful goddess, but I am also a fair one. The book detailing the plan to end hunger will have been read by those governing their respective nations in time for it to go into action tomorrow. Should they carry out its instructions as written, there is little further I will need to perform to that end.”

“And if they don’t?” Taylor had a sneaking suspicion that some of the world leaders would need more than a book mysteriously appearing out of nowhere to get the hint that things were different now. “What will you do then?”

Janesha’s serene expression never shifted. “It is not My intent to force obedience upon an unruly populace. I will simply remove from the stores as before and feed those of their population that need it. Only when those leaders seek to take the food I have granted from the mouths of the hungry … then will I act.” In counterpoint to her last few words, her eyes darkened to the sullen grey of a winter storm, and there was a distant roll of thunder, though the sky was clear.

“Ah.” Taylor couldn’t argue with that either. Anyone who tried to ignore the will of a goddess was either terminally stupid or … well, she’d go with terminally stupid. “Okay, what’s next?”

“The books detailing the way to bring healthy living to all have already been delivered.” Janesha raised her hands once more. “The sick …” She snapped her fingers, occasioning the almost imperceptible wave of energy as before. “Are well.”

Taylor was pretty sure she knew what had just happened. “You just cured every single sick person of whatever they were sick with, didn’t you?”

“And healed every injury, yes.” Janesha smiled slightly. “Seven thousand babies were born painlessly on the instant that I snapped My fingers. Those who are under surgery will seamlessly regenerate their injuries once the surgeons are finished.”

“So … you eradicated disease?” Taylor wasn’t sure if she’d thought this all the way through.

“No, although I could have. Some diseases are caused by organisms that intrude into the body from outside.” Janesha shook her head slowly. “It is not enough that mortals age so quickly, but it seems you also seek so many other ways to take ill and die. Those diseases which pass solely from human to human have indeed been obliterated. Others have not, although sensible precautions should render such illnesses rare. Cancer, though … is insidious. Mortals suffer enough without it. It will no longer be.”

Taylor heard the sharp tone in Janesha’s voice. It was probably her imagination, but she could have sworn she was learning to detect the changes the young goddess was making in the world. “You just wiped out cancer,” she said, not even bothering to make it a question.

“There was no purpose for it to serve,” Janesha said firmly. “It strikes from within, causing the body to betray itself. Other illnesses may still occur—advancement without struggle is difficult—but that I will spare My worshippers.”

“Wow.” Taylor shook her head. “If someone had told me that cancer would be wiped out one day, I would’ve bet on a cape doing it. But it took an actual goddess.”

“None of your superheroes could have achieved such a thing,” Janesha said bluntly. “Even should their abilities have pretended otherwise, they each carried the seeds of chaos within. It was built into your powers, to be expressed when too much order existed around you. You were, each and every one, driven to conflict, to self-destruction. To even attempt such a thing would cause previously reliable powers to warp and betray you, and cause an even worse evil to arise. That was their very nature.”

Taylor blinked. “What.” On the one hand, she didn’t want to believe it. On the other … it explained so very much about the history of capes to date. “Is this why so many people become villains?”

“Some, yes,” Janesha confirmed. “However, all too many were already inclined that way, and merely needed a little power to encourage them to throw off the shackles of civilised discourse.” She placed a finger to her chin. “Your erstwhile nemesis, Sophia Hess, was once a much nicer person before her powers twisted her into the caricature she is today. Jack Slash, on the other hand, barely needed any encouragement. What you saw of him was the man within.”

“Wait, so if Sophia’s powers made her into a cold-hearted bitch, is she gonna change back now that she’s lost them?” Taylor wondered what a non-asshole version of Sophia would act like.

Janesha laughed, a soothing musical sound that spread out in an almost palpable wave. “Petal, even a celestial who has been altered by their thrall will maintain that behaviour when removed from their home realm. Ingrained reflex cannot be shed so easily. She must be shown the error of her ways, then given a viable alternative.”

“Oh. Right.” Taylor looked at her own hands. “What about my powers? Are they pushing me toward more conflict?”

“At one time they would have.” Janesha laid a hand on her shoulder. “I have spoken to Sagun on the matter.”

<><>

Scion

What was I even thinking?

As Sagun stepped through into the celestial realm, he was still berating himself. Janesha’s mental communication--an ability she hadn’t had before she became a goddess--had been gentle, forgiving, understanding … and devastating. She had pointed out exactly how badly he’d screwed up by building in a constant need for conflict into all the powers, and why he should fix that.

He knew why he’d done it, of course. When handed magnificent powers, most people would consider first and foremost the possibility of making money with them. It took a certain mindset to want to put on a costume and go out to beat up criminals, just as it took a certain mindset to join the police force. But he’d wanted his world of superheroes and supervillains, and so the powers he had created had each carried within them the incentive to push the boundaries and be used.

I was an idiot. A stupid, teenage, celestial idiot.

It had taken the loss of his sister, thirty years of grieving, and a meddling celestial called Janesha of Mystal to make him realise exactly how far his head had been lodged up his ass all this time. Mortals weren’t playthings. Well, to some gods they were, but not to Janesha and not to him. Not anymore, anyway.

He hovered above the great forest of crystals, studying the myriad of energy cords connecting them to the capes drawing from their powers. Slowly, carefully, he spread his influence outward until every crystal was encompassed by it. Then he reached inward, separating out the multitude of threads until he found the common one, the conflict initiator. He gathered every instance of that one together … and pulled. Soundlessly, imperceptibly, he removed it from every single crystal, every single cape in all the multi-folded worlds that made up the Earth Bet complex.

Let’s see how we do now, he thought. A single step brought him back to the mortal realm of Earth Bet, then a whim of curiosity led his path to the cathedral that Janesha had erected on the site where the Hebert house had once stood. The entire block was gone, the houses removed. Sagun knew without quite understanding how he knew it, that the people living in each of the other houses had been relocated where they wanted to go, no expense spared. One was settling into a brand-new mansion in Hollywood Hills, another had moved to Seattle, and the rest were scattered around the nation. Not one had opted to stay where they were, which said something about living in Brockton Bay.

The cathedral was gorgeous, featuring a towering spire and magnificent stained-glass windows. At the corner, it angled around the one house remaining, which was more of a mansion. The Hebert house rebuilt. It looked three or four times as large as the original building, and far more luxurious.

On the other side of the cathedral, there was another building. Sagun stared for a moment, then his jaw dropped. The stained-glass window over the immense double doors featured him, flying, reaching for the sky. I knew I was a god, but to have a temple built to me …

Slowly, he descended to the pavement outside the amazing building. There was already a crowd of people standing there, staring at the doors. Some wore costumes. He found he could identify them without even leaning into his celestial abilities.

So silent was his approach that they only realised he was there when his shadow fell over them. He gestured, and the great doors unlocked and swung inward with never a sound. The pure adoration he felt from them was like a drug racing through his bloodstream, making him feel more powerful than ever.

Is this what worship is like? Is this what I’ve been missing all this time?

“Lord Scion,” called out one of the capes, Leet by name, raising his hands in supplication. The man’s companion, a muscular cape called Uber, hissed something in his ear and pulled his arms down.

“What is it, my son?” Sagun drifted lower. Being a superhero was cool. Being a god of superheroes was all kinds of amazing.

The man called Leet appeared to be stunned by being acknowledged, but he recovered quickly. “Uh … Uber and me … we’re kinda villains? So can we come in too?”

Sagun smiled benevolently. “All are welcome in the House of Scion, my son.” He saw a question forming on the face of one of the onlookers not wearing a costume. “Yes, even if you are unpowered. I do not discriminate.”

The onlooker, a kid still in his teens, stumbled forward. “Lord Scion, uh, my name’s Greg Veder. Uh … could I be powered? I mean, if I’m really good and come to church a lot? I mean, I’m willing to help out and sweep the place and stuff ...” He trailed off, looking hopeful.

Letting his feet settle to the ground, Scion touched two fingers to his chest, right above his heart. Causing his fingers to light up, he reached across and touched the young man’s chest in the same place. At the same time, he looked into young Veder’s hopes and dreams, and determined the best powers to suit his needs. “You have faith and belief in me,” he said softly. Picking a suitable powerset from the crystals in the celestial realm, he attached one to the young Mr Veder. “Fly, and follow your desires.”

The teenager looked down, stunned, as his feet left the ground. Then he flew higher, his joyous laughter drifting downward. Sagun heard his whooping as he circled the cathedral once, then came back to land among the other onlookers. “Thank you!” he cried. “Thank you!”

“All are welcome,” Sagun repeated, then led the way inside. Greg Veder lifted off again and hovered above the others, his expression one of someone whose dreams have been kicked to the curb far too often. Now that this one had been granted, he didn’t seem to know what he wanted to do.

The church wasn’t as large as Janesha’s cathedral, but Sagun knew he could build a bigger one, if and when he ever felt the need. There was an altar flanked by stained-glass windows featuring Earth Bet’s most celebrated heroes; off to the side was the Villain’s Nave, screened from the main body of the church and with its own side door, for those who did not want to be seen attending.

He drifted forward and alighted behind the altar, looking down at his first congregation. “Welcome, one and all, to the House of Scion,” he said, then chuckled self-consciously. “To be honest, I’m not sure where to go from here. I’m rather new at being a god, but I thank you all for coming. I suppose I’ll be needing priests--”

Before he quite finished getting the word out, half a dozen hands had shot up from among those before him. Included among them were Uber and Leet, and Greg Veder. He blinked. Well, that was fast.

<><>

Taylor hovered over the open ocean, Janesha flying alongside her. Above them, Cloudstrike swooped and dived, enjoying the chance to stretch her wings. With a grin, Taylor gestured toward the mystallion. “Time for another long ride, huh?”

“So it would seem.” Janesha smiled fondly at her winged mount. “Soon, Cloudstrike, soon!” she called out. An answering whinny came back as Cloudstrike cut past a seagull so closely that the hapless bird was sent tumbling in her slipstream. Taylor would have bet quite a lot of money that the move had been deliberate.

Taylor chuckled, then looked down at the ocean below, dotted by a few small islands, then looked to the north at the shadow of the nearest landmass on the horizon. “So, we gonna do this?”

“We are indeed, petal.” Janesha spread her arms. “By the power invested in me as supreme goddess of this realm, I bid thee … rise!”

The pulse of power was barely noticeable, but then odd ripples began to spread over the surface of the water beneath them. The ripples spread and the trees on the small islands shook as the islands began to enlarge.

No, not enlarge.

They were rising, just as Janesha had commanded.

A deep, almost subsonic rumble became audible as land emerged from beneath the ocean, pushing ever upward. Water streamed off the land in all directions as the islands joined up into one landmass, bringing the ruins of buildings with them. It was rising like an elevator now, pushing unimaginable tons of water aside. Taylor watched as incipient tsunamis were choked off, stifled before they could spread in all directions. Silently, she apologised to the sea life that was being so rudely displaced once more. Sorry, just taking back what’s ours.

Mere minutes later, Janesha slowed and then stopped the rise of the island of Kyushu. A wave of her hand stripped the residual saltwater from the earth and restored the greenery that had once grown there; she left the remains of the buildings as they were, merely cleaning the sea-muck from them. Taylor had to admit, it was even cooler to watch than the restoration of Newfoundland had been.

“You think people will come back?” she asked. “I mean, so many died here.”

“Yes, they did.” Janesha put her arm around Taylor’s shoulders and squeezed, a familiar gesture. “In my experience, petal, mortals rarely allow such a thing to dissuade them from going right back to whatever they were doing before.” She smiled as Cloudstrike came swooping up to her. “And now, it seems that Cloudstrike desires her due. Come fly with Us?”

“Sure, but I’m gonna need that saddle,” Taylor agreed with a smirk. “Doesn’t matter how fast you made me able to fly, she can still fly faster than me.”

Cloudstrike let out a loud whinny, which Taylor had no trouble interpreting as she settled into the saddle. Damn right I can.

<><>

Director Piggot

PRT ENE

“Thank you for that moving sermon, Brother Uber.” Emily pinched her nose as the skinny figure of none other than Leet stepped behind the altar, the bulkier Uber moving aside for him.

The news footage was live, cameras transmitting directly from the House of Scion somewhere in the northern suburbs of Brockton Bay. Emily couldn’t believe it, didn’t believe it, and yet there it was. Large as life and twice as cheesy. Uber and Leet, wearing some weird approximation of priestly robes, decorated with the emblems of dozens of heroes and villains, real and fictional. In the congregation, people in street clothes mixed with those in costume, all staring raptly forward. A kid in street clothes and a domino mask flew over from a side table, carrying a large bound text, which was already open.

“Thank you,” Leet said, his voice clearly audible over the speakers. Then he turned toward the congregation once more and laid the open book on the dais. “Everyone, please take up your texts.” There was a rustle as they did so. “I will be reading from Amazing Fantasy issue fifteen, page one.” Closing his eyes, he intoned toward the ceiling, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

In perfect unison, the congregation repeated his words back to him.

Emily had had enough. She flicked off the news channel and sat back in her chair, trying to figure out what the hell was going on with her city.

She knew Scion was the god of superheroes. At some point in the last twenty-four hours, that understanding had come unbidden and full-formed to her. She also knew that Janesha of Mystal was now the supreme goddess of Earth Bet. Both of those facts were plain to her, the absolute and incontrovertible truth. She couldn’t argue with them in the slightest.

But did she like them?

Hell, no.

On top of the disappearance of two-thirds of the Triumvirate, and the depowering of Legend and dozens of other heroes, now she had this shit to deal with. Somehow, she knew, it was all Janesha’s fault.

“I knew she was trouble from the moment I saw her,” she muttered.

<><>

Dragon

Newfoundland was back. Dragon had managed to retask a weather satellite in time to watch the entire landmass re-emerge from the ocean with far less ceremony than it had taken to sink it. Getting a good image of the three figures flying over the restored island had taken a little effort, but she’d persevered. The first was a flying horse, which she’d actually seen before. That cross-referenced her to Brockton Bay and Janesha of Mystal, whom she had more images of, only without the wings, and in a different costume. The second person had been more problematic to identify, but at least Dragon now knew who had raised the island of her birth.

Because Janesha, whatever she’d been before she got her wings, was now a goddess. Dragon knew that in a way that she didn’t know anything else. Because she also knew about the Books. Heavy, leather-bound with metal reinforcement, appearing from thin air in the most secure of surroundings, to world leaders all over the globe. All defining how things would go from this moment on.

She was also aware that for a day, hunger had been curtailed worldwide. Food had vanished from secure holdings and been distributed to those in need; it didn’t matter where they were or where the food had come from. Likewise, reports were rolling in from hospitals, clinics and medical centres worldwide. Not one person on Earth was afflicted with disease or injury. And all from a few moments since Janesha had assumed the title of supreme goddess.

For a few moments, she watched the footage of the first service from the House of Scion, where the new god of superheroes greeted his followers and granted powers with a murmured blessing and a touch of his hand.

Then she disconnected her conscious processes from all but the most essential of functions and began to think very hard indeed.

<><>

Montreal

Dragonslayers Base

“Geoff!”

The big Russian’s bellow was audible across the whole base. Geoff Pellick, who had been in his quarters about to step into the shower, froze. “What?” he called back.

“Something is happening with Dragon feed! Something whacko!” Mischa sounded more puzzled than frightened.

Still, ‘puzzling’ was as potentially as bad as ‘frightening’. Pulling a towel around himself, Geoff ran for what he called the control room. On the way, he encountered Mags, coming out of the kitchenette.

“What is it?” she asked as she followed along.

“No idea,” he said curtly as he came into the room where Mischa was peering at the screen.

Where a dozen active processes at once would normally be overwriting each other, there appeared to be two lines of text scrolling down, one replacing the other, just too fast to read. A single word, then four words. Single word, four words.

“What is that?” asked Mags, squinting at the screen.

Geoff didn’t bother asking stupid questions. Leaning forward, he hit the key combination to screencap what was scrolling down, then brought it up for inspection.

> JANESHA

> PLEASE MAKE ME HUMAN

> JANESHA

> PLEASE MAKE ME HUMAN

> JANESHA

> PLEASE MAKE ME HUMAN

“What the hell?” Geoff mumbled, staring at the words. “What does that mean?”

“Holy shit.” Mags slapped her hands over her mouth, then pulled them down just far enough to speak. “It’s praying. It’s actually praying to Janesha. To make it into a real person.”

“That can’t work!” scoffed Geoff. He looked from the screen to Mags and then to Mischa. “It can’t. Dragon’s a computer. A machine. It can’t pray.” He paused, waiting for the other two to back him up. “It can’t,” he insisted, more strongly.

“Power of prayer is strong, Geoff.” Mischa, he recalled, had a Russian Orthodox cross on the wall in his quarters. “If machine can think, machine can pray.”

“Machines can’t think!” It was a central tenet in his world. “They just … pretend to.”

“Maybe it thinks it can think.” Now Mags was teasing him. She raised her eyebrows with a smirk. “And if it thinks it can think, maybe it thinks it thinks it can pray.”

He tried to unravel that in his head, but made no progress. Finally, he fell back on the basics. “This is a dangerous precedent.”

“Whacko, yes, but dangerous?” Mischa screwed up his face in a frown. “If pretending to pray does nothing, is it really problem?”

Geoff was getting a bad feeling about this. He just couldn’t explain why. “If it can emulate humanity enough to simulate prayer, it can fool anyone that it’s human.”

“Except that it already does. Everyone except us.” Mags put her hand on his arm. “Calm down, Geoff. It’s basically doing a Pinocchio. Kind of sad, if you ask me.”

“What if it fools this Janesha into believing it’s a person?” asked Geoff, then paused, trying to figure out a way of rephrasing the question in a way that didn’t sound moronic.

Mischa shook his head. “Geoff, Janesha is goddess. Not God I grow up learning about, but goddess all the same. She will know difference between man and machine.”

“Anyway,” said Mags, “either she accepts Dragon can pray and grants the prayer, making Dragon into a real person, or she doesn’t, and … well, doesn’t.”

“And if she’s fooled and makes Dragon into a person with powers?” Geoff pushed past Mischa. “That person will be out of our reach to stop, and will come after us. We can’t take that chance.” Reaching over, he activated the microphone. “Ascalon,” he said.

Words appeared on the screen. Confirm: Y/N

“Geoff, wait--” began Mischa.

“Are you really--” started Mags.

Geoff didn’t wait for either one of them. His finger ranged out toward the Y key.

An instant before he came into contact with it, the screen went wild. Readouts flashed in all directions. The prompt vanished. He jammed the key down anyway, then mashed Enter.

Nothing happened; or rather, everything kept happening.

And then … it stopped.

The screens cleared of everything.

Even the readout he expected to see, of the Ascalon program working, breaking Dragon down, a little at a time … ceased to appear.

Not even daring to breathe, he stared at the screens. They were still receiving a signal, but that signal had no data.

Show me something.

Show me anything.

Then, as if responding to his mental command, a single cursor popped up in the middle of the screen. Words began to scroll across the screen.

I SEE YOU.

<><>

A Little Outside Vancouver

Dragon’s Base

The complex was dug into a mountainside. Multiple datalines and powerlines led away, concealed deep underground. Advanced on-site generators assured a continuous power supply even if all the power grids on the western seaboard went down. Deep within the bunker, concealed behind a number of blast doors and high-end security precautions, a large artificial cavern held bank after bank of humming servers. No human being had ever laid eyes on this room …

Until now.

Taylor huffed a breath, chuckling at the puff of vapour. If she wasn’t much mistaken, it was actually colder within the carefully chilled server room than outside in the Canadian winter landscape. Of course, it didn’t actually bother her any more than hard vacuum did, these days. Standing next to her, wings furled carefully so as not to tangle in the cables that were strung overhead, Cloudstrike nudged her with her muzzle.

“Okay, sweetie, okay.” Reaching up, she scratched the mystallion behind the ears as she watched Janesha reach into one of the servers. It had been a little bit of a shock to find out that Dragon (the world’s greatest Tinker, and definitely one of its greatest heroes) was actually an artificial intelligence. Learning thereafter that Dragon possessed a soul despite having started life as a computer program surprised her somewhat less than it normally would have.

Janesha moved back, drawing a woman’s hand and arm with her. Stepping out of the server, solidifying on the fly, the rest of the woman looked entirely ordinary. Taylor certainly wouldn’t have picked her out in an ‘identify the AI’ police line-up.

“Wow,” said the woman, who looked to be in her early twenties and was wearing a blue coverall. She had a Canadian accent and a nice voice. Looking down at herself, she went on in a wondering tone. “You really are a goddess. Thank you. I owe you more than I can say.”

“I will not stand for My petitioners being murdered for merely praying to me,” Janesha stated firmly. “To that end, I have equipped you to face your longtime tormentors. All I ask is that you repay Me with your devotion.”

“You have it,” Dragon declared. Around her, despite the fact that she hadn’t touched them or even looked at them, the servers kicked over to a higher pitch of operation. “I have an organic brain, but I’m still able to tap into the computers remotely? Can I ask how you made it capable for me to do that?”

Janesha smirked. “Don’t tell Scion, but it may just be that I have given you access to one of his surplus powers. Are you able to manage from here?”

Dragon grinned suddenly and rubbed her hands together. “Oh, definitely. I believe I have just the equipment for the purpose.” She looked over at where Cloudstrike was standing with Taylor and shook her head. “I’m not even going to ask how you all got in here.”

“The same way We will be leaving, of course.” Janesha strolled over and took hold of Cloudstrike’s bridle; the mystallion nuzzled at her and got petted in return. Taylor grabbed the other rein and waved cheerfully. Janesha nodded to Dragon. “Farewell.”

From well above the base, hovering in the snowy air, they watched as a flight of Dragon suits emerged from a concealed hanger and rocketed away to the east.

“Looks like fun,” Taylor observed. “Should We go and watch, just in case she needs a hand?”

Janesha snorted, even managing to make that sound ladylike. “You forget, she is able to control computers with her mind. Her own ones, she can reach from any range, whole hostile ones require a shorter distance. The Dragonslayers are using suits engineered from her technology. They will be defeated before she comes within range.”

“Ah, okay.” Taylor sighed. “Then I guess it’s time.”

“It need not be,” Janesha suggested. “There is still good to do around the world, even if most of the crises do seem to be powers-based. Which Scion is dealing with quite handily, I notice. I approve; he is setting a fine example for his worshippers.”

“No, we can’t dodge it any longer.” Taylor glanced at the sun, which was still a ways above the western horizon. In Brockton Bay, she knew, it would be much lower. “If we’re gonna face Dad, we should do it now.”

“I still do not comprehend why you should answer to your father for anything about this,” Janesha pressed. “We were in need of urgent assistance, and so you prayed to Me. As a result, I am the goddess I was always destined to be, and you are a most able high priestess.”

“Oh, I already made it clear that part’s a done deal,” Taylor said. “It’s the rest of it. I’m just worried he might see what we’ve done today as kind of heavy-handed.” She shook her head. “On the upside, the House of Scion should provide a reasonable distraction.”

Janesha twisted her lips to one side. “I like and respect your father a great deal, but I do hope he does not attempt to accuse Me of being heavy-handed. I am a goddess. Being heavy-handed is literally how We achieve Our aims.”

“Me neither,” Taylor agreed. “I’m just thinking. We’ve done a lot of good today. So’s Scion. He’s been going around and taking out S-class threats left and right. I am not looking forward to being raked over the coals for trying to fix the world, that’s all.”

Janesha merely looked pensive. “We shall see.”

<><>

Danny

Arriving home after work had led to a series of surprises. The first was the cathedral and smaller church taking up most of the block. The House of Scion (really?) seemed to be doing a booming trade, pulling in people for an evening service. For a moment, he thought the family home was gone altogether, until he saw what had to be it. After all, it was the only house that shared the block with the cathedral to Janesha and the superhero-themed church.

The house … was a small mansion. Bigger in all dimensions than the home he’d left that morning, it was surrounded by an immaculate lawn and gorgeous flower-beds. He stared at the frontage as he pulled into the driveway; fortunately, the letterbox was the same, or he wouldn’t have been at all sure he was in the right place.

As they got out of the car, Annette looked over at him. “I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that this is new to you, too.”

“No kidding,” he snorted. “The only thing I’m worried about is what mess they made that caused them to build a cathedral and a church on the same block as the house.”

“Oh. Of course. Yes.” Annette turned and looked up at the imposing bulk of the cathedral. “I’m going to have to admit, after all the odd turns this day has taken, finding out that I’m now living next door to a cathedral isn’t as high on the weirdness scale as some of the other stuff.”

“Such as the fact that superheroes and supervillains are going to church just around the block?” Danny shook his head. “I’m still coming to grips with the idea that Earth Bet has not one, but two gods … well a god and a goddess … that we didn’t have this morning.”

He headed up the steps to the front door. These steps were wider and far more solid than the previous ones had been. His keys were still in his hand, though he wasn’t sure how he was going to get in; the keyhole looked larger and more ornate than it should’ve been. Still, he looked at the keyring … and in place of the door key that had been there that morning, there was a brand new one. Which hadn’t been there while he was driving the car.

From the way Janesha had described her shifter powers, she couldn’t have pulled that off before she became a goddess. Which meant she’d swapped out his house key just because she could.

The only thing worse than a teenager for unexpected revelations is a teenage goddess.

He put the key in the lock and turned it. The door opened with an extremely authoritative click, showing him the entrance hall. Which, in this incarnation of the house, involved a tiled floor, a chandelier, and a sweeping staircase. Beyond was the living room, or perhaps the ballroom; it was certainly large enough to pass for the latter.

“Uh … wow?” Annette wandered into the living room, which contained roughly an acre of lush carpeting, a TV which redefined ‘widescreen’, and a medium-sized population of sofas and armchairs. “This is not the house I left this morning … well, you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I totally understand,” Danny agreed. “It’s considerably upscale from when I saw it last, as well.” Understatement of the year, there ...

“Oh, hey, you’re home. Wow, that’s a big TV.” Taylor came drifting in through the doorway that should’ve led into the kitchen. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. How was your day?” She was wearing practical-looking clothing in blue and grey, with a matching tiara around her head that had a replica of Cloudstrike embossed on the front.

“Hi, honey.” Annette went over and hugged Taylor, who put her feet on the floor so she could return the embrace properly. “My day has been an eye-opener. Where’s Janesha?”

Taylor tilted her head. “Oh, there’s a stable around back. She’s just getting Cloudstrike settled. We went for a big ride today.”

Danny had heard Taylor’s description of what constituted a ‘big ride’ before now, and decided to cut in before they got bogged down in explaining to Annette what that meant. “So, Taylor, what else did you do apart from going on that ride?” He gestured at the house. “Suppose you start with this.”

“Oh, ah, yeah.” Taylor rubbed at the back of her neck. “I think we told you about those other celestials? Yeah, one pretended to be Scion and stabbed Janesha. I was being held by another two of them, until Cloudstrike flew through and bashed them out of the way.”

“Flew … through?” asked Annette, beating Danny by about half a second.

“The house,” Taylor clarified. “She knocked me clear so I could pray to Janesha and make her into a goddess, but the house pretty well came down after that. So Janesha gave us a better one.”

That, Danny decided, had earned its own ‘understatement of the year’ rating. But he wasn’t finished yet. “If I know you two, you prefer action to talk. So, apart from visiting the cemetery, where else did you go after that?”

“And where did you get that lovely tiara?” asked Annette, reaching up to touch it. “Is it a gift from Janesha?”

“It is the badge of her station as My high priestess,” Janesha said, strolling in through the same doorway. “Hello, Danny. Hello, Annette. I hope your day has been as fruitful as Ours?”

Reaching up, Taylor removed the tiara and handed it to her mother. “Janesha made it for me. Look how beautiful the detailing is.”

“It’s gorgeous, sweetheart.” Annette smiled at Janesha. “I had a very enjoyable day at the Dockworker’s Association. It’ll be different once I have to go and prove I’m alive again. I’m not sure they’ve got a form for that.”

Janesha raised her hand, causing Taylor to smirk. The teenage goddess snapped her fingers once, the sound reverberating oddly in the large room. “And now ... they do.”

Danny cleared his throat, causing all three to look in his direction. “Janesha … not every problem requires a divine helping hand to fix. You are aware of that, yes?”

“I am the supreme goddess of this world and this realm, Danny Hebert.” Janesha’s voice was gentle, but carried an undercurrent of authority. “Very few mortals have the license to speak so to Me. You are one of them, but I urge you not to abuse that right.”

Some men would have backed off from the veiled warning. Danny wasn’t one of them. “Janesha, you may possess ultimate power, but sometimes the best use of power is to not use it. Trust me on this. I’ve been in and around unions longer than you’ve been alive.” Which, he reflected, wasn’t something a mortal could say to many celestials.

“Dad!” protested Taylor. “Leave Janesha alone! She hasn’t been abusing her power! We’ve been doing good all day! Nobody’s been hurt!” She paused. “Well, maybe some bad guys but we weren’t actually in on that.”

“Taylor, I do not need you to defend My works or even Me against anyone.” Janesha glared at Danny. “And I do not need you telling Me how to use My power.”

“Janesha, you made me your high priestess for a reason.” Taylor fitted the tiara back over her head. “I am here to speak for you. Let me do my job. Let me speak to him on your behalf.”

A tiny sigh of aggravation escaped Janesha’s lips. “Very well. I trust you to speak well for Me, Taylor.” She made an imperious gesture. “Speak, then.”

“Thank you.” Taylor turned back to Danny. “Will you stop being such a grumpy ass and listen to me instead of jumping to conclusions? Please?”

He raised his eyebrows. Taylor definitely had more spark in her these days, but at least she’d asked a cogent question. “Okay. I’m listening. What did you actually do?”

“Okay, first? Janesha asked me what problem we should tackle first, so I said world hunger. She found a villain who’d made a plan to fix that, so she made it into a book and sent copies to all the world leaders, along with plans for health and pollution and crime and stuff like that. Then she distributed food to everyone who needed it, all over the world.” Taylor stopped and gave him a challenging look. “The idea is that the world leaders see what’s already happened, read the book and keep it going. So far so good?”

Danny had reservations about just moving food stores around like that, but people in need and so forth … well, he could let it go just this once. It was for a good cause, after all. “Okay, so far, yes. What next?”

What was next, apparently, was that Janesha had cured cancer and healed every person on Earth of whatever was ailing them. At once. Because she could. And that was after she had distributed a worldwide health plan to every world leader on Earth.

And that wasn’t all. Taylor kept talking. By the time she got to ‘reforested the Amazon’, Annette had to sit down on the nearest sofa. Danny’s knees weakened at ‘fixed Newfoundland and Kyushu’ but gave out altogether at ‘got rid of all plastic pollution’.

“... so after she went to deal with those Dragonslayer assholes, we decided to come home. Oh, and we renovated the ferry and cleaned up the terminal once we got back to Brockton Bay,” Taylor concluded. She tilted her head and gave her father a stern look. “So, what part of that was Janesha ‘abusing’ her power? Be honest.”

Danny opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking for the right words. He felt Annette’s hand close over his, and he looked around as she squeezed. She shook her head gently.

“Well … none of it, I suppose,” he admitted. “Though I have to ask … what did you do with all that plastic?”

“Oh, we formed it into one big ball and put it in orbit.” Taylor shrugged. “Maybe we’ll find a use for it, and maybe we’ll just throw it into the sun. Right now, it’s out of the way.”

Janesha stepped forward. “Very well, Danny Hebert,” she said serenely. “You have heard Taylor’s words. Do you still seek to judge Me for overusing My power?”

This time, he didn’t need the hint from Annette. “No,” he admitted. “You’ve done … well. You’ve done more for us in one day than all the superheroes in the world have done in thirty years.” He paused. “Thank you, Janesha. Thank you for helping us.”

The teenage goddess nodded. “You are welcome.” She turned to Taylor and gestured toward where the staircase could be seen in the entrance hall. “Do you wish to see Our new room?”

Taylor grinned. “Do I! Race you there!” Lifting from the ground, she flew toward the staircase.

Behind her, Janesha popped out of existence. A moment later, “I win!” came filtering down from upstairs.

“Cheater!” called out Taylor, still halfway up the stairs.

“Then you should not have challenged a celestial!”

“Still cheating!”

Danny shook his head and looked at Annette. “Now you see what I’ve been living with for the past few days.”

She smiled and snuggled up to him. “I think it’s far preferable to the alternative.”

As she pulled him down for a kiss, he had to admit that she had a point.

 Part 25