Capítulo 2776: 8.5
It was slow going in a boat. With Aegis and Glory Girl pulling a set of ropes attached to the raft we made progress sure but it was nowhere as quick as when Glory Girl was flying me around. Not for the first time I wished I had some sort of usable Mover power. I suppose I could use my teleport, the one that took me out of reality for hours and that'd keep me safe. However it wouldn't help Dad one bit and disappearing on him was the last thing I wanted to do.
"How much longer to the shelter?" I asked.
"Well it took us awhile to get to you." Explained Clockblocker. "But I think it'll be quicker getting back since we know where we're going."
Vista piped up at that point. "Also the waves are being pushed out away from Leviathan so we're literally moving more quickly too." That made sense even if it didn't feel like it. It also felt weird relying on the Endbringer for a boon. Perhaps in an alternate universe the Endbringers were good guys. No one knew where they came from or what they were. Theories on the PHO were all over the place. Some people thought they were Capes that had gone nuts, that they were just simple monsters while others believed that they were Gods here to usher in the end of the world.
Regardless of where they came from they were called Endbringers for a reason and as such it was the job of Heroes everywhere to fight them.
Well, perhaps not every hero, not everyone had a useful combat power I supposed. I was lucky in that regard, while I couldn't fight Endbringers directly I could at least help and heal those that could.
"This is taking forever!" I complained. Seriously, how long did it even take them to find me? We'd die of old age before we'd get there! It seemed that Glory Girl agreed.
"Hey!" Shouted Shadow Stalker. "Careful!" The raft tilted unevenly as Glory Girl tried to fly ahead.
"Come on, can't you go faster?" Complained Vicky. "I've seen you fly faster then this Aegis!"
"Yeah but not when I'm pulling a raft, filled with air on water filled with who knows what." He replied. He didn't seem mad but it was clear that the day's events had gotten to him. "Rushing ahead could get people hurt." I looked into the murky depths of Brockton Bay and wondered how many jagged bits of metal were waiting to puncture our boat.
Glory Girl didn't reply to that but did end up slowing down. Everyone fell into silence after that, only the soft lapping of the water with the occasional screech as the metal of a car scraped past some ruins. The fighting in the distance was there of course, but they were quick bursts of energy and violence. A constant reminder of the danger behind us.
"Another wave." Shadow Stalker called out causing both Aegis and Vicky to dive into the boat with us. With that the side of the boat was raised up and stretched by Vista's power once more. Brushing his hand against the surface Clockblocker activated his own powers and soon the wave crashed into our impenetrable wall leaving us unharmed and only slightly damp.
"YEAH!" Shouted Clockblocker again. "Teamwork makes the dream work!" He repeated. Once again he and Vista gave each other a high five.
"Have you both...." I began. "Have you both been doing that this entire time?" Every time there was a wave went unsaid.
"Yeah." Vista answered. "He wouldn't shut up if I left him hanging." She didn't sound displeased though. As mature as she tried to present herself, she was still a kid. We all were now that I thought about it.
"It's sooo annoying." Shadow Stalker grumbled.
"You're just jealous that no one wants to high five you." Replied Clockblocker. "Hey Vim! High five!" He raised his hand up. I stared at him for a few moments before deciding to humor him and slap his hand.
*Slap*
"Down low!" He repeated as I went for my target only for him to shift away at the last second.
"Too slow!" He jeered pulling his hand away with a flourish.
The bastard! I'd get back at him somehow. Maybe I'd promise to give him sweet rolls and then I wouldn't? No! For this insult I had to be more cruel. I'd give EVERYONE sweet rolls and conveniently not have enough for him!
Yeah! That'll show him! Mwahahaha! Never mess with the baker!
"Guys!" Shouted Aegis. "Can we focus? This is an Endbringer situation!"
He was right of course. As childish as both Vista and Clockblocker were, they were a powerful. Something as dangerous as Leviathan's waves were reduced to a spray of water. I wondered what would happen when these Wards grew up? With experience and practice I could only imagine what they'd do in the future. Perhaps they'd become the new Triumvirate? I wondered if I would be standing side by side with them? Well, perhaps I'd be the next Dragon, someone who helped despite not being directly on the frontline. Her tech was everywhere, most notably as containment foam.
One day my potions would be everywhere giving aid to those who needed it on the other side of the world. It wasn't quite the Alexandria fantasy I used to have about flying around and punching bad guys but I had to admit, that this new fantasy was satisfying in its own way.
In the distance a roar was heard and more lights bloomed before fading away. The Blasters, Legend and possibly Eidolon looked like they were going all out. Still no sign of Scion though. Soon we made it to a large hill surrounded by sandbags all soaked and covered in a thick layer of mud. As we made contact with the ground we all leapt off the raft before it was pulled over the barrier by Aegis and Glory Girl.
A series of tents further up the island were miraculously mostly dry. They were arrayed in such a way that it still allowed some space to walk through.
"Oh by the way!" Aegis called out. "Panacea is in this camp if you wanna see her." It was mostly directed at Glory Girl but left unsaid was that we should visit if we were hurt as well.
"Amy's here? I'll go say hello sure!" She replied as if she wasn't dying minutes before when we collided with the billboard sign. It seemed that she bounced back fast.
"Okay Wards!" Announced Aegis. "Lets check the boat for punctures and get back out there!"
"Wait, you're leaving already?"
"Well, yeah, Endbringer stuff is still happening, we want to help." Aegis floated down to the boat.
"Oh, I just thought we were going to stay here." I felt kinda dumb for saying it outloud now.
Clockblocker threw a hand over my shoulder. "Aww, are you worried about us?" He asked. "You do care!"
I elbowed him lightly in the stomach. I still hadn't forgiven him for the high five but at the same time he wasn't wrong. I did care about them all. I wished that I had some ingredients on me so I could make them more potions. If they were the rescue team then they'd need as much as they could get. It was then that I realized that his arm was still draped over my shoulder despite my earlier elbow and the memory of me kissing him came back into my mind.
I also noted that the green aura had disappeared with Vicky as she headed off to visit her sister.
Damnit! I needed more of that green aura! Why couldn't she be around me more when Dennis started to get more handsy with me!
"I uh… that is…" Ah shit, what should I say? I looked at the blank white helmet that he wore. I imagined his eyes just staring at me. Was he just teasing me? This was all it was right?
"Vim!" Armsmaster approached us as he emerged from a tent. "Good to see you're alright."
I smiled. Perfect timing! I pushed Clockblocker off me as I greeted him.
"HELLO!" Okay too loud, bring it back Taylor, tone it down a bit. Luckily for me Armsmaster chose to ignore my little blunder.
"Vim I have someone here for you to meet." Someone for me to meet? "From what I've been told he was instrumental in getting a group of survivors the help they needed, I thought that you might want to meet him."
Another Cape?
"Oh? Do I know him?" I asked. He began walking and I followed suit. "What are his powers?"
"Oh he's not a Parahuman." Armsmaster corrected me. "And you don't know him, of that I am sure." Walking away from the other Wards and their rescue boat we eventually found ourselves at another tent, around us were civilians. A bit wet and dirty but otherwise unharmed. I recognized some of them as well, they were from the shelters. But, there were too many of them, they couldn't all be from the same place!
"Danny Hebert!" Called Armsmaster. "I brought you a healer! She should be able to help." Wait, Dad? Me? A healer? Ooooh, this was just a way to cover for my secret identity. Wait, wouldn't people realize I was his daughter anyways? You just had to have a super paranoid way of looking at things and be a conspiracy nut! Was Ash around?
Dad emerged from the crowd limping, supporting his weight on a baseball bat with teeth marks all over it.
"I don't need one." He answered stubbornly. "Send Panacea to the people who need it!" Then he saw me. "But…. I guess the leg is acting up a bit…." He approached me slowly. Real subtle Dad, no one is going to make the connection that you know me. In fact, it wasn't just him! What was Armsmaster thinking bringing me in front of so many people? Was it about time? Were they worried that everything was going to blow up if they didn't get me here soon enough?
"Hang on…." Armsmaster interrupted him far more rudely then I would've expected. His helmet seemed to ring slightly and a muffled sound came from it causing him to pause. "Are you sure?.... What's the ETA?.... Shit." He swore. He raised his head.
"Leviathan is moving this way and fast, we'll need people to move." A compartment on his armor opened up and he produced a bottle. "We don't have time, you'll have to take the serum to fix your leg and coordinate things." He presented the potion to Dad.
"Like I said, it's more important that you Heroes are healed up first." He of course being the stubborn ass refused.
"We already have other healers for that…. Besides, if your daughter was here what would she say?" Damn right! I'd scream at him to drink the damn potion and get better already! Dad scowled at that but took the potion and drank it. When he turned to walk off it was without the limp. "Alright everyone let's get moving, Kurt! Make sure the kids all have life jackets and-"
Armsmaster pulled me aside before I could see what else Dad was going to do.
"Alright, I've put out an order for a teleporter but they're all either down or unable to come." He began. "So we'll need you to use your Mover power to get out of here." Wait what?
"I can't leave my Dad behind though!"
"He's going to be safe." Armsmaster told me. "We just need a guarantee that you will be as well."
"I'm not going to charge at the Endbringer, I'm going to run as well! I just want to be with Dad when I do!"
"If this is about keeping him safe then there are other Capes that will be there for him!" Just on queue a green blur passed over us accompanied by the sounds of jets roaring overhead. "Case in point…. Dragon."
"How about this then?" I tried to compromise. "If Leviathan gets in my face again, I will use my power!" Well, I'd try at least. It's not like I had any practice with it.
Armsmaster paused, weighing the words that I gave him. I knew he had a lie detector and I was a bit mad that he was using it on me, treating me like I was a criminal but right now it was the only way for him to agree with me.
"Leviathan has a Mover rating, if it's in your 'face' then it might be already be too late." I didn't have any bruises but I still remembered how much Leviathan had hurt me. I was lucky that the Endbringer had telegraphed the attack so much and if I hadn't blunted the attack with my shield, I might've been a Vim pancake by now. Armsmaster was right.
"If I see him then, even in the distance, I'll teleport!" I promised. "Just, let me help pack up or something at least!" I could see his mouth thin at that but in the end he accepted.
"Alright then." Armsmaster took a step back. "Come on, let's get moving, we can use your Inventory powers to pack up." A shadow loomed over us as rain began to fall. It was Leviathan! And he was practically on top of us. "VIM! TELEPORT NOW!" He yelled at me pulling out his halberd.
His old halberd I noted. Not the one with my iron sword attached. Where did that one go?
Wait. Leviathan was here! I didn't want to leave Armsmaster, the Wards or Dad behind but… but I promised. With a heavy heart I used my Mover power, focusing on somewhere far away.
Nothing happened. People screamed as they rushed to get away from this. Leviathan was a mover but I thought that he'd be pinned down by Lung and all the Heroes. I was naive to think that, stupid even when the Endbringer proved again and again that it could get away from them.
"VIM!" Armsmaster yelled out as Leviathan took a step in our direction. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
"I'M TRYING!" I screamed back. "IT'S NOT WORKING!" Come on! Teleport!
"FUCK!" That was the first time I ever heard him swear and not a second later he dashed forwards with halberd in hand.
"ARMSMASTER!" He was going to fight Leviathan? Alone? If my teleporting powers couldn't work then maybe I could help Armsmaster a different way. A wave of water bowled me over and off my feet. Stumbling I got back up to see that Armsmaster was winning?
The stub of a tail would lash out and he would dodge. A claw would come down and he'd roll to the side. He wasn't winning I realized, he was just stalling and avoiding damage. But his defence wasn't perfect. He'd be clipped here and there, flecks of blue paint would come flying off, cracks were forming on his armor, stuff that was Tinker made and supposedly tougher than steel! He was going to die. Then a decisive strike was made against him and Armsmaster was sent flying back.
The whole exchange took less than ten seconds.
"ARMSMASTER!" I cried out again dashing over to him. He got back up, gripping his weapon only to fall over as his legs refused to support him.
I couldn't see his eyes but I could tell that they held a grim expression now.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" He repeated. I couldn't fight Leviathan. I knew that. I already tried and everything I threw at it had failed. I knew that I couldn't do anything against it. But this wasn't about fighting Leviathan now. This was about saving Armsmaster. Saving the one adult who wanted to help me from the beginning. Who, when everyone else was distant like my Dad, who stayed silent when I was abused like Mr Gladly, who sided with the bullies like Principal Blackwell, Armsmaster instead decided to help me.
Colin was the only one who behaved like a true hero to me.
"DON'T!" He cried out.
I knew I was being stupid.
But I owed everything to him.
If he died then I wouldn't know what I'd do.
Soon enough I found myself between an Endbringer and Armsmaster.
My legs trembled as I raised my sword and shield. I noted that I never got any formal training with Miss Militia on how to use them. The most she had done was put me and the other Wards through some exercises. I expected to have holographic monsters to fight, not something so mundane like running laps or doing pushups.
So here I stood, unprepared and almost unwilling to face Leviathan.
Armsmaster with his advanced Tinker Tech and years of combat experience lasted seconds. I didn't even last that long.
I quickly found myself on the ground looking up at the sky as rain fell upon my cracked glasses. I almost forgot that it wasn't indestructible like my armor. I had just became so used to looking through it I supposed.
I hadn't even seen what had hit me, only that there was pain.
"VIM!" The voice was more panicked. It was then that I noticed that I couldn't see out of one eye. I moved my hand to see what it was and realized that something was in my head, impaled. I suppose I had my Brute powers to thank for my survival.
Before I had a chance to do anything else Leviathan grabbed me, lifting me off the ground. The stake or whatever it was stayed on the ground removing itself from the back of my head and my eye, returning my vision. Even in such dangerous situations I was still able to appreciate my powers. I noted that I wasn't holding my shield and sword. I must've dropped them. So I did the only thing I could think of doing.
I lit the bastard on fire, hoping against hope that this Flame shard I had could somehow affect an Endbringer.
And boy did it! The thing lit up! Parts of it that my flame thrower didn't even touch were spontaneously enveloped in fire!
"RAAR!" The voice wasn't from the Endbringer! It was Armsmaster holding my steel sword, plunging it into Leviathan's thigh! We were hurting it!
I was then flung away, far, far away. The fiery form of Leviathan began to shrink, it's incredible strength able to throw me far enough that it practically disappeared from view. I could only hope that Armsmaster would be safe.
Then I hit the ground.
Or perhaps it was a building?
I think that there was pain.
A flash of green maybe?
Or white?
Then nothing.
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Clockblocker POV.
Scion came along and saved the day like he always did. At the time it was really cool and quite frankly quite amazing. Just a huge white laser from the sky hit the Earth like an angry fist of God! Hell, we didn't even know he'd hit Leviathan at that point, I was too far away helping another injured Cape get to safety.
We saw Leviathan go flying, a real funny sight before it plunged back into the ocean missing its tail and swimming off back to where it came. The gold man saw that he did good and flew off. I was kind of hoping he'd finish off the Endbringer but no one knows what Scion ever thinks about anyways. So like with any Endbringer fight, Scion came, saw and conquered, too late to save everyone.
Armsmaster's legs were gone, completely shattered beyond repair and Dauntless was injured a well. Hell, Dean may have been alive but with his parents being the rich jerks that they were, they wanted to move somewhere else.
And of course Vim.
Taylor. She was gone as well.
Just thinking those words were bizarre.
It took some time for me to really come to terms with it. Hell, it took the PRT some time to understand it as well. Everyone had this stupid idea that she used her teleportation powers and that all we'd have to do was wait a few hours for her to pop back into reality. Maybe even set off all the containment foam sprayers again, it'd be laugh!
We'd make a video about it.
Put it on the PHO.
All that fun stuff.
So even as we counted our dead, helped the injured survivors and generally cleaned up Brockton Bay, despite the depressing atmosphere we were still filled with hope. Hope because we were still alive after being visited by an Endbringer! Hope that at any moment Vim would appear out of nowhere!
Hours turned to days.
Days turned to weeks and at this point everyone was sure that she was finally dead.
It was determined that all the accumulated damage to her body finally took hold at the same time, spread out evenly across everything turning her into a cloudy mist of blood which would explain why there was no longer any trace of her. The indestructible armor was likely looted, possibly even sold by now. The adults didn't want us to know the details or even the theory of what happened but Kid Win got his hands on the reports and figured that we deserved the truth.
I punched him in the face for it.
Then I apologized and gave him some comic books.
It was a pretty shitty thing I did and I still felt shitty, not just about hitting him but about everything.
He didn't complain though.
No one did.
In the end the PRT, the government and everyone else figured that she was a casualty of the Endbringer. A statistic, a single number among many more.
Her name sat there on a rock next to everyone else's as if she didn't stand out, as if she wasn't special, as if she didn't matter.
It pissed me off.
I couldn't stand that stupid memorial.
Dean's parents were going to leave soon and move to Boston for better business opportunities. Dean himself didn't want to leave of course. Not just because Brockton Bay was his home, not just because of his friends but because of his girlfriend. So the day before he left, he decided to invite everyone to his surprisingly undamaged fancy mansion for one last pizza party with video games.
Just for us kid heroes.
Vicky and Amy were there of course and to my surprise even Sophia had come. She stayed silent throughout the night which didn't surprise me since she was always a bit of a loner but tonight she didn't seem entirely bitchy. Hell, she even joined in on some of the games and ate pizza like a normal person. The official reason for the party was of course a going away party for Dean. To wish him luck for when he left us forever. Left unsaid was that we did this in honor of Taylor.
It was just like when we first met each other.
The videogames were the same.
The pizza was the same.
It wasn't the same.
The next day we went straight back to work. The city was in shambles and crime was on the rise which was one hell of a feat considering how shit the place was to begin with.
Armsmaster stood there with his shiny new cybernetic legs holding a clipboard of all things. He was pretty much unconscious until the memorial was built.
"Alright Wards." He announced, business as usual. "We have reports of a new trigger, most likely from the Endbringer situation and from what we can tell he's some sort of Tinker that's able to build things instantly." Wait, why did that sound so familiar? "He's got a source of clean drinking water, we don't know how he's getting it but we want to make contact before the other Gangs do. Volunteers?"
"Do we have anything else on his powerset?" Asked Aegis.
"Yes, he's been clearing up rubble and wreckages, once again all done instantly." This couldn't be a coincidence! Perhaps it was, perhaps I was latching onto false hope but I still needed to know for sure, so I just asked what everyone else was no doubt wondering.
"Hey, this new Cape." I asked. "Does he have anything to do with Vim?"
Armsmaster grumbled a bit showing emotion for the first time that day.
".....Yes." He forced out. "The Parahuman that we've identified is most likely her father…. We've applied the tentative name of...Vigour to this individual."
"Well what are we waiting for? If he was Vim's dad then why isn't he here at the Rig getting into some shiny tights?"
"I…. It may have been my fault." Armsmaster told us. "He had been calling the PRT for updates on his daughter, however with all the damaged infrastructure he wasn't able to reach us. When I woke up I wanted to do him a favor and used Tinker Tech to contact him and of course told him everything that happened…. He… he blames us for her death and destroyed his phone afterwards." If the way that Armsmaster looked at the ground was any indication then he blamed himself most of all. "That's why we're asking you Wards to go see him…. We're hoping that he'll listen you…. To make sure that Vim's father makes it through this… we owe her that much."
Everyone there volunteered to go.
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Additional author notes to arrive in the coming days or so.
Meta stuff, deleted scenes, discussion, notes and plans along with everything in between.
I am terrified to post this chapter.
But for now, this is the end.
Bonus image below!
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