30.2

Morale shattered, capes scattered, not fighting, just fleeing Scion’s onslaught. A fifth of the forces were Nilbog’s monsters and Dragon’s self-repairing suits, constantly replenished through Doormaker’s portals. Chevalier and Ingenue tried to rally a defense, but Scion held all the power. Any attack, once analyzed, was adjusted for, slicing through defenses like they were nothing.

We were trying to destroy a landmass of raw matter a handful at a time, our effective attacks only worked briefly before Scion adapted or the user died. The rank and file didn’t grasp the futility like those at the meetings did. To them, Scion was an invulnerable golden god, toying with them, his casual horror demoralizing.

He traced a thin beam, slicing through capes. Wounds festered, a golden light spreading, beyond a medic’s help. He waded through them, tearing them apart. Nineteen capes down, others fled. Chevalier intercepted with his cannonblade, a physical barrier. Scion’s hand met the blade and stopped. Surprising us all. Chevalier bisected Scion, who held himself together, unfazed, like the Siberian.

“Scion’s a ghost, it’s a mask,” words, not thoughts, echoed in my mind. A force of nature, uncontrollable. “I’m not giving up!” A distant voice, so young. Memories of my past, being an “angry, frustrated, aimless c-list villain.” Was I still that person? Was I still angry?

I dropped, cutting a booster, stumbling. Capes froze, crashing into a tinker’s disc. Seven in my range. I sensed their powers, their fear, memories. Leviathan, my father, Dragon and Defiant, Mannequin. All linked to my own past, my own rage. The passenger tapped into shared experiences, a flood of fragmented memories.

I ordered them to turn, clumsy, like adjusting to new limbs. Could I master this? Laughter. Acidbath, a Birdcage leader, mocked, “Human shields?” He danced, eyeing Scion’s fight. He wanted to pin them, let Scion finish them. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t tell him they weren’t meat shields.

He was partially right. I’d use them. I’d been compared to bad people, but Acidbath, who’d attacked women and his brother with acid, was worse. A monster should at least be smart, constructive. I set my minions on Scion. I couldn’t get caught up in details, just like I didn’t analyze the venom of a spider or the web of a spider, I had to trust the passenger with the details. The tinker, her power was like viewing the world through a bug’s eyes, her trees loaded, a twisted herbalism. Two shakers, a telekinetic with ball bearings and a heat-laser maker, memories of my swarm attacks, tripwires, Echidna. A teleporter, fingertips glowing, drawing lines in the air. I closed a circle, a pop, a doorway. Two Birdcage types, one with shard armor, one with focused air under his skin.

Alexandria relieved Chevalier, another cape joined. Scion shook them off, sent Chevalier flying. Acidbath, a liquid wave, punched Scion, causing smoke to rise but no visible damage. Fear from my minions paralyzed me. I shook it off, urged them on. We were close to Scion, holding ground, a small point of stability. The shard guy, a shapeshifter, joined the fight. The other, the air-user, ran.

Scion threw the Alexandria-package cape into the shard guy. Acidbath pressed his attack. I focused on the tinker. Poison, paralytic, incendiary? The passenger understood, released a cloud of purple pollen, coagulants, painkillers. I used the teleporter to circle us, excluding a few. The shakers combined, needle-thin lasers cutting Scion. Scion looked, hands glowing. The teleporter made a doorway, draining herself. We escaped Scion’s attention.

“Queen Administrator,” Glaistig Uaine interrupted. I pointed at the last cape, a trump, his power tied to something missing. She warned me not to usurp her, to practice. I nodded. She commented on the losing battle, Scion’s dangerous state. “Creatures of whimsy,” easily influenced, now in destructive wrath, heartbroken. He might ruin everything. Black Kaze and Acidbath attacked, a brief reaction from Scion.

Glaistig Uaine clung to a sliver of hope, a new partner arriving, unlikely. I focused on the cape. His power worked on sleepers. The wounded. I used the teleporter, sent him to the injured. Scion attacked, a golden ring demolishing the ground. A wounded Leviathan emerged. Chaos. “Would you accompany me?” Glaistig Uaine asked, a final war. I shook my head. I had a plan. She warned me again, about losing myself, needing an anchor. “Choose very carefully.” She helped the teleporter make a door.

Leviathan crashed into Scion. I remembered announcing myself as Weaver, the howl. “You really have to make this unnecessarily hard, don’t you?” I thought, abandoning them. Rachel, Imp, the capes I’d pushed. Maybe I’d killed them. But this was for them. A detour, killing multiple birds. Learning, testing.

Glaistig Uaine was a threat. I needed information, a challenge without communication. I moved to the edge, armored suits, Dragon’s Teeth. The teleporter and I approached the Pendragon. D.T. officers blocked me. I slammed my hand on the door, a makeshift knock. They tried to reach Defiant, then Dragon. “State your identities!” Stranger and Master protocols, because of me or past incidents? I used the teleporter, bugs obscuring the line, into the Pendragon.

“Weaver?” Dragon said. Tattletale had filled her in. I gestured to a laptop. She understood, saluted back. The laptop booted. I froze. The words were gibberish. I couldn’t read. A crutch in my lowest moments, gone. It hit harder than losing my voice. The screen changed to images, faces, locations, powers. I found Teacher’s file, tapped my phone to the screen. “I need some communication here, Weaver.” I tapped again, pulled off my mask. Intense, determined, fatalistic? I held her gaze, tapped the phone. Data loaded.

“If it was Skitter… I would have said no,” Dragon said. C.U.I., the Birdcage. More targets. I bowed to the teleporter, an apology. “I wish you could explain,” Dragon said. I was glad I couldn’t. Glaistig Uaine and Dragon, the biggest threats besides Scion. I left, the Simurgh was my target, building something. Leviathan was almost dead. I flew past the Simurgh, no control. She was linked to Tattletale.

I landed, found Tattletale with Marquis, Lung, Panacea, Bonesaw. They froze, patients and infrastructure capes in my range. “No,” Marquis said. Panacea and Bonesaw moved towards him, out of my range. “Taylor,” Tattletale said. I ignored her. “You become public enemy number two.” I seized Doormaker and the Clairvoyant. A bone cage erupted, a trap. Injured capes moved away. I could sense them, their powers.

I used Doormaker, a portal behind Marquis, to behind me. Memories of being interrogated, distorted. Marquis’ lieutenants approached, Lung circled. I used Marquis’ power, bone barriers. They broke through. More portals. “Taylor, you’re putting me in a shitty spot.” I checked my phone, Teacher’s location. More gathered. More doors. “I trust the hell out of you, but I’m not sure this is you.” I pocketed my phone, reached into my belt, hesitated, then pressed my hand to my chest. No time. I dropped pepper spray through a portal above Tattletale. “You couldn’t have made it easy?” I freed myself, another doorway. Dragon, someone I cared about, Teacher had hurt her. This was going to be easier.