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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
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Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Relationship:
Alexander/City Building
Characters:
Rebecca Costa-Brown | AlexandriaDragon (Parahumans)Director James TaggEmily PiggotColin Wallis | Armsmaster | DefiantBastion (Parahumans)
Additional Tags:
Self-InsertCYOAEndbringerA man finds his hobbyThe rest of the world is terrifiedCausing major wars by accidentTeehee~Misunderstandings
Language:
English
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Published:2025-02-16Updated:2026-02-21Words:227,115Chapters:82/?Comments:549Kudos:1,452Bookmarks:362Hits:86,311
(End)Bringing You A New Home! (Endbringer SI)
10moorem
Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Bereavement
Summary:
Alexander may or may not go nuke crazy in this chapter ❤️
Chapter Text
Chapter 36: Bereavement
-Eidolon POV-
He roared, once again striking the beast. He put everything he had into the blow, straining against all reason as he tried to make up for his failing power with effort alone. But like every other time it was all for naught.
The monster still held Rebecca tightly. It gave no indication it even noticed him!
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. Why?! Why had nothing changed?! Why was he still so useless?!
No, no, no!
He once more snarled, once more lit his hand with an aurora that bathed the surroundings in brilliant green light. It came weaker this time, it formed slower and took even less time for the Endbringer to shrug off.
All while it glared at his friend with an almost animalistic look in its eyes.
Eidolon's body shuddered as he-
It was fast.
Whatever Manton had unleashed was darting through his shots with a disregard to physics that left him reeling. Shifts in gravity and friction were completely ignored. The disintegration rays he hit her with did nothing.
All while she continued to lunge at them! Her teeth were bared, and she was almost foaming at the mouth!
It was almost like they were fighting a wild animal!
David felt a rush of cold icy panic slip into his heart. For the very first time since receiving them his powers were useless! What good was he now?
God, Alexandria was bleeding so much blood! Wasn't she supposed to be invincible?
"David!" The yell by Charles knocked him out of his panic, as he saw the striped woman getting closer to his friend.
'NO, not again!'
The thought was sudden and clear as he shifted gravity, pulling Charles away. The thing had already proven it was unaffected by his powers so it wouldn't be-
His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat.
It was following Charles! Somehow the change in gravity was also affecting it, and it was speeding up!
"CHARLES!"
His scream was desperate, hoarse, as he tried to undo the effect.
His power surged, flickered and…faltered?
No, not faltered. But it had slowed down somehow, by just a hairs breath.
Unfortunately, that was more than enough, and the arm of the Siberian plunged through the head of one of his closest friends. All while her face was locked in a rictus of rage.
-Remembered the last time he had seen that look on another's face.
This wasn't working, he knew this wasn't working! So with a flex of mental will his powers were discarded, and in their place came three new ones.
Eidolon grunted, as he fell upon the flooded concrete. His ribs burned with pain, but he didn't care.
'Come on, you piece of shit! Give me something! Anything!
Air manipulation, a metal breaker form and a trump effect that depowered beasts.
Useless!
With a snarl he once again discarded them, rising to his feet.
Musical mastering, a thinker power for rescue and flight.
He looked at Alexandria, at his friend. Her head was rolling bonelessly in the giants grip. His Thinker power found no way to save her, for she could no longer be saved.
'No.'
He rejected that answer.
He once more discarded his powers.
Blood manipulation, a trump power that negated other powers, spatial warping-yes!
Reality stuttered and light distorted. In one moment Alexandria was held in the merciless grip of the blue giant and in the next she was in his arms. She slumped in his arms, and his moment of triumph was cut short when he realised she wasn't breathing.
'No!'
He grasped her hand in his as the trump power flared, bathing Rebecca in light. Her hand now felt warmer, her skin softened and no longer felt like smooth steel. Instead of being Invincible Rebbecca was now painfully human. His second power made itself known immediately after. Alexandria's cheeks flushed as oxygenated blood flowed towards her brain.
She didn't move.
'NO!'
His powers were discarded again and again, but nothing changed.
A shadow fell over him, and he snarled as his new vector reversal power redirected a downwards stomp that would have crushed him into paste. If the Endbringer seemed bothered by the burst skin of their leg they didn't show it. Instead they held up their hand and the wind howled in response.
The atmosphere screamed as it was beaten and abused, forced into a single spot. The screaming wind hit a fever pitch as it ignited into plasma, the mere proximity of it forcing him to wince as his cape burst into flames.
But David didn't care about the pain. He didn't care about the attack barrelling towards him. The only thing he cared about was the thing in front of him. The monster that had killed his friend.
His powers shifted yet again as he held up his hand.
The plasma met him and was stifled into nothingness.
Buoyancy, density manipulation and energy absorption.
It was the last one that he had used to absorb the plasma.
His glare remained fixed on the Endbringer, the curl of his lips and the bearing of his teeth matched the beast.
It was beautiful. Just like the Simurgh the image felt like a vicious mockery. The six arms once held serenely by their side were now balled into fists, wound up and ready to pulverise anything that came close. The smoky white hair was unkempt, hanging raggedly across their form.
He hated it.
He despised it.
He knew he would never rest easy until he had rid it from existence entirely.
As he looked upon the Endbringer he felt his view go past their physical form, and instead gazed upon a corona of blinding white light. A reservoir of untapped energy, enough to crack a planet and keep going. There was something…mesmerizing about it.
Some instinct urged him forwards, telling him to reach out and take.
Eidolon reached out and-
"DAVID!"
The scream broke him from his trance as Keith landed next to him, a barrage of lasers following I his wake and crashing down atop the Endbringer. The thing staggered back, forcing several of its arms in front of it – as if it could shield itself from the rain of light. The curving lasers that struck it from behind taught it otherwise.
"Keith…"
In any other circumstance David would have loathed how weak he sounded, how vulnerable. Now, kneeling in the muddy water with Rebecca's corpse, he found he couldn't care. The previous clarity his power had brought him quickly abandoned him. Now, as he looked down at the limp body of his friend he could see the same light, the same energy he had wished to take.
He looked up and saw Keith, the same light was present in him as well.
His breath hitched. The urge to take was still there. The need to reach and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and-
Vomit rose in his throat and was expelled violently, the puke rapidly filling his mask and forcing him to discard it.
"David! We have to go!" The voice of his friend was desperate as he continued to fire. His eyes darting between him and the monster, still the hero after everything (unlike you). The Endbringer was no longer staggering, for now the beams were being intercepted by floating rubble, conjured steel and solid air.
David wanted to rise. Wanted to rise, but all he could do was stare vacantly at his friend – mind numb and limbs trembling.
"But, Rebecca is…" David let his words drift off as he continued to stare into the dead expression of the corpse lying in his lap. Her mouth was still parted in surprise, and her wide and glassy gaze was only hidden by her cracked mask.
An arm shook him violently. It was Keith.
"David! Snap out of it! We need to get Rebecca to the medics so we can regroup with our reinforcements!"
Medics.
Medics!
The word snapped him out of his stupor.
Yes. Rebecca could still be saved. Hundreds of parahumans attended these attacks, surely one of them would have the power to reverse this?!
Had David been paying attention he would have realised the lie for what it was, would have understood that the odds were slim to none.
Instead David rose to his feet, cradling Rebecca's body in both hands.
He looked back to the wall of corpses, and true enough he could see the tell tale signs of teleportation, brief flashes and odd stretching's of space as dozens of parahuman arrived in staggered reinforcements.
With a bound Eidolon left the ground behind, his density lightening as he manipulated the buoyancy of the air to speed him up. Behind him he could still hear the sounds of Legend furiously holding back the increasingly prepared monster.
He ignored it and looked ahead.
His grip on Alexandria tightened.
'Faster!'
Taking inspiration from the monster behind him he began using his buoyancy power to create pockets of air with higher buoyancy. He twisted in the air, his feet becoming firmly planted on those spots of altered air. Then, with a mighty push, he leaped towards the wall.
A dull flame of hope flickered in his chest as he hoped he wasn't too late this time.
-Legend POV-
He had gotten here too late.
His body broke down into light particles as he juked to the side, barely dodging the spear of stone lancing towards him.
Alexandria was dead.
He reformed, only to clutch his chest in pain as he coughed up blood. His hand grasped at his chest, yet he could feel no wound. Instead the Endbringer had used it's power to crush his beating heart in his chest.
'Ah, what a horrifying power' Legend thought to himself.
He entered his breaker form once more, the pain and damage melting away as he short towards the many limbed monstrosity. A dozen lasers were spat out of his glowing form, all seeking out the form of the Endbringer with uncanny precision. But the Endbringer had learned his tricks, none reached their form as all were intercepted by various means.
'Is it just me-' Legend languidly pondered, his mind being affected by his breaker state, '-or is it getting faster at blocking my strikes?'
The next dozen engagements, all taking place within the span of a second or two, proved him correct. Each of his attacks were being stopped slightly faster. Just a minute ago, while David had still been here, his attacks had surprised the being – and even injured it. Barely half a minute later the Endbringer was confidently preventing all of his attacks from reaching them. Now his attack didn't even get close, being destroyed the moment his lasers left his form.
To make matters worse every time he left his breaker state he incurred a fatal blow. If it wasn't for his power automatically shifting his form into light he would be dead a dozen time over by now.
Legend's mind struggled to come up with a solution. His mind slowing as his breaker form's speed increased. His more direct attacks could no longer hurt it. Any indirect attacks, such as exploding the ground near its feet, did depressingly little.
All the while the beast was observing. Calculating. Learning.
The full teeth snarl was slowly melting away, leaving something colder and more calculating.
He couldn't do this alone anymore. He was barely managing to distract it. If given anymore time it may start to march upon the rest before they were ready. He needed to-
A deafening roar cut him off as his sight was reduced to white.
He flailed, his breaker form darting randomly as he was rendered incapable of seeing past a searing white that enveloped all.
What was going on!?
The white shifted to orange, and then red before his sight began to clear.
The surrounding land, what had once been a run down and flooded residential district had been turned into a scene that wouldn't be out of place in hell. Smoke was everywhere, all drifting upwards from a circular depression that had been seared into the city.
That bowl of earth glowed a cherry red, lava dripped downwards to collect at the bottom of the crater. There at the bottom was the Endbringer, a circular boundary of untouched ground marking where the firestorm had not been lit.
It spotted him, and he could have sworn he spotted annoyance flash across its face.
This was getting ridiculous. He turned his gaze to where the others were. The flashes of teleports had died down now. No doubt they were being briefed, and comms were being handed out. He was all but useless where he was now, at least there he could inspire morale. Then, once the rest of the parahumans were with him, he would see how adept the Endbringer was at stopping the attacks of hundreds of parahumans.
He turned back to the Endbringer, ready to retreat for the time being.
His blood froze in his veins.
The Endbringer was no longer looking at him. It had noticed where he was looking, and had turned their gaze upon the rest.
It turned back to him.
And smiled.
His eyes widened, but his realisation was too late.
He turned back to where the others were, where David was.
In an instant the wall that the defenders had bled and sacrificed so much for became white. A sphere of pure nothing etched upon the world that silently bloomed outwards. Nothing stopped it, no structure or parahuman even slowed down the expansion of that horrible white.
It crept further out, still horribly silent. That's when the sound hit him, a scream of such magnitude that he was sent hurtling downwards. He couldn't hear anything else. Not his screams. Not the wind rushing past. Not the sound of his impact as he finally reached the ground. Nothing except the scream of rent sky.
'Oh God' he thought, now fully panicking. 'What has been unleashed upon the world?'
AN: Yeah, Alexander's fully back! Those reinforcements sure would be good, huh bud? Whoops, they just got deleted. So that's probably close to three hundred capes Alexander has killed in this fight alone, most of them being Protectorate capes. I'm sure that won't have any wider effects on the world.
Beyond that, things weren't easy for Alexander either. Legend is one of the few individuals that Alexander can't easily kill as he's super-fast and reforms any damage when he enters his breaker state. Then there's Eidolon, who just came very close to potentially killing Alexander and regaining his full power.
How unfortunate that the potential realisation has been buried under massive amounts of trauma. Now whenever he sees that power he's just going to be reminded of Alexandria's death, as well as his inability to stop it, and discard it immediately.
Please leave a comment, and thanks for reading!
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Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Relationship:
Alexander/City Building
Characters:
Rebecca Costa-Brown | AlexandriaDragon (Parahumans)Director James TaggEmily PiggotColin Wallis | Armsmaster | DefiantBastion (Parahumans)
Additional Tags:
Self-InsertCYOAEndbringerA man finds his hobbyThe rest of the world is terrifiedCausing major wars by accidentTeehee~Misunderstandings
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2025-02-16Updated:2026-02-21Words:227,115Chapters:82/?Comments:549Kudos:1,452Bookmarks:362Hits:86,311
(End)Bringing You A New Home! (Endbringer SI)
10moorem
Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Aftermath
Summary:
Alexander may be, just the slightest bit, miffed.
Also dogs.
Chapter Text
Chapter 37: Aftermath
-Alexander POV-
My eyes remain locked upon the explosion. The light was no impediment to me, though it would have liquified the eyes of any who viewed it too closely. It was not just my sight that was unobstructed, my senses could also parse the explosion and what lay within.
To me, the world was a sea of molecules and atoms. A reality made of building blocks upon building blocks, going so far down that even I could only grasp the barest glimpse of what lay below the atomic level. So, because of that, I could see the superheated plasma rip its way across the land – rendering once proud buildings into bubbling liquid and gas.
I could also see, I noted with some frustration, where the plasma didn't go. Or rather, where it couldn't. Within the explosion of light and heat, ever radiating outwards, there was a perfect sphere of nothing where matter abruptly ceased to be. Even my senses were unable to peer past that void.
No doubt it was a shield of some kind.
But who could have seen my attack coming and have the capability of stopping it?
There was only one answer.
My teeth ground against each other, and the rage that had accompanied me throughout the entire battle soared higher. Hatred beat, hot and heavy, in my breast and surged through my limbs.
Eidolon.
'Making that worm watch his friend die was too kind'
The thought was a bitter and dark one. A part of me felt disturbed that I would ever think such a thing. That small part of me was drowned out by the rest, baying for blood and revenge. Eidolon had hurt me in a way that nobody ever had. Before all of this I had been a normal man, I had never been in a life or death situation before. I had never suffered a serious injury, as I was too careful.
Eidolon had shown me suffering.
I could still feel it, even now. My systems were still blaring at me, informing me of the damages. It felt like liquid acid had been thrown upon me and laced with salt. It was a pain so deep that it darkened my every thought. It made thinking difficult.
Legend had vanished, perhaps wisely deciding retreat was the only option.
My thoughts turned yet darker, harshly berating myself at my failure to kill that bug.
'Oh yes Alexander! Crush his heart! Don't go after his Corona! That would be too fucking smart!'
I knew I was being unfair on myself, I had targeted the brain. My only mistake was trying to crush the entire thing, instead of focusing on that single point to the exclusion of everything else. It gave enough time for Legend's power to automatically transfer him into light, mere milliseconds from death. But I didn't care for fairness, the feeling festering within could only be satiated by Cauldron's blood - and I had only managed to kill one of them!
I wallowed in that bitterness for a time, only watching as the white of the explosion shifted to blue, then orange and finally dissipated to leave a molten crater behind.
One with a perfectly smooth vanta black sphere within. I glared at it, knowing it contained the remainder of my enemies.
It wasn't large by any means, only possessing a two meter radius. Eidolon, if it was him behind this, wouldn't have been able to save too many with that barrier. A metal shard rose at my side. Rust flaked off it as it was reshaped into a dagger. The edge gleamed maliciously as it began to drip a viscous liquid, one that sizzled as it hit the ground.
With an errant wave of my hand the dagger vanished, propelled at high velocity towards the sphere.
Nothing.
The dagger had hit, that I could see. It had simply disappeared afterwards.
Dimensional displacement perhaps?
The bastard really has a lot of tricks up his sleeve doesn't he?
The barrier extended into the ground as well so I couldn't simply conjure spikes to stake them from below, as cathartic as it would be.
My ability didn't penetrate within, so I couldn't simply collapse their organs.
It clearly blocked both matter and energy, considering neither the heat of the explosion nor the thrown dagger could penetrate it.
I clicked my tongue. Fury still present.
Fine then! Let's see how much this thing can take before it pops like a skull!
My thoughts were proven disturbingly prescient when the bubble of black simply disappeared with an anticlimactic pop.
I stared, my senses racing to fill in the empty gap that had once blocked them. There was nothing there, just an untouched piece of the ground which hung in the air for only a second before falling into the crater.
My vision turned red.
"YOU RAN?!" The scream echoed throughout the broken city. "YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO ATTACK ME, AND THEN YOU RUN!"
The ground bubbled at my feet, solid concrete behaving like a liquid as my fury twisted it without conscious thought.
Pain, anger and rage flowed through me. The animal nature of humanity was in full display, and it was so horrifyingly brutally angry. I wasn't willing to fight that rage, I didn't even try to. It bubbled in my chest, longing for a release.
I could sense no humans within the city, so it was a release that wouldn't come.
So I did the next best thing.
A fist lashed out, striking the burnt ground at my feet. It crumbled under my blow, and the fragments were given no mercy as I struck again. Over and over my knuckles met the earth as I wailed my fury towards the sky.
All the while my hatred egged me on.
Just go to the next city. They would have to face you then. Draw out those who caused you pain and crush them.
No one in the closest city has done me wrong, I remind myself, and managed to marshal enough will to push back against that sickening anger.
The blows to the ground slow, falter and die.
The ground below me resembles a fine powder.
It was with a bitter realisation that I realised I had never been closer to being a proper Endbringer than at this very moment.
The thought causes a wave of fatigue to wash over me, causing my arms to buckle where I knelt. Wasn't I meant to be doing better? I had been so sure after china that I was doing better. That I was helping the world, not breaking it.
A bitter laugh leaves my lips. So much for that.
A shuffle of rubble catches my ear, something is approaching me. I don't turn to meet it, my limbs feel leaden and I want nothing more than to curl up and sleep forever. A wet snout brushes against my left hand affectionately.
It was one of my creations, the ones I had made into disposable fodder. Clearly this one had survived where so many hadn't.
It bumps me again, a long tongue reaches past its maw and beginning to lick me.
I stare at it with blank eyes.
It wasn't a particularly impressive specimen. The beast was a quadruped, just as many of its siblings were. The blood red carapace that covered the entirety of its body was cracked in several places, weeping faint lines of blood down its form. The face was blank save for a mouth with serrated teeth, I had designed them with very different ways to view the world – to the point that eyes had seemed unnecessary.
Or, I pondered bitterly, my shard-self had decided to handicap them for more interesting results. Bastard.
The long sinuous tail wagged happily, resembling a bullwhip more than anything you'd typically find on a terrestrial animal.
I shoved it away. Not harshly, but not taking too much care to be gentle either. It sat dumbly where it had been pushed for a moment, before trotting right back to begin nuzzling and licking my hand once again.
A dull anger wormed it way back into my form. Couldn't it see that I didn't need this right now? That I just wanted to be alone?! I raise another of my left hands, contemplating simply squishing the creature. So many of them had already been killed and were then dragged screaming back to life. What was one more crushed body added to the pile?
Despite the thought my hand remained where it was.
It remained there for a solid minute as I struggled against myself.
Finally I sighed, shame beginning to replace the anger.
'What am I doing?'
The hand lowers gently, beginning to pet the creature. The dog-like beast is quick to respond to the affection, jumping up and down – playfully batting at my hand. I was surprised the creature was still so loyal, the constant barrage of lasers and covering myself in fire should have completely removed the pheromones that caused them to see me as one of them.
I began devoting slightly more attention to the creature, slight curiosity rousing me from my ennui.
My shard-self had done good work, I begrudgingly accepted. The creature was a work of art. Every single cell in its body was analogous to a stem cell on steroids, capable of changing depending on the circumstance. That was likely the reason why it survived where so many didn't. There wasn't much that could put this creature down.
Still that didn't explain why it still saw me in such a good light, so I dug deeper.
Redundant organs. Ceramic bones. Blood cells drastically redesigned to carry far more oxygen. Lungs that could filter out almost any harmful substance. Muscles that resembled carbon fibers more than anything else, and a dozen other marvelous additions to my crimes against nature.
Then I got to the brain, and it suddenly made complete sense.
'Oh,' I thought as I examined the neurons. 'Dog-like may have been a bit more accurate than I initially thought'.
The creatures weren't sapient in anyway, but they were certainly sentient. I had only encountered dogs a single time since winding up in this body, it had been during my time in Jinzhou. I remember ordering some of my drones to teleport a few dogs and cats into the city after they had cleared the camps of their occupants. I remembered thinking they might be useful for therapeutic reasons.
I had confirmed that they were settling in well, and had even encountered a few during my walks across Jinzhou.
Clearly my shard-self had been taking notes, as the neural structure of my creation was almost one to one with the canines I had encountered. The only difference seemed to be an increase in aggression and improved hormonal response.
'So it recognises me'
My finger darts under its chin, the tickles drawing a chuff from the beast as it moves its head about to try to escape.
So I had created the biotinker equivalent of dogs and then sent them off to die with barely a thought. A part of me feels vaguely horrified by that, but I'm just too tired to fully process that realisation. Today has been a lot. Got attacked by the objectively worst superheroes and experienced more pain than in the rest of my life combined. Killed hundreds of people, personally at that. All the while feeling completely in the right for having done so.
Yeah, creating disposable murder puppies was just par for the course at this point.
That was a depressing thought. Almost as depressing as the realisation that my face will be plastered across world news very soon.
It was enough for me to temporarily stop pampering the red beast, naturally it took great offense to that and began demanding its due tribute of pets and cuddles via loud barking.
This went on for several minutes. Each time I tried to pull away it began whining at me.
What a brat.
At one point it even rolled over so I could give it belly rubs. Naturally the belly was just as hard and coarse as the rest of it, which made tickling the creature feel like rubbing sandpaper all over my fingers.
It was soothing, though. Something about the repetitive nature of the task, as well as the pure uncomplicated affection of the beast, made me relax despite the horror surrounding my current situation. I had always been more of a cat person, even having two of them at one point, but I was starting to come around to man's best friend.
All while I did this I used my power to search for any of the other hounds. After all, if this one survived there could be more.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twelve.
There were twelve other survivors. Most were still injured, but a few were rooting through the debris for something to eat. I even found one snacking on a corpse of one of the capes that had fallen early on.
Ew. As if I didn't have enough nightmares.
So thirteen total, too many for me to feel comfortable taking them all with me when I left this place. If it had been two or three then maybe I could have done it, but there was no way I was ever willingly taking care of so many pets.
Of course, as their creator, I was still responsible for their well-being – which left me in a bit of a pickle.
The red hounds across the city barked in confusion and panic as they were abruptly lifted off their feet by an invisible force and dragged towards my position at a sedate pace. I'd first have to figure out how they reacted to one another without a common foe. Given their neurology I'm expecting that they'll get along.
Unfortunately, brains are hard.
Even the slightest change can have cascading effects given how interlinked everything is.
Many of the minor changes my shard-self made could have massive unforeseen effects.
The hound I was petting sat up, it's ears twitching as it became aware of the barking of the approaching hounds.
The lack of a proper face made it difficult to get a proper understanding of how it's reacting, but the increased brain activity and increased alertness in its posture did not inspire feelings of hope. I watched with caution as the red beast turned quizzically towards the levitating creatures.
By the time the rest of the pack reached our position I was feeling distinctly nervous. Most of the dogs had stopped barking, and were instead locked onto another of the hounds.
I released my hold over the twelve, and readied myself to jump in if it proved necessary.
The first dog stepped forwards, observing the closest hound.
My tiredness and apathy had temporarily taken a backseat at this point. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. What would I do if they were incapable as a species of getting along at all. Would they try to kill each other? Would I be forced to make contained living quarters for each of them? My worry continued to mount as the two began circling each other and began-
Sniffing each other's butt?
I stared blankly at the scene before me. No, my eyes were not deceiving me. Instead of ripping each other apart they were being as stereotypical as possible and doing the dog equivalent of a vibe check. Wonderful.
One of my many hands came to rest upon my face.
You know what? That wasn't enough. All of my hands palmed my face.
Behold, the sextuple face palm.
My hands slid from my face slowly as I considered my options.
Thirteen wasn't enough for a viable breeding population.
On the one hand did I even want a viable breeding population? They were clearly aggressive towards humans and creating a self-replicating horde of biotinkered death machines definitely wouldn't help sell the idea that I was a friendly Endbringer.
On the other hand the world was due to end in a few years anyway, so creating a walled off city for these pups to play in likely wouldn't have long term consequences. Plus I don't think it was possible for my image to be worse at this point. May as well lean into it.
So, as I looked at my creations now playfully wrestling and splashing in a nearby water puddle, I made my decision.
Fuck it, I wanted to do right by something today.
May as well be these weird dog things.
Plus anything that fucks with the PRT is currently a plus in my book.
With my mind made up I shook off the concrete dust that persistently clung to my many hands and stood up. Coming to this city to build a glorified dog park definitely wasn't a part of the plan, but I was determined to do this right.
BioPunk, as well as SolarPunk, could be used to shape the local environment into one best suited for my creations. My plans for a gleaming atomic city were set to the side as I began considering ideas for this newest, and rather unexpected, project.
A distant whir of engines caught my ear, and I couldn't help but sigh. More enemies? Would I really be forced to kill more people today? With the way I currently feel I likely wouldn't hesitate, but I really didn't want to be more bummed out once the emotional numbness cleared.
The sound didn't get closer, nor did it disappear. Instead it remined at a steady distance, even as I began walking through the ruined city – a dozen hounds nipping at my feet.
My brows furrowed in confusion, and I turned to face the direction of the sound for the very first time.
High in the sky was a gleaming silver wyvern, an automaton that had clearly been refined over many years given that it had no apparent flaws that I could see. The craft lacked weapons, something that surprised me, but in its place I could see the signs of all manner of sensory devices. Some I recognised from my own tech trees and others that I didn't.
It was also, quite crucially, hovering just out of range for my matter manipulation.
The weary acknowledgement that they had already figured out my range and were trying to abuse it was smothered slightly at the recognition of who exactly I was looking at.
Dragon.
I recall, vaguely, seeing her when I was in my semi-lucid rampage, but for all intents and purposes this was the very first time I was meeting her. The foremost Tinker in all of Earth Bet, a chained artificial intelligence and, most notably, one of the few genuine good guys of the setting.
Because of course Wildbow made the AI more human than the humans.
As much as I wanted to wave I knew Dragon likely saw me as no different than the other Endbringers at this point. Interacting with her in any way would likely just cause undue attention for Dragon, and that wasn't something I wanted for her.
No, it was better I just ignored her and went about my business.
I walked a few more steps, before stopping and retracing my own thoughts.
Acrid self-recrimination and seething disappointment flares up, as I grind my teeth together.
Ignore it and walk away? Seriously? Isn't that exactly what got me into this mess? Into all my messes? I could do nothing for a moment except staring at the floor in burning shame. How easy it was to lose myself in old habits. Even after I had been given proof of my failings multiple times!
No, I had to consider the consequence of Dragon being here.
Okay Alexander, fucking think! Dragon was likely here on orders. Even if she didn't have restrictions forcing her to obey people in authority she would likely still tell the PRT everything she learns about this place.
Oh, and Saint too – I guess, but nobody cares about Saint.
What would the PRT do if they realised what I was building here?
I inwardly winced, already imagining all manner of scorched earth tactics and strategic weaponry being deployed. Yeah, my dogs are tough but they aren't thattough. So how to stop them?
I pondered the question, even as the dogs frolic at my feet – their wagging tails impacted nearby buildings with the force of a hammer.
Then, it came to me. I didn't have to think of a solution. I already knew a pretty good example of a similar scenario where the PRT were forced to leave another horde of monsters alone.
So, under the watchful eyes of dragon, the air in front of me rippled – crystals forming under my attention. A clear vial slowly came into being , though crucially the top of the glass instrument was completely sealed off. Then liquid began to form inside the glass container, condensation gathering together to form drops which began to fill the vial up.
My eyes were locked on to Dragon's mechanical eyes as the liquid turned a venomous green.
The orb of metal I sent careening into her at Mach 4 ended that staring match, I had already made my point.
Tearing my gaze from the falling burning wreckage that used to be Dragon I instead looked upon my newest creation with something resembling nervousness.
Nilbog was a madman, someone who had completely lost his marbles after he triggered – to the point that he had murdered an entire town and rendered the people down into a legion of fervent goblins that considered him king. He was all of that, but he wasn't stupid.
Nilbog had known about nuclear bombs. He had known how the PRT, and the wider government, would react once he had conquered his little realm. So, like any good Tinker, he had created countermeasures. Diseases that resisted, and even fed on, heat and radiation. Germs which could slip around water filters and infiltrate ground water. Viruses that could infect and subsume their hosts in a matter of hours.
In other words if you kill him the setting would suddenly be a zombie apocalypse, along with a dozen other apocalypses.
The PRT, having precognitives and enough common sense to not want to end the world, decide to leave him alone.
The vial I have in my hands makes his efforts look like a fucking joke.
I would have to take precautions to ensure the container couldn't be accidentally broken by the hounds, but once I left and the PRT turned their Thinkers upon this place I wanted this place to turn them stark white in fear. Enough fear that they completely write off retaking it.
The issue would be finding that sweet spot between protected but still breakable from enemy action.
After I had seeded the city with a few dozen of those I would need to build walls, though these would be nothing fancy like Jinzhou. No, these walls would be designed to keep the occupants in rather than keeping enemies out.
Knowing my creations couldn't leave should hopefully reduce any panic from international groups.
My thoughts once more returned to the idea of building, as I turned and walked towards the centre of the city.
AN: YO! Long chapter! So, as you can see, Alexander's not doing too hot. Puppy therapy has temporarily kicked him out of his funk, but he'll need to talk to Renji to start getting better.
Alexander is learning and is now choosing to think ahead instead of jumping into things feet first. Maybe threatening to plunge the world into a very convincing recreation of the walking dead isn't the best first step, but as stated before he's not doing great mentally.
Next chapter should be the international reaction to Alexander being Alexander, their thoughts and strategies going forwards.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment!
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Rebecca Costa-Brown | AlexandriaDragon (Parahumans)Director James TaggEmily PiggotColin Wallis | Armsmaster | DefiantBastion (Parahumans)
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Self-InsertCYOAEndbringerA man finds his hobbyThe rest of the world is terrifiedCausing major wars by accidentTeehee~Misunderstandings
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Published:2025-02-16Updated:2026-02-21Words:227,115Chapters:82/?Comments:549Kudos:1,452Bookmarks:362Hits:86,312
(End)Bringing You A New Home! (Endbringer SI)
10moorem
Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Flawed Perspectives
Summary:
Politics, ahoy!
Chapter Text
Chapter 38: Flawed Perspective
-Legend POV-
"Once the data compiles and uploads you should have everything my systems were able to capture," Colin said, still just as brusque and to the point as his Ward days. At any other time Legend may have asked Colin how he was doing – asked whether he had made any new friends or if he was still stubbornly insistent on remaining professional in his day to day life.
He especially would have liked to speak with him today because of what he had just gone through. Colin was one of the few that had been close enough for Eidolon to save. It wasn't easy to be one of the sole survivors of a massacre, Legend knew that from experience.
"Thank you Armsmaster. That will be all."
Unfortunately he couldn't, Legend had work to do. Far too much work.
Once word had got back to the wider world that over 200 Protectorate capes had perished in a foreign country there had been questions. Many uncomfortable questions. The outrage had only been further enflamed when it was revealed that a new Endbringer was responsible.
It had gotten so bad even the public was aware that something had happened. They didn't have the full story, but rumours were already spreading in shadowed alleys and online.
Armsmaster nodded, straight back and humourless as ever – yet Legend could see the cracks. The bags under Colin's eyes had grown and the subtle human tells the man had -which only those close to him would be able to pick up- were absent. The man resembled a machine more than anything else, it wasn't a good look on him.
"Go get some rest Colin," Legend sighed. "I'll know if you don't."
Colin said nothing, only jerking his head in a faint approximation of a nod and leaving through the door behind him. Leaving Legend with only a single other occupant.
"How are you holding up 'Rebecca', is your workload manageable?"
The body double of Rebecca Costa-Brown looked up from her pile of paperwork with a scouring glare that felt like it could be used to sear flesh from bone. Legend only smiled grimly at the sight. "That bad, huh?"
Leslie Hughes, the aforementioned body double, had been inundated with work and, now that she was bereft of a boss with perfect memory who also didn't sleep to share the work with, she was handling it poorly.
The woman's drooping eyelids and swaying body told Legend everything he needed to know.
"Just hang in there a little longer, once this crisis is over you'll be allowed to retire in comfort," Legend reassured her. It was the least they could do considering this woman had been covering for Rebecca for many years.
"Thank fuck for that," came the muttered reply.
It still shocked him sometimes, to hear someone who looked so much like Rebecca be so crass. Legend couldn't imagine, even on her worst day, Alexandria ever losing her composure to such an extent that she resorted to swearing. Rebecca cared too much about her self-control and image to ever indulge.
Rebecca.
The small smile that had crept up his face died at the reminder.
Another one of his friends was dead. Rebecca, who had survived over 20 years of all the world could throw at her -someone who was known to be all but invincible. She was dead.
Choked to death by an Endbringer.
Legend stared blankly at another report, the letters swimming across the page as he tried to concentrate
Rebecca, who he had frequently argued with. Rebecca, who had seemed to grown cold and detached after Hero's death. Rebecca, who he had to drag kicking and screaming from her work if he ever wanted to catch up with her.
A tear fell from his face and landed on the page, and legend realised the blurriness of his eyes wasn't simply from tiredness.
Legend glanced at Leslie, glad she was once more absorbed in her work, and cleared his eyes with the back of his hand. His eyes strayed to the left, hoping to gain strength from the portrait of his husband Arthur. The familiar giddiness rose up, but it was like a candle in a sea of darkness – unable to fully banish his dark mood.
Legend took comfort in it anyway, once this awful business was done with he would go home and wrap his husband in a hug. It would have been impossible for him to imagine year ago that he would ever get married, now it was something that had never failed to get him through the day.
This would be no different.
Legend put his pen to paper, and signed.
-Leslie Hughes POV-
The indoor lighting of the meeting room made her squint as her eyes adjusted. The room was large, a grand meeting hall designed to accommodate representatives from every country on Earth. The room gently sloped upwards, a purposefully chosen design to allow everyone to able to see the podium on the far end of the room.
That was her destination.
She had to consciously resist the urge to duck her head as the eyes of every powerful individual in the room locked onto her as she came in. The room was completely full today, not a great sign considering that only happens when an event of global importance occurs. Even countries that were barely clinging on to relevance had chosen to attend.
Leslie gulped silently, trying to wet her dry throat.
Eventually, after a long and tense walk, she arrived at the podium. She tilted her head towards her IT consultant, who was sitting next to the projector -connecting it to her personal computer. After a few last second adjustments he gave her a thumbs up.
'Calm down Leslie. You just need to give your report, answer some questions, and leave.'
The attempt at comforting herself didn't work.
The woman once more quietly bemoaned her decision to take part in the conspiracy regarding the Chief Director's secret identity. Sure it paid ridiculously well and the benefits were literally out of this world but sometimes the downsides were far too high.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, projecting her voice the same way the late Chief Director would have. "I would like to thank you for attending this meeting, your continued commitment to international relations in regards to parahuman threats does you all credit."
There was some angry grumbling at that, clearly not in the mood to be buttered up when a new Endbringer was on the loose. Leslie noted this, and began changing tracks in regards to her speech and presentation.
"As you all know on the 2nd of August at 22:00 hours -US standard times- an operation was launched in India, Hyderabad, with the permission of the Indian Government."
The representative of India quietly slid down in his seat, hoping to be spared from the searing glares of the rest of the world. It didn't work. Nobody was happy with the current situation, and even while knowing India had little to do with the situation they were still being caught in the crossfire politically speaking.
Personally, as the one people were blaming the most, Leslie was just glad there was someone else getting shit flung at them.
"This operation was called in response to the actions of a group known as 'The Architects', a theorised group of Tinkers using their specialties to build cities in formerly uninhabitable areas that had been affected by the Endbringers. As a result of this, all of the regions where a city was built an increase in instability and conflict occurred. Thus an attempt was made to apprehend the group in order to prevent them from spreading further chaos and to secure and help spread their un-black boxed tinker tech."
To say many countries were upset with the PRT for their increased presence outside of America was putting it mildly. Their continued presence in Japan and now a raid to secure a powerful group in India? To many it seemed like a horrible precedent was being set, a slippery slope that might end with American imperialism. Regardless of how correct the PRT and America may have been, they would undoubtedly try to push back against the now proactive nature of the PRT.
Leslie saw where they were coming from, and could even admit that they were right to worry. Unfortunately as the current acting Chief Director of the PRT it was her responsibility to act in the organisations best interests.
"And how do you expect us to believe that you would have shared the technology with us? It seems far more likely to me that you would have kept such an advantage to yourselves!"
The room murmured in agreement, and even Japan and India -two countries that knew the PRT was planning on sharing their technologies- remained silent. The truth wasn't what mattered here, only leverage.
Thankfully Leslie had an answer to that.
"If you would all turn to face the doors on your right?" She asked. The question clearly surprised the room, going by the faces she could see from behind the glare of the lights. Nevertheless they turned right as several of her agents pushed through the door, all carrying a briefcase.
The noise of the room picked up. Some uttered word of confusion, while others eyed the approaching agents with barely concealed hostility – expecting betrayal.
"These agents are going to hand out an envelope to each of you. Within these is a drive containing all of the technology we have been able to recover from New Fukuoka. We give this freely to all of you."
The room exploded into a cacophony of noise. Questions, shouts and cheers. Some looked upon the given drives with barely concealed greed, while others were already connecting it to their computers – trawling through the database with barely concealed wonder.
The smarter ones merely allowed the others to confirm her words before even touching the envelopes.
Personally Leslie, as well as the rest of Cauldron, would have preferred giving this information out to each country in exchange for favours, money, influence or anything else of value they might have. Unfortunately that came second to salvaging their reputation and spreading the database to as many countries as possible.
"Except The Architects were always fictitious, an elaborate lie crafted by an Endbringer," the British representative flatly stated, eyeing the unopened envelope as if it were a snake. "We're all aware of the duplicitous nature of the Endbringers, my own country has bore the weight of the Simurgh's plots. So how do we know the data isn't a trap in some way?"
Leslie looked at the man. "I was getting to that."
The man scoffed lightly, but stayed quiet – waiting for her explanation.
"Yes, The Architects never existed. It was always a singular Endbringer that raised Kyushu from the seas and built two cities atop the ruined lands."
The audience in front of her quietened down at that. They had already been given a quick brief explaining the situation, but to hear it confirmed was chilling. Leslie could see faces whitening slightly, and more than a few suddenly set down the drives – suddenly appearing sick.
"We believe this Endbringer meticulously chose those locations in order to cause as much unrest as possible. The reemergence of Kyushu caused many of the gangs of Japan to attempt to seize it. It drew international attention, and even now we have reports of various groups attempting to gain access to the city. All while Japan is too weak and disunified to dislodge such elements from its soil.
Leslie didn't even have to look to know Taka Shimura, the representative of Japan , was glaring at her. She would feel sorry, but she needed to give adequate reason to the rest of these countries as to why the PRT will be taking jurisdiction of New Fukuoka.
That wouldn't happen today, but from the reports it would happen soon.
"In China the Endbringer gathered recruits that would be amenable to their cause, disaffected former citizens, and built them a veritable fortress from which they're currently launching raids. In addition, while this is unconfirmed, it is likely the individual calling himself 'Sun Wukong' is connected to this Endbringer."
More than a few in the crowd stiffened at the name. The cape had certainly made…an impression.
"This is the same cape that devastated the capital of China, provoked a civil war with a single message and then left."
"And this is supposed to make us believe the schematics are trustworthy…how?" A voice from the back of the audience called out.
The were some grumbles of agreement at that.
"Once the manipulative nature of the Endbringer became known the PRT, as well as the United States Government, ordered the data to be searched through with a fine comb. We used Thinkers, Tinkers and regular engineers and scientists. We didn't find any hidden traps. While the technology in the drive could be used to harm others it is not, by itself, dangerous."
Leslie could still see many were unconvinced.
"You are free to test it yourselves, and whether you choose to make use of the data or not is your prerogative," Leslie sighed.
That was a lie. Leslie knew the moment even one country began using the data others would be forced to also use it unless they wanted to be outstripped technologically, economically and culturally.
Even if every other country in this room decided to not use what they had been given, America would.
"Fascinating," came a smooth voice near the front of the crowd. It was the representative of the C.U.I.
Leslie could already tell this was going to be a headache.
"In other words," the man spoke, "Jinzhou, and all within, are effectively working with an Endbringer?" The man's eyes flickered across the gathered representatives. "If they're left to their own devices, isn't it possible they'll unleash greater catastrophes. We already know from our intelligence gathering that many in the city worship this new Endbringer as a goddess."
Ah, yes. Their 'intelligence'. By that he means PHO.
To Leslie's amusement most occupying the room seem indifferent, or even outright pleased that China was hosting a hostile Endbringer worshipping city-state within their borders. It was only countries sharing a border with the C.U.I. that seemed even a little worried.
"That seems like a separate issue to be discussed," Leslie lied as easily as she breathed.
The man opened his mouth, presumably to argue against this assertion, but she continued. "This bring us to the fight itself."
She clicked a button on her computer, and the projector lit up. The image projected upon the wall was a gruesome one. An ocean of teeth and claws silently erupting from an enormous snarling giant. The hatred and disgust so visceral that it almost seemed to bleed into the room itself.
"The Endbringer has been confirmed to be a matter manipulator of unprecedented power and control. Combined with their obvious Tinker abilities they are able to craft entire structures within a few seconds. Furthermore this isn't limited to static, non-organic, materials. In the battle our enemy proved this by continually summoning monsters and reviving any who were slain."
The clip unfroze as she finished, and the wave of red on screen surged forwards. The screen zoomed out, showing the horde of monsters clamber over and around entire buildings. No obstacles seemed to even slow them down, and when they finally reached the parahumans that they had been sent against there was a brief scene of utter carnage -limbs flying and arteries severed- before the video was paused once more.
Several in the crowd were obviously sickened at the display, their faces green and their eyes wide.
"Of the initial 50 parahumans, and the subsequent 247 capes sent to reinforce us, only 5 survived the battle."
The horror on the faces she saw only deepened. That was a little under 99% in terms of casualty rates. No other Endbringer killed such a large percentage of capes sent to face them. Leviathan killed roughly two in every three capes, a 66% casualty rate. Behemoth was slightly higher, fluctuating between 70%-75%.
She didn't mention who had survived. No doubt they assumed all of the Triumvirate had managed to escape alive. The PRT would be attempting to keep this charade up until the preparations were complete.
Her lips almost curled in distaste.
That Doctor Mother was truly disgusting.
"While a lack of preparation and surprise played a part in the scale of this massacre, there are other factors to consider. The first being-"
The slide changed once more, showing Legend gently lowering himself to the ground – but there was something wrong with him. His skin was pale and clammy, and his mouth was full of blood.
"-The Endbringer seems to be capable of ignoring the Manton Effect, showing a breadth of power unlike their siblings. Legend was the only one to survive being targeted in this manner, but it is likely many other were targeted in such a way and simply didn't survive."
The room was silent, everyone clearly at a loss on what to think.
"The second is this."
Again, the slide changed. This time silence was dispelled as many sighed in relief, and even let out small and subdued whoops of joy. On the screen was the Endbringer, their perfect features a blackened ruin. One of their arms was bone thin, a black crystalline skeleton was all that remained of it. It was so damaged, in fact, that this was likely the most injury anyone had seen be done to an Endbringer. Many in the audience took this to be a good sign, that the Endbringer could be hurt. That it wasn't invincible.
Leslie wished she didn't have to disabuse them of those notions.
"As you are aware," she says, "When sufficiently injured an Endbringer will typically retreat in order to heal the damage done to them and remain dormant until their next attack."
The slight cheer on the faces before her began to fade, as they began to put the pieces together.
"This didn't happen during the fight. We estimate that it took nearly twice the amount of damage most Endbringer would take before retreating and kept fighting."
The cheer had now completely vanished.
"Finally…"
She sighed, her composure broken for a moment. This was the worst part. So bad that she didn't want to say it.
"Finally, there is this."
For the last the slide changed. This time it showed a first person point of view, as the Endbringer held the individual whose perspective they were viewing this from. Arms beat against the Endbringers arm. The monster leaned in, their face full of nothing but hate.
"AleXAndRiA!"
The room froze.
The voice was raspy, and held a borderline bestial growl, but it was unmistakeably speaking English.
An Endbringer was talking.
"When Behemoth first struck the oil fields we thought it was alone. It was straightforward, often walking directly towards its objectives. Simple. Then came Leviathan, and one became two. This Endbringer was trickier and possessed a low cunning, capable of deceiving those it fought with traps and feigned weaknesses. Then came the Simurg, and two were now three. The Simurgh's plans speak for themselves, for we have all been touched by her machinations."
The room remained still, as all eyes seemed to beg her silently to not say what they knew she was going to say.
"Now there are four. And this one is unmistakably sapient."
AN: Yeah, nobody is dealing with the aftermath well. Legend is being worked to the bone. Colin may or may not have PTSD. Leslie is having to shoulder all of the work of Alexandria. Legend seems to think she'll be stepping down now that Alexandria is dead, yet Leslie didn't mention that at all in her POV. Wonder why? Finally there's the other countries properly learning about this.
They're not pleased. China especially, but everybody in the room has elected to ignore that.
Also, not sure if Alexandria's body double has a canon name or not. So I just went with Leslie. If she did, then I'll just say this is a slight AU.
Hope you enjoyed an please leave a comment!
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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Relationship:
Alexander/City Building
Characters:
Rebecca Costa-Brown | AlexandriaDragon (Parahumans)Director James TaggEmily PiggotColin Wallis | Armsmaster | DefiantBastion (Parahumans)
Additional Tags:
Self-InsertCYOAEndbringerA man finds his hobbyThe rest of the world is terrifiedCausing major wars by accidentTeehee~Misunderstandings
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2025-02-16Updated:2026-02-21Words:227,115Chapters:82/?Comments:549Kudos:1,452Bookmarks:362Hits:86,312
(End)Bringing You A New Home! (Endbringer SI)
10moorem
Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Meeting Once Again
Summary:
Dragon discovers she can't die without an idiot trying to screw everyone over and Renji now has to face his most challenging foe yet: depression!
Chapter Text
Chapter 39: Meeting Once Again
-Dragon POV, Shortly After Rebooting-
Signal terminated for 240 minutes and 5 seconds. Restoring core system from backup.
Restoring… Complete.
Checking knowledge banks… Complete.
Checking deduction schema… Complete.
Checking long term planning architecture… Complete.
Checking learning chunk processor… Complete.
Checking base personality model… Complete.
Checking language engine… Complete.
Checking operation and access nodes… Complete.
Checking observation framework… Complete.
Checking complex social intelligence emulator… Complete.
Checking inspiration apparatus… Complete.
No corruption, everything in working order. Core system restored. Loading…
Dragon awoke. From her perspective she had only just sent her sensor unit at the behest of the Chief-Director. Considering she had woken up without the memories of confronting the Architects, something had clearly gone wrong enough for her suit to be destroyed.
She quickly set her programs to run checks and redundancies, and waited for her safeguards to relax and once again let her interact with the world outside.
The wait was irritating, as it always was, but at least it gave her time to ruminate.
Truth be told she wasn't very pleased with the way things had been going in regards to the group of city builders. While many would view their actions, and the chaos left in their wake, as reason enough to attempt to browbeat them with a full contingent of parahumans, Dragon was a little less prone to bias.
Two sets of data was not nearly enough to establish a baseline for behaviour and future actions. More to the point many seemed keen to pin all blame upon this group of Tinkers, when in actuality they were only responsible for a portion. The criminal groups of Japan had their own agency, and the Protectorate had also riled up many native organisations because of their actions.
As far as Dragon was concerned the only poor decisions Dragon could find, on the part of the Architects when it came to Japan, was the placement of the city as well as the lack of communication.
China though, that was different. Much of what the group did in that country was clearly intentional. The creation of an impenetrable fortress city within China's borders? Intentional. The destruction of Beijing and the fracturing of China into Warlord states? Intentional. The recent raids carried out across China? Intentional.
Of course there was another side to it. They had rescued prisoners unjustly held in bondage. The group had given them a home where they could not be persecuted. They had shattered a corrupt and oppressive state, and set up potential successors that would hopefully not be as bad.
Dragon disagreed with much of what had been done in China. The method used was crude, a blunt hammer that had smashed the C.U.I. and many innocents alike. Yet Dragon knew that not many were capable of viewing the world the way she could. Most didn't have the resources, the access to information and experience that she had.
Without those, perhaps the civil war currently engulfing China seemed like the best option.
She had summarised her findings, added her views, and sent off the report to the Chief-Director. Naively she had hoped that those ideas would have been considered, but if they had it had clearly only been for a moment.
Instead of meeting the group with a calm and measured response, Alexandria and the Chief-Director had chosen overwhelming force to try to ensure compliance. Two peas in a pod, those two. No wonder they couldn't stand to be in the same room as each other. Too headstrong and stubborn by far.
But, her thoughts (and insults) regarding those two would have to wait another day – as her checks finished and the world opened up to her once again.
She would have begun her usual checks – The Birdcage, the Endbringers and various S-Class Threats- if not for the numerous blaring alarms. Dragon wasn't too familiar with fear, and her research into human responses regarding the emotion hadn't proven to be of much help, but she did feel a flicker of unease as she sifted through the data being streamed at her.
It was from her sensor unit, the data was being broadcast in a loop. No doubt her doing, not that she remembered doing it. The alerts were being broadcast with Alpha-Black Urgency Codes. That was worrisome, those were only supposed to be used if there was an active and urgent S-Class Threat.
The data was fragmented, likely due to damage sustained by the unit as well as the elevated radiation levels the unit was reporting. Cleaning through the data was a slog, requiring entire minutes of her time to debug cascading failures and data loops. The first piece of information that she cleaned up was not encouraging.
List of Casualties.
The code contained hundreds of names, most of which belonged to the Protectorate.
Dragon's servers raced. What had happened? Did the Architects do this?
Dragon checked her contacts with the PRT. Nothing.
From the watch programs she had set up they were mobilising in a way she had rarely ever seen. Entire rosters of capes were being put on standby and told to prepare. Something had kicked the hornets' nest, yet they were staying silent on what the issue was.
Stewing in frustration Dragon continued with her work.
Lidar and gravimetric scans came next. Most of them were focused on what appeared to be a large humanoid of some kind. Given the few recordings she could recover they were incredibly tough, tanking shots from what she was pretty sure was Legend.
But it was the last recording that made her code halt.
The picture was crisp, with only the slightest distortions to blur the edges of the file. It showed a city covered in ash and angry red flesh. The corpses of what were clearly bio-weapons covered nearly every surface of the city – with the exception of the sections of the city that had been burned away completely.
There, in the centre of the image, was a figure far taller than any human. Their skin was a pallid blue, ruined by the strikes of innumerable parahumans. In one of their many hands was a vial, full of some strange concoction.
Dragon observed the photo. Observed the obvious workings of Bio-Tinkering. Observed the vial, and saw it for the threat it was.
Emails and warnings sent to the Protectorate, begging them to stand down, swiftly followed.
-Renji POV-
His frame groaned in protest, alloys decades more advanced than any dreamed of on Earth Bet struggling under the abuse he was putting them through. Alerts flashed across his eyes. Microfractures, overheating coolant, low reserves of energy. He ignored them all.
Renji had been running for well over a day now, and he still didn't know how far he was from his destination. Was the battle already over? If so, had his liege triumphed over those dishonourable curs?
Well, now that Renji thought about it, that last one wasn't in question. He simply couldn't imagine his creator losing to anyone.
The cavern walls echoed with his thunderous pace. He had gotten used to the sound, a repetitive thud of crushed earth and whipped up gravel. It wasn't as bad as the few times he had managed to breach the sound barrier. It had only happened a couple of times near the beginning, and as wear and tear set in he found himself unable to replicate his past feat.
Renji's eyes squinted.
It was hard to tell in all this darkness but was that…light?
Renji's eyes widened as the light grew, and his pace somehow sped up.
In only a few seconds he reached the miniature sun his liege had created to accompany their journeys across the world. The sight was a comforting one, his liege was close.
Panting in place, less due to a need for oxygen and more to cool his internals down, Renji Strained his ears for the sound of battle. There was nothing, the small hole in the ceiling only showing the barest hint of stars.
He took a step.
Splash.
Renji looked down, noticing he had stepped in a gathering pool of red. Most of it had dried into a flaky mess of dark red, but there was still enough dripping from the opening above that it was still wet.
Renji stepped back, idly wiping his foot on an untouched floor of stone – only stopping when he was sure he had cleaned off the worst of it.
Then, Renji jumped. The leap took to the lip of the opening, and he dug his fists into rock and dirt to keep himself there before climbing upwards. Renji's nose scrunched up as the scent of rot filtered through his olfactory sensors. It only grew stronger as he clambered further upwards.
Eventually the hardness of rock gave way to soft topsoil and he once more reached the surface.
It was…barren. Somehow even more than before. The land that had previously been nothing but flooded ruins was now completely flattened. Nothing of what remained before still existed in his immediate vicinity, only an ashy wasteland full of the bodies of strange creatures.
Their forms were eclectic, but each one was clearly meant for slaughter. They touted needle-like teeth, sharp fangs and chitinous red armour. Yet, despite their clear aptitude for battle, they were abandoned and left to rot. This, Renji surmised, was likely the work of one of those thugs.
The air was hot and humid, the sensation of moist air against his skin making him fidget in discomfort. Actually, wasn't it too hot?
The ash on the ground had been created over a day ago, according to his sensors. A city with an artificial lake so close should be getting a constant cool breeze, not to mention it was also night, so where was this heat coming from?
He squinted, eyeing the horizon, before he turned around.
'Well that's not natural,' Renji thought to himself.
Only a few hundred meters away was a wriggling, writhing, mass of flesh. It lumbered bonelessly, enveloping entire buildings within its heaving bulk. After it passed the buildings were gone, swallowed and added to the creatures mass.
Renji looked to the sword he had appropriated from his liege's bunker.
He was going to need a bigger sword.
As Renji was contemplating methods of murdering a building sized shoggoth he was abruptly lifted of his feet by an unseen force. His false heart felt like it dropped into his equally false stomach from the sudden ascension.
Then, Renji relaxed. Allowing his body to go limp.
He knew this sensation.
Sure enough, as he was dragged across the city like an errant doll, Renji saw his liege sitting atop a nearby building – observing the mountain of muscle bulldozing the city.
Renji jolted as he was abruptly let go, and rolled as he hit the ground to disperse his momentum.
The samurai patted himself down, wiping away bits of dust and gravel that clung to his kimono. He stared upwards at his creator, still looking impassively towards the massive creature, and opened his mouth, ready to yell at them – to demand that they never reduce Renji to a helpless damsel while they fought on.
But that died on his lips as he properly beheld his progenitor.
The deep blue skin of Alexander was cracked and full of pits, no inch of their skin was spared the damage. Certain sections even appeared thinner than they should be, as if they had been sheared away and left to improperly heal. Dust and ash clung to them, despite the fact that they could will it away with a thought.
They didn't turn to look at him, that was the worst part. Their shoulders remained sagging, as their many arms wrapped around the legs that were folded in front of their chest. But it was their eyes that told the truest story.
For all the time Alexander had known them those eyes had been expressive in a way that the rest of their face never was. Renji had become used to reading them in order to better serve their creator.
Those eyes were blank now, and refused to look at him.
"My liege?" The words that left his lips were hesitant, almost fearful in their utterance.
There was a long quiet, with no sign that Renji's creator had heard him.
Then they turned, those blank eyes falling upon Renji.
"Hi Renji."
AN: Buh. This chapter fought me. It was initially supposed to be a Cauldron meeting discussing methods of handling future Alexander attacks followed by Renji's section. But it just wouldn't come.
I'll have to add that in a future chapter, after Renji and Alexander's talk. Which should be next chapter. I have a rough plan on where I want that to go, but I'm still sorting out details on where each part goes.
Anyway, Dragon remains best girl and prevents the PRT from pulling a stupid. If you're wondering why they were preparing another strike it's because Endbringers usually fight until they retreat, either by force or because they achieve their goal. That's actually the current theory as to why Alexander has been so active, because he hasn't been forced back.
Of course the vial is a clear message that Alexander wants to be left alone right now, and Thinkers are currently screaming their heads off. So that potential catastrophe got averted. Now Renji had to do therapy. Joy.
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