No word is said in any of the communication channels. All is quiet as capes knock away the debris and free themselves. Those maimed by the Simurgh's final attacks are silent too, confused and dazed by the sudden lack of screaming.Usually, after a fight with the Simurgh, there would be lingering sound. The crazed cackling of capes that had spent too much time under her influence. The pained cries of innocents and victims. But no, there was only silence.Silence and the looming statue that floated above us all. Head downcast, wings not moving with the wind. We had killed the Endbringer without breaking her core, and it seemed that in doing so we had merely destroyed her consciousness. Her body was still there, powers active.The core was in my left hand. Arsenal handed me Leviathan's cracked core from his armor. Two Endbringer cores. Two computers the size of planets, empty of consciousness and in my hands. Each embedded with the Entities' own unrestricted power.I could destroy Earth Bet with this. It would only take hours."It feels… So different."My split-self had done her job, using Pandora as an example. Dragon's brief time in the blue box had already removed all but one of her restrictions. The only one that had proven too resilient was Dragon's inability to fully create another AI. It was too close to her identity to be removed."It's fine," Dragon said, noticing my grief, "we can adopt. If necessary."As I glanced towards Arsenal, I quickly realized that Dragon was saying something else to him, now that she could hold two conversations at the same time."Colin as a father…" I mumbled to myself, concerned for the future."Not like it's going to be a soon thing. For now we-" she suddenly stopped."Dinah's panicking," Dragon informed us all.There was one last consequence to the Simurgh's attack. A consequence of her assault on my Shardself, an attack that rippled through the Shard Network and could not be hidden."He noticed me."The sun began to glow gold in the distance.I looked up. Then, without hesitation…"Door me."The world turned gray as the doorgate opened. My speedware pushed to its limit for, hopefully, the last time.I ran away.
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Sand rippled around me as I crashed down, bathed in smoke. The air ignited when it touched my skin. I moved as fast as I could, running through the deserted Earth.I felt the world shake, turning golden. Scion was not here yet, but the world seemed to prepare for his arrival.So I did not stop."Door me, Cauldron!" I shouted to the air. Another gate appeared, one that overlooked the facility where the few Case 53s that couldn't be moved were still located. A distraction, a smokescreen to hide myself from Scion. At the same time, I took out a black knife, plunging it into the ground. Reality cracked where it met the edge.Then I slashed with the knife again. And again.I hopped between worlds, avoiding any that held parahumans. Scion could be omniscient if he wished, but he for some reason did not use his full abilities. That was what allowed me to escape his sight, if only for a brief moment.Contacting anyone else would mean the risk of being tracked down. I could only rely on myself.And the cores.As I ran through the worlds, my finger briefly brushed against the Simurgh's inactive core. Bright silver filled the space around me as I used her power. A silent scream bounced off the ground, the sky, the clouds and everything else among the worlds I could reach.Information overran my mind. Past and future. Not present, unfortunately. It wasn't a huge loss, given how her power couldn't actually see Scion. I only needed an advantage.A golden silhouette appeared in the deserted world. I realized that he, too, was not looking with his eyes but with otherworldly senses. Yet his head still turned to the Doormaker's portal. The one leading to Cauldron's facility.Disgust filled his face, then he looked away. Both from it and from me.An opportunity.Like a snapping maw, all of the portals I had created were shut. The Simurgh's power surged through the worlds to close them, removing any traces I could have left behind.I was left alone on another Earth, on a mountain of rock. Until I felt the world vibrate slightly, and from my left a new door opened.Contessa stood at the boundary of that rectangle of light, arms straight by her side. There was blood on her gloved fingers. Not her blood. I walked up to her. And handed her the two cores in my hands.But I didn't let go, not yet.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it."If you betray me, here and now, you can win by yourself. Avoid the consequence of what I will bring upon Cauldron. Upon you.""I know," Contessa answered, without emotion. She said nothing more.I let go.She held tightly onto the cores, stepping back. Doormaker's portal closed immediately after.In the sky, the moon glowed brightly, clear of clouds. This Earth churned beneath the ground. A planet that was free of all life, be it human, plant or animal. A world where something had gone wrong along the way, and no life had developed.The battlefield that I had chosen and prepared.I connected to the myriads of systems and computers that had replaced most of the planet. Small portals opened to other Earths, allowing data to be exchanged. Nanomachines in the ground continued to spread and drill for material and heat, creating an unending feedback loop. Well, unending as long as the resources of this Earth lasted.Dragon and Arsenal connected to me."The CUI has just launched another attack on the rest of the continent. The Elite have assassinated the vice-president," Arsenal explained, "time is running out.""They're desperate. Their thinkers must have noticed that something is wrong. Colin, you're already injured. Go take care of the Elite.""I think it would be better if-""There is no place for you on my battlefield." I interrupted him."...you are right. I will face the CUI, they're closer. Good luck, Blackwall." He disconnected. Dragon took over."Noelle is being moved as we're speaking, and Contessa has patched me through to the two Endbringer cores. She told me about the plan and… Blackwall, I'm not sure I can do this, even now that I'm not restricted. The Thinker's body is incredibly complex and alien, and I have to understand how to work with the cores first. Shouldn't you...""I need you to do this, Dragon. Scion will be looking for me, I gained minutes, maybe an hour at most. I don't know the scope of his power. I don't know if I can survive seconds against him in a direct confrontation."I took a deep breath."174.5 seconds. That's how much time Scion took to wipe clean the surface of a planet. I saw every last human die. My cameras recorded the scared expression of the last man dying alone in a bunker. I need to be here."Dragon went silent for a moment."Okay... Okay, I will do my best. I think it's barely possible with the copy you have of Bonesaw's memories. And only if Scion doesn't damage any of the infrastructure we've set up on Earth Bet and Aleph. Not a lot has survived the Iron Maiden's attack, but it should suffice."Something vibrated in the air next to me. For a moment I prepared for the worst.Eidolon stepped out of the portal. He glanced towards me and nodded."Thank you," I said, to Dragon and Eidolon both. Dragon disconnected and got to work.The portal behind Eidolon closed. Nobody else would come. The only other capes that could have been helpful against Scion were either dead or too injured. Legend had lost an arm and a leg against the Simurgh. Alexandria couldn't fight for long with the wound on her shoulder.This was it.Almost.Eidolon landed on a nearby rock. Even with his mask on, there was a... somber look to him."I prepared my whole life for this. In many ways, I cheated to get where I am. I suppose it's only fitting that in the end, I will cheat one last time before dying.""This wasn't how you predicted it was going to happen," I said."No." He sighed. "No, I had always thought that Legend and Alexandria would be by my side… Hero too, initially. Many names joined and left that list over the years. Gray Boy. Glaistig Uaine. People that I thought were powerful enough. In the end, it turns out, that none of us ever were, not even me."As he talked, more notifications rolled in. Weaver had been injured during the fight with the Simurgh, but she was joining Arsenal in the fight against the CUI."Then you appeared, and flipped the world on its axis. Breaking the Blasphemies. Destroying the Slaughterhouse Nine. And killing two Endbringers within half a year.""I had help. And advantages.""You did. But we also had our advantages. During the last month... I can't help but feel that we missed our chance, misused our resources. That we, too, could have accomplished what you did. We spent years nurturing new parahumans, but I see now that most of that effort was misplaced."I didn't answer. Two other notifications arrived. Scion had been spotted moving through the Earths. The other notification was that Noelle would reach the target location in one minute.The moon watched from above. The minute passed without a word being spoken.Eidolon stood up, flying towards me. I extended my hand."We should begin."