A golden man grabbed the mightiest hero of humanity by his neck."You were a worthy opponent," he said."That's not what happened."Eidolon, the strongest parahuman, smiled with bloody teeth as he raised his hand. First, seemingly in a last effort to fight back, but then the hand moved upwards. Pointing at the-"They're giving him too much credit, I heard he was crying when he-""OH GOD SHUT UP!" Aisha jumped up from the couch, pausing the movie on the screen. "I know that's not what happened.""I told you that I would ruin it," Lisa grinned."There is five minutes left," Ciara interjected, "maybe we finish watching it then we can argue?""Easy to say, you were there! Forget it, I don't want to watch it anymore!" Aisha stormed out of the room in a huff.Lisa smiled even wider. "Well, there goes girls' night."Taylor chuckled, continuing to scratch Angelica. "Next time - how about simply eating at Fugly Bob?""That is the greasy place, yes?" Ciara asked."No… Please…" Lisa pleaded, "not you too…"Taylor laughed even louder. "It's been a couple of years since I last tried a burger from there. Is it still open?""Are you kidding? Alec told the press that it was your favourite place to eat at. Now, anytime you kick some villain's ass it gets more attention. I even had to stop a couple of hostile takeover attempts, just because Alec asked me to.""Oh.""Let's keep our dear Ciara far away from it too, okay?""I want to try out those burgers," Ciara immediately said.Lisa's eye twitched as she looked at Ciara, who now looked eighteen years old. Angelica freed herself from Taylor and walked up to Lisa, rubbing her head against Lisa's leg.At least the dog's cute…
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"It's a useless risk, Colin.""I know," he answered Dragon. But still he walked through the long hallway, reaching a set of metal doors. Colin sent multiple sets of keys across the system, identifying himself and allowing him to open the doors."At least wear your armor.""There is no point. If she wanted to escape, she would."Another set of doors, another set of digital keys to open it. In a different format this time."Yeah… Sorry. You know I need to verify you're sound of mind.""I know, don't worry about it." He passed through the last check.On the other side was a large room. Luxurious. Colin's eyes wandered to the coat rack on the side, where a fedora hat was hung. It was in the same position as last time.A woman sat on a comfortable chair next to the bed. She held a book in her hands, and did not raise her head as she heard Colin step in.Colin silently walked next to her, placing a folder and a book on the bed."Thank you," Fortuna whispered."You're welcome. How was it?" Colin glanced at the book in her hands."Good. Thank you for the suggestion. Goddess will attack Earth Samech - five four three three in the database - to search for Cauldron's surviving tech."Fortuna switched topic without missing a beat."Will they find any?""I don't know. Given that I don't see what they're trying to do, I assume it has to do with their attempts to take control of Behemoth. I would try to stop them.""Will we fail?""I can't say, but I'd wager no. Especially if Weaver and Ciara take part like last time.""They will be busy. Behemoth is acting up, and while it's not yet an attack, we'd like to kick him out of Earth Bet as soon as possible. We've repurposed the device we used to move Noelle through other Earths."Fortuna smiled."Don't act like you didn't know about it, Fortuna.""Excuse me, but I will act as I please, now that I don't have to act. Is it true that they made a movie about Eidolon?"Colin frowned, sighing."Did Dragon tell you?""I'd like to see it, just to point out what they got wrong.""Mh. Where are the CUI remnants?""They're still hidden from view. But a Yàngbǎn patrol will appear on Earth Aleph in five days. Barcelona, within a ruined church. If you catch them and save them from the bombs in their necks, they'll say all you want to know. Now, could I get the movie?""...I'll see to it. Rest well, Fortuna."Colin walked away, reaching the set of doors that sealed Contessa within the compound.Next to it there were two more cells. One held Doctor Mother, the other Number Man.The three of them had been considered too useful to get rid of. Number Man still provided financial aid to the world, helping regulate and administrate many of the world's most important funds. All with Dragon's oversight, of course.On the other hand, Doctor Mother helped with the 'curing' and recovery of Case 53s. Her expertise with the vials and her wide experience with parahumans allowed her just enough leeway to escape a regular prison. That, plus the constant danger that she was under. A lot of people wanted her dead.This was all that was left of the masterminds behind Cauldron.
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Fortuna glanced up as Colin left the room. She reached for what he had left on the bed. The book was one she had asked for, an exposé on Cauldron. It told most of the story about the shadowy organization, leaving out only two things: Eidolon's connection to the Endbringers and the fact that Fortuna was still alive. The book went into detail about most of Cauldron's operation, starting from the first vials up until the moment Scion died. It made little mention of Blackwall specifically, instead attributing Cauldron's downfall to the Protectorate as a whole.Even now there were multiple layers of deception active in the world. The Protectorate wasn't really the Protectorate anymore, not with Rebecca stepping down from the PRT and every Cauldron cape confessing to their connection. Multiple reforms had changed the Protectorate as a whole, and then even more reforms had changed the PRT.The name 'Cauldron' was now spoken in the same way as 'Simurgh' or 'Leviathan'. Monsters of the past that shouldn't be forgotten, but were thankfully not around anymore.Fortuna then picked up the folder and opened it: inside was a brief account of the outside world, focusing on the things that Fortuna could not see for herself, such as Behemoth's movements. Things to help Fortuna create a model for her power, if necessary.She'd rather read.But just as she lied down on the bed to rest a little, she heard the unmistakable sound of 'tapping' against her wall. It was rhythmic, not in Morse code but a similar secret language made by Cauldron.'Escape. Plan. Now.'Number Man had been trying to reach her from his own cell far away in the structure. They were on different floors, but Number Man had found a way to hit his walls in just the right way to send a sound across the structure, searching for Fortuna. He had tried to contact her almost every hour for a couple of days now, even during the night. He didn't know that Fortuna had long since heard him - she just didn't care.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.Forgot to mention it.Fortuna walked up to the sealed mechanical door, knocking at it to get Dragon's attention. There was no sound, no reaction, but Fortuna knew that Dragon had been alerted nonetheless and was now looking in from a camera."Kurt has found another flaw in the structure. He's trying to talk to me."Dragon didn't say anything, but something in the structure shifted and the tapping stopped.Finally some peace and quiet.
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Keith landed gently on the soft grass. He released the tiniest bit of power from the tip of his finger, just enough to see through the dark night. There was only one other figure there with him.Neither of them were wearing their costumes.He walked up to the figure, putting a hand over her shoulder. Then placed flowers at the feet of the two graves in front of him."What do you think they would have called us," Rebecca said, "had he not died. Quadrumvirate sounds awful.""I think the name that was getting traction around then was 'Precursors'. Or something along that line, something that underlined that we were the first rather than the best.""That sounds awful too.""What do you think they'll call us now? The Survivors? The Diad? Or Dyad, with an 'y'.""Don't joke, Keith. They won't call me anything. Anything but 'monster'."Rebecca glanced down, and Keith followed her eyes. Wrapped around her ankle was a solid block of black metal. A monitoring device."...we've talked about that too much already. Let's not today, okay? We're here for something important."She sighed. "You're right."Crouching, she placed a binder at the feet of David's grave. It was filled with drawings."They know your story, David. Part of it at least. I managed to convince them to leave out the ugly parts.""What's that?" Keith asked."Drawings. I was in Africa last week. Trying to kick out the few remaining Warlords, like Moord Nag. She attacked a city. After the battle, when I went inside a hospital to check that the structure had not been compromised, the kids there handed me this. They saw the movie, learnt about David's struggles before he became a hero…""I see."She stood up.Keith looked at her thoughtfully."Do you regret it? Being Cauldron's hound," he asked."...it took you a while. I thought you'd ask sooner.""I knew the answer. Now, your expression is different. Maybe your opinion changed too."Rebecca struggled to find the words."I did regret it. For a split second, as I watched the way those kids' eyes lit up whenever David was mentioned. I felt envious. I would never be seen in the same way. Then guilt."But no. I can't regret what I've done. Not fully. Those kids are alive because of my actions.""Many kids died because of you."Venom dripped from his words."Keith, I…""No. Sorry. Forget it. I said that I wouldn't talk about it. Not now. It's not right."Rebecca closed her eyes, feeling tears welling up."Thank you.""Let's… catch up. It's been a while. Two months, I think?""Fifty-four days. How is Arthur? And Keith Jr.?"For the first time in many years, the two surviving heroes of the Triumvirate chatted about things that didn't involve the fate of the world. Yet, their conversation was just as important.Happy birthday, David.
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Dragon received a message.Finally.Immediately he pinged Colin and Taylor, who were discussing plans about the next operation."Guys, it's here!""What?" Taylor asked.Colin caught on quickly. "Put it on the wide screen."And Dragon did.A video.High-quality footage of the planets as seen from outside the solar system. The visual was from within a cockpit. A woman sat at the center, trying to replicate a cappuccino she had once tasted in a random shop in Rome."I didn't want to cheat. It turns out that making a good drink with synthesized material is much harder than it looks. The human brain can tell the difference in even the smallest of molecular bonds.""Blackwall!" Taylor shouted."It's a video." Colin reminded her. "She can't answer.""I know." Taylor's eye twitchedDragon sighed. "Colin…"The video continued."This will be my last message. I've found a definitive trace of the third Entity. It too, like the Thinker and the Warrior, left behind bread crumbs to avoid overlapping its path with other Entities. Or maybe this one did so in order to be followed. Who knows."Teleporting doesn't work where there is no Shard Network underneath physical reality. I will need to fully engage the engine and move at near-light speed. It won't be feasible for me to send or receive messages anymore."This was it then.Blackwall's final words to them all."I've attached messages that I'd like for you to distribute to people I marked on each file. It's about fifteen terabytes of data, so you'll still have plenty of me for weeks to come. I've also attached the complete diagram of the Shard Network as seen from outside its confines. The decay caused by Scion's death is much bigger than we thought. We've avoided glitched triggers so far, but they'll come. Be ready."Blackwall put down the mug, looking straight into the camera. Her bright red eyes were still a terrifying sight, even through the video."If it were up to me, I'd destroy the Network. Remove powers from the equation. But it's important that you decide on what to do, and whether to do anything. In the end I was more like Scion than a human. More like Scion than you, Dragon. It's up to you now. Take care. I love you all, always."The video ended.
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I sat in the spaceship, made out of my Shardself and the Thinker's corpse, and watched the solar system disappear in the distance. The ship was flying through the void, following the traces left behind by another of the Entities.I had spent less than two years on that Earth. A fraction of the time I'd spent trapped within a metal box. Yet, those two years had been special. Unique.Humanity proved to me that I was right to believe in them. That they were able to do great things.Scion's memories told me of many other civilizations that the Entities had consumed. Some were as great as humans, full of hope and art and kindness.Deciding to follow the third Entity had been a whim. Any direction would have been fine, but at least this way I was sure I would eventually meet another creature capable of thought.There was so much out there to see.And I was finally free to see it all.