Sonya set down the phone and stared at it, runnihumb over the glossy surface. She tilted her head to the right, lost in thought. Her chest felt lighter and tighter at the same time. She’d heard his voice with her real ears for the first time in a long time. The dreams she’d had about him weren’t the same. The memories of his heroic persona were all a performahe only time she’d heard the real Otis speak was in the end, on that day, when she’d sat atop him with a knife in her hands, uo cry over the deaths of everyone on the p. Uo grieve with a herself.
She’d seen his madhen.
She’d heard it again just now.
She g the words on her HUD, it was a useful fun if not something she had any way of using anytime soon. She had no i in pying vilin for the immediate future. It was time to y low. She waited a few more seds before her lip twitched. No notice of Otis’ death. Not that she’d expected it, still she was a little disappoi hadn’t worked.
And there it is, a successful test of Iment. She thought as she pulled the power out for a momericity dang across her fiips before she put it back. She had forcibly ied it into A, suspeg that it would have an iing effect when bined with The Great Eel and based on what she’d sensed from him before departing, the results had been more than promising. She let out a sigh and leaned back, turning her head to look at Marta who was asleep on the couch tht. She smiled at the woman, “Thank you,” She said softly, “I know I should say it more, I’d say it every day if I could.”
Marta mumbled in her sleep and rolled over, Sonya chuckled, “We’re going on vacation whe back,” She said and g the television in front of her, “Maui, probably. That sounds nice.”
The reporter oelevision was standing in front of the devastated area around the Vegas battle site. She was rep generally about estimated loss of life, it seemed that Sapporo’s ability had cut down the lions share of it but A’s rampage had not e without cost. Thousands of people were dead, a historic disaster, and ohe world was already reag to. However what came as more of a surprise was the part of the news feature.
“Among those present during the fighting, the Geia native turned ASTA Guild Hero, Firestave his life to save over thirty of his rades. He was also singurly responsible for resg hundreds of civilians. We are still processing what little footage that was able to be acquired by drones so unfortunately we ot provide any at the moment, however, word from the heroes and civilians on the se has lead to an ht trend on social media,” The woman said and she was moved over to the right to show social media posts.
All of them were words of praise, dolence, and memory of the hero who had given his life along with a hashtag that made Sonya smile. #WeAreTheFirestorm.
She felt her lip tremble a little and she looked down at her hands, I hate it. She thought. You weren’t supposed to die. You were supposed to be one of the heroes to fight me, in the end, to stop me o was all said and done.
She raised her hand to her fad covered her eyes, cursing them again. She let out a breath. He knew about broker, I have to accept that it was a loose end eliminated and do what I to make sure his memory aplishes the right thing. She told herself, it was a cold thought, but it was a necessary ohe feeli a chilling wash through her body that eased a little bit of the pain. She breathed aed her on her knuckles as the televisio on.
A picture of herself appeared, “CEO Sonya ovna resent during the i while taking the Chairman of the Pandora ittee on a tour of one of the active dungeons in Las Vegas. She was reported to have been temporarily lost in the dungeohe quote: “False Hero” A went berserk. Acc to information that was disseminated widely about A around the time of the disaster, he had made several attempts against Miss ovna including an assassination and orchestrating a plot to steal her pany’s intellectual property by leveraging his e with his father, the Chairman of the Pandora ittee.”
Amos works fast. Sonya thought.
“It should be hat these acts were taken uniterally as all of the details recorded by the various anonymous sources online have reported that the Chairman was unaware of his son’s underworld dealings, including his association with a dangerous criminal syndicate based in his homend of Vietnam,” The picture ged to an image of A.
“There are some questions about whether or not the Chairman will step down, though an official ent from an ASTA spokesperson has insisted that Miss ovna does not attribute any responsibility to the Chairman and hopes he tinues his good work,” The reporter went on, “Currently Miss ovna is in recovery after receiving minor injuries before her rescue. We wish her a speedy recovery.”
“An iional outcry has go ing rules regarding the behavior and backgrounds of lised heroes with several nations demanding adjustments to the Pandora ittee’s regutions,” The woman tinued, “There have also been calls for a full iigation into the battle in Vegas and the cause of the sudden appearanonsters during the fighting. A United Nations panel will be held in the ing weeks to discuss ways to preventing su i from ever happening again.”
Sonya smiled to herself, Doing the work for me. I just have to do a little speeow. She nodded slowly and turhe television off with a thought. The world’s seen an example and things will move in a better dire, but I still have more heralds to deal with and Otis is still out there. I o be more careful. For the foreseeable future, Ishtar will remain in the shadows. She thought as she felt the air shift in the and gnced up to see Veloce standing there.
“You look good for a woman on the mend,” Veloce said with a hesitant smile.
Sonya raised an eyebrow, “And you seem to have your spine back.”
The woman winced before notig the smile on Sonya’s face, she cleared her throat, “I did as you asked, Mistress. I survived.”
“Yes you did,” Sonya said, sitting up a little and crossing her legs, “You did very well, I’m more than pleased. You eve as far as going in to support Bckrazor without my orders. I like that.”
Veloce blushed, “He helped me,” She said, reag up to twirl her fingers in her hair.
Sonya raised an eyebrow but didn’t ent, “Yes well, I’d like to teach you a little something about how I do business, Veloce,” Sonya said and got to her feet. “I firmly believe that the weakest link in any anization is the lowest, most underpaid, and undervalued agent. Treat your people well, and they will treat you well iurn. Keep your promises, no matter what. You are one of my people now,” She said and walked over to the woman, “And I have something very special for you.”
She cast her mind bato her warehouse and grabbed hold of The Great Eel and Might of Thor.
Merge.
Yes.
It was kind of nice being able te things in her warehouse. As long as they weren’t pulled out, she didn’t feel a damn thing. Simply a rush as Broker drew on its own strength and her internal energy. A rush that tinued for several seds a her knees a little weak for a moment and a pallid feeling on her skin. She blinked a few times and swayed, surprised by the expenditure, and was even more surprised when Veloce actually had to catch her. She dropped to a knee and shook her head, her vision swimming. “Well, that was a bit ued,” She murmured, “Thank you.”
Now that’s a name! Sonya thought with delight as Veloce helped her to her feet. She smiled at the young woman and pced her hand over her heart. Iment.
Veloce staggered back as if shocked, she gasped and grasped at her chest for a moment, wide eyed, her pupils dited and she stood unsteadily for a moment before flopping onto the floor of the aircraft and looking up at Sonya with wonder. Sonya smiled down at her, “You’ll have to e up with a proper Supervilin name,” She said with a wink, “Oh, and please don’t test it here, we’re in an aircraft for heaven's sake.”
The young supervilin just nodded mutely, staring into space as Sonya turned away and threw herself bato her seat. She rest her head again, catg her breath. Another addition to the inner circle. I’m making quite the little group. She thought with amusement. It’s still not enough, though. I need more. More to keep my promise.
She thought back to her iion with Pandora at the end of the dungeon. The sole question she had time to ask, ‘Why?’ She had thought about it for a while after meeting Pandora for the first time. At first she had sidered all sorts of more plicated and demanding questions, but her heart had told her that what she really needed, for closure, was the reason why the strange being had even bothered to reach out to her at the end of things.
So she’d asked, and the answer had been simple. It had also beely what she o hear. It had reaffirmed everything she believed about what she was doing and had shored her resolve to keep going, despite how cruel things became.
–
Sonya looked up at the transparent being that hung over her. Her appearance seemed everging, always a woman, but always a different face, a different hair color, different eyes, every time she blinked. Even so, there was an exhaustiohat Sonya hadn’t felt when she’d met the otherworldly being on their first enter. She was weary and sad, beaten down by something that Sonya couldn’t possibly prehend. Yet when Sonya had asked the question, she seemed thten and her appearanearly became solid.
“I have failed humanity twiow. On the distant past. Oh Otis. Help them, where I ot, so I finally rest,” She said, “I am trusting you, Sonya, and that grief that we both share.”
–
Sonya smiled to herself as she pulled out of the memory, That, I do.
After all, she thought, her smile growing a bit darker. She ched her fingers around the arms of her chair, I am the one who will take trol of everything from within. I will set the rules, I will trol the field, I am the solution to the unsolvable, the force that will overe Otis.
She pulled up the details on her newly merged abilities, Imperious, Non-Euclidian and The Astral Eye joining Heavenly Jade Heart in her newly and appropriately renamed core ability;
I will be the God in the Mae.
–
He staggered through the desert, pulling his arm back up aag it to his shoulder. The agony was real and it made him angry. How dare that woman, that thing, that creature that thought it erson like him. He was the only real person in the world, she was just another fixture in his story. To think a mere side-character would dare sh out at him like that, try to kill him, hurt him, actually hurt him. He had never felt pain sihe fsh, since he had snuto the ste room behind the museum and found Pandora's Box. Sihe moment he ope and was given the right to choose his power.
He felt his flesh knit back together. He would not die, he could not die, not until he had seen his story through to the end. Anything else was inceivable.
She is not my Poseidon, she’s a glitch, an error! Another pyer in my game! My story! She o die! I will find her and I will break her in ways she ’t even begin to imagine! He swore it, bearing his teeth as his foot awisted bato position on their own. The burns across his body sizzled and slowly began to heal, the iy of the bst had left him as nothing but a seared lump of meat for nearly an hour before he had regained sciousness. That hurt! It hurt so much! He screamed, Ishtar. I’ll remember your name and I won’t let you fet me. You’ll be the only one.
He trudged across the heated ndscape, still within the crag radius of the bst. Electricity danced across the ground, the enviro irrevocably altered by the bst. He glowered at the blue sky ahead of him before crag into a smile.
“The story doesn’t o ge that much,” He said, a thought to him, “That’s right, this is fine, I work with this, even. She’s some kind of vilin, right? Then I just o be the hero to triumphantly take her down! That’s easy! I ’t die!” He ughed, “I’m going to fug kill you and everyone you love, Ishtar, then I’m gonna make you watch as I burn this world to the ground!”
He felt his fingers bend as funality returo them and ched his fists, “Just you wait you bitch, just you wait,” He snarled as he trudged towards a distant road. He watched as cars drove by, salvation. A few more things to kill so he could drive back to civilization. Irrelevant mindless objects pretending to be people.
“Nothing stop me, not with my ability, The Man, The Myth, The Legend. I am the main character of this story, this world, and you’re just living in it!”
– Broker, Season 1: Creation Myth of a New Era –
– End –