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Got the Grimoire, Chapter 32
🕑 Added 2025-02-17 05:57:25 +0000 UTCChapter 32
Hookwolf’s sudden charge wasn’t necessarily a terrible idea. As a Brute/ Changer, his ideal range was close combat and only a couple of New Wave were any good in that area. Under normal circumstances, he might have caused a good deal of damage before being driven back.
But that was without taking into account that all of us had been ready and waiting for just such a move from him. Shielder’s forcefields shimmered into existence the quickest, right behind Lady Photon’s own, the combined barriers strong enough to bounce the Nazi cape backward onto his metaphorical ass, even if they did flex and crack under the force of the charge. I lowered my hand from where I’d been about to blast Hookwolf as he began to struggle to his bladed paws.
“Console, this is Magus. We just stopped Hookwolf and a group of E88 thugs in the middle of an initiation. Civilians on site. Backup would be appreciated,” I said.
With a flick of my wrist I placed a glowing golden barrier around the family’s car. Hopefully that would be enough.
“Magus, get the civilians out of there, then engage Hookwolf. Are any other E88 capes present?” Console asked. It sounded like one of the actually trained PRT agents, not the Wards. Good.
“Not as of yet, but I’ll keep you posted.” I took the skies with most of the rest of New Wave as they began raining beams of light upon Hookwolf, dancing in and out of his reach with Glory Girl occasionally swooping in to land a brutal haymaker that shredded steel like it was paper.
Hookwolf’s crew includes Cricket and Stormtiger, right? Where are they exactly if Hookwolf was planning on causing trouble?
My internal question was answered as something took my breath away. Literally. I felt it as my lungs collapsed from lack of pressure, even as I suddenly careened out of the air to plough into the streets, my balance utterly destroyed as I began to feel something vibrating against my skin. The protections I’d placed on my costume was meant to deflect or shield me from raw force and energy, what I thought would be my primary vulnerabilities. After all, I didn’t want some ambitious sniper to just shoot me in the chest again. I hadn’t accounted for the more insidious ways the E88 could kill with their powers. If I wasn’t in dizzying agony (which said something, considering I had a perk specifically to give me greater pain tolerance), I’d have nullified Cricket’s infrasound with my own magic, but it was all I could do just to keep myself alive as I began to fill my chest with mana, manually oxygenating my blood with pure magic. It was insanely mana inefficient, but it was better than dying and only possible thanks to the Sacred Soul perk I’d picked up. My eyes watered as I looked around and spotted Hookwolf keeping New Wave at bay, the battlefield suddenly flooded with ghostly apparitions in a parody of plate armor. Crusader? But he wasn’t with Hookwolf…
I didn’t have time to think as Cricket came bounding out of a nearby alleyway, her blades flashing in the streetlights as she went eagerly to cut my throat. Without air in my lungs, incantations were impossible.
Luckily, I had invested in magic that didn’t need such things. Not to mention most of my perks didn’t require such anyway. I flung blue flames head on at her, done playing games. She barely ducked to the side in time despite my hampered aim and I noticed with grim satisfaction that a burn was already forming where the flame had passed closest. I met her eyes and the unspoken message was sent.
You’re all going for the kill? Then fair is fair.
I felt something change in the air and I realized that Stormtiger had stopped his little vacuum trick. Had probably assumed the damage was already done or-
My thought process was cut off as what I could only describe as a wind bomb went off in my face, flinging me further down the street away from my allies, cuts forming on some exposed bits of my face, though my costume did it’s job and refused to be shredded by the razor winds.
I got to my feet, coughed to clear some of the blood from my throat, then paused as pillars of iron and steel formed around me, blocking the ongoing fight down the street from my vision. Kaiser himself appeared from the shadows, armor vicious and noble at the same time, a symbol of his might and strength. One of the strongest Shakers in the city, barring Vista.
I was very much looking forward to killing him.
He was joined by the Valkyrie twins, Rune on her flying platform, and Krieg. No sign of Alabaster, Othala or Victor. I was hoping that the lack of Purity, Night, or Fog was an indication that she hadn’t joined this stupidly suicidal ploy.
“The great Magus, Hopebringer, savior of Canberra, terror of the Simurgh,” Kaiser began grandly, creating a series of metal steps until he towered over me. “Pretender!” He thundered. “False prophet! Protectorate dog!”
More faces began to appear at the entrances of alleys and side streets. Perfectly normal humans, but they all bore the black and red of the Empire Eighty-Eight.
I understood. Kaiser wanted to make a statement and do it in front of as much of his organization as he could. This had been planned. Coordinated. I had to hand it to him, it wasn’t a bad plan, if you were an idiot that liked to overestimate himself and underestimate his enemies. And he did have a pretty good speaking voice, rich and charismatic.
He thought I was in a position of weakness. So I did what he probably expected. I clutched at my chest as blood dribbled down my chin and glared defiantly. In the meantime, I allowed my healing magic to do it’s work, repairing the damage done while at the same time focusing on blocking out Cricket’s infrasound.
“Brought so low, so quickly,” Kaiser continued, his voice rising and falling with dramatic timing. Definitely a trained public speaker, which made sense given his identity. “I told you, my brothers and sisters, that this man could not truly defeat an Endbringer. He is merely the latest attack dog, harnessed and leashed to do the bidding of a corrupt and ineffective government.” His eyes turned gloating behind his helm as he stared down at me. “Very fitting for one of the lesser races.”
My blood went icy. It could have been a bluff, but I really didn’t like the look in his eyes. One of the Valkyrie twins stepped forward, suddenly growing to massive size and slammed me down into the street with one foot, keeping me pinned in place. Only my Dust ring and numerous protective spells kept me from being crushed like a gnat. Kaiser descended from his perch, a blade idly growing out of his armor into a perfect blade, intent on taking my head himself.
“I do apologize for all of this.” Kaiser’s voice was no less poised or charismatic as he lowered it to speak directly to me. “But an example must be made. This city shall be ours and you are a convenient target. “
You could do so much more. Why do you fear your own power? Why risk your life?
He’d bought me enough time with his gloating and little speech. I was fully healed.
And I was pissed.
Red lightning exploded from me, raw chaos magic. Kaiser stumbled back, already beginning to call his comrades to arms, but I was having none of that. I raised a fist and struck the ankle of whichever valkyrie was holding me with enough force to shatter it despite her strange Brute resistance, making her back up and shatter the facade of a building while crying out in agony. I followed up by leaping for Kaiser, only to stumble back as something hit me in the face. Half my vision went out and agony followed.
Someone just shot me in the eye. Motherfucker.
I snarled out a curse, but I was already following line of sight to where the bullet had probably come from. The passage of sound and air did not lie when I used a brief flicker of Lunatic Eyes. I unleashed a beam of golden energy that took out the top three stories of the building I’d tracked it to. I was gonna get shit from Piggot about that later, but I was in too much pain to care. Either I got Victor or the message that I wasn’t playing was enough to dissuade him. As it was, I barely had time to flick my fingers and cast another defensive barrier before the second valkyrie tried to impale me with a massive spear. The tip of it deflected off of my shield and into the street, giving me the opportunity to launch a bolt of red lightning right in between her eyes, sending her crashing down to the street where she began to shrink rapidly.
Stormtiger was winding up to pull his little vacuum trick again, but with a muttered word of power, I inverted the effects of his ability and caused his own lungs to cave in. Cricket came at me with a muted scream, so I lashed out with a single precise strike. She didn’t have any kind of Brute defense. Too easy.
Kaiser let out a roar of defiance and a sea of blades swept up and consumed me, but now that I was ready, it was almost trivial to surround myself in a barrier of light that effortlessly deflected everything the Nazi cape could throw my way. I spotted Rune circling, a pair of cars having joined a ring of debris that she seemed to be preparing to throw my way. Between one blink and the next I stepped through the shadows cast by Kaiser’s blades and onto a nearby rooftop, leaving her dumbfounded.
I glanced over toward the fight going on between New Wave, Hookwolf, Crusader, and Alabaster. Crusader was using himself as living canon fodder, Alabaster had a big gun that was keeping the squishier members of New Wave from acting and of course Hookwolf was just as dangerous as usual. Kind of a good combination to hold off a larger force actually. The Empire wasn’t necessarily stupid, just… very misinformed of my power level.
I reached up a hand and with psychokinesis very carefully extracted the bullet still lodged in my eye. My minor Brute rating hadn’t stopped it from destroying the soft tissue, but it had prevented it from entering my brain and outright killing me. I eyed the misshapen lump of metal as magecraft began the process of healing my destroyed eye. Close. Too close.
Time to end this.
I flew in low and quick over Hookwolf and unleashed another blast of crimson lightning, the power so intense that several streetlights popped just from the proximity, the initial strike area of his steel body melting. He seized up as whatever passed as muscles clenched, giving Laserdream and Lady Photo enough time to both concentrate their laser beams on a single point, more and more of his body melting away. As soon as he had control, he was in a fighting retreat. He knew when a situation had gone too far south. With the big guy out of the way, Manpower leapt in and layed out Alabaster with a single jaw shattering punch before putting him in a restraining hold. Didn’t matter how many times he reset if he was captured. Crusader was hiding, allowing his spectral warriors free reign, but a quick application of Lunatic Eyes allowed me to see where his power was emanating from. I shattered through the wall like it was cheap cardboard, making the Master flinch.
I gave him my darkest stare as lightning crackled around me. “Surrender. Now.”
He meekly raised his hands and I felt his apparitions dissolve. Sirens began to sound as I dragged him out and I spotted PRT vans pulling up, along with Armsmaster on his bike.
I gave them my best grin, probably ruined by the blood on my face and costume. “What took you guys so long?”
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“That was reckless and stupid of you, Magus!” Piggot paced and growled behind her desk as I stood at attention. “This was supposed to be a routine patrol, a way to further ties with New Wave. Instead you pick a fight with most of the Empire’s cape roster, in the middle of the street!”
“To be fair ma’am, they were in the middle of an active crime, and Hookwolf was the only one present. I had no way of knowing Kaiser had laid a trap of that scale,” I pointed out.
She deflated, but still scowled. “Maybe, but surely you had ways of deescalating the situation? Instead we have bodies in the street.”
My jaw clenched. “Ma’am, I was in severe agony, it was all I could do to defend myself. I’m sorry that a few were killed, but it was all reflexive. Once I’d gotten my faculties back in order, I did my best to take them alive.”
Cricket was dead. Stormtiger too. Menja was in a coma. Victor and Othala were both missing, presumed disintegrated by my retaliatory strike. I felt a bit bad, but honestly… what had they been expecting? By my estimation, tonight was a victory. Five down for the count (as far as we knew) along with Hookwolf, Alabaster, Crusader, and Fenja in custody. Kaiser, Krieg, and Rune had fled while I was distracted, but those three alone, while powerful, did not represent even a fraction of the Empire’s former strength.
Plus neither hide nor hair of Purity. That actually kind of made me happy. Maybe she’d done the smart thing after all and the rumors were wrong. Surely Kaiser would have used her to try and kill me?
“You’re a superhero, Magus. We have to hold you to a higher standard,” Piggot said grimly. “Deaths in the street… Goddammit all, I’m not going to be weeping, but do you know what this looks like?”
“Like a group of white supremacists tried to ambush me and got their asses handed to them for the trouble?”
“Like-” Piggot sighed and rubbed her temples. “No, you’re right in this case. You were doing your job and got ambushed. I shouldn’t be putting that on you, but dammit, did you have to kill so many of them?”
Armsmaster cleared his throat from where he stood to the side. “Director, if you wound a large and dangerous animal, it’s thrashing caused by pain can be dangerous. This is a similar scenario I believe.”
“Magus isn’t an animal though, he’s a member of the Protectorate.”
“Who are still human and therefore, fallible. The fact he limited his response to the parahuman members of the Empire and didn’t accidentally massacre their normal followers speaks to a good deal of control, even in a pained state.”
Honestly, I just hadn’t considered them a threat, but I’d take what defense I could get in this case. “Ma’am, I’m willing to submit myself to whatever reports, fines, penalties, screenings, whatever, to make this right.”
Piggot sighed again. “No court of law will convict you of this, I’m sure. Even if you weren’t an invaluable asset, this was a fight they picked. You’ll be confined to the Rig for now, no patrols, and you’ll cooperate fully with the investigation.”
That rankled, but I had joined the Protectorate of my own free will and if this was part of the price… “Ma’am.”
“Dismissed.”
I strode out of the room without another word, Agents Cole and Smith ready to escort me to the van that would take me to the Rig.
I paused when I spotted New Wave waiting to speak to Piggot themselves. “Give me a minute, guys?”
“Sure thing,” Cole rumbled agreeably.
I gave him a nod and then approached Crystal. “You all okay?”
She gave me a small smile and a shrug. “Eric took a bad hit, but Amy was able to heal him. The rest of us are fine, we’ve been in enough fights to stay alive. Not to mention they didn’t seem to be playing for keeps, not with us at least.” Her eyes lingered for a moment just below one eye where I knew blood trailed. She traced a finger lightly across it. “Are you okay?”
“Not the first lives I’ve had to take,” I muttered quietly, but leaned into her touch. “But it’s not easy, especially when I didn’t really mean to. I was just in so much pain and needed it to stop and then-” I cut myself off before I could start rambling.
She frowned. “You’ve… had to kill before?”
I winced. “Remember that mission I told you about? The favor I did for the Triumvirate?”
“Yes…”
“I might have wiped out the Slaughterhouse Nine. Act surprised when they announce it, that’s supposed to be a secret.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Only you could act so casual about wiping out a group like that.” She glanced at the Director’s office. “Think you’ll be in too much trouble for this?”
“Nah, I’ll ride it out, but I’m technically a lawfully appointed officer that took multiple lives today. There will be some paperwork, an inquiry, I’ll probably have to speak to a counselor, all that kind of stuff. It’s better this way, I don’t want people thinking I’m above the law.” Even if I technically am.
She grinned and darted in for a quick peck on my non-bloodied cheek. “You take responsibility for your actions. Very noble. Think they’ll let me visit you?”
I shrugged. “Eh, maybe? It’d be nice if you could, I’m liable to get bored out of my mind.”
“I’ll see what I can do then. I’ll bring all of us if I can, treat it like a hangout, rather than a, you know…”
“House arrest?”
“Temporary confinement.”
We shared a laugh before Cole deliberately cleared his throat. At my questioning glance, he tapped his watch meaningfully. I rolled my eyes. “Gotta go. See ya later?”
“‘Course. Good luck.”
“Don’t need it, but I’ll take it,” I said.
I followed Cole and Smith down into the garage and piled into the back of a van. Since I was on a sort of probation, I had to pretend I wasn’t a high end Mover for the moment and get around like a normal person or else be labeled a flight risk.
As we sat in silence for the first minutes, Cole finally looked at me appraisingly. “So… You and Laserdream, eh?”
“Yup.”
“Damn. She’s way too pretty for you.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever let you see my real face, just illusions,” I said with a frown.
“I stand by what I said.”
“She’s got like… the ultimate girl next door energy, but dialed up to a hundred,” Smith chimed in. He raised a hand defensively at my glare. “Not my type and she’s way too young for me anyway.”
“How’d you get so lucky anyway?” Cole asked curiously, his tone amused.
“I’ll let you know when I find out.”
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A/N: Thank you all for your patience. This chapter also fought me as I was trying to strike a balance in terms of Mak's power. We all know that in a straight fight, he could probably wipe out the entire Empire without breaking a sweat, but this was an ambush targeting some of his few weaknesses. Thought it was fitting. I'm gonna also start writing and posting chapters of a new story soon, though this will remain my weekly priority, I just have so many ideas bouncing around in my skull. Hope everyone had a good weekend and I'll catch y'all later.
Comments
John
Excellent writing for the fight scene. I did wonder how he was going to get through that without killing any of them, but then whoops turns out he did. That's all on E88. I don't know what they expected when they tried to kill him at least three different times tbh. Mak's relationship is progressing naturally, I like that part as well.
