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Got the Grimoire, Chapter 29
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 04:07:47 +0000 UTCChapter 29
I regarded the mindless husk that had once been the terror of North America. A killer and murderer of hundreds, no, thousands. Reduced to a screaming man, then little more than a weeping child, and finally just… A dull eyed body.
Lunatic Eyes allowed me to manipulate brainwaves. But brainwaves were incredibly complex things that weren’t touched lightly. In it’s simplest form, the most Lunatic Eyes could do was scramble a person’s mind because, well, that was the easiest thing it could do, no delicacy or finesse, just brute forcing a person’s brain out of alignment. It was scary how easily I could have used that power on many of my opponents. If I’d been a little less heroically inclined, more willing to just get shit done…
Well, that’s another matter entirely.
However, just because I wasn’t currently able to use my powers for more delicate procedures, doesn’t mean it was incapable. I just needed practice.
And I had a few morally acceptable targets on a silver platter.
Shatterbird had been something of a control point, a blast of mind altering power right to the brain that completely destroyed her neural pathways, leaving her no path to recover. It had been agonizing, but quick. Jack, I’d drawn things out. Stretched and distorted, attempting to do more than just scramble his mind, but actually alter it. It made the whole process that much slower and more painful as I messed up multiple times, backtracked and tried new things. It also taught me a lot.
So I was a bit more confident as I began my work on William Manton. Of course, I had to keep him sedated in order to keep the Siberian from appearing, so I didn’t have any screams of pain to give me guidance, but I was getting better at seeing and interpreting brainwaves, so I could kind of tell what was causing trauma to the mind and what wasn’t. A few hours of mental tinkering, combining Lunatic Eyes with some other magics and I tentatively woke him up, power ready to end his life the minute I sensed power usage.
“Good morning, Dr. Manton.”
“Good morning…” He frowned, face screwing up in concentration. “My apologies, but I don’t seem to know who you are.”
His voice worried me a bit. Completely toneless, no emotion. But that also meant no hostility. Progress? “My name is Magus. I’m an acquaintance of Cauldron and a hero with the Protectorate.”
“Ah, yes, Rebecca’s project. Well, more Clark’s, but…” He frowned more deeply. “I… killed him, didn’t I?”
“If you’re referring to Hero, then yes, you did.”
“It feels like so long ago. I know why I did it, but the more I consider it, the less rational it seems. I stole the vials, ignored Doctor Mother’s warnings and yet… I took out my rage on Clark of all people? Strange.”
“Your brain chemistry was probably being affected by trauma and using a vial yourself. How do you feel?”
“Confused, but calm. Objective. Tranquil. What have you done to me?”
“I was experimenting with a Master power.”
“Ah, I see. I should be angry, but seeing as without it, I’d have summoned my dau- the projection of my daughter and killed you, then it is a reasonable precaution.”
“I’m glad you’re so understanding, Doctor.”
“I’m currently emotionally dead, not an idiot, I can recognize sarcasm just fine.” He looked around a moment, regarding Jack’s drooling form as well as Burnscar and Bonesaw. “What do you intend to do with me now?”
“Well I didn’t mean to do this to you, but…” No sense lying and time to test how far his state goes. “I’m going to give you, well, your power anyway, to the Faerie Queen.”
“Ah, preserve a powerful ability, but eliminate the unstable element. I assume you have a way of bringing Glaistig Uaine into the fold?”
“I have some ideas.”
“Better than leaving it in my hands. I suspect that if I still had a form of empathy, I’d be quite distraught at all the lives I could have been saving.” He shook his head, still emotionless, but somehow still conveying a sense of disappointment. “What a waste.”
“Hm.” It made me feel kind of bad, but I did promise Alexandria. I reached into the Doctor’s brain and carefully kindled a section back to life, using my own brain as a model to figure out the exact regions and wavelengths needed.
Slowly, horror showed on his face. “What did you do?” He asked.
“Made you feel guilt again.”
It probably wasn’t the kind of suffering Alexandria wanted, but… well, it was still torture of a sort.
I threw up a barrier to block the sight and sounds of his wailing as I moved onto my next project.
Burnscar. Abusive childhood, screwed up trigger and even more screwed up power that lent itself to continued use. Got depressed when not using her power, meaning using it felt like an escape? Recipe for a villain right there. Combine that with how badly the system handled her and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Well, not for Burnscar. Burnscar was a monster, one of Jack Slash’s deranged killers that burned people alive and found it amusing.
No, I felt sorry for Mimi, the kid who never got a chance to be better, who got screwed over so badly by life and the system that her fate in canon was almost merciful.
With a muttered word I woke her up. I’d need to be very careful while monitoring her brainwaves, I didn’t want a repeat of Manton’s case. Keeping her under would be safer and less painful, but I’d failed in altering Manton’s mind the way I wanted specifically because I couldn’t monitor every aspect of it while he was unconscious.
Her eyes popped open and immediately flared the color of her flames as she tried to use them. I suppressed them the instant they appeared. “None of that now. I need you to be lucid for what we’re about to do.” The sight of what her powers did to her brain as she used them was rather interesting though. When comparing it to her ordinary mind or even that of a normal human… Well, her power had done a number on her, that was for sure.
Damn this would have been so much easier if I had Amy with me.
Mimi’s eyes slowly turned back to their normal color and she regarded me with a blank expression, even if my constant monitoring of her vitals told me that she was panicking and already feeling the withdrawals from not using her powers or substituting with drugs. “You’re that guy that attacked our camp. Magus. Jack was going on and on about you. I think he was nudging us toward Brockton Bay next.”
Well that wasn’t a terrifying thought or anything. Not because I thought they could actually do anything to me personally, The Siberian was the only one I was even remotely worried about being able to injure me. But the idea of what they’d do to my friends, my teammates, the people I’d grown to care about in Brockton Bay… I glanced over at Jack Slash’s drooling shell and fought the urge to sigh in relief.
I’ll have to do something nice for Taylor. Who knows how long I’d put off hunting them down if she hadn’t spoken up.
“As you can see,” I tilted my head in Jack’s direction, “that won’t be an issue any longer.”
She glanced over and grimaced at the sight. “We all run out of luck someday. It was only a matter of time before Jack pissed off someone too powerful.”
“True, he did like to play with fire. I’m honestly surprised no one killed you all sooner. Good self control on Alexandria’s part I guess. Or maybe just manipulation from a mutual ally.”
That got a frown out of her. “We had Siberian. She went toe to toe with the toughest heroes in the world. She made the Triumvirate the Triumvirate.”
“Except it would have been easy to- We’re getting off track. Let’s talk about you, Mimi.”
She snorted and glanced away. “What about me? I’m just another one of Jack’s Nine. I’ve got a kill order, just get on with it.”
“Oh no, you don’t get to go out that easily.”
“So torture first then? Or did you have something else in mind?” Her eyes flicked up and down. “You aren’t the most handsome guy in the world, but it’s been a while. Not many chances to get laid when you’re on the road.”
Despite her words of bravado and their flippancy, I could tell that she was at least a little scared, of death, of pain. “I’m a hero, so no to both of those suggestions.” I allowed my eyes to begin glowing. “However, I am going to be killing Burnscar. I’m just hoping I can save Mimi while we’re at it.”
“What the fu- ARGH!” Her words were cut off with a strangled screech as I began my work.
I’m sorry…
I hardened my resolve by thinking about the dead I’d seen in Millville. The families burned alive. That had just been a small taste of the terror that the Slaughterhouse Nine were responsible for over the course of their existence. Any pain Mimi was going through at that moment was nothing compared to what she had unleashed. Most people would say giving her a second chance was more than what she deserved. They were probably right, but…
I’m a sucker for a tragic backstory, alright?
As I worked, the more difficult it became. The long term damage her powers had caused her brain were… bad. The drug use didn’t help. The longer I kept on trying to repair the damage, the more agony she went through, the more her psyche was damaged. After a while of trying that…
Well, I decided to go an alternate route. One that would get me in a lot of trouble if discovered.
Piggot is going to fire me when she finds out about this…
I grabbed hold of Mimi’s mind and essentially erased Burnscar. What I mean specifically, is that I took the last several years of her life and deleted or suppressed them as much as I could, buried them so deep into her subconscious that she’d only see them in nightmares, but true recall was lost.
As soon as I was sure that I was successful, I dropped her into another magically induced sleep. Her mind would need some time to rest and recover.
I sighed, cracked my knuckles and walked over to my final project and the true priority. Bonesaw. Riley. Truth be told, I kind of felt for her and Mimi nearly equally in terms of backstory, but…
Frankly, Riley’s powers were more useful in the long term. And I really didn’t feel like feeding her to the Faerie Queen. Plus you know… Twelve-year old who was triggered and turned into a serial killer supervillain when she was only six. If any of the Nine were deserving of sympathy or pity, Riley was at the top of the list. I also couldn’t deny that the idea of taking Jack Slash’s legacy and ruining it, twisting it into something good that would benefit the world was really nice. Denying the madman everything he ever wanted.
I began my most delicate procedure yet, keeping Riley unconscious while I did so, but knowing far better what I was looking for while making my modifications to her mind. I wanted Bonesaw gone, but the knowledge and experience she’d gained as a Tinker was not to be underestimated and I didn’t want to have to start fresh. I’d taken my time with every one of my experiments, but I was especially careful with Riley, taking breaks to make sure my focus didn’t slip and constantly double checking all of my work. After a while I checked my phone and found hours had gone by. Reviewing Riley’s mind, I grimaced.
I’m going to be here for a while…
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“Hey Arach- Ow!” I yelped as I appeared at the spot I’d chosen to meet with Arachne for a Saturday night patrol and got a fist rammed into my arm. It didn’t really hurt, but it did startle me a bit. “What gives?”
“What gives? You casually said you were going to go fight a band of serial killers and then vanished for over a day!” Arachne snapped at me. “Excuse me if I don’t feel comfortable potentially losing one of my few friends!”
“Aww hey, we’re friends-” I flinched back as bugs began to gather around her. “Okay, sheesh. I’m sorry, really. Look, it’s just how my brain works. I get into a rhythm, a routine, and don’t really deviate, but then I get bursts of motivation to be productive. What you said kind of helped kick me into gear.”
“By going and fighting the Nine! How did I… Oh… what I said about overpreparing?”
“Yeah, basically.”
“I didn’t mean for you to risk your life…” She muttered, ducking her head in embarrassment.
“And I didn’t. I fought an Endbringer and got damn close to beating it. The Nine were nothing compared to that. I was doing exactly what you said, overpreparing way past what I actually needed to take them down. So I acted and beat them. You’ll probably hear about it Monday if I had to guess.”
“That’s a relief I suppose. I guess you’re rich now too, huh?”
“Yep, got quite a bit of bounty money. Though I’m donating a large portion to the PRT and then about half is going to the Thinker I hired to track down the Nine in the first place. Still, not pocket change, I can tell you that much.”
“Sounds like it.” Arachne kicked at the ground a bit as the bugs subsided and either hid amidst her costume and hair or otherwise faded into the background. “Have you noticed that Purity hasn’t been active lately?”
I blinked, a bit surprised. “I mean… neither have we technically?”
“I’m a teenager. You’re a Protectorate hero when you aren’t being Kage. What’s her excuse?”
“Full time job maybe? I’m sure if she was still with the Empire, she’d be a lot more active. But as it stands, I bet she still has to support herself, not to mention whatever social life or family responsibilities she might have,” I said.
Arachne hummed in an unconvincing way.
“What?”
“I just… heard a rumor.”
“About Purity?”
“Yeah. You know that Winslow is like… full of gang stuff, right?”
“It’s a cesspit, yeah.”
“Well I overheard some Eighty-Eight kids talking about how Purity was back, how with her power added back to their roster, they were going to finally push out Lung and take over the city. Trash talk from teenagers, maybe, but…”
Hell if Purity had backslided into the Empire… Well that just pissed me off for putting any kind of trust in her. “I’ll do some digging. Thanks for the tip.”
“I might not be good in a fight, but I’m pretty decent at recon.”
“You’re better than you give yourself credit for. Tell you what, next week, lets just do some training, eh? I’ll show you some moves that Armsmaster himself taught me.”
I could practically see the shining eyes behind her mask. “Is he as cool in person as on t.v?”
“Better. He’s a hardass, but a real hero. If I ever get the chance, I’ll introduce you. That might take some finnangling though. Unless you joined the Wards,” I threw out casually.
I could read hesitation in her body language. Nothing new there at least. “I dunno, I mean… I like being a superhero because it gets me away from the teenage bullshit, joining the Wards would feel like more of the same…”
“The Wards are all good kids though. No bullying or power plays there, they’re all pretty professional and put together.” I paused, assessing my statement. “Okay, Kid Win is a little klutzy and Clockblocker is… Clockblocker, but Aegis, Gallant, and Vista are all real mature for their age.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Steady paycheck~” I said teasingly.
“I said I’ll think about it! I’m not in this for the money anyway.”
“No, but getting paid to do good work isn’t a bad thing and it enables you to focus more of your time on what’s important rather than having to maintain a civilian identity with things like a job.”
“How does that work anyway?” She asked curiously.
“Well on paper, I’m a civilian analyst with the PRT. Since so much of the PRT’s functioning is top-secret, due to Master/ Stranger concerns and national security, it’s extremely hard to find direct proof between my civilian identity and heroic. I even have a cubicle at PRT HQ and everything, just gotta show up every now and then to make people think I’m a paper pusher. Plus the PRT has a great ‘work from home’ plan for a lot of their non-essential office personnel. The government is good and nothing else if not bullshitting people.”
That settled, we began our patrol. Thanks to both our extra-sensory powers, we were able to stop a rather large amount of crime. Three drug deals, five different assaults, and we determined that a pair of women were not in fact working for a pimp of their own free will. Arachne was not happy about that one and I ignored the rather large amount of insect bites. No ABB though, which I did find more than a little odd.
Keeping a low profile after my reveal? Too early to tell.
The rest of the night was fairly easy going.
Until we ran into the Rage Dragon at least.
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A/N: I originally had a bit of a darker fate in mind for Burnscar, more akin to Jack or Manton, but as I refreshed my memory of her backstory and circumstances... Well, it got me thinking and like I admit in this fic, I'm a sucker for a tragic backstory. We'll see how that goes.
