Orb Weaver: Storm, Chapter 8

“Tenebrae,” I said. “I need you to cover the building, I don’t want Leviathan to see the people." Or hopefully, decide that there might be a trap behind Brian’s smoke. There was nothing keeping the Endbringer from killing us all but the hope was that we might be able to bluff it.

“Everyone else, retreat behind the cover, of Tenebrae’s cloud.”

“What?” Glory girl sounded disbelieving. “You’re expecting him to just ignore the build—“

“No. I’m expecting to distract him. Glory Girl, You’re with me. Don’t attack him, I need you to fly me away, when I distract him. Nobody in the building attack the Endbringer.”

My explosive bullets were among the most powerful direct offensive weapons we had, and Leviathan tended to go after blasters on the assumption they were weak.

“Whoah, Boss-lady, I’m the one that should be—“

“No.” I cut Aisha off. “If I just vanish, he’ll turn back around. Glory Girl is someone he can follow.” I paused. “If you’re okay with that.”

There was a pause. “Sure, play dodge with the Endbringer.” There was a tremble in Vicky’s voice.

I was thankful that enough insects survived that I could push my tells into them. Everyone needed a calm leader right now.

Moments later, Brian’s darkness started rising around the building, clinging close to it, even as the weather tried to tear it away.

Would Leviathan avoid the potential risk of what might be hidden in there, or had I just condemned my friends and a bunch of innocent people?

Sometimes, in war, there are no right answers… A warning from one of my books.

And then Glory Girl was landing by me. “The building, over there,” I said.

“Right.” And she grabbed me under the arms and we flew to a wrecked three story building, the remains of a cheery banner announcing the grand opening of the Cake Factory this weekend.

Someone’s dream. Hopefully, they had escaped. You could always rebuild a dream—if you were alive.

“Leviathan at A6.” More notes, people being hurt, killed, though rather fewer of the latter. Then a sudden surge. “Attention, Leviathan has broken contact. All teams reform.”

I wished I knew what they were talking about. I saw PRT drones flying around, Tinkertech designs that could endure the storm, but even though the flashes of lightning, I couldn’t see much.

Maybe he’s gone—then another flash of lightning revealed a hunched-over form, four eyes, three on one side, one on the other gleaming in the light. But he was… injured. Gouges in his body, ichor falling off of them, deep holes…

“Fuck!” the word was involuntary. “Hard Override, Leviathan is at our location!” Another flash of lightning and he was closer, like an old-fashioned stop motion video. Another flash, another step.

“Everyone mov—“

“Negative. Reform your teams, then attack.” Alexandria’s voice. She might have just condemned us to death, but I could understand it. Whatever they had been doing had been working. I didn’t recall any images of Leviathan this badly injured bar Scion showing up.

I just really wished that they’d given me a countdown.

Leviathan moved again, just like before, in time with the lightning. Oh God, he’s doing that deliberately. With that action, I would never again refer to Leviathan as an it.

Then I snapped my hands up, bugs on the end of my guns letting me aim without looking. I alternated, tungsten rounds at full velocity followed by explosive rounds. I didn’t see much of an impact from the tungsten rounds, but the explosive round thundered, globes of fire where they’d struck Leviathan.

And Leviathan dodged, so fast I nearly couldn’t see him move, so fast that I didn’t move the gun fast enough, missing with two rounds.

Fortunately, there was nothing behind him that I could hurt.

But he was moving too fast for us to escape, and Glory Girl shot in front of me, arms raised to block the Endbringer and shield me—but then, he turned, impossibly fast, and shot for the building.

How did he—I watched as Leviathan moved to kill everyone else. There would be no surviving this and my plan had—

And then he entered the darkness, and his back, just before it vanished, came…shuddering to a halt?

The fuck? The wind started to tear the darkness away, and I saw…

Leviathan, impaled on paper. Other paper spears were bent but in front of him, Kanshi and Clockblocker stood, together, Clockblocker's hands on some of her spears.

They—they hid her spears in the cloud, but they’d faked out Leviathan—some of the paper spears had been timelocked by Clockblocker—the shorter ones so Leviathan wouldn’t notice, not in time to stop.

“Got you, you big lizard!” Glory Girl shouted and shot forward, slamming into Leviathan’s back, pushing the Endbringer forward.

“This is Investigator, we have Leviathan immobilized, and—“ I fell silent, staring and…

He’s still. He’s not struggling he’s—“GLORY GIRL, BACK AWAY!!”

Too late. She flew towards him and his tail flicked up—she absorbed the punch, but then the water echo—

Vicky flew away. In two pieces.

Her body went one way, her legs went the other.

“Glory Girl down A7.” A flickering, shadowy form appeared next to the falling Glory Girl, then twisted as Krewe grabbed her and vanished.

I opened fire again with my guns, as Leviathan pulled himself free of the trap.

What is he? How can something like that even survive?! Ichor was flowing from the deep wounds, but he was still moving.

I’d read about Endbringers, watched the videos…

But they couldn’t do justice to the reality of the Endbringers. I opened fire again, but only with my tungsten rounds—he was too close to the building. He advanced on me, shielding his eyes from my bullets, his motions almost playful, a kitten finding a moth. Then he lunged. I opened fire and—A ball of paper encompassed me? Kanshi had made it to me, using one of her paper lines to pull her to my position, and we both screamed as Leviathan batted the paper ball down the street, the structure collapsing around us, and there was Leviathan, the same playful moves as he ran at us. Slower than he could move. He wanted us—

And then I was shrieking out curses and by me, Kanshi was doing the same in Japanese. Explosive rounds, tungsten rounds, paper spears, paper tigers, all attacked the Endbringer and all were ignored.

We were going to di—

And then a field rose up around the Endbringer, bringing it to a pause. Right before Alexandria slammed into it so hard that the water turned to steam, every insect hiding in the region dying instantly. We should have died instantly. The sheer noise should have liquified our brains and—

The field, it was for us, to shield us. Alexandria shot up again, and glowing chains erupted from the ground. And above I saw her loop around, a constellation of Parahumans floating around Eidolon.

I recognized one.

Mass. A parahuman who could…

Increase the mass of objects and people… that’s what they were organizing for. He’s using it on Alexandria. Legend and several other parahumans linked up, firing their beams at someone I didn’t know, but they combined and that sun-hot bolt shot down, burning the Endbringer…

And his leg fell off. Moments later, Leviathan moved, breeching the dome with that same impossible speed, fleeing away…

But he was fleeing.

No wonder Alexandria considered our lives worth risking. I checked my watch. Huh. Less than 45 seconds between Leviathan showing up and Alexandria’s attack. It seemed longer.

Kanshi and I just sat in the rain, the thunder of the battle receding into the distance.

“This is Search and Rescue. Glory Girl has been recovered. Krewe has been recovered.”

Or someone’s sitting on Krewe to keep her from running out again.

“I must register a complaint with the Protectorate.” Kanshi glanced at me. “For their supposed Heroism.”

“What?” I asked, not bothering to hide my disbelief. What was she on?

“The first book I read about Alexandria reminded little boys and girls to be polite and help people across the street. Like Alexandria would.” She gestured at the refuge, across the flooded street. “She did not.”

I stared at Kanshi.

“Heh. Hah…haha”

Kanshi kept her position proper, then her own shoulders started shaking.

Moments later, with were both helplessly laughing, even as the message came that Leviathan was fleeing.

We were still laughing when Aegis and Kid Win came out to see if we needed help as the first gaps in the clouds started to show blue sky.