The Second Archon War: Superbia Hominum 8

Superbia Hominum 8: The Lust of the Flesh

This is CNN. I’m Tom Brokaw, and this is 270 to Win. All across the nation today, Americans head to the polls to choose our next president. The battleground states to watch are Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Currently, polls favor Mrs. Rebecca Costa-Brown, former head of the Protectorate and famed cape Alexandria, over Maryland Governor Alan Keyes. We turn now to CNN’s resident Thinker and political analyst, Mrs. Tianna Brown. 

Alexandria looked away from the television screen, trying to project calm assurance. She had this in the bag. The election itself was barely even a formality at this point. Contessa told her that she’d do an LBJ vs Goldwater, except she’d get Arizona and lose Maryland. It was still nerve-racking. 

“I’d tell you to relax, but I know it doesn’t work. My re-election was a slam dunk, but I was still biting my nails in the bathroom,” Governor Dainson chuckled from his seat in an armchair across from her. “It’s early hours yet. Too soon for any real results to come in.”

“I know,” Alexandria sighed, taking a deep breath. “But I’ve got to get out there and take the stage again, just like you. I’m more used to taking to the battlefield in a different way.”

“Like that?” Dainson asked, nodding to the TV. They were playing digital footage that was a “reenactment” of Alexandria fighting alongside the Tsaritsa against the newest Endbringers: the Twins. 

“It was a far bit bloodier,” Alexandria said with a grimace. There had been little footage to come out of Kyiv of the battle, largely because it had been the deadliest in years, surpassing even Madison’s staggering death toll of over 100,000, and edging into Davao territory of well over half a million. The Twins were shaping up to be even more terrifying than the Simurgh, and she was checked by Kusinali. Perhaps the Protectorate could work with the Tsaritsa to find a counter to these newest Endbringers, so the situation wasn’t as hopeless as it had been before 1999. 

“A grim reminder that even Archons aren’t invincible,” Dainson agreed. “From what you’ve said, you saved her bacon.”

“She was holding her own, but going two-on-one against Endbringers is apparently a bridge too far even for Archons,” Alexandria agreed. “It seems to be playing well in the polls though.”

“If you don’t win with at least 60% of the vote, I’ll eat my hat,” Dainson laughed. “What do your Thinker friends say?”

“That your hat is probably safe, but that’s something not even they know for certain,” Alexandria said with a small smile. 

Dainson stood, shaking his head. “Even the odd one with the fedora and the Magic 8 Ball? What was her name again?”

“Classified, but once you take office I’ll be sure to read you in,” Alexandria assured him, standing herself. “I’m off to Miami to hold a rally. I’m not Cuban, but the Cuban voters there seem to approve of a Latina candidate, so I’m going to take a last tour to try to win them over.”

“Which suit will you be wearing, out of curiosity?” Dainson asked, raising a bushy grey eyebrow. 

“The one the people want to see,” Alexandria told him with a wink, then stepped over to the window and jumped out. 

It was a quick flight for her from her campaign’s headquarters in Los Angeles to Miami. She was even a little early, so she stopped over in Columbus at a nice little coffee shop and got a drink, taking a moment to chat with prospective voters and taking a few selfies before taking off again. She landed on the stage in Miami right on schedule to thunderous cheers and applause. She shook hands with a couple of local capes who supported her campaign as well as Representative Margolis, who was campaigning for reelection to the House, before taking the podium. 

She was wearing a woman’s suit and pants, though she had worn her classic helmet when she landed. Her Cyro Vision was around her neck as an amulet, and she grinned at the cameras. “Good morning, Miami! I’d say it’s chilly today, but I might hurt the feelings of our friends up in New England.” 

That got her some chucks, and she smiled into the cameras. “Today, we have a chance to reclaim the future of America. The world has changed dramatically since 1999, when the first Visions began to appear. That year also gave us something we hadn’t had in a long time: Hope. Hope that humanity wouldn’t go quietly or otherwise into that good night. That our light would shine bright! But I’m here to tell you that our light doesn’t need to be in the hands of Archons or Foreign Powers. That we, the people of the United States, must once more become the leaders of the free world.”

“All across the world, people are coming under authoritarian regimes. Democracy is under siege as dictators and parahuman strongmen along with Archons take the reigns of power. Yes, some of them are benevolent, but that doesn’t change that change is coming under an iron heel of those with powers.”

“Some of you might say, ‘isn’t that what you’re doing?’ Perhaps. But what I want to do is to democratize powers. You’ve already heard about my Case 53 initiative, where the United States continues research into the large-scale production of those with parahuman powers, allowing us to ensure that the people of the United States, not some foreign Archon or an Endbringer, determine our own fate. Vote for me today, and I can assure you, I won’t be the only Alexandria. Powers will become available to patriots who are willing to put America first, and to step forward to safeguard this nation and her people.”

 “My opponent has spoken of curtailing these programs. Of reining in the Protectorate, and the PRT. Of ‘returning to normal.’ I say there is no going back. Only forward. America will become the nation that all others look to, even those without an Archon, as the bastion of liberty and democracy and the champion of mankind, leading the world forward into a brighter future.”

“We will be that shining city on the hill! We will be that nation that the huddled masses yearning to breathe free cling to and come to! We will end decades-old animosities, like the US embargo of Cuba. The world has moved on from old rivalries and grudges. Now is the time for mankind to join hands and declare that we will not be defeated! We will not be cowed! And we will not go into that good night, quietly or otherwise!” 

More cheers and shouts, and Alexandria grinned, waving to the crowd. She could almost see it. Almost see a future where they were free of the threat of extinction. Where the Endbringers were contained or destroyed, where the Archons worked hand in hand with Cauldron, where Scion and his Shards were killed and made to serve humanity. 

That future was this close. 

But it was about to be stolen. 

Stalking through the ranks, Anatoly glanced up at the head of the massive underground chamber. They didn’t look like what he considered to be ‘portals,’ but then again, much of how he had thought the world should work turned out to be false. If portals were simple wooden bridge heads with some funny scribbles on the arches that overhung them, who was he to say otherwise? He ascended the platform, where Kollei and the Tsaritsa were standing with the other Harbingers. Including his damnable sister and her pet lover. Gods but she was so beautiful right now.

“My men are ready, your Majesty,” he said, falling to one knee before the Tsaritsa. 

“Excellent. The Bifrost Bridge is complete. With the beacon you planted, it was not difficult to locate this other world where the body of the dead god is hidden,” the Tsaritsa said with a nod. “All is prepared. Let the curtain rise!”

Stepping forward, the Tsaritsa gestured to the assembled crowd. As one, the Fatui knelt, shouting, “Hail, Tsaritsa!” They were dressed in uniforms that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Russian Imperial Army of the 19th century, with long blue coats, silver epaulets, and tall shakos trimmed with bear fur and bearing the cryo sigil. They were mostly armed with guns loaded with elemental ammunition. Each squad had a Vision Holder or parahuman that bore a personal weapon, such as a sword, spear, or bow. Those had been crafted by Tinkers and Vision Holders, and were infused with power. 

“My beloved subjects,” the Tsaritsa said, raising her scepter. “Today, we take the first step in reclaiming what is rightfully ours: preeminence among the nations! No longer shall Russia be a bit player on the world stage. No more will we bow and scrape to the Americans and their Protectorate. We do this not simply for our own sake, but for theirs. The fools meddle in powers they cannot comprehend, blaspheming against the body of a dead god. Such things were not meant for mortals. But now, you and my Harbingers will cross the Bifrost Bridge to their shadow realm. 

“There, you will seize the remains of the Sustainer’s Bride and transport her to my own realm of Belobog. Once we have the corpse, more of my Delusions shall be manufactured. Those who distinguish themselves this day shall be rewarded with power, perhaps even ascending to my stage to become one of my Harbingers. What we do now, we do for not just Russia, but all of Mankind! You shall be remembered not as mere bit players, but as heroic legends who took center stage at the hour of destiny!

“Go forth now, and seize victory! Seize the future! FOR RUSSIA AND LOVE!” 

“FOR RUSSIA AND LOVE!” the soldiers chanted, springing to their feet and pounding their chests in salute. 

The Tsaritsa turned to Anatoly and the others. “You have your scripts. See to it that the play goes as directed.”

“Of course, your Majesty,” all said, bowing their heads. 

With a nod, the Tsaritsa turned towards the portals. Raising her scepter, she closed her eyes and shimmered, taking on her godly aspect. Ice spread from beneath her, rising towards the Bifrost Bridges. The wooden slats became rimmed with frost, and the sigils carved into them began to glow. Then, rainbow light began to pour from the bridges, and a moment later, a path through the wall of the underground cavern was revealed on crystalline ice that glowed with all seven colors of the rainbow. 

“Fatui! Move out!” The Prince ordered, drawing his cavalry saber and twirling it once before jabbing it forward. 

“URRA!” with a mighty warcry, the Fatui surged forward, onto the bridges, and into another world. 

It had been a slow day for Fortuna. She should have been watching the presidential campaign back on Earth Bet, something she somewhat understood. She had, after all, heard of the Athenians in their Assembly and how they argued over everything. In her own village, the Elders had decided everything, mostly the men, though Grandma Cora had enough pull that things usually happened her way if she put her foot down. 

Still, she knew that Rebecca would win. Her Path said it was necessary, and that it would work. But something was bothering her. She’d asked her usual questions for the day, and even more. “What do I need to do today to save humanity?” “Is anyone trying to kill me?” “Will the next Archon arrive today?” 

Those sorts of questions, though she never got answers about the Archon. Instead, what was bothering her was that she kept having bad Dreams. 

Unlike Dr. Mother, Fortuna had taken to Dreaming like a duck to water. It was easy for her to use a little magic and slip into a Dream, usually with the aid of some psychedelics. Once there, she forecast the future using techniques Nahida had taught them. 

And what she saw today left her disturbed. Images of a thief in the night. Hades’ gates opening and the dead escaping from Tartarus. Treachery and betrayal in the dark. 

When she asked Eighty about it, she received only silence, which infuriated her. She had specifically asked if it concerned Rebecca or the election, and all the signs pointed to no. Even her Dreams indicated that Rebecca would receive a crown and rod, and ascend to the throne of America. That wasn’t quite how it worked, but close enough. 

So, she had come to Earth Gimmel, where they kept the corpse of Eden. She wasn’t walking the Garden of Flesh, but instead prowling the corridors. This, to her, was Hades. Where the dead slept restlessly, and only the vigilance of Cauldron kept the lid on nightmares. 

“Something is happening today, I know it,” she muttered, walking into a laboratory. 

“Oh, hello, Tyche! Are you here to see the results of my experiments?” 

Fortuna blinked, looking up to see Doctor Meliton. “Oh, hey. No, not really. I’m just wandering. Sorry if I disturbed you.”

The good doctor blinked rapidly at Fortuna from behind her thick glasses. “You’re…wandering? But…you’re a Thinker 12. You always know what’s going to happen before it does.”

“Usually, it’s pretty boring,” Fortuna agreed, caressing Eighty who was residing in her pocket. “So, you’re activating your first artificial human today?”

“Yes! Um, will it work? Wait, no, don’t tell me. I need to run the experiment even if it won’t, and I don’t want to bias myself,” Meliton said. 

Nodding, Fortuna came over to look at the tank where the artificial human Meliton had constructed resided. Her eyebrows went up at seeing the naked form of a young man with long blonde hair that was floating in a halo around him. “Dead boyfriend, huh?”

“H-he’s not my boyfriend. Wasn’t. Mr. Albedo was my teacher,” Meliton said softly, resetting her hand on the tank. “I-in, um, high school. I h-had a crush on him. But…but he died of cancer. Right before I graduated. Um, I never got to tell him…how much he meant to me.”

Fortuna shrugged. In her day, it would have been completely normal for a teacher to take his star pupils as lovers, though normally it would have been an older man and a boy. She didn’t get the hangups the uptimers had with that sort of thing. Then again, she hadn’t been interested in romance since she’d set off on her Path. Not only was there no time with it, but she was fairly certain her devotion to her god had poisoned her sex drive too. 

“So, are you going to throw the lever?” she asked instead. She knew the answer of course, Eighty whispered it in her ear.

She’ll conduct the experiment, and he’ll awaken. But he’ll be brain-dead. Another failure. 

But, the living body might be a suitable host for one of the AI that Richter was working on. Fortuna didn’t bother pursuing that rabbit trail. She wasn’t terribly interested at the moment, but she got the answer anyway: It would work, and they’d create an artificial life form. Though the chances of it being as powerful as Richter’s original creation or being the resurrection of Meliton’s dead teacher were slim to none. 

“It’s not quite that simple, but yes, I think it’s time,” Meliton agreed, going over to a computer console and clutching her vision. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Ok, now to-”

DANGER. FLEE. 

“STOP!” Fortuna cried, dashing forward to grab Meliton’s hand. She looked around, eyes wild, because it wasn’t the experiment that was giving her such an extreme sense of danger. 

“What?! What is-” Meliton gasped, but Fortuna had seized her arm and was sprinting for the wall, where she slammed an alarm button and activated the intercom. 

“We’re under attack! Command, we’re under attack we have to-”

The here was a scream from the other side, along with gunfire and a series of explosions. Fortuna felt her blood run cold. How do I alert the whole facility we’re attacked? 

She got a quick series of answers and began to follow the steps, even as Meliton broke away from her grip and back to her command console. 

“We don’t have time for that!” Contessa gasped, even as she followed the steps to activate the alarm and Eighty screamed at her to run and hide. 

There you are, fool. I was wondering when I would find you. And the good doctor as well. I think you’ll both be coming with me. We have ever so much to discuss. 

Despite her Path telling her exactly who this was, Fortuna couldn’t believe it. She slowly turned to find Yelizaveta smiling at her. She no longer looked human, with her silvery mask on with glowing eyes, one purple, one blue. Long talons that crackled with energy trailed from her fingers, and batlike wings of frost and lightning sprouted from her back. 

“D-Doctor Mirova?” Meliton gasped, her voice shaking. 

Ah, what have I told you, sweetie? I’m no doctor now. I’m the Witch. And you’re trapped in my grim tale. 

The Harbinger advanced on them, and Fortuna desperately asked her path, How do I win this fight? 

Flee. 

That was an answer that Fortuna refused to accept. So she asked another question. How do I ensure that the Albedo clone successfully activates?

This time, she got another series of steps, even as alarms began to blare throughout the planet-wide facility. “Honey! I’ll hold her off! You get Albedo online!” 

Thankfully, Meliton didn’t argue with the Thinker 12, and simply set about the activation process, using her Vision to infuse her artificial human with energy. For her part, Fortuna went to war. 

You wish to dance, Fool of Fate? Very well. Let us dance then, the Witch chuckled, and raised her talons. 

A path opened up before Fortuna, and she swallowed. Sometimes, even she couldn’t find a flawless way forward. But she had to try anyway. 

“-thank you all, and God Bless America!” 

Alexandria waved to the crowd, then stepped aside to shake more hands. She was in Pittsburgh this time, standing on stage and waving to the crowd. She glanced to the side, then did a double take as a white-faced Doctor Mother was beckoning frantically to her. Alexandria quickly finished her gladhanding then hurried over. “What’s the situation?”

“The Garden is under attack,” Doctor Mother whispered, her voice nearly breaking from strain.

Alexandria’s eyes shot open, then flicked back to the crowd. “What? How? Now? I…” 

She closed her eyes, and did a few rapid mental calculations. “Who can we send?”

“I’ve evacuated Doormaker, Clairvoyant, Numberman, the Slug, and some of our staff. But there’s a lot more trapped. We barely made it out,” Doctor Mother whispered. 

“Who can we send? Who’s attacking us?” Alexandria repeated. 

Doctor Mother’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. “It's…it’s the Fatui. The Tsaritsa. The Tsaritsa has betrayed us.”

All Alexandria saw was red. The Fatui? How could they betray them? Hadn’t they just saved them? They’d signed a treaty barely a week ago! “Get me Hero, Legend, Eidolon, and Miss Militia. This cannot stand.”

Fighting for Fortuna was a surreal experience. She spent a good chunk of her life already several seconds ahead of the rest of the world, waiting for everyone else to catch up. It seemed like everyone else was a shadow puppet, and Fortuna simply watched their play, reaching out with her own shadows to alter reality. When she fought however, she gave herself over to her path entirely, and became a puppet herself, guided by strings of Fate. 

It felt like someone else who watched a claw of lighting try to take her head off. Someone else who slashed the bronze knife that had killed a god through the air, countering the blow. She was a passenger as she dodged and weaved, drew her gun and fired. It was someone else who took a chunk of ice through their left arm. No matter, she could fight on, and the pain was a distant echo, more the reaction you had when you saw someone else seriously injured. 

Still, Fortuna knew how this play would end. Her path had been right. No matter how wonderfully she fought, no matter how perfect her reflexes, the gulf in power between herself and her opponent was far, far too vast. 

But Fortuna had been in this position before. She’d fought a god. And she’d killed that god. Now, she just had to stall a demon. 

The fight lasted for what felt like an hour, but was more like 47 seconds. Then, something happened that Fortuna had not expected: She struck a blow with her bronze knife, slashing the mask of the Witch.

There was an explosion of brilliant silver sparks, and the Witch screamed in pain, clutching at her face as she staggered back, blood gushing from her.

Her path paused. It was so overwhelmed by what happened, for a half a second, Fortuna just stood there, dumbly, as her Path tried to evaluate what had just happened. She held the knife up and examined it. It was glowing. Glowing with a faint silver light. 

It has slain a god. It is no mortal weapon. 

That thought didn’t come from her Path. It came from Fortuna. Something she knew instinctively. Maybe it had started off as a simple bronze knife. But the blood of Eden had coated it, and an Entity had been killed by her stroke. 

Theoktónos.

Godkiller. 

You insolent wretch! The Tsaritsa’s script will not be deviated from! The Witch snarled, her wound knitting itself shut in a crackle of lightning. It left behind an ugly red scar across her left cheek, the flesh still oozing and popping from the power of the blow. 

“Miss Tyche! I’m finished!” Meliton called, and there was a hiss behind them. 

What? What are you doing! Stop that this instant! The Witch snarled, and flung a spear of ice that crackled with electro right at the tank containing the artificial Albedo. 

“NO!” Meliton screamed, trying to form a barrier of Anemo, but she was too slow. Just as Fortuna had known she would be. 

Once more, Fortuna saw what would happen before it did. What she had calculated would happen. Because she hadn’t just asked her path for a solution. She’d done a quick spell: A Fatereading. 

She had seen two choices for Meliton today. In the first, she died along with her experiment. In the second, a horrific tragedy occurred that would scar her forever. She survived, but her experiment did not. Fortuna had chosen the path for her. 

The Witch’s spell smashed into the tank and obliterated it in a pillar of ice. 

I care not what you were trying. But your little games are at an end. The Witch hissed. My men have already subdued the other scientists, and I will have you both as my prizes. I will- what is this!?

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Meliton screamed wordlessly, cradling the mangled corpse of her artificial human in her arms as she knelt amidst broken glass and shards of ice. The wind began to howl and roar, buffeting Fortuna so hard she was knocked flat, while the Witch herself staggered back. 

“Parahumans are born on their worst day,” Fortuna said, though no one could hear her here. “Honey Meliton has just had the worst day of her life. There are no living shards on this world. But Meliton was trying to create life. She succeeded. But not in the way she desired.”

Green feathers began to sprout from Meliton, appearing all over her body. Her feet began to curl into talons, while her bones groaned and cracked, growing hollow and stronger. Something even Fortuna hadn’t foreseen was happening: As she triggered, Meliton was drawing on the elemental energy she’d stockpiled for her experiment, and the dead Shard she’d awakened was greedily sucking on it, the pieces she’d put into her dead lover gorging themselves. 

And the corpse in Meliton’s hands opened his eyes and sucked in his first breath. 

Meliton’s screams abruptly cut off. She looked down at the man in her arms, her eyes wide. “M-Mr. Albedo!? You…you’re alive?”

“Where…where am I? Why…why does everything hurt?” the poor creature groaned. His body had knitted itself back together, his wounds closing in a combination of the Shard and Elemental Energy working in concert. 

“Don’t worry, Mr. Albedo,” Meliton said, standing on wobbly legs that now bent backwards at the knees and ended in claws. “I won’t let her hurt you. You’re mine. I won’t ever let you leave me again.”

“Honey!” Fortuna called. “Catch!”

She tossed the knife to the newly triggered parahuman, who snagged it expertly out of the air. 

“Thanks, Miss Tyche,” Meliton said, adjusting her glasses with a talon, which were cracked in both lenses. “Now. It’s time for this story to end, as all good stories do. With a dead witch.”

The Witch hesitated, looking at the new parahuman, the knife in her hands, and at the naked man that was climbing slowly to his feet. 

You think you have won? You have accomplished nothing! I was but a diversion! We will meet again, and I will not be so gentle next time. I have wasted long enough with you! 

And with that, the Witch fled. Fortuna groaned and lay back on the floor, feeling her many injuries at last. She should have known that a Witch would be but a coward. She closed her eyes, asking her Path, “What now?”

Continue the Path. 

As consciousness led, Fortuna couldn’t help but wonder, where did that Path lead, anyway?

Alexandria stepped into a nightmare. One she was all too familiar with, having seen the aftermath of blood cape battles all too often. The location, however, was one she had never dreamed would be so ravaged. 

There weren’t actually that many bodies. The scientists, researchers, and administrative staff hadn’t put up much of a fight. The few capes that had tried to resist had been brutally dispatched, though there were bloodstains that told Alexandria they hadn’t gone down easily, even if the Fatui hadn’t left their own dead behind. 

Doctor Mother was hurrying about, checking not the wounded, but where files and records would have been. “No, no, no, no! It’s gone! All of it, gone! My notebooks! My harddrives! My laptop! It’s all been taken!”

For her part, Alexandria knelt by a scientist in a lab coat who was gritting his teeth, clutching an arm that looked broken. She quickly set the bone, then wrapped it in a sheath of ice. “What happened?”

“They came out of nowhere. Like they had their own Doormaker. We didn’t even have time to react! They just started grabbing things, demanding to know where our research was. Half of them didn’t even speak English, or spoke it so badly I couldn’t make it out. They banged me up when I wasn’t fast enough to hand over the keys to my files. Fuckers,” the man grunted. 

“They were after our research then. But why? We’d just sign an agreement to work together!” Alexandria snarled in frustration, standing. 

As she did, a doorway open, and Eidolon stepped through, face grim. “You need to see this.”

Alexandria complied, following him to an empty warehouse. She looked around, frowning at the place. “What did they take?”

“This is…was…the Garden of Flesh. It’s gone. All of it.”

Alexandria’s heart actually skipped a beat, and she felt dizzy. “What?”

“We’re checking, but I think they got it all, or at least, most of it. There might be some reminders. But this is what they were after. Eden’s corpse. I did a scan, and I can barely detect anything. It’s just gone,” Eidolon said grimly. 

Numb, Alexandria lept into the air and then rammed the floor of the warehouse, digging down. She’d expected to find the sealed chamber where most of Eden’s corpse lay. Instead, she found an empty hollow in the rock that extended off into inky blackness. She screamed in anger, lifting her Vision and willing it to gleam. The pale light revealed nothing but emptiness. There were a few body parts here and there, husks of Eden that had been left behind. But Eidolon had been right. They’d got nearly everything. And definitely everything that Cauldron had even the slightest clue what sort of Shards were contained and what they did. If there was anything useful left, it would be a miracle.

Her mind raced for a moment, and then Alexandria grit her teeth. “Door me. Los Angeles.”

She appeared back on Earth Bet, then stalked out onto the stage. The crowd immediately went wild, and Governor Dainson grinned at her. She looked up at the map.

“They just called Florida. It’s over! Congratulations, Madam President!” he said, a huge smile on his face, that faded as he studied her. “Rebecca? What happened?”

She ignored him, and walked over to the podium. The crowd hooted and hollered for a minute, until they caught her mood. Then the cheers rapidly died away, and a fearful silence hung in the air as she gripped the edges, the wood splintering around her fingertips. She took a calming breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth, her mind racing. Then she opened her eyes and spoke to the American people. 

“Thank you all. This is a victory, here, and now. But I have just come from a grim reminder that our fight, the true fight, the fight to safeguard humanity, is far from over. One of the Protectorate’s facilities was just attacked by enemy forces. The Fatui. Led by the Harbingers of the Tsaritsa.”

Dead silence, save for the flashes of camera, and the sharp intake of breath, along with a few strangled sobs.

“They thought they could catch America napping. They thought to use our most sacred day, the day when the people choose their future, to steal that future from us. The Tsaritsa thinks she’s a god. Thinks that she can determine the fate of humanity. That she can bully us and beat us to do her will.

“Well I say no! I am an American! And now, I am the next President of these United States! We will NOT be bullied. We will NOT be cowed! We will not bow to alien gods who wish to destroy humanity or make us slaves! We will fight back! And we WILL triumph! The age of Humanity, the age of AMERICA, Dawns today! And in our day, there will be no false gods, no false prophets, and we will cancel the apocalypse! We will do what we must to secure the future for our sons and daughters, and to lead the way into a future where no one has to bow to another because one has powers, and the other doesn’t! 

“I’d say god bless America, but frankly, we don’t need any gods. We can do it on our own.”

With that, Alexandria stood from the podium, and once more, the crowd erupted in cheers. They sounded half desperate, half mad. 

“There will be hell to pay on that comment about not needing any gods,” Dainson said into her ear as he grinned and waved at the crowd beside her. 

“It doesn’t matter. We won. Now we just have to make sure that by the time I’m out of office, I can make good on those promises. Because if I can’t, there won’t be an America left,” Alexandria foretold. 

Dainson eyed her, then nodded. “Yes, Madam President.”

It was a small victory in the face of a horrific defeat. But Alexandria would do everything in her power to make the Tsaritsa regret the day that she betrayed her. 

Never again. Never again would she put her faith in gods or Archons. Humanity first. And humanity only.