Got the Grimoire, Chapter 41

Chapter 41

“You were right, she is pretty cool.”

I grunted, too busy reviewing the new power that had been projected into my soul to be paying attention.

Greatest of Fairies (Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure, 600cp): It’s never been quite clear how the relationship works, but Fairies seem to be able to convert Rupees into an energy of some kind. Some Great Fairies will refuse to so much as speak to mortals without the proper bribe, and I can’t quite imagine them spending it on a night out on the town. For you though, this applies to anything that is offered to you, be it Rupees other Fae desire or a more traditional offering of a newborn goat or something equally silly. These offerings create an extra store of energy within you, one you can spend on anything you like. It even comes prefilled with enough energy to turn a farm boy halfway into a hero from sheer ‘blessings’ alone, as befitting your new status as a Great Fairy. Speaking of blessings, you’ve also learned how to spend this energy on people, places, even certain pieces of equipment to upgrade them. Perhaps you’ll raise the potency of his bombs, or double his own magical reserves?
2300cp-600cp= 1700cp

Now that was handy. I could start boosting my friends powers, though I would have to figure out the scope and limit of the sacrifices required and how that might-

I flinched as Miimi flicked me right on the nose. “Ow!”

“Oh quit your whining you big baby,” Mimi said with a roll of her eyes. “You weren’t paying attention.”

“Sorry, just… distracted.”

“New power?”

“That obvious?” I huffed.

“A bit. When you’re lost in thought, you look like you’re staring at nothing, but when you get a new power you look like you’re looking at something else that only you can see,” Mimi explained.

Huh, which I basically was doing. “Yeah, that’s kind of a good summary. Ah, you were talking about Crystal?”

“Yeah, I was kinda skeptical at first, but you weren’t kidding. I mean, she shook my hand and everything, plus I don’t think I saw one glare. Which doesn’t mean she didn’t, if she did though fair enough, but at least she didn’t do it to my face.”

“She didn’t. At least I didn’t notice anything either,” I shrugged. “Like I said, Crystal isn’t the jealous sort and she knows I’d never cheat on her.”

“Cause she’s way out of your league?”

“Notice that too, did you?” I snorted.

“I think your luck needs to be studied. Ever been to Vegas?”

“Pft and deal with the capes that make their home there? No thanks, way too many Thinkers and Strangers for my tastes.”

“Yeah, Strangers are the worst to deal with,” she agreed. “Kind of glad we don’t have any in the Bay.”

“That we know of,” I teased.

“...I hate you.”

“Uh-huh.” I finished rinsing the pan I’d been dicking around with for the last few minutes and set it in the temporary rack to dry. “Would you mind putting everything away when you get up tomorrow morning? All the temp stuff should start vanishing around ten o’clock or so.”

Mimi cast a forlorn look at the couch. “Farewell, my dear friend.”

“You’ll be getting a real one, not false light particles being tricked into a couch shape.”

“Felt real enough to me.”

“Cause you haven’t sat on a real couch that wasn’t found in an alley since you got to Brockton.”

“Yeah okay, piss off. What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Killing Heartbreaker tonight, but should be back in time for my shift at the Rig.” I idly pulled up my schedule on my Protectorate phone. “Standby at PRT HQ for a few hours, then a patrol with Assault. Finally got clearance, thank God. Wards are being kept confined to HQ until we get a positive bead on Valefor.”

“Then blow him the fuck up?” Mimi asked hopefully.

I rolled my eyes. “Unfortunately standard rules of engagement still apply unless we are properly provoked.” Which for some reason didn’t include the ritual murder of innocents. I was sometimes grimly reminded of the utter bullshittery that was cape culture on this Earth. “But we do have some more leeway in our response considering some of the utter heinous stuff that the Fallen get up to. We just don’t have enough on Valefor. Yet.”

“We could just like…” She waved a hand over her eyes. “Melt his eyeballs or something.”

“Absolutely not!” I said with only a bit of panic. I swear. “It’s not a well documented phenomenon, but the PRT has encountered capes who took injuries that prevented them from using their powers. Instead of being rendered helpless, their powers… evolved, to accommodate their new state. If we took out Valefor’s eyes, then he’d get a siren voice or something after a while, which is even worse than the eye contact thing in my opinion.”

“Woah, seriously? That’s kind of messed up.”

“Not exactly common knowledge and it hasn’t happened very often,” I explained. “I mean, if you’re in a bad enough position that you get crippled badly enough for you to be unable to use your powers in their current form, then you’re probably more likely to be dead, you know?”

“I guess that makes sense.” Mimi finished putting the last of the leftovers into the tupperware that was still leftover from my old apartment and tossed it into the fridge. “What is your plan for that anyway?”

“Ah, yeah didn’t mention it. Tried to spy out where Valefor is and almost got mind whamied by his guardian angel. Going to have to find him the old fashioned way. Maybe ask Arachne. Freaking stupid broken memetic powers…”

“Dude, you’re the last one to be talking about broken powers.”

“True,” I chuckled. I checked my phone again. Just shy of midnight. Alec would probably still be awake. “Alright, I’m going to step out. Want anything from Canada?”

“Oh yeah, sure. Maple syrup or something,” she said, only slightly sarcastically.

“Sure thing. Night.”

“G’night.”

I stepped out the door of our apartment, but rather than the hallway, it was out in front of the loft that the Undersiders called home. Trivial use of magic, but fun. It was rather late, so I opted to send Lisa a text.

Me: Out front. Alec awake?

L: Is it before three? Come on up.

I opened the larger door with a quick tug, took the stairs up to the front door and then let myself in. “I’m home~” I said in a sing-song voice. I caught the wadded up ball of paper that Lisa threw at me with my mind. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“Cause you’re being annoying,” Lisa snorted. “You don’t live here.”

“Could if I wanted to. You already asked me to join up once.”

She eyed me critically. “Nah, you’re content where you’re at now. Plus you just finished telling your girlfriend that your current roommate is a girl. Now imagine if it was a couple of girls that were minors.”

“Yeah, that would probably not go over so well. What’s up, Alec?” I called toward the young Master where he sprawled across the couch.

“Hey,” he waved. “Lisa said you wanted to talk?”

“Yeah. Can I have a drop of blood?”

“What, from me?”

“Yup.”

“What for?”

“I can use it as a link to track down Heartbreaker,” I explained.

He gave me a funny look. “Now I’ve played a lot of video games, watched a lot of movies, and even read a few books. Couldn’t you use that blood to like… do bad things to him since he’s my dad? I dunno, your powers are weird.”

I opened my mouth to refute him, but paused and considered. “Well technically if I did a bunch of human sacrifices first and damned my soul eternally, I could probably build up enough of a charge of power to kill him and maybe even everyone related to him. But considering you’re part of that group, not to mention that I don’t condone human sacrifice, so that’s just a theoretical scenario. The bond of blood between you two should be enough to find him, but not much else without all that nasty stuff I already mentioned.”

“Here,” he said while rolling up one sleeve. “Just make it quick.”

“Thanks.” I twirled my fingers, forming a small knife with magecraft with barely a thought. Another thought numbed the immediate area that I swiped the blade across, then another burst of mana sealed the injury like it was never there. A thin line of blood coated my conjured blade. “All done.”

Alec glanced up. “That's it?”

“That’s it.”

“Cool. How were you planning on doing it?”

I smiled grimly. “Turning his own power against him, in a way.”

“I’ll keep an eye on the news then.”

“You do that. I promise it will be… painful.”

“Even better.” He turned back to his game. “Later.”

I chuckled as he went back to his game, meandering back over toward Lisa. “He always like that?”

“No, he drops a bit of the mask when talking to you. Since you seem to somehow be aware of his origins already.” She looked at me in a pondering manner. “We’re really lucky that your powers didn’t go to someone else, aren’t we?”

I gave a small shrug. “I’m sure plenty of people out there would have used them differently. Probably even better,” I admitted. “Maybe some might have joined you Undersiders, maybe some would have removed you from the playing field, or maybe others would just ignore you. It’s all subjective to who has the power.” I held up a hand and allowed a small mote of raw mana to play around my palm. “I’m just damn glad I have them.”

“I guess I am too then. Since you seem to actually like us, for some weird reason.”

“I like the Undersiders as a team,” I corrected. “You as a person. Alec and Rachel I feel sorry for. Brian… I think his heart is in the right place, even if he is kind of an idiot. Wards would have absolutely made sure he either had custody of his sister or at least constant contact until he turned eighteen. His whole plan just made him way too reliant on Coil.”

“And once again you know way too much for me to be comfortable with. I gotta get back to work, but good luck with Alec’s dad.”

“Thanks. Catch you later.”

Without another word, I let the shadows swallow me and take me up to the top of the highest building in the city. I kneeled to the ground and inscribed a small ritual circle before placing the drop of blood in the center and muttering a brief incantation. I felt an inner pull as the blood called most strongly to it’s owner, Alec, but also to several other locations and people. One felt stronger than the others. Blood called to blood, it seemed.

I took the skies, my time practicing with Crystal and New Wave coming in handy. Couldn’t teleport where I hadn’t been or seen in detail and I wanted the element of surprise. Teleporting or forming a portal right into Heartbreaker’s bedroom might spoil that.

Luckily I could fly fast and a number of my magical abilities allowed me to ignore the wind and cold. I wasn’t bored at first, thanks to the sheer exhilaration of flight, but pretty soon the endless darkness around me, even broken by the occasional town or city, became old news. Until finally the tugging in my mind led me to my target.

I stared down at the suburban neighborhood, calling to mind from both trawling the Worm wiki and also the PRT reports I now had access to. Contrary to some fanon I’d read, Heartbreaker didn’t just have one massive cult-like compound where he and his ‘family’ all lived. Instead, he tended to lay low in neighborhoods like I hovered over, using his children or the women he’d ensnared to do the actual dirty work. He was smart enough to know that one good gunshot could end him for good and that the government would if they were given the chance.

Now that I was closer, I closed my eyes to concentrate and called upon my rarely used clairvoyance. It wasn’t strong, but I did make out an image of a sleeping man surrounded by a gaggle of women. He matched what photos the PRT had on Heartbreaker. Perfect. I had him right where I wanted.

I began to formulate a spell, when a voice thundered in my head.

[Curiosity?]

I flinched and spun, magic swirling around my hands as I prepared to defend myself.

Because the fucking Simurgh was now floating just a few feet away.

[Negation! Bargain.]

My hands paused in their motions before I could call upon a blast of energy comparable to a nuke. “What do you want?”

[Peace.]

“You tried to kill me when you were attacking Canberra!”

[Regret. Conflict Drive. High Priest.] I could sense loathing in the last two words.

I rubbed my forehead where it had begun to ache. “But you’re just… Endbringers are just massive war machines I thought. How are you acting outside of the cycle?”

[Prototype.]

What…? I didn’t remember this part of Worm. But then again, I’d never gotten around to Ward. “What do you want then?”

[Peace?] I could hear the subtext of ‘I already said that’, amidst the concept shoved into a single word.

“You say that, but what does that mean? I can’t exactly be at peace with the Endbringers when you’re all destroying cities.”

[...Anomaly. Power. Understanding.]

Blood was beginning to drip from my nose as the hammer blows hit my mind. I wasn’t sure how I was understanding her-

I am serving as an intermediary, of sorts.

-but I was glad for it. I was an anomaly, a powered being without a Passenger, using powers that seemed to come from a different source than the Entities. Some that probably defied entropy.

“I can’t really explain it. It’s just… magic.”

[Superstition.]

“That’s what some on this planet call it, yeah,” I admitted. “And what I choose to call it. I’m not sure if it’s something that can even be used or taught to others.”

[Study. Reparation.]

She wanted to vivisect me and in return, she’d start fixing the problems that Endbringers had caused. I had to admit, it actually made me pause for a moment to consider… Except there were a lot of problems with that. I mean, I didn’t want to die, but also- “The Cycle would still continue though. I cannot allow that.”

[Resistance. Futile.]

I grinned through my now bloody teeth. “Maybe. You want to find out?” I flexed my hands and power gathered. “I’ve only gotten stronger since we met.”

[Negation. Peace.] Blind eyes swept the neighborhood below. [Goodwill.] I felt more than saw her power go to work and in an instant, I knew that she’d done exactly what I’d been planning on doing. I glanced downwards for just a moment, but when my eyes moved back up, the Simurgh was right in my personal space. [Freedom.] “...please,” she rasped.

Before I could answer, she swept up and away, back toward orbit, leaving me with so many more questions than answers. Probably my weirdest conversation to date.

After a minute of stunned silence and some more time to heal my brain before I had a full blown aneurysm, I flew down, cast an illusion on myself and then carefully knocked on the door to the house where Heartbreaker was staying.

“Who is it?” I heard a small voice ask somewhat timidly.

“Protectorate hero. I know what happened here. Just wanted to do a quick check-in.”

The door opened to reveal a redhead with tear tracks down her face. “Did you…?”

“I technically didn’t, but I was about to. An acquaintance got to it first.”

She blinked at me, then threw herself at me with a strangled sob, a constant muttering of thanks pouring out.

I awkwardly patted her on the back. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. Look, I just need some confirmation of what happened. For Jean-Paul.”

Her face soured. “Oh. That one. Niko- Heartbreaker was beyond furious when he ran away.”

“I’m sure he was. But Jean-Paul is quite different from his father. Hasn’t used his powers to their fullest extent since he ran. Is doing alright for himself down south. He’s kind of a friend of a friend, so I wanted to get confirmation, for his sake.”

The woman nodded and let me in. I quickly noticed a large stack of drugs, guns, and money on what looked like the coffee table. I blinked in surprise, but internally shrugged. Heartbreaker must have taken his operation on the move.

“Are any of his other kids here…?”

“No, they’re either out following his last orders or nearby in their own locations,” the redhead explained.

We passed through the house, several other women, all of them rather attractive, staring as I walked by. Most looked like they’d been crying. Some looked shell shocked, staring off into the distance. I felt more and more guilty for the fact that I hadn’t come and done this sooner.  I finally entered the master bedroom, nodding with grim satisfaction at what I saw.

Take several abused women, give them easy access to weapons, and then free them of the mental control that had held them prisoners in their own bodies for so long. It hadn’t been pretty for Niko Vasil, though fairly quick based on the amount of blood. They probably wanted to make sure it was thorough, in case his powers suddenly started being able to affect them again. I snapped a photo for Alec’s benefit.

Couldn’t have happened to anyone more deserving…

“Call the local heroes. They’ll help round-up Heartbreaker’s children, make sure you all get the help you need,” I said as kindly as I could to the women. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

I took off into the night and back toward Brockton Bay, guilt burning in my chest. Not for the first time, I reflected on how much I hated Earth-Bet, that Heartbreaker had been allowed to go on for so long and that I had hesitated so long in dealing with it. What else had I been ignoring that I could fix?

I gotta make a list now…
***
A/N: Thus ends Heartbreaker, just as he deserves: Anticlimactically and at the hands of those he'd been abusing. Mak also has a little self reflection on how not all of Earth-Bet's problems are in Brockton Bay or centered on the Endbringers and he could probably help. The idea of the Simurgh seeking him out and having a conversation just kind of occurred to me while Mak was floating so high up in the sky, the one place where she could ambush him without questions being raised. Was reading her wiki page a bit and noted how she's more intelligent and self aware than the other Endbringers. Makes me want to read Ward now, just for all the little lore and tidbits that I'm missing, but there's just so much to read.

Anyway, it's back to the old grind tomorrow. Hope you guys enjoy.