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Merc's Metamorphs copyright 2026 comidacomida Epilogue: Thaddius Reed Giddings Thaddius sat at his desk-- his $45,000 desk that his image consultant required him to have in his office. His chair, the latest in ergonomic executive office furniture, was nearly $16,000 and, as with the desk, it was a status symbol that his team of advisors assured him that he absolutely couldn't do without. Every aspect of his office had been planned with full attention to detail; not even he was immune to the need for perfection in presentation... and he hated it. Thaddius had grown up in a multigenerational family of wealth; his father, Reed, had not really done much with what was left for him but, serving a figurehead for Legendary Unlimited, was still required to have his entire image gone over with a fine-tooth comb. The fact that Thaddius went by his middle name, which had been his father's name, was also a suggestion due to the "positive optics of continuity". Thaddius had grown up with it and, despite it being the norm, still frustrated him endlessly. The first time he was told all about his office set (anhd its price), his first objection was that it could eaisly have funded an additional staffing role at the organization. The counter argument? "If the CEO doesn't look good then the company doesn't look good, and that means cutting positions to remain profitable." Essentially, his 'handlers' were telling him to shut up because they knew better. That may have been when Thaddius' initial inclination to rebel against the status quo started... or maybe not; the executive had long since lost track of how long he'd decided Legendary Unlimited needed to change-- if anything, he just gained more and more reasons. He was ultimately pulled out of his musings by the loud thundercrack of a fist slamming down on his desk. "Mr. Giddings, are you even listening to me?!" Legendary Unlimited had been in a state bordering on emergency for a few days-- ever since General Glory had died in a very public manner the power struggles among the executives and the Legendary Heroes had only grown. The Hero standing in his fofice, Cleopatra, was one of the top performers at Legendary and it was an obvious conclusion on her part that she'd become the new "Number One". He didn't entirely disagree, but he also knew that her attempting to strong arm him wasn't going to get anywhere. Sighing, he stood up and made his way toward the bar at the far end of his office. "Claudia... the decision over who's taking over for Joseph isn't mine to make." Cleopatra, legally known as Claudia Gorrion didn't seem to like his answer. She followed him over to the bar, snatched the bottle out of his hand, and poured the drink for him... then poured one for herself. "Reed... we both know that the board is so up in arms over the whole stadium fiasco that nobody trusts anyone. There's no chance they won't put the power in your hands to move things forward while they'll try to figure out who's trying to kill who. This deal with that Metamporph killing Glory isn't going over well." Thaddius nodded, realizing that she didn't know the half of it. Joseph Moore, more popuarly known as General Glory had been the face of Legendary Unlimited as long as it had been a formal organization, and he cemented himself in that role well before the Reagan administration when Legendary Unlimited was granted its status as an independent military contractor. General Glory was known to be unstoppable, exactly the kind of reputation Legendary Unlimited had cultivated. With his death, and the board's understanding that someone from within their number had sent an assassin after one of their own-- an assassin that had actually killed the Legendar Hero who had, at one time, had been an officer in the civil war. To say it wasn't a good look was putting it mildly, and that was excluding the fact that the general public wasn't aware of the tie-in with the board's infighting. He had to fight back a smirk; none of them had realized that the entire plan was his, which meant that the end result had been achieved despite how messy the execution. THAT thought helped keep him from smiling. After slamming her own drink, she continued talking about all the reasons why he'd be the one to make the decision and how she was the obvious choice. As with most Legendary Heroes, Cleopatra didn't age, meaning she could be around for generations. Her arguments that she was a veteran of World War I, which was true, considering she had served as a nurse at the time, and that made her one of the oldest Legendary Heroes on the roster. She had likely prepared for the informal meeting as she continued to relay arguments for her position as Thaddius made his way back to his desk. He pulled out his cell as she continued talking, preemptively bringing up what he knew would be the greatest counterargument from the board: she was technically from Mexican descent and yet her Hero name and motiff were Egyptian in nature. He basically tuned out after that, paying attention to a fresh text that had come through: -Demon and Bruiser have agreed to a preliminary meeting about a contract.- He looked up from his phone to Claudia, who, with her back to him, was painting a verbal picture of what having her at the forefront of the Legendary Heroes would look like. He cleared his throat. "I have to take this call... we can continue the discussion later, Cleo." The Legendary Heroes who had access to him always knew that him referring to them by an abbreviated version of their Hero name was an indication that he was not interested in pursuing further discussion-- it worked with almost all of them; Joseph had been an exception. She let out a sigh. "Alright, Mr. Giddings... but I want to discuss it AHEAD of the board meeting this Thursday." He added a little more severity to his tone. "Good night, Cleo." Once she left, and he was sure the door had shut, Thaddius changed the text to voice, accepting the incoming call from Rook. "So they said yes?" The Raven Metamorphs digital voice was coming in more clearly than during any of their past conversations; it was a good sign that Rook was gaining more control over his new form of existence. "They acknowledged that they're open to talking about it. This is probably the best outcome considering the negative impression that Merc's Metamorphs have held about L.U. for quite some time." The executive leaned back in his chair, letting out a calming breath. "Well... I'll call that a win. You'll make sure that they have a quality contract, right? I don't want them to doubt my sincerity... no corporate funny business." There was a hint of levity in Rook's otherwise monotone voice. "Of course. The contracts being drawn up are boiler plate versions of my own... plus a few closed-circut safe house locations for their use because they have physical bodies." It had taken a fair amount of interaction with Rook for Thaddius to begin identifying the Raven's dry sense of humor but, once he had, he'd grown to appreciate it. "We've grown our inventory to thousands to accomidate Metamorphs we don't have, Rook-- let them use as many as they need." "You know I will." It was another statement delivered blandly but the chiding humor was there. Nodding, Thaddius pushed forweard with the next topic. "Alright... and the other projects?" Unlike some of Thaddius' lazier, less attuned assistants, Rook always seemed ready to respond to any of his questions. "The newest initiative is taking shape. It should be ready to be presented before the board ahead of the meeting on Thursday." Thaddius nodded. "Good. The 'Empwoerment for the Unpowered Initiative' is the centerpiece for 3rd quarter development and I need their buy in." Rook's response was, as usual, straight forward and to the point. "I think we both know that this is something we both want implemented, Reed." Thaddius had never been pleased with how non Legendary Heroes had been treated at Legendary Unlimited. The Metamorphs had it bad enough, but the Altered were little more than wage slaves who had hazardous jobs that didn't come with hazard level pay. For their field opeartives, pajoratively known as 'henchmen'. they were desperate, unpowered individuals who were all but taken advantage of, and he didn't like that as a status quo. In addition to having fair contracts for Metamorphs and more autonomy for Altereds, he wanted improve training and equipment for the non-powered support teams. Fortunately, Rook was doing a fine job in helping him put his plan into a presentation and, from there, it could finally, at long last be put into action! Big changes were coming, and Thaddius had Mercs Metamorphs to thank for it. Considering everything that'd happened, he owed them far more than he'd originally planned, and Thaddius was a man who respected his debts... which is why he was eagerly looking to repay them in full. The last piece of the puzzle, he knew, was to get Mercs Metamorphs onboard with the plan, and then onboard at Legendary Unlimited. It was an arragement that he'd spent over a week cooking up with Rook. The executive had to admit that the Raven, despite having lost his body, had certainly not lost his step; Rook was every bit the tactical and logstical genius as the Chess Master had claimed him to be. It was Rook, in fact, who had been pivotal in helping Thaddius salvage a win out of the near-failure with the mock-assassination. Nobody was supposed to have died-- definitely not General Glory, and Merc was not supposed to have that on his record but, despite that setback, Rook was quick to guide him into turning those negative events to his advantage, including pushing the narrative forward that one or more board members were attempting to strong arm others. The fact that there were two separate board members at the sporting event helped further sow distrust among the board and General Glory's unanticipted appearance was spun to have been intervention directed by Thaddius himself. The executive still wasn't sure on the specifics of how Rook managed to pull that off, but every last board member had become convinced that their CEO was a miracle worker who had flawless information gathering capacity. When the Raven summarized, he simply explained that he manufactured a requisition request for General Glory-- the two board members who could have been targets therefore each considered themselves to have been the potential target, and separately attributed their survival to him. Since none of the board members had actually ordered the hit, Thaddius didn't have to worry about reprisal... but they didn't know that, and so they wanted to throw their support behind him to make sure that their 'ace in the hole' continued to be a potential resource. The absolute egocentrism of his board reviled him... but it was useful. If all moved forward according to plan, after the following board, Thaddius' role as a majority shareholder would be confirmed. The board would be acknowledging a buyback wherein Thaddius would be able to take possession of outstanding shares sufficient enough to give him a 52% stake in the company, giving him the control that his family had lost in the early 2000s, and he planned to put that to good use. Once he had controlling interest he would be able to fix the image problem that most at Legendary refused to acknowledge the had. He'd be able to institute his new policies to offer better treatment for non-Legendary Heroes, and he could make Legendary Unlimited the respectable institution it once was. Even as they went over the plan post-meeting, another thought wouldn't stop nagging at him. When a natural break in the discussion appeared, Thaddius jumped on it. "Rook... how IS Merc's Metamorphs handling all this? I can't imagine the events these past two weeks have been easy on the team... so how are they doing?" While he hadn't known the Raven long, they had developed a rapport, and he always appreciated Rook's candid answers. He got just that. "Out of respect of the team, I'm afraid I cannot be fully transparent, but I will be as candid as possible." Thaddius found himself smiling. "I would expect nothing less. What CAN you tell me?" The Raven provided a clear, succinct statement. "Demon and Bruiser are worried about Merc, who does not regularly contact them or maintain any dialogue except to let them know when he is on mission." The executive nodded in thought. "That's a nice courtesy, I suppose... presumably that's because he wants them to be innocent of anything he could be doing so they couldn't be held accountable as accomplices?" Rook took a moment to respond, as if weighing his answer. "Yes. I suppose that is as good a summary as could be offered. The three worked as a team for many years and now, suddenly cut out of Mercs Metamorphs since Merc is pursuing a solo career, Demon and Bruiser are dealing with... an indentity crisis, I suppose you could say." Thaddius nodded as he checked the indicator on his desk; the small LED was red, which meant that there were no listening devices active-- it was a needless gesture since, with Rook on his side, the Raven would be able to sense (and interfere with) any that might pick up their private conversations. Once he knew that their discusson really was private, he asked the important question. "Have you had any success in trying to reach out to Merc?" The Raven's response was full of blatant exasperation. "He has his cell on limited function so it can't be tracked. I've tried to work my way into the system but it's on send-only so I can't even get a text to him. If I was able to figure out where he was at a specific time and if he were close enough to some kind of output device I'm sure I could get a message to him, but I'm usually delayed in pinning down where it is at any given time." The exec considered that for a moment before asking "And you haven't had any luck tracking him then?" Rook's response was delayed again, indicating that the Raven was considering what and how much to tell him. "Merc is careful as always, but he has taken several jobs in the last few weeks which means I am able to locate him on occasion. Between police transmissions, news coverage, and private security cameras and sensors I have a rough idea of where he is about 30% of the time. It is not perfect, but it should be sufficient." There was something compelling about the last word the Raven had chosen. "Sufficient? Sufficient for what?" Rather than answer Thaddius' question directly, Rook instead said "Reed... I am going to call on you and Legendary for a favor when the time is right. Presumably, considering what working with you has cost me and the team, you will honor that request. When that time comes, I'll need to know what Merc is up to and where he's at... so, when I say 'sufficient', I mean that it will meet my planning and implementation needs." Since first starting dialogue with the Raven, Thaddius knew that Rook had moments where he made little sense but he'd also learned that things ultimately came into focus later. "I generally don't write blank checks you know..." There was no heistation in Rook's response. "And I don't usually die for someone's profesional benefit." Thaddius laughed at that statement; Rook certainly had him on that one. "I always honor my promises, Rook. Yes-- when the time comes I'll help." The Raven remained casual in his discussion as if he hadn't just demanded a favor from one of the most powerful men in the corporate world. "I know. If I hadn't been absolutely sure I never would have agreed to help you. I appreciate your willingness to cover your debts, Reed. among the corporate elite, I would even go so far as to say that you are one of the 'good guys'." The executive found himself laughing again. "I'll take that as high praise." "Good. You should." Despite little more to be said between the two of them, Thaddius left the call on, changing it over to a speaker call so he could check his emails. Technically he could have disconnected since Rook could have easily called back if there was more to discuss but, considering the Raven no longer had a body, the Human figured the least he could do was to provide Rook with an outlet of existence and remain within easy reach if there was anything to discuss; as an incredibly busy CEO it was one of the greatest gifts he could offer to an ally: his unrestricted time. Sighing to himself, he made a mental note about how elitist and narciccistic that sounded and he was glad that the statement hadn't left his own brain. He spent the next ten minutes working, checking a few quick email notices on his phone before his thoughts jumped to something that Rook had told him about several days past. It had been on his mind, and he hadn't meant to pry, but the questions were only growing. "Rook?" The Raven's dry humor showed up again in his response. "Reed?" Thaddius committed himself to opening THAT can of worms. "What can you tell me about Merc's glove? You said it was the main reason for what he's going through right now. N-something's Grasp, right?" A file began downloading onto his phone even as Rook stated "Ngalyod's Grasp. I have compiled a dossier for you since I realized it was only a matter of time until you asked about it. Hopefully this will answer most of your questions." Scanning through the files, Thaddius was honestly astounded at just how much esoteric information the Raven had managed to gather. "So... it's been around since the 1800s? That's an OLD glove." Rook clarified. "As an aboriginal relic it was likely created several hundred years before the settling of Australia, but 1789 was when it first appeared in European history." Thaddius looked over the information. "And it was named after an aboriginal spirit?" The Raven confirmed what he'd read. "Yes. A rainbow serpant and a creator figure in many aboriginal peoples' mythos. It was said to be possessed of a dual nature of creation and destruction." The Human smiled, pointing at his phone screen. "Ah-- depicted as a joint kangaroo-serpent... I guess that explains why Merc is a mixed species rather than a single animal like most Metamorphs." Rook clarified. "That is pure conjecture... though I suppose it is a valid a hypothesis as any could be." Thaddius continued scrolling. "So... whenever this glove shows up in history it ends up granting its wearer a Metamorph form and, given enough time, it looks like they always end up going crazy... that isn't exactly the 'blessing' it sounds like it's supposed to be." The Raven countered. "Life for people in this day and age is anything but simple... Ngalyod's Grasp is supposed to help its wearer become their true selves, but Humans are anything but simple and any healthy person is multifaceted. We all wear social masks and take on different roles and responsibilities-- it's hard to come to grips with being just one thing at all times to everyone and that role strain ultimately starts causing problems as Ngalyod's Grasp further influences its wearer." The Human let out an appreciative whistle. "This is a LOT of information. Thank you for trusting me with it." Rook acknowledged the statement. "Thank you, Reed. IT IS a lot of information, and I am still seeking to get more. I'm trying to discover a way to safely separate it from Merc, and I believe I m1g#7--" The Raven's voice garbled and cut out; it was something that Reed had grown used to over the weeks. Rook was able to communicate with him for a period of time, usually restricted to two hours, not unlike a Metamorph holding onto their alternate form. It made sense when he thought about it: Metamorphs only had their powers when they were in their Powered form, and, since Rook was only able to exist because of his technokenesis, he'd be limited on his operational hours. Although Rook hadn't out-and-out admitted it, Thaddius had stitched together an important detail: Rook seemed to be locked into a cycle of Metamorph form, taking it whenever the Human who was Merc did. It was an important piece of information that he knew could come in useful in the future but, in that moment he knew it meant that he wouldn't have Rook around to advise him for the rest of the evening... so his final working hours were for him alone. He wasn't about to let those hours go to waste. Everything else was as close to in-place as possible, and so he disconnected his phone, setting it into his pocket before pulling the base set of the LAN line of his desk phone closer at hand. He unlocked the top right drawer of his desk and pulled out a folder with physical, printed files in it; sometimes analogue was the safest way to store information. Opening the file, Thaddius looked at the photo of an early middle-aged man of hispanic descent attached to the document next to his name: Martin Araya, aka: Terremoto. Finally picking up the receiver, Thaddius dialed a number he'd forced himself to memorize; few people knew he had it. He waited for the automated system to pick up and start its listing off of menu options, at which point he quickly plugged in a four digit access code. The line went quiet for several moments before someone picked up. "Good evening, Mr. Giddings. Let me transfer you. Hold please." He found himself humming to himself waiting for his contact to pick up. He didn't have to wait long before he heard her voice. "This is Claudia." Thaddius smiled into the receiver; it was a best practice his mother always reinforced, noting that the person on the other end was always able to hear it in a speaker's voice. "Good evening, Ms. Alvarez. How're things going at the State Department tonight?" The Secretary of State was definitely not smiling. "What do you want, Reed?" He continued, unabated. "I need to call in a favor... it shouldn't be anything too extreme... just a work Visa." Claudia's tone grew even flatter. "I'm not with the INS, Reed. Try reaching out to the Citizen and Immigration Department." Raising up the file on Terremoto so he could see it more clearly, he clarified. "The State Department has to be consulted whenever it involves a Powered individual though." If it was possible for anyone to come across hostile to the CEO of Legendary Unlimited, Thaddius was fairly sure that they'd sound like Claudia Alvarez. "What game are you playing at, Reed?" He kept his request simple. "No game, Ms. Alvarez... I just need approval to have a Santagua native approved for a work visa. I'd be ever so grateful for your assistance in the matter, if you please." He was able to hear in her sigh that she would captiulate. Her following words confirmed it. "Do you have a--" she paused, seemingly having put the pieces together herself. "You want me to approve Terremoto for entry into the states, don't you?" Thaddius' smile grew. "I'd be ever. So. Grateful." -The End- Merc, Demon, and Bruiser will return in "Merc's Metamorphs, and Nygalod's Grasp"