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Chapter XVII

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Chapter XVII - The Wedding

One.

The timer stopped at one.

Jacob Reaper sighed softly. The heart of the black-furred wolf from a place between dimensions was heavy but at the same time, he was relieved.

“Here’s the thing about faith,” he said, rising from his seated position. Scalpel was in awe, still staring at the Particle Energy Bomb that was permanently frozen one second from detonation. The air was still. With West California Island in a state of emergency, there were no horns being blared in traffic, the constant chatter of pedestrians was absent and even the wild animals were deathly quiet. The soft blue sky was unbroken by the detonations of any other bombs. Elliot was working to permanently disarm the PEB and the crocodile had no will to trigger the explosion manually.

“Just like with all other things in life, putting your faith in someone has a cost. The reason we should take it upon our selves to help others isn’t because we need to do it ourselves.” He spread his wings, flames surging between each of the fingers. “It’s because often times, the cost of such actions is too great for one to bear. But we must never lose faith that someone else would be willing and ready to take that burden. We can’t assume that everyone is weak and cannot make that decision.”

Wesley Cutter turned his gaze towards him. “That’s why you do this, isn’t it? You bear the pain others can’t but at the same time try to empower them to make the decision for themselves. That’s why people follow you.”

He offered the crocodile a faint smile. “They follow their own hearts. I just help them back on that same path when they stray and call out for help.”

The former doctor regarded him for another long minute. The silence and stillness seemed to reach into the Gene Stealer’s very soul and a small smile touched the crocodile’s reptilian muzzle. Shutting his eyes, he pressed a finger against his ear. “All Teams. Stand down. It’s over.”

Nodding, Reaper launched himself into the air, sailing immediately towards the stadium. He flicked out his phone and pressed it towards his ear. As he approached the barrier, Gwen picked up.

“Gwen, you know what to do.”

“It’s the best case scenario… but still not without costs.” She sighed heavily. “Lowering the shields now.”

Using the special backdoor that the No Ones had installed into the shield, Gwen disabled the one thing keeping other supers and law enforcement out of the stadium. Those supers and local police that had been outside the stadium were all started when the shield abruptly collapsed, the huge blue hexagons shattering like glass. Jacob immediately soared above the stadium, fiery wings spread.

He drew the twin red daggers of Sol Dualis.

Beneath him, there was a sea of otters crowding around the single fortress of supers. Given time, there was no doubt that the supers would be able to subdue the maddened mustelids. Time was the last thing he could afford. Lars needed help.

“Realmbreaker,” he whispered.

The two blades in his paws immediately flew from his fingers, scintillating light forming the fiery image of a human woman with a pair of flaming wings jutting from her back and a long, billowing scarf wrapped around her neck. He still retained a crystal-like silhouette of Sol Dualis as the two faced once another. With a simultaneous nod, they swung their blades, clashing crystal against red steel over and over again. With each strike, a fiery clone emerged from both of them. Each pair of clones likewise continued the dance, generating more and more clones exponentially. Within seconds, the entire sky was filled with fire; a spectacle that caused everyone on the ground to pause.

Jacob then joined his crystal Sol Dualis, forming a bow while the ghostly image of his Advocate did the same. They stood side by side, pointing the bow downward. Each clone streaked towards their arrows, the glow of their light rivalling even the sun. The heat became so unbearable that the snow from several blocks outright melted against their dazzling light.

They fired.

A pillar of flame blasted downward, striking the stadium and spreading outward rapidly to engulf every seat, every block and every person within the confines of the building. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t wreathed in the torrent of fire. Those outside the stadium grounds took a step back as the wall of flame stopped just at the limits of the arena making it look like a solid pillar of fire had just burst from the very depths of hell itself and surged high into the sky.

Within the flames, those unaffected by the otter plague were caressed by gentle warmth, the raw energies of the fire seeping into their veins and energising them. Wounded supers found themselves rising with renewed strength. Bruised civilians gripped their makeshift weapons anew. The battered members of Arsenal found their wounds healing even though they saw nothing but swirling red fire.

For the infected, Fused and Pins and Needles, the flames burned away all the oxygen around them and assaulted them with such searing heat that the immediately passed out. Though none suffered any outward burns, their brains simply could not cope with the heat and they all collapsed from the fire and lack of oxygen. Most were already tired from the fighting or constant sex so none of them lasted more than a few seconds before they all collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Even Pins and Needles, freshly ejected from Lars, collapsed to the ground, giggling softly.

Jacob recalled Sol Dualis and Realmbreaker, gliding towards the commentator’s box. There, he found the otter twins huddled in a corner away from Caleb. Lars lay between the wolf and otters, barely conscious but unable to move. Caleb immediately moved to cradle the hulking otter’s head.

“I’m… I’m so sorry…” breathed Lars. “Caleb… I’m sorry…”

“Don’t talk,” Caleb sobbed, gently caressing the mutated super’s brown hair. “Save your strength.”

Jacob knelt beside the two, gently resting a paw on Lars’ forehead.

The worst thing about knowing how things would turn out isn’t that you couldn’t do anything to stop it but when you consciously willed things to turn out that way. As much as he hated to admit it, this was the best scenario. Not just for now but for the future.

“We win,” he said softly.

“Did we though?” Caleb growled, eyeing Pins and Needles angrily. “Did we?”

He gave Caleb his most reassuring smile. “Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But ultimately, yes. Yes we did.”

******

No matter how much he prepared for it, Caleb was still wasn’t fully prepared for when Siren came charging into the Cornucopia, practically flooding the conference room in a torrent of water. He braced himself against the table, gripping the edges even as the waist-high water threatened to sweep him away. Members of the Elemental Alliance, Arsenal, AEGIS and Assault were all gathered there and they all managed to keep their footing their own way. Nothing could prepare them for the fury of Siren.

Not that he could blame her.

After all, he had chosen to sacrifice Lars’ mobility for the city.

As the torrent washed away, Hocus used his magic to dispel the water, Siren stood at the door heaving. It was clear she was furious. Not crying like her husband, Shockstorm, had been but filled with blind fury. In fact, it was Shockstorm who sat beside Caleb, a paw on his shoulder.

“Can someone please explain to why I shouldn’t bring the entire might of the United States upon you!?” Siren bellowed, her eyes fixated on Jacob who sat at the head of the table.

To his credit, Jake was calm, collected and sat in a relaxed position against his high-backed chair.

“Because none of that will do you any good,” responded Legion. “You know full well that I had nothing to do with the tournament save for supplying the shielding technology that wrapped around the stadium. I gave you all my warnings. I even went out of my way to subdue Scalpel and disarm some PEBs. If that’s how you help people who help you -”

“Help us!?” she shouted, storming forward. “You knew this would all happen and you let it happen! You had the power to stop it all and yet you did nothing! Why haven’t you, in all your power and omniscience, just end the Gene Stealer threat here and now without anyone else getting hurt!?”

“Because then I would cause a far greater war that none of you will be prepared for,” came Jacobs calm reply.

That likely had to do with Jacob’s deal with the gods. It was clear that the deities of this world didn’t want the Writer of Reality around for very much longer. If Jacob were to become the centre of the Gene Stealer solution, he would be praised and maybe even deified. None of the gods would like that.

“What kind of bullshit is that!?” shouted Lars’ mother.

Nightingale, one of the other founder of the Elemental Alliance rose from his seat. The raven turned his red eyes towards the raging water-manipulator. “There are forces outside of your understanding that would threaten all of Earth were Lord Reaper to become a much more prominent figure than he already is.” He waved a feathered had in her direction, beckoning her to take a seat. “Trust me on this, Siren, if the masses started seeing him as more than just a super, there will be a war that will tear the very fabric of our universe and we will be the collateral damage.”

“That’s no excuse!” screeched the female doberman. “My son is paralysed from the waist down! Doctors said it would take years of physical therapy even with modern medicine for him to be able to walk again let alone be as strong as he was prior to all this!” Her eyes were levelled at Reaper. “Are you so heartless that you would think that’s acceptable even after all that’s happened?”

Caleb slammed his paws into the table and shot to his feet. “Don’t blame Jake for your own stupidity!”

A shocked silence fell upon the conference room.

“He warned us. He told us it was a bad idea. He told each of you.” He threw his fiery stare to everyone on the table.

“Yet you all still went ahead with the tournament. I’ll accept blame too. I joined in. But what would you rather he do? Chain you down until the tournament was over? Kill you?” His paws tightened into fists but he didn’t avert his gaze from Sire. “That’s the curse of free will, Siren. Even if the gods know everything and can do anything, we still have the chance of going against their wishes. Even if AEGIS were to put a huge red sign saying ‘do not push this button’, someone will still push it! That’s exactly what we did! We pushed the big world-ending button because we could.””

He slammed a fist into the table again. “We can’t go around blaming others for our own mistakes or the flaws of the others like us!” Heaving, Caleb lowered his voice but still maintained a deep growl in the back of his throat. “The Gene Stealers are the ones that attacked the tournament. They’re the ones that planted the bombs. They’re the ones that turned thousands of people into otters under our watch. Pins and Needles are the ones that made the conscious decision to paralyse Flare Blue. Not Jake. Not the gods.”

Another moment of silence as Siren’s rage calmed. A full minute passed before Jacob spoke.

“If it’s any consolation, Siren, I have an Advocate that can restore Flare Blue’s nervous system. If you’d just let me -”

“No!” hissed Siren, pointing an accusing finger at him. “I will not let you anywhere near my son.”

It was strange seeing someone who had always been so cold and uncaring like Siren showing genuine concern for her son. Perhaps the tragedy had finally opened up some sort of motherly instinct in her. Pity it was driving her to make rash decisions.

“Damnit!” David growled. “Reaper is offering to perform a medical miracle for your son! Swallow your own damn pride and take the offer!”

“No!” she snapped, the smoldering rage in her eyes turning into a quietly seething fury. “Flare Blue needs to learn the consequences of his actions. It’s his association with Arsenal and you lot that got him into this mess in the first place. I won’t have any of you try and ‘fix’ him.”

“That’s fucking stupid!” Ben shouted. “Reaper can heal him in seconds and yet you want him to spend years trying to get back to normal!?”

“If that’s what it takes for him to realise he made a bad decision, then so be it.”

Caleb couldn’t believe his ears. Here was a parent willingly bringing suffering to their children to teach them a ‘lesson’. How could anyone condone that?

“I respect your decision, Siren,” Jacob replied, stunning the entire conference room.

“You… You do?” replied the water-based super.

“I employ the same techniques from time to time. It’s why I let people come to me when they need help instead of just forcing it down people’s throats. If you just wipe away the consequences of someone’s decisions, they’ll never learn that lesson and become dependent on you. I just warn you…” Reaper’s voice grew grave and his dark blue eyes seemed to chill the entire room. “… you’re subject to the same lesson.”

She scoffed derisively but otherwise remained silent.

Nick Rage coughed. “Now that everyone is gathered… let’s start the debriefing.”

Overall, about 80% of those that had attended the tournament had been transformed. That was a lot of damage control and the news of the tragedy was already spreading. The likes of GG Guinness were having a field day making scathing remarks about the incompetence of the supers. Vernon Washington was already using the fiasco as an example for his candidacy as mayor.

There was little good news to be had save perhaps that Pins and Needles were captured and Scalpel had surrendered willingly. Naturally, there was a team from both Gene Stealers that had gone missing. Those civilians who had fought beside Lillian Hale and Arsenal vocally touted her bravery and even shared videos of her fighting to defend her constituents. She wasn’t just another politician who was all words, she meant what she said and put herself at risk for her people. That got her some votes. Still, confidence in supers were waning.

“There is one other piece of good news,” Rage continued. “Scalpel seemed to have been convinced by Reaper’s words and he’s given us the location of the last member of the Legion of Pain.”

Caleb’s ears perked up as he turned towards the Director of AEGIS.

“The Traumatiser is situated in Antarctica,” continued Rage. “We can assemble a team right now to assault him before -”

“No,” Shockstorm said, rising from to his feet. “As nice as the offer is, the Elemental Alliance and the supers need to reinstate confidence in our organisation. We need to be the ones to capture the Traumatiser.”

“You sure about that?” scoffed Ben. “Last time you tried that, you got captured and became very horny.” For emphasis, he made a gesture of horns sprouting from his temples.

“I’m sure,” responded Shockstorm with a nod. “We’ll be prepared this time.” He looked towards Rage. “Please. Just offer backup in case something goes wrong. This was a very public humiliation for our institution. We need to repair that damage and re-establish trust with the citizens. If we don’t, our ability to defend West California Island will be severely hindered.”

Insurance companies and advertisement agencies would likely start pulling their support of the Elemental Alliance. It was just like having shareholders. This very public display of the Alliance’s weakness would no doubt shake confidence from those that funnelled money into keeping the Alliance going. In some ways, Caleb was grateful that Arsenal was such a small team because they didn’t have to worry so much about that level of exposure. He still couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic towards Shockstorm. In a way, the people who would retract their support were being somewhat ungrateful. The Alliance consisted of people risking their asses - both literally and metaphorically - for the general public. Now, the very people they were protecting would pull funding because of an event that, all things considered, was well-handled.

“What about the infected?” asked Mary. “How are they doing?”

“Scalpel was actually very forthcoming with his information,” Rage responded. “As a contingency against Pins and Needles, he stashed away a copy of the Original Serum that made the twins. He’s already handed that over and we are using it alongside some of Weapons Master’s DNA to create an anti-serum.” The Director of AEGIS scoffed softly. “Apparently, even the renowned vigilante doctor didn’t trust the career criminals enough to do their job right.”

From what Caleb had read about the Scalpel, Wesley Cutter wasn’t really a bad guy. A vigilante that took things too far, yes, but not really a villain. Like Nightfox, he was without superpowers and relied more on a body honed from years of training, combat training and gadgets to deal brutal justice to the deserving. He inherently didn’t trust anyone, not after his then-apprentice, ‘the Orderly’ betrayed him to the police. Someone like that would not have trusted Pins and Needles and likely kept the Original Serum as a bargaining chip to parley with Arsenal.

“I hope you’re not planning any leniency towards that crook,” scowled Siren. “He may be cooperative but I don’t want him running loose.”

“We’ll hand him over to you once we have confirmed the authenticity of the serum and the anti-serum works,” responded Rage calmly. “ Shouldn’t be more than a few days. For the moment…”

A wooden staff slammed against the floor. Hocus, the owl sorcerer wanted to speak. “Not good enough. We are trusting AEGIS with too much. I say that Scalpel be handed immediately into Alliance custody. We need to offer an explanation to the damage done by Reaper and his fight with Cutter on the streets. Pins and Needles’ disappearance into AEGIS custody can be explained but Scalpel and his men?” The owl shook his head. “No. We must have something to show.”

“So you want the cooperative Scalpel to be handed over to you?” Samson growled. “While you leave the chaotic and likely infectious Pins and Needles with us. How generous.”

“It is only fair given we are being sworn to secrecy.”

Rage waved a hand through the air dismissively. “Fine. That’s acceptable. Less people for us to look after the less risk to the Cornucopia.” The dark-skinned, one-eyed man flicked through a few pages on his tablet. “Once the Traumatiser is dealt with, that’ll be the last of the Legion of Pain. At least based on what Scalpel tells us. Tibia and the Gimp may still be at large but at least their forces are largely neutralised.”

“It doesn’t answer the question of what we do about the rest of the Gene Stealers,” Bren offered. “We can’t just keep sitting back and waiting for them to attack. They’ve gone too far this time. They infected tens of thousands of people. The volume of their attacks, the collateral damage, is escalating.”

“I agree,” Rage responded. “But for the first time, we’ve got not one but two people who are cooperating with us on the Gene Stealers. We’ll be able to find their base of operations and put an end to them once and for all.”

“More of a reason for Scalpel to come with us,” added Shockstorm. “We can cover more ground in our interrogations. You continue to get as much as you can from Migraine and we will see what we can get from Scalpel. Once we’ve hit a wall, we’ll share information and exchange prisoners.”

It was nice to have someone on the Alliance actually being cooperative.

“Sounds fair.” Rage rose from his seat. “I’ll provide you and your team with the information on the Traumatiser. Since he’s in Antarctica, you won’t need to go through the paperwork of immigration. If you move out ASAP, then we can take down the last member of the Legion of Pain before they have the chance to mobilise. Time is of the essence.”

Shockstorm nodded firmly. “Give us time to rest and we can move out in a few hours.”

“Leave it to tomorrow morning,” David rumbled, his mood strangely sullen and darkened. “I know you’re eager but we can’t go rushing into things blindly. Like it was said, last time you charged after a member of the Legion, you got captured and transformed, threatening all of Toronto. None of us want that happening.”

Shockstorm grimaced and pinched the bridge of his muzzle. “I suppose you’re right. Gives me time to visit my son.” He sighed and lowered his paw. “If that’ll be all?”

Rage nodded grimly. “Meeting adjourned.”

Caleb rose to meet Shockstorm, holding up a paw to stop the hero. “Would it be okay if I visited Flare Blue with you?”

The doberman offered him a thin, apologetic smile. “Probably best if we visit him separately. Give us an hour or so with him.” He threw a cautious glance at his wife before turning back to Caleb. “I’d like some alone time with him.”

It wasn’t a total rejection. He wasn’t being banned from seeing Lars, at the very least. “Thanks.”

With a nod, Shockstorm left alongside Siren and the rest of the Alliance. Rage, Samson, Leon and Elliot all left as well leaving Jacob with most of the members of Arsenal.

“Don’t you fucking dare say ‘I told you so’,” David immediately began, pointing an accusing finger at Jacob.

Jacob smiled softly and nodded towards the partial werewolf. “How about ‘thank you’?”

As always, whatever came out of Jacob’s muzzle stunned everyone.

“Huh?” came David’s dumbfounded reply.

Slowly, Jacob rose from his seat, his skeletal chain wings folded behind his back. “You guys handled yourselves really well out there. Better than expected. In some of the scenarios that I saw, this would be the first time that you’d get transformed, David. In fact, there would be a scene when your unfulfilled desire to be with your wife physically due to your lycanthropy would exacerbate your transformation leading you to merge with Lillian and then Lance.”

David’s eyes boggled and he turned to the side, letting out a short cough.

“You all performed extremely admirably,” Jacob said, beaming brightly. “MVP goes to Caleb who adapted really well to the situation and even started handing out weapons to everyone, empowering them to fight. That’ll win huge points in the polls.”

Mary sighed heavily and shook her head. “It wouldn’t do us any good. Washington and those who support him are going to whip the populace into a frenzy over this. They’re going to use it to cast Mrs. Hale in a bad light and use it as evidence that she’s an incompetent mayor.”

“Then you just fire back and show them the clips of her fighting alongside the likes of Blade Babe, Blood Wolf and the Elemental Alliance!” Jacob spread his arms wide, beaming. “She isn’t just the woman who is preaching about fighting for her people. She’s the woman actually fighting! And trust me, we’re nearly at the end.”

Jacob slapped the table with a paw, bringing everyone out from their dour mood. “And before any of you forget, we’ve got a wedding soon!”

Ears perked and eyes lit up.

“It’s hard to get in the mood after what just happened,” admitted Madman. “Did you mean what you said? That you can heal Lars instantly?”

Reaper nodded. “Yes, I can. But I won’t unless Lars consents.”

Maybe Caleb should have insisted he go with Shockstorm and Siren to their son so they didn’t have a chance to convince Lars to reject Jacob’s offer. In fact, Caleb recalled Lars’ words about ‘hanging up the cape’ after the Gene Stealers were finished. Would the doberman use this as an excuse to do just that?

Suddenly, he was very worried.

“Modern medicine and the fact that he’s a super would help speed-up his recovery,” Bren rumbled. “Without his superpowers, he would be stuck in a wheelchair for maybe ten or twenty years. As a super, he’d maybe have five years at most.”

What would that mean for Lars’ career in football… or at school…?

Caleb needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

“I’m not the only one that can heal him either,” Jacob responded. “I’m sure Hocus could cast some spell to help speed his recovery or help him walk. Maybe Nightingale could hook him up with some sort of exotic drug or something. There are also a variety of technologies that can fuse with his spine and move his limbs for him as his nerves recover.” He rested his paws on the table, gazing down at his reflection on the surface with a gentle smile. “I’m honestly impressed with their restraint. They didn’t take the easy way out that I was offering and wanted to do things themselves first. That’s very impressive.”

Ben scoffed, turning his head away. “More like they didn’t want to owe you. Those prideful bastards knew that your show out there had been the coup de grace that everyone will remember. If there’s one thing Washington is scared of right now, it’s the fact that you deus ex machina’d the fucking stadium.”

“Speaking of which,” David began, a combative growl rising from his throat. “Why didn’t you do that in first place? Given how fast you had gotten there, why couldn’t you have just broken the shield, nuked the stadium and then we could’ve all gone out to disarm the bomb.”

Jacob tilted his head slightly. “You forget that AEGIS was the one that designed that shield and somehow, the Gene Stealers had managed to compromise our defences. We were locked out of our own system. Gwen had to work fast and against the clock to break into our own systems to break the shield. Not to mention that Scalpel had teams at each of the bombs. The moment they saw my display, they would’ve triggered them. We needed that timer.”

“So even the Cornucopia isn’t safe?” David snarled. “Damnit…”

Jacob nodded towards Elliot, the orca giving him a grim salute. “Our resident super-genius is working to secure our systems now. The rest of AEGIS is going to work on securing the Sharpened and…” He glanced over to Mary. “What did you say the twins called their henchmen?”

“Fused,” supplied the empath.

The blonde-haired wolf bobbed his head from side to side. “Not bad. Would’ve personally gone with ‘Amalgams’ or ‘Blenders’ but that’s cool too.” Turning his gaze back towards the remaining heroes, he said, “The rest of you rest and gather your strength. Something tells me that dealing with the Traumatiser is just going to open up a whole new can of worms.”

“Can’t you just use your ‘future sight’ or something and tell what’ll happen?” David asked, half-mocking, half-serious.

Jacob shook his head and sat back down. “I could but with so many players on the field, it’s nearly impossible to tell with absolute certainty how things will turn out. Everyone has a choice to make and everyone’s choice matters. The variables skew the possibilities in one direction or a million others. There are patterns, certainly but I honestly can’t tell if Siren is going to go rogue and try to take on the Traumatiser herself or if the Traumatiser is going to go on the offensive and attack within the next few hours and try to trigger the remaining bombs which are secured right here on the Cornucopia.”

Caleb was instantly sitting up again and so was everyone else. The image of those PEBs going off on the starship coupled with the ship’s reactors going nuclear over the Island drained the colour from all their cheeks.

“Don’t worry, I’ve taken as many precautions as I can against all those possibilities without giving away too much,” Reaper said, waving them down. “There are only so many moves you can make before you’ll eventually be forced to just leave it to the other side to have their turn.”

“There’s really nothing we can do?” Mary prompted.

“Damage control,” David grunted. “There are thousands of people who have been transformed and Lillian’s campaign needs to bounce back. Before we start chasing the Gene Stealers again, we need to make sure we still have the support we need to keep functioning as a team.” He ran a paw down his muzzle, grimacing. “I just can’t imagine how the insurance companies and our sponsors are going to react to this…”

Jacob got up once more and started heading for the door. “I’ll leave you all to it. I’ve got AEGIS to manage and three new Gene Stealer Originals that need counselling. Not to mention their henchmen.”

Caleb rose to his feet and hastily followed his best friend out the door. The Cornucopia was a flurry of activity given but there was still enough privacy for him to walk side-by-side with his fellow wolf and speak to him personally.

“I don’t think anyone in there actually said this,” he began, “but thank you.”

Jacob gave him a light smile. “I honestly don’t think I should be thanked. I could’ve disarmed those bombs at any time.”

“So?”

“So,” the blonde-wolf gave him a coy smile. “Halfway through the battle, I stopped fighting against Scalpel. I made a bet. A bet on you.”

“Me?” was his stunned response. “What do you mean?”

Smiling and gazing off into the distance, Jacob waved his paws through the air as if he were pulling back a curtain on a stage. “Imagine it. There I was, facing off against Scalpel alongside Samson, Leon and Elliot. The Sharpened were defeated and Scalpel was spouting some nonsense of discourage me. A PEB was ticking away behind us. I sheathed Sol Dualis and told him that I wasn’t going to fight anymore. That I’d make a bet with him. I had so much faith in you and Arsenal to stop Pins and Needles and disarm the bombs that I was willing to put my own life at stake.”

Caleb was in shock. The Writer of Reality, powerful as he was, only had a single life to spend in this world and he was the cornerstone of both Arsenal and AEGIS. That he would stand still and wager that life on Caleb disarming the bombs spoke volumes.

“But you knew I’d win in the end, right?”

Jacob tapped his chest. “In here, I did. But up here…” He gestured at his temples. “… not so much. Like I said, there were so many possibilities with so many variables. I couldn’t predict if the Alliance would get infected, if Ben would get turned instead of Lars or if you’d have to watch your mother get fused with an amalgamation of your dad and Lance. My ability to see the possibilities of realities is still heavily limited here, you know.”

Caleb stopped walking and Jacob halted a few feet in front of him. “So… can’t really see the future?”

“I never said I could. All I said is that I can see all the possibilities reality could take.” He beamed at Caleb. “I’m just glad my faith in you wasn’t misplaced.”

A soft smile touched the young wolf’s lips. He was touched. Confidence was injected into his heart. Not the kind of confidence that had him pumping his chest and howling like in a football game when he scored a touchdown. The kind of confidence that made him feel warm inside.

“Thanks.”

******

Leon stormed down the steps into Shark Tamer’s chambers. The rest of the original Gene Stealers apart from Chimera and Wendigo were perched in front of the scientist’s massive console and screen, watching multiple streams from multiple outlets who were still talking about the failed tournament. Vernon Washington was taking advantage of the event to its fullest and unleashing a constant barrage of ridicule and criticisms at Lillian Hale, Arsenal and even the Elemental Alliance. It disgusted him that Washington was even spinning Caleb’s heroics and trust in giving civilians weapons he forged as a bad thing.

“You’d think my dad would learn to actually listen to Reaper but no. He still went ahead with the tournament and fucked things up.”

Spider Queen turned smoothly towards him, that creepy knowing smile on her porcelain face. “I wouldn’t be too concerned. The Tournament offered the perfect opportunity to finally bring Washington out of his little bunker. The bait was all too tantalising.”

Leon huffed softly and crossed his arms as he approached the trio. “I suppose. Won’t be long now before he falls into the final stages of the plan.”

Shark Tamer spun on his swivelling chair. “Indeed. Our sources report, in fact, that the good General will be looking to perform his hostile takeover within the next few days.”

The young, burly wolf went rigid. “What?”

“Oh yes. Your efforts to undermine your mother’s campaign have worked spectacularly. Washington has more than enough ammunition against your mother that he is finally moving on with his own campaign. Exactly as we wanted. His agents have already reached out to the Reacher Corporation CEO and board of directors to have the legal documents drafted and they are reviewing it today. Within a few days, it will officially be signed and the Reacher Corporation will be under military control.”

“That’s good to know,” Leon answered gruffly. “Any way we can delay it for a bit?”

He got a curious look from Dragon Knight who had remained silent up to that point. “What reason would you need for us to delay what is essentially the crux of our entire plan?”

There were a multitude of reasons. Giving West California Island time to recover, letting Washington’s position grow stronger before making such a bold, public move and maybe even giving them time to get their agents in place. But the one reason he actually decided to use was the simplest.

“My sister’s wedding is this week. I know her life doesn’t meant that much to you but…”

Spider Queen gave him a gentle smile and lifted a hand to silence him. “No. I completely understand. A woman’s wedding is a magical moment that should not be clouded or tainted by any sort of misery. What are the plans?”

“Gwen is going to host the wedding on some extradimensional plane so we’ll be outside of the current reality. That’ll give you time to get the finishing touches and Arsenal won’t be there to stop you. It’ll be this coming Saturday. While the major players are literally out of town, you can get our agents to be in position for the takeover.”

Dragon Knight nodded sagely. “I can get the lawyers to throw up some legal jargon that will delay the release of the terms of the surrender until after your sister’s wedding. I can even have them work that weekend to show just how ‘hard’ they are working to get the documents solid.”

“It would give us an opportunity to spread our influence as well,” Shark Tamer chuckled. “I’m sure Washington will want to retain the people who worked on the contract and the more bodies we have, the more effective the final stages of the plan will be.” He grinned broadly, showing off those massive teeth of his. “Yes. This will work well. One final chance to increase our chances of success before we reach the point of no return.”

Spider Queen nodded sagely. “And with most of the major players outside of our dimension, it will mean that they will have less chance to intervene. Even Reaper’s so called ‘omniscient eyes’ will be turned elsewhere so as to prevent his interference.” With a smile, she pressed one long finger against her chin thoughtfully. “Yes. This works in our favour.”

Trying not to seem too outwardly relieved, Leon said, “What about the Traumatiser. What’s the plan for him?”

The arachnid Gene Stealer turned slyly away from him, a confident smirk on her features. “You will just have to see.”

Even now, months after he had joined and become Fenrir, they still didn’t trust him. “Right. Whatever. Keep your secrets.” He turned to leave. “I’ll see you all after the wedding.”

“Indeed. After the wedding it is.”

******

The meeting had gone much better than Jacob had expected. Still, he had to take an hour or so before he was mentally and emotionally prepared for the next step. He waited quietly in his room, resting on his bed, one arm behind his head and a tablet in his paws. The news would only cause his blood to boil so he purposefully avoided anything about current affairs and just perused the video game and celebrity gossip section. Once he was bored with the latest scandal, he moved on to streaming some shows on iFlicks, Apple’s latest iteration of a streaming service after they acquired Netflix. It made him chuckle at the thought of Apple producing big-budget movies in this reality.

Only when the door to his room slid open and Gwen stepped inside did he set down his tablet.

“It’s time,” she said ominously.

Sighing, Jacob rested his head on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling miserably. “Are you going to do it?”

Her tone was even but her stance was menacing, furious. “He betrayed not only Arsenal, Assault and AEGIS but all the people who but their trust and faith in him. Their lives were in his hands and he still threw it aside for selfish reasons. If we do not punish him, he will never learn his lesson.”

“Of course,” he rumbled, sliding off his bed and sitting on the edge, legs dangling. “To some degree, I see where he’s coming from. I can see why he’s tempted. But you’re right.” He clapped his paws against his knees. “If we want the best ending possible, this has to happen.”

He grabbed his coat on his way out the door, sliding it on as he strode through the Cornucopia alongside Gwen. It was rare to see both No Ones beside one another so any AEGIS members immediately gave the two a wide berth. There was no stopping, no more hesitating. If the future was like a huge decision tree, this had to happen to ensure that the most number of people were saved.

Not just now with the Legion of Pain.

Not just with the Gene Stealers as well.

But for the entire reality.

He stopped in front of the door, just outside of the sensor range.

“If you want me to go easy on him, I will,” Gwen said.

“No. Be brutal.”

Together, the stepped forward, the automatic metal door hissing aside to let them through.

Elliot immediately glanced up from where he was patching up some cuts and scrapes on his power armour.

“Jacob,” he began, surprised to see them both. “Gwen. What are you doing here?”

Gwen immediately pressed a button on the panel behind them, the door sealing shut.

“Why did you do it, Elliot?” Jacob accused. “Why did you sell us out to the Gene Stealers?”

The orca stared at them in shock. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Jacob lifted a finger. “I realised there was a mole amongst us in my first encounter with the Gimp. As far as anyone in the public knew, my power was summoning weapons. No one knew about my inability to feel pain. The Gimp specifically designed anti-super fields to that effect. Only the members of Arsenal and Assault knew I had that ability.”

“But -”

Jacob lifted another finger, cutting off Elliot. “Next, on our way to the Gimp’s base, I told only the members of Assault about Mugen Kosetsu’s ability to stockpile power. Again, the Gimp knew how to counter me, purposefully trying to get me to unleash its power so I was at a disadvantage against him. That limited the mole to the members of Assault.”

“Yeah, but…” Panic was starting to set into Elliot’s face. If there was any evidence to his guilt, it was in his face.

“Third,” he said, his voice rising, “when we were going up against Migraine’s troops, I purposefully made some bullshit up about villain types. Leon left before I could say anything leaving only you to hear my full speech. You may have told the rest of the team about it on your way to Migraine but that wouldn’t have given the henchmen to fully play along those stereotypes.”

“That’s reaching…” The orca was now fighting to stay calm but failing miserably. He was inching closer and closer to his power armour.

“Maybe. But then in this recent assault, I had you work with AEGIS to fortify the stadium with the shield. Yet the Gene Stealers still managed to get through.”

Now, Elliot’s hand was firmly on the arm of his power armour, the arm that was holding the stasis gun. “They could’ve -”

“No,” Jacob said firmly, lowering his paw. “No they couldn’t have, Neptune.”

There… the super-genius’ eyes widened as he realised he had forgotten one thing about Jacob Reaper: he could see the possibilities of the reality. That innocent facade faded and a scowl touched his beak.

“How long have you known?”

“Since the attack on Migraine. I narrowed it down to you and Leon and once I came back with some of my abilities over reality restored, I knew where to look. I know your codename. I know what they promised you. Entrusting you with the shield was my way of hoping you still had some sense in you and wouldn’t risk thousands of people’s lives for your own personal gain.”

“High praise for the guy who did just that.” Elliot scoffed. “You’re a hypocrite, Reaper. You are the one that put all those lives at risk. If you knew I was the traitor, you would’ve done all you could to keep them from going.”

“I did all I could from keeping those otters from escaping into the streets and causing an island-wide pandemic,” Jacob answered icily. “If you didn’t hijack the shield, I would’ve triggered it anyway. This way, I gave you one last chance to redeem yourself which you decided to spit on and use for your own goals.

“I played you, Elliot. I purposefully gave you access to the shield and told you that it was designed to keep the Gene Stealers out knowing that you’d reverse it and keep people in. I knew you wanted to trap everyone in there. I tried to stop David from making the actual tournament but I can’t control people’s actions or the consequences of their decisions. I can just do what I can to limit the damage. And…” A sinister grin touched his muzzle. “… who is to say I didn’t want all those people infected?”

It took a second for Elliot’s features to fall as he came to the realised that he had been played. “Bullshit. You’re just trying to justify your actions for purposefully letting thirty-thousand people get infected! You’re just like the other supers! Trying to make yourself feel better for all the lives you’ve ruined!”

“Really now?” Gwen scoffed. “Have you forgotten that anyone infected by the Gene Stealers falls into our jurisdiction? Have you given thought to the fact that the pantheons and deities of this world are little more than attention-seeking whores who are sitting back and letting the Gene Stealers terrorise the populace just so that they can give people divine superpowers so that they can once again come to the forefront of worship and become the centre of the world?”

Elliot blinked in surprise, gazing from the Liaison of Life to the Writer of Reality. A realisation dawned on him.

“You… You wanted… You wanted them infected so that you can take their souls and save them from this reality!”

Jacob’s lips turned upwards slightly in a smirk. “It’s like Noah’s Ark except with genetic mutations and superpowers. But as another lupine protagonist once said, ‘I don’t make plans. I just make people think I do.’” He shrugged absently. “You’re making connections based on your own contempt for me. I did everything I could short of physically wrestling David to the ground and knocking him unconscious to keep him from setting up that damn tournament. As an advocate of choice, however, I couldn’t do that and I had to react to the decisions he made. I used you to limit the damage of the Gene Stealer attacks and I set up Leon, myself and Samson to take down Scalpel. I foresaw this even before I was invited here and entered this reality on the condition that if someone gets infected by the Gene Stealers, we get to take them away because otherwise, the gods would have just obliterated your souls.”

Elliot was shaking both in fury and terror. “If you knew this was going to happen, why didn’t you do more? Why didn’t you just come out and say what was going to happen!? You know where the Gene Stealers are right now. You have the power to obliterate them! Why don’t you do something about it?”

Jacob found himself slipping back into his old ‘R3’ persona; the cold, calculating Writer of Reality who regarded the mortals he was helping more as another checkbox to tick rather than an actual individual story to be told and experienced. He hated that persona now that he was far more ‘enlightened’ but it was when people demanded more of him when they couldn’t accept responsibility over their own actions that brought out that side of him. “Are you now blaming me for your decisions?”

“Yes!” Elliot cried. “If the Gene Stealers didn’t exist I would never have…”

Gwen strode over to him, easily lifting the tubby orca into the air with one hand. “I won’t go into the details about the powers and consequences that you can’t possibly comprehend, little man, but suffice to say that everyone is entitled to their own choices. That’s the price of free will. If we weren’t here, you’d be blaming the gods for not doing anything. If not them, then someone else. You would likely have blamed Caleb at one point. Anything to make you feel better about the decisions you’ve made. You didn’t have to betray us. But you did. Own that and save yourself some dignity.”

“How can you stand there on your pedestal when you knew what would happen and yet still let it happen?” scowled the orca, gripping her hand and trying to pry it away from his neck. “Inaction just makes you as culpable to the crime!”

“Not in this world,” the Liaison of Life scowled. “Not in this reality where someone can sue the person that gave them life-saving CPR because it felt slightly uncomfortable. A court case like that can ruin the saviour’s life. The legal fees, the reputation, the weight it could put on friends and family. It could quickly spiral out of control just because one person was brave enough to put themselves at risk to save another’s life.”

Elliot was about to protest but Gwen lifted a finger to silence him.

“This is not the same as cowardice,” she snapped. “The people of this world are more likely to blame anyone else apart from themselves if it’ll make them feel better or serve their needs. What you call inaction is us saving our effort for those that would appreciate it.”

WHAM!

She slammed him into the knees of his power armour. “Your entire reasoning for betraying the Gene Stealers is based on this psychotic desire to blame someone else for your own failings. You hate the fact that supers and even other Outsiders like Caleb have strong, physically fit bodies when you are the one clogging your arteries with fatty foods and refusing to exercise. You despise how your powers are simply that of a ‘super-genius’ and grow green with envy over the abilities of others. Yet all you use your genius for is firing sarcastic remarks at others instead of building a suit of power armour that you could have used to join the fray long ago! You joined the Gene Stealers because they promised you the ability to change your body and powers at will all because you were jealous of others who utilised their powers to the best of their abilities!”

Once again, she lifted him up by the collar, this time using both her hands. “We No Ones only help those that ask for it for a reason. We remain anonymous and obscured by the Creators because ungrateful, spoilt brats like you would like nothing more than to blame us for something that was either your fault or within your control to change. So let this be a lesson to you…”

SLAM!

She slammed him right into the open cockpit of the power armour. The orca screamed. Agonising pain erupted from his back and the armour fizzled and shook. Metal, electronics and writing wires fused with his flesh, sending his limbs shaking and quaking. The door to the armour slammed shut, sealing the orca within.

“… Mortal fate shall and always be in mortal hands. You are mortal.”

Jacob was already unlocking the door, inputting a special command into the door panel. All the consoles, monitors and devices in the room started spouting sparks and little flames. The door slid open just as the entire room was bathed in a brief red light before it was quickly plunged into darkness.

“Wait! What’s happening!?” Elliot bellowed from deep within his armour.

“I’m jettisoning your room,” Jacob responded grimly. “Can’t have any infected hardware or software you may have on the Cornucopia, after all.”

“What’s going to happen to me!?” The orca, locked in his power armour, could barely move.

“Gwen’s fused that armour to your flesh. The metal is your skin. You’ll feel everything it feels. You best learn how to swim…Fast.”

The door hissed open and Jacob stepped through, turning back around to face the paralysed orca while Gwen padded up beside him.

“Wait! I can give you the Gene Stealers! I can tell you what they want!”

“Have some dignity, Elliot,” Jacob responded darkly, his pupils already biting into his deep-blue irises as eight-pointed stars. “I already know what they want.”

With one last press of a button, the doors hissed shut. Alarms were blaring all over the Cornucopia. Loud metallic clangs heralded Elliot’s prison being unlatched before being unceremoniously dropped into the Pacific Ocean. Nate Rage came rushing over a few moment later.

“What the fuck just happened!?” bellowed the Director.

Jacob turned away, his features grim.

“I’ve got a story for you, Nate.”

The one-eyed director gave him a scowl. “Is this really the time!?”

“Yes because it’s appropriate.” Reaper tilted his head to the side. “In a small town somewhere, a massive flood struck. Everyone else evacuated but the priest of a church refused to evacuate claiming that ‘God will save me’. When the police arrived as the water level approached knee-height, the priest insisted that ‘God will save me’. So the police left the man to his fate. When the water level rose to the upper levels of the church, a boat came by with people who begged the priest to leave. Predictably, the priest refused their help and insisted ‘God will save me’. Lastly, when the water level rose up to the top of the steeple and the priest was on the verge of drowning a helicopter came to save him. But again, he waved them away and insisted ‘God will save me’.”

“The moron,” Rage sighed.

“Exactly. The priest died and when he got to Heaven, the asked God, ‘Why didn’t you save me, God?’ Do you know what God said?”

Rage just shook his head.

“God said, ‘I sent the police, a boat and a fucking helicopter to save you. What more did you want?’”

Nate’s eyebrows lifted a little and he let out a chuckle. “Okay. That’s a little grim but funny at the same time. What’s the point of the story?”

“Don’t blame others for your own failings,” replied Gwen. “Don’t blame others for your own inaction or your own decisions and don’t throw responsibility on those that actively tried to help you but whose help you refused.”

Jacob cocked his head to the other side. “It also served to distract you from sending a rescue crew for the mole that I just got rid of.” With a flick of his tail, Reaper turned on his heel and waved absently over his shoulder. “See ya later, Nate! I’ve got a wedding to prepare for!”

******

Thanks to Lance, Caleb was able to learn that both Shockstorm and Siren had stayed at the Tower Hospital all night. Either they were guarding Lars like a pair of guard dogs or they were genuinely concerned and wanted to stay with their mutated and paraplegic son. It was only that morning when the Elemental Alliance geared up and headed off to Antarctica did the duo leave Lars’ side. Apparently Lance could monitor all this thanks to secured phone app that the Alliance used to distribute news to all its students.

Caleb was out the door and rushing to the hospital with a piece of toast in his muzzle that instant Lance told him that Siren and Shockstorm had left the hospital. He was grateful that none of the hospital staff stopped him as he headed into Lars’ room. It was a private ward; big, spacious and also highly secure. The powerful tug of anti-super field constricted against his chest as he walked through the reinforced doors.

Lars was sitting upright on the big bed that looked to be twice his size. He was back to a doberman, at least from the waist up. There was a clear difference between his lean, proportionate upper body and the huge, squat legs that were hidden beneath the bedsheets. The long, rudder-like tail was also hanging off to the side, poking out from beneath the white blanket. The doberman’s eyes lit up the moment Caleb stepped inside.

“Hey,” greeted the super with a faint smile. “I missed you.”

“Sorry I didn’t come earlier,” he replied, stepping up beside his boyfriend with a bouquet of flowers. “I didn’t want to step on the toes of your parents and from what I heard, they were here all night.”

Lars snorted derisively and turned his gaze briefly out the window that had an unobstructed view of the Elemental Tower. “First time I ever saw any signs of affection from my mom.” Those soft, brown eyes turned back to him almost instantly. “But thanks for coming. I heard they’re gearing up to take down the last member of the Legion of Pain.”

Caleb pulled up a chair beside his boyfriend, setting the flowers down on the bedside table. “Yeah. The Alliance wants to do some damage control and showing everyone that they’ve captured the last member of the Legion would do that.”

“So basically they’re taking taking credit for AEGIS’s good work. Wasn’t it Jake who got that info from Scalpel by talking the guy down?”

Clearly the doberman’s parents had given him an extensive briefing and Lars had his own opinions on the operation. “Yeah. But Jake doesn’t seem to mind. AEGIS is still providing backup in case things go south.” He reached into his backpack, retrieving a tablet. “Lance actually gave me this. It’s hooked up to the Tower’s network and will let us livestream the whole thing. Apparently, the Alliance wants to show it off but will only make it public if everything goes well.”

“Typical bullshit my parents would pull,” Lars rumbled.

Caleb lowered the tablet apologetically. “We don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to…”

Lars lifted a paw and waved the apology aside. “Sorry. My parents… well, my mom just spent all night riling me up.”

“What did she say?”

That opened the floodgates. At first Siren had appeared genuinely concerned, even daring to touch him despite his apparently infectious nature. Shockstorm sat beside his son and was just there which was greatly appreciated. If Lars needed anything, Shockstorm would go and get it immediately. But it was in the second hour or two when Siren began talking about Lars’ future.

“I think she meant to try and put a positive spin on the whole thing but the way she said it, it came off as conniving and manipulative,” Lars huffed. “She said that now that I have all these powers, I could be the most powerful super in the entire Alliance. Of course she boasted about how her own control of the telekinetic abilities she got when she got infected by the Migraine strain amplified her powers but then she went on about how my powers would be four times that because of the numerous strains I’ve been exposed to.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad…” Caleb ventured.

“You weren’t there. She started talking about how they’d arrange for public appearances. Get me out in the public again to show that I’ve gotten stronger from the experience. Repair my image and all that shit.”

He sensed his boyfriend leading up to something and remained silent, just listening.

“She didn’t even mention anything about how it’d take my legs years to get back up to speed!” Lars growled, paws closing into fists and crumpling the sheets. “No mention of my high school career. College. Football. Anything related to a normal life. It’s all about being a super to her. When I asked her about it, she dismissed it! Said that I didn’t need any of that. Not anymore! She wants me to leave everything behind. Leave you guys behind! She’s using this” - he gestured angrily at his legs - “as an excuse to pull me away from Arsenal and back into the Alliance! When my dad mentioned that Jake could’ve healed me instantly, she immediately went into all the different kinds of treatment I could get that would speed up the process that wasn’t related to AEGIS! But she made it clear that she wanted me to get better without Jake’s help!”

“Aren’t you emancipated from them?” Caleb asked. “They don’t really have any say on how you recover, right?”

Lars bared his fangs, staring off angrily at the wall with a gaze that could burn a hole through the reinforced concrete. “Not officially but they are Shockstorm and Siren. I’m pretty sure they’ve already set things into motion to get Jake fired from here and will do anything to keep him from getting in here to heal me. I’m basically their prisoner!”

“I’m pretty sure they can’t stop Jake from getting in here,” Caleb laughed softly. “If you want me to call him…”

Lars’ fur eased and he waved a paw absently through the air. “No… I got into this mess. I’m going to get out of it.”

“You were trying to save me!” He reached over and grasped Lars’ paw but the doberman immediately pulled it back, sending a jolt of confusion through him. “We can work through this together.”

“Actually…” Lars’ voice trailed off for a moment. “There’s… something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Caleb.”

Caleb had been bracing himself for this. With the mounting pressure from his parents and now this disability that, a millennium ago, would have been permanent, Lars was going to retire from the superhero business. This was the first time the Gene Stealers had actually hurt them in such a way that it wasn’t immediately reversible or didn’t result in some form of orgasmic pleasure. Lars was just eighteen years old, a kid! Though they had gone through so much together, there was still his whole life ahead of him and now, with this injury, a lot of doors would be closed or harder to open.

Anyone would make the same decision.

“Whatever it is,” he said with an encouraging smile, “I support you.”

“I… I don’t think you will.” Lars was unable to meet his gaze. “When Pins or Needles, I can’t tell which of them is which, merged with me… I…” The doberman’s voice broke and he had to reach over towards the cup of water beside his bed to take a quick drink. “… I… I didn’t fight him as much as you’d expect.”

This was not was he had prepared for. “What do you mean?”

Lars’ paws once again closed into fists. “When that otter grabbed me and started merging with me… I felt good. Really good.”

Caleb breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh. Yeah. I’ve been there. Trust me. I’ve been infected just about the same number of times you have. It feels great. Dunno why the Gene Stealers make us cum every time we change -”

Lars shook his head furiously, letting out a soft growl. “It’s not that. Just… please listen.”

Pursing his lips, Caleb gave a nod for Lars to continue, his heart freezing with anticipation.

“I didn’t just throw myself at the Gene Stealer to protect you.” The half-otter doberman shut his eyes, his broad shoulders wrapped in the aqua hospital gown shaking. “I wanted to get infected.”

Caleb’s first instinct was to demand why. But he pulled back that reaction and began to think. Lars likely wanted to get more power. To get stronger. He had complete and utter faith that Caleb and the rest of the team would save him. That was… kind of sweet. Reckless but sweet.

“But it’s not the reason you’re thinking of,” sighed the doberman. “I wanted to get infected… because I wanted to infect other people.”

That was definitely not what he was expected.

“What?” Caleb blurted. His mind was racing. How could his boyfriend, someone who had fought alongside him against the Gene Stealers for so long, want to infect other people? Weren’t they fighting against that very thing? Didn’t they all agree that transforming someone like that was tantamount of identity rape? Hadn’t they all gone through the traumatising ordeal of being transformed into multiple species by the Legion of Pain with no cure readily available?

Why would Lars want to inflict that on others?

“It started when I first got changed into a bear,” Lars mumbled, his eyes cast down and his voice hushed like he was in a confessional booth. “I wasn’t in control but I could still see and feel everything I did. The power… freedom it offered… It was like, for the first time, I was being someone else.” He lifted his paws, gazing at his shaking palms. “All my life I’ve been told what to be, what to become, by my parents. But when I became a bear, suddenly it felt like those chains were loosening. I could literally be someone else!”

His paws hit the mattress with a thud, his gaze off in the distance. “But then Tibia changed me…”

Caleb still remembered that horrific, traumatising day. The helplessness, the fear, the horror of watching his entire team transform around him while he stood by, impotent and useless because he refused to use Live Wire. It still haunted him… but he came to the realisation that he couldn’t let it haunt him. Not anymore.

“I was out of control again but it felt great to be free,” Lars admitted. “As much as I wanted to be out there helping you, it felt great to let someone else do the superhero stuff. I won’t say I like being the victim but not having to be the one saving everyone, not having that responsibility on my shoulders for once… not having to follow in my parents’ footsteps… It was liberating. Then I was trained to change back through sheer force of will and I realised that this was all within my control.

“Maybe I’m putting too much thought into it but changing from one form to the other was… metaphorical for me, transformative. It actually felt like I could change my life. I wondered what else I could change…”

“And you suddenly decided you wanted to change other people’s lives too? Forcibly?” That came out with a lot more venom than Caleb had intended but there was no taking it back.

Lars winced. “I don’t know. Maybe it was the superhero in me seeing how other people could be trapped like me. I… I sort of wondered what it’d be like to change someone like that. The Gimp… he kind of forced it out of me. When he… he tortured us, he had some members of his teams uninfected. He… he had me infect them. I kind of fantasied that they’d turn on him when I changed them and I got lost in that fantasy. Then we were taken to Canada and my parents were there and I… I…”

Caleb’s eyes widened in terror. “You didn’t…”

The doberman hung his head in shame.

A sick feeling bubbled up in his stomach. He couldn’t even look at his ‘boyfriend’ anymore.

“You don’t know what it’s like, Caleb,” whimpered Lars. “All my life, I’ve been told what to be, who to be. This was… it was liberating. For once, I was telling people what to become. It felt great! Suddenly, I wasn’t just in control of my destiny but someone else’s as well! Hell, I was even able to tell my parents what they could become!”

“So you threw yourself in the path of Pins to be transformed so you could transform other people?” Caleb growled. “People like my mom?”

“No!” Lars’ eyes were wide and pleading. “Maybe just the rest of Arsenal. They all grew stronger from each strain they got infected with. I figured that if we all got transformed and grew stronger, we’d have a better chance at defeating the Gene Stealers. I could be the one to change them as well and it’d be a win-win!” He reached out towards Caleb. “More than anything, I wanted to change you too… be with you like that time we were in Jake’s apartment…”

Caleb took a step away from Lars, lifting his arm defensively. It was reflex. Lars could theoretically change anyone by touching them. In that instant, he could see his boyfriend’s heart break. Their gazes met, one apologetic and one horrified. Words could not even begin to describe what one or the other was feeling.

Thankfully, he was interrupted by a soft beeping.

“You know what?” he said, lifting a paw and swiping the tablet off the bed. “Let’s just watch the attack on the Traumatiser.” There was a comment to be made about a chance to infect more people if the Traumatiser won but he decided not to rub salt in the wound.

He turned on the tablet and jumped into the live feed of the assault.

Nightingale was the only one that had agreed to carry the body camera. A collection of supers, dressed in their thermal uniforms, stood in front of what could only be described as a crystal fortress. Huge spires of ice jutted out of the ground, criss-crossing in a dizzying and yet mesmerising formation. A single, steel door stood at the entrance.

There was a sense of serene calm. The icy planes were flat, unassuming and almost like someone had forgotten to paint the ground and left it white. The sky was clear, blue and without a single cloud in the sky. For someone called the ‘Traumatiser’ this was incredibly calm.

Siren was the first to stride forward towards the door, making the arduous trek towards the fortress. Nightingale brought up the rear with a myriad of supers right behind the water-based, hot-tempered super. There had to at least be twenty of them. Who knew how many more were waiting in the wings to lend support. AEGIS was also prepared to jump in but they were likely cloaked and hidden.

As they approached the fortress, the doors suddenly shuddered and began to slowly open. The supers stopped and Caleb was instantly tense. If something bad happened, he’d be rushing to the Cornucopia to see if he could help. He tried not to think about Lars and what his boyfriend would be doing until then.

The doors slowly pulled open, a bloodied hand capped with black hooftips pushed them open. A goat’s head with four horns jutting from his skull and blood smeared all over his face poked out. He nearly collapsed against the door but his massive frame managed to stay standing and push the rest of the door open. The man wore tattered and torn clothing and had multiple wounds all over his body; wounds that were rapidly closing. His titanic, muscled frame had to at least be nine feet tall with each muscle group perfectly plump and defined. The goat fell to his knees, calves sinking into the snow…

… then he lifted his arms up.

“I surrender.”

The shock from the Elemental Alliance rippled through the tablet and radiated throughout the hospital ward. Caleb and Lars forgot about their argument and leaned closer to the screen, jaws partially open and brows furrowed.

“My name is Tobias Payne. Better known as the ‘Traumatiser’. I surrender.”

“You must be kidding me…” whispered one of the supers.

“Be careful,” Hocus hissed softly. “The Traumatiser may be a D-level super but that’s because he was always content to be someone else’s henchman. His powers revolves around making someone relive a traumatic experience over and over again.”

“You mean…?”

“Yes. That horrible experience where you’re going about your day and then your mind just summons up a cringe-worthy event from years ago. That is his power.”

Caleb snapped his jaw shut. “He honestly made that sound more threatening that it originally was…”

“Being reminded of cringe-worthy events in your past is a pretty terrible superpower…” Lars offered.

He ignored the bed-ridden doberman and continued watching.

“What’s with the blood, Payne?” demanded Siren.

“As a sign of good faith, I had hoped to bring my henchmen to you as well,” answered the Gene Stealer. “Unfortunately, they weren’t so keen on the idea. You could say that there was a… civil war within my ranks. I’ve managed to incapacitate Alpha Team and half of Delta. Beta is nowhere to be seen and Gamma is currently trapped in the lower depths of my facility. I barely made it out alive.”

The supers began discussing amongst themselves. They couldn’t be sure that this was even the real Traumatiser but someone brought up Migraine. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Original surrendered and the henchmen attacked. It was very likely that a cowardly man like Tobias who had always been a henchman and never a super would have seen the writing on the wall. After the defeat of Pins and Needles and Scalpel’s voluntary surrender, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for the Traumatiser to parley. Then again, this could all be some sort of ploy.

“Slap some anti-super cuffs on him,” Shockstorm said. “Everyone else, we’ll bring down the fortress from the outside.”

“What!?” Lars exclaimed. “There are people still in there!”

“No, it’s a good strategy,” Caleb countered, not sure if he was just being contrary to Lars or genuinely agreeing with Shockstorm. “The henchman have the home field advantage in the fortress. They’re flushing them out this way.”

The supers began to move and as they did so, Tobais Payne began informing them all - voluntarily - about the powers of his henchmen. Like him, he could inflict people with their own memories but his powers had evolved after being transforming, allowing him to warp those memories into twisted nightmares. The key was to avoid eye contact as it was through their eyes that they infected and caused the illusions. Caleb was on edge, watching for any strange behaviour. The Traumatiser likely didn’t know that he was being watched through a body camera so if he tried to trap someone in an illusion of their own mind, the supers that were there would know but no one through the feed would be affected.

He was just waiting for someone to start growing horns and bleating like a goat…

… but nothing happened.

Tobias was arrested, anti-super cuffs placed on his wrists and Hocus cast magical restraints upon him. The supers began throwing flames and other forms of attacks at the fortress, forcing the henchmen to retreat and scatter. They were immediately attacked. With the Alliance coordinated and some of their most experiences super on the field, they were able to easily restrain the henchmen. Thanks to Tobias’ warning, Hocus was able to cast a spell that allowed each super to ‘see’ even with their eyes closed.

Their main form of attack gone, the henchmen only had their weapons and physical strength and speed to rely on. Against the powers of the heroes, they easily fell.

“That was… anticlimactic,” Caleb mumbled, straightening.

“Can’t help but think that Payne has something else in store,” Lars admitted.

Hearing the doberman’s voice reminded him of their fight but he didn’t have the energy to bring it back up again, not after watching what had happened in Antarctica.

“I’ll leave this with you in case you want it,” he said, tossing the tablet onto Lars’ bed. “I need to go.”

“Caleb, wait!” Lars pleaded, reaching for him but he was already halfway to the door. He didn’t stop moving. “We need to talk about this.”

He stopped at the door, sliding it open.

“Yeah… Yeah we do,” he responded. There was too much going on and his broken heart needed time to fix itself before he said or did anything he would regret.

Time. He just needed time.

“After the wedding.”

******

Twenty-four hours was not a lot of time and many were already praising the Elemental Alliance for capturing the last member of the Legion of Pain just under a day after the disaster that have been the Clash of Champions. Naturally, there were detractors who claimed that the attack from the Gene Stealers should never have occurred in the first place. The two competing sides dominated the media but at least supporters of the Alliance and superheroes in general now had something concrete to throw back at those who were vocally supporting Vernon Washington’s regulations and lack of freedom.

Mary Brightwood had personally had enough of the politics. When she had gotten to school that day, it was all anyone could talk about. Even when she had blocked off her mind-reading, students and staff were constantly arguing for or against one side or the other. It didn’t help that the football team were at the site of the Clash and were being praised as heroes for their part in the battle. So it was with some relief that she escaped West California Island itself and went to ‘neutral ground’ which was the Cornucopia. AEGIS remained in the shadows and didn’t favour either side of the argument though they were technically against Washington for the creation of the Genesians. At least that was their focus and not the broader debate over superpowered individual’s rights.

The starship was busy with activity. The AEGIS troops were moving boxes and equipment into shuttles or transporting them through the magical door that Jacob had erected down into West California Island itself. It didn’t take a genius to know exactly why AEGIS was moving. Whoever had compromised the shielding technology AEGIS had provided could have compromised the Cornucopia and that meant they were just one step away from another disaster. Where they were moving operations to was still a mystery but Mary could understand the need to move the starship away from the Island.

In all the commotion, it was not hard to find Jacob. The wolf was in one of the hangers of the carrier-class starship, overseeing the movement of people and equipment through the door that he maintained. As she recalled, the key that hung around his neck could open a magical portal from anywhere to the Cornucopia so he was the only way the staff of AEGIS could leave the starship without the ship actually landing somewhere. The did beg the question of what would happen to the Cornucopia once everyone was evacuated but that was not her concern. At least not at the moment.

“Jacob,” she greeted, waving at him. The wolf’s ears perked in her direction and his lips turned slightly upwards in greeting. He said something to the officer he was with before turning and striding towards her.

“Mary. I hadn’t expected to see you here.”

“It has been a a hectic few days,” she admitted. “Between the fallout of the tournament and Washington ramping up his rhetoric, everything is a mess.” She cast her gaze around the hanger and at the amount of crates, boxes and equipment that were waiting to be shipped out. It amused her that some of the former henchmen were helping as well. “I see you’ve been busy too.”

“The understatement of the year,” sighed the No One. “I’m suspicious that Washington hasn’t unleashed any Genesians recently and I think it’s because the Genesians were initially designed to drive people to follow his ideals by being the catalyst that proves his argument beyond just the Gene Stealers.”

It was a viable tactic. There was no link between the Genesians and the Gene Stealers save for the word of Arsenal. There was nothing linking the Genesians to Vernon Washington either. For all the general public knew, the Genesians were just another slew of powerful supervillains. Every attack from them would serve as evidence for the General’s claim that supers needed to be closely monitored, regulated and even robbed of their freedom.

“And you think that since we’re basically providing all the proof he needs to support his arguments, he hasn’t had to release the Genesians?”

Jacob nodded sorrowfully. “The recent events have certainly done more to support his stance than anything else.”

Mary pursed her lips. “Are we winning?”

The No One didn’t need any clarification and shook his head grimly. “In that front, no. Lillian is doing a great job mobilising her base. Those who already support supers and their freedoms are already sold and they are not going to budge no matter what happens. Even those that were turned during the tournament will not change stances. They saw Lillian’s genuine shock, they saw the terror from those heroes that got infected, they were witness to the self-sacrifice and selflessness of all those that fought.” Reaper sighed heavily and handed a tablet off to a passing officer. “The problem is winning over those people who hadn’t made up their minds or people who are going to vote for Washington. As it stands, there are more people for the General than against.”

Mary folded her arms securely against her chest. “I suppose when you live in a system long enough, people are bound to want it to change. Especially when that system is shown to be untrustworthy.” She lifted her gaze towards him. “I suppose that’s what I wanted to talk to you about…”

Reaper glanced around. With a slight tilt of his head, he beckoned her to follow him behind a few of the taller stacks of crates so they had a modicum of privacy. In the shadow of those tall, metal boxes, she said her piece.

“I’d like to meet my mother.”

There was no reaction from Jacob though he did stare at her for about three seconds before turning away. “Before we go further, may I ask why?”

“That’s fair.” She sighed. Ever since returning from Canada and learning that Jacob had been called away by the Gods, this had been a heavy weight on her heart. “The gods are meant to be our creators. Our guardians. Entities who are meant to be infinitely wise and all-knowing who love us unconditionally.”

“Not necessarily… but go on.”

“Even if she wasn’t a god, my mother is still my mother. I would’ve expected her to be there for me. To guide me. To give me that unconditional love and to protect me from things like being genetically raped by the Gene Stealers.”

“But she’s not just your mother. She is also a goddess.” Reaper held up a paw to keep her from interrupting. “And I thought you had been over this? You decided to live your life without the influence of your mother.”

“I did.” Mary wrung her hands together. “And I will. But I just want an explanation out of her. I want to know why she abandoned me. Why she even had me and why, after all this time, she’d be the one representing the gods to negotiate your terms of staying here.”

That caused Reaper to pop up one of his eyebrows. “Been poking around people’s minds, I see.”

A soft, guilty smile touched her lips. “It’s a bit like how my empath abilities work. Sometimes, you just can’t help pick up things when they scream it out loud in their minds. You keep your mind fairly quiet and locked off but I think…” She inclined her head slightly, squinting one eye slightly. “… that’s more for your benefit than anyone else’s…”

Reaper snorted softly. “Early on in my career, I got bombarded with all the possibilities of reality and alternate reality. It was a miracle I managed to stay sane. Blocking off my mind is less about keeping people out than keeping all the crazy in.” He gave her a gentle smile. “But you’re right. I met with Athena and she was representing that gods in their negotiations with me. You are also right to suspect that she had a vested interest in your fate.”

She gave him a knowing stare. “You’re not going to tell me what, are you?”

“Actually, I will.” Lifting a finger, he said, “You remember the prophecy that Martha Connors made?”

“How could anyone forget?” she said with a nod. “Someone close to Caleb is meant to betray him. He’s meant to have some heartbreak and then someone is meant to die.”

Jacob paused a moment, staring at her again for three seconds.

“You were meant to die.”

Mary jumped in surprise, placing a hand against her chest. “What?”

“The werewolves are still creatures that are within the realm of the gods and they can still be influenced by the divine. Martha Connors’ prophecy was less about something in the future and more around what they had planned.” Reaper places his paws on his hips and regarded the floor. “Remember, at the time, you hadn’t been infected by the Gene Stealers and the gods could tell with absolute certainty, you would die.” He lifted a paw again to prevent her from interrupting. “You were meant to sacrifice yourself heroically but in doing so, would unleash a powerful psychic scream that would devastate the city, killing hundreds of thousands due people being knocked out, road accidents and whatever else. It would prove Washington’s claim that supers are dangerous, he would become mayor and through the Genesians, Washington would spread superpowers to everyone… with the exception of divine superpowers which only the gods would grant.”

“That’s terrible!”

“Here’s the kicker,” Reaper said with a sardonic smirk. “You were meant to come back, more powerful than ever, as the envoy of the gods and bringing divine power to the masses. Or at least those that were faithful. You’d make the gods relevant again. Bring the monopoly of superpowers into their hands alone and empowering them with the faith of the citizenry. You’d be the hero that would end General Washington’s reign and the Gene Stealers forever but it wouldn’t be in time to stop him from giving everyone superpowers.”

Mary felt disgusted, appalled and terrified at the same time. She almost wished that Reaper hadn’t told her the prophecy’s intention. But something else stuck out in the maelstrom of questions and emotions she was feeling.

“Why are you telling me this?”

With a deadpan stare, Reaper said, “Because ever since you go infected, the gods are freaking out. They have no idea what will happen. They don’t know if you’ll still die for them or if their plans are still in motion. Your mother wanted me to ensure that you sacrificed yourself heroically.”

“She wants me to die!?”

“Only so that she can be there to greet you.” Reaper offered a sympathetic smile towards her. “Don’t judge her too harshly, Mary. Your mother may be a goddess but more power means more rules that you have to adhere to. She couldn’t directly interfere and she does want to see you again. To spend time with you and give you the motherly nurturing that you deserve.” Then he glanced off to the right. “Unfortunately, she’s been reading too many heroic tales and watching far too many cheesy action movies that she’s planned that bonding to occur over what is effectively a glorified training montage.”

Mary ran a hand up her face, sweeping her hair back in frustration. “So her idea of us ‘bonding’ is her ‘training’ me with my new powers and somehow the experience will bring us together?”

“The bond between a master and student is an incredible one,” Reaper answered with a shrug and a helpless smile. “I’ve seen it all the time. Often time the mentor becomes a parental figure. She’s just trying to use that relationship as the bridge to repair your broken relationship.”

She turned around, grasping her temples with her fingers, nails digging into her skin. “Couldn’t she do that in a less manipulative way and without killing me!?”

Jacob gently grasped her shoulder. “Often that’s that only way deities who live above their people know how to interact with those they are charged with. Those kinds of gods have so much power that even the smallest act could cause a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions. The only way they know how to do anything is through manipulation, get the people to come to them.”

“You don’t do that.”

“I’m not a god,” he answered. “And who’s to say I don’t have my own schemes and plots in place?”

Mary gestured towards the No One. “You I trust. At the very least, I know you try to do your best to make sure that we’re happy and healthy. Even though what you do might hurt us in the short-term, in the long run, you’re looking out for us.”

Reaper gave her a wince and waggled a finger at her. “When you think about it, the kind of faith you’re putting in me is exactly what the deities of this world are asking for. I know we approach things fundamentally differently but when you think about it, the only difference between us is that I admit that I’m mortal. I make mistakes. But the gods don’t. Everything is always according to some plan of theirs.”

“And that you’re more powerful than them,” Mary added with a sarcastic edge, turning back towards him.

“Power should have nothing to do with it. Don’t mistake power for being right. Just because someone has control over the rules of reality, doesn’t mean that whatever they say is morally correct. They might believe it and certainly the people whom they rule over might but you’ve got to ask yourself if it really is right.” Reaper shook his head slowly. “Mary, you shouldn’t put that kind of blind faith in anyone. Not me. Not your mother. Not the gods. When people put their futures in the hands of others, they will only be disappointed and will blame that person. And you know what’ll happen?”

She sighed heavily, brushing a lock of hair that had fallen aside back behind her ear. “The person they put their faith in will either say it’s all part of some grand master plan.”

Reaper pointed a finger gun at her and ‘fired’ it, accompanying the gesture with a click of his tongue. “Correct. It just creates a cycle of blame. Your mother made her choices to abandon you and manipulate you from a distance. Don’t let that cloud your judgement. You’re only going to cause rifts between yourself, Ashton and your father if you go ahead with this.”

Her eyes went to the floor as if scanning the metal would somehow give her the answers she needed. “But you’re still going to make your own decisions, right? You still have the option not to let me see her even if I ask.”

“Yes but you will find some way. You could burn through what little funds you have to fly to Greece and find some way of summoning her, make a deal with some divine-based hero or consult some dark power.”

Her lips turned upwards slightly as he looked up at him from beneath her brow. “You specifically chose those options to prevent me from taking them, didn’t you?”

He returned a smirk. “Told you I’ll manipulate you.”

Mary straightened, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think the message I’m getting is that I have to accept the ramifications of the decision I make. Don’t let anyone else dictate my choices, don’t blindly put my faith in people and expect them to do everything for me perfectly as I wanted. They aren’t me no matter how powerful they are. They will always have their own agendas.”

“Correct. Even if they are you from some the future or something trying to maintain some sort of temporal causality, you’re still playing with fire.”

She chuckled softly. “I don’t envy your job.” She blew out her cheeks before letting out her breath slowly. “Okay. I’ve made my decision.”

Reaper nodded sagely. “And?”

She paused for a moment, wondering if the decision she was about to make was the right one. Then she went over the conversation they just had and cemented her resolve that whether or not it was right, it was her decision and she was willing to accept the consequences.

“I still want to meet my mother.”

For a second, Jacob’s eyes widened slightly in surprise and his pupils shifted into their star-shape, the eight-points cutting into his sapphire-blue irises. As they retreated the No One took a deep breath. “And I will facilitate this meeting.”

Some part of her had hoped he would help but another almost didn’t. Now she had to wonder what kind of terrible fate awaited her and her friends and family given that the Writer of Reality had accepted her request. Reaper was hesitant about letting her meet Athena for most of the conversation after all.

“After the wedding,” Reaper added, firmly.

Mary could live with that and nodded in agreement. As they left the little secluded enclave between the boxes, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had just fallen into one of Reaper’s manipulations. Had he genuinely been reluctant to let her meet her mother or did he steer the conversation in such a manner, giving her a lecture about faith and choice only to agree when she had taken the lessons to heart? Was he preparing her to meet a goddess whose divine plan had now been ruined?

Only time would tell…

… after the wedding.

******

With AEGIS abandoning the Cornucopia, it was easy for Ben to get to the organisation’s commandeered neighbourhood now affectionately called AEGIS Central. Before, he would either have to call AEGIS to get a ride to the starship or speak with Jacob to be transported there. Now, it was a simple matter of just getting his lycanthropic driver to bring his limo to the city blocks owned by AEGIS. The limo came to a halt in front of one of the farther buildings from the epicentre of AEGIS control - the centre being Jacob’s apartment building.

“We’ve arrived, Master Ben,” rumbled his driver.

“Thank you,” he answered gruffly. “Circle around a bit. I won’t be long.”

The driver, a werewolf that came from a subservient pack, acknowledged his command and the moment he exited the limo, went off to do as he commanded. Ben had to admit that he would miss having the vast resources of the Alpha Pack behind him. News of his departure from the Pack had yet to trickle down into the subservient packs and he knew that a fraction of them would remain loyal to him but it would be nowhere near as powerful as the Alpha Pack as a whole. Most of the Pack were still reeling from the attack of the Gene Stealers and no doubt some of them would try to brush aside his insubordination and quietly pray that he would come back into the fold. But Ben hadn’t come to become the merciless Blood Wolf by brushing dirt under the rug.

There was a reason why he was attending high school while the rest of his family played the rich aristocrat or businessperson. He kept his ear to the ground, kept up with modern gossip, the latest technologies, breakthroughs and opinions. He could tell when the tide was changing and he could plan accordingly. It had been him that had brought the Gene Stealers to the Alpha Pack’s attention and now the notorious shapeshifters were the biggest threat to the Pack apart from Vernon Washington.

Ben could tell the tides were changing again.

It was time to make his move.

He stepped into the abandoned apartment building. The residents had been one of those that had moved away after Jacob’s display with Sturmspalter. It had remained abandoned for the past few months and would do so for a few months still until the rest of AEGIS had moved in. For now, it served as a temporary meeting spot for the discarded.

Making his way down into the basement level where all the laundry facilities had been, he was greeted by the hulking Madman, fully recovered from his ordeal after absorbing and then ejecting Needles. The huge hyena looked much more vascular than he had before though it could be because he was wearing tight-fitting clothing despite the relatively cool weather. Leaning against the nearby wall was Bren, the superspy still wearing a pair of dark sunglasses even though they were indoors with the only light coming in from the small ground-level window. Electricity had been cut off from the building since it was now abandoned.

“Glad you could make it,” Ben greeted with a nod. “I suppose you’re wondering why?”

“Fuck yeah,” announced Madman loudly. “We’ve barely chatted before. Why you’re interested now is a fucking mystery.” Then he grinned broadly, flexing an arm. “Unless you’re thinking about getting some of this and making a werewolf on top of all my other mutations.”

Ben cocked an eyebrow. “I am curious, what did absorbing Needles actually give you this time? Tibia fortified your bones. The Gimp allowed you to generate a leather suit for protection. Migraine’s strain reinforced your mind. Those two assholes…?”

“Basically made me immune to all diseases and sickness,” Madman answered with a proud grin. “Basically, every cell in my body is now some sort of ‘super cell’. I can never get sick.”

“So you’re like Caleb now? You can make cures if you have the Original Serum?”

There, the hyena’s pride deflated slightly. “Ain’t no one like Hale. You try injecting me with shit and it’ll just get absorbed into me. I’ll make it my own. You put that shit in someone else and they might just end up being absorbed too.”

So he was a highly adaptive warrior. Anything used on him would only make him stronger. That was good to know.

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Bren said, pushing off the wall. “You want to recruit us.”

“Perceptive as ever,” he admitted with a nod. “Yes. I want to recruit you both.”

“Make us werewolves?” Madman asked hopefully. The one thing Madman was still lacking was the level of regenerative powers and baseline powers than most supers. He had it to some degree but compared to the rest of Arsenal who had been infected, he was on the lower side of the spectrum. Even Mary had greater regenerative powers than he did. Little surprise, then , that he was hopeful of getting turned into a werewolf to shore up that weakness.

“No,” Ben said firmly. “I’m not going to make you werewolves because doing so would bind you to me. I don’t want that. I’ve seen what it’s done to the Alpha Pack. They’ve lived so long together that they start thinking like one another. There’s barely any hesitation, doubt or questioning amongst their ranks. We think it’s a consensus and it is because we’re all basically the same person. That’s a surefire way to stagnate.”

“And you want us to join you in some new ‘Pack’?” Madman huffed. “While you get to be immortal and the two of us keep dying slowly?”

There, Ben smirked slightly. “You both won’t die that easily and you know it.” He nodded towards Bren. “You’ve got an immeasurable number of clones that just keep spawning and you…” He nodded towards Madman. “Your genes are so juiced up on Gene Stealers that a couple more and I’m sure you’ll be ageless too.”

“What exactly are you offering?” Bren demanded. “Make it quick.”

Ben had prepared a speech but he could tell Bren would be difficult to convince if he gave a lengthy monologue about loyalty, the future and the ‘changing tides’.

“We’re all discarded, abandoned,” he began. “Bren, you were abandoned by the FBI and left to fend for yourself. Madman, you were abandoned by Gnoll. I’ve been abandoned by the Pack. Not outwardly but in their minds, I’m already lost.” That last part was a lie but they didn’t have to know that. “We’re the outcasts and we need to band together if we’re going to survive what’s to come.”

Bren’s eyes were smoldering behind his glasses. “And what is to come?”

He paused for dramatic effect. “War.”

“Huh?” Madman asked, removing all sense of a dramatic pause.

“Whatever happens, there’s going to be a war,” Bren supplied. “David’s actions has broken the Alpha Pack. Either he joins them and the Elemental Alliance attacks the Pack for fear of one of their founding members joining them with all the secrets he holds or David refuses and the Pack hunts him down with the Alliance backing him up. If it isn’t that, then it’ll be the war between Vernon Washington and AEGIS. If it isn’t that, then it’ll be the Gene Stealers and us. We’re all building to a climax here.”

Once again, Ben was amazed at Bren’s analytical skills. As a field commander to Rhiannon’s foresight, the two would make for formidable allies. But the villainous werewolf couldn’t rely on the Hound of Destruction. She was far too chaotic and her allegiances were not clear.

“And we are going to get caught in the crossfire,” Ben pressed. He nodded towards Madman. “You’re going to get caught between the Gene Stealers and Arsenal.”

“Fuck that!” the hyena bellowed loudly. “I ain’t gonna work for the assholes who abandoned me!”

“You don’t have to.” Bren’s eyes narrowed as he gave a dark analysis. “You could be captured and be used as a Guinea Pig for the perfect Gen 5.” That caught Madman by surprise but not Ben. The scrupulous werewolf had been thinking about the same thing. “A Gen 5 is supposedly someone who not only had control over every aspect of their physical form but also their superpowers. They can change and adapt at will. You’re halfway there, Sanchez. Your body is incredibly adaptive. The Gene Stealers could throw more and more Originals at you for you to absorb and eventually, you might just evolve into a Gen 5.”

“Or they’ll capture me and force the bastards onto me,” rumbled Madman, leaning back with a snarl. “Not gonna happen.”

“Only if we band together,” Ben continued. He eyed Bren next. “You may not like it, Bren, but the government still has a stranglehold on you. Your clones. AEGIS only has a select number of them but the government has the rest and they have the technology to produce more. Eventually, you’re going to run out and if Washington gets his way, he might just appropriate your clones and use them against us. In the battle between AEGIS and Washington, you might just be facing off against yourself. Or worse…”

“Genesian versions of myself,” Bren concluded.

Again, Ben was amazed at Bren’s analytical skills. Maybe he had developed more mutations than just the ability for his damaged clones to transform into mindless beasts to wreak havoc upon the battlefield.

“And what about you, pup?” growled Madman. “The Alpha Pack against the Alliance?”

“I’ve still got ties to the Pack,” he agreed with a nod. “But my loyalties lie with you and the rest of Arsenal. If things get dicey, I can’t say I’ll throw my weight behind my family. Not if you guys side with the Alliance.”

Bren huffed softly. “So you want us to band together and form some sort of alliance of our own? To what end?”

“To stop the wars,” Ben finished grimly. “When the first shots are fired, we need to be the ones to step in the middle and mediate. We need to be the ones to stop things from getting out of control.”

‘Why the suddenly altruism? You’ve spent your entire life as a supervillain. Why suddenly decide you’re in it to help others?”

He gave Bren a sly smirk. “It’s not completely selfless. I want a fresh start. I’m rebuilding my reputation and my connections to stand outside the Alpha Pack. If people see me in a better light, the Pack is less likely to send assassins to kill me.”

“So you’re using us as meat shields,” grunted Madman. “Be the good guy so that people would be willing to help you if the Pack ever decide to attack.”

He shrugged absently but didn’t say a word.

The hyena let out a short laugh, making both Bren and Ben flinch. Sanchez knew the effect one of his laughs had given that was the original medium for infection of his strain. “Fuck it. I’m in.”

“As am I,” Bren responded.

Ben breathed a soft right of relief. “Great. Let’s make the announcement.”

“After the wedding,” insisted the feline superspy. “Everyone is high strung right now. Separating from Arsenal right now would only make things worse.”

That was fair. Besides, he didn’t want to pass up the chance of seeing what a No One’s world was like let alone the opportunity to attend an interdimensional wedding.

“Good idea. After the wedding it is.”

******

It was done.

Coach Davis had been somewhat disappointed that he had resigned from his position as assistant coach but David knew it was the right thing to do. He gave the excuse that with the season over, he had no reason to stay on anymore even though technically, the next season would begin in less than a year and summer training was just around the corner. The Raptor’s coach likely suspected that his resignation had something to do with his behaviour just before the championship and Caleb’s new scar but thankfully didn’t press the issue or call child services.

In truth, it was quite liberating. Caleb had shown that he was more than capable of standing on his own two feet and was becoming a strong, capable young wolf. A wolf that wouldn’t need constant micromanagement from David. It was a humbling realisation and one that made him realise that in that story, he had been the villain. Part of him wanted to blame the werewolf venom coursing through his veins but he knew he had to shoulder the responsibility for his choices. He was the one that elected to get infected, he was the one that decided to strangle his family with his overbearing paternal instincts and he was the one that had hurt his son.

That was all guilt he would bear.

He wasn’t sure what the future held but he was hoping he could at least stay in contact with his son.

“I’m not going to be like my parents,” he said to himself.

He approached the family van which was parked in the teacher’s lot at the back of West California High School. A familiar human male dressed in a suit was waiting for him. His hackles immediately began to rise and his eyes began to shift into their red colouration.

“I’m not in the mood right now, Samson.”

The leader of the Alpha Pack lifted a hand in a sign of submission. “I understand that but this is an urgent matter that requires your attention.”

David ran a paw down his face in exasperation. “My daughter’s wedding is in a couple of days. The Alliance is still in the midst of doing damage control after capturing the Traumatiser and AEGIS is moving out of their goddamn starship. We’re barely through half the week and you’re bringing this shit up now? What’s so fucking important that you can’t give me a second to go home to my wife and kids?”

Samson’s features were still and unreadable. “Your obligation as a member of the Pack.” He made a gesture towards the nearby limo. “Please, follow me.”

Rolling his eyes, David followed the werewolf into the back of the limo. Naturally, there was another burly werewolf to open the door for them. What he didn’t expect was the guy dressed in a suit that looked way too big for him seated in the limo. The kid had big, thick glasses, reddish-brown hair, bright green eyes and a face that might as well have been all freckles. The suit he was wearing was clearly on loan as it stretched past his wrists and almost covered his hands.

David sat opposite to the newcomer. “What is this?” he demanded.

“This is Eric Bronswell,” replied Samson, gesturing at the kid. “He is a college student from Georgia currently majoring in Computer Science. He is twenty-two years old, will graduate at the end of the year and hoping to get a job somewhere here in California.”

“That’s great. And?”

“And he’s a werewolf.”

That caused David’s ears to perk up but he didn’t say anything.

“I know you’ve had your reservations about dominating a pack as part of your initiation,” continued Samson, “so I’ve decided to take a different approach. There are many just like Eric who want to escape their hometowns and come to West California Island but are either stuck because of their extremely conservative packs, lack of funds or the opportunity simply does not present itself.” He held out a hand towards David. “What I’m proposing is that you take these wolves under your wing, form a new pack with them and bring them into the fold of the Alpha Pack.

“We will provide the funds. Our authority over the other Packs is absolute so none of the other alphas will challenge you or even if they did, they’d be severely outmatched. We can provide internships, job opportunities and housing with our considerable contacts and companies.”

David saw this for what it was; Samson’s attempt to appeal to his more heroic tendencies by making this part of the ritual more about community outreach and opportunity than actually going to some pack and forcibly conquering them. In reality though, this was exactly a conquest only one that was dealt through subterfuge.

“And Eric’s Pack isn’t one of those that’s loyal to the Alpha Pack, is it?” he said with a huff.

“Correct. They refuse to accept our help and barely eke out a living. I’ve already made contact with several other packs who insist on living ‘like our ancestors did’ and hide out in the wilds, hunting like savages and even murdering people off the roads. Real horror-movie villain types. Though not all of them are willing to listen, some of the younger generation are curious and even outright willing to abandon their savagery and join us.”

Destroy these rebel packs by taking away their young and sowing the seeds of doubt into their ranks. If they decided to challenge David, they were likely to lose and ultimately end up becoming subservient anyway. It was a clever ploy and appealed to David’s sense of law and order. The Alpha Pack may not necessarily be on the right side of the law but they did serve a function of keeping the werewolves in check. If there were werewolves out there killing and slaughtering innocents, David was likewise compelled to put a stop to them.

But something was still nagging at him…

He turned to the young Eric. “And what’s your take on this, pup?”

Eric suddenly lunged forward despite the moving limo. David flinched and so did Samson but Eric was suddenly on his knees, pressing his forehead against David’s foot and openly weeping.

“Please, sir! Please accept me into your pack! I don’t want to live with my parents or my pack anymore!”

David glanced towards Samson who only gave him a helpless shrug. “What… What do you mean?”

The young werewolf sobbed. “They… they tell us to suppress our werewolf forms. They stop us from being who we are. Except for a few days in the month when they shift and… and…” He choked.

“Have you ever seen the movie ‘The Purge’?” Samson supplied sorrowfully.

“Who hasn’t?” rumbled David.

It was a terribly violent movie that posited the question: ‘How do you keep superheroes from going postal?’ The premise of the movie was that once a year, criminals on death row would be placed on the island of Manhattan that had long been abandoned for The Purge. Every entrance and exit would be locked down and superheroes from all over the world would come to the island and just purge. They would unleash all of their base instincts on everyone aside from their fellow participants. They were allowed to destroy buildings, kill people and even rape the prisoners as much as they wanted. Let out all that aggression and repressed emotions that built up over a year of serving the community at large. Any criminals that made it out alive were free to go. This only served the cyclical nature of The Purge, however, as those criminals were very likely to resort to crime again and end up back on the island. For the superheroes, whatever happened at the Purge stayed at the Purge.

“In his pack, it’s called ‘Full Moon Fever’. It’s a little less violent but the werewolves effectively fuck, hunt and fight wildly for three days a month. Smaller wolves like Eric are classified as ‘omegas’ and are basically the Pack’s cum dumpsters. Even the women rape him.”

David was appalled. “You can’t be serious!”

“It’s true!” Eric whined, lifting his gaze towards David pleadingly. “The moment I was old enough, my pack would use me. Over and over again. I thought going to college would save me but every full moon, my older brothers would drag me back home to participate! Please! Please save me!”

He was speechless. Every instinct in his body demanded that he save this kid but at the same time, what would the consequences be in the long run? Was he signing away his life to Samson?

“It can’t all be like this…”

“Of course not,” Samson responded casually. “Some are much worse.”

“How!?”

The werewolf king gave him a deadpan stare. “There are packs out there who practice ritual cannibalism. Others who rape and impregnate young women, often below the legal age, in an attempt to bolster their ranks. Then there are those who are far more murderous and literally hunt people, effectively making them families or packs of serial killers. There are people just like Eric who don’t want to be part of that life. We can save them.”

“None of this could all be happening in the US.”

“I’m not talking just about the US, David. The Alpha Pack has reaches not only all over the globe but on the Moon Colony and Mars as well. There are werewolves everywhere and they are hurting.”

David’s throat went dry and he looked down at the teary eyes of Eric. “Do I… Do I have to…?”

“Yes,” Samson responded calmly. “You have to claim him. How you do that is up to you. You can fuck him. Piss on him. Rub him all over your sweaty body or make him wear your clothes until the stench of his former Pack no longer lingers. The latter will take months, maybe even years. But the point is that you need to show your dominance, stake your claim and challenge anyone who tried to take him from you. In effect, he will be your son.”

Some primal part of David wanted that, wanted to have another son, to make a dynasty of strong wolves that would last through time. The other part wanted to save the pup without resorting to the brutal methods of the Alpha Pack but he knew that he had to. This was how werewolves did it. The werewolf in him knew it.

He had no choice in the matter.

“Alright,” he sighed in resignation. “I’ll do it.”

Eric’s features lit up and he hugged David’s calves, kissing his knee affectionately. “Thank you! Thank you, alpha!”

“After the wedding,” David said, holding up a finger. “I’m not going to cause any more drama for my family until after the wedding.” He turned that finger to point at Samson. “You’re not invited, by the way.”

The werewolf king shrugged and smiled. “I didn’t expect to be. I’ll make the preparations and start fetching the candidates for your pack.”

“How many do you have planned exactly?”

“Thousands, David. There are thousands that want to escape the yoke of their barbaric packs. We won’t have you claim all of them, of course.” A devilish grin touched the werewolf’s lips. “At least not all at once.”

David growled as the limo came to a halt. He gently pushed Eric off him and stepped out. “Keep the kid safe until after the wedding.”

“Of course.” Samson waved at him, smug in his victory. “See you in a few days.”

As the limo drove off, David was already thinking about trying to convince Abby to postpone the wedding so he would technically have a reason to put off fucking thousands of young werewolves. But that was just his being manipulative and selfish… like he had always been.

With a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate… a fate that would have to wait…

“… until after the wedding.”

******

The dawn of the 14th February would be hailed as Valentine’s Day but for Abigail Hale, it was also her wedding day. A wedding that was to be held on an interdimensional plane officiated by none other than L4 the Liaison of Life, a literal cross-planar entity that embodied life in all its aspects. Though it was only going to be a small number of people attending, it was understandable that she was currently hyperventilating in the bathroom still in her wedding dress.

Each member of the Hales had take their turn trying to coax her out. None had been successful thus far.

Lillian made her way down the stairs, dressed in the tight, pink dress that Abby had wanted for her bridesmaids, her hair up in a neat bun and her fur and makeup absolutely perfect. She gave a helpless shrug as she reached the bottom of the steps.

“She’s still having a panic attack,” admitted Lillian. “I tried to remind her that it’s just a small event with only a few people attending but then she went of the rails about exactly where we’re having the wedding and what will happen afterwards.”

The problems with trying to cheer up a lawyer; they always had a counter-argument. Caleb had at gone up to try and get Abby to come down twice before and everyone else in the family had at least one try. Her immediately family exchanged helpless glances, each of them dressed in their best suit or dress. Everyone was on their best behaviour. For one day since he had come to his powers, Leon wasn’t openly antagonising his father. Lance had brought along Corey, the kangaroo who was his boyfriend, and they weren’t sneaking off to have sex in some scandalous place. David wasn’t trying to manipulate his family to do something he wanted - at least as far as Caleb knew - and Lillian wasn’t procrastinating.

It was all about the wedding and Abby.

That was actually one of the arguments David had tried earlier; try to make it all about her and assure her that they would do everything within their power to make sure her day was special. Her counter to that was that he obviously couldn’t control everything and everyone, bringing up how he had brutalised Caleb and given him a permanent scar. That sent David back down the stairs with his head hung and tail between his legs, uncharacteristically quiet.

“Goddamnit,” Leon growled. “She was fine yesterday. She was even going on about how this wedding was symbolic and in the eyes of the law, not really a wedding!”

“Probably just a lie she told herself to make herself feel better,” Lance mumbled. “You know Abby. Well…” He scratched the back of his head. “… we used to…”

Caleb took a deep breath and started up the stairs again. “Okay. I’m going in.”

“Watch out for any shampoo bottles, mate,” Corey warned, pointing at his slightly red eyes. Abby had squired shampoo into his eyes before he even got a sentence in. It still stung.

Throwing his family a thumb ups for assurance, he headed up the steps and took a left towards the bathroom; the one that the kids had shared for over twenty years. His mind buzzed with all the tactics they had tried thus far to get Abby to go out and attend her own wedding and all of her counters. Trying to make the wedding sound insignificant only caused her to remind them that she was going to get married in a No One’s homeworld. Reminding her that they loved her and were here to support her was shot down by the fact that she always had that and ultimately, nothing would change when they got back. An attempt to convince her that nothing could go wrong was thrown back at the most recent tournament.

Caleb paused in front of the bathroom door and let out a soft, thoughtful noise.

“Okay…” he mumbled softly. “I think I got it…” He stepped forward and gently knocked on the door.

There was no response from the others side.

Taking a deep breath, Caleb began. “Hey Abby. So I jut realised something. This is a pretty big thing, isn’t it?” Still no response, so he continued. “When I think about it, the No Ones use their homeworlds like a portal port, don’t they? The gateway to other realities. When people die and they can’t find their own happiness or self-worth, they go to the No Ones where they work out their issues. You’re basically going to get married in Heaven.”

A soft whimper came from the other side of the door.

A response. That was good. “All I’m saying is that not everyone gets this chance. Everyone has put a lot of effort into this once in a lifetime opportunity. Maybe you don’t feel like it’s your wedding or maybe you feel like it’s too much but I think you should swallow your pride and just accept the fact that the No Ones, especially Gwen, won’t do this just for anyone. She is the literal interdimensional goddess of life. You can bet she won’t just let anyone get married in her world without dying first and having some sort of existential crisis.”

“How is this helping!?” Abby shouted.

Good. He was making progress. Now to thread the line between getting her to open the door and getting a face full of stinging shampoo.

“You’re scared. I get that. You’re scared that everyone is putting all this effort into this wedding and you’re afraid that in the end, it won’t be worth it. That when it comes down to it, this is just symbolic and you won’t be married to Arthur in the eyes of this world’s law. You’re afraid that Arthur might one day wake up and realise that he’s too good for you and decide not to marry you. Then all of this will be for nothing.” He stepped forward, gently pressing a paw against the door. “But listen, Abby, you can’t be sure of anything. You can’t guarantee your happily ever after. But you can still work for it. Even if you see the end coming, you can do whatever you can to prevent it. Look at what Jake did with the tournament. He knew dad was going to screw up so he did whatever he could to soften the blow. You can do that too.”

There was silence. Had he said the wrong thing? Was he shut out again?

Then the door handle wiggled a little and he braced himself for an eyeful of burning shampoo. The door slid open a little and Abby peeked through.

“You really think I can do that?” she asked softly. “Even if everything points to me and Arthur breaking up, you think I can fight it?”

He gave her a gentle smile. “I know you can. Even Jake, who can see into all the possibilities of the future, can’t guarantee anything. He says it’s because there are so many variables all the time. I think it’s the same here. You’ve got a lot of people supporting you, sis. I mean, you wouldn’t even be getting married today if it weren’t for Gwen. That’s got to count for something.”

She laughed softly. “I suppose if I insult her by breaking up with Arthur, she’d be the first one to try and get us back together.” Her eyes lowered. “But what if she’s only doing this because she knows we’ll break up later?”

“The No Ones aren’t gods. They don’t force us or make us do anything. We decide what we want to do and they just help us achieve it.” He pressed a paw against his chest. “We have to accept the consequences of our choices and we can’t blame them for it.”

She sighed softly and pulled open the door a little wider. “Something will go wrong, won’t it?”

He offered her a thin smile. “Abby, it’s our family. Something always goes wrong.”

Her brow furrowed as she stepped aside, letting him inside. “I just want this day to be perfect… It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity…”

“Maybe but it’s not going to be your only opportunity,” he answered, stepping inside the bathroom.

Apart from the emptied shampoo bottle, there was nothing out of place. Abby was dressed in her flowing, white wedding dress; an elegant ensemble with tightly hugged her lean, supple with closely wrapped lace. From a distance, it looked like the long sleeves were just one solid block but when the light caught it just right and when seen up close, it could be seen as layered lace. There was a modest neckline with a floral pattern that brought the eye towards her figure-hugging hemline that reached all the way down to her ankles. Caleb wondered how she could move in such a tight dress but the bride really wasn’t meant to move that much after all. There was a second ‘skirt’ that was wrapped around her waist that was long and thin like spider-silk which trailed away from her waist, leaving the front of her legs exposed but a sort of cape running from her hips and billowing out behind her. Naturally, he hair was straightened with a slight curl at the end just to make sure she looked as natural as possible while maintaining that beautiful elegance. She hadn’t been crying since her makeup was still perfect.

“What are you saying?” she asked, seating herself gently on the toilet seat, running her paws over her dress to make sure there were no crinkles.

“Don’t let this one day define the rest of your life, Abby.” He leaned casually against the sink and gave her a light smile. “When you think about it, I’ve had plenty of ‘once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities’. I’ve screwed up my fair share of them. If I’ve learned anything from this whole ‘Legion of Pain’ thing, it’s this: the actual event doesn’t really matter. It’s what you do afterwards that matters.”

She gave him a puzzled look but quickly reset her face to avoid cracking her makeup.

“The thing with Tibia,” he explained. “Once in a lifetime opportunity. Screwed it up royally. But with help from Jake, I pushed through it and came out stronger. The Gimp, Migraine, Pins and Needles. All of them. Once in a lifetime opportunities. I got to see Madagascar, Mount Everest and Toronto. Stood on the world stage as dad’s tournament fell around him.” He lifted a finger at her before she could protest. “Before you can say anything about them all being bad opportunities, there were good ones as well. We had that spa day that Jake brought us. The playoffs for football. Hell, I even got to attend a supervillain convention… sort of.”

He gave her his most encouraging smile. “It’s not what happens during the shitstorm that constantly bombards our lives, Abby. It’s what we do after it.”

She took a deep breath, gazing at her reflection in the mirror. “I suppose… I suppose you’re right. I’m going to Australia to work for a law firm with the man I love. I’m going to go for my Master’s Degree, work hard, become a respected member of my field and specialise in superhero relations and cases.”

Caleb inclined his head to the side. “Really?”

She gave him a light smile. “You think you and the rest of the supers in our family haven’t influenced me?” She regarded her reflection once more. “I’ve been watching you guys ever since all of this started. I hate how people like GG Guinness constantly criticise you and defame you because of things that are out of your control. Contrarians like him just say whatever is against the norm to get rating without thinking about the damage it does to the people who defend him.”

“They’re just words Abby…”

“And words can hurt,” she said fiercely. Rising to her feet, paws tightened into fists, she lifted her head. “People sue other people for ‘psychological damages’ all the time. What people like Guinness forget is that superheroes aren’t this constant force of nature that will save them whenever they want and just take all their slander without a second thought. They’re people. People whose confidence could be shaken, hopes broken or hearts wounded because of something someone says.” She locked gazes with him. “A super down in Florida, Soundbyte, retired this year because a local news anchor brought up the orphaned child who lost her parents during an attack Soundbyte worked so hard to mitigate. The anchor actually scripted for the child to ask, right into the camera, ‘Why couldn’t you save my mommy and daddy?’.”

Caleb flinched and grimaced. “That’s low…”

“Exactly. And there’s no one holding bastards like that anchor to that sort of psychological damage. Soundbyte never explicitly said that was the reason he was retiring but everyone knows it is. He’s twenty-seven, Caleb. At the prime of his life and career as a super.”

Harsh. There were lots of people who were hoping to be superheroes. Kids of all ages dreamed of coming to their superheroes and flying through the sky, helping others. It was a dream that had a harsh version in reality. Most of those kids would be going into the superhero business fairly young but none of them would have developed the hard skin that career supers like David, Siren or Shockstorm would have developed over years of dealing with the media. Their wills could easily be shattered by underhanded tricks just like the one Abby described.

“That’s a future ruined because someone just wanted to make a scandal,” Abby said, shaking her head sorrowfully. “I’m going to defend them. I’m going to stand up to them and set the legal precedent that reminds everyone that the people behind the masks are still people. The reason they hold up their masks is because they have loved ones, futures and lives behind the superhero identity. You can’t just say whatever you want. If we have to act professionally in the workplace, then we should remember that the entire world is a superhero’s workplace and we need to act professionally towards them!”

Caleb’s features brightened. There was the fierce and fiery Abby he knew. “Sounds like you’ve got a hell of a plan for the future.” He offered her his arm. “What do you say we start it off with a hell of a wedding?”

Beaming in return, she wrapped her arm around his and allowed him to escort her out of the room. When they appeared at the top of the stairs, there was a collective sigh of relief from those waiting. Abby clearly held back tears as Caleb guided her down the stairs. Lillian gave one last look over her appearance before giving her a tight hug. Leon and Lance, on their best behaviour, stood beside the front door, beaming brightly. David took over from Caleb, mouthing some quick thanks to his youngest son before escorting her the rest of the way to the front door.

“Are you ready for this?” David asked.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No. But I just learned something thanks to Caleb.” She glanced over her shoulder at her youngest brother, smiling. “It’s all about what you do after the world goes to shit that defines you.” Fixing her gaze straight at the door, she gave a firm nod. “Let’s do this.”

With that, Lance grasped the doorknob and pulled open the front door.

Dazzling light streamed in, outshining the morning sunlight. Caleb held his breath in awe at the spectacular sight before him.

The sky was a beautiful shade of rosy red streaked with light oranges and soft yellows like it was a perpetual sunrise or sunset even though the sun itself was missing. These colours painted the tall, distant snowcapped mountains perfectly. The clouds above were perfectly fluffy and silvery and just faintly touched by the colours of the sky. They matched the roiling, thick mist that clung to the ground, rising up to just their ankles but thick enough to obscure the actual ground. Every now and then there was a pole of some sort sticking out of the ground, like totem poles but none of them were anywhere near the wedding set up.

It screamed outdoor wedding as all of the brilliantly white seats playfully decorated in delicately woven tulips - Abby’s favourite flower - stood in rows towards the podium. The central aisle rose slightly above the mist almost like a runway; a call out to the days when Abby believed she’d be a supermodel. There was no altar but at the end of the aisle stood Arthur, the bespectacled otter beaming brightly and proudly at the sight of his soon-to-be-wife. Behind him was a crystal arch emblazoned with emeralds and pearls - Abby and Arthur’s birthstones respectively. Gwen, dressed in a pure white pantsuit stood casually waiting for them. Seated on the right were members of the Hale family who knew about the superhero business and their friends. On the left were members of Arthur’s family who had been privy to the secret. They all turned as one towards the bride and stood just as the wedding march played from some unseen harp while accompanied by a smooth piano.

As David and Abby began to stride forward, a flock of white doves erupted from somewhere behind the door, streaming out in perfect formation towards the sky. Ethereal white feathers descended with each step the two took. Caleb quietly rushed around the precession to the podium where he took up his position as Abby’s ‘Maid of Honour’ with Jacob by his side. Arthur had his older brother as his ‘Best Man’. David relinquished Abby and took up position beside Caleb.

Jacob leaned towards Caleb with a soft smile.

“Good job.”

Smiling he whispered back, “I learned from the best.”

As the last notes of the wedding march ended, the gathered took their seats and Gwen began.

“Life is chaotic,” she began. “Life is unpredictable. We stand here in a plane positioned in between all realities outside of Time and Space. Few of you could have predicted this would ever occur in lifetimes. Yet in all the chaos, in all the infinite possibilities and all of existence, we are brought her today by the genuine love of these two here.” She gestured at Arthur and Abby. “Nothing can prepare you for what the future will bring and though I personally find the tradition of marriage to be arbitrary and pointless -”

Jacob cleared his throat.

She rolled her eyes at him and continued. “… it is nevertheless a perfect symbol of how strong love can break the laws of reality and make the impossible into the possible. Now I believe the bride and groom had something to say…?”

Arthur took Abby’s paws into his own, nodding towards her to begin.

“Arthur…” she croaked, fighting back tears. “I… I…” She was smiling but also starting to tear up. She shook her head, giggling softly to herself. “Sorry. You go first. I’m still trying to get over the fact we’re actually getting married in Heaven!”

A soft ripple of laughter washed over the gathered.

“Abigail,” Arthur began, composed, calm and collected as ever. “Right now, Australia seems so bizarre and small compared to what you brought to the table but I want you to know that no matter where we go I will always love you. I love your smile, your strength, your conviction and your laser-like focus on things that matter. Your ability to get to the heart of matters is one of the things that I love about you not only as a lawyer but also as my soon-to-be-wife. You keep me focused. You give me direction in my life. You are this shining beacon, this lighthouse, in the darkest storm. As L4 the Liaison of Life just said, life can be chaotic. You are the one that cuts through that chaos and shows me the way. Know that I will always have you in my heart.”

Abby looked about ready to kiss Arthur there and then but held back. “Arthur,” she breathed. “No words can express how much I love you. Even this fantastic wedding, this outrageous scenario, can’t compare to it.” She quickly glanced at Gwen and Jacob. “No offense.” The two No Ones raised their hands to shrug it off. “I wanted everything to be perfect because I was scared that this was all a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would never be able to live down it things went wrong. But then I was told that it’s what you do after an event that defines you.”

Jacob nudged Caleb lightly with an elbow.

“And I can’t wait to start the rest of my life with you,” she concluded with a smile. “From now until the end of time, I love you.”

Gwen, unable to keep herself from smiling - albeit reservedly - said, “Then I guess this is but a formality but, do you, Arthur, take Abigail to be your wife with all here present as witness?” With a gesture two doves dropped down from the sky. One landed on Arthur’s shoulder and the other on Abby’s. Both had the rings in their beaks.

“I most certainly do,” Arthur answered, taking the ring from the bird and sliding it onto Abby’s finger.

“And do you, Abigail, take Arthur to be your husband with all here present as witness?

“Of course I do,” she answer, speaking through her bright smile and returning the gesture towards Arthur.

“Then by the power vested in me by this exercise in -”

“Gwen…” Jacob warned.

Coughing softly, Gwen said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Formalise your union with a kiss.”

Arthur took Abby into his arms though given the size - and strength - difference, it really was more like Abby swept Arthur up into her arms and kissed him.

Everyone got to their feet, cheered, applauded as wedding bells rang and music played. Feathers descended from the pink sky. Heavenly light descended from some unknown source above, shining a spotlight on the happy couple. When the two parted from their kiss, they turned to face the witnesses who cheered all the louder. The mist hovering around their ankles peeled away slightly to reveal a golden path leading back to the door. The newly weds strode down the path, accompanied by their friends and family.

Arthur, ever the gentleman, was the one to open the door and lead them directly into the reception.

Here, white tables had been arranged around a central stage. Given that this was a very small ceremony, there were only a few tables and chairs but each one was decorated with a central pot of tulips. Arthur and Abby took position at the central table that was reserved just for them while everyone else scattered to their own tables. As Caleb stepped past the door, he realised that this was unlike the wedding ceremony. One look around revealed that they were actually floating high above the rest of the dimension like they were literally standing on a cloud. There was still no sun to speak of but the rosy sky was still well-illuminated and they were pleasantly warm. The air wasn’t thin either.

Caleb was naturally on a table with his friends which included Ben. Since Abby didn’t know Bren or Madman that well, they unfortunately hadn’t gotten an invite but they were both understanding. That left him with Lars, Mary and Ben with Ashton as Mary’s plus-one. Chatter ensued almost instantly with Ashton commenting excitedly on how breathtaking and alien this world - called Lost - was. Ben didn’t spout any nonsense about taking over the world and openly wondered what those monoliths were in the distance. Mary grabbed Ashton’s paw and pulled him towards the edge of the cloud platform just so they could see as far as they could. Lars was even engaging Ben in actively conversation without any hostilities. Caleb had to wonder if one of Lost’s functions was to suppress negativity just like that one interdimensional bar.

“No,” came a calm, feminine voice. He turned as Gwen sat down beside him, taking up Mary’s seat. “My world does not have the ability to calm anyone’s emotions. The warmth and love you feel and share is entirely based on the true affection that both Abigail and Arthur have cemented today.”

Caleb chuckled softly. “So love really can make the world a better place, huh?”

“Depends on what you love,” responded Gwen with a sly smile. “And how you act upon that love. A person whose love is unrequited could turn that love into obsession and become more of a serial killer than an lover. Someone who has lost the only love in their life without the capacity to move on could very well live a life of sorrow, emptiness and misery.” She nodded towards where Arthur and Abby were being personally congratulated by the parents of both families. “But the love that those two share is one of admiration, mutual respect and a strong understanding of one another. That kind of love can only grow stronger and cannot help but infect others with it.”

The No One glanced over to where Mary and Ashton were standing on the edge of the cloudy platform, a sly smile on her face. “Do me a favour, Caleb, don’t let either of them get married in Naught, R3’s world. While is is a realm of infinite possibilities, it’s also incredibly boring.”

Just the idea of Mary thinking about marrying Ashton made his head spin. Then again, the poetic tiger was the more romantic one and he could just imagine his striped friend getting down on one knee right here in the cloudy stratosphere of an alien world, bathed in the pink, sunless light and popping a ring. He wasn’t sure if he’d crash tackle the feline off the edge of the cloud or not.

“So what are those totem poles that we all see?” Ben asked suddenly, beaming brightly.

Gwen smiled gently. “Those are representative of each of the people who I have entrusted me with their fates. They are both my Advocates and the people whose stories I have jurisdiction over. Whereas R3 prefers to represent his as books to read, mine are those poles which grow, evolve and change as time goes on.”

“Wait,” Lars began, “how do they grow? Don’t you know how their stories will end?”

Gwen shook her head. “I do not have the same extensive ability as the Writer of Reality to see into all possibilities of the future.” She rested a hand against her chest. “I stand outside of Space and Time just like he does and that allows us to go back and forth through time to correct mistakes but I cannot accurately predict what people will do or decide unlike him. I choose to focus more on what was done. Life is not about the future. It’s about living in the now and how you got there. I look at each pole like a monument to the history of a person. I can tell where they’ve been, how they got there and from there, based on my own experiences, understand where they will be going.”

Caleb let out a thoughtful hum. “I guess different No Ones have different methods of approaching things.”

“That’s precisely why R3 assembled us in the first place,” Gwen responded. “He recognised that he is still mortal. He can make mistakes or he cannot understand everything. He might be able to see everything but everyone has a different perspective. Each No One has their own realm that represents who they are and how they help others.”

“Can we visit them?” Ben asked excitedly.

“No.” The No One of Life rose from her seat. “At least not in this life. You’d have to die first and I don’t think that’s immortal life is something you’d be willing to surrender, Benjamin. At least not yet.”

The werewolf gave a helpless shrug. “You got me there!”

“Why did you make you world look like Heaven?” Lars asked.

Gwen let out a bright laugh, one of the few times she’s genuinely laughed in the time Caleb had known her. “Your definition of ‘Heaven’ is quite different to mine.” Shaking her head, she said, “No. I made Lost to represent it’s name.” She pointed at the mist hanging around their feet. “There is no way to discern what path you are on as there is no ground.” Then she pointed at the distant mountains. “The mountains all look the same.” Lastly, he pointed at the sky. “There is no sun in the sky to give you any direction.”

The three boys exchanged glances between turning back to the No One. “Why?” they asked in unison.

She gave them a playful wink. “That’s something you’ll have to figure out.” Then she nodded towards Lars. “My purpose for coming here, however, was to remind you that you’re up.”

Lars’ ears perked up. “Oh right!”

Curious, Caleb watched as Lars wheeled himself up to the stage. There was already a band there by the time he took up the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced. “It’s time for the couple’s first dance.”

Abby and Arthur got up from where they were seated near the front of the dance floor as the band began a slow, uplifting tune that started with a gentle, slow piano solo.

On cue, Lars began to sing.

“This is my love song to you,

Let every woman know I’m yours.

So you can fall asleep each night, babe,

And know I’m dreaming of you more.”

The band began to pick up, forming the perfect accompaniment to Lars’ brilliant, clear tenor. Each word was perfectly enunciated, perfectly pitched and carried throughout the floating cloud with such raw emotion that everyone was touched. Lillian wiped away a tear while David held her paws, watching their daughter slowly dance across the cloudy floor with Arthur. Lance and Leon looked relaxed for the first time, their muscled frames leaning back in their chairs as they watched Abby with pride.

“You’re always hoping that we make it,

You always want to keep my gaze.

Well you’re the only one I see,

And that’s the one thing that won’t change.”

As Lars hit the chorus, Mary and Ashton returned to their seats, hand in hand and smiling brightly. Even Ben looked like he had shed his villainous nature at least for the moment and look on with a degree of warmth and affection.

“I’ll never stop trying.

I’ll never stop watching as you leave.

I’ll never stop losing my breath,

Every time I see you looking back at me.

I’ll never stop holding your hand.

I’ll never stop opening your door.

I’ll never stop choosing you babe.

I’ll never get used to you.”

The band’s tempo rose, swelling with energy but still keeping that gentle, genuine love that it radiated. Arthur’s parents were holding one another tight, tears in their eyes as their son spun on the dance floor alongside his wife. Gwen stood not too far away with her arms folded and looking on with pride though it wasn’t clear whether or not she was looking at the couple or her work.

“And with this love song to you,

It’s not a momentary phase.

You are my life, I don’t deserve you,

But you love me just the same.

And as the mirror says we’re older,

I want to look the other way.

You are my life, my love, my only,

And that’s the only thing that won’t change.”

Jacob was farthest from the ceremony, a phone to his ear. Curious, Caleb nudged Mary and nodded towards the black-furred wolf. Mary narrowed her gaze, trying to discern what the No One was thinking. She smiled a second later and told Caleb that the Writer of Reality was calling his husband and telling him how much he loved him.

“I’ll never stop trying.

I’ll never stop watching as you leave.

I’ll never stop losing my breath.

Every time I see you looking back at me.

I’ll never stop holding your hand.

I’ll never stop opening your door.

I’ll never stop choosing you babe.

I’ll never get used to you.”

As Lars reached the conclusion of the song, Caleb couldn’t help but reflect on their relationship. Did those words ring true for how Lars felt for him? Was he being a little too judgemental over Lars’ desires and maybe he was just being a little too rigid?

He shook the thoughts from his head and got up as the dance floor opened to everyone else at the song’s conclusion. The music became more upbeat, more celebratory and he found himself having fun alongside his friends and family. There were no politics, no supervillains and no plots. It was just a moment of joy and serenity high in the clouds that he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

This was what he wanted.

Simplicity but evolved.

And he came to a realisation as well.

Something like this had to be fought for and that was what made it special. Abby and Arthur’s relationship hadn’t been perfect at the start. Arthur was hiding his Australia job offer from Abby and Abby was freaking out about the wedding. But they came together, they fought for their happiness and their reward was this moment of peace that would forever sit within their hearts.

“You know,” he said towards Mary, his current dance partner. “I’ve been wrong all this time.”

“Oh?” she queried, a knowing smirk on her features. “About what?”

“I’ve always said I wanted my life to be simple. I kept sarcastically thinking ‘my life is super’ because of all the stuff that happens to me. But the thing is, if it wasn’t for all that shit, moments like this…” He gestured towards the dance floor. “They wouldn’t be worth it. This is pure and simple but it’s the complicated stuff that leads to it that makes it worth it.”

Mary tilted her head to the side. “Huh.”

He flicked his ears at her. “What?”

“Just amazed, that’s all,” she said. “I think I’m starting to see the kind of man you’ll be when you finally grow up, Caleb.”

“Finally?”

She nudged him lightly. “You’re not there yet, pup.”

“Look who’s talking.”

******

Abby’s special day continued though it was difficult to tell just how long given that Lost stood outside of Time and Space and there was no way to actually tell how much time had passed since there was no sun and the sky was perpetually in a sunset/sunrise. Traditions like the cutting of the cake and the father-daughter dance naturally took centre stage. Wedding gifts would be reserved for the day when the couple actually got married on Earth but that didn’t stop Jacob from approaching them with a large, white and gold book.

“I know one of your major concerns was how you’ll remember any of this,” said the No One. “It took me a while to actually concoct of something and how I’d actually get it to you without breaking divine laws or creating some sort of bizarre reality rift but that’s neither here nor there.” He handed the book to them.

Caleb was standing behind Abby alongside the rest of his family while Arthur’s family was perched behind their son.

“A photo album?” he asked. “I thought you said no photos because you didn’t want any sort of evidence on our world that you guys exist.”

“Exactly.” Jacob opened the album to reveal that it was blank. “This album will be blank to everyone except you two.” He gently took the couple’s paws and pressed them against the pages. A soft, sizzling noise filled the air and photographs began appearing on the glossy paper. “Only when the both of you touch the album will the photographs appear. Moreover, if you so wish it, you just have to pick up one of the photographs and you’ll be transported back to this moment and relive this entire wedding as it is.”

“Really?” Abby exclaimed, eyes glistening. “That’s amazing!”

“It won’t anger any gods or some such?” Arthur asked, ever wary.

“I made a deal with them on this one,” Jacob chuckled. “You guys are safe. It’s also indestructible so you don’t ever have to worry about saving it if your house ever caught on fire or something like that.”

Abby got up and threw her arms around Jacob’s neck. “Thank you so much! I love it!”

The sole gift handed over, food was served. An exquisite course-meal that was on par with the meals they had made during their ‘spa day’ not too long ago. Abby positively squealed in delight at the dessert. There were so many courses that Caleb lost track of them and, even though he felt like the portions were small, he was completely full. That was saying something for a wolf.

Eventually, it was time to wrap things up and Arthur swept Abby up in is arms - apparently he had been working out secretly with Lance to make sure he had the strength to do this one romantic gesture - and headed towards the door.

“I’ll bring you to a place where you can get changed and head to your portal,” Gwen said. “Your honeymoon awaits.”

The two were planning to go to Austria to spend some time amongst the beautiful, picturesque mountains. Caleb gave his sister one last hug before standing beside the rest of his family as the couple passed through the sole door and back out into reality. David and Lillian shook paws with Arthur’s parents before the otter couple headed out as well. Then, it was just the Hales and their guests left.

They were the last to pass through the door and as they left, they once again found themselves back at their house, emerging from the front door as if they had just stepped outside.

“That was one hell of a wedding,” Ben announced, beaming. “I’ve been to a lot of weddings but never anything like that.”

“Getting ideas there, mate?” Ashton chuckled, elbowing him.

“Probably not the ideas you’re thinking of.”

Caleb turned towards his friend to warn him not to cross the No Ones when something caught his eye.

There was someone sitting in David’s armchair in the lounge room. For a second, he wondered if it was just a trick of the morning light. It didn’t seem like a single minute had passed since they had left so the morning’s golden rays were just peeking through the closed curtains to dance across the pale, porcelain skin, deep, emerald eyes and long, sable hair.

His eyes widened in terror.

One by one, each of his friends and family noticed his gaze and all turned towards the Gene Stealer who was sitting in their lounge room waiting for them.

A deathly silence fell upon them…

… until Jacob broke it.

“Well… it is after the wedding…”