Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.
Chapter 2.3: End of Era
(Greg Veder POV)
I really didn't have a mental picture of Simurgh.
To be fair, I doubted any denizen of my old world, really had one. Even the most hardcore fans of the series would pretty much max out their description of Ziz at fifteen-foot-tall, pale grey, waif thin angel-like figure.
Don't get me wrong, she was all that but that description belied just how much more an Endbringer really is.
Even while clashing with the Leviathan, just how otherworldly impressive the being had been, took a while.
There had been something almost beautiful about Leviathan perhaps.
One would expect that description to suit Simurgh better, given her angelic theme but that was far from truth. If Leviathan had been impressive in just how inhumane it had been, Ziz was just straight up Lovecraftian horror.
I might be biased due to perhaps already knowing about it but standing up close to her, it seems so obvious that the Endbringer were as removed from humanity, as the colours might be from the vision of the blind.
You can't control the Endbringers, it was a matter of fact. No matter the amount of power and to be fair that wasn't what this power really did.
Controlling the Endbringers meant something like dividing zero by another zero. A meaningless question like asking, what it would be like to divide amongst your non-existent friends (Which was sad) a non-existent cake (which was even worse).
What High Priest basically did was reprioritize what the Endbringers destroyed and how they did so. Endbringers were weapons of mindless destruction, death and rot was all they knew.
But how and when they achieved that goal was subject to adjustment.
Still I could barely handle Simurgh alone, even with Blank being my sole other power as active.
Even now, she learnt and was ripping through my control like layers of tissue papers. It was but a question of minutes before her wrath was mine to bear.
But for these few minutes, the strongest precognitive in the world bar none was heeding my commands.
"How do I win?" Additional words were meaningless, the Simurgh saw and heard far months in advance, what I could ever hope to say.
For a moment, the face of the Simurgh seemed to flicker. Since her appearance in 2002 in Switzerland, for the first time the blank faced angel seemed to smile a truly sad smile.
And for the first time, Simurgh spoke.
"Impossible."
Words were powerful. Scion had once decimated Eidolon with four. Simurgh decimated me with one.
"EXPLAIN!" I shouted at the bitch ignoring the capes gathering around us, ready to launch their attacks at a moment's notice.
The Endbringer would never speak again but something inside my head did.
"Why don't I? "Eidolon, my power, spoke.
Blank, my protection against Thinkers and Masters disappeared in the ocean of power of its own violation.
Fear, the likes of which I couldn't even imagine filled my heart as I looked up at the strongest Thinker and strongest Master in the world looked at me, blank face once more.
High Priest, my only protection against her, twitched as Eidolon overrode my control.
The Endbringer screamed. The heroes fired. The villains attacked.
But my world was already dark.
(x-x)
When I came to, it was in a world that belied description of normal space and time.
And there floating in front of me was myself. Not Greg Veder but how I had originally looked. I looked at my hands and sure enough, I was back in my original body.
There was only one question.
"Are you God?"
The being with vast, unfathomable power seemed amused before answering.
"No."
I don't know how to respond to that.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Who? That implies I am human." The entity would usually piss off me off. Now? Now, I was just tired.
"Only humans could be cruel enough to deny death to a dead man." I replied.
The entity laughed.
He continued laughing, a laugh as hollow as the space surrounding us.
"Well said, captain! Well said, indeed!" The entity applauded and I bowed my head in acquiescence.
Then the entity spoke.
"The Americans would call me American. The Germans would have perhaps called me German. If I had a name or even a designation, I have long forgotten it. But if you want to call me something, call me…"
[Humanity]
And with that one word, one concept I understood.
Once upon a time Arthur C. Clark had said that a sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic.
I can't help but wonder if a sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from divinity too.
"Why?" I finally asked the last question. Why go through all this convoluted path? Surely there were easier ways, simpler ways to save humanity.
[Humanity] smiled.
"When has humanity ever needed a reason for needlessly cruel methods?"
That satisfied me. I closed my eyes, knowing that I wouldn't ever open them again.
(x-x)
(World System, Designation [Humanity], Access- Administrator Level)
Unlocked World Breaker level.
Unlocked Eidolon V1, Skitter Mode restrictions removed. Set to World Breaker level.
Unlocked Power Manipulation V1 World Breaker level.
Unlocked Kaleidoscope V1 World Breaker level.
Unlocked Inspired Inventor V1 World Breaker level.
(x-x)
[Humanity] looked around it and found Brockton Bay, a wreck from the ongoing efforts against the Simurgh.
This just wouldn't do. Powers came from the depth of Eidolon's powerset.
Blank
Supreme Priest- Absolute Endbringer Control. Master 12+
Khepri- Master 12+
With a mere thought [Humanity] seized control of Doormaker and Clairvoyant.
It would be practically impossible for a single human to even fathom, let alone do, what the impossible being did next.
Billions of portals opened simultaneously next to every human and Endbringer alike. What was an impossible effort of will for one human was practically trivial for a being made of trillions of trillions of human souls, as the entirety of humanity (parahumans or not) was mastered under Khepri
Even the Endbringers, active or dormant, came to heel under Supreme Priest.
Doormaker and Clairvoyant had to be boosted with Power Manipulation but it was nothing more than a pocket change.
Time to kill a false god.
Fin
Important Author's Note
Honestly, I more or less gave up the story because of IRL issues and numerous mistakes I made during conception of the story. I wrote over 10K+ words over and over again before trashing it all. I am in process of rewriting this story so sorry if the story seems rushed. Will update when I start the rewrite.