Lisa
Her day had started normal, which is basically waking up groggy with a pounding headache due to using her powers a lot last night.
Stalking out of her bedroom, she walks towards the kitchen with slow steps, putting on the TV on the way, she notes it's almost midday.
A discussion about 'Hope' catches her attention, the news anchor wondering if 'Hope' would be participating in the next Endbringer battle, happening next month.
'Propaganda. Government trying to paint 'Hope' in heroic light in case villain. News discussion about 'Hope' getting more frequent. Subtle pressure on 'Hope' to take part in Endbringer battles.'
She sighs.
She knows that already.
Lisa is a very curious person, she can't stand not knowing something, and that is why she is also irritated about the situation of 'Hope'.
Not even she is able to get anything worthwhile from the footage found online or the one received from her boss. The only concrete information is that whoever 'Hope' is, they have a ridiculous resistance to thinkers and they are not new to their abilities. All other information are merely speculations.
She goes through the familiar routine of making coffee and getting meds for her headache.
She also doesn't know why her boss is overly invested in 'Hope' even more so than the public. There is no use thinking about it, everyone is waiting for them to make another appearance, and since people are now watching, that means there would be more information to glean from if or when they do appear.
Sipping on her mug, she walks to the couch and plops on it.
And that is when her day went wrong.
Instead of sitting on her couch, she finds herself sitting on an executive chair before an ornate desk, she stands up immediately, dropping her mug on the table and looking around.
What just happened?
Panic sets in.
'Teleportation. Unknown cape. Cape not near. Clairvoyance? No local cape with such power. New cape? Didn't need to be near to teleport you. No range? Can see you? Is seeing you?'
Lisa is already freaking out before her power finishes.
A note appears on the table and she snatches it immediately, it reads: 'Reptile in time out. You're boss now. Don't screw up.'
Her heart beats faster as she paces around the room.
'Note is new. No finger prints. Was teleported to you. Cape can see you. Reptile is Coil. This is Coil's base. Coil is dead? Detained? Missing? Teleported. Traps defused. Cape knows about you.'
She gulps.
"H-hey! A face to face meeting would have been better you know, especially in costume. Preferably over coffee." She says to no one in particular as she tries to hide her fear but she knows the cape is watching her.
No response.
'Cape does not care about unwritten rules. Silence suggests threat? Display of teleportation to let you know they can get you anytime. Got Coil. You can't run. You can't hide.'
Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit.
She bites on her nails.
So basically she's no longer under Coil who sets bugs on her apartment that she can at least work around but a cape who doesn't care about the unwritten rules, can observe her 24/7 and is also capable of teleporting her seemingly without any delay. If Coil had recruited her with a gun, then this cape is recruiting her with a nuke.
She puts her hands to her head.
"Fuck."
◇◇◇
Shiraori
Looking through my monitors with a popsicle in hand, I consider what I'm about to do.
Since I discovered the alternate worlds, I have been mining energy basically 24/7 even till this moment while also setting my plans in motion, and I think I finally have everything I need for my final boss battle.
The first thing I did was direct a ridiculous amount of pint sized spiders to every Parahuman both on 'Earth-Bet' and on every other alternate worlds I've discovered, which is an equally ridiculous amount but the further I go, the lesser parahumans there were, so that made things easier.
While there are definitely some I missed, it can't be helped, not even I can save everyone after all.
In some cases, the spiders teleported right into their brains… it's kind of scary to think about but all this is to protect them from the potential backlash so I have no choice.
I am going to be attacking 3 fronts, the main body of the final boss, the brain dead corpse of the other alien pair and the avatar of the final boss himself.
Ah, I think this will be that last time I fight for the fate of a civilization, isn't this too much responsibility for one person? Even though I'm a god, I'm still just one person, you know.
Looking at the location of the 2 massive aliens through my monitors, I take a deep breath, I'm really doing this aren't I?…
Hmmm, I think I should eat a lot of food first… no no no, that is definitely not a death flag, I'm just going to stuff myself since they say you can't fight a battle on an empty stomach. Umu yes, that's it.
…
…
Eating the last piece of Karaage chicken and saying my thanks, I look around for anything else to distract me but then sigh. I'm just stalling aren't I?
Come on Shiro, you have faced impossible odds before, what's one more? Although this should not be all that impossible.
I look towards the monitor at my targets.
Alright then, let's get this show on the road.
On the location of the main bodies of the aliens, the sky and every other part of the world starts to fractal into the shape of spider webs and spiders starts pouring out.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Hundreds of thousands.
Millions.
Hundreds of millions.
And that number kept increasing by the second.
I immediately assign a good deal of them to isolate the space so that nobody would be able to teleport in or see through by whatever means. All these take a ridiculous amount of energy to put into motion but I barely feel the strain. The sheer amount of energy I'm brimming with is unbelievable after all.
Destroying a planet could be done with trivial effort but that is not my goal here.
While spiders swarm the earth, just as many remain in the sky as well giving me an overview of every single location, nothing escapes my sight. And then I activate my trump card through every single one of my spiders.
[Gluttonous Evil Eye]
Knowing that my spatial isolation won't keep Goldie away for too long since he has no doubt noticed what is going on, I stretch my right hand forward and grip 'Come' my scythe immediately appears in my outstretched hand.
I give it a little twirl and then smile, yep, still got it.
Using every strengthening spell, perception spell, thought acceleration, speed enhancement, physical enhancement, you name it, I immediately teleport behind Goldie and lop off his head with no fanfare.
After using my [Evil Eye of Analysis] to analyze the energy used on an attack that seemingly passes through every dimension from the Parahumans that are capable of using it, I succeeded in replicating it.
Although a spatial expert could easily circumvent it and it's also useless if it doesn't hit, but that is why I'm using the same energy to enchant my scythe which already has the [Rot Attribute] for maximum efficiency to get up close and personal.
My plan is simple, the aliens die if they run out of energy, so I am going to siphon that energy completely while keeping Goldie here occupied.
This was what I did when fixing the 'Girl-with-many-limbs' and 'Boy-with-many-faces' isolating their connection with their powers completely, since they shared the same.
I used that spatial connection to access the 'shard body' and then sent a lot of my spiders in since I then knew the location and utterly siphoned it's energy right to the last drop.
Alright then.
(Spiders: Billion range.)
Round 1, fight!
◇◇◇
Alexandria
Receiving an emergency summon from Doctor Mother was not how Rebecca saw her day going today.
She had been in the office on her 'Rebecca Costa-Brown' persona going through the latest problems— because of course trouble never seem to be able to rest in this world after all— when a note fell on her desk where she had been writing a memo. She picks the note which only reads 'Emergency'.
She immediately gets up and opens the door to her office "Rita" she calls out to her personal clerk who looks at her "I'll be busy for the next… you know what? Cancel my schedule for the rest of the day and don't let anyone in here." Rita looks a lot puzzled but responds anyway "Yes, ma'am."
Closing the door and walking back to her desk, she opens the first drawer and presses the button located at the inside top of the drawer and the door of her office gives out a muffled sound as the windows roll shut, she closes the drawer, looks to the side and "Door me." she says and immediately an hexagonal portal appears and she walks through just in time for David and Keith to step out of their own portals.
Doctor Mother and Contessa are already present, the former has a grimace on her face and the latter looks calm but from the tapping of her feet, you can tell she's anything but.
She takes a seat as the others do as well.
"So, what is the problem?" Keith or Legend since he's in his costume questions the doctor who looks at them all before she starts to speak.
"The warrior is being engaged by an unknown Parahuman, Clairvoyant was able to keep an eye on them for a while but it seems they are moving too fast while also going through alternate worlds for him to keep up." She seems shaken up saying that and tension immediately fills the room
That is definitely a problem. Who and why would anyone try to engage Scion? Something does not add up here, not only is engaging Scion a reckless endeavor, there is no known way to defeat him, the consequences might also trigger him to start the apocalypse, no one knows how his mind works after all.
"And that's not all." That only just makes her stomach drop more even though that should not be possible with her power.
"We can no longer access the garden." She contin— "What?!" She doesn't know who shouted out but with the way David and herself is on their feet, she can't be bothered to care.
"What do you mean you can't access the garden? The only solution we have to saving the world and you can't access it how?!" She says now getting bewildered.
It can't be helped after all, she has literally given her life for this cause sacrificing bits and bits of herself daily for the sake of 'It would be worth it in the end, it's for the greater good.' only to find out the solution— and that is overstating it— is no longer accessible.
And the trepidation she feels that everything is about to blow up does not help.
"The cape engaging Scion, what do they look like." Rebecca can almost taste the anger in David's tone.
"And you mentioned 'engaged' does that mean they are able to keep up with Scion?" Keith asks as well.
"It seems they have a stranger power as the only thing Clairvoyant can remember is that it's a woman who appears 'white' as in the color white and yes, they were able to keep up with the warrior the last we witnessed." She responds but that doesn't seem to quell David's anger.
"And, what about the path?" She asks Contessa who had been content with tapping her foot for a while.
"The cape can not be pathed. Pathing Scion feels like being stopped by an insurmountable wall. Pathing the cape feels like she isn't there… doesn't exist." She says the last part in a small voice.
That surprises Rebecca a lot, after all Contessa's power was like the ultimate fuck you and if it's not working on the cape, she must be a great deal powerful.
'What am I saying? Isn't the cape fighting Scion already and keeping up? I don't think anything else screams 'Powerful' more than that.'
"I keep hearing problems but I don't hear any solutions." David bites out
"Is there anything we can do?" Keith asks
"I have Clairvoyant still trying to observe the fight. I don't know if we can make any moves yet but I want everyone on standby, we have no idea how this will end, I am calling in all our favors, Rebecca I want you to organize the Parahumans you can, even if you have to tell them an Endbringer is about to attack, just have them on alert." She orders.
Rebecca ignores David's gritting teeth "Alright, and what about the garden?" She asks again.
"There is nothing we can do about it, even Clairvoyant can't see it, it is effectively cut off from us." She says in resignation.
Rebecca nods, this is not the time to wallow in despair or point fingers, the apocalypse might start when Scion defeats the cape but she prays just a little, she doesn't know if there is a god out there, but she prays just a little.
'May god help us.'
And besides is it too much to hope the cape can defeat Scion?