Chapter Text
Worm Wrecking Wyrm
Warning: This is a short story, a straight-up power wank. Taylor will be the center character, Canon rails will be somewhere over in that general direction, and for the people of Earth Bet, the WTF factor has only just begun.
Allikki is a Dragon, born on a world that died uncountable ages before Earth Bet's first multi-celled life was spawned in the oceans. A bard, a wanderer, a student. She has seen the beginnings of planets and the end of worlds, existed and loved for more eons than anything human can imagine, lived more millennium than the oldest human has seconds in their life. Ten thousand years ago, she found a whole series of worlds, destroyed before their time, with every form of life on them. She began tracking the creatures responsible and finally, she has found them. One is already dead, but the other has started the cycle that will lead to the destruction of more planets. With a thought and a gesture, she starts the destruction of the planet the body of the creature lays on. She will kill many when the planet is erased, but better that than the other one raising it somehow.
It is time to end this cycle. Earth Bet, in the terms of the natives, will be the end of these beings.
Allikki has Sworn it.
Prologue
Allikki started the preparations to destroy the planar barrier isolating the worlds the creatures had chosen to seed with their bits. It would be a minor bit of work, the piercing of the barrier and she flexed her will only to stop as a Presence appeared near her head. In size and shape, it was roughly human, but the sheer power rolling off of it belied that impression.
“I would speak with you, ere you do this thing.” Even as the Being spoke, it created a planet under their feet, her power pushing out and creating an entire solar system in seconds.
Allikki settled on the planet, shifting with a thought to a human shape. She didn't know who this Being was, but she did know power, and it would have taken her at least five or six hundred years to have created a single planet, let alone an entire solar system. Whatever this creature was, she'd listen to it.
“What you plan to do, is a good thing and I thank you for the efforts you would have made for the people of these worlds.” The Being looked at her. “But there are things you do not know, things happening here that you cannot know. Give me time to explain, and then we will turn our minds to see what you can do.”
Allikki had not lived this long to rush into anything. She made two chairs a table and refreshments with a wave of her hand. “Please, sit and tell me of the worlds I would save. Any knowledge would be good to know.”
They sat and for a minute there was silence before the Being began speaking. “You have wandered uncounted worlds, so I will not have to explain that parts of every plane of existence are different, that different rules may apply. Earth Bet is a Balance, the fulcrum for more than a million planets across a million or more dimensions. If you had tried this on some of the other Earths that fall under this balance, it would not be a problem. This earth, however, cannot bear the weight of a being such as you or I directly. If you do this thing, it must be done with an Avatar, using one of the sentient beings native to the planet.”
Allikki considered what the Being was saying. She had run into planets like this before and had usually passed them by, not wanting to disrupt them any more than she had to. She knew how to make an Avatar of course, and had used them in the past. She listened as the Being explained exactly why she couldn't enter herself and agreed. Oh, her presence wouldn't instantly destroy the planet or anything like that, but within three thousand years or so, the natives would notice the problems and within four or five thousand years, the planet would be completely uninhabitable and destroyed completely in ten thousand. Had it just been the one planet, Allikki would have counted it a bargain to stop the creature, but Earth Bet being a Balance meant that the effects would be echoed across millions of planets, disrupting them in ways no being less than a Greater Deity could predict.
“I would have to gift my Avatar with enough power to destroy the creature. Are the natives here able to deal with that kind of power without going mad? I know nothing of this branch of humans.”
“They are like most humans, capable of great virtue and villainy, sometimes at the same time. I trust that you can find a being that you can work with, one that you can trust not to destroy the world.” The Being radiated amusement. “You are no longer that youngling. You have come far and judged many people since then.”
Allikki closed her eyes as she saw again her first Avatar. She had chosen a Good person, long ago and far away, not understanding then that too much good could be as bad as evil. The end results had required the help of three Celestial Beings and a thousand years to straighten out. Allikki pushed that fiasco to the back of her mind while she considered her current dilemma. She would need somebody strong of will, willing to do the right thing, but intelligent enough to understand that the right thing was not always the legal thing, and may need some death to accomplish.
The two of them spoke for a time, discussing the problem before Allikki. Finally, the Being stood up. “It is time for you to go to work. The creature has been on Earth Bet now for a few years, and things will only get worse from here if you do not start soon.”
Allikki stood up and looked at the Being. “If I may ask, why aren't you doing anything about this? You have the power, and some concern for this set of realities.”
The Being radiated amusement again. It disappeared, leaving behind one last thought. “I am. Ten thousand years ago, I helped a Noble Soul find the trail of destruction these creatures leave behind.”
Allikki sent her astral form to search the planet for the being she needed. It was 2005 in the way of these beings to measure time. She eliminated millions of people in the first three years, narrowing her search, getting faster as she learned more about the world and its people. By early 2010, she had narrowed her search to 30 possibilities spread across the world. She concentrated on them, watched how they dealt with life. Two were eliminated by dying, one turned to drugs to deal with personal issues. By January 2011, she had narrowed her field to three and had almost decided on a man in Australia when her third choice began radiating such an emotional disturbance that she had to look again.
Allikki saw her situation, saw that she would be possessed by a bit of the creature. For a long second, she hesitated, but in the end, her compassion sent her to the girl in the locker. She already knew that when her Avatar killed the creature most Parahumans would die, and the rest would die as she destroyed the bits of creature scattered about. She had spent enough time watching this girl that the thought of having to destroy her was not an option.
She had her plans ready, requiring the merest flex of her power to trigger several actions at once. The planet the body of the first creature was on was destroyed in the blink of an eye, with all the pieces pushed into the sun it orbited. She made sure no bits escaped, even as she did the same to the planet the bit that was trying to join with her chosen Avatar lay on. She had already prepared the working that her Avatar would get. The working would take three days of this planet to settle into her Avatar and work the changes that would be needed for her Avatar to handle the power she would have.
After that, she would be able to guide her, talk to her. It would take a year or so for Taylor to learn how to use the power she would have without blowing things up or bringing inanimate objects to life, but then, the creature's days would end.
*On Earth in a certain locker.*
Taylor was caught between despair and fury as she beat on the door of the locker. Between one second and the next, she felt something, something that touched her, body, mind and soul. She was barely aware of the locker exploding outward as she passed out.