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Warden's Ending

Summary:

The Warden isn't about to just sit back and let herself be executed. Especially not by the fire mage she had under her thumb just yesterday.

Or: This is the Pain and Suffering Ending

Notes:

This is the one where the Warden wins, and many characters die. Be warned.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

The Warden woke and tentatively reached for her magic. A trickle was all that reached her through the suppression still in place around her, but a trickle would be enough. She waited patiently, worrying away at the suppression, gradually weakening it. When she heard her enemies coming to escort her to her execution, she let them. She considered controlling one of the guards and escaping before she faced her executioner, but decided against it. After all, what good was an escape if she didn't have the proper audience?

She watched as Bokuto approached, and smug satisfaction blossomed in her chest as her escape plan slid into place. Bokuto's hand was just over her head, and she knew he was about to pour fire over her, but that was okay. She was calm. She shifted, lifting her head to meet his palm, sending her magic surging through him in the instant before he would have burned her to a crisp.

For a moment, everything was silent, everyone frozen as they stared at her. She smirked, and Bokuto lifted his hand, fully under her control. Akaashi let out a frustrated snarl as he sensed what had happened, but then she reached for her existing connection to him, which she hadn't been able to access with the suppression in place, and her magic flowed into the forest spirit as well. Really, she had thought Sugawara would have gone through everyone who had been under her control and canceled out the magical ties she still had to them. Apparently he hadn't thought it was necessary, since she was scheduled for execution anyway.

Sugawara first, she decided, noticing that the gray haired familiar was already darting forward, fully intending to repair the suppression. Bokuto, incinerate him. Bokuto didn't hesitate; he couldn't, not with her controlling him directly instead of using Akaashi as leverage. Flames erupted from the mage's hands, sweeping over Sugawara. The familiar screamed and fell back. Daichi roared furiously. The Warden remembered how close to death Sugawara had been when they'd managed to defeat her the day before, and knew that Suga surviving and being healed, only to be killed by the fire mage they thought was on their side again. Suga's screams stopped before Daichi reached him, but the flames continued for several seconds, as the Warden - and therefore the fire mage she controlled - wanted to be sure Suga wouldn't be getting up and causing problems for her. Kuroo and Kenma charged toward her, and she directed Bokuto to intercept them.

Third time's the charm, she thought smugly, her power forcing Bokuto's magic to shoot out, the sheer strength of the flames overwhelming Kuroo's shadows. The shadow mage screamed, and Kenma tried to duck under the flames to attack, but the Warden simply adjusted Bokuto's aim, driving the familiar back with the threat of being barbecued. As soon as Kenma was out of range, she redirected Bokuto's flames back to Kuroo, who had fallen but was still groaning in pain, not yet mortally wounded. A few more spurts of flame fixed that. Now, there was one more pair she needed to deal with. Where were Tsukishima and Yamaguchi?

Before she got her answer, Iwaizumi was there, in full armor and wielding dual swords. The Warden shifted, and Iwaizumi's swords slashed through the remaining restraints instead of through her skin. The Warden shifted to panther form and shot forward, slithering between his legs and darting away. She was tempted to try to control him, but she was pretty sure that the war god had too much sheer strength in every category, so she didn't bother. There was, after all, a much more tempting target now centered in her field of vision: Oikawa. The enchanter was talented, she knew, and she had avoided using her power around him so far so he wouldn't have a chance to figure out how to get rid of it the way Sugawara had. But now, she was pretty sure the only way to get out of here without an angry war god on her tail was to use Oikawa. So she darted right past him, shifting back to human form as she whirled back toward him and tackled him, sending every bit of power that wasn't devoted to controlling Bokuto and Akaashi into Oikawa.

The enchanter stiffened, and the Warden smirked as her power settled over him, tangling with his mind and magic until she was confident that he wouldn't be able to break free, even if Sugawara had been alive to help him. She disentangled herself from Oikawa physically, keeping the magical link between them strong, and faced Iwaizumi's next attack with Oikawa standing between them, seemingly of his own accord. With Bokuto and Akaashi guarding her back, she was able to focus on manipulating every aspect of Oikawa.

She made the enchanter walked forward, calmly, approaching the armored war god with a lazy smirk that was almost seductive. Iwaizumi froze in place, staring at his mage. Oikawa gently wrapped his hand around the hilt of one of Iwaizumi's swords, tugging lightly, and the war god relinquished the weapon, seemingly too confused to resist. Then, without warning, Oikawa stepped to the side and swung the sword, bringing the blade to the backs of Iwaizumi's knees. The war god shouted and fell, his knees hitting the ground and his sword falling from his grip as he caught himself on his hands.

"Damn you," Iwaizumi growled, glaring at the Warden until his vision was blocked by Oikawa, who knelt in front of him. Oikawa's fingers brushed Iwaizumi's chin, lifting his head so the war god's eyes were staring up into the mage's. Oikawa still held the sword he'd taken in his other hand, and he brought it up so the blade rested under his familiar's chin. "Tooru, you can fight her, I know you can," Iwaizumi said. The sword shifted, the blade pressing into Iwaizumi's skin, drawing a thin line of blood. Iwaizumi's instincts screamed for him to summon a new weapon, to fight, to do something, but he couldn't. It was Oikawa. Iwaizumi refused to so much as twitch his hand toward his fallen sword. Oikawa's expression was still caught in the smirk the Warden had put there, but there was a level of terror in his eyes that Iwaizumi had hoped never to see there. "I love you, Tooru," he whispered. Then the blade at his neck slashed, and Iwaizumi fell, blood pouring from his throat.

There was a shout, and the Warden had to resist the urge to purr with how pleased she was as Yamaguchi ran forward, reaching out with his magic to try to save Iwaizumi. Oikawa stepped over Iwaizumi's body and met Yamaguchi's approach with a thrust of the bloodied sword in his hands, the weapon going completely through his stomach, the tip emerging from his back. Tsukishima screamed in defiance, but Yamaguchi just let out a desperate little gasp and collapsed. The Warden hummed cheerfully and walked up behind Oikawa, sliding her arms around his waist, then lifting her hands to his chest. She dug her claws in, as deeply as she could, and released the magic clouding his mind as she removed her nails and stepped back, letting his body fall to the ground. There was a flare of magic behind her, and she turned to find Hinata and Kageyama, accompanied by all of the Karasuno and Aoba Josei mages who had come to watch her execution.

Her lungs suddenly didn't work right, the air in them rushing out. Bokuto swayed, gasping for breath as well. Kindaichi and Hinata, though she knew it was Kageyama's abilities allowing Hinata to do this, were trying to knock her and Bokuto out. The Warden smirked, and Akaashi sent roots shooting out of the ground, wrapping them around the mages' ankles and yanking their feet out from under them. They fell, and the Warden could breathe again. She decided she didn't feel like facing quite so many opponents at once, and called Bokuto and Akaashi to her. The three of them took off, and their enemies didn't pursue, because they thought they had driven her away with her tail tucked, so they focused on their dead.

The Warden smirked to herself and glanced at the mage and familiar running beside her. Once she was far enough away, she would ease up on the direct control over them, she decided. After all, she'd been close to making them the perfect weapons before she got captured, and she was sure she could finish the process easily enough.

Notes:

Things that happen with this ending:
1. Kindaichi becomes Guildmaster of Aoba Josei.
2. Daichi leaves Karasuno (Ennoshita becomes Guildmaster in his place), and teams up with Tsukishima and Kenma to try to hunt down the Warden. By the time they catch up to her, she has completely brainwashed Bokuto and Akaashi, making them her weapons of choice. The battle doesn't go well for Daichi's group.
3. Windswept is not disbanded, and Michimiya is Guildmaster.

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