Chapter Text
The sounds of people screaming and the crashing of buildings reached my ears first, the city, I guess, wasn’t properly evacuated. I was still a ways away from reaching Odense on foot, the gentle sloping hills providing a barrier to block out the view of the city. Perhaps the world thought it was a mercy, shielding my view of the probable horror and carnage that unfolded behind the scenes. But to me it was no gift, I had come just to gaze at the being at the scenter of that horror, the swirling whirlpool of destruction and feathers that brought so many heroes low.
I was just about to crest the hill and gaze upon that fine city where I heard a distant rumbling, as if a tiger had an engine shoved down its throat. I looked to my left and in the distance, I saw the rapid approach of a truck, I never knew cars well so model or maker was a distant dream to me but from the look I could tell it was military. Probably here to enforce the quarantine, can’t let anyone get too close to the city, or let anyone who does stray close to it get out.
I stared at the approaching vehicle wondering if it would swerve to hit me or maybe the soldiers would gun me down. Killing me and saying I was just another victim would surely be easier than handling a random civilian. I watched the faces of the soldiers as they became easier to determine. No, I thought, they wouldn’t kill me, not unless I do something that would be stupid.
The car came to a stop on my side, and the passenger leaned his head outside of the truck. If I liked men, I could see myself thinking he was cute, short reddish-brown hair with soft brown eyes and clear skin with just a small splattering of petals. Given I felt safer under his gaze than that of the driver, who’s silhouette I could only just make out, meant that he was likely the safer of the two to be talking to.
“Hey Miss, can I ask what you are doing out here?” the driver asked, his voice soft like he was trying to reassure a lost lamb. I guess their job was to handle the locals, couldn’t have panicked people fleeing and winding up getting themselves or someone else hurt.
How did I want to play this? Obviously, I needed to approach the outskirts of the city, and these soldiers were probably not going to let me pass. I could pretend to be a local that wanted to see if their home was destroyed, from the looks of it they’re American and would likely buy that the girl with a European accent is from a European country. Though if I met any Danish authorities I would be in some serious trouble. If I played it as the media, they may let me pass or go with escort, but they would likely corral me with the others, and they do not get the good angles. I could say I’m a cape, they’d try to send me to the frontlines, and I could meet her in person, but I would rather have a different first meeting and then I’d have to divulge what my powers can do, which would cause issues.
I sighed and fished a small token from my pocket, I’d hate to use this, it makes me easier to track and means I must play representative, but it would let me get the angles I want without much protest.
“I’m with the Toybox” I state flatly, giving the token to the soldier. He straightens up a little at the declaration and gives the token to his partner to look over “I’m here to collect more video data on the Endbringer, for research purposes” I make my voice stern, as if I’m a rich man talking to the poor.
“Toybox eh?” The driver grunted, leaning in a little. He was an old man, his hair gray and sharp like quills. A large nasty scar was splathered across his face, if it weren’t for that I could totally see him going for that gray fox look you see girls my age swooning over “One of your business partners did this to my face”
As if I cared “Ok”
I guess my flat tone and neutral face was enough to set the older soldier off. He immediately reached for his gun, I looked at the scene in slow motion, I still felt safe. Before he could pull his pistol out from his holster the younger soldier grabbed his arm, the two fell into a fit of bickering back and forth over killing me. At least I guess that’s what they were fighting over, I wasn’t listening.
I looked up at the sky, due to the fighting the clouds had been torn into many different strange shapes. Sometimes they would be twisted around and turned into spirals and helixes here and there, others looked like they had been made into Swiss cheese from the exertion of the flying heroes. The whole sky looked just as much like a battleground as the city surely did.
The soldiers finally calmed down when I turned back to them, seemingly decided on their course of action “Alright ma’am” the younger soldier began “We’ll take you back to base, get this confirmed and see what we can do for you” he then gestured to the back of the truck. I walked around to the back, found the entrance to what was probably some kind of holding cell or prisoner transport and slowly climbed in, shutting the door gently behind me.
A harsh sigh left my lips. I had made my bed and all but this constant charade whenever I went to visit a Endbringer battle always delayed my recordings and sightings, one time they took so long that she left, and I was forced to rely on hacked footage! Ridiculous!
The car finally came to a stop at a small military command base. There were people running around back and forth everywhere, I didn’t feel any danger there, so I hopped out and stood waiting for the soldiers to escort me. Only the younger soldier approached, I guess the older one didn’t want anything to do with me and would rather have a different assignment or something.
He gestured ahead and I slowly followed him as he approached a small group of officers, all of whom were standing over a map of the city with dots noting where the Endbringer and the different capes all were. Looking around, I could see an American soldier, a Danish soldier, someone in a PRT uniform and on the far side up against a wall, I could see a monitor with a woman’s face on it. Which was probably dragon.
I put on my best smile “Goeie Moarn” I said in an enthusiastic voice. It seemed to capture momentarily the leader’s attention, they gave me a quick look over, probably wondering why this giant of a woman was bothering them in the middle of an Endbringer fight.
“Goeie Moarn” Dragon greeted back in an equally cheerful voice. I never understood why she always seemed to do that, was she just being friendly to me? Building up repour?
“Hvem er dette?” The Danish representative started before grunting in his throat “Who is this?” he asked with a noticeable accent, turning his attention to the soldier who escorted me. The soldier didn’t answer before the general in the American uniform gave a curt nod.
“This woman was found approaching the combat zone, she claims to be from toybox, wants to watch the bird, I brought her here for authorization” the soldier began, looking nervously between the generals, I think he might’ve originally wanted to bring me to Dragon but didn’t realise he’d have to face his superiors. I never understood their need for codenames with the Endbringers, why call her the bird?
He handed the general American General the token, he looked it over casually before handing it to the PRT official who held it gingerly for a moment before showing it to Dragon “Yeah, that’s legitimate” she confirmed before disappearing suddenly and leaving a blank monitor, likely to help manage the fight itself.
“Ok” the American general nodded “Standard procedure, take her to get checked out before giving her an escort to observe the fight” he turned back to the map, the Danish general protesting being left out of the decision before the American raised his hand “I’m sure the toybox are willing to make a generous donation to the Danish people in return for being allowed to observe the fight?” he asked, I quickly nodded.
After the Danish general cooled off, I was taking off to a different tent outside of chain link fence placed around the compound. The tent itself was basically empty except for a device rigged up to one corner, a desk with two women behind it and a row of filing cabinets. The two women lifted their heads when I entered.
“Taler du Dansk?” One of them answered, she was brown haired with green eyes. Much shorter than me, I shook my head.
“English?” The other woman asked and I nodded, she lead me to the corner machine before taking out a form “Ok, we just need to some checks to make sure you’re not one of the it’s minions before we let you go, we’ll also need some information from you, like your name, what you think you look like, etc. is that ok?” she asked and I gave her another nod, not wanting to accidentally say something wrong.
“Ok, name?”
“Jip Barwegen” I pronounced the name like an American would. It made it easier for her to write it down, no explanations on spelling.
“Age and Date of Birth”
“Seventeen and I was born on June 16th, 1994”
“Country and location of Birth”
“The Netherlands, I was born in the Leeuwarden medical center, Leeuwarden, Friesland”
The woman raised an eyebrow “My family originally came from Friesland actually; my grandpa moved to America during the war”
“Oh!” I answered in mock amusement, readying the smile over my face “Do you speak any Frisian?”
“Ah, no” she answered, seemingly being awkward around the subject “My father didn’t take to his studies, said there would be no future for the language” my smile switched slightly, had to stay positive.
I didn’t give a further answer to that before the woman awkwardly began to go through her files “Any history of mental or physical illness? Any connection to any organization, criminal or otherwise that can be used to further a plot?”
“None” I answered confidently, not willing to tell her that I have never officially been checked by a psych “I am a junior member of the toybox”
“Ok…” the woman began trailing off as she looked over her form “next will be the physical and then personal, please keep try to answer as to what you think you look like, not how others have described you, can you please describe yourself?”
I took a moment to think on it, dwelling on the last time I looked into a mirror “I have brown hair that is normally done in a lazy ponytail, blue eyes, with skin and a generous helping of freckles” I answered confidently, she nodded slightly.
“Height”
“7’9” I answered, she carefully looked me up and down. I guess to see if my answer was close enough to be accurate.
“Are you a member of the cape community”
I paused for a moment, like always it’s another chance to come clean and explain my powers, but I don’t really want that “No”. It’s not like they could tell what my powers are anyways.
“May I ask about the gap in your teeth?” she asked, I tended to forget it but where I should have a right incisor instead sat an empty hole. It made me look like a child after losing a tooth.
“Incident when I was young” I answered, the woman waited for a longer answer but I gave none. She eventually relented and wrote down my answers.
“Ok, please share the information you are comfortable with, these answers will be used to help identify your mental state and if you are compromised in future Endbringer events” she informed me, before clicking her pen slightly. Governments, more than the cape community, had a deep fear of the Endbringers, often being hesitant to write down or state their names officially.
“Sexuality”
“Lesbian”
“Religion”
“Heathenry” the woman looked up at me confused “Norse paganism” I clarified and she immediately went to jot it down.
“Any likes or dislikes that may help identify you or your mental state?”
“I hate flowers”
She nodded and wrote everything down. She then opened her computer and looked up something. Probably my answers from the previous times, checking to see if I made any errors or if my answers had changed “Alright… Miss Barwegen, you’re free to go, good luck with the Endbringer” she said before handing me a badge and a digital watch.
The drive to the border zone didn’t take very long nor was there a lot of talking. I was thankful for both blessings, more time to prepare the gifts I was given and avoid talking about what I was doing here. The older soldier had rejoined my escort and gave me a wary eye every now and again, I don’t feel any threat of death from him, so I didn’t pay his dirty looks too much mind.
We finally stopped at a chain link fence that enclosed the city. From the looks of it, the set up was rushed and shoddy at best, the system for detecting the descent of the Endbringer must’ve been late. I sighed and laid my pack on the gravel outside the truck; I was already late and needed to get my footage as soon as possible or I’d have to rely on PRT footage and that was iffy to get my hands on.
I zipped open the black duffle bag I took with me and pulled out the drone. It was my friend’s design: a small white orb that served as a camera that three hundred and sixty degrees of vision and four propellers. It was still a bitch to try and fly around but with it I could get nice and close to the fighting and see what the Endbringer was up to.
The soldiers around me paced nervously back and forth, probably hating being this close to the action. The camera shot up into the sky with that, I’d be on my way to finally catch a glimpse of the Endbringer. The view of Odense as I piloted the drone was bleak, smashed buildings were scattered here and there, along with giant pieces of tinker tech and objects of another world dotting the desecration. The streets had become heavily targeted, potholes, jagged rocks and pieces of glass, all of it was scattered around to act as a deterrent for moving around on the street, the she was a smart woman so I’m sure there were quite a few speedsters that got a nasty surprise.
Red finally made its debut as I got closer to the battle. Little things, a little streak here, a small blot there, nothing incredible, nothing noteworthy, just some blood, most of it was on the street or across pieces of jagged glass and rock where people might’ve stepped. However, right before I reached the battle I saw something, blood, lots of it, like a target was painted on the ground. I could see something else too; a purplish green glove that lay in just the right position that I didn’t need to see the body to know it wasn’t attached. I stopped immediately, turned around and raised the camera so I wouldn’t have a view of what was down there it was a flimsy shield of ignorance, I knew what was down there.
When I reached the fight, I saw a few heroes flying around, the battle had entered the stage where only a few powerful heroes remained. I saw Eidolon on the far side with Legend shooing all sorts of lasers around a corner, Myrddin was far too the right, their target was obscured from view by a building. I was looking for the last of the great heroes when a shadow fell over the drone, blocking out the sun from behind.
I turned around to find Alexandria behind me. She was a tall woman, shorter than me but still stood out in a crowd. Her black costume, which came with a skirt, was the first thing I saw. After that came her long black hair which spilled out from the back of her helmet, mimicking the Spartan design one would see on TV. But what made me stop was her eyes, two of them peering out from the helmet, glaring down at me in silent rage, to her I was an intruder; something that did not belong and should not have been here.
She raised her voice to say something, not that the drone had audio obviously, but she looked up in sudden alarm and dashed past the drone, leaving it to wobble and bubble up and down like a buoy caught in the waves. I turned my drone around and finally caught a glimpse of her, the angel of death.
I saw the Simurgh.
She was donned in the purest white. Her skin, her hair, her eyes all of it was cast in the colours of purity as if she were made from the lazing clouds themselves. Her face proportioned to be a monument to beauty, high cheekbones, a small, cute nose and clear skin. Her hair was perhaps best described as a net for the sun whose careful reflections danced and swirled between each strand as it swirled around the Angel of my dreams. But the most striking of all; her eyes, clear as the beautiful diamond of the cleanest quartz, staring ahead but never focusing akin to the blindness found within one’s heart! One could stare at her for hours and yet her beauty would be so great that it transcends all human explanation, she’s truly an artwork of the gods!
Speaking of the divine, she would be no angel without her wings! There were many of them, more haphazardly created than her body. Each one crystalline in its appearance with thin gleaming streaks between them, giant in comparison to her human body, they wrapped around her like the wedding gown of a bride to be. I sighed jealously at the sight of her wings, oh to be able to embrace the simple perfection of the Simurgh.
I quickly got to work counting them like I do every Simurgh fight. From the looks of things, she lost some wings in the battle, I cursed silently under my breath. I understand why the heroes needed to fight the Endbringers and I agree that we really ought to save as many human lives as we can, the Simurgh being hurt still left an uneasy pit in my stomach. Counting them all, this time I counted seventy-six, I sighed and noted it down.
A shadow passed by the camera again and I looked to the heavens and saw that above me was a large train car. It floated above me and stayed neatly above the Simurgh’s head as she slowly stripped it for resources, taking some sort of metal wiring from it, attaching it to a battery and then using it to craft some sort of electric whip.
That was the second greatest thing about her! She didn’t just have a rocking body but a beautiful mind! The ability to craft and create any tool at such a large scale! The sheer beauty of her mind might be comparable only to the beauty of her face! I stayed up late at night often thinking about what she could do if only she gave up this path of violence she seems to be stuck in!
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as an urgent thought cracked through my mind. The older soldier has pulled out a gun and is about to shoot you in the back of my head, I need to move to the right. My head jerked instinctually as the bullet missed its mark, nailing instead my remote control, I watched as the drone lost control and quickly fell to the ground, breaking on impact.
“Onkoal!” I snapped back, glancing back only briefly as I tried to salvage the remote. The other soldier had already tackled his senior compatriot, who was too preoccupied with shouting vitriol at me.
“Crazy bitch! I saw that! I saw that look in your eyes! Simurgh Pawn!” he shouted at me repeatedly. I ignored him and moved towards the fence, the sounds of buildings breaking and muffled crashes washed over us akin to gentle thunder in a storm. I grasped on to the chain link fence, the barrier that kept me from her.
“I will do it” I said to myself, a silent prayer “I will succeed” I will be the one who wins the Simurgh’s heart!