Killing Capes (Book 3): The End

by Mathy, Scott

  They all dashed for the station, looking over the information streaming in on Ellis’s readings. Video feeds taken from miles outside of the city showed only a blasted crater where the city had once been. Within minutes, the news agencies switched their reporting on the chaos in New Haven to the destruction of Central City. The cause of the disaster was officially unknown, but Dwight knew better.

  “It’s Counsel. His enemy is here,” Dwight said quietly.

  Linda stared in horror at the news before turning to her ex, “How!? How does something do that? How does something just kill five million people!?”

  Dwight hated himself for not seeing it, “I thought he was lying, doing anything to justify his methods to me. I was wrong.”

  He thought of the entire population of Central, gone in a flash of unstoppable light, the tragic remains still burning on the screen in front of them, “It’s the universe’s answer to the Powers – the balance that comes when the Powers go unchecked. He warned me; he fucking warned me about this.”

  At the center of the smoking ruin of Central, two rays of pure energy glowed like stars brought to Earth. Where they slammed into each other, destruction followed. The group felt the ground tremble with each blow, rattling the floors in the Doc’s lab hundreds of miles from where the city once stood. Neither force appeared to weaken, only bring death to everything around it.

  Dwight slid to the floor against the middle table, clenching his hair in his hands. “He said it gets stronger with every fight, every Power it kills. It’s just like…”

  He knew it. In that one perfect moment, he knew what had to be done. Dwight leapt up, running to the storeroom as the others watched him go. Running from shelf to shelf, he ran into Alice. The android stopped his search, “May I ask what you are searching for, Mr. Knolls?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted frantically, still searching, “Something big, destructive – maybe a few toys I can improvise a survival plan out of. I have a terrible feeling I need to pick a fight with two people way out of my league.”

  “So, like all of your jobs,” Ellis added from the doorway, wiping away the shock of the city’s destruction. “How the fuck do we fix this?”

  “If I may,” the A.I. offered. She led them out of the supply closet to her corner. Standing under the sole work light, a suit of armor awaited them. “Mr. Zhu found this on his final trip to his home.”

  The suit looked like it could rival every iteration of the Crusader Armor that Alpha was built on. Its sleek design was both sturdy and purposeful, yet carried with it an intent: to break whatever it crossed. On its chest, a small logo of black and white identified its creator.

  “The Referee,” Dwight said aloud.

  “Yes,” Alice confirmed, touching the machine with her robotic hands. “I checked his notes and reported them to Mr. Zhu before his departure. Had the departed Referee finished it, he may have been able to face Counsel on his own level. I have run simulations on the capacities of the suit; it appears to be beyond any known prior design in the Guild or Alpha’s archives.”

  Dwight put his fingers over the emblem of his other self, “Insane son-of-a-bitch.”

  Ellis studied the readouts on Alice’s terminal, “Dwight, she’s right. This thing is off the charts. It’s relaying energy in a loop that is exponentially increasing outputs beyond anything I’ve ever seen. This shouldn’t be possible.”

  He remained mystified by the machine before him, “Think it can survive with two god-like entities for at least a few minutes?”

  “I’d say so,” the doctor confirmed, “it should be able to do more than that. You might actually be able to win.”

  The hitman knew his plan, “I don’t need to win. Just survive.”

  Lia approached the suit, examining the power cores set into each limb. He felt the familiar touch of her in his mind, “You’ll need my help, if you’re going to pull this off.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked.

  She nodded, turning to face him, “Never more sure about anything else in my life.”

  “Alright,” he agreed. “Alice, what else can you tell me about this thing?”

  The robot triggered the suit to open with a signal, the plates on each limb separating to welcome their pilot. “I have uploaded a version of myself into the unit’s computer. I should be able to assist with your piloting tutorial and manage your systems during the upcoming battle.”

  Dwight stared into the machine, beginning to remove his outerwear.

  Alice stopped him, “I have already placed the integration bodysuit in your room at Ms. Roux’s residence. You will need it to fully utilize the armor’s utilities.”

  “I’ll be right back, then!” he shouted, already halfway to the door. He found the suit spread out on his bed. It lacked a right arm sleeve, obviously a modification from Alice. Dwight had never changed so quickly in his life. Every few inches of the cloth was interrupted with a metallic disk. As he zipped up the tight bodysuit, he clamped the solid ring of its collar closed. Instantly, he felt tiny needles drill into his skin from the sensors. He yelped in pain, collecting himself quickly as they adjusted themselves to his movements. As he went to hastily return to the lab, he dug the handgun from the cardboard box, stowing it in his bodysuit’s built-in holster.

  Sprinting back, he found the group gathered around the armor, which had been wheeled into the center of the room. Lia held her hands over the visible power cores of the suit’s arms, feeding the vortex’s energy into the machine. Ellis and her creation monitored the flow of power coursing into the reserves. He felt the cold floor of the workshop through the soft pads of his outfit.

  “Ain’t ‘at some shit,” Bernard grunted from the sofa behind him.

  Dwight spun, “Welcome back. Sorry we left you behind.”

  Bernard rubbed his skull with his oversized hands, “’At wasn’t Wulf, D., I feel right cheated.”

  “Well, at least you got two good fights out of it, even if you lost both of them,” he shrugged, unsure of what to expect from the brute at this point.

  The giant laughed: not a sarcastic, mocking chuckle, but a true one, “Right you are. I guess ‘at bit ‘o kit over ‘ere isn’t fer me.”

  “Sorry, big guy; that one was designed for me. Well, a me.”

  Bernard sniffed loudly, “Suits me jus’ right anyway. I’d prefer to git me proper mitts ‘round ‘em. You’ll always be the one with the gadgets and the plan.” He offered a giant hand.

  Dwight took it, “Feel better to be back on the right side, if there ever was one?”

  He nodded solemnly, looking past Dwight at Lia and the Doc, “S’pose so. I still don’t know what to say to ‘em. Right stunned she ain’t turned me mind into a gerbil or sum’fin.”

  “I guess that’s the thing about psychics: she already knows everything going on in that simple brain of yours. Still, saying it might mean something.”

  His usual sarcastic coarseness fell away, “We git through ‘is, I might.”

  Glitch and Linda approached, taking the giant by the arms. “Come on, you’re on crowd control with us,” the cyborg ordered.

  They lifted him from the sofa, pulling him through the doorway and out of the lab. The door slammed behind them.

  Ellis brought Dwight up to speed as he stepped over, “They’re going to break up the worst of the fighting until you’re ready, then try to get people to safety, put out fires, clear traffic-”

  “Actual hero stuff,” Dwight finished.

  “Yeah, I suppose so,” Ellis reflected. She watched the power levels of the equipment spike as Lia supercharged the cores. “This is unbelievable. I’m not entirely sure how this can operate this way. I’d love to be able to study it, if you can bring it back in one piece.”

  “I’m going to be fighting to bring myself back in one piece, but I’ll keep that in mind,” he said sarcastically, “For what’s it’s worth, thanks for everything. Even if I don’t make it back, thanks.”

  She hugged him, “
You always made it interesting. You’re probably the least qualified hero the city could ask for, but I get it. Maybe that’s the point, after all. Come back; or if not, give him something he’ll never forget.”

  He stepped into the suit’s waiting frame. The automated fittings fixed to the sensors puncturing his skin, taking hold of the sensors and adjusting them for comfort. Its plates closed around him, locking in place to close the armor. Multiple screens lit up the helmet, displaying a wealth of data similar to the overwhelming quantity in Adams’s suit. For Dwight, it was too much.

  Alice’s voice came through the in-unit speakers, “Your vitals say you are dissatisfied with the configuration; how may I help?”

  Dwight thought aloud, “If I had a week to learn all this, I could probably figure it out. I need training wheels; all I want is power levels and damage assessment. You can handle the rest.”

  The chaotic scramble of readings disappeared, replaced with a simple percentage bar and box showing each of the suit’s sections in detail. The words attached to each limb were too small for him to read, though he assumed listed the dozens of sub-systems contained within each.

  “Better?” she asked.

  He flexed the suit’s arms, examining the apertures built into each palm, “Much. You can go over the main systems while we’re in flight.”

  Activating the external audio speakers, he turned to Lia, who was adjusting her own outfit for the coming battle, “Last time out; you ready?”

  She took a deep breath, exhaling quickly, “I think so. This power, it’s so much. Combined with managing my old one, I can feel the breadth of a thousand other worlds. But I’m going to draw strength from it, not fear it. They’re relying on us. He has to be stopped, answer for his crimes. I’m going to do it.”

  “We are,” he extended an arm.

  She pushed past the handshake, hugging him tightly through the suit. “You’ll do great. Don’t be afraid.”

  He felt the warmth of her mind, her emotions soothing his, combining to form a perfect serenity beyond what the sages of the Enclave had tried to teach him. Balanced in the depth of the eternity spreading out through her mind, he connected with the masses touched by her infinite power. She pulled away, standing confidently before him.

  “Time to go; win or lose, this’ll be one for the books,” he said proudly.

  NINE

  The “Referee Armor,” as he’d christened it, sailed over New Haven. In the morning light, the streets had gone silent. The respective sides of the fighting had retired to regroup and rearm. The powerless remained in hiding, fearing the inevitable spark that would reignite the conflict in their city. Whole blocks had been reduced to rubble, the faces of skyscrapers torn to jagged steel and broken glass. The great pillars of smoke had all but died, leaving the thinnest trails still snaking skyward. A gentle snow had begun to fall, blanketing the still streets below with a thin, white sheet.

  StarPoint came into view as Dwight banked the armor over the bay, attempting to drain as little of the suit’s overcharged batteries as possible. He flew high, hoping to avoid the attention of any lurking Powers. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into unnecessary fighting. Great craters littered the ground surrounding the building, huge chunks ripped out of the drive leading to the stairs of Counsel’s secret empire. The building itself was untouched, its dark face still a black mark on the skyline of the city bleeding out before it. Dwight couldn’t help but think of Wulf, somewhere out there – probably watching and laughing as the city tore itself to shreds, waiting to pick the corpse.

  Dwight cruised between the golden statues that lined the front walkway, looking up at the faces of the many fallen heroes of the city. Each visage was a sad reminder of how frivolous their struggles had been. He thought of the hundreds of more deserving Powers who had died fighting in Counsel’s endless cycles, the ones who would never be immortalized for their sacrifices: how many of them he had killed without knowing why. He had allowed himself to be part of something so terrible, but today, he’d stand against it, becoming one of those sacrifices if necessary.

  Dwight brought the suit down at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the building. “Alice, can you pinpoint where Counsel is right now?”

  “I have live footage of the two entities’ continued battle over what remains of Central City.” She brought up a small screen of the feed. Their bright energy burned with enough intensity that it could be seen for miles outside of the crater that had once been a city. Looking at the image, memories of Sierra Grande filled his mind. He recalled Counsel’s tale of the events repeating themselves on so many other worlds. He swore this would be the last. One way or another, his other self would never leave New Haven.

  “Lia, can you hear me?” he asked aloud.

  There was a flash of purple light beside him. A humanoid shape appeared, its radiance fading into Lia’s familiar black leathers and the tanned tone of her flesh. Her eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses, the glow of the anomaly only slightly spreading behind them.

  “Let’s piss off a god,” she said, loudly popping a bubble of gum.

  “Not a god,” Dwight corrected, “just another Cape.”

  Her body blinked out of existence the same way it had appeared, leaving only a faint trail of energy. A recognizable portal tore open at the top of the stairs. A second later, Counsel, shining like a golden star, crashed through the open vortex. His gloved white fist slammed into the dark stone façade of his building. The rock disintegrated under the blow, cracks spreading two stories up from the impact. The windows of the first four floors exploded, glass raining over the steps and harmlessly bouncing off Dwight’s armor.

  The tyrant looked about, confused by his sudden relocation. The portal closed behind him just as he turned toward it. He still wore the mirrored helmet, reflecting the embattled city in the distance and the gray sky above.

  Lia reappeared next to Dwight. She blew another bubble, then popped it, “One invitation sent; your other guest will need a few minutes to arrive.”

  “Great job,” he replied, not taking his eyes from the tyrant before him: the true ruler of New Haven, “Step two?”

  The masked figure closed the distance between them, coming down the first steps, “Do you see it, Dwight?” his voice boomed over the deserted plaza. “This is all the product of your meddling! Your feeble attempts to thwart me have only brought ruin to your world. I wanted to keep you safe, to protect the lives you claim to treasure so much.” He pointed at the ruined metropolis before him, “Is this what you wanted?” An explosion somewhere in the distance triggered a dozen more. The Powers resumed their war as if on cue.

  Dwight looked back at the pillars of ash rising from his home, then faced his adversary, “Quit pretending you wanted to help anyone, Counsel. You were always in this for yourself. If you actually wanted to stop the End, you’d have found a way.”

  As Counsel came closer, Dwight could feel his rival clawing at the edges of his mind, stealing the telepathic powers of the woman at his side. For each mental jab, there was a shield. Lia blocked his attempts to control them both.

  “It cannot be stopped!” Counsel roared, taking another step forward, “It will only become stronger with every Power it consumes. Zel was the key to holding it back, and you cut her down to avenge a world that already had its chance. I mean to save the entire multiverse from its wrath! You are incapable of seeing anything beyond this insignificant scrap of it.”

  “You never meant to save anyone, asshole. You found the perfect opponent and never wanted it to end, regardless of how many died so you could play your game.”

  Counsel laughed beneath his helmet, “Strong words coming from a simple man. You claim to know so much, for one without the slightest shred of power.”

  “I know myself, Counsel. I know what we’re supposed to be: that if I wanted to stop him, I’d find a way. I don’t need abilities to fight for what I believe in; I have friends, I have my skills, and I have the will to keep
going until there’s nothing left. You and I both know that you could have found a way god-knows-how long ago, but you didn’t want to. You wanted your fight to keep going forever, no matter the cost.”

  Another step, “You speak of things you have no idea of, you weak foo-”

  “Dwight,” Ellis’s voice came through the radio, “The other energy signature is heading your way. It has to be this ‘End.’”

  The hitman held up a finger to his enraged counterpart, “Hold, please!” he shouted up the stairs. He turned his attention to his earpiece. Beneath its mirrored surface, Dwight could only imagine the indignity and frustration boiling over within Counsel’s armor. “ETA?” he asked the Doc.

  “Given these projections, if it continues to accelerate this way, I’d say you’ve got about five minutes.”

  “Lovely; that should be enough. Let me know when we’re getting close.” He dropped his hand, returning his focus to the angered Power in front of him, “You were saying?”

  “How dare you!? You moronic, insolent pile of…” he trailed off, Lia’s actions finally catching his eye.

  Toward the end of his steam of insults, Lia had pulled a vial from her jacket’s inner pocket. As she half-heartedly listened to the madman’s tirade, she rotated the tube between her fingers. Her disinterested fidgeting halted the instant she realized she had his attention. “Oh, finally. I was wondering how long it would take you to notice.”

  Within the vial, a loose green powder settled as soon as she ceased spinning it. “Look what I found. Someone told me you were working really hard on your gardening skills. Guess this is all that’s left.”

  He raised a hand, trying to stay the woman, “Child, you have no idea how important what you hold is. If you care for this world, you will hand it over and leave me to deal with this powerless cur.”

  She popped another bubble, “I happen to be a pretty big fan of this ‘cur,” she turned to Dwight, “No offense.” Spitting the gum from her mouth, she removed her sunglasses, hanging them from the collar of her t-shirt. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds in the morning light, the faint violet light growing stronger as she focused the anomaly’s strength. “I know exactly what to do with this,” she lifted the vial to her face, twisting the cap free.