My entire body tingled with crackling energy, sparkling up and down my spine as I soared over New York's rooftops on wings made of light. A sensation deep in my gut pulled me forward, towards my sisters. Somehow, I could hear their voices in my head, talking over each other in confusion. I could only assume they went through the same thing that I did after they killed their assigned Hearts; that strange burst of power, like the burning I felt after drinking the Godling blood, only a thousand times stronger. I felt like I could do anything, like I could take any attack the Godling could throw at me and give it back just as strong. Despite not having control of my shadows right now, I still felt more than capable enough to take It on. The light coming off of my body could be manipulated just the same as the darkness could, and that old warmth from when Rosalyn's soul resided with me was back. That wasn't even mentioning the wings. Somehow, it seemed that right now, my sisters and I were one and the same.
Two pinpricks of light hovering above the city caught my attention. Maggie and Rosalyn had already found each other. I twisted around in the air, changing my trajectory to head towards them.
"Jordyn!" Rosalyn greeted as I arrived, beating my wings to slow myself in the air. Her voice sounded strange, like an echo repeated many times over. "This happened to you too? What's going on?"
Just like for me, their hair (and in Maggie's case, feathers) had turned bright white, and their veins glowed from underneath their skin with overflowing power. At Rosalyn's back was a pair of lightborn wings just like my own; obviously artificial next to Maggie's authentic ones, but just as strong.
"I told you, it has to be because we destroyed the monster's Hearts," Maggie said. She turned to face me. "You were the one to destroy your Heart, right?" She paused, looking me up and down. "How do you always manage to get naked when these things happen? You have no excuse! Rosie and I are still in our armour!"
I put my hands up, grinning. "Hey, I had to turn into shadow to get to my Heart. My clothes got left behind. Not my fault. Also, to answer your question, yes, I was. I think we must've absorbed the energy the Godling collected or something. Feels like we could fight It head on right now."
I flexed my fists, and white flame burst up my arms. Rosalyn's eyebrows went up in surprise. She tried waving her hand out, and the light coming off of her consolidated and solidified into a thin tendril, like an inversion of my shadows.
"It's like we're connected," she muttered. "I can hear your voices in my head, and we're sharing our powers. This feels... incredible."
I was about to reply when a strange ripple passed over me. We all looked in the direction I sensed it from. This must've been how Vivienne was able to tell where It was. The Godling.
"Care for some payback, Rosalyn?" I asked, clenching my fists. Power flooded through me, hardening my muscles and steeling my resolve. The old pain from my broken ribs had long-since faded.
She punched her palm. "Oh yeah, that freak has a lot to answer for. About five year's worth, I estimate."
"Hey, just leave some for me," Maggie said, ripping the cast off of her leg. "Can't let you two have all the fun."
"I'm sure there'll be plenty to go around," I replied. "Let's go."
With a strong, synchronous beat of our wings, we took off in the direction of our target. With the speed we were moving at, it wasn't long before we caught sight of It as we swooped and swerved in between skyscrapers.
The facade of Sebastian Beaumond was no more. In its place stood a humanoid being of pure white, glowing in the same way as our hair, eyes, and veins. Living energy given form and made manifest. It turned, pointing the place where Its face should've been up at us. We paused in the air, a few dozen metres away from It.
Return the power you stole, and you and your people may live to see the next sunrise in servitude.
With no mouth to speak from, the Godling's voice resonated through my head, drowning out all thoughts from my sisters. Maggie growled.
"Get the fuck off of our planet, and you might live to see the next hour!"
The Godling tilted Its head.
Very well. You will die, and your planet will be reduced to dust. Best make your peace quickly.
All of a sudden, It moved, cracking through the sound barrier just like in Tombguard. Only, this time, I was able to track Its trajectory as It sped towards Maggie. She burst forward in time to meet It, the two clashing together with an explosion of energy that sent Rosalyn and I spinning backwards in the air.
I flapped my wings hard, re-balancing myself, before looking up to see Maggie and the Godling struggling against each other, hands interlocked. Pressure blew off of them in waves, smashing windows up to hundreds of metres away, cracking the asphalt on the road below. My ears popped.
I spun in the air, summoning a great hammer of light and using my momentum to slam it down onto the Godling. The force ripped It from Maggie's hands, throwing it to the ground far below us. Rosalyn followed up, throwing fireball after fireball down after It, exploding in bright clouds of brilliant colour.
Ordinarily, I would've worried about civilians being caught in the crossfire, but somehow, just as I could sense the Godling, it felt like I could sense other signs of life as well. A few hundred thousand tiny pinpricks for the regular people — the survivors still remaining on Manhattan island — and a handful of more energetic points for those with powers. Either way, there was no one else in the vicinity, so we were free to let loose.
The Godling recovered from the onslaught, speeding out of the way of Rosalyn's blasts, before curving around in the air and moving to strike her. I pushed forward, heading to intercept, but I wasn't quick enough. The Godling's fist impacted against Rosalyn's arm as she moved to block, and she was sent flying far down the street. The energy I sensed from her didn't fluctuate too hard, so I tried not to worry, shifting my trajectory to counterattack.
I threw my fist forward, punching It across the face and following it up with a blast of Rosalyn's fire. The Godling flew backwards in a streak of white light, and Maggie swooped down to follow up, swinging around to kick It back towards me. I returned with another punch, spinning in the air to put some momentum behind it. Only, the Godling twisted as It approached, slipping past my strike and hovering around behind me. I kept up my spin to meet It face-to-face, ducking under Its obvious punch and grappling It from behind, pinning Its arm up out of place. It may have had us beat in the raw power department, but Maggie and I were no pushovers when it came to martial arts experience.
Jordyn! Set me up!
I wrenched the Godling around, facing It down the street as It tried to reach back and get at me. A bright flash went off down the way, and Rosalyn came speeding towards us, flame and spears of light following her path. I braced for impact.
Rosalyn slammed into us like a speeding truck, sending the wave of fire right into the Godling's face as the spears ripped chunks of light from Its form. The force of the hit sent all three of us careening down the street as Rosalyn kept up her momentum, throwing haymakers left and right, hard enough that I could feel the reverberating shockwave of every one passing through my own chest and shattering the windows of every building we passed. Her technique was sloppy, but the rage pouring off of her was palpable, washing over me in waves of heat. It was fire born of sorrow for the five years of her life that the Godling stole, born of the unending pain and torture she suffered at Its hands, now finally being avenged. It was searing justice after so long in the cold dark.
Useless children.
The Godling's hand found purchase in my hair, yanking me forward over Its head, breaking my grapple and throwing me into Rosalyn. The two of us were knocked down to the road below, tumbling over each other before crashing into the pavement in a surprisingly painless tangle of limbs. The durability afforded by this strange energy was certainly refreshing, that was for sure.
Maggie flew in as Rosie and I recovered, following our path, but the Godling was ready for her. It countered her strike before she could even land it, hand darting out to wrap around her neck and fling her bodily through the building next to them.
I got back to my feet and wasted no time, launching back up into the air with a powerful uppercut to the Godling's chin. The blow only glanced though, as the Godling's head bent back to an unnatural degree, leaving It free to counterattack. It grabbed my ankle as I passed, swinging me around and once again using me as a weapon against Rosalyn, who had just jumped up to back me up. My back cracked against her, throwing her down the street again, bouncing against buildings and lightposts on her path like a ping-pong ball. The Godling kept hold of me, spinning me around until I could taste the pizza from last night before chucking me like I was the metal ball in a hammer throw competition.
My wings beat hard against the air as I flew ass-over-tit across the New York skyline, trying to regain control. It was too little, too late however, as my path ended long before I could stop myself. I smashed through the window of a skyscraper and tumbled through an office, destroying cubicles and computers until I finally slowed down enough to come to rest.
Once again, despite suffering a landing that would have killed a regular person, I felt largely unscathed. Getting to my feet and dusting myself off, I looked around, finding a group of dishevelled office workers staring at me with wide eyes.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked, worry filling my gut. Our earlier battleground had been clear of any bystanders, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I'd accidentally hurt someone in my crash landing.
"Wh-what's going on?" one replied, in lieu of answering my question. I took that as an assurance that no one was harmed.
"Don't worry. Just stay here and-"
I wasn't able to finish my sentence. A bright flash from where I came from caught my attention. I only realised at the last second that it was Maggie, flying towards me on the exact same path I'd travelled. I braced, digging cleats of light into the ground and catching her against my chest. She knocked the air from my lungs and scraped me backwards across the floor, but the reinforcement held, and I set her down next to me once her momentum had dissipated.
"Fuck me!" she exclaimed, catching her breath.
"What happened?" I asked.
"That thing has one hell of a throwing arm... Oh shit, watch out!"
Because apparently none of us could catch a break, it was at that moment that Rosalyn turned our little duo into a trio, crashing through the office before I had time to react. Maggie and I were flung from the building out the opposite window, tumbling hundreds of metres to the ground below, where we landed in a heap.
"What the fuck is going on?" Rosalyn asked, half pinning me to the street.
"It's toying with us," Maggie growled, sitting up. "We need a plan!"
I got to my feet, helping Rosalyn up with me. "I'll move in alone as bait. Once It's distracted with me, you two come in and throw everything you have at It. We need to overwhelm Its senses to prevent a counterattack, or we're just gonna keep getting tossed around. All angles, all powers, all at once. Sound good?"
Rosalyn let out a concerned hum. "I don't like using you as bait."
I smiled reassuringly. "Hey, we just fell out of a twenty-storey building and don't have a scratch on us. I'm durable enough to survive a few moments of one-on-one."
"You'd better be," Maggie said, slapping me on the back. She turned to Rosalyn. "Alright, lovergirl. Let's hide before It gets here." She flapped her wings and took to the sky.
Rosalyn scoffed. "'Lovergirl?'" In spite of her protest to the nickname, she followed along in a streak of light.
I took a deep breath, stepping out into the intersection and readying myself for the next phase of the fight. This would be tough, but this wasn't our first little scuffle, either. I was getting an eye for the Godling's technique; largely sloppy, with an over-reliance on Its own considerable strength. I'd taken out plenty of opponents with the exact same weakness. This would be no biggie, right?
The Godling appeared with a bright flash, arriving through the same hole It had thrown the three of us through. Slowly, It descended down to the street, meeting me at eye level.
This plan is futile. This One knows the location of your sisters at all times. Surrender and live in servitude, or die.
"Not a chance," I replied, setting into a fighting stance.
The Godling didn't respond. It simply attacked.
I ducked under Its swinging right hook, jabbing It in the stomach once, twice, three times. Air rushed over my head, and my punches sent shockwaves echoing behind It with every hit. It had no skin, muscle, or organs to damage, but that was okay. I could tell from the light flaking off of It as my hits landed that the strikes were effective nonetheless.
The Godling brought down a hammerfist, but I flapped my wings and dodged to the side, punching It right where Its ribs should've been. It recoiled backwards, but recovered quickly and splayed Its palm right at my head. I only recognised the energy attack at the very last second, summoning a shield of light that reflected the laser around me, sending it sheering across the adjacent buildings.
The beam ceased, and I took the opportunity to counterattack, blasting my shield forward with an explosion of fire. I followed up, beating my wings to push through the flame and deliver a powerful strike.
In hindsight, it was foolish of me to obscure my view of the opponent. A hand rushed out of the tongues of fire, gripping me around the throat. I gagged, my wings flapping crazily as I tried to free myself from the crushing hold, but the Godling's grasp was ironclad.
It threw me to the ground and stomped on my back. Whether the resounding crack that echoed through my body was my bones, the pavement beneath me, or both, I couldn't tell. I was too busy screaming as blinding agony shot through my nervous system.
The Godling's weight shifted, and the bony tip of a knee replaced Its foot on my back, pinning me down. Hands wrapped around my chin from below, and It began to violently wrench my head back. I cried out as my vertebrae began to stretch, muscles and ligaments fraying and tearing all along my neck and back. My fingers dug into the concrete, trying to put up some resistance, but any attempt to pull away seemed futile. Where the hell were Maggie and Rosalyn?!
Jordyn! We're stuck! We can't get free!
This stupid fuckin' thing's got us chained down! You'll have to hold out for a little longer!
Dread spread through my gut like nausea, and true panic began to set in. Searing pain flashed along the skin of my neck as it began to tear from the pressure, cartilage popping as the Godling continued to rip my head off of my shoulders. Fire as hot as the surface of the sun exploded off of me in waves, melting the pavement. The Godling flinched, but only for a moment, resuming Its torture without delay. Spears of light protruded from my back like the spines of some sort of holy porcupine, piercing straight through the Godling's body. With no bones to break and no organs to crush, however, It was largely unbothered, continuing to twist and yank my skull with impunity.
Heat flashed under the skin of my neck, along with a strange pressure. Darkness clouded the corners of my eyes. It hurt so badly. I couldn't understand. I was supposed to be strong like this. We were supposed to win. Why was this happening?
A snap. Everything below my neck stopped hurting. I gasped, and everything went white.
...
The pressure around my face ceased, and my head flopped forward onto the ground, my vision returning in a flood of colour and detail. Inside my neck, structures reformed; muscles knitting together, vertebrae slipping back into place, nerves regrowing as the incredible healing potential of this energy kicked in. Feeling returned to the rest of my body with a hot flush of pins and needles, and I scrambled forwards, turning around to see what had happened.
The Godling stood above me, frozen, with a black sword protruding from Its chest. The sword receded, and the Godling stumbled forward. I rolled out of the way, jumping to my feet to find Vivienne standing there, clutching Maggie's greatsword. She threw me a thumbs-up.
"Good luck, babe! You got this!"
The Godling whirled around, swinging Its fist. Vivienne teleported away right before it landed. Across the intersection, buildings shook and crumbled from the air pressure alone. I saw my opportunity and took it, blasting the Godling from behind with the biggest beam of light I could muster. Finally, as It flew forward, Maggie swooped in, snatching It up from the ground with a few white tendrils and pulling It into a punch that shook the foundations of the city.
Rosalyn landed next to me, looking concerned, as Maggie led the Godling into the sky.
"Are you alright?!" she asked.
"What took you guys so long?!" I asked back.
She smiled weakly. "Sorry, we got a little tied up. Maddie and Hex got us out. Now, come on, let's go back Maggie up!"
With a flap of her wings, she took to the sky after our sister. I grinned, taking off right behind her.
—
A few minutes earlier...
Vivienne teleported Brea, Maddie, Ettie, and Hex up to the base rooftop, having retrieved them (and any discarded equipment) from the site of their Hearts. Immediately, her eyes fell on Ashley, sitting among the crowd with a bandaged face and both arms in makeshift slings. She ran over.
"Oh my god, Ashley! What the hell happened?!"
He looked up, seeming woozy, and waved her off.
"Ah, don't worry about it, I'm fine. You guys just do your stuff."
"The idiot jumped off the building trying to save Maggie from the monster," Steve said, coming up behind her.
Vivienne let out a breath, running a hand through her hair. "Jeez, man. Be careful."
The sound of a helicopter pierced the air. She looked up and saw a small fleet of them heading towards them. Finally, it seemed like rescue had arrived.
"Viv! Look!"
Maddie's distressed call caught her attention, back at the other end of the roof. She turned and ran back to where she and Hex were standing, looking out over the city.
"What? What is it?"
Maddie pointed. Vivienne scanned the area with her eyes until she caught it; two pinpoints of the bright glow that had been coming off of Jordyn, only dimmed by a strange darkness.
"I think they're stuck!" Maddie exclaimed. "We need to help them!"
Vivienne didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed Maggie's sword from the ground where she discarded it, dragged it back over to Maddie and Hex, and teleported the three of them over to the source of the light.
Just as Hex and Madeline had said, Maggie and Rosalyn were both in that same glowy state as Jordyn; hair, eyes, and veins shining a bright white, with a huge pair of angelic wings behind their backs, regardless of whether they had them beforehand. The two of them were in an alleyway, trapped by huge black chains that had burst from the floor, wrapping around their bodies and preventing them from moving.
Rosalyn noticed them, and started thrashing harder against her bonds. "Guys! You have to get us free! Jordyn is in trouble! The Godling has her!"
Something steeled itself inside of Vivienne. She turned to her companions with a determined glare.
"You two, get them loose! I'm gonna go help Jordyn!"
"Viv, wait-!"
It was too late. Vivienne had already teleported up to the rooftops to search for the telltale glow of her love. From near Maggie and Rosalyn's position, she wasn't hard to find. The moment her eyes settled on Jordyn's location, her heart dropped. A figure of pure white had her pinned to the ground, and was trying to rip her head off.
Vivienne hefted that huge sword up and ran forward to build her momentum, muscles shaking with exertion. Right as she reached the edge of the roof, she teleported down to the intersection, directly behind the Godling. The blade sunk into Its glowing flesh with a satisfying squelch, forcing It to let go of Jordyn's head.
A few moments passed, long enough for Vivienne to worry she'd been too late, before Jordyn woke back up and scrambled away. Vivienne pulled out the sword, meeting Jordyn's eye as she got to her feet. She looked no worse for wear than she had before the fight, back after she destroyed the Heart. Vivienne, lacking any other feasible way to show her support, shot Jordyn a thumbs-up.
"Good luck, babe! You've got this!"
The Godling moved in the corner of Vivienne's eye, and that was all it took for her instincts to kick in, teleporting her back to the rooftop before whatever attack It threw could land. She stumbled backwards, falling onto her ass as the building shook, watching a huge plume of dust rise up from where she just was.
"Holy shit," she exclaimed, heart racing.
"You alright?" Steve asked, running up to help her to her feet.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," she replied, keeping her eyes on the skyline as two streaks of light shot across the city. Maggie and Rosalyn were free, then. "Gimme a sec."
Vivienne teleported back to the alley way and picked up Maddie and Hex, taking them to the base to watch the fireworks as the three sisters kicked into full gear. Their battle unfolded like a thunderstorm, bursting across the sky in bright flashes, echoing huge shockwaves so strong that Vivienne could feel her ribs vibrating from all the way over here. It was difficult to tell who was who, given that from this distance, every participant in the fight looked like an identical shooting star, but based on which shooting stars were attacking each other, she had a general idea of how things were going.
"Wow," Maddie said, watching beside her. "It's kinda beautiful."
"Yeah," Vivienne replied, swallowing down a surge of anxiety as the brighter star knocked one of the others down to earth, sending them crashing through a skyscraper. The other two moved in, striking the bigger one with another thunderous boom as the first one recovered. Together, they raged across the ruined city like the furies of Greek legend, taking their bloody vengeance on the one who threatened to destroy their world.
By now, the evacuation of all the civilians they'd managed to save had been completed, and the last helicopter was flying away. It was a truly meagre amount in comparison to the population of the city, but Vivienne had to have faith that the majority of those they couldn't save were still safe and sound inside the buildings, hopefully far away from the epicentre of the battle currently rocking the entire island. She had to have faith that they did everything they could.
Ashley came up beside her, looking out over the light show. She raised an eyebrow.
"You're still here? I thought you'd leave with the civilians. You need medical attention, dude."
"I'm not gonna leave when some of my people are still out there risking their lives," he replied, voice nasally and slightly lisped. "I'm here until the end."
Another huge crack of thunder shook the building they were perched on, prompting everyone to stumble. Brianna whistled from where she was sat against an air-conditioning unit. "That must be some fight. Are our girls winning?"
"Can't really tell," Vivienne replied. "But I don't think they're losing, either."
"They'll make it," Ashley said. "They've come too far not to. Each of them."
It was the truth. Rosalyn literally defied death and clawed her way out of her own grave. Jordyn and Maggie were born from her dead cells, surviving a hellish upbringing of torture and conditioning and coming out the other side good people in spite of it all. Time and time again, all three of them had fought the odds and won. This time would be no different.
As the sun began to set over Manhattan, and the dark of twilight settled over the city, Vivienne knew with certainty that the Godling would die tonight.
—
I swooped in, delivering a powerful punch to the Godling's gut. It flew backwards, right into the path of Rosalyn's light-blade. The Godling recoiled as more glowing flesh flaked off of Its figure, but recovered fast, spinning into Rosalyn with a kick that sent her flying across the boroughs. Maggie dropped in from above, taking advantage of Its distraction and slamming it down to the ground with the force of a meteor via a bone-shattering double hammerfist. It crashed through an empty office block on Its path, disappearing from sight momentarily. I wouldn't give It the chance to recover.
Tendrils of light whipped out of my aura, snaking through the hole in the building and wrapping around the Godling's limbs. Once It was secured, I beat my wings and began to spin, slingshotting the Godling around and slamming It into the ground over and over. A few of the buildings in this area were still occupied, so I was careful to aim my path solely where there would be no chance of collateral damage.
Once I could feel my momentum slowing down, I pulled in, drawing the Godling towards me for the final throw to increase Its potential kinetic energy. I released my tethers and flung it back to the earth in the middle of Times Square. Its landing blew a crater into the square, launching a plume of dust up into the air. Surely, It had to be almost done now, right? It had been losing light with every hit, and that was a good few solid blows I just landed. I just wasn't sure how much longer I could keep this up; fatigue still reaching my muscles in spite of the energy powering me up.
"Nice work, Jordyn," Maggie said, flying up beside me, looking down at the Godling. It hadn't moved since It landed. Was it finally over?
Rosalyn returned to our side, holding her cheek. "I don't know why, but that kick hurt way more than all the other ones."
I glanced at her, and had to do a double-take. "Rosalyn, your glow is dimming."
She frowned, looking me over. "Yours is, too. I... I think our powers are running out."
That must've been why I felt so exhausted. I turned to Maggie. "What do we do?"
"We need to finish this now. Come on, let's hit It with everything we've got."
That was good enough for me. I moved to flap my wings and rush in, but instead of a burst of forward momentum, it came out more like a weak puff, beginning an uncontrolled spiral towards the ground. My stomach flew into my throat as I tried to regain control of myself, but my wings seemed to have all-but disappeared. There was nothing to stop me from succumbing to gravity and dying a quick and messy death on the pavement.
At least, until Maggie swooped in and grabbed me around the middle long before I could go splat. Across from me, in her other arm, was Rosalyn; her glow now entirely gone. The only remaining evidence that it had ever been there at all was a much larger streak of white in her hair than usual, trailing down the left side of her head and into her ponytail. I glance up, and saw Maggie had a similar mark bleaching the hair of her fringe. That meant I probably had one, too. What fun.
"Wonderful time for that to wear off," Maggie grumbled. "Come on, let's head back to the base and regroup. Looks like the Godling's taking a nap or something, so we might get a few minutes."
She flew us up to the building everyone was camped on, dropping us on the roof.
"What happened?" Ten demanded, marching up to us. "You guys were doing great, why'd you stop?"
"We lost our powers somehow," I replied, folding my arms across my chest to preserve a modicum of decency now that I didn't have a glow to censor me.
"Jordyn, here," Vivienne said, pointing to my armour. I made my way over and began donning it again.
"Did you grab my underclothes, too?"
Viv winced. "Yeah, but... they were covered in monster blood. Figured you'd prefer to go commando in your armour."
I laughed. "Thanks."
Patience is a virtue that This One has long-since run out of.
The Godling's voice echoed through all of our heads, ripping through our thoughts and destroying any modicum of hope in our hearts. I turned around, and saw It floating far above Times Square.
The Stolen Power has been returned, and as such, This One has no more use for this planet. Prepare for your retribution, humans.
As soon as It was done gloating, an impossibly bright aura lit up around It, and It began to rise higher into the sky. My skin tingled and my throat dried up just from the force of the energy coming off of It. It wasn't lying. The Godling was going to destroy the planet.
"Gimme my sword!" Maggie yelled, snatching it up and taking to the sky. We all watched on with baited breath as she chased the Godling higher and higher, but never seemed to reach It. Dread filled my throat as she soared back down to the roof, expression distraught.
"It's too fast. I can't catch up."
"I have an idea!" Rosalyn said. "It's a long-shot, but it might be all we have."
I pulled on the last of my armour, steeling myself for what might be the end of the world. "Then we have to try it."
—
"I love you," I whispered against Vivienne's lips.
"I know, but there's no time. If you're going, you have to go now." She gently pushed me away.
I nodded, turning around and grabbing Maggie's sword, before heading over to the group of my sisters. Rosalyn and Maddie were having a similar exchange to mine and Viv's, and I could hardly fault them for it. Even if this plan went right, there was a chance some or all of us wouldn't be coming back. But that was a risk we had to take.
"Everyone ready?" Maggie asked once Rosalyn finished up.
We all responded in affirmative, and Maggie nodded, wrapping her arms under our armpits.
"Whenever you're ready, Hex."
"Alright," she replied. "Good luck, guys. We're counting on you."
She braced, ready to lift us all into the air, when Vivienne's voice caught my attention.
"Hey, Jordyn?"
I turned my head, making eye contact with her for possibly the last time.
"I love you, too."
And suddenly, we were thrown into the air, soaring at drastically unsafe speeds towards the Godling. Tears pricked in my eyes, both at the wind and Viv's confession. That may have been our last goodbye. I had to make my peace with that now, as much as the idea of never seeing her again ached my heart.
Maggie's wings spread out behind her, beating hard against the air to maintain the momentum of Hex's telekinetic throw. By now, the Godling was a pinprick of light in the distance, but It was steadily growing closer. This plan just might work.
Eventually, the speed from Hex's throw wore off, and we were reduced to Maggie's far-too-slow regular speed. Time for phase 2.
"Good luck, you two. Kick Its ass for me," she said, before pulling into a fast spin and flinging the two of us up further into the atmosphere with all of her might.
Rosalyn shifted behind me as we flew in tandem, purely off of the energy of Maggie's strength. Sometimes I forgot how incredibly strong she was, just in her regular form. To throw us hard enough that we were steadily catching up on the Godling was no small feat. But, eventually the speed from that ran out, too. We were close, though. Close enough that I could see the outline of the Godling's humanoid body. Close enough that we could actually do this.
"Sorry, Jordyn. This might sting a bit."
An explosion ripped off behind me, blowing out my eardrums and sending a wave of burning heat over my skin, even as it launched me forward like a rocket. Fire trailed off of my armour as I flew towards my target, readying the greatsword.
Burning. The air was so thin and I was moving so fast, that taking a breath became an impossibility. Stinging. An agonising heat crept up the back of my neck, slipping under my armour. No doubt some of my hair had caught fire. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered except killing the Godling.
Closer. Closer. I zoomed up to It like a speeding bullet. It would not escape my wrath.
For torturing Rosalyn and Maddie. For ripping out Vivienne's eye. For taking Andreas' arm. For being the sole, root cause behind all of the pain I was forced to inflict on others under my father's orders. For enslaving the human race, for each and every murder, assault, and indignity It inflicted on us.
The Godling would die by my hand.
—
The sister of shadow approached rapidly; too quick for It to change Its course or deflect. She brought that familiar black blade over her head, and for a moment, the Godling did not see the woman in front of It. Just for a second; for a single flash, the Godling was 700 years in the past, watching the last of the de Vygon clan plunge a black blade through Its chest; face full of righteous fury and vengeance.
Just like that, the moment passed, and the Godling was back in the present, watching the ultimate culmination of the de Vygon clan's legacy swing a black blade down towards It.
The blade sliced through the Godling's body, splitting It straight down the middle. The sister's momentum pulled her through, forcing the two halves away from each other, ensuring total destruction. With no receptacle to hold it anymore, the energy It had amassed exploded outwards. The Godling's knot; the tight binding of space-time that upheld Its sentience, unravelled in the force of the blast, dissipating into the Earth's atmosphere until it had fully suffused into the population, never to coalesce into a single being ever again.
In one fell swoop, after 14.3 billion years of life, the Godling's existence had ended.
—
Rosalyn fell, careening down to the earth, launched by Newton's third law of motion after that explosion she threw Jordyn with. All she could do was hope and pray, both that Jordyn got the job done, and that Maggie would catch her.
And sure enough, before too long she felt Maggie's arms wrap around her, carefully slowing her down until they were both hovering together in the air.
"Did she do it?"
As if timed perfectly to answer her question, at that moment a bright flash lit up the dusky sky, briefly blinding Rosalyn. Right as it happened, she felt that horrible, oppressive energy disappear.
That could only mean one thing. They did it. They actually succeeded. Holy crap. A few moments later, the shockwave hit, cracking in their ears with a loud boom. Maggie, for her credit, stayed perfectly steady.
But what about Jordyn?
"Shit!" Maggie exclaimed, shaking her head, no doubt to work off the temporary blindness. "Fuck! Jordyn was right in the middle of that!"
Rosalyn's chest tightened. She squinted, scanning the dark sky for any hint of her sister.
"There!" she called, her eyes catching on some movement. She pointed up, looking at a tiny flicker of orange, descending through the clouds. She'd been worried about Jordyn's hair catching fire from the ROC explosion she launched her with, but now that fire might just save her life.
Maggie took off in her direction, swooping down to try and match the speed she was falling. As they got closer, Rosalyn could see that the explosion from the Godling's death blew most of Jordyn's armour away. Only a few pieces of the frame remained, as well as her gauntlets and boots. Fire licked at the hair on the back of her head, stoked by the wind as she fell, and the entire visible front of her body was a nasty sunburn-red. Seeing that, it was probably for the best she was unconscious.
Maggie darted in, and Rosalyn reached out to catch her. Jordyn slammed into her chest, knocking the wind out of her and sending all three of them into a violent spin. Rosalyn's heart flew up into her throat, but she put her faith in Maggie and focused on putting out the fire in Jordyn's hair, smothering it with her hands. From what she could tell with her limited medical experience, the burns didn't seem too serious, but this wasn't exactly the right situation for a proper examination.
"Fuck!" Maggie cursed, voice cracking. For a moment, their spin balanced out, but then they started careening in the other direction. "My wing's sprained! I can't fly straight!"
If they weren't in trouble before, they were now. Rosalyn frantically reached for her belt, keeping hold of Jordyn with one very strained arm as she searched for her radio. Miraculously, she found it, and it seemed to be working.
"Someone help!" she called into the receiver. "We're gonna crash!"
"I see you! I'm not sure how many teleports I have left in me, but I'll do my best!" Vivienne replied.
At once, she appeared in front of Rosalyn, grabbing hold of her and Jordyn. Immediately, the entire world shifted onto its head. The ground was above them, and they were falling upwards, gently slowing thanks to gravity. The air around them grew cold through their ascent, and by the time they reached the peak of their arc, a slide made of ice had appeared below them, ready to safely ferry them down to the ground.
The four of them landed in a heap at the bottom. Rosalyn stared up at the sky; the first stars now beginning to twinkle in the dark. Her heart was pounding, ears ringing.
"Did we actually do it?" she asked quietly.
"...Yeah. I think we did," Maggie responded, just as soft.
—
Vivienne shook off her migraine, sitting up among the pile of bodies.
"Is everyone alright?"
Maggie and Rosie sounded off with affirmatives, but Jordyn remained silent. Come to think of it, she hadn't seemed conscious during those scant few seconds Vivienne had eyes on her during the fall.
Oh shit.
Vivienne scrambled up, crawling over to where Jordyn laid. Things looked bad at first, but a quick check of her pulse indicated she was still alive. Didn't mean she wasn't hurt, though. That burn covering her skin was enough to indicate that.
"Jordyn? Jordyn?" Viv hissed.
Jordyn groaned, and relief flooded Vivienne's chest. She blinked, squinting her eyes open, staring up at the sky. A translucent pink liquid leaked out, trailing down her cheeks.
"H... hello?"
"I'm here, Jordie," Vivienne replied.
"I... I can't see."
Must've been a side-effect of the flash. "We'll get you to a doctor, alright? I'm sure you'll be fine. Everyone's here, and we're all safe."
"Did we win?"
Vivienne looked around her, at the desolation of New York. Despite all the damage and all the death, because of everything they did today, this city would get a chance to rebuild. Tombguard would get a chance to rebuild. For the first time in 2000 years, life could move on without the active or dormant threat of the Godling hanging over the world's head. It was truly gone for good.
"Yeah, Jordyn," she said, tears prickling her eyes. "We won."
—
9 MONTHS LATER
I sighed, leaning my head against Vivienne's shoulder in the hospital waiting room. Everyone who was close with Rosie and Maddie was here, waiting to hear the good news. What no one told me was that giving birth took a while.
"Babe, your glasses are digging into my shoulder," Viv whispered.
"Oh, sorry," I replied, sitting up and adjusting them. My corneas never fully recovered from being exposed to what was effectively the flash from a nuclear explosion at close range, so the glasses were a necessary part of life now if I wanted to see clearly. It didn't bother me much. Just one more thing I could accessorise when I felt like dolling up my appearance.
"You can lean on me instead," Brianna said from my other side.
I laughed quietly, poking my tongue out at Viv as I moved to rest my head on Brea's shoulder. Viv rolled her eye playfully, but kept hold of my hand regardless.
"Oh!" Nina exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "I think they're done."
"How can you tell?" Ten asked.
"Rosie stopped screaming."
Ten looked a little sick at that answer, and I couldn't really blame her. Giving birth didn't sound like the type of thing I'd like to go through, either, but I supposed if you really wanted kids, the pain was worth it.
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, I heard footsteps down the hall, and Maddie rounded the corner, walking on her new prosthetic with a big, tired smile on her face. Despite the bags under her eyes, she looked so much healthier than she used to. Her skin had a warm, sun-kissed tan, her hair was brighter and thicker, and she'd long since surpassed the shakes she used to get after she first quit drinking. Rehab had really done wonders for her.
"It's a boy!" she announced, splaying her hands out.
Everyone cheered and clapped, and a few hands of money were passed around as bets on the baby's sex were won or lost.
"So, who wants to see him first? We can only let in two people at a time, so you'd better decide."
Immediately, a frantic game of paper-scissors-rock was played, whittling competitors down until only two of us remained; Maggie and myself.
"Aw yeah, baby!" Maggie cheered. "That's right, genetic identical privilege!"
"No fair!" Hex complained. "I'm a clone, too!"
"Sucks to suck, sister," I replied, standing up. Hex flipped me off and I gracefully ignored it, following Maddie as she started back down the hall.
"So, how're you doing?" Maggie asked during the walk.
Maddie nodded. "Pretty good. For a moment I thought Rosie might have broken my hand during the final push, but I was just being a baby." She laughed. "Got to hold him for a little while; get some skin-to-skin in, so that was nice. Uh, just a heads up, this is a look, no touch situation. Rosie is currently being very territorial with him."
I huffed a laugh. "It's all good. I'm just excited to meet the little guy. I've never seen a baby in person before."
"It's actually mind-blowing how small he is."
We reached Rosie's room and carefully disinfected our hands before entering. And sure enough, there he was; a teeny little bundle of baby, cuddled up in Rosie's arms on the hospital bed.
"Hey guys," she greeted, voice hoarse. After thirteen hours of labour, it wasn't a stretch to say she looked absolutely exhausted, but joy shined through her features nonetheless.
"How are you?" I asked, leaning a little closer to get a better look at the baby. He was chubbier than I was expecting, and Maddie wasn't kidding; he was tiny. It was almost difficult to comprehend that he would grow up to be a human person.
"I'm... a little bit high, I think," Rosie responded. She shifted up on the bed a little. "Come! Meet Marco!"
"That's his name?" Maggie questioned.
I grinned. "I like it."
"So? What do you think? Is he cute?"
Maggie hummed. "A little ugly, actually."
Rosie let out an exhausted chuckle. "Yeah, he is a little ugly, isn't he?" she responded, looking down at her son. "But he's our little ugly baby."
"All babies are ugly," Maddie said. "He'll get cuter."
Seemingly in response to all the ruckus, Marco opened his eyes, staring up at his new family. Little brown balls of curiosity, searching the identical faces of the women admiring him, learning about the world for the very first time. I couldn't help but be reminded of that day, roughly two and a half years ago, now. The day I first woke up, peering around the facility, wondering where and who I was.
At once, I fell deeply and irreversibly in love with my nephew. No matter what happened, I was going to ensure with every fibre of my being that this boy had a childhood full of love and family, and that he would grow up knowing that no matter who he turned out to be, his parents and the rest of his family would never stop caring for him.
"I love him," I said, with full conviction and sincerity in my voice.
Maggie smiled. I knew without a doubt she was having the exact same train of thought as I was.
"Yeah. Me too."
Marco slowly blinked. When his eyes opened again, they were glowing white. Maggie and I took a startled step back. He yawned, and Rosie yelped as he gently hovered upwards, floating just above her arms. Maddie just stared, slack-jawed.
"Oh, boy," Rosie muttered.
Maggie laughed. "Oh, he's one of us, alright!"
Maddie sighed, rubbing her face. "He's gonna be such a handful, isn't he?"
Gently, I summoned a soft cloud of shadows around him, carefully pulling him down back into his mama's arms. Rosie took hold of him again, and shot me a grateful expression.
"Yeah. But, we'll be there help you out. And, really, is there anywhere better to grow up as a superpowered kid than among us?"
Rosie laughed softly, looking down at him again.
"No, I suppose not."
