Chapter I - Sword and Shield

[IamLEAM1983]

Gubbin shrugged. "Our dear friend Murphy might as well empty his bag of foul tricks right away," he said. "I would welcome whatever hardships are brought forward for us to face. The greater the perils, the more durable the ensuing peacetime."

* * *

"Well, I've already stated that I believe this to be of Gammell make. Our local purveyor of wind-up toys and other curios has a few distinct signatures, and the gold filigree along the lid," he explained, pointing, "is one of them. I've long since desired to meet the man in person, as he has somehow managed to distill my period's mechanical sensibilities to its essentials. There is a... charming timelessness to this mysterious little thing, and it certainly is piquing my interest."

Aidan could only shrug. "My mother bought a few snowglobes and music boxes from the Toybox, every other Christmas. We don't have a single room that isn't packed with one of these things, around late November."

Coach, however, seemed slightly puzzled. "I can tell it's giving off something, but it isn't via. I don't want to say it feels dark or wrong since it really does feel like I'm simplifying it - but these are the only words I have in mind. I'd almost want to ship it over to the MIT and have it looked over by someone like, I don't know, Neil DeGrasse Tyson or something."

Amazo could only agree. "I concur, I've sensed dark magic before, and this isn't it.
- It certainly isn't what miss Starr and myself experienced underneath my residence, either," added Zebediah. "It's lacking a certain maddening affect..."

Bucky frowned. "So it ain't magic, it ain't dark magic, it ain't evil and it ain't specifically good, either. If someone gave it to you, Starr, I think we oughta do what that mystery guy suggested. We head to the park, we give the Uglies hell and toss that little box thing at the Tree after opening it. Best case scenario, they all turn into fluffy bunnies and the Apocalypse turns into the Cute Avalanche. Worst case scenario?"

He shrugged. "Eh. Chances are we won't be here anymore if things really go bad. If this is some sorta magic trap they've been waitin' to spring on us, they're not being too subtle with it."

[TennyoCeres84]

Finishing the rest of the stew, Aislinn put the bowl aside and scoffed lightly. "That's true, but that doesn't mean I'm giddy about charging forth against Abominations and whatever calamities the Grand Squiddly Poobah and his two-faced assistant unleash upon Hope. I guess I lack the battle fervor you, Archie, and Bucky all have," she noted, shrugging.

She was quiet for a few moments and then let her thoughts be heard, "Family history or not, our parents didn't exactly make sure that trait was ingrained in us... In fact, they wanted to keep us from that. And now with this shitstorm, I hope they're all right."

***

Sophia eyed the little box. "What I know of Mr. Gammell is limited, but he's something of an institution here, in his own way. Whenever I've passed by his store, there's never been anything malign about it. In fact, there's a lot of genuine happiness within that property, mixed with a sadness underneath the joy that comes from Mr. Gammell's creations. I agree that we should follow the instructions he gave you concerning it to the letter, Katherine."

[Karl the Mad]

Katherine regarded the box, then shrugged and took it back. "Very well, then," she replied. "I suggest we do so quickly, Melmoth's efforts have made a window and we are remiss in not taking it."

[IamLEAM1983]

Gubbin didn't look bothered by that admission. "You are a selkie, madame. Safe for your leopard seal brethren, I have not heard of shapeshifters from the Orkneys rising to fame as warriors on the front lines of any great conflict. There is no shame in us using the gifts we have been given in whatever way the situation might require."

He smiled a bit. "If yours is to swim into enemy territory and gather intelligence, then so be it. As for anyone who would dare to accuse you of cowardice - they shall have to contend with me, along with your new-found friends."

* * *

Three could only nod in assent. "Alright. Grab a few mags if you've got weapons, snag some water bottles if you're a practitioner - we're pushing out."

He looked to Jenkins. "We'll have to leave the bikes here, seeing as we can't afford to split up. Getting one or two of us to the Tree ahead of the rest won't help us."

Still, he didn't move away from the pub, and instead headed back in, briefly setting the safety back on his gun and using its barrel to knock against one of the copper railings that lined the bar's counter. The noise from Weasel and Winters organizing the refugees' escape died down, and a dozen or so pairs of eyes looked to Drake in a way he hadn't ever experienced before.

"Folks," he started, "you know who I am. You know what the news said I did, and you know I've been running around town with some new people, as of the last few days.

I'm scared. I'm stuck in a world I was never prepared for. I'm a guy with a gun surrounded by wizards and regenerating soldiers, with spies from the Industrial Era, the occasional demon, two liches and the local dryad. I'm out of my depth and I know it, but I also know I have no choice.
- Yeah, tell that to the squad you killed!" shot someone from the back. "I knew people in Afghanistan, man!"

Three's lips turned thin. "That's in the past. I'm here, right now, with some of the best of this city's defenders, either in the court of public opinion or out in the streets. Right now, I don't give two shits that some of you smuggled drugs under Jimmy Winters' orders. I don't care how many of you are complicit in the cocaine shipments that drop here, courtesy of Weasel Biggs' grasp on half of the local docks. What I care about is that there's eleven of us against a boatload of freaks dropped off from the Twilight Zone!

I'm not asking you to risk your lives for me if you don't trust me. Hate me all you want, it won't change a thing in what I'm about to ask you. Hope needs your help right now; forget my involvement in all this. If you've got friends, families or a home here, I'd like to ask you to come with us and help defend them. Freaks and geeks, cops and robbers; it's all of us against those things, out there!

We have a chance, people; we can march back to the Tree and kick these horrors in their collective nutsack! We already gave Elysium the finger in the seventies, and I know we can do it again, right now!"

He paused. "I won't psych you up like it's some kind of party in the making. If you're with us, you've got five minutes to step outside in the front parking lot. After that, my friends and I are going to take our city back."

[TennyoCeres84]

OOC: Could you please post for Gubbin?

OOC: Aspasia made sure she had plenty of ammo for her guns and restocked as needed. Neasa and Ciaran could only brace themselves for the upcoming attack on the freakish creatures outside, and Sophia gulped down a last bit of water so that she was fully hydrated.

[IamLEAM1983]

OOC: Edited last post for Gubbin.

IC: Three walked back out, a grim look on his face. Francis briefly stuck by, looking back to the pub with a worried look. "Are you sure they're willing to listen to you, Drake?" he asked.

The young soldier shrugged. "It was either me, Archie, Aspasia or Coach. I just stepped up first. I figured the people were owed someone who'd know what this feels like for someone with no added leverage. Archie's a local and he's loved, but he hasn't had to bleed in centuries. The same goes with you.
- It's not easier for us, you know," lightly scolded the snake. "I'm scared too; I just can't let it show in front of all these people. I don't know what would happen if people realized Amazo the Magnificient can actually crack. I don't care what they think about Francis Quigley - but the man I've become has to project safety. Archie understands that, too.
- But you can't show them the real you," concluded Aidan. "I can. I'm weak and I know it. That's something people can relate to. What they need to hear is that I'm willing to work past my weakness and my fear. I'm ready to fight."

Noises sounded from behind them, as a timid outpour of gun-wielding hands stepped out. Most were Weasel and Jimmy's men, but there were businessmen and deliverymen in the small throng, young mothers and men who had probably been oblivious pedestrians, an hour or so ago. In the rear stood Shen Long, Bucky and John Shou, along with Aldergard and a few misplaced policemen.

"We're coming with," said a young woman, a small thing that had probably been clutching a local coffee house's stamped cup along with a messenger bag, some time earlier. She now looked a bit too disheveled to stick to the jogging student look, she had a little too much grime to look innocent. She also hefted a high-power Karthian sniper rifle on a shoulder.

A young and fairly mousey fellow, not all that dissimilar to Preston, stepped up as well. "Melmoth can't keep the Brimstone active forever. If you look out ahead, you can see some of the corridors are starting to collapse. The Freaks are going to swarm us within half an hour. We need to go."

Three could only smirk at that. "An Infernalist, eh?
- I dabble," said the kid. "My friends are Neo-Pagan Death Metal types.
- Well, you won't hear any judgment from me," reassured Aidan. "Not now, or ever if we make this work."

Still, he looked out to the group in its entirety. "Thank you, though, to all of you. I'm asking you to consider sacrificing a lot for our sake - maybe your lives. You won't be doing it for a bunch of ragtag vigilantes, I can promise you that much. You'll be doing it for your home. For our home."

He looked back to the rest of the group. "Let's go."

[TennyoCeres84]

Aislinn smiled lightly at the Malk. "Thank you, Gubbin," she responded. "I'm glad to have you around."

***

Armed and ready, the selkies, the dryad, the Chimera, and the werewolf all waited for Aidan to give the order to move out. They all displayed the urge to take down the freak-ish Abominations that were destroying their home.

[IamLEAM1983]

"Ever your servant," soberly replied Gubbin, adding a little nod to it. "Now, as your manservant, I feel I must remind you that you are in no shape to participate in what may be the city's finest hour, or its very last. Once you will have sufficiently recovered, however, there is something the current bedlam should allow us to do, should you feel up to the task."

Reaching inside his morning coat, Gubbin pulled out a little notebook he probably had used to keep track of Gawain's required everyday chores and expenses. He flipped through it and reached a blank page, after which he dug inside his coat for a fountain pen. "The young man's financier was Harrison Arkham, the Buck estate's purse-holder. I was never officially kept abreast of Gawain's dealings with the man, but I managed to espy on a few conversations. The city's pioneers have been unwittingly investing in projects deemed crucial for our adversaries, as miss Starr has no doubt uncovered. Thwarting Arkham's plans may bring the Buck lineage closer to irreparable ruin. I would be remiss if our efforts destroyed the lives of the pioneering family's younger descendants."

He wrote a number on the blank page, tore it out of the notebook and handed it to Aislinn. "This is an account number attached to the Silvervein Bank, here in Evergloam. My account - or rather, the account I was asked to administer as part of Gawain's plans. My nature as a servant bound to you prevents me from acting on this cache of resources, but I would humbly request that you take possession of this account. Not for my sake and certainly not for your own finances - but to return the fruits of larceny to those who could rightfully benefit from them. Should we do this, then the lich and the werewolf would not be exposed to further suffering on our account, and Arkham's own creditors would be denied the pleasure of seeing a floundering dynasty crumble.

Whoever or whatever is supporting him feeds on misery, madame. Giving this struggling family some breathing room would be an effective countermeasure."

* * *

The road back to the Tree was longer than it otherwise should've been, as Melmoth had been unable to guarantee anyone safe and immediate passage between the two locations. Five otherwise unnecessary turns and backtracks were needed, the Abominations holding close to the Brimstone barriers the entire time. The end result was a psychologically harrowing experience, slowly progressing through blasted and abandoned streets, the sidewalks teeming with black horrors that snarled and paced and screamed at the group, like wild animals denied a fresh catch only by the favor of an electrified fence. Every once in a while, a throng of Abominations would bar the way forward or attack them from the rear.

Some of the volunteers were wounded, others were killed. Others simply disappeared, seemingly swallowed by the horde. The panda's staff was shattered, Shen Long's blessing jacket was almost torn to shreds and Amazo somehow managed to lose a glove and a shoe. By the time they reached Sophia's home, Aidan's weapons were clicking and clattering, his rifle receiving more wear and tear than he'd ever seen a weapon endure in the Middle East. Something about the Abominations' very presence seemed to be noxious to everyone's equipment, with Archie and Bucky showing clear signs of affected gears and internal mechanisms. The spy's earlier debonair flourishes had given way to businesslike efficiency and the relentlessly denied complaints he could've voiced, with aching shoulders and reticent knees becoming more and more of an issue. Shamus seemed to burn through more fuel than should have been necessary, prompting him to start picking up debris as they progressed. Shards of masonry and safety glass were gobbled down, and he offered his gaping maw as a means of getting rid of those weapons that finally gave out.

Finally, as they reached the Tree, the weary vigilantes were treated to a scene right out of an Apocalyptic story: the bark was cracked and oozing blue light, most of the leaves had fallen, and Sophia's home and lifeblood looked dead, for all intents and purposes. The fact that the dryad wasn't, however, was indication enough that the heart of the Tree was still untouched. If they could reverse its fate, Sophia wouldn't be condemned to a slow and crippling demise. The trees that hosted a dryad were tougher than they looked, with the kind of oak that would otherwise have been terminally diseased holding on with the sort of determination that was rather characteristically sentient.

The park was a total loss, however, with the Abominations teeming across its expanse and climbing the Tree's branches like overgrown insects. The bodies of the first victims of the portal's effects could still be seen. With the sky's sickly countenance, anyone could have been forgiven for losing hope, for laying down their arms at the sight of all these horrors.

None of them could afford to let this happen, however. They had to drive a wedge in the enemy's ranks. They had to reach the Tree, or die trying.

Three didn't know what came over him, but the initial shock gave way to anger. Something boiled up inside him, to the point where all he could was bring his rifle up to bear and let out a wordless scream of challenge.

The creatures howled back and rushed their group.

They surged forward. Even Shen Long, usually the most composed and tranquil of the Commission's members, added his own cry of challenge. A few kills in, Three found enough focus to add words to his defiance.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY TOWN!"

[TennyoCeres84]

The roane nodded. "Of course. Once I'm well enough, I will use the account to return the funds to the Bucks. Arkham is a big key to this; Rendell told us as much. I'll gladly kick him in the financial nuts. It's not great about the potential ruin for them, but it's better to do that than risk Void Weavers and their henchman having more funds to use."

She shifted slightly in the bed to keep herself from slipping further into the bed. Aislinn then eyed the Wyldfae squarely. "Gubbin, remember the letters I kept mentioning? They're written by the archmage, and my ancestor, Meris of the Orcades. I think she is connected to all of this and would be of help. I've never met her, and it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find her; I just know I have to search for her."

***

Moving past shock, Ciaran, Neasa, Aspasia, and Crystal charged forth with their respective war cries. The creatures that crossed them were bludgeoned, skewered, kicked, and otherwise brought down to being useless pulps. Their collective anger made them a force to be reckoned with.

Sophia was on a whole other level of rage, likely well beyond that of her comrades. This was her home, her sanctuary, her lifeblood, and some wretched, filthy Abominations had the gall to attack and defile it!?! HOW DARE THEY?! While her Tree was hanging on for dear life, the tutelary spirit had some reserves that she hoped would be enough to reach and protect it.

Taking mental control of the oak, the Centennial Tree began to thrash and fling the assailants off of its branches and trunk. The limbs did all that they could to take out the hideous things by tearing them apart or by outright beating them; the roots followed suit. As for the dryad, she lunged into the fray and dished out as much damage with her now vine-tentacled arms. Very few would have seen the normally graceful and sweet guardian appear so terrifyingly feral at this point in time.

[IamLEAM1983]

"If you deem it necessary, then it should be done," observed Gubbin. "Seeing as Zebediah has joined our forces to... a debatable degree of efficiency," he explained, wincing a bit, "perhaps it would be wise to simply ask for access to the family's collection. If there are no obstructions, you shall have your starting clues painlessly. If Arkham intervenes, then you will have an implicit confirmation of the worth of the lich's inherited books."

There was a pause. "In which case, should you allow it, I could attempt to bring Arkham's focus away from the issue. If he must invest in the recovery of sensitive documents, he will have less attention to devote to your circumventing of his applied rules. If he is under orders to lend his books to no-one, then Zebediah could be easily mollified with spirits."

He wrung his hands together in thought. "In any case, this Arkham is no common notary public. A court case would be frustratingly ineffective. Subterfuge or theft may be our only options - and it would be best if he never learned of your involvement. For a man concerned with matters of book-keeping, he is a striking example of vigor and stamina."

Mother Deirdre hadn't chimed in, but she'd been listening. "He be a dangerous man?
- I cannot say for certain," admitted the Malk. "He seemed poised during our scant few meetings. Flawlessly polite, but cold. I could smell his contempt for me and my former master, but he never expressed it. As to whether or not he would be of an otherwordly lineage, I could never determine it. His cabinet's Web site paints him out as being believably human. He certainly smelled human to me, and he could not hide from my olfactive capabilities. Even if Madame were to undergo corrective surgery in order to pass for human - remove her webbings and file down her incisors - I would smell her as being a selkie."

* * *

As feral as she was, Sophia only earned glances from the group. Nobody had time to spare on noting or observing someone else's martial prowess - they had to drive that wedge deep and hard. Bucky soon took to the front and the group slipped behind him, acting like the slicing nose of a ship amid a sea of black and thrashing horrors. By widening their numbers in the rear, they were able to force the Abominations further apart and to more effectively cover one another. Their progress seemed to be swift at the onset, but the monsters quickly compensated for the group's burst of martial prowess, as well as for Amazo's airborne assistance. It almost seemed as if the things were so unformed, so protean in their nature, that they quickly evolved resistances to the attacks they suffered. In any case, they were slowed down just as quickly, but kept going. Sophia's control over the long, park-spanning roots of the Tree helped somewhat, but it made the task of finding any sort of sure footing a difficult prospect. Small swaths of soil collapsed under their feet as the dryad manipulated the roots underneath, fairly large divots forming in the formerly pristine grass. Advancing became an increasingly difficult prospect - until the world was seemingly wiped away in a gray veil.

To be more precise, they'd have been fairly well stopped by some of the sturdiest creatures in the invasion force, when everyone's field of view seemingly blanked out. When their senses returned, they'd all find themselves scattered across the park, where they'd previously acted as a cohesive unit, the moment before. Confusion clung to everyone's mind like dirty cobwebs, and even as they'd all struggle to understand what had just happened...

They'd see her.

Looming over Sophia was a clear form, a glass statue in the shape of a woman, filled with inky blackness and shimmering points of light of various colors. She had no identifiable features, except for the fact that she seemed to be made of negative energy, or perhaps dark matter made manifest. Looking at her felt like looking at a whirling black hole while standing just in front of the event horizon, just short of the point where time would be distorted. Nothing about this made any sense, but there was a terrible beauty to this apparition, something that made most of the Abominations simply stop and bow as best they could. The featureless head scanned her opponents, the whorling and lightning-scattered vortex inside it lighting up every now and then.

She spoke, and her voice carried the same ineffable and terrible beauty. Her voice seemed to fill the air in the same way most scholars believed God's voice would, but she didn't sound particularly divine. If anything, she seemed sad.

"Why must you persist? Why must you resist me? I sense many among you will devote their lives to thwarting my children's plans, but you have never heard of the grandeur of their prepared designs. Many among you could destroy me, across the vast plains of many potential futures. Many of you ignore it still."

Upon seeing the apparition, Aidan felt a word bubble up from deep inside his chest. It came out as an interrogation, shaped by the shock he was experiencing.

"A-Amaxi?"

The Universe-Woman - as best as she could be called - turned her dying star of a head towards Drake and carefully, sidestepping other shocked fighters and dispatched Abominations, came to him.

"You bear the mark of their genius," she said on an almost praising tone, a galaxy-hand raised to cup his chin. The contact sent the scars along Three's neck ablaze with pain that shot down the length of his spine - but he didn't feel any of it. What he felt was that the entity's touch was like being transported back to the moment of Creation, his brain being lit up with the disarming simplicity of it all for but a millisecond. When she took her hand away, tears were streaming down his face.

"Why are you letting any of this happen?" he asked, his voice choked. "Why would you kill us?
- The truth would overwhelm your Lexicon and destroy your mind, child," she said. "It would destroy you all. For the truth to be revealed, the underbrush must be scoured. The Augur and Chamberlain both know this. I wish the peoples of the surface would, too.
- Do you hate us?" asked Aidan, who was grasping at straws.
- "Can a tree resent the wormwood eating it?" she replied. "Can a dog resent the ticks infesting its fur? You bring me great pain, child. You torture me. You feast on the flesh of what was once mine."

Her tone shifted to an almost patient one, even loving in some respect. "I do not hate you. Hatred is a mortal concept, but a shadow upon the wall of my particular regards for your own designs."

Three took a step back, first out of shock, but he soon realized he had a particular opening. Or, rather, that he could give Sophia an opening to use the box Starr had carried. Gammell's gift was now closer to the dryad than the lawyer, owing to Amaxi's scattering entrance. All Drake had to do was keep the... thing busy with godly rhetoric. He tried to send Sophia a meaningful glance from almost ten meters away, but breaking "eye" contact with Amaxi was easier said than done.

"So... you really hate us?"

Amaxi seemed to think there was something adorable about that question, the sweetest scoff ever running ripples up and down Drake's spine. "You... simply must die," she explained. "I will shed no tears upon your passing, and neither will your Creator. I will be freed, and He shall be free to Create something else. You are not His first project, child. He has failed countless times, and the Architect's involvement is only bringing mild improvements."

From inside, and in manner he hadn't been expecting, Doctor X's voice rang, expressing a carefully calculated question Three had to admit was a great shot at misdirection. He had to fight to keep himself from smirking, from knowing that he was about to give time enough to Sophia to recollect herself and open the box.

"Does... Is that why we can't solve the Zero Theorem?" he asked. "Is that why zero equals one hundred precent?
- None of your words would convey the answer, child," she responded. "You are delaying the inevitable.
- And you're a freaking Murder Goddess that would make Kali pass for Mrs. Claus," nervously retorted Aidan. "Humor me. You've got time."

Doctor X spoke in his head. Good work, this'll keep the Avatar occupied. It'll hurt like Hell, though. Chances are you'll end up in a nuthouse.

The Avatar of Amaxi placed her hand on Aidan's forehead.

Aidan screamed.

"NOW, SOPHIA!"