20 (Battle 2/3) Khonsu
The air stilled. There were no breeze, no gales, nor any sound within miles.
Floating above a desolate city, the Simurgh released it's dreaded scream.
A scream that could drive many to insanity. A scream that strips one of their will. A scream that once felled an entire nation.
Heroes and villains alike were tense. Once outside the range of her scream, there was nothing to fear from the Endbringer.
What they were afraid of was not the scream itself, but it's aftermath.
From the rubble rose countless figures, some with broken limbs, some with grievous injuries.
A flurry of electronics descended, arming these figures with weapons and armor.
Yes, what they feared was the ability of the Simurgh to control anyone who heard her scream.
Those unfortunate souls were the civilians and capes who were unable to get away in time. Their only salvation now is by killing them.
*clack* *clack* *clack*
The clacking of sandals against concrete was clearly heard by all present.
The most of the ones who heard it looked towards the source, and their faces paled.
There, walking without any care in the world, was one of the strongest Parahuman in the world.
Many shouted for her to come back.
Some tried to yank her back using their powers, but it was futile.
Bookmaker, the gift giver, the Devil, The TRUMP, was slowly approaching Simurgh, unheeding of the dangers of her scream.
Some have said it was too late, that she has already fallen towards the Endbringer.
Some tried to rush in to save her, only to be impeded by a literal wall of ravens and crows.
"Do not touch my mistress." Raven intoned as she appeared among the murder.
"What are you doing Raven?" Miss Militia, a Hero from the Protectorate, asked her.
"I am simply fulfilling my mistress' wishes." Raven answered. "None may interrupt."
"But she might become a Simurgh Bomb!" Miss Militia argued back.
Simurgh Bombs, a term used to describe those fallen under the Enbringer's thrall.
"Such weak power will not harm my mistress." Raven shot back, her voice was firm and resolute.
Heroes and Villains alike have no choice but to watch on. They could not move in because the scream is still in effect.
Bookmaker stepped into the air, and slowly, as if walking up a flight of invisible stairs, she approached the flying Endbringer.
"Simurgh, youngest of the three, I bring to you a deal." Bookmaker's soft voice echoed throughout the ruined city.
The Simurgh stopped her scream and looked at Bookmaker.
And for the first time, all heard the Enbringer speak.
[QUERY]
"Yes, and I can do much more." Bookmaker waved an arm. "In fact, let me give you a boon. I have removed his control over you."
[GRATITUDE]
With those words, the floating rubble slowly fell to the ground, the armed people down below slowly fell one by one.
Yet none of these registered in the minds of everyone present.
The words uttered by Bookmaker still rung deep into their psyche.
These was somebody controlling the Endbringers!
"Now," Bookmaker took out a pitch black chess piece covered in red pulsing veins. "I know what this is."
[AFFIRMATION] [QUERY]
"Yes, that is what I want," Bookmaker's smile turned feral. "Do you accept?"
The Simurgh looked lost for a moment before nodding.
[AFFIRMATION]
Bookmaker grinned and pushed the chess piece to the Endbringer's chest.
A flash of light, and where the fifteen foot waif once floated, there was now a golden haired waif with six pairs of wings on her back.
"Your large stature makes it hard to move so I took the liberty of giving you the ability to change between these forms."
[GRAT-]
What the Endbringer was trying to convey was interrupted by a blast from Eidolon who was floating above the clouds.
"Attack!" the strongest Hero shouted, bringing everyone from their stump.
Most capes obeyed his order, some stayed back to observe the situation, and some retreated.
[ANNOYANCE]
A blast of telekinetic power pulsed from the now human sized Endbringer, sending all of the charging heroes flying backwards.
"I do not condone anyone damaging what is mine." Bookmaker snarled and vanished in a flash of light.
Only to appear above Eidolon and blasted him with a white beam.
Eidolon was quick to react and formed a hard-light shield. He blocked the attack but he was pushed away by the force!
Bookmaker once more vanished, appearing behind Eidolon with her hands crackling with lighting. With a wave of her hands, countless bolts of lighting stop forth towards the green cowled hero.
Eidolon reoriented himself in midair before flying away to avoid the lightning bolts. He then formed a gravitational sphere which he threw at Bookmaker.
Bookmaker formed a shield made of interlocking hexagonal hard-light constructs, stopping the sphere a few inches away from her.
Eidolon clapped his hands and the sphere collapsed with a gravitational implosion, reproducing the effects of a black hole for a split second which sucked anything within it's reach including light!
Bookmaker's construct, being made of hard-light, collapsed under the might of this force, which also umbalaced her from the suction force.
Eidolon, seeing this opportunity, compressed the air and blasted it at Bookmaker.
Bookmaker was hit by his blast, resulting in a massive explosion!
When the dust cleared, Bookmaker was nowhere to be seen!
"I tire of this farce." Bookmaker's voice echoed from high above the skyline.
"Let justice be done," Bookmaker raised her hands to the sky, her palms were facing upward.
"Through the heaven's fall." She dropped her hand.
And from the sky emerged a massive meteor!
"Heroes! Villains! Show me your might!" Bookmaker exclaimed as she leisurely floated in mid-air.
Only for the incoming meteor to be engulfed in a transparent sphere. Then, ever so slowly, the meteor turned to dust, then to vanished entirely!
Instead, in the middle of where the meteor once was, stood a figure. All across the exterior of its body, there are gaps, like the gills of a fish, and that brilliant white or silver glimmered from beneath, a stark contrast to the absolute black that marked the rest of it.
And at the center of it all, quite literally, there was a perfect sphere of that same material, a marble or a crystal ball, its body perched on the upper half and its legs attached to the lower half.
Bookmaker's face twisted into a snarl as she gazed at the new figure.
"I should have known that the Fourth would appear here," Bookmaker floated backwards and landed on the ground.
"Raven, Simurgh, to me. We seemed to have overstayed this party." At her words, the mini-Endbringer and the black-winged parahuman flew to her side.
"Now, I'll leave it to you heroes and villain to battle Simurgh's little brother. Ta ta~" With a cheery wave, Bookmaker and her posse vanished in a flash of light.
As soon as Bookmaker disappeared, the new figure moved and made a massive sphere that caught many capes.
What made everyone shiver in fear.
For they who were caught inside the sphere, was aging rapidly. Then they turned into skeletons, and then to dust.
"Dragon to all capes! Sensors have detected Temporal Distortions within those sphere!"
"Alexandria to all capes, Identifying the new figure as Khonsu, the Fourth Endbringer!"
