Curtain Fall Chapter 27

Hatred growing breathing
As the armies mount dead and bleeding
Tens of thousands no concealing
There's a hunger yet no one's eating
You can promise, but our dream's dead
And the rivers they're all but blood red

— “We Are the Truth” Mushroomhead (2014)

The women stood several seconds frozen before their minds could even begin to process what had just happened. All the women in the chamber stared utterly aghast at the neatly cut depression and in a strangled voice Anarra gasped, “Amin inya aute vara lye!” (Protect us my Goddess!)

It was Anarra’s gasp that broke the paralysis of the others and the room exploded into chaos. Many of the servants shrieked and turned to flee while others simply cowered. A number of the women of higher station like Nebira, Delutha and even Charu timidly took steps towards the depression as if the embodiment of death had just stood before them. Questions having no answers were called wildly. All the women were at the edge of outright panic at having seen the manifesting of the Ripping save Carol who had slid against a table and was giggling. Anarra saw this and focused her attention on the single mind not seized with fright, “You! Carol! Why are you laughing like a lunatic?!”

Still giggling, carol choked out, “Adra certainly knows how to make an exit doesn’t she?”

More women looked at Carol as if she’d lost her mind and Nebira stated with a shaking voice, “But, but that was a fragment from the Ripping! How can you laugh? They’ve been vanished like so many others!

Carol, now coming down from the orgasmic pleasure that she’d received from Adra shook her head, “No. You saw it. Adrasteia called the curtain fragment into existence. She took them!”

Becoming as pale as a ghost at the implications of Adrasteia controlling what seemed part of the Ripping Charu asked, “Took them, where?”

Carol shrugged, “Not sure. I’ll lay odds it was Outside though.”

Anarra in a voice that seemed that it couldn’t handle many more shocks asked, “Outside? Outside where? The palace?”

Shaking her head Carol responded, “Outside this universe, this reality. It was where we went when she was overwhelmed by the energy given to her at the Memorial.” Seeing puzzled looks she clarified, “You know... When she was forced to leave the body you thought was Asha’s! We fled outside the boundaries of this reality into a place I can’t possibly explain properly. My mind still isn’t able to understand or even truly remember. I’ve thought about what little I can remember a lot though. The best analogy is I can give is one in physics. Have you heard of quantum physics? It tries to explain the behavior of the very very small. Atoms and smaller ok? Well at that level things aren’t really solid and are better explained as mathematical probabilities. Well the Outside is that idea writ large. Everything is simply potential! Nothing and everything is real and true and false all at once!” Shuddering in frightened awe Carol paused and then confided, softly, “On my own it would have quickly unmade me. Adra protected me.”

One of the other women, “Protected you? She wasn’t bothered by the... Outside?”

Carol shook her head, “No, it didn’t bother her at all. If anything she seemed comfortable there; even liked it!”

Charu stepped up to Carol terrified for her mother, “What has she done with my mother then? Has she harmed her? Killed her?”

Carol looked at Charu with pity and replied, “Well, I don’t know for certain, but Adra has always tried to avoid violence when she could.” Then a cruel cast came to her eyes and she continued, “However, I’ve never seen her so angry with a person before. She believes your mother is responsible for premeditated attacks against her, the humans, and even me. I don’t know what she will consider adequate justice.” Carol looked piercingly at the guilt she could see rising in Charu’s face and the Mothers also turned to look closely.

Charu stared back with eyes that filled with guilt and pain and began to track down her cheeks. “Mother was so frightened of the violent nature of humans and their horrifying technical abilities. She showed me how dangerous it would be to open our arms but knew you”, she looked at Anarra, “opposed her view. She, we needed to show you just how volatile they are!”

Charu slipped to her knees then as she began to openly sob, “But the actions she made us do, have been darkening us as well. I don’t know which is worse now, humans or us!”

Feverish discussions, even arguments broke out upon the revaluation that the humans were not responsible for much of the bloodshed in the recent past. Carol watched Charu sobbing with little sympathy as the other women talked back and forth on the guilt of the renegade Mother and how to rescue what they could with the humans. Darsaltheer finally came out with, “We can’t know Kadrapraba’s condition right now, but least she isn’t able to work more mischief!”

At this Charu’s eyes widened and she blanched and began swaying as if she were at the edge of a faint. The women, save for Carol who was still largely head blind, stopped what they were doing as a terrible realization came to Charu. The panic and burgeoning despair they could suddenly feel flooding from Charu brought them all to a halt.

Anarra stepped up to Charu and grabbed their head. Pulling it up to face her she asked with a voice filled with increasing dread, “What? What has frightened you so Charu? What worse may happen?”

Starting to shake Charu began to ramble, “It was supposed to be a final response if the humans destroyed us. Only.. Only after we were dead!”

Suspecting some new horror, Anarra pushed as much calm as he could on Charu as she worked to get the young woman who was almost slipping into incoherence to explain.

The efforts bore some fruit as Charu focused on Anarra, “Fearing humans she worked to develop plans for a last retribution. What we discovered was that humans are far more vulnerable to some of the ancient weapons than ever we were. What might have had use in softening enemy troops by sowing dissension in our old wars drive humans into utterly uncontrollable killing rages. The range of effect is greatly enhanced as well. We prepared and sent an agent to the seat of human power to act as a weapon of last resort. If the heartbeat signal was lost, she was shaped to power the weapon. It is monstrous. Any human within more than a mile of the weapon will attack and kill anyone they see save the weapon herself. Anyone! And my mother has the heart stone...”

“Oh Taarna’s grace!” Darsaltheer said, utterly aghast, “Where?!? What seat of power?”

Looking sick, Charu responded “The American capitol.”

The tension in the room had finally focused Carol attention in this conversation and hearing that exclaimed in shock, “Oh my God! If the weapon is as powerful as you say, it could be responsible for more than a million deaths! You have to stop it!”

“How?” Charu asked in despair, “We don’t know where she is!” Looking hopeless she continued, “Once she activates the weapon, she won’t be able to stop herself. Even if we wanted to stop her ourselves, the weapon’s power and its affects on the surrounding humans would make it almost impossible to approach.”

Adrasteia “stared” at the presence in shock as she tried to digest what she’d been told. She was the child of this dark being?!? She’d just accepted that she was no longer human but to hear this vast, for she felt insignificant by comparison, and alien force claiming her defied belief. And yet...

Sensing nothing forbidding, with an almost timid mental touch she reached out to contact and feel this pervasive but formless being. At once she was submerged in a seemingly limitless feeling of wisdom and patience. She could feel affection lapping like the waves of an ocean against her psyche but there was no compulsion; rather a joy of the knowledge of a tiny new but kindred spirit in the Chaos. Yet as she delved deeper she could sense more, a wildness, a wanton appreciation for violence and destruction. As she swam she could sense those elements, the love and desire for creation flowing and intermingling with those contrasting forces in equal measure. It was then that she understood that this being was a perfect model of the primal chaotic potential they both were in!

‘Yes my darling one! I, we are elements of the limitless potential around us grown to self awareness!’ Adrasteia could feel the pleasure and pride of the being growing with her epiphany.

‘So I’m not human. Was I ever?’, Adrasteia asked with a wrenching ache in her spirit.

With a feeling of infinite gentleness and an understanding of the terror that her sense of self was a lie the being answered, ‘Part of you was and will always be made from the “Gilbert” you remember. Part of your essence comes from the new physical body you were given when my act of conception swept over you. Still another part comes from me, that part that understands the true nature of things.’

‘So I’m a Frankenstein creation?’ Adrastia called in fear and bitterness.

The being laughed, ‘Better to couch it in terms more familiar, no more than a sperm and ovum that is quickened with the spark of life is. All are parts of the template from which you grow; each no less valid or needed than the others.’

Considering these answers she asked after a suspicion, ‘So you caused the Curtain Fall?’ In response she heard no reply other than a spike of pleasure. ‘What of the countless lives altered or lost?’

‘With birth there is always pain Child, both in the child and the mother.’

With that reply Adrasteia began to get a bare glimpse the true power and alien nature of this being and she felt very small indeed. Not ready to consider it further yet, she turned her mind away to another topic broached by this being.

‘You mentioned there were consequences of how I’m dealing with the Mother? What consequences?’

‘You are no longer bound to or limited by the reality you remember but I understand the attachment. Look and see. Then decide if you wish to, step back in and act. If you do go play be aware you are yet very young and what you do can affect you and still shape you! Much like your sister who you might know as Ti’amat was shaped in the past.’

Ti’amat is my sister?!? The concept that an ancient Babylonian dragon deity was her relation boggled Adrasteia’s mind. Then another thought rose, ‘Did you play? In my reality?’

The being smiled and whispered as it retreated, ‘I have been known as Nyx. Now look.’

Adrasteia turned her attention towards the reality she had been born in and with her link to her love focused on her and her surroundings. In her mind images and sounds appeared much like they had as she had looked at the pool when in her little Olympus.

Carol moved to Anarra with her unnatural quickness and grasped her by the shoulders tightly enough to evoke a wince of pain. “Please High Mother! We have to find a way to stop this agent of Kadrapraba before she activates the device! Too many lives are at stake! We need to alert the base. Perhaps they can start an evacuation of Washington!”

Shaking her head Anarra replied, “If the city is as large as you say, there isn’t time. It would only let your humans know that we were the ones who had declared war. There would be no way to stop it.”

“We could have Director Feber tell them it wasn’t your fault!” Seeing Anarra and the others eyes widen in surprise she explained, “When Kadrapraba’s mind whammy caused the soldiers to go crazy, Adra and your men stopped them with only one death. They and your men are camped out of the way in the jungle until we get them. Adra said that the men might need psychic healing.”

Anarra looked at Darsaltheer and after a short silent communication she nodded. “Yes, we will send for them immediately. We must try, as we can, to undo what harm has been done. This was never our desire, even Kadrapraba. She let her fear of the human power cloud her mind. Unfortunately I now expect that her actions have made her fears a self fulfilling prophecy.” She quickly gave the orders to bring the diplomatic teams in and other instructions to increase their preparedness. She then also bade Darsaltheer and Charu to return to their homes to prepare their people for the coming storm. Together, if they all enhanced the protective barrier as much as possible they might survive what the humans might unleash.

There was a flurry of quick conversations and the Mother of Retnalpas and the assumed new Mother of Beleyaavan, Charu directed their people to their tasks.

Adrasteia watched what was happening around her mate and felt anger rise again as she understood what Kadrapraba had set into motion. ‘It looks like this failsafe is going to bite everyone! Does she have any true understanding of the scale of death she is unleashing?!?’, she thought to herself.

With a minor effort of will, Adra entered her own reality moved to the figure of Kadrapraba. After the emotionally shattered woman’s sobs had run down she had listlessly pulled herself into a sitting position and she looked vaguely around at an unfamiliar forest. When Adrasteia appeared floating into her view, she paled slightly but didn’t flinch. She let her anger flow over the woman and noticed she closed her eyes against the crushing weight and prostrate herself as if expecting to feel the pain of judgement for her acts.

Adrasteia looked at the broken woman. Really looked as Kadrapraba no longer erected barriers to her. In the woman she saw the remnants of ambition coupled with a growing humility. Adrasteia saw that she had acted in what she felt was her people’s best interest but had cast others aside as less. Now those actions might cost untold numbers of lives, and Adrasteia determined she would truly understand.

She came to a decision. “Kadrapraba, look at me.” When the Mother was slow to move she drew the woman up into a sitting position with a thought. Eyes wide in terror, Kadrapraba stared at her.

“You must come with me to see what your plans are bringing about. See what your arrogance is about to wreak!”

With that, Adrasteia walked through the lush woods to the clearing of the pool/temple. She let the Mother take in the sight, then led her inside. They approached the water’s edge and Adrasteia gestured to it. “Look into the waters. Do you remember the weapon you made?” She watched Kadrapraba’s eyes widen and she reflexively reached for a pendant that was no longer around her neck. “Do you remember the effects on victims? You tested it didn’t you? Search for that feeling now. Do not look away.

Kadrapraba understood now the source of new anger. The stone assuring that she was alive was gone! This would be interpreted by her agent as proof she was dead and that would compel her to fulfill her duty to become the weapon. Even though her people existed her weapon would act. And it would trigger exactly what she’d been trying to avoid.

Gravely, Adrasteia looked into the pool and said, “Look and feel what you’ve done. I want you to feel the weight of your crime. It was then that she felt the first touches of alarm.

Police officer Conrad Finley sat happily munching on the small pile of tacos he’d bought for lunch as he idly watched the local traffic passing by Barcroft Elementary in Arlington Va. and thought about his coming vacation plans. He’d rented a cottage in Kitty Hawk and he was anticipating his first ocean vacation is three years with his wife and son. This pleasant daydream was abruptly interrupted, however, when he watched a car swerve wildly around the corner. The officer had just a moment to note two people in the front seat savagely attacking one another when the vehicle, no longer under any control bounced over the curb of the road to pile into a nearby tree. The sound and violence of the impact caused Conrad to jerk and his lunch flew all around the patrol car. Swearing and jerking his car door open he got out and while absently wiping the ruins of his lunch off his uniform. He rushed to the crash, even as a strange oppressive pain formed behind his eyes.

When he got to the driver’s side door he saw the dead body of the passenger thrown through the windshield. The driver lay temporarily slumped but restrained by the seatbelt. Her right arm was grotesquely broken and he could see what looked like blood covering her blouse from a head wound he couldn’t as yet see on the right side of her head. He began to reach through the shattered side window and saw when he started to touch her shoulder, the female driver suddenly jerk erect and turned to him snarling. The wound revealed was that the right side of her face had literally been ripped from her, raw bone and teeth shining with blood. His eyes widened for a second and her reached in to grasp her ruined woman’s head. Once in his hands he pulled and slammed the face down onto broken glass filled door window. Again and again he did this until the rest of her head was an unrecognizable ruin. Then he pulled his semi-automatic and emptied it into the softly moaning teenage boy who was stirring in the back of the car. Finally he turned to head in the direction of the screaming that could be heard coming from inside of the elementary...

Chief of Staff Tindle rushed and opened the door of the Oval Office where the president was having a meeting with the Chinese ambassador. Eyes flashing with anger, president Sturmann looked over, “Oscar, I’m in a meeting. What’s the emergency?”

“Mr. President, we have a serious situation.”, Tindle replied. “It appears that another ‘May Fly’ (their codename for the recent Chicago event) is developing in Arlington!” He paused and after looking at the ambassador continued, “Marine One has been called for you sir.”

The president paled as he realized that the presidential helicopter had been called for an emergency evacuation. This meant that the event was close and getting closer and the White House was in imminent danger! “Has an alert been released? What of congress? The House at least, is in session!”

Tindle nodded and gestured to the president, “Yes sir, alerts have been sent.” He paused as his earphone clearly was giving him an update. He paled and said in a shaky voice, “Communications with the Pentagon have just gone off-line sir. We have to go now!”

The president turned to the Chinese ambassador but called to Tindle as he did, “Oscar, get my family and critical staff on board. Start a general evacuation as soon as it is clear the threat is coming. Mr. ambassador, if you would join me?”

In the distance they began to hear sirens...

Kadrapraba and Adrasteia both stood by the pool and watched the madness as it developed. The Mother, who had successfully directed the pool to the nightmare was more intimately connected and could feel the rage, violence, insanity and death that was growing in the Washington suburb.

Apparently the agent had chosen the starting location carefully as it was quickly evident that the pentagon was rapidly enveloped in the weapon’s area of effect. In moments the uppermost echelon of the military had been reduced to mindless psychosis and had torn into each other with all the skill trained into them. Only the fact that the weapon didn’t allow enough mental capacity for cooperation kept the efficiency of the violence limited. From great to weak, anyone who found themselves within the area of effect were reduced to violent animals; attacking anyone they saw. Places of work, homes, schools, churches, hospitals. Nothing and no one was spared.

Adrasteia watched this all with a detached horror. Then she heard a wavering keening that was filled with revulsion and guilt begin to well from Kadrapraba. The Mother had slowly fallen to her knees as she watched and felt the human minds distorting, then tearing apart, finally only cutting off in death. When Adra looked down at the woman her hands were at her face and covered in blood. The Mother, unable to bear seeing what she’d wrought had clawed her own eyes out in an unsuccessful effort to stop what she was seeing and feeling. Now she was simply felt the horror in an endless dark.

To her rising shame, seeing Kadrapraba getting a measure of justice gave her some satisfaction but she refused to revel in it as she felt drawn back to the horror.

Adrasteia then realized that her conflict and confrontation with the Mother hadn’t left her unscathed after all. In their mental battle, Kadrapraba had managed to press her sense of superiority and casual dehumanizing onto her. It was the reason that she could see the woman mutilating herself with satisfaction and then watch the pool like it was just a horror movie. Was this what she wanted to be? She knew from her new “Mommy” didn’t feel great attachment to this reality and had counseled that she could now just choose to turn away. As Kadrapraba had said, she was now much more than they and while it’s sad when something like a stray is injured and suffers it’s just and animal right? But could she do that?

With effort, Adrasteia forced herself to reject that callousness. She could feel spirits who had devoted energy to her being twisted and destroyed She had even helped a few! ‘No. They are people. It has to be stopped!’, she thought to herself. But how?

Adrasteia knew that finding the woman wielding the weapon would be difficult. She couldn’t rely on psychic calls for help as anyone close enough to see the woman would already have been driven mad and would be unable to help. If anything, contact with them could affect Adrasteia herself! Additionally, the woman using the weapon wouldn’t be terribly obvious initially as she wouldn’t be violent herself. All Adra could assume would be that she would be generally in the center of the destruction.

Adra also thought back to times she had tried to bi-locate (a safer option for her) but she had no confidence that she could do so long enough to find her; even be strong enough psychically if she did.

Adra knew that this force was caused by a single Tarneeran who had been slaved to the monstrous device. If she could just separate the woman from it the devastation would stop for those not entirely ruined; and there would be no more who would be twisted. But she decided she’d have to actually go there and rely on her mental shields to block the weapon. If she failed to Shield she’d find herself pulled into the madness. “Oh this is so not going to be fun..”, she said to herself in fear. With firm effort she pushed the fear into a mental box and willed herself to leave her little Olympus and Kadrapraba behind again and stepped into the Outside once more. For a time she simply luxuriated in its wild potential. Then moved to return to her reality of origin once more.

A three quarter moon shown as she emerged from a bubble floating several thousand feet in the air over the Capitol Building. As she floated she looked down and saw police and emergency vehicles blazing both towards and away from the area near the Washington Monument. She moved in that direction over the National Mall. Most of the streets in downtown Washington were choked to a stand-still by the city’s denizens who had apparently learned of the danger and were trying to flee. The major exception to this press to escape were a number of illegal drones of various sizes that were venturing towards and into a growing region of the city that was suffering gunfire, explosions and and fires breaking out. She followed the drones.

A few more minutes and she arrived over makeshift barricades that police and small contingents of National Guard troops had erected. Seeming to direct a number of these troops was a woman in purple robes who was feverishly gesturing for them to move back. Upon Adrasteia’s arrival, however, the costumed woman stopped and looked straight up at her, even though she floated silently hundreds of feet in the air in the dark.

Floating over the barrier as she looked towards flames rising in the distance Adra heard a quiet but astonished psychic voice, “Who!? W-what are you?” Adra could sense both the awed voice and a tendril of mind trying, unsuccessfully, to reach her from the woman.

Surprised at the human feel of the power below, Adrasteia was distracted and looked down with interest. “Who are you?”, she replied. With a bit of humor in her tone she continued, “Are you wearing spandex?” The woman started as did the men around her when they all heard Adrasteia’s verbal response clearly even though she floated high above them. Several of the officers took their car spotlights and searched until they found her and tracked her.

The costumed woman quickly recovered and worked to hide her alarm. In a voice that tried to sound a bit offended she replied, “It’s not spandex, it’s my uniform! I am Soferino, Mistress of the Mind! I’m one of the Capital Guardians!”

“And who are the Capitol Guardians?” Adrasteia asked as she lowered herself, “I’m not from here.” She watched as the majority of police officers and soldiers backed away and brought their rifles to bear while she approached Soferino. Adra noted the men’s fear and as a precaution called a number of her protective diamond shaped plates into existence around herself as a shield.

Rendered off balance from Adrasteia’s ignorance and alarmed by sudden appearance of the plates the heroine fumbled out, “We, we’re heroes who protect the city! From powered threats...” She could tell that this woman wasn’t a normal Fallen, as the fact that her efforts to read the stranger’s mind had been completely blocked (she radiated restrained psychic power on s scale she’d never before seen). The crimson gown with tiara and the plates rang a memory in the back of her mind. “Who are you?”

Adrasteia opened her mouth to answer but before a response could come two voices called out from the crowd being held back by the barriers, “Lady Adrasteia! Goddess! You’ve come to protect us!”, and Adra spun gently in the air towards the voices. Following two lines of devotion she saw a late teen and her mother, raising their hands as if in adoration. She smiled at them and let them feel her affection. Then she spoke to them and the crowd, “You must leave here”, looking out into the mob, “All of you! There is a terrible threat here. To stay is to be lost to madness and worse!” She caused her voice to echo to all in the area, “Go all of you. I will try to stop the abomination which has been unleashed. Too many have already been lost and died.” With that she let them feel a bit of the grief she felt at the losses.

Soferino, who almost fell to her knees at the power of grief she felt this being allow to flow to the mob. She felt her own tears falling and asked, “You know what is happening over there? All we know for certain is that communications have stopped and we loose touch with any who try to cross into Alexandria! It’s worse than Chicago several weeks ago. I’ve... I’ve lost contact with my partners, Shifter and the Iron Bullet!”

Adrasteia focused sharply on the heroine when she heard this, “Lost contact? Did they go into the area?!?”

“Yes! Iron went in to stop the Fallen responsible. Shifter teleported them both in. His plan was to evacuate those who needed help most desperately!”

Adrasteia winced as she realized that two unprepared powerful Fallen had gone into the weapon’s area of effect. Their sudden silence led her to assume they too had fallen to the madness and she worried what she’d have to do if she found them...

Night had fallen and the there was a knock on the door of the chamber where Anarra, Carol, Dalutha and Turi milled about anxiously. Anarra turned to the door and responded, “Come!”

The door opened showing the captain of the guard sent to retrieve the human diplomats and David Feber. He straightened and spoke, “We have brought all safely back Mother! The human soldiers are in the infirmary being attended to under guard and I have the primary human diplomat with me.”

Carol’s eyes tracked David carefully as Anarra came forward and held her hands out, “I fear we meet for the first time in rid’aa (dire) time. I am Anarra and we must work together to lessen the consequences of a terrible gorgora. How you say... Crime?”

Troubled and alert he slowly reached forward to take the Mother’s hands in his own. “I will of course try to help overcome this incident. We have all been victims of internal politics.” He slowed to stop when he heard Carol start to laugh harshly.

Carol shaking her head she spoke in a VERY dark tone, “Oh Mr. Feber, you have no idea the shit we and the world have stepped in! With the Mother’s nod Carol proceeded to explain the confrontation between Adrasteia and the renegade Mother and its result. Then she described Kadrapraba’s “fail-safe” and told him that it was likely happening as they spoke.

David initially had trouble understanding or believing what she described but, with fast rising horror, was quickly convinced as he felt the confirmation in the Tarneeran women. Now that he’d become aware of their projective empathy he’d tried to be alert to feelings arising suddenly and he could sense their agreement with Carol’s words. “Oh my god...”, he gasped in a stricken voice.

He gathered himself and asked if they’d communicated with Washington yet and they looked at him blankly. He clarified, “Have you used the video conference system to speak with Washington yet?”

“It can be done? We thought your ‘tech’ had to power it.” Turi asked in bafflement.

“No, anyone can make a Skype call!”, he replied and he heard Carol groan and slap her face in her hands. She quickly looked up and informed David that Tarneeran technology was partially dependent upon the user. The Mothers and their people must have unconsciously assumed that human tech was similar!

Carol then turned to Turi and asked for them to be taken to the room where the human equipment was. Quickly they were led to the chamber where she could see a laptop connected to a TV monitor was set up. The power cables led to what looked like a battery unit that had cables leading to a solar array out on the balcony. Muttering an oath David rushed to the laptop and pressed the power. With a chime the computer launched and auto logged into the desktop interface. A few seconds later the Skype window appeared with a single target address. He reached to engage it, but stopped and looked back at Anarra. Eyes wide, she nodded and David made the call.

It rang for a while until David cancelled. “They’re not responding! Let me try to call someone else...”. Knowing he’d need to use another account to make calls, he logged in as himself and called Sasha, his secretary in Albuquerque. It rang for several seconds until a shocked face came on line from a woman obviously not at work.

“Director Feber!?!? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you until tomorrow! What’s going on sir? Is something else happening?”
“What do you mean something else?” David asked with dread.

“Washington is in chaos sir! Something awful is going on. The pentagon is in flames!!”, Sasha replied with fear and excitement. “It’s all over the news!”

David thanked her shaken and told her he’d call back. He disconnected and then launched a browser and navigated to a news site. Showing live with narration were drone videos showing massive destruction throughout much of Alexandria. Fires were everywhere with no one trying to combat them. Instead there were occasionally seen men and women running about and savagely attacking any living thing they found! The carnage was difficult to watch but all in the room stood transfixed in horror.

The broadcast then shifted to the anchor man who now explained that what ever had destroyed Alexandria was now showing evidence of slowly expanding. There were now reports that regions in D.C. proper on the banks of the Potomac were now falling prey to what ever was happening in Alexandria.

He paused for a second and then looked at the camera, “I’ve just been given reports that the Capital Guardians and at least one other super hero are on the scene. There is no sign of the Iron Bullet or Shifter but we have a video of the Mistress of the Mind and another...”

The scene cut to a video, obviously being live streamed from a cell phone showing Soferino in her purple uniform and Adrasteia floating in Crimson with her unmistakable floating shield plates. It appeared that Adrasteia was gesturing firmly at the crowd the camera was in. Then Adrasteia rose into the air and moved beyond the lights at the barricade into the darkness towards the flames rising in the distance.

David and the women watched this not truly understanding how it was possible for her to be there after being in this very palace just hours before. Seeing her move in the direction where the weapon clearly was left them deeply shaken. What could she hope to accomplish? There was no way she could fight the power of the weapon could she?
Carol watched as well and felt a wrenching fear that this was the last time she would see the woman who owned her heart. She also feared the description of what this weapon was capable of and was equally uncertain her love would survive, but she knew that Adra couldn’t ignore the pain of so many in need. With eyes glistening she whispered, “Do what you have to Little Goddess...”

As Adrasteia left the Monument barricades after strongly telling Soferino to start everyone retreating, she drifted further into the dark. The sounds of screaming and some gunfire became slowly louder as she approached the neighborhoods near the Potomac.

While the majority of people in this area had fled long before darkness fell, a small number of looters and the like had lingered. Their greed was proving to be their undoing, for as Adrasteia approached she had begun to feel an oppressive weight pushing at her shields. The weapon’s area of effect had indeed begun to cross the river. It was awful; almost feeling like, for lack of a better description, an etheric sludge of violence. She could feel it in its unthinking way trying to slip past her psychic shielding to ooze behind her eyes. She could already see as she looked down into the streets men stumble out of the buildings they’d been in and cast about until they saw something living. Once they did they would rush forward and in an almost matter of fact way attack in any way the could. What the living target was, was secondary to the need to destroy it as brutally as possible. Threats of physical harm to themselves were immaterial. As she floated forward she watched a rare woman who had been obviously been seriously shot step forward to her shooter then repeatedly and savagely stab her assailant with two butcher knives that she had picked up somewhere. Even as she became faint from loss of blood she still rode the shooter to the ground while carving his stomach into a shredded mass.

‘This must be stopped! I have to find the weapon!’, Adrasteia thought to herself desperately. And this was only the edge of the field! Her face set in a grim mask she moved forward. Where?!? At the speed the weapon was progressing it seemed clear she was moving on foot. If that were the case then to get into D.C. proper, she’d have to cross one of the bridges.Considering there was no moving traffic in this area anymore, any one of the bridges would do, but if the Pentagon had been part of the targeting, then she’d likely try to cross a bridge nearby! The 14’th St. bridge and the Charles Fenwick crossed very near the Pentagon and were visible to each other so Adrasteia concluded they would be the most likely crossing.

It seemed that her logic was good as the pressure against her quickly rose as she moved in that direction, and when she reached the north edge of the bridge, she clearly saw what must be the Pentagon largely on fire. One side of the building looked partially pulverized; as if it were a sheet of drywall that someone had repeatedly punched through! ‘Could someone have had enough presence of mind to drive a tank through it?’, she wondered, but decided she didn’t have time to waste to investigate. Instead she moved to the Alexandrea side of the river and felt the pressure grow even stronger.

She looked about in the dark hoping to spot the woman but saw no one walking. She grimaced in frustration and kept casting about. Just as she was about to give up and press forward she heard a moan beneath her. She looked carefully until she finally spotted a figure lying against a wrecked car. She dropped down to eventually resolve a figure in a white and green costume that looked not entirely dissimilar to the one Soferino wore. She moved closer, her plates floating protectively and got a good look at a man laying almost embedded in the destroyed vehicle. I looked like someone had thrown him hard enough for his body to crumple the side of the vehicle. Obviously, while still alive, as evidenced by his weakly flopping arms, he was likely at death’s door. The pressure tried to encourage her to finish what the poor man’s injuries had started but she pushed that need away and she moved next to him.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”, Adrasteia asked the largely insensible man. She didn’t dare open herself enough to sense the man so she had to rely on visual cues. The costumed individual, Shifter, she guessed jerked a bit and started to orient on her. With a bit of hope she asked, “What happened? How did you get pushed into this car?”

Shifter slowly focused on Adrasteia and grunted a little and reached for her. Adrasteia, figuring that he needed a bit of comforting reached a hand out to grasp his gently. Upon contact Shifter made another grunting sound and seized her hand in painful grasp and pulled! Not expecting the strength of the pull she was wrenched off balance and his arm phased through the crumpled metal of the car he was stuck in. As it retreated it also pulled her arm into the car up to the wrist as well! Suddenly her arm was filled with agonizing pain as it stopped being immaterial and the sheet metal of the car neatly severed her arm at the wrist!

Screaming in agony she fell back to reveal her severed limb, blood flowing from the open wound. How could he attack her like this? This ant dared to harm her?!?!? NO!! In a rage she took one of her plates and drove it against his head, splashing it like a melon being struck by a sledgehammer. She then gripped her severed wrist and howled.

She unsteadily stood, finding herself filled with a incandescent need to lash out to pay back everyone for the agony she felt. She started to cast about and began to extend her awareness to find the closest individual when dimly in her mind she remembered that wasn’t a good idea. Why wasn’t it wise though? She fought hard and she finally remembered the weapon! The shock of her injury had broken her concentration and started to allow the weapon in!

Now that she was aware of the possibility, she could feel it pushing into her mind; trying to take root. She pushed back as hard as she could rebuilding her mental protections to stop it from affecting her more but if felt like oil, oozing everywhere in her mind. Coupled with that understanding, she was vaguely aware of loosing blood. If she didn’t deal with that quickly she might not have to worry about becoming a psychotic monster! She had to stop the bleeding. She staggered to the closest light source to get a look at the wound, a nearby burning gas station, and saw that the would was at least a clean cut. She moaned as, between the pain of the severing and the insidious corrosion of her mind by the effects of the weapon she found it increasingly difficult to think at all. She felt herself falling back to more simplistic, almost child like ways of dealing.

How did people deal with wounds like this? She’d only seen something like this treated in an action movie she’d seen as a child. Focusing on the flames the word cauterize came to mind. “Oh god!” She said weakly. Her eyes filled with at the prospect of more pain but heroes did it right? She then took a plate and plunged into the fiercest flames she could see at the station. One of the pumps had exploded and the released gas burnt intensely. Still whimpering she waited until the plate glowed from the heat and she drew it back to her to hover vertically in front of her. Closing her eyes against the heat she struck her arm forward and leaned in so that the stump pressed firmly onto the plate’s glowing surface.

The pain of the this action and the smell of charring flesh made the original injury feel minor by comparison and Adrasteia shrieked so loud and long that as she eventually fell back she could taste what was likely blood from her now injured throat. She fell to her knees and raggedly gasped, making strangled gurgling noises. As she felt the draw of blessed dark unconsciousness closing in on her sight she dimly understood that if she gave in, she’d never wake up so she fought it with every thinking resource she had left and clung desperately to awareness.

Time passed. Adrasteia couldn’t tell just how long, only it was still night. And the found the agony of the stump of her wrist had diminished to the point where she could think again somewhat. Other senses clarified as well and she registered she could hear, not far away, a couple dogs locked in a life and death fight. She could feel the corrupting oil in her mind urging her, no almost compelling her to see that these animals were fundamentally wrong and must be destroyed.

She found herself lifting up to float, she didn’t trust herself to be able to walk, and she drifted towards the noise. As an afterthought she picked up the few of he plates she saw and pulled them around her as well. She moved around a wrecked mass-transit bus and saw the source of the howling.

The remainder of a small pack, two large dogs, were trying to savage a human figure. The majority of the pack lay about either injured or dead already. The final two had managed to pull him to the ground and were trying to bite him (one even had the man’s throat in its jaws).

Fighting to ignore the need to join the dogs against the man before ending them as well she focused on the dog at the man’s throat. Mentally grabbing the raging German Shepherd by the torso and head she pulled, and threw the now headless body away. The man responded by rolling so that he could reach down to punch the final dog in the head with his fist, killing it instantly as well.

As the man recovered and pulled the jaws, still clenched around his throat, of the dead hound away Adrasteia had time to register that the man was clad in a bronze and grey costume. ‘This must be the Iron Bullet’, she thought. She also understood as he growled and brought himself to his feet that he was just as affected by the weapon’s power as Shifter had been.

Adrasteia had just enough time to whisper in her ruined voice “Don’t!”, when Bullet began to move. Almost faster than her eyes could follow he charged her, hands forward and clenched into fists. If she hadn’t already been interposing her defensive plates he would have run into her and injured if not killed her. As it was her plates deflected his trajectory and he wound up running into and through the bus as if it were made of paper. Out of her view she could hear his howl of frustrated rage.

She quickly floated away from the ground so that she’d be out of the way of the next charge which quickly punched through the bus again as he charged through where she had been.

The Iron Bullet cast about snarling and then looked up as he noticed with his peripheral vision the shifting plates that surrounded Adrasteia. Having floated 20 ft. into the air now allowed the plates to catch and reflect the lights of the local fires.

Adrasteia and the Iron Bullet stared at each other, then the man reached down to gather some recently created debris. These he threw them using his enhanced speed to make them dangerous projectiles. Thankfully she was able to block them to his increasing rage.

Finally, the insane Fallen howled, seeming to snap and he crouched down as if to grab another weapon to throw. Instead of doing that, however, he coiled himself into a crouch and leapt straight up! His enhanced speed added the force he needed to rise up to Adrasteia’s height. The surprise of this action allowed him to move past the plates so that he collided with her. It wasn’t with the same destructive force he’d been able to apply to the bus, but he managed to grab onto her. One hand around her waist the other wildly reached up and grabbed her throat. He lacked the leverage to swing at her so he simply began to squeeze with madness enhanced strength.
Instinctually beating against the madman she realized his TK shield made him immune. She realized she couldn’t throw him from her either as while in his grip he’d likely seriously hurt her as his hand was ripped away. ‘TK!’, she suddenly remembered. She could deal with him as she had the soldiers in the past! But she couldn’t be satisfied with merely that this time. In stead, as her sight was becoming flecked with spots herself from lack of oxygen, she looked at the man screaming incoherently. She reached. With her will, she seized the contents of his throat and pulled it up and out. Blood and bits of flesh suddenly fountained out of his open mouth as his look transformed from rage to pain and confusion.

His grip on Adrasteia quickly loosened as his eyes lost their focus.

Growling to herself now in pleasure, Adrasteia let the dying man fall away to the ground. Were there anymore puny creatures she could now take her pleasure on, she wondered and started to look about. As she started to move she now cast about freely with her mind to find any more.

She could could still feel a few in the area along with a burning star of rage, greater than all the others, but as she began to move she reached up to wipe some of the blood and flesh that had been vomited on her she realized she could even taste it! It had gotten in her own mouth as she tried gasping for breath. Seeming from very far away from her present state of mind she heard herself, ‘Oh merciful Goddess! What have I become?!? What has this thing made me?’

The sense of revulsion grew in her and and she slowed as she tried to come to terms with this burning and raging hunger that tried to wash everything else away. It would be so easy to surrender, to cease thinking and just submerge herself in the simplicity of dealing death. ‘Isn’t this what Ti’amat was known for? Is this what I want to be?!?’ Adrasteia knew that should Carol know what she was becoming now she’d be horrified and would turn away. And that was a line she wouldn’t cross. She would not willingly turn away from the other half of her heart. No she had to stop this finally.

Having finally opened herself, Adrasteia was aware of the weapon and knew its location, some 600 yards from her. But she no longer trusted her self control enough to travel to her. She could feel the weapon fighting her feebly returned sense of self and knew it would buckle if she moved closer. So she was left with no choice but to stop her from here.

Adrasteia looked towards the burning source and made the decision to remove it. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she could do it. Pulling Kadrapraba and herself outside when they’d been side by side hadn’t been terribly hard but creating a hole in this reality a third of a mile in diameter?!? Well, at least it would make one hell of a last impression!

Adrasteia closed her eyes, as if in prayer, and focused more fiercely than she had ever done in her existence. With a whispered, “I’ll always love you Carol. Please forgive me...”, she slowly raised her head and opening eyes that blazed like twin suns threw her arms wide. A shimmering partition grew out from her and moved in every direction.

The partition grew and as it did, Adrasteia’s face shifted from determination, to one struggling to its limits and finally into a horrifying rictus of triumph. Then she and everything in a sphere a third of a mile in diameter was simply gone.