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“...of this shocking revelation. While rumors about Rebecca Costa-Brown voluntarily stepping down from the PRT Chief Director post are all but confirmed, the question about Alexandria’s status remains open. Several PRT officials have spoken about Alexandria’s crucial role in deterring the Endbringers; however, the possibility of the trial is still very much on the…”
“Fools, every single one of them,” Alexandria muted the TV. “A bunch of incompetent fools messing with the things they don’t understand.”
Contessa did not respond. She was still watching TV, where Weld’s picture was now taking place. It looked like the news channel already had his statement on the recent fallout.
“And that’s how it goes. One day they buy your action figures and name babies after you; the next day they want you behind bars." There was no bitterness in Alexandria’s voice, just tiredness and a slight amusement. “Who cares how much I did for them—living double life, working double time, protecting them for decades without rest, building the foundation of all that stands between them, and total destruction? No, the media points their finger, and people attack without thinking, like a well-trained terrier. As if I wanted that blasted chair.”
“People found out that the whole ‘humans governing the capes’ thing was a big fat lie.” Contessa lost interest in the TV and sat on a couch. “What did you expect?”
“I expected them to have a shred of reason. All of this was Simurgh’s plan. The whole S-class threat was just to expose my civil identity and turn people away from the PRT. This alone causes more damage than the direct casualties of Echidna’s rampage. And now useful idiots are propagating panic and mistrust, literally doing the Endbringers’ work. All the hypocrites and those too squeamish to accept that ends justify the means when humanity’s survival is at stake. Clearly, mankind does not want to be saved.”
“Most people do not know about the existential threat,” Contessa pointed out.
“They know about the Endbringers,” Alexandria retorted. “They know that our losses are not sustainable. That should be enough to set their priorities straight.”
Strategy, Alexandria recalled, was not creating a path that leads to victory; it was creating conditions where all paths lead to victory. This was how Simurgh operated. If Alexandria stays with the Protectorate, many capes will not show up for the Endbringer fights as a sign of protest, not to mention governments will cut their funding. But if Alexandria accepts the trial and goes to the Birdcage, then the capes would have to fight without her. Either way, the number of capes available for the final showdown would decrease drastically.
“Which one should it be?” Alexandria asked. “Do I stay or do I go?”
“Both paths lead to defeat,” Contessa said calmly. “We need a third option.”
“Sure. I will mysteriously disappear, and a week later, a new flying brick will show up out of nowhere. Hello, my name is Macedonia; please direct me to the nearest Endbringer battle.” She scoffed. “No one’s going to buy that. Armsmaster didn’t fool anyone with his rebranding.”
“There is another way." Contessa wasn’t amused. "Director Costa-Brown takes one for the team, but Alexandria can still contribute her strength against S-class threats without burdening the PRT with her controversy.”
“Those things sound mutually exclusive, so I suppose there’s a catch. What’s the plan, Contessa?”
“Do you remember that bug girl from Brockton Bay?”
***
“Nobody will believe it,” Alexandria said after Contessa finished. “I understand how your power works, but still. I could maybe believe in a B-tier villain taking me down with a well-thought-out ambush and a lot of help, in perfect conditions. But you are talking about me provoking her and then failing to react to the attack I specifically tried to get.”
“People will assume you miscalculated and did not anticipate the attack at that exact moment,” Contessa said without trace of doubt, as if stating something that already happened.
“Except I am not an arrogant comic book showoff. One does not survive twenty-five years of fighting stronger, meaner opponents by being unprepared.” Alexandria crossed her arms. “If I needed my enemies to telegraph their attacks, I would have died a long time ago. Maintaining constant vigilance is a must in our line of work; turning it off is what’s difficult.”
“Most people do not have a security mindset. People tend to think in narratives. You are a big bad Goliath, so the public will readily accept when a small brave David defeats you. And for those few who won’t, we will have very solid evidence, thanks to Simurgh.”
***
Everything was going smoothly, like it usually does with Contessa’s plans. Alexandria presented herself to the girl and recited the script Contessa wrote for her, effortlessly playing the role of a person who would touch all the sore points to make the local villain snap. Taylor Hebert did not show any surprise and did not suspect anything when Alexandria herself was brought to bargain with her. Sorry, little girl, but the world does not revolve around you. You’re just a tiny cog in a much bigger plan.
A few conversations and transported corpses later, Alexandria finally heard the buzz as she descended into Ward’s HQ. She steeled herself and opened her mouth right when the bugs reached her; her nasal passages were too narrow to let enough bugs in to suffocate her. Alexandria did not feel any pain, but the tickling almost made her bend over. The wards were watching in horror as she thrashed, dry-heaved, and even clawed at her throat.
Clockblocker is right here, she thought. I can just have him freeze me and buy enough time for paramedics to clear my airways. Will he blame himself for not thinking about that in time? Will he feel guilty for not saving her? Oh well, the boy will probably die in a year or two anyway. Alexandria flew upwards through the building and kept climbing until she hit a cloud, far outside Skitter’s range. She was starting to feel dizzy.
Alexandria brought her hands in front of her chest, curled her thumbs, and then rotated her right hand. "Door" in sign language. A portal opened in front of her; she flew in and dropped into the prepared dental chair.
Contessa started moving even before the portal closed. A thin endoscopic probe dove down Alexandria’s throat, piercing the blockage.
“Exhale,” Contessa said, and Alexandria pushed out what little air was left in her lungs, lifting her epiglottis just enough for the probe to slide down her trachea and further into the right bronchus. Contessa flipped a tumbler to open a valve, and a thin stream of air rushed inside the probe.
With the imminent suffocation staved off, Contessa moved on to the next part of the plan. A new door opened into the fog. Contessa waited a bit for the right moment and then pushed Alexandria’s corpse into it. The door closed.
As Contessa got back to desinsecting, Alexandria, unable to move or talk, was musing about the irony of it. They used Simurgh’s own missiles to mitigate the damage. After the Echidna fight, they collected just enough of her cloned body fragments to stitch together one complete cadaver. Eidolon picked some weirdly specific power to fuse the body parts, and the ruse was good enough to fool the immediate inspection. By the time the PRT gets experts and clairvoyants to verify her death, the body will already be gone.
The plan wasn’t foolproof, of course; far from it. There were a thousand ways this could go wrong. But the path to victory trivialized those things.
And now my corpse is falling down, Alexandria thought, dressed in the exact same suit, covered by similar dust and debris. Maybe even bugs inside its lungs match.
When she was young and still experimenting with her powers, Rebecca sometimes dropped from the skies at terminal velocity. It was like flying in a dream, falling until the ground embraced her, soft as a featherbed. She remembered leaving Alexandria-shaped holes in the soil—something straight out of Looney Tunes. Things were so much simpler back then.
It will be different this time. In a second, the pavement will break her fall, and the legend will die. People will think that some upstart villain beat her, because apparently she’s wandering around with her mouth agape, catching flies. Not that any of that matters, of course. Alexandria has already pledged her life for the cause; she gave it all she had. She might as well give up her dignity.
***
Contessa played her like a fool.
Her path to victory started before that conversation they had when they watched the news together. Contessa picked all the right words to make Alexandria agree with the plan and even feel grateful for an excuse to ditch bureaucracy.
But she “forgot” to tell her some small details. Tagg’s death was one of them, although Alexandria couldn’t care less about the man. Skitter joining the Wards was another, and while it annoyed her, she could live with that. But declaring her a traitor? Saying that she was just another Simurgh’s victim? As if disgracing her with a defeat and making her impersonate her own corpse wasn’t enough, Contessa decided to smear all of her legacy. That’s what you get for a quarter-century of flawless service.
That, and the opportunity to get punched by Behemoth. Half of New Delhi was turned into smoldering ruins by the time Alexandria received the go signal, meaning that Tattletale was out of commission and she could now join the fight. It would be very unfortunate to let all those efforts, including Pretender’s extraction, go to waste just because of one nosy clairvoyant.
***
So many worlds, Alexandria thought, as they were chasing the Entity across the dimensions. So many Earths, a lot of them populated. If there are so many of them, maybe there is one where little Rebecca Costa-Brown didn’t get cancer. Maybe there is at least one Earth where she did not have to choose between her life and her humanity. One Earth, where she could live a normal life. Have a decent childhood, dance at a prom, get married, have a career that does not involve fighting monsters and lying to the whole world.
Maybe in another life she did not have to sacrifice every good thing she ever had.
That was a small consolation, given that all those worlds were coming to an end. Whatever Khepri planned, it wasn’t working. She was trying everything and failing every time, exhausting her army way faster than she was exhausting her options. She put up a decent fight, of course, and humanity will at least go out with a bang.
The pain sundered her body as Scion shredded her to bits, but Alexandria did not care. She felt strangely calm, almost serene. Losing to some random bug girl was humiliating, but finding death in the apocalyptic battle between the most powerful cape who ever existed and the nearly-omnipotent Entity was as dignified as she could have hoped for.
And the big lie they told the world had finally become the truth. Taylor Hebert defeated her. Alexandria would have smiled if she had any control over her muscles.
Not bad, kid.