Welcome to the Kadian Metroplex, specifically New Kadia South. The second safest city on the Pacific. Outer Tokyo has a hold on the first spot, but who's asking? Here the world is not just your oyster, but the whole bed laying open and awaiting you. Countless experiences and destinations. Grand vistas in every direction. And when the body fails to keep up with desires, accommodations free of worry and strife abound. A tower for every mode and means, a home you can always see as yours. That you can always come back to.

'These travel pamphlets really haven't improved much.'

A day's escape and a night's rest had come and gone without much worry, and Seth had found his perfect hide before the hounds reacquired him. Ending up sleeping like a king in someone else's future bed. A model home on the market and for the low low price of a cool billion dollars. Inflation was killer but this was maybe understandable. It can't be cheap to get the penthouse on the top floor. Let alone on one of the megalithic towers dominating the skyline. Needing to be pressurized against the waning air density and reinforced against the buffeting winds certainly adds some serious requirements. But benefits rather unequally for that cost.

The sun was rising just shy of the clouds. Maybe not quite the billion dollar vista marketed, but compared to the ground floor, and the artificial stuff below, it could probably range close. A layer of orange and red and yellow illumination against that blanket rolling between the buildings below. High enough to catch curvature, but low enough to see the splendor radiate like a reflecting fog.

A really lucky find. The neighborhood was nice, the noise near nonexistent, and the security top notch. Though not quite expecting to be broken into from the outside. Even without the constructs the Garkah made him for interpreting data, Seth still knew how to hotwire a lock and blank out a camera. And shut down an elevator or three.

'And a few well-placed scorch marks make it all look like a freak lightning strike. I mean you know they're cutting corners somewhere here, so why not the grounding.'

On initial inspection though, the place felt too extravagant to just be empty. Fine art and pleasant atmosphere too maintained not to already be scooped up by some eccentric trillionaire. But the welcome signage and open house spiel in the foyer spoke volumes. Someone wasn't marketing very well. Or this was a laundering scheme waiting to be sold. Or hell, someone else's summer safe house. Either way Seth wasn't complaining.

Especially since the kitchen was stocked up and probably wasn't going to miss a few precooked and prepackaged meals. Because he was very hungry. The microwave was a little bit of a head scratcher until he realized it was automatic. Why press buttons anymore when the machine could just read a barcode and warm up your food to perfection. Though 'Authentic' Pad Thai seemed a bit too stressed and a bit far from home. Wasn't bad in the end, the noodles were soft and the 'definitely' chicken came fried. And even if the sauce hit his nose like a bare footed kick, it still tasted too good not to scarf own.

The television had been scrolled through channel after channel throughout the rest of the day, never landing on anything really interesting. A bit of reporting here and there, stuff both mundane and kinda far off from Seth's every day. A moon base sounded neat, a crater in 'Old' Kadia sounded not. They didn't bother saying why it was there, but the reverence certainly kept it on the collective mind. In the same vein, the large amount of weather tracking certainly felt warranted. Charging into a storm to keep hidden made him realize why the city seemed build to avoid them. It was like he was drowning when he hit the densest part. How that much water could just fall like that made him worry for what else had come about.

But alas, it seemed like who ever owned this place was scrimping on the cable, or whatever they used these days. He couldn't get a clear enough read on it, so it wasn't straightforward electricity. But what it was on this end was just standard public access and local news. Nothing international, let alone entertaining. They did say something of the little skirmish he had, but down played the whole 'cultist' deal. Hiding a bit of truth so people don't get scared and disrupt their peaceful closed off communities. At least that's what reading between the lines of the pamphlet said.

'Oh how the world changes… and yet stays the same.'

It was probably better for everyone to sleep easy anyway, if life was so hemmed in like this. Fearing that your neighbor was some lunatic or a supervillain bods unwell for a good night's rest. And Seth rather liked how this place catered to his need for just that. The bed this place had was way too big though. If there was a size over emperor, this was it. Taking up nearly half the room and sinking into the floor. Adjusting little actuators below it to make laying in it feel like an actual cloud was plucked from the window. Letting him feel what it was like to sleep in a more 'normal' manner.

Letting him dream just that little bit more.

Letting him see himself as the sum of his once disparate parts. Layers that were crushed and soaked in by all that he'd experienced. Mixing and congealing together as one understandable whole. A violent hungry rage that had roiled itself into him, and yet knew how to calm down and really look around and enjoy things. That bottomless resentment that had crushed him flat and swallowed him whole, yet now lightened up and only played at being that same menace because it was kinda funny. And himself keeping it all in, holding those two extra halves of being like they were still too young to realize what they'd done. Those lives taken both piecemeal and wholesale flying by like stained glass. Memorialized even in this fleeting escape from reality. Their weight ever felt but carrier gingerly. Till that radiant sun interrupted and brought back what was ahead.

At least when he woke up, the dark corners of the room weren't staring at him with his town's twisted faces. No more eyes glaring at him from the past and claiming him as the one needing to repent. To fulfil what he'd promised. The ghosts were well and truly gone, and even these new ones felt light enough to bear. So this nice bed stayed intact. No claws tearing at it or midnight munchies teething for more. Though he was still pretty hungry when he got up.

So here he was, watching that horizon rise in calm glow. A bowel of some kind of heavenly melting cereal saddled in his lap, and a pamphlet stolen from the welcome stand in his hands. And this new world stretching out before him. With maybe… a bit more ocean present than he remembered.

'And now I know why it was 'Authentic'. And probably why those 'gangsters' were here. …And now I feel bad.'

At some point, the sea level decided most of the world's population needed to be relocated and the maps redecorated. And displaced peoples don't really get the gold star treatment when they come knocking hat in hand to your already pretty crowded city. So they get to hang out in everyone else's built up shadow, not turned away but not offered all there was so easily. Apparently new towers were getting built to help, but that takes time. So, when their fellow countrymen needed help or an escape, those guys offered it as best they could. Even if it might have required less than legal methods. And holding that required a lot of bluffing to keep even worse things at bay and their communities stable. And Seth basically ran the lesser evil out of their own home.

'Th-they'll be fine. I only roughed 'em up a little… kinda. And hey, they're open for sympathy. Surviving an encounter with a HoRriBLe rAge cULtiST. Y-yeah they'll be just fine… yeah.'

Even if that thought held more than he liked to think about, it felt good to look on the bright side. But he still needed to know what the hell had happened to his name. And why someone was worshipping it to an extreme that required literal kill teams. The heavy rucksack sat against the lip beside him and the folded up cash in his new less conspicuous pockets, said he was going to go out and try to find out for himself. And the several thousand foot drop below his feet said that this was an undertaking in and of itself.

Luckily the pamphlet held one nice lead. The Hill still stood, and had become a museum to the heroes both past and present. And what better place to find out what you'd missed. Though he wasn't quite feeling like dropping down to street level today. And the wind was picking up and stealing that pamphlet right out of his hand.

'…Alight. Elevator it is then.'

What was disturbed was realigned, his taken food hidden by surplus, and the bed remade. The rest was just casualty less conspicuous. Just a missing plain flannel to replace the Hawaiian shirt, and a nice grey undershirt for the gaudy silk. And the backpack bugout bag obviously left behind for the more travel looking ruck. Just an okay off guy wandering around. Seeing the sights.

One last checking glimpse at his old menacing visage plucked funnily though. Does an eternity spent dead really mean he was old enough to feel nostalgia? Questions following him out as the lights flickered out to set the stage more in line with his overloading cover story.

He had to hope though that no one was monitoring the elevator he'd chosen. Yet, once its doors opened, it was clear that wasn't really an issue. If maintenance can't even keep it up to snuff, why bother keeping an eye on it. The dead pixels and ripped speakers at least gave it some charm and some really lived in quality. And the floor was clean, and the screen walls weren't tagged up, so it wasn't a deluge of life that kept it stagnant. The display though left a lot to be desired, a whole building's worth of floors and only two buttons appeared for him. A default state for people unregistered to the building. One for ground, the second for intake. And Seth wasn't ready to settle down just yet. He also didn't any identification, so that prospect was out the window.

But it gave him something to think through as the floors fell by and acceleration plied at his balance. A worry about cameras on the street taking up the existential meandering. The League had the Old Kadia pretty well wired up from what he'd heard back then. Made it easier to respond when you knew what was happening. But simple monitoring wouldn't cut it these days, not after all he'd inadvertently and overtly done. He certainly couldn't become a wondering blackout against every sensor and camera in his path again. That was too clear a draw. And a tell. And probably mitigated against.

He focused a little and the silently ignored ad playing around him flickered. Threads convulsed in their rhythm and a small part of himself was focused on. As his hair shifting to his original brown. A few pigments and elements moved to cover up the white. He knew it wasn't really his hair anymore though, but that was the last thing needing to be different about him to hide away. The rest was confidence that his face was nice and unknown now. And up to luck that Kadia had a lot of new arrivals. Or the new system wasn't as intrusive into people's day to day lives. Or...

'Ugh... gotta stop second guessing. Keep it cool.'

The numbers finally stopped as gravity steadied its hold, the doors opening with no congratulatory ding. Just clanking servos in need of some oil, and the bustle of that moderated life coming unhindered. Assaulting.

Lights, slipping away from their glass bounds and hovering where ever they pleased. Layered balconies haloed in wandering ad space. Companies and shops fighting tooth and nail for attention, sometimes literally. A holographic form with a soda logo suddenly squared up with its monochromatic competitor, the resulting titanic struggle playing out in muffled thunderous mockery of real conflict. And every which way, both up and down this four tiered cake of capitalism, people meandered and ignored these insults to their senses. The bottom of this tower a full shopping mall, yet regarded more as convenience than consumerism. So maybe a blackout would have been so terrible.

Clothes of every shade and style flowing about. Light cuts with zigzagging mesh, tough yet artificial leather cloaking out, plain dress more angular and less button down. Magnets and coils felt in some, and even lighting on a few utterly exuberant standouts. Some form fit, others just baggy enough to still fit. All in all… just normal fair for a few decades separating.

Because when the tech spreads, why not wear it around. Ear pieces and collars replacing black mirrors. Slates so dense with data they were pretty hard to look at. Watches reading out for the more austere. And every so often a far deeper spark of electric life. Prosthetics weren't bad in the old days, but artificial organs were on full display. At least for him. So everyday life didn't look too bad, and popular sentiments were pushing back against the worst on offer.

'And now I feel like a beatnik for choosing plaid. Seriously why is that 'Ah Charn' comment feeling so fucking apt? I don't even know what that means!'

Seth slowly merged with the traffic as the worry of being stared at remained just a worry. The flow headed for the massive doors past it all. Feeling the managed atmosphere shift little by little to the cold of this constrained morning. The vast slabs reflecting only so much light back to those who needed it, yet still burning away the shadows left over from the night. An easing echoing bustle permeating as the traffic followed out thinned away into footpaths. Like thin parks instead of streets between a few of the towers. A less dense shopping district cut from their bases and decidedly more lax in its atmosphere. But obviously ready to pack it up when the weather decided it was your daily dose of flash flood.

Drainage at least seemed prepared, that greenery more for show than actual plants. Seemingly covers for soaking up said deluges. And vaguely graded paths rolled the water off to the streets with their more industrial scale storm drains. Or their permeable asphalts? Tech was getting too weird for his sense of reality. At least cars soon replaced most of the people who would have seen him have a conniption when he felt out and saw the caverns latticed with electrical lines below.

The first shifts of the new day going on to wherever they were needed or wanted to go. Parking garages both underground and elevated allowing them differentiation in their choice of megastructure amenity. But the numbers were far under count for the population still sequestered above. Though why drive when you could just take an elevator to work.

Still, there were the fair few who chose to pop their bubbles and see the world proper, some even choosing sidewalk over roadway to experience their fair city up close and with fresher air. Enough of society was still set up to cater to them even, so this wasn't some getting-back-to-our-roots fad. Seth following along and taking in the sights of what the city really looked like when it wasn't raining or cleared out before him.

The vapid neon indoors became only slightly more solid paint and scaled up artistry outside. Designs crawled up corners and walls, like the rails coping them were vines and flames and intricate woodwork. Brutalism being eaten away by very clearly supers with too much time on their hands. At least judging by the in process scrawling being passed by. Small figures floating about or clinging to the concrete across a waving and breaking corner still needing filling in. Much lower, the world closed in more normal. A few shops both, old and new, curling up their defenses and welcoming the commerce. Side alleys cut wider and demarcated for calmer walking traffic. Signage poking out in seemingly restricted parameters. Nothing stretching out over the streets and nothing higher than that first line of rails. And an odd red hue highlighting that in turn.

The cars humming by sleek and electrically plain. Nothing stand out from what once was, just a more aerodynamic style over improved economy. Until that high up hue shifted to green. That hum rising both audibly and literally, a car waiting on the light ahead suddenly thrumming to metaphysically unavoidable. Exuding electric current like a downward force but keeping ionization at bay. Magnetic repulsion tuned so tightly that it defied gravity. The wheels folding in and swiveling slightly in place. A balancing act to keep the whole thing upright as it hovered slowly to the new altitude. The lit up railing transitioning to yellow and red in familiar sequence, before one side shifted to green and a line of newly risen traffic floated off. Why even have traffic at all? Though it quickly became clear why lighter vehicles rose away.

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A heavier rumble replaced the hum, road traffic falling to logistics rather than commuting. Trucks and vans taking their places as the easing morning turned more disquiet. And the realm of supply and demand obfuscated this peaceful stroll. The few walkers and morning strollers thinning like this was expected, massive side alleys and more café streets taken to avoid the worst of the main thoroughfares increasing utilization. Though the occasional runner with a bit too much speed for standard sidewalks said that this wasn't all for the noisy. Though a van, seeming to decry the slowing flow, peeled up into the lane above with little consideration but for its own spot in line. An uneven hum drawing Seth just as much as the sudden audacity. A bad repulser maybe?

'Tech so ubiquities it already has junkers. Great. I hate being behind the times.'

The spared sidewalk at least gave him room to admire everything more definitively. A small candy shop misted a smooth sweet aroma out of its doors. A small corner store was getting its early rush of coffee and snack pickups. An almost funny bit of angular business attire common among the lines, finely color coded to a brand or conglomerate. And the spread of people wearing them didn't hold to standards either. Seeing as one guy had four arms and another person had what really looked like blue fire for hair. Supers still had to pay bills, and not everyone was cut out to be a hero. But at least they were accommodated, and proud if that fire matched perfectly to their uniform.

An intersection stopped the brightsided gawking with highlighted crosswalk marks. Red flashing only visible right from the small ramp down. Only turning green as the last of the side street congestion rumbled by. And revealed something ahead that caught all that wandering attention.

Not many buildings he could remember, but the street names were familiar. He'd ended up in the residential district that was once one of Kadia's central areas. But now those old high rise apartments were dwarfed or consumed outright by the megaliths. But the thing it all gathered around was completely different. There used to be a building sat square right in the middle, some administrative outpost for the, as of then, dense population. But now the space was flattened out, rounded and cut off from the roads. A new park growing out and refusing to be disrupted. And in in the center of that center, rising up into the hole left open to the sky, was a statue…

That made Seth's heart ache for all of that time that he'd missed.

A copper patina managed and swayed to artistic goals. A granite plinth glistening with rough quartz spackling. Just two figures standing… No… No they were rising above the honor bestowed to them. Flowing hair modeled into exacting detail, the green aging allowed to darken and shade respective features. Their stance, their movement upward matched in unison almost darkly comical to those who knew. Their weapons shared and risen to blare their victory. And shine on in their passing. One a gleam in highlighting shine, made too bright and mirroring to not glow its glorious edge to the world. And the other… the other… forced high in parity so no one would mistake this duet.

Erdwut's stoic mug almost quivering in guilt as he took his Eschenwald to that wide open blue yonder. And… and Aegis ever stern, yet still smiling as she held her passed down shield up alongside. As they both took to that awaiting sky together.

"In honor of those who sacrificed themselves to keep back the horrors of the past. May they soar ever onward in the hearts of those who follow after."

Claud 'Erdwut' Hahn

Dana 'Aegis' Mahan

Time carries all things ever forward.

The world shifts, society ebbs, people change, and all of it flows ever onward with no regard for any of it.

No concession to those who had slipped from its binding current.

No consideration for those who took their own path forward.

Only cruel reality awaiting them.

All that had been missed left for them to figure out in hollowing order.

The plaque bearing Seth's unfettered regret staring back in unfeeling steel. White lettering forced up from the surface and blaring its truth to him. His fears rendered silly and muted, wholly unjustifiable in the face of… In the shadow of this memorial.

The dark tinge at the wording only drawing out worse fears to replace them. What he'd already learned coming to know what it had all cost in the end. Though some brighter light countered that horrid thought that this had been his legacy. She hadn't been a grandmother when he knew her. And generations have a way of making what was once bleak bright again.

But still he wished he'd been there. To at least have helped.

Now though, all he had was a hand feeling the cold black stone of their plinth for himself. Feeling the weight of selfish regret smother his heart and slow his breathing. Letting their images sear in from memory to towering reality. And then letting the tight binds of material existence all fall away. Because this wasn't a whole truth.

A tracing of that quartz and sedimentary menagerie, following eager paths up to the metal holding on to the past. Copper even more inviting, snaking threads allowed fair passage along its crystalline formation. Branching paths crisscrossing through and around. Following the contours all the way to enclosing. All the way to the top of this…

Irking remembrance.

Seth walking away from the accepted truth with controlling hand still tracing along the plinth. Following it along as it cornered around, like an obstacle to be bypassed yet not left alone for what it meant. The copper forms heating to a narrow glow like his small friction was building to charge, excessive control trying to pour in for one last honor that needed to be shown.

The real forms in mind coming clear and shining, too needing to be shown for all the truth that wasn't being shown. A locking down of what they needed to be remembered for. Not just that they died but that they bore all their might in the face of far worse. Maybe defacement, maybe vandalism. But the true paradigm needed to be made just as true as their honor. Just as true as that hand ripping free of the stone in releasing rake. And loosing Seth's will upon this hallowed monument.

At once the heat radiating became a step below melting, the more than malleable copper falling to his resonance and flowing to what he wanted for it. The patina shading burning away, oxidation flaring as inverting highlight. But only signaling the beginning of this antithesis to covered over scars.

Horrendous creaking and metal movement filled the air, drawing what eyes hadn't been drawn by the sudden metallurgic glow. Threads pulled and twisted, became skeleton and muscle for these two lifeless memories. Their farewell flight denied and brought back down to Earth, now excess metals flowing up to make new their true power known. Their forms staying, looking up to that bare sky allowance, but their hands and weapons ceased their front and center parity. Copper Eschenwald swiveling downward, its edge near igniting as a truly wrought shine was ripped into the surface. Wisping threads solidified a radiance of heat and might respective of its forms. While a magmatic awakening crawled up Erdwut's arm like it had that day. That he had shown 'his' power over what tried to forget him.

Aegis following suit, but allowed the destiny she chose to relinquish. Her shield hand falling over Eschenwald's pommel, a similar radiance cresting that still enigma shield. Half that blade flaring out hollow yet full. All ensconced in the simmer and fire both had shown for so few to see. That comet, trailing gleam into being as vengeance manifest. And that fury cutting the air into pure obliteration. Both allowed to show the power they had hidden, and not just the death they had shared.

The last alterations cutting and flowing, shading tarnish replaced with stubborn threading. Radiance more than just physical representation, a soft glow and mirror sheen displaying it wide for all to know and see. As all eyes were drawn and gasped at yet another perpetrated iconoclasm. Yet none seeing the one who casually walked on toward the rest of their fair city. The silence trying to widen as they tried to see it in full, tried to grasp at some insult brought about. Some tarnishing of their memory with such desecration. Some outward undue use of power. But all was cut short as some random kid broke it all with a call of-

"So cool!!"

Seth lurched mid step, half cringe and pride catching him off guard. A strong want to look back and see the wonder in that kid's eyes, but a better feeling of staying benign after this winning over. But still hearing someone like it was good enough for him. Good enough to drag that smile back up with all the happiness it carried with it. His head bobbing with his step out of near too giddy energy. This simple stroll becoming more therapy than should be allowed, but the results speaking for themselves across his beaming face. As the sentiment seemed to spread ever so slightly.

Who said heroes had to die to be remembered.

Who said heroes had to be perfect.

"We all fail sometim-"

"Oh shut up already!!"

Sentiments ran thin and denatured. Bruises and broken bones hardened in their place. Sore muscles and sidelines hurt more than defeat. And no one wanted anymore cheering up.

They lost.

They lost bad.

A major threat. A cultist of that most hated Rage was loose because they went in over their heads. Their moment to shine was instead slathered in mud. And gauze. And sythplaster.

And self-applying shame.

They knew how to fight, they knew how to beat these wackos. Hit'em from all sides and lock them down. If they can't move, they can't be a threat.

But that didn't happen.

They did as they practiced, they did better than that even, and it was like nothing mattered.

Like the real world played at a different speed than they were told. Like someone was lying to them.

So now Michele was covered in tape, skin grafts, and a warm blanket. Tess was in three different cast to reset her whiplashed neck and shoulders. Jess had her jaw clamped shut and wrists plastered over. Rehka was narrowly in the psych ward for whatever she had seen going toe to toe with that monster. And everyone was pumped so full of nanites that they could barely move from the busy reconstruction.

So Callah and Josh were all that was left to take the brunt of this failure. But she at least had the bruises to show for it. He couldn't justify, let alone rectify, with what that… that fucking guy had said to him. Was it all bluffs? Some ghost in the armor, because apparently that could happen if those assholes were crazy enough. He didn't know. All he did was that they had failed and were getting the punishment of a lifetime for it.

A disappointed debriefing from their trainer turned handler. From the esteemed Cobale that had put all her faith in them being full on heroes. And all the curmudgeon that brought up.

"It's okay you know. We'll get him eventually."

"So!? We couldn't do a damn thing to the guy!"

Callah at least still took the forefront. But refused to let the humiliation go.

"How the hell could someone be that strong and yet look so weak?"

"Because all you saw was what he allowed you to see. The fact that you're alive should speak to that."

Her face, and everyone else's for that matter, looked up from the bench they were sat at. Blue, red, and icy eyes joining hers and Josh's taking in a sentiment that finally struck. But that only really he understood enough.

"Whoever this guy was, he's a threat. But not in the normal sense. In a lot of ways, he's worse. Because he makes you think you're weak. Makes you look like children by comparison. But you're not. They're just on a different level punching downward. They know how to push buttons and make you regret. And they will always be that way. So you're best bet, as harsh as it sounds, is to not fight them at all. The judgment for that is on you Callah, but admittedly this time it was a little bit forced. We will be grounding Tex though, so don't worry about that."

An almost resounding sigh ran down the line.

"But in the future, you need to pick your battles. Set the stage yourself, don't have it set for you. Cultists are tough, but they not invincible. Least not for very long…"

A small relief tried to soften their pained shame, but couldn't rectify with itself.

"Are you still-"

A stern set of brown eyes locked on Rehka about to ask something she shouldn't know about. But knew anyway, because Co had trusted her former trainees.

"Yes… I am. Me, the kids, and most everyone else. So don't start feeling jealous or unworthy because of it. It's been in the works for a long time and it has too many moving parts to go adding more on to it. You can help by getting better."

Jealousy still stung regardless. Drove most down and away. Though a worse down drove lower. Co kept her motherly expression even, but they all knew even she was worried for Callah on this.

"Don't worry about your brother. I've seen him bounce back from worse than he's been called to do now. And don't you start think so low of him just because you're better off. You both worked hard for what you have, don't discount it."

"But what about Sarah?"

Josh couldn't help it. Help being an older brother all his own. Even if it was pointless. Even if it was detested by those who couldn't accept.

"huh... She's only getting called in if things get bad. But she wants to do this, you know how things are. You know how she would get if we didn't. To deny her this would be worse than if we left it alone all together. She needs this. And hey, if we do need her help, it means we're the ones in over our heads. So don't worry about her, worry about what you can do to improve and be there with her. Because, once those bones set in an hour, you're all running laps."

Worry flashed in bobbing turmoil. Mouths that could gap did, and hands that could plead tried to. But protests fell on deaf eyes and into already hollowed out places for them.

"What, you want to get stronger so you can kick that guy's ass. Well then get back to training!"

""Huuuggrrrhhhh!!""

The sun shining down, clouds waning amidst the decompressing environment. The megalithic bustle and hum lightening to more manageable high rises. To more familiar, placid scenery. The rest of the older side of Kadia coming too soon and flattening out Seth's beaming pride. The logistical rumble soothed to more intermittent passersby, shadows flowing over in humming repulse only so often. A nicely quiet part of this overgrowing city that wasn't lacking in infrastructure, just the will to see the new replace all of the old. Scenic tours bussed by and above, three too many gift shops trying to vie for attention, a good amount of lost faces to slip right into. And plenty on their way right to where he needed to go.

Its massive shape still just as impressive against the new skyline it faced down. Much of its opening plaza expanded out and built up to allow a grand mall to run its circumference. Nice shops and restaurants lining the roadway he'd torn up one too many times. No scars remaining but those he carried, not even that statue. But the main piece still stood unchanged. High slopes of turf and concrete, layers of logistics and facilities to weather any storm, and one long stretch of stairs leading all the way to the top. The Hill hadn't changed, hadn't fallen to any calamity or evil. Merely taken by the passage of time, and given new purpose to see it into this future.

A museum to all that had come before. All the struggles and nightmares, all the triumphs and defiance. One massive repository for all that this world's heroes have accomplished. And also all the trophies they had won putting down those that stood to threaten this peace. So while he was here to see what he missed for himself, a small bit of him was looking to see just what the hell they'd done to his suit. Because it sure didn't break itself.

But walking up the vast drive ahead dimmed down that somewhat vindictive ire, and gave him pause as a school bus broke his line of sight. A few angles and armored plates extra, but it was still yellow and black. Can't change everything. Though the district name on it was absent. Seth hadn't really bothered much with public school but he didn't really think it would fall to the wayside.

'Must be a private school. It's way too quiet and well mannered.'

He rounded it wide to give it space to let out its kids, hearing an odd set of whirs following them out as he returned his gaze to the more pressing sentiment in front of him. A light sprinkling of people funneled on and off the still functioning escalators, the concrete landing bearing them blindly over where he'd almost lost himself. That tinging vindictiveness almost wishing he had. Almost wished Resent hadn't waned against Aegis' scorn. That he'd been able to bring that claw down on Para before everything he'd end up causing transpired. But better doubt and a shake loose of that thought pulled him away from that darkness. Loosing himself then and there would only have made the results far worse.

An easing breath brought him back into the present. The group of children behind now already ascending the slope in style as Seth took in the steps stretching up into the sky before him. The signs beside warned but didn't disallow it, but this was something he needed to do again. At best, needing to return his burden to where he'd left it. Rebuild the tomb desecrated. At worst… well it'd just feel nice to rise back up from where he left Para. That tinge not so stifled as to not to get some enjoyment out of that. And so he gripped a hand to the pack over his shoulder, put one foot over, and started climbing back up to where his answers lied.

The daunting feeling of the full weight against his back following him upward, the memory of that first day smothering out that tinge for the forefront. Each step another mote loosed off as a past paid in full for. All the lives lost because of his demanding resentment, all the pain caused because he wanted better, even those taken by that rage inside him. Their burden still there, still adding the weight missing from his back. But they were laid to rest step by step.

The countless numbers, just statistics learned, allowed to heal with the scar they were buried in. The heroes lost, avenged and taken on. Their weight felt close but not lost to in their pain. And lastly those taken by his hand alone. Even if Resent had stocked his rage, even if they wanted him dead by callous intent, he still felt and saw what he had taken from them. The bits and flashes of Ziyou, Glaz, and Phazer. The cannibalized existences of those Docker goons. And lastly Resent himself to pull it all onto him. To let it all be repaid in a death so many wanted. Even if he still lived through it.

The steps carrying on through every phase, his pace never faltering against the mountain he knowingly carried. Catching up to that school fieldtrip that rose ahead and beside him, seeing none of his burden but gawking at the display of okay athleticism. A new tinge making it out to be more trouble than it was worth. A smirk of embarrassment forcing his head down as the bulk were passed on by. That odd whir with them disregarded as Seth kept his pace, ascending all the way into that open sky above. All the way back up to that glass façade that bore his brunt yet now stood tall over. The last step coming with no fanfare or hoopla, just a relief and remembrance to when times had been great and when they had fallen.

A feeling taking too long to hit in full as the climb still wore at him. A couple hard breaths half for show and half for the burn, some smoothing stretches and the real weight on his back dropping him forward out of the last of the feeling. Bringing him back a bit to the real world he was lagging behind again. The class getting funneled in by their teacher… clanking along after them? The apparent robot only seen for the second or two afforded, but assured of its existence despite the business casual it only sensibly hid under. A chuckle pulling Seth back up from his exertion, but slowing his pace on forward to stay out of their way. His answers ahead and his past well behind him.

And a cold tug farther back. Missed only as the doors opened to take him in.

Cold… as dust.

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