Weaver's Knight ~ A Modern Fantasy Web Serial

Ch. 18.3 - Sara

In this episode: Weaver and Knight are united in triumph, West's plot undone. Now, they seek to bring him to justice, but then, the real question remains: what do they say to a world that's seen the truth of the Majestic?

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Sara locked her fingers around Alex's hand, holding on as though he could vanish if she slipped. Stay with me, she thought, their minds echoing into one another. Always, she heard in her own mind, with his voice, a communion more than telepathy, more than Vision.

Relief gave way to fury as they turned on their targets. The Quadrum Regime invader and Sovereign Mandate traitor retreated together, Knight and Weaver advancing relentlessly on them. "Time to answer for what you've done, Travesty," Sara demanded, making a fist. Her Weaving choked West's Vision down to a trickle, barely maintaining contact with his mercenary.

"Prime," Dologur grunted, "get us out of here."

Travesty made a fist, forcing a wider trickle of Vision through the link. "What? Just let them win, after all this?" the puppet asked.

"Don't be a fool," Dologur retorted, still reaching for supplies that Alex destroyed before he could deploy him. Laser vision beats utility belt, Sara noted with a grin, though she wasn't sure if the notion had come from her or Alex. "Your Majestic working has been stopped. We have a partial success, and lack the resources to claim anything more. We leave, or we fall." The alien did something inside his armor, and a static shield popped up, diffusing Sara's assault.

"Except you're not leaving, jerks," Sara said, casting a net of Rift-infused Weaving out over the two. It hung up on Dologur's shield, but wore at it relentlessly.

Through his avatar, West swore. "Fine," he conceded. "Evacuation protocol Gray Six Theta, go." The black-armored woman appeared behind the two, placing a hand on each of their backs. Vision cords shot out to the other Complex agents and Quadrum soldiers. Dologur's shield flared, throwing off Sara's Weaving net. As one, the entire enemy group vanished.

*Sorry,* Victor sent, crestfallen. *It's a lot easier for me to keep someone out than hold them in.*

*Freedom's your thing,* Alex replied, sending a psychic pat on his shoulder. *We won. Don't worry about it.*

Reporters ran toward the Knight and Weaver. *Yeah,* Sara cracked, *we have other things to worry about.* She smiled at Alex, trying not to feel guilty, failing somewhat. *They're all yours, hero. I'm going to be a complete wuss now and hide behind you.*

She felt Alex crush a sigh. *You stomped West like a bug. I'll handle the media.* He checked his helmet, added a distortion screen to the bottom half of his face, and straightened. Rose, Powerstar, and Marie flew over to them, Max emerging from Sara's shadow. Eve, Molly, Akira, and Ekaida fell back to the stadium interior where Victor could extract them.

There was a brief cacophony of questions, mostly variations of "who/what are you" and "where did you come from" in English and Portugese, with occasional mentions of "angel" and "dragon." Alex held up his hands and waited, and the crowd calmed. He pointed to a woman near the front of the pack.

"Rahaf Antar, Peninsula Satellite Network," she said. "You identify as 'Captain Bastion,' is that correct?" Alex nodded. "What can you tell us about your abilities and presence here?"

Captain Bastion's smile made Sara feel better. If he's giving me confidence, it's got to reassure them. She ducked behind him, as promised, all the same. "We are people gifted with abilities humanity has called magic or psychic throughout history. The most common English term among ourselves is 'Majestic,' from the Latin majestas, meaning greatness or magnitude. Our larger organization is the Alliance of Wonder, dedicated to helping each other and working toward this very day." He took in the reporters with a wave. "We came here to rescue some of our own from the entity you've rightly labeled the Travesty King. Unfortunately, it was a trap, and none of his captives were ever here." Memory struck at Sara, strapped to a table, Quadrum tech tearing at her, and she gripped his hand. Cap pointed at another woman.