The Watchwomen

Chapter 40 (Act III): Peace At Last

We last read Chapter 39, in which the four heroines of the Watchwomen land safely back on the ground of Salt Lake City, Utah following their successful termination of the Diamond Legion, its soldiers, its assassins---technically---and its leadership. Coldsnap lands Duncan's airship on the grass using its autopilot feature, Voltara and The Viper "share" a parachute for the duration of their descent.....and Nightclaw just jumps off the crashing mansion and plummets several thousand feet; though she's completely unharmed due to no silver being involved, she still momentarily gets her head stuck in the ground and has to be freed by the others. The girls celebrate their victory.....only to be suddenly confronted by a very angry Bryan Birchwood, who is none too happy that the heroines have mistreated and abused his son for the duration of the adventure. He engages them in a fierce battle, with the Watchwomen determined to end the threat of the Diamond Legion and everyone associated with them once and for all.....and after a decisive blow from Coldsnap's ice dragon that causes him to be buried beneath the crumbled remains of a rock formation, he is finally ended for good. 

However, the heroines are briefly caught off-guard once again when Bryan Birchwood's spirit appears atop the ruined mound, as well as that of his infant son B.B., standing next to him and holding his left hand. Coldsnap asks Bryan who he is, to which Bryan gladly divulges his identity. 

This time, the Watchwomen are enlightened on Bryan and B.B.'s past lives, and learn just how far back Allie Bannister's influence reached.....

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The four Watchwomen observed Bryan and B.B.'s spirits float off the top of the rock pile and descend down to the grass itself; everyone was now on the same elevation. All of the girls were awestruck by the apparitions' appearances, but The Viper was the first to voice her opinions.

"'Bryan Birchwood'?" she repeated. "I.....I think I've heard of you before, but.....I don't know. My head's been spinning ever since I woke up in Allie Bannister's office. She....she worked for you before?" 

"Couple years short of a decade ago, young one," the aged Birchwood responded. "The night I was killed, she was working as my most trusted assistant. She retrieved items for me, planned meetings, arranged parties, helped me with yardwork.....she even aided me in raising my pride and joy himself." 

Bryan punctuated the last line by looking down fondly at his infant son B.B., who was still holding onto Bryan with his right hand and sucking his thumb on his left hand. 

"I loved Allie.....as a friend, a trusted confidant, and even an honorary family member," he resumed. "I never once thought she'd do anything like this."

Bryan's recollection of his past unwittingly helped The Viper to recall what Allie had said about Bryan back when the two were chatting prior to the serpentine heroine's brainwashing. 

"Your father.....was he named 'Blake Birchwood', by chance?" The Viper questioned. "Allie told me she didn't feel like she was given what she deserved. That your father shunned her and excluded her from owning the estate even though she gave everything she had to it." 

"Ahhh.....it's been many moons since I've heard my father's name," Bryan answered wistfully. "He wasn't exactly the perfect man.....but then again, literally no one is. Everyone---and I do mean everyone---makes mistakes, so it's not really fair to judge and punish an entire demographic. But for as long as the Birchwood family line has existed, even past my father, it has always been mandated to restrict it to people with that surname only." 

"Why?" 

"To prevent it from falling into the wrong hands." Bryan solidified his point by raising his right arm and gesturing to the now-crashed wreckage of the Diamond Legion Skybase in the distance. "To see my point, just look there. Once, it was a truly opulent and high-class mansion.....the pinnacle of wealth in surrounding society. Then, it got malformed into a vessel for Allie's radical agenda.....and now it's irrecoverable. The centerpiece of the Birchwood family has been twisted---and now destroyed---because of Allie's machinations."