40. P O W E R : Finality

PART I.

It was strange. Here at the end, Cameron Walden-Wallace—child of the Nephilim, velociraptor shapeshifter, former Avatar of the Phoenix—could not help but think of how it had all begun.

Was it with KayCee? That fateful meeting at the unemployment office, when she'd been set on a collision course with the denizens of Safe Haven?

Was it the META Animarium? When her father had rigged a traumatizing experience to exacerbate her zoophobia?

Was it Abrigo Seguro, where she was born? When her father and Ariel set up the meeting with Cecelia? And if that was the case, then was it when Zuriel was born? Or when Metatron was created?

So many beginnings.

Yet there could only be one singular end.

That end was currently staring Cameron and the other Protectors in the face: Fisi, the great hyena god, the Dark Celestial, with the Tower's spire at his back. Eve, the strange sorceress, the "Chief Peacekeeper", leaning against the Tower's rooftop entrance.

And the others were there, too: as reality was fractured by the Opening of the Way and the merging of the Bila ya Nyota with the Corporealm, sporadic ripples began to appear all around. Cameron could see the other Dark Celestials staring down the heroes of the other havens, the Inner and Outer Gods that had appeared within those havens, the dead strewn all across the ground...

"All teams, I need an update NOW. What's going on?"

The chairwoman's voice blared in Cameron's ears. A flurry of responses followed, even as Fisi extended a hand toward the heroes and unleashed a massive blast of white light.

The resulting shockwave sent every hero on the roof sprawling, its force fueled by the collective power of the Phoenix and Dragon.

As Cameron tried to right herself in midair with the jets in her boots, she heard a robotic voice—a ScoutBot's—ring out over the channel: "P6 has fallen. Code 'Nicias' is in effect."

"Keiko, that's you," the chairman said brusquely, though the sorrow was evident in his voice. "You've got to fill in for Fabian. Let Chastopher know; he'll have to take over head medic duties."

"Un—Understood, chairman," came Keiko's heartbroken reply as Cameron finally adjusted and headed back toward the top of the Tower. "Do we have a status update on the engine and drill?"

"We can handle the engine!" someone nearby shouted, and Cameron looked to her left to see Defender flying down past her. "Is anyone on the drill?"

"We're still down here, but we're pinned down!" Carrie cried in response, her cracking voice almost overwhelmed by the sound of Vince and Leo's guns firing. "An' the tunnel's still caved in! We can't reach the drill!"

"Even if we could, we don't have the firepower to destroy it!" Leo added before crying out. "Dagnabbit! I'm hit!" he wailed in agony.

"No worries, guys! I'm coming in!"

"What? Jack?!" Jill shrieked as she repositioned on the roof next to Cameron. "You can't go alone! You need backup!"

"I'll cover him," Zill said quickly, spreading his wings and preparing to head downward.

"No! Don't worry about me! I already have backup!"

Zill's antennae suddenly began to quiver, and his eyes widened with surprise as a new voice joined the channel.

"My allegiance is no longer to the Great Old Ones," Syha'h said grudgingly. "I have betrayed them. I am a dead woman walking. So I will just do what I can to help you."