The End of the Circus: From Shards to Gifts Crossover - Novella - Fantasy (2024)

And Part One of Arise the Undersiders is now done...

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Brockton Bay, Arcadia High School, Monday 24 January 2011, 7:44 AM EST…

"…glad to hear your daughter has finally recovered from what happened on Thanksgiving, Danny."

Danny Hebert chuckled as he finished signing all the necessary forms the Commonwealth Department of Elementary and Secondary Education demanded to be filled out in the face of a rather prolonged absence from classes, as had befallen his daughter Taylor since the previous Thanksgiving eve, when she had been attacked and hospitalized by unknown gangers, winding up with a near-fatal dose of ebony mesonium exposure. As far as the staff at the Bay's premier secondary school were aware — save for those who were read in on certain national defence secrets — the daughter of the dockyards had been healed by the famous Amelia Lavere with the intervention of one of the most dangerous metahumans to rise in recent years, the Archangel of Mortality, Litronie Erba ("Doctor Death"). Having been allowed to leave Brockton Bay General Hospital at the end of the first week this month, Taylor Hebert was given two weeks to recuperate and catch up on her homework; her father's visit to the school so early today was to ensure said homework was handed in for teachers to peruse to ensure she got the marks to move on. Of course, catchup examinations would be dealt with when the schedule permitted sometime over the next couple of weeks.

"Yeah, she actually got quite the tune up by proxy from the Doctor before being allowed to come back home," Danny noted, earning him an understanding nod from the school's assistant administrator Joan Mercer; the woman had been glad to come in early to help get Taylor signed back in. "She'll be on her way here today on her morning run to wash up in the changerooms before going to classes; given what happened to her, she's got into running to better dodge the idiots out there."

The older woman hummed. "I'm not sure doing that will be allowed all the time even if she is doing herself good in getting morning exercise," she noted. "Did Amelia urge Taylor to do extra exercise when she was discharged?"

A smirk answered her. "Taylor's actually got Amelia to join her on morning runs."

That made Joan's jaw drop. "What?!"

He chuckled. "If you haven't seen PHO recently…"

She shook her head. "Hate that site…"

"…but Amelia's finally Gifted."

That made the administrator blink as she took that in before she breathed out. "Well, thank God for that!"

He gave her a concerned look. "What makes you say that?"

Joan looked around; it wasn't necessary as she was the only person in the office at this time. "Well, you didn't hear it from me, but ever since she met Doctor Death, Amelia's been getting more worn down by the day. Always finding an excuse to get away from her mother…" — one could coat the floor with the scorn she felt for Carol "Brandish" Dallon on saying that word — "…to go to the various hospitals and heal people all the time. Now that she'd be emancipated because of being Gifted…"

"She moved out of the place the day after Taylor left the hospital. Won't say where she's living at since Carol's being an idiot about it thanks to Amelia moving to stop her nightly visits to the hospitals," Danny explained as he moved to bag the copies of the paperwork that he would file as soon as he got back home this evening from working on the docks. "She was Gifted the same day Taylor left the hospital; her aunt Sarah told her and Victoria to go see Tariko in her cabin on Yiziba on PHO."

A look of surprise answered him. "Victoria's Gifted as well?! She hasn't said anything about that."

"She's playing coy with the gangs in town at Skitter's suggestion; both she and Amelia joined up with the new team Skitter's started up, the Undersiders." As Joan nodded — indeed, who in Brockton Bay had not heard of the recently-arrived Mistress of the Mindless Legions, Lekero ("Skitter"), in the wake of a couple spectacular incidents near the Boardwalk in the first week of January? — he added, "Victoria's finally got total control over that aura of hers, plus switched that shield of hers for true FISS-type powers; she's mid-to-upper range on their scale. She definitely could go one-on-one with Alexandria now."

She hummed. "Well, that'll be a relief. Given people love to call her 'Collateral Damage Barbie' all the time…"

Both perked on hearing a nearby hallway door open, revealing a smiling red-haired teen man. "'Morning, Ms. Mercer! Hey, Mr. H!" Chris Cullen called out as he walked into the office. "Lots of people coming in early today, ma'am."

"Why's that, Chris?" Joan asked.

The teen Tinker known as Kid Win elsewhere pointed to Danny. "Taylor's back after Amy and the Doctor pulled a big miracle out from their hats, so everyone wants to welcome her back with a big crowd when she jogs in with Amy."

Danny chuckled…

**** **** ****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
From Shards to Gifts: Arise the Undersiders
by Fred Herriot

A story set in the universe of The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei.

Certain parts written by Dr. Tempo.

C&C by Rose Ash.

Based on characters and situations from Azumanga Daiō, created by Azuma Kiyohiko; Worm, created by John C. McCrae; characters created by World Wrestling Entertainment, originally founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt; Ryū ga Gotoku, created by Nagoshi Toshihiro; Sweet Valley High, created by Francine Pascal; The West Wing, created by Aaron Sorkin; Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko; Suzumiya Haruhi no Yū'utsu, written by Tanigawa Nagaru; Sister Princess, created by Tenhiro Naoto and Kimino Sakurako; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon;
Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner; and My Little Pony, created by Bonnie Zacherle.

Also mentioning characters and situations from Cyborg and its associated television series, created by Martin Caidin; 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequels, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick (based on The Sentinel, written by Arthur C. Clarke); Star Wars, created by George Lucas; Kingdom Hearts, created by Nomura Tetsuya and Hashimoto Shinji; and Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

And including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura: The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

**** **** ****

Brockton Bay, near Arcadia High School, Monday 24 January 2011, 8:23 AM EST…

"I take it back!"

Hearing that panting comment from her new battle team's resident healer, Taylor Hebert moved to jog on the spot as she turned around to gaze in amusem*nt at the panting Amelia Lavere. "What?!" the dimensionally-displaced insect mistress demanded.

The recently-gifted biokinetic healer now known on the World of the Forge as the Flesh-Twister, Rietier'ba ("Shaper"), was panting hard as she glared at this other-dimensional counterpart of a beloved intimate friend. While Amelia was now getting used to having a more emotionally-mature version of the daughter of the dockyards in her life, there were enough similarities between this Taylor and the one who had been born in this dimension — she currently isolating herself in the dimension her counterpart came from, known locally as "Earth Bet" — that allowed them to develop something of a passionate friendship. And yes, with benefits…though THIS particular benefit wasn't really Amelia's style. "You…!" she took a deep breath, pointing in accusation at her new team leader, "…are NO hero! You're a VILLAIN! The vilest of villains, forcing torture on me…!"

Taylor laughed as she skipped over to draw her arms around Amelia's neck, their noses touching. "Oh, more interested in pillow scenes, huh…?" she quietly meowed before giving the healer a tender kiss. "Can't blame you…"

The two enjoyed a deep duel of tongues for a moment before pulling apart, then Taylor took the other girl's hand, they moving to walk off the five-mile run they had taken through various parts of the Bay before heading into classes; Amelia's adopted sister had gone ahead of them with changes of clothing so they could shower and dress fresh before first period. "You're getting into better shape than you were when you got Gifted," Taylor quietly stated as they turned onto the street which passed before the front gates leading onto Acadia's grounds. "At least, when you got Gifted, you stopped smoking, which is good…"

Amelia flustered. "Didn't want my breath to smell of nicotine when we kissed," she admitted.

"And with all the meson in your bloodstream now, you wouldn't be able to enjoy even the good side of smoking anymore."

"True…"

"Ames! Tay-Tay!"

Both looked up as the former bright star of New Wave — a team which was now effectively defunct with two of its most famous members having been Gifted — soared over to land close to them. "Damn! She's making you really sweat, Ames!" Victoria Dallon breathed out, nodding in approval on seeing the glistening muscles quite delicately exposed thanks to the new jogging uniform that her adopted sister wore; such was done in the green-and-gold colours of the Flesh-Twister, the heraldic crest of her first-self's old university over her heart. "You trying to elevate yourself into being a FISS-type?!"

The other girls laughed. "Relax! We're not stealing your schtick, Vicky!" Taylor quietly answered, making the Fighting Belle of Victory, Yuotuo Bolem ("Glory Girl"), beam as they advanced in line of review towards the entrance of their school. "Be nice to relax ourselves for a bit this week. Got interesting plans for the weekend coming up if what Lisa's…"

"VICTORIA!"

The three yelped on hearing that outraged shout…

…before a flash of teleportation energy appeared behind a VERY incensed Carol Dallon. "CAROL-SAN!"

The lawyer — in her white-and-gold battle uniform as Brandish of New Wave — gasped before turning around…

KK-KRACK! KK-KLONK! KK-KRANG! KK-KRUNCH! KK-KKANG!

"DON! DON! DON! DON! DON!"

Taylor, Amelia and Victoria winced as one while Carol — now sporting a couple of nasty lumps on her forehead, she just having been forced out of her Breaker state with the VERY sharp application of an UMBRELLA HANDLE which had been forged of carbonized neutronium of all things, such braced with ruby mesonium to offset the incredible mass of same — was sent head-first into the tarmac of the street beyond the sidewalk her errant daughter and companions now stood on. A second later, a pouting five-year-old Japanese girl dressed in a traditional sleeved white Yizibajohei battlesuit landed close by, she then allowing the handle of Kasa-tama to rest on her arm while she gave the now-quite dazed lawyer a VERY annoyed look.

"Carol-san, why are you still being SILLY?!" Saeru Hinako curtly demanded.

As the three older teenagers all sighed on seeing what the Living Spirit of Innocence, Lomroer'bem ("Suiki"), just did to the older woman, Amelia reached into her belt pocket to draw out her PAA, tapping the crystal. "Console, Shaper."

"Shaper, Console," the welcome voice of one Dean Stansfield came back from the Rig out in the harbour.

"Need PRT response, about thirty yards east of Acadia front gate on Mason Street, Gallant," the Flesh-Twister said as she walked over to kneel beside her adopted mother, reaching over to tap the moaning woman on the back of the neck with a finger; such would temporarily shut down her mind's links to her parahuman powers. "Brandish is still harassing Glory Girl. This time, Suiki got involved and brained her with Kasa-tama." As the native of Niigata preened on hearing that, Amelia winked at her. "She might be still suffering the aftereffects of Glory Girl's recent bout of post-Gifting shock. She'll need to be restrained."

An amused sigh responded from the man known publicly as Gallant. "Understood, Shaper. Velocity's on duty now; I'll get him routed over to your location as soon as possible. Response from HQ is ten minutes."

"Appreciated…"

****

Arcadia High School, 9:11 AM EST…

"Apologies for being delayed, Velocity. I'm something of a late sleeper during the weekdays!"

Robyn Swoler chuckled as he offered his hand, allowing Lisa Wilbourn to take it and give him a firm shake. "Appreciated, Tattletale," the former Army military intelligence specialist — he had undergone his trigger event while deployed with the "Flying Eyes", the 1st​ Military Intelligence Battalion based out of Caserne Lucius D. Clay in Wiesbaden near Frankfurt am Main, thanks to a rouge Freiheitsgesellschaft operation — turned parahuman superspeed Breaker/Mover known commonly in the Bay as Velocity replied. "Been hearing over PHO that Skitter's moving to have some weekend exercises with other metahuman groups in the Lower Forty-Eight over the next couple of months. More than you expected since you came here?"

"Don't want to say anything in public just yet. If it winds up involving your people, we'll warn you all ahead of time," the Collapsar of Knowledge, Tuonekror'be ("Tattletale"), affirmed as they nodded thanks to the front door guard letting them through the security barrier before they turned left to head towards the school's health office, such guarded by two scowling PRT field officers, weapons at the ready. "So, what exactly has Counsellor Dallon said about her moving to attack Glory Girl?"

"Fortunately for us, she's waived her right to a lawyer," Robyn noted as he gave the blonde clairvoyant from California a knowing look, earning him a wry smirk from the once-runaway who had been targeted by one of the Bay's several criminal gang leaders for her Thinker abilities before she had been rescued by one of the many Shōzoki AIs living in town, putting her on the eventual path to being Gifted. "She still hasn't wrapped her head around the idea of underage metahumans being emancipated, thus allowing Glory Girl and Pan-…" — here, he caught himself — "…uh, Shaper, I mean!" As Lisa gave him an understanding nod — the changes provoked by Amelia Lavere becoming the Flesh-Twister were STILL sending shockwaves through Brockton Bay and beyond — he finished, "Well, something tells me she wants to fight this into the courts to see that overturned."

"President Bartlet got the Supreme Court to render judgement over that provision in the amendments to the LLMA shortly after he took office," the native of Santa Clara noted before she gave him a knowing look. "Colonel's letting us take the lead?"

"As you say it on Yiziba, it's YOUR fight scene," he noted with an amused wink.

"Oh, you guys are SO civilized!" Lisa crooned, making the two guards standing post by the health office door snicker. "Stick around, boys," she then warned, winking at them. "You're about to learn something."

"Have fun, ma'am!" one of them called out.

With that, the clairvoyant went inside…

****

(Translated from Yizibajohei)

The Public Journal of Tayor Anne Hebert/Skitter
I've been asked by people — both Named and Nameless; native Yizibajohei, Terran-born adopted Yizibajohei, and non-Yizibajohei friends on other planets, alike — to write on my experiences adjusting to my current dimension of residence in the wake of my helping in the destruction of the kimfombeke calling itself "Zion" at the end of the "Gold Morning" incident in the multiverse of my birth. How are things concerning metahumans (and "parahumans" as those who have been empowered by the kimfombeke are often addressed) and their interactions between each other — and with the norms on Earth — differ between what I grew up with on Earth Bet and what I'm now living through here on…well, I call this Earth "Earth Yi" in Yiziba's honour.
The one phrase that comes to me as I put my thoughts down is this: HONEST CIVILIZATION.
Now, please don't thing I'm promoting anything like the sameness our ancestors before the Dawn of Power experienced because a pack of petty dictators and selfish monarchs decided they wanted special toys to play with as they carried out their many power games that so distressed the Conservator that the third incarnation of Doctor Destructo (and yes, Rampage, I really do like your interpretation of "healer of destruction" in English) to emerge and start the Freedom Parade.
However, given what our soon-to-be Tuyuki's intention when she launched her Great Casting Drive ten seasons ago, I must admit that dealing with the metahumans I've encountered so far since I was brought into the Dark Gaol by Lord Rjazán' to be effectively rescued and healed with the help of the Undertaker, Suiki and my adopted coven of Avalonians under the leadership of Elder Mother Sharon Blake is truly a breath of air in comparison to the miasma I had to consume on Bet after my trigger event.
Who could I thank for helping make the type of "cape world" that not only matches my childhood dreams but EXCELS them?
Could it be Earth's Jewel Warrior, General Dean Raeburn? The woman who — atop showing what it means for metahumans to live in a harmonious manner alongside norms during and after the Second World War here on Earth — composed a binding international agreement that allowed the norms (who outnumber the metas on Earth by incredible degrees) a sense of personal safety while accepting such incredibly-powered individuals among them, even those of a heel/villainous bent?
Could it be the magical society of the general's homeland of Canada — known among the magicals across Earth as the "land of equal freedom" — who helped an orphaned girl given access to one of the greatest sources of power in the known Multiverse because she matched the Three Clauses of the First Ones to become a Host to a Power Jewel? A society that — while relatively hidden from normal society thanks to a three-season-old agreement that masks magicals' existence from normals — strove to live to high standards concerning how individual people and species were to interact in a peaceful manner?
Could it be the horrible sacrifice of both America's Liberty Legion and Canada's Soldiers of Freedom at the climax of the Battle of Toronto? When most of North America on Earth was threatened by a runaway ebony mesonium bomb unleashed by the last survivors of Nazi Germany's Übermenschen Gruppe as a final "f*ck you" against peace-loving people, not to mention then-Major Raeburn and her friends in the War Hawks who hunted them down like the rabid landsharks they were?awHa

Could it ultimately be Tariko Katabarbe, our soon-to-be-empowered Trickster of the Show — not to mention all those who followed in her footsteps like Doctor Renaissance — and what she and they have done for the last mini-season across Earth? Going forth to find people like Tariko (in the most part) to give them a chance to become part of the Great Show of Life, whole still ensuring they would be emotionally anchored to their native society on Earth? And all, in their own way, working to ensure the holocaust we of Yiziba know so intrinsically well because of the memories of the Dawn of Power and the Starvation Times?
Yes, Gold Morning was awful…and thanks to Zion, spread out over DOZENS of parallel Earths.
But Earth Bet and its sister worlds didn't have a Tariko Katabarbe or an Isaac Thomas or a Dean Raeburn...

****

Arcadia High School, 12:23 PM EST…

"Vicky…doesn't look too good."

Taylor Hebert perked on hearing that droll comment from Dennis Wells, who was now sharing a table with the Mistress of the Mindless Legions along with his fellow Wards Carlos Garcia y Lopez and Eugene Bleuler; naturally, the leader of the Undersiders knew these three fellows by their battle names Clockblocker, Aegis and Browbeat respectively. Giving the blue-eyed, red-headed team joker of the local junior parahuman team an annoyed look, she then sipped her tea. "Do you blame her?"

"Not really," Carlos breathed out. Since the native-born version of the daughter of the dockyards had been read in early concerning the identities of the Wards thanks to her friendship with Amelia Lavere — said biokinetic healer was busy comforting her shuddering sister with the help of Victora Dallon's boyfriend Dean Stansfield at a nearby table, their normal peers giving the three a wide berth given what happened earlier in the day — it was quite easy for the permanently dimensionally-shifted insect mistress to fall into the rôle of "nerdy normal friend" her other self had played for the Wards in attendance at Acadia to better shield their identities and relatives from potential threat. While it wasn't the rather strict regime used on Earth Bet under the umbrella term "unwritten rules" Taylor would be familiar with, it did work out in most respects. "Dean told me what happened when Vicky got Gifted. She sensed what happened to her other self and Amy's other self on Bet, then let her post-Gifting Shock propel her over to — Earth Gimel, was it? — to beat the crap out of that version of their mother for being such a hardhead to them both in the first place." Here, the Puerto Rican-descent regenerative Brute/Mover — his other self had fallen in the Leviathan battle, as had Eugene's other self — shook his head before sipping his Diet co*ke. "Good thing that Amy shut down her mother's powers. If she really decided to go all-out on the 'villain's daughter', we'd need Oblivion over here ASAP."

The others nodded, slight shivers running up both Dennis' and Eugene's spines at their team leader's mentioning of the Show-Stopper, Yoenu'u ("Oblivion"). As the Wards all knew, she was a native of Sweet Valley named Annie Whitman, having been empowered as such with Tariko Katabarbe's help two summers before, making her one of the more powerful heavy-hitters in America's first team of metahumans to publicly rise since the Second World War. Since the former fish-canning town not far from Vandenberg Air Force Base didn't have much in the way of metahuman/parahuman crime, the Sweet Valley Boosters — which Taylor planned to meet with her teammates this weekend coming up — often were seen helping other teams and individual heroes, not to mention the California PRT and Protectorate teams, whenever they could be spared. One of the "Quadrumvirate of Yiziba" — this was the term applied to the four most powerful reality warpers native to the World of the Forge — Annie and her past-selves specialized in the stripping away of metahuman and parahuman powers. When used against Yizibajohei metahumans, she could easily destroy the "Gift crystal" which formed the core of said abilities, ensuring such could not be recycled through the Great Crystal of Power through a standard casting change cycle. With kimfombeke-empowered parahumans like almost all the "capes" native to the Bay, she could either destroy the corona pollentia and gemma organs in the brain…or go so far as to use her abilities to gut out and destroy the actual shard that empowered said parahuman; in those cases, the target "cape" stood about a fifty-fifty chance of surviving that encounter. In the last eighteen months since the new Oblivion made her presence known, nearly THIRTY parahumans across America had been taken down by her; fortunately for Annie's peace of mind, backdated Kill Orders were always issued for those who didn't have the mental or physical strength to survive such a fate.

Humming as she considered that, Taylor then tapped her disguised PAA to draw up a message sent to her through Parahumans Online from her team's battle manager. "Trigger trauma," she then declared, making her lunch companions all perk. "Counsellor Dallon initially triggered after she and her sister had been kidnapped by one of Allfather's goons when she was in elementary school." As the boys hissed on hearing that, she shook her head. "When she saw her other self get put into hospital after Vicky got Gifted, it was living through all that again; she came at her mother's other self so fast, there was no time to react."

"Yeah, that'd do it, alright," Eugene breathed out. Staring at the man whose other self she only encountered once — that during the Undersiders' robbery of Brockton Bay Central Bank to cover the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott by Coil's men in what seemed an eternity ago — Taylor hummed as she took in the measure of the Brute/Striker/Changer. In his "normal" form, Eugene Bleuler was a tall, thin man with sandy blond hair, grey eyes and lightly tanned skin. When he "powered up", he could transform into a very muscular fighter, looking worlds different from the "beanstalk" image he normally projected to friends. His combat uniform had been custom-built by the artisans working for the Specialized Warfare Regiment of Canada on special order by Tess "Dragon" Richter herself — at the direct request of Colin "Armstrong" Wallis, naturally — with special vents that allowed him to project both his biokinetic abilities and personal defence field to shield from most threats; in that regard, Eugene was Victoria Dallon's effective equal before the latter's Gifting. He was something of a latecomer to the hero game in Brockton Bay, having only joined the Wards a half-year before, but his potential had been seen early on enough to make the current Protectorate leader go out on a limb to see him equipped in a way that would help him survive next to anything that could be sent his way.

"Well, now that she's in custody, Amy's clear to go in and fix her adopted dad up without getting an energy sword in the face," Dennis dryly noted as he focused on Amelia for a moment before turning back to his sandwich. Since the Flesh-Twister had gone in on one of her "volunteer nights" to heal the time-stopping Striker's long-suffering father George Wells of terminal cancer, he always felt a fondness for Amelia Lavere, though he knew that she batted for the home team even if her now being a Yizibajohei effectively made her bisexual; it had been Amelia's deeply growing attraction for Victoria that one Margo Black had targeted first when the Archangel of Mortality had effectively taken the-then "saintly" Panacea under her wing.

Eugene snorted. "Yeah! Wouldn't it be like Mrs. Dallon to rant at Amy for 'changing' her father like that?"

"No bet there," Carlos trilled before perking. "Hey, Joel! Where's Chris?"

Joining the group now was a girl who looked distantly like Madison Clements, though she had centre-parted straight brown hair down to the level of her collarbones and blue eyes while the gynoid version of the "cute" member of Taylor's group of tormentors a lifetime ago had wavy hair to mid-back and hazel eyes. Joel Simmons was Chris Cullen's girlfriend, a Terran-form Avalonian "assistant observer"; her late master had been killed by one Sherell "Squealer" Bailey when the parahuman motor-head Tinker of the Archer's Bridge Merchants had taken her latest automotive monstrosity on a test spin through the Bay. "Sorry to bug you guys," the amateur fanfiction story writer known more infamously as PHO's "SpecificProtagonist" hissed as she slid into the chair between Taylor and Eugene. "Chris is in the study room and he's not feeling good…"

Perking as her own telepathy scanned the newcomer — Taylor's power only gave her the ability to change a sentient being's subconscious thoughts, though she could detect conscious thoughts if need be; given she was touch-telepathic and empathic, an Avalonian like Joel would be easy to comprehend by the Mistress of the Mindless Legions — she then sighed. "Tinker fugue," she quietly warned before swallowing the rest of her pita wrap. "Let me see if I can help him, guys."

"Thanks, Taylor," Carlos breathed out as the insect mistress stood up…

****

In geosynchronous orbit at the 120th​ Meridian west of Greenwich (directly over the Pacific Ocean at a point 3,120 kilometres west of Cabo Berkeley on Isla Isabela within the Islas Galápagos), 9:32 AM PST (Brockton Bay time: 12:32 PM EST)…

"Free Planetary State of Yiziba Starship Discovery, Katy Franklin speaking. Who's calling?"

"Hi, Katy, it's Taylor Hebert."

The lovely red-haired, green-eyed twenty-something now standing watch over the expansive bridge of her creator's greatest space-faring work smiled. "Good afternoon, Taylor. Liz is in class right now. Is there something the matter?"

"Chris Cullen and a potential Tinker Fugue about to overcome him yet again," came the response from one of the private study rooms at Arcadia High School in Brockton Bay. With a quick glance at the screen displaying a short-range sensor readout which produced a 3D interior image of said educational facility, the replica of the chief "fembot" who had been created by Dr. Franklin to oppose the OSI in the three-part "Kill Oscar" crossover television episodes of The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man from 1976 was quick to note that the caller was in the room with two other people in the space specifically set aside for the Brockton Bay Wards. Confirming that the Mistress of the Mindless Legions was in that space along with the resident Tinker of the junior parahuman team from that city, plus his Avalonian lover, Katy quickly moved to drop the shields that could block even PAA teleportation from seeing someone sneak aboard her creator's home-away-from-Yiziba.

"Understood, Taylor. Shield is down and you can bring Chris and Joel aboard."

"Thanks, Katy!"

Seconds later, the bright teleportational flash indicating that the insect mistress was shifting herself and her schoolmates aboard the ten-to-one replica of the USSC Discovery One from one of the most ground-breaking science fiction films ever produced. Immediately, Katy's chief assistant Nancy Wilson got up from her position at the long-range sensor station to help a clearly-worried Joel Simmonds walk a dazed Chris Cullen off the "transporter pad" — the place on the vast bridge where people who "beamed" aboard FPSYS Discovery always arrived at — and towards a nearby elevator. "I've already prepared Lab Twelve for Chris' use, Nancy. Good afternoon, Taylor, Joel. Welcome aboard," a cultured, polite man's voice echoed over the scene.

"Thanks, Hal," Taylor breathed out as she watched the others walk the teen Tinker away, then she stepped off the pad herself to gently grasp Katy's hand. "So glad that I got Liz's agreement to make use of this big boy whenever someone got into trouble," the insect mistress wryly mused as her eyes instantly focused on the beautiful starfield beyond Discovery's main bridge.

Knowing smiles crossed the faces of the several gynoids — all replicas of "fembots" from the television series created from the 1972 novel Cyborg by a New Yorker author/screenwriter who mixed science fiction and secret agent elements to his story concerning an astronaut who received cybernetic augmentation after a horrible test flight crash — as the woman who had been transplanted into this multiverse from another weeks ago walked over to stand close to the expansive thick transparent aluminum windows showing a gorgeous view of deep space. Even the controlling intelligence of the Discovery, he himself modelled and named after his namesake from 2001: A Space Odyssey, was metaphorically smiling in sympathy at Taylor's understandable reaction of being in a place she never could go while on Earth Bet. "If only…!" the daughter of the dockyards breathed out.

In a funny way, it felt like a strange dream to the once-warlord of Brockton Bay. Standing on a warp-capable STARSHIP of all things — never mind what it had been modelled after — in a place in space-time that, back on Earth Bet, would be impossible for any parahuman to reach. That was thanks to the Endbringer called the "Simurgh", who had (after her activation in this "cycle", as the kimfombeke viewed such things, before her first attack on the Swiss city of Lausanne in 2002) effectively cut off all space beyond the biosphere from human travel. Having once dreamed of going into space — no thanks to the wonders of Star Trek — Taylor never imagined she would make it into the "final frontier" like this. Never mind her continuing to possess her metahuman powers along the way; thanks to the various Cauldron revelations in the wake of the Echidna Incident on Bet, the insect mistress knew kimfombeke-sourced parahuman powers were blocked from working beyond the target planet's biosphere to prevent the escape of any hosts from final destruction and analysis. While there was a slim chance that the Simurgh — never mind the other Endbringers save Behemoth (destroyed by Scion in the attack on New Delhi) and Leviathan (destroyed by Scion in Gold Morning) — could breach the multiversal layer between Earth Bet and the planet now effectively under Taylor's feet, such could be easily intercepted by a whole host of responses, least of which being Discovery's primary weapon, a mesonium-powered hypermatter cannon which equalled the force the Death Star itself from Star Wars: A New Hope projected.

Never mind what could happen should any of the kimfombeke themselves try to penetrate this multiverse.

Having been made the "best host" of Queen Administrator — one of Scion's "noble shards" which could, as Gold Morning so easily demonstrated, control other shards — Taylor soon realized she herself could be a target for any of those creatures now moving to scavenge the potentially lost data from either his or his late mate Eden's shards now spread out over dozens of planets in Earth Bet's multiverse. While there hadn't been any activity on that front since four of Taylor's fellow parahumans on Bet had been hurt by their counterparts' Giftings here — the fifth such person, Aisha "Imp" Laborn, kept a fully-capable "bud" from her shard when her other self became the Northern Singularity of Attention, Lanuto (known on Earth also as "Imp"), thus retaining her tactical knowledge for the use of the surviving Undersiders and their allies now on Earth Gimel — it would soon come. The Wardens — effectively the reformed Protectorate who were striving to maintain a greater level of public honesty with the normal people now resident in the "City" on Gimel and elsewhere — knew Taylor's other self from this universe had taken up residence on Bet while she recovered from acute ebony mesonium poisoning acquired the previous Thanksgiving. Those heroes chose to leave that person alone while she learned how to master her frightening capabilities with the assistance of one Rittmeister Josef Wilhelm, Freiherr von Taserich of the German island of Rügen, arguably the oldest human being on Earth — at TWENTY-FIVE MILLENNIA old, give or take a few decades! — not to mention people like Annie Whitman and Saeru Hinako.

But the Wardens weren't the ONLY parahumans still active in that multiverse, Taylor knew.

Given the potential interest groups like the Fallen and the Taught had come to express concerning the World of the Forge…

****

The Rig (field headquarters of the Brockton Bay Department, Massachusetts Parahuman Response Team), 3:48 PM EST…

"Man! Thanks, Missy! I'd hate to f*ckin' leg it over to the damned bridge to report in for my shift."

Missy Byron chuckled as she patted Sophia Hess' shoulder. "Don't mention it, Soph," the recent-Gifted Living Wormhole, Umtyuo ("Vista"), said as she moved to put her schoolbag down on one of the couches in the Wards' main recreation room in the middle of the large, decommissioned oil rig that served as the primary operations base for the local Protectorate branch and their junior team, not to mention the accompanying PRT field tactical groups. "Can't wait to get my new quarters set up; lucky thing that Lisa's friends have a free single-bedroom apartment in their block for me to use. Once I can get the last of my stuff from my useless parents, I'm out of everyone's hair here and busy helping the brainiac be a NICER Sherlock Holmes!"

"Aw, we'll miss you, Missy!" a voice crooned from the seat before the huge television/gaming console that had been provided for the junior parahumans under Colin Wallis' overall operational charge in the middle of the space.

Missy micro-warped a pillow from one side of the room to bounce it off Dennis Wells' head. "Dork!"

Chuckles filled the space, then a voice called out, "Oi, Missy, you'd think there'd be a free space available for Bri and me?"

Sophia jolted before she relaxed herself. "You really like pulling sh*t like that, don't you, Aisha?!"

"You blame me?" the Northern Singularity of Attention mused as she tapped the buckle of her jeans belt, allowing such to morph into her near-midnight black battlesuit, such covered in near-psychedelic dark grey shapes that would help her effectively melt into the night when she wanted to hide herself from observation. Said suit, the shadow-shifter known to the public as Shadow Stalker knew, had been redone over the last week at Taylor Hebert's insistence to incorporate Yizibajohei teyuramketyo'o dragline silk — the local equivalent of Darwin's bark spider silk on Earth — with mesonium augmentation to give the younger woman a considerable modem of protection when out on the street beating up mooks. Of course, the black hooded cloak which was modelled after the outerwear worn by Nobodies working for Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts was slung over her shoulders as well; fortunately, given Aisha's past-selves' knowledge stemming from her first-self's life as a shadow warrior serving the government of Kuorim (an ancient kingdom on the eastern equatorial continent) at the time the Dawn of Power happened, she knew how to fight even with such a protective cloak that could easily get in her way if she wasn't careful.

"Mom's being a drugged-up ass, you mean?"

"Constant state of being with her," Aisha breathed out, rolling her eyes.

Sympathetic looks came her way from the others in the room. "Sorry to hear that, Aisha," Eugene Bleuler breathed out as he reached over to gently squeeze the younger girl's shoulder in sympathy. Since those of the Wards who attended Arcadia High most often got out of classes at around two o'clock in the afternoon, they were able to beat their co-worker attending Winslow High School by at least an hour depending on if Sophia Hess was called out for track practice. "Chris still not back yet?"

Sophia looked around. "Where the hell is the dude anyway?"

"Another Tinker fugue," Carlos Garcia quietly announced after stepping into the living room from his own quarters nearby.

That made the girls who came in from Winslow High (Sophia) and Brockton Middle School (Missy and Aisha) gape. "sh*t! ANOTHER fugue?! What the holy f*ck's the matter with the guy?!" the shadow-shifter demanded.

"No one knows, but Joel called down from the Discovery just after we called here," the current Wards team leader reported. "Liz Wakefield got him isolated in one of the labs so he could work away. By from what she could see he started to do, it's got something to do with that weird concoction that nearly killed him the night we all learned about Taylor being Skitter."

People stared at the Puerto Rican for a moment. "Okay, that's a little ominous," Eugene then breathed out. "We know that Chris' other self was killed in Gold Morning over on Earth Bet." As people gazed at the body-altering telekinetic/biokinetic, he held up a finger, tapping it with his other hand. "So, the shard that empowered that Chris and our Chris is free to come to this multiverse without the kimfombeke…" — here, he used the Yizibajohei term for the Entities out of respect for Missy and Aisha — "…trying to steal all the data that it collected. Why is it trying to drive our Chris into creating something that could kill him?"

People hummed. "Shards are normally protective of their hosts once trigger events happen," Carlos noted. "Maybe Chris' shard didn't take local conditions into account when he mixed that stuff up?"

"Possibly. After all, there's no mesonium in that other multiverse," Missy breathed out, reaching out with a space warp to get hold of a can of co*ke Zero to sip on. "Mesonium is used here because of Colin's working relationship with Captain Richter up on Ellesmere Island. A lot of the SWR's tech is Karollan-based since it's so readily available there. Karollans used mesonium a lot in their construction; when she first found the place before World War One, General Raeburn couldn't believe that someone could build a mile-long FORTRESS made from mixed diamond and ruby mesonium frames!" As people stared at her, the Living Wormhole blinked. "What?! Some of my past-selves found those observation bases all over the galaxy!"

Dennis pointed at her. "You really scare me when you do that, Missy!"

"Was there one of those things on Yiziba?" Sophia wondered.

Missy hummed. "Not that I know of. If it was there, it probably got buried under the northern polar ice cap; their home star went supernova five million years ago, remember?" As the others in the room nodded, she sipped her cola.

"Yeah, I'd love to go see where that star system was located," Eugene noted. "Did Joel learn from Liz about what Chris created that nearly got his neck sliced open, Carlos? Since Isaac's busy making combat goggles for Missy and Aisha here…"

The regenerative Brute/Mover hummed. "It's either meant to be a super propellant of some sort or some type of very high-yield explosive." Here, he shrugged. "Of course, trying to test it anywhere safe is going to be an issue."

The others nodded. Unlike the situation in Earth Bet's multiverse, their own home planet was located smack-dab in the middle of a galactic crossroads of sorts. The sentients on the third world of Sol weren't the only society resident in the system; located on the Neptunian moon of Triton — a world terraformed on purpose by a sentient Sagussan starship a millennia before as a place of refuge — was a group of long-lived humanoids who possessed both warp-capable flight technology as well as a galactic-range wormhole-like transmitter device which allowed them to teleport themselves and any sort of cargo to planets at a considerable distance from the system. Said people — the Kingdom of Neptune on Triton, its governing polity was called — was a member-group of an alliance of local cluster powers who had gathered together for both defence and interplanetary trade, the Galactic Federation of Planet-states; said alliance now controlled worlds to the galactic "south" and "northeast" of the solar system, bearing on courses 180 and 045 respectively when measured off the galactic core on the Star Trek scale. To the galactic "east" and "west" of Sol were two powers which were the Federation's enemies, the Ipraedies Empire and the Imperial Houses of the Seif*ckusu Dominion respectively; the latter polity was one of the four local "galactic superpowers" within a thousand light-years of Earth. Counterbalancing this situation from the galactic "north" was another of those superpowers, the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios; fortunately for the Federation worlds, the Klingon-like race (in physical looks) was more friendly and sympathetic to the smaller polities bordering its territory. And lurking beyond local space were the many effective domains of the various System Lords of the Goa'uld, a parasite race of sentient serpents who possessed human bodies and had dominated almost the whole galaxy for millennia; said group had been encountered by a special exploratory formation of the United States Air Force, Stargate Command, over the previous three years thanks to a relic of a long-lost race of evolved humanoids, the Antiequas.

And close by to Earth at a range of 273 light-years was Kaeyu, home star of Yiziba.

Since the Dawn of Power two millennia before, the natives of the World of the Forge had developed a well-earned reputation for living in a society governed by a form of "aggressive anarchy" that thumbed the proverbial nose at any rigid forms of social or cultural structure imposed by multiple layers of government, be it single-planet or multi-planet. Thanks to the metahuman revolution that had brought down almost two hundred separate nation-states in the space of four decades Earth-time — with the accompanying release of untold amounts of mesonium particles from the Moon-sized ancient forge which formed Yiziba's very core, the legendary "Great Crystal of Power" as it was known these days — what had once been a relatively benign Class-M planet (again, using Star Trek terminology) had been transformed into a worldwide version of what many people claimed that places such as the Australian Outback or the Canadian Arctic could present to the unwary. In effect, becoming a metahuman was a SURVIVAL REQUIREMENT on a world where simple plants could transform into city-devouring monsters, much less where helpless animals could spontaneously evolve into creatures that would find the velociraptors from the Jurassic Park movie series an enticing morning snack…and that was just some of the potential NATURAL threats which could be found there!

Thanks to the concept of the "casting change" — where metahumans, at their deaths, would typically have their corpses merged with the Great Crystal of Power; such would see the deceased metahuman's memories and actual power set (such placed in an egg-shaped spheroid known commonly as a "Gift crystal") bestowed on a would-be metahuman when said person moved to be "Gifted" with abilities — the memories of the Dawn of Power and the Starvation Times which followed same created a universal revulsion to the very IDEA of "sameness" as demonstrated by rulers and their followers of the nation-states of old. Over time — and in spite of the fact that only about 20% of Yiziba's average population were "Named"; these were people who adopted the "battle name" of a late metahuman who had been "buried" in the Great Crystal through the casting change/Gifting process — a deep disgust towards having any sort of societal framework governing people's lives had grown to the point where the "government" of the planet (known to outsiders formally as the "Free Planetary State of Yiziba") was more akin to the staff running a reality television show as had become quite the rage all over many parts of Earth in recent years.

Seeing such developments had appalled neighbouring powers from the moment the "Great Show of Life" began in effect around forty-seven seasons after the start of the Dawn of Power. While the leaders of some of those powers — such as another of the local galactic superpowers, the Confederation of Vos, located to the galactic "east" of Yiziba's home system — adopted a "live and let live" policy with the world of metahumans, other governments tried various forms of direct intervention to restore a sense of "stability" in what (to those outsiders' viewpoints) was a horribly unstable situation. But Yiziba and its remarkable natives were quite resilient to such imposed attempts at "sameness" being forced on them. If such was done for honest reasons, parties of the "Nameless" — people who didn't allow their memories/powers to be effectively recycled through the Great Crystal; Tariko Katabarbe's late adopted mother Ayone had been one of the Nameless — would make contact with these well-wishes and teach them about the ugly facts of life on the third world of Kaeyu…usually by showing them preserved memories of those who had died in the days before the Dawn of Power, where regimes that would have LAUGHED at the actions of the Nazis in Germany or the Soviets in Russia pre-World War Two had run rampant over three-quarters of the planet.

Then, there were those who believed themselves capable of CONQUERING the World of the Forge…!

The Goa'uld tried it five thousand years before. In the "Second Great Banishment", the second incarnation of the Healer of Destruction, Batae Erba ("Doctor Destructo"), came within a hair's breadth of rendering the System Lords EXTINCT!

The Seif*ckusu tried it during the Starvation Times. Here, the former dictator of the central equatorial continent nation of Damgatuto — who had assumed the identity of the Dark Warlord of the Centre, Tae R'buodom ("General Tonfā"), having raised an army which remained loyal to him even in such a hellish time — launched a multi-planet rampage all the way back to the hearth world of those people, unleashing levels of devastation which would eventually see the Imperial Houses' overall influence on the local cluster collapse over the following centuries, they soon retreating from Vos all the way back beyond Earth!

The Urusians — a race of humanoids living on a planet which was about forty-five light-years from Sol; they had been a slave race of the Imperial Dominion until nine centuries ago, then formed a like empire in the wake of the Seif*ckusu withdrawal — tried it in the mid-1740s Earth-time. The result of that came to introduce a new phrase in common galactic conversation:

Raetuo Kor'buo Tyu'ur'beti. The Mother of All Fight Scenes.

A planet-wide act of sheer devastation on the scale of the Dawn of Power itself, the whole event lasting about ten days, which drove the arrogant, racist leaders of the Urusian Imperials — those who weren't deliberately sought out and killed along the way during this dark time — to their knees as they learned the true, chilling meaning of HELPLESSNESS. A time where such selfish monsters were made to confront beings who easily rendered all their advantages in technology utterly naught via savage attacks by a small team of well-motivated metahumans, led then by the Charging Beau of the Heavens, Duohuo ("Rampage"). Said warrior had come to Uru to search for his wife, the Mistress of Lightning, Huobo'o ("Tempest") — who was an Urusian woman named Redet Danu, she having served as the Empire's "champion" against her future husband in Uru's attempted "invasion" of the World of the Forge; her future husband had been chosen to "defend" for the Free Planetary State in a game of tag…when both were CAPABLE OF FLYING, much to the Urusian leaders' chagrin! — who had got homesick and had returned to her home planet to visit her parents. The result of such a visit seeing poor Danu captured and subdued, to be soon subjected to horrible lab experiences carried out to ascertain any weaknesses that could be exploited among the Children of the Forge.

In that horrible event, the whole local cluster learned how STUPID it was to attack Yiziba.

And — in a strange reflection of how Yizibajohei remembered the dark times of the Dawn of Power and what caused it — it soon became common for those people who had undergone their own MOAFS-like experience as Uru had suffered to TEACH their offspring (via mental programming) about how utterly SUICIDAL it was to provoke the Children of the Forge in the first place!

On many planets such as Uru and Dominos, it soon became common custom for people to use phrases like "the Unspeakable Place" or "You Know Where" for the third world of Kaeyu; its residents getting addressed by terms such as "They Who Must Never Be Named" or the "You Know Whos"…or the "Scary People" in the eyes of the very young.

What Tariko Katabarbe started in the spring of 2001 created a double-edged sword for the leaders of Earth.

On the one hand, it guaranteed a steady stream of highly trained metahumans who brought a vast array of power sets to help deal with potential issues, allowing the potential workload by indigenous-born metahumans/parahumans by a considerable margin.

On the other hand, given Earth's place in local galactic space, leaders on Uru and other planets would consider an effective "invasion" by the metahumans of That Planet as something that couldn't be tolerated.

It was only by a miracle that various agencies such as the American state PRT and Protectorate teams strove to keep any sort of information concerning the presence of adopted Yizibajohei on Earth to a dull roar.

It was another miracle that the many observers from the second world of the Phentax tri-star system over fifty light-years to the galactic "southeast" of Earth — they being the source of over several million Avalonian bioroid "assistant observers" who could seamlessly fit into Terran society — had effectively "gone native", directly suppressing reports of the potential presence of "they who must never be named" to their superiors back on their homeworld, much less the Niphentaxians' allies in the Galactic Federation like Uru. Which could become incredibly dangerous should certain factions on Uru elect to "invade" Earth as they had done to Yiziba decades ago. This was because of the rise of a zealous pseudo-worldwide "church" on Phentax Two which worshipped an Urusian girl, Redet Danu's descendant Redet Lum — who herself was listed as Entry #2 in Tariko Katabarbe's personal log about all those she had met over the previous decade, The Book of Pretty Girls — as a virtual "living goddess"!

Were Lum to be made the "champion" for Uru in such an "invasion"…!

Yeah, keeping that sort of thing secret's gonna be an issue somewhere, Dennis mused as he turned back to his game…

…before he perked. "Hey, wait a minute!" he called out, making the others look his way.

"What're you thinking of?" Carlos asked.

"Earth Bet," the temporal manipulator declared. "Where our Taylor shifted herself to after she found out what happened to her counterpart there that gave us Skitter thanks to Lord Rjazán'!" As people blinked, he smirked. "They had to evacuate the damned planet because the kimfombeke wrecked the place in Gold Morning! If Chris' thing turns out to be explosive…"

The others in the room hummed…

****

Earth Bet, the site of Brockton Bay, Tuesday 1 April 2014, 9:42 AM EST…

Much had changed in the Bay, Ciara Coinmheadh was quick to note as she took in all that was around her.

As the woman known more commonly as

There was only one manmade structure visible in this expanded version of Brockton Bay and the Essex River estuary spilling out into the wider Gulf of Maine beyond. A lovely, lived in family home on a simple plot of land, a single road stretched out before it to provide a safe place for people to land on or teleport to when they sought an audience with the Dark Faery or her many teachers who came here from the universe of the Great Dark Forge to show her how to master her incredible powers so she could interact with both normal and blessed without causing harm. The home of the host of Queen Administrator once, restored to perfect condition long before Leviathan's charge into the city nearly three years before, a memorial to the willingness of Taylor Hebert to do all to win for those she declared was under her protection. Now the home of a Taylor Hebert from the universe of the Great Dark Forge, touched by the Forge's eternal power in a most foul way yet having gained the mental strength — perhaps from Queen Administrator herself? — to master such power, though isolating herself from beloved family and friends to ensure they would not be swept away by bloody madness, said power allowing the hideous darkness that lurked within all who lived to explode forth in an orgy of violence that would rival specific events of the "dawn of power" that befell those who lived on the planetary shell around the Great Dark Forge two millennia before. A thing that the Dark Faery, to her credit, didn't want…

"Ah! What have we here?!"

Ciara hissed, spinning around…

…before pausing as the aura of the middle-aged man in the red-and-royal blue jumpsuit with the baggy sleeves and leggings — reminding her in general design of the martial arts uniform donned by the late Abigail Rowan-Satō; such a brave warrior she was — as he gave her a very appraising look, one that made the Irishwoman blink before she breathed out, "

He nodded, his stormy grey eyes flashing with understanding. "And you're a priestess of the dead seeking understanding. Not one who would force others to cheat death, which speaks well of you, Ciara Coinmheadh." With that, he gently grasped her hand to give such a courtly kiss, that making Ciara blush even if she didn't resist him; truly, even if he was the living expression of one of the Dark Faeries to rise from the Great Forge, he was clearly a man of manners and breeding. "Well met, my dear."

She demurely smiled. "

"No, there is nothing I could teach young Taylor that the Quadrumvirate of Yiziba, the Living Spirit of Innocence and the Undying Lord of Rügen couldn't cover on their own," he noted as he gave her a warning look. "Surely you have sensed it, my dear. The other kimfombeke who were quick to detect the destruction of the Thinker and the Warrior in this great stage you live within? How, alarmed as they try to be, they now come to see to

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then…

"

Here, the Mad Prophet of the Future,

"Listen well, Mistress Ciara…"

To Be Continued…

****

WRITER'S NOTES

This arc of From Shards to Gifts begins two weeks after The Return of Skitter as hinted at in the teaser scene.

Translation list and source language: Kasa-tama — Mister Umbrella (Hinako-speak Japanese); Freiheitsgesellschaft — Freedom Society, the official name of the group normally called "Gesellschaft" in Worm (German); Kimfombeke — Worm leech (Yizibajohei); Übermenschen Gruppe — Group of Supermen (German); Cabo — Cape; Isla(s) — Island(s) (both Spanish); Rittmeister — Ride Master, the rank title for a captain in the cavalry; Freiherr — Free Lord, the equivalent of a baron in Britain (both German); Teyuramketyo'o — Ice mountain spider; Kuorim — Morning Calm, analogue to Korea on Earth; Damgatuto — Land of the Damga, analogue to Uganda (the last three Yizibajohei).

The abbreviation LLMA is short for the Liberty League Memorial Act, a law passed by Congress in 1957 which regulates metahuman rights and responsibilities within the sovereign territory of the United States of America. Said act also served as the country's acceptance of the ISWT (International Specialized Warfare Treaty) referenced by Taylor Hebert (Skitter) in her public journal. This act is named in honour of the Liberty Legion (officially, the 1st​ Joint Specialized Warfare Legion) formed by American metahumans for service in World War Two; this group was first introduced in The Seventh Shipgirl.

The story of Major (at the time of this story, Major General) Deannette Antonia "Dean" Raeburn, my first fictional character, and the magical society of Canada is best covered in Magic And Canada (Fanfiction story ID 12245154). Also noted on in there is the story of Rittmeister Josef von Taserich (born Tash Ri) spoken of in the fifth scene.