Invasion - Epilogue

[Cyroa]

A lone figure stepped forth from nothing and looked over the ruins of Freedom City. For it truly was in ruins. Nothing lived down there, mostly due to the breach though he had a slight hand in the survivors. A barrier and law had been created to prevent this kind of thing from occurring. But with every law, there were loopholes. Now that this particular loophole had been closed, the rule had returned with a vengeance. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t put his own spin on its return. He had planned for such possibilities after all.

Above, the clouds paused. The wind stopped and all sound ceased. An infinity later, the cloud began to flow backwards. The wind reversed. The sun rose towards noon from it’s late position in the sky. Time flickered and rippled. The city flowed and changed, the damage undone. The world reset itself, as if someone simply flipped a switch. Soon, it was dawn once more.

People appeared, just as they had been that morning before the horrors had occurred. They remained frozen exactly where they should have been as the architect continued to watch and, more accurately, ensure that all was as it should be. Those who had fallen were restored. Wounds and damage were wiped clean, never to have happened. In fact, most would have no recollections of the horrors inflicted on them outside of an occasional indistinct nightmare.

Those who had been on the hill were a different matter. The shielding there had been clever. And it had kept them alive and resistant to the taint from hell. They would remember. Perhaps not every detail of the Breach but certainly enough to realize their part in it and the deeds they had done. The regular citizens that were there would recall as well. Some would even change for the better. The figure blunted their memories, limiting the trauma done to them, to allow them to continue their lives without being crushed by the sights they had seen.

The rest of the world might not believe them but everyone who stood together on that hill would recall (for the most part) what they had done together. With a final nod, the figure disappeared. With that vanishing, time restarted once more. There was no sign that any of it had ever happened. Well, there was one thing that was different. Around Danger Manor, where the shield that kept the demons out had been, there was now a one foot wide strip of white stone encircling the property. Plain and without adornment, the stone still contained a faint magical resonance. It was a reminder and perhaps something a little more permanent for the future.

All over the city, things restarted and people went about their business none the wiser about the catastrophe that had befallen them and their fair city. Heroes, and the citizens who had been there, restarted with a blink as the memories of what had happened settled into their minds. They had been restored; their clothes, injuries and even death, had been restored to just as it had been.

There were quite a few tearful reunions then. Couples became reunited and holding tight as they were restored to one another. Despite the horrors and trials they had faced, they had much to celebrate. In apartments and homes across the city, heroes and civilians came back to themselves and smiled. Everything had been restored just as it was.

In a small hidden base under the city, the heroes of Young Freedom blinked as they came back to themselves. Here they had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, for things to go wrong, for their lost member to start it all. And when a small hole opened, their wayward friend step through and returned. It was a short and rather uncomfortable reunion at best. But at least everything was as it should be once more.

People would share their memories. Articles would be written, interviews made. But only those who were there at the Mansion or at the Gate would ever know. Others might believe them, but none would ever truly know the bravery and heroism shown that day. But there would always be those that were there to remember that once again, Freedom City prevailed thanks to its people and its heroes.