I guess I'll speak now.

I'm not posting under this name anymore, so this is probably the last you'll see of Starbringer. 

Dawnstreak called the police during the last few minutes of the battle then managed to get a few blocks away from the destroyed laboratory before blacking out (That was summary). Though there was an attempt to find her for an official interview, she had disappeared into the underground maze of the city. 

Tariana Freespell went back to what she knew, saving the area from corruption. Yet as time flashed on, real-life encounters became history, then legend. She had disappeared from the scene for the last time, likely dying defending her precious home. 

People have said Ms. Terrie Frestate does have some resemblance to someone they met somewhere, ("It'd be impossible of course, of course she isn't, it was just the lighting that confused me") but when she turns and looks at you with that piercing blue, confident, almost recklessly nonchalant gaze, you suddenly can not say that the successful executive looks like a vigilante who used to guard some filthy piece of slum town. Not very tactful, and impossible anyway. 

If someday it is proved that the term "impossible" is an erroneous, old-fashioned word, then maybe Dawnstreak was one of the few heroes with a happy ending.

Gem would never be an innocent. No, she has seen, heard, and experienced too much to ever go back to being one of those. But, at least she wasn't running for her life. Skylock(who's real name was Zandibar)'s family had invited her to stay a bit after Zandi had recovered. This was good for Gem, because living in the orphanage would have made her an irritable person later in life and also because she looked up to Zandibar almost like an older sister. Eventually, they officially signed adoption papers and she had become an Overlook. Although remaining mostly serious, she had developed a slight mischivious personality and often found herself slipping out of her new bedroom window to join the fight against crime...

(IF ANY OF THIS ISN'T OK WITH YOU GUYS LET ME KNOW!!!!!!!!)

Zandibar~

"I'd like to arange a meeting with Saana, please... No, I don't know her last name. How many people can there be in one jail named Saana? It's not exactly a common name... Oh, for heaven's sake, you know exactly who I'm talking about! Yes, soon! Thank-you-and-goodbye!" I slam down the phone irritably. Why do they have to make this so difficult? I sigh and slump my head onto my hand. But a few days later I find myself being ushered into a prison waiting room. Saana is already seated behind the single wooden table, flanked by two guards. I ignore them and run to her.

"Saana!" I cry, throwing my arms around her. She hugs me back tightly, then releases me.

"Hey, Zan." She's paler than I remember her, hair unkempt, and with shadows under her eyes. She looks so small in her baggy jumpsuit. A lot can change in a month. 

She smiles wanly at me. "So, what brings you here?" I can feel my chest fill with guilt as I retreat to my side of the table.

"Saana." I bite my lips together, then force out, "I am so sorry. I promised I wouldn't let them do this to you." She sighs.

"It was going to happen, Zandibar. I guess some things..." her voice trails away. "I'm sorry, too. I promised I wouldn't kill anyone, but Leopold was going to kill us. I did what I had to." Her words are sure, but her tone is almost questioning. Almost. She knows why she did what she did, she just doesn't know if I do, too.

"You did what you had to. We wouldn't have survived without you. I wouldn't have survived without you." I reach across the table and take her hand, "Thank you, Saana."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took me longer to decide to meet with Andy. Partially because I never knew him that well, partially because I could never quite understand him. He was always so angry and guarded that I never knew where I stood with him. I would often find myself saying or doing something that I thought was right, but he disagreed with. But I felt I owed him an appology in person as much as I owed one to Saana.

"Hello, Andy."

"Hey, Zandibar." Almost the same greeting Saana gave me. They are so different, yet they fit together like the top and bottom sets of wings on a butterfly. They compliment each other perfectly.

"Andy... I wanted to say I'm sorry. I promised I wouldn't let them take you. I'm so sorry." He nods.

"I know." Silence. I wait a bit, but decide to take that as forgiveness when it's clear he's not going to say more.

"Thank you, Andy. Thank you for everything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I searched for Dawnstreak for months, but couldn't find a trace of her. She's vanished as mysteriously as she came. She saved my life and I want to thank her. Every so often I feel as though I glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye, yet she vanishes when I turn to get a closer look. But who knows; maybe our paths will cross again someday. One can only hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm not giving up on you, Will, so don't you dare give up on yourself," I say, dumping a pile of homework onto Willomena's bed. She sets her book aside, sighing.

"Zandibar. You know I'm not giving up. I just- need a break, alright? I need to sort out everything. Being Will'o'wisp was such a big part of me, and now... You understand that, don't you?"

"It's not permanent. Maybe we'll go back to it someday?"

"Maybe." But her tone makes it obvious that the matter is closed for now. She picks up a text book. "I've got to do all this? I'm going to kill you!"

"Welcome back, Will."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Gemma Overlook, huh?" I wrap my arm around Gem's shoulders as we walk out of the courthouse, her newly signed adoption papers tucked into my mom's- our mom's- briefcase. It's been a transition for all of us, this new three person family, but it's a good change. It's been wonderful getting to watch Gem come out of her shell. She grins at me and takes mom's hand. "Welcome home, little sister."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I tie up my thread and snip it off, then hold the tunic up in front of me. Although I washed it three times and sewed it up, it still shows the marks of the night of the battle. Bloodstains. The bunched places where I mended the rips. It will never be the same, but I've done the best I can with it, just as I did every other time it tore. I will never wear it again, but I couldn't stand to leave my outfit ruined.

Blue and white. My colors. Skylock's colors. I slide the tunic onto a hanger to join the blue leggings, then drape the mask on top. When will I wear these colors again? Who knows. 

"But I will wear them one day," I say outloud, hanging them in my closet. I take one last look, run my hand over the sky blue fabric. No, it won't be the same. Neither will I. Neither will my city. But I will mend, too, and so will it. 

"One day, Skylock."

Okay, quick question. First, I want to say, everyone's posts were amazing. Thank all of you. And second, my question. Everyone seems to be done, except possibly the Riddler. I'd like to finish it with an epilogue. Is it okay by everyone if my post is the very end of this RP? Just because if that is fine by everyone, I want to write it tomorrow, a year after this RP began.

Please respond soon. I don't want to finish it if everyone isn't ready yet. I

~Zeus 

Okay! Wow! I can't believe it. It's been a year, and this RP is ending. I can't believe it. I'll do my best not to mess this up. Thank all of you who were so dedicated that you stuck it out this entire year, and made this story so fantastic. It was great to write with you.

Andy

~

The cold wind is a shock to me, and it feels odd to see the sky. It's only my second day out of jail, and it's proving difficult to become reaccustomed to the outside.

I'm seventeen. I have my whole life ahead of me. And that life will be long, now that I'm finally freed from the world of crime... or maybe it won't be long. But at least it will be happy.

I haven't visited Zandibar yet; I've been meaning to get around to it. I heard a rumor that her family adopted Gemma, and I have to check sometime to see if that's true. And I'd like to visit her anyway. I still remember, almost two years ago, how she visited me in prison and thanked me. 

I had stayed silent then because I didn't know what to say. I didn't know why she was thanking me, of all people.

I didn't really think she understood my motivations, but that was okay. If she wanted to thank me, I wouldn't tell her not to.

I'd never really intended to help the vigilantes. That wasn't to say I was against them. But all I was ever trying to do was keep Saana safe. If that meant helping one side or the other, so be it. It seemed funny to me that somehow, over the course of everything that happened, I had become a good person again. It was kind of unintentional.

I had hoped at the time that Zandibar would also thank Saana. She deserved credit. She was my motivation for everything I did. 

Dawn is beginning to break now, pale light filtering in between the buildings. I'm standing on the old fire escape outside my childhood home; apparently, my father's will left the apartment to me when I came of age, which according to city law is at sixteen. So it's my fire escape again.

Well, really ours. Saana is standing beside me. She got out of prison the same day I did. Murder is usually a life sentence – I think Zandibar talked to the cops. Another reason I should visit her.

They say that when you revisit places you frequented as a kid, they aren't what you remembered them to be.

That isn't true. From this fire escape, I still feel like I'm standing at the top of the world.

My life has changed so much from the last time Saana and I were here, seven years ago. The innocence has gone. I now know the cruelty of the world first-hand. I've been to hell and back.

But some things stayed the same. The brick walls of the apartment building have weathered winter after winter, their slightly faded color the only indication of the time gone by. The air around here still smells like smog and maybe freedom.

And most of me has stayed the same too, despite growing up so fast and the years in jail. I still have an irrational fear of snakes. I still know how to make Saana laugh.

The horizon lights up in vibrant hues, pinks and oranges and yellows. It's like countless days long ago, and it's beautiful. Once again, finally, Saana and I stand on our fire escape and watch the sunrise over Evernaught City.

Ok, first off, Zeus your epilogue was beautiful. I will be posting an epilogue hopefully over the weekend but things have been really busy now that I've started high school.

Second, thank you all of you guys so much for keeping this rp going for over a year, this is an incredible story and I've loved working with you all so much. Even when I haven't been consistent with my posting you've always been there to keep things going, and again, I'm so happy to have worked with you guys.

Look out for my last post in a couple of days.

The Riddler <3