Inheritance: Deference 5.2

Thursday May 12th, 2011

A pin drop could be heard for how silent the world had fallen, well, aside from the sirens and drone of my swarm reminding people of the severity of the current situation.  Here I was, standing off against the strongest capes in the world with nothing but a high powered shotgun pointed at my own chin. 

The poor kid that thought to volunteer had pissed himself, but the others remained stoic.

Rachel was wearing a grin that was all teeth.

I didn’t like that this had turned into my best option, but I was more than a little pissed about Legend’s attempt to strong arm me into being sidelined.  I had half a swarm on Eidolon, watching for any tricky use of his powers to disarm me, and a small selection of gnats on Alexandria in the event she tried something stupid.

“Let her be stupid,” Chisel said with a huff.  “Everyone knows the stakes right now.” 

Legend did his best to remain stoic, but the tension radiating from the man was almost a physical thing to my bug’s senses.  A faint sheen of sweat was forming and I tried not to revel in making the Triumvirate nervous.  Now wasn’t the time and they were fucking wasting it with useless posturing just because they didn’t want someone to help. 

“You aren’t going to back down from this, are you?” Legend asked. 

I didn’t dare blink.  “My people are going to be there.  I intend to keep them safe and act as a deterrent to anyone that dares threaten the Truce.  I have no intention of going within six blocks of the active combat unless Leviathan attempts to hit the medical station.” 

“That sounds like tempting fate,” Legend said. 

I raised the shoulder not currently holding a shotgun steady to my jaw.  “Probably, but that doesn’t change the fact that you could use the help and to be frank?  I don’t trust certain parties to honor the Truce given past actions.” 

“Her concerns aren’t unwarranted,” Eidolon said, earning a harsh glare from the flying brick.  “Given what happened with Tagg, is it any surprise that she might be… skeptical of our motivations?”

“Oh?” I asked, tilting my head slightly, the barrel still firmly planted in place.  “That happened right as the alarms sounded, I’m surprised you heard already.”

“The death of a director, even one that was placed against advisement, still triggers an alert despite an active Endbringer alarm,” Legend said, pinching his nose.  “You’re really going to attempt to force the issue?” 

I grinned.  “What would be worse, Butcher XV helping or Butcher XVI Legend losing his shit because it turned out that my lucidity was a fluke…  Or, we end up with Weaver II as I maintain control and decide that body theft is a great way to seek power?” 

I’d thrown that out as a hypothetical after some of the collective’s own theorizing, yet the way Alexandria of all people flinched told me there might be someone else positing that theory within the dark, hidden depths of the Think Tank. 

“That, or they want you to die so they can test those theories,” Stratego offered.  “They seek a solution to the Endbringers, and you might just prove capable with a few additional powers under your belt.”  

My nose wrinkled under my mask, but I didn’t react otherwise.  No doubt Alexandria had picked up on some of that given she was also a Thinker, but the others wouldn’t without being told.  Bloodsight also picked up something peculiar from that exchange.  Alexandria didn’t appear to bloodsight like any normal person.  Knockout had fought the woman, but he barely paid attention to how her blood flowed.  She had a pulse, but it wasn’t keeping her body alive, just her brain.

What was truly throwing me the most was how Eidolon seemed to get excited by the idea of my being killed by other people for more power.  The strongest man in the world, yet even he couldn’t stop the Endbringers.  It made a surprising amount of sense, and if my wild theory proved true, would he come up with some kind of odd power combination to try and usurp the inheritance? 

“All signs point to likely,” Reflex joked. 

“Dude, that was bad and you should feel bad,” Alkaline said.

“All of those would be nightmares,” Legend admitted.  “Please don’t put us in that position.  I’d rather be able to look my husband in the eyes at the end of the day.” 

I nodded.  “Same here with my girlfriends.  You saw the picture, you know what I’m fighting to protect.  Tell me, what would you do if someone told you that you had to sit back while the ones you loved were in harm’s way?” 

Legend’s heart shuddered for a moment in a clear palpitation that told me that I had just won the argument with him, but that didn’t mean I’d convinced the others.  The thing was, Legend was their superior, the one they answered to, and ultimately he was the only one I needed to convince.

All the fight left the man at once, and both Alexandria and Eidolon seemed to realize it as well.  I lowered the gun from my chin as a sign of good faith, trusting Legend to not abuse that.  The other two got no such courtesy and I watched every bug I had on them and others around us closely for the first sign of treachery. 

“You teleported all the way from Boston,” Alexandria said.  “What I can’t understand is how you managed that.” 

“I can target any bug within my range for teleportation,” I said and refused to elaborate further. 

“You just told them Amelia is making you bugs,” Alkaline hissed. 

After today, they’ll know regardless.  I’m covering Boston in relay bugs, at least one will inevitably be recovered for study.

The collective wasn’t convinced, and I couldn’t really blame them.  I was taking risks here, but I needed to establish some good faith if I was going to avoid them labeling me as a rogue element during the battle and risk someone attempting to remove me by force.

“You’ll use this capacity to help?” Alexandria asked next. 

My head turned, and I looked her right in her good eye.  “Every bit of it.  I’ll be able to track the entire city at once in real time.  I can relay things to the other defenders as necessary and even provide rapid response to downed capes.  I have no intention to get close enough to Leviathan to prove a tempting target, but I’ll be active.” 

“Then form up,” Legend said.  “Thirty seconds people, we’re going!” 

I nodded, gesturing for my people to follow.  Alice muttered something to Damien but I didn’t catch it, more concerned with moving my swarm close enough to be caught in Strider’s teleport.  Every relay bug was worth its weight in cocaine, and I planned to use them all.

“Normally I’d call that statement blasphemous,” Alkaline said. 

Butcher snorted.  “Oh yeah, but since when could coke let us pop from Brockton to Boston to ruin a mother fucker’s day?” 

I rolled my eyes as I stepped into the designated circle, then laughed as everyone recoiled from my descending swarm.  A few weapons were aimed my way but I didn’t so much as twitch, leaving the bugs outside the circle with clear paths for everyone to enter without obstruction.

“I’ll bring them in at the five second mark,” I said, projecting my voice without invoking my swarm to carry the words.  “Hope you aren’t entomophobic.” 

More than a few shudders went through the assembled capes, though when the kid started towards the circle I couldn’t let him walk into his death.  My lesser swarm rose up in a clone, stopping him from entering the circle.  He froze, trembling as he did and I knew I’d made the right call. 

Chisel looked him over, her expression softening.  “He can’t be more than twelve.” 

That assessment was likely closer than not, but I had a feeling he was closer to Aisha’s age than Dinah’s, which wasn’t a drastic spread all things considered.  Wait, wasn’t Vista’s birthday coming up?

“It’s this Sunday,” Fester said.  “Remember, you gave Dinah the day off to attend.” 

“And Aisha too, even if she did try to abuse her power to get away with it,” Chisel added. 

Well, now I felt bad for not getting her anything, but a gift from the Butcher probably wouldn’t have gone over all that well with the rest of her social circle.  She already got free noodles at the arena thanks to an agreement I made with the stall owner.

  Still, that brought my attention back to the kid and how he trembled.  A few of the other capes seemed concerned, but the veterans recognized what I was doing and just moved along without a word. 

“Kid, what’s your power?” my swarm asked.

He jumped.  “I uh…  Portals.  I can connect two points that I can see by gesturing.” 

The kid then waved both hands, and just as he said, the two points were connected.  I blinked, then flew a few bugs through them, having a bit of fun with the twisted space and how it felt to my powers.  He would be useful if he attended, but he obviously wasn’t in the Wards and he wasn’t one of my capes. 

“Join the Wards,” my swarm said, shaking the clone’s head.  “Yes, you could help, but the odds are greater that you’ll die in doing so.  Hell, half my team are under eighteen at this point and I’m expecting someone to die even with us avoiding active conflict.” 

That was the dark truth of Endbringer fights, a fact that the media always danced around; kids with powers died in droves during them.  I was already worried enough with how many of my friends were there, like Lily and Sabah, who were both stepping into the circle together.  

“Everyone get close.” Strider announced.    “Everything within the circle comes with me, everything outside gets left behind, that includes all extremities.” 

“My swarm is descending.” I called out, bringing the bugs down at a pace that wouldn’t cause a mass panic.    “None of them will harm you unless you panic and breathe one in.” 

The most resilient of my fliers joined the relay bugs in their descent.  I kept the relay bugs on my Teeth, cloaked behind others.  Rachel’s dogs were especially helpful in that regard.  Even with the Endbringer truce in effect, I didn’t want to tip my hand to having custom made creations under my control any more than I already had with the teleportation.

“Starship Troopers level swarms would be bad ass though.” Pyro noted. 

“May as well go full Tyranids then.” Alkaline countered. 

You do know that if we went that route, even as a purely Endbringer level response, they would declare us Class S and attempt to quarantine the Bay. 

“Not if you manage to actually kill one of the fuckers first.” Reflex offered. 

Hundreds of relay bugs were densely packed into the space we had, making even Alexandria twitch.  Amelia had kept working on them in her spare time, churning out enough for me to have city wide coverage, even if the edges of my range were so sluggish and fuzzy that it wasn’t really worth it to push them that far except in extreme cases like the Boston Gala.  

My swarm continued to stream in, packing into the space as densely as they could just as it ticked over to zero and the world shifted.  My perception was in two places at once for a moment, then Brockton was suddenly far away and fuzzy. 

“Holy hell, worst acid trip ever,” Marauder complained.

I shook my head as I reoriented, my swarm dispersing into the building storm.  The rain had grown from a heavy shower into a full blown hurricane that hammered my swarm as it began to spread.  I pushed the already distributed relay bugs further afield and made sure the net was as redundant as possible. 

No doubt a good chunk of the swarm would die as the battle moved across the city and I wanted to make sure I was never disconnected from the network.  Lives would be on the line and I wasn’t going to risk someone I cared about dying just because I couldn’t reach them in time. 

The Triumvirate took to the air and moved off towards a large building nearby.  It was atop one of the highest points in the city and miles from the shore and already had all the medical facilities that might be needed.  No doubt it would serve as the operational command center for the duration of the battle.  Chrissie and Lisa were already downstairs with Amelia; she was barking orders in the makeshift medical center as it was being hastily assembled while Chrissie acted as intimidation. 

The fliers were quick to take off, clearing the space for everyone else to follow the gathering crowd inside.  Luminescence glared at me from on high, so I cheekily waved back at her.  Really, she should be thanking me for sparing her life, but not everyone was conducive to mercy freely given. 

Two additional teleporters were bringing in others in adjacent parking lots, the building chosen proving to be far too small for the hundred plus capes already gathering inside the patient intake of the hospital.  Armsmaster was keeping close, so I offered him a firm nod and followed him towards the building, the prominent text of New England Baptist Hospital telling me right where we were.  Mission Hill, probably one of the few places close at hand that wouldn’t get drowned by the waves.  

“Didn’t we crash this place once?” Knockout asked. 

Chisel chuckled.  “Yes, during one of your acid trips.” 

“Wonder if history will repeat itself?” Fester muttered darkly. 

Well, I certainly had no intention of bringing the fight here, we were far too close to the shore for my liking.  If Leviathan wanted to hit the hospital, he only needed to take a quick stroll to smash the place.  The only benefit was that we were high up enough to be above most of the waves.

“Who fucking picked this place?” I asked. 

Armsmaster didn’t break his composure as he walked.  “We are two miles from the closest sea connected water source.  Leviathan is expected to make landfall at Logan International, then move into downtown where the fighting was the heaviest.  The Think Tank determined that this location should remain secure.” 

I had a portion of my swarm form up around the unpowered members that had volunteered to help and directed them towards Amelia while another group moved to let her know about the additional hands.  Each was armed and in my colors, which would hopefully be enough once Amelia stepped in to smooth things over. 

“I brought a squad of unpowered members to help.  They’re to report to you directly.” 

“Cool,” Amelia said tersely as she poked her head out the window where my people were running into issues with other unpowered security at the door.  “Oi, I need the triage line setup before teleporters start raining half dead meat on our heads!  Double time fuckers!”

“It’s raining men?” Sabertooth asked.

I pushed him down even as the others dog piled him for the shit joke.  An Endbringer fight was hardly the place for gallows humor, even if it was on point.  

“I hope you have an exit plan,” I said just as he was about to peel off.  He turned to face me and I didn’t miss his grimace.  “Because this location sure as shit feels like someone is baiting me into fighting the overgrown lizard.” 

The grimace only grew as he gave me a curt nod, turning back towards the other assembled heavy hitters.  Chevalier gave me a long look while Myrddin pointedly looked away like the little bitch he was.  My capes followed me inside the building where a looping video was playing of Leviathan in action.  It was all I could do to not stop and stare at the feed. 

I didn’t recognize the location, not with how dense the rainfall was, but the footage was from up close, likely a Tinker in melee combat with the monster.  Rending claws tore through steel even as the whipping tail knocked flying Brutes aside like they were insects.  Worse yet, the lack of coordination between the defenders was almost insulting. 

“There is no discipline or command structure,” Stratego noted.  “They simply point capes at him and send them in, hoping for the best.” 

My fists clenched and I could only affirm that I wouldn’t be sending my people into an intentional meat grinder.  My girlfriends were currently making their way into the meeting room now that the medical staff were straightened out and I had a few fireflies guide them towards our group, keeping them from crossing paths with the former Empire bitches in attendance. 

That didn’t stop Amelia from flipping off Miss Militia as she caught sight of her.

“That grudge isn’t going away anytime soon,” Fester snickered. 

Ironsides hummed in agreement.  “Given the damages, she was lucky things weren’t worse.  Thankfully Taylor was there to help patch her up.” 

Sanguine’s blood manipulation had come through once again, and I just knew I’d be leaning on it as the night turned bloody.  Looking around, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the people in this room would be dead just an hour from now.  My hands reached out and pulled Amelia and Chrissie closer and Lisa didn’t need any prompting to join the impromptu cuddle pile. 

As we stood around, several Wards began to hand out armbands.  Nobody was explaining anything, but we each accepted one and were quick to attach them. 

“Please state name,” the armband spoke with an automated voice. 

Briefly I considered which name I would be using for this fight, but I needed to limit the confusion, and own exactly who I was.  I couldn’t have someone give my situation less gravity just because they didn’t recognize that Weaver was also the leader of the Teeth.  No, this situation called for only one name and all the reputation it carried. 

“Butcher.” 

More than a few heads turned at my declaration even as Lisa and Chrissie were quick to give their own cape names.  That left Amelia frowning at her own wrist as she no doubt considered something similar.  I gave her a reassuring squeeze, even if she couldn’t see my smile, I hoped she caught what I was trying to convey. 

With a sigh, she brought her wrist closer to her mouth.  “Panacea.” 

Lisa patted her gently on the shoulder and I let up on my own hug so she could pull her into a tighter one.  Just hearing that name would be a morale boost for many of the capes, especially those that aren’t as up to date on her recent rebranding.  The Protectorate tried to keep it under wraps, but PHO was quite adept at making sure it spread.

“That might also backfire among those that have heard,” Pyro said.  “Heroes turning villain are rarely trusted by other heroes, even at events like this.” 

“Hypocrisy abounds among heroes, surprising none,” Quarrel said.

The crowd stilled as the Triumvirate entered the room, with Alexandria and Eidolon taking flanking positions behind Legend as he stepped up to the podium.  The feed showing Leviathan cut out, switching to a debriefing spreadsheet that had to have been whipped up by a local Ward or something, because I refused to believe that any self respecting Tinker would allow that to stand. 

As if reading my mind, the screen flashed and Dragon’s face appeared before an extremely high detail model of Boston came across the screen, detailing elevation, underground aquifers, and the depth of each river along with the estimated wave swells as the fight carried on.  I paid careful attention to the hill we were on and found that it wouldn’t see a cresting wave for almost two hours into the fight. 

“Do any of us know if that is good or bad?” Butcher asked. 

I grimaced.  If Leviathan is still here two hours into the battle, we’ve likely lost.  Most Endbringer battles are decided in the first hour, unless Scion decides to intervene. 

Which wasn’t a guarantee, given he seemed to consider a kitten in a tree equal to millions dying as Leviathan sank Kyushu.  Then again, maybe it was if given enough butterfly effects; fuck if I knew.

“To everyone, I thank you for your bravery in coming here,” Legend said, starting the meeting off.  “We have Armsmaster and Dragon to thank for the early warning, and as such, we do not plan to squander this opportunity.  Too often, people come to face the Endbringers without realizing what they are walking into…” 

“Pretty sure this isn’t the usual thing they get to do,” Ironsides said. 

Alkaline grunted.  “Seattle sure as hell didn’t get this sort of warning.  The storm blew ashore for a few hours, then suddenly the first wave hit and Leviathan was just there.” 

I let the speech wash over me as he went on about how Leviathan was often underestimated and instead observed the crowd.  There were kids throughout the room, many of which were doing a piss poor job of hiding their fear.  Not that I could really blame them, I was falling back on my predecessors and their decades of experience to get through this. 

Really, what would a girl with nothing but a few blocks of bug control contribute to facing Leviathan?  The worst part was that I knew I’d be there, regardless of where I ended up.  I’d still be in this room, listening to Legend’s report with rapt attention.  Would I be standing with the Wards, or would I have ended up with a team of villains instead?  Something told me that I wouldn’t have any of my current girlfriends and that thought alone sparked anger deep within me.  I had killed for those girls, and the mere thought that there was a version of me out there not willing to cross that line was infuriating to consider.

The sight of Luminescence speaking with Bastion drew me out of my thoughts, the reminder that I had an appointment with the former Empire cape.  She probably had an excuse for why she was back in Brockton for a day, but I wouldn’t be hearing it.  There were better than average odds that Tagg had ordered it all, which meant he was setting her up to die. 

“She still followed his orders,” Fester said with no small amount of derision.  “That was the same excuse that Iron Rain tried to give before she died.” 

“Like a good Nazi,” Sanguine said.

I couldn’t help the snort, which happened just as Legend was talking about the one in four mortality rate, whoops.  I received more than a few glares for that so I just shrugged since I was already on the spot. 

“That’s on a good day,” I said back.  “How many of those do you actually have compared to the bad?” 

Legend remained silent. 

“Ouch, way to call him on his bullshit,” Quarrel snickered.

“That’s enough,” Alexandria snapped.  “Either sit down or we’ll have you removed.” 

I grinned and patted one of my revolvers.  “Dealer’s choice.  You don’t exactly have the luxury of refusing help, and besides, I think I might have an idea to improve your precious morale.” 

Taking hold of the Wolf Slayer, I pulled it off my back and held it up for her to see.  While this particular blade wasn’t something she had encountered, Alexandria would recognize the work of Inviolable.  Hell, he kept a shield that Alexandria had failed to so much as dent as proof of his quality.

Marauder snorted, then almost cackled as she pushed the memory forward.  “Holy shit, I was there for that one!  She knocked the poor bastard into a building and the shield crushed him.”  

Damascian nodded along.  “He paid someone to lift it from the PRT evidence locker and hung it on his wall.  It was still there when we made the Wolf Slayer.” 

The hero gestured for me to approach, and as much fun as teleporting might be, I knew better than to startle so many heroes on a hair trigger.  So, I casually strolled up to the stage, making sure that there were no sudden movements, then held the blade out for Alexandria to inspect. 

The premier Brute hefted the blade as if it were a feather, testing the weight and balance, then she took the handle in both hands and bent it, or rather, tried to bend it.    The blade remained implacable no matter how she flexed and after a moment she relented.    She took a few moments to inspect the blade more closely, testing the edge against her own skin.  There was no doubt in my mind that she knew exactly what I was offering and was weighing all the consequences that accepting might bring with it.  If any weapon could stand up to the punishment of being wielded by Alexandria, she was currently holding it.

After several tense moments she nodded and let the blade rest against the floor. 

“I’ll try to return it in one piece,” she said. 

“Autograph it if you do.” I said as I turned away, casually waving my hand in the air as I did... 

Holy shit, I just said that to Alexandria. 

I had the strangest feeling that I’d be having a lot of moments like that today, and not in a good way.  Nobody holding the mantle had attended an Endbringer before, today was going to mark a lot of firsts. 

“You’re going to lose people today.” Damascian said distantly. 

There wasn’t maliciousness to the words, just a cold truth, one echoed by Stratego.  People died in droves at Endbringer fights, that was a given, and I knew more than a dozen people that were attending this fight.  Some of them wouldn’t make it home today.  The Butcher would make it home, but Weaver might not.  I had to accept that going into this. 

“That was fucking awesome.” Chrissie said as I returned to my group.

Across the way, Amelia had moved off to the side and was gathering those who would be working the healing stations.  I motioned for Alice and the unpowered with us to report in, I also took a moment to form up a bug clone close by to give her something to bark orders at.  She was explaining triage procedures and having everyone explain what their powers let them do.  That was when Othala started to explain her touch based regeneration. 

“Good, give me a dose, my leg is still stiff from when Militia shot me, not to mention the cracked ribs from that asshole on Tagg’s orders.” Amelia ordered. 

Othala – Now going by Support of all generic names – obliged her in an instant.  Amelia pulled her close and whispered something even my bugs missed, but they could taste the fear on the former Empire cape.  The girl knew how to drop a threat that was for damn sure, and after Bastard Son, everyone understood that she would follow up on anything she promised. 

Meanwhile, I had flies ferrying singular tics to each and every cape within the room.  They were small, hard to dislodge and easy to catalog.  Even with hundreds of Capes filing in I would have no issues keeping track of the various heroes and villains.  Based on the explanation the Wards were getting, each cape would state their name to Dragon for a similar purpose, which would make it even easier to keep track of all of them. 

“Have we mentioned how scary your power can be?” Alkaline asked. 

Pyro hummed.  “Moments like this really sell it, keeping track of hundreds of capes by name, simultaneously, without forgetting a single one?  That’s beyond bullshit tier.” 

“What’s a few hundred capes in the face of billions of insects?” Reflex said casually.

Myrddin finally arrived in the building along with the Chicago contingent.  Among them I saw a girl in a set of white, rune covered robes, carrying a staff.  Well, that wasn’t hard to put together.  Rune got roped into the magic angle, sucked to be her. 

Scanning the crowd I found the last of the unaccounted for Nazis.  Purity was with the LA Protectorate, which almost pissed me off because that was a hell of a cushy gig and I’d been joking when I told her that.  Still, I had to imagine mandatory Endbringer attendance was part of whatever deals they took, which was less than cushy. 

“Bet you wish you brought the minigun now,” Butcher said. 

I rolled my eyes.  I could still teleport back to Brockton and grab it if I needed a weapon, but it wasn’t that big of a deal at the moment.  The odds that something would come up that required the minigun weren’t that high. 

“And Weaver jinxes us,” Pyro whined.

“Five votes on it being the Fallen,” Alkaline said. 

Sabertooth scoffed.  “Nah, it’s gonna be some asshole with a grudge against us.” 

“Horror from beyond,” Reflex said softly. 

Any of those would be bad, but the fact that Reflex had joined in set my nerves on edge.  It hadn’t escaped my notice that some of his predictions and observations were unnervingly on point lately, and the itch grew strong enough that I decided to make the jump while I still could.

“Be back in a minute,” I said to my team, “I’m grabbing the minigun.” 

With a twist of will, I stepped between space, then grimaced as I was compressed and shunted across innumerable distances as I emerged back in the armory.  One of my guys was doing an inventory check when I arrived and fell flat on his ass.  I snorted as I walked over to the hulking minigun which had seen use just days prior against the Elite.  I’d made sure to do the needed maintenance, and while she was scuffed up, she should work like a dream.

I made sure to grab the loaded drums of ammo, slamming one home as my teleport came back up.  Once again it was as if I were stretching myself too thin as I pulled through the relay network and appeared back at the staging area in a flash of fire.  

More people jumped at my sudden arrival, Danger sense pinged and I ducked a thrown boomerang of all things.  The Crocodile Dundee reject actually squeaked when he realized who he had just attacked.  I flipped the man off and turned my attention back to the room I had departed only moments earlier as I hurried inside to escape the battering winds and near freezing rain.  That was certainly something they didn’t advertise about Leviathan, it wasn’t the fact that it was raining, it was how damn cold that rain truly was. 

“Now you see why I never went back for seconds,” Alkaline said.

The meeting was concluded and people were starting to form up in groups focused around the Triumvirate.  Victoria hugged Crystal for a moment before they went with Alexandria and Legend respectively.  Photon Mom was glaring at me from the huddle, but that didn’t stop her from tearing her eyes away from me to hug her daughter as Legend gave them an overview of how they would be fighting. 

Despite how things might have gone, I didn’t want to hurt Victoria’s family worse than I had.  Carol’s head was still in the jar on Amelia’s shelf last I checked, and probably wasn’t being moved anytime soon.  That was Pandemic’s project and I wouldn’t be sticking my nose into that mess if I could help it.

“Amelia’s family,” Alkaline said with a shrug.

“Damn right she is,” Fester agreed.

At some point Animos had wandered off, but he was talking with a younger woman in a Brute styled Wards-appropriate costume, so I could only assume he found his sister and wanted a moment.  I didn’t bring my bugs in out of courtesy for his privacy. 

He was the only member of our little clique to step away in the time it took me to finish my errand, which made rejoining them easy enough.  Slinging the minigun over my shoulder, I made my way over to the group where I could only frown at the unfamiliar cape standing across from Chrissie who had her arms crossed.

Lisa was behind our girlfriend, grinning her smuggest smile as the man attempted to out-talk our resident Thinker, which was a bold and rather foolish strategy if I’d ever seen one.  The poor kid was probably older than us, but he didn’t have the air of someone who had dealt violence out to the deserving.  

“Hell, he’d probably fold if Alec punched him,” Knockout said. 

“Thinker,” Stratego said warningly as the kid’s eyes flicked over to where I was approaching.  There was something to the way a cape regarded someone that could be a subtle tell as to what their powers might be, and this kid looked at me the same way Lisa did when I first met her on the boardwalk last month.  Bloodsight caught the exact moment the Thinker realized I had arrived as his heart nearly stopped for a full two beats. 

“I will never understand why people almost shit themselves when they meet me,” I said casually with a big grin plastered under my mask.  Anything to mask my anxiety at the bloodshed to come.  “Everything okay?” 

Alice grunted, lifting her chin towards the skinny man.  “This asshole wanted Tattletale to come with him, didn’t take a hint to fuck off when we told him to.” 

I chuckled, then shrugged the shoulder the minigun was resting on.  “Well, that’s up to the lady if she goes off with strange men.” 

“Given my girlfriend was kidnapped just days ago, I’d rather stick with her,” Lisa said with more than a little heat.  “You can have a mobile station set up in the medical triage for me while I make sure nobody abuses her talents.” 

“You heard her,” I said before the man could retort.  “See to it she gets what she needs.  Tattletale is one of the best Thinkers I’ve ever encountered in all my lifetimes, so spare no effort.” 

Lisa’s cheeks darkened and I was sorely tempted to tilt my mask aside and kiss her silly.  If it weren’t for the still sizable crowd, I would have done it anyway.  The Thinker hurried off to hopefully do as he was told and Lisa gave Chrissie and I a quick hug before she smiled, blinking back tears in her eyes before she walked off towards the healing contingent where Amelia was waiting. 

With that taken care of, I turned to the rest of my capes, my expression hardened as Animos rejoined our little huddle.  Everyone was resolved, even if Bloodsight made me more than aware of the elevated heart rates across the board.  Some I knew were of excitement, but most would be out of fear and worry.  Endbringers weren’t something that capes tended to walk away from, and I expected at least a quarter of the people I knew that showed up to be dead at the end of the day. 

“Grim, but pragmatic,” Chisel said.  “Though I’d put that closer to half.” 

“At least the kids aren’t all here,” Alkaline said.  “We might be cold monsters, but could you imagine hearing Vista’s name come across the armbands?” 

I pushed that thought aside.  I’d seen a few Wards handing out armbands, some of them couldn’t be much older than Vista, and there were good odds that they would end up out there, helping to hold back the apocalypse with everyone else. 

“Alright, rules of engagement are as follows,” I said, addressing everyone.  “Anyone tries to break the Truce, you put them down first, then call it in.  Make damn sure you check your targets and don’t jump the gun.  Any discharge of a weapon is to be called in unless shit is bogging down the fan, understood?” 

A round of affirmatives was offered. 

I nodded.  “Good.  I’m going to be acting as general search, rescue, and recon for the most part.  That means I’ll be staying as far from Leviathan as I can manage.  The rest of you will be staying here and holding down the fort.” 

“What if we want to help?” Animos asked. 

That was what it boiled down to and I knew the man had a reason for wanting to be out there.  “I won’t stop you, just mind your scream.  If it doesn’t work on me, no way in hell it will work on Leviathan.” 

Animos huffed.  “Learned that the hard way already.” 

I blinked.  “You’ve been to an Endbringer fight before?” 

“Each one my little sister has attended,” he confirmed. 

And just like that my respect for Animos rose a few notches.

“Is it just me or is Eidolon giving us the stink eye?” Reflex asked. 

I raised an eyebrow behind my mask as I took the man in through my swarm.  It was hard to tell with the mask, but it did feel as though he was paying more than a little attention to me at the moment.  I flicked on Bloodsight and couldn’t make out anything behind his Tinkertech mask.  Whatever stick he had up his ass could wait until after we held back the coming tide.  

I gave Animos a firm nod.  “Come back alive.  Your life is mine, not some overgrown guppy’s.” 

“You got it boss,” Animos said with a chuckle and walked off, back towards the Ward that I now recognized as his sister. 

I did the best I could to push the one in four statistic from my mind. 

“Anyone else want a different task?” I asked, my gaze sweeping over everyone still present.  As everyone shook their heads I took a breath.  This was it, everyone was now effectively locked in for whatever came their way.  I’d do my best to keep them alive, but I knew how little I could do against an Endbringer.  I was mainly here to prove that the Teeth wouldn’t run from a fight no matter what it was, and to prove to myself that I could have been that hero once upon a time. 

Hopefully my sentiment wouldn’t get everyone killed. 

“You have your instructions then, carry them out,” I said firmly. 

My capes started to disperse, only for Chrissie to crash into me, pulling me into an enhanced embrace that rivaled Lisa’s crushing hugs.  And those were the upgrades Amelia was testing for her own eventual use? 

“Maybe we’ll get to have some Brute play after all,” Ironsides said. 

I slapped him into the dark on principle, even if a part of me was excited by the idea. 

“You’re really going out there?” Chrissie asked in a hushed whisper. 

“Yeah,” I confirmed.  “My swarm will let me see the battlefield in a way that even the armbands will struggle with.  I can follow in Leviathan’s wake, pull survivors out of rubble where others would be forced to leave them to die.” 

Chrissie was silent for a moment as I held her.  “I know that,” she said after a moment, “but you’re the one I care about.” 

“I know,” I answered, then I tilted my mask aside and kissed the girl.  I didn’t care how many people turned to watch us, or for the whispers about the creepy bug costume kissing the human skull armored girl.  “We’ll get through this.  I swear it.” 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Chrissie said, then punched my shoulder.  “Keep a clone close?” 

“Always,” I said, then stepped back and aimed for a bug on the roof. 

The fire was put out almost immediately by the deluge of rain that crashed into me.  The rain was still ice cold, not that it would bother me all that much.  I pulled the minigun off my back and did a weapons check as I listened in on dozens of conversations. 

Legend explained the strafing patterns that would be used in conjunction with Alexandria’s Brutes, Laserdream and Photon Mom were with him, as was Ashley.  Alexandria was going over similar tactics, coordination between those on the ground and those more mobile.  Victoria fell into that second group and was listening with rapt attention as Alexandria gave rapid fire instructions.  More than a few of the Brutes were eyeing the sword on the original flying brick’s shoulder as if it might bite them. 

Hopefully handing that over would make a difference. 

“Dead?  What do you mean dead?” a girl with a sun print on her costume said, her voice turning shrill.  “Krouse was just supposed to help, not get killed!” 

She was screaming at someone in a decent suit who looked apologetic, yet I could at least feel for her a bit.  I’d be similarly pissed if someone told me one of my friends was dead before the Endbringer even showed up. 

“Sucks to be her,” Butcher said.  “The fish isn’t even here and she already lost someone.” 

“Uh, she might be talking about one of those two we iced earlier,” Pyro said. 

The collective paused, falling silent for a moment as I considered it, then shrugged.  It wasn’t my fault that Tagg ordered two capes to die via Butcher.  Putting that aside, I reached out to my relays and checked their progress in spreading through the city.  The trail running north to Brockton continued to shift and thin with enough redundancies to keep rooted to my city.

“You know that you’ll get cut off eventually,” Stratego warned. 

Yeah, but the more redundancies I can bring here, the better.

“Noelle, you need to calm down,” little miss sunprint exclaimed, drawing my attention back to her.  She was pacing back and forth with a phone to her ear.  “You can’t, Leviathan is almost here, we—”

Before I could distance myself further from the distraught woman, the city shook with a deafening roar that was more beast than man.  Even Animos with his power assisted cry couldn’t compare to whatever that had been.  The pounding storm meant I couldn’t see with my own eyes as a building downtown near the epicenter of the monstrous cry collapsed. 

“No, no, no,” sunprint said below me, a hand coming up to her mouth.  She then reached down, hesitating for a moment before she pressed the emergency broadcast button on her armbands.  “Everyone stay away!  The cape that did that can clone you on touch!  You can’t go near her, she will eat you and spit out clones with your powers!” 

“More of us running around?” Butcher asked, then scoffed.  “Hard pass.  There’s only one Butcher, only ever gonna be one Butcher…  Physically, that is.” 

Ironsides snorted.  “I was gonna say.” 

“Yes, realized it the moment I said it,” Butcher muttered. 

My bugs had just gathered in large enough numbers to get eyes on as a mass of flesh pulled itself out of the crumbling debris, a slab of concrete and twisted rebar the size of a city bus being pushed aside as if it were styrofoam by one of those trunk-like limbs.  Maws of teeth and tongues littered the pulsing flesh that reeked of rot, and the bugs I attempted to land on it slipped from my control as they were pulled within. 

I made a very pointed decision to not let any of Amelia’s enhanced critters anywhere near the damn thing.  

As the beast pulled free, it was hard not to notice the broken form of a woman’s upper torso snap back into place, a shattered spine healing in an instant.  She wore a shirt, but it was torn and covered in dirt and things even I didn’t want to know what they were. 

“Dibs on not fighting that,” Sabertooth said. 

Yeah, that was the easiest agreement I ever had with the collective.  A cloning cape that ate people?  No way in hell I was going near it even if she looked like a supermodel and not something pulled out of one of Alec’s masochistic RPG games. 

No capes were really moving to confront it, but a few of the barrier capes were repositioning their line if the beast decided to get violent.  My armband remained silent, though I hazard a guess that if I so much as twitched in its general direction that it would immediately warn me off from even sneezing at this thing. 

After a few lumbering steps, it stopped in a wide intersection near the waterfront and looked up towards the hospital where I was standing, almost as if it were looking directly at me.

“Panacea!  Butcher!” The beast roared with anguish and rage.  “You killed Krouse!  I’ll devour you for that!”

No sooner than she said it, the armband lit up.  “Leviathan sighted, N-5.”