Downsizing 1

I'd never thought about an Endbringer hitting Brockton Bay. Like most people, I assumed this was something that happened elsewhere, to bigger and more important cities. For a moment, I stood frozen in shock, not knowing what to do.

Luckily, Brian and Lisa weren't as affected. They turned to each other, nodded seriously one after the other, and acted. Brian withdrew his phone, while Lisa dashed to my workshop. "I'm using your computer!" she yelled as she ran.

"Right," I said, shaking off the shock. "You need something from me?" I asked Brian.

"You with us?" he asked in return, phone still on his ear.

I simply nodded. I hadn't run from Oni Lee, the Empire, or even Lung. I wasn't going to start today. Not with what was at stake. I wasn't going to let them fight alone.

He just nodded back. "Come on, come on..." he muttered into his phone, as if that would make it connect faster.

But it was my own cellphone that rang.

What?

I looked at Brian in surprise, only for him to start talking hurriedly to the person on the other side of the line. Regent, by my guess.

If it wasn't Brian, then who?

I withdrew my phone, accepting the call. "Hello?"

"Taylor, you ok?!" my dad yelled from the other side of the line. I could hear the roar of an engine, so I suspected he was in his car.

"Are you on your way to a shelter?" I replied, pushing back my surprise at the fact that he'd actually used his work cellphone while driving.

"Are you?" he countered.

I could lie and pretend I was. I could even go to the same shelter then escape using my powers; it would be easy, even.

But I'd lied to him more than enough times. Now that we were back to talking to each other, I didn't want to return to those days where there was no trust between us. "I'm not," I answered simply.

"Then I'm coming with you," he said, resolute.

I nearly dropped the phone in shock. "You can't!"

"I'll be at your place in five," he replied, ignoring what I'd just said. "See you soon, sweetie."

"But!" I started, only to find myself speaking to an empty line. He'd hung up on me without letting me finish. I stared at the phone for a moment, wondering what to do.

"Meeting place's at 44 Dockside Road!" Lisa said, running out of my workshop. She'd managed to put on most of her costume while she'd been on the internet; only her mask was missing, and she was in the process of undoing her trademark bun. She stopped as soon as she saw my face. "Talk to me," she said.

"My dad's decided to join the Endbringer defense," I replied, still in shock.

"That's... good, actually," she offered. I don't know what face I made, but it clearly had an effect; Lisa took a step back and started talking faster. "What? You think they'll send him to the front line?" She shook her head. "Not happening. His power's much too useful to risk losing. They'll probably put him in the back where the Thinkers are, and where he can boost them more."

"You mean, where you'll be," I pointed out.

"Maybe not..." she replied, looking down. "My own abilities work via perception, so I'll probably be closer to the front line. I'll most likely stick with the rest of the group."

I pushed back my issues over my father's participation and focused on the now. I'd make time to talk to him once he arrived instead. "Any recommendations?"

"Go as Arsenal," she replied, her hair finally flowing down to her shoulders.

"Why?"

"I don't need my power to deduce that T will show up in the next few minutes, which means the both of you will be going under different identities," Lisa explained as she put on her mask. Even if she sounded confident, I could tell from her posture that it was just an affectation. "Your Slenderman suit is a bad idea. Even if the Endbringer Truce is on, there aren't many that would be comfortable fighting side by side with him. Think how you'd feel if it was a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine at your left, and you'll have a good idea."

It made sense. People might be too afraid to get close to me, just in case they thought Slenderman felt like grabbing a few powers, and a moment's distraction could be fatal.

"That leaves Apparition and Arsenal," I concluded.

"Yes. And between those two, Arsenal's the one who can take blows the best, which means you should go as him," Tattletale pointed out. "T has a chance of living on past her death, which you don't."

"Agreed," my copy said, growing out of Lisa's shadow. "Thank god my first teacher was absent, because I wouldn't have made it this soon otherwise."

"Get dressed," Tattletale said. T nodded and turned back into shadow a second later, slithering down to the workshop where my costumes were kept.

I barely had a second more to think when the door to my base opened. The sudden roar of the wind surprised me, and what rain I could see was nearly horizontal. "Who's the geezer?" Regent asked over the storm as he entered, already in costume, while Rachel and her dogs moved straight toward Brian with quick steps, anger clear in the Master's frame. Behind them, looking somewhat overwhelmed, was my own father, who clearly didn't know how to deal with those two. He made a beeline for my corner of the room as soon as he saw me, however.

"So, you have a costume for your old man?" he asked as he came to a stop before me, visibly trying to make light of the situation.

"Why?"

He looked right at me and somehow straightened. "My only daughter's going to fight something that might rightly be called a natural disaster. I have one thing I can do to help, and you want me to stay behind?" He shook his head. "I can't. I'd be eating myself inside with worry if I tried hiding in a shelter." He smiled. "And this is my town, the one I fought for all my life. Might as well try to protect Brockton Bay at the same time."

"Welcome to the team, Danny," Tattletale said, extending her hand. They shook, and by the widening of Lisa's eyes I could guess she'd just gotten a boost from my Dad. "We can use all the help we can get."

"I'll be counting on yours also," he replied, before turning to me. "So, you got something for your old man?" my father asked once more.

I had to think about that. I did have a spare synthetic undersuit which was stretchy enough to fit him, along with a prototype helmet I could adjust. I had enough simple gloves that he could easily have a pair, but nothing for his feet. He'd look silly with simple regular boots on, but it was better than nothing. "Follow me," I said.

I lead him to the workshop, where he stopped for a second to gawk at Apparition putting the last touches on her armor. It was the first time he'd seen T (or me, since we looked the same) in costume, and I couldn't blame him for having that reaction.

We didn't have time, though.

Grabbing onto his hand, I led him straight to the closet where my spare undersuit was. Taking it out, I handed it to him over my shoulder, only for him not to react. "Dad?" I asked.

"That's him all right," he said, pointing.

"Yeah," I simply replied. I was pretty sure he'd seen some videos of me in action as Slenderman, but having it right in your face was probably a very different experience.

"Will you be out..." he asked softy, "wearing that one?"

I shook my head. "No. I have another suit that's better for a situation like this one."

"Another?"

I shook my head. "We don't have time. You'll see it later." Good thing my shadow state made getting Arsenal's armor on an easy job.

"Are... you sure that's necessary?" he asked as I handed him my spare undersuit, looking down at his work clothes.

"Better safe than sorry," I replied. "This thing's made out of synthetic silk, which should help in the case you got hit." Not against Leviathan, true, but shrapnel and the like could still cause problems. "You'll also fit better with the rest, not to mention that it'll help hide your identity." I pointed out his work badge, which was halfway out of his pocket.

I quickly explained how the various pieces were designed while digging among my prototypes for my helmet model. It was the pre-boron version, without all the bells and whistles I'd added later, but it was still better than nothing. I handed it to him without turning around. I didn't need to see my father near-naked putting on a skintight suit.

Not that looking at him in said suit was much better.

While both of us were of similar heights, my father was a bit bulkier than me. This made the material tighter than I'd expected, which meant it hid nothing. Only the fact that my dad wore tight briefs prevented the lines of his underwear from showing, and the synthetic silk highlighted every part from neck to toe. Including the ones a daughter didn't want to think about when looking at her father.

The reactions from the rest of the group weren't much different. T and Sveta's faces were hidden by their helmets and Rachel didn't blink an eye, but everyone else's were clear. Tattletale's smile hid none of her thoughts, and Regent bent in half laughing himself silly. Grue coughed twice before pointedly ignoring the costume.

At least it broke some of the tension.

"So, how do we do this?" my dad said, and I could clearly hear the embarrassment in his voice. I forced myself to ignore it, as now wasn't the moment for it.

"You, Danny, are going with your daughter while we six make our own way there," Lisa explained, the smile falling off her face in a flash. "Arsenal and the Undersiders have never met, and we need to keep it that way."

I nodded to that.

"And where are we going?" he asked.

"You have to go and get Arsenal's suit first, but Taylor will give directions for that one," the Thinker continued. "Meeting place for capes is at 44 Dockside. Try leaving your car a block or two from the meeting point so no one gets a look at your license plate, and limit what details you give about your power. Be quick; we don't know how long we have before Leviathan hits the city." She waved. "Good luck to you both, and we'll see you later."

Brian turned toward the door, and I could see the resignation in his shoulders. "Let's go, people!" They exited without further words, Regent's snickers and Rachel's whistles being the only sounds. Bitch's dogs slowly grew as they went forward, and by the time they crossed the threshold the canines barely fit through.

My dad turned toward me. "You ready?" he said, car keys in hand.

I shook my head. I then rushed to the side and grabbed my prototype beacon. "Hang on to this," I said, handing him the device.

"Okay," he replied, twirling the cable to make it easier to transport. He took a step toward the door as he did so, only for me to stop him.

"Let me try something instead." I grabbed my father into a hug and switched states.

I'd tested it before with both a random cat and with T without issue, carrying them with me in my other form for a good distance. I'd have preferred more tests before a live exercise like this one, but every second gained now could save lives.

Luckily, by now the path I took through the sewers to Arsenal's workshop was one I knew by heart, and I could do it in less than two minutes. I came out of a washroom drain in the bathroom right next to my workbench, returning to physical form right in the middle of the room.

My father blinked twice. "Did... Did we teleport?" he asked.

"No," I replied, becoming a shadow once more. This time I snuck inside my armor, going back to solid state directly within. It had taken some time to master this, but it was much better than putting it on piece by piece. "You didn't notice the time it took getting here?" I asked in my now-male voice, stepping out of my armor's bay.

He shook his head. "That voice will take some getting used to," he pointed out as I came to stand beside him. I had told him about my male identity, but the voice was another first.

That reminded me of something. "Remember," I explained, "from now on, I'm Arsenal, a male Tinker. Same goes for the Undersiders; cover names are crucial."

"Understood," he said with a nod. "What's mine?"

That was a good question, actually. I was tempted to go with Union or something similar, but he would be better off if his name didn't have any links to his profession. I also needed something that made sense, but wasn't going to be already taken. I thought for a moment. "Reinforce," I finally replied. That one shouldn't be currently in use.

My dad simply nodded again, not giving an opinion. "You're gonna transport us the rest of the way?"

"Not completely," I answered, grabbing him once more into a hug. Shifting states, I quickly returned to the sewers, then made my way down toward the ocean. I'd have to check here and there, but I was pretty sure I could find a lonely spot to appear.

Next stop, 44 Dockside Road.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

44 Dockside Road was a nondescript building three or so stories high. I'd probably passed it dozens of times in the past without really noticing the place. This time, however, it drew attention, even through the pouring rain; mainly because of the dozens of PRT agents and their vans. I didn't have to ask if this was the right place; the half-dozen capes that had just teleported in the parking lot made that fact evident.

That, and the retro-thruster flames from the descending mechanical suit. Dragon's work, clearly, as evidenced by the Guild logo visible on its side.

The Canadian Tinker landed pretty nimbly for being in a suit that weighed at least a dozen tons, and she nodded toward me from a distance. I nodded back in answer, then continued inside. Unless she stepped out of her suit (which she never had, to my knowledge), she wasn't going to fit in the building.

Stepping out of the dreary morning rain and inside the lobby was an experience. I'd thought before that the meeting at Somer's Rock would be the most capes I'd ever see in one place, but it was nothing compared to now.

There were heroes and villains all over the place. Just as I stopped, another group passed next to me, shaking the water out of their costumes.

I was thankful that my visor prevented my cape sight from working, as I was afraid I'd be blinded by the number of parahumans in the room. In fact, I could see that Apparition had her head down, probably for that very reason. The rest of the group were all around her, seated in the plastic chairs that had been placed in the center of the room.

Opposite the Undersiders, near the wall, were the Empires capes. Not all of them, since Kaiser was absent, but pretty much all the rest. Cricket was also missing, but she probably hadn't yet recovered from our last meeting. For some reason, they were split into two separate groups, Purity in one and Hookwolf in the other, and I didn't have the time to guess why.

The Travelers were the only other villain group I could identify by sight. The four of them sat in the front row, closest to the screens arranged there, and they looked more serious than I'd ever seen them. There was a grim atmosphere around them for a reason I couldn't fathom.

New Wave, the Wards and Brockton Bay's Protectorate were the rest of the locals I knew, though I spotted Parian, who was a Brockton Bay rogue, in another corner of the room. They were spread all over the place, either talking amongst themselves or with people I supposed were out-of-town capes. I saluted in Kid Win's direction, who was speaking with Panacea for some reason. Both waved back, then returned to their conversation.

Then, there were the big names.

I spotted Eidolon first, as he stepped toward the big windows at the end of the room, behind the screens themselves. He wasn't paying any attention to the people behind him, singularly focused on the deepest part of the approaching storm.

Alexandria was next as she passed by me with her team. She barely paid me attention, though I had to agree that there were bigger fish to fry.

Legend was the last of the Triumvirate I noticed. He was talking about something with Armsmaster, who had clearly come fully equipped since he had an extra halberd on his back. The Brockton Bay leader realized I was there a second later and beckoned me over with a wave.

Most of those present glanced at us as we walked up. Some did more than that, but not many. Even with his costume, Reinforce drew the eye much less than I did, though judging by some of the other costumes in sight, his wasn't that far from the norm.

It seemed I had started to develop a reputation in Brockton Bay.

"Armsmaster, Legend," I said as I reached them, my father coming up behind me.

"Arsenal," Armsmaster replied with a nod.

Legend smiled. "So you're the Tinker I've been hearing about! Legend, though I suspect I don't really need to introduce myself," he said, extending his hand. We shook. "Is that one of your beacons?" he added.

"The prototype," I said, grabbing the device and handing it to Armsmaster. "I suspect you know better than I where this could be useful."

The Tinker nodded. "I do," he replied as he looked the beacon up and down. "Any differences?"

"It needs to be plugged in, but nothing outside of that," I explained.

"And who might you be, mister?" Legend said, turning toward my father. His eyes went quickly from top to bottom, before the Blaster extended his hand.

Did Legend just check out my dad?

"He's the first member of my new team," I said as the idea came to mind. If I was to go forward with Lisa's plan, some setup beforehand would only help.

My dad looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded. Legend was the very face of the Protectorate, and was well known to be the epitome of 'fair and just' heroes. I don't think my dad was in any danger here.

I understood a little too late what he'd meant when he removed his right glove to shake. "...Reinforce," he replied after a moment's hesitation.

Legend reacted as if someone had just shocked him. His eyes went wide. "What... What was that?"

I looked around to see if anybody was listening. Nobody that I could notice. Perception was telling me there were quite a few eyes on us now, though Legend was probably the one who really drew the attention. Still, I stepped forward, forcing my voice to go as low as I could while still being understood. While, if I wanted my Dad safe, Legend was the best person to talk to, I still didn't want everyone knowing. It would paint too big a target on his back.

"Reinforce here can provide capes with temporary power boosts," I explained softly. "From what I understand, it's similar to the concept of second triggers."

Legend's eyes went even wider at this, and Armsmaster's body language indicated pretty much the same reaction. The two of them looked at each other. "Are you..." The Tinker started, only to be stopped by a shake of the Blaster's head.

"Any limits or restrictions?" Legend asked.

"I don't actually control how the powers get stronger, although they do seem to improve in the same way each time," Danny explained. "And the changes fade faster when the capes get more than a block or two away from me."

"How many can you affect at the same time?" he then asked.

"I've never actually had the chance to affect more than three at a time," he replied after looking at me. "Kind of hard finding opportunities to use my power."

"Wait one," Legend said before he basically rushed to Eidolon. I didn't get what they said, but Eidolon got a distant look on his face for a couple of moments before spending a few seconds looking over both Legend and my father, finally shaking his head. The two of them headed back our way while waving over both Narwhal and Alexandria to join us in the discussion.

"Can you use your power on these three, also," Legend asked.

Again, dad looked at me for confirmation, which I gave. After Legend, the rest of the Triumvirate wasn't an issue, and Narwhal, as the best known forcefield user, was another cape that was crucial to the defense of the city. He extended both his hands after removing his second glove. "I need skin contact for this," he said, mainly looking at Alexandria's glove-covered hands.

Said cape removed her left glove, while Narwhal's forcefield scales receded for an instant.

Eidolon was the first who reacted. "I can... I can choose!" he said, a smile coming on his face. His voice actually sounded pretty normal, compared to the charismatic timbre of Legend's.

Alexandria then levitated, moving her limbs as if testing them. "Interesting," she replied. "How long does it last?"

Narwhal stayed silent all the while, a hexagonally-shaped forcefield in her hand.

"Thirty minutes is the maximum I've recorded, but that was for someone who stayed within a meter of me the entire time," Danny explained. "And I know that distance from me also affects how long it lasts."

The signature flying brick nodded, then indicated the podium to Legend with a sign of the hand. The entire lobby went silent as the leader of the Protectorate walked up to the front of the room.

"Here," Armsmaster said, and I turned back my attention to the Tinker. He handed me an armband, then did the same to Reinforce behind me. "Put those on."

"What are they?" I asked, unsure. I wasn't going to put just anything on, even in a situation like this.

The Protectorate member showed his own wrist, where a similar armband was present. "Dragon's work. Tracks life signs, sends messages to Dragon if people are hurt."

I nodded. "Will it work through the armor?" I questioned.

"Should. Works through mine," he pointed out. He then quickly launched into an explanation of the features as Reinforce and I did the setup on the devices.

"So, building a team?" he asked once he was done. "What happened to the lone wolf?" His tone was somewhat hurt.

"He had a disagreement with Lung," I replied. "Working alone didn't seem so good a prospect after that."

"You know the Protectorate is more than ready to take you in," he pointed. "The both of you, actually," he then added.

I shook my head. "Not happening. Nothing against you personally, but I cannot trust my life to a bureaucracy. And you can't tell me the Protectorate isn't one."

He sighed. "No."

"If I'm going to be part of a team, it will be a team of people I trust, not people assigned to me by others," I said. "I could also do without all the PR stuff that's probably attached to being a Protectorate cape."

Armsmaster shook his head sadly, then looked back to the podium where Legend was clearly wrapping up his speech. "Duty calls," he said softy, then walked forward. After the first step, his entire posture transformed itself; he wasn't the human Tinker I'd just talked with any longer, but the cape that led the city. His body language changed, and he stepped forward with a confidence that felt misplaced at a time like this.

He didn't get to the front.

"Incoming!" I heard Sveta yell, followed by a dozen voices exclaiming surprise. I turned to see her running out the room, quickly followed by the rest of the Undersiders. The last of them had barely stepped outside before the building shook, and a fist the size of a person burst through the wall at high speed.

Things then started happening extremely fast.

Alexandria was the first to react, blurring forward. She hit Leviathan's hand with all the force of a bullet train, and even pushed it back somewhat. Legend reacted next, shooting a reddish-white beam of raw force a foot wide through the wall. The arm was forced back some more by that.

Then Armsmaster screamed "Shields!" just seconds before the water shadow hit.

Luckily, some Shakers managed to react in time, Narwhal included. Fields of all kinds sprout out, some only to break a second later, but the wall held. Water started trickling through the gaps.

"Retreat!" Armsmaster ordered amongst the yelling of surprised capes as Legend and Alexandria continued pushing the Endbringer back, alternating powerful attacks. "Spread out once outside," he continued as he ran. "Thinkers, support personnel, to me!" he turned around. "Reinforce, that also means you," he added in a lower tone.

Reinforce looked at me for a second, just long enough for me to nod.

The retreat wasn't orderly in any way, more like a stampede, but the room still emptied quickly. Some capes, like Hookwolf, didn't even try for the doors; the Changer burst through the wall like a wrecking ball, and he wasn't the only one.

I was barely out the door, with Reinforce in front of me, when someone else yelled "Wave!"

Forcefields snapped all around, mine included, and those weren't the only capes to react. Strider appeared then disappeared with a good number of parahumans, which included my dad and the rest of the support capes, while the two giants of the E88 grew tall and braced the building for impact. The last few capes threw themselves between the Brutes' legs as the water hit, some screaming all the while.

Between the building and the forcefields, we capes weathered the attack pretty well. The few outside the fields, mainly fliers, didn't do so well. Some were fast enough and managed to escape the surging waters, but a cape in white didn't, and the wave deposited him straight into a concrete wall on the opposite side of the Boardwalk.

Dignity deceased, CF-2, my armband supplied helpfully. The battle had taken its first casualty.

Behind us, the building crumbled, the wave having destroyed its supports. The rain made the dust fall quickly, and we were graced with the sight of Leviathan throwing Alexandria out to sea while Legend dodged the beast's tail.

The capes present didn't wait. Projectiles of all kinds rushed forward as Shakers brought up walls and fields as barriers. Brutes rushed forward, hoping to join the melee and hammer the Endbringer to the ground. "Spread out!" Armsmaster yelled, already moving, but most didn't heed his words. I did, putting some space between me and the mass of heroes and villains, and I could see the Travelers and some others emulating me.

Then Leviathan turned upon himself, disappearing behind his water shadow for a second. And just that was enough; the next moment, he'd broken through whatever barriers were in his way with a singular burst of speed. He was then in the middle of the massed capes, his water shadow a second behind him. His tail blurred low to the ground and dozens were bowled over instantly as the massive limb rushed forward without stopping.

And a second later, it arrived right in my face.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I jumped backwards as Leviathan's tail came for me and that single action was the only thing that saved my life.

The extra tenth of a second it gave me was enough for my shield to snap into position inches from my helmet. The Endbringer hit it with all the momentum of a crashing plane the very next instant, brutally flinging me backwards since my forcefield wasn't rooted in place. A quick movement of my fingers and I had Lucifer in hand, firing the mace's jets as soon as possible to redirect my impromptu flight. They came on just in time, and I merely clipped the side of a building instead of being slammed straight into its side.

I then managed a tumbling landing on wet ground that, while painful, didn't stop me from rising once more. I mentally noted as I did so that my field had been overwhelmed in a single hit, and that it would be offline for the next minute.

I forced myself to push back the pain from my injuries, my arm twinging as Lucifer's head came back in position. My mid-air maneuver might have saved my life, but I'd still nearly wrenched my arm off from the forces. I could also feel a headache coming, either from the stress or the flips I'd done before I landed.

I took a deep breath to center myself while the heavy rain was the only sound I could hear, then focused back on the situation at hand.

I couldn't see either Leviathan or the main mass of participating capes from my position, my impromptu flight having redirected me down another street. And the litany of names coming from Dragon's armbands didn't indicate a good situation.

…Laserdream deceased, CF-5. SX deceased, CF-5. Mechanical Messiah down, CF-5. Browbeat deceased, CF-5…

Losing sight of Leviathan was the worst thing that could happen now. Therefore, I used Lucifer as a climbing tool, and rappelled myself up the tallest building near my position. Getting into place, I saw through the downpour that the monstrous hydrokinetic hadn't budged a meter; he was still in the middle of the amassed capes, wailing on four or five opponents at the same time.

And, worse was, he was winning.

While punching a man behind a forcefield, he swept his tail and bowled three capes over, two of whom didn't get back up from where they fell in the mud. One person in armor somehow turned to flame, letting the tail fly through him without effect, only for Leviathan's water shadow to hit the reformed cape like a ton of bricks. Another parahuman, a Brute this time, took advantage of the fact that he wasn't being targeted to toss a metal man at Leviathan's back. What I supposed was a Changer clearly wasn't an unwilling projectile; he landed on the Endbringer's back with arms like giant hooks and started ripping into whatever he could find there.

…Knight Errant deceased, CF-5. Radiant Tiger down, CF-5. Crackerjack down, CF-5…

Ok, I asked myself, the pain in my head giving another twinge. What now?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Apparition]

Alert looked around, shaking the water from her suit. "This is the least red place I can see around here," she explained.

"Good enough for me," Tattletale replied. "And thank you for the warning, it probably saved our butts."

I could tell that she was smiling at me simply from her body language. "Now what?" she asked.

"First, I'm setting up a power zone," I said, removing one of my gloves to touch the ground directly. Tattletale nodded at that, stepping back as I started forming a six foot wide square on the floor. Bitch simply stood there, caressing her enlarged dogs as she looked out the rain-splattered balcony doors toward the battle happening there.

"Power zone?" Regent asked from the recliner he'd claimed. "Mind explaining that, Blondie?"

I ignored him. While it wasn't the time to hide things, it also wasn't the one for explanations. Grue shook his head at the Master, who scowled and let it go, turning to look toward the beach.

I closed the zone only for the power not to take. My eyes went wide in surprise, and I tried again only to get the same result along with a rising headache. My third try was a smaller one, barely a meter wide, and this one clicked true with effort. The mental pains slowly vanished as I pushed the zone into increasing powers.

Unsurprisingly, Tattletale noticed and stopped in the middle of her explanation about Dragon's armbands. "What's happening?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

I didn't reply, focusing instead at what I felt in my head.

There were eight sparks there.

What?

I sure hadn't gone after powers, so that would mean Taylor. Why would Taylor go steal sparks in the middle of an Endbringer battle?

Except that Taylor had gone as Arsenal, which meant she couldn't be stealing powers. Not without slipping out of her armor at minimum, and as paranoid as she was about keeping her various identities separate, she wasn't going to do that without proper preparation at least.

There was something odd going on here. A ninth spark choose that moment to appear. Transition, I noted instantly.

I turned straight toward Tattletale. "Want Perception?" I asked, and there was an edge of desperation in my voice.

"What?" the Thinker replied, and I could see wheels turn in her eyes. "Something's happening with your powers," It wasn't a question.

I nodded frantically and she stepped forward, being careful not to step in my zone.

Taking her power and adding to it meant that I was getting close my limit. Luckily, I managed to jam the three powers together without any other spark popping up, pushing it back to her right there.

"How much?" she asked as lightning flashed outside.

I indicated eight with my fingers as I focused back inside, trying to fit this together. I went over everything I had quickly, categorizing my new acquisitions.

I quickly put names on them: Gravity, Field and something like Shift along with Transition. I grabbed the last and thought.

I currently had four sparks I used: my trio of Shadow/Tentacle/Wyrm, Area, Clone, and my double Tinker. I couldn't touch Area without going over my limits, and Clone was out of question. That unfortunately left me with only two options: my three part spark or Tinker.

Of course, things started well; neither Gravity nor Shift matched with each other or my two other sparks. Luckily, Transition matched itself properly with my multi-part spark, and Field combined properly with Gravity. Which put me back down to six.

"So, what now?" Regent asked, to which Bitch nodded.

"You think your power might work on Leviathan?" Tattletale replied.

"Fuck no!" the Master answered, shaking his head. "Even if it did, I'm pretty certain I'd get the backlash of the century just for trying!"

"We're search and rescue," Grue interjected, looking through the rain toward the ocean. "So that's what we'll do. Go for the high spots, keep track of Leviathan, take the wounded to safety if possible." He turned to Bitch. "We're using the dogs, ok?"

Bitch looked down at her canine allies, her hands moving to scratch them instinctively. "No fighting?"

"No fighting," Grue confirmed. "Not unless it's a life or death issue for any of us."

She was silent for a moment, then she nodded.

"Good," the Undersiders' leader said. "Bitch, you're with Regent, go right. I'll go left with Alert. Tattletale, you fine with Apparition?"

"I'm stuck in place at the moment," I pointed out, then cursed as another pair of sparks suddenly appeared in my consciousness.

"And I'm staying with her." Alert's tone brooked no compromise. Outside, thunder rumbled once more.

Grue simply nodded, having caught on what was happening. "Fine. Tattletale, you're with me." The Thinker nodded.

I ignored the rest of the Undersiders as they moved out, focusing inward instead. Solid, this time, along with a Human spark.

And they didn't match with anything I had. I was now at eight out of ten, with no clue about how many more sparks might appear.

"Damn it!" I cursed out loud, and Alert turned toward me. "Give me your hand for a second, I need to give you another Human spark."

I'd barely done so when the building shook. Alert instantly righted herself, and seated as I regained my balance easily. "Wave," my companion pointed out.

My eyes went wide as I realized the probable implications.

Implications which were proven true the next minute, as seven more sparks dropped into my mindscape within a couple of seconds, along with once again rising pain.

I grabbed the first, barely analyzing it, and smashed it together with what I thought would fit best. Luckily, the two sparks clicked together without issue, and I could detect my headache now rising an inch slower.

And I didn't stop doing that until I couldn't match anything anymore.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Arsenal]

I was starting to get the trick of using Lucifer to move around.

I had to since running in my armor, while doable, wasn't any faster than without it. I jumped from building to building, breaking my falls by using my mace as a retrothruster, forcing back the pains in my limbs and head. I only stopped when I was the closest I could possibly get to the street right next to the beach.

Where Leviathan was still fighting.

Close-range combat had given way to something more like a shootout. Only Alexandria remained within arm's reach of the Endbringer, hampering it and keeping it relatively immobile. The many Blasters didn't ignore the opening, hitting the beast with everything they had.

Leviathan was blasted with everything I could imagine, from flames to lasers, from crystalline shards of rock to shaped forcefields. The combined assault was making so much noise that one couldn't hear the rain with all the blasts and explosions. The Endbringer ignored most of it, barely dodging, with unfortunately few attacks seeming to have any real effect. Legend's beams were one of the few that I could see were doing appreciable damage, along with whatever distortions Eidolon fired.

There wasn't much I could add there, not without risking the loss of my mace without any real gain.

Surprisingly, outside using his water shadow as a shield, Leviathan seemed content to stay pretty much in place, regardless of the barrage he was facing or even the gigantic sun that was approaching him. I wondered why for a second, then realized the error everyone was making as I looked at the ocean behind them through the pouring water.

I quickly pressed on the left button of my armband. "Hard override! Wave!"

I was unfortunately too late.

Dragon relayed my message just as the wave hit the shore. The defenders turned as one, and that was when Leviathan struck.

The beast backhanded Alexandria, who was one of the rare ones who hadn't turned, and she was flung back a few hundred meters, winding up underwater. Its other hand grabbed the metal cape still on its back, flinging him negligently at the approaching ball of solar flame. Nothing came out the other side. The next second, the wave hit said sun, releasing massive amounts of steam everywhere. So much that, even on a building's roof, I was covered up to my knees. The sound was enormous, covering every other noise, and didn't help my headache.

Dragon was the first to surge out of the cloud, followed quickly by the Triumvirate. The three Protectorate leaders had a quick mid-air meeting, after which Eidolon did something that made the steam flow back to the ground as water.

And, on the ground, only the bodies of broken capes could be spotted, floating here and there on the remains of the wave. The Endbringer was nowhere to be seen.

Leviathan was missing, and no one knew where he was.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Apparition]

Spectre with Horde. Frost with… Not Shift, not Gravity… Solid. Giant with… Shift. Two Humans together. The second Field with the first one, connected to the Gravity multi-part.

Now I could breathe.

I curled on myself, my headache finally starting to recede. On my armband, a litany of names was coming out, spoken by Dragon's voice. The dead and the incapacitated.

While most names I didn't recognize, some I did. Vista and Aegis were both among the dead, something that gave me a bad taste in my mouth. I might have faced them as an opponent, but I had nothing against them. Actually, I remembered Vista being the target of Sophia's anger during my clandestine meeting with the Wards, and the few conversations where Kid Win had spoken about his teammates.

It wasn't fair.

The Wards weren't the only ones to have lost members, but I had difficulty caring much about names I couldn't place, and less about those I could. The Empire had lost two capes, and I couldn't find myself feeling anything better than 'good riddance'. Not after the rest of the dead.

The fact that Leviathan was loose in the city somewhere, unseen, was more urgent however. Unfortunately, I was at double my normal limit, so moving from my power zone wasn't a possibility. I would have mixed them more, but there were no other possible matches left, or at least none that freed any space.

So, instead, I turned to my fellow Undersider beside me. "Any clue what's happening?"

"Not anymore than you," Alert returned. Our armbands were blessedly silent regarding casualties, and no new spark appeared in my mind.

I decided to take a chance. "Let me borrow your powers for an instant."

She didn't hesitate in giving me her hand, and I took her sparks for a moment. As I unfortunately expected, there was nothing in my ten slots I could match to her power, and being over the limit I found I couldn't even split sparks to try different combinations. I quickly handed Alert her power back, and by her reaction I was certain she knew that whatever I'd tried hadn't worked.

The calm period stayed that way for long rain-drenched minutes that seemed never-ending. Various capes called, confirming areas to be Leviathan-free. That is, until the beast was finally found.

"Leviathan found. Corner Jackson and Lincoln. Right before the Heritage Insurance building."

It was said in Arsenal's gruff, male voice.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Arsenal]

My finger dropped from the armband as soon as the message was sent. What was Leviathan doing?

It was looking down, toward the pavement, as if it was reading something on the ground. Behind it, its water shadow stood still, the mass of liquid being the reason that my sensors noticed it in the driving rain. That, and the fact that I was on top of the PRT building, which towered over near-everything within two blocks.

Orders started coming from the armband among the sounds of thunder, sending capes into position to hammer the Endbringer. Just as the last message completed, the giant finally moved, turning near 180 degrees to look up in my direction.

Not just in my direction. It was looking straight at me!

What?!

I barely had the time to finish that thought before Leviathan rushed forward, still heading right for me. It took barely two seconds for it to cover half the distance between us, after which it went airborne, coming at me with every limb.

I didn't hesitate, throwing myself to the side, swinging Lucifer at the same moment. This time, I didn't limit my mace's output, doing everything I could into putting some distance between us. Lucifer roared through the downpour, carrying me off the rooftop to safety.

What the hell?!

Behind me, the PRT building cracked, then crumbled as both Leviathan and its shadow smashed into it feet first.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Twisting Lucifer to the side, I peered behind me into the pouring rain. There, coming out of the building it'd just drop-kicked, Leviathan ran once more in my direction, ignoring everything else. At its back, I could see the PRT building giving up the ghost, its remaining wall failing to ignore the constraints of gravity. My armor muted the roar as it was set up to do, negating the sound to prevent it from harming my ears.

The Endbringer clipped the building I'd just dodged without any appreciable loss of speed, slowly gaining ground on me. I wasn't stupid; with how it was mindlessly targeting me, I had to find a way to escape. The PRT building, which was made to the level of toughness required from Endbringer shelters, had barely slowed it down, so dodging between edifices hoping to lose him wasn't a good proposition. I wracked my brain for a few more instants as I was pulled down the street by my mace, when the obvious solution came to me.

Up. It couldn't fly, so soaring upward was the best solution. Landing might be an issue later, but at least there would be a later.

I stopped Lucifer's propulsion for a second, just enough to redirect it above me, only to abort at the last moment as a massive shadow passed above, Leviathan having somehow divined my intentions. Instead, a burst to the side cancelled most of my momentum, allowing me to land on the rain-slicked ground more or less in one piece. My head was ringing fiercely and my left knee had taken the worst of the landing, but I could still stand.

Leviathan stood before me, a Goliath to my David. And I didn't think any single attack of mine could fell this beast.

At this range, escape was no longer a possibility. While I could technically have my mace drag me faster, my armor wasn't made for supersonic velocities, and that was clearly what I'd need if I wanted to outrun Leviathan. Still, I wasn't going to give up; every second I bought might bring reinforcements, and maybe even a chance to retreat. My arm snapped to the side, ready to shield me if necessary, and Lucifer unwound from my hand to counter the beast's physical blows or pull me aside.

I only caught Leviathan's attack because I was expecting it; a sudden dash and he was nearly in my face, claws ready to splatter me on the pavement. I rolled to the side, passing clear by centimetres, and my shield snapped into place just in time to block the water shadow's strike. It even held, which I attributed to the shadow not hitting as hard as the real thing. Still, I was pushed backwards, sliding on the wet asphalt.

Then a message jumped into my face.

Armsmaster: Jump. Incoming tail.

I didn't hesitate, jumping and having Lucifer drag me up for an extra push. As said, the beast's tail passed right below me, followed by Leviathan's water shadow.

With what had happened at the fundraiser, I'd completely forgot to close the port I'd opened for the Protectorate leader. Good for me in this case, as his message came just in time.

I landed a little farther from the Endbringer, though still not far enough that I'd consider escaping. Leviathan took two steps forward to continue its attack, only to stumble on the second as a wide cut appeared just below its knee without a sound. Armsmaster rappelled himself next to me in the following instant, two halberds in hand, sliding to land on the watery street beside me.

"Arsenal, are you still combat viable?" the man said, his eyes not leaving the giant hydrokinetic.

I could barely hear his words with the pouring rain and the thunder, so I opened my communication port to allow for sound as well as text. The Endbringer truce was in effect; it wasn't time to quibble on communication security. Not that there was someone who could profit from it at the moment.

"I'll live," I answered, receiving the barest hint of a nod. "It's after me, for some reason," I added as I moved to stand beside him.

Before us, Leviathan stood once more. It was visibly favoring its left side, but it was clear that it was still capable of fighting. I found it odd that such a wound could affect it that much, especially considering its previous speed.

"Jumping stomp followed by tail," Armsmaster exclaimed.

And the next moment, Leviathan was airborne.

I shot left while the Protectorate leader shot right, Leviathan falling right between us with a splash. With the warning, I'd even cleared the tail. "How?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Predictive program," the Tinker replied simply, jumping abnormally high toward Leviathan's neck. I realized the opening for what it was less than a second later, and Lucifer rushed forward toward the beast's wounded knee, hitting it at hypersonic speed while weighing relative tons.

Leviathan stumbled once more, his clawed foot skidding in the water.

Armsmaster didn't hesitate a second, clearing great gouges in the beast's head, neck, and back. The beast rolled as soon as it could, trying to crush the Tinker under its weight. Armsmaster saw it coming though, once again hooked himself back to the ground.

"You think we humans weren't planning for you, brute?" Armsmaster exclaimed while Leviathan thrashed on the ground, sending water everywhere along with pieces of pavement. "All of your fights that we have on film? All uploaded and analyzed. I know every move you make before they come, even before you start doing them. You're done now, beast."

I ignored Armsmaster's banter, as good as it was for morale, and focused on the situation at hand.

I could escape.

Leviathan was wounded and bleeding, and its knee was clearly slowing him down. Thrashing on the ground as it was, I could probably jettison myself straight up without issue.

I'd be leaving Armsmaster behind, though.

While the Protectorate leader seemed to have things under control, I doubted a simple predictive program could really make enough of a difference for a complete victory. Based on its reactions before, Leviathan was clearly more intelligent than I'd originally given him credit for. It would either ignore Armsmaster to go straight at me like it had before, or it would finish off the Tinker and move to its next target, i.e. me.

And we could gain more time by acting in concert than by separating.

Leviathan crashed into a building on our left with a bang, then used what remained to pull itself up, turning to the both of us as brick and concrete fell around it. "Waiting for commands," I said, stepping to Armsmaster's side. I might have imagined it, but I think I saw his lips curl into a smile right then.

And then, Leviathan was upon us once more.

I imitated Armsmaster's moves a half second behind him, clearing three monstrous limbs in turn. My shield took the brunt of the water shadow, giving Armsmaster to opportunity to land a second strong blow to Leviathan's right knee. Lucifer followed, roaring as it broke the sound barrier and pushing the Endbringer back a step while Armsmaster cut off one of Leviathan's clawed toes, leaving it lying on the muddy ground.

The beast continued backing away, but the Tinker didn't let up, following and continuing his chain of attacks. I trailed a little behind, ready to intervene if necessary.

"Finally starting to understand, are you?" Armsmaster growled.

I wasn't so sure. If Leviathan was retreating, he'd retreat toward the beach, where his ability with water would give him advantage. He was doing the opposite, going deeper into the city. Worse, he wasn't using his massive speed, slowly backing up where he could run in an instant.

Still, Armsmaster pressed the attack. He managed to do damage even in his dodges, gouging Leviathan's tail as it passed and opening rents in the beast's arms after each blow. I followed up behind him, hammering Leviathan whenever I could. I didn't have Armsmaster's raw skill and couldn't do as much damage as his nano-halberd, but I made each one of my hits count as much as I could.

What blasters remained after the wave finally joined us, with Legend at their head. Initially the Triumvirate member alone blasted the beast, then others joined, giving us more time to rest between each attack.

We're… we are winning, I finally had to admit.

I dodged to the left, evading the predicted claw strike as it broke the pavement, smashing Leviathan behind the head with Lucifer as Armsmaster attacked an elbow. Winding my mace back up as a blaster readied a plasma bolt, I fell to one knee as my leg twinged. I shook my head, trying to clear the pain, only for a detail to jump to my eyes.

That's weird, I thought, the water's not flowing correctly.

I realized the implications a second later, after a second look.

All the water is going for the drains!

"Armsmaster, hook me!" I yelled, running for the sides of the street. I'll give him credit, he didn't hesitate; his halberd hook went straight for my armor. "Come!" I then exclaimed as soon as his weapon had clamped on, rushing into the sky using Lucifer.

The entire street exploded in a watery surge not seconds later, the street bursting and sending bricks and pavement all over the place. My shield blocked both water and projectiles that reached us, failing in the last moments. The last few solid bits hit my armor with small pinging sounds, failing to do any damage.

Both of us dropped on a building's roof, Armsmaster nodding at me in thanks for the save. "That's another trick that won't do you any more good," Armsmaster exclaimed at the Endbringer, only for Leviathan to burst out of the pool-like street, jumping right for our platform. We were back in the air as the beast fell, the roof giving way in a resounding crack.

It then happened again as the beast followed us relentlessly, caring not about obstacles it its way.

Fighting on the rooftops clearly wasn't a good idea, with Leviathan leaving a trail of fallen buildings behind us as we evaded, so the pair of us landed in a vacant lot, hoping to continue the combat on more even ground. Leviathan dropped right at our back, still on the attack, Armsmaster calling them all out as he'd done before.

Somehow, we were having less of an impact this time. Armsmaster's nano-halberd cut less deep, and my strikes made the beast stumble less. Worse, whether because of the time or because of the immersion, Leviathan's wounds had healed, and it fought more like it was fresh than like it'd been hurt.

Still, with the predictive program, we dodged everything. Left, up, left, right, roll, jump. I dodged a claw and jumped over the tail, readying my regenerated shield for the incoming water shadow.

It never came. Not as I was expecting it, anyway.

It came from the other side instead.

Armsmaster released a blast of flame at it, but it was too close and too late. The water spray pushed him back at me, and he was clearly stunned.

I tried my best to shield him, to give him time to recover, but Leviathan wasn't going to let us have it; he went straight into another murderous combination. I managed to push the Protectorate leader aside to save him from an evicerating claw, pushing back the tail with a strike from Lucifer, only to be hammered straight down by a watery tail. My shield broke right then and Lucifer slipped from my fingers.

And with all the water I never saw the kick coming.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[T]

Arsenal down, GB-8. Armsmaster deceased, GB-8.

I jumped to my feet. No, no, no, no, NO!

I nearly rushed out, but realized it would just make things worse. With the few capes that had just died in the last minutes, I was already over, and the new power that had just jumped into my head (another Tinker, I noted) wasn't helping things.

I mixed that one with the rest of the Tinkers, found a place for Repel and matched Fill with Shadow after three other tries, only to be still stuck at eleven.

I looked at Alert beside me, who was on the balcony, looking everywhere as if she was searching for something. She then crumbled to the ground, as if her strings had been cut.

"What?" I asked.

She shook her head. "All red," she intoned gravely, and I had the feeling she was starting to cry.

"What does…?" I started, then realized what she meant. "No."

"There is…" she sniffed. "No path to reaching Taylor alive. Everything… Everything is red."

I wasn't going to accept that. I was still over the limit, but if I managed to fix things enough, Taylor might escape. She could use Shadow and slip away. I needed to match things enough that she could survive.

The problem was actually Human. Actually, the six smaller Humans sparks that I'd matched together, along with Flesh and Redundancy. That combined spark matched with nothing else, and it was the smallest I had remaining.

But there was something I hadn't tried. At any other time, I wouldn't even have thought of the possibility, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And I'd risk it all for Taylor to survive.

Grabbing Human with a metaphorical hand, I tried jamming it as hard as I could into Clone, hoping with all my heart that the two matched as Taylor and I long suspected.

They did.

I released the breath I'd been holding, turning to Alert once more. "Try again?" I asked.

It took even less time for her to shake her head in another no.

Two sparks jumped to mind as another name came out, and I focused hard on matching them. I wasn't going to give up, not now. Taylor's name hadn't come out of the armband yet, not deceased anyway, and I wasn't going to abandon her until death took me.

Not now, not ever.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Arsenal]

I came to feeling horrible. My head was ringing like a church bell, and I could sense my bones grinding uncomfortably. Worse was, I couldn't feel the bottom half of my body, and that was probably even more of a danger.

And I could see nothing.

With my thoughts jumbled and the pain in my brain, it took me a while to realize what had happened. Seconds passed before I could remember, and finally put a finger on the events of the last few minutes.

Leviathan had finally got me.

I was surprised to actually still be alive, regardless of my current state. Outside my head, there was surprisingly little pain. Distantly, I realized that there was water in my suit, and that it was slowly rising.

Oh, yeah, I realized, I should escape.

I focused on turning into shadow, as I'd done hundreds of times, only for something like a live current to pass straight through my head. A second try did the same, only worse, making me black out for an instant. Forget little pain, my head was now a death metal loudspeaker cranked passed eleven.

"What?!" I tried exclaiming, but only a wheeze came out. Even more dangerous was the fact that I had water up to my chin now, and it was still going up. At least, the sudden agony had cleared my thoughts.

Ignore it, I told myself, pushing back the pain as much as I could. Looking inside, I finally realized the cause of the pain. There were twelve, no, thirteen sparks there. And huge sparks unlike anything I'd had before.

As I focused, one disappeared, being matched with another. So T's working on it, I noted absently.

I took a breath, trying to focus beyond the pain, only to breathe in what was mostly liquid. I choked, and pushed the water out, forcing my mouth closed. I could feel the water creeping slowly up on my lips, and what little air I could draw from my nose was wet and salty from the spray.

I attempted again to change state, with pain as my only answer. No, no, no! I tried everything else: pushing myself up, forcing my nose closed, twisting around to find a way for the suit to empty itself, but nothing helped. My suit had no power and couldn't move, its arms were twisted into place and didn't respond, and with my unresponsive legs, I couldn't an inch.

I was well and truly stuck.

NO! I screamed inside. Not like this!

I tried holding on and not breathing for as long as I could, but my body betrayed me; I couldn't help but reach for air, and my lungs filled with cold liquid. I could fell myself fading, my muscles not responding to my desperate struggle for air, my whole body desperately aching for breath with no salvation in sight.

As blackness became near total, I tried once last time to turn into my other state. The pain was even worse this time, before I...

no...

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Arsenal deceased, GB-8.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

AN: Contrary to what people might believe, the two most important deaths in this part weren't rolled, but decided ever since the very beginning. Those were crucial to my planned plot, and as such not left to chance. I will also reiterate: this is nowhere the end of this story, not by a long shot.

And feel free to blame Robo Jesus if you think Taylor's death was cruel. He has a large part with how it happened .

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Reinforce]

I found myself in a position I'd hoped never to return: helping with the triage of patients. I'd done so once before in my life, when one of the buildings in the docks had fallen after a cape battle, and it wasn't any better now than it had been then.

It was, however, the best place for me to be.

When that teleporter warped us away from the battlefield, he dropped me and the others on top of Brockton Bay Hospital. Judging by Armsmaster's body language, not everyone expected had ended up being transported, but he still took command, dispatching the lot of us to appropriate locations.

I had no clue where to go, or anything else in this business, so it was good that someone at least could give orders, and be listened to.

I didn't expect to end up in the hospital, though.

The Protectorate Tinker had me use my power on Panacea, since she was one of the most important capes not involved in the combat. It turned out that reinforcing her power extended her ability to divine the workings of people's bodies to line-of-sight, something which was a godsend when seconds counted.

Because of that, I was ordered to follow her wherever she went, and to make sure she could use her enhanced power as long as possible. Armsmaster was teleported back into the fray right after that, leaving me with the beacon Taylor had given him and with no other valid option than following Panacea into the building proper.

I felt a little like a third wheel as she entered the place, ordering nurses and orderlies as if she ruled over all of them, regardless of the fact that she wasn't even an adult yet. The two of us were brought to a ward that was more like a warehouse than any regular operating room.

I could already see two beacons farther into the room, and a doctor relieved me of mine only to plug it into the wall.

Then the wounded started streaming in as the names continued to flow from my armband.

At first I simply stood there, just trying to stay out of the way as much as possible, but within minutes there was too much to be done for me to stay idle. I had very limited medical training, mainly first-aid knowledge, but I was used to managing people and jobs.

This time, it was the beds I was managing.

I wasn't doing much, simply being the buffer between Panacea and the nurses, remembering her diagnostics and sending people to various corners of the room based on her words.

I also started hating the armbands we'd been given.

I understood what they were trying to do with it, and agreed that communication was crucial in a situation like this, but as name after name came out, I could see the effect it had on everyone. Each one was another stab in our collective morale, another hint that things were doomed to fail.

I'd personally never been involved in an Endbringer fight, and had simply watched the newscasts detailing the losses as numbers on a screen. Now, I could see in my head the many capes waiting at the rendezvous point, and could no longer treat those names I heard as statistics.

Worse was when it was names I recognized.

Manpower deceased, EF-4.

Lady Photon deceased, DF-6.

I wasn't the man with the best knowledge of the cape world, but I'd followed the news more than enough to know the big names of Brockton Bay. New Wave lost three members over ten or so minutes, and I couldn't help but fear for Panacea, who was barely older than Taylor.

Still, she surprised me by soldiering on as if nothing had happened. She wiped her eyes dry a few times with her sleeves, but she kept working resolutely through her loss.

Then, for a moment, the names tapered off, and the both of us finally had a moment to talk as she went over the less urgent cases. I also used the pause to refresh my power on her, just in case.

"Is… Is it over?" I asked her, unsure. Around us, people were discussing the very same, and no one seemed to have a sure answer. None went to Panacea, though.

Keeping one hand on her patient, she looked down at her armband. "No," she said with a sigh as she walked to the next bed. "Leviathan's just hiding. It does that sometimes, and it's never a good thing."

I realized right then that this wasn't her first time in such a situation. "Are you… going to be alright?" I couldn't help but ask.

"They might not be dead," she answered as if by rote. "Armband might have shorted, or broke, or…"

I saw what she was trying to do, and kept silent. This wasn't the time to focus on such things.

The male voice of Taylor's persona rang out the through both of our bracelets. "Leviathan found. Corner Jackson and Lincoln. Right before the Heritage Insurance building." I nearly didn't recognize it, still unused to the voice. When I realized, a shiver went down my back at the idea of Taylor being within the beast's sights.

Luckily, only a few more patients arrived in the next few minutes, most having been nearly drowned by Leviathan's waves, but nothing compared to the earlier casualties. My focus was elsewhere, and I couldn't have managed the quicker work I'd done earlier.

Arsenal down, GB-8, Armsmaster deceased, GB-8.

No, I couldn't help but scream inside, glaring at my armband as if I could affect things that way. No, No, No…

Endless seconds passed. I kept waiting, looking at every person coming in, hoping to see my daughter's armored form on a stretcher. I'd seen Panacea do miracles, I'm sure she could help Taylor, whatever happened…

Arsenal deceased, GB-8.

"NO!" I screamed, grabbing my armband and trying to crush it to powder. With my limited strength, I couldn't even dent the thing, but I needed to do something, anything. "NO! NO, NO!" I continued, stamping on the ground with every syllable. My teeth ground on each other as I clenched hard, and my whole body tensed with rage. "THAT'S A LIE! THAT CAN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" I yelled, the orderlies around me retreating.

Barely a moment after that, I felt a hand in mine. I turned in a flash to see Panacea looking at me in the eyes.

"Armband might have failed," she pointed out flatly.

The fire bled out of me near-instantly as I realized what she was doing. She was trying to give me hope, to help me go forward.

It is a sad thing to realize that a girl less than half my age is stronger than I am.

"Yes, an armband failing..." I replied desperately, grabbing onto that shard of hope. "Right," I breathed, nodding as I forced myself to push down what remained of the anger back. I inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, making myself calm down as I'd done hundreds of times before. It might be an infinitely small chance, but it was better than no hope at all. "You were saying?" I asked, still taking deep breaths.

"First goes bottom left, second goes straight to me," she repeated as she turned back to her current patient.

I turned back to the rest of the room to convey her words in a rigid voice, my hand reaching for Dragon's armband unconsciously.

Please, Taylor. Please be alive and safe, I repeated inside my head as a mantra. I can't deal with losing you too.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Tattletale]

Arsenal deceased, GB-8.

That...wasn't what I'd planned! I raged inside, trying to figure out what went wrong. Between the armor and her power, she should have been safe!

I could feel my power trying to push through the walls I'd made, and forced it back. Trying to push right now was useless, with all the extraneous data from the storm and the rest of my environment.

Hearing every single drop of rain separately was a pain and a half, let me tell you.

I pushed Brutus in a beeline toward the apartment building we'd claimed as a temporary base of operations, ignoring the cracks of thunder and the rain falling off my back. Two buildings before reaching them, I was finally close enough that Taylor's newest addition to my power let me see into the base's interior and make out the pair of capes who were still inside.

I released a sigh at that. Worst case averted, I noted. Still, that meant quite a few possibilities left. Had Taylor survived the loss of her armband? Had she… died, and T was somehow still there? The pair of them had been getting new sparks; was one of them the cause of this?

There were still too many questions.

I rushed inside as soon as Brutus landed, Grue not far behind me. While I could see through the walls and rain using Perception, that didn't mean my night vision was better than it had been before.

I absently noted that both of them had barely moved from where they'd been standing when we'd left, which I supposed meant Apparition was still over the limit, and I stepped up right next to them. Behind me, Grue closed the balcony doors, giving me some small degree of relief from the incessant downpour.

"You two fine?" I asked, my eyes quickly going over the both of them. I couldn't see anything wrong with either Alert or Apparition, but something was nagging me about the second, and I couldn't put my finger on what.

Seeing as that might be linked to her continued existence, I relaxed my barriers and let my power flow.

Worry, tears: Taylor in danger.

Precognitive, tears, unmoving: Nothing can be done in time.

I shook my head, forcing myself to push back those facts. That wasn't what I needed right now.

The pair nodded as I continued pushing my power on, ignoring the pain. "Taylor?" Grue asked as I did so. I already knew what was coming, and ignored him. There wasn't anything I could do about it, anyway. Better to focus on the present.

Increased heart rate, closed eyes: Inner focus toward powers, desperation.

Desperation, headache, power mixing: Mixing of normally untouched power. Clone mix.

Clone mix, notice of death, nothing to be done in time: Change in clone power. No longer creation of Taylor.

No longer clone.

"Red," Alert sadly answered as that conclusion flashed into my brain. "Everything's red."

Normally, I trusted my power somewhat blindly, but this time I needed to verify.

"How about powers?" I asked, trying to confirm. "Are you over?" I could remember Taylor telling me that going over made her powers unreliable, along with migraines similar to mine. If Apparition was too far gone in sparks, she might not even be able to tell.

"I managed to get everything into ten slots," the Trump said, shaking her head. "I can't get below that."

I winced again. "So, still stuck in place?" Grue verified.

Apparition simply nodded.

"What about Clone?" I asked, and the meaning behind that was pretty clear.

"I… I don't know," Apparition admitted. "I was forced to mix it with other stuff, so I have no clue how it works any more." That was at least confirmation of part of the chain.

Alert turned to her, and looked her up and down, eyes going wide. "I'm… not seeing much red… barely light pink. You're… you're not going to vanish in the next twenty-four hours!" she finished with the beginnings of a smile.

I couldn't help but echo her smile at that, regardless of the current circumstances. With Alert having predicted Leviathan, that was all the proof I needed.

Apparition turned to the Changer in a flash. "That… That…" she fell down as to her knees as she clearly realized something. "Clone's no longer active."

There was another moment of silence as everyone digested those words. Normally, from what Taylor had said, Clone only went inactive when T was gone. A possibility came to mind, and I started hoping beyond hope that I was right, and that this wasn't a new peculiarity of her power.

"What…" Grue started, voicing what everyone thought. "What happens if you activate it?"

Apparition reached out, pushing a hand forward. And, inches in front of that, something started growing. First, it was simply a floating spot of skin that I could barely see with my eyes, which slowly grew into a digit. Flesh, skin and bone quickly started knitting themselves together, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, forming first a hand, then an arm, continuing on into a torso before growing into a full body. Everyone stood transfixed as another Taylor grew before them, naked as the day she was born.

It was a bizarre thing to experience, especially since the innards could be seen as the body came together. Eyes and hair formed last, the latter ending up with identical part and styling to what Taylor had that morning.

Please be Taylor, I prayed inside. Please. I can't have sent someone else to their death. Intellectually, I knew that this could simply be another clone of T, a spare body, or a dozen other possibilities. Still, I prayed.

Then her eyes opened, and I thought I saw recognition somewhere in them.

And in the next moment, she bent over and tried to hurl the contents of her stomach on the floor, vomiting out what little was there.