Chapter 71

Thirty Minutes Until…

It was almost funny, in a dark, twisted sort of way, just how quickly the day went from all sunshine and rainbows to complete and utter pandemonium.

The entire city was in an uproar.

It was the air raid sirens that made the whole thing feel almost unreal, I idly realized as I listened to the shrill, spine-chilling alarms blare through the sky. I could see the stormy black clouds through the foggy glass of the window, still several miles deep in the Bay, but moving ever forward with a looming, slow menace that was somehow more intimidating than it would have been tearing across the dark waters like a hungry piranha. 

If there was ever any doubt that it was an Endbringer attack before, the pure breadth of that oil-like blackness laid any and all of them to rest. What felt like a huge swathe of the Atlantic was subsumed by whatever profane water trick the fuck the Endbringer was bringing to bear. The weather above the city was raining now, sure, but the clouds were still normal. Gray. Puffy. Wet. But miles into the ocean, like someone tried to force some random puzzle piece to fit, gray turned to midnight black.

Leviathan is approaching. Slowly. Leviathan is approaching slowly. Leviathan will make landfall in roughly twenty eight minutes.

Lightning flashed again. In response, my magic churned inside of me, an ocean of arcane energy just begging to be released from its confines. I felt my fingers tapping on my forearm with enough strength to shatter a lesser man’s tibia. A nervous habit I’d thought I’d beaten.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Avalon,” the handsome, brown-haired hero standing at the front of the room called out. His voice was loud and clear, a brass bell that captivated attention effortlessly.

Legend himself. 

I paused as the low buzzing of dozens of voices went dead silent. The heavy, curious gazes of several men and women, good and bad, dug into the side of my head.

“Before I begin officially disseminating information for all of the brave people who’ve gathered here today to fight off this threat, I’d like to offer the floor to you, the young man who, from what I’ve gathered, became this city’s vanguard over the past couple of months. According to Dragon, it was the two of you who first discovered Leviathan’s appearance?” There was a small smile girding Legend’s lips as he spoke to me, but the gesture was fake. Strained. I couldn’t sense any falsehood in his words; the appreciation he carried was genuine, but-

Legend is worried. Legend is distracted. Legend is curious.

Why were they wasting time?

My eyes flickered back to the window. To the blackness in the Atlantic.

Twenty seven minutes.

I’d give them five.

I disappeared.

In a breath, I was standing side by side with the Leader of the Protectorate, and the most powerful Blaster this side of North America, at the front of the beach-side building the PRT chose for the Endbringer rallying point. My hands rested within the pockets of my coat as I stared out at a sea of creased and paled faces, both old and new, who’d been teleported here in clumps and groups by the mass-teleporter, Strider, watching from the back.

There were so many of them, either sitting in the neatly lined folding chairs or standing behind them.

Teenagers. Adults. Wards, superheroes, supervillains, and anyone and anything in between. I saw Armsmaster, his goatee gone in place of a gray-speckled beard, standing beside a man in a brown burlap that swept the dusty floor, carrying a wooden staff that looked like a cheap Etsy knock-off of the one I crafted for Amy. Their respective Protectorate team - my former party guests, in Armsmaster’s case - occupied the several seats around the two whispering men. I noticed the fake wizard’s, Myrddin’s, eyes would not stray from mine. 

I dismissed him.

New Wave lurked nearby, quiet and serious-looking, but the trench between the two families was louder than any sort of screaming they could’ve ever done. They were all there, every single one of the Dallons and Pelhams sans my girl, but no one seemed all that keen on talking. Gallant stood awkwardly beside, seemingly stuck between his girlfriend and the large group of gathered Wards sitting and standing nearby, but Vicky and him didn’t seem all that close. Trouble in paradise?

Not my problem. Though, it did feel nice to see a familiar 6’7” tall black man, face hidden by a plain domino mask, standing with the other Brockton Bay Wards. Brian had taken my advice.

There were more. In the brief few seconds I took in the crowd, I saw anyone from Chevalier, standing in gleaming silver and gold armor, to Narwhal, seven foot tall, voluptuous, and glistening nakedly with luminescent pink crystals, to a hooded girl whom I could only assume was Flechette, who somehow found herself standing near the corner where my group was set-up. Somehow unsurprisingly, the Ward was standing between Shadow Stalker and Parian, the latter of which seemed stuck between their quiet conversation and paying attention to those of us at the front of the room.

Behind them were the rest of Invictus. 

Trainwreck, as always, was a silent bastion of grim strength and loyalty, standing well over eight feet tall in his gleaming power armor of burnished steel. His newly chiseled bearded face was etched into a marble-like scowl as he stared directly out of the window, one gauntleted finger lightly scratching behind the ear of a massive, dozing Angelica.

Rachel sat backwards in a folding chair to his left, her other two dogs padding the floor beside her with anxious trepidation. She seemed utterly nonplussed by everything around her, chin leaning against her forearm and eyes closed as she seemingly napped on the spot. 

Cassie, Sherrel, and Amy were all standing close together, bodies almost melded, whispering unheard things to each other with serious expressions on their faces. They were all dressed in costume - or, at least, two of the were; Cassie in pink and blue latex with her MagiLink activated, and Sherrel in freshly strapped white boots and her old red trucker hat, but Amy looked as if she was ready to go for a peaceful stroll in the rain. 

She wore a long black dress with draping sleeves that swallowed her hands, the chest region made of a fancy lace mesh that left little of her ridiculous cleavage to the imagination. Black heeled boots, a lacy black choker, and a black umbrella and sun hat completed the ‘almost a gothic vampire but not quite’ look. Ironically, considering her insecurities, more people were chancing subtle glances at her instead of the other endlessly beautiful women of Invictus.

One such awkward peeper was a tall, thin girl in drab brownish-gray armor, standing beside, surprise surprise, Tattletale, who was trying to whisper things to her. However, the girl - Taylor Hebert, without a doubt - was clearly overwhelmed by everyone and everything in the room. She kept glancing from me to Invictus, nearly breaking her neck to do so.

Unsurprisingly, Aisha was nowhere to be found. I didn’t doubt she was lurking somewhere out of sight.

Out of everyone I saw, however, the one whose presence stood out to me the most was, by far, him.

Eidolon.

The man wore a skin-tight blue and green suit that looked like second skin on his athletic body, expanding up into a large, draping hood and mantle that his upper face in shadows that flickered with an unnatural green light. He was neither tall or short, not really skinny or fat… He was just there, existing, given a wide berth despite being considered the most powerful Parahuman in the world. No one seemed like they wanted to bother him, but neither did he seem like he wanted to be bothered.

He was just standing there, menacingly, in the furthest back corner. But he was watching me. I could tell.

… Well, for someone like him, that only made what I was about to say even more awkward. I hoped Cauldron wasn’t skimping out on his therapy classes.

With a sigh, I cleared my throat, pushed Force of Spirit through my tongue, and addressed the massive crowd - and, by proxy, Legend. “There ain’t much to tell. You can see it right there, through the windows - Leviathan’s coming, and my powers tell me he’ll be here soon. Twenty-seven minutes, on the dot, unless he decides to fuck off with the ‘serial killer’ approach and blitz us. Asshole’s actin’ like he’s the underwater Jason Voorhees.”

A number of the Wards, and a few scattered adults, snorted at the crude analogy. In my peripherals, I noticed Legend’s smile became slightly more genuine. “You have an accurate number, then. That’s good; better than our previous approximation window. We truly have you and Dragon to thank for this-“

There it is. I had to stop him before the bullshit started flowing.

“Actually, you mind lettin’ me hold the mic for a lil’ bit longer? I’ve got a few more things to say.”

Silence.

Now I really held everyone’s attention.

“... Of course,” Legend allowed, nodding his head amicably. Though his eyes were wary, his gaze intense, the man didn’t show even a sliver of negatively towards the interruption itself. He drifted closer to me, one hand patting me on the shoulder, and his warm voice dropped down to an almost silent whisper. “Let’s try and keep things as succinct as possible, Avalon. I want to use what little time we have wisely.”

“Believe me,” I muttered back, a wry smile on my lips. “You’ll have nothin’ to worry about.”

What did it say about me and my time here on Earth Bet that the second most powerful parahuman on this planet, a man that I only knew by name and reputation, was willing to temporarily defer entirely to me?

Probably a lot, but I’d never been one to care about fame. All that mattered was that I won.

Turning my attention back to the curiously muttering crowd of superpowered capes, I raised two fingers in greeting. “Yo. I’m going to preface what I’m about to say now with this: Hear me out. Hold any and all objections, insecurities, doubts, and general bullshit until the end of my lil’ spiel, because time is of the essence, and I don’t wanna risk this city that I’ve learned to love falling to an oversized crustacean on steroids. Do y’all get me?”

Someone coughed.

Another person - a Ward from… New York, I think, opened his mouth to say something, but another teenager in big, rust-colored power armor tapped him firmly on the side and he immediately clamped his mouth shut. I kept my head on a slow swivel, waiting patiently for anyone to break the hush, but no one said a word. Not any louder than a muttering to their neighbor, at least.

My gaze drifted over Invictus, over my girls. Sherrel gave me a thumbs up and a grinning wink. Amy smiled softly, and nodded her head. Cassie shot me with the most dorkiest pairs of finger guns I’d ever seen.

That got a crooked smirk out of me, and something eased in my gut. A tension.

I breathed, and spoke further into the silence. “Cool. For those who don’t know me, I am  Avalon, the Leader of Invictus. I won’t go into what I’ve done for Brockton Bay in the past, because right now, that ain’t worth shit. It’s what I can do for all of us in the present that does matter, and for the first time in the history of Earth Bet, I think- no, I know that we can come out of this Endbringer battle with zero casualties. Thing is, in order for that to happen, you have to trust me.”

I paused, licking my dry lips, as the mutters grew louder. Behind me, with my enhanced senses, I heard Legend whispering fiercely with a silent Alexandria, who seemed to ignore his words. Her gaze burned into the back of my head.

My voice rang out clearly. “Trust me, right here, right now, and let me solo it. Let me take on Leviathan, alone, and no one here has to die except for that fucking Endbringer.”

And that was when pandemonium took over.

It started from the back - whispered voices, both from capes that I didn’t recognize and those that I did, a cacophony that grew louder and louder in a combined growl of confused doubt. It all nearly sounded like white noise with the way that it all melted together. 

“… Wait. What the hell did he just say?”

“This some kinda joke? Is this really the time?”

“‘Solo it’? Leviathan?!”

“Bullshit. I’m calling bullshit.”

Men and women stood from their chairs, all talking at once and saying the same shit their neighbors were saying, just phrased in different ways. The majority of the people here knew who I was, but defeating the likes of Lung and taking out the Empire Eighty-Eight was nothing compared to the responsibility I’d just claimed in front of God and everyone. 

Sterling reputation or not, they doubted me. Not all of them, and especially not Invictus, but enough to be the majority. And that was fine.

I wasn’t here to make friends, and I wasn’t asking for permission.

“Enough.”

Mana flooded out of my core like a tsunami.

All at once, the chatter ceased - choked off at the edges by the weakest capes gathered. I kept the output of my magical energy at the bare minimum, just thick enough in the atmosphere to startle the gathered men and women into silence, but thin enough for it to not register in their minds as an attack. For them, I imagined it felt like I was clapping a notably strong hand on their shoulders.

Pay the fuck attention.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to go back and forth. I could stand here for precious minutes, trying to convince you that I’m strong enough. That I can do this. But we don’t have that privilege, and truthfully, none of you could stop me if you wanted to. So instead of bullshitting, let’s talk strategy. Iris?” I tilted my head, lidded gaze flickering over to where Cassie was furiously typing on thin-air.

She jabbed a fat thumbs-up in my direction. “Yup! Already ahead of you, babe. Check the screen!”

Behind me, the three large monitors - probably brought in for some uber tactical reason by the PRT - flickered to life, their dark screens overtaken by a bright pink cat paw icon before transitioning over to what looked like an aerial, top down view of the Atlantic Ocean - or, more specifically, the Bay. Leviathan’s dark waters and even darker clouds were converging rapidly towards the beach, the lightning striking the black clouds what felt like every few seconds now. At this point, you could hardly tell just where he could be in the ocean. The darker waters were just that wide now.

A murmur of unease rippled through the gathered capes.

Legend, arms crossed and face carefully neutral, sent me an appraising look. His voice was quiet when he asked, “You already had this planned out?”

I shrugged, walking back towards the monitors. “Kinda. I do my best work when I’m flyin’ by the seat of my pants. You’ll see.”

Before he could say anything else - and holy shit could I tell he wanted to say a lot - I turned back towards the gathered heroes, villains, and rogues. For better or worse, I once again had their utmost attention, though I noticed that Eidolon was starting to skulk towards the front of the room.

“As you can see,” I began, projecting my voice to be heard clearly by everyone present, “Fish Boy’s doing a dumb by making his intentions clear from the jump. That ain’t his usual MO - there’s something weird going on, probably some parental issues, but that’s too high above our pay grade to figure out right now. Regardless, in approximately twenty-two minutes, he’s gonna be toes in the sand. Most likely with a massive tsunami and a shit ton of property damage. Then again, he could pull a ‘fuck you’ and suddenly accelerate at any moment, throwing our predictions off and slaughtering all of us while we’re in here strategizing.”

“Then is there even a point to this whole farce? You speak like you have a plan, but so far I’m just hearing a bunch of conjecture.” A tall, brown-skinned guy in a tophat stood tall towards the side of the room, his back straight and his face hidden behind a crimson mask.

For some reason I felt like I should’ve known who he was, but truthfully, I did not care.

I smiled thinly. “Happy you asked. Don't interrupt me again, though. Seriously.”

His shoulders tensed. “Who exactly-“

Fucking hell.

“Shhh.”

Ulgu slithered up from the dork’s shadow like writhing tendrils made of dark smoke, and his teammates - a lean girl in a sun-themed costume, and a broad man in dark armor - flinched back with surprised yelps as the smoke wrapped tightly around Top Hat’s mouth. He lurched forward, clawing at the smoke, probably yelling his throat raw, but-

No sound escaped.

The girl in the dark red sun costume hissed something to the armored man, who’d been moments away from raising his arm at me, and he abruptly stopped.

A tenseness filled the room, electric and heavy.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed Rachel slowly easing herself back down into her chair. Angelica was practically buried beneath Trainwreck’s gauntlet, snarling, but she made no move to actually attack.

My gaze flickered towards the screen again. We’d only wasted a few seconds. Good.

“Avalon…” Alexandria’s voice drifted from my left - cool, quiet, stoic. 

A warning.

My smile widened. It was not a very kind one.

“As I said,” I continued as if nothing had happened, subtly nodding my head towards Cassie. She touched something in her HUD, and the satellite image smoothly zoomed out, showing just enough of a wider view for the beach to be seen, miles away from the blotchy darkness that was Leviathan. “I am happy he asked. See the beach? No matter what, we’re not letting that fucker make it far enough past the shore to make a sand castle. That will be our defensive line. When I fly out into the ocean to confront it, I’ll need everyone tough enough to take hits from an Endbringer hunkering down and bracing like a fuckin’ impenetrable wall, lining the coast. Barriers, shields, force fields, constructs - we’ll need those supplementing our tanks. If you meet any of those criteria, stand and move to my left.”

There was a pregnant pause. Some people had flinched upwards, moving out of their seat instinctively at the command, but hesitation saw them freezing. Online fame was one thing, but I was no veteran to Endbringer battle. It was widely known that I was young, and a brand new hero, not even three months into my career. Hell, that was part of my lightning quick rise to microcelebrity status. I could empathize with the hesitation.

But time was running out. And so was my patience. 

“N-“

“You heard the boss! If you’re feelin’ like a tank, you’re lookin’ like a tank, and you’re used to gettin’ smacked around like a bitch - follow Trainwreck! Lord knows he ain’t gonna be useful anywhere else.”

I didn’t even get a chance to speak. Sherrel’s voice rang out like a brass bell, the suddenness of it causing some people to nearly fall out of their seats. She marched across the floor with long, confident strides, heeled white boots clicking with each step. Eyes followed her the whole way, up until she came to a stop at my side, full lips quirked up into a dazzling grin.

Ever the faithful Lieutenant.

That was when Trainwreck scoffed, straightened up to his full, overpowering height, and swung his rocket hammer onto his back. “… Feh. So fuckin’ loud.”

The room shook when he stomped his way over to my left.

Rachel stood, pushed her chair aside with one foot, and clicked her teeth. 

“With me.” She commanded, jerking her head towards the absolute units that were her newly biologically perfected dogs. They rose as one, shiny fur bristling along their muscular frames, and followed the nonchalant girl as she shoved her thumbs into the pockets of her road leathers and made way towards the front.

And, just like that, the floodgates opened.

Capes of all shapes and sizes began to stand and follow after my two heavy hitters. Sherrel murmured the names of the more noteworthy ones as they joined Trainwreck and Rachel, because apparently she was more knowledgeable of cape culture than I was. Bastion, the racist leader of the Boston Protectorate, was the biggest name in that group outside of Narwhal.

Neither seemed particularly pleased following my orders, but neither did I care. Alexandria was whispering to both Legend and Eidolon now, the latter of whom seemed notably pissed. Legend, however, was remarkably calm.

Good. That meant I still had slack to set this shit up. I’d only had a few minutes to strategize with my team before we came down here, and I needed to set this fight up for success. I refused to fail this city now of all times. 

I fucking refused.

“Next,” I stated, gesturing to the empty space to my right, “I need my DPS. Long range attackers; Blasters, Strikers, as long as you can put on the pain, and you know you can give an Endbringer pause, I need you there. You’ll be set up behind our defensive line, far enough away to shoot off shots without friendly fire. Don’t worry about killin’ the big bastard. That ain’t your job. Ideally, you won’t even have to fight. But if I have an army of capes, I’m gonna set us up for success as much as possible. Move.”

This time, they didn’t need Sherrel’s oddly charismatic vulgarity to follow my orders - they did it on their own. Voices buzzed in hushed discussion, folks trading tips and confirming powers as they moved to get into place. The rain outside was coming down by the fucking gallon now, rattling the roof and leaking through the shuddering windows, but everyone was moving. Busy. There was no time for fear when adrenaline filled your blood.

It was only when Flechette was moving to join the others that I reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened immediately, swinging around to stare up into my mismatched eyes. Fear, caution, admiration - Hidden Intuition whispered it all into my ear, but there was only one thing I was interested in.

“You,” I murmured, voice deadly serious, “Are gonna be ridin’ shotgun with Overdrive here. Outside of me, you have the best chance at killing this asshole. She’s gonna make sure you have the best possible shot to do it if I don’t.”

The young Ward froze, her head twitching in Legend’s direction. He was watching silently from the side with the other Blasters, his face neutral, eyes intense. When his gaze locked with Flechette’s visor, all he did was incline his head.

That was clearly enough for her.

“… Crap. Okay, fine. I can do that,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Absolutely no pressure, either. Just being tasked with assassinating an Endbringer. Normal New York Ward things. I guess it’s because of my power?”

“Ain’t it always?” Sherrel chuckled, throwing her arm over the shorter girl’s shoulders and gently guiding her away from prying ears. “Relax, big boss has everything covered - but there’s a certain spot you’ll wanna aim for. See, right there in fish breath’s sternum, is a critical point we’re gonna try and hit. It’s called a core…-“

God, I was really starting to love that woman.

“Finally,” I clapped my hands, the loud smack echoing through the room like a gunshot and ceasing the chatter immediately, “The support. If you’re not in either of these two groups, don’t worry - you’re not useless, or a liability. I just need you filling in gaps where you can. Lemme reiterate something; Leviathan’s not getting past the beach. That I can promise you. So for our Movers, I just need you transporting wounded, if there are any, to our healers. Iris and Dragon will be directing you all to where you need to go, so be on the lookout for their voices in your earpieces. If you can heal, follow-up with Amy. If you’re not fast, and you can’t heal, support our tanks and DPS.”

There weren’t that many capes left in the middle of the room. On my left and right were two sizable crowds of people, looking grim and prepared for the trials that were to come. I counted maybe a couple dozen - mostly Wards, but I spotted the likes of Velocity, looking antsy, and Armsmaster, looking distinctly pissed off. Battery was pacing back and forth, throwing glances over at Assault, who’d joined the ‘Tank’ team. Top Hat was alone, pouting beneath his mask, the Silence spell having disappeared just like his teammates. Amy and Cassie were at the head of the ‘support’ crowd, looking entirely at ease despite the tension in the air.

Though, then again, I was sure that they were nervous. It was only their faith in me that kept their nerves contained. Their faces showed nothing but pure, unadulterated confidence.

I could not fail.

I wouldn’t.

From the DPS team, Legend approached me, his face lined with significantly more tiredness than before. He gazed at me with a strange mixture of confusion and wariness, a look that was entirely different from how he’d been staring at me a short ten minutes ago. 

“And you, Avalon?” He asked searchingly, the sound of his voice cutting through the humdrum and the storm. Silence reigned as he leaned in close, asking louder, “What is your plan? How do you plan to do something as outrageous as killing Leviathan? You divvied up the forces, but it’s all defensive. Do you truly mean to say that you’re taking it on alone? Because this is not a game, son. This isn’t Lung. This isn’t anything even remotely close to all that you’ve won against in your career so far. This is an Endbringer. A force of nature. You-“

“We’re wasting time,” I said softly, cutting him off.

Fifteen minutes until landfall.

Legend’s voice was almost pleading when he whispered, “We need more than just your-“

Thunder drowned out his words.

No one spoke. Even Alexandria, arms crossed and watching stoically from the Tank section, seemed tense. They would follow my directives, but I hadn’t truly given them a reason to trust my power. Not against an Endbringer. 

But talk was cheap. And explaining my magic would take longer than the time we have. Not when everyone still needed to get set up in their positions.

I can show you better than I can tell you.

“Make sure they follow my orders,” I murmured, all amusement and flippancy gone. “Dragon has been securing the beach and setting up her Dragonflight suits in strategic locations. Communicate with her once you pass out the armbands - she’ll tell you where best to place everyone. Can you do that for me, Legend?”

The storm was too loud now. I could barely hear myself over the sound of rainfall and thunder. But Legend’s gaze never left mine.

“… You’ve impressed her,” he smiled, the expression grim. His words were nearly lost in the ambience. “You’ve impressed them. She won’t tell me much, but… Please. Do not make me regret this.”

I looked down. His hand was extended out, nearly touching my chest.

I grasped it firmly.

“You do your job, and I’ll do mine. Leviathan dies tonight.”

And we shook on it.

Thirteen minutes to landfall.

Somewhere outside, high up in the sky that was sobbing bucketfalls of rain, a bestial roar beckoned. It shook the building we were in at the very foundations, reverberating so deeply in my chest that I felt my bones ache from the pressure, and someone screamed in fear. That almost made me laugh. 

“You know your jobs!” I shouted over the storm, taking a step back and rolling my wrist. Golden mana gathered around my hand, flickering and glinting with little quicksilver flecks, and my Armament - my spear materialized out of thin air, falling into my steel-like grasp. “My ride’s here, so I’ll see y’all when the storm’s over!”

I saw mouths open. People were responding to me, shouting things - most of them positive, I’d imagine. Cassie and Amy were staggering to their feet, Cass nearly face planting in her haste, and I could read their intentions in their pale faces. Now that it was clear that I was leaving, their confidence had been peeled back, revealing all of the anxiety, worry, and pain of two girls watching the love of their life go out to fight an impossible enemy.

Tears bubbled in their eyes. If I searched for Sherrel, I was sure I’d see the same thing.

And that was bad. I’ve always been horrible with crying women. I didn’t have the freedom to get caught up in mushy goodbyes right now.

So I smiled at them, as wide and genuine as I could.

“I love you.”

Thunder struck at that moment. I was sure that, even if it hadn’t, they wouldn’t have been able to hear me. I was halfway across the room, after all. But they didn’t need to hear me. They just needed to read my lips, read my expression, and know that I would win. That I would come back to them, alive and whole. Not just my girlfriends, not just Invictus, but the entire city was mine to protect, and I wasn’t planning on losing. Not to Leviathan, not to Simurgh, not to Behemoth, and sure as shit not to Scion.

Warmth filled my body.

And as their eyes widened, and Cassie reached out her gloved hand with the cute little toe beans on the fingertips to grab hold of thin air, I turned my gaze up to the ceiling, raised my spear, and-

CRACK!

Disappeared through the roof like a bolt of lightning.

…

…

…

Had I always been this fast?