Dreams of Tomorrow (Worm/Supergirl)

[Tontis]

Arrival 1.11​

Armsmaster had to swerve to avoid another car. When the Endbringer Sirens had sounded, traffic had steadily grown worse and worse. It was to the point that most people had abandoned their cars in the mad dash for shelter. A brave handful of BBPD officers were the only thing that kept the streams of people rushing through the streets from degenerating into flatout chaos. It was frustrating, but it was something that Armsmaster had planned for in the eventuality of an Endbringer attack.

Mass chaos and panic were an inevitability in these kinds of events, and he had a half dozen contingencies in place for all of them. Though the truth was, even with all his planning, he had been caught flat footed. When an Endbringer attacked, they had around ten to twenty minutes to prepare. Not a lot, but it gave time for more heroes to be gathered and for the frontliners to meet and hopefully slow the Endbringer. It was a messy tactic, but it saved lives.

Today, they had had five minutes.

To make matters worse, this attack broke the usual 'cycle'. It was both early, and the wrong Endbringer; the Simurgh had been next in the lineup, not Leviathan. But of course, this was all built on the assumption that no one messed with the Endbringers between attacks. An assumption that Supergirl had shattered, and now they were all paying the price for. The one saving grace was that he had been at one of his landbound auxiliary workshops when Leviathan went on the assault, as opposed to his primary workshop on the Rig.

Armsmaster's HUD flashed an alternate route around a pile up. Half a dozen cars and trucks that had lost control in the sudden downpour. A man and woman saw him and tried to wave him down. Armsmaster ignored them, there was no time to stop and help.. If Leviathan was allowed to run rampant, more would die. He sent a ping to the local emergency responders; if they had manpower to spare, they'd help those people and let Armsmaster focus on the Endbringer.

He veered around the crash and left it behind, grinding his teeth as he did. Damn Supergirl for this. Damn her for dragging this mess to his city. Capes like her were as much trouble as they were help. She might have cleaned up the ABB but she had brought something so much worse to Brockton Bay. They'd already lost Miss Militia, her comms had gone dead several minutes ago and Armsmaster was en route to her location. Best case scenario, the local Protectorate was going to be decimated by Leviathan's attack. Worse case scenario, by the end of the day the only thing that would be left of the city would be a water filled crater. And that would be on her head too.

Yes she was strong, maybe one of the strongest capes in the world behind Scion. But even Scion couldn't kill an Endbringer, just drive them off. She had started a fight she couldn't win, and hundreds of thousands of people were going to lose their lives because of it. If Supergirl were here right now, he'd tear into her for her recklessness.

Skyscrapers started to turn into smaller businesses, and Armsmaster could see the Towers, the hilly neighborhoods occupied by the wealthier part of Brockton Bay's population, coming up. If he was lucky, he'd be able to link up with New Wave and prepare a proper assault. The PRT was already on full alert contacting all available heroes and rogues in the city, even contacting elements from the local gangs. Dragon was fully devoting herself to organizing outside assistance and had cut her line to him when he deployed. With enough time, they'd have more reinforcements to handle Leviathan. But until that point…

All thinking and planning came to a halt for Armsmaster, when a crack split the air and he felt a tremor in the atmosphere. His HUD flashed a warning in bright red letters that read, 'Incoming Projectile!'. He wrenched his bike to the side and almost skid parallel to the street. Only his personal skill and modifications built into his bike kept him from tumbling over and crashing into a crowd of teenagers on the street. He came to a stop in a cloud of smoke and ignored the stench of burnt rubber. His focus was locked onto the sky.

A moment later, Supergirl came falling out of the sky to crash into the street. She bounced one, two, three times across it like a skipping stone before getting her feet under her and skidding to a stop directly across from the armored cape. Supergirl stood up, ran both hands through her hair and let out a slow pent up breath. Then she noticed Armsmaster.

"Oh thank you Rao." She sighed and walked up to Armsmaster like she'd just run into him at the mall. "Armsmaster, Leviathan's made landfall. I'm giving as good as I can, but I need you to evacuate civilians, I can only do so much with the risk of collateral damage."

She looked at the teenagers, and smiled and waved at them, "Don't worry folks, everything is under control!"

When she looked back at Armsmaster, she finally seemed to notice his unamused expression. He stabbed a finger at her, "Do you have any idea how many lives you've-"

Her head whipped to the side and she held up a finger to shush him, "Hold that thought."

Armsmaster shoved his indignation down and followed her gaze. Leviathan burst from beneath the far end of the street, galloping towards the both of them on all fours. The ground trembled on his approach, pipes and watermains uprooted themselves in his wake, and the rain hammered down on them. A miniature storm hung from Leviathan like a cloak, whipping with a mind of its own against the wind that raged around them. Then, the air around them shuddered.

That wasn't from Leviathan. Armsmaster looked at the rain frozen around them, at the debris lifting off the ground of its own accord, and Supergirl's cape lifting like the hackles on a feral animal.. The pavement shuddered, the street bucked, and Supergirl shot across the road faster than a speeding bullet. Armsmaster only saw a blur of blue and red, but it collided with Leviathan so hard that, for the briefest moment, it stopped raining.

Leviathan soared over the path of destruction he had left in a trail of black ichor and shimmering water. The storm itself seemed to reach out and try to catch or slow his flight, to moderate success. A moment later, Leviathan crashed into the graveyard of ships located at the city's north end. A plume of steel and earth geysered into the sky.

Supergirl landed back by Armsmaster's side, "Sorry, you were saying something?"

Armsmaster worked his mouth a few times, finding this to be one of the few times in his life he could remember being speechless. He looked back in the direction of the graveyard, which was already alive with activity. Then he looked back at this young woman, this girl that he had seen do the impossible multiple times. She had fought the Simurgh to a standstill, had deflected light with sheer physical force and had survived fighting Leviathan in the heart of his domain for almost half an hour without a scratch to show for it. If there was anyone in the city, anyone on Earth that could hold Leviathan off, let alone beat him, it was her.

He'd only get in the way.

Something inside Armsmaster broke at that moment. Like a spring that had been wound too tight and snapped. He slumped on his bike and put a hand to the side of his helmet. Supergirl put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked. There was nothing but genuine concern and care in her face.

He brushed her off, "I'm fine. You'll get your evacuation, Supergirl. I was going to link up with New Wave anyway. We'll see what we can do."

She smiled and nodded, and started to take off into the air. Armsmaster grabbed her by the wrist before she could go, and spoke in a low tone.

"I saw what you did with the Simurgh. We know what you can do, Supergirl. Don't hold back, don't let Leviathan get the advantage. Kill it. Save us."

Supergirl's face was unreadable, but there was a steel in her eyes, and an edge in her voice when she spoke. "No one else dies today, Armsmaster. I promise. And I keep my promises."

And then she was gone, chasing after Leviathan in the direction she had sent him flying. Armsmaster spared a second to watch her go. Then he turned to the teens in front of him.

"Alright, you heard the lady! Let's get you kids to shelter!"

While the teens jumped and did as he said, Armsmaster set a notification to himself. After this, he was going back to that pile up. Those people were going to need his help.

-S- ​

"We need to move, come on!" Grue shouted over the storm. Even with the raging wind, the sheets of rain and the lightning overhead, and the distance between the dogs, he somehow made himself heard to the others.

'No shit,' Tattletale thought to herself while clinging to the back of Angelica. She still wasn't used to riding Bitch's dogs, and she wasn't sure she ever would be. But with the state of the city and a fucking Endbringer on their front door, it was preferable to running through the streets.

The Docks were currently a hell on Earth. Anyone with a lick of sense, from the average gangbanger to the lowest homeless person, knew that being at the Docks when Leviathan hit was a death sentence. It was a river of people fleeing farther inland now, pure chaos. Tattletale tried not to watch the crowds. She felt pity for them, but she knew that most of them were probably going to be dead before the end of the day. Hell, odds were good that she'd be dead before the end of the day

Maybe if they made it to the PRT Headquarters before Levithan made landfall they'd have a chance of surviving. Unlike the Protectorates base out on the bay, the greater PRT had a land based headquarters. In the case of an attack from an Endbringer, most capes willing to fight would be heading there. If Levithan was attacking, then that was even more likely.

In fact, Tattletale was willing to be that the Protectorate was going to lose their fancy headquarters very soon, if Leviathan had his way.

None of this was immediately relevant to events at hand, but thinking about it was a good way to get her mind off the very real terror eating her alive. Her hands were clenched so tight on the spikes jutting from Angelica's back that her hands had gone numb. She had to make a focus of will to keep her breathing steady and clear. Some days she was annoyed at not having full control of the Undersiders, but today she was glad Grue was their nominal leader.

Oh sure, he was freaking the fuck out on the inside. One look at him and her power had immediately informed her how close he was to shitting his pants. Considering the circumstances though, that seemed like a pretty reasonable reaction. A sort of grim silence had fallen over the Undersiders since the Sirens had sounded. Regent had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time, and Bitch… well she was still Bitch, but right now that was a blessing. Grue though, he was holding it together, barely.

It helped that getting to the PRT HQ would get him close to home. He had family there, and making sure they were alive and well was his driving force. Until they got there, he'd keep it together. Afterwards… Tattletale tried not to think that far ahead. Just surviving the next few minutes would be good enough.

Some people pointed and screamed at their passing, the sight of Bitch's massive dogs always drew attention. More than a few screams though, were pleas for help. No one here wanted to die, and they were willing to set aside their fear for a chance at living just a little bit longer.

They ignored them, continued on their way across the Docks as fast as the dogs could move. There was no joking, no talking, no discussion. Just a focus on their destination and surviving until then.

A crack in the air jerked Tattletales attention away from staring at the dogs back toward Downtown. That had not been thunder, that had been something worse. If Leviathan had already made landfall…

Bitch yelled a command, making all three dogs grind to a halt. Regent, clinging hard to Grue, looked up at her with anger, "Why the fuck did you do that!? We need to move!"

"Shut up, look." Bitch pointed at the sky. It was hard to see at first, the storm clouds had grown so thick that Brockton Bay was shrouded in night. But then, Tattletale saw it; Leviathan hurtling through the air overhead, and crashing a mile or two behind them in the Boat Graveyard.

"Did they know he was coming ahead of time?" Grue asked, "Did they bring in the Triumvirate already?"

There was an earnest hope in his voice that Tattletale found herself agreeing with. If the Triumvirate were in Brockton already, there was a good chance they'd survive the day. At least, better odds than going without them.

Grue shook his head, "Enough gawking. We'll know for sure once we hit downtown."

Bitch whistled and the dogs started off again on their loping gate along the city skyline. They had made it maybe a mile farther inland, when the ground shook. Pavement shuddered and coiled like a snake, writhing as the ground beneath it exploded and the waterlines breached, spewing their contents into the sky.

The sprinkler system of an entire building that Angelica was galloping across pulled itself up and out of the building's roof. The dog yelped and stumbled, trying to keep upright even as the entire five story building started to collapse in on itself. Tattletale tried to hold on, but the sudden movement and her own numb fingers knocked her loose. She screamed and clawed at the side of her mount, her nails tearing at uneven bone plates and coming away bloody. Despite her efforts, she went flying off the dog and off the side of the building. Fifty feet into shattered pavement and skyward pointing pipes below.

Not the way she wanted to go, but the kind of way she should've expected in an Endbringer attack. Sudden, violent, and undignified.

She had read stories from people in near death experiences. How they felt at peace or calm despite what was coming their way. Tattletale envied them, envied that peace. All she could do was scream her terror and her fury. She didn't want to die, not yet and not like this.

But, she didn't die.

Tattletale was falling and screaming one moment, and the next she felt herself in strong arms flying through the air. Her scream died in her throat and she whirled her head around. The first thing she saw was a large stylized S directly in front of her.

"You okay miss?" a warm voice asked. A kind young woman looked down at Tattletale in her arms even as they flew.

Tattletale instantly recognized the cape: Supergirl.

Now, Tattletale was not a villain by choice; not the kind of villain that the Undersiders were, anyway. She had been co opted into this life, forced by someone with a lot more power that the Protectorate barely seemed aware of. Her power, her ability to analyze and know things about people that no one would otherwise figure out, had been seen as a valuable asset, which was why she had a metaphorical gun to her head.

And her boss, had been very interested in the sudden appearance of Supergirl. Given that the cape had all but destroyed the ABB overnight, Tattletale couldn't blame him. She'd done what she could, researched what she could find about the girl. All dead ends. No local identity, no idea of who'd she been before her powers or where she might have come from. The only thing she'd been able to learn so far before the Sirens hit, was that she had first appeared in Houston before hitting Brockton like a sack of bricks.

Honestly, Tattletale had expected Supergirl to bust them in the next week or two on their next heist. Everything about her powers put her in the same bracket as the Triumvirate, and the Undersiders didn't have anywhere close to the kind of muscle they'd need to deal with that. Getting rescued by Supergirl had never been in the cards.

Supergirl landed on a building ahead of the rest of the Undersiders, and brushed some dirt off Tattletales shoulder. She examined her broken nails and winced sympathetically. "I'd get those cleaned up and looked at. But otherwise, no broken bones, internal bleeding, or blunt trauma. You'll be fine, miss."

X-Ray vision, she can see your internal organs . Her power informed her.

"I'd recommend clearing out as soon as possible. I gave Leviathan a wallop, but he's already moving."

Believes Leviathan is actively targeting her.

Tattletale took a step away from Supergirl, "Y-yeah, we were already on our way downtown."

Supergirl nodded and lifted into the air. "Good idea. Armsmaster is organizing evacuations right now, that's the safest place you could be."

By this point the others had gathered on the roof. Bitch remained on the back of Brutus. All three dogs watched Supergirl with caution. Grue stood up on Judas' back, "You okay, Tattletale?"

"We need to go Grue, it's about to get violent!" She responded, already clambering onto Angelica's back.

No sooner had the words left her mouth, that a crash came from the North. Tattletale spared a glance to see Leviathan plow through a pair of warehouses and fling himself onto the roof of an old office building. He galloped across the city skyline, all four of his eyes dead set on Supergirl. A living stormcloud raged around his body, hissing like a swarm of locust and eating through anything that passed too close to his body.

Single Minded focus on Supergirl. Accelerating water around him at speeds fast enough to disintegrate steel. Making a last stand against her; will drain all his energy to kill her, if necessary.

Supergirl was there one moment. The next, she was a blur headed straight for Leviathan. The Endbringer made a hard right turn around her, his water clone still barreling towards her with all the same deadly speed and force. Leviathan's foot gripped the roof, and he twisted on it. The clone hit Supergirl first, detonating like a bomb. Then, Levithan brought his fist down on top of Supergirl.

Supergirl caught it with one hand even as the building beneath her shuddered and sagged from the impact. And then she suplexed him into the very same building.

Holding back her power to avoid collateral damage. Knows she can kill Leviathan. Doesn't want to hurt his hostage.

Tattletale turned to the others, also gawking at what they were watching. "Guys, we gotta go now. We stick around, we're going to be a greasy smear on the pavement."

Bitch nodded, and whistled a command at her dogs. Angelica started beneath Tattletale, forcing her to grab on tight again. They moved fast, even as a battle between gods erupted behind them. Tattletale, despite the growing headache, spared one last look behind her to see what was unfolding.

The city's water supply was pouring up and around Leviathan, acting as living weapons to attack, distract, and debilitate Supergirl. She kept her distance, dodging each one with contemptuous ease. And then fire erupted from her eyes, instantly evaporating Leviathan's attack into a fine mist. The beam slammed into the Endbringer and dragged him through several miles of dock into the trainyards.

Still feeling out Leviathan's limit. Is not even approaching the full use of her powers.

'Could have fooled me,' Tattletale thought. Even Scion didn't bully the Endbringers like that.

'Anything else you want to share, power?' she added sarcastically.

Supergirl isn't human.

-S- ​

Vicky and Amy didn't make it very far after their encounter with Leviathan. At the edge of the Boardwalk, they both collapsed together. Vicky let out a series of frantic and vicious curses while Amy sucked in short frantic breaths. The image of Leviathan's face, his eyes , was burned into her brain. Every blink, every glance at the sky or reflection in the water, she just saw those thousand eyes staring back at her. There was no way that Leviathan had ever been human. Nothing on Earth could have turned into something like that .

"We should be dead." Vicky droned. She stared at her hand and flexed her fingers. A physical reminder that she was here, she was alive. Face to face with Leviathan, and she had come out alive.

"Why didn't he kill us?" Amy asked, a quiver in her voice.

Vicky shook her head, and forced herself to her feet, dragging her sister with her. "I have no idea, and I don't intend to find out."

They had been lucky that Leviathan had spared them. Vicky had no intention of pressing that luck. Her sister grabbed her arm before they could start moving again.

"Wait, Vicky, I…" Amy found a new interest in her feet as she spoke. "Sorry, about lying to you. I was just jealous and acted like an idiot. You're my sister, I shouldn't have done that."

The indignant fire that had pushed Vicky earlier had dimmed to a smoldering ember. A confrontation with her own mortality had made the entire argument seem pretty petty at this point. But just because it had dimmed, didn't mean it was gone.

Vicky pulled her sister into a one arm hug and lifted off the ground, "We'll talk about it later, Ames. Then I'll consider forgiving you. But right now, there's an Endbringer on the loose, and people need our help."

There wasn't a chance in hell that they could take on Leviathan. Stronger heroes had tried and failed. But Vicky could still save lives, make sure there were people left to rebuild when Leviathan was done. At least, she had to try.

A strange thought occurred to Vicky as she flew them to the PRT HQ. Leviathan wasn't just accompanied by storms. When he made landfall, he brought tidal waves with him, but so far Brockton Bay remained dry. For a relative use of the term anyway. Even the storm that had heralded Leviathan's arrival didn't seem as bad as it could be. It wasn't great, but the fact that Vicky was able to fly through it with a passenger and not feel like she was going to get swatted out of the sky any moment was a good sign.

This didn't put Vicky at ease in the slightest. When an Endbringer started deviating from what was expected, that meant something very big and very nasty was about on its way. Leviathan had at least two sunken islands under his belt. What he could be planning now…

Vicky's brooding was interrupted by Amy tapping on her shoulder. Her sister wordlessly pointed north, the way they had come. The rain limited visibility on details, and the distance didn't help. But Vicky still got a good idea of what her sister was pointing at.

What she had thought was thunder was the crack of someone beating the unholy piss out of Leviathan. Every blow sent rippling shockwaves through the rain, shaking it down in greater sheets. This was occasionally accompanied by a flash of crimson that arced from the Docks all the way to the opposite side of the bay.

The sisters exchanged a look, but said nothing. They didn't need to. Vicky recognized that kind of energy attack. She had seen Supergirl use it to cut off a crook's path of escape. But that had been a laser pointer in comparison to the death beam that lanced through the sky. That couldn't possibly be the same person. Yet, Supergirl had taken down the ABB and Lung overnight…

How much had she been holding back when they were fighting crime together?

"You don't think that Supergirl…" Amy didn't finish her line of thought, even if it had occurred to Vicky.

"No, no way." Vicky shook her head. "She wouldn't have done that."

That was what she believed anyway. But it was hard to say. While Vicky felt she had a pretty good read on Karren, they had known each other for two days. Vicky was trying to be optimistic, but she had no idea if Supergirl really had gone off and picked a fight with an Endbringer after her little spat with Amy. And to be honest, that line of thought wasn't going to get them anywhere.

The rest of their flight, Vicky would glance over her shoulder at the chaos unfolding. They were far enough away that the only thing she could see was an occasional flash of heat vision that would light up the storm and paint the sky red. Ominous didn't begin to describe how that felt.

The PRT HQ was a chaotic mess when they arrived.

The streets immediately surrounding it were blocked off by flood-blockers and armored transports, the former of which seemed superfluous given the relative light rainfall. PRT troopers moved in patrols, and more guided civilians either into or away from the building. An occasional blur of red could be seen coming and going from the checkpoints, Velocity at work. Vicky also noted Assault and Battery clearing abandoned cars from the nearby streets and assisting with guiding lost civilians. Triumph was standing on the roof of the building, using his enhanced voice to better direct the chaos through the rain when needed.

What caught Vicky's eye though, was Armsmaster at the front entrance, talking with the entirety of New Wave. She descended through the rain over the crowds straight for them. Her mother immediately noticed them, and the conversation with Armsmaster halted as Carol and Mark rushed over to their daughters. The rest of New Wave was quick to converge on the two of them, a chorus of concern and relief at their arrival.

Carol wrapped Vicky in a tight hug, her voice in hysterics, "Victoria Dallon, don't you ever make me worry like that again!"

Vicky sighed, "Mom, we're fine. We had a close call with Leviathan, but… we're okay."

Her mother stepped back and stared at her daughter hard. It was hard to tell if there were tears in her eyes or if it was just the rain. Vicky shifted uncomfortably, and said again, "We're fine. I promise."

She looked past her mother, at Armsmaster, and asked, "Is… Is Gallant okay? We got here as fast as we could, but things were complicated before Leviathan hit."

Armsmaster nodded, "Dauntless is on his way, he stopped to pick Gallant up on his way. The rest of the Wards are inside getting prepped."

"Where am I needed?" Amy asked, reminding everyone of her existence.

Armsmaster pointed inside, "We're converting the motor pool into an emergency medical camp. It's sealed off and water tight. So far, casualties have been incredibly low. More from the initial panic than Leviathan."

He gestured for New Wave to follow him inside out of the rain. The inside was as chaotic as outside. Lost citizens were tended to by PRT staff, either reuniting them with family or keeping them from panicking. Staffers rushed to and fro to deliver supplies or messages. Yet, for an Endbringer attack, it was surprisingly tame. A fact that everyone in the building seemed aware of. The tension that Vicky had felt on their flight over was palpable in the air. The entire city had expected Leviathan to hit him with everything he had; now they were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"We've started coordinating with the remaining gangs in the city." Armsmaster explained as he led them deeper inside. "Kaiser has always abided by the Truce, and his people are either helping with evacuation or on their way to provide support. The Merchants are harder to get in contact with, but haven't caused trouble. Coil remains incognito, don't expect much from him. Dragon has dispatched Strider, he's collecting outside reinforcements. Best case scenario is that we'll have Triumvirate support in the next ten to fifteen minutes."

In any other circumstance, that would have excited Vicky. The opportunity to stand against the Endbringers with Alexandria, one of her idols? That would have been amazing. But the reality of the situation was enough to damper that excitement. And then there was the fact that Supergirl seemed to be handing Levithan his scaly ass on a platter.

They were led to a large briefing room that Vicky had never personally been to, but had heard Dean talk about before. It was a gathering place for reports, and strategizing for the Protectorate branch of the PRT. The Wards were gathered around it in full costume now: Aegis in his red bodysuit, Clockblocker in his clock-themed armor, Vista with her armored green and white dress, and Kid Win in his crimson and golden body armor. Only Dean and Shadow Stalker were unaccounted for.

Aegis nodded at Vicky and Vista gave her a wave that she returned. Armsmaster circled the table until he was at the head of it, and New Wave settled around it opposite the Wards. He flicked on a wall mounted monitor that showed a map of Brockton Bay.

"Alright, listen up everyone. Leviathan has, as of this moment, been active in the city for roughly fifteen to twenty minutes. Under ordinary circumstances, the Protectorate would already have been deployed to deal with this. But these are not ordinary circumstances."

The image on screen swapped to a picture of Supergirl from her BBN interview. "Since making landfall, Supergirl has been engaged with Leviathan. Near as we can tell… she has the situation under control."

There was a note of what Vicky could only describe as 'resigned bitterness' in Armsmasters voice. The Wards looked amongst themselves whispering in shock. There was shock amongst New Wave, but Vicky noted it was only from her aunt's side of the team. They hadn't had time to get to know Karren, yet.

"Supergirl engaged Leviathan shortly after landfall. Since then, Leviathan has made several attempts to move farther inland towards the city. Supergirl has, as of this moment, kept him confined to the Docks."

"Hold on." Clockblocker spoke up, "This new kid, this literal day one newbie… just decided to take on a fucking Endbringer one on one, and she's winning ?"

"That's a matter of debate." Armsmaster said, his voice emotionless. "However, Dragon has deployed drones to track their engagement as it moves, and the results speak for themselves."

The image flickered again, to a grainy silent video of the Docks, a good chunk of it flattened now. Fires raged through old warehouses and sizzled under the torrent of rain. The bay threatened to spill over and onto the docks, but so far was restrained. And at the center of it all, was Supergirl and Leviathan.

A blur of red and blue against a blur of green, everytime they collided the air around them shuddered and the drone dropped several feet. It was a constant fight just to stay airborne. Vicky watched with open amazement at the fight unfolding. Never in her life had she seen any cape handle Leviathan as easily as Supergirl did. She'd seen footage of Eidolon holding his own, of Scion sending them packing and even Alexandria knocking them around. But aside from Scion, most of them had just held the line.

Supergirl looked like she was winning.

Leviathan jumped a hundred feet across the docks, both hands clasped overhead, and brought them down on Supergirl. A crater the size of a high school football stadium formed under the impact. When Leviathan pulled his arms away, a person sized hole was at the center of it. Supergirl burst from the ground behind him a moment later, grabbing him by the tail and flipping him over into the earth. His impact caused a crater the size of an olympic stadium to form. A low tremor shook the PRT HQ.

Vicky looked up at the trembling lights. The others exchanged quiet glances while Armsmaster shut off the video feed.

"Supergirl is holding her own. Leviathan is, at the moment, contained. However, any time Leviathan has made his way into more populated areas, Supergirl has made a notable effort to either remove him, or been forced to restrain herself. Which is where we come in. If Supergirl is able to fight off Leviathan, then our job is to make that as easy as possible for her."

Vista raised her hand. Armsmaster paused and said, "Yes, Vista?"

"What about the tidal waves? I thought the big threat with Leviathan was that he started flooding the cities he attacked?"

"Ordinarily, yes." Armsmaster agreed. "But, we know why that's not the case. Dragon has been maintaining satellite watch since Leviathan started his approach. In his initial assault, she detected signs that he was going to repeat this strategy."

He paused, and there was that bitterness in his voice again, "Until Supergirl intervened. I don't know the specifics, but my understanding is that she flew in front of the resulting tidal waves at repeated supersonic frequencies. Basically, Supergirl stopped the tidal waves before they could land, and has apparently occupied enough of Leviathan's attention that he can't summon more."

The stunned silence that followed this was broken by, of course, Clockblocker.

"Well shit." He said. "Why are we even here at this point?"

Aegis cuffed him on the head, "Because we still need to get people to safety, and there's no guarantee Supergirl can keep this up. We have to be prepared for the worst."

Armsmaster nodded at Aegis, "Well said. Which brings us to assignments. I've already deployed most of the Protectorate, but given the situation it's all hands on deck. Gallant will be joining us soon as well Shadow Stalker. In the meantime…"

He went over assignments for everyone. Panacea would remain at the HQ to help with the injured, most of New Wave would be deployed to help with evacuations. Vicky, Aegis, her cousin, Laserdream, and her aunt, Lady Photon, would be deployed to find Miss Militia. She had been assigned to bring a new Parahuman trigger back to the Rig when Leviathan had hit and Armsmaster had lost contact with her.

Vicky of course, knew who the new trigger was. Her trigger event had jump started this whole mess, though Vicky and Amy had neglected to mention this to Armsmaster.

The storm had not abated when they left the PRT HQ. But she could still hear the echo of Supergirls combat against Leviathan. Everyone in the city could, at this point. There wasn't anything Vicky could do at this point to physically help her. But saving lives? That, she could do.

She just hoped that Miss Militia and Taylor were okay, wherever they were.

 

[Tontis]

Arrival 1.12​

I peeled Miss Militia's ruined bike off her like it was a kids toy. Her legs were bent at an awkward angle, but I didn't see any blood, which was a good sign. She was still unconscious, but she was breathing and didn't seem to be getting worse. Though, I really had no idea what I should have been looking for, or what I should do if I found something bad. But Supergirl had asked me to get her out of danger, and I wasn't going to argue with my thrice savior who had been able to punt an Endbringer across half the city.

"Don't move her, miss." a voice said from behind me. I turned and saw the PRT trooper, the man who's name I did not know, limping towards me. He'd lost his helmet at some point and pulled off the mask he'd been wearing under. His skin was dark and his head shaved. There were jaws less square than his, but I recognized the kindness in his eyes.

There was a first aid kit in his hands, and some sort of black canvas bag in the other. He set both down and let out a grunt of pain when he knelt next to Miss Militia. "Not trying to boss you around. But we don't know if she has anything bad internally going on. She's still breathing which is good, but best not to move her until we got that stretcher setup." he pointed at the canvas bag.

"Sorry to ask this, but you mind getting that ready while I make sure MM here is okay?"

I nodded and grabbed the bag, "Y-yeah, I can do that."

The emergency stretcher was surprisingly intuitive to put together, even half blind and in the rain. Just a bunch of interconnecting aluminum tubes stringing a person sized length of canvas between them. Though given it was an 'emergency' stretcher, I guess making it idiot proof was half the point.

The trooper finished doing what he could for Miss Militia, and carefully laid her out straight. Together, we lifted her onto the stretcher. Before we picked her up though,the PRT Trooper handed me something. A loose fitting mask lacking any markings or descriptions. I realized it was the old mask he'd been wearing. Now completely soaked through, but by this point I was so soaked that I had forgotten what it felt like to be dry.

He shrugged, "Figured, if we survive this, you'd appreciate having a secret identity. Privacy is a luxury, but it's your call."

I took the mask and pulled it on. If I'd had a hair tie, I would have pulled my hair in a ponytail. But I had to survive with letting it fan out on my back like a wet mop. A shudder of revulsion ran through me, but I nodded my thanks to the Trooper.

We picked up the stretcher Miss Militia was on, and began the long walk towards the PRT HQ. The rain continued to come down in sheets. Even with my glasses, I would have been hard pressed to see more than a few feet ahead. Instead, I focused on following the pavement, one step at a time. In the distance, thunder rumbled; at least, I assumed it was thunder.

As we walked, I found it hard to keep focused on the task at hand and not what was happening across the city, or what might happen. For the last two years, I'd been stuck planning for what 'could be' and now I was finding it an impossible habit to break. The fact was, while I was glad to be making myself useful, it terrified me to think about what would happen if Supergirl failed. If she couldn't rescue my dad.

Losing mom had been bad, and I had lost part of dad when she was gone. But the thought of feeling that same emptiness all over again, of waking up and not even seeing my own father in the morning… That scared me more than any Endbringer could. It was a personal and real terror that I couldn't lock away. I had lived through it once, I was not ready to live through it again.

There were two things that kept me from letting that thought overwhelm me. The first, was this stubborn refusal to die. I was still breathing, still moving, and people actually depended on me. I would not, could not stop even if I wanted to. But the other, more dominant one, was a feeling I wasn't familiar with.

Despite everything, despite the very real threat of Leviathan looming over my home, I knew in the deepest part of my soul that Supergirl would keep her promise. Through the fiercest storm, against the greatest monsters the world had seen, I knew with every fiber of my being that if anyone could save my father, it was her. That was the first time in years that I think I felt this way about anyone.

It made my chest hurt just thinking about it.

Another rumble of thunder shook the air. I looked skyward, and frowned. The storm still raged, but it didn't feel like the world-ending hurricane it had. The wind had dropped, the rain fell in great sheets instead of waves, and I could see flickers of light in the cloud cover overhead. No, wait, I was seeing the clouds themselves moving northward. It had taken me a moment to realize what was happening; I missed my glasses.

I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the thunder and that the clouds were drifting. The PRT Trooper was doing the same, and let out a low whistle. "I've seen my share of capes kick ass… but this new girl, she's on a different level."

He looked back at me, must have seen something concerning on my face, and tried to smile at me reassuringly. Without my glasses, that amounted to a white crescent splitting open an inky smudge. Not exactly comforting.

I looked ahead again, and followed the pavement. A nagging voice at the back of my skull made me speak up before I could lock it down.

"Sir, I never got your name." I said.

He chuckled, "No need for formalities, kid. You fought an Endbringer for my sorry ass, that's worthy of a first name basis. Names Irons, John Henry Irons. Pleasure to meet you, Taylor. I can call you Taylor, right?"

A smile tugged at my lips, and I nodded without looking back at him, "Yeah, Taylor's fine. And I should be thanking you, John. You attacked Leviathan with a gun to try and save me and my dad."

"That's just part of the job." I could hear the shrug in his voice, "Putting my life on the line for others, comes with the badge. You though, you've already been through hell. If you'd run off the moment you were free, I wouldn't have blamed you. It took some real courage to stand up against Leviathan like that. Protectorate could do with someone like you. Ya know, a real hero on the team."

I felt a flush creep up my cheeks. There hadn't been any real thought when I attacked Leviathan, just anger and indignation. Leviathan had targeted us, for some reason, and made things personal. Now that I had even an inkling of power I had wanted to lash out at a world that had had it out for me for years. A part of me might have done it to buy time for John and my dad to escape, but it had really been an act of catharsis and fury. Hardly the noble and heroic act John described it as.

I had enough tact not to say this though. Instead I managed to mumble out an awkward thanks, and we continued on our way.

It didn't take as long as I expected for us to reach the outskirts of Downtown. Our little transport had been taken out only a few miles away, and with my new strength we made good time. Most of the crowds had already dispersed by this point too. We had run into a few strays, but most people avoided us. I think the fact that we were carrying someone injured made them think we'd slow them down.

The fact that the injured was a hero that had put her life on the line for the city so many times, and no one even spared her a second glance, wasn't lost on me. It was about what I expected from anyone in Brockton Bay. Why put their own lives on the line for someone that was just going to slow them down?

I glanced over my shoulder at Miss Militia. She had regained consciousness at some point, but the pain of her injuries had left her dazed and unresponsive. I imagined she had a few broken bones at least, and who knows how much internal damage. Laid out like this, soaked to the bone, she didn't look like the heroic figure I'd seen on the TV and in posters. She just looked like a normal woman that had gotten in over her head and almost paid the ultimate price for it.

Any further lines of thought were interrupted when we heard something from an alley we were passing. At some point houses had turned into small offices and apartments, leaving plenty of open space between alleys for opportunistic muggers. John and I turned toward the sound of the noise, and both relaxed.

"Okay, so I know cops usually shoot people like me on sight, but I'm hoping since it's the end of the world, you might not."

A girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen, with dark skin and a purple streak in her hair, approached us with her hands raised. She was dressed in a way I could only describe as 'trashy'. Strapless top, torn up leggings, and ripped denim shorts. I had seen more than my share of girls dressed like that at Winslow. I was also more than a little jealous she had the figure to actually pull it off.

John looked at her, thoroughly unamused, "First, not a cop. Second, where're your parents', kid?"

She shrugged, "Dunno. Don't see my dad anymore, mom is probably oding on her latest drug of the week back home. My brother… I don't know. Look, it was supposed to be clear skies today, not fucking monsoon season. Then a fucking Endbringer attacks and… look, I just want to make it through the day."

The words were out of my mouth before I even considered them. "We're going to the PRT headquarters, the one downtown. I think it should be safe there."

John nodded, "You're good to come with us. Got a name, kid?"

She stepped closer to us, "Aisha."

"Welcome aboard the weirdest little convoy in Brockton Bay then, Aisha. God willing, we'll all survive today."

We resumed our trek, but unlike before where things had been mercifully silent, with Aisha following us that was no longer the case. Oh sure, she was quiet at first. But those first few minutes were spent staring at me and my mask. I kept my eyes on the road ahead, but eventually I cracked and looked at her.

"What?" I asked.

Aisha snapped her fingers, "I knew I recognized you! You're the Locker Girl!"

Oh wonderful, she was from Winslow. My lip twitched under the mask, and I looked ahead. I tried to ignore her. Emphasis on tried.

"Look, that's all anyone was talking about on Friday. Cape shows up at school to rescue someone, people talk about it. Wait, are you a cape? If you are, why didn't you break out in the first place?"

"Aisha." John interrupted before I could reply. "There's a time and place for questions. We're happy to let you tag along to safety, but not if you're going to harass her like that."

"Hey, I'm just curious!" Aisha raised her hands, "Also, I may be trying to distract myself from the fucking Endbringer."

"Supergirl has it handled." I said without looking at her.

Aisha looked at me, "Who?"

"The cape that rescued me." I explained. "She saved us again from Leviathan. She's been fighting him ever since."

"One on one with the four eyed fish-head? Well, she's got guts." Aisha admitted. "Shame they'll probably be splattered all over the city by the end of the day."

I kept myself from snapping at her because all she had done was voice what I was thinking. Supergirl was strong, she was confident… but Leviathan was an Endbringer. No one had beaten them, even Scion had only been able to drive them off. There was a very good chance that I had seen my savior for the last time, and with her my father as well.

It wasn't a happy thought.

"We're just going to have to hope Supergirl can hold the line." John said. "Best any of us can do at this point. That, and staying out of the way."

Another crack of thunder rolled through the city. We felt the ground beneath our feet shake that time, and all three of us looked in the direction of the tremor. That snarky expression on Aisha's face had been replaced with terror.

"Any chance we can stay out of the way faster?"

Neither of us had an argument against that, and we picked up our speed. But by this point, we had an obvious problem. Carrying Miss Milita for miles now was easy for me with my enhanced strength. But the strain was starting to take its toll on John. He put on a brave face, but I could hear him huffing and puffing any time we came to a stop. Trained trooper or not, we had been walking for a while now, and he was injured on top of that. He had limits to worry about.

But, stopping for a break wasn't an option. We had no idea where Supergirl and Leviathan were, or if other heroes were involved in the fight. Not to mention, it was only a matter of time before Leviathan started hitting the city with tidal waves. Stopping out in the open was a death sentence.

I glanced at a fire hydrant and pipe system that had uprooted itself from the ground on the other side of the street, its contents draining now at a leisurely pace. A bitter feeling came over me. Even if we survived that day, what was to come was going to be a fresh kind of hell, I could feel it.

The reality of the situation was eating at my own drive to continue. My father was probably dead, my savior was going to follow, and my home was going to be a smoking crater by the end of the day. At this point, I was starting to wonder what even the point of continuing was. There wasn't going to be anything left to look forward to. Maybe I should just sit down and wait for Leviathan to find me and put me out of my misery.

But I wasn't the only one here. I glanced at the three behind me,the man and the hero that had nearly died trying to save me, and a girl lost in a city that was tearing itself apart. Despite my weariness, I couldn't find it in me to give up so long as they were depending on me. I'd have to endure.

That was when I heard it.

A faint whistling in the air, and a pair of voices straining over the storm. At first, I couldn't make them out. But closer to Downtown, the storm had lost its edge. The voices grew stronger and more steady. I looked to the sky, and my shoulders sagged with relief.

Glory Girl, and Aegis descended from the sky towards us, unaffected by the rain and wind tearing at them. The moment she touched down, Glory Girl walked up to me and hugged me. I stiffened in her grip, surprised by the gesture.

"Glad to see you're okay." She said as she pulled back. Then she smirked, "Love the mask, bold fashion statement."

I managed a smile under it, "I think I'll start a new line after all this. What do you think?"

"I think we need to get you four out of here." Aegis walked up alongside Glory Girl. He was all business, but I could hear relief in his voice. Obviously, he hadn't expected to find any of us alive.

Glory Girl scanned over us and frowned, "Where's your father?" she asked me.

I pointed in the direction of the tremor. "Leviathan ate him."

The two capes stared at me. Aisha put their expressions into words. "What?"

"Literally, opened up his stomach, put him inside, and is using him as a hostage against Supergirl." I explained.

John nodded, "It's true, saw the whole thing. Freakiest fucking thing I've seen in my life."

Glory Girl spent a moment staring at me, then pulled her lips into a thin line, "I'm sorry, that's…we were sent to find Miss Militia, but we should be able to get all of you back to the PRT HQ. Panacea can fix up Miss Militia."

"Thank god." Miss Militia croaked from the stretcher.

We didn't waste time after that. Glory Girl carried Miss Militia in her arms and me on her back, while Aegis did the same for John and Aisha.

When he lifted Aisha in his arms, the girl smirked, "So, are these real or is it just padding?" she asked, poking at his pecs.

Aegis coughed, "Miss, please keep your hands to yourself, I need to focus."

"Sorry, just curious."

Glory Girl shook her head, "Poor guy."

Then, we took to the sky.

Any other day, I would have been delighted for a chance to fly with a cape. I mean, who didn't dream about being able to fly? But all I could do while Glory Girl flew was look over my shoulder towards the Docks. Even this close to Downtown, I could feel the air shuddering and could see flashes of red in the distance. Supergirl was still fighting. Giving it all to stop Leviathan… and save my dad.

"You can do it." I whispered. She had to save him, she had promised.

We got to the PRT HQ to see it in chaos. The Protectorate was in full force handling evacuations. I saw a stream of people going into the building or being led to nearby shelters. More than a few out of town capes came and went from the structure helping as they could. There were also plenty of what I assumed to be local capes, that I didn't recognize I saw a group of kids about my age with huge mutant dogs, talking with Armsmaster, and saw a woman flanked by massive… stuffed animals.

Sure, why not.

Glory Girl and Aegis touched down at the side of the PRT building, by the garage. A pair of medics already had a gurney waiting for them, and she set Miss Militia down on it once she landed and I had let go. They wheeled her away, and then Glory Girl and Aegis turned to us.

"I'll be following Miss Militia." John said, "Got a few ribs that have been smarting for a while now, probably should get them looked at."

He offered me his hand, "Thanks again, for saving my life kid. I won't forget that."

I shook his hand without hesitation, "Likewise, Mr. Irons. Thank you for… well thank you for trying."

He smiled sadly, "Sometimes, it's all we can do,but it's better than lying down and doing nothing. Take care, kid."

His words resonated with me, as I watched him go. It was easy to just sit and accept what was coming. To grit your teeth and just accept the world as it was. For the last two years, that was my life. Trapped in a loop of suffering and bracing for more.. But, now I could do something.

Strike that, I had to do something.

Aegis was talking with Aisha, trying to get an idea of where her lost family was. I saw her eyes flicker towards the mutant dogs on more than one occasion, but Aegis seemed to miss that. I wished her luck either way, it was hard to lose family.

I tapped Glory Girl on the shoulder. When she turned to me, I asked, "What can I do to help?

She blinked; obviously, she hadn't expected that. "Taylor, are you sure you're up for that? You've been through a lot today-"

I cut her off, "Victoria, in the last day and a half I've been humiliated, trapped, shot, fought an Endbringer, and watched my father get eaten alive by the same Endbringer. If I don't have something to do, I will lose my goddamn mind. So again, what can I do to help?

There was only a moment of hesitation from Glory Girl. Then there was understanding, real honest to god understanding. She grabbed me by the shoulder, and led me back to the front of the building, explaining the situation as we walked.

It was insane to hear that the reason the Protectorate was focused on evacuation instead of fighting Leviathan, was because Supergirl had been fighting him alone for the last half an , at the same time, it felt right. Supergirl hadn't failed me yet, why would she start now?

Armsmaster, the Armsmaster, was busy negotiating with those teen capes, the Undersiders apparently, when we approached him. But he spared a moment of his time to assign me some physical labor when Glory Girl explained my strength. Basically, I was setting up and adjusting flood barriers to redirect the rainwater from the PRT HQ. The rain in Downtown wasn't as severe as it was near the Docks, but it was enough that without proper preparations, the streets would start to overflow and cause problems.

Thus I spent some time dragging blockades into position that would usually take a team of professionals to move. It felt good to use my strength like that, to sip from the Well and be useful. Yeah, I was running around half blind, barefoot, and in rags, but I was being useful and people were being thankful to me for it. That it kept my mind off Leviathan and Supergirl was a bonus.

I got about five minutes of this peace.

It didn't occur to me that anything was wrong, until I realized how quiet it was. The thunder had stopped, and the crowds and direction had also ceased. I looked up from my work to see every trooper, every cape, and every civilian staring down the street behind me. A lump formed in my throat, and I turned to follow their gaze.

Leviathan was there, at the far end of the street. His gangly body hunched and twisted like a predator, and his eyes burned despite the downpour. Even from that far, I could hear water rushing over and through him, a constant gurgling rush that almost sounded like breathing. But more importantly, I could still hear the steady heartbeat of my father.

He was still alive!

I was filled with equal parts relief and dread, and found myself unable to move. All of us, it seemed, were frozen by the very real threat that stood in front of us. No one dared to move. To be the first to strike, to incur the wrath of an Endbringer on so many people; no one would want that on their consciousness.

A shudder ran through the air, through the storm and the rain. One moment, Leviathan stood ready to pounce. The next, his eyes had shrunk to pinpricks, and Supergirl stood in front of everyone. A living shield between Leviathan and us. Standing with her legs apart, her arms folded, and her cape whipping in the wind, she looked unharmed by her fight with Leviathan. But she also looked furious.

Without moving from her position, Supergirl dragged the tip of her boot through the asphalt, carving a line in the road. Then she stared at Leviathan, and said two words.

"Try it."

-S-​

Leviathan didn't move. He stared at me with the closest thing his kind could muster as hatred. But he did not move. Because he knew better. For thirty minutes, give or take, we had beaten each other senseless in those abandoned docks to the north. Testing our mettle, pushing ourselves to see how low we could go and how high we could rise.

I had seen the extent of Leviathan's power.

He hadn't even approached mine, and he knew it.

The only thing keeping him alive, the only reason I hadn't dragged his miserable hide into orbit, was the hostage trapped inside him. Poor Mr. Hebert didn't deserve that. No one in Brockton Bay deserved this. These were people just trying to live their lives, with all their triumphs and hardships. There were few evils greater than taking that away from anyone.

So I stood there, in front of the gathered civilians, troopers, and Protectorate, as a living shield. So long as I was there, so long as I lived, Leviathan wouldn't touch them.

A shudder ran through the city, so subtle that no one without super-senses would have noticed it. But I did, and I reacted before Leviathan could unleash his petty act of spite. He had tried this trick before, upending the cities pipelines and water supply to try and put civilians in danger, to distract me and make me susceptible to attack. It was a cruel and purely efficient strategy. But there was one flaw with it.

It required focus and concentration and while Leviathan was skilled at multitasking, it was difficult to focus on much of anything while being pummeled. So I lunged, across the street through the city, and straight at the Endbringer. Faster than any human could react, but slow enough so that he knew I was coming.

Another shudder ran through the city, and the water exploded beneath Leviathan. Propelled into the sky, a sphere of liquid swirled around him and lanced at me with enough pressure to atomize steel. I took it, head on, trusting in my invulnerability to absorb the blow and flew straight up the stream into Leviathan.

Our impact sent a shockwave roiling through downtown, shattering every window around us. I heard the heroes back at the PRT HQ get back to work. Civilians screamed and started to panic, but I would have to trust that my fellow heroes could keep things under control. I knew they could.

Glass fell around us in a shower, but thankfully the structures immediately surrounding us had been abandoned in the initial evacuation. So I was safe to push harder. And worse for Leviathan, I knew exactly how hard to push. Or rather, pull in this case.

I altered my flight and slammed Leviathan into the street, grinding his face into the asphalt until I had buried it several feet under. Then, I dug my hands into the hard flesh of his left arm, planted my feet in his side, and pulled. The outer layer of his skin sloughed off beneath my feet as I pulled, and my fingers dug deep enough that I felt bone. I ground my teeth, and pulled harder.

There was a sound like snapping iron, and then Leviathans arm came off in a spray of ichor and the city shook. I flew into the sky, and held the dismembered limb by the wrist with one hand. Leviathan pried himself from the ground and whirled to face me. The injury only seemed to inconvenience him, but the message was clear.

I smirked at the Endbringer and held out his arm, "You've pushed this far enough, Leviathan. I figured it was time to disarm you, before anyone else got hurt."

He stared at me.

"Sorry, I would have chosen another way, but my options were limb-ited."

He stared at me.

"You seem at a loss for words, here, let me give you a hand!"

I flipped through the air and used his arm like a whip, smashing the end down on his head. Leviathan slid to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. He clambered up the side of a nearby building, the action effortless even with his missing limb, and flung himself through the air at me, slamming his mass into me.

We fell through the sky, but when we hit the ground I grabbed his shoulder and forced us farther down. Flying through earth and stone was a mild annoyance to me, but for Leviathan it would slow him down considerably. At least, it would buy me a second to plan my next move.

As I expected, his flesh eventually came off in my hands. While it took a moment, Leviathan seemed able to control the density of his strange body on some level and would slough off or weaken bits of his body if I got too good of a grip on him. He'd done this on multiple occasions to lessen the effect of my blows, and had been one of his only tricks to really be effective against me. Hence why I had changed from judicious applications of kinetic force, to the use of tension force instead.

Leviathan clawed his way back to the surface, and pulled more water towards the stump where his arm had been. Already a new limb was forming, but it was going to take time and it was a clear strain on his energy to force it to grow back so fast. He wasn't used to taking this much damage this fast.

Fortunately for him, I was an excellent teacher.

I surfaced from the earth and collided with him. There was a brief moment as the two of us battled across the street. His new watery limb whipped about like a thing possessed, carving deep gouges in the buildings and streets around me. But anytime it hit me, it shattered and did no more than annoy me. On more than one occasion, he tried drowning me, like he had in the ocean.

I was wise to that trick though, and anytime the water got near my face, I flashed my heat vision and evaporated it.

Again and again, Leviathan would lash out at me, trying desperately to keep me on the defensive. And in turn, I would either tank or dodge the blow, before responding with one of my own. Faster and faster this went, both of us blurs to the naked eye, until Leviathan couldn't keep up anymore. What started as an equal exchange of blows, quickly turned into a one sided beatdown that had been a long time coming for the Endbringer.

The air kicked up around me, water evaporated at my passing, and the world around us was a blur. I was running literally circles around Leviathan, so fast that a vortex of air and water started to surround him. It rose into the sky, catching the clouds overhead and dragging them into this mess while I rained blow after blow on Leviathan. None hard enough to truly hurt him, but hard and fast enough to stun him

At some point the air I had kicked up should have started to lift the Endbringer, but that strange exotic energy of his let him remain grounded. He both was and wasn't as dense as he appeared, but it didn't matter. He managed to stay grounded, but down an arm and left in the dust, I was free to pick away at him, until I saw the perfect opening.

I stopped as suddenly as I had sped up, and delivered an uppercut so hard, the air around my fist detonated in an explosion of fire. Leviathan flipped end over end into the air, and I followed in pursuit. At the apex of his arc, his face met my fist, and he flew through the side of a building called 'Medhall'. He plowed through it, and crashed into the street on the other side back in front of the PRT building where this had started. Most civilians had dispersed by that point, and the heroes looked ready to join the fray if need be.

But, by the time Leviathan had pushed himself back to his feet, I was already there.

Through the hole in the Medhall building, over the buildings below, and straight towards the Endbringer, I rocketed towards him fast enough that the molecules in the air started to crackle and spark around me.

I extended my left arm, as if I was going to clothesline the Endbringer. When I hit, there was a moment where I thought that was exactly what would happen. Then, his flesh gave way, and I carved a bloody path along his chest right below that core of his. I landed on the other side of him, and spun across the ground on my heels to burn off the momentum. For a moment, I knelt there and let the rain cleanse the ichor from my arm.

Leviathan staggered one step forward, and then fell to his knees. His upper torso fell back until it was directly parallel with his lower body, only held to it by a few strands of Endbringer flesh. That was my moment.

I flung myself onto Leviathan's lower torso even as strings of flesh started shooting from either side of the wound to knit it back together. Ichor, flesh, and bone flew as I tore into his body, ripping at it peace by peace as I dug my way towards my true goal. A single, terrified heartbeat that hammered against my ears. There was nothing else more important at that moment, than getting to that heart.

Leviathan's remaining arm pawed at me weakly, and I knocked it aside without a second thought. Deeper and deeper I dug until I saw it. A flash of pale human flesh, the start of a terrified face. I dug my fingers in and grabbed at the tough unyielding flesh. My feet secured themselves against Leviathan's stomach, what was left of it. Then, I pulled with all of my might, and ripped the Endbringers abdomen open in a spray of viscera.

And Danny Hebert slid out into my arms, half blind and trembling like a leaf.

"W-who? W-what?"

"It's okay, Mr. Hebert. You're safe now." I whispered, and held onto him tightly.

With a kick of my legs, I floated off Leviathan's body and through the air toward the silent and stunned crowd of onlookers. I scanned the structure with my X-Ray vision and saw the motor pool below had been converted into a makeshift triage center.

"This man is going to need medical attention." I announced when I landed. A pair of stunned medics watched me.

I cleared my throat, which seemed to knock them from their shock. They rushed to us, and helped Danny to his feet. The entire time, the poor man could not stop thanking me, over and over and over.

"It's going to be alright now, Mr. Hebert." I promised him. "Let the medics help you, they know what they're doing."

"W-wait." Danny wiped the Endbringer blood out of his eyes, "M-my daughter, where-"

A voice from the crowd, the shrill terrified yelling of a daughter calling for her parents, answered Danny's question. I smiled as Taylor burst from the crowd of onlookers and rushed into her fathers arms, tears rolling down her face.

"I thought I lost you again!" she sobbed, shoulders heaving.

Danny stared at her in surprise. "Again?"

She sniffed, "I lost you once with mom. Then the shooting, I… I…"

Danny embraced her, "Never again."

I felt a pang of jealousy, seeing that. The embrace, the love of a parent. I turned away, giving them their privacy. Besides, there was still one more problem to deal with.

Leviathan fell forward onto his hands and knees. Its chest was still knitting itself together, and an impossible amount of his blood poured from the wounds I'd left. No one had dared to approach the Endbringer even when I had torn him open, but he didn't make a move. His eyes swiveled up toward me as I floated back across the crowd and landed in front of him. Right behind the line I had drawn in the street.

"Never again." I told him. Nothing else needed to be said, the message was clear.

Those eyes, those insect-like eyes, stared at me. I had believed the Endbringers could not feel true hatred, that any emotion they showed was a cold calculating reaction to the reality they were facing. But in that moment, with those four eyes boring into me, I knew that Leviathan hated me with every fiber of his being, and that he would do anything to make me feel that hatred.

The air crackled around Leviathan. His eyes burned so bright that the flesh around them started to run like wax. His false arm collapsed into a pool of water, and the storm overhead died. His flesh blackened, cracked, and started to flake off in it all, I saw that energy, that core, ignite like a star.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled, and slammed into Leviathan and flew him straight into the air. Past the city skyline, past the clouds, past the atmosphere and then the moon itself. Farther and farther we flew, faster and faster until the Solar System itself was just a blur.

In less than a minute, we had flown from Brockton Bay to the orbit of Jupiter. The gas giant dominated my field of view. Its red spot churned across the atmosphere, a storm the size of three Earth's with a ferocity that made Leviathan's storm look like the tantrum of a child. Against its massive size, the fight with Leviathan seemed so small, so insignificant.

I released the Endbringer, letting it float backwards through the void of space. As helpless and weak now as his countless victims. The star of his core dimmed now, as if I had stolen even that act of spite from him. There was a sort of grim satisfaction I felt in that.

Leviathan hopelessly grabbed at nothing as water evaporated off his body, depriving him of his most basic tool. But his eyes, they never left me. That hatred, it burned even now with a very human emotion.

I shook my head, "Leviathan, Second of the Endbringers, it is with a heavy heart that I deliver your execution. You and your siblings were warned about the consequences of your actions. And now you will reap what you have sown for so many years. A final death."

Then, I hit Leviathan's core as hard as I could, and the world went white.

-S-​

"Is… is that it?" Glory Girl asked, staring at the sky.

No one had an answer for her. Who could possibly have an answer for her after what we just witnessed. I had heard that Supergirl had been fighting Leviathan all this time. But after seeing her in action, calling it a fight had been generous. Supergirl had destroyed Leviathan. The only reason she hadn't done so sooner, was because we had been in the way.

If it wasn't for the fact that I refused to let my dad leave my side, I might have just collapsed onto the ground then and there. I saw several troopers doing that, and more than a few capes. A few civilians wandered out from inside, curious about what had happened. Armsmaster had wandered to the front of the blockade and was staring up at the sky where Supergirl had flown away with Leviathan in tow. I don't think he could believe what he saw.

When Supergirl had dragged Leviathan into the sky, the storm had immediately started to die down. In a handful of minutes, the storm that had threatened to flood the city had died to a light drizzle. Sunlight cut through the cloud cover in streaks of glorious golden rays that felt so good after the last hour of walking through the rain.

Dad and I slowly sat on the ground together while the medics fussed over him. Despite being, ya know, a hostage by an Endbringer, he was remarkably unharmed. He wiped at the watch on his wrist and let out a tired chuckle.

"It's not even noon. We still have the rest of the day ahead of us."

I couldn't wrap my mind around that. In a single morning, my entire life had changed. The entire world had changed.

Glory Girl…

Victoria sat next to us with a sigh, still looking up at the sky. Panacea, who had come out when she heard the commotion, cautiously approached the three of us. She did not get any closer, nor did she say anything. Which showed she was smarter than I thought.

Right as it seemed things were going to get back to normal though, everyone felt it. A tremor in the air itself, and a breeze that didn't so much blow through the city as into it. Like a giant looking down had gently blown on the Earth. Then, we saw it, a brilliant star of light that burned in the sky like a second sun.

"Oh my god…" someone whispered. I belatedly realized that that someone was me.

Victoria stood up, shielding her eyes as she watched the new star, "Do… Do you think Supergirl survived that?" she asked. There was a faint tremble in her voice.

"She had to. If anyone could, it's her" I answered, without a second's hesitation.

"There's… I mean, even for her to survive that…" Panacea said.

I ignored her, shielded my eyes, and stared at the star for anything. Any sign at all of my savior, of the world's savior. The cloud cover burned away, the pre-noon sun burned alongside its new twin, but there was no sign…

"There!" I shouted, pointing at a tiny spec in the horizon. Somehow, half blind and with the sun glaring in my eyes, I had seen it.

"Look, up in the sky, do you see it!?"

People started to crowd around, pointing and talking with nervous excitement. Panacea, ever the font of optimism, said, "Taylor, it's probably just a bird, or a plane-"

"No!" Victoria screamed excitedly, "It's Supergirl!"

Sure enough, there she was descending from the sky with that friendly smile on her face. Her skirt and cape were gone, her leotard bleached white and her hair singed and curled. But she was unharmed. And held above her in one hand, was the corpse of Leviathan. The crowd of civilians, capes, and troopers cleared a space as Supergirl landed, and dropped Leviathan's unmoving body in the center of the city.

Both his arms, his legs and his tail were gone. His skin had gone gray, his eyes lifeless, and a massive hole filled his chest and abdomen. For a moment, no one seemed able to move, no one seemed able to speak. Here it was, the body of the monster that had tried to destroy our city, an unkillable beast that had slain god knew how many innocent people and capes. And standing in front of it, was the person who'd slain it in turn.

I don't know who started cheering first. Maybe it was Glory Girl, maybe it was a random trooper. Maybe it was me. There was no way to know, but soon a roar filled the streets of Brockton Bay, rolling over the city in a tidal wave of elation that Leviathan could never have smothered! I saw men and women, troopers and civilians and capes alike, embrace each other as the realization set in.

But I didn't have time for that. I pushed my way through the crowd, past everyone straight to Supergirl who was shaking the hands of more than a few people. She saw me, gestured to the others for a moment, and turned to me.

I hugged her, as tight as I could. Relief, exhaustion, excitement, every emotion under the sun ran through me at that moment. But all I could muster to express it were two very simple words.

"Thank you."

Supergirl pulled back and smiled, "I'm just happy everyone's okay. But you're welcome."

A woman's voice cut through some of the cheering, though only barely. "Out of the way, move! Reporter, coming through!"

I recognized the woman that stumbled out of the crowd in front of us. Supergirl did too, judging by the look of disdain on her face. Kate Lockwell, a notorious reporter from the BBN, brushed herself off and stood up to face Supergirl. She was soaked to the bone like everyone else, her usually fluffy hair plastered flat to her head, and her outfit a mess.

"Supergirl, do you have a moment?"

She said nothing, but folded her arms and looked at Miss Lockwell with a stern expression. The reporter sighed, "I know, I know. You probably hate me for what happened. I didn't have any say in that, I swear. Look, I've cut all ties with the BBN, I'm independent now."

She held up a cheap store bought camcorder and microphone, "I'm the interviewer and camera girl now. All I want from you, Supergirl, is the truth. You just killed an Endbringer, did something no hero on Earth has managed to accomplish. The world is going to have questions, people are going to want to know the truth about you. All I want is to give that to them, plain and simple. Please, let me help you do that."

Supergirl looked at she glanced at me, then past the crowd. I couldn't see who she was looking at, but after a moment, Supergirl closed her eyes. When she opened them, that same kind smile had returned.

"Is the camera rolling, Miss Lockwell?"

Kate cursed, fumbled the camera and then held it up with a thumbs up, "Rolling! So, Supergirl, as the first person to slay an Endbringer, do you have anything you want to say to the people of the world? Anything at all?"

Supergirl sucked in a breath, and nodded, "I do. The truth. My name is Kara Zor-El, and I am the Last Daughter of Krypton."

 

[Tontis]

Interlude 1.1​

Eidolon shuddered as the effect of Strider's teleportation came to an end and deposited them inside the PRT ENE lobby. There would usually have been staff waiting for them to update them on the situation, but the room was empty. This wasn't surprising. An Endbringer was ravaging Brockton Bay, and had been left free to rampage for almost an hour now without their assistance. That thought set his blood boiling, and Eidolon had to make a conscious effort to suppress his anger. There would be another time to argue about why they'd been kept away.

By his side, the other two members of the Triumvirate scanned the room. Alexandria's expressionless helm matched the no doubt stoic expression she wore underneath. Legend was openly curious and concerned. Eidolon prayed that the three of them had arrived in time to make some kind of difference. Even without anyone to fill them in on what happened, it wasn't hard to guess what had happened

Leviathan had clearly ravaged the ENE Division of the Protectorate already, leaving the building itself barren. Outside, Eidolon could hear the faint screams of heroes and civilians alike. Time was of the essence then; but with an Endbringer, it always was.

That was what Eidolon thought as Legend led them into the main foyer of the building.

The front doors swung open and a wall of screaming slammed into the three of them, louder and in greater volume than Eidolon had ever heard. Comparable to Behemoth's rampage from New York almost twenty years ago.

"That's not screaming." Alexandria noted. The confusion was clear in her voice.

Eidolon paused and listened. She was right, the chorus of voices outside, they didn't sound like screams at all, they sounded like…

"Cheering, they're cheering!" Legend exclaimed, and rushed out the foyer with the other two members of the Triumvirate in tow.

Eidolon slipped through the swinging doors and had to raise a hand to block the sun from his eyes. No storm of city killing fury raged overhead. Instead the sun beamed on Brockton Bay like it was a warm spring day. Were it not for the flooded streets and hundreds of men and women crowding around the front of the building, Eidolon would've never believed that Leviathan was there.

But he was, there was no such thing as a false alarm when it came to Endbringers. Had they managed to drive the Endbringer off without them? Had Armsmaster pulled some new tinker tech out of his ass that had finally turned the odds in their favor?

The idea was exciting, but doubtful.

The real answer was easy enough to find. Just follow the crowd of cheering civilians, PRT staff, and capes towards the source.

Eidolon froze when he processed what everyone was gathered around. He had at first assumed it was a chunk of debris or destroyed street. That was the logical immediate assumption to make. But he was wrong, he was dead wrong. It wasn't rubble at all.

It was Leviathan, dead and defeated in the center of the street.

Eidolon rose into the air, and stared at the Endbringers corpse for a long minute. He was, on some level, aware that Legend and Alexandria were floating beside him. But that wasn't important.

Leviathan, the City-Killer, was dead.

His corpse, stripped of its limbs and with a hole punched clean through the chest, lay strewn out in the street like a macabre display piece. The green scaled hide had been stripped bare, reduced to a pallid flesh that leaked its sludge like blood in small rivulets. And its cluster of eyes stared into the sky, dead and unseeing.

There wasn't…

This wasn't…

No one could kill an Endbringer.

Eidolon had accepted this as a fact of life. They were unkillable monstrosities. Even Scion, for all his powers, could only drive them off. But there was Leviathan, dead as a fish, proving that line of reasoning wrong.

"I can't believe it." Legend murmured, a smile in his voice.

"I don't believe it." Alexandria muttered in agreement.

Eidolon ignored them both and focused on what was important. Not the how, or the why, but the who. Someone had slain Leviathan, and had done the impossible. That someone, a girl no older than eighteen, stood in front of the corpse wearing a bleached white leotard while talking to a reporter. She had to be the one, everyone stared at her and clung to her like she was their sole lifeline in a storm.

Again, Eidolon ignored the words of his allies, and descended from the sky. A hush fell over the crowd and people backed away from Eidolon as he landed. The reporter and the girl both watched him land. Eidolon strode forward, focused on Leviathan.

The pool of power that resided within him, the cauldron he pulled his many abilities from, frothed and boiled. He reached within himself, feeling the edge of a thinker's power. Analytical, and straightforward. He clung to it and put a hand to Leviathan's dead flesh.

Dead.

Deceased.

Destroyed.

The reality of the situation finally sunk in. Eidolon rocked back on his heels like he'd been struck. This wasn't a fever dream, he wasn't dying. Leviathan was dead, well and truly dead.

When he spoke, his throat was dry and his voice shook"Did you do this?" Eidolon asked the girl without looking at her. He was committing the site of the Endbringers corpse to memory.

"Leviathan left me no choice." the girl said. There was an almost mournful tone in her voice.

Eidolon turned to her, and he was shocked at the venom in his next words, "Don't. Don't mourn it. Don't mourn any of them."

If his venom bothered her, she didn't show it. She just put her hands on her hips and said, "I don't mourn the Endbringer. I mourn that I had to resort to this at all. It was a terrible choice, but I'd do it again if I had to."

Eidolon stared at the girl for a long minute. He wasn't sure what to make of her. She was so young. A kid really.

But her eyes were tired. There was a weariness to them that he had recognized, hidden behind her youthful complexion. This was a girl that had witnessed terrible tragedy and carried it with her at all times. And she had been the one to put down Leviathan.

"Who are you?" Eidolon finally asked.

She smiled and offered her hand to him.

-S-​

"Supergirl, to summarize, hasn't given the global economy a shot in the arm. She shot the old economy, and replaced it wholesale. Or something like that, metaphors aren't my thing. I'm more of a numbers man." the Number Man smirked at his own pun as he pushed his glasses back onto his nose.

No one else laughed.

There were six people in total gathered in the near featureless white room, seated at a round table. Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon sat on one side, still in costumes stained with dust and water. It had been eight hours since they had arrived at Brockton Bay; they had expected to fight an Endbringer, and instead had been left with search and rescue. If they hadn't been warned to stay away, they could have at least been there for Leviathans defeat. But no, they had sat on the sidelines and then resigned themselves to cleaning up after the one who had done the real work. Afterwards, they came here. Where the real decisions in the world were made.

Cauldron, that was what they called themselves. The ones who held the power and guided the world from the shadows, who knew what was at risk and prepared for it as best they could. Men and women from across multiple worlds, disparate elements brought together to create a greater and more capable whole. The name had been Hero's idea.

Eidolon's mask lay on the table in front of him, and he continued to stare at it like he had since they'd arrived. He wondered, not for the first time, what Jacob would think of them now. What they had done in the name of saving the world. The compromises, the sacrifices, the cruelty. Would he have approved, or would he have turned on them?

If the Siberian hadn't killed Hero, would it have been up to Eidolon to put him down before his morals put their mission at risk? A pointless question now; because everything Cauldron had been working for seemed pretty pointless now.

They knew everything that had happened. Supergirl's fight with the Simurgh, the battle with Leviathan in the Atlantic, and just how thoroughly outclassed they were. The Number Man, Kurt, had assured them that the size of the tsunami Leviathan had summoned would easily have been capable with what they had seen the Endbringer do simply through the exploitation of fluid dynamics. But that didn't help when it made it clear that Leviathan could have flooded the entire world if he had wanted to.

And Supergirl had stopped it, in less than five minutes.

"What do we do now?" Eidolon asked aloud, interrupting whatever conversation the others had been embroiled in.

It was an open question, but his gaze was focused on the one in charge of Cauldron. Average height, average build, dark skinned, long hair in a bun and dressed to resemble a doctor, though Eidolon knew she had no doctorate. She called herself Doctor Mother, and she was the leader of Cauldron. For all the power the Triumvirate had, their abilities and their ideas, it was Doctor Mother that directed them.

All for the purpose of saving the world.

Eidolon gave her credit; even after the world shaking events of the day, the woman remained remarkably unphased. Her expression was stoic, but he could see her hands were folded tight against one another.

"We keep doing what we were doing. We maintain our preparations, we ensure stability where it is needed." she said. Her French accent added confidence to her words. "One Endbringer is dead. But we cannot let our guard down when two more still roam free."

Alexandria folded her arms, "The PRT could apply political pressure on Supergirl. Convince her to join, get her under control so we can prevent a repeat of today, and start a think tank on bringing the other two down."

"Won't work."

All eyes turned to the woman sitting to the right of Doctor Mother.

Pale faced, with dark shoulder length hair, and dressed in a neatly tailored black suit, she was an average looking woman. Her usual fedora lay on the table next to her. She sat prim and proper in her seat, rarely if ever moving unless someone talked to her or looked at her. Contessa was not one for frivalties.

She scared the absolute shit out of Eidolon though. Her ability to pluck answers out of thin air in ways beyond human thought was unnerving enough. But he knew that if things ever soured between him and Cauldron, Contessa would be waiting for him in a dark alley with a loaded pistol. One bullet was all she'd need to bring him down. Despite all his incredible power and decades of experience, it was nothing in the face of Contessa's power. She was the true muscle behind Cauldron; he was just one of her more useful tools.

It was Contessa who ensured Cauldrons shadowy control over Earth-Bet. Contessa who could walk through a room of armed men, take all of them down, and walk out untouched. Contessa, who could perceive and anticipate anything they'd do before they'd do it. Contessa, who had warned them away from Brockton Bay, out of a very real concern that they would have died if they'd joined the Endbringer fight.

At Cauldron, when Contessa spoke of her own volition, people fucking listened.

Doctor Mother regarded her cooly, "Elaborate please, Contessa."

The woman gestured at the lone monitor on the wall to Eidolon's right where a still image of Supergirl was. She said, "Supergirl won't bow to political pressure to join the Protectorate. If you push too hard, she'll push back. You'll lose."

Alexandria frowned, "I thought you said you couldn't Path her?"

Contessa was silent for a second. Always, she paused before responding to them, like she was considering if answering their questions was worth her time at all. Then she shook her head, "I can Path Supergirl's personality. It's the upper limits of her power that I cannot Path. If I ask how to convince Supergirl to join our organization, I am given a long and impractical three-hundred and ninety-seven step plan that leads to the destruction of the Protectorate and Cape Culture as we have cultivated it. But it is a guaranteed Path. If I ask what her powers are, I am only given answers in vague platitudes. Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a train engine, able to easily jump tall buildings in a single bound, etc. And the Path will keep expanding on this until the feats become so ludicrous as to be meaningless."

"So what do we do about her then?" Eidolon asked.

Legend spoke up before anyone else could answer, "Give her a goddamn medal, obviously. We've been trying for twenty years to put down any of the Endbringers. Supergirl did what we couldn't, we should be celebrating!"

Doctor Mother stared at Legend with that cool expression, "No one is downplaying the enormity of Leviathan's death. But we cannot afford to let our guard down in the face of it, either. Supergirl, by her own admission, is not human. She is an alien twice over. Not from this Earth, nor from the one of her own universe. However well meaning her claims to help us are, we must remember that the Entity also helps others seemingly of his own free will. And we all know the truth behind him.

"Doctor, she's an eighteen year old girl." Legend protested.

"She's an alien that happens to look human." Alexandria retorted.

"An alien that did what none of us ever came close to." Eidolon interrupted before Legend could argue back. They both looked at him.

"We fought off the Endbringers. We hurt them." he sighed. "But Supergirl is the only one to kill one."

A harsh silence fell over the room, broken only by Number Man scribbling on a large notepad he kept on his person. Eidolon stared at his mask again, the empty eye sockets burrowing into his skull. He felt sick, broken. Legend was right, they should be celebrating. Eidolon was happy in fact, he was thrilled to see Leviathan dead. But at the same time, he felt this sickness inside him, an anxious pit that sat in his stomach like a lead weight. Supergirl seemed earnest, seemed sweet, and seemed genuine.

But it was easy to put on a false smile and convince the world you were their friend, a hero looking out for them. After all, Eidolon himself did it every day.

Her eyes though, those had stood out to him. As they had worked together to clear rubble, to save people and uncover those lost in Leviathan's rampage. Supergirl's eyes had carried a deep, profound pain in them. That kind of pain couldn't be faked.

That was what the optimistic part of Eidolon thought anyway. Optimism wouldn't save the world from what was coming.

"There's no point arguing over this." Doctor Mother said. "As of this moment, we do not know enough about Supergirl to determine a proper course of action. For now, we will act as we always have, and will allow Supergirl to do the same. Alexandria, the PRT will work with Supergirl, but avoid undue pressure on her. At the moment, she is our best weapon, as untested as she might be for our purposes."

Eidolon could hear Alexandria grind her teeth together, but if she was anything, she was loyal to the cause. She gave a curt nod, "Understood, Doctor. I have a scheduled meeting with the PRT Board of Directors in two days. I'll make sure they understand where Supergirl stands with us."

"See that you do." Doctor Mother nodded, and stood. "Unless there is anything else to discuss, we will adjourn this meeting for now."

Everyone else rose, and four doorways split the air behind them, shimmering with a faint unworldly energy. Beyond them lay various points scattered across the world, hundreds of miles crossed in a handful of steps. Eidolon grabbed his mask, and ran a finger over its surface one last time, before putting it back on. When he opened his eyes, he saw Contessa staring at him with those eerie pale eyes of hers.

He suppressed a shudder, turned on his heel, and walked out of the facility.

The others followed suit, filing back out into the wider world where they were needed. Contessa was the last to leave, following Doctor Mother. The barest hint of a frown tugged at her lips as she walked through the Door.

Lying came easily to Contessa. She had done it for so long, and so often that even without the Path it was second nature to her. But it was one thing to lie to a client of Cauldron, or the Triumvirate. It was another thing to lie to Doctor Mother. They had worked together for decades now, since Contessa was a child. There was a sort of implicit trust that came with that.

But, lying to the whole of Cauldron had been necessary. And in time, they would forgive her for the deception

It was, after all, only step one of three-hundred and ninety-seven.

-S-​

"We welcomed you into our home, and you lied to our faces!" Carol paced back and forth across the dining room, red in the face. I sat at the dining room table, hands folded, back straight, and letting her say her piece. Amy and Vicky sat in the living room on the couch, silent but watching. Mark stood nearby, but didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation.

I had returned to the Dallon household about twelve hours or so after putting Leviathan to a stop. Working with the Protectorate, the Triumvirate, New Wave, and even a few villains, we scoured the city for those that had been trapped during the fight. And those that had been lost. After eight hours of searching, we had scoured most of the city where Leviathan and I had fought. With my help, finding lost victims had been easy, and there had been many happily reunited families. An ecstatic energy had taken over the city as a whole; when I had questioned it, I had learned that Leviathan's attack on Brockton Bay had the lowest casualty rate of any Endbringer attack.

Three hundred and seventy-two victims.

If Armsmaster was to be believed, the majority of those victims had been from the initial panic and chaos that had unfolded when the sirens had gone off. His personal estimate was only thirty-six men and women lost by Leviathan's direct actions and our fight.

Three had been children.

To the people of Earth-Bet, the day had been an incredible success; 'the Miracle of Brockton Bay' some were calling it. To me, it was a miserable failure. If Kal had been the one to fight, if he had been sent to Earth-Bet, no one would have died. Leviathan would have been stopped in the Atlantic and not one soul would have died. But Earth-Bet hadn't gotten Kal, they had gotten me. And people had died because of it.

So when I had returned to the Dallon household, and Carol had started ripping into me for lying to them, I sat and took it. Because they were right of course, I had lied to them. Maybe I had been scared, disoriented, or anxious because of my situation. But that didn't change what I had done. They had offered their home to me with open arms, and I had lied to their faces about everything.

Letting Carol read me the riot act felt appropriate, all things considered.

"I don't know what to do about you, Kara." she sighed, running both hands through her hair, "On the one hand, no one can deny what you did today. I… I still can't believe it, personally. It's a miracle. But you abused our trust. Lied to my face about who you were. If you lied about that, and so easily, what else have you lied about? How can we ever trust you again?"

"Mom,"

I perked up in surprise. It wasn't Vicky speaking up, it was Amy. She sat up on the couch, her hands balled tight as she spoke, never looking at me, but not looking at her mother either.

"Kara didn't-"

Carol swiped her hand through the air, cutting her off, "Quiet. The adults are talking."

A silence rolled over the house, so thick I could have cut it with a knife. Amy sank back down onto the couch, eyes on the ground. Beside her, I saw Vicky tense, but she didn't rise to her sister's defense either. She just put a hand on her shoulder, and avoided meeting her mothers gaze.

I looked from them to Carol and back again. Then, I stood up and said, "Carol, I understand that I violated your trust. You have every reason to be upset with me. I won't take advantage of that trust any further."

She paused and looked at me, blinking. "What are you…?"

"I'll leave. The only thing I ask is that you let me stay until the end of the week so I have time to find a new home. Then I'll be gone, and you won't have to worry about me anymore."

For a solid minute, Carol stood there mulling over my compromise. The anger was still there, it tainted her every move. She kept clenching and unclenching her hands, or grinding her jaw. It was obvious there was more bothering her than just me lying. Something about the situation had aggravated some kind of trauma that I didn't know about. Me staying wouldn't help with that, and I didn't want to create tension in the family. But I also had nowhere to stay, and it was clear Carol was conflicted about actually kicking me out of the house.

After a solid minute of silence, she nodded, "Fine. That's acceptable. You have a week, Kara, to find a new home. But then I want you out of our house, understood."

"Completely, ma'am. Thank you, I won't abuse your trust again."

Her mouth pulled into a tight line, but she nodded, and stalked out of the dining room upstairs. Mark paused, looking between all of us, then followed after his wife with a reluctant gait.

I took a long shower after that. After fighting two Endbringers and hours of search and rescue, I felt warmth of the shower was a welcome balm on my soul, but it didn't ease the pain I felt when I thought of those I had failed. This wasn't the first time I had failed people depending on me. I knew how to handle loss, but it still hurt. I spent a long time standing in that shower, soaking in my failure.

When I got out, I didn't feel great. But I felt better. It was the first step, which was always the most important. The people I had failed were gone; nothing I could do would undo that. But I could learn from my mistakes today, and I could make sure others wouldn't join them. That was the best anyone could do in this kind of situation. Strive to be better.

After drying off and dressing in a borrowed set of pajamas from Vicky, I walked back to the guest room with my ruined costume in hand. The thought of replacing it wouldn't usually bother me but… it was the only thing I had left of home. Losing my belt and everything in it was bad enough, but the costume was so fried that I was left with nothing of home. Nothing but my memories.

"Rao, it's like the orphanage all over again." I muttered to myself as I stepped inside the guest room.

To my surprise, Amy was standing there, staring at the ground while fidgeting with her hands. She couldn't look at me, and kept scuffing her feet on the floor.

"Amy." I said, surprised.

She flinched but looked up at me, barely. Her eyes kept flicking to everywhere but my face, like she was embarrassed to look at me. I let her find her bearings; I could go a little bit longer without sleep.

Amy pulled at one of her fingers nervously while she spoke, "Kara, what I said earlier today, I um… shit, I messed up. I was stressed, Vicky wouldn't shut up about you, and then everything with the Heberts… I'm sorry, okay? I was being really stupid and I shouldn't have said what I said."

She covered her face in both hands and groaned. Obviously, this was a lot for her. The irony though was that I had almost forgotten about her confrontation with me at the Heberts house. So much had happened since then, that her anger at me just seemed… small, in comparison. Her embarrassment was amusing, in a painfully relatable way though.

I smiled and said, "Apology accepted. But, to be fair, I think we were both being stupid, Amy. I'm sorry I lied to you, I shouldn't have done that. Want to start over?"

Amy uncovered one eye and stared at me as if I was speaking a foreign language, "Start over?"

I offered my hand to her, "My name is Kara Zor-El. And you are?"

With slow hesitation, she uncovered her face and stared at my hand. She looked at it, and then at me. An expression of relief formed on her face, and she reached out to shake my hand, "Amy Dallon. It's… it's a pleasure to meet you, Kara."

-S-​

Space and time shuddered and roiled, peeling apart in layers to eject the Simurgh's willowy silver form into the cold vastness of space. Jupiter dominated the skyline with the added addition of a ring swirling in its orbit, larger even than the rings of Saturn. The Discs of Leviathan, some subjects had already started calling it. The name was irrelevant, but the effect was clear. The parameters had changed, the old plans were to be discarded.

The Simurgh descended into the ring, sifting through it with a thousand telekinetic arms. Debris and asteroids floated out of her way, tossed aside like so much waste. It would take some time to scour the ring, but everything had changed and time was something she had in abundance. The old schedule was no longer sustainable. The Anomaly- Supergirl was a threat. Any service to the Administrator could not be completed so long as she continued to live.

Even their old directive had been halted.

There was not enough data, Supergirl represented too many unknowns. New Engines could not be deployed until sufficient data was gathered. But until that time, the Simurgh would have to make do with what she had on hand.

She halted mid flight as something caught her attention. A wing as long as she was tall stretched out, reached through the void to grasp at an object no larger than a grain of sand. Into her outstretched hands it landed as if of its own accord, and thrummed in proximity to her own core.

Supergirl's strength was vast, but she had made a mistake.

The sliver of Leviathan's core pulsed in the Simurgh's hands, responding to her energy. On its own, such a tiny shred of matter would be inert. Without sufficient mass to channel the energy needed to power one of the Engines, such fragments would appear as simple dead waste. But to those that knew, those that understood, even a fragment of her brother was filled with a thousand possibilities.

The Simurgh raised a hand, and space rippled around, appearing like a haze on a hot summer day. When it faded, the crystalline shard she had stolen from Supergirl appeared in her hand. So far it had stubbornly resisted her attempts to open it. But the Simurgh did not despair.

In fact, she had hope.

With time and effort, she would peel it open and learn all she could about the Kryptonian. But in the meantime, what remained of her brother would serve as an excellent tool for further experimentation.

Her processes suddenly froze, and the Simurgh went still.

At the edge of her senses, spread across the vastness of the ring, something had stirred. It had been for a nanosecond, too fast for even the finest instruments to have detected. The only reason she had detected it at all was because she had spread herself wide across the whole of space and time in search of more of Leviathan's shard. But whatever she had detected, had been so fast and so brief, she saw no future in it. Peering into what could be, showed nothing.

Across all of time and space, through countless futures, she saw nothing related to whatever had caught her senses. After dedicating several long minutes to analyzing it, the Simurgh dismissed the signal as a result of her departure from the extra-dimensional pocket interacting with the scattered matter and energy from Leviathan's passing. Something worth noting, but nothing more.

To be safe, she adjusted her planned timetable regardless, and resumed her search witha renewed fervor. All the while, keeping a small part of her dedicated to watching for the signal, should it appear again…

 

[Tontis]

Interlude 1.2​

"FUCK!"

In two simultaneous timelines, Coil swore and slammed his fist on his desk. He rubbed his temples in one timeline. The other, he called one of his guards in and shot him dead. Then he closed the timeline and opened a new one, both massaging their temples.

That made it the seventeenth time he had done this, and there was one explicit reason why. Coil dragged his hand across his face and stared at the smiling blonde woman on his computer screen.

Supergirl.

He leaned forward and glared at the image of the heroine. In two days, she had uprooted everything he had worked for. Years of work, down the drain because of her. Coil had not felt this angry in a long time.

Coil had contingencies of course. Plans within plans, all in case things didn't work out. He was an ordered man, a meticulous man. That was how he thought of himself anyway. An Endbringer attack from Leviathan? Disruptive, but Coil had planned for such an attack years in advance; his many lairs across the city were designed with such an eventuality in mind.

Owning the biggest manufacturer in Endbringer shelters in the North-Eastern United States made it easy to not only prepare for those kinds of attacks, but also to hide them from any snooping auditors. Brockton Bay was a coastal city, Leviathan was always the most likely to attack. Coil had expected it, hell on some small level he almost hoped for it.

The inevitable casualties and fallout of Leviathan cutting a swathe through the local cape population would destabilize the region enough that Coil would face next to no resistance in assuming control in short order. Again, a contingency he had prepared if worse came to worse.

He was, after all, meticulous.

But all the planning in the world hadn't accounted for one possibility. That Leviathan might actually be killed. That anyone would be able to kill the Endbringer, let alone without a single meaningful casualty, and in Brockton Bay of all places.

Oh sure, a few hundred people had died in the initial attack, but they didn't matter. Not really.

But not a single cape had fallen to Leviathan. Even Miss Militia, the only cape besides Supergirl to directly fight Leviathan, had escaped her encounter with only a broken spine. In a city with a cape like Panacea, that was just a mild inconvenience. Everyone else? Untouched, unmarred, still in his way.

In his parallel timeline, Coil stood up and kicked his chair into the wall. Then he picked it up and smashed it against the wall over and over again while screaming in an incoherent rage until his guard came in to check on him. He shot the man dead and then closed the timeline.

Eighteen times.

Coil let out a sigh and opened a new timeline before reviewing the facts.

Fact one, Leviathan was dead.

Fact two, Supergirl had killed him single handedly. The creatures that even Scion couldn't kill, Supergirl had treated like a bad joke.

Fact three, she wasn't from Earth-Bet. If she was telling the truth, she wasn't even human. Some were skeptical of her story, but Coil frankly didn't care. Alien, human, freak experiment gone rogue, the result was the same. Supergirl was an outsider that had destroyed the status quo with the same ease one might knock over an ant-hill.

Fact four, Kate fucking Lockwell had somehow gotten to Supergirl first and shared a personal interview with the girl all over the internet. There was no containing this from the public eye, everyone knew what Supergirl had done and they loved her for it.

For all intents and purposes, Supergirl was now the greatest hero on Earth-Bet. Unless she started eating babies in front of a live audience, there was nothing Coil could do to twist public opinion against her. He wasn't even sure that would work.

So not only was she physically immune to anything he could do to her, she was also immune to any social or psychological attack he could make. The agents he'd sent to the Hebert girls house had been reduced to a greasy smear for all their trouble, and Supergirl had then decided to kill an Endbringer for shits and giggles.

Coil slumped in his chair and covered his face. Anyone else would've packed up and left. Throw in the towel, torch the operation and run with whatever money and resources he could reasonably take with him. It was a tempting decision.

But, Coil was not a man prone to giving up easily. He had survived Ellisburg, he could survive Supergirl.

He sat up straighter, and re-evaluated his options.

Option one, give up. Not going to happen, but he made a mental note to plan contingencies. If he had learned anything from the last few days, it was how drastically things could change now..

Option two, change his plan of attack. Supergirl wanted to help, and Coil had information and resources that could help with that goal. With a few calls and well placed bribes, the Empire could be brought to its knees overnight. Maybe he could bargain with Supergirl, convince her to let him guide her; the brain to her brawn.

Option three, bring greater firepower to bear. Coil may not be a physical threat to Supergirl, but others might. For all her strength and power, no one was untouchable. With careful planning and the right resources, he could make a goddess bleed.

Coil smiled under his mask. He could feel the beginning of a plan coming together. A path forward to remove at least one obnoxious blonde heroine from his life. He'd settle for Glory Girl's reckless carnage if it meant never having to see Supergirl's face again.

Yes, he could do this, he could bring her down. It was just going to take careful time and planning.

First thing's first, he'd have to make a call.

Coil grabbed the landline phone on his desk, only for a new notification to pop up on his desktop. He paused and opened it to a new article on Supergirl. He skimmed through it, and the phone receiver fell from his hand and cracked against the concrete floor.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

-S-​

"Can't you go any faster?" Vista whined.

Aegis let out a long suffering sigh and didn't even bother to glare at the twelve year old clinging to his back. He was flying over Brockton Bay faster than highway speeds. He was not going to be taunted into arguing with Vista just because she was impatient.

"You can't blame a guy for performance issues, Vista." Clockblocker quipped.

"Clock." Aegis looked down at the Ward dangling in his arms.

The boy's grin was evident behind his mask as they flew, "Yes, Aegis?"

"How long do you think it'd take you to reach terminal velocity if I dropped you from this height?"

Clockblocker saluted, "Message received captain. Terminating transmissions now."

"So he can listen." Vista snickered.

Aegis shook his head and kept flying. Their destination was the Docks. Or, what was left of them anyway. Most of Brockton had survived the brawl between Supergirl and Leviathan. But the Docks had been flattened. Yet, despite the devastation, very few people had been hurt in the brawl because, ironically, the Docks were a deadzone thanks to Leviathan's existence. Most rescue operations had come to an end, but there was still the matter of cleanup and rebuilding. Which is where the Wards came in.

Kind of.

It had been Vista's idea, actually. The internet was abuzz with any and everything to do with Supergirl, and people had already reported sightings of her helping with reconstruction in the Docks. So while the Protectorate hadn't officially deployed them, Vista had suggested they volunteer however they could. Okay, she had insisted on it.

The girl had latched onto Supergirl's image and reputation with a death grip which was a little concerning. But, it was also the most chipper Aegis had seen her in months. He wouldn't begrudge Vista a little hero-worship.

Besides, it would be good for Vista to use her powers in a way that didn't put her in the line of fire. Yeah the Wards were kept in reserve and in theory not supposed to be deployed against criminals or villains. In practice, in Brockton Bay however…

They had one stop to make on their way to the Docks, though it was more of a meetup than a stop. About a quarter of a mile out, a familiar pair soared through the sky towards them. Glory Girl and Gallant. Both in full costume and the latter mirror Clockblocker and happily hanging in her arms. He gave a wave on their approach

"How you holding up, Gallant?" Aegis asked.

The armor-clad cape shrugged, "Oh ya know. Hanging around."

Glory Girl looked down at him with a thoroughly unamused expression, "I will drop you."

"But then who would be your arm candy?" Clockblocker quipped.

"Hmm," Glory Girl smirked, "That's a good point, Clock. Thank you."

Gallant sighed, "This is my fate, to be forever objectified. When will people see past my looks?"

"When you stop having such a cute ass." Glory Girl answered, pulling him up into a hug before letting him drop back down into her arms.

Vista made a gagging sound, "Gross. Are you two done?"

"Never!"

Gallant chuckled, "Yeah, we're done. Where's Kid Win and Shadow Stalker?"

Aegis jerked his head in the general direction of the PRT headquarters, "Win's working on a new project, didn't want to meet Supergirl empty-handed. We offered to bring Shadow Stalker along, but…"

"She's Shadow Stalker." Vista sighed.

"Sooo, a total bitch." Clock added.

Aegis nudged him, "Language, dude."

"I mean, he's not wrong." Vista admitted.

That may have been true, but no matter how prickly Shadow Stalker was, she was still their teammate. It felt wrong to bad mouth her when she wasn't around. Doubly so to use foul language in front of Vista. Yeah she had seen worse in the field, but Aegis still felt some responsibility to preserve something of her innocence, while she still had it. Not that he dared to say that out loud; last time he'd implied that, Vista had verbally flayed him.

Glory Girl shrugged, "Their losses. Though if I'm honest guys, I'm not sure we'll have much to offer. Kara is… on a different playing field. We're on the kiddie court, she's an NBA Hall of Famer. We might just get in the way."

"Moral support!" Clockblocker argued. "Every sports team needs cheerleaders, and I'll have you know I cut a killer figure in a skirt!"

Vista shuddered, Aegis covered his face and Gallant let out a long suffering sigh.

"This was a terrible idea." Glory Girl said in a monotone devoid of emotion.

Aegis shook his head, "Well, we aren't going to be helping just floating here. Come on, let's see what Supergirl actually has to say."

There were no arguments there. They flew together side by side toward the Docks. Vista had already figured out the general area Supergirl was working in, but even if she hadn't, it was hard to miss The Docks were swarming with construction vehicles and workers, and a perpetual cloud of dust rose into the sky. A blur of red zipped about inside the cloud, faster than Aegis could track. When they landed, and got a good look at what Supergirl was doing, Aegis understood Glory Girl's point much more succinctly.

Destroyed buildings disintegrated into manageable piles of debris in minutes, like a timelapse of a decomposing animal body on the nature channel. Streets were cleared, debris organized, and pipes replaced at a speed that was, to be honest, terrifying. Aegis had seen footage of Supergirl's fight with Leviathan and had witnessed the tail end of it. But it was one thing to watch the footage, it was another to see just how absurdly fast she was in person.

Glory Girl carefully set Gallant down. Then, she floated towards the blur and cupped her hands in front of her mouth and shouted, "Yo, Kara! You got a minute?!"

The blur of red stopped and the dust began to settle. Aegis coughed and waved some of it out of his face. While he cleared his lungs, he heard Clockblocker let out a strangled, "Oh. Wow."

Aegis looked up and blinked a few times.

Oh wow indeed.

Supergirl descended through the dust cloud, ringed by sunlight. Her old costume had been wrecked from her fight with Leviathan, so she had clearly had to improvise a makeshift costume in the meantime.

She wore a white t-shirt that was clearly a size too small for her, with a hastily drawn copy of her symbol on her chest. It was small enough to expose her midriff. This was paired with a short red cape, a tight blue skirt, and a pair of red boots. Her golden hair was pulled back by a black headband, framing her kind face.

If Aegis didn't know any better, he would have thought that he had met one of those cape cosplayers, not the girl that had taken Leviathan to school. She was stunning, to put it bluntly, and Aegis kept his gaze respectful.

Supergirl landed and dusted her hands off, smiling at all of them.

"Sorry for the mess," she apologized, "I've been busy cleaning up the debris from my scuffle with Leviathan all day. What's up?"

Glory Girl jerked a thumb at Aegis and the others. "Wards wanted to help with cleanup and reconstruction. I told them you already had it handled, but Vista was insistent."

Supergirl looked past her at them, and smiled. Clockblocker made a weird noise, and Vista nudged him, "Quit being weird."

If Supergirl noticed, she gave no indication. Instead she nodded at Glory Girl and walked up to them, Vista first. She put her hands on her hips and said, "You must be Vista right? You're the veteran Ward around here, if I recall."

If Vista grinned any wider, she was going to strain a muscle, "That's me! It is so cool to finally meet you! And you've probably already heard this a lot, but you were amazing yesterday!"

Supergirl chuckled, "Well, I did my best, but thank you Vista. So, you wanted to help with cleanup?"

Vista nodded, "Yeah. Everyone on the PHO was talking about you helping with cleaning up and I figured… we have powers, we could help too. Make it faster, take some of the work off your hands. You already beat Leviathan, it doesn't seem fair to make you clean up."

Another smile from Supergirl, "That's very sweet of you to offer, Vista.I don't mind assisting with cleanup, especially since this mess is partly my fault. But, I won't turn down some extra help."

She knelt on one knee and pointed at the workers, "See the man with the big beard? He's the foreman for that operation, goes by George. You talk with him, tell him what you can do, and he can set you to work. I've been working with him and his crew all day. I'm sure they'd love to have some more help."

Vista nodded excitedly, "Alright! I'll do what I can, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." Supergirl ruffled Vista's head and let the girl run off to the foreman. Vista practically skipped toward the construction worker.

Supergirl glanced at Glory Girl, "Vicky, do you mind going with Vista? I know she has the most experience on the Wards, but…"

"Twelve, I know." Glory Girl said.

"Just give some advice if she needs it." Supergirl said. "She wants to be helpful, babying her will just make her grumpy."

Glory Girl nodded and gestured for Gallant to follow her. The two of them followed after Vista, and Supergirl turned back to Aegis and Clockblocker. She approached the latter first and offered her hand.

"We haven't been formally introduced either-"

"Hi, yes!" Clock said, "It is nice to be meeting you, I am Blockclocker - er, I mean Clockblocker! Clockblocker. Sorry. It's just… wow. You killed an Endbringer."

Supergirl managed another smile, "So everyone keeps reminding me. It's a pleasure to meet you, Clockblocker. Do you mind if I just call you Clock?"

"Call me whatever you want!" Clock said. Aegis sighed, internally of course. He always wondered how Clockblocker would act around someone he actually liked. Now, he wished he didn't know.

Supergirl took Clocks' eagerness in stride though, talking to him calmly and politely, letting him burn through his excitement before directing him toward the foreman as well. Clock somehow managed to not trip over his own two feet, and did as Supergirl suggested.

Aegis approached the cape and offered his hand, "Aegis, current captain of the Wards. I know everyone else has said it, but it really is an honor to meet you, Supergirl. You made a big first impression."

She shook his hand and smiled, "I just hope that I manage to live up to it. Your team seem like good kids, Aegis. Was it your idea to bring them out here?"

"No," Aegis admitted, "It was Vista's. Like she said, when she found out you were working out here, she was insistent we come and help."

Supergirl glanced at Vista, showing off her powers for the workers. Her smile faded slightly, "Does the Protectorate not work with Panacea for injuries?"

Aegis paused, surprised by the question, "Um, no, we do. It's one of the biggest reasons we tolerate… nevermind, why do you ask?"

Supergirl frowned, "Just curious. Sorry, there's been so much going on, my mind's in a thousand different places."

She turned back to Aegis and smiled, "So, you have super-strength if I remember correctly, right?"

Aegis shrugged, "More… no limits on my strength. You know how humans have a natural limiter on their muscles? I don't have that. My body is basically a bunch of built in redundancies that let me push myself way beyond my limits. Cool part is, as long as my adrenaline is going, I don't have to worry about pain either."

"Well, it'll be great having you help with cleanup." Supergirl said, clapping him on the shoulder, "Just don't push yourself too hard. Redundancy or not, you should take care of yourself."

"Honestly, lifting a bunch of heavy cra- crud will be child's play compared to what I usually deal with. Thanks for the concern though." He wasn't sure why he censored himself, but a part of Aegis wanted to make a good impression on Supergirl. Though, who wouldn't?

Supergirl smiled again and released his shoulder, "Well, I won't keep you any longer. You know the drill, talk with George and see where you can be put to use."

Aegis gave a casual salute, "Can do. Honestly though, I'm surprised you're out here cleaning. I figured the Protectorate would've wanted to talk with you by now after what you did."

At his words, Supergirl froze and her eyes went wide. She covered her face and groaned, "Ooooh! Rao, no!"

Aegis was caught off guard by the sudden shift, "Um… you okay? Did I touch a nerve?"

Supergirl groaned again, "No! I had a meeting scheduled with the director today! What time is it?"

Now Aegis understood Supergirl's reaction. He winced and said, "10:39. What time were you…?"

Supergirl was already gone, a blur of red white and blue streaking towards downtown while muttering a series of alien curses under her breath. Aegis stood there dumbly; who knew that even a hero like Supergirl could forget a meeting because she was busy?

"Hey!" Vista hollered, getting Aegis's attention.

He swung towards her to see the girl glaring daggers at him, "What did you do!?"

-S-​

Director Emily Piggot popped a pair of antacid pills and let out a long suffering sigh. She'd been sitting in her office for close to forty-five minutes now, waiting. Armsmaster stood at her right, ramrod still as always. A part of her was convinced he had replaced his spine with a metal pole years ago, and almost envied him for it. Dragon was present as well, as much as a cape like her could be, watching everything through the cameras.

Of them all, Dragon had been the most insistent that they wait for Supergirl to show, and not to pressure her on it. Piggot had agreed, on the grounds that pressuring the woman that had killed an Endbringer seemed a monumentally stupid idea. But, the fact that Supergirl seemed intent to blow off their meeting, didn't surprise Piggot either. When you had that kind of power, why bother kowtowing to anyone?

The following weeks were going to be rough, Piggot could tell. Things were going to get hectic, unstable even. Maybe they'd get better, maybe things would settle into a better status quo. But she would feel far more at ease if Supergirl had at least been willing to open a dialogue with the PRT.

She leaned back in her chair, ignoring its tired groan, and sighed. "Armsmaster, you're free to resume your duties. She's obviously not going to show."

Armsmaster gave a silent nod. Even by his usual standards, he had been very quiet since Leviathan's death. It was concerning, but as long as he kept doing his work with his usual standards, Piggot wasn't interested in why that was the case. His personal issues were his own to work through.

"Ma'am," Dragon's voice crackled over her computer speakers, "I'd advise waiting a few more minutes, please."

Piggot glanced at the nearest camera, "Dragon, I appreciate your optimism, but if Supergirl is just going to blow us off like this, I'm not going to dignify her actions by wasting my time w-"

There was a sudden commotion from outside her office. Piggot and Armsmaster looked to the office door as the voices of a dozen or so staff sounded in unison, a combination of surprise, confusion and elation. Then, Piggot's door swung open and Supergirl staggered inside panting, her face red with embarrassment.

"Director Piggot, I am so sorry I'm late!" The girl stood up straight and brushed off a metric ton of building debris from her outfit. Piggot raised a brow and looked at Armsmaster. The tinker responded with a confused shrug.

Supergirl walked over to Piggots desk, and offered her hand, "We haven't been formally introduced. It's a pleasure to meet you, Director Piggot."

The Director hesitated for a second, before standing with a grunt of effort and shaking Supergirl's hand. "Supergirl. Can I presume all is well in my city, if you're running so late?"

Again, the girl's cheeks flushed, "I was volunteering at the docks with cleanup and rebuilding efforts. We made great progress, Foreman George says we'll probably have most of it cleared by tomorrow or Tuesday. I just kind of lost track of time. You do something monotonous long enough and your sense of time is the first thing to go, eh-heh…"

When she saw no one laughing, Supergirl sat in the chair in front of the Directors desk with her hands in her lap. Piggot sat back down with a relieved sigh and took a moment to really look at the, as the media proclaimed her, 'Savior of the World'.

'God, she's just a kid'. Piggot thought. She barely looked older than Triumph, fresh out of the Wards. And this was the person strong enough to kill an Endbringer? Piggot resisted the urge to grab another bottle of pills from her desk drawer.

Instead she leaned forward, her chair creaking in protest under the shift in weight, and steepled her fingers "So, Supergirl… or do you prefer Kara Zor-El?"

The girl shrugged, "I have no preference. On Earth-One, my cousin and I use our Kryptonian and Superhero identities interchangeably with the public. Whichever you prefer is fine by me, ma'am."

Right, there was also that fact.

Supergirl wasn't human. If she wasn't just delusional like Myrridan, and Piggot was inclined to believe she wasn't, then Supergirl was actually an alien from an alternate dimension. One where, apparently, she wasn't even the strongest cape around. Again, that heartburn medication was looking real good right about now.

Piggot shook that thought off, "Right. Supergirl, we appreciate that you took time out of your clearly busy schedule to talk with us. I presume you have an idea of what we want to talk about?"

Supergirl started counting off her fingers, "You probably want to know if I'm compromised after my fight on the moon, want to know why I was on the moon in the first place, if I think I can handle the rest of the Endbringers, what my intentions on Earth-Bet are in general, and the big one, you want to convince me to join the Protectorate. If I had to guess."

Well, at least she was straightforward.

"Right. Well, we actually have an idea of why you were on the moon. We have testimony for what happened at the Hebert household from officers on the scene-"

"They're doing okay, right?" Supergirl interrupted.

Piggot frowned, and Armsmaster answered, "We've given Miss Hebert and her father time to recuperate after yesterday. They're going to tour our facilities in a few days and discuss her full membership in the Protectorate afterwards. Given recent events, it was deemed only fair to give them both time to mentally recover after their… ordeal."

Supergirl nodded, "Good, that's… that's good. Sorry Director, you were saying?"

Piggot cleared her throat, "What I, and my superiors need to confirm is if you'd be willing to submit to a full mental and psychiatric evaluation. You had prolonged one on one contact with the Simurgh, we're concerned about any adverse psionic effects she might have had on you."

Supergirl frowned and folded her arms, "Well, as far as psionics go, the Simurgh didn't really impress me. I mean, compared to psychics like Despero or Eclipso, she was kind of… C-Tier?"

She paused, realizing what she was saying, "But, if it makes people feel better, I wouldn't be against it. I assume the public doesn't know about my scuffle?"

Dragon spoke up over the speakers, "PRT leadership decided, in the wake of your victory over Leviathan, that putting your mental state in doubt with the general public would only sour what should be a genuine victory."

Supergirl nodded sagely, "I can understand the reasoning and I'll follow your lead on that. I just hope that info never gets out, it could cause way more problems if people find out we were hiding it. Also, hello! You're Dragon, right?"

"The one and only! And I have to say it's an honor to finally meet you face to face, so to speak." Dragon said, her voice even more chipper than usual.

Supergirl smiled, "It's fine, I understand how agoraphobia can be. It's still nice to meet you, I've heard nothing but good things about you."

She turned her attention back to Piggot. "Either way, Director, I will comply with a full psychiatric evaluation."

"It's more a case of caution than any real concern." Armsmaster explained. "We don't believe you were exposed to the Simurgh long enough to be put under threat, but a lot of what we thought we knew about the Endbringers has been called into question."

"I understand completely, Armsmaster." Supergirl nodded.

They continued along this line of questioning for about thirty minutes or so. What became very apparent to Piggot as they talked was that, in spite of her apparent age, Supergirl carried herself with more restraint and patience than a lot of professionals she knew with twice the experience. The girl oozed self-confidence and intelligence that put Piggot even more on edge. It was one thing if Supergirl was just a naive kid; but no, there was a clear intelligence behind that warm smile.

Supergirl was kind, not stupid.

It did, however, mean that their questioning was fruitful. Supergirl was willing to divulge a lot on her world, her culture, even small bits of her past though nothing substantial in that regard. She claimed that she had no idea how she arrived in Earth-Bet, and though Piggot would check with Armsmaster's lie detector later, she was willing to bet that Supergirl was telling the truth. Someone had sent the girl to their world, and no one knew who.

That was added to the list of Piggots personal concerns. Who had sent a being as powerful as Supergirl to Earth-Bet, and why. Did Earth-One have a vested interest in Earth-Bet? Could the Protectorate even handle the villains that Earth-One could produce? The worst part was that, since Supergirl was amnesiac, she had no answer for most of these questions. And this wasn't even the most stressful part of their meeting, as far as Piggot was concerned.

As it drew to a close, she finally breached the topic she had been dreading all this time.

"You've been very honest with us so far, Supergirl. I do, however, have a very important question for you." Piggot sucked in a breath and asked, "Would you be willing to join the Protectorate? We provide solid pay and a pension of course, and if necessary can provide a full United States citizenship and secured identity for personal privacy. You'd also have the full resources of the Protectorate behind you in your work."

There were other benefits she was prepared to pull out, but these were her big hail mary's. She wasn't sure if money meant anything to an alien like her, but in spite of her supposed heritage, Supergirl seemed very human. Every advantage to convince her would help.

Supergirl leaned back in her chair, and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She hemmed and hawed and clearly thought about the offer for several long minutes. The fact that she didn't have an immediate answer meant she was still debating this. Which meant, if Piggot really pushed, she might be able to convince the girl to join.

"Director Piggot, I am honored by your offer." Supergirl said. "But, I am afraid I will have to decline."

She held up her hand before Piggot could make her case. "I know you and your superiors would feel better with me working under you. But it's exactly for that reason that I cannot join the Protectorate. I know that the organization has some international ties, and is the largest group of official heroes on Earth-Bet. But, while I would appreciate having a citizenship and legal secret identity, as a Kryptonian I cannot bind myself to anyone Earth borne nation. With the kind of power I possess, locking myself to the politics of any nation, no matter how allegedly moral, would stop me from helping others. And at the end of the day, that is what I do. I use the powers I've been given to assist others in any way I can. But I can't do that if I have to worry about politics telling me I can't help a village dying from drought because the surrounding area would take American interference as a sign of aggression. I am an independent hero. Always have been, always will be."

Shit, she really had thought about this.

Supergirl smiled, "But, I am more than willing to work with and under the Protectorate in local matters. I'm not going to step over laws or break due process. Just make sure innocent people are safe. That's all I want to do. I think you could argue that's all most people want to do, especially in the Protectorate."

Piggot didn't let Supergirl's rejection visibly bother her. She knew it was a slim chance to convince the girl to sign up, and it was clear Supergirl never had any intention to join up with them. That she was willing to work with them and respect their jurisdiction was a relief, but Piggot knew that it was just to ease her state of mind. The moment the Protectorate became an inconvenience, Supergirl could and would toss them aside like trash.

Armsmaster removed a small metal rectangular device from his belt and offered it to Supergirl. "Communicator is inside that container. Save it for when you're working with us, should make organized operations easier if you decide to step in."

"It also has a private connection to my line as well," Dragon added, "I'm technically an independent agent working with the Protectorate. So if you have ideas or need a favor, shoot me a call."

"I'll keep that in mind, Dragon. Thank you."

Supergirl turned back to Piggot, "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss, Director? Or can we get started on that psychiatric evaluation?"

Piggot drummed her fingers on a slip of paper on her desk and sighed, "There is technically one more thing. Given the massive political and economic threat the Endbringers represent in addition to the general loss of life they inevitably bring, the nations of the world have pooled together a large bounty for anyone that could find a way to kill them. It's been steadily added to over the years and there's a substantial sum for whoever was able to put them down. Technically speaking, since you put down Leviathan, you're entitled to a third of the existing reward."

"Oh Director," Supergirl started to protest, "I can't take monetary compensation for this. Like I said, I do this to help people, and-"

As she talked, Piggot slid the file with the noted sum over to Supergirl. She glanced at it and choked on her words

"Holy shit that's a lot of zeroes!"

 

[Tontis]

Interlude 1.3​

"You know, I think I've learned to love this whole 'internet' thing." I said.

Victoria and Vista froze mid-bite of pizza and exchanged a look of what I could only describe as 'abject terror'. I quirked my head to the side, "What?"

"Supergirl… long have you been on the internet?" Vista asked, with the same grave tone of voice someone used when defusing a hostage situation.

"Since this morning." I held up the smartphone Dragon had given me after my psychiatric evaluation at the PRT yesterday. As expected I had been given a clean bill of health. I'd spent the rest of my Sunday and Monday assisting with reconstruction efforts, which were going great. Right now, the Wards and I were taking a lunch break.

I gestured at Victoria, "Glory Girl told me I should do an… AMA? To get in touch with people and ease concerns, so I set one up on that parahumans forum and have been answering posts between work."

"You were supposed to wait to do that! And who told you about the PHO?" Victoria demanded, sounding like she was going to murder someone.

"Clockblocker mentioned them I think, it's how I found this restaurant in the first place" I pointed at the table where the boys were gathered enjoying their own lunch.

Supergirl, you ratted me out!" Clockblocker yelped. I snickered and took another bite of a delicious pizza slice.

Joey's Pepperoni Pizzeria was a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant at the edge of the Boardwalk that had, by all miracles, survived Leviathan's initial landfall with only a little water damage. One thing I had learned in my years on Earth was that 'hole-in-the-wall restaurant' seemed to be cultural lingo for 'restaurant with the best food you'll find in town'. It was an ongoing hypothesis of mine I had yet to prove but was determined to do so. So yes, I was intrigued by the offer of good pizza from Joey, though I had refused to take it for free.

A big burly man who had once been a dockworker, Joey had been insistent that I and the Wards had eaten for free. I had insisted in turn that we pay for his services. A gift from a kind civilian was one thing, but I would never take handouts from business owners.

This had gone on for fifteen minutes until we came to a compromise. I cleared the rest of the water damage from the pizzeria in exchange for him cooking up a buffet for me and the others. Little did he know, I was going to pay him back for it anyway, and there was nothing he could do to stop me!

Anyway, that was how we found ourselves in a (slightly water damaged) Pizzeria enjoying extra large quality pizzas while huddled away with our own private section of the restaurant so the boys could eat with their helmets off. I won't lie, I was in my own little personal heaven.

Victoria turned in her chair and said, her voice filled with mock threat, "Hey Clock, remind me to thank you for introducing Kara to the internet later!"

"I regret nothing!"

I smiled and nibbled on my pizza. It was good, seeing them all in high spirits. When times were tough, when stress hung off people like a shroud, it became all the more obvious when they had been relieved of that shroud. The Wards relaxed, they joked, poked and prodded at one another. They felt safe, they felt relieved. And that made me happy.

It was a good way to keep my mind off more serious matters. With the chaos of Leviathan dealt with, and things looking smooth with the Protectorate, that left me with more long term concerns I just didn't want to deal with right now. In short order: the remaining Endbringers were still at large, Brockton Bay had several entrenched criminal elements, an uncomfortably prevalent neo-nazi problem, I needed somewhere to live, I had no idea who had sent me to Earth-Bet in the first place or how to get back to Earth-One, and of course there was the issues surrounding the Heberts.

I hadn't had an opportunity to really talk with either of them since the Leviathan fight after reuniting them. That had always been my intention, even when I had flown off to clear my head. Things had just… escalated rapidly for some unfathomable reason. But I still needed to talk with Taylor and her dad and see how they were fairing. The ABB attack on them was my fault and their lives had been irreconcilably changed because of it. I owed it to them to help them through the coming days however I could; there were just a lot of responsibilities I had to juggle.

Oh, there was also the fact that I desperately needed a new costume, and I was still debating if I should accept that money for killing Leviathan. I liked my little makeshift costume, but evidently I was no longer the size I thought I was. Victoria and I were supposed to be a similar size but the shirt and skirt she'd lent me did not fit as I'd like, even if they were very cute. As for the money…

Kal and I had never taken rewards for our deeds. We helped wherever we could with our powers, and lived normal lives when not acting as Superman or Supergirl. When you had powers like I did, money didn't hold much value. At the same time, Supergirl could punch monsters in the face, but she could not punch the social decay of modern values brought on by the economic fallout of large scale natural disasters and gentrification.

Believe me, I've tried.

I just wasn't sure if I really could put that money to use in a meaningfully constructive manner.

Victoria nudged my side, "Hey, you okay Kara? You were spacing out there for a second."

I blinked and smiled, "Sorry, just lost in this pizza, I'm fine."

She raised a brow skeptically, but didn't push. Whatever friction existed between me and Carol, Victoria didn't seem to share, to my relief. It made things a little awkward between us, but that would probably fade once I found a place of my own. It was good to have a friend on an Earth that, once again, felt alien to me.

We talked idly, exchanging stupid jokes and barbs, discussing the rebuilding efforts or sharing crime fighting stories. A nice bit of relaxation for all of us. Then the Pizzeria door chimed as it swung open.

Joey, working in the kitchen, poked his head through the serving hatch and a grin split his grizzled face, "'Ey, Danny boy! Good to see ya's!"

My head perked up in surprise toward the cashier stand. Sure enough, there he was. Danny Hebert, looking tired but significantly healthier than the last time I had seen him. Joey came out with a large box of pizza in hand and greeted him like an old friend. The man hadn't noticed us yet, and returned the greeting.

Victoria followed my gaze and arched a brow, "Huh. Small world."

"Excuse me." I said, and stood up from our table and approached Mr. Hebert.

He saw me approaching and I waved, "Mr. Hebert. Didn't expect to run into you here. How are you doing?"

His eyes were wide with surprise behind his glasses, but he managed a smile and shrug, "Joey and I go way back, before the Docks went under. This place has been a favorite of Taylor and I for years. I'm doing fine, poor eating habits aside."

"I heard that, Hebert!" Joey shouted from the kitchen.

Mr. Hebert rolled his eyes and looked back at me, "Things are going well, I think. Taylor's been more… open with me, since… Well, you know. We have a lot to work through, a lot that hasn't been said. But I think we're doing better. We're going to be okay."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. If you need any more help, don't hesitate to ask."

He shook his head, and opened his mouth as if he was going to protest. Then he closed it and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. He folded his arms and leaned on the counter, "Actually, there is one thing, if you're willing to hear me out."

I paused and glanced over my shoulder back at the Wards. Victoria specifically. I remembered the time limit I was on with Carol, and my own concerns with Taylor. And an idea occurred to me.

"I'm all ears, on one condition. Are you willing to trade a favor for a favor?" I asked.

Danny quirked his lips, "Ordinarily, no. But for you? I think I can make an exception given the last few days."

A grin spread over my face as he shared his idea with me.

If the news had gotten bored of talking about my fight with Leviathan, they were going to love what I was about to get up to next.

-S-​

Piggot was going to be very occupied for the next few days. She drummed her fingers against her desk and tried to look interested as the video call with the other Directors dragged on. To no one's surprise, Rebecca Costa Brown, the Head Director of the PRT, had scheduled an emergency meeting of all PRT Branch Directors after Supergirl's fight with Leviathan. And to Piggots complete lack of surprise, said meeting had devolved into a a bunch of talking heads squabbling and repeating the same tired points over and over again.

It all came down to two basic points of contention.

Could they trust Supergirl, and could they contain Supergirl if needed.

The head Director herself, a hispanic woman with a gaze like steel, had been characteristically silent as her subordinates squabbled. Costa Brown expected much of those she appointed to the position of Director, and preferred drawing out solutions from them as opposed to directly guiding them. Sometimes this led to brilliant solutions. Other times, and in Piggots opinion most of the time, it led to a bureaucratic clusterfuck that left no one satisfied and everyone bitter.

At the moment, Director Tagg and Director Armstrong were going at it, as they so often did. The two men were philosophical opposites. Armstrong was a parahuman sympathizer through and through, who seemed more interested in studying and understanding parahumans than he did actually making sure they fit into the rest of society. Boston was stable under his command, but still inundated with its own share of parahuman crime. Tagg was an uncompromising man, with a spine like iron and laser focus. When things went fubar, and all other options were exhausted, Tagg was the man sent in to restore order. She knew that Tagg, like herself, understood the larger scale threat that Parahumans could represent. While he could be more extreme than her in maintaining order, no one could deny that he got results. And sometimes, if things really went that badly, it was necessary to clamp down until the problem was solved. Civil liberties and the like could be sorted afterwards.

She was also very aware that if things in Brockton went pear shaped, he was on call to take over her position. If thing's ever did get that bad, well then gracefully withdrawing was probably for the best anyway.

Needless to say though, Armstrong and Tagg could not stand each other, and Supergirl's action's only amplified this.

"We've seen the footage. We know what she can do, we know what she has done. Supergirl's exposure to her makes her a ticking time bomb, a threat to the entire planet. Letting her do as she pleases is asking for problems." Tagg argued.

Armstrong sighed, "James, Kara passed our evaluations. She willingly submitted herself to every test we had on hand and came out positive. If the Simurgh was able to so subtly implant some kind of psychic timebomb in her that we couldn't detect it, then we have far bigger problems to worry about than the possibility that Kara might go rogue."

"When we're discussing this possibility in regards to someone powerful enough to shake the entire planet with a single punch, no amount of paranoia is too much, Armstrong." James hissed.

Armstrong looked unimpressed, "So we should antagonize her then?"

Tagg glared at him through the computer screen."We should ensure that we have her contained. Force her to join the Protectorate, make sure there are checks and balances to keep her in control."

"With all due respect, Director Tagg." Piggot interrupted before the two could continue their circular argument. "Supergirl doesn't have enough ties to Earth-Bet to give us anything to apply pressure on. You and I both know how complicated the legality of extra-dimensional human rights are, and she muddies it further by not even being human. Not to mention we'd run the risk of angering her allies on her Earth when they find her."

Tagg folded his arms and frowned, "You're assuming the girl is telling the truth. Why are we assuming there's any more validity to her claims than say, the Faerie Queen? Supergirl shows just as many signs of being delusional as any particularly traumatic trigger. She just so happens to be on our side, for now."

Piggot pinched the bridge of her nose, "Tagg, you're presuming a lot without understanding the full picture here."

"It's called being prepared, Piggot." Tagg interrupted. "Something that everyone else here seems eager to forgo. Leviathan might be dead, but there's still two more Endbringers left and they're far more dangerous than he was. I'm not going to risk this country's safety because the rest of you are content to sit on your asses and let this child run free!"

A chorus of rebuttals and angry arguments started up, and Piggot lowered the volume on her headset. Tagg's paranoia was in full force, nothing productive was going to be said while he was like this.

But to her surprise, everyone went silent when Rebecca Costa Brown spoke up. Her voice was like thunder, cutting over the storm of squabbling branch directors with the same ease."That is quite enough, everyone."

Say what you would about her policies, but the woman had an unmatched force of personality. She turned her dark eyes towards Piggot and said, "Director Piggot. You are the only one here to have personally interacted with Supergirl in any meaningful capacity. Give us your thoughts in full on how you think we should proceed."

Ah so now everyone cared about what the head of the Brockton PRT had to say. Piggot bit back a smart remark and folded her hands on her desk instead before she spoke. "What we're all failing to acknowledge here, is that Supergirl represents a paradigm shift. The world, as we know it, has fundamentally changed and in a way none of us expected. Three days ago, we had accepted the fact that an Endbringer could not be killed. Three days ago, the most powerful capes in the world stood under our control and as the only line of defense against the Endbringers and other similar threats. Three days ago, any parahuman that wanted to do something with their powers, looked to the Protectorate as their future."

She steepled her fingers, "The Protectorate and PRT have maintained relative order and control in the world through our monopoly on force. Before Parahumans, that was how the United States maintained itself as a world power. Whoever has the monopoly on force, in turn has control over the world. And now, for the first time in decades, we're seeing that monopoly challenged. It happened before when Scion appeared, when Parahumans began to emerge, when the Endbringers showed up, and when the Siberian went on her rampage. But we adapted and managed to maintain that monopoly.."

She swept her arm behind her at the row of windows at her back showing the greater city of Brockton Bay, almost untouched despite being attacked by the Endbringer most likely to destroy it.

"That's no longer the case. Supergirl has the monopoly on force. She has done what we have never been able to do. She took a swing at the Endbringers, and won. Parahumans aren't going to look to the Protectorate now when considering their future. They're going to look at her. All the power of Scion, channeled through the lense of someone my head of PR has described as 'a media gold mine'. Her power isn't just physical, it's social as well. And because of that, the Protectorate going forward is going to have to accept that we'll be playing second fiddle to Supergirl so long as she is operating on Earth-Bet.""

Tagg scowled, "What exactly are you trying to say, Piggot?"

Before she could reply, she heard a commotion from outside her office. The sound of voices shouting and dozens of feet suddenly moving. She held up her finger in front of her webcam and said, "One moment please, something's happening."

With an effort of will, Piggot forced herself out of her chair and walked to her office door. She pushed it open and saw every staffer and intern rushing toward the eastern side of the building in a flurry of scattered papers and abandoned desks. Piggot followed them and looked out the window. It took her a minute to understand what she was seeing, but when she did her mouth slowly fell open.

She rushed back into her office to her desk and put her headphones on, "I apologize for this, everyone, but please bear with me."

A few protested as she removed the webcam from her monitor, but she ignored them. Instead, she dragged the webcam as far as its wiring would let it go to the corner of her office where she could just see what was happening out on the bay.

For almost a decade now, Brockton's bay had been littered with the corpses of its boating industry. Cargo ships, fishing vessels and everything in between littered the waters of the city, abandoned when Leviathan had begun its one monster destruction of any ship that dared to venture out into deeper waters. The riots and protests from the dockworkers to follow had just made it worse and left no one to even try to clean out the bay.

The largest of these had been a massive cargo container, longer than most skyscrapers were tall. It was a fixture in the city skyline, an unofficial mascot for the slow economic death of the city. And it was currently floating several hundred feet into the air and flying inland.

Piggot couldn't see her from this far, but she knew there was only one person in the entire city that could do this. Only one person that would have the strength and power to lift something that large without it falling apart. Supergirl dropped the cargo ship onto a clear section of the Docks, an action that kicked up a literal plume of dust and debris large enough for anyone in the city to see. Piggot swore she felt a faint tremor run through the earth.

Then, a blur of red, white, and blue began racing around the ship and before her eyes the ship began to fall apart. Paneling was stripped, decking undone, rivets pulled out one by one. Supergirl wasn't destroying the ship, she was dismantling it piece by piece at a speed that was terrifying in its velocity and mind-bogglingly in its efficiency. Within minutes, what had been a cargo ship nearly one thousand feet long was now a skeletal corpse that was shrinking with each passing second.

Piggot turned back to her camera, while the image of the disassembling liner remained behind her, and said "That, dear directors, is what we are going to be competing with for the rest of our careers. Any more questions?"

-S-​

I ignored the grumbling of my stomach and wondered when Dad would get home with food. He had said he was going to Joey's, but that had been an hour ago. Given the state of the city, he had probably been caught up in traffic. Or Joey's had been taken out by Leviathan. Phone lines were still spotty in some areas and Joeys was small enough it didn't have a webpage to check. Maybe dad was just looking for an alternative so he didn't come home empty handed.

Maybe I was just trying to distract myself like I had been the last few days.

My desk chair squeaked as I leaned back in it and rubbed my eyes. I'd spent the last few days cooped up in the house, researching… well everything. Capes, the culture, the Protectorate and PRT, and anything I could find on Supergirl of course. I told myself it was so I knew what to expect, since I was a parahuman now, but that was just an excuse.

The truth was that I was scared to leave the house. My trigger event wasn't subtle. Everyone had some idea of what happened. Not everyone had been home, but word travels fast, and I knew for a fact that people were whispering about what happened. I could hear them, if I focused. Neighbors I knew, people I had grown up with, had gone to neighborhood parties with… now they whispered and gossipped about us. Sometimes they were scared about what having a parahuman in the neighborhood would mean. Others, they pitied dad for what he was going to have to deal with.

The entire situation filled me with an overwhelming sense of frustration and shame. I had the power to fight an Endbringer, but what could I do to fight baseless rumors? It was like Winslow all over again.

The memory of school made me groan and cover my face. At the start of the weekend there had been a beacon of hope that I could leave it behind, move away from everything and start over. Except then Leviathan had hit, and had thrown Supergirl straight through Winslow. There wasn't any Winslow left. Sure it was going to be rebuilt at some point, but until the city decided what they were going to replace Winslow with, everyone was being transferred to the schools that had survived.

Dad and I had gotten a call that morning that next week I'd finally be attending Arcadia. Which should have been exciting news! Except that I knew my luck, I knew how the universe liked to treat me. Emma would follow me there, Sophia too probably. Plus, I'd have to share classes with Glory Girl and Panacea. And after our last face to face conversation, I wasn't exactly eager to talk to either of them anytime soon. In fact, my blood still boiled when I remembered Panacea's words to Supergirl and the bold-faced lie she told her sister.

And they called themselves superheroes.

My hand resting on my desk started to curl into a ball, dragging narrow furrows through the wood like it was clay. I sucked in a deep breath and calmed myself before I damaged the desk further. The last few days had been a wonderful crash course on just how different my life was going to be from now on with my enhanced strength. Even a minor annoyance could see me leaving a hole in the wall or breaking off a doorknob. I couldn't imagine anyone living like this, but it was my new reality.

I just wished I could catch a break.

The rumble of dad's beater truck rolling into the driveway shook me from my funk. My stomach growled with excitement, and I sat up fast enough that I almost sent my chair through the wall. I winced and mentally added it to my list of things I was going to have to fix.

"Taylor, sorry I'm late, I have pizza!" I heard dad holler from the downstairs kitchen. "Hope you don't mind, I brought a friend!"

Probably Kurt, one of his old union buddies. That was fine, better than everyone just keeping their distance like I was going to suddenly explode. I ignored the hole in the hallway I had left after tripping over myself yesterday, and marched downstairs.

"It's no problem dad, I'm just glad you brought food, I'm sta-ah-ah-ah-!" I yelped in surprise and almost jumped back up the stairs.

Supergirl was taking off a large coat and hat she'd been wearing and smiled at me, "Hello again, Taylor, glad to see you're doing okay. I hope you don't mind, I'll be staying over for a few days until things get settled."

That was the moment when it finally clicked. Whatever shred of normalcy my life had, it had shriveled up and died when Emma and Sophia had shoved me in that locker.

This was my life now, and it was only going to get stranger from there.

If only I had known at the time just how accurate that thought was.

-S-​

Some hundreds of miles away from Brockton Bay, there was a mountain. And in that mountain, there was a cage. A birdcage, of most peculiar design. And in that birdcage, there were many people, most unkind. Thugs and killers, rogues and scoundrels, innocent and guilty. All of a type, all with a story.

And among these many folk of whom some were unkind, there was a girl most special, more than any else there. For she was no girl, no she was a Faerie! And not just any Faerie, oh no, she was the Queen of Faeries. Glaistig Uaine was her name, a pretty name for a pretty young girl.

Queen of the Faeries and queen of the birdcage, even if the other little birds hated to admit it. On some days, she tended to her court, entertained her subjects, and indulged herself how she saw fit, whilst waiting for the Father to act. The courts of the Fae were ever fickle and ever strange.

But upon this queer day, the Faerie Queen continued her work on a project most important. The other birds in the cage did not understand, could not understand, what had joined them on the stage. Oh but the Faerie Queen did, for a good queen knew what went on her in domain.

So she prepared her court, set tables, prepared meals, and of course prepared tea. One could not have a proper talk without tea. But all the while, her little birds outside the cage kept her informed. Kept her aware. Aware of the interloper, the unwanted actor strutting about on their stage. A new prop that was moving off script.

It was very fortunate that our young Faerie Queen was so good an improviser and so gracious a host. In time the interloper would come to her, and they would talk. Until then, young Glaistig Uaine would prepare and would wait, day after day, night after night.

On the third day of her preparations, while the interloper flailed about blindly upon the stage, the Faerie Queen sat at her table and sipped on her tea. None of her subjects sat with her, for she had given the little birds the freedom to indulge themselves. Even a Queen wanted peace and quiet after all, and it was so very tiring taking care of birds; they rarely knew what was best for them.

As she sipped, her attention was piqued and she turned toward the seat at her left. A smile, warm and delightful, broke her face and she greeted a guest whom only she could see. After all, it was only proper that a Queen see all her guests.

"Hello there dear fellow, welcome to my court. Take a seat, and tell me, what brings you to my court?"

She tilted her head, and listened to words no else could hear. A hand came to her mouth and she giggled, "My my, a traveler from so far. A friend of our interloper?"

Her head tilted the other way, and she nodded, "Ah, an old friend indeed, I understand. What's this?"

She leaned closer and then fell back in her chair, clapping her hands with delight and cheer, "Oh how splendid! I would be delighted to help you, dear traveler. Oh yes, a surprise party for an old friend, truly a delight. Though I warn you, it may take us some time."

She listened again and nodded, "I suppose we do have time. Two years at least, perhaps more. Perhaps less. Time is such a fickle thing, wouldn't you agree?"

Then the Faerie Queen flushed with embarrassment as she remembered her manners, "Oh, my apologies traveler. I never asked your name. To whom am I speaking?"

She listened intently, without distraction as was proper of a Queen. Her giggles came swiftly, loudly and unbound. All through the cage heard the laugh of their Queen, and all knew that her delight spelled a change.

"My, what a name. So queer." She sipped on her tea, "Yes, good sir, I shall help you. And when the time comes, your dear friend will know the pleasure of meeting you once more. Oh yes, what joys we will see."

 

[Tontis]

Hypocrisy 2.1​

I woke with a start, soaked to the bone in sweat staring at my bedroom ceiling. For several long minutes I watched the ceiling, willing the vestiges of my nightmare away. Only when my pulse slowed and my breathing calmed, did I try to sit up. My pajamas slowly peeled off my sweat-soaked skin like a bandaid.. I groaned in disgust and ran both hands over my face.. A glance at the clock at my nightstand elicited another frustrated growl.

2:30 AM.

This was the third time I'd woken up that night. Sleep hadn't come easy for the last week since Leviathan had run rampant over Brockton, but tonight was particularly bad. I'd like to say I had no idea why, but that would be a lie. Tomorrow, Sunday, dad and I were set to tour the Rig, the Protectorate HQ. If everything went well, that would be my first step onto the path of being a genuine hero.

Anxiety on top of my usual issues made for a painful and potent combination that clearly had no intention of letting me sleep. Besides, even if I was willing to try for a fourth time, I was so sticky with sweat that the idea of trying to lay under my covers again was distinctly unappealing. Clearing my head was the best option for now.

I swung my legs off the side of my bed and snuck out of my room as quietly as I could. The creaking of the door hinges and the groan of the floor beneath my feet made me wince. Dad's bedroom, further up the hall, had a sliver of light peering out from under it. Nowadays that didn't mean he was awake. Ever since Leviathan, he preferred keeping the house as well lit as possible. I didn't deny him that comfort or blame him for it.

Knowing he had his own trouble with sleep, I took extra care in my steps as I headed downstairs. Just a quick trip to the kitchen and a warm cup of tea to settle my nerves was all I needed to settle myself for the night.

But, the kitchen wasn't empty when I turned inside.

Supergirl stood leaning her back against the kitchen counter, staring blankly into space with a steaming cup of tea in her hands and dressed in fluffy white pajamas. A gift from Glory Girl, I had been told; or rather, her unfairly handsome boyfriend. She seemed to snap back to reality, and those inhuman blue eyes of her flicked towards me. I just stood there, awkward and dumb at the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, sorry Taylor," she whispered, her lips turning up into a warm smile, "I didn't notice you there. Everything okay?"

"I… um, trouble sleeping, I was getting some… water." I lied. Why did I lie to her about that? Not like she would judge me for wanting the same thing as her, I had already decided I was going to get tea, I didn't need to change my mind just to seem different.

Supergirl nodded, her face the picture of sympathy, "Of course. You have a big day tomorrow. Would you rather some tea instead? It always helps me settle my nerves."

I tried to shrug as cool and nonchalant as I could, "Uh sure, why not."

She set her cup down on the counter with a soft clink of ceramic and rummaged through our cupboards until she found a mug for me and then deposited a tea bag and filled it with water. Then she held out the cup to me.

"No kettle?"

Supergirl blinked then laughed, "Oh of course, sorry one moment."

She stared at the mug, and two faint beams of red shot from her eye to the ceramic, coaxing the water inside to a gentle boil. After blowing on it, she handed it to me with a smile and said, "Perks of heat vision is I don't need kettles for my tea. Took me a year to learn how to control it well enough to do that though. A lot of innocent mugs suffered under my training."

I took it and savored the warm porcelain in my hands before taking a tentative sip. The light aroma eased my trepidation and the warmth soothed the shaking unease in my hands. A sigh of relief slipped out my lips.

"Thank you."

Supergirl smiled and said nothing. She just grabbed her cup off the counter and leaned against it again. We stood together in silence, savoring our shared tea for several minutes. It was… nice. Strange, but nice.

After a time though, I started to feel uneasy again. This kind of silence always made me antsy. Like I felt there was a need for someone to say something when two people were together. Silence was just a calm before something inevitably went wrong in some way, shape, or form. I didn't need to be the one talking of course, but if people were talking it meant there was less chance of things happening to me.

What things didn't matter, the simple threat was enough to put me on edge again. Enough that it forced me to talk anyway.

I stared at my cup as I forced myself to speak up, "So… long night out in the Atlantic?"

She had been working on some kind of project out in the ocean with Dragon. What she was working on, I had no idea. She was very hush hush about it. The only sign we had of her trips out there was that she always came home smelling vaguely of seawater.

Supergirl looked up in surprise at my voice, "Hm? Oh, no actually. We've made great progress, and Brockton Bay has been very quiet. Truthfully, I couldn't sleep. Nightmares."

I looked at her and my surprise must have been obvious. Her eyes returned to her cup and she took another sip, "I might be bulletproof, but I've seen… a lot of terrible things doing what I do. Doesn't matter how indestructible our bodies are, our minds are terribly fragile things."

That rang all too true to me. Images of my nightmare rose to the surface unbidden. Flashes of an ocean that devoured the light as I was dragged deeper and deeper into its abyss. Of air pushed from my lungs, trapped and constricted tighter and tighter until even the very act of trying to breathe hurt. My heart hammered in my ears faster and faster as I panicked in vain to free myself. Light vanished and died, leaving me alone in a void beyond comprehension.

Alone until four lopsided eyes peered out of the dark, rising from the depths towards me faster and faster. And then gone over as quickly as it started and I was back in my kitchen, shaking.

Supergirl stood closer to me, her hand on my shoulder gentle but firm. I looked away from her, staring into my half empty cup.

"Do they get any easier?"

She squeezed my shoulder, "They do. They never go away, but… neither do the good ones either. I always try to remember that. Some days it's easier than others."

There was some comfort in that, I supposed. I wasn't sure if I would've preferred that she had lied to me, but her honesty was appreciated. Even if the truth was painful, I felt a little better prepared for the nightmare. Not that I was in any rush to go back to sleep, of course.

Another sip of tea and a sigh, "I think I'm just… nervous. About tomorrow that is."

"You'll do fine." Supergirl said without a moment's hesitation. "The Protectorate will be more than happy to have you."

I shook my head, "That's… not it. I know I messed up when I first got my power, but I know it'll be useful enough that they'll take me. I guess I'm… god this is stupid, but I'm just scared of meeting the Wards I guess? Like, I've spent the last two years dealing with normal high school drama and bullshit. Now I'm going to have to deal with super powered high school drama and bullshit. I just… I don't think I'm ready for that."

Supergirl stared at me for a long moment, then blinked once and started laughing. Not a mocking laugh but one that sounded… relieved?

She slumped against the counter and let out a sigh, "Ah, sorry for laughing Taylor, it's just… after these last few days, I had forgotten how it felt to have a normal problem."

I took renewed interest in my mug, "Yeah it's pretty stupid isn't it?"

Here was an alien god for all intents and purposes, someone that could kill an Endbringer one on one. And I was complaining that my future teammates might be mean to me or gossip. I felt so childish.

Supergirl stood up and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I stiffened for a moment, not expecting the contact. Then I relaxed into her embrace. She was strangely warm, like a living furnace. In the chilly January weather, that was a relief. Plus, I couldn't remember the last time I had been hugged by someone besides my dad. And even that was rare these days.

"When I was your age, Taylor, I grew up in an orphanage. I had just arrived on Earth and didn't have any friends. In fact, I had gone through a lot of… awful things at that point. Yet, even back then I was fighting to save the world and you know what was always on my mind? The same thing you're dealing with. Would the others like me, had I done something to make them hate me, so on and so forth."

She let me go and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "Because it's easy to fight your way out of a situation. Blowing up a death ray, fist fighting a robot? That's simple, it's straightforward. But people? People are these wonderfully complicated and complex things and the relationships we forge are the most beautiful and terrible things in the world. A giant monster that broke out of its creators lab is scary, but being rejected by someone you thought was a friend? That's terrifying."

I tried really hard not to think about Emma. Threw everything up to keep the image of her face out of my mind. It didn't work, because how could it? How could I ever let go of that betrayal? A lifetime of friendship turned into two years of hell. And to this day, I still had no idea what I had done to deserve it, what had made her hate me so much.

It took a mountain of will to keep the tears out of my eyes. Then, Supergirl put her hands on my shoulders and said, "But, no matter what Taylor. Even if the Wards hate you for some ridiculous reason. You will always have a friend in me. I promise."

Goddamn it.

The tears came unbidden. A dam had burst and nothing was going to stop the river of tears and snot that ran down my face. I let out a choked sob and hugged Supergirl, hugged Kara while burying my face in her shoulder. She returned it without a word and held me there for a long, long time.

-S-​

Our morning came in a blur. Breakfast flew by so fast that I didn't realize what happened until we were on the boat pulling up to the Rig. I fidgeted in the full body suit I wore, a 'gift' from the Protectorate to conceal my identity until I fully signed on with the Wards. A gray featureless outfit that did little to protect against the biting chill of the ocean breeze. A chill that didn't bother me as much as I thought, and it wasn't because I was used to it. More perks to my powers, perhaps?

Dad sat next to me and wore a similar featureless mask as me and a thick jacket that almost doubled the size of his torso and the PRT troopers escorting us looked miserable. But me? I just felt like we were taking a trip out onto the ocean on a pleasant summer day.

The rumbling outboard motor of our little patrol boat sputtered to a stop and we drifted up to the dock under the Rig. The superstructure stretched high over us, this towering thing of iron and steel and who knew what else. I could see workers marching along the walkways around its legs, tiny little red ants clambering around the body of this gigantic monstrosity that made the bay its home. It was almost humbling in a way.

At the dock, a pair of troopers helped secure our boat, and helped us disembark. We were greeted by the familiar bandana clad face of Miss Militia. Panacea's powers really were on a different level. I never would've believed that this was the same cape I saw pasted on the pavement by Leviathan just a week ago. She shook both our hands, and smiled under the bandana.

"It's a pleasure to see you both again. How are you?" she asked.

Dad shrugged, "Still adjusting to all of… this," he gestured to the Rig and troopers.

She chuckled, "It's a lot to take in, trust me you're not the first people to feel overwhelmed. Now, before we get started, are any of you hungry, need a break or…"

"We were a bit rushed this morning, but…" Dad looked at me.

"I'm okay." I lied. My stomach growled in protest; half a bagel was not enough for a real breakfast. But if I tried to eat anything at that moment I would have just thrown it back up. My entire body tingled with anxiety and the tips of my fingers felt numb. So I played it cool, to put on a good first impression. Emptying my guts in the Protectorate bathroom would have been the opposite of that.

"Well we can always stop at the Mess Hall later if either of you feel up for it." she put her hands together, "Otherwise, we can get started now, if you are both ready."

Again dad looked at me and I nodded. No point in putting this off with pleasantries. The sooner this was over with, the sooner I could move on to the next part of my life.

Happy with our choice, Miss Militia led us into the Rig. I kept Kara's words in mind as we walked, clinging to them like a raft in a storm. Whatever else happened here, I could at least depend on her.

I could, right?

That little voice in the back of my head never quite shut up through the entire tour. It was a nice tour, Miss Militia clearly had a lot of experience with this kind of thing. But while it was a bit cynical of me to think that it was all pre-practiced to show off the best side of the Protectorate, that didn't necessarily mean I was wrong either. No one would show off their worst aspects when making a first impression.

Not intentionally anyway.

But it was hard not to look at how nice the Rig was, with its modern aesthetic, advanced tech and diligently maintained facade and wish the same effort had been put into my home before Kara had shown up. It was hard not to be a bit bitter over the entire thing; I had spent a good chunk of my life watching a literal graveyard grow in the bay and no one had cared. Except for my dad, of course.

Though, as the tour went on, I realized I wasn't being fair. Miss Militia had almost died trying to protect my dad and I. John Henry had gone against Leviathan with nothing but a normal firearm to buy us time to escape. Despite my worries, these weren't bad people, and this wasn't Winslow. I had to stop acting like it was.

Easier said than done, but I tried.

It didn't help that we didn't ever meet any other members of the Protectorate. Miss Militia explained that with the city still recovering from Leviathan's attack, most of the roster was out on patrol or on leave with their families. I couldn't fault them for that, they were heroes after all. Still, it would've been nice to put some faces to the names I had grown up with.

Instead it was just endless white hallways, faceless security guards and enough talk of bureaucracy to make my head spin. Who knew that being a cape could be so complicated?

I just wanted to meet the actual Ward's at this point. Meet the people I was going to work with and know what kind of hell I was going to be saddled with. That was the cynic in me talking. These weren't the thugs and wannabe gangbangers that made up half of Winslow's population. They protected people against that kind of stuff, they couldn't be that bad.

So why was I so nervous about it?

I tried to keep my mind off it, and tried to focus on Miss Militia's words. On her talk about the duty and honor expected of Protectorate members, the honor of joining them, etc. But all I could think, any time there was a lul in her words was 'what if this is all a lie?'.

A touch on my shoulder made me flinch. I turned to dad to see him looking concerned. "You okay?" he asked in a soft whisper.

"Fine." I lied. "Just feeling overwhelmed."

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it? But you're doing great so far, kiddo."

I put on a pained smile under my mask. At least no one else could tell I was on the verge of losing it. That was a good thing, I thought.

Despite dad's encouragement, my anxiety did not abide. It festered inside me like an open wound, eating at any sense of calm and focus I might have had until I was at my wits end by the time we came to the moment I had been dreading.

"-and this is where the Wards meet and relax between missions." Miss Militia led us to a plain looking white door no different than the rest of the Rig. It was almost a letdown; you'd think the entrance to the hangout of the premiere team of super teens would have a bit more… gravitas to it.

"You'll spend most of your down time here." she explained. "Contrary to popular belief, cape work is 90% waiting and standing by in case we're needed. It takes some time to gain the instinct for that kind of mentality, and as a Ward you'll see even less action than most members of the Protectorate. So expect to spend a lot of time here."

That didn't help.

Miss Militia pressed her thumb to a scanner by the door. There was a dull buzzer sound from the other side and I could hear people moving and whispering. I made an effort to not focus my senses on the voices. My enhanced hearing was useful, but it was easy for me to lose track of it. Supergirl had encouraged me to learn how to keep it limited first, to learn restraint, before pushing my limits. That was also how she had taught me to stop putting holes in the wall at home. Plus, if I was honest, I could barely focus on my own train of thought let alone the potential gossip in the next room over.

After a moment another buzzer sounded, the door opened, and Miss Militia ushered us inside.

The Ward's hangout was… weird. The room itself was clearly a repurposed barracks of some kind, similar to a few I had seen for PRT Troopers during the tour. There was an entrance to a large bathroom on the right side of the room and a small built-in kitchen on the left. The center was dominated by a pair of television screens and a large couch. There were also several scattered tables through the room with half finished board games on them and bits of ruined costume. In a word it was… mundane.

If it weren't for the five colorful capes standing or lounging in the center of the room, I never would've guessed that this was their 'base'. But there they were, the Wards of Brockton Bay.

Aegis, their team captain, stood at attention, tall and very well toned in that tight red outfit of his. It left, um, little to the imagination. Then there was Gallant, a metaphorical knight in literal shining power armor who waved at me. Clockblocker was lounging on the couch in his costume, flicking through tv channels; even with his face obscured I could tell he was bored. Kid Win, dressed in gold and red armor, sat at one of the tables working on some kind of tinkertech gun. He smiled at me, and twirled the gun on his finger, only for it to slip out of his grip and clatter loudly on the floor. While he scrambled for it, their fifth member covered her face and sighed.

Vista in her green and white dress pushed past the boys and walked right up to me and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Vista. The idiot trying to look cool at the table is Kid Win, and I assume you know the others?"

Her frankness caught me a little off guard. I had expected something more organized, more grand, more… more. Instead I felt like I had walked into an after school club. Behind her, Gallant tried to subtly thwack Clockblocker upside his head so he'd get off the couch. He responded by back smacking Gallant's hand, freezing the cape in place. Miss Militia scolded him, Vista groaned, and Aegis shook his head while Clockblocker raised his hands defensively. It was at that moment that it hit me then and there that despite the powers and despite the costumes, these were just kids.

Just like me.

I took her hand and shook it. "Hi, I'm… I don't have a cape name yet. Still working on it."

"Figure one out sooner than later." Clockblocker crowed from the couch. "If you don't, the PR guys will do it themselves. They might do it anyway even if you have one so be prepared to fight for it. Like I did!"

"Wait, you chose to be called Clockblocker? Wow." I replied dryly, before even realizing what I was saying. I bit my lip while the cape sat up from the couch and regarded me coolly.

He pointed at me and said, "You. I like you, new girl."

Vista grabbed me by the arm and led me deeper inside the room, "Don't take that as a good sign. If Clock likes you, you wind up like Gallant."

I looked at the poor cape, still frozen in time. Miss Militia walked around Gallant and folded her arms while staring at Clock with a look of seething disappointment. While she silently berated the Ward, the remaining two Wards approached me. Vista let them talk to me while my dad talked to her.

Aegis shook my hand and blinked, "Huh, specs weren't kidding. That is… one heck of a grip."

I released his hand like it was red hot, "S-sorry! I'm still getting used to that."

He laughed, "It's all good. Every Brute takes some time getting used to their strength. How many walls did you punch holes in on those first few days?"

"Enough to be concerned about!" Dad interjected without missing a beat.

"Hey!" My face burned, and I was thankful for the mask.

Aegis just laughed, "It happens, no big deal. Anyway, like Vista said, I'm Aegis and this is Kid Win."

The tinker waved, "Hey, nice to meet you. Sorry if this is a bit insensitive to bring up, but… is it true what people say? That you… fought Leviathan the day you triggered?"

"Win…" Aegis warned, his tone serious.

I stopped him before he scolded the curious kid."It's… fine. Yeah, I had a run in with Leviathan. I only survived because of Supergirl."

As soon as I mentioned my savior, Vista vanished from her conversation with my dad and appeared in front of me I stepped back in surprise as she beamed up at me, "You met her too!? Oh she is soo cool isn't she! I've been helping her with cleaning up the bay, have you met her anytime since, has she mentioned me at all?"

Now that made me smile.

"Oh yeah she's talked about you. Says you're the biggest help with cleanup. Your powers cut her workload in half." A slight exaggeration, but Kara had nothing but compliments for all the Wards when she talked about working with them.

Vista squealed with delight, before she seemed to remember where she was. She coughed, smoothed out her dress and tried to look reserved even as her face burned, "I-I mean cool. Great. Glad to know I'm helpful."

"It's okay, V." Clockblocker snickered, "We all know you're a fangirl, you don't need to hide it."

She responded to his snark with one expertly raised finger. Clockblocker cackled in his seat while Aegis sighed and covered his face. Despite myself, I smiled. This was going a lot better than I thought it was.

The Wards were much more welcoming than I expected. No judging, no veiled threats. They talked to me like… well like I assume normal teenagers talked to each other. I wouldn't know, not after the last two years. Slowly, as we talked and bantered, I felt myself unclenching. The anxiety never went away, but-

"Aegis," Miss Militia asked the Ward captain, "where's Shadow Stalker? This was supposed to be an all hands on deck meeting."

"I was taking a piss." a voice that was all too familiar grumbled. The cape in question trudged out of the bathroom, radiating annoyance. Shadow Stalker's dark cloak rippled around her as she walked, making her seem to almost glide across the room. The dark bodysuit and armor she wore underneath helped with the illusion. Though, despite the mask of dark steel she wore, I could see her dark brown eyes underneath it. I recognized them, just like I recognized her voice.

All feelings or relief I had developed over the last few minutes evaporated in an instant.

Shadow Stalker stopped by the couch, hand on her hip and looking me up and down with a critical eye. I stood ramrod straight, staring at her but unable to move. My heart hammered in my chest, my hands clenched and unclenched. This couldn't be real, I was imagining things. She couldn't possibly be…

"You took on Leviathan? You? Shit, could've fooled me. Serious steel in that skinny ass body of yours, huh? Nice job."

There was no denying it now. I knew that voice, knew the tone, knew the way she managed to fit disgust into every other word. For two years, three girls had made it their mission to torment me at Winslow, to destroy any aspect of a social life I had. Emma had been their ring leader, Madison their little hanger on, and Sophia Hess had been their enforcer. But if Emma was the one that tore into me emotionally, made me hate who I was, it was Sophia that tried to physically break me.

There wasn't a hint of doubt in my mind that Sophia was Shadow Stalker. A superhero, a cape working for the Protectorate, and a bully that had made it her life's goal to ruin my life in every conceivable way. Just like that, everything slid into place.

Sophia was the reason Emma and the others got away with everything. Whatever she did, whatever misery she inflicted on me, she always got away with it because she was a cape. They were protecting her. She was on their side after all, one of their teammates. So of course they would cover for her, of course they'd let her get away with a little bullying. After all, why pull her off the field? All she was doing was picking on some loser girl, nobody important.

There weren't enough words in the English language that could describe how sickened, frustrated and furious I felt at that moment. They laughed and joked with me, while poking fun at Sophia's prickliness. Because it didn't matter to them. It was just a joke.

I didn't break though. Even though I could have lashed out, gone right after Sophia for… everything, I didn't. The other Wards, Miss Militia, would jump to her aid. Besides if a fight did break out, dad would have been caught in the crossfire.

So I kept my mouth shut, and knuckled down. There wasn't any point in throwing out accusations. Why would they believe my word over their teammates after all? The teammate they had been covering for for years now. I didn't need to face what I already knew was true.

At some point as everyone talked, my silence must have been obvious. Vista approached me and asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

I yawned, and lied "I didn't sleep well last night. Just tired." When I spoke, I made sure to keep my voice low. I could recognize Sophia's voice but if she recognized me…

Vista looked at me sympathetically, "I know how that feels. We got instant coffee if that would help?"

"No thank you." I shook my head while my insides twisted into knots. No more idle conversations please, I just wanted this to be over with so we could go home.

Sophia didn't seem too interested in me thank god which meant she hadn't recognized me or my dad. I just had to survive, just had to endure the next few minutes. The time passed in agony. Words were exchanged, jokes shared, and I barely registered any of it. All I could focus on was not drawing her attention.

As time passed, everyone continued as if nothing was wrong. As if the person that had tormented me for years wasn't in the same room with me. It was frustrating, infuriating even. It took all of my will to maintain control. This was not the time or place for a fight or to start throwing accusations. Trying to appeal to the Protectorate, to get them to care about Sophia and what she'd done would be pointless.

The last few years had shown me that for people in charge, if it was easier to sweep a problem under the rug, they would. It didn't matter that I had books of proof recording what the Trio had done to me. It didn't matter that I had powers of my own. The best case scenario I could see was that they'd 'take my worries into consideration' and ask me to 'place nice' in the meantime.

I was done playing nice.

Sure I managed a calm facade until our visit came to an end. But as I said goodbye to the Wards, I could feel anger roiling inside me. I wanted to be as far from this place as possible right now. For a moment I stopped to look back into the room. Gallant had unfrozen, finally, and was reading Clockblocker the riot act. Kid Win showed off his new tech to an enthralled Vista. Sophia? She'd lost interest a while ago and was raiding the kitchen for food.

Only Aegis bothered to see us off. He gave a casual salute and said, "Looking forward to working with you. Have a safe trip home."

I didn't trust myself to speak, so I just nodded. Better to end things amicably than start spewing out accusations on instinct. Then I followed dad and Miss Militia out, my mind moving at a million miles a minute.

-S-​

Our drive home was filled with an uncomfortable tenseness. Dad hadn't picked up on my immediate reaction to Sophia, but he could tell something was bothering me. He'd had the good sense not to say anything around the Protectorate, and for a few blissful minutes I thought he'd remain silent the entire drive home.

My luck, what little of it was left, was not so fortunate. He spoke up in a slow, cautious tone of voice. Like I was an animal to be coaxed out of its hiding place. "So… I think that went pretty well. They seemed nice."

If you ignored that they were covering for the girls responsible for making my life a living hell for the last two years, yeah they were pretty nice. I didn't say that out loud though. Instead, I hunched into my seat and stared out the truck window watching the city slowly pass us by, oblivious and uncaring. A thick marine layer had drifted in, casting a colorless filter over it all.

Dad kept talking, "Miss Militia said that, if you were up for it, they could start you on training and costume work by the end of this week. Figured we'd work all that out later."

"I don't want to join the Wards." I interrupted. That was something I had decided on with absolute certainty. I just needed to make dad understand without explaining why.

The driver's seat creaked, and I could feel the confusion in dad's voice."What? Taylor, why?" I imagined the baffled expression on his face, glasses slid down his nose, large eyes spread wide.

I folded my arms and tried to push myself deeper into my seat. Dad didn't need to know this, he didn't need to know that the heroes were the reason I was put in the hospital last week. That they'd let one of their own torment me for years. He had dealt with so much and if he found out he'd go on the warpath against the Protectorate, and lose. Or worse, he wouldn't even try and would just roll over for them. I tried hard not to look out the window at the Docks, or rather what was left of them. The monument to his lifetime of struggling. If he couldn't make headway against the city for the people he was hired to help, what chance would he have against the Government Superteam?

No, dad didn't need to know this, didn't need to suffer anymore for my sake. So I needed to convince him, for his own good, that I wasn't interested and that he shouldn't press the issue. Even if I had to hurt him to do that.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, I said,"I just… It's all too much." Which was technically true, from a certain point of view.

"Taylor, we can push things back, I'm sure they'd be willing to-"

I shook my head, "No dad, I just… I can't. This isn't the life I want. I can't…"

After a moment of wracking my brain for a genuine excuse, one I knew he'd accept without warning, I stumbled on a buried nugget of fear. One I had been suppressing since I had watched Leviathan devour him alive.

I turned around to look at dad. His face was etched with confusion, and a hint of frustration. But most prominent, was concern. He did care, he did want to help. It was a far cry from before the Locker. All the more reason to protect him.

"I can't live this life knowing it could put you at risk. I almost lost you already, and if I do this… I can't lose you too, I won't!"

Dad rocked back in his heat, as if I had physically struck him. He hit the flashers on, and pulled over onto the side of the road. Then he turned toward me and said, "Taylor, what happened… that wasn't your fault. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the Protectorate, they have contingencies for protecting loved ones, for keeping your identity safe."

"But it's still a risk!" I yelled, "You could still get caught up in… all of this. You or someone else I care about and I'm not strong enough. I wasn't strong enough to lose mom, I wouldn't survive if I lost you."

I felt terrible using mom like that. My insides churned, and my throat tightened. There were tears in my eyes, but they weren't from worry. Shame burned my eyes, at defiling her memory like that. What I said wasn't wrong, they were things I had considered. I had also considered dad's own points too. Going in that day, I had thought the Protectorate really would be able to keep him safe. But now I wasn't so sure.

That didn't make what I said feel any better.

I saw dad's eyes shine with unshed tears. A deep pain crossed his face, his jaw tightened and he clenched his eyes tight. When he opened them, a few tears spilled down his cheeks and he reached across the seat to pull me into a hug.

"If you don't want to do this, Taylor. I won't make you. It's your choice." he whispered.

No relief came to me, I felt only shame and anger. Shame for what I had done to convince him, and anger that Sophia had pushed me to do it. I returned dad's hug.

After a moment, we broke apart and I forced a relieved smile, "Thank you. For understanding."

He nodded, "I'll call the Protectorate about it when we get home. Do you want me to talk to Supergirl too?"

I shook my head furiously, "No! No, I can… Please don't tell her. I should tell her when she gets home."

"Alright." Dad turned back in his seat, paused, then turned back to me and squeezed my shoulder, "I love you Taylor, you know that right?"

I patted his hand and forced another smile, "I love you too dad."

-S-​

I spent the rest of the day consigned to my room. Dad made the call, he was my legal guardian after all. But while he did that, I did research. Wiki's, message boards, news articles. Anything I could find on Shadow Stalker. It wasn't productive research.

Ward info in general outside of the official Protectorate statements were limited. Made sense, the Wards were underage and exposing their abilities or patrol patterns would make them easy pickings for supervillains. What few rumors I did piece together took on new meaning with the added context of knowing her identity. Shadow Stalker was vicious and brutal, and rumor had it she'd even been lethal before joining the Wards.

However those were just rumors and I wouldn't be surprised if the Protectorate was covering them up. No, if I wanted to bring Sophia down and make them realize what a mistake they had made, I needed to stack the deck in my favor. Every advantage, every dirty secret. But first, I would need to find Sophia while she was on patrol. Which, with the Protectorates general blackout on all things Ward related, was easier said than done.

Brockton Bay was a city of some 300,000 people. Finding Shadow Stalker on patrol could take days or weeks. I was willing to endure the Trio for a little while longer, but not without any progress on my end. However, I wasn't without options.

I rolled back from my desk, and hopped onto my bed cross legged. After closing my eyes, I slowed my breathing… and focused. It wasn't hard to summon the mental sound of Sophia's voice. The sneer in her voice, the false sympathy and the cutting laughter. I had learned to recognize her voice immediately, if only so I could avoid her in the halls easier. Now, with my new powers, it would be her undoing.

It wasn't a fast process. I must have focused for a solid thirty minutes. But, eventually, my enhanced hearing caught wind of something.

The slamming of a door. A room with the tv blaring music. A young child screaming. An older woman speaking, her voice muffled.

Then, Sophia spoke, "Yeah, glad to see you give a damn for once. There any food left?"

A muffled response. A snort from Sophia, "Yeah that sounds about right. Thanks for nothing."

A mutter under her breath, "Stupid bitch."

And then I was back in my room. Maintaining that focus on someone so far away wasn't easy. But it worked. I could track Sophia, use this to figure out where she was anywhere in the city. It wasn't much but it was an advantage I held over her. I grinned wickedly, feeling my anger replaced with a giddy sense of purpose.

I tempered my excitement and got back on my computer. Being able to track Sophia was good, but I couldn't just find her on the field and beat her face in, as cathartic as that might feel. No, that wasn't right, I wouldn't sink to her level. I would gather evidence, proof of what she had done, and then I would expose it to the world. Let the Protectorate deal with the mess they made.

But I would need help for that, someone with experience in this kind of thing. Fortunately, I knew just the person.

My lack of a cell phone was a pain, so I would have to use our hall phone. Fortunately for me, dad was busy trying to cook in the kitchen. What it was, I wasn't sure nor was I eager to find out, but that would keep him distracted long enough for me to make a call. I snuck out as quiet as I could to the phone and dialed the number I had found online.

After three rings, a woman's voice picked up, "This is Lockwell Investigations, I'm Kate Lockwell, how may I help you?"

"Uh, hi," I whispered. "I'm a… concerned citizen. Who has some information on corruption in the Protectorate. Would you be interested or able to publish that?"

There was a moment of silence, then the woman spoke with a more serious tone, "You have my attention. But keep that info to yourself for now. Gotta be careful on public lines."

I nodded, realized she couldn't see me nodding, and stuttered, "R-right. Yeah. Can we meet somewhere?"

"You know my handle on PHO?"

"Yeah?"

"Message me there, I'll give you a meeting point, we can talk more there."

"Got it. See you then."

She hung up without another word and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Who was that?" Dad asked as he walked up stairs.

I almost jumped out of my skin. "Oh! I, um, was calling the Dallons. Trying to get a hold of them again."

Dad's expression darkened, "Carol has been ghosting us. I haven't got a hold of her since this entire Leviathan business rolled over. I'm in talks with a legal team, it's just hard to get a hold of… anyone right now after an Endbringer hit." There was a dark edge to his voice on that last part. Not the usual fear and anxiety that came up when dad talked about Leviathan. It was a quiet resentment, and a seething betrayal that I knew all too well. I had revealed what Emma had done to dad, he knew. Any attempt at getting a hold of her father however, had ended without any luck. Which told me the bastard knew we were coming for him and was preparing for the storm.

Dad shook his head and said, "But I did talk to the Arcadian Principal. He said you can eat lunch in his or the councilors office and that if anyone bothers you, to let him know. Also, to talk with him in the morning, he has more information for you."

How useful that would be, was a matter of debate. Past experience told me that if school staff ever gave a damn, it was only to keep things quiet. Not actually resolved. Still, it was better than anything I had gotten from Blackwell.

I nodded, "Thanks dad, I know this has been a lot."

"We'll get through this, Taylor. What happened before, it's not going to happen again."

"I know." I said, feeling a hint of guilt at lying about what I knew. But if we were going after a cape, it was better that he did not know until I had more evidence, until I could pin Sophia to the goddamn wall. I wasn't going to risk him getting caught in the crossfire.

The rest of the night I did more research on Shadow Stalker, to little avail. Dinner was charred meat and veggies, but it was nice seeing dad trying again. By around nine thirty, I heard the telltale whoosh of wind that accompanied Kara whenever she snuck back into our house. A minute later, my door creaked open and she poked her head in.

"Hey Taylor… Danny mentioned you wanted to talk to me?"

I turned around in my chair, my history book in my lap and notes on my desk to make it look like I had been catching up on schoolwork for tomorrow. "Yeah, I… Kara, I'm sorry but I don't think I'm cut out for this superhero stuff."

She stepped inside, a concerned expression on her face, "Oh no, is everything okay? I thought you and the Wards would get along great."

"They were fine. Very… nice people." I said, ignoring the Sophia shaped elephant in the room.

I let out a sigh, "It's just… I think about what happened when I got my powers. Watching those people die, watching Leviathan take my dad, and I… I don't think I want to live that life. I want something better than what I had but I'm not sure that's it."

Kara looked at me, hands on her hips, her face the perfect picture of concern. Then she smiled softly and nodded, "Of course, I understand. You went through a lot Taylor, and this life isn't for everyone. If you don't want to live it, that's fine."

I blinked, "Really, you're… okay with this?"

"Of course! What, you think I want everyone with powers to grab the nearest set of spandex and go out and fight crime?" She laughed. "Being a hero is a choice, just like anything else. A choice to put yourself on the line for people you don't know, sometimes even for people you hate. It's a life where you suffer as much as you succeed. I have tremendous respect for the people that choose to be heroes. I have even more for the people that recognize that it's not for them and don't force themselves into this life."

She flopped on the side of my bed and leaned forward, still smiling, "If this is what you think is best, I'll happily support you. As long as you don't decide super villainy is the way you want to go instead."

I snorted, "Me? A supervillain? As if."

"That's what I thought." She stood up and stretched. "I won't take up too much of your time. I can tell you're busy studying. And hey."

Kara put her hands on my shoulders and looked at me with a kind but serious expression. For a long moment she did this, then relaxed and said, "You have a fresh start tomorrow. Don't let the past drag you down. And if your past comes looking for you, well… you know how to call me."

Then she hugged me for a moment, before letting me go and heading for my door. I watched her leave, hesitated for a moment and then said, "Hey, Kara?"

She stopped in the threshold and turned to me and god if she didn't look like an actual friggin angel with the light haloing her head. "Hm? What's up?"

I hesitated again. Should I tell her, should I drag her into this? Kara was doing so much for the world, she was so much bigger than all of this. She was on good terms with the Protectorate and if I called on her she'd come down on them like the wrath of god. But I couldn't do that, I shouldn't do that.

Kara's focus was on things so much bigger than the local Protectorate being a bunch of corrupt shitheads. She could save the world. I had let Sophia run over me for years now, if anyone should deal with her, I should. She was my responsibility to deal with. Kara had already saved me three times, she didn't need to save me this time.

"I… Thank you." I finally said. "For saving me."

She smiled again, always smiling.

"Get some rest Taylor, you're going to need it."

A/N: Forgot I was posting here, my apologies.

 

[poyac]

Ooh this is fun. If the Simurgh gets some powerr up from analyzing the crystal though.. Sigh. I do hate that trope.

 

[Mattred]

Ooh this is fun. If the Simurgh gets some powerr up from analyzing the crystal though.. Sigh. I do hate that trope.

Click to shrink...

But its rare trope. I dont usualy see simurgh powerup. She is often first to perish.

 

[Kreivan Reyhers]

Was gonna say, what an overhaul. Still nice to reread over again