AN: A big thanks to Rayndeon (Luolang), NuScorpii (syzygy) and VereorNox for the help

Chapter 09: "They killed my sister."

Blue: it was the first thing you'd notice about Shielder. From the shield motif on his white bodysuit to the tint of his visor and even his hair. He looked almost like one of those power rangers on TV.

"Panacea!" he greeted, landing like it was second nature to him. "Are you doing alright out here?"

Panacea shrugged and looked away. I'd say she was really bad at the whole socializing thing, but then again, I wasn't one to talk.

The New Wave cape's smile died a little.

"Shielder, good to have you with us," Gallant said quickly. "How are things in the East End?"

"Surprisingly quiet," he replied. "The Empire's not fighting, keeping to themselves for the most part really. You'd barely know they were there if they weren't recruiting so damn much."

So Krieg wasn't lying about the Empire being scared of Eidolon.

Gallant nodded. "That's good to hear. The longer they stay that way, the better for the city."

"So, where are we headed? You never did say," Shielder said.

"An independent camp by the docks. Speaking of which," -Gallant gestured towards me and Dad- "these two are Resonance and Mr. Hebert from said camp."

We exchanged a round of pleasantries before Shielder asked Panacea, "Since when did you have time to help out independent camps? I thought you didn't have enough hours in a day just to deal with the hospitals?"

"It's a long story, but in short, Resonance helped us out so the least I could do is give her people a checkup," Panacea said.

I frowned. "You don't have to-"

Panacea waved away my concerns with her hand. "It's fine."

"You can give me the full version on the way then." Shielder turned his sights on the horizon. "Not a lot of daylight left."

"Three hours and sixteen minutes to be precise," Gallant said. "Might be better if you fly them there Shielder."

"Well, it would be faster even if I had to carry them one at a time," Shielder said. "My flying does suck though. It's not going to be comfortable."

"We just need fast," Gallant said.

"I should probably go first in that case," I said, "to give you directions." I could sense Dad frown through my vibrations. Why though? The sooner I was back in camp, the safer our people would be. I didn't wanted to leave them vulnerable longer than strictly necessary and I was sure Dad agreed with the sentiment at least.

"I better head out now. Shielder doesn't have the strength to carry me with my armor," Gallant said.

"I'll go with you, Gallant," Dad offered. "You don't know the area like I do."

Gallant tapped his visor twice. "No need, sir. There's a map of the city in my visor that's linked to the latest satellite feeds. I won't get lost."

"See you there!" Shielder said as the Ward took off at a sprinting pace, before turning to me. "I'm going to have to carry you. Do you mind?"

I spread my arms by way of invitation. Dad's frown deepened as Shielder had me in a bridal carry and we were off.

"So..." Shielder said as we rose into the air shakily, "why Resonance?"

"What do you mean?"

"The name, your cape name. Why'd you pick that one?" he asked.

"I didn't," I said. "Aegis did."

"Huh. Well, what did you call yourself before that?"

"I didn't call myself anything, though the people back at camp called me cape girl, if that counts. Names don't seem too important with all of this," I gestured to a crumbling building beneath us, "happening."

"Are you thinking of changing it?" he asked.

I raised a brow at him as he glanced down at me. "This coming from the cape named Shielder?" That probably came out more biting than I intended.

"Heh, you got me there." He chuckled. "Call this friendly advice from someone who's been in the scene for a long time. If you're not happy with your name, you should change it now while you're still fairly new and unknown."

"You don't like yours?"

"It's not that I dislike it, but I was a kid when I chose the name." It's not that I was trying to judge him but the name did sound a tad juvenile.

"Why not change it?" I asked.

"Kinda attached to it now, I guess. And it just seems like such a pain to rebrand myself like that. It's not impossible, but I'm not sure the hassle is worth it, y'know?" he said.

I didn't know actually, but answered with a sound of agreement nonetheless.

"Hold on," Shielder said, landing on the roof of a nearby building with a sigh. "Man, I wish Gl-" He stopped abruptly.

"Were you going to say something?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing." And we were cruising through the air again.

It took a few minutes and more than a few stops, but we made it to the docks eventually.

"There." I pointed to the three-story building that was the camp's only source of shelter.

"Resonance!" one of the kids called out in surprise as we descended. I guess they got called back to camp once word got around that we'd found Panacea. Every eye in the vicinity locked onto us.

"I'm getting the feeling we weren't expected," Shielder muttered.

"You weren't," I corrected. "But a cape landing in the middle of a crowd never goes unnoticed."

"Why is that even? Flying's not a very interesting power," he said.

"All powers are interesting if you don't have any," I said. Plus, it was flying. That was always going to be cool for those of us resigned to walking.

"Right," he said, rising into the air slowly, before accelerating away in sporadic bursts.

"Resonance, was that Shielder?" Cassie asked.

I nodded. "He'll be back with Panacea soon. Do you know which of the injured are the worst off? She'll see them first."

She rattled off a few names, though I couldn't match any of them to a face except for Big Joe. Cassie bit her lip. "What about our guest? He's been drifting in and out of sleep."

Our guest, the suspected cape. "Did he seem hostile?"

"I don't know," she said. "I don't think he was even lucid. Kept mumbling about someone named Evan?"

Maybe his friend or family. I filed that away for later. Right now, it wasn't likely he'd attack us based on what Cassie was telling me, but I still couldn't completely dismiss the possibility, especially if he wasn't all there yet mentally. And if he was the same guy as the cape who'd been making all those explosions we'd heard a few days ago, it could get very dangerous very quickly.

Better if we save him for last then. I had to prioritize my people.

"He isn't in any danger of dying. He'll have his turn after our people have been looked over," I said.

Shielder was back with Panacea - who looked a bit airsick- in a little over ten minutes, as opposed to an hour-long walk. And he wondered why flying was great.

"Moment," Panacea muttered, doubling over after they landed. "Okay, let's go."

"This way," I said, leading Panacea towards our triage while Shielder left to get Dad.

Most of the cases didn't take her very long to fix. She might even make it back to the hospital before nightfall at the rate she was going. Her powers really were something special.

"You've got a lot of medical supplies here," Panacea noted, inclining his head towards the half-open bag the Nazis had given us on the side table. "Most of them won't be of much use to you guys."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She pointed to the topmost bottle, its label apparently visible to her. "For example, that one is maintenance for diabetes and none of you have that. It would be a huge help for the hospitals though. You should consider donating some to them."

"I'll bring it up with the others," I said.

Panacea nodded. "Okay, I'm done here. Was that everyone?"

"There's actually one more guy."

Her lips curled into a frown. "Did I miss someone in this room?"

"He's in a different room," I admitted, leading Panacea to the corridor outside where Gallant and Shielder were talking.

"Oh. Did he catch something?" she asked, sounding unconcerned, though the boys ceased their conversation to listen in on ours.

"No. We think he might be a cape," I said in a low voice to the three of them. "He arrived two days ago and he's been in and out of consciousness. He wasn't all there whenever he woke, so I've been told."

"Lead the way," Panacea said. We started walking again.

"Any idea who the cape might be?" Gallant asked.

"There were these explosions in the Boardwalk a few days ago, I'm not sure if the PRT knows about it?" I said uncertainly.

"Who doesn't," Shielder said. "I live on the East End and even I heard it. Are you saying this guy was the cause of that?"

My shoulders rose and fell. "I think so, but I'm not sure. He might not even be a cape in truth."

"I can check for a Corona Pollentia," Panacea said.

Then daintily, the earth quivered. A roofless, six-wheeled monstrosity rolled towards us, the bastard child of a tank and a steamroller. There was a single, wide cylinder mounted in front of it, transforming everything it touched into fine sheets. Turrets and nozzles cropped out of it at awkward angles too.

Only Squealer would bother with the vehicular frankenstein.

"Excuse me," I said suddenly, guesstimating the speed of the tank-thingy. "This is Resonance," I announced, pushing my sound waves as far as I could, "the Merchants are two minutes out. Get to cover people. I'll handle this."

I felt the people began to move, an urgency in their steps as I released my control over the soundwaves.

"What?" Shielder asked. "How do you-"

"How many?" Gallant interrupted.

I channeled my vibrations towards the direction the Merchants were coming from specifically, waiting for a clearer image to form before replying. "Five of their capes, a few dozen gang members and a tank of some sort. Mush isn't with them."

"A tank?" Shielder's visor couldn't hide his brief expression of surprise from my powers. "Cute. Where'd they get one of those?"

"I can't ask you guys to fight-"

"We're fighting," Panacea cut me off.

Panacea was fighting?! The very idea was dichotomic. Panacea never fought, that was her thing, but the way she said it was serious. Did Panacea actually have an aggressive side to her?

Panacea turned to Gallant. "We're fighting," she repeated, calm and cold.

"I'll call in the PRT," Gallant said, opening up a channel of communication with their headquarters.

"Since when did you get into cape fights?" Shielder asked, raising a brow at her. "That was always…" he trailed off.

Always Glory Girl's thing, my mind supplied.

"Since they killed my sister," Panacea answered curtly.

Glory Girl was dead? But she was an Alexandria package, one of the strongest there was! How could she have-

"Resonance, show me where the cape is," Panacea said, her tone brooking no other course of action. "I'll heal him before the fighting starts."

My body moved of its own volition to the room. It was a short trip.

"He's in there," I said.

She walked in without another word.

"The PRT is on their way," Gallant said, "but with the road conditions as they are in this area, it might take a while."

"We'll just have to hold them off then," Shielder said, projecting a small shield above his hand. "Shouldn't be too hard. They're just Merchants after all."

"They have a tank," Gallant pointed out.

Shielder snorted. "I'd like to see them try and get past my shield." Then he frowned. "Wait, five Merchants, you said? I thought there were only four of them."

"They've been recruiting," Gallant said. "Always plenty of new triggers after an Endbringer hits."

"Do we know anything about them?" Shielder asked.

"I've fought one of them," I said. "Name's Scrapyard. He has some form of magnetism, uses it to manipulate these pencil-thin slabs of steel. He isn't very smart. The other one is called Doser."

"Doser?" Shielder repeated. "Sounds like a drug pun."

"Maybe his powers are related to drugs," Gallant mused.

"What? Like he needs heroin to use his powers or something?" Shielder said sarcastically.

Then I sensed one of the Merchant capes begin changing into a human-esque dragon, complete with the prehensile tail.

Holy shit. Was Doser a mini-Lung? We really didn't need another overpowered psycho on the streets.

"Doser just turned into a human-sized dragon," I said.

"Sounds like a changer," Gallant said.

"Sounds like another Lung," Shielder said.

"We have to go," I told them. "They're almost here."

Nine capes total within my range, counting the one Panacea was healing. I didn't know which Merchant cape wasn't here though. Now, whose power to copy? Panacea's striker power seemed like it could be powerful, but it wasn't what I needed right now. Besides, it seemed a bit too lethal for my liking, the whole manipulating vibrations through a person's body. I could accidentally blow up their heart or sever their spinal cord and that didn't sit well with me.

Squealer and Trainwreck were out too. I didn't see a way for their powers to translate into anything useful for this fight, considering they were tinkers. Doser was a changer of some sort, so equally useless?

Skidmark and Shielder had defensive powers. Scrapyard and probably Gallant had offensive oriented ones. No clue about the unconscious cape had.

The tank was already visible by the time we got to the camp's entrance. Squealer was painfully vulnerable, her head a tempting target as she controlling the machine from a standing position. She fiddled with all sorts of levers and knobs and buttons, a grin plastered onto her face.

Skidmark stood up next to her, a megaphone in hand. "The Merchants are here, bitches!"

BOOM!

Something blurred past me, a shrill, shrieking noise leaving my ears ringing in its wake and Trainwreck was just gone. No, not gone - relocated backwards. I'd say teleported but a gaping hole marked his exit through a shipping container.

Doser roared, his metallic skin glistening as it caught what little light was left, and suddenly he had crossed half the distance in a single, powerful leap, deep gouges marking where he had once stood.

"I'm going for the tank!" Shielder shouted to us, launching himself on a shaky trajectory that would carry him over the lizardman.

Gallant aimed a palm at him and released a thick glob of blue light that was almost sluggish to look at, dissipating as it bounced into Doser's chest. Doser didn't even pause.

Wave after wave of violent energy rocketed out of my hands as Gallant shot more blasts of brilliant light at the dragon-esque cape.

Doser slowed, but not enough. He was snarling, spittle and drool dripping from his mouth as he used his powerful legs to lunge at us again.

I moved to the side and Gallant did the same opposite of me. We didn't have to make this easier for Doser by clumping together.

Then Gallant froze. I could sense his body struggling with his suit, but the metal armor had become unresponsive to him, almost as if an invisible hand had it in its grip.

Scrapyard, I realized, as Doser reached the Ward, lifting him up before ramming him straight into the ground. I charged up a blast to strike Doser, knock him off balance, give Gallant some-

Movement! Need to-

My hands shot out on instinct, waves visibly rippling outwards, almost looking solid.

Scrapyard's steel slabs slammed into my barrier and just...stopped, as if they had hit a wall. The projectiles were fast, faster than when we'd last fought and had blunted on impact. But as they were tugged backwards by invisible strings the ends remolded themselves into their sharpened forms.

Sounds of gunfire reached me. They were aimed skyward, against Shielder and-

Another wave of steel rushed me, from different angles this time and I was forced to "curve" my barrier into a sphere around me.

They pulled back again, right before I felt cold steel hit me from the side. I was sent sprawling to the ground, my forearm lightly aching from the force of the impact.

I pushed myself up from the ground hastily, spotting Gallant's prone form a few feet from me. He was still breathing, but it felt shallow. Unconscious, I thought. Doser was standing there, just standing there, staring at us with blank eyes.

There was someone running towards me, faintly feeling of steel and flesh and grease.

I turned around, spotting Trainwreck briefly, his face, smeared with dirt in the latest hobo fashion, was visible through his steam-powered suit. I could sense a body lying limply where he had crashed at the start of the fight.

Vibrations coalesced at the tip of my fingers and I unleashed them, sending the gathered waves into a violent collision with Trainwreck. The blast lifted him off of his feet and onto his back.

I heard Doser growl, even with everything that was going on around us and I took a step backwards, monitoring him warily with my vibration sense for signs of movement. His leg muscles (did he even have those in his transformed state?) contracted, and I was already moving further back as he launched himself into the air.

If I hadn't, I would've been turned into a pancake. The ground where he landed had shattered into a thousand pieces, rubble scattering away from ground zero like shrapnel. My shockwaves weren't going to cut it against him.

Then Doser moved in a silver blur and I was suddenly confronted with a pair of yellowed slits just inches away.

Shit! I scrambled back again, the ground around me trembling as I tried to push him away, but his clawed feet were dug into the ground and his hands had mine in a deathgrip. The pressure on my arms built steadily, my limbs protesting as I felt my bones begin to crack. His tail wound around my neck like a steel vise, squeezing with a force that left me breathless.

Air! Breath, needed-

The vibrations doubled, tripled in intensity, the energy of a small earthquake trying, futilely, to shake him off.

My eyes centered for a brief moment on Doser's yellowed and rotting teeth.

Spots of black started to cloud my vision as I gasped for air that just wasn't there.

More power. I needed-

Lub...Dub. Lub...Dub. Slow and syrupy blood. Target, attack! Brain- heart- neck- spine- eye!

An invisible hand curled and pop!

Blood and viscous matter splattered across my mask and I was sent flying away to the side.. My vibrations absorbed the impact as I landed and I painfully propped myself up on my hands and knees, gasping as air returned to my lungs. Doser screamed and thrashed and raged, his tail carving up chunks of cement like they weren't there, sending up clouds of gray dust.

Someone threw a packet of white powder at Doser and he caught it easily, one hand still covering his oozing eye socket. Sharp teeth tore the plastic wide open and he dumped its contents down his throat with abandon.

Another layer of steel seemed to coat him as his skin took on a darker hue. Miniscule spikes sprouted out along his entire body, while larger jagged edges made his tail all the more dangerous.

And Panacea just walked up to him, calm as ever, eyes clinically taking him apart.

I frowned, pushing myself onto my feet. What was she doing? "Panacea, get back!"

Doser glanced at me, then at the brown-haired cape, a flash of recognition passing his eyes at the mention of Panacea. He tilted his head, confused, when she cupped his face with her hands. That turned out to be an incredibly stupid thing to let her do.

Thud.

Doser collapsed like a house of cards, his breaths becoming slow and laborious, as if each one required herculean effort. His lips were quickly turning into a shade of blue, distinct against his silver coloring.

I didn't have time to contemplate our good fortune before Trainwreck crashed into Panacea, knocking her away from the draconic cape, sending her staggering away. I hobbled towards her, grasping for Shielder's powers again before solidifying a barrier between the Merchants and Panacea for good measure.

"You okay?" I asked, my eyes never leaving the tinker, who was busy looking Doser over.

"Just a scratch," she said unperturbed, brushing some dirt off her costume.

Shielder was standing in front of Squealer's tank, holding it at bay with an unanchored hardlight projection while his shield shrugged off the bullets and Scrapyard's slabs. He must have been holding them and the guns off the entire time, keeping us from being overwhelmed from the start.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, Squealer and Skidmark were scrambling off the tank. They jumped off of it, managing to get clear just seconds before something shrieked past and slammed into the tank with explosive force, obscuring it in billowing smoke.

What the…

My head swiveled around until I saw Miss Militia standing on one of the shipping containers, a rocket launcher slung across her shoulders. Aegis was floating beside her, arms crossed over his chest. The setting sun bathed them in a vivid orange

"Protectorate! Eidolon!" someone shouted, sending the gang into a chaotic rout.

Doser's body rose a few inches off the ground under Scrapyard's influence before it flew away after the fleeing Merchants. Skidmark and Squealer were almost out of my vibrations' range. Trainwreck too, even though he started running later than them. He was a surprisingly good runner for a drug addict.

Miss Militia seemed to say something to Aegis, before jumping off the container while the Ward went and picked up Gallant.

"What did you do to Doser anyway?" I asked Panacea.

"Mild heroin overdose," she said.

I stared. "Isn't that lethal?"

She shrugged in an 'I don't give a fuck' manner. Note to self: never get on Panacea's shit list.

Shielder landed next to us, carrying the suspected explosion cape with him. When had he- the explosion at the start of the fight, the one that had hit Trainwreck. That was his doing.

"You were right. He was a cape," Panacea said, tapping him on the nose lightly. The cape opened his eyes groggily, the bruises on his face fading away.

"You must be Resonance."

My head turned towards the voice and it was Miss Militia with her star-spangled scarf. "I, er, y-yes. I am," I said, flushing.

She nodded at me and it felt like approval for some reason.

Panacea healed Shielder, Gallant and myself, while Miss Militia and Aegis waited for her to finish before saying anything else.

"What happened here?" Miss Militia asked.

"Merchant attack, Ma'am," Gallant answered. "Five capes, their original members minus Mush plus two recruits." He went on to describe Scrapyard and Doser's powers and the part of the fight he saw, before Shielder spoke his piece.

"...so the explosion at the start turned out to be this guy." Shielder pointed to the still unnamed, groggy cape. "Afterwards, Doser rushed us and I fought the tank. Gallant didn't have the firepower to stop it and I wasn't sure what Resonance could do. I figured I was the best chance at keeping it busy, minimize the damage and all that."

"Good call," Miss Militia said.

"Right, so the rest of the fight was just me holding them off with my shield and keeping their tank from moving closer towards the camp," Shielder finished.

Then it was my turn next so I told them what happened, hesitating only when I reached the part where Panacea took out Doser. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to say anything about it...

"I knocked Doser out," Panacea said. "All I did really."

"He just let you walk up to him?" Aegis asked.

"No one ever said the Merchants were smart," she said.

Miss Militia nodded. "Resonance, I can't promise anything, but I'll put in a request with Director Piggot to step up patrols in this area. The Merchants seem to be the most aggressive gang at the moment."

"Thanks. I'd really appreciate that," I said. If this fight had taught me anything, it's that I couldn't fight them on my own. Even going up against just one of them had nearly gotten me killed, and without Panacea, I didn't know if I'd even be in any shape to fight afterwards. "Shielder, Panacea, Gallant, thank you guys for helping me. If you didn't help…"

I, and everyone in the camp, would be dead.

"All part of the job," Gallant said.

"Yeah, don't sweat it," Shielder added. "You were pretty good, for a newbie."

"One last order of business before we leave," Miss Militia said, turning to unnamed cape. "Do you have a name?"

"You can call me Torpedo."