The Dragon suit hit the ground, blazing with blue light. It was a fair distance away, so the light itself didn't hurt me, but it was still uncomfortable to look at. The moment the Dragon suit smashed into the pavement, the Simurgh's scream stopped.

Dammit. Well, okay, I was happy that scream stopped, but losing the backup from Dragon was going to make all this harder. At least it was a remote-controlled suit. It would be nice to have its firepower working for us, but I would just have to make do.

A slavering mutant came near me. I nearly absently killed it with the Void Sword, manifesting the blade just as it lunged at me. My wounds were fully healed now, but I kept the blade in my hand.

With my free hand, I touched the contact armband. I pressed the lower button hard, hoping I could get in contact with Armsmaster. I hadn't tried before because I was too weakened, and my hands had been hurting like hell when they were reduced to a few strips of flesh and bone.

Sue me. Getting my skin flayed off tends to make my mind wander a bit.

"Scarlet Knight to Armsmaster, Dragon's suit is down."

My armband buzzed. "Message relayed."

I looked upward at the floating form of the Simurgh. Blasters had taken up positions all around the area, most of them perched on rooftops, others flying around like an angry beehive. The Endbringer herself just kept taking hits, a lot of them striking a single, small wing.

I looked around. Here on the ground, my golems seemed to have things fairly under control. The co-opted Dragon suits were down. The mutants which were popping out of distortions in the air were being handled by my rather dumb but strong golems. I gave a powerful flap of my wings, launching myself into the air and landing on top of the largest building of Dragon's factory, over which the Simurgh was hovering.

I called upon the Chaos Claws, my hands burning with hellfire. The familiar hatred filled me, and I started lobbing spheres of fire at the Endbringer. My contribution to the battle was nearly lost in the fray as lasers, explosions, streaks of water and fire all slashed and sliced at the Simurgh.

The Simurgh raised a hand, and a hum filled the air. The entire compound of Dragon's manufacturing plant suddenly imploded like it was struck with the fist of an immense titan. I found myself buried in the rubble, utter blackness surrounding me, and worse, there was so much stuff around me that I couldn't teleport out.

The bitch buried me alive!

I growled from deep in my throat. I had no room to move, and if I had needed to breathe, I'd be dead already. I flashed back to the locker, back to my coffin, feeling helpless, trapped, scared. But the Chaos Claws were shifting those emotions, channeling them into my hatred.

I would not end here. I would not let that pale mind-fucking bitch win. I will see her dead.

I hammered hard at my entrapment, chunks of concrete being reduced to powder as I smashed hard with the little leverage I had. The end result was...well, instead of being surrounded by chunks of rock I could barely manage to hit, I was surrounded by powdered cement I couldn't move at all.

Then the world shook around me, and a gush of water pushed up from below. It washed out the powdered concrete from around me and bored a hole upward, while also wrapping around me and protecting me in some queer, impossible way. It should have been smashing me against the rubble like a rag doll, but instead it gently lifted me out of the hole the rushing water made, keeping me in a bubble. It set me on the ground and the bubble of water dissolved, leaving me soaked but free.

Neptune was standing there, his hand outstretched. I took it gladly, giving him a smile of thanks, and he just nodded. He gestured towards the water flowing from the hole I'd just been extracted from, and it rose upward, refining itself into a thin stream that arced toward the Simurgh.

The Endbringer took the hit on her smallest wing, the high-pressure water scouring away layers from its flesh. It didn't dig deep, but the combined hits from all the capes around were doing some damage to the Simurgh. She was blackened, a few of her wings hanging in tatters, a single eye seared away and burned, though it didn't seem to hamper her much.

Eidolon outstretched his hand, and the Simurgh was suddenly pummelled by blasts of darkness which carved large chunks from the Endbringer's body when they faded.

My armband buzzed, and Tattletale's voice came over it. "All capes! The Simurgh has a weak point! A core in the smallest wing! Nothing else matters, hit there!"

Fire shifted focus from everywhere, blanketing that one small part of the Endbringer with so many varied effects it was impossible to look at her directly. I lobbed a few fireballs her way at the same place.

The Simurgh fell from the sky.

She crashed into the ground not too far away from me. The Triumvirate hovered above, powers at the ready as they watched the Simurgh for signs of life.

Then there was a powerful blast of telekinetic energy, smashing into the three greatest heroes of the world and sending them flying off.

Neptune, at my side, went and smashed against a wall with bone-crushing force. His skin burst open, and water fell out onto the street.

But I wasn't affected. The wave either missed me entirely or she singled me out.

Fine by me.

I was vaguely aware of my armband buzzing. "Neptune down, CD-6. Legend down, CD-15. Mephits deceased, CD-9. General Disarray deceased, CD-3. Mysterion deceased, CD-12. Friendly Fire deceased, CD-1."

The Simurgh pushed herself to her feet, looking at me calmly. She tilted her head. There was a part on her smallest wing, nearly burned down to the nub, but I could see it there, pulsing. Something black, hard, and the space around it seemed to be bent, somehow. It was difficult to look at.

That had to be it.

I charged forward. The Simurgh launched a huge chunk of rubble at me. I teleported past it and closer to her, making progress toward her with every second. I moved in range and manifested the Shadow Whip, lashing out at that core on her burned wing.

Just as I reached her, the air distorted as she made a telekinetic shield, deflecting the whip. She responded by making a razor-sharp distortion in the air, taking my right arm off at the shoulder and sending my severed limb flying.

Now that hurt. I screamed in shock and disbelief. Strangely, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, physically.

A moment later, off in this distance, my arm exploded as the bomb armband went off.

I staggered as I faced the impassive Simurgh. Rage filled me, and I manifested the Void Sword with my left hand. I came in. Another wave of power moved toward me, but I teleported up and above the Simurgh, coming down on the core with the Void Sword extended.

The blade sank into it. Or rather it didn't. It didn't cut or damage the core at all, but merely occupied the same space as it, somehow. There was one effect though. I could feel an absurdly immense amount of life energy filling me. My arm suddenly regrew from the stump of my shoulder. It was like I was trying to capture the flow of Niagara Falls in a teacup.

I was in rapture. I screamed in agony. I felt powerful beyond imagining. Beyond understanding.

Then the Simurgh batted me away with a telekinetic blast, and I found myself high in the air, the city reduced to a helicopter view below me as I tumbled and whirled. I righted myself, spreading my wings and allowing them to catch me, gliding back down toward the battlefield. Slowly.

But there was also something surrounding me, a corona of black and red energy. It was mine. My power at its height, stronger than ever before.

"Holy shit! You alright!?" I heard Aegis speak. I turned to look at him, flapping my wings to stay airborne.

He looked haggard. Tired. His costume was covered in dust and blood, and there were small cuts all over his arms.

I gave him a grin, both of thanks and of excitement. "Feeling fine." I looked down, seeing the Endbringer looking back at me. She stayed on the ground, responding as I could see the small forms of capes on the ground attempting to engage. The silvery form of Hookwolf was blasted into the sky, barely missing me.

"Hookwolf down, CD-12. CD-15. CD-18. CD-21."

Aegis cursed and flew after him.

I dove downward, feeling my power flare through me. I could see the form of Armsmaster engaging the Simurgh, moving with inhuman grace as he twirled and slashed at the Endbringer's core with his halberd, the head of it covered in a strange gray haze. The Simurgh attempted to smash him with her right hand, and he sliced the arm open completely with the end of his weapon.

Eidolon and Alexandria engaged once more. Alexandria grabbed one of the Simurgh's arms and leveraged her over, pile-driving the Endbringer into the ground head-first. Eidolon took the opportunity to blast...something at the Simurgh's exposed core. I couldn't see it, my eye refused to see it, but it hit the core and exploded, forcing the Endbringer through the ground and forming a trench thirty feet long.

As the Simurgh fought to get back to her feet, Armsmaster dove in and stabbed at the core with his halberd.

The halberd shattered on impact.

He was suddenly floating in midair, and the Simurgh brought up her left hand to smash him. I tucked my wings in to dive more quickly, to close the distance.

Only for a blue-white light to smash the Simurgh and knock the Endbringer into a building, turning it into rubble. Armsmaster fell to the ground with a yell of pain. I finally reached the ground again and turned.

Dragon's suit was hovering in the air, standing on two legs instead of the usual quadrupedal form. It floated, blazing with blue light, the camera-eyes hollowed out. Instead within shone a golden light, and even as I watched, the damage the suit took when it hit the ground was filling in, repairing itself in seconds. Surrounding the suit flared a blue-white radiance, and the shining steel of the outer skin was turning gold.

"Get away from him, you bitch." Dragon spoke, her voice filled with all the sound and fury of an angry god.