Seizure 18.2

There was a moment of silence at that declaration, before I let out a long sigh. "So we've changed that much," I nodded, not surprised. At the inquisitive look from Taylor and Quinn I questioned them in turn, "Remember how I knew a future?" They nodded. "In that one, it was Behemoth that attacked India on. . ." I brought up the calendar on my computer, trying to remember the vague timeline, "a couple of weeks ago, actually. I think. I don't have it memorized. Everything after the first couple months started to slide together, and after everything that we've gone through. . . " I shrugged.

"What happened," Lady Bug asked, eyes wide.

I couldn't help myself, "You killed him." Her sputter of shock was totally worth it. "To be specific, you organized a defense that held him off a little, Theo, who'd Naturally Triggered, was helpful, but when a rogue CUI agent killed the Thinkers and everything fell apart, you managed to find a Tinker by the name of Phar Se, or something like that." I winced, only now getting the joke. "Wait, his name was Far See and also Farsi? That makes no sense if he's a native spea-. . . nevermind," I muttered. "Time based Tinker, you convinced him to give everything he had, and worked with him, atomizing Behemoth to the point all that was left was the core and a thin skeleton."

"But you've said if they have the core left, they can regenerate," my teammate argued. "So I didn't kill him."

I wiggled a hand in a maybe gesture, "I mean, Scion killed him, but you forced his hand, so, same diff."

"I cannot help but note that you're taking the fact that the Simurgh is going to attack rather well," Quinn remarked, breaking into our back and forth.

"That's because I'm a hard counter to her," I replied easily. "Though, honestly, Herb's a hard counter to Behemoth. As long as it wasn't Leviathan, we actually could handle this ourselves. Hell, if it was the next one, Charlie or I could take it," I hesitated, "Assuming they're set, and the entire 'killing Behemoth with Time energy' thing didn't determine the form of the next one. Not really sure about the mechanics. But, anyways, I've got this."

The lawyer looked thoughtful, before asking, "Should we contact the Triumvirate's organization about this? And I was under the impression that they didn't want you to leave the city."

"It's an Endbringer," Taylor shot back, confused, "even if he had a Kill Order he could help! There's laws about it, and your specialty is parahuman law, Mr. Lawyer."

Overwatch merely raised an eyebrow, "And for the past several weeks I've been getting a great deal of experience in how little that organization cares for laws. Shall I contact them?"

I hesitated, "Gimme a minute to read the report, then go for it."

"I did read the report," was his deadpan response.

Frowning, I realized all the information we had been given was the attacker, time, and location, so I called up my brother. "Hello, Vejvois. I see you got my message," he said smoothly, picking up on the first ring, in his 'Æonic' persona.

"The message was 'Simurgh at Midnight in DC'," I shot back. "Can I have a bit more detail?"

I could practically hear the shrug as he responded, "She comes down at twelve oh five, does her thing, isn't pushed away in time and at seven tomorrow morning the capitol is declared a quarantine zone. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of villainous scum. After all, at least I'm honest about what I am."

"I get it Edgy McEdgerton, government bad, but you know they'll be evacuated before anything happens to them, right?" I pointed out.

I received a dry chuckle in return. "Oh, they try, but it's quite insistent they stay."

I grit my teeth for a moment, replying softly, "That's a bit more intel than 'she attacks', ya dick. Now am I going to get an actual report, or do I need to come over there and beat it out of you?" I asked, only half joking. "Remember, I am a healer."

"Dude," Charlie replied, offended, before taking a moment and regathering his persona, though I could hear him walking somewhere. "There's no need for that," he stated formally, the sound of a door closing faint over the line. "And, like, it's not gonna matter once we start messin' with shit," he continued, back to his normal way of talking.

"No, but there's a chance that what Ziz'll be after won't change, and your enemy's target is in the top five of 'need to know' intel items, if not number one," I shot back. "So, spill."

Asking some pointed questions, Quinn and Taylor chiming in, with Æonic finally just grabbing his lieutenants who'd actually seen the attack, we got everything we needed. It took half an hour, which, yes, was half an hour the others couldn't use to plan, but given what I'd seen of Cauldron's 'planning' ability from Leviathan, it wouldn't be that big a loss. In that time, however, we got a much more detailed view of what was going to happen then we had the attack we'd prepared for, able to compile a complete report, one that'd hopefully be taken seriously.

To put it simply, the attack was going to be bad.

This Endbringer visitation was very clearly meant to be a decapitation strike on the United States government, Ziz going after the entire presidential line of succession, which, while separated, didn't matter. Those that couldn't be corralled and mind-screwed were just killed outright. As such, though, the heroes had thrown themselves into the woodchipper to try and help, had led to massive losses.

Not Brockton Bay massive, mind you, but particularly bad for an Endbringer attacks in general.

Intel gathered, Quinn contacted Cauldron through the connection our computer's servers still had with their network, though it was a connection that the technopath Tinker had secured to hell and back. Less than a minute a minute later, my phone rang, my vizier nodded and stating, "Director Costa-Brown."

Picking it up, I smiled. "Hey Becky, I saw you got my report."

"How certain are you of this?" she demanded, all business.

"Ninety-nine percent, I'll have secondary confirmation for you eleven hours before Ziz lands," I informed her. "My people think we have something that might help, but we'll all need to do this smarter than last time."

The other line was silent for a moment, before Alexandria informed me, "We'll send someone over then. Get 'your people' ready. If you're correct, we might be able to finally kill an Endbringer."

I started to respond, but stopped myself, however that was enough for Alexandria to almost bark, "What else, Vejovis?"

"Just, be prepared for things to get bad if we succeed," I warned, not liking her tone, but if we killed Ziz, this suddenly became need-to-know. "We don't know if offing one will bring one of the others, or. . . bring the next one."

"Next one?" the woman demanded. "You said we killed Behemoth, are you also saying there's more?"

I paused, hadn't I already told her that. . .? Well, given one of Alexandria's powers was perfect recall, I, apparently, hadn't. "Yes. When you killed Behemoth we had, like, a week before this giant floating grey buddha thing showed up. Power was time control, super-accelerated columns until everything decayed and everyone was long dead, except Legend, who just turned to Light until it was over. Thing could teleport and went on a week-ish long rampage until you killed it too, then you got two Endbringers at once, but they moved as a paired set. One could turn the landscape around it into a deathtrap, the other could copy any three Parahumans powers, living or dead, but couldn't switch them mid-attack. But I'm not sure if that's because you killed Behemoth with a literal time bomb, so we got a time Endbringer, or if that was coincidental." There was a long silence on the other end. "Becky?"

"Why didn't you tell us this before." the Cauldronite asked, tone cold, more accusation than question. "If you'd told us-"

"You'd what?" I snorted, patience running thin with this bullshit, "I was there when I saw your 'planning' last time. Why didn't I tell you? Because, Director Costa-Brown, you never asked, and, until we manage to kill an Endbringer, it doesn't matter. Despite everything me and my people did, we weren't prepared for Leviathan, and neither were you. I expected a fight, and we'd force him away, not that. You and your witch's club has your methods, and I have mine, and, recent subtle assistances aside, you and the PRT haven't been terribly inclined to actually help, so why should I for things that wouldn't matter, and might not even be true in the first place, given everything that's happened." I glanced up, and Quinn was gently waving his hand in a 'tone it down' gesture. "Alexandria, you have no room to talk about keeping secrets, so, I've provided warning, and, yes, things have changed enough that warning you of Behemoth's possible attack on India has proven to be useless, less than, if you'd burned political capitol to set things up. The question is, what are you going to do about this?"

"I'll have someone come to your location when you receive confirmation," the woman stated, hanging up.

My lawyer sighed, "Was the monologue necessary?"

"Yes," I replied simply. "Very few things annoy me as much as hypocrisy, and Alexandria, who is simultaneously the chief director of the PRT, and one of the core members of Cauldron, lecturing me about not disclosing everything? Well, it's hard to think of something less hypocritical."

"But what did you gain from that?" he questioned, appealing to utilitarianism.

That. . . was a good question. What had I gained from bitching her out? It felt good, yeah, but. . . I turned the question over in my mind, but it was Taylor who replied. "Respect."

"I hardly think she respects him more for that," Quinn started to argue, but my teammate shook her head. "Then what?"

"Not respect from her. People like that, they don't respect anyone," Lady Bug said, shoulders hunching a little, eyes distant as she looked into memory. "Respect for yourself. But, it tells them you'll push back. You won't give up. Because if you let them do what they want, it doesn't get better," she finished quietly, sorrow/hurt/alone rippling in her presence, along with the faintest sense of something more, something dark, and putrid, and full of crawling terror.

Sending comfort/support/together back to her she stiffened and looked back to me, nodding slightly, the tension in her stance fading a little, a bit less hunched over, but still not as good as she'd been a moment ago.

I spoke this time. "While it might generate some pushback, having someone make plans around known hurtles is preferable to having plans dictated to us, with expectation of obedience, costing us more and more, and provoking offended outrage when one finally decides not to submit," I told Quinn. "If we were little, or even middle league you'd be right, but we're not."

The Tinker sighed, giving the room a significant look, likely indicating the arcology as a whole. "I suppose your method has some merit. Consider my objection withdrawn, but do be careful."

Oh," I reassured him. "Don't worry, if this was actually a fight I'd just kill her. There's no need to justify oneself to the dead."

"That's, that's not what I meant," he noted with a slight wince. "Merely that in a more public setting you are playing to the jury, to the listeners as much as you are the person you're. . . engaging. Should I gather the team?"

"In an hour," I nodded. "I have some calls to make, and some people to talk to."

AB

Walking up to the meeting room, I was in a worse mood than I'd expected to be. Contacting my father, he'd agreed to abort his current Path in a couple hours and look forward to see if he could spot Ziz's attack. My brother had been. . . less accommodating.

"I need your help to fight the Simurgh," I'd told him, when I'd popped over to his base.

"And I helped you," he'd shrugged, once we were in his office. "Gave you a warning, more than even dad coulda."

Nodding, I'd replied, "Yes, and I appreciate it, but we're Blanks. The Simurgh literally can't perceive us. We're, like, custom specc'd to take her down. So I'd like you to come over to my base so we can talk strategy, and what we're going to do against her."

Charlie had folded his arms, and leaned back with a mulish set of his jaw that suddenly reminded me that, despite his newfound fitness, and his newfound responsibility, he was both a teenager, and my brother. "It's hitting DC," he remarked. "Feds have been trying to stop me at every turn. If it weren't for you, I couldn't legally do half of what I've done. Why should I save them?"

I'd frowned, "Because the ones you're pissed at will already be gone? Hell, everyone should be evacuated by the time the fight starts. She's a murder-kaiju. She needs to be stopped."

"Cool, let someone else stop it," he'd shrugged, unmoved.

Staring at him in disbelief, finally I'd asked, "Did you only fight Leviathan because it was attacking your home?"

"And I was marked," he'd shrugged, again. "But I fought one. I'm done. Still waitin' for the Slaughterhouse Nine to show up, but, when they do, I've got some. . . surprises," he'd grinned.

From there, the conversation had further devolved. No matter what I said, he wouldn't be moved. It didn't matter that he had the exact power needed to fight Ziz, he simply didn't give a shit. He'd been. . . less than impressed with the way the others had fought Leviathan, and, yes, same, but even with a more active roll, he still refused to even consider it. Given that he'd apparently almost been fragged by Eidolon, that idiot too free with mass-destruction abilities to worry about things like collateral damage, my brother wasn't in the mood to take the same battlefield as the Triumvirate ever again, and nothing I said would change that.

His danger sense would save him from most things, but if he got himself into a situation where no matter what he did, a few seconds later he'd be dead, he'd be gone. In a regular fight that wasn't an issue, but in the chaos of an Endbringer fight, especially if he was in shin-kicking range of the Simurgh, that kind of AoE death was the only way to kill my brother, and the chances of ending up in that situation would be very likely.

Even when I'd said I'd coordinate with those in charge, that I'd make sure that wouldn't happen again, he'd remained firm. He wasn't going to help, his people weren't going to help, and he'd lend us some gear his Tinkers had made, but that was it.

Turns out, there was a reason he'd chosen to be a villain, while I went with Hero, and it wasn't just those sweet, sweet bonus points. Then again, when Herb and I had picked our roles, seemingly a lifetime ago, we'd gone with what we'd wanted, not what it'd give us, and when I'd asked my father, I hadn't even mentioned the benefits attached, only the mindsets the jobs represented. I did wonder, for a moment, how things would've turned out if one of us had chosen the Endbringer option.

But, that left me down the only other Blank that I could bring to the fight. Yes, my father was also a Blank, but when I'd floated the idea I'd gotten slapped down hard. He'd built the character to not be a frontline combatant, but a behind-the-scenes string-puller, and had chosen not to take any of the 'targeted by x' drawbacks, despite the extra power they offered, because he didn't want to fight.

Coming to Earth Bet had only reinforced that desire.

As such, my plans had shifted, but I was still confident in my ability to handle this. It was with that frame of mind that I entered the meeting room, Quinn having informed me that everyone had gathered.

It was interesting to see all of the Penumbral Defenders in one place, spread out as we normally were, with even the ancillary parahumans, like Hedera, present, just as it was surprising to spot Vista and Dean seated with the Dallon Sisters. I had called for an all-hands meeting, so I only had myself to blame for the Wards being present, and while most of the group were in casual clothing, peeking out from Mouse's loose shirt was the underwear that let one use Panacea's armor, without having to be completely naked, telling me she was ready to fight in seconds.

As soon as I entered, all eyes were on me, and the tension in the room seemed to spike, everyone on edge. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here," I announced, taking my seat at the head of the table. Taylor was on my right, Herb on her other side, while Quinn was to my left, fingers partially digitized as he kept track of a dozen things at once.

"The Simurgh's attacking," Mouse replied without preamble, and I paused, mid-speech. "Lady Bug spilled the cheese."

"I'm sorry, was that a secret?" the teen asked, looking so adorably honestly concerned that I had to resist the urge to pat her on the head, despite the circumstances.

"No," I reassured her, recentering myself. "Alright, yes, the next Endbringer battle is here. As I'm sure she told you, just after midnight, Mrs. Ziz goes to Washington,"

The tension in the room redoubled, and I wondered why, if they already knew. Oh, but I've just confirmed it, I realized, looking around at those assembled. Herb's grin was feral, as he bounced his leg in anticipation. However, he was the only one happy about this, everyone else universally ill-at-ease with the revelation. Even Taylor, who'd become increasingly upbeat, was subdued, and Vicky held her boyfriend's hand tightly. "Now, you may not like what I'm about to say," I announced, "But I need you to trust me."

"You want us to fight," Dean nodded, with the air of someone heading to the gallows, but unbowed nonetheless.

. . . what?

". . . what?" I asked, confused, looking around, at the looks of dismay, which were slowly changing to confusion. "Why the fuck would I do that? That's insane!"

"You, you aren't bringing us here to psych us up?" the boy asked, looking around, several of the others nodding to him in agreement, and looking at me in confusion. "You. . . this is what Miss Militia did, before. . . before Leviathan."

I, completely off base, held up a hand, "Wait, I thought you all volunteered for the Battle of Brockton Bay."

"We did!" Vista objected. "She talked to us about the danger, and how she thought it'd be dangerous, but this was the best chance we'd get, but she thought we shouldn't because we were Wards."

And, in doing so, laid down the challenge to all of the children in her care. I looked to Mouse, who winced. "I'm sure she meant well?" that woman's friend offered.

"She did!" Missy argued, missing the point of our nonverbal exchange. "We chose to fight!"

"Okay, then let me make this clear. I can't give you any orders, Vista, you're not part of the Penumbral Defenders, but if I could I'd say this: You are not to fight," I stressed. I looked around the others. "Leviathan had one power, but the Simurgh has a half-dozen. Just as Levi was sandbagging, dear god is Ziz doing the same thing. I don't know to what extent, but she is, and, if this follows what happened at the last one, it's going to be bad," I told them, looking around the table.

With their attention on me, I detailed what Quinn, Taylor, and I had finally gotten from Æonic and his team, and that, when my brother and I had tried to use Déjà's power on others to get an idea of the effects of the preparations we'd already made, nothing seemed to change.

"And it's because of that I'm ordering you all to stay here," I finished, looking around. "Even you Panacea. Ziz's true range is the horizon, at least. She was limiting herself before, but anyone you want to heal can be transported here to do so. No, I'll be going to this fight, but I'm the only one that will be."

"Dude!" Herb objected, "You think I'm gonna just let you-"

"Yes," I cut him off, coldly, turning to stare at him. "Yes, I do. You've talked a good game about listening to me, Break. You going to actually do that, or are you only doing that when what I'm asking was what you were already going to do anyways?"

To his credit, he cut off his denial before he did more than make an 'n' sound, for once actually thinking about what he was saying. Quinn started to interrupt, but I held up a forestalling finger even as I watched the man I once called friend, but who'd I'd learned I couldn't trust. Would he keep his word this time, or would he, once again, break his promise the second he decided he thought better?

"Ya need backup," he finally stated.

"Æonic told me to get fucked, and Neutral Party wouldn't survive on that scale of combat. Oh, and I haven't seen Boardwalk in weeks," I added, just for completeness, most of those here not read-in on the more dangerous of my secrets. "You know any other Blanks? Because without that, against Simurgh you're already dead, she just hasn't decided to on when yet."

"Blanks?" Kayden asked, frowning.

I gave a half shrug, Cauldron absolutely already knowledgeable of my status by my no-selling whatever Contessa tried. When we weren't in contact, I might be able to hide it, but now? "Precognition disruptors." I nodded to Theo, who'd made no bones about his inability to see me with his five-minute Glimpse window.

"There's a bit of a diff 'tween swerving Gauge's power and the Simurgh," Victoria objected.

It was Taylor who shook her head, the two of us having talked about this during one of the 'mental health hangouts' she'd insisted on, and I'd ended up going along with. There was always the caveat that, if something came up, we'd have to stop, but during the last few weeks it never had. Sometimes we'd watched movies, or watched shows, or worked on less dangerous powers, but they were almost always enjoyable. "There isn't," Lady Bug told the brawler. "If you're invisible five feet away, you're still invisible to a telescope, or a microscope."

"And I've met Ziz," I added. "Couple of times now. She had no idea that I was there. At least until I ripped out a few feathers, or I shot her. She retreated, and I was fine with that, but if she's attacking, coming to kill people? Well, golden rule."

"You pulled me out of it, back on day one," Herb argued, but, looking at him, he knew it was a weak argument.

However, I still nodded, acknowledging that he at least, for once, was using logic and evidence. "And if we were only observing, I'd agree with you. I can keep moving you, stopping her from getting a lock, assuming that she needs to move that slowly, or I could fight. Would working with me confer enough unpredictability to your actions to protect you? Maybe? But, you of all people should know that I hate 'maybes' when peoples lives are on the line."

"We, we could figure out with Gauge," he argued, waving towards Theo, "We could!"

Shaking my head, I counted off on my fingers, "One, as good as a fighter as Theo is, he's not that good, at least yet. Two, Ziz can't see the present, so any data would be inclusive. And third, and most of all, we don't have time. Enough to take a stab at it if the alternate was everyone dies? Sure, but not enough just because you feel bad about sitting on the sidelines for this fight. We rumble with Behemoth, you and your cousins will be front and center, but this is a good way to get a base full of Ziz Bombs."

He frowned, glancing towards the Dallon contingent, "Gallant's-"

"His anti-Master capabilities are untested to that level, and on the sizable chance it isn't enough to rebuke an Endbringer you'd be the knife at my back that you keep on saying you aren't," I stated, standing, cutting him off. "Do you think I haven't thought about this? No, better question, have you thought about it before today?" From his expression, the answer was no. "Make your decision, Herb. Can I trust you to keep your word, for once, or are you going to make sure I can never trust you again?"

Gauntlet thrown, I sat back down, crossing my arms, and waited.

"It shouldn't just be you," the large black man half said, half whined, and I merely waited. "I could help," he tried, and I said nothing. "I. . . Chuck said no?"

"Boy's a Villain at heart," I noted coldly. "If it were anyplace else he might, but congress tried to ram through a few bills that would've screwed us all here in New Brockton Bay, and even though they didn't pass, barely, he sees this as karma. He's not making people fight, after all, so doesn't think he's responsible if, and I quote, 'morons jump into a meatgrinder'. Stop deflecting and choose."

So many times I'd been lied to, by the one person I thought I could trust, I was almost numb to it, but some small part of me hoped that, just this once, he'd do the right thing, do the thing he said he'd do, not insulting me by thinking he knew better and going around me instead of just talking to me.

"I. . ." he paused, conflicted, face screwed up in pain, while I watched, expression blank. The Flames of his power lashed about in turmoil, before he finally stated, defeated. "I'll stay. I'll stay here."

I wanted to feel relieved, that this time he was telling the truth, but his suicidal stupidity with Valefor stood out starkly in my mind. "We'll see if you mean it," I remarked, turning to the others.

"I will!" the man insisted, sounding hurt, and I felt fury spark in me, as if I was the one that was being unreasonable, after what he'd done time and time again, after what he'd done to Dinah!

A hand settled on mine, feelings of comfort/team/there coming to me, and I glanced over to Taylor, who was looking at me earnestly. Instead of what I wanted to say, I let my temper cool, and merely repeated, "Then we'll see. For the rest of you, if I'm not letting Break, who could stand toe to toe with the Triumvirate fight, I'm sure as hell not letting anyone else, and that is an order. Understood?"

Thankfully, the rest agreed without issue.

AB

Receiving confirmation from Medhu was simultaneously comforting and worrying. Apparently, predicting the Simurgh was difficult, who knew? He could lock in a 'this is what I want to do' path, and he was confident in it, but all the factors that would lead to it, all of the insights he could normally pull, were a complete crapshoot. In some previews, Ziz left after five minutes, with minimal casualties. In another she came down and just flattened everything, pissed that no one was there. In another she didn't come down on DC at all, but Cheyanne mountain, literally ripping it to pieces before she was stopped, though that was only if we literally set up her initial landing position with nukes.

However, my father's power was not without cost, and after ten tries he had to lock in one path, the one that led to her leaving in five, and with minimal casualties, hanging up to go do it, as he could no longer perceive me due to my Blank status. However, he was clear that I should do my best, his ability to see the future able to, while not see me, work around me, though when pressed he was vague on the details. Whether or not that was intentional or not, I wasn't sure, but now I stood at the main entrance to the Arcology, custom built for that purpose since it had become impossible to hide its existence.

Waiting in the lobby, I was getting a few curious looks from my employees, word that something was up already spread. No one knew what it actually was, or they'd be a lot more worried, but, as it was, they were just. . . cautiously curious. However, they left me alone, and I finally had someone hand me a tablet to help review the construction plan progress.

There was a bit of a problem with an Anomaly that passively charged the batteries of anything that came near it, likely some kind of support power that was now working ad-infinitum, or possibly Tinkertech. However, most of the Tinkertech-derived anomalies were starting to run down, the built-in flaws in the devices making them lose functionality, sometimes explosively, and while we'd grabbed as many as we could early on, Quinn's monocle invaluable, in the Red and Yellow zones we had a couple cook off each day.

Accord's plans had an entire subset of 'Anomaly Dependent' buildings, that were part research laboratory, part secondary structure. Power generation was delineated into several sub-categories, such as thermal, electrical, kinetic, and so on. None of them would replace standard power generation, as reading between the lines it was clear that being dependent on such a chaotic resource irked the designer, but they were supplementary, further lowering the cost of electricity for any living here. The city planners were suggesting one such building, and reading through their explanation, I found myself agreeing. Quinn and Taylor both okay'd it, the latter having insisted that she didn't know that much, but who'd been studying to try and help, so I put the final stamp of approval on it, the plans auto-slotting into the construction crew's docket, through an algorithm that Accord had developed.

A flash of light, accompanied by a dense Aura of power, had me handing the locked tablet to our receptionist, as a familiar figure in sky blue and white coalesced at the entrence. "Legend," I greeted with a nod.

The man nodded back, as he commented with a smile, "Vejovis. You've been busy."

"It's amazing what you can do with powers, and without outdated red tape," I shrugged, showing him in. "We have a secure room ready."

The only member of the Triumvirate worthy of the title Hero followed me without comment.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised it wasn't Alexandria again," I called over my shoulder.

The man behind me chuckled, shaking his head, which I watched through the hidden, camouflaged insects nearby, an unannounced product of Panacea's experimentation. "She's under the impression that you don't really care for her."

"She's not wrong, but she's not exactly right either," I offered. "I don't like being talked down to, but at least she didn't try to Master me. On a completely unrelated note, how's Eidolon?"

The man winced, glancing around, and clearly held his tongue until I took us into the 'secure' room, which was blocked from outside observance. Well, other than ours of course. Sitting down at the conference table, I waved for him to take his seat, but he didn't take it. However, from his body language, this wasn't a power thing, putting himself on a higher level than me, like it almost certainly would be if I was dealing with the other two.

"On behalf of him, I apologize," Legend said, causing my eyebrows to raise. "Mastering people is immoral. Outside of combat," he added. "Doing it to someone because you didn't like their answers? To someone that wasn't even a villain? I'm sorry."

I regarded him. "Is this a 'I'm sorry this happened to you', or is this a 'David wants to apologize'?"

"The first," Legend replied, without shame or hesitation. "We had. . . we had a strong discussion after he'd healed. Eidolon means well. He just gets zealous."

"You'd know him better than I would," I offered, which wasn't quite calling him a liar, even if it was close. However, while he was a Cauldronite, he'd been mushroomed by them, and was actually trying to do the right thing. "And the entire 'extrajudicial assassination' thing? Did they tell you they never did that, or did they say that they were going to stop because you asked nicely?"

That got a wince. "No, they're still doing it. I might not agree, but to keep peace across the world?" he gave a dispirited half-shrug. "We don't have the resources to make things right everywhere. America and Canada, and a bit of Europe. Anymore, and the entire thing collapses. I don't like it but. . ."

"The alternative is worse?" I asked, understandingly, and he smiled, nodding in agreement. "I've been there, in that frame of mind, but you know where good intentions and 'best of the bad' can lead to."

"But when it's the only way there's still a path?" he replied, not arguing, opening his hands in a 'what can you do' gesture.

Despite myself, I found myself liking this man. Not in that way, but as a person. He was just. . . honest, and sincere, in a way that was rare here, and that sincerity shone through his nearly solid Aura. I couldn't read the shifts and flows of a person's powers, but I was starting to get. . . impressions. They were hard to put into words, but something about Legend just rang true.

"I can't argue that, only that just because one path seems like it'll take you through, doesn't mean it's the only one," I offered, waving around us. "But that's not why you're here. So, good-ish news? My other source has confirmed the attack. Baddish news, because of who it is, his predictions are all over the place. If we try and nuke Ziz, she'll just go to Cheyanne Mountain instead, but other than that she'll got to DC. Once she's there though, it's anywhere between getting off light, and bad for an Endbringer fight."

Legend hesitated. "For a normal Endbringer attack? Or," he waved around us, meaning clear.

"For a normal Endbringer attack," I specified. "So, what's the plan?"

The man hesitated, his Aura fluctuating for a moment. "Could you get in touch with Boardwalk? We've discovered he disrupts precognitions. We were hoping. . ." he trailed off as I shook my head.

"Haven't seen him in weeks," I replied. In actuality, for this fight, Orichalcum Weapons would be the order of the day, which meant the team of myself and 'Dryad'. Purity's blasts were strong, but, given their destructive nature and my reticence to leave Brockton Bay to train, I'd only done a little work with them, mostly just improving my Light reserves.

The man sighed in disappointment, even as his Aura stabilized, seemingly at odds with himself. "All right. That would be too easy." He paused, regarding me carefully, before saying, "In that case, you're aware of our organization?"

"Double, Double, toil and trouble?" I asked, getting a laugh. "Not in detail, but Break's mentioned the support staff. Given her name, is Doctor Mother like the Holy Roman Empire?"

It took the man a moment, "She actually does have a doctorate," he informed me with a smile. "But, in that case, you need to know I didn't make this decision."

I hesitated, invisibly slamming air armor around me and prepping a jump to the Mark in the area of NBB we hadn't gotten to clearing, in case this turned into an attack. "Not exactly filling me with confidence here, Legend."

The best of the Triumvirate nodded. "I'm aware. Just know that I argued against this." The man looked me dead in the eyes. "We appreciate the warning, Vejovis, but you are not fighting the Simurgh."