The Fallen are coming to the edge...

I know no one asked, but the reason everyone's coming down on the Fallen like a sack of hammers dropped from a skyscraper is because they went after Panacea (the renowned best healer in the States) in her civilian identity by using the civilian identity of another cape against her, AKA the Mathers branch flipped off the unwritten rules and pushed all the rest of the Fallen into covering up their attempt to attack Panacea out of costume. Well, that and the fact that Cauldron has taken an interest in them, and not in the good way.

"So you're saying that we have a branch of the Fallen moving on Brockton Bay, and that they've had enough time to establish a hold over Brandish." Armsmaster pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wonderful. I assume that the relevant branch is the Mathers, then?"

Amber nodded, slipping their phone back into their pocket with their lips pressed together. "Yeah, and even worse news is that we're limited in people who can hold off Masters like Mama Mathers or Valefor."

Armsmaster nodded. "Valefor on his own would be manageable, I think. Given a few days, and I could put something together to block his power, or we could rely on blindfolds. The Mother, though…"

Amber shook her head. "No dice. I'm the only one in town we know for sure can no-sell both of the Mathers' Master powers here, and as of last October we know she can use her power to transmit Valefor's, so we need to be careful with that too. To make things worse, the Fallen as a whole are also making a push across the nation, so we can't call down the wrath of the Triumvirate to smite them for going after Panacea, and waiting for them to wrap up isn't an option because Master."

"So then, what's the strategy?" asked Mouse Protector, nervous energy setting her leg to jittering.

"The elder Mathers has earned herself a Kill Order for attacking Panacea in her house and using Brandish to do it, as well as her previous crimes. Stitch in Time should be our point person in carrying the order out, since as she said she is immune to Master effects. There is also the possibility that GameMaster's minions do not transmit the effect to him, so the two of them will be handling most of the operations concerning the Mathers clan until such time as Master influence is not an issue. If possible, GameMaster will remove her with a Blaster-rated minion, but otherwise Stitch in Time will execute the Kill Order on Mama Mathers. Any other questions before we adjourn?"

Assault raised his hand, then asked "How did Brandish even meet Mama Mathers?She is a cast-iron bitch-" Battery swatted the Striker on the shoulder, and Armsmaster managed to give him a flat look even through his helmet- "-but you can't deny that she's not competent, she knows her M/S protocols after so many attempted kidnappings of Panacea."

"According to Panacea," said Amber, "Brandish started acting oddly after joining a cape parent support group with Flashbang, and about this time Flashbang started to have more visible depression symptoms. She didn't really pay attention to it because it was just a week after Glory Girl triggered, but that's potentially the inciting incident. I also went through the membership list and one of them definitely looks like Mama Mathers. All in all, not great news."

"Great," said Backhand dryly, "all we have to worry about is the capes that she could have influenced between her and Valefor since then."

Amber winced. "Damn, that's gonna be a nightmare and a half to fight. Depending on who they've gotten to, we might have to deal with one of the gangs, or if we're unlucky, all of them."

Assault laughed. "Nah, that'd never happen."

Mouse Protector winced. "Aw, man, now the Author has to do that. Why'd you have to say that, Assault?"

Amber shrugged. "I mean, it'd be nice to have a challenge…"

The rodent-themed Mover shot Amber a glare. "Just because the Author's playing favorites with you doesn't mean that the rest of us can keep up with whatever you think is a challenge nowadays. I mean, did you even break a sweat against the Nine?"

Amber winced. "Sorry."

Mouse sighed. "Never mind. Author, get us back on track?"

"If you're quite done," said Armsmaster, an edge of irritation creeping into his voice, "we're ready to deal with the next item on the agenda. Namely, what shall be done about the Pelhams?"

"I'd suggest sending Hannah," said Amber. "She's got a working relationship with at least Lady Photon, plus she's… well, she's the most level-headed person here with social skills who's still gonna be on-shift and not on Console in time to meet with the Pelhams."

Backhand opened her mouth to object, but Mouse Protector covered her partner's mouth. "Your social skills consist completely of sarcasm and puns."

"Same hat," snarked Amber under her breath.

Backhand stuck her tongue out at Amber, who winked at the Striker.

"Very well, Hannah shall be the one to go to the Pelhams. Given the presence of a hostile human Master in the city who's already been demonstrated to target heroes you need a partner to go out in persona. You have your choice of heroes who are currently on shift and not on console," said Armsmaster.

Hannah tapped her finger against the table in the meeting room, lost in thought for a moment, then nodded once. "I'll be taking Amber with me. She'd be the one who I think is the most effective at handling them if the situation were to go awry."

Amber nodded. "I've got a thing I need to take care of, but it shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes unless something goes really wrong. That sound okay?"

Hannah nodded. "I'll be ready about 20 minutes after the meeting, so you have time."

"Alright. Since that's been dealt with, the meeting is adjourned." Armsmaster stood from his reinforced chair and returned his folded halberd to its spot on his back. "I'll be maintaining my equipment in my lab until Panacea and the Wards get back from their patrol."

Amber hurried out, ducking into a maintenance closet and then a Doorway to Cauldron's base as soon as she had the chance, emerging in a white-walled conference room with only Contessa present. "Hey, Fortuna. What was it that you wanted help with?" Amber tapped her phone through her pocket, referring to the text that the suit-clad Thinker had sent her just before the meeting.

"I… need guidance. What should I put my talent towards in this situation? Cauldron is set against the Fallen, yes, but… I don't know what I can do that the rest of Cauldron isn't doing, and I… I can't ask them, they won't… their advice isn't going to help. The Path said to ask you how to contribute."

Amber pressed their lips together, humming in thought. "I… I can't tell you what you should do. I'm not a strategist, I'm barely even a tactician. But I can tell you a piece of advice I've been told, over the years, if it'll help you manage."

"I… I would appreciate it, yes."

Amber nodded. "In that case, the advice is 'find a gap in the team composition, then fill it as best you can.'"

"I… how does that help me here?"

"Well, think about Cauldron's field presence. Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon all have their gimmicks: immovable object, irresistible force, and infinite versatility. They're all powerful, yes, but they're not all guaranteed to have access to the best solution to the problems, either based on their powers or their mindset."

It only took a moment for Fortuna to twig to what Amber was getting at. "The Path allows me to optimally respond to any situation, no matter what resources I have."

Amber nodded. "Exactly. The Path lets you have the unlimited ability to answer any problem if it is physically solvable, more versatility than Eidolon if you ask for the right path. You can patch over the cracks in the others' approaches and you can act in and of yourself. Honestly, I kinda envy you for that, but that's not a thing you need to worry about."

Fortuna nodded distractedly, eyes locked in the distance. "Thank you for this, Amber."

"No problem, Fortuna." Amber smiled at the power-stunted woman. "Oh, and one more thing: Don't go after Mama Mathers. I'm pretty sure that her power fucks up precognitive Thinker powers and might let her access them."

Fortuna's eyes snapped back to Amber, the calculating surety that seeped into her body language showing her transition back to Contessa. "That… I do not believe that will be an issue for me."

Amber sighed. "You didn't have to do that, Fortuna. You shouldn't have tried, we didn't know if it was safe."

"Your concern is appreciated, Amber, but ultimately unnecessary. I can care for myself."

Amber smiled sadly. "I know you can, it's just… Well, I thought that you'd appreciate someone worrying about Fortuna, rather than Contessa's utility."

The Cauldron cape smiled back. "Thank you for that, Amber. I wish you good luck with the Mathers branch and the capes they've co-opted."

"Thank you, Fortuna. Good luck to you too." Amber returned to the Rig in a flash of quickly-evaporating ceramic shards, and by the time Hannah had made the transition to Miss Militia, Amber had some time to make some progress towards the breakthrough on Steelheart's power that she'd been chasing more or less since she'd figured out that her power was inherent, or so she thought.

"Ready to go?" asked Hannah, power quiescent as a cavalry saber at her side.

"Yup. I'll meet you outside, Militia?"

The Blaster in question nodded, then Amber rose into the air on Legacy's power. "Alright, I'll be flying alongside you."

Twenty five minutes of travel (constrained by Miss Militia's bike's street speed) later saw the two Protectorate capes arriving at the Pelham house, with the two elder Pelhams waiting for them.

"Lady Photon, nice to see you again." Amber shook the hand of New Wave's de facto leader, then moved onto her husband. "Manpower, you as well.

"If only it were under better circumstances," responded Lady Photon. "Shall we take this inside?"

"Lead the way," said Miss Militia.

She did, leading the Protectorate heroes into a sitting room that was similarly decorated to the one that Brandish had led them into recently. When Amber mentioned this, Lady Photon nodded. "We both had Kayden Anders to decorate our houses."

Amber huffed out a breath through her nose at the irony, but nodded. "It looks nice. Very clean." And it did.

"Thank you. But I don't think you came here just to talk about our interior decoration. We've heard about what happened with Carol, is it in conjunction with that?"

Miss Militia nodded. "That's correct. We've narrowed down the introduction of Carol to Mama Mathers to a cape parent support group that both she and Mark joined shortly after Glory Girl's trigger event based on Panacea's observations. Did you…"

Manpower shook his head. "No, we didn't really need to join that group. The kids' powers are close enough to Sarah's for us to handle them."

"Okay, that's good. Next question: did you ever meet a super emaciated woman, frayed white hair, a really hard-lived 30-something?" asked Amber, having seen recent photos of the Master to help them manage her impact.

"Uh… I think I remember saving a woman like that, last year?" Manpower frowned. "Not sure, it happened right around the Boston Games, so my memories of the outside things like that aren't perfect."

Lady Photon frowned. "I remember someone like that too, this past month."

Amber sighed. "Wonderful."

At Lady Photon's blank look, Miss Militia responded. "That was a description of Mama Mathers. Apparently most people who have seen and heard her are vulnerable to her inflicting Valefor's power on them, which-"

"Hannah, Amber, this is Console," came Assault's voice through their earpieces, an uncharacteristic note of worry in his voice.

Amber raised a finger then pressed her com with the other hand. "What's wrong, Assault?"

"Yeah, uh, bad news. Apparently Valefor is also in town, he just grabbed the Wards patrol that had Panacea."

"Mother fuck of a shit." Amber almost didn't recognize the voice was hers. "Which Wards were with her?"

"Grue and Fetch. According to passersby, Fetch was able to resist Valefor's power at least a little and had to be subdued by a number of Mastered bystanders and Grue. Fortunately, we do know where they're holed up."

"Lady Photon," said Miss Militia, "the Fallen just struck again. We'll need to go and deal with the situation, and since you're vulnerable to Valefor's power…"

"Dragon tracked them?" asked Amber.

"You got it. Anyways, we've got locations for them in a Merchant property not far from the docks, and they got loaded into one of Squealer's vehicles, so we've got confirmation that either they've been Mastered, she's been suborned in particular, or they've gone way out there."

"Alright, we'll be there ASAP." Amber turned to the New Wave capes. "Sorry to dash, but we've got to go right now if we want to rescue the Wards and Panacea."

The New Wave adults nodded. "By all means."

Amber flew out the door, picking up Hannah and her bike in a bubble of force field and then rocketing away. One thing occurred to her: "Dammit, Mouse was right."

"About what?" Hannah looked calm, but her weapon's constant shifting betrayed her nerves.

"Assault jinxed us about having to fight a gang."

Hannah barked out a harsh laugh. "There is that. Now get a move on, there's a whole lot of damage that the Merchants could do even to Panacea."

"By your command." The crack of the breaking sound barrier drowned out the tail end of Amber's statement as she pushed even faster to get to the Wards sooner.

Alright, and that's that.

I think we're coming up on the end to the main story of this fic (I'll probably add omakes/sidestory eventually) within the next 5~10 chapters, and I've got a fair few ideas for what I'd write next. I'll probably put together a poll on SB/SV within the next few chapters, so keep an eye out or that coming down the pipeline.

That's it, so read, review, enjoy, and have a nice day.