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Supernova 16.2

"I don't want this. I don't want this. I don't want this." Eidolon—David—mumbled brokenly as he floated after me. I sprinted down the hall, my mind entirely elsewhere.

Dragon, I called mentally. Talk to me. Is Behemoth coming here?

Yes, she said shortly. And not just Behemoth.

What—no. You're kidding.

Carte Blanche must have sent them, she said grimly. All three of them—Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Simurgh. All three Endbringers are headed directly for San Francisco.

You've started evacuating?

Of course, she said. Head for the second-floor conference room. And tell Eidolon to prep a teleporter power. We need all hands on deck, and every Mover we have to bring people.

"David!" I snapped, glancing back. His murmurings stuttered to a stop. "Teleporter power!" I ordered. "Now! We need movers to bring everyone we can find!"

"They're all moving," he moaned. "I can feel them. I should be able to stop them, but I don't know how. I feel like I'm locked out of the controls."

"Very likely you are," I said, coming to a halt and turning around. I grasped him by the shoulder. "You know as well as I do," I growled, "that the Endbringers are not our biggest problem today."

His face was pale as death. "What if you didn't show up," he said desperately. "What if you just went back to Brockton. He doesn't have to realize—doesn't have to notice…"

"He'd notice the Rings of Power," I countered. "We'd have to keep all twenty Ring-Bearers away from the fight. That means no Dragon coordinating, and some of our strongest fighters abandoning northern California entirely. And besides—you know I can't do that. I have to fight." I put my hands on the sides of his head and looked into his eyes. "We're ready," I said softly. "It's time. We can do this."

He visibly steadied himself. "Okay," he said. His jaw set. "Okay. I'll start bringing people in."

I nodded, and he vanished in a burst of green fire. Before the light had even faded I was turning towards the elevator.

Everyone who had fought the Slaughterhouse Nine was already in the conference room when I arrived. Alec and Jess were mingling with the local San Francisco heroes, with whom I hadn't had much chance to speak. Sophia met my eyes across the table, her hand gently resting on Riley's shoulder. Colin was huddled together with Dragon's primary body, speaking in low voices. Most eyes were red with sleep and wide with panic, other than my Ring-Bearers'.

As I entered, all eyes turned to me. The first person I talked to was Riley. "Are you sure you want to be here for this one?" I asked her. "You haven't even had a chance to get a good night's sleep yet."

She nodded firmly. She had changed out of her Bonesaw costume, and now wore oversized civilian clothes from the PRT's emergency stash. Her freshly-washed hair was now pulled back in a ponytail. She wasn't unrecognizable, but she wasn't obvious, either. "I want to help," she said simply. "I won't be able to do much fighting, not without more time to Tinker, but I can heal. I can help."

I nodded. "Thank you," I whispered before looking at the rest of the group. "This isn't going to be an ordinary Endbringer fight," I said. "We'll save the full briefing for after more capes arrive, but for now: all three Endbringers are headed for the city right now. And they're not even the biggest problem."

A dozen faces paled. After a moment's pause, half a dozen voices spoke up at once.

I raised a hand for order. "We have to stay calm," I said. "If we fall apart, we do the enemy's job for them. One at a time, and only a few questions now." I pointed at one local hero—Thunderclast. "You first."

"We need to evacuate," said Thunderclast in her crisp, vaguely accented voice.

"Already begun," said Dragon immediately, then in my head, Contessa has pulled out all the stops.

"Excellent," I said. I pointed at Piston, the Tinker Mannequin had nominated. "What was your question?"

"You said that the Endbringers weren't the biggest problem," he said, voice shaking slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I took a deep breath. "It—

"—would take too long to explain now," Fortuna said in perfect English. I turned to see a window in space appearing beside me. She stepped out, suit impeccably clean, fedora tilted slightly atop her head.

"Who are you?" asked another Eminent hero, Rumbler, sharply, and I noticed that many of them had taken combat stances when Fortuna appeared.

"I am Contessa," said Fortuna evenly. "Time is short, so I will explain what I can and take no questions. I am the most powerful thinker and precognitive on the planet, and today may be the end of the world. I have been working with a small group of powerful capes to try and prevent or prepare for this day for thirty years. We failed the former. It remains to be seen if we have managed the latter."

"The—what?'" asked Rumbler, eyes narrowed.

Contessa ignored him. "More will be explained once the rest of the Triumvirate arrive," she said. "For now: Eminent heroes, please assist with the evacuation. Wards and Protectorate, please assist Dragon and Mairȅ in preparing rally points for the arrival of reinforcements. I will go to Watchdog headquarters and begin debriefing the Thinkers there."

"Why should we follow your orders?" Thunderclast asked accusingly.

Contessa opened her mouth to reply, but I touched her arm to forestall her. "Eidolon, Dragon, and I all know and trust her," I said. "We'll explain more at the full briefing. Is that good enough for now?"

Thunderclast grimaced, but didn't argue.

I looked around at all of the assembled capes. "I don't think there will be a minimum safe distance by the end of today," I said. "I think, by the time the sun sets, that everyone will be a part of this battle, whether they like it or not. But no one is going to make any of you run towards it. No one will blame you if you try to hole up somewhere and weather the storm once it reaches you. So…" I spread my arms. "If you're ready to face the greatest danger that's ever threatened this world, stay here. If you'd rather hold out somewhere else, I'm sure a Mover will be willing to take you along on an outbound trip. Find a ride, bunker down. Get some sleep, while you still can."

Not a single hero moved. In the silence, I suddenly noticed just how loud the early morning city outside the building had become. Sirens were blaring, people were shouting, cars were honking. The city was positively writhing with activity as Cauldron and Dragon evacuated its civilians.

Fortuna turned to me and spoke in fluid Italian. "We are evacuating everyone we can," she said quietly. "Not just from here—from around the world. The hope is to distribute the population of Earth Bet across as many worlds as possible, to buy ourselves time."

I nodded. "Keep it up," I replied in the same language. "Get Dragon's assistance with the transportation."

"I'm already working on it," Dragon cut in, also in Italian.

"I will take Manton to our base," said Fortuna. "After that, I will start coordinating Doormaker's efforts as a Mover. I'll be back here in time for the fight."

I nodded, giving her a hard look. "We can do this," I said in English. "We will do this."

She met my eyes and smiled tightly. "I know," she said. "I have faith. Door to William Manton!" And with a step she vanished.

"Piston," called Colin sharply. "Come with me. We need to get Tinkertech artillery set up across the bay."

With that, the group came apart in clumps. The next few minutes were frantic. One by one, I saw the other Ring-Bearers trickling in from their postings across the country. I helped Dragon set up a briefing area in a large conference hall, complete with monitors to show the positions of all three Endbringers and two massive bins of monitoring bracers. I helped Amy and Riley set up a medical outpost in the nearest hospital, the patients of which were in the process of being evacuated.

Capes were arriving in a veritable flood now, heroes, villains, and rogues alike. I finally found myself momentarily without anything to do, and Sophia was beside me when I did.

She stepped in close and wrapped one arm around my waist. I put mine over her shoulders. We watched as Dragon calibrated the Endbringer monitoring screens. For now they showed very little—only the receding waters of the Pacific in preparation for a tidal wave, a faint rumbling of the Rockies in the distance, and the golden dawn-lit sky, empty for now. Soon, I knew, we would see more.

"Not all of us are going to make it out of this," Sophia whispered, so softly that I felt the words vibrating in her chest more than hearing them aloud. "Are we?"

"Probably not," I admitted, just as quietly.

"I haven't been scared in a while," she said. "Even against the Nine, and Sleeper, and the Blasphemies, I wasn't scared. I knew we'd get through it. But this… This, I don't know."

"Nor do I," I breathed.

Her head tilted up, mine down. Our eyes met. Hers hardened suddenly. "No," she said. "No, we're getting through this. I'm not—I haven't come so far, gone through so much, to lose you after only being together for six weeks. Fuck that."

I smiled, feeling heartened by her courage. "I promise to come back if you do," I said.

"Right back at you," she said.

We kissed, soft and deep. It didn't last long enough.

"I probably don't have to tell you," Legend said grimly, "that this is going to be the single hardest fight in cape history."

We were assembled in a conference center in the south part of the city. Hundreds, maybe thousands of capes, solemn and tense as they listened to the briefing. I stood onstage between Sophia and Fortuna, near the back, watching Legend pace as he tried to motivate our makeshift army. Dragon and Colin were onstage as well, opposite us, and David hovered over us beside Alexandria. The other Ring-Bearers were all assembled in the front two rows.

I remembered a similar gathering before the battle with Leviathan in Brockton Bay. It seemed like a lifetime ago. This gathering was a little more haphazard, with capes mingled together without regard for keeping teams together or even keeping heroes and villains separate, and yet no one seemed to be worried about that. Everyone was focused on the fight ahead. It made a surge of pride rise up in me. The real test would be the coming battle, but every one of these capes had put aside their grudges, issues, and fears in order to present a united front in the face of this threat. It was humbling.

"In the interests of making sure no one is surprised," said Legend, glancing at Fortuna, "there's a bit more we have to go over." He cleared his throat, visibly hesitant. "For the past thirty years, a small group of people have been aware of a threat to our entire world. A threat to human survival. All our Thinkers, including the only known Thinker 14 in the world, are in agreement—that threat is going to be realized today."

There was a sharp intake of breath all around the room. I saw a few faces twist, and a few mouths open to shout questions, but Legend continued before they could break the flow of his speech.

"I wish I had time to explain why this isn't already public information," he said. "But I don't—I barely have time to go over what everyone needs to know immediately. Here's the basics—the threat is Scion, the first parahuman. He is expected to appear at this battle, and when he does, he will become hostile."

"Why would Scion attack us?" shouted a cape near the back, cutting into the heartbeat when Legend took a breath.

"What's this 'small group'?" called another. "Do they have anything to do with the portals evacuating people back home?"

"It's the Death Merchants, isn't it?" someone accused. "The people who sell powers!"

Several voices exclaimed confusion and shock at that, rippling through the group.

"We don't have time for this!" said Legend forcefully, but he was being increasingly drowned out by the group. "It would take too long to—"

I stepped forward, raising my hand and streaming light from my armor and the Ring on my finger, demanding the attention of everyone in the room. The hall rapidly quieted. "Zion is a farmer," I said, my voice penetrating the entire hall in the sudden stillness. "He has spent thirty years seeding our world, and today he will attempt to reap. The seeds are powers, and we are the harvest."

Fortuna stepped up beside me, taking advantage of the opening I had created. "I am the aforementioned Thinker 14," she said in clear English. "To explain briefly, Zion is a member of an alien species we have codenamed 'Entities.' These creatures wander the multiverse, finding worlds inhabited by sapient life, then seed those worlds with powers. They allow these powers to spread through the population, gathering data on the way they are used. Then, after an indeterminate period of time, they retrieve their powers and detonate all inhabited versions of the planet throughout the entire multiverse, using the energy of the explosion to propel themselves to their next target."

"That's insane!" shouted someone.

"It is also true," I snapped at them. "Contessa and her group, Cauldron, have been preparing for this since the day Zion first arrived on our world. Yes, they are the people who sell powers, and they've done more and worse. No, I do not condone or approve of everything they have done. But this is an Endbringer truce, and today they are here, just like everyone else, to fight for our survival. For as long as that truce stands, we must work together. They can be held to account later, same as any other villain. For now, we have work to do!"

A dissatisfied muttering spread throughout the crowd, but it settled without further complaint. I took a deep breath and continued.

"The Entities are parasites," I said. "They harvest mortals for their imagination, their ability to use their powers intelligently and intuitively. That is why they give us these abilities in the first place. However—not all is lost. Normally, there are two Entities working in concert. Zion's mate, Eden, was destroyed by Cauldron upon her arrival in 1981. He is alone, friendless, and lacking in motivation or intelligence. He can be beaten."

"Mairë, who some of you know by her former moniker as Annatar, has some insight into the Entities," said Legend. "When Scion appears, she will be the tip of the spear in our defenses. Until such time as he does, we will be operating to hold back the Endbringers in nine teams—three apiece per Endbringer. Many of you will be familiar with the strategy—for each Endbringer, we will have a frontline defense team, a search-and-rescue team, and a blaster/artillery line for long-range assaults. There is additional complexity introduced by having the Simurgh and Behemoth here, both of which have particular restrictions on how long it is possible to stay within certain ranges of them. Rather than give everyone a crash course in the rules of engagement for all three Endbringers, we will split into teams first and give a full explanation only of the Endbringer you will be fighting. Notifications and instructions regarding the activity of the other two will be delivered by Dragon's armbands."

Dragon stepped forward now. "Additionally," she put in, "since I was unshackled from my hard-coded restrictions a couple months ago, I have been able to enhance my processing abilities significantly. Rather than giving every single person in this fight a feed regarding every single death and incapacitation, I will only be feeding you information regarding the total number of deaths, and specific notifications for capes you know personally, or that come from the same city or territory as you. It will significantly decrease distractions."

"Thank you, Dragon," said Legend, nodding at her. "Now, to split up in teams. If you think you can take a hit from an Endbringer, even if it's only one, please form up in front of Alexandria. If you think you can do some damage at range, form up in front of Eidolon. If you think you'll serve best in a supporting role, come to me. We'll split the groups up by Endbringers." He looked at Fortuna. "Contessa, how long do we have?"

"Leviathan will be arriving first," she said immediately. "If he does not change course or increase his speed, we have thirty minutes until he arrives."

Legend nodded. "Good. That should be enough time to organize." He turned back to the crowd. "It probably goes without saying," he said, "but I am honored and proud to fight beside each and every one of you."

The crowd still did not look entirely content or satisfied, but we had weathered the worst of their displeasure. Anger had given way to nerves and fear—and yet, in the face of that fear, not a single cape fled.

My lips twitched. I looked down, and softly began to sing to myself in the old Rohirric language of the plains.

"Where now the horse and the rider…?"

As of now, the entire remainder of the story has been drafted. Final chapter count is 152, with the final chapter being Constellation E.5.