A/N: Whelp, somehow we survived 2019. Chap 23 review responses are in my forums as normal.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Wrath of a Titan

The woman in blue was smirking when she returned. "So, decided to put the big girl pants on?"

Taylor felt her cheeks burn and felt glad that her visor, similar to Alexandria's, hid her face so well. There were five other capes that were joining them, not to mention their means of transport. Aside from the blue-clad cape, three appeared to be brutes, and the fifth was an attractive young woman who reminded Taylor of an African-American Glory Girl, complete with the white skirt. Her hair was hidden inside a stylish white and violet back-swept helmet.

The man in the blue and black uniform with a strange derby cap proved to be their transportation. He stood an inch taller than Alexandria, who at six feet was tall for a woman. His was a lanky, gawky height, however, all joints and limbs from a skinny body. He motioned for Alexandria and Taylor to fall into the group.

"Okay, ladies and gents, fasten your seatbelts. Remember, this is a non-puking flight."

Having never been teleported, Taylor wasn't sure what to expect. With an ear-splitting crack, they were somewhere else. Taylor's Force connection to the world around her was suddenly and violently rent apart, only to come rushing back in like a tsunami. She stumbled away from the assembled capes, fell to her padded knees and hands, and was promptly sick. She barely even felt the rain pouring down around her.

"Really, Alexandria, do you honestly think she can contribute!" The blue-clad fur girl's condescension was lost in the piercing ring of Endbringer sirens.

"Rime, we're about to enter a fight with an Enbringer who kills a full quarter of all capes that go against it," Alexandria said with just a hint of rebuke. "Do you really want to piss of the healer?"

The Glory-Girl styled brute walked over and casually lifted Taylor off the ground as if she weighed only a few ounces. "You okay?"

Taylor nodded. "Power interaction. Don't like teleporting."

"It's cool. Names' Mujaji. I bring the thunder."

"Quintessence. Nice to meet you."

The two followed behind Alexandria. "You're the one that took down Overmind, right?"

"Yeah."

"Just gotta say, that took some guts, testifying for her."

"I…" Taylor forced a smile. "Thanks. Good luck. I'm a healer, so don't take this the wrong way. I hope I don't have to see you during the fight."

Mujaji laughed. "You and me both, sister."

The words might have been casual in nature, but they had to shout at each over the rain and the Endbringer sirens. Taylor found herself glancing across the familiar skyline of the city she was born and raised in.

Ahead of them, Alexandria led her team purposefully toward a non-descript brown-brick building that Taylor recognized from the edge of down town Brockton Bay. It wasn't the PRT headquarters building, though.

A sharp, loud crack like a gunshot caused Taylor to look behind her, where another group had appeared out of nowhere. This group looked like teens, all dressed in brighter costumes. Ward volunteers, then. They were led by a shirtless figure who looked like a muscled Adonis, but one made entirely of metal. The derby-hat teleporter gave them a casual salute before disappearing again.

The perfectly sculpted image of the metal Ward was ruined by what looked like a fork sticking out of a ridge of shoulder muscle near his neck, and a few partial sections of a chain link fence fused to his opposite shoulder.

Alexandria never slowed, nor did anyone in her group, so Taylor and Mujaji both had to rush a little to catch up. The two followed the other heroes into a large, low-ceiling room filled with more capes than Taylor had ever seen before.

Her head throbbed with the power in the room; with the palpable fear and anxiety. She desperately looked for any face that was friendly. She was surprised to see Gasconade standing at the far side of the room. He looked bored. Narwhal was there, with Mouse Protector. They were talking to Chevalier and Armsmaster, and all four looked up and nodded to her, blissfully unaware that she was the one that killed their mutual best friend.

"So, you out of Seattle?"

That was Mujaji again. Taylor tore her eyes away from capes whose names she grew up listening to and concentrated on her companion. "Yeah. You?"

"San Diego. Just joined the Wards a few months ago. You know they have a scholarship program?"

Ward. "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

Mujaji's smile dimmed a little. "I'm almost seventeen. What of it?"

The cape sounded challenging, but Taylor could both hear and sense the fear underlaying the words.

"I'll be sixteen in a few months myself," Taylor said softly. "And I don't know about you, but I'm scared shitless. I want to be here, and I think I can help with the healing, but I'm fucking scared out of my mind right now."

The challenging look melted right out of the other teenaged cape. "You and me both, sister. So, fifteen, huh?"

Taylor nodded.

"You know any of these other capes? I'm the only one from my team who came. I mean, I know it's a truce and shit, but we both know some people are better in a truce than others."

"True." Taylor took the other girl's elbow and subtly pointed her toward the corner where the Empire 88 gathered. "San Diego has a chapter of the Sons of the Republic, right?"

Mujaji snorted. "Yeah."

"Those guys over there make the SOR look like girl scouts. That's the Empire 88. Kaiser is a ferrokinetic. He doesn't just control metal, he came make it from scratch. Those two barbies at his side? Fenja and Menja, changers. They can get as big as Leviathan. The guy with the bare chest? That's Hookwolf. He could take Grizzly apart."

"Too bad he's a fucking racist, boy has some meat on his bones."

And because she said it, now Taylor realized that Hookwolf really did look like a 50s era model, with the broad, slightly hairy chest rippling with muscles.

"You know, I was doing just find before you said that," she muttered.

Mujaji's snorting laughter didn't sound remorseful at all. "And here I was thinking you were batting for the home team only."

"I'm in a relationship, I'm not blind," Taylor muttered.

That actually made Mujaji laugh harder. "Don't know, that little girlfriend of yours didn't take kindly to you coming."

"Long story."

"Oh, who's that hottie over there with the blue hair? Standing next to the sasquatch and the barbie doll?"

This time Taylor couldn't swallow her snorting laughter. She was pointing at New Wave. "Blue hair is…Shielder. Barbie is his cousin Glory Girl. Sasquatch is Shielder's dad, Manpower."

"Manpower?" Mujaji assumed a thoughtful pose, rubbing her cheek. "I could see it. Man like that has to be hung like a…"

"Please don't finish that sentence about my husband."

Mujaji actually squeaked as she and Taylor spun about to face Sarah Pelham, the leader of Brockton Bay' New Wave. She was tall, blonde, athletically fit for a woman in her forties, and beautiful in a way to grace magazine covers.

"Photon Mom!" Taylor blurted. "I mean, Lady Photon!"

"Was there a reason you were checking out my son?" Lady Photon said.

"Um, yes," Mujaji said. She grinned. "First, he's mighty cute. Second, I'm a Ward and Quintessence here is my age, and this is our first Endbringer fight. I was trying to take her mind off shit with some eye candy."

"In that case, Legend is over there if you like more seasoned gentlemen, and Aegis is there with the local Wards."

Taylor's jaw dropped. Mujaji laughed uproariously. Then she actually looked. "Shit, you ain't joking. Aegis, huh? You know if he's seeing anyone?"

Lady Photon laughed softly, but then studied Taylor. "Quintessence, then? Alexandria mentioned she was going to try to get you to come. I was sorry not to see you at Canberra, I know Panacea very much wanted to talk to you."

"She does?"

"To my knowledge, you're the only healer in the country whose commercialized your power," Lady Photon noted. "The articles I read in Parahuman Weekly seemed to hint you were doing quite well for yourself, even if you refused interviews."

"I'm in Parahuman Weekly?"

"Well look at you, girl!" Mujaji said. "I'm rubbing shoulders with important people now. Can I get your autograph? Oh, I know. Why don't we go talk to this Panacea. And I can meet Shielder."

"He's only fifteen," Lady Photon said.

Mujaji bloomed into a near blinding smile. "Perfect."

"He doesn't even have a driver's license yet."

"That's okay." Mujaji's voice dropped down a full octave. "I can fly."

Lady Photon shook her head and grinned. "Come on, girls. If nothing else, Quintessence, you'll be working with Panacea. It'll be good for you to meet."

"So, is the no-mask thing common?" Mujaji asked. "You guys get outed?"

Lady Photon shook her head. "New Wave tried to start a movement to do away with secret identities. We unmasked, hoping it would lead to better accountability. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Taylor knew all about New Wave's famous public outing, and then the murder of their member Fleur not long after. But her estimation of her new friend went up by a factor of ten when Mujaji understood just from Lady Photon's tone not to ask about it.

The rest of New Wave had folding chairs and formed a little family circle. Taylor recognized them all, of course, but had to pretend she didn't. So when Lady Photon introduced them all, she made a show of acting surprised.

The funny thing was when Glory Girl stood up to shake Mujaji's hand.

"Oh my God I love your helmet!" Glory Girl gushed.

"Is that a real diamond in that Tiara?"

"How do you keep your skirt down?"

"Biker shorts, so it doesn't matter."

"Oh my God, me too!"

Like her mother and aunt, Glory Girl was blonde, buxom and magazine-cover beautiful. Standing as she was next to Mujaji, who was also buxom and beautiful, with the most flawless skin Taylor had ever seen, it was enough to make a girl feel inadequate.

Glory Girl's sister looked exactly how Taylor felt. She wore a heavy white robe with the same star motif as the rest of New Wave, but with the addition of a red cross on the front of it. Where Glory Girl had a tapered chin and strong Nordic brows, Panacea's face was round and somewhat flat, with her curly brown hair giving her a more Mediterranean look.

Even if she didn't know Panacea was adopted, she could have guess.

Lady Photon snorted again. "Quintessence, Panacea. Panacea, Quintessence, out of Seattle."

Taylor took her hand. "And honor to meet you," she said.

Panacea frowned briefly at the contact of their hands before pulling back. "Yeah, you too. So, you run your own clinic, huh? How much do you charge?"

"Sliding scale," Taylor said. "Base rate of $200 with no upper limit."

Taylor recognized Panacea's mother just from her similarity to Lady Photon. Brandish wore her hair in a short bob, but otherwise she looked very similar to Lady Photon, if only a little heavier. She was also frowning intently.

"You're the healer who charges?" The tone sounded challenging. Beside her, Panacea rolled her eyes. "You know, these powers are a gift. A hero should never charge for helping people."

"You may be right, ma'am," Taylor said with a respectful nod she did not feel. "I'm not a hero. I'm a Rogue. I'm also an orphan. I don't have parents to take care of me, I have to do it myself. I suppose as a young parahuman I could have joined a gang or started robbing people. That seems to be what most do. I chose to use my power to make a comfortable living while helping people."

The older cape gaped a moment. Lady Photon stepped in to save the moment. "Well said, Quintessence. I would much rather see a young cape using their powers productively than not."

At the head of the room, Taylor could see Legend talking with Alexandria and Armsmaster. Though Alexandria was one of the founders of the Protectorate, Legend served as the actual leader of the organization as a whole. He sported a thick but skintight blue costume with a design in white that fell somewhere between flame and electricity in style.

"So, you're a Ward," Taylor heard Glory Girl say. "You ever meet Legend?"

"Yeah," Mujaji said. "My ceremony was in New York. He's gorgeous, isn't he? Too bad he's off the market. And old."

Since she'd seen two of the three leaders of the Protectorate, Taylor looked for the third. She found Eidolon behind one of the television sets that lined the far side of the room. He stood with his hands behind his cape, staring out a window. Like Legend, his costume was made of a thick material that clung tightly to his form. Over it he wore a voluminous hood, cape and sleeves that draped down to the floor, and which at the moment was bunched behind his clasped hands. The interior of the hood and sleeves wasn't shadowy, but illuminated with a soft green light, though Taylor knew this from publicity photos since from her angle she couldn't see him well.

Alexandria was fast, strong and almost invulnerable. Taylor knew from personal experience the woman was a powerful Thinker as well. Legend could travel almost at the speed of light, and was considered a flying laser artillery. He could make his lasers bend around corners, and could use them both to burn and freeze.

But Eidolon? Eidolon had all powers, even if he could only use three at a time. Short of Scion himself, Eidolon was the most powerful single cape in the world with the possible exception of the insane, soul-reaping Fairy Queen who currently spent her days in the Birdcage.

Capes were still coming in when Armsmaster and Legend made their way to the center of the room. Once in position to speak, Legend cleared his throat. His voice in some way reminded Taylor of stage actor. He had everyone's attention at the first word.

"We owe thanks to Dragon and Armsmaster for their early alert. We've had time to gather, and that means we have just a few more minutes to prepare and brief for Leviathan's arrival, instead of jumping straight into the fray as we arrive. With this advantage, some luck, teamwork and hard effort from everyone, I hold out hope that this could be one of the good days."

"But you should know your chances going in. Given the statistics from our previous encounters with this beast, a 'good day' still means that one in four of the people in this room will probably be dead before this day is done. If anything can be said to be going our way, it's the fact that we have at least three very powerful healers on hand. That's more hope than we normally have."

Taylor's knees shook when he nodded toward her and Panacea. She guessed he was talking about the Empire's Othala as the third.

He continued on, making sure to look around at every part of the room. "I'm telling you your chances now because you deserve to know, and we so rarely get the chance to inform those individuals brave enough to step up and fight these monsters. The primary message I want to convey, even more than briefing you on the particulars of his abilities, organizing formations and battle plans, is that I do not want you to underestimate Leviathan. I have seen too many good heroes and villains, too, die because they let their guard down."

Beyond the windows that Eidolon continued to look out of, the storm clouds that heralded the approach of the Endbringer had reached the beach, and torrential rain stirred the water into a froth. Torrents of water abruptly started pounding against the windows.

Legend acknowledge the torrent with a nod, but continued his briefing. He described Leviathan's physical strength and almost impossible toughness. He warned them repeatedly about the Endbringer's cunning and his water "echo" that he used to crush or even cut opposing capes.

"Newfoundland," Legend told them, reminding them of the worst of Leviathan's attacks. "May ninth, 2005. Nearly half a million dead. The Canadian island simply gone, after the shelf of land holding it up cracked in the face of what we now understand were incredible pressures beneath the water level.

"Kyushu, the night of November second and the morning of the third, 1999. His sixth appearance. Nine and a half million killed when the region was swamped with tidal waves from every direction while Leviathan disrupted prearranged evacuation attempts. Nearly three million evacuees rendered homeless, a nation sundered.

"These were errors, grave mistakes from defending heroes. We had but one strategy at the time – to hem him in, minimizing the effects of growing waves and casualties until Leviathan was beaten into a retreat or Scion arrived. These areas, however, were too vulnerable. Waiting let Leviathan build up the strength of his attacks, and we lost."

He paused. "We have since classified the locations the Endbringers target as either hard targets or soft targets. The hard battlefields are where we stand our ground, buy time, wear him down. The soft ones are locations where we cannot afford to do this."

The television screen showed a cross section of Brockton Bay as seen from ground level. The West end of the city was bordered by hills, and the terrain sloped gradually from the base of the mountain down to the water. Directly below the image of the buildings that marked the city's location, there was a large cavern, bordered by rock on all sides except the part nearest the beach, which was sand. It was marked blue – filled with water.

"Brockton Bay, this location, is a soft target. The city was originally founded at this location because of the proximity to the coastline for trade routes and an aquifer that provided the first settlers with access to fresh water. This aquifer, essentially an underground lake beneath the city, is our weak point. From the moment Leviathan shows himself, we expect he will stir and manipulate this underground reservoir to erode the surrounding sand, silt and rock. Add the tidal waves from above, with the resulting tremors and impacts…"

The briefing continued, while behind them the windows rattled with the coming storm.

When Legend finished his not-even-remotely peppy pep-talk, he turned to Armsmaster who took over the briefing. "The Wards are handing out armbands of Dragon's design. These are adjustable to slide over your arm and should be tightened around your wrist. The screen on the top of the armband notes your position on a grid, as well as Leviathan's last updated location. Use this. You'll also note there are two buttons. The button to the left lets you send messages to everyone else wearing an armband. It will not, unless you are a member of the Protectorate or otherwise a veteran of these fights, directly communicate what you say to everyone else wearing an armband. Dragon has a program screening messages and passing them on through the network based on priority, to cut down on unnecessary chatter that could distract from crucial information. If you must bypass this three to five second delay, speak the words 'Hard Override' before conveying your message. Abuse of this feature will lose you the ability to send any further messages."

"The second button is a ping. Use it in the case of an emergency, to alert others if you are in danger or hurt. If it is not an emergency, but you want assistance, such as a flier to get you to another vantage point or you see an opportunity to turn the tables, press both buttons, tell the armband what you want. Dragon's program will prioritize your needs, with assistance being directed your way if others are not occupied with more pressing matters. The armband tracks your condition and will automatically send a ping if you are badly injured or unconscious."

Legend called out, "Capes! If you have faced an Endbringer before, stand!"

A surprising number of the capes stood, but even more remained seated.

"When in doubt, follow the orders of the Protectorate first! We have trained, organized and planned for this! The others who are standing, now, are the ones you listen to if we aren't contradicting their order! They have been through situations much like this, you go with their instincts!

"We are splitting you into groups based on your abilities! If you are confident you can take a hit from Leviathan and get up afterwards, or if you have the ability to produce expendable combatants, we need you on the front line! You will be directed by Alexandria and Dragon!"

"Armsmaster and Chevalier will be leading the hand to hand combatants who do not fit in Alexandria's group! Anyone who thinks they can harm or hamper Leviathan in close quarters, you'll be assisting and reinforcing the front line!"

"That's me, I'm afraid," Brandish said. She gripped Taylor's shoulder briefly before kissing her husband and hugging her girls. "Be safe, all of you." She left the group to join Arsmamster and several other local heroes and villains, while Glory Girl made her way to Alexandria's group.

The boy with the metal skin appeared to Taylor's left. "Quintessence, right? I read about you. I'm Weld. Good luck." He handed her the armband Armsmaster spoke of before moving away to hand out more. Taylor set it up with her cape name.

Meanwhile, Legend was still organizing the groups. "-forcefields, telekinesis, whatever your power, if you can interrupt Leviathan's movements or help reduce the impacts of the waves, you're the backup defense! Bastion will direct you!"

This led to Lady Photon, Laserdream and Shielder breaking off from New Wave.

"Movers! We need fliers, teleporters, runners! You'll be responding to pings! Rescue the fallen, get them to emergency care, assist any others where needed! Myrddin will give you your orders!

"Long ranged attackers, with me! If you fall in more than one category, go with the group where you think you'll be the greatest assistance!"

"That's me," Mujaji said.

She turned to go, but Taylor reached over and grabbed her hand. "When this is over, come visit me," Taylor said. "I know a lady who makes the best chimichangas in the world."

Mujaji grinned. "You know it. Good luck, Quintessence."'

"You yoo, Mujaji."

She watched as her new friend walked away. Staring after the young cape, Taylor was suddenly struck by an overwhelming sense of danger from the Force. She turned to see Panacea flanked by her father Flashbang on one side, and her Uncle Manpower on the other. "We need to get to the hospital or wherever now," Taylor said. "Leviathan's about to target this building."

The three remaining members of New Wave didn't even question her. Manpower gathered Panacea up in his arms as if she were a baby and started rushing toward the street-side entrance.

Taylor pressed down the two buttons on her bracelet. "This is Quintessence, healer and…um, pre-cog. Leviathan is about to target this building. Evacuate now!"

At the front, Legend's speech was abruptly interrupted. Seconds later, Taylor's voice echoed through the room, borne by all the arm bands. "You heard the pre-cog," Legend called. "Let's move! Strider, start getting people in position!"

Taylor didn't linger to listen, she followed after Manpower and Flashbang. Outside, the streets were already covered in a foot of water and the rain fell with such intensity it was difficult even to breathe. She could barely make out Manpower plowing easily through the flood with his brother-in-law struggling to keep up.

Taylor gathered the Force and shot after them. After a few steps, her feet didn't even sink into the water as she quickly caught up to the remainder of New Wave. However, after a few more blocks Lady Photon and Glory Girl arrived.

"Neil, let Vicky take Amy!" the leader of New Wave said as she flew right in front of them. "Quintessence, may I carry you to the hospital?"

Taylor grinned weakly and wiped away the rain. "Absolutely!"

By the time they reached the hospital, even flying, Taylor's armband began chiming the names of the fallen. "Carapacitator down, CD-5. Krieg down, CD-5. WCM deceased, CD-5. Iron Falcon down, CD-5. Saurian down, CD-5…"

The hospital staff waited anxiously for the arrival of the healers. Othala was already there, clad in a skin-tight red body suit that seemed to shout to Taylor, "My figure's better than yours." Which, sadly, was not saying much. Despite her villainous colors and an eye-patch with a Nordic rune on it that made her look like a cartoon villain, she was already talking to a pair of nurses regarding getting the triage set up.

Taylor walked toward them as well, while Panacea simply moved to a corner of the spacious lobby of the hospital. Othala turned to look at Taylor mask, her one blue eye widening behind her featureless white mask.

"You're Quintessence," the Empire cape said. "Read about you in Parahuman Weekly. Glad to have you here."

Taylor just didn't know what to say to that, so she pretended she wasn't talking to a one-eyed Bond-girl Nazi. "I have a Thinker rating with my power. I can handle triage. My healing is slower than Panacea's and yours, but more versatile. I can also stabilize patients for later healing if necessary."

A doctor stepped forward from the line. "What's your specialty?"

"My PRT healer's license lists me at a 6 on the Manton-Andon scale for non-invasive regenerative healing. And we're about to get patients, so we need to be ready."

The doctor, whose name tag Taylor couldn't see, but who thought of himself as Shamir, started to demand how she knew, only for the doors to bang open and the first casualties to come rushing in.

In the rush of bodies; of people hurting or on the verge of death or sadly sometimes far beyond that threshold, Taylor lost all track of time or sense of self. She stood at the door with a bevy of nurses and three bags of tags. They kept the system simple—black was dead or as good as. Red meant rushing to Panacea or Othala. Yellow meant they could wait and green meant they'd be fine without immediate intervention.

None of the capes who came in were green, and only a handful were yellow. Most were red, or black.

After each rush of patients were evacuated from the battle lines, Taylor went among the tables stabilizing all the reds until Panacea or Othala could get to them. The rest of the medical staff took care of the yellows and greens. The hospital staff moved with smooth efficiency as they transported resolved or pending patients out of the lobby and brought the new ones in in a constant, seemingly endless conveyer belt of pain and misery.

Over everything Taylor felt a constant thrum of danger and terror from the city around her, and the capes fighting to save it. The rain battered the hospital so hard the glass doors sounded like they were about to shatter.

The most powerful of the capes in the city exuded a grim, hopeless determination. No one thought they could truly kill Leviathan—they simply hoped to hold him back until Scion arrived. The problem was that Scion, for all his power, appeared to be idiotic, almost to the level of severe malfunction. He'd only said one word since he first appeared and heralded in the age of capes, and was known to spend his time saving kittens in trees while Endbringers burned cities down. The Triumvirate prayed for Scion's arrival, but none of them could actually count on it.

Abruptly Taylor's armband beeped at her. "Be advised we have lost sight of Leviathan."

More capes came in. Taylor sucked in a breath when she saw three members of New Wave among them. Flashbang, Panacea's father, was bleeding from a terrible rent down his torso and from a massive gash in his head. Shielder's entire left shoulder was gone in a terrifyingly precise cut, as if a giant scalpel had removed it.

Laserdream had no legs.

Taylor poured Force energy into Shielder and threw red tags at the other two. "Get them to Panacea, highest priority!"

She didn't have to shout; the nurses were already moving. Taylor herself escorted Shielder as she continuing pouring Force energy into his body in an effort to keep him alive. When she reached the other healer, Panacea was staring in horror at her father. "I can't…I can't…"

"Amy!" Taylor shouted her name, causing her to whip her head around and stare. "My power is slower, but I can heal brains. Just keep them alive! Hurry!"

She'd done all she could for Shielder; unfortunately, more bodies were coming in as capes took advantage of the lull in the fighting to do search and rescue. She didn't even think twice about stabilizing Narwhal when she came in—she was just another body in need of healing.

"All units be advised. Leviathan sighted DA-7. Repeat, Leviathan sighted DA-7. Evacuate triage site immediately!"

"What…" The words didn't make sense. Taylor hadn't been fighting, so she wasn't sure what the grid coordinates were. Not until the entire building began to shake. The hospital was set on a hill a mile inland, which was why they considered it safe. Even during the worst hurricanes in the city's history, Brockton Memorial never flooded.

Until now. Water burst into the door for just a second until abruptly it turned into a cloud of vapor that spun around until it flew into a point at the tip of a wooden staff held by a bearded man in a burlap robe. Myrrdin and Eidolon stood side by side at the entrance of the hospital, one of them vaporizing the water while the other sucked the vapor away. Beyond them, standing in the flooded parking lot of the hospital, stood Leviathan.

The Force went flat in Taylor's mind, like a heart monitor on a dead patient. Through the heavy downpour Taylor could see the monstrous silhouette rising thirty feet above the crushed, obliterated cars of the hospital staff. He stood on digitigrade feet, with hugely, inhumanly muscled shoulders, neck and torso. The proportions of his muscles were simply wrong.

His calves and forearms seemed too long for his height, his clawed fingers and digitigrade feet doubly so. He swayed back and forth on the parking lot, and as he did so hundreds of tons of water casually swayed with him, slamming into any of the grounded capes who were even then trying to catch up to him. His tail swayed above him, easily twice the length of his body and flicking like a whip.

Rivers of water poured around him in the wake of his movements, roughly the same amount of mass as the body part that had just occupied the space. This 'afterimage' streamed down him and splashed violently against the water he waded through.

Behind Taylor, hospital staff and patients alike were screaming as they tried to evacuate, but she didn't need the Force to know they could not outrun this creature. This…

Leviathan has no Force presence. Leviathan did not feel like a living thing at all. Rather, he felt like a machine, though one so far beyond Taylor's understanding of the term as to be magic. She expanded her senses as she reached for the monster in the Force, trying to grasp what drove it to do what it did. Was it programmed? Was it sentient in some way?

The Force provided her no hint of emotion; no agency at all. It acted by another's will. Was it one of the true leviathans she saw in her vision driving it? If so, to what end?

If she could find the control impulse, could that lead her to the true enemy?

Pulling in all the raw Force power she could, Taylor reached even deeper into the strange, horrifying machine's depths, trying to find what linked it to its master. If she could find and sever the connection, could she simply turn Leviathan off? Could she control it?

Suddenly she had it. Like a girl accidently stubbing her toe on buried pirate's treasure, her senses stumbled across a numbingly powerful pulse of energy that was more than a radio wave but less than true telepathy. It felt almost like a laser transmission bundling together strings of hatred and self-loathing and jealousy, emotions so human and mundane that they seemed utterly wrong housed within such a creature as this.

With the discovery came a recognition, and with that recognition, bowel-shaking terror. She came back to herself from deep within the Force to see four glowing yellow slits looked back at her in a lop-sided mockery of a face—one eye on the right of the flat, rigid, otherwise featureless plane of Leviathan's face, and three on the left. The face plate was as large as her whole body, and within that pulse of energy that she now knew controlled it, she sensed the impulse to destroy.

She was levitating three feet away from Leviathan's face, wrapped up within a cocoon of Force energy. Through the rain and water, she could see his tail rise up over his head, it's point as sharp as an arrow. She knew with all the assurance of the Force that she was about to die.

Use the Force, my sister! Taylor recognized the voice in her head—she'd heard it before months ago. Right now, face-to-face with an organic machine that had just within her father's lifetime utterly destroyed whole nations and could crack continental shelves in half, her mind filled with what sounded like the screams of over a million years of Force users. A million, billion voices cried out in warning and a million, billion ghosts joined her as she screamed, summoned so much power her body hurt from it, and pushed out with a wave of kinetic energy just as Leviathan's tail started to snap toward her body.

Leviathan itself ducked as if to avoid the blast. Water spilled upward in a perversion of a waterfall as it sought to use its hydrokinesis to lock its position. It wasn't enough. The Force-blast struck the monster with power enough to shatter two nearby office buildings. The whole beast shot up and out of the air, tumbling. Taylor had just a moment to see Alexandria take advantage of the monster's flight by slamming into it like a bullet.

That moment ended when Leviathan's water echo slammed into her and swiped her out of the air like a gnat.

It didn't feel like water striking her, but rather as if she'd fallen from a great height and slammed face-first into the ground. She didn't even feel pain, which was what seemed so odd. She felt the impact; she knew she was terribly hurt. But in that first crushing second when the water hit, she didn't feel pain.

She felt numb, as if the nerves in her body were so completely overwhelmed that she could not feel anything. Her stomach told her she was falling, but her ears were filled only with the crushing, insulating pressure of water. It felt almost like that one time, when she was eight, and tried to do a high dive with Emma, only to hit the water wrong.

This time, the water hit her wrong.

The timeless, terrifying moment finally ended. No time for the fear to sink in. No time to think, "Well, I'm dead." She slammed into rough, hard cement as the water exploded around her. Finally, the exquisite pain overwhelmed all conscious thought. She tried desperately to breathe, but had only water in her lungs. She tried to move, but every limb refused her desire.

Overhead, through the haze of water, tears and blood, she saw an intense flash of golden light, before that too faded into darkness.