* The Past *
[Time: February 2, 2001]
[Location: Ellisburg, New York]
[Radio Transcript]
"Where are the damn capes?!"
"They ran! Damnit! They ran!"
"Damn Canadians."
"AT-4! Clear!"
"Taking heavy fire here."
"PRT Forces, PRT Forces. Do you request assistance? Repeat- Do you request assistance?"
"This is a dedicated scrambled channel. Whoever you are, stay off the channel!"
"Belay that. This is Commander Emily Piggot and we fucking goddamn DO request assistance!"
"Piggot! You don't have the authority!"
"Acknowledged, Commander Piggot. ETA Two Minutes. Location noted."
"Identify! Unknown broadcaster, identify yourself!"
"Doom approaches Ellisburg."
"Oh shit. Piggot! You're responsible for this! Doom, do not approach. You are NOT cleared to interfere in a PRT Op!"
"Belay that, I've lost three of my squad already and I've seen the footage from Naples. Doom, if you can assist - just don't hit my squad."
"Roger that, Commander. On your six."
[After Action Report, PRT Secure Server]
AGENCY: Parahuman Response Team, New York Division
COMPLETED BY: Commander Emily Piggot
SECURITY LEVEL: 8 Orange
DATE OF EVENT: 2/2/2001
PERSONNEL INVOLVED: Squads 7 & 8, NY PRT. Commanders Emily Piggot and Nikoli Grant
EVENT BACKGROUND: Contact was lost in the area of Ellisburg New York for four days before flagged as needing investigation. Attempts at investigation failed as radio communication ceased shortly after entering area. Capes sent to investigate failed to return. Two squads dispatched.
Initial investigation revealed a lack of animal presence, including insects. No immediate signs of life despite attempts to verbally communicate with potential survivors.
Both squads entered without resistance until fully within area at which point it was revealed as an ambush. Creatures encountered fall into several categories, which were typified as being Brute, Striker, or Blaster in function.
Parahuman support from Toronto proved inadequate, breaking and running when confronted with superior numbers. Exception: during clean-up operations parahuman Sparkler's (Mv-3/Bl-3) corpse was discovered as having been swarmed and partially consumed. Opinion of squad discovering this was that this might explain why Toronto capes fled battle as Sparkler was known to be quite popular among group. Two other capes, codenamed Journeyman (Ti-4) and Ifreet (Bl-4) were also confirmed deceased by Think Tank and pinging their commlinks though no bodies were recovered.
During attempts to retreat or find a position that could be fortified, came under heavy fire. Trooper Fernando Rodriguez, Trooper Elizabeth Morningstar, and Trooper Alberto Ricelli were killed by bone shards fired as projectiles by biologically-based weaponry.
It was at this point that the anti-hero Tinker known as Professor Doom offered assistance. Despite guidelines to avoid involving non-affiliated capes, assistance in extraction from site was requested.
Doom arrived via teleport rings along with five of his troops. Troops were humanoid but bearing non-human features, equipped with a variety of weapons which are detailed in Tinkertech Encounter Report 02022001-157A/SL8. Extraction of personnel commenced.
During encounter with Doom it was noted that several of his minions acted independently of his instructions, in one case questioned by Doom as to why she acted in a specific manner.
Parahuman known as Jamie Rinke was terminated during battle. Initial investigation indicates that Rinke was parahuman responsible for Ellisburg Incident.
Commander Nikoli Grant was shot in the back by Trooper Calvert during extraction, medic with Doom's rescue forces unable to resuscitate.
CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: Lack of intel was key in the losses of personnel in Ellisburg. Mechanical surveillance prior to mission might have tipped off an unwitting parahuman but could have saved everyone a lot of trouble.
Parahumans involved lack any sort of military training or psychological counseling in order to deal with high-stress combat environments. Capes that were initially prepared to assist and seemingly confident in their abilities proved to be unable to cope with actual battle conditions. Visible deaths, particularly of Sparkler, added to lack of discipline and breaking of morale. It is unknown if Journeyman or Ifreet broke ranks or were simply killed in action.
Professor Doom is not American and is considered a villain or anti-hero by the PRT due to his having seized control of Bermuda after killing off the previous Dictator-for-Life Count Conquistador who conquered the island in 1994. Since then the standard-of-living has risen in that country by a considerable margin and he has assisted in seven Endbringer Battles. When intervening at Ellisburg, he supplied medical assistance and covering fire to allow PRT forces to escape before using artillery and directed energy bombardment to end the attacks. Sterilization of spores commenced, revealing the presence of seeded monsters as a deadman's switch apparently put in place by Rinke during the establishment of his territory.
Recommendations include: use of mechanical and high-altitude reconnaisance of sites prior to troop mobilization. Training for affiliated capes to better cope with changing battle conditions. Removing Doom from "do not work with" list. Superior firepower has its place, and it should be on our side.
SR 8 Review: budget considerations aside, mechanical reconn methods are pending suitable tinkertech development. Training for affiliates approved pending development of programs. Doom is deemed too risky for any association due to optics - most of the news networks still portray him as an assassin and villain, not an anti-hero.
* Cauldron Base, February 10 2001 *
"I still say I could go down there, blast the hell out of his base, and let the people take back their island," said Eidolon.
"A) He's a Tinker specializing in high-energy systems," said Contessa, ticking things off on her fingers. "B) His base has force-fields and anti-Endbringer weapons that we only wish we could copy. C) Door can't connect to any location within twenty miles of Bermuda. D) He has a giant sea-serpent named Cecil. Also his minions. All of whom are extremely photogenic and have some popularity despite CNN and CBS both declaring him an 'evil despot' that must be stopped. E) He's popular IN Bermuda. Before, with Leviathan hitting coastal targets, tourism had completely stopped. Now the island has a booming economy and actually shot the hell out of Leviathan when it tried to attack."
"How well IS the island doing?" asked Alexandria.
"I sent three spies in. They came back with tans, more relaxed than expected, and recordings showing that the populace absolutely loves their 'dictator' as Bermuda is now considered one of the safest places in the world," grumped Doctor Mother.
"Maybe we can suborn his minions, set it up so that they get rid of him?" asked Eidolon.
"How would you even try?" asked Contessa.
"If we can get tissue samples beyond the single sample so far," said Doctor Mother.
"What kind of data did we get off of that sample that was apparently inadequate?" asked Alexandria.
"It's nonhuman but close, the DNA looks to have split off the human genome at least 75,000 years ago," said Doctor Mother. "Similar to the Neanderthal and Denisovan offshoots."
"Except that this was a catgirl," said Eidolon. "Need to kill it. With fire."
"You're just mad she turned you down and was flirting with me," said Alexandria. "Which is how I got the DNA sample, by the way."
"Bopping her in the nose and then using a kleenex to collect the blood was a bit much," said Contessa. "I can barely path anything with Doom involved. I keep getting the rough equivelant of 'file not found' when dealing with any of his group."
"Why aren't we more worried about that?" asked Eidolon.
"Did you miss when he announced that his minions were from different universes?" asked Contessa. "He goes to entirely different universes, brings back technology and personnel. It's even on his CapeSpace and PHO page. If it involves something that the Entities can't compute - like completely different universes unlike alternate Earths - I can't directly path them. On the bright side, the Endbringers seem to suffer the same confusion."
Doctor Mother let out a deep breath. "Perhaps... we can recruit him?"
"You can't seriously consider that," said Eidolon.
"Unlikely," said Contessa. "We have a 'do what must be done' philosophy, which is at odds with his 'do what does the least harm' philosophy. At least where it doesn't go off into 'always have a bigger gun' philosophy."
"Who brings energy cannon to a parahuman battle?" asked Eidolon.
"Tinkers," pointed out Contessa.
"Not helping," pointed out Eidolon.
"Wasn't trying," said Contessa, she tapped her cup with a spoon. "I shall attempt to arrange an interview. Perhaps I can at least get more information to work with."
"With the teleport block in place, it would take too long from your other activities," said Doctor Mother. "Someone who can analyze the situation, but is currently not necessary for operations. Who else would be appropriate?"
"Not Eidolon," said Contessa. "Someone diplomatic."
"Gee, thanks," grumped Eidolon, who didn't want to go but didn't care for immediate dismissal either.
"What about one of our non-cape agents that is fairly competent?" asked Contessa. "What about Agent 86?"
"Only if we want the situation going completely FUBAR," noted Doctor Mother.
"That Frenchman?" asked Contessa.
"Clouseau? No, he's even worse," said Doctor Mother.
"That Bean fellow?" asked Contessa.
"The less said about him, the better," said Doctor Mother. "I wouldn't trust him to investigate a Tastee Freeze."
"What about Ms San Diego?" asked Contessa.
"Even Clairvoyant has trouble keeping track of her," pointed out Doctor Mother.
Eidolon frowned as this sounded entirely too much like a comedy sketch. Except that one of the two didn't HAVE a sense of humor.
Contessa appeared to consider briefly. "What about Him?"
"Wouldn't Her be a better choice?" asked Doctor Mother.
"Is Her available?" asked Contessa, sounding surprised.
"I'd have to check Her schedule, but I'm pretty sure Him is not," said Doctor Mother, scratching her head.
"While I have some reservations about Her, she DOES usually produce results," said Contessa. "Not even going to suggest Them?"
"While Kei and Yuri get results, I'm pretty sure that sending the Dirty Pair on a diplomatic or fact-finding mission is just asking for trouble," stated Doctor Mother.
Eidolon felt the blood drain from his face. "I thought the Escalation Queens were dead."
"Besides, they are on Earth Gimmel providing security to an archaeological team," said Doctor Mother.
"Isn't Earth Gimmel one of the dead Earths where nothing more evolved than small insects?" asked Number Man.
"Yes, which made finding ruins of some Bronze Age habitations all the more interesting," said Doctor Mother. "Besides, with no complex life there it should limit what goes wrong."
"So we send Her," said Contessa. "If she is indeed available. If not, maybe..."
"Me," said Hero. "I can use when he interrupted my fight with the Siberian as an excuse."
* Docks of Doom, Bermuda. February 12, 2001 *
Travel by ship had been necessary but something he hadn't thought to experience since his empowerment.
Nonetheless it was necessary. Flying in required special FoF transmitters, teleporting in was impossible, and that left travel by water.
He could tell as soon as the island had come into view that the surface area had increased dramatically, possibly by two-thirds.
While just a half-mile out he looked over the side and saw the beginnings of underwater structures.
There was a mountain that shouldn't be there. The mountain had a medieval-looking castle that was likewise not supposed to be there.
Hero noted three layers of forcefield that he passed through. Right now they were more sensory fields, set to detect incoming threats. He had no doubt they could go solid pretty quickly if deemed necessary.
"Are you guys getting this?" asked Hero.
"Architecture shows several new buildings, rounded shapes are probably to deal with hurricanes and other high-wind weather phenomena," said Doctor Mother's voice with some sort of distortion from interference. "Pan to the left please."
Hero did, quickly picking up on the target and zooming the video feed in. "Parahumans?"
"Flying patrol," said Doctor Mother. "Trying to identify."
"Don't bother, we don't have catgirls or bunnygirls or whatever that guy is," said Hero as he walked along the dock.
"Feline but more feline in features than the catgirls," mused Doctor Mother. "Interference is falling off. How odd."
"Meaning the locals have determined that we're using this frequency and decided to allow it," mused Hero. "They'd still have to break the encryption."
"Considering his technology, I am unsure how long it will take him to crack that," noted Doctor Mother.
"Approaching... THAT is a 1954 Corvette convertible. Nice," said Hero.
"Hero?" said the catgirl sitting on the hood of the vehicle, getting up and offering a hand. "My name is Y'vonn. I work directly for Doom. If you will accompany me?"
"My power armor would overstress your suspension even if I could fit," said Hero.
"Then I'll call a more hefty transport," said Y'vonn. "Did you wish to meet with Doom immediately or would you prefer to freshen up after your trip?"
"Directly, actually," admitted Hero.
"Very well," said Y'vonn, clicking a button on the car's dash. "This way, please."
As they left the car behind, Hero noted normal-looking people but there were also the bunnygirls and catgirls and he decided to just go ahead and ask. "Why catgirls? Bunnygirls? Lion or tiger men? Oh, and there's a catboy as well."
"Miqote," said Y'vonn.
"What?" asked Hero.
"The ones you're referring to as 'catgirls' and 'catboys' are of the proud race of desert-based hunters known as Miqote," said Y'vonn. "The ones you refer to as 'bunnygirls' are actually Viera, and the 'tigermen' are Hrothgar. We're races of beings from another world."
"Ah," said Hero, knowing that Doctor Mother was listening. "So you're NOT genetically engineered minions created in a lab by Doom."
"It's not the most 'out-there' theory I've seen on the interweb," admitted Y'vonn, waving to a Hrothgar standing outside some sort of bar.
"That would be the one where you're all tinkertech androids?" asked Hero.
"Actually, Doom has a few robots and androids. They're not Tinkertech though." Y'vonn gestured. "And over on the right you'll see the main waterplant. Solar supplemented by wind power. There are three such plants providing potable water to the island. Oh, and on the left is one of our best places for Fish n' Chips. Bit of a line at this time of day."
"So I see," said Hero.
"Ah, there's our transport," said Y'vonn as something like an oversized golf cart with a flat truck bed drove itself up to them. "This will handle your equipment. It's rated for over ten tons."
As soon as he was standing in the bed of the truck, his power armor apparently not enough to even rock the suspension, Y'vonn just started it up with a push button and got underway.
Traffic was a bit slow at a couple of points, and Hero made sure to pan the camera whenever they'd slowed a bit. He knew the others would be taking everything apart later.
"Why didn't Doom meet me at the docks himself?" asked Hero at one of those slow spots.
"Rescue mission," said Y'vonn. "He felt it necessary to intervene directly himself."
"'Rescue'?" asked Hero, glancing at a game shop as they crept past it. "Like the one done in Ellisburg?"
"Yes, this one was in Spain, I think," agreed Y'vonn. "I believe the Agent name was Necromancer. A Master-type who could animate corpses."
"Oh, that sounds... bad," admitted Hero.
"The main problem Doom had with it was the whole active recruitment part," said Y'vonn.
Doctor Mother's voice whispered in his ear. "Searching to corroborate."
Hero didn't show any sign himself, but he noticed that one of his guide's ears flicked as soon as 'Mission Control' had spoken. "Does he do this often?"
"Not that often, only when we've picked up on a threat that may become S-Class and there's a chance of it affecting us," said Y'vonn.
"You have your own cape teams but I'm unfamiliar with any of them," said Hero, glancing at one of these 'Viera' who was flying along while standing on a sword as if it was a surfboard.
"You should direct that particular question to Doom or Richards," said Y'vonn. "That exceeds my own authority and I believe a 'secret for a secret' would be the preferred deal."
* Brockton Bay *
"Scouting mission complete. Five targets were observed. Full report pending return to base. Initial indication is that four of the specified are potentials, target number three is not suitable."
"Reason for unsuitability?" asked the voice of the control office.
"Shown examples of extreme misandry and lack of self-control."
"Potential villain recruit?"
"Negative, Control. Subject too likely to go off rails."
"Roger, Agent. Return to base."
* Castle Doom, Courtyard, near the "Oh, Fudge" shop *
"I didn't expect a Gift Shop in a supervillain base," noted Hero.
"Or an HR Department? Or the Doom Employees Credit Union?" asked Y'vonn.
"Not so much, no," admitted Hero.
"Fear is a fine motivator, but there are limits to the loyalty it can provide," said a gray-armored figure as he strode closer. "Honestly, I expected Legend or perhaps Agent 42."
"How do you even know about Agent 42?" asked Hero.
"Please, do not belittle my intelligence," said Doom. "You are here on a fact-finding mission, are you not?"
"Something like that," agreed Hero.
"Question for question," suggested a tall scientist-looking fellow as he approached.
"There are topics that are not open for discussion," said Hero.
"Agreed on both sides," said the scientist-looking one. "My name's Richards. Reed Richards. My 'cape name' is Professor. My associate and sometimes rival is Victor Von Doom. There is one particular question we've been wondering since we figured out many of the details of the situation on Earth Bet here."
"That question being 'are you all idiots or are you being influenced by those Agents to simply act like that'," said Doom.
"Eh?" asked Hero.
"I would have put it a little bit more diplomatically," said Richards.
"Diplomacy is a tool to be used," said Doom. "Other tools are needed to correct other problems. Your 'Cauldron' has put forth a number of problems so far."
"This is not United States territory, so don't even bother with your Protectorate or any legal threats," said Richards. "NEPEA or any of the other laws you've helped to push through apply here."
"So, 'Professor Doom' is actually two people, the 'Professor' and 'Doom' - are there any more?" asked Hero.
"Classified," said Richards. "As Cauldron seems to want only minions and tools and we are not inclined to be either..."
"That's hardly a fair assessment," protested Hero.
"Do you want examples?" asked Richards.
* Cauldron HQ *
"The supervillain's castle has a bas relief of his face looking out to sea, is made almost entirely of black basalt, has ion cannons and whopping big railguns," said Contessa as she had paused to watch the video and was now staring in something like horrified fascination. "Plus a Gift Shop, store that sells handmade fudge, a credit union for his employees, and a five-star restaurant."
"They're aliens," said Doctor Mother. "Human but from an Earth very far down the line from our own apparently. Inconceivable."
"Not entirely," said Contessa. "The Entities are from elsewhere. There is evidence that they have destroyed other species before. So there should be others left that they have not gotten around to destroying yet."
"Inconceivable."
"That word. It does not mean what you think it means, I mean." Contessa briefly thought about it and decided she had it right.
* 4/23/2002, roof of Fancy Noodles, Shanghai *
He had some impressive abilities, but Luke Green had no illusions about his powers as Eye Spy. Master 3, Thinker 5 did not make for a particularly large contribution to the fight against Leviathan. He was doing what he could, but his to see through the eyes of animals (mainly birds) within a mile radius really limited that contribution. His normal method of operation was to sit somewhere safe and use birds (who were pretty easily distracted) to spot a problem. Then he called in the information to someone like Shockgun Mary or Ruby Roundhouse to take care of that problem.
The rain turned from "pitter-patter" to "hard driving" and Eye Spy was glad of the whole being able to sit in a dry spot while using his power. He thumbed the transmit button on his communication bangle. "Incoming tidal wave. Everyone brace for impact."
Of course, he'd made sure his own little area was sealed and proof against the elements. Unless Leviathan smashed in the walls or something.
One set of eyes kept a look towards where the Bermudan cape Professor Doom had set up something called a "rail shotgun" turret.
Then the wave arrived WITH Leviathan and he was suddenly too busy calling in movements and locations of downed capes to concentrate on anything else.
* Burnout *
"Well, ain't this special," said Burnout with his usual sarcasm, releasing a cloud of smoke from his raggedy cigar. The smoke floated to where his hands were cupped and formed a ball.
Roadhog just pulled himself out of the crater he'd made from getting tail-slapped by Leviathan and tried to get ready for the next bout. As a Brute/Mover combo this was pretty much par for the course for him.
"Hey kid, this is your first rodeo, so try not to get that close," said Burnout to the new kid on the hero block. He started weaving trails of fire into the smokeball.
Streamlance glanced back and nodded.
"Next time, go for Search & Rescue," advised Burnout. "Not everyone's cut out to take the fight to a frakking Endbringer." The smoke was now an outer shell and within that was a 'yarnball' formed of thin streams of fire.
Honestly, he wasn't sure about HIS being able to contribute - not that he was going to admit it or anything. He doubted his pyrokinesis was up to handling anything the size of Leviathan.
Here it came, a big old wave and in the center of the bulge were a whole bunch of glowing eyes.
Burnout threw his attack at those eyes and began putting together a new 'yarnball' of explosive flame.
* Dakka *
There was a time for, as the song went, "Big Guns & Bigger Guts" and this was definitely such a time.
The flying platform and gun had been provided by Doctor Victor Von Doom who had been intrigued by his gun-wielding power. "Incendiary." (Click-click-CHUNK).
The gun LOOKED like something Judge Dredd would use. It SOUNDED like something Judge Dredd would use.
The shot hit a water-echo as Leviathan was currently avoiding most of the attacks heading its way. Well, there was an option for that. "Homing Explosive." (Click-click-CHUNK).
Oh yeah, that was nice as the rounds launched and then followed Leviathan until it hit. Did damn little damage but it was being tested out the way that Doom had wanted it. Guy was arrogant, over-confident, tended to chew the scenery even more than William Shatner at his worst. Heck, he chewed scenery at Brian Blessed levels at least. Still - man did know how to Tinker and at least some of that arrogance was because the guy could actually deliver on his genius claims.
Dakka reached over and clicked the buttons that extended the non-man-portable tripod-mount gun. "Full auto. Tracking Mode. Set Friend Or Foe Ident active."
He wouldn't be participating for long, but he was determined to enjoy it until he ran out of ammo or fuel.
* Boltika *
There was a time when she'd been a refugee from an Endbringer battle. Just little Tijana Grigorivich. Now, of course, she'd been picked up by Doom and emigrated and was now a hospital worker in her non-cape life. In cape life, she was now Boltika with her power to form constructs of electromagnetic energy. Specifically, there was the ability she was bringing to this battle.
"Railgun!" used Boltika, sending a large metal bolt at Mach 1 towards Leviathan.
Okay, her power was limited. If she wanted to do anything more than manipulate metal around her it took time for her to form the mental construct to guide the energy into the proper shape. Her rate of fire wasn't great and she tended to be immobile while concentrating on forming the construct.
"Railgun!" went the next bolt, this one closer to Mach 3.
Her eyes went wide as she apparently was now noticed by Leviathan who was moving to swat at her with another water attack. There was a sudden blurring and she was being carried off by another hero.
"Boltika," introduced Tijana.
"Streamlance," answered the flying cape. "I'm from Utah."
"Missouri,' said Boltika. After looking around a bit, she pointed. "Over there. I can try sniping and then moving."
"Got it," said Streamlance, changing her angle. "Good luck!"
* After Action Report *
AGENCY: Parahuman Response Team, New York Division
SECURITY LEVEL: 5 Indigo
COMPLETED BY: Legend (Protectorate Cape)
DATE OF EVENT: 2/23/2001
PERSONNEL INVOLVED: Endbringer Encounter
EVENT BACKGROUND: Leviathan was detected approaching Shanghai at 1100 hours local time. Current procedure began evacuation of projected target area by civilian authorities while parahuman resources were gathered for the attempted defensive measures.
At 1210 hours Leviathan attacked. Initial tidal wave caused extensive damage to docks areas and those boats that had been unwilling or unable to escape area in time.
Battle continued until 1411 local time, at which point Leviathan retreated. Most damage done was by Eidolon, myself, and several DoomTech mobile weapons platforms.
SUGGESTIONS: Recommend further drills for faster evacuation of future Endbringer attack areas. Improving methods of communication and coordination amongst the defending forces should be given research though it is understood that materials shortages are currently plaguing the manufacturing end of such efforts. Current transportation methods continue to restrict the response time, as we still had capes arriving well into the end of the battle.
LOSSES: Search & Rescue operations continue. Estimates are over a million dead civilians and nearly a hundred dead capes.
ADDENDUM 2/25/2001: Per Professor Richards, scans of Leviathan reveal that below the surface layer the density of the crystalline structure increases rapidly. Sonic attacks, which are usually more effective the denser the conducting material - may be an approach to explore. Density of Leviathan is higher than should be possible with a conventional understanding of physics when approaching the base of the tail. Richards and Doom indicate this may represent that the Endbringer's real body is within an extradimensional pocket with the remainder of the target safely tucked away. If this is true, finding a way to end the Endbringer will rely on negating this factor.
* Wales, England. August 12, 2004 *
"Incoming. Range 5000 nautical miles."
"London is 27% evacuated. Running trains as fast as they can be cycled. All inbound traffic stopped."
"Multiple accidents blocking the M11. Report that some wanker did that cut-in-front-and-brake on a bus carrying a full load, resulting in two lanes blocked. Then others trying to go around in a hurry and now the whole bloody thing is a mess."
"Projection of flight plan indicates she's heading for Big Ben. Is she TRYING to do the cliche thing?"
"Possibly going for population density center."
"We have the medic area set up at Saint Peter's. Backup is in Wales. Heroes are being brought in to centers around Hyde Park and Battersea."
"Capes move traffic to Channel Two. Search and Rescue - Channel Three. Attack coordination is Channel Four. This is Channel One, for general updates and oversight."
"The King's Men are active. Lord Walston sighted at Hyde Park location. All members and affiliates gather there."
"The Suits are en route and will assist."
"Th' knights o' th' Hielan ur 'ere tae pull yer sorry asses oot o' th' fire."
"Translation: the Scots are coming."
"Remember everyone, if you can hear her scream - get out. We're uncertain of the amount of time you can spend under it before you're compromised."
"Anyone trying to evacuate - do NOT get onto the M25. Seriously - you should know better."
"Any of those looting that might be listening. Are you entirely sure that TV is worth getting your mind melted by the bloody Endbringer? That goes for you trying to rob Kam's Chicken on Wandsworth. Seriously, you think what might have been left in the till is worth your life?"
"Is that on a drone feed? 327? Oh, now you're looking right up into the camera. Smart move there, mate."
"Monitoring drone 616 - looks like a family car driving off with the family scattered at the curb. Image forwarded to authorities for prosecution if the individual shows up at a shelter. Carjacking in a crisis isn't acceptable."
"A40 outbound blocked at Uxbridge. Traffic diverting around but it's not going well."
"She's here."
* Gawain *
It was natural for a British Tinker who specialized in metallurgy to take the name of Knight of the Round. It was natural for a parahuman in London to come to the defense of her city and country in a time of need. It was natural to try and live up to a high standard in such a situation.
It didn't change that she was fourteen and she was scared.
She tried to put up a brave face, tried to pretend she wasn't frightened. Her power armor, made of special alloys that she'd invented herself, didn't advertise what she was feeling.
She stared across the Thames and saw the hovering false angel and lined up her crosshairs. Anchoring bolts clicked and shot into the concrete of the roof as she brought the Boom Gun systems up. The Boom Gun was built by her boyfriend, also a Tinker, Galahad. They'd worked on each other's systems, it had been one of the nice things about being a hero in London.
She fired, the shockwave causing nearby windows to shatter. Flechettes that she'd made of her special material shot out at Mach 3. 90% of which was blocked by the debris cloud that was composed of several buildings ripped apart by the Simurgh's telekinesis on arrival.
Galahad shot by, his winged power armor with his "proton lance" firing in a continual cycle as he circled the area.
She felt a moment of hope as the Simurgh was briefly staggered by a particularly lucky shot that didn't get stopped by the debris the Simurgh was using to block attacks.
She felt that hope die as the Simurgh reached out with telekinesis and used a bronze statue of Winston Churchill to smack Galahad right out of the air.
She only became aware that she'd screamed and then fired off all of her shots when the buzz of a feeder-empty alert sounded off in her helmet.
"GAWAIN! MOVE!"
Gawain blinked as she processed that that was Cuchlain's voice before she saw a large chunk of building heading her way.
* Westminster Cathedral *
"Right, the locals have had their try," said Barnabus Finch, tossing a metal sphere out onto the road. It extended little legs to shift itself, and then a little antennae extended. "Sir. Beacon is lit."
"Already getting data from those drones," came a voice over the commlink. "Good signal. Ten seconds to jump."
A blue light flared and a tank rolled out. Sensor pods swiveled out and locked in place as the teleport ring closed behind it.
"Analysis of Simurgh's actions indicate some precog ability or predictive software, plus she seems to get information from somewhere else. Radar return indicates density outside of what is physically possible, same as with Leviathan and Behemoth so they've got that in common. Relaying data to homebase."
"Charge complete. Targeting locked. Debris field patterns analyzed. Preparing to fire."
"Abort. Abort. Abort. Alexandria and Legend are within field of fire."
"Messaging Alexandria. Please draw back, minimum safe distance five miles. We're about to fire on the Simurgh."
"Change in Target behavior. Target ceasing to attack city. Target is actively scanning using telekinetic waves. Looking for something... Well, crap."
"Messaging Alexandria. Simurgh is either able to read your mind or is able to monitor this frequency. Preparing to disengage."
"No time to evacuate. Activating self-destruct."
* Cauldron HQ. August 15 2004 *
"They're loose cannons and we need to stop them!"
"They fielded a tank with particle beam weapons and missiles that would have engendered a dimensional shear field that MIGHT have killed an Endbringer."
"And yet they didn't and ended up putting a five hundred foot wide crater in the landscape."
"And managed to melt two of the Simurgh's wings when they self-destructed because she was in the process of trying to rip apart their tank."
"Enough," said Doctor Mother, glaring at both Eidolon and Alexandria. "Have you been going over the data they provided? Either of you?"
"Yes," answered Alexandria. "Dimensionally folded space with most of the mass of the Endbringer folded away. Completely nonhuman physiology, with fake bones and blood but in a pattern that shows nothing is connected correctly to be functional."
"No, I don't trust anything they provide," said Eidolon.
"I believe the data, it's too complete and everything connects too well," said Alexandria.
"How can you trust two aliens to fight another alien? What makes you think they're not all in it together?" countered Eidolon.
"We have no evidence of either this 'Doctor Victor Doom' or 'Reed Richards' being in league with anyone but themselves," said Hero.
"We have no evidence that they AREN'T in league with the Endbringers," replied Eidolon.
"They spoke with Hero, providing details that they didn't need to," pointed out Legend. "Hero's own lie detector said their story was true as far as they themselves knew."
"The story? Two geniuses discover that despite being 'geniuses'," Eidolon put finger-quotes on that term, "they are being manipulated - that some unknown force caused them to adhere to some 'status quo' where they would never advance. So they just up and leave? Hogwash."
"Oh? Alien worms come to a planet and give humans powers in order to eventually harvest the planet and all its dimensional alternates and destroy the race? Sound familiar? It should because that's us AND these two figured out those details without any input from us OR our resources," said Hero, pushing away from the table and looking around at the others. "I understand not wanting to trust them. They have their own agenda. They are certainly not wanting to be under our control. I'm thinking that isn't the same as not cooperating towards a common goal."
"Hero's right. We may not control them, but that hardly means we can't use them," said Alexandria.
* May 9, 2005 *
Her name was Legion. Which might have sounded slightly sinister to some. She was a miqote, what some called a catgirl, and her power was temporary duplication.
She was NOT fighting Leviathan. She was considered a Master type and therefore incredibly scary by the Americans, but she herself didn't see why. Yeah, she could make up to one hundred copies of herself and her usual equipment but it wasn't as if her copies could do anything special beyond what she could do. The copies only lasted four hours at most. Certainly wasn't anything she could personally do about something like the Endbringer attacking Vancouver.
Search & Rescue? Yeah. THAT was something she could do.
"Come on! Get in! We're evacuating!" yelled Legion-42. "Everyone in the truck!"
Some people refused, stating they'd wait it out. Reminded her of that guy at Mount Saint-Helens that wanted to stay with his cats. Something Truman?
"I'm safe in my lab!" yelled some old guy.
"No, you're not," responded Legion-42. "Data from radar shows Leviathan's using hydrokinesis to erode the subsurface layer. Look, if you're not going to get going - I need to leave with the kids now."
"It's... oh. I'm coming." Andrew Richter clicked the control to seal everything up. As long as he had his laptop he could rebuild.
* A/N *
Just a thought. What if the 'super-genius' characters realized that the status quo was being actively maintained, that they could lose any character progression in an instant?
How would Doctor Doom handle it if he realized that he himself was being manipulated?