Empress Ascendant

by Unruly Marmite

The Emperor wasn't sure how he ended up in a different universe, or what the parasite leeching off Humanity was. But he was the guardian of Mankind, and there was at least one person on this world worthy of taking up his mantle.

25. Chapter 22

A little quicker on the update than usual, this one. Mostly because I didn't want to leave you all hanging for months at a time- it was a bit of a slog and I've developed a definite dislike for Endbringer chapters, but hopefully it'll still be good enough for you all. Enjoy.

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Taylor folded her wings as she reached the PRT headquarters, flipping herself upright and landing with a splashing thud. The water sprayed up her calves, though the rest of her remained dry, water sluicing off an invisible sheet of power. She might have let it fade away normally, her armour was waterproof, but it was mostly a side effect of feeding power to the Emperor. It had to stay. Only Armsmaster was waiting on the roof, hands working with something that looked like a tablet or portable computer.

"Circaetus," he greeted, "You're in the wrong place."

"I'd guessed," Taylor said, deadpan. Armsmaster nodded.

"Normally you would be intercepted by PRT assets and directed to the right location, but you flew. Doesn't matter, I can give you directions."

He glanced up at her, helmet tilting slightly.

"Power armour? Crude, but I suppose it will be useful."

"He means he's glad to have you here," Myrddin interrupted, striding onto the roof. He gave a quick nod to Armsmaster.

"Evacuation is complete, you can seal the building. Circaetus, do you know where we're going? We'll have to get transport."

Taylor reached out, accepting the flyer that Myrddin held out to her. She scanned it and nodded.

"I know where this is. I can teleport us there, if you want."

There was always a chance that transit through the Warp could cause issues for the two Parahumans, but Taylor very much doubted it. Her presence alone would make the Warp act more like real space, and they would only be in there for a minute at the most. Myrddin waved a hand in a relieved gesture.

"I'd be grateful, thank you. Did you have any luck with Lung?"

"He'll work with us. Not sure how much use he'll be, he sounded like he didn't want to fight. A bit of fatalism, I think."

"As long as he fights," Myrddin muttered. Armsmaster finished his tapping and folded the tablet away, tucking it into his armour.

"HQ is locked down. Circaetus, you can transport us?"

Taylor raised a hand, fingers hooking as she pulled at the air. Reality split under her fingers, giving way to a swirling wound of colours that shouldn't be, faint sounds that didn't belong in the mortal world. Armsmaster and Myrddin stared at it and Taylor smirked under her helmet. A single step closer forced the portal to stabilise, coalesce into something more like a rainbow.

"It'll take about half a minute to get to your rally point. If you're coming stay close though- I don't know if there's even anything to stand on if you aren't close to me."

Myrddin was the first to move, shaking off any fear and walking up to her. Armsmaster joined him a moment later. Taylor eyed them before shrugging.

"Through that portal is another dimension, if you want to call it that. It's the only part of my powers that isn't copied, so to speak," she began, deciding to stick with the brief lie she had given to explain her powers, "And it's my connection to that dimension that enables my powers. It isn't pleasant for even me to be in prolonged contact with it, so try not to wander off."

Armsmaster nodded.

"So the pool of energy you use- it comes from here?"

Taylor nodded, leading them through the portal and ignoring the sounds of discomfort they made. She frowned nonetheless, flexing her powers so that the Warp around them became more solid. She felt their relief but didn't mention it.

"Yeah, I have a constant connection to here. The energy flows into me and I can shape it from there," she called over her shoulder, answering Armsmaster. Her boots squelched softly on ground that wasn't quite mud and Taylor decided against looking down. They moved quickly, almost running, until Taylor knew that they were almost there. She couldn't describe how she knew, but she knew. She brought a hand up and sliced at the air, leading them through another portal and into a still gathering rainstorm. Thunder crashed and Taylor glanced up at the skies. Rain, but no lightning flash, so-

"Over there!" Myrddin called in her ear, clapping her on the arm and pointing his staff. Taylor took a moment to be amused at his resemblance to some prophet of legend, staff outstretched and robes flapping in the wind, before she looked.

"Do you think they're posing intentionally, or is it just coincidence?" the Emperor asked, forcing Taylor to muffle a snort of inappropriate laughter. Alexandria and her team would probably have been impressive, but now all she could see was them delaying in order to assure that they would appear in a loose arrow formation, Alexandria at the head with her cape flowing heroically in the wind.

'Thanks for ruining every bit of respect I had for them.'

"You are absolutely welcome. So the one in black is Alexandria? The cape is impractical at best."

Alexandria was about Taylor's height, roughly six feet tall, wearing black and light grey. Her costume wasn't armoured, although Taylor supposed that her resistance to damage made up for that- Taylor wasn't naïve enough to consider Alexandria invulnerable. Alexandria finished her outfit with a helmet that had a vaguely Corinthian style to it, her dark hair cascading down her back, and a cape that flowed from her shoulders to the floor behind her.

'That cape is asking to catch on something. Look at it, it's getting soaked from lying in a puddle. Ugh.'

At least the Primarchs and Astartes had stuck to cloaks and capes that only reached the knee. Well, except for the Dark Angels, probably. They valued the goth aesthetic more than sense, but that was beside the point. Alexandria strode off, her crew following without any visible sign, just one man left behind. He glanced around before vanishing with another soft thunderclap.

"That was Strider," Myrddin told her as they skirted the parking lot to avoid any other teleporter groups, "One of our best teleporters. I'd ask you if you could help him, but I think your method of transport is…disconcerting at best."

"That's pretty fair," Taylor allowed, following Myrddin and Armsmaster into the building that sat next to the parking lot. It was tall, six stories at least. Taylor felt distinctly unsafe around something that tall when there were tidal waves on the way.

"In theory it would be safer than being lower down, assuming that it has been properly reinforced."

'You learn something new every day. So, what's the over-under on this being reinforced well enough?'

"I wouldn't wait to find out."

Taylor paused at the door when she heard another thunderclap, marking another group teleporting in. She turned to look, seeing a cluster of bright costumes on people far too young to be here.

'Wards, maybe? They're too young to die here.'

"Most of them are older than you are, Taylor."

'Yeah? But I'm not gonna die here.'

Taylor nodded to the leader of the group, a boy who seemed to be made of metal, before pushing open the door and walking into the building. The lobby within was crammed with people, a mixture of costumes and outfits covering folding chairs that had been set up to face a trio of wide televisions and, more distractingly, the wider windows. The windows looked over the beach, the approaching storm dark enough to be visible even through the sheen of rain that rattled against the glass. Taylor raked her gaze over the storm before walking into the lobby, glancing over the crowd. She recognised some of them- Hookwolf, presumably freed from his cell in exchange for aid here, lurked with the rest of the Empire, Kaiser reclining on a chair with casual ease. Taylor ignored them, walking past in search of someone more palatable. The Wards- at least those who were present- were huddled in a knot, making bad jokes and forced laughter. Most of the Brockton Wards weren't present and Taylor felt a twisting in her gut at the reason why. She could see Aegis, Chariot and Clockblocker, but none of the others. Aegis was talking to the metal man from before and Taylor realised that Gallant was also present, standing with New Wave and Glory. Taylor let her eyes linger on Gallant's hand, entwined with Glory's, before she moved on.

"Circaetus!"

Taylor looked up, finding the man who had called out to her. Dauntless still looked a little battered, one arm still in a sling, but he waved enthusiastically enough. Taylor headed over to him, waving a greeting.

"Dauntless. You shouldn't be here."

"Well that's a pleasant greeting. Hello to you too."

Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. Seriously, Dauntless. You've still got a broken arm, you should be in a shelter."

Dauntless shook his head firmly.

"Sorry, Circaetus, we need every hand on deck. I can still help, even with one arm out of commission."

He glanced at the windows, sighing.

"We've taken some hits recently, Circaetus, but I wish we hadn't. Especially with Panacea out…"

Taylor closed her eyes for a long breath before shaking her head.

"Come here," she said, reaching out and gripping Dauntless' elbow.

"Circaetus, what-"

"This takes a lot of effort, so don't expect me to do it more than once."

Taylor wrapped her other hand around Dauntless' wrist and poured power through him, forcing his bones back into place. Dauntless stiffened, a grunt of pain escaping his lips as his arm straightened out, bone running back together and sealing itself, damage repairing until Taylor let go of him and let him shake his arm.

"That really hurt," he commented, shaking off the sling and rotating his shoulder, wrist turning. Taylor shook her head.

"It does. Be glad I'm indulging your recklessness."

"You sound like you've heard that before," Dauntless commented, shaking out his hand, "But thank you. The home team is thin on the ground as it is, I'd hate to have to sit this out."

"No problem. Like I said it takes a lot of effort though, so try not to need it."

"I'll do my best. Alright. Where's Armsmaster- ah. There he is. You coming?"

Taylor shrugged and followed Dauntless over to Armsmaster, who was talking to a tall man in a blue costume, a pattern of fire and electricity breaking the blue with white. Legend, leader of the Protectorate. Taylor hung back as Dauntless joined the conversation, looking for another cape that she knew would be there. Alexandria and Legend were here, so the third member of their famous Triumvirate should be as well. Taylor glanced over Myrddin and Chevalier, took a moment to assess Bastion- the Protectorate cape had been caught on video barraging some kid with a tirade of verbal slurs, and Taylor could see that Kaiser had moved to stand closer to Bastion, presumably with the end goal of nothing but being a dick- and kept her gaze moving until it fell on the back of the room and the cape she was looking for.

"That's the infamous Eidolon?"

'It sure is. They've got a real fondness for skin-tight suits, haven't they? I mean it looks fine on Legend, but it's a bit…uh…'

"Excessive?"

'Yeah, that's the word.'

Eidolon complimented the bodysuit with a cape, hood and loose sleeves, his hands and face obscured by green light that shone from the shadowy recesses. Taylor wrinkled her nose- the wizard vibe was a bit much, in her opinion. And there was a noticeable lack of armour. She'd learned that lesson against Lung. Powers were great, but a nice set of plating to stand between you and being stabbed, shot or impaled on flying rubble was a real reassurance. Either way, Taylor hoped that Eidolon's actions lived up to his reputation better than his somewhat unimpressive appearance did. Taylor looked around the room again before shrugging to herself and walking over to Glory.

"Glory," she said cheerfully. Glory looked up at her, a wan smile crossing her face.

"Hey, Circ."

"She's afraid."

'They're all scared. You'd have to be crazy not to be scared.'

"Whatever does that say about us, then?"

'You're too old to be sane.'

"I'm flattered. But I wonder what brings Gallant here. He'll be no use against Leviathan."

'Search and rescue, maybe?'

"I suspect he will be the one in need of rescue."

"You ready for this?" Taylor asked. Glory attempted a smile, failing miserably, and shook her head.

"I don't think anybody is."

"Maybe the Triumvirate," Gallant started, his lips curling into a smile that Taylor could feel the lie in. He was trying to be confident, to lend courage to the others around him, but his mind gave him away. Taylor was just trying to find words that would be encouraging without sounding like she wanted him to be reckless when a throat was cleared from the front of the room and everyone went quiet. Taylor turned, eyes locking onto Legend as he started to speak.

"Oh good, an inspiring speech. I love those."

"We owe thanks to Armsmaster and Dragon for their early alert. Thanks to their efforts we've had time to gather, and a few minutes to prepare rather than rushing directly into the fray. With this advantage, some luck, teamwork and hard work from everyone, I have hope that this could be one of the good days."

Legend had a good voice, even and commanding. It drew the ear, provoked confidence. He sounded like he really believed what he was saying. It was a good start.

"I might actually enjoy this one. That would be a nice change."

"But you should know our chances going in."

'I don't like the sound of that at all.'

"From our previous encounters with Leviathan, we can estimate the odds. A 'good day' means that one in four people in this room will be dead before the day is done."

"I retract my previous statements. This is the exact opposite of an inspiring speech."

'Arguably better to be honest, in case anyone decides they want to duck out.'

"The beast is at the door, there is no time to retreat. Breaking their spirits from the beginning will only weaken them with fear. If they are to fight hard they need to be driven."

'But long term it's better to make it clear, that way the survivors won't build resentment for being lied to.'

"'I expect a quarter of you to die' is still an awful way to begin a speech."

Taylor pursed her lips, listening to the rest of the briefing- it wasn't a speech, not anymore. Overall it was pretty much what she expected- Leviathan was fast, strong, tough, wide scale hydrokinesis. Honestly she would be worried about the intelligence of someone who didn't already know this, but some things had to be idiot-proofed. A reminder of Newfoundland and Kyushu, the two most notable failures against Leviathan.

"Ah yes, nothing builds confidence like a reminder that your foe has sunk whole islands and killed at least ten million people. How, exactly, does this man keep his leadership position?"

'Shush, he's getting to the important part.'

"This location, Brockton Bay, is a soft target," Legend said. Taylor's eyes were drawn to the television screens, now showing a line map of the Bay and, more importantly, the groundwater lake beneath the city. She disregarded the history lesson, focusing on the important parts. The Protectorate expected Leviathan to stir the water in the lake as soon as he arrived, eroding rock and seeping through soil, bolstering the effect of the tidal waves from above. Given time, a whole portion of the city could collapse into the cavern.

No. Not could. Given enough time, a large portion of the city would collapse into the cavern. The loss of life would be horrendous, the fighting even worse if they were facing Leviathan in a mess of fallen buildings and churning water. They needed to drive Leviathan away as soon as they could, prevent him from getting time alone to work his magic. They needed to force him off.

'You think we can do it?'

"I think we can hit him hard. If we continue building our attack it will have immense force behind it. In fact, give it another half hour or so and we will likely be able to do as much damage to the city as collapsing the lake would. We'll need to concentrate the attack properly and strike from below."

'Noted.'

Taylor tuned back in long enough to hear Legend say some crap about capes being tolerated because they fought the Endbringers- as though taking on someone like Lung, Legend or Alexandria was just a matter of the little people getting together- and paid more attention to Armsmaster. The man was kind of a dick, but he at least knew how to give a briefing without making it sound like a prophecy of doom.

So she wasn't that impressed with Legend's leadership abilities. Sue her.

"The armbands being handed out are of Dragons design. They are adjustable and should be tightened around your wrist. The screen notes your location and the last known location of Leviathan and should be used to stay on top of him. There are two buttons: the leftmost allows you to transmit messages to anyone else wearing an armband. Unless you are a member of the Protectorate or otherwise a veteran of these fights your messages will be routed through Dragon's program and not go directly to other armbands, however if you must bypass that delay then speak the words 'Hard Override' before your message. Abuse of this will result in the removal of your messaging ability."

"I wonder if he'll proceed directly to cutting people's tongues out."

'And I wonder if you're not treating this as seriously as you should be, but here we are.'

Taylor accepted an armband from a Ward- the boy with the metal skin- and slid it over her arm. It locked into place, a square screen on the top showing a satellite view of their surroundings. Taylor examined it with interest, still mostly listening to Armsmaster.

"The second button will activate a ping which should be used in an emergency to alert others that you are injured or otherwise in need of assistance. If it is not an emergency but you require assistance- such as a flier to take you to a better vantage point or seeing a chance to turn the tables- then press both buttons and tell the armband what you want. Dragon's program will prioritise your needs, with support being routed to you so long as there are no more pressing matters. Finally, the armband will track your condition and will automatically send a ping if you are unconscious or otherwise too badly injured to ping yourself."

'I wonder how it works through the armour. If I lost the vambrace, would it ping me as severely injured?'

A question for later. Legend was talking again, quickly running through chain of command. The Protectorate, then anyone who had already survived an Endbringer fight.

"They might have survived, but survival is not leadership. They were lucky, that doesn't mean they can keep anyone else alive."

'This isn't really the time for cynicism. They're splitting the groups up, which should we go with?'

"First group, those who can take a hit from Leviathan and get up afterwards or produce expendable combatants! You will be on the front line, being directed by Alexandria and Dragon!"

"We can probably take a hit but being in close won't be to our advantage. Not that one."

'Agreed. We've got mobility with our wings; we should use it.'

"Hand to hand combatants who do not fit in the first group, Armsmaster and Chevalier will lead you! If you think you can harm or hamper Leviathan in close quarters, go with them to reinforce the front line!"

'It's going to be like taking a hammer to an eggshell, isn't it?'

"Messy and traumatic? Oh yes, I imagine so."

'Messy and trau- I didn't mean an eggshell with a chick still in it!'

"But believe me, that's what it's going to look like."

'Sometimes I wish I believed in gods, purely so I could ask them for patience.'

"Nothing has tested my atheism like the raw and unfiltered stupidity of humanity," the Emperor helpfully told her. Taylor ignored him and his ridiculous statements in favour of bringing her armband closer to her mouth. It was asking for her name, so she pressed the communication button and spoke.

"Circaetus."

The word came out harsh, metal flavoured by her vox transmitter, but the armband got it. It was even spelled correctly, which was just fabulous, so Taylor hit the yes button and returned her attention to Legend.

"Look outside."

Taylor kept one ear on Legend, taking two steps closer to the windows. The storm had reached the beach, the heavy rain of before giving way to a battering ram of water falling vertically from the sky, gusts thrashing in the wind. The water hammered against the windows in a rattling torrent, threatening to drown out any words spoken in nearby.

'That doesn't look good.'

"Forcefields, telekinesis, whatever your power, if you can interrupt Leviathan's movements or help reduce the impact of the waves you're backup defence, Bastion will direct you!"

'Oh that's us. Shame that we're being led by a fucking racist but-'

"Flyers, teleporters and runners, you'll be responding to pings and providing search and rescue, follow Myrddin! Long range combatants, with me! If you fall in more than one category, go with the group where you think you'll be of most use!"

"Those would also fit us, actually."

'We'll stick with the defence and play whatever we need to, if we need to. I doubt these neat groups will stay together long than five minutes once we get going.'

Taylor bumped fists with Glory, clapped Gallant on the shoulder and strode over to Bastion. The capes there were a fairly small cluster, but it would hopefully be enough.

"So what's the play, Chief?" Taylor asked, pointing at Bastion.

"Just follow our lead, rookie. We'll have to- wave! WAVE! FORCEFIELDS!"

Bastion lunged past Taylor, hand pointing at the tidal wave that was bearing down on the building. Forcefields sprang up around the wall and behind the windows and Taylor saw the wave roll through the outside without stopping before she flung out her hand and called on the Warp.

Her breath turned cold in her throat, heartbeat pulsing in her ears, the air ruffling through her wings as the wave hammered into the wall of force she projected. The other forcefields failed: hers did not.

The water rushed around the building, the shockwave of impact making her arm tremble and Taylor bared her teeth, a layer of frost flaking away from her shoulders and her wings as she flexed them. The television screens flickered through a series of images, each one showing the devastation the wave had wrought, before settling on one last picture. Leviathan, a tall figure lurking amidst the rain and obscuring sea-spray.

"I suggest we move," Taylor said, into the brief moment of silence. Legend took that as his cue.

"Strider!" he roared, over the rising babble of voices, "Get us out of here!"

Taylor's armband said something a moment before her stomach lurched and her whole body shook like she'd been hit by lightning. She landed with a crunching splash, wings spreading and lifting her into the air as she stumbled. She was outside, she realised, rain hammering her armour and sluicing away from ceramite as her wings lifted her a fraction. Water rushed around her legs, the remnants of the tidal wave rushing back to the sea.

"Circaetus!" Chevalier roared, loudly enough to cut through the storm. Taylor shook off her disorientation, turning and wading across to him- he had Sundancer and Raymancer by the collars, both of them soaking wet from where he must have dragged them out of the rushing torrent.

"Take them to higher ground and provide what support you can! Leviathan is a little stronger than Echidna- disrupt him as much as possible!"

"Understood." Taylor replied, her vox cutting through the noise in a harsh bark. She grabbed Sundancer and Raymancer.

"Hold on to my arms. I'm not going to drop you."

She wrapped an arm around each of their waists, made sure they were secure with a web of telekinetic ropes, and took off. Her wingbeats churned the water behind her, her power rising around her to shed water in a glimmering corona rather than having it beat on her armour and she took flight for the nearest rooftop. She looked down, seeing the mess below them, the shattered remains of the Boardwalk. The high-end shopping district had been pulverised by the wave, wooden docks and paths torn up and shattered until they stood erect, a row of jagged fangs that were dwarfed by the bulk of the approaching Endbringer. Taylor had a decent view of him from here, in the air, and she assessed him with a searching eye, looking for weaknesses even as she landed on a rooftop and let Raymancer and Sundancer fall.

'He looks top heavy, maybe we can exploit that. Go for the legs.'

"I wouldn't assume it would work, he's spent years doing this and someone must have tried to exploit that already."

'But if it does work we can cripple him. We should at least try, once we're ready.'

"Agreed."

Taylor estimated Leviathan as about thirty feet tall, forty or fifty feet of lashing, whiplike tail behind. His upper torso was thickly muscled, making his strangely long limbs look spindly in comparison. His head was featureless save for four unevenly distributed cracks, one on the right side and three on the left. Green orbs glowed from those crevices- eyes perhaps- moving with a restless energy and glowing with a malevolent light. His head jerked from side to side, moving faster than the rest of his body, the glowing eyes leaving faint trails in the storm-dark. Taylor could feel his mind, just about, a thing of rushing water and darkened depths. The texture of his mind told her what his appearance had already suggested: this thing was not human.

This thing never had been.

"Get ready!" Legend screamed from below, his voice only just carrying over the rain as heroes and villains dragged themselves into something that resembled lines at a glance. Taylor swept her wings back and took off, hurling herself into the air, but she was a fraction too late. As though Legend had given the monster a signal Leviathan surged forwards, dropping to all fours before a prodigious leap hurled it across the water and the distance at horrifying speed, propelling it into the first cluster of capes.

The screams were the only thing louder than the rain.

Her armband bleeped a second later, reeling off a list of capes who were too confident or too dumb, capes who had been downed in the first seconds of the clash. It wasn't an especially confidence inspiring feature, but Taylor was already looking for Bastion- or, failing that, the Guild cape Narwhal. She spotted Bastion on a rooftop, waving his arms, and folded her wings to go into a dive, plunging through the air towards Leviathan. The Endbringer spun and lashed his tail through a line of capes, his clawed right hand descending and Taylor reached out and struck. A narrow lance of force left her fingertips, hitting Leviathan in the arm and knocking his aim off enough that his clawed hand plunged into concrete instead of smearing Krieg across the water. Taylor spread her wings and caught the wind, whipping past Leviathan, folding her wings again to slide between a barrage of lasers that some fucking idiot had fired without checking his line of sight before she opened her wings again and swept onwards, landing next to Bastion with a heavy thud.

"Alright, nice work kid. You got anything else?"

"I might be able to pin him for a minute, but I don't want to risk it. What do you want me to do, Chief?"

Racist or not, Bastion clearly knew his stuff.

"Stay up here, try to keep him off balance. That was a nice trick but flying down there is asking to be hit by something and I don't want you to test that armour. Keep an eye out for waves, too."

"Got it."

Bastion sprinted off to the other side of the roof and Taylor dropped into a crouch, eyes fixed on Leviathan.

'If we keep shoving it like that, how long do you think we can keep it up for?'

"A long time. It's fairly energy efficient."

'Great.'

Much as she had expected, the neat organisation of groups had completely fallen apart once Leviathan got into the fight. Most of the ranged capes had made it to the rooftops and were pouring fire down, but the ground fight was, to put things bluntly, a complete fucking mess. Leviathan's water echo- a sort of afterimage of the Endbringer formed completely of water- was following his movements, smashing up nearly as much as Leviathan himself, and the Endbringer was going wild, lashing out with claws and tail at anything in sight. The armband kept up a droning litany of the dead and wounded- Taylor fought the impulse to rip it off just to shut it up.

'What level are we at with the charge? I want to put this bastard out with one hit.'

"We'll need more time. Half an hour at least."

'Fuck. Alright.'

Taylor thrust out a hand and let a lance of force emit from it, pushing Leviathan just enough as it swung at a cluster of idiots who were charging it, knocking the blow wild. Leviathan was thrashing forwards, capes falling all around him and the rain parted as a dark figure blew towards Leviathan. Alexandria was moving at massive speeds, fists out before her and Leviathan swatted a cape clinging to its leg aside and lunged to meet her. The Endbringer pulled up before they met, water echo rushing around it to meet Alexandria, but she just threw her arms forwards and crashed through it. Taylor saw the explosion of water as the afterimage lost cohesion, a moment before Alexandria hit Leviathan, hooking an arm around his neck and hurling him onto the ground.

'Did she just fucking lariat Leviathan?'

"I'm not an expert on wrestling moves, but something like that."

Leviathan and Alexandria were brawling on the ground and Taylor gritted her teeth, clenched her fist and kicked off from the roof. Sitting here was going to drive her insane: she could help more on the lower levels. She dropped like a rock, spreading her wings as she gained speed and skimming the water, closing fast on Leviathan. He had twisted in the water, one hand holding Alexandria down as his tail lashed out around him. He was drowning the cape- Taylor could feel her fear.

"Not so invincible, then."

'My hero worship is taking some really severe body blows today.'

Dragon intervened before Taylor could, a quadrupedal armour suit – or robot, maybe- soaring overhead and unleashing a volley of missiles into Leviathan. The hot air buffeted Taylor, shaking her slightly as the robot-suit latched onto Leviathan, claws raking at scaly skin. The robot-suit opened a fanged maw- it looked mostly like a dragon, which was honestly very on-brand- and began to breath something that looked like napalm into Leviathan's face, the liquid pouring off and burning on the surface of the water.

"The Inquisition would adore this Dragon."

'Have none of these people heard of collateral damage?'

Taylor swung past Leviathan and grabbed some poor idiot in passing, yanking the woman off her feet. A gout of flaming liquid missed them by inches, only diverted by a moment of thought from Taylor.

"Try not to die, thanks," Taylor snapped, beating her wings and soaring back. Leviathan was now tearing into Dragon, claws rending metal with ease. Alexandria was staggering out of the water, coughing but on her feet.

"I wonder if her cape is weighing her down, now that it's completely soaked?"

'Not helping.'

Taylor kept half an eye on Leviathan, seeing him tear a plate away from Dragon and hurl it through the air. She tracked the plate, swearing as she saw its path, and threw herself down next to a man who was throwing green and entirely ineffectual fireballs at Leviathan. She didn't know what was wrong with him, but he was so focused that he didn't even notice the plate that was about to bisect him before she yanked him to the side and slapped the flying plate away with her wrist and a telekinetic shove.

'These people-'

"Keep your eyes open!" Taylor snarled, taking off again and leaving Greenie.

"That whole 'people tough enough to fight' thing didn't last long, did it?"

'No it did not! Wait- what's Dragon doing?'

A smaller form hurtled from the draconic suit, hurtling through the air- an ejection, Taylor dimly realised- before the larger suit went up in an explosion that dwarfed the earlier missile strike. Taylor flung herself in front of a line of capes, hand rising and fragments of metal hammered against the barrier she raised.

'Does nobody understand the concept of friendly fire here!' she screeched, not expecting a reply and getting none from the Emperor.

"Having fun?" yelled a voice beside her, Dauntless thrashing through the water with lance in hand. He thrust the lance out, lightning sparking across and striking Leviathan in the head, and the Endbringer turned to them.

"Oh for fucks sake, Dauntless."

Leviathan crossed the space between them in a single leap, right hand descending to skewer them both. Taylor stepped into it, left arm lifting, a wall of force coiling around it and striking out, deflecting the blow. Water cascaded over her as the arm missed by less than half a metre but her right hand was already reaching out, towards the water echo, fire burning in her blood. The flame left her fingers in a white-purple gout that turned the echo to steam and wrapped around Leviathan's head in a scorching blanket, the Endbringer reeling back. Taylor snapped her wings down and hurled herself away from the other hand as it smashed down, evading and pulling Dauntless with her a moment before Alexandria came back to the fight, a flying knee applied with prodigious speed. Leviathan went down with a thunderous crash and Taylor hit the air, Dauntless still with her.

"That's more like it!" Dauntless whooped, having apparently gone insane in the last two minutes. Taylor got them thirty feet away before swinging back down, hovering an inch above the water. Dauntless joined her, his own flight not as quick but steady, Leviathan staggering away hands flailing, head still enclosed in white-hot flames. Taylor grimaced, breath coming short. That had taken a lot out of her.

The fire went out as Alexandria dived again, going for the head. Leviathan swatted her like a fly, grabbing her cape with the backhand and using it to swing her through the air, smashing her into a cape who was mid jump towards him.

Geologic deceased, CD-5 said her armband.

"I knew that cape was a bad idea," said the Emperor, just as Leviathan swung Alexandria around and threw her into the ground with enough force to cause a slight tremor, blank face turning back towards Taylor.

'He had better not be looking at me.'

"I thought you liked having fans."

'Fans, not stalkers. You gotta learn the difference.'

Taylor took to the air again, looking for free space that was rapidly becoming a premium as the fight moved inexorably into the city. Leviathan swatted a few more capes before a shrieking war cry sounded and Fenja and Menja rushed him, both his height.

'That's very inspiring but is the phrase 'grievous harm with a body' coming uncomfortably to mind?'

"Very much so, I'm afraid."

Her armband bleeped.

"Wave incoming! Bastions group-"

Taylor didn't wait for the rest, surging into the sky with a powerful sweep of her wings. The wave was approaching quickly, stronger than the one that had hit before, and Bastions group was scattered. Even before they had been insufficient. She saw forcefields snapping into life between the mess of capes and Leviathan, Fenja and Menja wrestling with the Endbringer and beating at him with their shields, and took a deep breath.

'We can do this, right?'

"So long as you have faith."

'Don't you need to be religious to have faith?'

"Only if you have no imagination."

Taylor took a second deep breath, lifted both hands and pushed.

Ice formed across her shoulders, the rain around her becoming sleet in mid-air. Her veins pulsed, her bones ached and the wave broke on the dam of power that formed before her. For a moment she felt the eyes falling on her, just a moment before she folded her wings and dropped, busy not making a target of herself.

The crescent blade of water that whipped overhead a second later told her just what a good idea that was. Taylor twisted, rolling over and spreading her wings, pulling herself from a dive into a momentum driven flight across the water. She didn't spare a glance for Leviathan, busy evading, but her armband told her all she needed to know.

Fenja down, CD-5.

Alexandria blazed past her in the other direction, slamming into something with a wet and fleshy smack before hitting Leviathan with a considerably more solid crunch. Taylor rolled to her left, swung around and building and pulled up, still moving at a blistering pace as she gained height and hit the top of a skyscraper. Legend dropped past her, gesturing.

"Three blocks in, find Narwhal!" he shouted, throwing out a hand and filling the air with lasers. Taylor didn't spare the time to reply, moving fast for the indicated rooftop where she dropped from the air, landing in a roll and coming to her feet. She turned just in time to see Myrddin wave his staff, an orb of mist rocketing from the tip and catching Leviathan in the chest. The Endbringer went down, a squad of flying capes raining lasers and flame down on him.

"That wasn't bad," said an accented voice to her right, and Taylor nearly punched Lung's head off out of instinct. He raised his hands, chuckling. His body was already scaled, embers dribbling from his mouth and the rain evaporating from his body. He was almost ten feet tall already.

"No need to fight, little Hero. I'm waiting for my turn with the beast."

Taylor shook her wings out, taking the chance to suck in a breath. Ice melted across her armour, the rain not freezing as much around her as the rush of power faded.

"Can you do that again?" Narwhal asked. The Guild cape was tall, probably seven feet, and didn't appear to be wearing any clothes. Glittering slabs and flakes of crystal forcefields covered her, giving her an odd shimmer in the stormy light. Taylor drew in a deep breath, feeling her heartbeat settle.

"A few more, though I wouldn't recommend it. Keeping something like that up takes a lot of energy."

"I've got a few more in me, but I'll be useless after that. What happened to Fenja and Menja?"

Narwhal grimaced and shook her head, carefully limiting the motion in order to avoid catching anyone with the long horn that sprouted from her skull. Lung chuckled again.

"They were a little too confident, little Hero. The beast nearly hit you with the arm it tore from one of them."

Taylor winced, sparing the energy to flip her middle finger up at Lung.

"Fuck you, Scaley."

Leviathan was still swinging at anything and everything in sight, apparently immune to all damage. There were fresh burns across the face, but it didn't seem to have burned like flesh was. Whatever the Endbringer was made from, it wasn't flammable.

"Take a minute, catch your breath. We might need your forcefields again soon," Narwhal advised. She hesitated, fingers drumming against her thigh.

"Could you hold Leviathan still?"

"For a minute, maybe, and I'd be good for nothing afterwards. Where's Bastion?"

"He's directing what's left of us a few blocks away. Leviathan's been hitting us hard, a lot harder than I like. Like he's trying to get rid of us."

Taylor gritted her teeth.

"That's not good. Lung, how much longer before you can fight?"

Lung just gave a languid shrug.

"A while, little Hero. Thirty minutes, perhaps."

"Motherfucker," Taylor whispered, just as Leviathan smacked Alexandria out of the air with his tail and went after Legend. Legend was dodging well, but the damage that Leviathan must be causing…

"I'm going back in, search and rescue. Alert me if there's another wave."

Narwhal nodded sharply.

"Can you take me closer?"

Taylor just held out a hand and Lung chuckled again.

"Good luck, little Hero."

"We're definitely going to need it."

Taylor dropped Narwhal off closer to the action, splitting away to drop to street level. She might be able to get off a good shot on Leviathan once she was fully charged up, but before then she would be best off playing distraction and support. At least it wasn't boring.

"On your left!"

Taylor dived through the centre floor of a collapsing building, hitting a cape around the middle and sweeping the girl into her arms as she hurtled out the other side, rubble crashing around her ankles. She dropped the girl in the water, noting the crossbow the cape was dragging around, and moved on to the next.

"Is retreat a foreign concept to these people? None of them should be near here, where are the support?"

'Evacuating the injured to aid stations.'

"A complete waste of time, all it achieves is causing more casualties because the uninjured aren't as well protected. One block down, under the rubble!"

Taylor threw away a block of concrete, dragging a cape she recognised out from under it. The teleporter, Strider, blood oozing down his face from a headwound. She jammed a finger against her armband and called for evacuation, taking Strider to the rooftop for another teleporter to rescue. An errant wave from the fight against Leviathan rocked the building and she swore quietly, making a jump to the next. She was close to the battle now, close enough to distinctly hear the yells and shouts. The howl of a wolf split the air and Taylor turned to watch as capes of the Empire Eighty Eight made their attack.

Blades of air sliced through the rain and exploded against Leviathan's hide, digging slightly gashes into it, footsteps shaking the ground as Menja charged with spear levelled, screaming her rage and pain, a wolf of blades and shifting spikes on her heels.

"They're all going to die."

Taylor started sprinting.

Menja thrust her spear, screaming as it glanced off Leviathan's hide. Leviathan struck a vicious blow that Menja caught on her shield, metal screeching as claws tore it, the water echo mimicking the move. The shield broke and Menja reeled back, bloodied wound opening on her arm.

Taylor jumped from the roof, wings flaring.

Leviathan grabbed Menja by the face and flung her into an oncoming wall of air-blades from Stormtiger, Hookwolf sprinting through the rain of blood and leaping.

Taylor gained speed, forcing herself towards the fight.

Leviathan caught Hookwolf by the throat mid leap, the other hand closing around his legs before he tore the Empire cape in half in a grisly shower of blood and flesh and shards of metal.

Menja hit the ground.

Taylor was halfway to Leviathan.

Leviathan shrugged off a volley of rockets from Victor, tail whipping, the water echo slapping the cape off his rooftop perch. A clawed hand reached out and caught Krieg by the arm, whipping him around. The limb came off in a fountain of red, the body smashing into Stormtiger and knocking them both down.

Taylor closed her wings.

Leviathan raised a hand and brought it smashing down, ready to crush Stormtiger and Krieg like insects.

Taylor landed between them and raised her hands.

The claws smashed into the barrier she raised with horrific force, driving her to her knees but failing to break through.

The tail whipped around and Taylor barely had time to cross her arms in front of her before it struck her in the chest.

Taylor broke through a wall and rolled across the floor, pain flaring in her arms, fractured bones. Her armband blooped and Taylor forced power through her limbs, bones cracking into place, the armband thankfully silent again except for the reel of the injured. She came to rest against the far wall, grunting as she levered herself to her feet.

'Are these people stupi-'

"Oh look, there's Gallant. You think he'll make Leviathan so sad that it'll just leave?"

'I think these PEOPLE HAVE A DEATH WISH!'

Taylor blew down the wall as she stormed through it, hitting a full sprint by pushing the water out of her way with a simple wedge of telekinetic force. Leviathan swung at her and missed, clearly misjudging her speed, a spiking shield of force above her popping the afterimage and reducing it to an uncomfortably heavy rain. She hit Gallant at full speed, tackling him around the middle and sweeping them both into the air only to crash down on a rooftop, rolling around in a tangled mess until Taylor extricated herself.

"What are you doing?" she half screamed. Gallant looked embarrassed, mind screaming his lack of plan.

"It's all breaking down. A lot of the strongest capes are either down or dead and the rest are losing cohesion."

'Yeah I fucking noticed. How long until we can hit this bastard?'

"Five minutes."

'Some good fucking news for once.'

"Look, Gallant, if you want to help find Glory- or someone similar. A flier. They won't be much use around here, use them as transport and work together to provide search and rescue. And for fucks sake stay away from Leviathan, anyone within thirty feet of him is too fucking close to risk rescuing."

Taylor stayed just long enough to register that Gallant was nodding before she was moving again, back into the air. Leviathan was besieged now, a deluge of shimmering crystal forcefields wrapping around his legs while ranged attacks pummelled his torso, his tail whipping frantically as he tried to find a target. Neither Menja nor Fenja was still on the battlefield, but Taylor wasn't sure if that meant they had escaped or that they were dead. Either way, if they were down by Leviathan's feet they were going to learn the meaning of friendly fire, given the amount of lasers, solid light beams, fireballs and assorted other attacks raining down on the trapped Endbringer.

'This isn't doing anything. He might not be agitating the water below, but he's not going to get scared from this.'

"I know. We need an attack that can punch through him, surely someone must have something."

Taylor squeezed her eyes shut, thinking. Her brain felt crammed with frustration, overwhelmed with choices.

'We need someone who can actually plan. Someone who can spot weaknesses. Someone like…Tattletale.'

Taylor opened her eyes at that thought, spreading her attention over the battlefield, searching for a single mind. She knew Tattletale well enough that…there. Taylor tilted her wings and swept back down into the city, following the thread of thought. She found Tattletale camped on a roof, crouched on one knee and chewing on a knuckle.

"Tattletale!" she shouted, landing in a jog. Tattletale lifted a hand and waved at her.

"Hey, Circ. Good timing."

"Well if that greeting isn't terrifying I don't know what is," Taylor rasped. Tattletale waved at her again.

"Don't worry about it. We've got a problem."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

Tattletale grinned, holding her armband up to her mouth.

"His weakest points are at the arms, just below the shoulder, and the legs just below the hip."

Tattletale let the message go out and glanced up.

"Doubt it'll help much, but I have to try. His tissues harden on an exponential scale, outer layer is like aluminium but ten percent in it's more like titanium."

"So we need either a really big hit or some Parahuman bullshit?" Taylor summarised. Tattletale squinted at her then nodded.

"That's about right. There's someone-"

"Oh boy, I'm sure this isn't going to involve an alarming dose of risk and physical pain."

"-there's someone, a cape, who has the ability to punch through anything with her missiles. Anything. You know what that means, right?"

"That we had better hope she hasn't been smeared all over the street already?"

"That too, yeah, but mostly we need to make sure that we can keep Leviathan in place."

'I don't like the way she's looking at me.'

"You probably shouldn't."

"If we can take out Leviathan's arm or leg, he'll likely retreat. But we need someone to hold him still- or multiple someones I guess. You up for it?"

"Fine. But only because you asked nicely. But we should try to- wait. Tattletale?"

Lisa was looking past Taylor, eyes almost glazed and expression pinched.

"There's another wave coming, Circ. Five minutes at most."

Taylor turned on her heel and glanced over the horizon, nodding.

"Alright. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to take you to Chevalier, or Narwhal, or Armsmaster or- doesn't matter who, someone with authority. Then I'm gonna go deal with the wave, and after that we'll see about this plan."

Tattletale stared for a moment longer, eyes lingering where Taylor knew Leviathan was before she swallowed and nodded.

"Alright. Let's go, before I change my mind."

Taylor bent slightly, sweeping Tattletale into a bridal carry and taking a running jump from the rooftop. Lisa wrapped her arms around Taylor's neck and Taylor was inwardly thankful for her armour: she might well be choked if she didn't have it. It only took a minute to find Chevalier: Taylor dumped Tattletale on him and went to stop the incoming tidal wave.

'I'm already tired.'

"This battle has been somewhat…hmm, grinding. Frustrating, to make so little progress."

'Yeah. I hope that Lisa's plan works, I need a coffee and like five hours of sleep.'

Taylor breathed out, the air whispering through the filter of her mask and turning to mist in the air.

'Cold again. Power expenditure?'

"Yes, the Warp is affecting your surroundings. Harmless overspill, really, a side effect of the way the Amplifier works. It's somewhat wasteful."

Taylor raised her hands and looked at the incoming wave, settling herself on a building. Ice began to form on her gauntlets, an outward sign of the power she was calling on, the barrier invisible to all but her.

It was her fault, really. She should have paid more attention. She should have been more careful.

She should have noticed that Leviathan had broken away from the capes keeping him pinned.

The Endbringer scaled the building in a matter of seconds, the screamed warnings from her armband the only reason she wasn't taken completely off guard. Focused on the wave she reacted slowly as Leviathan leaped onto the building and closed long claws around her body. Taylor yelled out in shock as he wrenched her into the air, all of the power that should have gone into a barrier to halt the tidal wave going into a shield around her. It prevented Leviathan from crushing her to death in a single gory instant, but it meant that the tidal wave was completely unimpeded.

The building below them shattered under the impact.

Taylor flared her wings and thrust out her arms, an orb of force expanding from her and throwing Leviathans hands off her. She broke free of him, wings beating to sweep herself back, the tail whipping past her before she interlocked her fingers and swung her hands down, a pillar of force following the arc of her hands and slamming Leviathan down, into the collapsing building. Too close now and Taylor ignored the list of casualties being reeled off on her armband, lightning crackling along her arms. Leviathan rose and Taylor reached out to the rubble of the building, pulling. A steel beam hit Leviathan in the face as she gestured, a spray of ichor following the gash that it left, her closed right fist slashing across and sending a lance of force after the beam. Taylor raised her left hand and sliced it down, a whip of lightning crackling from her hand and ripping across Leviathan's skull, the fireball from her right hand hitting the same place, the sickly green glow of Leviathan's eyes obscured by the purple-white blaze that ate into his flesh. A clawed hand slashed at Taylor and she spun in the air, sliding over the blow and dispelling the water echo behind with a concentrated spear of flame.

"Offensively, Leviathan is surprisingly limited. It's fast and strong but has no real means of attack other than physical. Even the water echo is, fundamentally, a physical attack."

'He's just hard to injure. I don't think we've done any real damage so far.'

"Yes, I suspect that if was simply us against him with no time constraints we would only lose because we would eventually tire."

Taylor thrust out a palm and deflected a swipe of Leviathan's tail with a quick barrier, tilting her wings to slide under the echo and gain height again.

'Should we try our hand at a real attack?'

"Save it for the moment. In case it doesn't work, we should make sure to follow up with more attacks- Tattletale's plan might have merit."

'We need to lure Leviathan to Tattletale's Cape, then.'

She had a few options for that, at least. Taylor spread her wings and her arms, fingers splayed widely, the taste of iron on her tongue and the smell of ice in her nose as the fallen and trampled buildings around her succumbed to her call. Brick and wood and metal hammered Leviathan, catching the Endbringer in the middle of a maelstrom of debris that kept him staggering, kept him off balance even if it didn't injure him. A hail of lasers joined her efforts as Legend descended from the skies to join her.

"That won't hold him!" he shouted. Taylor gritted her teeth, whipping the tornado of shrapnel faster.

"I know! Have you heard the plan from Tattletale?"

Legend nodded.

"I heard it! There's a Ward, she's called Flechette, she might be able to pierce Leviathan but we need to draw him to her, we can't hold him here! Too many of the front line are down!"

Taylor brought her hands together in a clap, the rubble compacting from a tornado to a close packed clump around Leviathan's head, the Endbringer staggering. Legend flung out his hands and lasers smashed into the rubble, exploding with concussive force on impact, a second volley of laser blasts coming from Taylor's other side as Purity joined the fight. Leviathan stumbled and Taylor gestured, a thousand tendrils winding around one of Leviathan's legs before she wrenched her arm to the side and Leviathan went down, crashing to the ground with a smashing impact upon water and concrete.

"So one of us will have to play bait. Anyone want to volunteer?" Taylor asked. Legend and Purity exchanged looks, but no-one had a chance to speak before Leviathan came hurtling back at them, surging into the air with a single, massive leap. Legend flashed away and Taylor shoved Purity hard, knocking her out of the way at the cost of leaving herself vulnerable. Leviathan grabbed Taylor from the air, claws squeezing her wings in a way that would probably have been excruciating if they had been flesh and not an energy construct and slammed her into the ground. Her armour and her instinctive barrier soaked most of the impact, but it still knocked the breath out of her, water pouring over her and enclosing her.

"Armour's waterproof you fuck!" Taylor screamed triumphantly, just a moment before she vented a howl of frustration and called Warpfire into being all around her. Her wings took first, bursting into flames, the fire wrapping around her and sending scalding gouts of steam into the air, a pillar of flames roaring into being around her. Leviathan let go of her, flinching away from the fire despite his mind registering no pain, and Taylor rose, leaping to her feet and lunging at the Endbringer. Her right fist caught Leviathan under the chin, but it was the rising wall of force behind it that knocked him back a step and gained her enough time to take to the air again, eyes locking onto the Endbringer.

"Come on, Leviathan. Catch me if you can!" she shouted, driving fingers of mental power into his mind, hooking them in. A Librarian of the Imperium would call this technique Ultimate Sacrifice, drawing the attention of a foe to the Librarian. It worked just as well here, and Taylor sped away as Leviathan dropped to all fours and came after her.

"Hard override- Leviathan is chasing me, Flechette had better be ready!" Taylor barked into her armband, wheeling around a corner and kicking off a building to maintain her pace. Leviathan skidded around the corner in pursuit, knocking a hefty chunk of the building façade off with his shoulder before his claws caught and he rushed after her. Taylor flipped over in mid-air, flying on her back and throwing fireballs at Leviathan, the orbs of flame bursting across his hide with very little effect.

'Gotta make it look good, keep his attention on me to maintain the Ultimate Sacrifice.'

"Reduce the power slightly, conserve your strength. They won't have an effect no matter how hot they are- unless we push them to a level that can burn through him."

'I'm pretty sure that we'll be in danger of incinerating half the continent if we pushed that far.'

"This thing really is unreasonably resistant to damage."

Taylor weaved between buildings, flying at a speed that would have been impossible for a regular human, too fast to react to anything coming at her. Her armband provided directions that she followed, Leviathan hard on her tail, the threads of her power still drawing him in.

"Make a hard turn left when you arrive at the rally point and get out of the way. There are Brutes to deal with Leviathan," her armband said, the words only just legible over the air. Taylor didn't reply, instead swerving around another building and down a smaller street, dropping below the level of the buildings.

"Turn now."

Taylor rolled onto her back, crossed her arms over her head, folded her wings and pulled hard left. She crashed through a window, hitting the floor in a slide that turned into a roll, coming to a hard stop against a wall. The wall cracked on impact but her armour held and Taylor rolled to her knees in time to see five flyers lunge past, Alexandria in the lead. An armoured hand came into her line of sight and Taylor accepted it, hauling herself up with aid from Armsmaster.

"Good work," Armsmaster told her, turning to Dragon.

"Dragon, what's the status of the Butcher?"

"Sighted approaching the PRT HQ and moving towards the fight," the robot-suit said, it's voice as synthesized as the armbands.

"The arms and legs are too small for a human presence."

'There's no mind in there. Remote controlled? Makes sense, especially since the big one had a self-destruct attached. But also, the Butcher?'

"The Butcher?" Taylor said aloud. Armsmaster turned his head to her- Taylor noticed that he had two halberds on his back, rather than one.

"The Butcher has never been present at an Endbringer event. We don't know what she'll do."

"The Butcher normally doesn't rush to embrace death, but Hero or Vigilante hosts are more likely to die. Quarrel hasn't been as badly off as the third or fifth Butchers, but she was a vigilante," Dragon added. Taylor grimaced.

"You're worried that she'll throw herself in front of the Endbringer."

Armsmaster grunted in agreement, peering out through the hole Taylor had left in the window and wall.

"Quarrel is bad enough as the Butcher. An Endbringer Butcher needs to be taken seriously, so we're tracking her. If we can drive off Leviathan here it might not even matter."

Taylor flexed her fingers- or tried to. Her left hand was locked in place and she hissed under her breath, rubbing her left wrist.

'Servos are locked. Wiring issue, maybe?'

"Quality problems, more likely. Joints have jammed."

'Yeah, yeah.'

"So what's the plan to deal with Leviathan? I only got the bare bones of it before," she said aloud. Dragon took over explaining.

"The Ward Flechette has the ability to pierce anything with her projectiles. She only has arrows, but if she can get a good shot off…some of our strongest remaining Brutes are restraining Leviathan. Are you combat ready, in case you have to support?"

Taylor shrugged.

"I'm about sixty or seventy percent, I guess. I can go a little more."

She crossed quickly to the window, peering out alongside Armsmaster. Five capes darted around Leviathan, landing blows to corral him: Taylor could see Alexandria in black and grey, and the white costume of Glory Girl drew a hiss from her. Glory was tough, but- Taylor forced herself not to worry too much. A glance to her left and she could see a small figure setting up on a rooftop, ludicrously large crossbow clutched in her hands.

"That Traveller, Ballistic, he can imbue things with kinetic energy right? Why wouldn't you have him work with Flechette and hit Leviathan with a whole bus?"

"We don't know how their powers will interact," Armsmaster muttered, scowling, "Needs more testing."

One of the Brutes dived towards Leviathan, axe raised above his head- it looked like it had chainsaw blades on each blade of the axe. Taylor swore at the same time Armsmaster did, seeing that he was too slow. Leviathan swung an arm at him, the cape dodging and moving directly into the path of a whip of water flung from Leviathan's tail. The impact sounded like a watermelon being hurled into a wall, a squishy, heavy thud, and the axe slipped weakly from limp fingers. Taylor planted a boot on the windowsill.

"I'm going out there, they need-"

"We have it under control!" Armsmaster snapped, clamping a hand on her shoulder.

"Glory is-"

"She knows the risks! The plan doesn't rely on the Brutes."

Taylor clenched her right fist, teeth bared, but barely held herself back. Leviathan snatched one of the other Brutes from the air, a man with long hair, and smashed him against a building with terrifying force, the water echo swatting Glory from the skies. The only thing that held Taylor back was the lack of the baneful announcement that Glory Girl was down.

"If you've got a plan, it had better come through soon!"

"It's here," Armsmaster said, eyes fixed on Leviathan as the Endbringer flung the fourth unnamed Brute into Alexandria. Half a breath later a figure as large as Leviathan stumbled out of a side street and rammed into the Endbringer, a second on the other side, and Taylor sucked in a gasp.

"Are those- are those fucking plushies?" she demanded. Armsmaster chuckled harshly.

"Parian can enlarge her cloth golems as well as animate them. They can't hold Leviathan for long, but they don't need to. Flechette! Take the shot, now!"

A long arrow passed them, faster than Taylor could see, and took Leviathan through the single eye on the left side of its face. Blood and ichor poured from the wound and Leviathan stumbled back, falling. Armsmaster clenched his fist in front of him, teeth bared in the beginning of a grin and-

Leviathan caught himself on a building and looked up.

Armsmaster dragged in a long breath, opening his mouth, and Leviathan launched back to its feet, hurling aside the massive teddy bear and stuffed gorilla that were holding it down, spraying ichor from the gaping wound in its skull and lurching towards Flechette.

"Flechette, get out of there!" Armsmaster bellowed, hand clamping on Taylor's arm again.

"Circaetus, we need you to-"

Black and white blurred towards Leviathan, Alexandria and Glory Girl launching a dual attack and Leviathan met them with a swinging arm, even faster than before, smashing them to the side. Alexandria ploughed into the street and Taylor moved, diving out of the window and pulling Glory to her, sweeping her wings backwards as Glory hit to bleed off as much of the momentum as she could and diving back into the room. Armsmaster had drawn a halberd, his expression settled into something grim and desperate and Taylor held up a hand.

"Don't!"

He spun to her.

"Someone has to stop Leviathan!"

"I know!" Taylor barked, continuing more quietly, "I know. But I'm not done yet."

She tried to point her left hand out the window, but her fingers were still stuck, ruining the gesture.

"They're all rushing him and he's pasting them all. None of them are strong enough. We need something else. And I've got that," she said, muscles in her forearm protesting as she tried to move her fingers. Only one thing for it, then, even though her heart pounded at the thought and blood thundered in her ears. Armsmaster and Dragon stared at her, Glory rolling over and coughing out a glob of blood.

"Circ?" she rasped. Chubster, deceased, CD-5, her armband chirped and Taylor swore angrily, smacking her armoured hand against a wall. Once, twice and something crunched, the servo finally giving way and she flexed her hand, grimace hidden under her helmet. She looked up, noticing the disapproving looks she was getting. Even from the fucking Dragon robot. A robot.

"So I might have skimped on the muscle fibres and servos when I made it," she admitted, only half her attention on the conversation as she opened herself to the Warp. Copper tingled on her tongue, tendrils of electric sensation winding through her hair and feathering her breath, her heart beating in time with the steady pulse of power. Taylor grinned, the rush of power steadying her breath and soothing her fears.

"But I had a good reason."

"And what reason would that be?" Armsmaster asked, tone just shading sarcasm, desperate rage barely muffled. Taylor grinned even more widely as the Warp reached through her, fingers of icy cold and burning heat mixing comfortably in her stomach, slithering power in every bone and drop of blood. A single step and she was away from the cover of the roof and the rain began to sizzle around her, evaporating the instant it came near to her.

"I was busy building in the Power Enhancer, of course," she told them. She savoured the expressions on their faces for just a moment before Leviathan's advance brought him into line with her.

Taylor held out her left hand and let go of the attack she had been building since the start of the fight.

For a moment the rain ceased and all noise faded. For a moment, just a moment before the impact struck Leviathan. Taylor heard his outstretched arm snap a moment before the body of the pillar of force she projected struck his torso. Leviathan weighed approximately nine tons.

Nine tons of Endbringer smashed through the building to his right, flipped around in mid-air, tossed like a branch in a hurricane as he flew before smashing down, rolling a dozen times before he came to a halt at the end of a furrow torn in the earth, fallen at the foot of a six-story building, hitting it hard enough that it groaned and fell, crushing Leviathan under its bulk and burying him in the rubble.

"Holy fucking shit," Glory said into the shocked silence, "Where the fuck have you been hiding that?"

"Language," Taylor chided, her breath frosting the air in front of her, lightning still crackling across her torso and the flames licking along the edges of her wings warm against her back.

"I've been building that up the whole time," she explained, "Waiting to hit him with one good shot."

'Fuck that felt good. Is this what validation feels like?'

"He's going to get up."

'Yeah, I know. But he's not gonna be so fucking cocky anymore, is he?'

"Does it even have enough sentience to be cocky?"

'I just launched him fifty feet down the road with one hit. Even a rock would be a little less confident after that.'

The rubble shifted and Taylor sighed.

"For a moment I really allowed myself to hope there," she said, focusing. She could taste blood at the back of her throat, the faint beat of a headache beginning, but she was still good to go. The power amplifier was starting to push its luck, but it was still intact.

Leviathan hauled itself out of the rubble, right arm moving, left arm hanging limp at its side. Taylor had aimed carefully, just below the elbow joint, and the thinnest part of Leviathan's left arm was crushed and torn, holding on by a string. Leviathan turned to her, three acid-green eyes still burning in the rain-soaked dark, and raised its right arm in a clear gesture of threat. Taylor cocked her head, sneaking a glance at Armsmaster.

"If you've got something that can injure him, I'd suggest getting it out. Doubt we'll get a better chance to take an arm off an Endbringer than this."

Armsmaster slowly pulled one of the halberds from his back, the blade spinning with a faint glow. Taylor raised an eyebrow at it, fascinated.

"That looks dangerous."

"Can you hold Leviathan still?" he asked, face fixed on the Endbringer. Taylor grinned, feeling steam lick around her teeth as fire met frost, Warp power frothing from her.

"I can certainly try."

Taylor took off as the rest of the defenders found their footing again, flyers launching themselves towards Leviathan as he gained his feet and started forwards, arm raised in a gesture of defiance. Taylor hovered in the air, the power she had been gathering still wracking her body. Leviathan slashed his hand at the air, his water echo surging past him, and Taylor spread her arms and opened her hands. The temperature around her rocketed, fireballs bursting into existence in her palms and lengthening into spears, rain hissing and spitting as it boiled. Taylor gritted her teeth, palms painfully hot, before she swept her hands and threw the fireballs. The first hit the water echo with a gout of steam and an ear-rattling hiss, steam boiling from it as the echo lost all cohesion. The second struck Leviathan across the face, his charge losing speed as he stumbled, blinded.

Armsmaster sped past, using a grappling hook attached to his halberd to move quickly.

"Make a clear path for me, Circaetus! The rest of you, stay back!" Armsmaster barked over the armbands. Leviathan continued his stumbling charge, bursting through the ruins of the building that Taylor had broken with his body. Taylor dropped to the floor, drawing in a breath.

Armsmaster landed on a rooftop to her right.

Leviathan dropped his arm from his face and lunged, arm smashing down.

Taylor crossed her arms and met the blow with a barrier of force, letting it burst into motion and snare Leviathan in tendrils of power so strong that they became visible in the rain, teeth bared, heart hammering as she drew more power than she should be able to-

Alexandria smashed through the water echo, bursting it before it could strike Taylor-

Armsmaster landed on Leviathan's shoulder and sliced through the crushed and torn strip of tissue holding the Endbringers left arm on with a single blow of his halberd.

Leviathan jerked back, the sudden force of his frantic motion dragging Taylor into the air. She swore, pulled off balance and went with it, the tendrils anchoring Leviathan in place giving way. Armsmaster darted across Leviathan's shoulder, halberd slicing through two eyes before Leviathan thrashed, hurling himself to the ground like a wild animal, throwing Armsmaster away. Alexandria caught Armsmaster but some of the bolder Brutes had ignored Armsmasters warning, closing in. Leviathan landed on one of them, crushing him to paste, flailing limbs knocking them around and Taylor moved without thinking, a single step through the Warp bringing her in front of them, barrier repelling a smashing blow from a clawed arm. Leviathan moved like a snake, far more fluid than before, jerking to its feet and darting away, another bolt from Flechette punching through near the left hip. Leviathan staggered, tail slashing back and forwards and sending blades of water smashing through the air. Three impetuous capes were crushed from rooftops and Leviathan rushed up a building, claws tearing into brick as its one arm gave purchase.

"Wave!" someone screamed. An explosion sounded and Taylor looked at Leviathan to see the Butcher there, arms raised like a sacrifice to some eldritch deity, Leviathans claws already moving down, closed together like a spear.

"Hard override- stop the Butcher!" her armband screamed. Taylor moved.

One portal through the Warp, two steps carrying her a quarter of the way. Two portals. closer and closer, the claws descending, the Butcher laughing insanely. Three portals, she was close, a sonic boom behind her as someone rushed to help, the claws closer and closer and Taylor lunged from the fourth portal, wrapping her arms around the Butchers waist and hurling them both into the Warp.

Taylor didn't cut their trip short, wings hammering to throw them further on. A fist drove into the back of her head and she grunted at the impact, snarling and throwing them further on. Fists hammered at her shoulders and back and Taylor tightened her grip, fully intent on crushing the Butcher to death if need be. She wasn't a parahuman anymore. She couldn't be infected. And if she somehow was…

"I will flay and crucify anything that dares violate the sanctity of our mind."

Taylor coughed out a laugh and pushed once more, flinging herself through a portal. Taylor landed hard on the Butcher, hearing a gasp of pain before she rolled over and across, springing to her feet. A flick of her mind pressed the button on her armband- something told her that she needed witnesses.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Taylor demanded. The Butcher answered in a scream.

"I am ascending!"

Taylor flung her arms up as an explosion burst in front of her, a punch coming through the smoke and flame to send her staggering back. Taylor snarled and surged power through her limbs, a hundred tendrils of lightning lashing out from her body and driving the Butcher back.

"Ascending? You're killing yourself you stupid bitch!"

The lightning tendrils ran together into two whips, one wrapped around each forearm, and Taylor snapped them through the air, forcing the Butcher back. The only response she received was a howl of berserk rage and another explosion, a second teleport. Taylor let the whips go and spun around, trying to understand what attack the Butcher would use. The Butcher's mind screamed a right hook and Taylor brought her arm up, ready to counter.

The left jab caught her in the chest and knocked her off her feet, breath shortening before she forced air into her lungs and rolled back to her feet. A thunderous roar sounded to her left, the far-away shore of the Bay suddenly lit with flame- Lung, probably.

"Circaetus, we can handle Leviathan. Deal with Butcher." The synthesised voice from her armband said. Taylor looked up at the Butcher, dragging her arm across the front of her helmet in a parody of swiping blood from her mouth.

"Oh, you're fucked now."

Taylor surged to her feet and snapped her hand open, lightning spilling from her fingers towards the Butcher. The Butcher snarled and charged through it, leaping at Taylor with a fist raised. Taylor tried to concentrate on the Butcher but all she could hear was screaming voices, howling words, a babble of insanity. Her concentration slipped for a moment.

"Don't try to predict her, protect yourself!" the Emperor roared. Taylor snarled and brought her arms up, taking a brutal punch to the forearms and retaliating by throwing the Butcher back and slashing a clenched fist towards her face. The Butcher leaned back and vanished, the explosion behind Taylor giving a second of warning before hands closed on her left shoulder and wing, trying to tear the appendage off. Taylor let out a noise of fury, bringing her arm back. She heard the crack of a rib and a coughing grunt of pain and the Butcher staggered back, ceramite plating crunching bone with ease.

'Every Butcher is screaming in her head, I can barely focus on her.'

It was throwing her off. She didn't normally use surface thoughts to guide her fighting style- too prone to changes at the last minute- but the maelstrom of shrieking souls within the Butcher had caught her off guard.

"Be careful. You used a lot of power on Leviathan, we're nearing our limits again."

'I knew the armour would come in handy.'

Butcher teleported. Taylor raised an arm into the smoke, parried the punch that was coming for her chest and drove a counterstrike into the Butcher's face. The grotesque samurai mask snapped back and Taylor stamped forwards, locking onto the arm she had parried and slamming her other fist into the torso, trying to break the already fractured rib. The Butcher swung her free hand into Taylor's wrist, breaking the grip Taylor had on her, and brought her fist back in a savage backhand that smashed into Taylor's helmet and knocked her back a fraction. Taylor staggered, saw Butcher lunging and found her footing, stepping into Butcher and performing a rudimentary judo throw. Butcher teleported in mid-air, landing on Taylor's back and taking the fight to the ground, straddling Taylor and raining blows down. Taylor got her arms in the way, snarling as her arm-plates were smashed into her helmet, flicking her fingers up. The first whip of force caught Butcher under the chin, rocking her back enough that Taylor could press a splayed hand against her chest and blast her away.

'She hits like a fucking truck.'

"The teleport is inconvenient too."

Butcher spun in mid-air, two quick teleportations bringing her back to the ground. She pulled the oversize bow from her back and nocked an arrow in a single smooth movement as Taylor came to her feet.

The arrow was loosed.

Taylor brought her arm up and swatted it from the air, lips curling into a sneer.

"If I tear the arms from your shoulders, you think that will be enough to stop you?" she asked. Anger bubbled toxic in her chest, and oily flames began to run down her gauntlets, dribbling down her open hands and dripping from her fingers. The smell of scorched grass and burned earth was pungent in her nose.

"Nothing can stop me."

The Butcher shifted her position into something that looked like an idiots idea of a samurai quick-draw stance, hand falling to the katana at her side and grasping the hilt. Taylor shifted her feet and raised her fists, her stance more like a boxer.

'What is it with villains and fucking katana?'

"It's that rumour of the steel being folded ten thousand times and being able to cut steel plate."

The Butcher teleported, coming out of the flames with sword slicing. Taylor met the blade with her right forearm, steel screeching on ceramite before she reached across and grabbed the blade just above the hilt, wrenching down. The sword caught on her armour and snapped at the hilt, red-purple flames running down the broken blade as Taylor spun it and rammed it into the Butcher's side. The Butcher didn't react to the sword or the fire that licked around it, slamming her forehead against Taylor's helmet. Taylor snarled and headbutted back, letting go of the sword, grabbing the Butcher by the wrists. The flames slithering around her fingers tightened, burning through armour and scorching flesh, not a sound coming from the Butcher as pain bloomed in every nerve on Taylor's body. Taylor bared gritted teeth, the snarl of pain rising through her chest and ripping from her mouth as she kept squeezing, intent on crushing the Butcher's wrists. The Butcher still didn't make a sound, but her eyes blazed with bloody fury, glaring into the eye-plates on Taylor's helmet, the two of them trapped in a stalemate.

Taylor gave first, launching them both into the air with a sweep of her wings and spinning, flinging the Butcher into the ground. The Teeth leader hit, rolled to a knee and Taylor levelled a hand, lightning pouring from her fingers and raining down around the Butcher.

"Just give in, Butcher! You can't win!" Taylor bellowed. The Butcher responded with an incoherent roar of defiance, struggling forwards against the lightning. Taylor intensified her attack, knowing that the Butcher couldn't stand much longer, that the lightning would burn through her nervous system soon and leave her fallen and something tore through her right wing and hit her in the back. Taylor lurched, surprised, the lightning cutting off and there were three more impacts.

"Gunfire! Down to the ground!"

Taylor dropped like a stone, hitting the ground and rolling, spinning to her feet. The Butcher was running, teleporting away as fast as she could through a wave of onrushing, identical opponents.

"Spree!" Taylor snarled.

"The original doesn't seem to be here."

'He's delaying me.'

"All clones, huh?" Taylor whispered, her voice lowering to a rasp,

"Well, I guess I don't need to hold back."

The Spree clones rushed at her, yelling and howling in excitement. Taylor sighed, flexed her fingers and went to meet them.

One of the clones rushed ahead of the pack, jumping as he approached. Taylor took off, meeting him in the air and carrying him up, spinning and hurling him down to break his bones on the ground. The oily flames running down her left hand coiled together, ran together into a single line of fire and she cracked the whip, lashing it across half a dozen clones, screams and the reek of burned flesh filling the air as they ignited. Her other hand reached out and lightning poured from it, catching another five or six clones and burning through them, turning their nerves to ash and boiling their blood.

"Sorry I can't indulge you," Taylor said coldly, "But I have better things to be doing."

She dropped from the skies and landed on one clone, her boots driving it into the ground and snapping fragile bones. Her elbow crashed against the sternum of the clone to her left, bones cracking under ceramite, a throat punch leaving the one to her right choking and suffocating on the ground. A third lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her and trying to knock her to the ground and Taylor raised her fist and drove it into his spine. Echoes of force rippled around her fist and the clone collapsed, organs pulverised.

"I almost forgot how fragile base humans are when we aren't holding back."

Taylor didn't get a chance to reply before another clone came screaming in, crowbar swinging. It hit her helmet and bounced off, shock easily absorbed and Taylor caught the clone by the wrist, twisting his arm and pulling the crowbar out of faltering fingers.

"This is how it's done."

The crowbar smashed into bone and the clone slumped, skull broken as Taylor tossed the body aside and started towards the rest. Maybe a dozen left. Taylor met the four fastest, forehand blow to the head with the crowbar. Smash the chest of a second with the backswing, grab the third by the chest, headbutt to disorient, wrap the stunned clone in a web of force and smash him into the fourth.

Eight left.

Taylor snapped her hand out, the crowbar flying from it and impaling a clone through the chest, her hands reaching out, spreading before clenching and two more clones were crushed into a grotesque mess of blood and bone and ruptured flesh, five left. Four of them hung back, regrouping but the fifth came in, lead pipe swinging. Taylor blocked with her forearm and drove a fist into his face, stepping into him as he staggered, wrapping one hand around his chin and the other around the back of his head and twisting. A snap of her fingers and a flick of her hand and a fireball consumed another clone, her other hand gesturing in a crushing motion, a clone falling to his knees as his throat was squeezed in a choking grip.

Two left.

One charged at her, screaming wildly. Taylor stepped under his wild swing, driving a punch into his kidney before she planted a hand on his shoulder and broke his spine with a single blow, backed with Warp-forged strength. The last clone took a step back and Taylor gestured, tendrils of force dragging him to her.

A massive gout of flame and bellowing roar from the harbour distracted her as she lifted the last clone off the ground, fingers digging into its throat. It kicked and clawed at her, helpless to inflict harm against the ceramite plate. Taylor turned her head to look at the ongoing battle and sighed, a long exhalation that came out as a cloud of misty water vapour.

"You see that? I should be down there, helping chase Leviathan off. I should be down there, saving lives. Not up here, ending them. But I can't be because of your boss. Because of you."

"Leviathan is retreating," her armband chirped, "Pursue and ensure he isn't feinting."

Taylor turned back, another sigh rasping out of her throat. The clone was terrified but it was misty, unformed. Dulled. Just a memory, a pale reflection of true emotion.

'I'm getting tired of dealing with clones,' she remarked, half listening to the reports coming through her armband. Leviathan, missing an arm, had decided to retreat when Lung entered the battle. Taylor wondered if Leviathan was genuinely injured, or if it had simply completed its objective. There was something wrong about the Endbringers, but Taylor couldn't quite connect the dots at the moment. She was missing something, something important, but she wasn't sure what. She sighed a third time, turning her head back to the struggling clone.

"Do you think there'll be an afterlife for you? Do you think you have a soul, clone? Well…just in case you do. Just in case there is. When you get there, tell them about your life. And tell them you received the death you deserve."

Bone cracked under ceramite. Taylor let the body fall and set off down the hill, eyes fixed on the devastation ahead.

There was no need to look back at the devastation behind.

---

I did genuinely consider having Taylor be too late and someone- probably one of the Triumvirate, let's be honest- be infected by the Butcher, but honestly some things are just too grimdark for me. Taylor can have this one, as a treat. Also I have a few plans for the future, so we'll get onto that when the time comes. Other than that I hope you enjoyed and, as always, reviews are appreciated.