0.12

"Sorry for scaring you."

Were it not for the earphones being directly connected to her ear, Taylor would have missed the words. It was strange how someone could sound so quiet even with a microphone to their face, yet somehow this strange diver managed to sound like a whisper in the wind.

'Feeling poetic today, aren't you?'

Taylor rolled her eyes.

It must have been all those soap operas she was forced to sit through, because a certain someone disliked game show saturday.

'One must develop a taste for good entertainment from an early age. Do not blame me for having it.'

She opted for ignoring the clear lack of common sense from her powers and chose to instead focus on keeping pace with her newfound companion.

"It's okay. I probably scared you too."

There was a noncommittal hum from the other end of the line. It was hard to believe there was a person in that suit, what with them looking more like a water exploration drone attached to some kind of humanoid frame. Underwater it looked less like a diver and more like a small submarine. With arms as wide as its torso and small turbines for feet, the only reason she knew where to look was that the glowing helmet that had spooked her also happened to be where the diver's head was.

Maybe… she was hazarding a guess that it was.

"- aren't you?"

The quiet voice returned, knocking her out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted. Could you repeat that?"

There was an awkward pause from the other end.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"It's my first time visiting. I usually stick closer to home when I dive."

"Ah, that's why I didn't recognize you. You're from the States, right?"

Suddenly apprehensive, Taylor wasn't sure how to answer that. Sure, there wasn't any harm in confirming that she wasn't a local, and there were probably a bunch of articles in Brockton Bay about all the stuff she did so it's not like a white lie would stick the landing here.

Even so, she was still tempted to obfuscate.

'If you leave him waiting too long, he might wonder if there's something wrong, Taylor.'

Shit, right, he was waiting for an answer.

"I'm a cape from New England. I'm new. Thought it would be a good time to visit somewhere I hadn't been before."

"And you picked Newfoundland?"

That was a valid point. If most people had the same powers Taylor did, they would probably visit some tropical paradise in the Caribbean or some unknown corner of the ocean to explore, instead of what was basically a mass grave left behind by an Endbringer.

"I thought I had to see it for myself."

It was partly true. She just wouldn't mention the treasure she was looking for in case he just happened to be after the same thing.

"... a lot of people like to pretend it didn't happen. The sinking, the push to accommodate the survivors, the economy suffering and the rush for people to point fingers at each other. It's been a while now, but I don't think anyone's comfortable talking about it just yet."

This time she paused.

It sounded about right. Nobody liked being reminded of tragedy, knowing that somewhere down the line it might be them on the chopping block next. Just look at how her city reacted to the idea of Leviathan appearing. It wasn't the kind of feelings she wanted to inspire in people.

"You know a lot about it." Taylor's mouth was faster than her brain, the realization that she'd asked about something very personal dawning on her like a bucket of ice water.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay. I was just surprised."

Taylor was too, and how bad she was at holding a conversation? She thought getting ambushed by Charlotte had knocked the rust off but apparently she needed practice not putting her foot in her mouth.

Crap, she didn't even introduce herself.

Or ask for his name.

"I'm Fontaine. From New England, like I said, uh, well, if you looked the name up you'd probably find Brockton Bay. So it's not like I can hide.

"Wait. You're that hydrokinetic? The one who took out a whole gang?"

She winced.

"Yeah. That was… a spur of the moment thing."

The boy chuckled, sounding amused enough that any bitterness at the mention of hydrokinesis disappeared.

"I'm Nautile. And I'm from here. Well, I was, anyway."

Extending his hand out over the swallowed city, he explained a great many things all at once.

"I'm sorry." Taylor lowered her head. "It wasn't my intention to be rude."

"Normally we're the ones saying sorry."

Perhaps a little weak, the joke still got a smile from her and the teenager wasn't foolish enough to reject a peace offering. At least not when she was the one who had, accidentally, fired the first shots.

"Well, if you want, I don't mind. When in Rome."

A shake of the head and he glided back a little.

"Tell me, how well can you swim? I'm on the clock but I can keep talking."

Taylor accelerated her body so violently that she could feel her insides sloshing around. It was as if she'd been slammed backwards against a vast, squishy membrane. And all around her the water split just so, so that her body seemingly fell into the empty space in front of it, as it closed up behind her.

And not so much as a single ripple was unleashed.

"Pretty, gah, fast."

Now on the other side of the Tinker, having moved fast enough her lungs ached for the first time since she'd gotten her powers, Taylor had to force herself not to bend over double and grab her knees.

"Maybe… avoid going that hard?" It sounded like the guy was struggling to contain his laughter. "There was enough force there to sink a ship. Or so Pers tells me."
Taylor looked up at him in confusion.

"Pers?"

As if in response to her call, a small compartment on the suit's shoulder opened to reveal… a tiny penguin shaped robot, its tiny blue eyes glowing askance at her.

"This is Pers. He is my… assistant? I built him to monitor underwater conditions."

Well, it was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen.

"And I'm Nautile. Like I said, I'm from here. But mostly I work for Dragon. Now come on. Um, you don't need to do that weird movement thing either. Not sure how you managed to not disturb the water, but the area around here can be unstable at times. So even if we're fine, well, I'd rather not cause a collapse."

Taylor blushed a little and said nothing, merely floating behind the Tinker as his whirring machinery lifted him up and out of the torn hull.

But the near silence wasn't awful.

Letting a little of the sea touch her, the Blaster felt the cold of the deep touch her skin and soak into her clothes. It wasn't… like normal, it didn't drag at her. Rather, it was like the ocean was trying to gently run across her body. Almost as if it recognized her.

'It does, dear child. It shall call you home.'

Focalors elaborated no further and Taylor felt no need to press for more information. Perhaps because she could feel the shape of it. And that scared her.

So, looking out around her, she watched a large shark pass in the distance. One black eye on them, but sticking to the shadows of a slumped library. Old red bricks turned dark as night by the depths and the pale, dim light that penetrated it.

Her guide, at least, was bright. Floodlights set on his back were able to rotate to face any direction he needed and each component of his suit had tracking lights. But that only meant he stood out as a beacon, not that he lit the whole of the graveyard.

'I can almost see the great monsters that we imagined lurked down here.' They passed a void, a drop off to a long, deep plane, and for any normal person, she suspected they would see nothing but darkness. 'A monster of tentacles or some giant shark might have been better than what we did find.'

Reaching out a hand, she stirred up the ocean, watching as a torrent of silt and sand sparkled like jewels in the distance. Calling it into shape, she beat a rough approximation of Cthulhu into shape before releasing the immense mass to slowly drift back down below. Not before one of its tendrils reached upwards to… tip its hat at her?

When had it gotten one?

'If you'd like, I could teach you how to call one of those into being.'

Carefully neutral, her powers gave away nothing, but still Taylor came up short.

'I… no. Not… not now, at least.'

There was a danger in those words. Something she knew better than to tempt. And when a small rush of thanks filled her mind, Taylor suspected she'd passed a test she hadn't been expecting.

"We should be coming up on the sub soon."

Turning to face her guide, she watched as the young man angled the propellers on his feet and began to press downwards. He skimmed just above the surface of the sea bed, spooking a few fish, and ducking under a curious tuna bigger than a person! Taking a moment to blink in awe at a fish twice as long as she was tall, Taylor had to put on a burst of speed to catch up, only just being able to take in the massive submarine… shaped just like Pers the Penguin.

Taylor wanted to gape at the vessel, if only because the chubby cheeked penguin design seemed distinctly adorable in the sort of way she was sure she'd be terribly tempted to replicate later. When only her powers could tease her for it.

For now, she watched as blue running lights designated a small hatch on the bottom, perhaps an access point to a moon pool, and the young man turned towards it. Sweeping up from under the craft, he dimmed his own running lights and then gestured upwards.

"There's only really room for one of us to go up at a time. Uh, lady's first."

Hesitating for a moment, Taylor eventually nodded, a strange sort of shyness overcoming her when she realized she was, more or less, entering into a boy's room. For the first time ever. Without any reasonable supervision. It was a silly thing to get caught up in, but perhaps a few too many memories of Winslow had come rushing back.

"Suppose you need a crane to help move the gear out of the water?" Shyness was better than openly scowling, she decided.

"Can't even climb out without it, actually." Nautile gave her a little wave. "Unfortunately I don't quite have the strength to actually lug this stuff around in dry air."

"Well, you move perfectly fine out here and I'd say that counts for a lot."

Suddenly aware of what she said, Taylor pushed herself up and into the moonpool before the Tinker could reply. And thankfully found a ladder on the side of the thing to climb out with. So, moving with a bit of rapidity, she stepped out of the waters of Newfoundland dry as a bone, making sure to clear the way for her… guide? Host? Whichever he was, to get on board his ship.

'And isn't that something?'

It wasn't huge, even if she wasn't sure how big the vessel was, but, asd he rose up out of the cold ocean, a mechanical arm whirring to life as a gantry shifted into place, Taylor couldn't help but look at the half secure screens, beeping panels, and honestly feel a bit impressed.

Several large thunks of locking mechanisms announced that the central harness of the suit was secured and there was a long, low hiss of escaping air as the helmet's pressure normalized.

For a moment the front of the helmet cycled through a variety of expressions. Sad, happy, angry, before eventually settling into the same grid pattern as before. The faceless visage staring back at her… before she noticed that the top of it had small beady eyes of its own.. as well as a beak.

It was a penguin helmet.

'Now that's just precious.' Focalors titered in the back of her mind.

Taylor agreed, but refused to voice it outloud.

The shoulder pad popped open, allowing the mechanical penguin to slide off in a hurried waddle before falling in line with its creator. There was a brief, awkward pause as the two capes stared at each other as if trying to find the right words to say.

Conversation didn't appear to be either of their strong points.

"How much did it cost to build this, anyway?" So she did the most natural thing in the world, and decided to put her foot in her mouth.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I just sent the list of materials and the Guild gets them for me when they can. Sometimes, when I ask for help, they'll let me know if I'm going over the budget, but I don't know how much they spent."
Taylor whistled appreciatively, looking around.

It must have been nice, to have someone willing to bankroll you.

"What are you doing here anyway? I mean, if you can tell me." Out of the corner of her eyes, Taylor could see a bunch of crates lined up against the side of the submarine, the small pools underneath them hinting that they had probably been carried from the outside into the base.

Even if their design, like everything else here, was Pers-shaped.

"Clearing hazardous materials, surveying the local fish population. A lot of dangerous waste was left lying around at the bottom for the longest time. Hospital waste, water cleaning facilities, gas stations. Anything and everything that might cause an ecological disaster. We have been clearing them bit by bit."

So… kinda what she had been doing for the Bay.

Only on a much larger scale.

"You're the only one doing this? It seems like a bit much for one person." Hypocritical as it might have sounded, she meant it. Her powers meant she had company.

"It's not that bad. Dragon helps sometimes, and the others chip in when they can but not everyone has the time and training to do this. Besides, I enjoy doing the work. It's calming and quiet down here."

Taylor understood.

She wasn't trying to empathize. Wasn't trying to imagine what might drive someone to just dive as far underwater as they could until the world outside felt like a distant worry and all she had for company was the sea and her own thoughts. She already knew the kind of environment that would drive someone to do that all too well.

Not that she was ever truly alone, but it was the thought that counted.

"You were looking for something?"

She considered lying about that. After all, she was in another country and while she didn't mind the negative attention, maybe a smidge, she didn't want to get branded a pirate who was stealing from graves.

"Nothing in particular, really. I thought I'd look around, see anything interesting and take it back with me. There wasn't a whole lot in the ships I salvaged back home that I really wanted. Maybe chase down a rumored bit of lost tinkertech, but I didn't actually get very far before we ran into each other."
It wasn't like she was gonna try and break into a flooded bank to steal a wasn't about money, but about the adventure.

And maybe a bit about the money.

"I also… might have heard something about a very valuable treasure here."

Nautile's faceplate shifted to display something akin to amusement.

"Masamune's stuff?"

She winced.

"That obvious?"

"Some people show up looking for stuff like that from time to time. Don't really have the authority to send them away since this is no man's land at this point. You're welcome to look for what you want. It's just that…"

The boy, Nautile, she corrected herself, flickered through a set of emotions before the faceplate settled on uncertainty.

"There's a lot of… superstition about this place. Older folks think that it's bad luck to salvage anything. They'll let us handle hazardous materials but ever since that day, everyone started to think that if they took anything from here it might attract bad luck. That Leviathan might come for them next."

That honestly sounded like a bit of an overreaction.

'You would be surprised at the kind of marks a disaster can leave behind. One involving monsters of this magnitude? I would be surprised if there wasn't some sort of taint left behind.'

Really?

'As we have yet to meet one of these beasts, I cannot make that judgment. What your people call Endbringer might have had another name in my homeland, or a similar nature at least.'

Well, she was ready to accept the existence of magic as a thing so maybe curses and stuff like that might also exist. The origin of the Endbringers was unknown, so they could be supernatural, kinda like her own powers.

"Wait, how come you're here then? If everyone thinks this place is cursed."

Shuffling awkwardly, the young cape fiddled with the last pieces of his diving suit. Stepping out of the mixture of mesh and armor, Taylor was perplexed at how… small he looked. Maybe a full head shorter than her, the baggy jacket and shorts were a strange combination, along with the partially removed diving helmet, gave him a unique look, to say the least.

"This is home. Or, it was."

Walking over to a nearby window, Nautile wiped it clean with a gloved hand to reveal the dimly lit flooded city out.

"Everyone would be happier if they could forget. They want to act like it never happened, like the city was never here to begin with."

Taylor nodded very slowly.

"Yeah. Something like that happened back down south. It's not the same, but it can feel close. You know?"

A nod.

"I do."

Taylor waved her hand, drying out the room and the boy, before reaching up and taking off the tiny mask she was wearing.

"Still. I think it's good that I saw this. Before, I wasn't… I couldn't understand what the Endbringers were. What they did. My home town was a port city, we blamed Leviathan for poverty, for apathy, for a lot. But that's not what he did. That's what we let happen. This is what the Endbringers do."

"They end things." Nautile's words were simple, but there was a soft sort of pain to them. "Can't really understand unless you've seen it."

He hesitated for a moment.

"If you want, I can help you find Masamune's gear. I've been looking for it myself, to help out Dragon, but my tech isn't really suited for just searching. Too many missiles."

"Thank you, Nautile, I think I would quite like that."

That was when a small beeping noise started to come from a panel on a nearby wall.

And Nautile flinched.

"Oh God."

He rushed over, hastily punching several buttons and taking a call inside of his helmet. Worried, Taylor and Focalors were left to wonder what exactly was happening.

'Could Leviathan actually be showing up here?'

'I am unsure. While it might be the nature of such monsters to claim territory, if it has never happened before, I am unsure why we alone might entice it. For now, stretch out your mind and let us see if we might determine its location.'

Closing her eyes, the Blaster attempted to do just that.

Her meditation hadn't advanced very far, but she knew how to focus on the information her powers provided, how to see without seeing. If only a little.

But that ended up being unneeded.

"Sorry, Endbringer attack. I will have to go, soon. Do you want to head out or…."

Because those words sent a mixture of shame and relief through the teenager.

Her father was safe, they were safe, even if Nautile would help with the aftermath as best he could. And yet she knew, without a doubt, that she had a choice to make. Taylor's hands shook. She swallowed.

"I… I think I'll go. And try to help."

The Tinker looked shocked.

"That's not what I was trying to do." Waving his hand, the young man seemed to back away. "I wasn't saying you need to go fight it! No, I'd never… shame someone for not going."

She forced a smile.

"And I'm not saying you did. Still, I dunno, can you call a Mover? I can fight. I'm strong. Really strong, if I'm being honest. This is something I need to do or there's not point to, well, a great many things." Her fists clenched. "So trust me. I can do this."

His body language turned a little aggressive.

"You're trying to psych yourself up! You're scared!"

"Of course I'm scared!" She snapped back. "Who wouldn't be? But I still have to try. Now that I've seen what happened here, can I really just sit back and let another city die?"

Nautile shrunk in on himself, all fire in him gone in a minute.

"Even if it's hopeless? Even if you can't win? Even if the most you can eke out is to not die?"

Taylor nodded.

"Yes."

The boy was silent for several moments before, with a silent sigh, pressing a button on the side of his wall.

"Pers, please call Dragon and ask her to tell Strider, two to teleport."

Eat.

Sleep.

Work.

Repeat.

Being a hero, as it so turned out, happened to be a lot like a job. Sure, Keith didn't have a whole lot of experience of working before he got his powers for health related reasons, but it struck him as ironic that the way most people saw heroism was pretty far removed from how it actually worked.

Keith got up in the mornings, str breakfast, left for work at the crack of dawn, struggled through paperwork, meetings, and training before actually heading out to hunt down the criminal elements of New York before coming back, reporting what he did for the sake of legality, and then clocking out.

Some days there was overtime, others, he got calls from work because of an emergency.

Rinse, repeat.

It was, all in all, a good life. A good routine.

Certainly not as busy as Rebecca, who had to keep so many plates up in the air that if she didn't not need rest, Keith would tell her to take weekends off. But he had a feeling she would probably chew him out for suggesting it when there was so much to be done.

"We have confirmation of the latest round of attacks."

He couldn't help but frown at how Doctor Mother's tone grew more detached with each time they had this discussion. He'd guess she wore the same monotone look as she said it too, given that they didn't actually do face to face video these days to keep things on the down low.

"Are we heading in on this or sitting it out? What's the plan?"

David at the least sounded like he wanted to head straight to the battlefield. One of the few things that didn't change on a daily basis, the man was always eager to go out and be one of the first responders.

Especially in cases like these.

"Considering the timing and situation, we can expect support from a larger number of sources than usual. So actually achieving a draw is possible."

Rebecca was, as usual, more focused on the dozen different confounding factors than the problem at hand. It was her job to coordinate all those factors, as well as to lead from the front.

She didn't have to do uplifting speeches on top of it.

Never had been good at those either.

"I know it's important we don't just throw ourselves feet first into every meat grinder out there, but it doesn't sit right to not help." Keith had to stop himself from scowling. "If nothing else, I plan to help."

"Your abilities are almost always useful, so, if nothing else, that would be a good start."

The Number Man gave the closest thing to his support as he ever did.

"So, if we are going all in, who are we calling? Who can we expect to show up? Hell, who can we afford to gamble on this?"

"The usual, perhaps, for this particular style of emergency."

And with that pronouncement from Rebecca, Keith had to push down a gut turning ball of shame. So sour and foul that he wanted to retch. Because that euphemism had only one meaning. Villains. To do the dirty work.

It wasn't pretty, but it was the best they could do in such short notice.

"What about the Guild?" Still, they had to cover their bases.
"I've gotten in touch with Dragon. She is mustering her own forces as we speak, but don't expect much, their group isn't particularly well known for power houses." Even then, having one of the premiere Tinkers in the world would do wonders for support.

"How much time do we have?"
"Five minutes and forty three seconds for descent, radars attempting to track as best as they can but it's at best a guess with a margin of twenty percent for error." This one hadn't spoken yet, content to spend meetings like this silent, observing them from the sidelines unless called upon.

Like a ghost.

"Do we know the location?"
Legend smiled wryly.

"Stealing a march on us, David?"

"I'll keep the seat warm for you. Just don't keep me waiting."

He planned on doing exactly that. Most days, it was hard to work up the strength to have a positive outlook. So many losses, so many pyrrhic victories, so many unnecessary mistakes. His job was easy, all he needed to do was fight and make sure he survived.
"The location has been determined to be south east of Australia. Given pre-established patterns, the target appears to be the capital, Canberra."

A lot of people. Important infrastructure, leadership positions. If it fell, it could spell doom for the entire country in the long run.
"Get started on evacuation preparations, get as many people to chip in as you can. They don't need to stay and fight but we need to get as many people away as we can." It would also allow them to fight without having to worry about as many collateral deaths.

Though even that was never guaranteed.

Not when you were dealing with the Hopekiller.

"I'll head out as soon as my people are done gearing up." David had already left the call, probably halfway to Canberra if he hadn't straight up teleported there. Legend could only spare the time for a quick text and a message to the rest of the New York Protectorate before zipping out of the city and into the sky in a literal ray of light.
Something was happening.

He could feel it. Call it intuition, or a hunch. Or call him a fool for still clinging to hope.

This time, they had to win.
"Door me."