The speech from Legend made everything feel less real. He didn't look around too much at the others, just watched the Triumvirate with a worried expression. When they pointed out the search and rescue section Hermes breathed, and walked over to Inkscape. As he looked around, a roar was heard, followed by a thunder clap. Christ, what an introduction. He closed his fists to stop the shaking, and silently stood by for instruction.

Barry accepted the medical attention provided by Sheila gratefully. After stopping up the bleeding he traversed with Firefly to the parahumans responsible for dealing with behemoth at a range. As he arrived he spotted an angelic figure of gargantuan proportions. It even had the gall to blast the endbringer and apparently damage it!

Barry was impressed and decided to fire his own projectiles. Taking his tungsten from his packet, he levitated a single steel ball in the air. With careful aim he launched it in the direction of Behemoth with all the power he could muster. It broke the sound barrier and tore through the atmosphere around them. It shattered some pieces off the mammoth figure, but it was already preoccupied with the being in front of it. "I did it! Get ready for another you monster.."

Barry lifted another round to prepare another blast.

Abaddon followed the lady toward the PRT building, staying in breaker form the whole time, just floating along casually next to her. She looked over the crowd before shrugging to herself trying to fathom why they were here. She understood that they were here to protect the city and each other but it didn't make sense to her as to why they would throw their lies away so readily.

"..cuse me for a moment," she snapped back to attention, nodding to Metanoia to simply say yes.

She gave it no thought as to where the girl went to, just assuming she had to change into something or do something private. Phasing out still trying to understand why the people are here.

A little bit later she was once again snapped back to attention by the return of the girl and Legend speaking, not paying an awful lot of attention to what he's saying, knowing the general run down. As the command to attack comes she reluctantly moves to a higher vantage point, hovering over a building she didn't recognise while waiting for the beast to reveal itself before she did anything.

As it roared she felt a shiver, a wave of fear wash over her. "Is this what people feel when they look at me? Curious..." She mumbles to herself idly as she picks up cars, throwing them idly at Behemoth, hoping that he doesn't do anything to her in, hoping it's too busy dealing with other people.

---

It was something of a drive from the airport to the meeting, but they made it with some time to spare. He made sure to hand off the vehicle to one of his costumed thralls, to make things appear less...suspicious. Of course, they also exited the vehicle out of the direct line of sight in a nearby alley that would serve similarly as a shortcut. He walked the rest of the way, all the while sending out commands and tapcode to his growing, thriving fanbase. Even in these dire circumstances, the thought put a small smile at the edges of his lips. As he arrived alongside the other Jacks people were getting properly situated. He made small talk with some capes, as well as getting updates of who was present. All the while he was careful to keep his power dialed down quite low--even though any thinkers present would have difficulty detecting it. Besides, even if anyone knew the true nature of his power it was unlikely that they knew he could dial it up or down. Similarly, the influence he would gain from this--in the way of capes--would be so miniscule as to be virtually nothing.

Eventually everyone who was likely going to arrive, did so, and the proceedings moved on to the pre-curtain announcement. Legend stepped up and spoke. He listened, though mostly peripherally as he continued giving commands to his people, organizing and helping civilians get to safety...or the nearest thing that could constitute such when considering an Endbringer. When the groups--and their leaders--were pointed out, he frowned. Despite the fact that the truce was in full effect, he had to admit that he did not much like being in such close proximity to the heroes. Especially those in the local Protectorate and Wards, after all, working alongside them very much meant tipping his hand further. He hated the idea of them gathering intel on him that would still remain useful once the truce was called off.

Gritting his teeth, he still submitted once others had moved over to Inkscape’s group. He made sure to stay hidden in the crowd. As they mobilized, he did his utmost to stay away from any of the heroes he could, keeping to the villains when possible. He kept his power at low influence with all the capes nearby and if he felt any abnormal resistance, he stopped trying on those individuals.

However, for anyone beyond the group he was coordinating with, he kept his power dialed up all the way, using it as a locator beacon of sorts. He couldn’t tell the exact location with his power, but he could tell the direction relative to his own person. This, as well as his voice’s ability to calm those who were buried and--on occasion--convince them to explain their situation to better assist them in helping them, were invaluable.

While they worked he noticed something particularly large and eye catching appear above the skyline--though a significant distance away. Only when it moved did he turn his attention its way...except he found that it was not where he’d last thought he’d seen it. Instead, he found it near where he knew Behemoth to be, retreating to a building. He squinted and saw as what appeared to be a person climbed into the midst of its writhing silver form.

“What--no, who in the hell is that?” he wondered allowed as his hand continued its constant tapping on his pager, occasionally altering to one of several to tap out another code. He wondered if anyone even knew the answer to his question.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to his job, though he wanted answers, they had more important things to worry on. That in mind, he pointed out another set of civilians and headed there way with several others.

---

---

He’d arrived just on time for the meeting and so it was only a few minutes that he had to wait for others to arrive so the briefing could commence. He took the time to assess those present and the situation at hand. By the rumbling in the earth below he had the distinct sense that it was Behemoth they were faced with. There was no storm and a winged lady hadn’t dropped from the heavens so unless it was something new...it was him: The Hero-killer. Sensing movement in his periphery, he glanced up and noticed that Legend had stepped forwards.

Normally he might have smiled at the sight of the hero, and though it did warm him to know he would be here for this fight, he felt little else beyond a dull resolve and a distant--controlled--fear. Then the hero spoke and it was a cautionary speech. When he mentioned the veterans who had experienced Endbringers before...he stepped forwards. People looked to him and he let them, even though he felt very little from it. Even having used his power to get to the meeting, his emotions were still distant, dull, and nigh unreachable. He endured it to make a difference and when the time came he volunteered himself, moving to stand beside Alexandria.

If he took significant damage he could always switch over to helping rescue civilians.

Then, interrupting any further attempt at thoughts, it came, the thunderous roar that shook the very earth he stood on. He stumbled at the tremors and then rather than catch himself, he jumped and shifted all at once.

---

---

Disorientation, nausea, a world gone mad...spinning, and then a flood of sensation and feeling. His Second Vessel had made its appearance and only the end of its tail had brushed against several people. Turning his senses outwards he shuddered, the sheer noise of Behemoth briefly causing him discomfort. Adjusting somewhat he reoriented, identifying the bio signatures of various important capes around him. Legend, Eidolon, Alexandria and several others--particularly those who would be directly dealing with Behemoth.

”If you can’t take a direct shot, but you can fly or position yourself behind me, do it,” he said, voice ringing out like a hollow echo. He knew that Behemoth could likely kill his Second Vessel if he truly desired, but it wasn’t his real body and...furthermore, if he died to save many others that fate, he would readily do so.

Once everyone had begun moving, he followed, swimming through the air and getting a feel for everything. He was well and familiar with Denver--even with his altered senses--but Behemoth changed things. It had no bio-electricity, which was not to say that he couldn’t detect the endbringer via the energy it gave off. As they approached he felt his skin tingle faintly. That would be Behemoth’s influence...and the radiation, though fortunately his barrier shielded him significantly from both. Hopefully it would stay that way.

As they closed the distance, Outsider found himself shifting between evasive maneuvers, harrying the monstrosity, and tanking what blows he could afford to for the sake of others. His Vessel took damage here and there, barrier falling, fleshing being scoured away, and pain flooding through him...but he managed. His regeneration and barrier protecting him, flesh reknitting and reforming at a startling rate. He’d never been tested so thoroughly, but he was glad that his power worked in this capacity, even if it took a few minutes on occasion to fully regenerate.

Time blurred as the fight continued and with every passing moment he found himself becoming a shield for others more often. Simultaneously he used the time between direct engagements with the endbringer to build up his kinetic blasts. He distracted Behemoth at times and offset him at others where he could. He was careful not to use his blasts unless its attention was elsewhere--and even then they were often dampened or redirected. Then it happened, something huge and highly energetic virtually blinded and deafened him as it slammed into the endbringer. It took several moments for him to fly well away and reorient himself. As the nausea and pain passed he realized that whatever that had been had already backed off...and apparently it had gouged a rather sizable section out of the beast.

If he’d had eyes, they’d have been wide; if a mouth, it would have gaped, but instead he only felt the emotion; awe...and then confidence to match his resolve. Focusing in, Outsider closed the distance and struck at Behemoth, pushing and pulling at him to get him off balance before zipping away and maneuvering through the air to evade assault. With the arrival of this mystery cape, maybe their chances were better than he’d thought.

He sure hoped so.

---

There were so many capes here...it was like the entire populace of a comic book universe had been thrown up into the real world. Like some kid's dream come true, but under the worst possible circumstances. Well, "worst circumstances was a massive understatement. It was a nightmare scenario that brought anyone with a brain together to fight, a band of suicidal maniacs ready to die to avoid the nightmare consuming everything and then some. Even she might not walk away alive, and that "foreboding feeling" had crept up into her gut so far. But

There were more important things than her own life, though. Helen...her mother...she hoped they were safe, out of the city as far as possible. Her father was a wealthy man, at least, the kind who'd get his stuff and be gone before the sirens went off if he felt a bad vibe from things.

...He was still a jackass though, no questions about that.

After the third strongest member of the Triumvirate spoke, and she got her communicator placed in her ear, Alloy stepped forward towards Legend.

"Alloy here, local and a Jacks member. I've got metal skin, and i can control and generate electricity. The more i do the latter thing, the more of my metal skin disappears.

Just find me some knocked over light pole, or some wires attached to the city power grid, and i can light this bastard up like its the Fourth of July from afar without any problem. At least for a time."

She didn't blink and eye as the ground shook, and Behemoth's roar rang out. Less from not fearing the monster...but more because she was pissed.

This was her city, the city of the people of Denver, Colorado, and this thing would pay for stomping onto HER turf.



As soon as everyone began moving out, however, Alloy made her way along with Legend's crew on the ground. Climbing over rubble, push through intact streets, anything to get within enough of a spitting distance of this thing to stay out of the Kill Aura and start firing. Some around her would seem to stop and fire along the way, sometimes with a retaliatory blast that she never looked back to see the results of. She could see some flying overhead, including some strange monster-like creature, a titan of some glowing sort that was going hand to hand with the damned thing, and various other 'interesting' sights.

That was, however, a very minor detail about all of this.

The sounds of death and attacks made by capes as they whizzed through the air, blasts coming off of Behemoth's massive frame, the heat of explosions, the ringing din of destruction...it all was something maddening and fierce.

Eventually, however, Alloy managed to find what she had been looking for amidst it all.

A street light, stuck in what was now an open space filled with rubble, ripped from the ground by Behemoth's blasts and resulting damage they caused.

It was perfect.

Alloy ran over to the spot, watching as spark still flitted about where one of the cords was touching the bent metal of the post, exposed and frayed and all to filled with juice still. Reaching over with her right hand, the cape grabbed the exposed end with her bare metal-covered hand. She could feel the thrum of the power going into her body, the surge of might and energy flushing into her skin and body, but to try to avoid damage to her own body the parahuman quickly stuck out her left arm at Behemoth. She was to the left side of him, far enough out of the Kill Aura to still be alive anywho, and without hesitation she began to unleash her wrath as she screamed at the Endbringer at the top of her lungs.



She drew in as much of the power left on the city grid in from where she was, moving it from her right arm and out of her left one that was pointed at Behemoth. A great array of electricity was jumping out of her left arm, like a great laser beam had been unleashed. No...more like the wrath of a vengeful Zeus, throw out upon those who dared defy him. It lit up the sky like a gigantic Christmas light around where Alloy was standing, and frankly the display was actually rather impressive....but at a cost.

She could feel the heat building in her body, sweat running down and forming on what normal human skin that was exposed on her body still.

She could feel the metal skin being eaten away, but by bit, part by part...wasn't like she could do this forever, after all.

And frankly she could feel ebbs of pain from parts of her skin not covered in metal, as she used her powers to conduct the electricity out and at the Endbringer. Eventually, if she didn't let go and stop, she'd be burnt to a crisp once all that metal skin was finally eaten up by her power use.

The metal-skinned woman muttered under her breath, profanities flying out of her as quietly as she could manage. But, at least, she would see the results of her work beginning to pay off. Chunks from the carapace of the Endbringer, singed off by the lightning of her anger and falling to the ground. She did her best to avoid zapping any capes flying about the Endbringer, but it was a struggle to adjust aim as she was doing this.

---

---

The entire thing seemed like a blur, like a dream but without falling asleep. She'd gotten a port to the PRT HQ, and before that a bandanna and small disposable mask to use to hide her face entirely. That was, perhaps, the one nice thing done for her after what had just happened. Hide her identity from the rest of the capes, at least, though Patriarch and his lot had ruined any chances of an normal life for her now.

She was a parahuman, what some considered a freak of nature, and her school had been attacked with her being blamed for it.

She had been pulled into all of this, even by a man who was mad in the head. Mantis, that idiot among idiots, dragging in a vulnerable bystander into a battle that got too many killed and at an irreparable cost. Her only joy from that was finding out Farce, at least, was alive after all of it...one of the few more level-headed-seeming individual that had been around that fool Mantis.

Before she knew it, though, she was now again in a warzone and alongside other parahumans....ironic. No, poetic perhaps? It was stupid as hell, but she didn't want Denver to be leveled because they were short one helper either. Perhaps it was her excuse to get away from that school building, though...or an excuse to just go die and end it all. She'd considered that when she'd cornered Mantis after his "little excursion", after all...what was to stop her now? Alexandria swooping in to grab her up and carry her off to safety?



"Stupid Endbringer...stupid MB....stupid Patriarch, and Mantis...,"

Allison swore under her breath and mumbled to herself, even as she did her best to keep up with the other capes who were also heading around the outside perimeter to attack from a distance. She stopped to fire a burst at the beast here and there, but all this did was slow her down quite a lot as compared to others who had "movement abilities". Argh. Maybe if that vial thing allowed her to teleport, she'd have been able to catch up.

She was one of the ones far back enough, at least, to get glimpses of the groups helping evacuate or get people out of the area. It was almost surreal in a sense, like a natural disaster movie on steroids. At least if one thought of the Endbringers as "natural disasters", and not as something some asshole had to have made for all she and humanity knew.

Yet after firing a few more showers of metal blades from her wrists at the titanic Behemoth, Allison turned around and began to move to another location once more.

"...I hope Farce is alive, at least...or i swear if i find Mantis i am going to-"

There were so many people here. All capes. Many of them famous to the point that even Sofia had vague knowledge of them. She stayed next to Jason and listened to the speech as best she could, so many thought flitting around her head like so many birds, refusing to land anywhere. Jason told her to be careful once the speech was mostly ended and walked away. Sofia concentrated. She had to help. Jason was helping. Search and rescue. Yeah she could do that. She could help people go through buildings and stuff. She could help. Sofia run over to Inkscape. "I can, uh I can-" Sofia stumbled as a massive quake swept through the area. In the next moment the assembled heroes took off like that a herd of deer that had been startled jumping into action in various ways, leaving Sofia behind along with the other people that hadn't quite figured out their place yet. Sofia needed to find someone she could help. She would find someone she could help.

Behemoth roared again, shattering all the glass within several blocks around where he had, quite literally, erupted from the ground. Dozens of civilians in those buildings were already dead, either from the shards of glass or from their bones breaking from the roar. The rest might as well have been dead, at least the ones closer in to Behemoth's location. The Endbringer carried with it a flood of deadly radiation. Frankly, the ones impaled by glass and their own bones were the lucky ones.

The Protectorate leaders sprang into action as soon as the first roar signaled the monster's arrival. For Legend and Alexandria the orders were fairly simple: just basic tactics of where to go and how to strike. Of course, the ranged attackers under Legend's guidance received an additional instruction. "Remember not to get too close! Behemoth is a completely unrestricted dynakinetic, which means getting into range will lead to your instant death as he manipulates the energy in your bodies!" A terrifying thought indeed, that power which had been commonly dubbed Behemoth's "kill aura."

Eidolon's group received more nuanced directives, more coordination. Maneuvers to pull off in order to hopefully slow the beast down, or at least keep him off balance long enough for Alexandria and Legend to land some solid hits. Most of the capes however had flocked to Inkscape, the leader of the local branch of the Protectorate, to engage in search and rescue. A job that many would consider the most valuable, important task of all. What was the point in beating back Behemoth if nobody lived to celebrate it, after all?

"I hate to say it, but everyone in a 2 block radius of Behemoth is already a lost cause. Focus your efforts on the area surrounding him at the epicenter, and try to get a bead on where he's going. Predict his movements, and we'll get people out before it becomes a problem," the octopus-faced hero commanded. "If you think you can fend off the radiation poisoning, then you can risk getting in closer. If not, then I want you to pull out the very second it looks like Behemoth is getting within a half mile of your location. We don't have any anti-rad pills in yet, but there's still more reinforcements on the way. Keep your comms open, and coordinate together."

He spared a glance down at Whimsy, helping to stabilize her. "If your phasing power will let you ignore radiation, then you can get in closer than most. That means you can search the rubble of areas he's already wrecked. If that's true, then you're on fallen hero rescue. Get out any of our comrades he knocks down in his rampage." With a tentacle wave, Inkscape catches the attention of another cape, someone with red lightning decals on their outfit. "Fleet-Foot, you're with this one."

After another roar, Inkscape couldn't delay any longer. "Move, team! Save as many lives as possible!"

---

Meanwhile, Decoy sat in her private quarters in the PRT building, monitoring all communications and camera feeds from throughout the city. Several of her cameras were already offline, either from the destructive power of Behemoth, or interference from the sheer energy output of the monster. She watched as Alexandria engaged Behemoth directly, slamming her fists right into the monster's face repeatedly. A bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere, striking her to the ground. Thankfully, and expectedly, she got right back up fighting again. Total invulnerability was an amazing power. Meanwhile, Legend was flying about nearby, just outside of Behemoth's kill range. An amazing display of differently colored lasers blasted through the air, turning and zigzagging around any obstacle in their path until they found their mark, striking Behemoth.

Then something amazing happened. Tulpa's projection manifested in a brilliant light, an intricate tangle of silvery strings, and struck Behemoth, cutting deeper than even Alexandria's unparalleled strength and Legend's unstoppable lasers! The tinker's eyes stretched open in shock, though she recovered quickly. Well, with this many parahumans to work with, shouldn't it have been expected? Still, the sheer power in that projection... It was unlike anything they'd ever seen. With Tulpa here, could they do it? Could they win without Scion? Could they not just beat Behemoth back, but finally kill it?

A sudden voice from the speaker caught Decoy's attention. "I found someone trapped in some rubble, but I can't get them out!" She recognized the voice of Retcon, one of Denver's more tame villains. "Could I get brute assistance?"

Decoy immediately answered. "I'm patching you through right now." She went to work, tapping her keys, when-

"AAAARGH!" The feed cut out to the sound of screaming and falling debris. Decoy pulled up her vitals monitor for the communicator that had been given to Retcon. Behemoth had claimed his first cape of the day. First, but far from the last. She glanced back onto the camera showing Tulpa battling Behemoth. Come on, Chambers-kun. You can do it.

---

Back in the field of battle, the various capes had already been sent running into a disaster zone. Tulpa's projection came back in for another shot at Behemoth and sliced a decent chunk out of the creature, but found increasing resistance the deeper it cut into the monster. In response, Behemoth turned its attention toward where Tulpa was standing, its single eye fixating on her position. In a flash, a bolt of lightning generated from nothing, blasting straight for the Ward. It circled around falling debris, completely breaking all known science regarding electricity following the path of least resistance, dodging and weaving around whatever was in its way. Then, a fraction of a second before Tulpa found herself fried to a crisp, the lightning was intercepted by none other than Alexandria herself! The powerhouse brute flew directly into the bolt from the side, taking the energy into her own body and falling to Tulpa's side with a loud thud! Smoke wisped up from her costume, but she stood none the worse for wear.

"I don't know who you are, but you're doing good work. If you can get further back, do it. That's an order." Without another word Alexandria took off, shooting straight toward Behemoth and socking him in the jaw.

Distracted, the Endbringer failed to notice the massive bolt of electricity flying into his not-flesh, courtesy of Alloy. The constant stream of power flaked off bits and pieces of his body, but nothing so consequential. It regained its footing and snagged Alexandria out of the air, smashing the invulnerable woman into the ground near Alloy so hard a huge crater was left behind.

---

"Margrave, come in." Inkscape's voice spoke over Margrave's ear piece. "Decoy informed me that we've got a big shipment of weapons just arrived courtesy of Muramasa, the mass-production tinker. I've assigned a mover to meet you back at the staging grounds. You're the only one who can carry that much equipment at once and deploy it to as many lower powered capes out here as possible. Get on it!"

---

Behemoth took two massive stomps forward, fighting against some energy shackles manifested by Eidolon. The energy shattered, dissipated, as Eidolon flew back from the recoil. Behemoth stepped through a large building, smashing right on as though it weren't even in his way. While this did kill a number of people, they were already good as dead anyway. The more concerning issue was the direction he was headed: straight for the PRT headquarters.

"Oh shit. Decoy!" Protean activated his comm unit immediately upon realizing what was going on. "You've got to get out of there! Behemoth is coming!"

"Negative, Protean," she replied, not even bothering to mask her voice with a modulator. "I have to manage the system, or else all communications go black and we're fighting blind."

Protean growled. "As your superior, I order you-"

"Superior in what way, Mark?!" she screamed over him. "You're a traitor, only spared the Birdcage because of this mess we're in now! And if you think you can leverage our personal relationship, then shut your fucking mouth, because we're done! I'm managing the system until that bastard kills me and that's final!"

For once, Protean didn't have anything to say. He blinked a few times, drawing a complete blank. He barely registered the giant monster not 500 feet away from him, shambling toward the place he once called home. "I still love you," was all he could manage.

"I never did. It was an act."

...

"I know."

---

A number of heroes tried desperately to halt Behemoth's advancement, to little effect. They only succeeded in slowing the beast down. Once it was in range, it called forth another lightning bolt, this one headed straight for the PRT building. It struck as intended, blowing out a large chunk of the building. Glass and stone rained down, some of which struck a nearby rogue cape, the Questioner, knocking her down and unconscious, bleeding badly. A case of the wrong place at the wrong time. Inside the power of the building surged, blowing out fuses and circuits, leaving the entire place in a state of blackout. Decoy had, miraculously, avoided taking any severe injury. The same could not be said for Love Craft, who was still in the medical wing on life support. The machine overloaded, exploding in the brute's face, burning and disfiguring them beyond recognition.

---

"This is a most troubling world I have found myself trapped within." Chivalry had raced into the PRT building, muttering to himself over the circumstances of his situation. He forced himself to put it behind him and focus on looking for people to get out. If Behemoth was able to continue marching forward, they would have more than some lightning to worry about. That creature's very presence would instantly kill any survivors and he had a duty to rescue as many as possible. The knight-like cape rounded a corner, finding a single PRT trooper unconscious near a blown out light. It had seemed the glass had embedded into his face. Chivalry picked the man up and slung him over one shoulder, then sliced through the wall with his free arm. The reinforced barrier was like air to his blades so long as he used his power.

Chivalry ran out of the building, carrying his single rescue, when he saw a woman, The Questioner, lying amidst glass and stone rubble. "Can I carry more than one?" He approached, examining her wounds. They were much more severe than the man he had with him. "This is Chivalry, on the West side of PRT HQ, on the outside. I've recovered two injured but need a way to transport them to safety." No answer. "Repeat, this is Chivalry, I need directions!" Still no response.

"Dammit, I guess we're on our ow-"

"I read you loud and clear, Chivalry. This is Dragon. I've connected with Decoy's communication system and rebooted it. I'm sending someone to pick you up right now."

"Thank the stars. Dragon, you have my than-" Chivalry's danger sense alerted him to an immediate threat. Dodge to the right, it told him. Falling danger, landing imminent. If he moved, whatever was falling would hit the woman on the ground. In a split second decision, Chivalry kept his feet planted firmly, tossing the unconscious man aside as gently as possible. No sooner had he finished that motion did an office table strike him from above, breaking in two over his body. Chivalry fell to the ground, unconscious, but proud that he could at least shield another person from certain death.

---

Salem approached the PRT HQ as part of Eidolon's squad. Fighting an Endbringer, he never thought it would come to this. But Sheila was fighting, so he knew he had to do his best. For her. A bolt of lightning struck the building, and his communications instantly went offline. The other capes were too busy fighting to give him any direction, so Salem had to make his own judgments. If Behemoth got any closer to the PRT, then the staging grounds would be compromised and a lot more people would die. He knew what he had to do. Getting in closer than was entirely wise, Salem concentrated on the ground beneath Behemoth's feet, instantly liquifying it into molten lava and depriving the monster of his footing. That and giving Behemoth one hell of a hot foot. Staggered, Behemoth's advancement stopped and it looked down as if to question just what had happened.

---

"Decoy! Director Kens!" Inkscape screamed out for nobody to hear. The comms were dead. For all he knew, everyone inside was dead. That was his base of operations, where he trained and worked with his team! Where he set the example for the Wards! Behemoth must not be allowed to get any closer! Luckily the Endbringer was stopped for a moment, thanks to a sudden pit of lava opening up beneath him. Inkscape saw his opportunity. He abandoned search and rescue. This was one of his good days. One of his best days. Time to go on the offense.

Concentrating, Inkscape began to swell up larger and larger, inflating in a rather comical fashion like a balloon. His elastic, rubbery body expanded to several dozen times its usual size. Then, it all expelled outward at once: hundreds of gallons of ink, which quickly became thousands. A tidal wave of inky blackness poured forth, which Inkscape swam in like the ocean creature he resembled. Almost like surfing a massive wave, except he controlled this wave, how it ebbed and flowed, where it went. As he moved forward, he concentrated on pulling every piece of paint and ink that came into his range. Entire buildings had their coats removed. All the capes he passed by lost the pigmentation to their costumes. The evacuating civilians clothing became devoid of color. It all served to swell into the continuously growing monstrously sized tidal wave Inkscape gathered until the wave was nearly four times the size of Behemoth himself.

Like a massive Inky golem, the flowing wave intercepted Behemoth from the front. "NOT IN MY CITY!" Standing atop his largest creation, the tidal wave of ink poured forth directly onto Behemoth, drowning the beast in a myriad rainbow of colors. The sheer force caused Behemoth to stumble back, tripping over the edge of the lava pool and collapsing onto its back, smashing tremors into the earth. Still Inkscape kept pummeling and pummeling Behemoth with the ink, like he was trying to drown the giant monster. As soon as the ink flowed over Behemoth's body, it circled back into the main body and continued to cycle over and over again, keeping Behemoth pinned down.

Behemoth had had enough. The sheer force of its roar blasted apart the ink current keeping it trapped, splattering paints and inks all around like a stormy rain. The lava it had tripped over, courtesy of Salem, rose up from the ground like an erupting volcano. Massive debris flew out everywhere, striking Salem and taking him out of the fight. Inkscape struggled to maintain his balance as the surface tension of his creation was destroyed. Then a single bolt of lightning struck him. Inkscape, and hundreds of thousands of gallons of ink, fell out of the sky.

Behemoth stood back up, then turned off into another direction. The PRT was safe. For now.

---

Injured: Love Craft, Questioner, Chivalry, Salem
Dead: Retcon, Inkscape

---

Lashing at Behemoth, pulling it, and taking its attention from others, the Seraph occupied the endbringer’s attention fairly often as it thundered ponderously through Denver. Her adrenaline was pumping from the tension and the knowledge that she was making a real difference, fighting something truly anchored in the mores of anarchy, destruction, and evil. However, as they fight continued, she found that the Seraph’s strikes appeared to be losing their effectiveness. It was a gradual thing, but she was paying very close attention, her own senses on the backburner while she managed her projection’s movements. It was as this realization hit her that her own senses blared a warning and she snapped out of her trance. Lightning, a bolt thicker around than her own body, was heading straight towards her. Her eyes widened, she shielded herself reflexively, and took a step back.

She was to be struck down by evil?!?! Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and she shut them tight, denying the reality. The Seraph blurred, moving towards her, but the lightning never struck her. A smile spread over her face. Fate had denied evil its victory...but how? She opened her eyes and stared in shock at the crackling--yet unharmed--form of Alexandria herself. For the briefest moment her facade broke and a mixture of awe and adoration filled her expression, alongside relief.

"I don't know who you are, but you're doing good work. If you can get further back, do it. That's an order."

She gaped and just before the hero of the Triumvirate took off, she managed several stumbled words, "I--I'm Tulpa! Th-thank you!" Her words trailed off slightly near the end as the woman took off, flying in once more to pound Behemoth straight in the face. As one of her literal heroes left Tulpa felt herself regain some of her lost composure, the iron will and determination returning to her. At the same time the Seraph arrived, compelled to protect her and in that moment she counted back. How long had it been active?

At least a few minutes. She had time. Reaching out, a single thread entangled with the material of her hand and she smiled. Her connection reestablished, they shifted their attention back to Behemoth. Noting his trajectory she narrowed her eyes and the Seraph writhed before her. At a disorienting velocity, Evelyn was repositioned further from Behemoth and then promptly abandoned by her projection as she sent it back into the fray.

The mass of solid silver light weaved between every cape present, exuding its enhancing material even as it struck at Behemoth, pushing at him and burning away material where it could. With great frustration apparent, Tulpa grit her teeth and kept at it, even as the endbringer all but ignored her--and everyone else’s--efforts to stop it from reaching PRT Headquarters. So focused was she on that single objective that the Seraph utterly failed to intercept the bolt of lightning that carried on to strike HQ.

She screamed out in fury and as the ground beneath Behemoth melted and the beast fell in, the Seraph slammed itself into him, helping him on his fall backwards. Then came Inkscape and so stunned was she that she actually had the Seraph back off, levitating and flinging itself upwards and clear of the tidal wave of ink.

For several brief moments the local protectorate leader pinned Behemoth down...and then the beast roared. Even as far away se she was, she had to cover her ears, wincing away.

"Shit!" She swore as she saw a flash of light. The Seraph flared and she immediately noticed what had happened. Inkscape had been struck.

Even as little as she had felt for the strange man, she remembered the kindness he had shown towards her when she’d joined the Wards...and later on as well. She remembered the good work he’d done in the city. She remembered his dedication to good and she realized that even if she didn’t like the PRT, he had been a good cape and a good man. Her jaw locked and she felt hot tears roll down her cheeks. Slowly, as Behemoth rose, her gaze shifted through the air and then locked on the endbringer.

The Seraph continued its writhing dance in the sky above, but something almost imperceptible changed about its movements.

Three minutes.

"You’ll pay for that," she muttered. As communications resumed as courtesy of Dragon, Tulpa took a deep breath and activated her communicator. "Tulpa speaking. If possible, a teleporter sent my way would be exceptionally useful." She then cut off comms and as follow-up, the Seraph shifted.

Writhing threads struck out at dust and debris and the projection moved, hovering two-hundred feet above the endbringer. Whenever it struck out with energy or redirected attacks from other capes, the Seraph caught that energy and pulled it in with its many many strands of silver light. Its glow intensified by the second and simultaneously, dust and detritus was pulled high into the air where it was spread out over the area of many city blocks, always with a strand nearby.

"Tulpa speaking. The massive minion above Behemoth is mine. Calling for immediate, but brief, retreat from within a block’s radius of Behemoth. Get out within the next three minutes." She cut off comms again and then activated it once more as an idea struck her.

"Anyone with blaster powers generating energy, fire above Behemoth. At the edge of your range if possible."

While she awaited results, she commanded the Seraph into action and it replied with destructive force. Slamming directly down onto Behemoth it writhed and burnt its way down the endbringer, binding it and the monster in place with the sheer force of its telekinesis. After a few moments it was thrown off, but it hardly cared, using the momentum and turning itself into a high velocity spin, lashing the endbringer with the fury of a million strands of burning, sheering light.

As the Seraph did its work someone arrived, landing on the rooftop with her, having got there via a glowing prismatic portal. Tulpa turned her gaze to the woman and tilted her head momentarily, eyeing the cape’s costume. "Cascade?"

The woman nodded, "Yup, you requested a teleporter. Here I am." Taking a deep breath, Tulpa nodded and then turned, pointing even further away.

"We need to be even further from Behemoth when this goes off...and I need you here just in case he targets me before, during, or after. Can you do that?" Cascade nodded.

"Great. Let’s go," Tulpa replied, satisfied. Cascade closed the distance, took her hand and then a portal formed and they disappeared through it in a single bound.

"Building to your right has debri blocking the exits."

"On it!" Phoenix looked at the wall and backed up a decent way before charging straight towards it, cracking straight through it and looking at the crowd before her. She stepped to the side and yelled at everyone on the ground floor, pretty standard for evacuation purposes. "Through here, everyone! Head out and run AWAY from the giant monster!"

Phoenix ran out and looked over at Behemoth and the angel of light that was combating it right now. Apparently that was the power of one of the Denver Wards, Tulpa. God DAMN Denver was packing some real heat! Shit! Phoenix was simply in awe of the cape before her senses came back and she got her head back on task.

"Get some PRT dispatched out here to help evacuation attempts for these people, Overlook. We've gotta keep moving."

"Right! I've been scanning with the Eye a little more... there's a few people left in the building closer to Behemoth that could use another way out."

Phoenix ran out and smashed into the next building's wall, cracking it down and letting the flurry of people start rushing out. She looked at the side of her body she'd been smashing into walls with and showed a little concern. "Can't smash into too many more walls, dude!" People started ducking out of the newly-created hole in the wall as Overlook beeped once more.

"Oh shit, there's some people one more building over that aren't looking too good. Third floor, near a decent amount of rubble."

"I'm on it!" Phoenix moved into the next building, charging her way up the stairs and running over to a man and a woman, clad in their business attire. The woman's legs were concealed under some rubble, and she was still conscious but definitely a lot paler than she should be. The man, however, was unconscious, and had a pretty nasty head wound.

"... heroes...?" the woman asked as Phoenix ran up, grabbing hold of the concrete that covered the woman's legs as she tried to lift it up.

"Hero. Don't worry, I'll--" Phoenix had the concrete lifted up just enough over the woman's legs to see that the two legs were completely totaled. Everything about them was wrong, with blood spilling out of them and the structure just... being flat. The legs were hardly recognizable anymore. "... get you out! No worries!" The hero dropped the concrete to the side of everyone as she bent over to grab the woman under her arm.

"I can see the paths of you and that woman, but that man has one very transparent path."

Phoenix didn't understand shit of what Overlook said as she grabbed the man with her other arm, moving down the stairs quickly as she barked a command at him. "Get some Movers to here, now! These guys are in critical condition!"

When Phoenix heard another voice, she was surprised to find out that it was the voice of the woman. "P-please... m-my daughter is a Ward... tell them that... we're proud..."

That... was heavy information.

"Someone's on the way, just get outside!"

"Already on it! Don't you give up on me, ma'am!"

---

This was insane. Everything was insane. Silvia flew high in the sky looking down on the events, she was almost too stunned to do anything. Behemoth was locked in an intense battle with this being made of thousands of strands of light and from the looks of it the light creature was getting in some serious damage. Alongside that Outsider was also visible tanking hits and retreating when the time called for it. Silvia was firing off blasts of wind as fast as she could but there was no real reaction or damage visible on the monstrous Behemoth. Silvia went to go around behind Behemoth when suddenly a massive blast of electrical energy erupted from nowhere and started flaking and burning parts off Behemoth's back in a spectacular display of power, though this meant Silvia had to pull herself back as electricity and Silvia didn't go well together.

Silvia felt useless here she wasn't even irritating the massive beast. Her efforts would be better spent helping civilians where she could actually make a difference. Quickly soaring away from the fight Silvia made a B line for a burning building, then a mighty bolt of lightning flew past her and carved a massive piece from the PRT building. Silvia froze in the air watching the section of the building crumble to pieces, she felt rage swelling inside her as the building she'd lived in had just been vandalized by Behemoth. Silvia felt the winds around her becoming more fierce as her anger continued to build, then she remembered. Her dog! Rug was still in there!

Silvia landed hard on the concrete of the staging area. Taking a deep breath Silvia worked on calming herself and building power. The winds around her slowly started getting stronger the sky starting to darken as clouds formed high in the sky above the PRT building. Silvia clenched her fists hard as she continued summoning more and more clouds, a loud crack of thunder sounded off and it began to rain ever so lightly. Silvia fell to her knees and shut off her wind barrier, panting heavily as the rain slowly intensified into a heavy downpour. Letting out an angered sigh as she stood up, slowly regaining her breath.

---

Wisp stumbled when the ground rocked beneath her feet from Behemoth's roar. A nearby woman stabilized her, and looking towards her she briefly thought she had been caught by Alexandria before realising it most assuredly wasn't, though the costume heavily reminded of the Triumvirate. Regardless, Wisp nodded her thanks and made her way to join S&R.

‘You, you're Wisp, right?’ Inkscape suddenly asked her, when she had been hanging back for some time.

‘Y-yes!’ Wisp stammered. ‘I shoot light, see in all directions, create small illusions of light unlikely to fool Behemoth…’ she rambled on, unaware how much to say.

‘It'd make us happy if you could talk to us more directly after this, the Protectorate exists to help,’ the octopus case 53 told her, and Wisp recoiled somewhat. This was the Protectorate member she had been the most afraid of, being found while invisible and suddenly tied by his ink… and he was speaking to her so kindly. Wisp was so happy she hadn't come as Creep.

‘Alright, be our scout! I'll assign you a flyer, so head for the brink of damaged areas, use that perfect sight of yours to find people in need of help and report their locations!’ Inkscape told her, and Wisp blinked in surprise. Surely, flyers had better things to do than carrying HER around!?

Regardless, a flier flew close and landed beside her. A young boy, her age, dark costume, who gave her a smile. ‘Hi, I'm Persist! I'm a bit of an Alexandria package, though not take-on-Behemoth level. I'm gonna move debris and save people, and occasionally take you along for the ride!’

Wisp nodded to him, and also got told to be in contact with Hellbent, another Brute that was in charge of a bunch of rescuers. That was fine. ‘I'm a villain, though, you don't mind?’ Persist told her. Wisp was suddenly somewhat more worried about being carried by him, but shook her head.

‘It doesn't matter. Take me around,’ Wisp said. Persist grabbed her and flew, still under the height of the buildings until they reached the area of devastation. … It was horrible. As the one person who had to take in it all, to look over every detail to see who could be saved and who was already dead, Wisp couldn't close her eyes. Soon enough…

‘There!’ She said, while directing small arrows of light for Persist to see. Wisp took out her communicator. ‘Three injured capes needing serious medical attention found in-’ and then she used some street names only someone who knew Denver would know.

‘Where is that?’ Hellbent asked on the other side.

‘A-at the ray of light!’ Wisp replied instinctively, reaching into her pocket and lighting her powerful flashlight, directing it all up in the sky as a focused spotlight with her power, and if that wouldn't actually be visible she could use the green laser-pointer instead.

‘I see it. Sending rescuers,’ Hellbent said, and Wisp breathed out in relief.

This continued, Wisp carried around and pointing the way for other capes. Numerous times Persist was needed elsewhere and Wisp proceeded on foot for a while, but then he came back. On this journey, she saw many things she'd never have wanted to see. So many dead people that she couldn't help. It was heartwrenching. In the distance, she could occasionally see Behemoth, fighting light beasts and beams and other strong capes. How she regretted that she couldn't count herself among their number.

… Wisp glimpsed Behemoth's eye for just a moment. The eye… Wisp's usual primary target to blind an opponent. There, uh… was no way Behemoth would be blinded if she shot enough light at that, right? No way Legend or other capes hadn't already tried shooting that to see if it was a weak point. Trying to shoot that herself would be reckless, stupid and her time was better spent S&Ring…

Then communications briefly went down. Wisp still announced injured people by flashing light into the sky, somewhat worried Behemoth would get interested by the lights and come her way, but she continued. Then she wondered why communications would go down, and…

And she came around a corner, currently on foot, in time to see the PRT building being struck with a bolt of lightning. In horror she identified Salem, far too close to Behemoth for comfort. Then… Inkscape attacked. Wisp found herself in his path as he went through, draining her costume of white pigment before she could react. She looked on in shock as Inkscape pounded on Behemoth… before finally being bursted, his life ending. There too she saw Salem hit by debris, her insides wavering at the sight.

Wisp had seen all this… by using her powers to look around a corner, from relative safety.

Inkscape was the respected leader of the local Protectorate, whom she had hoped to one day serve under and dreaded meeting during her days as a villain, and had also just shown her kindness. Somehow, she’d always trusted him to keep Denver safe, no matter what happened. She hadn't known him, but she had looked up to him. Salem was her dear friend who had accepted to join her in villainy and capedom despite all it meant for his life, standing solidly though awkwardly at her side, who she'd feel eternally guilty about thrusting into this. She knew him, oh, so personally. Perhaps, one day, she could imagine to even be willing to…

As far as she knew, they were both likely dead at the hands of Behemoth. Wisp made her decision.

So what if Wisp's light probably wouldn't bother him!? WHAT IF her beams of light actually had the property that they blinded the people she hit in all dimensions at once or something similarly dumb, and that somehow allows her to blind Behemoth when nobody else could, and she just didn't know!? What then, huh!? She could have the perfect weapon against him, and just not know it! She had to at least TRY!

Wisp ran across streets to get in front of Behemoth. She lit all her laser pointers and flashlight in her pockets, directing their light to swirl around her. She still reported wounded where she could, shooting some rays of light into the air above, starting with Salem and others hurt on the scene. However, her goal was now separate. As she ran, others only saw a ball of darkness running because Wisp was letting no light out of her range for them to see. It was her ammunition, only the barest minimum was sent to her eyes so she could still see around her and detect wounded. She was going to shoot Behemoth.

Finally, she arrived. She was, on a fair amount of distance, in front of Behemoth. Swirling around her was an unseen massive beam of light, which Wisp was honestly struggling to control, more laser and light joining by the second. She'd never show herself directly to Behemoth, using her power to take aim past a corner, but the time had come. Wisp swallowed.

‘Alright. Showtime, you oversized lightning-controlling piece of-’

All the light, all the lasers and all the energy currently at Wisp's disposal focused into a single point within her range, swirling around her. She bent the directions of all the light, taxing her Thinker-power to the absolute max so that all the photons or whatever swirling around her converged into a single supercondensed point of lasers and light…!

‘Take this-!’

She sent the created point forth past the corner as a single burst at Behemoth. No enduring beam, just a single blast focused to be as powerful as Wisp could possibly make it, shot at lightspeed straight into Behemoth's eye. For an instant, Behemoth's eye lit up brightly enough to momentarily blind as Wisp's super-laser burst hit, a burst powerful enough to burn any eye slamming into Behemoth for an instant…

Behemoth didn't even flinch.

Wisp took a moment.

Then she ran.

"Uh, hi." Sofia said tentatively to Fleet-Foot, feeling a bit out of her element. "I close my eyes and ignore things, so if I piggyback with you'll ignore stuff too, even radiation." Sofia continued. At least she thought so anyway. She'd hadn't exactly had the opportunity to test out that case specifically...

Fleet-Foot nodded, "That'll make my job a lot easier, plus you seem light enough for me to carry without too much trouble."

Another roar from Behemoth as he began to collide with the assembled heroes, much to the detriment of the heroes.

Fleet-Foot turned around and crouched in front of Sofia, allowing her to clamber up, locking her legs around his stomach.

"I can take us through buildings and stuff too if you need me too..." Sofia said, trailing off. She wasn't going to fight Behemoth, but at least she could help out somehow.

"Got it, protect me from Behemoth for now, I'll ask if I need something extra." Fleet-Foot said curtly and began taking a few steps forward.

Sofia closed her eyes. Ignore Behemoth. She wasn't sure what Fleet-Foot's power was exactly but it wasn't too important to her. Moments later she felt the press of air against her face as they accelerated.

"At the beam of light, got it." Fleet-Foot said and they moved even faster. Sofia heard subdued noises of agony as Fleet-Foot grabbed and carefully moved whoever it was back to safety. She heard pained words of thanks. And so it went like that. Sofia listened in on the noise coming through Fleet-Foot's communication device. Heard all the people that were dead and dying. She counted each person they helped though, checking the numbers with Fleet-Foot just to make sure. Sofia was going to tell Jason how many people she'd helped. But she couldn't help but feel the two of them couldn't possibly match the ever increasing drone of casualties.

"How's it going?" Sofia asked tentatively, the way she asked it leaving no doubt as to what it was, although there was hardly in merit in asking at all.

Fleet-Foot sighed heavily. "As well as we can expect. Do you need a snack break or are you good to keep going? If you think you can't keep your power up you need to let me know ok?"

Sofia shook her head. "No, we should keep helping people right? I can keep this up as long as you need me to." She was a bit tired, and hungry besides, but she could keep her power going. It was certainly nothing compared to the people fighting Behemoth.

"Yeah"

Was this all she could do? Literally piggyback on someone to bring people out of the danger zones. They continued to whizz around the battlefield, with Sofia lost in her thoughts, ignoring the canopy of noise as well as she ignored everything else.

Abaddon watches from afar, knowing she cannot get too close but need to stay as close as possible to be helpful. She continues to pick up cars from the streets, moving when she ran out of supplies, aiming for the creature's legs and face, hoping that it will distract it or even trip it up.

Her form starts to take a proper shape quickly, using her power in this fight would ramp it up quickly and sooner the better. She shakes her head, listening into the information that's been given about what teams are doing, her mind slips away to thoughts of Metanoia, wondering how she was holding up during the fight.

Hanna stood on top of a building some twelve blocks away from the beast's current position, her bow raised and moving slowly to keep the beast's head in her sights. On her visor a multitude of readouts were running, indicating all the variables and accounting for them. Wind, visible powers (which were being logged and sorted into her files with notes), movement....

There was an opening as the ink controller, which her systems identified as Inkscape, fell. A momentary lull as the majority of the local capes fell still for just a breath. As Alexandria hurtled in again, slamming into Behemoth's face like a V6 Rocket, Hanna fired her arrow. As the iconic woman was smacked away for the umpteenth time, Hanna's arrow flew into the eye of the Endbringer, sinking in a little more than one would have expected, before it exploded in a flash of liquid nitrogen, literally freezing the section of Behemoth's face around the eye. Another cape stepped in moments later as steam became to rise visibly, her systems noting that the man had been visibly thrown by another, before he slammed a fist that was suddenly ten times normal size into the section.

Lightning exploded out from a direction she couldn't see, crackling and sizzling as it hit the flesh of the monster. She made a note to keep an eye out for whoever was throwing around lightning. Outlet could use a good friend like that.

It was then that she noticed the growing field above the beast and she pursed her lips. A quick scan let her zoom in on the projection, noticing a myriad of elemental and energy based effects being thrown, blasted, and formed near it.

"Mhmmm. That's interesting. Very interesting. At least I won't be getting bored anytime soon....And there's someone who could use a little talk when this is all over..." Hanna muttered to herself, a wry smile splitting her face as she fired another nitrogen arrow at the beast's legs in an attempt at slowing it down.

Everyone started moving, strained towards different things together. Hermes closed his eyes, listening to the bustle around him momentarily, before opening them again. "I can save people" He thought idly, reminding himself of his own abilities. He walked forward, activating his communicator as he did so to ask for the ones in danger furthest from their meeting spot. At the response, he disappeared. Darkness enveloped him, and it felt more dire now. Amazing, the last thing he wanted, to be alone with his thoughts. His power didn't work differently because of that though, instead it continued depriving him of senses.

The nearest medical tent is only around thirty seconds of darkness away at least. After I finish this group I'll just have to see who else is available. Probably far enough to torture me with this nothingness. That's my luck after all. I wonder how many will actually die here. Christ, actually—I don't want to know.

He tried not to actively think about the fact he could die here as well.

I guess my main goal here is to lower that casualty statistic as much as possible, same as the others.

A strong wind was blowing against him, making him stumble a bit as he appeared on the road in front of an unstable building, the right side sloping off into rubble. He asked for a more specific location, and teleported again. The bedroom he appeared in was in ruins, the ceiling having caved in a bit. Picking his way carefully through the room, he opened the walk-in closet door to find two people hiding. They looked confused and scared, one of them holding a bloody arm. "I can help you get medical attention safely." He said, offering two outstretched hands. He didn't know what they expected when they grabbed it, but they were both plunged into a senseless darkness. Forty or so seconds of absolutely nothing, not able to move or whisper or scream.

Hermes appeared near the middle of the improvised medical tents, two people falling backwards from him the second they appeared. He spent a bit of time making sure someone gave them medical attention before teleporting back to that apartment building. Walking around the building, it took him a bit to spot a small flag sticking out of a window. He teleported into a kitchen, where a young woman was laying on the floor, hand bloodied. Hermes approached her, crouching down as he noticed she was unconscious. He reached forward and felt for a pulse. There was still a strong beating, she could be saved. He moved his hand to her shoulder, and appeared again among the medical tents. There was a red stain beneath where he had appeared previously, though they had moved the people.

A medic ran up of their own accord this time, letting Hermes leave immediately. The apartment building was in front of him again. He looked at a specific window, and asked his power to appear a bit in front of it. He pushed. The room was more damaged than he expected. He went to step forward but something stopped him. Looking down, he saw a mesh of treated iron leaving his chest, the kind used to support the floor above.

A searing pain met Hermes senses, burning away any rational thought. He teleported back to the medical camp after a beat, collapsing onto the ground. He couldn't move his arms, they felt too heavy. A warm darkness enveloped his mind.

His projectiles were doing some damage to the monstrosity. Barry fired more tungsten at Behemoth. The beast roared from afar, battling many foes. Buildings broke, heroes fell by the wayside. Even the well known protectorate hero Inkscape was not immune to its deadly lightning.

Barry was no longer held back by speed limitations in his shots. He was free from his personas, at least for now. He wanted nothing more then to end his time while being in control. Being seen as a real hero. Not some nasty villain making a ruckus wherever he went.

Barry slowly lifted himself into the air by his telekinesis. Around him a single tungsten ball rotated. It picked up speed for half a minute. Spinning faster and faster as he raised himself higher and higher. He reached the same height as Behemoth's head. Barry pulled his mask off and let it fall stories below. Then he pointed his finger at the monstrosity. The "eye" was his target.

The single rotating ball launched forth with great speed and what turned out to be amazing precision. The air around it gave way to a force unlike anything Swarm had ever released. Hardly any time had passed before it penetrated into Behemoth's eye. The sound was defeaning after the fact, being seconds later.

Behemoth seemed to blink as it was struck. However, other then seeming to be mildly irritated it did not do much else. The eye seemed to penetrate into Barry's soul. In a flash of burning white light, Barry exploded. There was nothing left of him as the thunder rang out.

Then Swarm's mask hit the concrete below. It shattered into dozens of pieces. Swarm and Barry were no more.

---

Everything was happening so quickly that, even with his senses, he was having a lot of trouble keeping up with the many capes around him and what each was doing in their efforts to slow the advance of the terrifying beast that was Behemoth. He darted back and forth, accelerating and turning far faster in the air than the size of his body would imply was possible. He intercepted blows and dealt back some of his own keeping the beast off guard. However, it couldn’t last forever and the endbringer briefly focused on him. Immediately he detected the shift in his body and in the air around him. A building of tremendous heat and electricity. His entire body tensed, and then he shifted tacts, turning away from Behemoth and accelerating rapidly and continuously as he retreated. Every molecule of his Second Vessel was beginning to boil...except for the core that was. It was still stable. He felt himself using up significant quantities of energy just to keep his form together and that was when his power failed.

Just at the edge of Behemoth’s kill aura, Outsider became a costumed Jake, falling suddenly towards the ground with gradually increasing velocity as gravity remembered to affect him. The sudden shift in form induced nausea and with the fall, it caused him to throw up, the bile and half-digested food falling slower than him. He choked slightly and breathed in sharply as he saw how close to the ground he was getting.

Half-panicking, Jake grit his teeth and closed his eyes, willing himself to change. Closer and closer he got to the ground and soon he knew it wouldn’t matter if he changed forms. He tried, one last time, but instead he only felt a disorienting emptiness followed by a violent, jarring impact as he struck---....

---

---

Arriving several miles away from Behemoth and standing upon a skyscraper, Tulpa thanked Cascade and then sat down and closed her eyes.

“I’m going to focus on my projection. If he’s aiming something at us, teleport us both.” She glanced at the woman, opening an eye to see the cape nod.

Good.

Tulpa then turned her full attention to her projection and in doing so became intimately aware with the storm that was the battlefield surrounding Behemoth. Truly it was a spectacle with energy flying every which way and capes equal parts distracting and retreating from the endbringer. She frowned, they ought to all be retreating, but if they felt their powers were sufficient to defend them after her warning, then so be it.

It was their funeral.

As the others struggled against the Behemoth, the Seraph lashed out and pulled at the monster’s attention from every angle, making sure it would have trouble focusing on anything while it was present. High above several layers of clouds were apparent, the first was a cloud of debris and the second were clouds likely conjured by another cape’s powers. Sylph perhaps. Of course, to Tulpa none of that was terribly relevant, for while everyone had bought time, she had bidded hers. After all, there was one particular aspect of the Seraph that she wanted to capitalize on, and she couldn’t do that without time.

Now, she’d had enough of that to truly begin her plan.

Now glowing more brightly than the sun, the Seraph pulled away from its assault of Behemoth and darted up into the choking cloud of debris and beyond, ascending past the gathered cloud cover. Both clouds began to swirl around a central point, flashes of blinding light occasionally revealed amidst their expanse.

Behemoth, for perhaps the first time in the whole fight, briefly stopped moving, craning its head upwards for a brief moment, its various wounds rapidly filling in with denser materials as it healed. This lasted but a moment before its attention moved further away, its gaze aiming directly for Tulpa herself.

She smiled.

Several bolts of lighting, and roiling pillars of fire erupted, cast in her direction.

They never hit. In fact, after the first four buildings, they veered away entirely, pulled upwards into the swirling maelstrom of power where they disappeared in violent flashes of light. Silver light. Behemoth paused and lashed out, an explosion of flames breaking glass and shattering bones even further away than his roars had as it tore apart the clouds above. Debris swirled and collapsed to the earth and the Endbringer turned away, focused again on its destination.

It took one step and stumbled, then another, and found it could not move. Lightning struck at the ground near its feet.

Nothing.

From above descended shocks of lightning, draping down from the dust and smoke of the blast. They touched the beast and pulled.

Behemoth roared and then in a flash of blinding power was completely engulfed by an aura of choking, smothering light. Rings of force briefly blasted outwards from the clashing titans. High above, more clouds gathered, but the debris was not among them, instead it spun lazily in a maelstrom several stories high and three city blocks wide. The twisting storm appeared slow, but beneath the outer layer the materials were spinning at incredible velocity, piercing buildings and chipping away at everything within.

Then a vibration rang out, a sound like an angel singing one perfect note and the storm collapsed inwards all at once, tiny debris shaped into millions of needles no thicker than grains of sand. The projectiles dug through tiny gaps in the regenerating endbringer’s jagged vessel, pushing deep and with rapidly growing force.

Behemoth roared once more, but the needles did not shatter and in fact the only evidence of the sound’s effect was the Seraph’s blinding body fanning out from the force of the noise.

Tulpa smiled. The Seraph moved, its form clearly bigger than it had been at the beginning of the fight, the quantity of threads greater, the solid light of its body more intense, and the range of its telekinesis vastly larger than before. With its movement, violent winds blasted out and then converged around its sinuous limbs, becoming cutting gales. The threads closed in and phased through the needles lodged in Behemoth’s body, making itself a part of them.

Silence.

For a glorious moment there was complete silence, the gale, the fighting, even the crashing of Behemoth totally still, but only for a moment. Light so bright as to eclipse the sun blossomed and then erupted out from every inch of the endbringer’s body. Inhuman flesh was annihilated by the built energy of the entire fight so far and yet as the energy washed over those few capes who had remained, they felt nothing of it. Instead, all they would feel was the gentle touch of fine sand brushing past them.

Far afield, Evelyn gasped, opening her eyes even as she doubled over, clutched her head, and vomited off the roof of the building. Cascade reached out a hand, but stopped.

Seven minutes.

The Ward grit her teeth and swore through the tremendous pain as the projection disengaged from Behemoth with a tremendous pulse of force that pushed the endbringer off balance. However, its strength could not last and so even as its threads reeled back, readying themselves to lash out at the beast once more...it winked out of existence in several flickers before it was replaced by a faint silver silhouette.

Evelyn shuddered and looked up, her head throbbing, her body shaking as all the tension of holding onto the Seraph was all at once gone.

Squinting, her vision blurry, Evelyn tried to discern the damage she had done to the endbringer and without thinking words spilled from her lips.

“Is it over?”

Sounding stunned, Cascade replied, "I--...I don’t know."

A ringing silence was all that followed.

Outlet knew the stakes well, and she knew what she was here to do. It seemed a little odd that, for the majority of her time with Zugzwang, she was someone who brought a lot of pain and misery to others, yet in this heel-turner situation she found herself helping out more than she figured. She continued to dance around Behemoth's path with her projectiles, making sure he felt every shock on his legs and abdomen. The Beast occasionally staggered a very slight amount before continuing on like nothing. It was no good, her power wasn't as useful as it could be against the fucker.

Tsk, tsk... what to do... oh? Looks like someone else was using their own electricity, judging from the sound of that bolt smashing into Behemoth. Maybe they had a power similar to Outlet? There was only one way to find out. She raised her arm towards a wall, fired a rod right into the concrete, and tore a hole right through it. She repeated this until she found the source of the lightning smashing into Behemoth. A girl with metal skin.

Without any warning, Outlet rushed over and introduced herself. "Sparky girl, how's it hanging! I see you're using electricity. Need a charge from... oh shit."

Outlet found herself interrupted quickly after the introduction by the giant-ass light projection over Behemoth. It looked like it was finally letting off what was in it's tank that it'd been stockpiling for the last little bit. Well, with any luck, it'd make a strong dent in the fucker.

They drove closer toward the destruction that was in the wake of Behemoth until it was impossible to go further. Judah pulled over near the sidewalk and got out of the vehicle. He quickly donned his gear while Axel leapt out. Using his powers of perception, Mantis sensed for nearby capes to influence, or for Healer to treat. Genevieve parked nearby on her bike and followed the group. Farce appeared to have other thoughts on her so Judah said, "If either of us need help, call the other."

Meanwhile the ground quaked, Behemoth roared and capes fell by the wayside. The Seraph unleashed terrifying power at the beast...and then..silence. Judah could feel so much chaos and discord in the city. More then ever before. He had to limit it or become overwhelmed and unable to function. Mantis tweaked his ability so that he would only sense things in a closer radius.

The silence broke and they spotted a single woman launching orbs of some unknown substance nearby. Judah ran over with his allies and activated his ability. He released feelings of courage and strength. The parahuman was invigorated and began firing even larger orbs at the beast. They moved slower, and were less accurate, but appeared to give off much more energy. "Thank you." She stated before turning in surprise and exclaiming, "You were on the tv! You're lucky to be alive."

Judah replied with a somber tone, "Yes. Now we're going to make the most of it." He glanced around for more people to invigorate. The new aspect of his power shook things up a little bit.

---

Sylph was forced to cover her eyes as the massive seraph in the sky unleashed a blinding blast of energy. Though the attack seemed to be so powerful that the being flickered and faded away. Behemoth, on the other hand, was still around and was content to continue his rampage.

This made Sylph grit her teeth, she had to do something. She could probably stall Behemoth greatly if she went all out with tornadoes… Yes, there would be collateral, but at this point, Sylph doubted that it would matter. And if she accidentally killed other capes, well they should have gotten out of the way.

With a strong flap of her wings Sylph propelled herself in Behemoth’s direction, taking the storm she had created with her. As she flew she started to build up a powerful blast of wind in her mouth. She approached Behemoth from behind and fired off her attack. The sheer power of the projectile caused any un-shattered windows to blow out. The attack struck the back of Behemoth’s leg causing the beast’s foot to lurch forward. The impact of the attack, while now visible was still not satisfactory…

Sylph was shocked when the ground suddenly caved in under Behemoth's gargantuan foot causing the beast to plummet into a massive pitfall (Thanks Gorgon~<3). Sylph took this opportunity to fire off even more devastating blasts, kicking the beast while it was down.

Judah looked upwards as the winged creature flew and launched blast after blast of air at the endbringer. It moved with terrifying speed and elegant grace. Much like a bird of prey. Clouds formed in the sky above. Rain began to fall upon them. Judah donned his balaclava and spoke to Healer and Axel, ” I have an idea. Stay here.” He moved into the middle of the street and cried out toward Sylph, ” HEY! I CAN HELP YOU!” Whether or not she could hear his words amidst the chaos was a mystery. He began releasing feelings of courage and power upward to her location.

Sylph had just fired off a blast when she heard someone calling out, she looked around to find a man in a balaclava waving up at her. He could help her? She wasn’t really sure how until she felt a hint of courage and even an amount of power flow into her. The thought of getting more powerful drove her to land next to the man, a hard clang rang out as she hit the floor. She took a moment to shut off her wind barrier as to not damage this possibly useful cape. ” Whatever you just did, how far can you ramp that up?” she asked in a rather demanding tone.

Mantis managed to keep his balance from the shockwave of Sylph's landing nearby. In response to her question, he smiled, ” Let's find out.” Suddenly, waves of power surged over her. At the same time, a single command phrase rattled loudly in her mind,



Sylph flinched as she felt a sudden surge in both power and desire to see Behemoth wiped from the face of the planet. Her wind barrier booted up with a powerful wave of bone-chilling wind, it’s range and power far greater than what she was using just before. The rain quickly dialled up into a storm comparable to a monsoon, with any rain that came close to Sylph turning into savage shards of ice.

Behemoth was climbing his way out of the pitfall, his spiked arm reaching around the top of the pit. Sylph growled as she saw this and started to expand out her barrier, slowly forming a tornado. The winds started to pick out smaller bits of debris as Sylph commanded the tornado to move in Behemoth's direction. As it moved the tornado continued to grow in size and power, quickly getting enough power to lift cars off of the ground. By the time it reached Behemoth the tornado was so large it started pulling down the clouds that had formed above making a pillar of dust, cloud and cars that was nearly one hundred and fifty feet tall.

Mantis looked up in awe at the massive tornado forming at Sylph's direction. Rain poured over everyone in the area, drenching them in the storm. A few seconds passed before Mantis heard the barking of his dog, immediately snapping him out of it. He turned and ran toward the others. Healer yelled through the rain, ” Did it work?!" Mantis grabbed her by the arm and continued down the street, ” Yes!...RUN!”

Sylph hissed as she took off into the air flying high above the epicentre of her still growing tornado, charging up a gargantuan blast of wind. The sheer power of the tornado was starting to peel away parts of broken buildings adding the massive chunks into itself. Behemoth itself was starting to rise ever so slightly as cars and debris crashed into him. His eye shifted up to look at Sylph, the beast slowly raising its arm in her direction.

Sylph continued charging her attack until the moment Behemoth’s arm came in line with her, she let out an enraged cry as she fired off the humongous blast. The blast itself sent ripples through her tornado as it travelled towards Behemoth. But before the blast made contact a terrible bolt of lightning cut through the air towards Sylph parting her as easily as it did the clouds behind her. With her death, the tornado instantly ended, though the tremendous blast of wind still slammed Behemoth back into the pitfall.

All that remained of Sylph was her wings and the end of her tail, everything else had either been disintegrated or turned to slag. The pieces fell like the rest of the rubble Silvia’s tornado had collected. All this piled into the pitfall onto Behemoth itself, burying the beast underneath.