8.2

Being a Super Hero meant many things to people.

However there were some universal constants.

To start with it meant having Super powers.

Anyone could be a Hero but only Capes could be 'Super Heroes'.

Secondly you had to help those in need.

You had to save a cat stuck in a tree or put out a fire that threatened a home for example.

The final part of being a Super Hero tied into the second bit and it was to fight evil.

In that regard it was widely accepted that Endbringers were the most evil if not the most destructive evil around, so bad in fact that even Villains would join together to face them. Criminals would risk their lives and fight, not knowing if their sacrifice would even matter when killed.

Everyone knew that Endbringers were a big deal. However, sitting here in a shelter and cut off from the outside world, everyone seemed to ignore it. They laughed, they chatted and waited for the doors to open again so that we could all leave and get on with our lives. To anyone watching it would be as if we didn't know what danger laid outside. To anyone who spent a bit of time watching, they would see that the laughs had a nervous edge to them, that the conversations were forced.

It was almost like a desperate gambit to forget about the troubles at all. To separate yourself from the suffering that no doubt was happening right now. The phenomenon I noted was similar to how we could sit down and have dinner or watch TV without feeling bad about the starving kids in third world countries. It was just more immediate.

Armsmaster wanted me to stay out of the fight, to stay safe so that I could make potions another day and even though I agreed with him I was still antsy about the entire situation. I knew what I was doing was right but it still left me feeling like I could do more. Luckily my agitated mood was mistaken for something else.

"Don't worry Taylor." Buzz told me. "I'm sure the Heroes will win, I mean Eidolon and the rest of the Triumvirate have been fighting these things for years, they probably know all it's tricks by now."

Orchestral music continued to play over the shelter's loudspeakers. I wondered who controlled it?

"I know… I'm just." I shook my head. "Any twos?" I asked as I glanced at my hand of cards..

"Go fish." She replied as I reached for the deck. To my delight the card I drew was the two that I sought and soon I had a pair.

Off to the side was Dad speaking with some of the other adults. Occasionally he would glance my way and I'd smile back to him. Hoping that he'd believe that I was happy where I was. I had imagined that the shelter would shake more, that it would start flooding at any second once the fighting had begun, I was ready to pull my sword from my Inventory, damn the consequences to defend everyone here.

As it stood there was no evidence that there was anything even wrong. The security posted was a skeleton crew at best and if the Endbringer did breach the walls then nothing they'd do would make a difference. It stood to reason that they were here to act as a deterrent against anyone who wanted to make any trouble. As dangerous as Endbringers were, a desperate lunatic with a knife could still end a life just the same. So to that end, the security made sense.

All these somber thoughts were so unlike me. Perhaps they were a manifestation of guilt that I felt at not being out there. I knew I was dwelling on the issue too much, that all my potions were enough for now, that in the future I'd be able to make hundreds and thousands more. Wasn't that what a Hero was? Someone who helped those who needed it? In the end would it matter how I helped?

"Hey Taylor?" A voice pulled me from my thoughts once more. "You okay there?" Asked Morgan as I nodded in reply. "Was just asking if you had a four." I glanced down back at my hand and found that yes… I did in fact have a four.

I passed it over and she made a new pair and I noted that she was absolutely destroying us all. I only had two matches so far while she had seven.

"How are you doing this!" Ash grinded out. With a bit of sadistic amusement I noted that she had no matches in front of her. "I bet you're some sort of Thinker!"

"Nope!" Morgan replied. "I can see the reflection in your glasses!" Oh right, we all wore glasses. Ash squawked in offense as Buzz did the same.

"That's! That's cheating!" Yelled Buzz in more shock then anger. "You can't do that!" The game soon devolved into an arguement and I wisely stayed quiet observing the squabble with a sort of detached mindset. Despite all the yelling it was clear that no one bore each other any ill will. It was another nice distraction.

"Hey Ash?" I asked. "Did you bring your laptop?" Just as she was about to throw another accusation at Morgan she paused.

"Of course I did." She replied. "If you're asking if I have the internet then no, the walls are too thick to get any signal through." I pulled out my phone to check and noted that yes, no signal. It was a long shot but I really wanted to get some access to the outside world. It was then that I wondered if the device attached to Dad's wrist had any updates from the Endbringer fight.

I glanced at the screen and noted that it was blank.

I grimaced and silently berated myself. Of course it wouldn't receive updates from Endbringer fights. It was supposed to keep track of Dad, not track other Heroes. Just because it was the prototype to Endbringer bracelets didn't mean that it worked as one itself.

"Any games on the laptop?" Asked Morgan. "I mean, I like go fish but if you're all gonna call me a cheater then i'm not going to play." She crossed her arms and turned her nose up at us in a snooty fashion.

"Not really." Replied Ash. "I just use it for the PHO mostly, I mean I think I have minesweeper on it?" It was at this point that the lights dimmed and the music stopped. It struck me how silent it was now. Without the music, the background chatter and the general sounds of the crowd around us, we now had nothing to distract us from the dangers above. It was a sort of tension where you wondered if you were about to die. The lights eventually came back to full strength but the music was still absent.

For the next few minutes not a word was uttered. We all expected to see a giant claw reach through the ceiling, to perhaps hear the telltale sounds of water rushing past or even feel the shake of titanic footsteps walking over us. We heard, felt and saw nothing. Someone bit back a low sob as another person gave a low whine.

It was terrifying.

As far as shelters went, this wasn't what I expected, what I got was relative luxury. I figured the walls and floors would be simply steel bars with solid concrete. It felt like a cage all the same. We weren't packed like sardines but we might as well have been. If Leviathan came through those doors then we'd have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. We'd be slaughtered. I glanced over to my friends.

Ash was frowning, her unsteady hands betrayed her nervousness.

Buzz was biting the bottom of her lips.

Morgan wasn't smiling anymore, as if knowing that her cheer was for naught.

It occurred to me that I was being rather morbid. As I was about to open my mouth I was instead interrupted by my father.

"Our tax money at work ladies and gentlemen." He spoke. For a moment no sound answered him. "You'd think with everything they charge us they'd be able to spring for better room service." A few chuckles answered him and while the fear hadn't gone away completely the tension had been cut. "Seriously though, this is what happens when you give the job to the lowest bidder, you get a generator that starts coughing the first time it's ever used."

Honestly I had almost forgotten that Dad was a Union boss. He'd probably been in many dour situations before. Perhaps nothing so immediately life threatening but it was clear to me that he'd have experience with keeping spirits high or at least afloat.

I knew the Dockworkers association wouldn't have lasted this long without him and for the first time in ages, I saw why that was the case.

"Probably the generators being over worked." He commented to the crowd. "Come on, let's see what kind of supplies this place has." He approached some of the guards and began talking to them. The security team seemed to appreciate what he had done and soon were chatting with him like an old friend. While he was no comedian his tone was relaxing and light. It distracted everyone enough that the old atmosphere was beginning to return.

"Hmmm Thinker or Master?" Ash mumbled as she typed away at her computer.

"I thought you said your laptop had no internet?"

"Oh, it doesn't…. I'm just typing up your Dad's power set while I have the chance." She told me. I wisely decided to not pry.

Another thought occurred to me. Maybe the shelter was built this way to make people as comfortable as possible. A single lunatic with a knife might've been dangerous but a large group of screaming, panicking people would've been disastrous.

================

More time passed and it seemed like the worst was behind us.

Then everything went dark. There was simply no warning. No thundering impact. No tremor. No Hero coming through the walls with a mighty crash. One moment there was light, the next we were submerged in darkness.

A few people cried out in surprise but that was quickly reigned in with Dad shouting out again.

"Okay folks, looks like the generator finally died." He called out taking charge. His voice was serious and authoritative, a stark contrast to the joking tone he had adopted earlier. "Everyone with a phone, flashlight or any other source of light, start turning them on." The security guards were the first to do so and in fact had a box of flash lights to hand out as if prepared for this very scenario. I brought out my smart phone and after a few moments of fiddling with it was able to activate the bright light mode.

Ash's laptop glowed of course but judging by how it's battery meter was running red it wouldn't be long before it died on us just like the generator had. Another thought struck me. Dad joked about the generator being cheap but what if that wasn't the case? What if the generator was failing because it was being damaged? I glanced around I noted that the flashlights had been passed around. About one for every four or five people, enough to keep us out of the dark.

Suddenly there was a tremor. A bit of dust landed on my head and I looked up, pointing my phone's light at the ceiling. I saw the crack as it grew. Grabbing Ash she screamed as I yanked her away right before a chunk of the ceiling fell loose revealing light above as water splashed upon my face. The hole continued to grow as the pile of debris grew with it eventually becoming large enough for a small car to fit through. Everyone in the immediate area had already backed off and to my great relief no one was hurt.

They were already on edge and while Dad was able to keep their fears in check there was only so much he could do once something like this happened. They all screamed, scrambling to get away from the damage as light, dust and water began to flood the area.

"Stay calm!" Dad shouted. The water wasn't an impassable torrent, but rather a steady stream akin to a particularly powerful showerhead.

"Oh shit my laptop!" Ash cried as her computer laid at the bottom of all the concrete, no doubt crushed beyond use. Well at least she had her priorities straight.

"Okay folks, we might have to leave." Dad announced. "The water might not get us now but who know what could happen later?" Going out the front door wouldn't work if the ceiling was dripping water. Opening it now would no doubt flood us even more. That said I had my concerns on leaving, wasn't the Leviathan outside?

"Can't we just stay in here?" Someone else asked mirroring my thoughts. "Endbringers destroy cities! What chance would we have?"

"And wait for more water to come pouring in? Or the ceiling to collapse more?" Someone else pointed out.

"What about the pumps?" Another person asked. "Don't the shelters have those?"

"I was just talking with Jimmy here." Dad pointed at one of the security people. "He says those are powered by the generators and if the lights are anything to go by then the backup generators have died with them."

In other words we needed to evacuate. People began lining up to get out and I moved myself to the back of the line. I didn't have any water breathing potions on me but if the area flooded any quicker then at least I was a Brute and thus most likely to survive what was going on. Dad didn't agree.

"Come on Taylor! Your turn!" He called as he hoisted another person up the hole. The water made it difficult to look up as it splashed around but gradually the shelter began to empty. Sounds of fighting and explosions in the distance reminded us what was happening and the dour mood returned.

"Take someone else first, I'm a tough girl." I shouted back. Hopefully I wasn't being too obvious about my Cape status.

As the crowd below shrank I noted that my three friends had stayed behind with me

"You don't still think one of us could be Vim do you?" Buzz asked Ash. "If you thought I was waiting down here to change into a costume you're going to be severely disappointed."

Ash simply shrugged. "Like I said, I don't think any of you are Vim anymore." She told us. "The real Vim would be out there fighting Leviathan, I mean that's what Capes do right." I was lucky that it was dark down here because that comment hurt.

Dad was still worried about me so I decided to finally leave, noting that the shelter wasn't in any danger of collapsing. We all climbed out safely to the surface and while it took much longer than I first thought (seriously, that hole was deep) I eventually emerged unharmed if dirty and wet. Everyone milled about, too nervous to find any cover on their own. The security guards didn't seem to know what to do either bringing me to the conclusion that they were the rough equivalent to mall cops.

After all, what kind of city could afford to station every single shelter with a squad of military badasses? Everyone was damp from the water and it was deep enough to go past my ankles. I hated walking around into wet socks.

It was then that I noted that it had stopped raining.

If it weren't for the fact that I could still hear fighting in the distance then I would've sworn that Leviathan had been beaten back by now.

"Alright!" Dad shouted. "Let's see if…"

The building down the street seemingly collapsed in on itself. We were far enough away from it that we weren't in any danger of being hit by falling debris but the sound was still deafening. As the smoke cleared I saw Lung once more, only this time larger, angier and certainly more on fire if such a thing was possible.

"RAARAAARAAGHHH!" I heard in the distance. Lights lanced out from around him into an unseen foe. They must've been other Capes that could fly and shoot lasers, they were too far away for me to see them properly. It was then that I began to hear the pitter patter of feet, slapping against the wet ground.

"Shit!" I turned to see a masked man. I didn't recognize his rust red armor but judging by how professional he looked I assumed he was a Hero. "Civilians? You guys are at ground zero and need to get outta here!" Another roar from Lung followed by an alien looking claw scything through a building revealed Leviathan. We didn't need more convincing and soon we were running in the opposite direction. "Oxidation here." The Hero yelled into his bracelet. "I have civilians that need evac in my area now! Over fifty of them!" He cried out.

Dad managed to find his way next to me but I could tell by his labored breaths that he was unused to such physical activity. I decided to slow down and nodded at him to continue ahead. Eventually I found myself at the back jogging along side one of the security people.

Behind me something flashed and I risked a look over my shoulder to see Oxidation (and I was glad that I didn't have a name like that) throw up a wide shield colored red that stretched the entire street slightly taller then his head, no doubt to help cover us. It didn't seem necessary though, after all the fight was so far away from us.

Then the sounds of rushing water began to fill my ears and I understood why he had done what he had done. Whatever the shield was made of, it wasn't enough. The force of the water hit it and it seemed to hold at first before flaking. It then fell apart before evaporating. We ran as best we could, trying to get to the buildings either side of us to avoid the flood. But then I was bowled over, the first to be swept off my feet which made sense since I was near the back of the group.

"TAYLOR!" Dad screamed out somewhere. I had no idea where he was or where he went but noted that he was safe, no doubt having found himself in a doorway or something.

"TAYLOR!" Another voice called out as it faded as I went under, submerged and struggling for breath. The water was beginning to slow down and I was able to force my way to the surface and take a breath. It was then that I realized that the current was about to pull me into a wall of spikes. Exposed metal rebar from crumbling concrete barricades. Before I knew it I was wearing my armor and had my shield in front of me.

Colliding with the barrier it knocked the wind out of me but I wasn't impaled so I counted that as a win. I glanced back behind me to find that dad had long since left my sight. The current was quick enough that it had carried me away from everyone ensuring that I hadn't just outed myself.

The water seemed to calm and eventually drain away. I had to find my way back to Dad. Jogging around the corner I found the area abandoned with only a few wrecked cars here and there to keep me company. Where the hell did he go? The other hero, Oxidize yelled for an evac or something. Did that mean a bunch of Mover heroes had dived in to grab them?

I ran over to the building where I thought I last saw them but found that the inside of the building had been collapsed. At first I thought he'd been crushed but noted that there were muddy footsteps leading away from the building. Hopefully this meant that he and everyone else was okay.

Well, Dad also had the tracker on him. If I found another Hero then that'd mean I might be able to find Dad.

So much for keeping safe in the shelter.

In the distance, over the ruins I saw Lung shove Leviathan who then proceeded to trip over a giant, transparent green man who was on his hands and knees behind it. The Endbringer quickly recovered and smashed the green man forcing it to wink out of existence before it came back into reality to deliver a textbook upper cut to the face.

What cape was doing that? Eidolon perhaps? Anything could be explained with Trump powers I reasoned.

I ran closer to the action, scanning the area for another Cape. Seriously where were they? Was Oxidize even here anymore?

"Help!" A voice called out. "Please help! Oh god…"

"I'm coming!" I called out. Maybe it was Oxidize or one of the people from the shelter? Dashing through the flooded ruins I found the source of the sound. It was one of the security guards from before! His leg was underneath a part of a car. "Don't worry, I got you!" I told him as I summoned the powers of my inventory. Grabbing the car I pulled.

Nothing happened. It was just like my bed and the slide from the park all over again.

I cursed at the limitations of my powers and produced my sword.

"Hey!" He called out nervously. "You-You're not going cu-cut off my leg are you?" I shook my head and angled it into a gap. Using it as a crowbar I was able to leverage the weight off his leg.

"Can you….can you move?" I forced out as I strained to keep the car wreck lifted. He nodded slowly before pulling away from it. As soon as he was clear I let go. "Hey, you okay?" I asked again.

"I think… I think it's broken." He told me. "Hey…. you're Vim right?" He asked slowly. "My-my daughter's a big fan of yours…. Says you're a healer! I uh… oww…" He grasped his leg, the question clear.

I shook my head. "Sorry… I gave away all my healing potions." I felt terrible and I felt even worse for the next words that would come from my mouth. "You're a security guard right? For the shelters? Do you know where everyone else went?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, can't say that I do…. I….I….." He then seemingly passed out no doubt from the pain he had experienced.

"Hey, wake up!" I told him, shaking his shoulders. "Don't go to sleep! I'll find you help!" He didn't answer.

Crap.

Beyond my potions I had no idea how to deal with injuries. I grabbed the shirt from my oldest costume, the black outfit that made me look like a thug. Grabbing a sports arrow I then sliced the top off, blunting it. I didn't want to accidently cut him after all. With these tools I managed to improvise a splint. It wasn't perfect but hopefully it'd help his broken leg and shattered knee. Grabbing the man I hefted him over my shoulder and began to make my way over to higher ground. The water level was starting to rise again and I could only be grateful that it hadn't started to rain again.

I needed to find Dad.

Then the rest of the building in front of me collapsed and standing there in the ruin was Leviathan, staring right at me. How the hell did it get away from Lung so quickly? Why was it looking my way? Did I have some sort of Endbringer catnip? I stared down at the security guard wondering if I should let him go and instantly decided no.

I was a Hero after all and it was my job to help people and fight Endbringers.

The man I held moaned pitifully as I struggled to keep a hold of him. It wasn't just his weight that made me shake, it was the pressure of having a literal city killer take note of me. This wasn't like fighting Lung who inspired enough fear for my adrenaline to take over.

This was a sense of dread, of knowing that I would die with a mere thought. I couldn't fight Leviathan and I now knew how naive I was for thinking that I had to fight it in the first place. It stared at me for what passed for it's eyes. Four beady looking things, with three on one side of it's head uneven and unnatural. It's bulky shoulders gleamed wet as I assumed it would narrowing into a too tiny waist and arms that supported large, razor sharp claws. It's tail swayed behind it seemingly in slow motion, as it's thin legs carried it forwards.

I wasn't proud to say it but I froze up. The steel armor I wore was clinking softly as I shivered, the smell of the sea was so strong that I could practically taste it. It wasn't humid despite all the water and looking up at the oddly clear sky you wouldn't be able to tell that it had been raining earlier today.

Besides my own breath and the soft lapping of the waves it was silent. As if nothing in the moment existed except for us.

I then began to glow green and in the distance I heard a scream.

"GRAAAARRRGHHH!!!!"