Chapter 26

Time was the most crucial factor in any Endbringer fight. Time to gather forces, time to organize defenses, time to evacuate civilians, it was all about time.

The Endbringer prediction algorithm should've been Colin's crowning achievement. Even despite his disgrace, even considering all his previous accomplishments, no other single piece of tech, no other single act had the potential to save more lives. The ability to predict an Endbringer attack, the ability to buy time, was the most valuable commodity in the world.

Too bad it wasn't finished.

He felt no small amount of guilt over that fact. Perhaps that was what brought him back; that uneasy feeling settling in his gut like a stone, an almost physical illness sprung into being from the moment Dragon gave him the news.

He was blameless, intellectually he understood that. Colin had always tried his best to protect the city. Every action or inaction held that motive at least peripherally. There was only so much he could do though, and his self-enforced isolation had neatly derailed his best efforts. Unfortunately, there was only so much rationalization one could perform before they broke, and Colin was only human.

So, he called in every favor he still had, and found himself teleported to the Bay before the first waves hit.

He stood now on the front lines, facing dark clouds and an endless ocean. They had only minutes before Leviathan made landfall, and Colin was as prepared for this fight as he had ever been. His combat algorithm was fully operational and primed for Leviathan, his nanothorn blade was battle-tested, and his armor was fully repaired and operational. If it came down to it, Colin was confident he could at least inconvenience Leviathan for a time if necessary. All his strength, the strength of every cape assembled beside him, would be devoted to buying time.

Endbringer battles always cost lives. It was a fact of life, of existence, a universal constant. When an Endbringer arrived, capes died. The ability to stand toe to toe with any Endbringer for any amount of time was extraordinarily rare. Brockton Bay, a city that had just lost something like a quarter of its cape population, was in an exceptionally poor position to defend against Leviathan's opening salvo. Unless Lung somehow made an appearance, the city simply did not have a brute capable of holding an Endbringer until reinforcements arrived.

Colin would not fool himself, stalling for reinforcements was absolutely the goal of the forward party he had joined. They waited on the roof of an office building, nearly a mile closer to the coast than the official gathering point. Well beyond the medical tents with only Dragon's drones for support, the group was almost isolated. They would hold ground as best they could, force the Endbringer to fight for every inch of shoreline, and do their best to survive.

He looked over his allies, searching for recognizable faces, and was barely reassured.

There would be no Triumvirate here; the lives of the big three were far too valuable to risk on an initial defense. No, these capes were here because it was their city, and each held a look of grim determination. It was a small group, really, composed entirely of locals. The few members of the local Protectorate who might make a difference: Dauntless, whose power Colin had once envied, Assault, whose kinetic manipulation might save him from a blow or two, and Velocity, who could do absolutely nothing to Leviathan, but would be able to track the monster if it got out of sight. Hannah was not with them quite yet; she would be brought along once there was a flier free to provide mobility. There were no Wards to be found. No matter how useful Vista or Clockblocker might be, the mission was too close to suicide to allow it.

New Wave stood together on the roof, every flight capable member, along with Brandish, had volunteered for the defense. They were all durable or mobile enough to dodge waves for a time, and Glory Girl might even survive direct combat with the beast. If they were lucky, the family would not lose any members by day's end.

Purity floated off to the side, flanked by Fenja and Menja. Colin would not grieve if they fell, but he was pleased by their presence. The twin breakers would fight on the front lines with Glory Girl, and with any luck they would last long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

The last cape to arrive was one Colin did not recognize. The girl floated quietly onto the roof, her body in a standing position, with her hands at her waist and thumbs hooked through her belt loops. She was short, young, and dressed casually: worn jeans and sturdy work boots, with a loose sleeveless white tee. Colin might have thought her a civilian if not for the obvious power usage and her face. It was covered by a simple domino mask, patterned with electric blue swirls. The same colors were mimicked in her hair, long and black and streaked with blue, pulled into a simple ponytail. A new independent, presumably, and either very brave or very foolish.

Most likely the latter, given the relaxed smile on her face.

Still, Colin was attempting to cultivate a more polite, approachable demeanor, so he nodded respectfully as the teenager sauntered over to his side.

"Yo." The girl gave him a wave and a cheerful smile, "I'm Catalyst, of Vanguard. You're Armsmaster right?"

"I am." Colin affirmed. He took a moment to queue up the rarely used social program Dragon had provided him months ago. After an awkward lull, his HUD spat out a safe discussion topic, "I've never heard of Vanguard, is that a new team?"

"Mmm yup!" The girl nodded enthusiastically, "We're a new hero team here in the Bay. Only three of us at the moment tho'. I'm the heaviest hitter around, so I volunteered to slap around Leviathan a bit. Should be good press."

Dragon's social program seemed to glitch at that, with half a dozen responses appearing and deleting themselves in moments, before finally settling on something. "While I appreciate your... enthusiasm," Colin kept his voice carefully neutral, "I have to warn you, Endbringer fights are extremely dangerous. Were you briefed at all on what we are doing here?" He was going to maim whatever fool recruited this poor girl. They were desperate for manpower, but just grabbing whatever reckless young hero happened to pass by was wrong on so many levels.

"Oh yeah, no worries big guy." Catalyst nodded confidently, "We're supposed to stall Levi' long enough for the Triumvirate to organize a proper defense right? No problemo." 

Colin was surprised at the sheer confidence the girl emitted, but even so, he plowed gamely forward, "Leviathan is a macro-hydrokinetic capable of sinking cities." Because apparently this girl did not quite understand what the name Endbringer implied.

"I urge you to be cautious in this fight. Of everyone assembled here," Colin gestured towards the gathered capes, most of whom were talking among themselves, "Only three or four of us are capable of fighting Leviathan in close quarters for any appreciable amount of time. The rest are highly mobile blasters who will, at best, act as a brief distraction." Colin turned to fully face the new hero, his voice as grave as he was capable of projecting, "If we last more than a minute without a casualty, I would be astonished. If we last more than five minutes in total, it would be a miracle. We are here to buy a precious few seconds for the actual line of defense to get coordinated. The danger here is very real."

Colin's point was punctuated by a crack of thunder, and thick curtains of rain began to fall, plummeting down from black skies in waves that nearly obscured sight. He glanced skyward for a moment, then back to the girl, and blinked in shock as the rain seemed to slide off the very air around her.

"He's almost here." Catalyst said, her voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the rain. "I can feel him. Like a beacon, shining through the dark..." The girl drifted off, staring towards the ocean.

Colin was slightly concerned.

His concern doubled as the building vibrated beneath him, a seismic event that, his armor warned, originated from behind him. He whirled around, scanning for a threat. His sensors had only barely picked up a plume of dust through the rain, when Dragon's urgent voice blared over his armband, "Attention all capes, the medical tents are under attack. The Truce is active, defend our medics."

"Alexandria responding." A woman's voice, laced with fury, answered Dragon's request. A distant clap of the sound barrier being shattered was followed by an earthshaking roar, and the building shook beneath Colin's feet.

Catalyst stepped beside him, her face twisted into a scowl. Her eyes flicked to him briefly, before demanding, "What the hell is happening back there?"

Behind her, Colin saw New Wave breaking into an argument, Glory Girl gesturing frantically towards the tents while Brandish kept a hand around her daughter's arm.

"I'm not sure, but this is the worst possible time for someone to break The Truce." Colin replied.

"The Travelers? Really?"

Colin glanced at Catalyst in confusion, then felt very awkward as he noticed the small transmitter embedded in her mask. It was obvious she was communicating with one of her teammates and not him.

"Oh. Of course it was fucking Skidmark. Fuck. I should've grabbed that idiot weeks ago, if only to prevent this kind of stupidity."

"Skidmark is attacking the medical tents?" Colin couldn't help but interrupt incredulously. The man was unhinged, that much was always obvious, but to break The Truce...

Catalyst turned to him, still scowling, "Skidmark attacked The Travelers, drove one of their members berserk, then ran a tank through the medical tents with the pissed off monster cape in tow."

The ground quaked once more, and Colin's sensors picked up screams in the distance.

"All capes not assigned to the forward team, we require assistance. All capes please- WAVE INCOMING!"

Colin turned towards the coast, automatically unfolding his halberd with practiced motions. The sea rose in the distance, a towering wall of water barreling onto the shore. A figure rode at the crest, a massive reptilian nightmare: Leviathan. The water crashed through buildings, pulverizing concrete and bricks and steel, leaving devastation in its wake and traveling directly towards the gathered defenders.

This was the worst possible situation, the worst possible time for a fight. The capes around him were distracted, worried for their allies. Both Panacea and Othala were in the back-lines, so their distraction was almost understandable, but in an Endbringer battle, any loss of concentration was potentially fatal. If he couldn't snap them out of it in time, if they did not seek higher ground, if the wave hit them while they were distracted and unprepared-

And then Catalyst stepped forward, her scowl twisting into an annoyed grimace.

"I don't have time for your shit." she murmured, her voice lost to the pounding rain, but the meaning made clear by Colin's lip-reading program. She made a sharp gesture, a flick of her hand towards the wave that the other capes were only just responding to.

The result was unlike anything Colin had ever seen before. The wave simply died, collapsing in on itself, losing all momentum in an instant. The towering figure of Leviathan seemed to stagger in shock, as the water beneath him gave way and he tumbled to the ground. The road shattered where he fell, a graceless face-plant that lasted but an instant. The Endbringer sprang to its feet, moving with impossible speed, and closed the distance in a heartbeat. Colin had just enough time to think 'he shouldn't move that fast' before Leviathan ripped through the bottom of the building. The roof lurched sideways, throwing Fenja and Menja off their feet. New Wave shot into the air as one, while Dauntless grabbed Velocity with one hand and Assault with the other, before joining the others in the sky.

Colin fired his grapple towards the closest building, and grabbed for Catalyst, but the girl was walking away from him, seemingly unaffected by the danger and the, well, physics of the situation. The roof continued to dip, and Colin jumped free, reeling himself to safety. Time seemed to slow for him as he turned, taking stock of the situation with practiced ease.

Leviathan's bulk loomed above the falling roof, already striking at the remaining capes. Purity was reaching desperately for the twins, Fenja and Menja, as they instinctively grew in size. Catalyst stood sideways, her feet glued to the roof and her face tilting upwards towards the Endbringer.

The moment ended, and Leviathan's tail ripped through the twins, splattering their bodies across the shattered roof. Purity screamed and unleashed great beams of light into the monster before her. It was not her first Endbringer fight. Colin had seen the effects of Purity's attacks, vicious gouging blasts that staggered even Behemoth.

Leviathan did not even twitch.

A massive fist descended on Catalyst, a brutal, unstoppable hammer-blow that would give even Alexandria pause. There was no time for a warning, no time to intercept the blow, Colin could only watch as the young hero raised her hand to meet Leviathan's strike.

The two forces collided, an unstoppable force meeting a paper mache wall, and yet the wall held firm. The Endbringer's fist, half the size of Catalyst's body, sat suspended in the air above the hero. Leviathan himself seemed to pause in confusion, and Catalyst smirked as her hand continued it's journey, darting forward and sinking into Leviathan's arm. The Endbringer jerked backwards in- that couldn't possibly be fear? and Catalyst pulled away with a triumphant shout. Leviathan's arm twisted, blurred as if Colin's vision was failing, then sloughed off with a flash of light and the whipcrack of displaced air.

The Endbringer staggered back, revealing a black, skeletal limb, limp at its side.

It occurred to Colin that, perhaps, the girl deserved her confidence.

"You all need to get back to the gathering point." Catalyst's voice boomed in Colin's ear, clear as a summer day. He could tell by the reactions of his fellow capes that they too could hear her. She continued, her lips unmoving, "My teammates say the fight is going poorly. Get back there and help."

She stepped off the roof and the thing collapsed, apparently held together only by her will. Catalyst stood calmly on a floor of air, facing a city-destroying monster that almost cowered in her presence.

"Go." She gestured dismissively at the assembled capes, and leveled a glare on Leviathan.

"This won't take long."