“...one in four of the people in this room will probably be dead before this day is done.”

A quiet murmur ran through the room. God damn, he really did decide to start his fucking speech like that. I guess his vial didn't come with anything for his brain... He continued, explaining that of course he only told anyone because they deserved to know the statistics. Like I wasn't already fighting back panic with everything I had.

I glanced over and saw the girl, Ravelin, who'd dragged me into this little group, her mouth set in a grim line. Her frame trembled ever so slightly, growing worse as Legend continued talking. I gently patted her shoulder, offering a smile that...god dammit of course she couldn't see behind the scarf covering my lower face.

She seemed to get it though and released a long, shuddering breath. We both turned back to Legend as he pointed out the danger of the aquifer beneath the city. Right, this was a place where no step back would be allowed. It was either do or die, and Legend had made it clear that the latter option would be far more common than I wished. They began handing out wristbands, explaining how to use them, and how it worked. Then Legend asked for the Endbringer veterans to stand.

Plymouth, this little group's leader, and one of the other capes stood. I saw Ravelin shiver in the corner of my eye. Yeah, I guess when half your team had fought these things, the real stories got around. She'd probably been hearing awful things about these monsters since signing up. If only she knew how bad things were going to get...

“We're sticking together,” Plymouth said grimly as he clicked his wristband into place. “Follow my lead, and if I bite it follow Keelhaul's lead. Ravelin, on point, Bombard, you know. New girl...shit, just stay out of the way and try not to die.” I nodded, that sounded like a goo--

A chorus of yells interrupted him as Bastion, and a bunch of capes with him, threw up force-fields against a massive wave that slammed into the building. Ravelin leapt between us and the windows, a ghostly wedge appearing in front of her. Legend barked something that could barely be heard over the sound of cracking masonry and a sudden thunderclap echoed in my ears.

Like that, we were outside, the rain pounding down heavy enough that it was hard to hear anything. My little bubble of safety mostly kept the rain itself off my skin, but didn't stop the feeling of sodden clothes. I pulled the scarf away from my face and took a deep breath, forcing myself to my feet as water rushed past, back to the ocean.

I saw him. God I saw him, just standing there in the midst of his storm and I shuddered. Ravelin breathed a muffled curse, slowly stepping in front of me like she was sleepwalking. Plymouth and the rest of his team organized behind her. With nowhere else to go, I did too. Ravelin's power turned on as the Endbringer got closer, but for better or worse his pounce wasn't directed at us.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Move in!” Plymouth barked, and we started moving towards Leviathan as our wristbands flatly read out a list of the dead and wounded. What the fuck Dragon? “Bombard, get to work!” She barked an affirmative, and a moment later I saw a small explosion blossom on his back.

Leviathan whirled, tail lashing out. It didn't strike us, but the water echo whipped out further than the limb and crashed against Ravelin's shield. She let out a small shriek and it flickered, allowing the end of the echo to come through and smash into us. Too little to injure, but enough to send the whole team sprawling.

Except me. I felt it patter against my skin like the torrential rain overhead, but that was about it. I stared, wide-eyed at the Endbringer as it pounced. Plymouth let out a roar and a massive chunk of the street rose up, catching the monster as it glided over the water. It bounced back a solid foot and was set on by more capes as everyone began regrouping.

I ran forward and helped Ravelin up, wincing at the bright red welt on her chin. That was gonna be ugly. She leaned against me as her force-field went back up. Well, if all I could do was be a crutch for a real hero, that was good enough for me. My own projection helped, since my knees were threatening to give way just under my own weight.

A phantasmal anchor flew overhead, a chain trailing behind it. I glanced back and saw it coming from Keelhaul's palm, then looked forward just in time to see it catch Leviathan's tail mid-swing. I let out a little bark of laughter, until he turned around and snapped the chain with a flick. An explosion blossomed on his face, then another struck one, glowing eye. Leviathan reeled back for a moment, harried at the same time above from lasers. Alexandria flew in and fucking powerbombed him

Wait this was going well, no this was going great. There was still a constant toll of casualties being read out, but mostly it was 'down' rather than 'deceased'. Leviathan seemed to be stuck though, struck by lasers, explosions, and other miraculous bullshit. Could we do this? Could we actually--

“Wave!” A frantic scream from behind us.

Everyone turned in time to see a black wall rising up from the sea. Ravelin pushed me off and charged over to Bombard, the rest of us trailing behind. She skidded to a halt and her field took shape, flickering slightly. We all ran in behind and...oh, oh there was no rear portion to her power. I didn't have time to fully grasp what that meant before the roar of water overwhelmed my senses, and the world outside vanished for a moment.

Like someone had grabbed me, I was suddenly swept out from the field. I tumbled end over end, unable to see anything in the whirling darkness. I struck something that flipped me over, and my calf stung. It got through my field? No, my field was shuddering like it was trying to escape my skin. I felt cold water sting my face and water rushed into my mouth. I panted and gasped as water rushed into my lungs. I thrashed and screamed and