By the way, at this point it seems that the Endbringers remain in human form both physically and mentally, but I’m not going to call someone who kills nine and a half million people in one night just for the hell of it a human.

“The rest of you-” Legend was interrupted by shouts.  Bastion bellowed, pointed, and the people in his team moved.

Uh oh. Did we run out of time?

Spit out the words, quickly!

Layers of forcefields went up around the far wall in front of and behind the front windows, and they weren’t enough to take the hit.  The building rocked with an impact, the forcefields to the left collapsed, and the water began to rush in, carrying chunks of brick, glass and the metal windowframes into the lobby.

Leviathan: “You people need a bath before we fight.”

One of the television screens toppled in the onrushing flood.  The other two showed a flickering series of images, a half second of each.  The coast of Brockton Bay being struck with a wave.  The ferry, the harbor down at the south end of town, the boardwalk, all smashed by the initial wave.  I saw a glimpse of a tall figure in the middle of one shot, little more than a blur behind the spray of water and the rain.

If Leviathan gets his way it’s gonna be even harder for Danny to get that ferry running again.

For, uh, several reasons.

“Long ranged attackers, with me!  If you fall in more than one category, go with the group where you think you’ll be the greatest assistance!”

I guess Taylor is a long ranged attacker if anything, even if I don’t think she’ll be able to do much damage.

Putting that note about people who fall in more than one category here seems to imply that he’s done. Did they seriously not make a misc group? Where is Tattletale supposed to go?

Did I count as a long ranged attacker?  No, my power wouldn’t hurt Leviathan.  I turned to look at those of us who were still seated.  I recognized Grue, Tattletale, Regent, Othala, Victor, Panacea and Kaiser.  There were a half dozen more who I’d never seen before.  People from out of town.

It seems to me that Panacea should go with the mover team, at least if there’s someone on there who can teleport more than one other person at a time.

So Kaiser doesn’t think he fits in either of the close ranged attacker groups or in the ranged group. Interesting.

And Regent, why are you not in the “interrupt Leviathan’s movements” group? What better power is there against a speedster than the ability to make him trip?

Anyway, yeah, there’s plenty of people here for a misc group.

Armsmaster opened his mouth to respond, but broke off when Legend called out his name.

“Armsmaster and Chevalier will be leading the hand to hand combatants who do not fit in Alexandria’s group!

I guess that includes Grue.

Anyone who thinks they can harm or hamper Leviathan in close quarters, you’ll be assisting and reinforcing the front line!”

Armsmaster strode away from the Undersiders, and I saw Assault, Battery, Brandish, Night and Fog move to join that group, among others.

Maybe not? To be fair, his abilities in close quarters aren’t quite on the same page as people like Night and Fog. They’re just normal human abilities, albeit trained.

Smaller than the first group, but I suppose it took a certain amount of bravery to be willing to get close to an Endbringer when you weren’t invincible or close to it.

True.

The boy with the metal skin began to pass through my row.  He handed me an armband from a bag, and I slid it over my hand and cinched it in place.

Hi again.

A flat, square screen showed a satellite view of the building we were in, and the surrounding parking lot and beach.  A display read: ‘State name’.

“Taylor Hebert.”
*bzzt* 
“Taylor Hebert!”
*bzzt* 
“TAYLOR HEBERT!”
*bzzt*
“…”
“It wants your cape name, miss Hebert.”
“Oops. …Skitter.”

“We are splitting you into groups based on your abilities!  If you are confident you can take a hit from Leviathan and get up afterwards, or if you have the ability to produce expendable combatants, we need you on the front line!  You will be directed by Alexandria and Dragon!”

The former criterion isn’t really the case for Taylor, and she doesn’t produce the bugs. Not that the bugs are likely to do much directly against Leviathan anyway.

As a share of the crowd moved toward one corner of the room, Armsmaster stepped down from the podium to approach Tattletale, Grue and Regent, “Where’s Hellhound?”

Ah yeah, I was wondering that a bit myself, considering Tattle indicated that they had all agreed to help out.

Did she change her mind?

“At least call her by her real name,” Tattletale glared up at him,

Which one, Rachel Lindt or Bitch?

“She’s not here.  You knocked her dogs around enough to know they aren’t that tough, and that means you’re implying they’re expendable.  Be glad she wasn’t around to hear that and figure that out.”

Oof, yeah.

Who knows if Rachel would’ve respected the truce if she heard that.

Legend called out, “Capes!  If you have faced an Endbringer before, stand!”

I guess that’s how they find out who to clear for unmoderated chat.

I watched as the rest of the Protectorate, about a third of the out-of-town Wards, Bambina, half of a commercially sponsored cape team and the Travelers stood.

Bambina evidently has more powers than “looking young” if she’s faced down one of these before and is still confident (and alive) enough to take on another.

I couldn’t help but notice Armsmaster lean over toward Miss Militia, whisper something in her ear, and point at the Travelers.  Miss Militia shook her head.

Huh, that’s interesting. Are they lying? Although Miss Militia wouldn’t know everyone who’s ever been up against an Endbringer any more than Legend does, so that’s probably not it.

Maybe Armsmaster is just taking the opportunity to as if Miss Militia has seen them around town before. They did only arrive a couple weeks ago, and I don’t know how active they’ve been since then. Armsmaster has met them before, but they might not be terribly well-known to the Protectorate in general.

“When in doubt, follow the orders of the Protectorate first!  We have trained, organized and planned for this!  The others who are standing, now, are the ones you listen to if we aren’t contradicting their order!  They have been through situations much like this, you go with their instincts!

Makes sense.

“The second button is a ping.  Use it in the case of an emergency, to alert others if you are in danger or hurt.

Do the grids on the other people’s armbands start showing the markers of people who are pinging differently? Maybe pulsing circles?

If it is not an emergency, but you want assistance, such as a flier to get you to another vantage point or you see an opportunity to turn the tables, press both buttons, tell the armband what you want.

Nice.

Dragon’s program will prioritize your needs, with assistance being directed your way if others are not occupied with more pressing matters.  The armband tracks your condition and will automatically send a ping if you are badly injured or unconscious.”

This is some hella useful tech. Good work, Dragon.