Chapter 27

Lisa was walking to the medical tents when everything first went to shit. Her goal at the time was very simple: make friendly contact with Panacea. It never hurt to have a friendly healer in your pocket, and Jaya wanted to hire her for some bio-tinkering on the side.

Also, holy shit, Panacea was a bio-tinker.

Not that there was anything wrong with that.

Despite her reluctance, Lisa was no stranger to horrifying shit, Lung bleeding out on a table mountains of flesh flayed from his bones, a smiling Jaya cheerfully asking for Alec's phone number,so whatever weirdness Panacea cooked up, there shouldn't be a problem. Of course, this was all contingent on the poor girl actually admitting her power set. Lisa hadn't met the world's best healer, but there was something decidedly odd about her situation and only direct observation would give Lisa the necessary clues to fix it.

With that in mind, and with Jaya's promise to definitely not die to an Endbringer, Lisa had wandered away from the rest of the Thinkers after receiving her tinker-tech armband. Jaya promised that the Endbringer wouldn't be making it past her, and Lisa believed her, so she didn't feel all that guilty about ditching Taylor and the coordination efforts. Besides, it was a wonderful day for a walk, if not for the gigantic, terrifying dark clouds creeping steadily into the city. The birds were still chirping, the breeze was refreshing, and she could hear a pleasant rumbling noise that- what the hell?

Over-sized engine, large vehicle moving at high speed. Merchants arriving, her power supplied.

Lisa blinked in surprise, but dutifully reported the arrival of more capes. "Looks like the Merchants are showing up to help," she said into her armband.

The instant she ended the connection an ear-splitting roar echoed through the city.

Merchants fleeing, Lisa's power corrected itself.

Lisa's destination was in sight, just a block away. The medical tents were set up in the center of a park, a large open area fenced in by city blocks. A space was cleared for teleporters, and another for fliers to drop off patients. Judging by the space, casualties were clearly expected to be high. There were dozens of people, capes and PRT personnel, all assigned to assist or set up defenses. Lisa expected a hive of activity. Instead they, like her, were staring blankly in the direction of the roar.

Leviathan didn't roar, Leviathan didn't make any noises at all.

And then a twisted mockery of a tank came screaming around a building corner, and a nightmare followed in its wake. Skidmark's head stuck out of a hatch, facing towards the monster and screaming insults, but the tank blasted forward towards the medical tents and everyone burst into action.

Merchants luring, Lisa's power added helpfully.

A shield sprung up, then another, and another, but they were spread out, uncoordinated, rushed. The Merchant tank plowed through each one effortlessly, and the monster followed, screaming in grief and rage.

Lisa recognized her from Jaya's brief description, The Traveler's case 53, a monstrous cape prone to ravenous hunger and irrational rage. If Leviathan had waited a week, Jaya would have already solved this particular problem. As it was, Lisa could only watch, numb with shock, as Skidmark plowed through the medical tents, scattering people like bowling pins. Noelle charged after him, and a multitude of tentacles and tongues burst forth from the heads on her lower body, lancing out towards downed capes and reeling them into bestial maws.

"Oh fuck me!" Lisa screamed, as Skidmark tore his way through a concrete barrier and started down her street. A loud crack of lightning nearly gave her a heart attack, and a sudden wave of rain swept her off her feet.

"Fuck!" she cried again, staggering upright. She could hear Dragon saying something over the armband, but Lisa was utterly focused on the tank bearing down on her, and the growing monstrosity following it. Even through the wall of water Lisa could see the two shapes drawing closer.

"Alexandria responding," her armband chirped, and the world shattered. The sound of rain was drowned out by an echoing clap and the Merchant's tank crumpled like tin foil. A shockwave of displaced air tore the water out of sight, and for a brief moment Lisa's vision was unimpeded. Alexandria knelt in the center of the wrecked vehicle, one hand elbow deep in the tank's engine, the other wrapped around the cannon's barrel. Her cape fluttered behind her as she shifted, and a snarl split her lips.

And then she was gone, the tank with her, a flickering afterimage that ripped a hole in the curtain of rain. She appeared above the charging Noelle, mid golf-swing, with the broken tank as a club. The impact shattered the metal shell into splinters, and sent the monstrous form of Noelle spinning away from the medical tents and through a nearby building.

"What the hell is happening back there?" Jaya's voice snapped Lisa out of her shock.

"Noelle is here." Lisa started, then peered towards the medical tents, where a rusted white van pulled to a stop and disgorged a masked man in a top hat, "The Travelers too."

"The Travelers? Really?"

"Remember when Weaver said the Merchants wanted to attack The Travelers? Well, they did, and they pissed Noelle off enough to chase them all the way here." Lisa confirmed.

More capes appeared, a few teleporting in to the remnants of the medical tents, and several fliers sweeping forward past Lisa. She jogged her way to the medical tents, keeping her eyes peeled towards Alexandria's fight. Lisa activated the broadcast function on her armband and spoke with urgency, "Be advised, enemy Case 53 creates insane clones of anyone she touches. She currently has an unknown number of people within her. Capes posses a variation of their original powers."

Alexandria jerked as Lisa finished talking, then darted backwards away from the ruins where Noelle lay, just in time to avoid a grasping tendril erupting from the rubble. Noelle's bulky form exploded outwards, and charged Alexandria. Lisa's mind raced for anything she could possibly contribute, as Alexandria led the raging girl further into the city. Reinforcements began to funnel in, a dozen capes Lisa barely recognized flying towards Alexandria's fight.

With a dull thud, a Protectorate cape dropped down beside her, Triumph, with Aegis floating above acting as a bus. Kid Win swept in after them, floating on a hoverboard.

"Are you alright Miss?" Triumph asked, "Need a lift to safety?"

Lisa didn't reply. She was too busy staring in horror at the quietly shifting rubble where Noelle once lay.

Life beneath rubble. Clones beneath rubble. Clones likely hostile. Clones likely laying ambush for passing capes. Ambush indicates lack of mobility but high killing potential. Most capes present in medical tents had powers ill suited for offense. Highest killing potential is Panacea.

Panacea clone likely beneath rubble.

Multiple Panacea clones likely beneath rubble.

"Eep." Lisa managed.

Kid Win glanced between her and the rubble, "Yeah, pretty messed up right? Who would pull this crap at a time like this?" He glided forward over the rubble, shaking his head in consternation.

"NO!" Lisa shouted, and the gathered heroes all flinched at her outburst. Kid Win turned towards her, a question on his tongue, when a mass of limbs burst out of the rubble. He squawked as he was pulled off his hoverboard, a grinning, nude brunette girl dragging him towards a hollowed out hole within the ruined structure.

"Kid!" Aegis yelled in alarm, and charged forward. An identical girl stepped into sight, and thrust her hand forward. A distortion in the air, a rippling blur, shot towards Aegis and his movement slowed to a crawl. It settled in the air around him, a bubble of slowed time or invisible oil or maybe just a really crappy shield, but whatever it was, it was not Panacea's power!

Triumph stepped forward and shouted, a wave of force struck out at the girl struggling with Kid Win, but yet another clone leapt out of the hole and intercepted the blast. Flesh tore, and Panacea's clone tumbled to the ground, but moments later she stood, smiling, as her skin knit itself together. She reached out and tapped her twins, and then dove back out of sight. The clone grappling with Kid Win laughed, then took a deep breath and shouted in Kid Win's face, a blast of sound equal to Triumph's, and Kid Win collapsed like a rag doll. The clone's fingers split open, skin giving way to sharp bone claws that she sank into Kid Win's neck.

Aegis howled in fury, and slammed his foot into the broken concrete for leverage. With a heave, he broke out of the slow bubble, and plowed into the clone beside Kid Win. A loud snap followed his impact, and the clone's arm ripped free of its body. Aegis dragged the clone across the street, and slammed her through a wall, the crash drowned out by the heavy rain. The pair quickly fell out of sight, obscured by dust and mist.

Triumph advanced on Kid Win's twitching form, but a blast of sound from the remaining clone put him on the defensive. The arm, still attached to Kid Win's throat, seemed to writhe in place, and Lisa watched in fascinated horror as veins tore free from the arm and sank into Kid Win's body. His body spasmed wildly, and began to shift, losing height and gaining curves. Frizzy brown hair spilled out of his helmet, and with a last grinding pop he- she sat up and pulled off her helmet. Her face flowed like melted candle wax, lines of rainwater following fresh curves, as her features pulled themselves into rough shapes then hardened into skin. After a moment, Panacea's smiling face swirled into view.

Triumph cried out in horror, Kid Dallon laughed in delight, and Lisa unceremoniously drew her tinker-tech pistol and shot the clone in the head. A laser lanced out and vaporized the laughing girl from the neck up, and she flopped to the ground, still. Lisa glanced over the clone's body for a moment to ensure it was dead, then turned her gun on the next clone.

Unintelligent after brain is destroyed. Body still a danger, will instinctively meld with any biological it touches.

"The corpse can still control you." Lisa told Triumph grimly, as she squeezed off another shot. The clone barely jerked out of the way, and the laser scalded off a chunk of her face, but with a sharp gesture a wave of rippling air spread out in front of her. Lisa's next two shots hit the field and bled away into nothing.

Fields absorb energy.

"This is going poorly." Lisa said over the Vanguard comms, her voice somehow steady despite the adrenaline pounding through her veins.

A roar echoed from somewhere just beyond the block, and Noelle charged back into view, a dozen capes in hot pursuit. Laser blasts and energy waves and good old-fashioned chunks of concrete bombarded her monstrous form, gouging out massive chunks of flesh that flaked away and dissolved into ash, but every wound she took healed in moments. Once she ripped through another building and vanished from sight, Lisa returned her attention to the nearest clone, only to freeze in shock.

The clone's muscles bulged, sculpting themselves into an Olympian build. Her excess fat disappeared, consumed for fuel, and the injury on her face sealed itself, scabbing over in an instant. The blood washed away in the rain, and within seconds the clone seemed uninjured. She took a step towards them, then another, then dashed forward, her feet leaving the ground, literally flying through the air.

Triumph stepped in front of Lisa and roared, the shockwave hitting the clone and splattering her to the side. She crashed into the ground, covered in blood, and immediately bounced back up. Lisa's follow up laser caught the clone in the face, and the spray of red mist was whisked away by the rain. The headless clone staggered back a step, then stopped, still upright.

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me," Lisa swore, as the not-corpse straightened itself, and faced them. Across the street, from within a wrecked convenience store, a Panacea clone dressed in Aegis' armor emerged beside her one armed twin. Another pair of clones emerged from the ruins where Noelle once hid, each a floating, nude, sculpted version of Amy Dallon.

"Give up, Triumph." They spoke together, an eerie gestalt of sound, "Joining us won't hurt, we promise." Four sets of eyes landed on Lisa, "It willhurt for you."

"Catalyst? Cat, I really need some assistance, like now." Lisa murmured urgently.

"Working on it. They should be there any second." Jaya's reply was terse, distracted.

"WHERE IS MY SISTER!?" A female voice bellowed, as Glory Girl dropped out of the sky and slammed into the concrete between Triumph and the clones. Her arm was wrapped around Armsmaster's waist, and he grunted at the impact with the ground. The hero stepped free from Glory Girl, whose aura was radiating enough terror to make Lisa's head spin, and glanced to Triumph.

"Status?" Armsmaster asked.

"None of them are Panacea-" was as far as Triumph got, before four mouths opened, and four shockwaves of sound barreled into the group.

Lisa dove to the ground, curling herself into a ball and covering her ears, while Glory Girl took the brunt of the blow and was blasted clear off her feet. The headless clone launched herself towards Triumph, who was staggered from the attack, and three more clones dog-piled Armsmaster. The one-armed clone turned away from the battle, and took flight towards the medical tents.

"No no no- SHIT!" Lisa fired at the fleeing clone, but lost sight of it in the rain. She quickly activated the all-comms function on her armband and shouted, "Incoming cape to the medical tents, dressed in Aegis' armor, red bodysuit with silver trim and a shield emblem, no helmet. She is a Striker/Trump who can self propagate. Do not let her touch you."

An enraged shout drew Lisa's attention, as Glory Girl plowed into the clone fighting Triumph. A few quick blows reduced the clone's lower body to pulp but a hand snapped up and latched onto the heroine's wrist. The clone grinned at her, then shouted, the shockwave throwing Glory Girl into the air, with the clone's hand still clamped on her arm. Vicky Dallon landed, screaming, as the amputated hand burrowed into her skin, bone claws tearing flesh followed by thick blood vessels wrapping around her arm and burrowing inside.

Lisa snapped her pistol up and fired at the hand, scorching lasers that fizzled against Glory Girl's skin as she flailed. Suddenly, Armsmaster was there, covered in viscera but unharmed. His armored hand latched onto Glory Girl's, and straightened her arm away from her body. His other hand swept up, a quick strike with his halberd, and took the heroine's arm off at the elbow. Vicky Dallon collapsed, holding her bleeding arm and sobbing, as Armsmaster performed first aid on the stump. Triumph dashed forward to finish off the last clone, and Lisa glanced towards the remnants of Armsmaster's fight.

It was a pile of limbs and bodies, each neatly separated at least five feet from the other, scattered about the road. Arms and legs and heads and torsos, all neatly cut to pieces. Lisa was beginning to understand what Jaya saw in the man.

He stood up, glancing towards Lisa, "Good work here. What's your name?"

"Fidelis, I'm with Vanguard." Lisa replied, automatically name-dropping her new team, a habit Jaya spent weeks drilling into her.

Armsmaster stiffened for a moment when he heard the team name, then shook his head, "Right, we need to get to the medical tents."

Armsmaster slung Glory Girl over his shoulder, the heroine having passed out from shock and pain, and started running towards the end of the block. The rain made sight and sound somewhat unreliable, but the bright flashes of lasers and the sounds of screaming as they approached were fairly unmistakable. Armsmaster grit his teeth, and passed Glory Girl over to Triumph, before pulling out various devices and attaching them to his halberd.

They came within sight of a camp in chaos. Over a dozen Amy Dallons rampaged through the tents, fighting at the side of a roaring Noelle. Alexandria kept the monstrous cape from approaching the thickest areas of fighting, hemming her in with whatever chunks of masonry and metal she could find. Legend darted around in the sky, his lasers twisting through the air to pierce through Panacea clones as they hid within the crowds of PRT personnel and allied capes. Eidolon hovered in the sky, flinging out cages of electricity that captured the rogue clones and ripped them away from the battle. Armsmaster wasted no time throwing himself into the fray, halberd humming as he casually dismembered any enemy that closed in on him. Triumph veered off towards the closest healer, seeking a place to drop off his burden.

Lisa called up Jaya because shit was really getting out of hand. If this kept up, Taylor would probably show up and dive headfirst into this mess.

"Cat, it's pretty bad here. If you can show up and help that would be pretty great."

"Fidelis this is Weaver! Do you need my help?"

"No!" Came two immediate replies. A pause, then Jaya's voice spoke again, "I'm on my way."

Lisa glanced back towards the battle. Solid battle lines seemed to be getting drawn, with Legend and Eidolon forcing Panacea clones into the open. Unfortunately, Noelle was slowly moving closer, Alexandria having run out of things to use as a projectile and utterly unwilling to risk touching the monstrous cape. Still, she was remaining safe, and so long as there was no Triumvirate clone in play, victory seemed inevitable.

Of course that's when every Panacea clone seemed to come to the same conclusion and, as one, bombarded Alexandria with energy draining bubbles. The air around her thickened into a soup, and her movements slowed to a crawl. Legend shouted in alarm, but his lasers were easily absorbed by the massive field. Eidolon flickered in place, then appeared between Alexandria and the charging Noelle, a massive golden shield slamming into place. The Panacea clones rocketed towards the Triumvirate members, sharp claws bursting free from their fingers, grasping towards the immobile Eidolon.

And then Leviathan plowed through a city block, bounced ass over teakettle between the clones and the trapped Triumvirate members, and cartwheeled into an office building on the other side of the park.

The collected sentient beings all experienced a simultaneous bowel movement as they remembered the goddamn Endbringer. The battlefield was utterly silent, frozen, as a tiny form stalked across the grass towards the downed Endbringer. Suspended above the figure's head was a massive rusted husk, the largest supertanker in the Graveyard by the port. Lisa's best friend grinned viciously as the Endbringer rose unsteadily to its feet.

Leviathan had seen better days. Its right arm was a stump, completely missing, and its left leg was skeletal. In its chest was a cavernous hole, a wound the size of a small car that revealed a blackened ribcage and the rounded edges of a crystalline core. Leviathan flicked his tail towards the floating ship, and half the assembled capes dove for cover, expecting a wave of water to come screaming towards them. The Endbringer almost appeared to slump when nothing happened.

"Such a sore loser," Jaya's voice boomed out across the field, and the tanker shot forward into the Endbringer's chest. Hundreds of thousands of tons of metal buried Leviathan, pushing it into the ground and gouging out a massive chunk of earth. The ship folded in on itself, unable to take the force, and the impact shook the ground. Even after the initial blow, the ship continued forward and downward, crushing the Endbringer beneath its weight. Leviathan's struggles were clear to all present. As the ship pushed down on it, pieces were ripped off, metal was sheared and torn. The Endbringer ripped his way further through the ship with every step Jaya took. Finally, with a great crash, the Endbringer tore its way free of the mass of metal, and leapt out of the massive crater, only to find Jaya standing there, waiting. The Endbringer spun, frantically trying to change its trajectory, but massive strips of metal wrapped around its waist and dragged him forward. It tore the metal free with its arm, only to have another latch around its bicep. Its tail tore free that shackle, and Leviathan turned once again to escape, but Jaya was there, there right in front of it, arm extended. Her arm sank into Leviathan's chest, the rib cage that surrounded its core giving way to her impossible power, and her hand grasped Leviathan's core.

The Endbringer shuddered, then lay still.

Jaya nodded in satisfaction, and turned towards the assembled capes. She glanced towards Noelle, who seemed to have snapped out of her rage, towards the assembled Panacea clones who stared anxiously, towards the assembled capes who watched her strike down a demi-god.

"You're done here." Jaya declared, her voice heavy with authority.

No one saw fit to challenge her.