Work Book 2

Practice. Practice. Practice. It made perfect, so I knew, and so I had to work on that.

My defense was pretty good, considering I was still in relatively poor shape compared to before my arrival. My offense, however, needed work. I needed options, and there were a few within reach. It would be great if I could make an unbreakable lasso with supreme interrogation ability, but without a magical education it was beyond me. Maybe if I had a teacher, I could, but without one I was out of luck. Even Diana herself probably couldn't teach me. At best she'd be able to point me toward people who could.

So I worked on something I could work on without assistance. It was simple, in principle. I'd used it before, literally thousands of times. It was absurdly versatile, precise, moved at lightspeed so it wouldn't be so easily dodged or blocked, and I could use it with either a gentle touch or with enough strength to even give an empowered Kryptonian pause.

Heat Vision.

I could lob fireballs, sure. The problem was they were fireballs. There wasn't a precise minimum temperature I could use with them. They would always be dangerous to lethal against human targets, and they couldn't be used to cut things at range. They could, in principle, have no real upper limit, held back only by my own capacity. Heat Vision opened up so many options and I couldn't afford to just let the possibility slip through my fingers.

And so, now that we were in April, I'd spent a fair bit of time behind my new camper staring at the cliff face on my land.

I wasn't just working on my Heat Vision, of course. I'd been training, keeping an ear out on the police scanner for problematic points in the city, and helping Lucy with her own training. My speed was coming back, especially since I'd been focusing on it. Or rather my reflexes to go with my speed was coming back. A ten-second game of solitaire was pretty good.

I was aware that having Heat Vision wouldn't solve all my problems, combat or otherwise, but it would give me a potent tool. At the very least I could use it with a glance, rather than having to use my hands to project it.

Just so far... my glaring at the cliff face ended up with transparent beams of heat, somewhat blackening the rock face. It wasn't very strong, neither the red of the kind of heat I'd need to melt stone or steel, nor the bright-blue levels of sheer heat that was enough to rival that of the exposed cores of neutron stars. I had managed that kind of heat before, but it would be a ways off from the look of things. It took a fair bit of my reserves to use, too.

It was a start. I had it a lot stronger once before, and I would again.

"Well, least I can heat up my coffee." I muttered. A typical fireball was just a bit too uncontrolled to manage that. I suppose I could sheathe my hands in fire and do it that way, but that still wouldn't be as versatile as the famous power could be.

Still, if all I can manage after three weeks of practice is heat ripples, it's going to take a long while to get it up to the much greater levels I might need.

I practiced for a few moments longer, though. Scorching the familiar stylized \S/ into the rock face, mostly to see if I could do such precisely. Partially so I would have something to remember. A tiiiny bit just for the fun of it.

Things had been fairly quiet around Brockton Bay. On the one hand it allowed me to take the time to prepare and train, but on the other it made me wonder. The Empire was laying low, having seemingly gone to ground. Arrests of skinheads were up, but the villains themselves were nowhere to be seen. Neither the Marche or the remnants of the Teeth even tried to step out in public visibly.

I didn't even get a letter begging me to come back and lead the Teeth. Then again, considering that crowd, I'd be surprised if any of them could read or write. I'd be somewhat surprised if any of them even knew how to use a phone.

I wasn't going to complain, mind you. It gave me time to prepare and train, thus being better equipped for when things did go wrong. Despite the fact that bad things happened to people everywhere, they didn't happen all the time. Most often by the time I heard about a problem in Brockton, it was resolved before I could even arrive. People usually did try to help. Not everyone, but there was always a few. I was glad for that.

I went back into my camper, still fresh with the smell of a new vehicle. It wasn't too huge or fancy, but it did provide me some shelter while my house would be built. It had a queen sized bed, a small fridge, a small dining room. It was nice sleeping out here, in the quiet.

Of course just as I think that, my cell phone rang.

Grabbing it from my table, I answered it. "Sunstorm."

"This is Agent Phillips of the Brockton Bay PRT. Behemoth is moving."

That got my full attention. "Where?"

"Lyon, France. Earthquakes are coming up on the south of the city. He's likely to head straight for it once emerged."

"Thank you. I'm on my way." I hung up, dialed Lucy, even as I retrieved my armor from my closet. Silently thanking my past self for making it fairly easy to put on. I was tying on the front of the torso when she picked up.

"Hello?"

"It's Tracy. Behemoth's moving for Lyon, France. Are you joining in?" I pulled out my boots and put them on, pulling the metal straps to make sure they were tight. It wouldn't help if I lost them partway there. Then again, they were designed to be replaceable.

Lucy paused for a moment. "I got no way to get there, Sun. Everyone who's going to be on site are Movers or can come in from nearby. Usually the first wave of defenders are just there to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. The original Protectorate can all do it with their powers, but I can't." Her voice took on a more serious tone. "I'll help hold the fort here. It's bad form for most villains to act during an attack, but there's sometimes an idiot or three. Not sure what I can do without powers, but I'll try. Come back alive."

I nodded to myself, just out of sheer habit. "Right. Try not to have too much fun without me." I hung up, then tried to call Batman.

When nothing but an answering machine picked up "Hi, this is Sherrel, leave a fucking message." I spoke quickly.

"Behemoth, Lyon, France. On my way right now." I closed up my flip-open cell phone, set it on my table, then stepped outside.

It's a shame. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were beginning to chirp, the snow was mostly gone. It was still a bit dreary, but it was shaping up to be quite nice. At least here.

I tensed my legs, concentrated, and jumped off the ground. The force of my departure left a crater beneath my feet. That was okay. It was my land and I'd probably want to build a firepit later anyway. Though I probably should have more carefully considered where I'd put it.

Seconds later I was miles in the air, pushing against the sound barrier, then breaking past it as the air thinned rapidly. Three seconds after that I hit the would-be cold of the upper atmosphere, except the speed I was moving at kept me warm enough. A second after that the cold wasn't a problem anymore, as I'd hit near-vacuum and the light and heat of the sun itself hit me in full. It recharged my reserves, and I deliberately exhaled, letting the vacuum take what was left in my lungs.

There was still some of that instinctive fear, knowing I couldn't breathe up here. But when fed by that heat, I didn't need to. I took a second to admire the sight of the Earth from orbit. A lovely blue, ever-shifting marble, clouds shifting below me, the green and brown of North America below my feet.

I never got tired of seeing Earth like this. I'd seen alien worlds from orbit too, but none were quite right. From here, I could almost forget this wasn't the one I was born on.

Focus, Tracy. Right. Navigate from here... this was a lot easier with the Byte helping out. Then all I had to do was follow an arrow over my vision. Now it was a tad more complicated.

Lyon was southeast of Paris, I knew that from my time with the League. So reaching Lyon wouldn't be too hard. Racing through the vacuum, I flew through the void to the east, the sun dipping behind the Earth as I went.

Once in Earth's shadow, the cold of space hit me, and I was running entirely on my heat reserves. Luckily space was cold, but a really shitty conductor of heat. It'd take a while before I ran low enough for the vacuum to be a threat. Besides, the lights of Europe were coming up quick, and so I plunged back into the atmosphere. The heat of re-entry helped me recover what heat I'd lost. I would have been supercharged by the heat, if I wasn't slowing my descent enough that I wouldn't arrive buck naked again.

I almost wish I had. By the time I arrived over Lyon, Behemoth had already emerged from a rent in the ground, and was at the outskirts of Lyon. Forty-five feet tall, seemingly made of rock. Behemoth glowed red-hot, casting light in the night. It made him easy to see even high above and at long ranges. Lightning crashed around him, falling from his hands, his horns. He had a single glowing red eye, seemingly focused on the city center. Buildings were already burning around him. People were screaming, fleeing on foot, in cars, running over each other. With my perception of time sped up, I could see the streamers coming from objects, and people, before Behemoth's lightning struck them. Corpses went flying into the air from the force of the strikes.

Where the hell was the defenders? There wasn't any sign of resistance, and the Endbringer was moving with impunity.

The wise thing to do was wait. Work together with anyone who arrived, since it looked like I got here before anyone else. Under normal circumstances I would do exactly that, wait for backup, then go in at the head of a unified force. That strategy allowed us knock-offs, us Misfits, to fight above our weight class.

But that meant people would die while the defenders rallied. Hear more people scream. Allow the smell of burned flesh to soak over me while I just sat there...

Sometimes, it really sucks being the pointman. Right, I'd have to slow him down, delay him. Wear him down if I could. Kill him, even if I had to do it myself and it took hours. Much longer subjectively, with my superspeed active.

If I had my lasso I could have wrapped it around his neck and pulled Behemoth away from the city. Probably not far, with it existing for only a few seconds, but it would have worked. Without it, I had to take a somewhat more direct approach.

So with both fists extended, I slammed into Behemoth's chest at Mach Five. In the instant before impact, I felt as if a fireball tried to burst out from within me, but it only made me stronger when I hit him.

Behemoth stumbled backward, his arms cartwheeling for a moment. The ground made a thumm of protest as he found his footing, redirecting the kinetic energy of my strike into the ground. The entire city of Lyon shook with the impact. The lightning wreathing around his hands and horns winked out, at least for a brief moment.

Right, complete dynakinetic, if restricted to one energy type at a time, according to the files. That would make this difficult.

Behemoth regained his footing, and let out a roar. With my perceptions at higher speeds, I could see the shockwave of that roar, destroying trees with the sheer force of it. The smaller buildings nearby crumpled, cars went flying.

As the shockwave approached me, I braced myself, forcing my body into as narrow a profile as possible. I sheathed myself in flame, braced myself against the road, and grit my teeth.

The shockwave hit me, still sending me spilling up the road, pavement being pulverized beneath me as I recovered. Still, I'd been hit harder before, and my training paid off. I rolled back onto my feet and blasted my way through the air. Once I'd gotten within thirty feet of him again, I felt my heat reserves slam right full. It gave me plenty of strength to slam into his neck and force him backwards once more.

I burst into flame, though unwillingly this time. The energy I was being force-fed being pushed to express itself somehow. That was still rather concerning because the last time that happened I was in Hell. I could feel my armor softening, sloughing off me, the steel liquefying from the sheer heat, running down my body and dripping on the ground. The fire erupting from me wasn't just orange, but blue. It was energizing, but goddamned dangerous. Just being near me would probably cook someone alive.

Still, I pounded my fists into Behemoth's chest, and the Endbringer staggered backward with the force of the blow. A flicker of motion from the corner of my eye, and I slammed myself downward until I hit the ground. Behemoth's hand slammed into his own chest with enough force to create another shockwave. Thankfully it wasn't as powerful as his previous roar.

It made me stumble, but I was already moving. I rolled beneath Behemoth, turning the roll into a kick that slammed into the back of his knee. With a bellow, Behemoth staggered and fell off-balance, catching himself with his arm. I took the opening and blasted Behemoth's back with a wave of fire, attempting to soften up his hide before I slammed my hand into his lower back, where a kidney would be on a human.

And let out a scream as my arm broke from the force of the impact, the blow itself sending me flying back.

I lost my concentration. The world seemed to speed up as superspeed slipped from my mind, the fact that the particular expression of my Kryptonian powers wasn't instinctive working against me. I flared with heat, my broken arm resetting itself with an equally-painful snap, fed by the fire surrounding me, but I kept bouncing rather painfully for at least a hundred feet. I rolled to my feet just as my vision was filled with white and oh fuck that's a streamer coming from my horns-

The bolt of lightning slammed right between my eyes.

Darkness swallowed me.

"Foolish mortal. You dare insult me!?"

Consciousness snapped back into existence. Behemoth was further away now, walking almost casually away, and I was lying as a naked, undignified heap in the middle of the road. He'd made it further into Lyon, buildings erupting into flame just by his mere presence.

I staggered to my feet, pulled in what heat I could, and erupted into flame. I could feel the blood trickling from my nose dry and vanish in my flames. With a roar, I charged back toward Behemoth, taking the barest moment to extend my hand and pulling the fires he'd provided toward me. Snuffing them out as I stole their heat, healing my wounds.

The pain faded. I grit my teeth as I pushed myself into the mental state of superspeed once again. I'd need it to be able to respond to the literally lightning-fast attacks.

Behemoth turned as he'd noticed the fire going towards me, and he tilted his head as I approached once more. He opened his mouth, likely to roar once again, but I narrowed my eyes, concentrated, and blasted him in the single glowing eye with Heat Vision. It wasn't strong, it wouldn't likely do damage to him, but it would hopefully surprise him long enough for me to-

The roar came anyway, and I blasted through a near-solid wall of air as I got close to him once again. It hurt, but the moment I got within range of his kill aura once again the pain faded. I also burst into flame again, but, well, that was rather normal at this point.

Streamers started flying from my horns again. Fuckfuckfuck. I clamped myself onto Behemoth's leg, and the lightning that sprung from his own horns struck. Braced more properly this time I only gasped in agony as they hit me, but it felt like it jarred something loose in my brain.

"I have had enough of your impertinence!"

No, not now. I tried a different tack, pulling at Behemoth trying to lift him off the ground. If I could get him somewhere more isolated, where there would be less collateral damage...

Slowly, stubbornly, Behemoth's leg was pulled off the ground. The Endbringer's arms spun as he tried to keep his balance, and just as I felt the kinetic energy starting to be redirected I flung out a hand and blasted his face with a fireball. If I had access to stronger abilities I'd have used those, but needs must.

He didn't seem to even notice my fireball. He slammed his leg back down, and I lost my grip on his leg. I darted upward, to try and slam into his chin, only for dozens of lightning bolts to arc around him.

All seeking the streamers coming off my body in all directions.

Oh fuc-

Golden eyes, filled with lightning, surrounded by a storm of wind and ethereal energy, Zeus laughed. The laughter of madness. The laughter that only a mad god could have. All fed by the crystalline crown hovering above his head.

I was sent hurtling away, only the fact I was overloaded with heat keeping me from losing consciousness again. It still didn't help as I slammed into a crumbling building, the edifice collapsing around me. It took a few moments... maybe minutes... it felt like hours, actually, for me to shift the several tons of masonry off my body. Stumbling out into the road again, I spotted Behemoth having reached the river that flowed through Lyon. If he followed that northward, it'd lead him right to the city center. Presumably for his target. I was surrounded by flames, burning wood.

I stumbled after him, feeling tired, drained... but I had plenty of heat. What was...

I coughed, stumbling to my knees. Blood erupted from my lips, staining the pavement.

Oh. Right. Radiation.

Fuck.

I could heal that. Have healed through that before, but I needed time. Time to burn, to recover. I clenched my fists as I forced all the heat I had to erupt from my skin, kicking in my healing factor. I needed some more advanced abilities if I was going to try this kind of thing on a more regular basis.

Wiping my lips, I drained my reserves empty, let them fill again, then drained them. I was feeling better every second, allowing me to concentrate again. The world slowed. Lightning bolts moved with aching slowness even as it seemed the rest of the world came to a standstill. I breathed heavily.

I wasn't under any illusions. This next charge would probably be my last. I had to try, though. I had to. People were dying.

So I drew in all the heat I could. I erupted into a burst of speed, aiming for Behemoth's leg. Just knock him off-balance. Buy time for people to escape.

I slammed into the back of his leg at around Mach Eight. Behemoth hadn't been expecting the blow, and he went flying into the air. He fell over backward, his bulk splashing into the river.

Meanwhile I'd overshot him and went far north, over the city. It took a bit for me to slow down and turn around. My hands were numb from the impact, and I needed to take a moment to let my fire heal me further.

Behemoth boiled the water around him as he moved to climb out of the river. His single glowing eye looked in my direction, despite the fact I was at least a mile off. Then again, I was a burning beacon in the night sky.

He opened his mouth, lightning curling around his horns, and even from here I could feel my hair rising as the streamers started taking shape-

And then his head was blasted by blue-white lasers bright enough to light up the city of Lyon.

Legend appeared above me, his hand extended. The beams flying from his hand twisted through the air, blasting Behemoth with enough force to tear apart cities.

The night-black form of Alexandria slammed into Behemoth, pushing him backward, stumbling in the depths of the river. She flew above the boiling water, her features hard to see from here, but she took a bolt of lightning to her chest and didn't give a fuck.

A deep green glow erupted into existence at my left, and Eidolon emerged. His dark green cloak and white armor gleamed. With a thrust of his hand, Eidolon launched a sickly-green beam of light, a beam that started to seemingly eat away at the Endbringer's hide. Blood and lava erupted from Behemoth, and he let out a roar.

At my right, another silver glow erupted into existence, depositing a figure in blue and gold powered armor. Hero, the greatest Tinker in the world, extended his armored palms and launched a beam of silver light. It struck Behemoth, scouring deep into his flesh, making the Endbringer roar in pain.

The field below me started filling in. Figures teleporting into position in Lyon. Beginning to launch their attacks the moment they got their bearings. Fire, plasma, ice, rockets, everything imaginable and then some, all focusing on one target.

The Protectorate, and the King's Men, had arrived.

"You alright, kid?" Hero said almost casually, even as he continued blasting with the silver light extending from his palms.

"I'll live." I coughed back, feeling better with every moment that passed. The fire erupting from my skin helping to burn away the radiation damage. Now that I had a moment to breathe, not taking the entire weight of the battle on my shoulders, I could actually recover somewhat. "I read the file on Behemoth, but he's still tougher than I thought." I can read files all day about how tough or strong something is, there was still no substitute for actual experience.

Legend let out a bark of laughter, even as he kept blasting at Behemoth. The Endbringer's rocky hide was being peeled away through the barrage, but he was still moving. I'd seen foes equally large fall to pieces under a concentrated attack like that, but this particular kaiju was made of sterner stuff, apparently.

I hated to admit I had underestimated how stern. Giganta had nothing on Behemoth.

I shook my head. "How hard can you guys hit him?"

"Not hard enough." Hero said, his voice somehow familiar in tone. "I've got some heavier ordinance, but I can't unleash when he's this far into the city. Too much risk of collateral damage. He could reflect the beams everywhere and there's still plenty of people within the danger zone. We can't hit him with absolutely everything at once because of that. We have to wear him out."

I grimaced. "I can knock him around, I've lifted heavier than he is. Just need to keep him from responding while I do it."

Eidolon spoke. "Push him south if you can. Further along the river. It'll give us a better chance to wear him down. If you can get him to a clearing we can nail him."

"Right, got it." I clenched my fists.

"Wasn't talking to you." Eidolon said dismissively.

There was the sound of a thunderclap as Alexandria darted in front of him, flying just above the waterline, then slammed into Behemoth's belly. The Endbringer staggered backward, though he dug his claws into the riverbed and arrested his movement. There was a bright blue flash as Behemoth redirected Legend's beams, and the water around him exploded into steam.

Legend cut off the barrage with a speed that spoke of long experience. I could see Alexandria darting around below, her cape smoking, but otherwise unharmed. Behemoth himself was lost in the steam.

Fuck, what was I doing? What would he likely do to respond to the changing situation? If I was him, how would I cause as much damage as- shit!

I dived back down, not at the column of steam coming from the river, but instead to put myself between it and the gathered King's Men, Britain's parahuman heroes, along with whoever else volunteered to join this Hell.

Behemoth leaped out of the steam with surprising grace considering his bulk. Tired as I was, I wasn't thinking as fast as I could, but I still managed to see the horrific damage that initial barrage had done to him. Rocky flesh was torn off. Blood was flowing from rents in his head, around his eye. Lava poured from terrible wounds in his chest. But he wasn't slowed at all. If anything, it looked like all that just made him mad.

His trajectory would bring him down right in the middle of the grouped-up defenders, where his kill aura would kill at least twenty percent of them. They were spreading out after the sudden teleport, but there just hadn't been enough time to really mitigate that strategy. So I intercepted Behemoth by flying just past him, grabbed his leg, and spun him around before throwing him southward.

He had attempted to shift the kinetic energy, but something kept him from responding enough to stop me. It just dampened my throw, though. Instead of throwing him several miles south, or more, instead he fell to Earth again a bit more than a mile off. Not great, he was still within the city limits, but at least he was back at the outskirts instead of hitting a more populated district. It gave the people of Lyon more time to either evacuate or reach a shelter.

Ideally they'd all be in one by now, but there's always a few stragglers, and this attack had so very little warning from the look of it.

I flew up above, catching complete sight of Behemoth once more, then slammed down onto his chest with the force of a cruise missile. The ground beneath the Endbringer shattered with the blow, dirt and concrete flying upward. My fist, my whole body lit up in blue fire as his kill aura fed me heat and strength. It allowed me to punch his chest with near-abandon.

Near-abandon. The fire gave me resistance, not immunity, to the radiation he was pouring out, and I couldn't see or feel it. Only the effects, which took time. Had to make this quick.

With a growl that sounded like a landslide, Behemoth's arms came up with surprising speed. I barely managed to keep his hands from crushing me between them by throwing my arms out. The impact was still jarring. He strained to crush me, and I pushed back. My arms trembled. He attempted to apply pressure. I kicked down at his chest, leaving a spiderweb of cracks in his rocky hide.

Then I let out a scream of agony as he channelled enough electricity through me to rival a thunderstorm.

"Hey! You stupid, inbred, mother-raping asshole! You think you're hot shit? You want respect and worship? Do something fucking respectable for once in your life!"

Zeus went utterly still as he whirled on me. "You. Dare." Zeus growled with rage, his fists moving as quickly as any Kryptonian I'd fought, and far more skilled. Fed by the power of the crown above his head, the King of the Gods was even more dangerous than ever before.

The only reason I could even try to keep up was the fact there were-

Behemoth's hands were separated with the sound of another thunderclap. Alexandria pulled hard at one of Behemoth's wrists, yanking the Endbringer on his back further south. Not far, however. We couldn't have moved more than thirty feet before she went careening off, the kinetic energy forced into her rather than Behemoth himself.

Still, it gave me enough time to rocket up into the sky. I took a moment to burn down my reserves of heat, before I would puke my guts out.

I still felt woozy, though. Without Bitterleaf here helping with my healing, it meant even I could only stay close in for a short time. I needed a different strategy, but just about anything I could do would wipe Lyon off the map... and that was if I was in tip-top shape to start with.

While I spent my reserves on healing, I watched The King's Men, Britain's premier hero team lancing out with their powers. From above I couldn't see much in the night, but I did spot a cryokinetic, a Tinker, what looked like a woman lobbing handfuls of darkness, and a man who was flitting throughout the battlefield, though from a longer distance. When he appeared, he'd deposit someone else who immediately started firing their powers at Behemoth, only to vanish and repeat the process.

A teleporter, then. Albeit one who was limited, I suppose. They had to have done something to get everyone here, though it looked like he was moving efficiently considering. Every three seconds more people were placed on the field, and soon there were thirty or more parahumans launching various attacks at the Endbringer.

How long have these people been doing this, that they've got it down pat? Even with the worst of the League's emergencies there was always some stumbling, some pain as each one was different, one had to think on their feet to stay on top of things. This... this was like they've been doing the same battle again and again, by rote. The battlefield was different, but the strategy...

Behemoth was staggering his way to his feet, only to be intercepted by Alexandria, fulfilling my typical role. She kept in close, keeping him off balance, slamming into him. She was at least as strong as someone who got a more pure Kryptonian package than I did, but something still seemed off. She should have been able to move Behemoth at least a bit, but she didn't even try to grab a limb and drag him anywhere.

Lightning crackled around Behemoth, only for it to wink out again as Eidolon, Legend and Hero all blasted their powers at the Endbringer.

It didn't seem to matter. Behemoth got back to his feet and slammed his hands together. The shockwave of the sound blasted Alexandria away from him. He shored himself up, then one by one, attacks were reflected. Hero was forced to cut off his silver beam as it bounced off his hide, scything through the darkness-blaster below without a hint of resistance. Legend's blasting blue laser was simply absorbed, making Behemoth glow white-hot. He burst into flame, a flame that started orange-red but quickly became a searing, painful blue.

It was hot enough that even Alexandria had to pull back, her stance wary. Legend had cut off the source of the beam, but it was too late.

Behemoth sent out a wave of burning blue plasma, hot enough to vaporize everything he was near. Thankfully he wasn't near much, but the field he was in caught in fire. It was racing outward, racing along behind a shockwave of air that would be almost as lethal as the plasma itself.

Shitshitshit. That was a lot of heat, I couldn't take all of it. Well, I could, but he just had more than I could absorb or redirect. I'd still have to put it somewhere, too!

Still... I had to try.

Before the blast wave could reach the cryokinetic and Tinker, I slammed into the ground and extended my hands. I called on my ability to absorb the heat, directly drawing on the rapidly-expanding plasma that fed that deadly shockwave. I didn't have to take the entire amount. Just the part that was going to strike the people behind me, and lessen it enough that it wouldn't be fatal...

The shockwave slammed into me, immediately followed by the giddy feeling of euphoria from being bathed in so much heat. I was burning blue, the shroud of plasma around me cutting off most of my sight. I could still see Behemoth, who was no longer burning with the plasma. He was advancing on my position.

And I was overloaded on heat. I had to get rid of it, most of it anyway.

I was tempted to just lance out at Behemoth with my Heat Vision, just pour it out, but that would just give him more energy to attack with again. Probably set off a second plasma burst.

So I channeled it into my eyes, making a quick sweep upward and only clipping Behemoth with it. Without caring about efficiency or technique, my Heat Vision blast arced out in the red spectrum, blisteringly hot, hot enough to melt steel rapidly. The beam went off into the night sky, where it would dissipate into space.

Hopefully I didn't conk out a satellite, though. Not much I could do about it if I did. Still, the draining aspects of the beam was enough to shed the excess heat, and I gasped as I gathered my wits.

"Holy bloody shite, lass." A Scottish brogue spoke behind me.

I turned my head to see the Tinker in green power armor staring at me, along with a blonde in blue and white. The cryokinetic, I suppose. I grimaced, keenly aware of my nudity, though considering the situation, I wasn't able to do much about it. "Get moving, Behemoth's advancing and stopping him isn't going to be easy."

The cryokinetic woman spoke something in French. "Demon fou. Merci. On t'en doit une."

I couldn't help but sigh. Another thing the Byte being offline hurt on. I couldn't understand French without it. I never learned how without the thing working. "Just get going."

Behemoth strode forward implacably. He looked terrible, considering, even more nightmarish than he was when I arrived. His flesh was torn up, blood and lava dripping from hideous wounds. He didn't seem to care, however.

His form lit up with varying forms of light as the Protectorate team started lancing at Behemoth again, carefully regulating their attacks so a reflection wouldn't kill themselves. Legend's blue beams ripped at Behemoth's head, concentrating on his eye. Eidolon and Hero both focused on the Endbringer's chest, carving deep into his flesh. Alexandria flitted behind Behemoth, striking at the back of his knees, forcing the Endbringer to stumble.

But he just didn't stop.

I shifted my mind fully up into superspeed. Could see the lightning bolts arcing out from him with agonizing slowness, seeking out targets. Turning my head, I could see the white of positive streamers coming from the heads of the Tinker and cryokinetic behind me. For the other defenders behind them.

He was just going to blast them all in a single shot.

I grit my teeth. Superman could have intercepted the bolts of lightning. Hell, Shazam could have taken control of them and sent them straight back, or channeled them off somewhere harmless.

Me? I had one option... and it wasn't going to save everyone. It might not even save me. It probably wouldn't, considering what I was about to do.

I burst into speed, my mind fully immersed into my task. I couldn't hold it long without more practice, and I sure as shit couldn't move as fast as I did before all this, but hopefully it'd be enough. I flew above the crowd, intercepting the positive streamers coming from the defenders. I took on the positive charges, which meant I was making myself more and more attractive to the lightning. I could see the bolts approaching, the searing-bright blue electricity combining into a larger bolt as they moved toward me.

Ten streamers grabbed. The bolts had crossed half the distance between Behemoth and the crowd, a mere hundred feet away.

Fifteen streamers. The lightning coalesced, becoming even larger as the bolts arced toward me. Descending on me like the closing strands of an immense spider's web. Still I moved as fast as I could. The sound barrier meant nothing. I'd left it behind ten times over by now. Or more. Any faster and the mere passage of air nearby would probably kill the people I was trying to save.

Twenty streamers. I just managed to grab the ones over the Tinker and the cryokinetic when I ran out of time. I angled myself upward, meeting the bolt in mid-air.

This is going to fucking hurt-

White. Pain. Every nerve was on fire. Not the pleasant fire that healed, but sheer agony.

Zeus had me in his grip, a snarl on his lips. I could feel his sheer presence. Amplified by the power of his crown, I was not just facing Zeus, but some fragment of something infinitely greater. I had not just insulted the being before me, but something of the being above this flesh, this avatar. Zeus, all of Zeus, was pissed off at me. And something else entirely. Something greater than the gods themselves.

I probably shouldn't have called him a useless motherfucker. Still, it did distract him. Get him fighting stupidly.

"By the Source, I sentence you. Ye shall never exist within my sight aga-"

Consciousness snapped back. I was lying in the middle of a charred road. I coughed. It felt like a lung was dislodged. My wings were broken. My heat reserves were empty. I must have used all of it to heal from the damage the bolt did. I'd be able to heal up... maybe. I'd better be able to. My ears were ringing. I'd be able to heal that too. Maybe. I kind of wanted to just take a long, long nap right now.

But... it wasn't over yet.

So I struggled to sit up, groaning in agony. Everything hurt. More than... only comparable to what Zeus did to me, I guess.

Where the hell was Behemoth?

I looked around, only to retch. Charred bodies in colorful costumes surrounded me, burned flesh and bare skulls meeting my gaze. Nine people who fought against Behemoth. Nine I'd failed. The taste of failure was bitter as fuck.

Also my blood, but... ugh.

The sound of lightning and fire slowly filled itself in as I started healing the slow way. I tried to concentrate, to use my fire, but... I just couldn't seem to bring it up. The focus I needed slipping out of my mental grasp.

Right. No heat in my... needed to recover. Needed to get just a little so I could draw more. The ambient heat would help... just needed to get some of it.

I stumbled and fell onto the road, letting out a scream of shock and surprise as I sliced my hand open on a piece of rubble.

Blood dripped from the wound. It was shallow, but... I hadn't been cut before. Not by anything less than a magical weapon, anyway. I must be... shit. I really needed to take a nap right now. I'm just going to close my eyes for a min..

No. No. Behemoth was... Around here somewhere. Probably hiding behind a building with a... no, why would he be using a giant bat? Brain, come on, work properly please... Behemoth wasn't a two-bit alley mugger.

In that moment, I was beginning to really understand. Behemoth wasn't just some big monster. He was the shadow over this world, dragging it into ruin, one piece at a time. Maybe we in the League could handle him, but with just me... what could I do? I'd given everything I had and I'd still failed...

Oh, there's Behemoth. He's in the middle of that trail of destroyed buildings over there... how long was I out?

A flash of light caught my attention. Golden light, beautiful and soothing.

Wearily, I followed the beams of light to its source. I couldn't really move much, or fly, but was reduced to just watching.

Scion had arrived. He was flying over the city, dressed in a white bodysuit. His golden skin was beautiful, perfection. Even from here, I could sense a profound sense of sadness radiating from him.

His gaze scanned over me, at the bodies surrounding me. I tried to give him a wave, but all I did was flop uselessly on the ground.

Scion then dove downward, and Behemoth went flying back from Scion's blow as if he was a leaf struck by a train. There was the sound of a powerful thundercrack, another roar. Then an explosion went off. One close enough to-

The shockwave hit me, sending me rolling. Unfortunately a corpse fell on top of me, one covered in knight-styled armor. That was bad. I should do something about it.

In five minutes. My arms felt like rubber. This was disgusting, but moving felt like an immense ordeal.

I just lay there, breathing heavily. The corpse was shifted off of me, and I looked up into Scion's blank, golden eyes.

He was looking down at me, a tiny frown upon his lips. Despite the fact he'd just handled Behemoth, he was looking immaculate. The sense of sadness, though, was overpowering. Without meaning to, I burst into tears. I felt sad, sure, felt tired and beaten, but his was so very deep. I'd never felt sadness so deep before in my life.

Scion lifted a hand and I experienced a flash of beautiful golden light. Something in me eased, a tension, the creeping sickness of the radiation vanishing.

Then, without a seeming care at all, as if I was entirely unimportant, Scion turned away and flew off.

That's okay. Imma just going to lie here for a while...

This time, when the darkness swallowed me, it was entirely welcome.

I dreamt of golden gods, of golden light, and of a boundless infinity, of infinite possibility. Of crystalline shards and stone titans staring into eternity.

When I came to, I found myself lying on my stomach, drooling into a very, very fluffy pillow.

Everything hurt. Every single nerve ending I had cried out in pain. I hadn't been aware there were nerves between my toes, but I was feeling them now. The pain was slowly fading, thankfully. Even without using fire to speed my healing along, the ambient warmth of the room helped. Nowhere near as much as actually setting myself on fire would, but it helped. My heat reserves were still empty, though, which meant I was likely using everything I had to passively heal the damage before I could build it back up for my actual powers.

I say likely because it was a feeling going over my body. A warm tingling, slightly euphoric, telling me that at least I still had them. Good to know getting extra-crispy by the lightning hadn't completely screwed me over. I didn't think it would, but then again I hadn't been hit by electricity at that level before.

Well... I didn't remember being hit by that level before. Fucking Zeus. Not the good kind of fucking, either. The unfun kind, the kind that... just... okay. Stop. Useless tangent.

Slowly opening my eye, I beheld a jug of water on a tableside. It looked like I was on a hospital bed, and the view out the window told me I was still in Lyon. The city looked a lot nicer in the day... at least this section of it. After Behemoth went through it, who knew? Right around the corner there could be a burned out section and I just wouldn't know it until I actually got up and looked.

My wings felt stiff. Awkward. Shifting my gaze downward, I managed to see them being held together by splints out of the corner of my eye. Right. That would help me heal correctly, or at least let me spend a little less heat on healing correctly. Obviously people didn't know how my healing factor worked. Or rather it was irrelevant when I was unconscious and wasn't able to tell anybody anything.

I could hear a door opening, and a conversation being spoken in French. Unfortunately, being knocked unconscious did not improve my ability to comprehend French. Go figure.

Still, I coughed, and moved to get up from the hospital bed. My arms felt rubbery and weak, still, but I did feel better than right before my unscheduled nap.

There were suddenly hands on my shoulderblades, gently trying to push me back down. Despite my current weakness, though, they couldn't apply enough pressure.

One of the hard lessons for new Exobyte-empowered, at least for those who got superstrength, is realizing that their new 'weak as a starving newborn kitten' is still far, far beyond their previous 'champion weightlifter' kind of strength. Enough to seriously injure or kill a person. Having strength on this level was it's own kind of hell, at least if you wanted to be gentle. Still, practice made perfect, and I did my best to not make any sudden movements as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

I found myself facing a bearded, gray haired doctor, and a black-haired nurse that looked like she'd been on a diet of coffee and cigarettes for years. Both of them backed off as it was clear their attempt at restraining me failed hilariously.

"Where am I?" I spoke raspily, as I grabbed the jug of water. Without bothering with a cup, I drank down a mouthful. Yes, it was partially messy, but I just didn't care. Also, I was still naked, but... yeah. Whatever. That's my fucking lot in life right now, I guess.

With a thick accent, the doctor spoke. "Saint Jean De Dieu hospital. You were badly injured. Here with other defenders. Thank you. Saved many today."

The nurse quickly crossed herself, and muttered. "Seigneur, prends pitié de nous."

I made a helpless shrug. "Did what I could."

The doctor nodded, his face drawn with signs of stress. "Did better than most. May I check you?"

I nodded, even as I got to my feet and went to the window. It was near midday, maybe two in the afternoon now, and the warmth of the sunlight coming through the window was a refreshing balm. While I didn't get the same kind of benefit from the sunlight as Kal did, the heat did help. I smiled as I felt my reserves begin to fill. Slowly, but they did.

The doctor turned to the nurse and said something, so quickly I couldn't even pick out individual words. Still, she nodded and walked out the door. Actually if she went any faster she'd have been running out the door.

I sometimes really hated what the Byte had done to me. If I'd been able to shapeshift even a tiny bit things would have been so much easier.

I stood still as the doc checked over my wings, murmuring beneath his breath. "Merde."

"I'm sorry?" I said archly as I looked over my shoulder.

He had the grace to look embarrassed. "You heal fast. Much better than arrival."

I sighed. "One of the perks of being me." I looked down at my hand, at the bandage around it. Carefully I peeled it off, seeing the cut. It had stopped bleeding, but on an ordinary person it was deep enough that it would definitely scar. I knew from experience that once I had healed it'd be flawless. Damage just didn't last on me.

Not physical damage, anyway. I could see bare skulls and smell burned flesh in my mind's eye.

I could feel the doc carefully examining the splints on my wings. They felt tender, making me wince as his fingertips brushed against the membranes, but the pain faded almost immediately. It would take a bit for my invulnerability to reassert itself. Well, my 'stupid-level toughness' anyway.

The door swung open again. I couldn't help but grimace. Turning my head, I saw Legend walk in.

To his credit, he paused for a moment, then looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. Was told you were up. Should have..."

I sighed. "Might as well come in. Everyone on the planet's seen my scrawny ass, anyway."

The doctor made a choking sound. Then he stepped away. "You're in better health than most. Will leave you to your cape business." He gave a nod to Legend. "Thank you, for coming here."

Legend gave him a tired smile. "Quite welcome, Doctor Garnier. Thank you for helping us afterward."

Doctor Garnier smiled in return, equally tired. He went out the door, closing it with a soft click.

For a moment, Legend just stood there, visibly trying to work out what to say. Finally, he just sighed. "You're going to give me gray hairs at this rate, Sunstorm."

I couldn't help but let out a helpless laugh. "We do keep bumping into each other, don't we? I helped with a falling aircraft, you chase after me with the whole Butcher thing, then we get together here." I shook my head. "Hell of a day." I could feel my face fall, my shoulders slump. "Hell of a fucking day."

Legend nodded. "I'm going to say it straight out, first of all. What the hell were you thinking, taking on Behemoth alone? If you'd waited for us to arrive, then we could have hit him all at once. Shortened the fight. You probably wouldn't have been so badly hurt, then."

I tilted my head. "I arrived here first. He was already up and moving for the center of Lyon. I watched him kill hundreds of people with lightning, and who the hell knows how many people are dealing with radiation sickness right now? I can't just stand back and wait. Especially since I didn't know how long it was going to take for anyone else to get here. Every second I would wait, lots of people would die. I bought time for people to get away. If I'd been stronger, maybe I could have killed it. Stopped it here and now. Even though I wasn't strong enough, I had to try."

Legend nodded slowly, a sigh coming from his lips. "Sometimes I forget you haven't been here that long. Haven't been immersed in things. Not just your first Endbringer battle, but your first real exposure to them. We've been trying to kill Behemoth since 1992. We've worked out ways to get him to retreat faster. We keep adding to our forces, recruiting Tinkers, promising heroes." He looked pained. "A lot of them die in the attempt. Leviathan made it worse... he's not as bad against the defending heroes, but he wipes cities off the map. They're..."

"Like trying to fight sentient natural disasters." I finished.

Legend nodded in agreement. "We can mitigate the damage, sometimes even win on our own and drive them off. The rest of the time we just hope Scion gets here before the city, or the target, is destroyed. He showed up quick this time. Around thirty minutes."

I furrowed my brow. "Thirty minutes? It felt shorter than that."

Legend grimaced. "You held off Behemoth for six minutes on your own, and got knocked out at least once. It took that long for Jaunt to build up enough to get the King's Men here, and we learned a long time ago arriving piecemeal would just end up with larger casualties."

I nodded. "I figured that much when I arrived first."

"And you still went in alone." He said, almost wonderingly. "Incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid."

I gave him a wry smile. "A little of both."

Legend chuckled, shaking his head. "Still... thanks to you this was the best showing we've had against Behemoth to date. He normally wipes out a third of the defenders. On a good day. More than half on a bad one. This time he killed thirty out of a hundred fifty."

I closed my eyes, sucking in a deep breath. "You consider this a good day?" It felt like a pit had opened in my stomach. "I fucking failed to save at least nine people right behind me, and this was good? He just fucking left to do it all over again in a few months and this is good?"

"Yes." He said bluntly. "I have friendships with the leaders of teams all over the world. A day where I have to fill out thirty condolence letters instead of seventy or eighty is a very good day."

It felt like a yawning pit below me. Here, now, I was beginning to really understand how different this world was to mine. I could see the numbers, read the reports, but a true understanding was something you could only get with experience.

Legend was a lot like my mentor. Friendly, warm, compassionate, willing to put himself on the line for others. Even willing to sacrifice himself, if it came down to it. But he'd been fighting against Behemoth and other threats for nearly a decade, and unlike Kal...

Unlike Kal, against the big things, he didn't get to win. To actually stop them. Yes, threats returned back home, but it often took years, if not decades for them to come back, and it was never in the same way. We stopped city-destroying threats. We even stopped planet-destroying threats. When we defeated Brainiac's Prime Avatars, we'd reduced him from existential threat to nuisance with the much weaker robots straggling along. New heroes were often tasked with cleaning those up.

Brainiac didn't come back every six months to wipe a city off the map and rub our noses in the fact we couldn't stop him. If he'd won, he'd have simply killed everyone. Or digitized them, which amounted to the same thing. When we had victories against Brainiac, they were victories. When the New Gods had a spat in the planes above, we responded and made the peace stick. After a lot of bruises and destruction, of course, but we did.

But this... this was the result of a good man being ground down. To the point where the idea of actually stopping Behemoth permanently was nearly incomprehensible. The best he could see to do was to slow it down, to just endure. Not win.

I had that same realization, looking up at the Endbringer after that last lightning bolt. It was like fighting a volcano or a hurricane. Even with the advantage of powers, you needed to be on a certain level to even begin to try. Most people, at best, could only mitigate the damage.

It took a Superman to actually stop that. To actually fight the hurricane. These people didn't have one. And I wasn't good enough to fill those shoes.

Horror, and disappointment. I had a feeling I'd be feeling both for a long while.

Legend's voice was soft. "You saved a lot of lives today. Be proud of that."

"I am glad." I said, my voice equally soft. "If I had to do what I did over again, I would. I just... I should be able to do more. I've been able to do more."

Legend nodded, a sad smile on his lips. "I get it. I'm not happy about it either. Better thirty than eighty, but I'd still prefer zero. Things just... they don't work out the way we want. We can push back. But there's so many scars from things that have happened. All we can do is the best we can."

I nodded at him, understanding his point. I didn't agree with it, but I got it. I gave him a wry smile. "Right. I should be getting back home, once I've got some of my strength back. You think you can get me some clothes? I'm not picky. Something simple."

He chuckled. "I'll see what I can do." He stepped out the door, closing it.

There's a reason I liked Legend. He didn't even take one single look. Either he was ace or very professional.

I looked out the window, closing my eyes as I enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my skin. It wasn't anywhere near as good as a fire, but it helped. I'd use some of that heat for healing flames, but using it in the middle of a hospital was a bad idea. I'd just have to use it on the roof before I left.

Actually I'd have to strip, enflame to heal, put my clothes back on, then leave. Ordinary clothes just didn't stand up to my fire, even mildly.

I took a moment to stretch, wincing a little as my arms protested. My nerves felt raw. I stretched my wings as much as the splints would allow. They felt stiff, naturally, but they didn't hurt.

It was when I took a moment to roll my neck I froze. There was a stiffness at the back I wasn't expecting, hadn't noticed before.

Reaching up under my hair, I pulled off a tiny bloodstained bandage that was attached to the base of my skull. A gentle touch with my fingers told me there were a few small stiches right there.

Despite the warmth of the sun on my face, I suddenly felt very, very cold.

The rain poured down on the streets of Gotham City.

For the city on the sea, it was rather common for it to get large amounts of rain. Especially since it was the middle of summer. It made everything hot, humid, and unpleasant. The garbage that never quite got out of the alleyways smelled pungent.

For Ginger Adams, Blackwing, it was a strange smell. Before she'd gained her powers, she'd never smelled anything quite as piercing as this. Afterward, it almost seemed like an old friend, even when she'd been exposed to it the first time.

After that, she'd gotten used to it on her own, even without the help of phantom memories. It was still an oddity. Leftovers from the template. Even when she was trying to be in her civilian identity, she had to force herself to wear bright colors. It helped to differentiate her ordinary life from her work with the League. With her powered armor, bat-helmet, black cape and thick gauntlets and leg armor, she looked like Batman's daughter.

Still, the rain made it a little difficult to see, and so she adjusted her binoculars as she cased out the warehouse below. Black Mask was moving in guns, and she'd been tasked with getting an idea on just how many. With the crates being moved a few at a time in civilian vehicles, it wasn't an easy task. It made quite the visible footprint, and it was something rather easy for her to follow.

There was a colored blue icon blinking in the corner of her eye. She sighed, tucking the binoculars back into her belt. "Might as well come up. Just don't be flashy."

Stormlord, Gary Jackson, strode up next to her. He wore a flowing red cape, silver armor with blue lining. His hammer hung from his belt, and his winged helmet was tucked under his left arm. It allowed the rain to pour down his face, his hair, turning his ordinary blond locks into straggly strings.

"I can be quiet, when I want to be." Gary said, a soft smile on his lips.

Ginger snorted. "Maybe when you're unconscious."

He chuckled, but nodded at that point. "I'm trying to be better."

"Yeah." She said quietly. "You have. We appreciate it. It's just..."

They stood in companionable silence for a moment.

Finally, Gary spoke. "I'm sorry. Things have been... difficult, ever since."

Behind her expressionless mask, Ginger closed her eyes.

Reality was unravelling.

The Source Wall was cracked. It was a cosmic keystone, a source of stability, one of the fundamental pillars upon which their reality was dependent upon.

And it was fucking cracked.

Source energy, the raw power of sheer potential flowed. From Source energy, anything was possible. It was the blank page upon which anything could be written, the sheer rawest form of energy from which everything came. The spark that created the conflagration of the Big Bang. The origin of every generation of gods, and their pantheons. The origin of every superpower that warped or broke physics. It all tied back to the Source.

The cracking of the Source Wall also fractured the Godsphere. The home of the gods, the layer of reality in which the higher and lower planes existed. This was a problem because instead of the realms being separated by the barriers between them, they were bleeding into each other. New Genesis, Apokolips, Heaven, Hell, Olympus, all shared the same areas in the higher planes. If the damage was not repaired, or at least halted, the various versions of Earth would begin to bleed into each other as well. Themyscira was already suffering that problem. If the effect became global, it would open the way for uncountable horrors.

The Wall could be patched... but only if the League could get the shards of the Wall out of the hands of the gods, to keep them from drawing upon the Source and making the damage worse. The gods who were using those same shards to war upon each other, attempting to wipe out their rival pantheons with the greater power gained by the disaster.

Zeus blazed with Source energy, fed to him by the crown shaped from the shards of the wall.

"Pitiful mortals!" He spoke, his words shaking the very walls of Olympus. "You cannot stand against me."

"We shall. You know this is wrong." Diana spoke, wiping the blood from her lip. She struggled to breathe, at least one rib broken from the battle.

"C'mon dad, this is terrible!" Another Diana spoke, her upbeat tone and garb making her look like she'd just walked out of a World War 2 propaganda poster. "What's going to be the point of being the top dog if everything else is dead?!"

"I shall become the Source! I shall remake all!" Zeus proclaimed. In his madness, the walls of Olympus itself began to unravel, turning into yet more blazing Source energy. Olympus shuddered. Vines began to grow over the marbled floor as New Genesis bled further into Olympus, bringing both planes closer to utter destruction.

"No. This must end." Nubia spoke, holding a tight grip on her own golden lasso. "None shall threaten the world. Not even my father."

"Traitorous daughter!" Zeus roared. He lifted a fist, blazing with lightning, only for another golden lasso to wrap around it.

"Father. Please, stop. This is madness." A third Diana spoke, wearing the colors of the Soviet Union.

With a snarl, Zeus pulled on the lasso attempting to restrain him, and with a blur of motion smashed Comrade Diana into the marbled floor. The battle was rejoined, the fight between the King of Olympus and the four different versions of his daughter restarting in earnest.

"Christ..." Ginger spoke, coughing inside her armor. "He hits like a truck."

"Way worse than a truck." Tracy wryly noted as she helped Ginger to her feet. Her blue crystalline armor was cracked, the protective systems fireproofing it obviously offline with its lack of shine. "You good?"

Ginger nodded. "My armor took it. I'll live, but I don't think we can win this. We're the Misfits, not... not on this level."

"Yeah... but we're here. We're all we got." Tracy nodded, even as she winced and rolled her arm. It hung at her side, broken, but the sheathe of flame over it was healing that quickly enough. "We''re not going to be able to wait for reinforcements. The damage is spreading too fast. By the time we get one of the heavy hitters here there might not be a world for them to get back to."

"Get up, get up..." Maria was muttering over the bleeding form of Gary. The redheaded plant-woman had her hands extended, filling the section of Olympus with healing magic. It helped keep the Wonder Women on their feet, but even with that boost and working together, they were no match for their father.

The magic was enough to revive Gary, however. He let out a gasp of shock and rolled over, coughing up blood from where Zeus had shattered his ribs. Unlike Tracy, while he was tough, he couldn't heal himself. He looked around confused for a moment, his eyes widening on the sight of the battle.

It was almost hypnotic, watching the four Wonder Women battle their father. They worked together like they'd been fighting as one their entire lives. They had literally godly skill, weapons forged by the Gods of Olympus, and the experience from a thousand battles.

And Zeus was still making them look like amateur brawlers. They couldn't cut him, they couldn't bind him. His strength and power was greater than theirs, even before he was enhanced by the power of his new crown.

Tracy was looking at Zeus with resignation.

"I know that look." Ginger spoke, a grimace in her voice. "You've got a stupid plan."

Tracy nodded. "Yeah, I got a stupid plan." She looked to Gary. "You think you can handle a blast or two?"

Gary grimaced as he got to his feet. He extended his hand, and his hammer slammed into it. "The lightning is not a problem. It's the fists."

Maria's eyes widened. "Oh shit, you've got a stupid plan."

Tracy managed a laugh. "Yeah. It'll probably work, though." She turned to Gary. "Get behind him. Target the crown. It'll even the odds. I'll get his attention."

With resolution, Gary nodded. "Right. Don't die."

"Not planning on it." Tracy said. Clenching her fists, she turned towards the battle. "Hey! You stupid, inbred, mother-raping asshole! You think you're hot shit? You want respect and worship? Do something fucking respectable for once in your life!"

Ginger blinked. "Yeah. I miss her too. She bought us the time we needed, but..."

"It doesn't make her absence any easier." Gary spoke, his gaze downcast. "If I'd been faster, if I could have gotten an earlier opening..."

Tracy joining the fight managed to help keep the King of Olympus distracted. He was attempting to beat her to death with his bare hands, and it was only due to the fact he was up against four of his own daughters hampering his movements did the demoness keep up. Ginger's missiles managed to blind him momentarily. Maria tangled his feet with vines, keeping him off balance. Gary intercepted the strikes of lightning, though even he was having trouble with their sheer potency.

Finally, fully enraged, Zeus managed to get a grip on Tracy. He launched several blows at her face, cracking her horns, spraying blood all over the ground. Shifting his grip, his hand squeezed, making her cry out in pain as he crushed her bones.

"By the Source, I banish you. Ye shall never exist within my sight aga-" Zeus cut himself off as he examined the demoness held in his grip. A strange look crossed his face. There was a faint look of horror as he seemed to come to a realization.

It was at that moment Gary struck. The crown shattered beneath Stormlord's hammer. The shards of the Source Wall scattered in all directions, falling out into the void below Olympus. They fell through dimensions, through time, and only a few of them actually stayed in the here and now.

Still, it was too late. A sphere of wispy golden energy wrapped around Sunstorm, and there was a terrible roar, as if reality itself was howling in protest.

Then Sunstorm vanished, tiny wisps of golden energy falling to the ground.

In that moment, the Wonder Women managed to gain the upper hand. With a lasso around each limb, they held Zeus still, and they managed to pull the twenty-foot tall god to his knees.

Diana held her sword at his throat. "Bring her back!"

Zeus let out a soft, bitter laugh. "You threaten me, my daughter?"

"You threatened me and mine. Bring. Her. Back." Diana demanded.

Zeus looked at her, blood running down his face. "I cannot. I banished her with the power of the Source, granted to me by the crown. You have shattered that. I cannot undo the banishment with my own power, and the crown is lost."

The Lassos ensured he spoke the truth, even with his power, the King of the Gods was helpless before it. Diana's voice was cold. "Where did you send her?"

Zeus' lip curled. "Beyond the Wall. When I wore the crown, I saw places, realities, far more than I knew, far more than I could comprehend. Beyond the Wall, there are even greater infinities than I knew. She has been cast into one."

"How can we follow her?" Ginger demanded, even as she armed a missile in her arm's casing.

"You can't." Zeus spoke immediately. "Not without breaking the Wall, releasing the horrors trapped within it. And the horrors beyond it. The Source is beyond it, but so is so much more. You feared my actions would end reality. Follow her and you may end it at your own hands, rather than mine."

Gary's hammer hit the marble and vine-covered ground, creating a thud that echoed throughout Olympus.

"I blame Zeus, not you." Ginger spoke. "We did our best, we saved the day. The damage is slowly being repaired. Tracy would have made that trade willingly, if she knew. Maybe she did before she went in."

Gary shook his head. "Scant solace. I... I just... I want things to be as they were, but they can't be."

"I get it." Ginger said softly. "Things were pretty good then. Now we're missing a good friend, and we can't fix it."

"We'll find her." Gary spoke softly. "I have to make this right."

There was a crackling in her ear. "Blackwing, come in."

Ginger cleared her throat. "I'm here. I'm on task for the Black Mask shipments, Batman."

Batman's voice was filled with concern. "Higher priority task. I've got a report of an unusual event in the Diamond District. Meet me at corner of Fifth and Weston."

Ginger grimaced. "Right. On it." She turned to Gary. "Something's come up."

He nodded, slipping his helmet on. "I'll follow you."

Together, the pair flew into the sky.

----------

Five minutes later, the pair landed on the small apartment building at the corner. The pair met up with Batman, who was standing on the edge of the rooftop. The Dark Knight was looking down into an alleyway, a disturbed frown on his lips.

"We're here." Blackwing spoke.

Batman turned his head, giving the pair a nod. "Blackwing, Stormlord. I need you to secure the perimeter. I've called in the League to get the appropriate expert here."

Gary frowned. "What is...?" He strode to the edge of the roof and looked down. Ginger joined him a second later.

"Holy fuck." She breathed out, her eyes wide behind her mask.

Below was a group of thugs in a semicircle, six of them, surrounding a crumpled bloody figure on the ground. All of them wore clown clothing, button noses, fake hair sprouting in all directions. Joker cultists, having hung on despite the clown's death. It would have been a depressingly familiar sight in Gotham City... had everything not been stopped, frozen in time, as if someone had simply paused everything in place.

Now that Ginger was looking, she could see one of the thugs holding a gun above the crumpled figure on the ground, the frozen spout of flame, and the bullet hovering in the air.

"That's something new." Stormlord spoke, his voice hard.

Batman nodded. "Looks like a temporal effect of some sort. Make sure nobody gets near the sphere. We don't want anyone else trapped. Hopefully this can be undone."

Blackwing nodded, swallowing hard. "Nobody deserves that. Not even Jokers."

She still couldn't feel too bad about it, though. If only they could get the victim out of there.

----------

An entire multiverse away...

"An impressive showing. One person holding Behemoth back for six minutes, without the benefit of an Agent." Doctor Mother spoke.

Alexandria nodded. "All the more reason we should bring her on board. She would be much more effective as part of the team. She cut down on the expected casualties in Lyon by more than half."

Doctor Mother folded her fingers. "All the more reason to try to get more like her. Sunstorm is impressive, but she isn't enough for what we need. However, I believe bringing her into Cauldron at this time would be suboptimal."

Eidolon crossed his arms. With the hood of his cloak pulled back and his mask off, he looked rather tired. "How so? Not that I disagree."

"Her morality." Doctor Mother cooly replied. "Our Thinker support gives a high probability that bringing her on board would result in her attempting to dismantle our organization. She would have to very carefully be fed only certain amounts of information and not others. Not until the situation was more dire. We have a hard enough time keeping Legend and Hero on board without knowing everything. Having a third member would make it difficult. She would also likely clash with certain assets on the ground. It makes things more complex than required."

Alexandria nodded slowly, her voice filled with consideration. "We can still steer her in useful directions. As strong as she is, she's not the bullet we need. At best she can act as a stabilizing force in problematic locations. That might be helpful and preserve important assets. Especially if she returns for more Endbringer battles."

The conference room door slid open. "My apologies. I was tending to a rather delicate procedure." The voice's owner spoke smoothly. He strode into the conference room as if he owned it, wearing a black business suit, his fine shoes clicking on the tiled floor. He sat in the chair to the right of Alexandria, taking a moment to straighten his jacket. He gave a nod to both Alexandria and Eidolon, a small charming smile on his lips. His left eye glowed with cybernetics, and his motions were slightly stiff.

Doctor Mother nodded. "We were covering the last Endbringer battle. Your thoughts?"

He took a moment to stroke his chin. "These beings are dangerous, indeed. Impressive level of durability, powers potent enough to fight off hundreds of superhumans at a time. They would be a potent threat in a lot of circumstances, but I can think of several means of neutralizing them."

Eidolon tilted his head. "How?"

With a slight smirk, he spoke. "A temporal bomb would do it. A black hole generator, or a dimensional shifter. That last one wouldn't destroy it, but it would at least make them someone else's problem. I am afraid that I've been concentrating on the more... thorough, issue, than the Endbringers. With the information I have, I can say such weapons wouldn't work on that one. Nor would a great deal of options. Attempting to kill a man by stabbing his shadow is a rather fruitless endeavour."

Eidolon spoke dryly. "We are aware of the difficulties. We've been preparing for it for nearly twenty years now."

The man waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. You've done a fairly remarkable job considering the limitations, but your strategy of 'throwing more at it' isn't likely to work, at least not on its own. Especially as the quality of your current methods have downgraded over the last decade."

"What of the current projects?" Alexandria spoke, tilting her head. "Giving us a chance at stabilizing things, building the army to act to create an opening at the main target. The more we have the better."

"I agree." He spoke, nodding his head. "As I'm being forced to work from memory, it's difficult, but I do believe the first Everyman prototypes should be prepared for next year. Unfortunately without certain data to work from, their use may be limited. The way your 'Agents' work unfortunately prevents me from using them as a basis with the methods I know. Recreating them may take more time than we have. It would be best if I could get access to my original world, but to even find it we need to know where we are to begin with. The proper frequency is not something even I can just memorize."

Doctor Mother nodded. "Your work so far has been impressive, even as limited as it is. Could you create something better if you had some of that information?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "A good deal better, even with a slight amount."

Doctor Mother withdrew a closed petri dish out of her jacket and placed it on the table. Within was a small piece of metal, about as large as a flea.

The man got out of his chair and looked it over. His cybernetic eye glowed brighter, and a smile slowly lifted his lips.

"Well well..." Lex Luthor spoke. "It looks damaged, inactive... but if the crystalline matrix is intact, it may still have the information I need. You just might get the army you want."