Chapter 1000 - 18

Chapter 24 (+10 from here, the buffer I insist on maintaining) kicked my ass, so posting this one got delayed a bit. Sorry about that.

Over the next few weeks, I tried to keep the promises I've made to the ex-Undersiders. Mostly by subcontracting.

We've put Calle's law office on retainer to deal with the legal side of things for all of us, including getting rid of Rachel's criminal charges and dealing with Brian's custody over Aisha. It was also an insurance in case Calvert sang about the Undersiders to the authorities, unlikely as it was, since he'd have to admit to much more charges that he probably had now held against him.

I helped Rachel buy an old warehouse for almost nothing and publish 'wanted' ads for some staff to run it. We paid an intern from Calle's office to act as a temporary administrator there to interview candidates, after Lisa was vetting them all too. Cassie turned up, asking for a part-time job, so I was pretty sure the shelter was in good hands.

I also convinced Rachel to take some evening school classes to learn reading and basic math by explaining to her that it was the only way she'd make sure some suit asshole didn't fuck with her dogs' shelter. I was as surprised as Lisa that it actually worked.

I've had a few shopping trips with Lisa, hopefully restarting our past friendship, though she was still somewhat guarded around me. I tried dragging Amy with us too, but she sounded like she was making excuses and never joined us.

I've told Amy and Lisa a bit about the powers for sale concept, but didn't get into much details, claiming opsec.

Alec bought a new gaming console and all the available games for it. He didn't need my help, and it wasn't his dad's time to die yet.

My Dad decided to keep his normal job, mostly for the perks and medical insurance, but reduced it to part-time, claiming he needed the time to homeschool me. Good one, Dad.

I finally took the GED test. I passed it on the 3rd Reload, though I didn't tell anybody. It wasn't cheating if nobody in the world knew about it, and it was just a bunch of stupid questions. The world was ending soon, anyway.

I've had a few more sparring sessions with Sophia. She was getting better, and so was I. It seemed like she picked up some new fighting styles that looked somewhat familiar, but new for her, and she tried them on me. Which meant I picked up these styles too, after a few Reloads. It was productive.

We've kept the Number Man to manage all our accounts, the same as Coil's. I wasn't happy about the idea, but there was no other practical way to keep our new financials legal enough, at least short-term. I've given instructions to launder a couple of millions into a legitimate bank account under Dad's name, something like a far relative inheritance, but was told these things would take a few months, if done right. We've had time for this, I thought.

I had a hard time deciding what to do about the base and the companies we 'inherited' from Coil. It could be nice to have a defensible base all for ourselves. However, we didn't have an army of mercenaries to man and defend it well. So, if somebody knew about it, they could blockade it and smoke or starve us out.

The companies weren't registered under his real name, so the government shouldn't be in the loop - unless he talked about them himself to cut a deal. Also, Coil could make some deals with the criminals inside and hire some dangerous people to get back at us. So we just kept out for now, leaving the companies starved for funding and probably getting out of business. That was our price of keeping him alive, I guessed.

Without Coil's meddling, the city-powered gangs' scene seemed to have reached a fragile equilibrium. There were no serious Cape fights since we got rid of Coil. Even the Wednesday one was much more minor; the Capes didn't participate.

Finally, at the last week of January, I ran out of the administrative tasks and had to go back to the core business of stopping the Endbringers.

I've made a list of sub-subjects I wanted to cover, assuming the following part could take a few Reloads and I'd have to repeat myself, which was annoying.

When I was ready, I set up a fresh Save point and called up the war council with the entire gang. Most of them weren't necessary, but I wanted to check their reaction to the news about Eidolon's dirty secrets and maybe get original ideas on how to deal with him.

"You must be wondering why I've summoned you here", I started. Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Again?", Amy complained.

"I thought I only did it in a Reloaded timeline; besides, it doesn't get old?", I defended.

We were in our living room, and I'd ordered more pizzas; it became a tradition; also, some dog treats. We needed a new place for such meetings; 8 people and, now, 5 dogs were too much for our living room.

"Dorks", Alec commented and went back to playing his new handheld game console.

"Disclosure, I will most probably have to Reload this meeting since what I am about to tell you might put us on the radar of very ruthless people I'm not yet ready to deal or talk with. On my next Reload I can keep some of you oblivious to this matter, if you ask. This is a volunteer-only op. The reason I called you here today is to brainstorm how we could take down Eidolon", I started from the end. That got some attention and silence. Not counting Alec's game shooting sounds. I wasn't sure whether he didn't hear or just didn't react to what I said.

"You don't go small, Hebert", Sophia commented, respectfully.

"Alright, I will bite, why?", Amy broke first.

"He's subconsciously controlling the Endbringers", I explained.

"Riiight, I read that PHO thread too!", Lisa perked up.

"Void?", I asked. She nodded. "I'm like 99% sure it's the idiot from our class, and I'm only 80% sure he's not a fellow time traveler, as he keeps coming up with crazy but partially accurate theories. Greg," I commented to Sophia's raised eyebrow. She nodded, probably not too surprised.

"Actually, Lisa, perhaps you can do a deep dive on him and figure him out, just in case?", I asked. She shrugged. I made a mental note to ask Lisa about it again, if or after I Reloaded this meeting out.

"Anyway, it was confirmed in the future, and it was you who figured it out, actually", I nodded to Lisa. She smirked. "It destroyed him to learn this, no, not from you, it was the big threat thing. So it's not exactly his fault, but it doesn't make it much easier. The way I see it, the options are: try to convince him and let him figure out how to deal with it, remove his powers against his will, I know just the expert for that, and finally, kill him. Any other big options I've missed?", I asked. Nobody offered anything else.

"I want out", Brian said. "This is way above my pay grade, and I don't see how I can be helpful."

"Noted for the next Reload", I said. "Anybody else?"

"I don't want to know the details if it brings danger to my dogs. Call me when there's a fight", Rachel said, got up and left without another word, her dogs trailing her, looking with hungry, sad eyes at the treats they were leaving behind. Brian stayed.

"OK; Alec, are you with us, have you heard what I said?", I wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, we're fucking up Eidolon. I want to see how it ends and I hope you can Reload if I die", he said, without pausing his game.

"I hope so too, though he might pull some anti-time-travel power out of his ass and we might be screwed", I said.

The rest of the gang stayed silent. I glanced at Dad who hadn't said anything after the initial hellos. He shrugged.

"So, on the other news, he's a vial cape too, like Coil. The next thing I'm going to say might trigger an attack on us, in which case I will Reload, think what I can do differently and invite only the volunteers for the next try."

"The suspense is killing me", Alec commented deadpan, still playing.

"He's also one of the founders or at least an early member of the conspiracy that makes and sells these vials. I prefer not to say the organization name hoping it helps us stay under their radars. They have a Cape that can locate people. And another one who can open a portal anywhere. So at any second one might open and their boogeyman might come out and kill us all", I said while looking around for a said portal. Nothing happened.

"Best. Campfire. Story. Ever!", Alec said, "shit! I died! You distracted me!"

"The boogeyman is the fedora lady?", Lisa asked.

"Yes, and I strongly advise you don't think too hard about her. Or at all", I said. She nodded.

"OK, so far so good.", I said, "The organization is actually not trying to be evil, their goal is the same as mine, saving humanity, it's just that their methods are ... brutal. I prefer not to add too many details at this point."

"So, this organization with good intentions and brutal methods, what would it do with Eidolon if they learned the truth about this?", Dad asked.

"If I were to convince them? They'd totally deal with him, I'm pretty sure. The problem is convincing them. They assume only they know of the big threat, which I also can't tell you about, as it will definitely kill us if we threaten it, and it definitely will have much more chances to negate my power, than Eidolon."

"What if you convinced them you know of the threat, without mentioning the threat, and then tell them about Eidolon and Endbringers?", Dad asked again.

"That's a good point. But, I am giving it only a low to medium chance of success, I think. During the big fight, they still kept their secrets, didn't share their plans and didn't trust anybody; I don't expect it to be different these days. Still worth a try, of course.

"Now, the question is, do I keep any of you in the know? I don't think anybody here can do much against their killer cape. She's the one who killed me, by the way, so I might be a bit biased against her. Just a bit. Anyhow, this is Plan A, sounds like the least risk for the most of you as I will be doing it alone."

"I'm coming with, no arguments", Dad said. I shrugged.

"I want in, too, no way I'm missing a big conspiracy!", Lisa said, smiling with a lot of teeth.

"Fine, your funerals too, if they mess up with my power. OK, other options, I prefer not to repeat this meeting. Let's assume we tried talking to them and either failed to convince them or they failed to deal with Eidolon and he killed everybody instead."

"When is the next Endbringer coming?", Dad asked.

"Late February, I don't remember the exact date, but when or if we get there I can just not make new Saves for a week or two and figure out the exact day and time. It's supposed to be in Australia, Simurgh attacks, they quarantine the city afterwards. Going there and confronting Eidolon on the spot sounds like a disaster to me.

"Worse, as it was pointed out to me, these things might change because of what we did to Coil already. If we destabilize the local gangs' balance we might end up with the Endbringer coming here, instead.

"That's why we don't deal with the Empire, ABB, and Merchants right now, actually. It happened in my timeline, just a few months later. I was hoping to solve the Endbringers' problem first.

"Another data point: when Eidolon died, the Endbringers became kind of idle and kind of malleable. We convinced them to fight the bigger threat."

"Fuck, you controlled Endbringers?", Lisa asked.

"I am pretty sure you did", I answered. She stared at me," You talked to Simurgh and convinced her, or it, to help, then the other Endbringers joined too. Bitch was giving some useful insights. And you were whining and trying to run the whole time, Princess", I turned to Sophia; she was in civvies, like everybody else, so I recycled the old name.

"Better than Bunny", she mumbled, but didn't comment on the Endbringers part.

"What was I doing?", Alec asked.

"You were dead for a while, sorry", I said, "Behemoth killed you earlier."

"Right," he said and started a new game.

"And me?", Brian asked.

"Lisa said you retired. I wasn't 100% sold on that. It's possible you died too and she didn't want to distract me. But folks, we've changed everything already, most of what happened then won't happen the same way or at all now. Plus, if you stick with me I will make sure to keep you alive as much as I can", I decided to omit the parts with Imp, as she hasn't even Triggered yet, as far as I knew. I was divided between the hope for her, that she won't, now, and between me missing Aisha's company on the team.

"So, back to the topic, we need to also think what to do with the Endbringers if we succeed after all. Last time we've had Simurgh and Leviathan, while other groups took the others."

"Others, as in plural? Who could control the Behemoth and what else am I missing?", Lisa was paying attention.

"Right, Behemoth was actually killed by Scion, after he killed Alec…", I started.

"Yes, I was avenged!", Alec proclaimed deadpan and kept playing.

"… but then new ones popped up, you really don't want to know." I tried to steer the conversation back to the topic, "Anyhow, how likely do you folks think that somebody would try hijacking them for their own good? If we thought about it then, I am afraid somebody else will do now as well."

"Point, somebody like the Fallen might become suicidal enough to visit and try to worship them", Lisa said.

"Shit, I really don't want to fight Valefor again, definitely not if he has Simi by his side", I said.

"Would you trust this mysterious organization with the knowledge the Endbringers can be controlled?", Dad asked.

"That's a tough one. If we manage to convince them to deal with Eidolon and they cooperate, then maybe? The idea was and is to try and have them on our side against the big threat. Ah, and whoever already figured out what that big threat is, she should keep her mouth shut and actively not think of the ways to deal with it, as it might trigger a counterattack", I said and meaningfully looked at Lisa.

She visibly connected the dots, and muttered "fuck me".

"Anyhow, while Lisa is trying not to think about the pink elephant, I will probably table this subject for now. If we deal with Eidolon now, the Endbringers are expected to stay where they are, Simi's in orbit, the other guys deep under water and ground, accordingly", I waited for objections or questions for a beat, but none came.

"Ok, back to Eidolon. The other, more dangerous options to dealing with him. I guess I could try and meet him somehow, not via the .. organization he's in, but as a Triumvirate member. He was and, probably already is, under stress about his powers getting weaker, as I understood, so we can lure him with information about his powers.

"More dangerous, if he comes with aggressive intentions and/or brings backup. But, the guy is very proud, and, as Lisa said, then, has a huge ego problem. So I'm, like 80% sure he'll come alone if he believes there's a chance for him to improve his powers. The main risk here is that he a) takes what looks like an accusation badly and/or breaks down like he did then, and b) applies some anti-time-travel power and just kills us. Amy, would you be able to paralyze him so he doesn't kill us, but keep him able to listen?"

"I mean, if I touch his skin, yes, but his costume is all closed up, so I'm not sure?", she said.

"Fair. Could you think of a different delivery method? Like some gas, bacteria, spores? And give us immunity to it?", I asked.

"Huh, you weren't kidding you would find new uses for my power. I don't know, does his mask have filters? What kind? Will he have some invulnerability power or forcefield on? It's hard to tell and hard to prepare if there are so many options.", she was thinking aloud.

"Alright, fair, too many unknowns. He might also have some Precog power running that would mess any plans we have. We'd have to convince him to let you touch him, then. Tell him you can upgrade his powers. Improve the connection between his brain and the shard?", I thought aloud too.

"Hm, it might actually be true. I would not experiment on this, it's so easy to fuck up. That's why I never touch brains.", Amy said.

"Well, it is actually true, I convinced you before the final battle and you did improve my power. OK, more like, unleashed. The shard mostly took over and suddenly I could Master people. Well, my shard could, I wasn't fully driving at that point. So please don't actually do it to people before we get to the final battle. I gradually lost my human side, but we won, I managed to release everybody and ran away. And then the fedora bitch shot me.

"So, to recap, Plan A is to tell the fedora bitch her teammate controls the worst to date weapons of mass destruction without realizing it and let them deal with it.

"Plan B is to tell Eidolon himself and offer him to voluntarily get rid of his power, with Amy's help or however he sees fit. I have no idea how he would react to the news, so this is very dangerous.

"Plan C, tell Eidolon we're improving his powers and then depower him instead. Problem: if he has some Precog or Thinker power running he might detect the trap and blow us up. So, not sure what's worse, B or C, actually.

Plan D is to just kill him. I think it'll be the last one we try, if all else fails completely. I guess we'll meet again and brainstorm just on that, then?" I asked the room. Nobody seemed to object or offer more options.

"How are you going to contact the fedora lady? Didn't you ask Coil about that and he didn't know?", Lisa asked.

"Right, I will ask the Number Man, he's actually from the same team too.", I said.

"Our accountant?", Brian asked.

"Wasn't my first choice for an accountant, yes. That's how they have all their money I guess, managing it for all the villains and selling powers."

"I see the appeal of not knowing all this shit. I envy Rachel, now", he said, but kept sitting.

"Ok, I think we are done now. I am going to fire an email to the Number Man now. Unless you want me to Reload first so you unlearn everything from this meeting? I am not setting up a new Save point as we might already be on their radar and they're just bidding their time acting. So, when we fail, I Reload and start with the strict need to know approach. And if by some luck we succeed, I am keeping this timeline as we might become that organization's best friends. But I wouldn't count on it.", I summarized.

Brian said, "I mean, don't Reload just for me if you're sure you can keep all of us alive". I shrugged.

People started getting up.

"Ah, yes, Brian, Sophia, the offer to spar in the basement still stands. No powers, else I Reload and kick you off the team without explanations."

"Thanks, we have actually already, er, sparred. See ya all. ", Brian said. I raised an eyebrow but he just turned around and left. Sophia mumbled her goodbyes and left too. Did she lose or something?

Amy and Alec left too. Lisa stayed behind, featuring her trademark grin.

"OK, your power finally found out something about me and you're dying to share, let's get it over with", I allowed, sitting down.

"You and Brian?", she asked.

"What about her and Brian?", Dad asked. I kind of forgot he was still on the couch.

"Long story, long time ago, at least for me, after Bonesaw opened up my head, which was after she disassembled Brian's body over a walk-in fridge walls, and he second-triggered, we were sort of together for a short while", I explained. "Then we broke up, and I turned myself in to the PRT. We were both in a really bad headspace back then, and I'm not going there now, if that's what you two were worried about."

"So, I at least got to meet your first boyfriend?", Dad mused. I shrugged.

Lisa deflated a bit. I guess it wasn't scandalous enough for her tastes. Then her eyes lit up.

"What about him and Stalker?", she asked.

"What about them? They were the classic nemeses. She shot him with a live bolt fused with her power. It passed him through and he took a month to heal, or so I heard; it was before my time on the team. Their powers have a bad interaction, guess his darkness interferes with her breaker form or something, so she hates his guts. I told her to keep her issues with him out of the team, I think you were there. Why?"

She smiled and made the closing zipper movement over her lips with her hand. Whatever. I had no patience for Lisa's head games.

I opened my phone and started typing the email to our accountant.

AN: Staples are back! Calle is here, though offscreen for now. As a non-American, I have a very poor idea about the legal system there (or elsewhere), so I will try to avoid the subject (and many others, if you're paying attention).

Some Cauldron 'bashing' (?) is present here and through most of this mini-arc. I am trying to be reasonable here. I reread the final canon chapters and Cauldron members' interludes, but I'm sure this will still irritate some readers. This is a mix of my and Taylor's opinions, tainted by her experiences and my memory and reading comprehension. Also, English isn't my first language, so I have a lot of excuses.

These opinions might differ from yours. Live with it, or write a better fic with the correct representation, I dare you 

Specific constructive criticism, e.g. statement X contradicts chapter Y in canon (or in this very fic, which is worse) when character Z did or didn't say ABC, and general continuity or logic issues are more than welcomed, of course, as always.

Regarding the chapter title meaning, I tried to get creative. It has 2 parts - the 'group of chapters name' (I can't call it arc), which will become clearer in the next chapter I hope, and the actual chapter title.

Did the chapter title come out too click-baity? One of the meanings/synonyms for "Eidolon" is "phantom". And this meeting was deciding his fate, so it's his upcoming menace? Again, English isn't my first language, so do tell me if this doesn't make sense, and I will change it to something more mundane and less pretentious, like, um, "A new hope", "Avengers Assemble" or "The Fellowship of the Ring Email" (to the Numbers Man).

"Dear Number Man, we have critical information for Contessa. Please help arrange a meeting. The Boss."

As I've had little hope this approach will do any good, I just typed up the first thing that came to mind and sent it, after showing it to Lisa and Dad. Both shrugged and didn't object.

3 minutes later, the familiar portal opened in the middle of our living room. Nobody came out. I shrugged, picked up my taser and the knife, put them on my belt, and stepped in, followed by Dad with his shotgun and Lisa, armed with her smirk. We didn't wear masks; it was pointless with these people.

We ended up in a big conference room with white walls, huge table and a mirror wall. I picked a chair on one side opposite the mirror and sat down. Dad and Lisa followed suit. I figured it was a power play and took out my phone to pass the time. There was no reception, of course, but I've had some books stored up.

"We're not on Earth, are we?" Lisa asked.

"I believe we're on Earth, just not ours", I explained.

A door opened up, and in strolled Contessa in full costume and a gun in her hand, making a point showing us the safety was off, finger on the trigger. The Number Man followed her with a compact assault rifle, his finger on the trigger as well. They were taking us very seriously, which was encouraging and worrying at the same time.

"Contessa, Number Man", I calmly said without getting up, keeping my hands on the table.

"Ms. and Mr. Hebert, Lisa or Sara", the bitch in the fedora greeted back, standing on the opposite side of the table and not sitting up.

"Thank you for meeting us on such short notice, nice office", I said, with a slight smile.

"The list of people who know about me, my name, or my acquaintance with the Number Man here is very short, and you're not on it. You've got my attention", she replied. She seemed somewhat nervous. Since when was I making the boogieman nervous? What was I missing? Will ask Lisa if we survive this meeting, which seemed less and less probable.

"I figured it would shorten the loop, sorry if it triggered some alarms." I tried to defuse the tension in the room.

"I'm very busy. Can we please cut to the chase?", she asked, proving I failed. Was I imagining or was her finger on the trigger slightly trembling?

"Right. Might I know who's behind the mirror? The matter is about one of the Triumvirate members, and I'd prefer not to tip them off too early." I said.

She looked at the Number Man, who shrugged. He was sweating. What was going on?

"None of the Triumvirate Heroes is in the other room." She supplied in monotone.

"Good enough for me, just the Doctor, I assume." I said, which made her visibly tense even more. "Very well. Eidolon is the one who created and controls the Endbringers, mostly subconsciously. He's not aware, and it will probably destroy him when or if he learns of this."

"Might we know why do you think so?", she asked.

"I know a lot of things, including the goals of this organization and the threat it's intended to address, what the organization does and how it does it. While I don't agree with how you do some of the things, I allow that you do it because of a very limited set of information you act on. I'm here to fix this. The first test is how you deal with the piece of intelligence about Eidolon I've just provided you with. After you've cleaned house, I will provide you with more data, establishing a working relationship towards defeating the ... bigger threat", I supplied.

"Um, Boss, I think you're losing them", Lisa said.

And that's when the shooting started. I Reloaded.

What the fuck was that about? I was reasonable, I wasn't threatening, right? I told them the truth. What spooked Contessa and the Number Man so much? Something was off.

I updated Dad and asked him whether he thought there was a point trying this approach again. He asked what I thought I could have done differently next time. I admitted I had no idea.

So, I made a new Save point, to keep Dad in the loop, and we ticked off Plan A as a catastrophic failure and moved on to the next option. Despite the supposedly safe option turning into a bloodbath, I decided to finish the other 'talk it out peacefully' option first, Plan B: being open with Eidolon and talking him into doing the right thing.

It shared a minor challenge with Plan C - figuring out how to make contact with him.

We needed Amy for both plans, but also Lisa's help for planning, so we met them both in our living room as usual, updated them on the task, about Eidolon's problem and the previous meeting without going into anything related to Cauldron itself. I was so tired of having to remember what I have told to whom, and when.

I asked Amy whether she had any ideas how we could contact Eidolon. She said she had his, and all the other Protectorate leaders' emails, and offered to contact him. I proposed to just write him, that she and her associates had sensitive information about Endbringers and that we wanted to give it to him personally, and that due to the nature of the data, there were no other people in the loop, not even her family.

He replied after about 10 minutes asking where we could meet. I proposed to just invite him here. I had very little hope this would work out well, so I wanted to be done with it quickly. After 5 more minutes, he knocked on our front door. Dad had let him in.

"Hello, Eidolon", I greeted him, "I'm Taylor, this is my Dad, Danny, Lisa, and I'm sure you know Panacea or Amy."

"Hello, I understand you have information about Endbringers?", he asked, voice muffled by his glassy mask.

"I propose you sit down, it's going to be a bit of a blow, I'm afraid", I told him, pointing at an armchair, "Tea? Coffee? Water?"

"Thank you, no need, I'm good", he replied, ruining my backup plans to get him to expose some skin for Amy to grab, if needed. He walked over to the armchair without breaking eye contact with me, and it looked like he was tense. Was he also stressed about me, like Contessa? What's going on? What did they keep seeing? I decided to just ask.

"I'm sorry if it comes off the left field, but am I making you nervous? Why?", I asked.

If anything, it made him tense even more. I got ready to Reload, but he just silently studied me. Did he switch his powers? Some Thinker or Precog ability to feel me out? That was likely it, I was probably coming up as some oddity for the Thinker powers, same as I was confusing Lisa's power earlier.

"What are you?", he asked, slowly raising his hand.

"Mr. Eidolon, we have a house rule: no powers in the living room", Dad mildly said. Which had a nice chilling effect on our guest. Nice way to put the most powerful Parahuman in the world in his place, Dad.

"Yes, I apologize, Mr., um, Danny", Eidolon seemed to have caught himself.

"Does she come up as one big anomaly for your Thinker power too?", Lisa chose to interfere.

"Yes, quite, I've never seen such a thing. I'm sorry, again", he seemed embarrassed?

"Hey, I'm right here, you know, and I guess it was a mistake to let Thinkers talk", I said, smiling, trying to defuse the situation. It was partially working.

"If you feel like it in the end, I'd gladly learn what it is you see when looking at me, but that's not the reason we're here", I said.

"Yes, Endbringers, what do you have for me? Panacea?", he switched tack and looked at Amy.

"Indeed, I asked Amy to contact you because I know for a fact they were inadvertently created, or, well, called, and are now subconsciously controlled by a Parahuman", I drew his attention on me again, "I would like your opinion on what can be done about such a Parahuman? You being the strongest Parahuman in the world would help us see the best options, we thought", I tried flattery.

"Well, besides confirming it's the case, as I don't know your sources, I'd think we either make them realize it's the case and learn to disable the Endbringers, or we'd have to, well, disable the Parahuman or their powers", he carefully answered, "Is it a villain, or...?"

"It's actually a hero, a rather strong one, which makes it more of a problem", I led him.

"Are you making me guess?", he asked, irritated.

"I am not, I'm trying to ease you into the answer, as I don't know how you will react to it", I said, frankly.

"Are you implying it is Alexandria? Some other Protectorate hero? It's one hell of an accusation", he got angry. It was interesting that he thought of her first.

"No, no, please stay calm, we're just talking. As I was saying, the person isn't aware, I'm pretty sure, so there can't be direct fault, nor blame, so no accusation either. It doesn't make things much easier, but let's stay civil?"

"Yes, of course, but you understand how it sounds. I know all the heroes, I fought alongside them all, if one of them is the reason for millions of people dead... It's unthinkable", he slummed on his chair.

"I'm starting to think we might need somebody like Jessica Yamada for this", I mused. Why haven't I thought of it earlier? "Amy, Lisa, what do you think? Ah, do you know her?", they both shook their heads.

"Yes, I know her of course, but why do you need ... her ... huh, are you implying it's me?", he finally connected the dots.

I sighed, "Afraid so", I said, studying him. With full-face helmet, there was not much to study, besides the body language. He seemed to have been thinking, maybe changing out powers again. I looked at Lisa, who was tense. Which made me tense too. I got ready to Reload again.

"Well, I see what you're doing, now, who are you, who sent you?", he suddenly said, rose to his feet, and pointed his right hand at me. Shit.

"Mr. Eidolon!", Dad said again, raising his voice.

Eidolon made a sharp gesture, and our journal table flew in Dad's direction. I Reloaded before I could see the aftermath. At least Reload worked. I hated to be right again.

Once or twice could be a random fluke, but 3 or 4 Thinker powers getting their Hosts so nervous about me? That was a pattern. It was time to figure it out. I called Lisa and invited her home again.

"Lisa, I've just had a chat with 2 world league Thinkers, besides you, and with Eidolon, who I think also applied a Thinker power or 3 on me. They were all freaking out and started fights unprovoked, more or less. You freaked out when you first met me, but I thought I knew why. What's going on? What do you see?", I demanded.

She slumped in the chair, opposite Dad.

"Not going to tell me why you were talking to them without me? Oh, I was there, you Reloaded", she mumbled.

"Please stop deflecting, I need to know, just tell me the truth?", I asked.

"For my power, you're kind of like an opposite of a black hole of information, if it makes any sense? It just dumps a lot of contradicting data points that don't add up. You killed Coil, you spared him, you tortured him, he tried to kill you and so on. So, my best guess without knowing which Thinkers you faced, their powers go crazy with trying to figure you out, what you did in all your timelines, past or future, that you tried and maybe the ones you just might try. Or, maybe it's the other way around - because the amount of possibilities is sort of infinite, they might show nothing. Not sure what's scarier for a Thinker who gets used to relying on their power for everything."

"I see, it makes sense. But if I'm so scary, why attack me? Why not talk it out? Ask me? Did you want to attack me?", I tried.

"I'd need to observe it happen with others to intuit anything like that, I think. When I met you, you were focused on Coil, so enemy of my enemy and all that jazz. So, no, the thought hasn't crossed my mind. And, as you pointed out then, my power was close to shutdown, tired from what I did before I came there. Which, now that I think of it, was finding out about you for Coil. Casino, 2 grand, just before Christmas?"

I facepalmed, then looked at Dad, "So, Eddie thought of an old friend, eh?"

Dad looked guilty, "Guess, money talks, sorry. I thought better of him. Could be somebody else there, though?", which was fair.

"Did the tip contain any identity guesses? Mine or Dad's?", she shook her head.

"OK, so it's not Eddie, probably, or he was decent enough not to share his suspicions. Do you think there are other players in the city who might be buying such info, now that Coil's gone? It's probably too late to do anything about it now, more than a month passed. If somebody was coming, they probably would, by now?", I asked.

"Yeah, you didn't win that much and you didn't look at the cameras directly, which made my job harder; I doubt there are many others who would figure you out, me being modest and all", she smiled.

"Which reminds me, there's a guy on the PHO, Void Cowboy, I'm pretty sure it's Greg Veder from my class, and he's as much an idiot in life as in his posts. I know you read some of them too, Lisa, but some of his theories are at least partially right, so could you take a look and check if he's not a fellow time traveller or Thinker or whatever?", I asked her.

She shrugged, "Can do, as I said, your 'signature' is very unique for my power. Hm, he wrote about Eidolon controlling Endbringers, as I recall, and you, we, talked to Eidolon in one of your loops today, is that the accurate part?"

"Very good, now you understand why I want to figure out whether he's just a broken clock being right twice a day, or does he really know something", I smiled.

"So, you told Eidolon he's controlling Endbringers and he freaked out? And you're surprised he attacked you?", she demanded.

"He started freaking out the moment he saw me, I'm pretty sure. I tried to calm him down, Dad told him 'no powers in the house', thanks, Dad! And he was like, 'what are you?', and you kind of agreed with him. But yes, when we got to the hard part, he flew off the handle", I explained.

"Well, I guess you're making Thinkers nervous, in general, so try to be less intense with them?", she advised.

"Me, intense? I'm just a girl with a minor time rewind power!", I raised my hands, innocently.

"Taylor, I still have the video from the night you recruited Sophia. I rewatch it sometimes as it helps me not murder her when she comes around. You're the definition of intense", Dad supplied, the traitor.

"My minions are rebelling", I sighed, "So, I take it I can't talk to the fedora bitch, because she freaks out and starts shooting, the Number Man was nervous too, yes they work together, Lisa, don't mess with them please.

"And, I can't talk to Eidolon if he has one of his Thinker powers on, which can be always, because he starts throwing furniture at people. Which is just great, because these were the only peaceful options we've had.

"Hm, there was this psychologist in the PRT, she was great, except they rotate them all the time to prevent a therapist from developing too strong a bond with their parahuman patient and potentially manipulating them or being manipulated by them or some bullshit like that, so I saw her only a few times total. She'd be better at this, I'm sure.

"In light of these anti-manipulative methods, any thoughts on how we could manipulate a PRT psychologist to manipulate Eidolon to give up his powers or figure out how to disable Endbringers? Preferably in the next 3 weeks?"

"Anybody who can order him to go to a psychologist?", Dad asked. "Isn't Legend his boss? Or the PRT Director? What's her name?"

"You know what, let's get the whole set and just meet them all, why the hell not? Contessa, Eidolon, Alexandria, Legend, Jack Slash, and Nilbog", I said.

AN: There's a decent reason Contessa acted the way she did (well, most of it comes up onscreen, but not the specifics). It will come up again eventually.

And no, that reason is not only that it'd pretty much end the story at this point, as they'd just join forces with Cauldron, do things right, kill Scion, and live happily ever after. That was the backup plan to end the story, in case I wasn't getting any likes or Watchers.

Luckily, there are enough people with low enough standards that seem to like this story, so we will be exploring the longer road to success using the trial and error and reload method. Well over 600 watchers, how the hell did that happen?

There are a bunch of fics that make Eidolon the bad guy. I think it's very OOC for him; he's a good guy, his interlude clearly shows it. Deeply flawed, like everybody else, sure, hates himself and what he's become, definitely, but making him the main evil of the story? It's not happening here.

Spoiler: Maybe rather minor spoiler

I'm not yet sure whether there will be an Eidolon interlude and whether this will come up in it. I can't make one yet, because this part was Reloaded and never happens. Thought I'd explain his potentially irrational behavior here to save questions.

Of course, Eidolon will not be doing what Taylor wants while she hits his tripping points, or while she looks like a huge threat to him. His interlude mentions a Thinker power that estimates people's threat level, where it shows the Doctor has 0 threat, but Contessa is unbeatable for him. So, I figured it'd show Taylor as unbeatable too, for him, because it can't predict her, he doesn't know her and can't trust anything she says.

Staple: Yamada as the only PRT psychologist.

"Did you meet Nilbog too?", Lisa asked.

"Sure, met them all, fought them all. Well, I actually never fought Legend, I think", I said. She facepalmed, "OK, so we're starting with Alexandria? Another Thinker, also a brute. But I should have time to Reload when she loses it", I thought aloud.

"Why Alexandria? We talked about Legend and the PRT Director, Costa-Brava or something?", Dad asked.

"Right, you don't know, Costa-Brown is Alexandria", I explained.

"Seriously... Shit, how did I not see it?", Lisa exclaimed. Dad just stared at me.

"I think they have a heavy Thinker and maybe Stranger powers support hiding this in plain sight. I don't have a better explanation for how it was kept secret for so long. Anyway, she has a perfect memory, she cold reads people pretty much like you do, and she's a top-tier bully. She's the one wearing pants in the big trio, I believe. She tried to bully me when I turned myself in, convinced me she was maiming and killing you, I mean, Undersiders, though it was a bluff, so I kind of killed her for real? And Director Tagg too; you sat beside me at the time", I looked guiltily at Dad.

"You know what, I'm confident you've had good reasons then and you won't do it again, if no such reasons?", Dad supplied.

"Thanks, yeah, you agreed then she wasn't very heroic too. Anyhow, I don't plan on killing her for something she hasn't done yet. But let's see what happens this time. So, I want to start with her, since I think she's the one that does the hard decisions. Legend is kind of just the face, but not the fist, nor the brains, I feel."

I've set up a new Save point. I didn't feel like explaining all of this to Dad and Lisa again.

Then I called Amy and asked her to email Alexandria that we have critical information on Endbringers and could she please drop by our home address when convenient without involving others as it was very sensitive. I didn't care about secrecy as I didn't really believe the results will be any better than the other such meetings today. Worst case, I'd be wrong and will redo it in a more secretive location with our masks on.

Alexandria also carefully knocked on the door some 30 minutes later and hasn't crashed through the roof, which I saw as a positive sign.

I invited her in, introduced us with our civilian names, and offered her tea. She asked for water. Progress. Hospitality rules and such suggested there will be no fighting, hopefully. If she ever cared for such things.

"I am working to save the world from a certain major threat", I started, looking at the ceiling at the last part, "I have a lot of information that is not well known, and I'm considering the best way to cooperate with PRT, Protectorate, and... other important organizations", I emphasized looking her in the eye, "The first important data point is about the Endbringers. I believe we can prevent the next occurrence, that's expected to be in late February, and all the future ones of course. But preventing it is not going to be easy. I hope we agree it's necessary, of course."

She maintained a perfect poker face and hasn't reacted to my blunt insinuations. I glanced at Lisa, who shrugged. I continued.

"The next part will be hard to absorb, so I'd like to remind you that our goals match, and I'm trying to help, looking for the best way to deal with a problem. So any positive feedback will be welcome." I tried to make sure the house survived the next few seconds. "The Endbringers were created by a Parahuman, a hero, without their knowledge or intention. This is not an attempt to assign blame or accuse, but an attempt to find a way to stop Endbringer attacks."

The bitch stayed perfectly still.

"The Parahuman in question is Eidolon. It seems his subconscious is lining up worthy opponents for him to fight. I don't think he'd get the news well, so I'm looking for the more appropriate people than me to decide on the approach." I said. I was ready to Reload from the start of the tirade, but she still hasn't reacted, at all.

I waited. Seconds ticked by on our old wall clock. Did she have a heart attack and die while I was talking? Could she have one? I couldn't see whether she was breathing either. Not my fault, this time.

I looked at Lisa. She was holding her hand by her head, probably having a migraine. I bet reading Alexandria wasn't much easier than reading me, though for different reasons.

Dad was leaned back and watched the show with fascination.

After about a minute of silence, Alexandria slightly moved her head and said, "I've analyzed everything I remember of Eidolon and the Endbringers, and I do see some correlation that supports your theory. However, correlation is not causation. I need to find better proof or an alternative theory to disprove this. Now, I'd like to know how you came to this knowledge and who else knows about this."

And here comes the discrediting and the cover-up part, I supposed.

"Can I say I'm a concerned citizen reporting to one of the strongest heroes we have, besides Eidolon himself, and that I do not plan to expose my source?", I slowly said, looking her in the good eye. "After we've dealt with the Endbringers, I will share more critical data I have about the bigger threat, about the way I know how to defeat it, as well as my thoughts on how we can better prepare for the fight."

"I'm afraid I have to insist. You seem to have very sensitive information which you might not have enough discipline or incentives not to spread. You've recently acquired a large sum of money, I know where it's from. It means you're less likely to try and sell this information, but it's not a guarantee. So, how did you learn it, and who else knows it?", she repeated. I was reminded of our last conversation and I didn't like it one bit.

"Just to make sure I am not misreading the situation, are you threatening her? Us?", Dad checked.

"Threat is the wrong word ..." she started, but I cut her off. I still remembered this part.

"No, no, Dad, it's not a threat", I said, smiling and still looking her in the eye. "It's, how do you usually put it, when you say something, you make it happen, it's inevitable, right?"

Alexandria seemed somewhat startled for a fraction of a second, but she recovered quickly. "I'm glad we understand each other. Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

"Hm, I take it you can't cold read me well, like you usually do. I hear I have this effect on Thinkers. So do you often make these non-threat make-things-happen statements and usually get your way? What happens when you don't?"

"It never happens."

"You know what, I'm pondering between two options right now.

"Option one: I tell you everything, just like you ask, and then I make you forget it all, because I don't think you intend to make a smart use of the information, and you will just try to make us disappear to keep your precious little secrets, thinking that they matter. They don't, believe me. But this way, you will never learn these things again, and you will never know that you don't know. And I am telling you now, before you learn these things, that you will never learn them again, until you die. And that's inevitable, as you like to put it.

"Option two: you act on the information I already gave you, and after we don't get an Endbringer visit till the end of February, we meet again, possibly with your other associates, if they behave, and I share what I know about defeating the real threat to humanity.

"And here I want you to read my lips or whatever you do when you read people: I know for a fact it can be beaten. It's hard and it requires preparations and armies amassing. But whatever preparations you're making now, they're not going to be helpful, and you're wasting resources and time."

"I chose option three, you tell me everything, and I let you all live the day", she replied.

"Do you see what I meant?", I asked Dad, "just a bully who can't take no for an answer", I turned to Lisa, "Just curious, are you able to read her? Is she bluffing or does she really intend to kill us? And Panacea, because she's the one who contacted her. And then, I suppose, all the New Wave? And if I folded, does she really intend to keep her word?"

"Sorry Boss, I've got nothing. She's like a statue", Lisa replied.

"Fine. Option One it is", I turned to Alexandria again, "You see, last time we talked, you made a similar threat. I took it seriously, but it turned out you bluffed. It was kind of embarrassing. For you, mostly.

"Did I make you start doubting yourself yet? Because on one hand, you know I'm telling the truth, and on the other, you're confident you've never met me. How am I doing so far?"

"We haven't met. You're a good liar, I suppose", she replied.

"You see, Rebecca... can I call you Becky?", she didn't react, "you're very wrong here. Well, you're not wrong that you have never met me, but I've definitely met you and got to know you rather well. I've had a rather long conversation with you, and in the end of it, I've killed you.

"Because I didn't think you were bluffing, then. Because you've made threats to my friends and loved ones. Because I hate bullies and I've promised to myself to never let bullying pass. I might have become a bully myself on the way, but right now, in this room, you're the bully. And I'm going to bully you right back. It's kind of a wasted effort on you, because you will not remember it, but I think it's somewhat therapeutic for me, like closing the circle. That's the only reason I humor your request, so you know."

She just kept looking at me without moving again.

"Quick question, can you get a heart attack? I wondered earlier when you were processing Eidolon."

"Not as far as I know, thanks for the concern," she said.

"Nah, I don't care about you at this point. I just wanted to make sure you survive till the end of my self-treatment.

"You see, you think you're the only one who has the power, so you can demand things. But in this room, today, you're not. I can make you forget this conversation any moment I want. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. How does it make you feel?"

"So, you got some memory alteration power and you think you can threaten me?", she smiled.

"Nah, I don't need to threaten you. You see, I can rewind time, and I'm going to rewind it to right before I asked Amy to contact you. And you will keep your sorry life and will never learn any of this again.

"You will not know about Eidolon, at least until I remove him without your help. And then I will decide how much of the story becomes known or when. I might decide to make it public, if I and my friends think it's a good idea and there's absolutely nothing you, or Contessa, can do about it.

"Oh yes, I've started with her. She took one look at me, freaked out, and started shooting. Then I've talked to Eidolon himself. He didn't threaten; he just attacked. But you, you want to get all the data first, before you kill us, right?

"And so, you will never learn how to beat the golden idiot, because I will be working on that by myself. I've seen him die in the future I'm coming from, and I know exactly how it was done, as I was there too, while you were dead.

"But I am not going to tell you any of this after I Reload. Because neither you, nor Eidolon, nor Contessa, and definitely not the Doctor, seem to know how to cooperate. You're a bunch of idiots with tunnel-vision. How about that, Becky?"

She leaned back on her chair and sighed, "Are you done?"

"Pretty much, I already feel much better." I replied and smiled.

"I don't believe a single word you're saying, but I also don't believe you could lie for so long without me picking up a tell. I suppose I've gotten to experience a dissonance after so many years. So, I'm going to return the courtesy. I'm going to give you advice on what you should do about Eidolon if you're actually a time traveler and survive this conversation. And then I'm going to kill you all. How about that?"

"Now we're talking. Bring it on, bitch." I grinned. Dad gulped. Lisa smirked and sat back.

"You see, the Doctor, Contessa, Eidolon, and me, we've been at this for so long. We've started with ideals. We were doing good. And then bad things happened, but we still did more good than bad. And then more of the bad started happening, so we've had to step up our plans. And so it spirals. I don't know whether we are still doing more good than bad. Sunken costs fallacy and all that.

"And one of the bad things that could happen is exposing our operation too early. Because many would want what we have. And people are egoistic and stupid. So you understand why I can't let you leave this room alive. But if you're an actual time traveler, and if you mean what you say, I guess you deserve a chance to do better than we did." She sounded almost hesitant, which was very out of her usual sure-of-herself character. It was freaking me out. Guess she wasn't the only one experiencing a dissonance today.

"You can't talk to any of us, ever, because, yes, you're an anomaly, for a Thinker power. It's an offense, an attack. I can't stand sitting here, opposite of you. I suspect Contessa couldn't path you, and Eidolon saw you as a direct or indirect threat, depending on what power he looked at you with. You can't meet any of us. We will kill you, or we will try.

"No, I think you should talk to Legend. And you should tell him not only about Eidolon, but about all the other things we did, assuming you know everything else?", I nodded. "We've kept him in the dark because we needed our face to be clean while our hands are deep in blood. He probably suspects some things, but he's not sure and he partially trusts us to do the right thing. You need to tell him everything, and you need to shut us down. Quietly. Without destroying the PRT and the Protectorate. I have no idea how you'd do it. And then you should deal with the big threat, as you called him, to make everything we did not be for nothing.

"Did you know you've already ruined one of our central plans? Project Terminus." She paused.

I did what, I thought? I recruited, part-time, Panacea, Stalker, the Undersiders. And ....

"Coil? You've actually had plans for this fucker?", I asked.

"Yes, he was supposed to prove that Parahumans could form feudalistic societies. And you just de-powered him? Panacea?"

"Correct. You see, I killed Coil in my past life, and I kind of took his place. I ruled this city until I turned myself in to save the world. And then you came and started messing with me", I supplied.

"This plan was to learn how humanity would survive after the final fight is lost, without governments, with Capes leading them."

"You see, that's the problem, you stopped believing victory was possible. You prepared to lose. That's how you lose for real."

"We have plans to fight, but we don't know if any of them will be enough, you're right. How did you beat him?", she asked.

"You know, for one who doesn't believe a word I'm saying, you're very curious about what I've got to say. But, in case you manage to kill me after all, I will tell you. Was that your plan? For me to tell you more? It doesn't matter. I Mastered everybody, and I've bullied Scion with the body of his dead partner into a nervous breakdown, sort of, and then we found the powers combination that finished him off. It was never a single power, it was precise, orchestrated teamwork. Something you idiots never learned to do and have never even tried."

She thought about it and nodded. And then she moved. One moment she was relaxing on the guest chair, the next, her fist was approaching my face at a nearly sonic speed. I barely managed to Reload. Fuck, that was close, I got careless. I knew she could accelerate, I saw her do it in fights. I was stupid and overconfident, again.

But it was also satisfying to talk to her as an equal, tell her all these things. Her final advice made sense, she seemed sincere when she gave it, and I now had what looked like a beginning of a new plan.

AN: I asked Google AI, it said Alexandria couldn't have a heart attack. Would be rather funny if she died on the couch there, of natural causes and cognitive dissonance. But, Taylor got to bully her a bit, and I think they've had a draw in the end?

It was probably the hardest chapter to write, so far, but I think it came out pretty well. Lexi is so much like Taylor (as Taylor herself noted in canon), except much older and out of ideals, and has even less fucks to give. So they both kind of look in the mirror here. Becky started at around Taylor's age, she had great plans and then gradually she kept doing what had to be done, they all did, and then they just lost the perspective. So here, Becky sees her younger self, knows what she has to do, but thinks, 'hey, what if she's really a time traveler and not a perfect bullshitter that spoofs my power?', 'what if I am really wrong here, unlikely as it is?'

Does it make sense?

I've updated Dad and Lisa about our great talk to Alexandria. Dad hugged me.

I felt… conflicted. I got used to hating the bitch, and with her trying to kill me, I had little reason to change my mind, but her advice sounded sincere. If I didn't know her, I would think she was regretting the path she took in life. Nonsense.

Was she leading me to a trap? If she didn't believe me, she was sure to kill all of us right there. If she did, though?

Anyway, I didn't think Legend would start shooting at us right away; he wasn't the type. So, I decided I didn't have much to lose, and the risk was acceptable.

As usual, I have set up a new Save point, called Amy, and asked her to send an email to Legend this time, stating that her Thinker friend had critical information about Endbringers with sensitive connotations and could we meet in a park. I saw bigger than zero chances of this timeline doing somewhat better than the others, so I took the minimal measures to somewhat conceal our activities from the neighbors.

Legend agreed to meet just after dark. I was very impressed with Amy's reputation, allowing her to meet any member of the Triumvirate on such a short notice. Of course, the subject of the discussion was helping too.

Dad, Lisa, and I all suited up and rode there in silence, probably all processing what Alexandria had said. Amy was meeting us there; she insisted after I hinted on the phone what we were about to talk about.

Legend arrived 30 seconds before the agreed time, without much fanfare or light shows.

"Panacea", he greeted, and looked questionably at the rest of us.

"Legend", I said, "this is Tattletale, um, the ... Unioner, and I'm the Boss."

"The Unioner?", Dad asked. I shrugged. How did I not think of a name for Dad yet? It didn't matter now.

"I've asked Panacea to arrange a meeting as I have a rather explosive subject to raise with you." I turned back to Legend and directed us to a pair of benches put at a right angle to each other. Amy and Legend took one, the rest of us the other, me in the center, Dad to my right, and Lisa on my left.

Legend looked at Amy and asked, "How's your sister? Parents? The rest of the family?"

"Same same, thanks, Legend." She replied.

"What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to swallow, I'm afraid, but it was Alexandria's advice, and she seemed sincere when she gave it. Just before she tried to kill me, so she had little reason to lie, but I digress." I started.

"Kill you? Alexandria? Why? You look fine. Panacea?" He started guessing. I made a timeout sign.

"Let's start from the beginning, sorry. I'm a time traveler. I've been to the end of the world in two and a half years from now. I know a lot of things, and I'm trying to make things better this time. More specifically, my immediate goal is to prevent the next and all the following Endbringers attacks. My power allows me to go back in time if things go badly. For this matter, I've met Contessa and the Number Man..."

"Am I supposed to know who's Contessa?" He stopped me. He didn't know her? How? At least he didn't ask about the Number Man.

"Um, aren't you a part of their organization?" I asked. What was I missing?

Legend startled, looked at Amy, at Lisa, and then at me again. "What makes you think that?"

"Look, I'm from the future; things blew up, everybody knew about Caul... the organization I don't want to name, in the end, and I've already met all the other assholes, so can we cut the crap and focus here? My next meetings are with Nilbog and Jack Slash, if you don't cooperate."

"Nilbog, Jack ... why? OK, I'm with you. But still, who's Contessa?"

"Suit, fedora? Doctor's shadow? Rings a bell?"

"Oh, her, I was never introduced. She's just her bodyguard, isn't she?", he said, confused.

"I'm starting to see how you've missed all the other shit they did. She's some sort of a combat Thinker, she never loses. I think she's the scariest bitch in your little cabal, actually. Anyhow, she took one look at me, listened to what I had to say, and started shooting. Eidolon - same shit. Becky at least was patient enough to explain what bothered her about me before she attacked. Are you going to attack me too, or listen?"

"What exactly did they do that I missed?", he looked like he didn't really want to hear the answer.

"I'll get there. First, the guy who made the Endbringers. Probably didn't do it on purpose, but his power and/or his subconscious did. Your pal, Eidolon."

"What?", he got up from the bench. I prepared to Reload, but he just started pacing back and forth.

"Disable his power or the guy, his toys go dormant. He died in the future, and the Endbringers just stopped. We even convinced them to help against the real threat to the world. Not talking about that now, or it might attack right away. Not our immediate problem", I continued.

He stopped, looked at me, at Dad and Lisa, who shrugged, then at Amy, "Is your friend serious?"

"Afraid so. She knows things nobody does. I'd listen to her", Amy supplied.

"Yeah, sorry about the bad news, but the worst is yet to come", I said. "When I tried making this Lexi's problem, she said she's divided between not believing a word I said and humoring me. So she gave me advice in case I was really a time traveler, and then tried to kill me in case I was not. I've Reloaded of course, so it never happened for her, or Contessa and Eidolon. In this timeline, only the people I trust and you are in the know.

"So, her advice was to talk to you and also tell you about everything else they've been doing behind your back. And, let's see, they make and sell powers, that part you probably know. You got yours from them too, right?", he reluctantly nodded. "Do you happen to know how they test their formulae?"

"The Doctor keeps saying the Number Man can calculate the odds?", he said, unsure of himself.

"Maybe, but not well enough. Heard of Case 53s? These are the miscalculations. And besides the ones they drop into the world without memories, they also keep a large bunch on premises, as a stink bomb against the big threat, and also as a possible cannon fodder for the final fight. Good intentions, sure, but zero morals". He was just staring at me.

"I had some suspicions, but they assured me ... Reb.. Alexandria assured me. I trusted her. She knows too?"

"Of course she knows. The bitch knows everything."

"They said Manton was traveling the world and making experiments with a stolen stash of vials..."

"Nah, he's too busy being the Siberian operator", I supplied.

"What? How? My god...", he sat back on the bench and took his head in his hands.

"Look, I was told I'm being intense sometimes. Maybe I overdid it again? I will make you the same offer I gave the … Union Man? Unioneer here..."

"Unioner", Dad corrected me.

"Right, if this is too much, I can Reload and look for another solution. I didn't mean to get you a heart attack or something. Right, we have Amy here just in case..."

"You mean, you can Reload and I will not know any of this?", he looked up, somewhat hopeful.

"Exactly. If you're not up to it or don't want to know, no biggy, just need to figure out how to take out Eidolon and then we have 2 years plus to figure the rest out.", I said.

"No, no, what kind of hero would I be?", he looked like he was convincing himself. I wasn't sure of what.

"The usual kind, photogenic, good with kids, useless when things get dirty", I wasn't helping him. Maybe I was too harsh. But the guy was acting somewhat like a douche right now.

"No. You're right. I'm staying. Alexandria told you to tell me all this?", it looked like the hero part of him convinced the douche part. Was he staying because Alexandria suggested it? Even now?

"Yep, right before trying to crater me, us. Becky said something along the lines that they kept you in the dark to keep the face clean, while their hands are deep in blood. I bet she chose her costume color so the blood doesn't show, the bitch."

"You know even that?", he said, shocked. What did I know, exactly? Whatever.

"As I said, I know a lot of shit. Now, the question is what are we doing about Eidolon? We have till February the 20th, let's say. The next attack is a few days after, in Canberra. I prefer not to add another quarantined city after Simmy attacks. So, ideas?"

"I can confront him, I'm sure he would want to help...", he said. He didn't seem to believe himself, though.

"Maybe you will have better luck. When we tried, he decided I'm attacking him. Or his Thinker power did, so he threw a table and I Reloaded. But the idea I had then was, maybe you can get Eidolon into therapy? Like, can you order him? You're his boss, right?"

He seemed to consider it. "You know, it might be a great idea. And, I even know who I will ask to see him."

"Yamada?", I asked.

"Of course you know Yamada too", he said, defeatedly.

"Look, I think it's a long shot, but we have 3 weeks to try. Think up a reason, get him into therapy, let's see where it gets us. If nothing changes, we need to think of a more drastic solution, though, I hope you understand?" he nodded.

"I ... thank you for telling me and I... I'm in shock. This is so ...", he trailed off.

"Like your best friends stabbed you in the back?", I helped. He nodded. "Except they did it for years. But if it helps, I don't think they're evil. Like you, they meant to do good. They just made too many compromises. I think Becky understands this. That's why she gave me that advice."

He nodded and got up, "Thank you. I will go arrange some therapy marathon for all the Protectorate leaders, I think. I don't see another way to make it not as obvious. I can't separate him out."

"Do that, and maybe don't otherwise confront him or your other ... friends... until we have a more clear plan. Let's not get distracted before we eliminate the Endbringers problem."

"About that, could I ask the help of your power for me to try and confront them, after that? I want to try, but I don't know how it will go", he asked.

"We can definitely try that, maybe get you a camera or something so I know what happens at the meeting, because you won't. And if they kill you and I Reload, you'd need to know what to do differently."

"Right. Food for thought. Thank you again. And sorry for my reaction. It was ... still is a shock", he said. He looked older by a few years compared to when he arrived.

"No problem, take care. Ah, and before I forget, if you ever do a pep talk to a large group of capes before a big fight, maybe don't tell them how many of them will die? Just a friendly advice", I said, remembering his pre-Leviathan speech.

He nodded, didn't ask for details, we exchanged phone numbers, then he lifted off and disappeared into the dark skies. I turned to Lisa, "What do you think?"

"I don't think he will sell us out, but I don't think he has the balls to do much against the ...organization either. I would keep this timeline and see what happens for a few days. Maybe don't talk to Nilbog and Jack Slash till we get an update from Legend or otherwise?", she advised.

"Yeah, I got the same feeling. Dad?"

"Unioner? That's all I am?"

"Sorry. We never came up with a name for you. Why didn't you raise it?"

"I'm not the experienced cape in the house."

"Fair. So, think of something. I don't think Legend will care if we change it later. I suspect he's too in shock to notice."

"Amy, want a ride?", I asked the silent biokinetic.

We kept brainstorming Dad's Cape name all the way back. We haven't reached a consensus.

AN: In Lexi's canon interlude when they meet the first time, she sarcastically says "it's easier to get the blood out" about her black costume, which made an impression on Legend. Taylor hits that nail by mistake and freaks Legend out even more than he already was.

Was I too harsh on Legend? The guy sometimes seems a bit spineless to me, overall, considering his position, at least. Am I off-base?

As I wanted to give Legend a chance on the one hand, but wasn't ready to trust him 100% on the other, I decided not to make any new Save points for as long as I could. If this turned out a waste of time, I would Reload back to before our talk and start over. Which led me to a big dilemma: what was I to do with myself for up to 3 weeks, or till Legend fucked up?

I didn't go to school; I've passed my GED and I had no plans to go to college till after we've dealt with Scion. I didn't want to mess with the local gangs to avoid changing the 'natural' history and bringing Simi to our home instead of Australia, before Legend had a chance to do something about it. And I couldn't deal with any other serious threats without the ability to Reload and retry stuff.

So, after some thought, I convinced Dad that now was the best time to take a vacation. The last time we did so as a family was when there were still the three of us, and we went to New York City. I went to the summer camp just before Emma … went bad, but that wasn't the same. Now we were loaded, Dad's accumulated years of unused vacation days, and we've had about 3 weeks to kill.

And so, after a couple of days, I called the rest of our gang, updated them on the progress with Legend and on our plan, made sure nobody was counting on our presence and that everyone had our cell numbers. Bitch commented that it could have been an email. Which was a nice progress and meant she could maybe read an email now. Or maybe somebody showed her how to use text-to-speech.

Otherwise, nobody objected.

We decided on a road trip since we could travel armed in case something came up on the way and we weren't in a hurry. We bought a second-hand SUV with cash, loaded it up with a few days of supplies, our costumes, and weapons, and got ready to go. We were bringing the food bags from the fridge as the last thing to pack when I noticed a girl standing by our new car, holding a large backpack, compared to her miniature size.

"Hello, Dinah, what are you doing here?", I asked. I was hoping she'd not come up with some new set of instructions for me. It was annoying enough the last time, and by removing Coil long before he could kidnap her, I was perfectly happy to not cross paths with her for as long as possible. Besides, wasn't I a nightmare for Thinkers and especially Precogs?

Dinah was indeed freaked out a bit, but she looked me in the eye and asked, "You know who I am?"

"I am, but you haven't answered me. I am off for vacation, please don't waste my time."

"I don't know who you are, but I … was told to be here now."

"Was told by whom? Can you tell me?"

She just shook her head. I looked around; it was almost noon, with no neighbors in sight to overhear.

"Your power told you?", I asked, resigned.

Her eyes dilated. "But I haven't told anybody about my power…"

"Yeah, it was a good strategy till you decided to show up here. So, what exactly are you doing here? The power told you to show up and…?"

"I don't know!" She was almost crying now. "I got a really bad headache when I tried to ask. I was hoping it would become obvious when I am here. I don't know you, or you", she looked at Dad.

"Inside", I said, and led us back home.

"Did you ask many questions today already or can you do a few more now?", I asked once we were seated and I got Dinah a glass of water.

"I asked 3 questions so far. In the morning, first, it said 97.383% chance that billions die in the next 2 years if I don't show up here today. Then I was told there was a 78.451% chance the clothes on me will be too stinky to wear, so I packed some with me. Then I tried to figure out who you are and got the worst headache of my life. Who are you, people, and what's happening? Please?", she had tears in her eyes.

I sighed and looked at Dad, who was just listening and not saying much. He raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, I am Taylor, this is Danny, my Dad, and we're about to leave for a vacation. Don't ask your power more questions and I will try not to do it by accident. Dad, this is Dinah, she's probably still coming to terms with her new power?", she nodded. "Which gives her percentages of success or failure for the things she asks?", she nodded again. "She can answer only a limited number of questions a day. So, don't form a sentence like a question that can be answered with chance percentages and we should be fine, right?"

"Pretty much, thank you!", Dinah was calming down.

"Let's think about it. I am assuming this whole deal wasn't about us returning you home to your parents, so I am not proposing that." She nodded. "So, either you're supposed to come with us, or we're supposed to stay and do something about whatever it is we're supposed to be doing. Dad, what do you think? Any other options here? Before we waste questions?"

Dad scratched his head. "I am way out of my depth here. I am assuming you know how her power works the best out of the three of us. But, if she's coming too, we need to figure out what to tell her parents, or we become her kidnappers in a few hours."

Dad was on the ball as usual.

"OK, Dinah, can you check with your power whether you're supposed to come with us?"

She closed her eyes and thought for a second, "Yes, the numbers are the same if I don't come with you. Where are you going?"

"We actually haven't thought that far ahead yet. I was thinking South, maybe Florida if we get that far. Never been to Disney World", I said.

Her eyes lit up, "Can I come with, please, I have $212 with me!"

"Yeah, if we just pack you in and go, I think we will get as far as the first state trooper, and then we end up in jail for kidnapping you."

"87.62% chance we arrive in Florida alive and well and the police doesn't stop us even once", she said, smug. Right, Thinkers were a nightmare to argue with.

"Stop wasting questions!", I told her, she shrunk a bit, but didn't look very sorry.

"Do you have a cellphone? You're calling your parents now and convincing them it's a good idea, and you will be calling them every day at least twice. I don't know what you tell them, use your power or whatever. Or tell the truth,… nah, probably a bad idea. Figure it out. You have 10 minutes. And make sure they talk to Dad, I want to be sure we are not hunted by the police before we leave."

Then I looked at Dad and figured out what I was forgetting. "Uhm, right, Dad, do you mind if Dinah joins us? Not exactly a family vacation, but…"

Dinah was now talking on her phone, hopefully to her parents and not to an empty line to get me off her back. It sounded genuine. Dad and I got up and went to the kitchen.

"I am going to take a wild guess here, is she the girl Coil was going to kidnap?", Dad asked.

"Very good! Are you sure you're not a Thinker?", I was impressed with the insight, "she's world-class Precog, her predictions were spot-on, though annoying. She made me turn myself in, kind of."

"So, we don't really have much of a choice here? I am guessing the billions dead thing is the end of the world you're preventing?", Dad wasn't really asking.

"Pretty much. I just don't want to end up in jail again. I am not setting up new Save points till we're back. Please remind me, before I do something dangerous", I smiled.

"Yeah, I am sure it's going to stop you", he said deadpan and we went back to the living room.

Dinah looked up, "yeah, here they are, Mom, hey, Mr. Danny, can you talk to my Mom a bit? I explained that my friend Taylor has invited me to come with you for a vacation and I forgot to tell my parents about it", she made a pleading gesture with her hands.

Dad looked at me. I shrugged. He picked up the phone. "Hello, Danny Hebert is speaking… yes, from the Dockworkers Association …. oh, you're Roy's sister?…Great, please send him my regards….I was as surprised as you are. Apparently, the kids decided about this all on their own and then remembered to inform us today … yeah, first time with mine too. She's usually more responsible… I don't mind much. We have a big car. Sure, I will make sure she calls and I guess Taylor and Dinah will share rooms in the hotels... Sure, I will write down the expense and will send you later. It's not a problem...Yes, I will make sure she does her school assignments too", he raised his brow at Dinah, who was holding a couple of books she took out of her backpack before he started asking. Fucking Precogs.

Eventually, he gave his number to Dinah's mom, wrote down hers, and we were off, after I went to the basement and took an extra load of weapons and our radios.

We picked up pizzas on the way out of town and stopped at a picnic area to have a quick lunch. When we opened the upper box, we discovered there was one slice missing. Same in the second box.

"Oh, did the cook take the 2 slices out?", Dinah asked. "That's disgusting."

"I've checked. All was fine when they gave them to me", Dad said, puzzled as well.

"Where the pizzas on the back seat beside you, Dinah?", I asked.

"Yes, but I haven't touched them. I swear", she thought I was accusing her.

"Hey, it's fine, I think I know what's happened and I know it wasn't you", I said, taking a slice, inviting the others to do the same. I looked around, ensuring we were alone in the area. "I am going to teach you to use your power to figure such things out. Do you know about powers' classification?"

Dinah finished chewing and said, "Sort of, there are Thinkers, Tinkers, Changers, Blasters, Masters…, I don't remember them all."

"OK, do you remember how the powers that allow the person to infiltrate or hide are called?"

"Strangers?"

"Very good, like the Nice Guy was, from Slaughterhouse Nine. So, could a Stranger steal a slice of pizza right under our nose?"

"You think there's a Stranger that stole our pizza?" Dinah asked.

"Pretty sure. And I even know her name. What I want you to do, if you're up to it and have some questions left, is to think how you can use your power to catch her. Without saying anything, because she's sitting right here at the table, eating another slice and probably laughing her pants off. I counted the slices and there's another one missing already", I said smiling.

"You're both pulling my leg, aren't you?" Dad said.

Dinah closed her eyes, then opened them, took a plastic fork from the table, and suddenly stubbed it into the table just beside the pizza box.

"Ouch, mother f... what the… it's just pizza!", Aisha said, appearing at the table, rubbing her hand.

"Very good, Dinah, you're learning. Hello Aisha", I said, "Dad, Dinah, meet Aisha the Stranger with no restraint or patience. She could've waited till we got here and just eaten with us, and nobody would have known she's here for a little while longer, probably."

"But how did you figure me out? People just forget me or don't see me!", she cried, blowing at her hand.

"Story for another time. Since when were you listening? When did you get into the car?"

"I followed Bro to your house last time he was there, after I figured he was in a new gang, so I knew you were going today. I figured, I will come with and nobody will notice."

"Great plan, I am calling your brother to come pick you up", I said and deleted the smirk from her face.

"Uhm, Taylor, my power says if she doesn't come with us, people still die, almost the same numbers again", Dinah said. Aisha's smirk was back.

"That's just great. Can you ask your power whether more people are coming and do we need a bus?", I asked sarcastically.

She closed her eyes, "No, that's it, this car is fine, and my head hurts now, though", guess Dinah didn't catch my sarcasm. Oops.

I took out my phone and dialed Brian, "Hi, in case you're looking for your sister, apparently she sneaked up to go with us on vacation using her new Stranger power."

"What do you mean, Aisha has powers?", Brian screamed into the phone.

At the same time Aisha screamed, "Not cool! Nobody knows! How can you out me like that?!?"

"Well, Aisha, you should have thought better before sneaking up on us, and Brian, yes she does, and she's even more of a pain in the ass now than she was before. Still want to adopt her? Anyhow, we're too far out to come back already", I lied, "and we don't mind the company, so we'll be back in a couple of weeks or so?"

Brian made the noises of a worried big brother, but I wasn't really asking his permission at this point. He made me promise to make Aisha call him every day.

After we've finished the pizza and were back in the car, I said, "Well Dad, welcome to the Cape life. Ready for the vacation? Looks like it's just the 4 of us, saving billions of people. No pressure."

AN: New mini-arc, new click-bait title.

I was too lazy to double-check this, but Google AI claims Dinah triggers sometime in January and then misses a few weeks of school. Which made this a too-perfect coincidence to pass up.

Aisha originally triggered after Leviathan, but since we're changing history, and she's too great a character, I decided that removing Coil butterflied things enough to speed things up for her. Let's say the Empire was less busy fighting ABB without Coil stirring the pot, so she got attacked earlier and triggered. Not going into the details. Not important for the plot.

Friendly, advice for the more serious authors, don't trust AI for serious research. While it's mostly correct, when I asked Google more questions about who Dinah knew or didn't, it mentioned as a side note that she "was kidnapped by Coil, real name Roy Christner" (who's actually the mayor and her uncle), so...

And a question for the US East Coast dwellers, if we have any here, I saw that driving from Boston area to Orlando is about 20 hours total, so it could be a family roadtrip for a few days each way, plus a week or so there. Is it something people do? Or would do on Earth Bet, you think? Or would they just fly? I mean, does the idea of driving 1.5k miles each way survive the suspense of disbelief here? If not, tough luck, they're going on the roadtrip, the fate of the world depends on it.