Omake: Welcome to the Bay of Fog, Usurper.
A sound. That terrible, resonant call was the only warning anyone had that things were about to change for Brockton Bay. The Endbringer Sirens had been activated. Dennis froze mid sentence, before sighing slightly and continuing. "Sorry Dad, I'll have to finish that story about Missy and her new friend later. Duty calls." He turned away from the comatose figure and left the hospital room, rapidly breaking to a jog as he neared the main lobby. Wouldn't do anyone good if he was stuck in a panicked herd trying to escape the building.
Clockblocker hit the door to the assembly area at a dead sprint and skid to a halt next to Aegis and Gallant. Aegis easily caught him as he keeled over, panting from the exertion.
"Nice to see you made it in time Clock," Aegis started, and Clock blinked for a moment. Had he really made that statement without realizing the pun potential? File that for later to poke him about, Aegis was still talking. "I don't suppose you passed Vista on the way here?" Dennis frowned inside his helmet for a moment and straightened.
"No... she was much closer to the Rig than I was, something about ice cream with a friend. She should have been back already even if she had to find a good time to separate from them. Has she checked in at all?" Aegis shook his head even as he waved over Kid Win who had just entered with a batch of Tinkers from... New York? New Jersey? New something. "We got a text when the mess first started saying she was "helping a potential parahuman asset" but nothing since. Piggot was livid, but ordered us to form up anyway, we don't have time to search for her and her phone dropped off the grid not long after."
That was... more than a little concerning. Clock opened his mouth, to say what he wasn't totally sure, when Legend strode into the room. He listened to the (de)motivational speech with half an ear, still thinking about Vista dropping off the map and...her...friend... crap.
"Aegis!" he hissed under his breath. "Do we know if her friend is a parahuman?"
New triggers were traumatic as hell after all and if Vista's friend didn't have full control yet she could have accidentally teleported then to Tahiti for all they knew, or just thrown up a techbane field that was cutting Vista off from comms. Aegis blinked for a moment and cursed. "We'll find her later, for now focus on what we can do." Clock turned back to Legend as he finished his speech, grabbing an armband as the box passed him. "These armbands will-"
Bang
The building shook in its foundations as a sharp report echoed the bay. Clockblocker tilted his head slightly. The hell? That felt like it came from the Docks. He glanced out the window at the shipyard, which PHO had had a panic attack about a few weeks back ( To be fair buildings up and repairing themselves was slightly more BS than "normal" powers. ) and froze. From this angle he had an excellent view of a model-perfect WW2 battle ship sailing full throttle into the bay. That said, he didn't think the standard model originally came with glowing Sigil paint jobs.
Or matte-black plate anywhere there wasn't a backlit line.
And he definitely knew the freaking laser cannons were not factory standard.
The Tinker ship hit open water and formed up in line with a full battle group, all similarly equipped. The cannons rotated slightly, each tracking the same target if he had to guess. He idly wondered why they weren't broadside so the back guns could come into play, then as if his thoughts had been heard, the back guns abruptly seemed to fold and remain still at the same time. At this point, Dennis' mind pretty much blue screened and he started to chuckle.
"You think the Endbringer is funny child?" snarled one of the Brutes behind him. Reminiscent of Lung if he was being honest.
"Not at all," Clock said, now laughing outright. "just thinking that some Tinker apparently decided they don't make them like they used to." he got out between giggles. Every cape present blinked and looked out the windows to see the Tinker's toys. There was a gleam of light as the cannon barrels split into four, revealing another compressed blast charging for a shot. Then-
BANG
-another report rocked the bay, shots impacting maybe a mile out. In the flash Dennis could just make out a writhing shape charging the shores. Leviathan. The ships promptly proceeded to break any resemblance to their historic counter parts and split lengthwise, revealing the sorts of cannons you only saw in cartoons on satellites and the like. And spaceships, he thought vaguely as the barrage continued while more of the BFGs (what else are you going to call that, honestly.) were revealed, each beginning to hum deep enough to be felt even in the building.
Leviathan breached the water in a jump, heading straight for the middle of the formation. Dennis heard gasps as the capes in the room saw the damage already inflicted by the main guns, scars and blackened marks lining the abomination's form. One of his eyes was just...gone, as was his left hand, most of his right knee, and his right arm mysteriously missing. Thinking back later Clock assumed Leviathan had gone for the jump to try and break the lead ship and get around them to Brockton itself, where the concern of splash damage would force the guns to halt. No such luck. A field of hexagons slammed into existence midair, blocking the jump and sending the Endbringer crashing into another field just above the waves, and coincidentally, perfectly in the crossfire of each BFG.
"Relentless?" Glory Girl muttered quietly. Not quiet enough as every eye in the building turned to her. Glory flinched then said firmly. "That looks like Relentless' barrier power. Never seen anything else like it."
All eyes turned back to the Tinker fleet (Relentless?) as the hum changed pitch one more time. The guns briefly held a miniature star in each barrel, then there was a flash that turned night to day. When it faded, most of Leviathan had been reduced to debris falling from the skies, with a peculiar sphere falling into the seas. Dennis felt numb. Just like that? The speakers in the room and around town crackled for a moment before Relentless' voice came through clearly.
"The seas belong to those who sail them little beast. You are not welcome in our territory. From this day forward the Fog rule the ocean, as it should be. Let this serve as a demonstration to all who would challenge the Fleet of Fog's claims. To harm our family will result in nothing but a brief flash of agony and an abrupt silence. Don't push us." The voice cut off and the ships returned home to prepare. After all, when one declares war on the Endbringers, it's best to plan for the worst.
A/N: Ok, this is literally the second thing I've ever written and meant for public eye so forgive my pacing issues, have a tendency to monologue even in life sometimes. Aside from that, feel free to criticize and I'll do what I can to fix it up, but note that I'm kinda crap at keeping up with notifications and schedules so it may be left as is after roughly a week or two. In case it needs clarification, Taylor justified keeping Missy safe by her by having Vista warp space to get shots from the back guns in front of the ships.
