(PROFESSOR UZUMAKI) AFTERMATH

Sophia had been angry.

The feeling had stayed with her all the way from the staging area to the shoreline, lingering beneath the fear every veteran cape wore on their faces. Leviathan was coming, and Sophia had every intention of proving that she belonged on the battlefield. The plan had been stupid, dangerous, and almost certainly suicidal, yet some stubborn part of her had refused to let it go.

She had wanted to be the cape who finally killed an Endbringer.

Looking back on that thought now, Sophia wasn’t entirely sure whether to laugh or bury her face in her hands.

She stood among dozens of gathered heroes and villains, her crossbow hanging forgotten at her side while the rain soaked through her costume. Around her, conversations had dwindled to scattered murmurs. Somewhere behind her the Triumvirate continued organizing the final preparations, their voices barely audible beneath the wind sweeping in from the ocean.

Nearly every face was turned toward the horizon.

As she watched the dark water, Legend’s briefing drifted back to her. He hadn’t offered reassurance or empty promises that everything would work out. He had spoken with the blunt certainty of someone who had stood through too many Endbringer attacks to waste words on false hope.

People were going to die. A lot of people.

Everyone standing here had accepted that before putting on their costumes. Sophia had accepted it too.

Even so, nothing in that briefing had prepared them for the flash of gold that erupted from the shoreline.

At first, Sophia couldn’t even make sense of what she was seeing. The blazing shape tore across the bay so quickly that it seemed to grow with every second, swelling into a colossal fox wrapped in golden chakra until it stood over the ocean itself. Even from miles away, there was no mistaking its shape or the sheer power emanating from it.

The shoreline fell silent.

Then the ocean exploded.

A wall of water rose into the air before bursting into steam as it struck the golden construct. The impact reached them a second later, the air itself shuddering as the shockwave rolled across the bay and sent rain swirling in every direction.

Sophia had watched Endbringer footage before. She had never seen Leviathan getting launched across the ocean like a kicked football.

Someone nearby began muttering curses under their breath.

Another voice, small and disbelieving, managed a single word.

“What…”

The answer never came.

The fight continued farther out to sea, too distant for anyone to follow clearly, yet every few seconds another column of water erupted into the sky or another impact sent the ocean convulsing beneath the storm.

Then the clouds split apart.

One moment the storm blanketed the distance. The next, a pillar of blinding light punched through it, carving a path that stretched so high Sophia lost sight of where it ended. The cloud cover wasn’t pushed aside or torn apart. It was simply gone wherever the beam had passed.

For a second, the world stood still.

The crash of the waves disappeared. The wind no longer mattered. Rain still struck her masked face, yet she barely registered it as every person on the shoreline stared upward.

The shockwave arrived soon after.

The beach trembled beneath Sophia’s boots as the blast swept across the bay, carrying enough force to whip capes and costumes violently through the air before continuing inland toward the city.

She stared at the empty horizon.

There was no tidal wave. No glimpse of Leviathan. Only the rain pattering across the water while the minutes slipped by without anyone daring to break the silence.

When the golden fox finally returned, it crossed the bay as swiftly as it had departed, shrinking as it neared the shoreline. Rivers of golden chakra peeled away from its colossal form and faded into the ether until only a single figure remained.

He landed lightly on the beach, water streaming from his orange jacket and pooling around his sandals. He wore the same easy grin Sophia had seen a hundred times in the gym, the sort he greeted students with before class, as though the battle out at sea had been nothing more than another morning workout. 

Then her gaze dropped.

His right hand gripped one of Leviathan’s legs.

The Endbringer’s body dragged across the wet sand behind him, leaving a deep trench in the beach while seawater streamed from the gaping hole that ran clean through its chest.

She could only stare. So could everyone else.

Heroes and villains stood exactly where they were, as though moving now would somehow break whatever spell had settled over the shoreline. Even the Triumvirate watched in silence alongside them.

Jesus Christ.

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♦ BREAKING: Leviathan Confirmed Dead?

In: Boards ► America ► Brockton Bay ► General ► Parahuman Discussion

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Original Poster)

Hearing reports from multiple capes on scene that Leviathan is down. No official confirmation yet.

(Showing page 1 of 89)

►99nina_o24

Bullshit

►talkingitthrough (Cape husband)

Mods

►NonstopMusicLive

Either OP gets banned in five minutes or this thread becomes history.

►Midgetrails

I've got friends at ENE. Something definitely happened. They won’t just tell us what yet.

►ledburner

Can we stop posting “my cousin works at the PRT” every Endbringer fight?

End of Page.  1, 2, 3 … 89

(Showing page 27 of 89)

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Original Poster)

Mods just pinned a PRT announcement thread.

►UnderstandingBig9090

@Bagrat: “…ceased activity?”

He’s an Endbringer, not a fucking computer.

End of Page.  25, 26, 27 … 89

♦ BREAKING: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

In: Boards ► America ► Brockton Bay ► General ► Parahuman Discussion

►klynn15 (Veteran Member) (Original Poster)

Shot this from the evacuation route near the Boardwalk. Sorry for the quality.

[Video]

(Showing page 51 of 217)

►WightHouse (Cape Husband)

Pause at 0:07.

►grahamworks

@WightHouse: I still can’t tell what I’m looking at.

►CalmBeneathCastles

@WightHouse: Giant fox?

►ImCommie_Jesus_

@CalmBeneathCastles: No, a fucking Pokemon.

►Loj35

Is anyone else seeing nine tails?

►thyrfa

@Loj35: Nine what?

►Loj35

@thyrfa: Count them.

►WightHouse (Cape Husband)

Enhanced the last frame.

(posts cropped image)

►A_fiSHy_fish

WHY WOULD YOU ENHANCE A 240P VIDEO

End of Page.  49, 50, 51 … 217

♦ BREAKING: OFFICIAL PRT STATEMENT 

In: Boards ► America ► Brockton Bay ► PRT ► Official Announcements

►Miss Mercury (Protectorate Employee) (Original Poster)

Leviathan is confirmed to be deceased. More info will be publicised soon. 

(Showing page I of 3459)

►hchan1

holy shit

►WightHouse (Cape Husband)

HOLY SHIT

►ZubinSayingSomething

no fucking way

►Accomplished-Bet8635

refresh refresh refresh

►bearwrestlingwolf

Is this real?

►rahomka

I’ve refreshed this page like thirty times.

End of Page.  1, 2, 3 … 3459

(Showing page 3367 of 3459)

►l0ttid0tti

Who killed it?

►Roachpile

@l0ttid0tti: Orange guy.

►l0ttid0tti

@Roachpile: What orange guy?

►Roachpile

@l0ttid0tti: He’s wearing an orange jacket. Blond hair.

►octanecat

@Roachpile That’s not a cape name.

End of Page.  3367, 3368, 3369 … 3459

(Showing page 3459 of 3459)

►XxVoid_CowboyxX

…

Guys.

I think that’s my gym teacher.

►tiedyedflowers

@XxVoid_CowboyxX: Sure.

►jtwhat87

@XxVoid_CowboyxX: My teacher is secretly Eidolon.

►tiedyedflowers

@XxVoid_CowboyxX: Proof or ban.

►Transquisitor

@XxVoid_CowboyxX: Wait. 

Is his name Naruto?

►XxVoid_CowboyxX

@Transquisitor: Yes. Naruto Uzumaki

End of Page. … 3459

(Brilliger 🔰Mod: Thread locked.)