End of Phase Two: 28

D:00H:38M:21S

"Where the hell did his action bars go…" Jon muttered, clicking through the various windows, though he kept getting distracted by the myriad of POV shots he now had access to. It had taken a good fifteen minutes at least, but the entire group had convened atop the head of the fallen pangolin and a rather large crowd, only recently shooed away from the scene, had reconvened to let out a massive cheer of approval to their saviors.

There wasn't a single person in the group that didn't have at least half a dozen notifications flashing and waiting to be opened, and that included the Level 51 Miss Mist. The moment she accepted the squad invite, without even questioning the "Command Room Integrations" pop up she received, she accepted the additional feature and her P.A.I. joined the crowd of them floating in the space above Jon's chair. Nate had once again come out the farthest ahead, though only just barely with both Freakenstein and Swansong also sporting over a dozen new notifications each. Deciding to drop the curiosity that was Nate's missing action bars for the time being and with the crowd still being far too loud for any of them to actually calm down just yet, Jon decided to prompt the notifications when Nate wouldn't. The crowd would still be cheering and hollering for at least a few more minutes and Jon needed to sate his curiosity.

"Sheesh dude fine, might as well get through them… I mean… well holy shit," Nate muttered in their private comms line, something Jon was able to note by a few indicators on his dashboard that had taken him no time at all to get used to. Angie started from the top of the list and began working her way down them one by one.

"Congratulations! You have reached Level 17, please return to your Safe House or Squad Base to assign stat points and additional attributes!"

"Raid Mission Completed! Mecha Kaiju Monstrosity! So here's the deal. You guys jumped so far ahead of schedule you never actually got to find this mission. Axio had this whole big thing planned for all of Phase Two where you guys were supposed to slowly power up and get to Clockwork Tyrant's level all for a big climactic battle but that jerk Hydramental just haaaad to go and stick his meddling little finger into it. That said, Axio actually thinks the gumption and can-do attitude you all showed with how you reacted to this situation should be rewarded, not ignored. Each member of the Squad Raid Group has received this mission completion and will be rewarded based on their contribution to taking down Perry the Pangolin. Reward: Your contributions have tied you for first place with three other members of your squad. You have each received a Scroll of Level Up, 20,000 Credits, and two Extra-Large Reputation Boosts.

"Congratulations! You have reached Level 18, please return to your Safe House or Squad Base to assign stat points and additional attributes!"

"New Achievement! Aerial Warrior. Pulling off one big hit way up high is one thing, but to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and destroy all while flying well above the altitude that any human should be outside of a flight suit is a whole other beast. You destroyed multiple enemy targets all while flying through the air with perfect precision. This is a Platinum Level achievement. Reward: You have received an A+:Tier loot box."

"New Achievement! Diamond Demolition. Okay Loophole, first the Platinum Base yesterday and now you've gone and cleared a Diamond Level Base today? Sure, maybe it was with a small army at your back, but to say they could have done this without you would be a lie. Hold that head of yours up as high as it will go. This is one time where it's okay to have an ego. This is a Platinum Level achievement. Reward: You have received an A+:Tier loot box."

"New Achievement! In the Knick of Time. You really just looked death in the eye and said, nope not today. Your quick thinking, and your friend's willingness to be a human tank, stopped a whole lot of catastrophe today. Even if only a handful of them were watching the events unfold from their windows and the streets like chickens looking up at a rain storm, and trust me there were a lot as you're about to see when we get to your Phase Points Gained, that was still a fraction of the amount you actually have ended up saving here today. I'm talking at least 30,000 lives here Loophole, and that's severely lowballing the estimates given that we don't know just how powerful that explosion would have been if Freakenstein's power didn't let him absorb most of it. Don't worry, he's getting a bigger reward for being so willing to take a beating. This is a Diamond Level achievement. Reward: You have received an S:Tier loot box."

"Phase Points Gained! Team Victory: Complete an objective while a part of a team. This gain has a static value. Modified by Squad Trophy Valor Crest. Total Value: 250 points. Squad Raider: Complete an objective while in a Squad Raid Group. This gain has a static value. Modified by Squad Trophy Valor Crest. Total Value: 350 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sapient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 31470 points. Rising Fame (x5): Your reputation has risen in rank! This gain has a static value. Total Value: 1250 points. Powerleveler: Gain more than one level within a single hour. This gain has a static value. 100 points times the amount of levels gained. Total Value: 200 points."

"Reputation Increased! (x2)! You have gone from District Defender up to Fledgling City Protector. You are now eligible to claim Small Cities and equivalent territories."

"Squad Reputation Increased! (x3)! Your squad has gone from Street-Level Squad to City Defense Force. Your squad is now eligible to claim Large City and equivalent territories. This size has been equalized and is increased to Large Metropolitan and equivalent sized territories due to your squad-mate Miss Mist's Personal Reputation."

"New Achievement! Nationally Recognized! Your squad has reached the City Defense Force level of reputation. This reputation comes with increased notoriety, including the new risk of NPC based attacks toward your reputation. I wouldn't be too worried though, you've got a hell of a well rounded team here, even if Silver and Red Lasso don't opt to stick around. This is a Diamond Level Achievement. Reward: Each member of your squad will receive 15,000 credits. As the recognized squad leader, you will receive an S:Tier Squad Base loot box.

"Lucky Charm Feature Activated! Your S:Tier Squad Base loot box has been upgraded to an S+:Tier Squad Base loot box!"

"Timekeeper. This power has increased to Level 2. Time Bank Capacity increased to 16 minutes per day. Your max rewind time with Timekeeper's Control is now 5 minutes and 30 seconds. Temporal Sickness will now start to take effect once you have utilized Timekeeper's Control more than 25 times in a concurrent 5 minute period. Your new Time Bank Capacity will take effect at the start of the new game day at 6PM EST."

"Gravity Punch. This ability has increased to Level 5. Every 5% of your Stamina, up to 50% of your total, put into this skill now deals an additional 90% damage. Every 5% of your Stamina you use for this ability past 50% of your Stamina deals an additional 180% damage. This ability has been augmented 1 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Limit Breaker."

"Launchpad. This ability has increased to Level 3. The cost of this ability has been reduced to 15% Stamina. This ability has not been Augmented."

"Quantum Overclock. This ability has increased to Level 3. Initial stamina refill increased to 140% capacity. All other effects still apply. This ability has not been Augmented."

"Personal Gravity Laws. This ability has increased to Level 5. The base level stamina drain for this ability has been reduced to 4 stamina per second of use. This ability has not been Augmented."

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"Float Like A Butterfly. This ability has increased to Level 5. The duration of this skill has increased from 25 seconds to 30 seconds. This ability has not been Augmented."

"Defy the Odds. This ability has increased to Level 2. Chance increased from 1% to 1.25% for every point of luck you have minus the enemy's total luck to bypass any resistances they have. This ability has not been Augmented."

"Echo Step. This ability has increased to Level 2. Base cost of this ability is reduced to 475 Stamina when not jumping to a location where an afterimage version of yourself resides. This ability has not been Augmented."

The notifications finally started to fade from Nate's view and both Freakenstein and Pinky had given into the urge to check their notifications as well. Theirs were similarly finishing up before Jon could jump over to follow along with their info. All he knew for sure was that if the others received similar rewards, the squad's average level was about to rise by at least a few, not to mention the impact on the Top Ten list.

Jon was just about to pull it open when he noticed a few news vans pulling up to the scene, the crowds slowly giving way to allow the vans to pass as James Grigsby, the very host that Clockwork Tyrant had used to try and stake his ultimate claim on New York City, still ragged and looking as far from camera ready as possible, flagged them down. Jon had to hand it to him, even when he should be running for a therapist and a long vacation anywhere but here, the dude knew a news story when he saw one.

"Buckle up guys and gals, I think you're about to be on the news," Jon said, navigating his console up to a local television connection.

"Damn, I think Red and I are gonna skedaddle before they go an' broadcast us as part of your band of do gooders. We're already gonna have to break some hearts after we finish with those fucking Desperados and break bad all over again," Silver said, tipping his hat and following Red off to the side, deftly avoiding a few civilians trying to hold their phones up to catch them as they left. "Give me a holler when y'all are done with the fame, Dusky is still gonna need to send us home."

He didn't wait any longer than that before the squad "Good" y'know, for now, left the Squad Raid Group.

"I swear, that man is as dense as a bag of bricks now as he was when our wave first started," Miss Mist sighed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose. "There's more than enough pictures that are going to be plastered everywhere that people are going to know they were involved… what's the point of leaving now?"

"I feel like half the men that get turned into Augments are dense as a bag of bricks," Pinky laughed, looking over at Miss Mist out of the corner of her eye before throwing an arm over her shoulders. "Please tell me you're gonna stick around, given that I'm pretty sure Dusky is gonna be joining us, the guys are seriously outnumbering Swan and me."

Miss Mist seemed to jump at Pinky's sudden grasp, though that could have been a side effect from being trapped in a small box for nearly two days and having to constantly maintain her vapor form. She looked from Pinky and then over to Nate who had his eyes focused on the crowd and the news van that was quickly setting up. He had a look that Jon felt came off far more serious than it needed to. Though given just how much had happened in the last week, Jon really was impressed with just how far his friend had come.

"Hydramental got away… He killed Ry- er… he killed Pinneedle… If your plan is still to go after him… If your plan is to make him atone for what he's done here… Then yeah, I'd still like to help you guys," Miss Mist said after just a moment had passed. Then before anyone else could say anything she added, "Though… don't expect me to step up to be the leader or anything just because I've been in this stupid game longer than you guys."

"We ain't looking for a new leader anyway, that's what we got Loopie for," Freakenstein smacked Nate on the back hard, his body still dripping wet. He had to swim a good portion of the way back to the city and Jon had a hard time not laughing as he whistled "Row, Row, Row your boat" up until he backstroked right into some of the debris that had rained into the bay from Nate's defense of the sky. It was only then that he was able to use his abilities to rapidly make his way back to the group.

"So how are we playing this?" Pinky asked. "I assume Loopie is gonna be the one to do the talking."

"Hey, that's Freak's nickname for me, get your own," Nate shot back.

"I could always go back to calling you and Swanny, SwanHole," Pinky teased and Swansong got visibly redder.

"I don't think I like Swanny either…" Swansong chimed in and Pinky couldn't help but let out an audible laugh that drew more than a few curious glances from the nearby civilians.

"Guys, I think the show's about to start," Jon said, rolling his eyes as he tried to keep the growing group from getting off track.

"Then how are we gonna handle this?" Miss Mist asked curiously, causing Nate to just shrug.

"Let's just see what happens here… no need to have a planned statement or anything. Though, first thing's first," Nate said before he looked over at Duskbreaker and sent him a squad invite. They met eyes briefly, Duskbreaker clearly barely holding back something before he took a deep breath in and accepted the invite.

"Welp, buckle up guys… that means Loophole's about to improvise and monologue. Probably going to send you all to war. It's not too late to back out Miss Mist," Jon said and Miss Mist quickly moved her hand to hide a laugh. He looked away from the array of POV shots and went back to the television input on his console. He quickly moved through the local feeds he had access to. It took a bit of scrolling, but he finally found the channel, a camera rushing up as a disheveled intern hurried to hand James a microphone.

James quickly brushed down his wrinkled and dirty button up before running his hand through his hair, taking in a deep breath, and looking directly into the camera.

"Good Evening New York, I'm James Grigsby and I'm coming to you with a special breaking edition of Frontline New York. It's been nearly two days… Two days since the terrorist that called himself Clockwork Tyrant brought death… destruction… and madness to our home. After a night of horror, myself and many others were taken hostage by this madman, intent on leveraging the lives of ourselves, as well as Mayor Manning's family and several other notable members of our community toward his own gain. For the part I played in giving him a mouthpiece to this city… I am sorry," James said, his eyes still serious as the welled up ever so slightly. There was a small hitch in his voice, but Jon wasn't sure if it was necessarily genuine or not. "It is thanks to the brave heroes behind me that a new catastrophe was narrowly avoided. It was thanks to Loophole and the members of Fortune's Cadence that-"

Nate had moved in a flash, stepping through the air with Echo Step and appearing next to James. The man cut off his monologue mid sentence and jumped slightly, looking over at Nate with wide eyes and maybe just a bit of fear, though the look was gone quickly as he deftly caught himself. Curiously, Nate's Time Bank had dropped by almost all of the just over two minutes he still had available to him in the brief moment that Jon had looked away from Nate's POV. Jon had made it a habit of keeping the clock up, trying to piece together what might have happened any time that clock changed in the blink of an eye.

"Ah speaking of, Loophole, do you have anything-" James had held the microphone out toward Nate when he, rather uncharacteristically, took the offered device from him.

"There's a lot that can be said about what's happened here… a lot that James would probably like to say too…" Nate said, the camera focusing on him. "But this isn't over… not by a long shot."

"I uh… Don't you think it's important to-"

"Ease of mind… being able to breath easy and know that the city around you is safe… it is important… You all deserve that level of peace after the horrors that have been inflicted on all of us these last few days. You deserve the kind of peace you might have gotten back when The First's team, The Paragons of Justice were still here defending us."

"Well I mean, if he-"

"But he's not here… and no one knows where he went. Trust me when I tell you I wish I knew, that I wish any of us knew... but we don't," Nate said, plowing through James' attempts to interject. It was only then that Jon noticed that at some point during the news crew's setup phase, James had apparently slipped in an ear piece that must have been being used to feed him talking points from whatever producer was trying to steer this conversation. "I don't mean to cause any of you alarm… and the team of people that have helped stop this calamity from happening don't want any of you to panic. But we're not The Paragons of Justice. None of us are The First. But that doesn't mean that we are going to sit on our asses when we all know we can be doing more for this city."

"But… Loophole, isn't it better if-"

"If we had stopped the threat completely, I wouldn't be doing this. I wouldn't be cutting you off Mr. Grigsby. But it's important for people to know that this isn't over. As big of a victory as this was, we failed you all by letting more than one person responsible for this get away."

"Wait, are you saying Clockwork Tyrant-"

"No Mr. Grigsby. Clockwork Tyrant was every bit the vile villain that you wish to paint him as, let's not make any mistakes about that. But Hydramental and Mr. Factory are every bit as responsible for this atrocity as he is and to say things are over just because Clockwork Tyrant and this mechanical monstrosity have been defeated would be nothing more than a pleasant story. This isn't over as long as they are still free and I think I speak for everyone on this team when I say we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice."

"Oh? Is this your way of saying that Fortune's Cadence are officially declaring themselves as the new protectors of New York City?" James asked when Nate actually let him get in a full sentence. Nate just shook his head.

"Fortune's Cadence… it was a name chosen by Swansong and myself when we first started working together. We were dancing to the beat of luck it felt like and we took a name that was a play on that…" Nate said, looking from James and then back into the camera. "Let's not be mistaken. Luck did play a part in things today, but we didn't just rely on that. It was because of the teamwork of Miss Mist, Freakenstein, Pretty Pink Warthog, Duskbreaker, Swansong, and maybe just a few others that are less inclined to be publicly recognized that led us to this victory."

"Hey don't leave yourself out of that fearless leader! You kicked ass Loopie!" Freakenstein yelled from behind him, eliciting a small round of laughter followed by a chorus of cheers from the nearest of the crowd.

"We're not Fortune's Cadence any longer, because we've grown so far beyond that in just a few days," Nate said, taking in a deep breath. Jon found himself on the edge of his seat, mostly because he hadn't even thought that there had been any discussion of a change of name for the group just yet. Still, he wasn't about to interrupt and none of the group behind him seemed to be moving to stop him either, although both Pinky and Freakenstein shared matching looks of unbridled curiosity. "We might look like a random assortment, we might be made up of people that some might have thought were villains… but we assembled to do something together that none of us could do on our own. We're Wildcard Assembly now, and we will defend New York City and everyone else we can. We will help repair this city from the destruction that has been laid before it, because that's what Guardians do. And that's a promise I intend to keep."

"Alert! Your squad Fortune's Cadence has been publicly recognized as Wildcard Assembly. Please proceed to the Registration Office to officially update your squad name."

"Alert! Your squad Wildcard Assembly has laid a claim on the Large Metropolitan Territory: New York City. Defeat and remove any influence of Miscreant Squad Droids R' Us to make your claim official."

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