“Greed and wrath,” Defiant said. “People want this world and the resources it has, everything it’s connected to, and the possibilities it offers. They’re willing to hurt others to get what they want.”

Gary shook his head. “It’s you.”

Defiant looked confused, but Dragon said, “I don’t think that’s especially fair, Gary. Heroes as a whole are doing their best. Defiant and I haven’t been showing our faces, but we come with potential solutions to key problems. Give us a chance.”

“Parahumans took the world from us,” Gary said. “They took the sky. Our greatest hero turned out to be the greatest monster, and we don’t get any answers about why. Haven’t we been giving you chances from the beginning? How much worse do things have to get?”

He’d barely remembered that he had people watching. Like always, people in costume drew intense focus, and so his debate was drawing more attention than an argument already would.

It surprised him that the people were nodding along as he talked.

“We’re doing the best we can, just like any of you,” Defiant said.

“I think we’re owed better than this,” Gary said. He gestured. Emotion seeped into his voice, unwanted. “This—this isn’t good. I was a candidate for mayor. I heard things, saw the photos and video. There are things out there that, sure they aren’t as strong as Endbringers, but we’re fighting them with a fraction of the number. There are worse things out there. Tinker devices gone haywire. Sleeper. Monsters who look like men and women. And now war?”

There were murmurs of agreement.

“Perfect is the enemy of good, Gary,” Dragon said.

“The ‘good’ guys ran! Where were the Shepherds!?”

Again, he had to remind himself of where he was, but he did so too late, here. The people here weren’t necessarily his. Twenty to thirty percent of the people at this station were people he’d recruited or people who worked alongside him. Ostensibly, they were largely in support of recolonizing Earth B. But the Shepherds had linked their group to the ‘go back to better’ cause, and that ran contrary to something fundamental in Gary’s view of the situation. They hadn’t earned that publicity, only rode the wave of popularity as the movement found traction.

To speak against them was to potentially lose his own people.

His own people drowned out Dragon’s initial response, joining their voices and growing outrage to Gary’s. Some weren’t as loud as the others, but all the same, it surprised him.

“They were stopping a third group,” Dragon said. “They left discreetly when they got word that there were trespassers. We didn’t think it would be that bad. The flanking party was unexpected.”