It was interesting that the location chosen was ‘parkland’. A slice of wilderness from a foreign reality, tamed only in that the thickest of the underbrush had been cleared away. In a clearing, opened up on three sides by logging, a creek emptied into a fat pond. A rock stabbed out of the pond, of a rough size and shape to serve as a podium.

This general area reminded me of our skirmish outside of the library, in our first testing of what the team was capable of.

My initial thought was that the destination had changed because the other place had no power, and that this place would, but… obviously wrong, given that there wasn’t any power out in a patch of park.

Other heroes had gathered already. Narwhal and Weld stood out, as part of the remnants of free and available capes from the Wardens. Cinereal was about as somber and intimidating in a breaker shroud of gray ash as Narwhal was scintillating and bright.

Auzure was here. I knew Spell, Dido, and Lark. Black, blue and gold. Uncomfortable to see them, but they didn’t seem to pay me much mind.

The Shepherds had Moonsong, who was paying a lot of attention to Capricorn. She wasn’t in charge, though, thankfully. Whorl had the reins for now, and he was decent enough.

Advance Guard had turned up. If the Shepherds occupied the nine o’clock spot on the dial, then Advance Guard situated themselves at two o’clock. Their numbers had been cut down by their part in the unfortunate conclusion to the Fallen raid, and the help they had provided after. They were still numerous.

Foresight hadn’t grown beyond its relatively narrow roster, but they hadn’t shrunk or been folded into another team, either. We’d continued to trade information with them up until the last moment, when we’d switched our focus wholly to Cedar Point and the raid.

There were other players. Some were individual. Others were small teams with their own core identities, or offshoots from the other big teams. I saw one or two friendly or friendly-ish faces. Tempera. Fume Hood. Houndstooth as a ‘friendly’ face from the Kings of the Hill.

I raised a hand in a wave as I approached. Tempera raised a white-painted hand in return. Fume Hood smiled beneath her hood. Houndstooth gave me nothing.

I would talk to Fume Hood and Tempera after, given a chance.

Capricorn was present in blue armor. Tress had a freshly painted body. Cryptid was camouflaged, and from the way Lookout was talking, she was having a dialogue with him.

There weren’t a ton of clear non-capes around, but our group had two in its orbit. I recognized Natalie, who was embroiled in a discussion with her friend, a guy with a bushy beard.