All around us, the others were emerging. Gibbet’s power replicated materials in large scale. Her trademark was the actual gibbet with the hangman’s noose, but here she reproduced fallen trees. They rose up taller than the actual trees, and on each broken-off end was a parahuman or a pair of parahumans. Some stood, some sat, one clung to the top of the wood for dear life.

On pillars of wood that stood taller than any of the treetops, on a forest-covered hill that had yet to really be touched by mankind, each essentially a platform three or four feet across. It was a lot of pillars, because even with the occasional two people to one pillar, there were a good number of us. Undersider, Breakthrough, Tender, Deathchester, Malfunction.

“If anyone falls, I can catch them,” I addressed everyone.

“Already volunteered my services as a just-in-case,” Withdrawal said. “But I appreciate the backup.”

“Still good to hear,” Chicken Little said. He had Darlene kneeling next to him, while he was on all fours. He looked up and out, then immediately returned his gaze to the wood immediately beneath him.

“Just, you know, scream,” I said.

Withdrawal nodded, metal at his shoulder squeaking with the motion. “Yeah, that.”

“I’ll try,” Chicken Little said, with a nervous laugh starting early and making the ‘try’ wobbly.

“Come on,” Darlene urged him. “She’ll save you if anything happens. Just stand up. You’ll be glad you did.”

Wobbly, Chicken Little did just that. I floated a little closer, just in case his nerves inadvertently pitched him over the side.

“I think it’s really cool you did this even though you’re scared of heights,” Darlene said, her voice soft. “That takes a special kind of courage.”

“I have a lot to live up to,” he said, just as quiet. “And Roman said people would think I was lame if I didn’t go.”

Off in the distance, Titan Eve was still being harassed by capes too distant to clearly make out. Periodically a power would be visible as a line of light or a small explosion. Her solidified gas provided protection.

“Fume Hood,” Finale said, quiet.

“She looks badass,” Cassie said. She shared a tree pillar with Chastity, sitting casually whle her friend stood.

“She looked badass before,” Finale said.

“What do you call an elephant that’s painted pink and blue?” Caryatid asked. After a pause, she said, “An elephant. She was badass before. Doesn’t matter what happened to her, that won’t ever change.”

Finale nodded with vigor.

For some here, this was their first look at a Titan. Not so for the Major Malfunctions. They’d been at ground zero for the first appearance.