"What did you do to him?"

"Officially nothing at all. A classic case of Heroic Willpower.

Unofficially, we threatened Heartbreaker. Now all the Butchers are fanatically loyal to Legend; he'd probably end up in control for a few iterations even if someone killed him."

"Clever. Is Legend one of your creations?"

"He'd be valuable enough to save even if he weren't, but yes. Having him meant we were in on the ground floor since the beginning of the Protectorate, and we could nudge the status quo so there'd be as many capes as possible alive when we need them."

"You've been around so long?"

"Since the beginning."

"How much longer do you think we have?"

"Anywhere from two years to twenty. Not even the best precogs can touch Scion directly."

"I'll not make any long-term investments, then. I think that was everything."

"Good luck with the Nine."

"I don't need luck. Just time. Do you prefer I turn around so you can make your exit?"

"No, that's fine, I'll use the door."

He unlocks it and walks through.

Can't blame her for trying.

Time to get build an army in Fishkill.

Her thinkers can narrow down the location of the Nine easily enough. In retrospect of course they'd be right there along highway 9. Probably a good idea to stay outside Cherish's range from their position.

Yes. At least until she's ready to bait them in.

She makes sure her army is versatile and flexible, and not necessarily predictable by her, utilizing the full breadth of her tinkers. She makes robots that build traps independently, with only the constraint that she doesn't trigger them. The battlefield is prepared by her, but Jack won't be able to anticipate any of it, because she can't anticipate any of it.

There is always the risk that Jack or Cherish will happen to come too close and find out. If that happens, they don't inform her of the fact.

As long as they're still in town by the time she's done.

Her thinkers can give some pretty good estimates; she effectively has advance warning.

Then when she's ready, she'll go make an appearance in Cherish's range.

She passes it on to Jack, not that there's any sign of that from this distance.

She splits, spreads out, and starts walking towards them.

Her army is approaching from multiple directions. There's nowhere to run.

Her army is also completely undetectable. She rolls her eyes when Jack starts acting like they're under attack, what with there being no one there, but crowds around the Siberian along with the other squishy people.

She sends several suns into the building the Nine are in, not bothering to route around obstacles such as walls.

Most of her opponents are invulnerable enough to ignore it. Crawler is briefly excited then disappointed, and Shatterbird is unaccounted for.

They're going to have to emerge eventually, though. And one of her army's secondary objectives is sweeping for possible projectors.