Electro woke up in his room in the armory. The sun had poked through the window shutters and warmth had slowly seeped in. Electro was reminded of times before Calamity. Times before his powers. He wouldn't go back to those days for anything. He had been sad and weak then. Now he had power, strength, and caused fear. Electro had brought Freeze back to the Armory last night and reported to Corpsemaker. Freeze had been given her own room and a platoon of five soldiers. The hierarchy of authority was evident in the amount of soldiers Corpsemaker requisitioned for you. Electro had realized that having Freeze on his side could prove beneficial, particularly if Scorch changed his mind about wanting to work together. Her powers offset his beautifully. Electro, trailer by his guards, ate some breakfast and then told Corpsemaker he was heading off again. He liked the time it took to walk. He was able to think. Thinking always helped him. A jet was too big and fast for such a short trip anyway. Starscream walked in front of Electro, warning civilians to scatter. Corpsemaker had learned from some of the officers of an Epic a short distance away that needed to be recruited or killed. He called himself Rat with Wings. Very unimaginative. Altermind had arrived back at HQ the previous night to see citizens cleaning bodies of soldiers from the entrance to Thoughttown. He decided that Flashpoint and himself would need a debriefing session. Sending everyone else off to their rooms, Altermind found Flashpoint and gave him his new shotgun. "What in Calamity happened out there?" He demanded. Flashpoint responded with a confidence that hadn't been there before. "A couple hundred mindless soldiers attacked us. They weren't very smart and just tried to overwhelm us. We defeated them with only a couple casualties. I don't know where they came from but they were almost like zombies." Zombies. Lightwards could bring back the dead. Was this his doing? If so, he would pay. Only, Lightwards had been in the opposite corner of the city. Could he command soldiers from there? These were modern soldiers as well, not ones likely to be buried from wars past. He would have Voidgaze ask about it and find out. "I'm glad you took care of it with such efficence. We successfully raided the store and killed a couple hunting Epics that ruled it. We met with the necromancer from the street fight as well. He's an arrogant professor, but he has useful allies. We set up a temporary coalition with them. Voidgaze is acting as emissary." Altermind informed his subordinate. With his usual stuttering and respect noticeably absent, Flashpoint said, "How is she going to get to the floating museum?" Apparently winning a battle boosted his courage tenfold. "Sightline can take her. Now, I've had a long day and I'm going to bed. Goodnight," Altermind said and left. He woke up early and went to what had been a gym, but had been converted into the planning room when Altermind took over. The large open space was great for maps and planning. As Altermind looked over his maps, he saw Sightline come into the room. "Sightline," he called. "Just the Epic I wanted. You're going to take Voidgaze to the museum today, if it's alright. These are the maps they need." Altermind told the teleporter. He would need to make sure he found another way up to the museum. He didn't want to rely solely on this man. Max had spent the night searching for people who were stronger and braver than the rest. He had continued to inspire courage and insubordination in the rest of the people. The Black Fist would release its grip on his heart and it would strangle Electro. Anger kept him fueled throughout the night. Max had contacts from his time providing food for people. He met with those contacts and swayed a couple to his side. Two pledged to spread the word of the revolution. The others had either thought the plan foolish or were too scared to help. Aaron was one of the two who had promised his help. Max had spent the night at Aaron's hideout, planning and coming up with ideas to organize a rebellion. He had never heard of such a thing happening, not one with any degree of success. Some sort of assassinations would probably have to take place for the Black Fist rebellion to mean anything. Some smaller Epics at first, making their way up the good chain. Electro dead was the main goal, but ridding Portland of all Epics was even better. The Rat with Wings was a rat. In all senses of the word, except the literal one. He looked like one, acted like one, and even smelled like one. The only benefit Electro could see in recruiting this man was that he could fly. He had a pair of measly wings on his back and a look of disdain on his face. "Corpsemaker? Sounds like a snob," the Rat said after Electro proposed the alliance. "Death it is then," replied Electro. With Freeze, he had seen a benefit to be had from recruiting her. This mutation was just a poor excuse for an Epic. Electro commanded Starscream to use his razor-sharp fingernails to grab the Rat. The sniveling Epic tried to fly away, somehow managing to make it look like scurrying. He dodged Starscream's initial attempt, but after a Scramble, Starscream had no trouble grabbing the ugly Epic. He used his claw-like fingers to puncture the Rat's chest and vital organs. Starscream dropped the lifeless body to the ground. Electro was finished here. The area he had been given had been scoured for Epics. A few had been killed and a couple recruited: Freeze and a man called Upgrade. He could enhance anything he wanted. Knives became sharper and guns more accurate and powerful. He had recruited more than Scorch though. He was proud of that. The fire Epic wasn't very smart or diligent. "Starscream, how do you feel about going for a ride?" Electro had had a long day yesterday and wanted to go have some fun. He ordered his guards to meet him back at the armory. Starscream transformed into a jet and Electro hopped in. He took a ride up the coast towards Washington, screaming through the air at the jet's top speed of 2.8 Mach, as the instruments told him. Scenery flashed by below and the world was a blur. Electro used times like these to escape the memories of his childhood. Memories of loss and of anguish. Memories of weakness. Electro was strong now. He had shown that. He had proved to himself that he wasn't a coward. Death was nothing to him anymore. Shoving those thoughts aside, he focused on enjoying the ride. Barrel rolls and flips through the air. After a half hour of excitement, he decided to return to the armory and report to the boss.