Editing Archer's Bridge Merchants (section)

===Post-[[Battle against Leviathan|Leviathan]]===
In the aftermath of Leviathan's attack, the Merchants took over the [[Docks]]. People fell in line with them due to the lack of utilities, public services and supplies. Shortly afterwards, the Merchants began attacking city infrastructure, the airport, grocery stores, and malls and seized medical supplies and food as they came in.<ref name="9.1">[[Weld]] took the folders and opened the one for the Wards, glanced through it to memorize the faces of his new team.  Then he went to the next file, “Then the top priority as far as opposition goes is… the Archer’s Bridge Merchants?  Superpowered drug dealers.  A [[Skidmark|Shaker 2]], [[Screamer|Tinker 2/Mover 3]] and a [[Mush|Shifter 4]].  These aren’t big numbers.  Am I missing something?”<br><br>“Context.  They’ve become a rallying point, representatives and leaders for those on the lowest rungs of society.  Too many civilians who were the have-nots think allying with the Merchants is a way to become the haves.  People that were angry, disenfranchised or both have gravitated towards the group, are seeking to overturn the social order.”<br><br>“So they’ve got, what, a following of homeless?”<br><br>“Brockton Bay doesn’t, or didn’t,  have many that you could strictly call homeless, as there were so many abandoned buildings to squat in.  When the Endbringer attacked, he chose the area with many of these buildings.”<br><br>“I think I remember, yeah.  The area where the fight started didn’t exactly look upscale.”<br><br>“The sad irony of this is that the defending parahumans protected that area, while other locations were leveled by the tidal waves.  That area, known to locals as the Docks, was not under the control of any organized crime or villain organization even before the attack.  After the battle’s conclusion, it was swiftly occupied by the Merchants and growing numbers of their followers, and is now one of the areas with reliable shelter.  Not entirely, but more than many.  By the time our local heroes were finished with search, rescue and minimizing damage, their number of followers had reached a critical mass.  In the past several days, they’ve begun attacking the city infrastructure, the airport, grocery stores, malls and they’ve repeatedly seized medical supplies and food as they come in.”<br><br>“So a big priority will be safeguarding incoming supplies from relief efforts, protecting key areas of the city so it can recuperate from the disaster.”<br><br>“Yes, for the time being.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/cell-9-1/ Excerpt] from [[Sentinel 9.1]]</ref>

Skidmark tried to capitalize on the new membership by forcing trigger events and distributing [[Cauldron Vial|"powers in a can"]].<ref name="11.5"/> One of these events was raided by [[Faultline's Crew]], who stole the power vials and defeated the Merchants with ease. The public loss dealt a blow to Skidmark's reputation.<ref name="11.7">Skidmark was losing.  It was obvious from where I sat, and I could see his changing expression as he saw Mush collapse beneath Gregor’s sludge and realized he had no friends left.  Gregor, Labyrinth, Faultline and the red-haired woman were all in action, and Skidmark was pretty much alone at this point.<br><br>I hadn’t seen Newter or Spitfire, and I couldn’t be sure if he was okay or not.  Sure, the Merchants could have hit him with weapons rather than their bare hands, but he was quick, he had his tail, and he only needed to touch someone to drug them out of their minds.  Spitfire might be the one babysitting Labyrinth somewhere out of the way.<br><br>It had to suck for Skidmark, losing like this.  He’d risen to power based on a streak of good luck and momentum rather than any talent, deed or ability.  Now it was falling apart.  He’d lost, he’d had his ass kicked in front of the bulk of his followers, and he would likely never regain what he’d had.  Not that I felt bad for him.  There was a kind of justice to it. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/infestation-11-7/ Excerpt] from [[Infestation 11.7]]</ref>

The Merchants were later completely wiped out by the [[Slaughterhouse Nine]] during one of their rallies, ending them as a gang.<ref name ="I12">[[Interlude 12]]</ref>