"How the hell are you here?" Battery jumped to the side just in time to dodge the wave of acid that spewed out of Red Raptor''s mouth. "I thought we were tracking the Wet Bandits, why is a member of Zoo here?"


    "Oh, don''t lump me in with Zoo anymore!" Red Raptor hissed. "I used to work for that bastard Green Wolf, but he never bothered to bust me out of prison! I got lucky! I was never placed on the transport vehicle that''d take me to Nightshade! Instead, I was able to escape thanks to someone else who had been abandoned by his team! Several months ago, Ears got into a fight but wasn''t properly disposed of, and thanks to his power, several of us were able to spring us out and get away! No thanks to Green Wolf!"


    Myth changed into his bull form and charged forward. He wrapped his arm around Red Raptor and rammed the man through a wall. The two transformed Supers crashed out on the other side, tumbling down to the ground. Red Raptor went to spit more acid out, but Myth rammed his fist into the villain''s head, nearly knocking him out in one blow.


    Red Raptor saw stars and stabbed up with his claws, barely throwing Myth off of him. "Ears!" The villain called out.


    A black orb opened up, which easily swallowed Red Raptor up. Battery cursed as the laser he fired missed and hit the floor. "That''s the pair of eyes I felt on me." The man stated. "When Polaron attacked the kid, both she and I were unmasked. Ears was there and saw me, so I bet he was hiding out in the club and noticed me."


    "Damn it." Whisper cursed. "I didn''t bother looking at all the Paths, and just focused on the one that would take us to the guy that owned this club. I should have been more careful."


    "It''s not your fault." Myth said, shaking his head. "We need to get back to Cinder and Snowdawn. I bet this building used to be owned by Red Raptor and was used as a hidden operation so they could earn money for Zoo. From what the villain said, he''s not working with Green Wolf anymore, so I doubt we can find out what Green Wolf is planning, but we might be able to discover where their base is. Maybe even what they''re planning."


    "Don''t forget, they''re working for Cybercroc now." Battery grunted. "From the sounds of it, that villain has rebuilt the Wet Bandit gang using members from both Zoo and Bad Timers."


    "Is Cybercroc strong?" Whisper asked, frowning.


    "Maybe around the same level as Green Wolf." Battery shrugged.


    A loud beep echoed out behind them, and they turned around, finding a drone slowly floating into the destroyed office. Their quick battle hadn''t been silent after all. "Well, well, well. Look who fetched the stick I threw." The voice of Alice Ward said in an amused tone. "Good doggies. You''re just like the Watch Dogs."


    "Don''t bother getting the story until we''re done with the mission." Battery flicked his finger out and caused the drone to explode. He reached up to his earpiece. "Kid, what''s your status? Kid? Cinder. Kid, are you there!" Battery zipped out of the building and made it to the van, finding it empty. "Shit!"


    "Are they gone?" Myth asked over the radio.


    "Yeah. Ears must have gotten them. That bastard could have teleported anywhere." Battery cursed.


    "Don''t worry, Cinder''s strong." Whisper said. "We''ll find her and Snowdawn. They can hold out. I have faith in them."


    "I hope you''re right."


    ***


    A wave of snow slammed into her, taking most of the acid off of her. Her skin didn''t burn that badly, and her costume was able to withstand it. She jumped back to her feet, as did Snowdawn.


    Ears crouched low and lifted his hand, firing out a wave of yellow acid toward them. She rammed her fist into the ground and caused her fire to swell out. It took on the shape of a large backpack, which opened up and swallowed the acid.


    "Seriously?" Snowdawn raised an eyebrow. "Since when can you do that?"


    "I did it in the fight with Wish." She shrugged. She wasn''t using her Lord form, so her flame control wasn''t as good. She also wasn''t nearly as strong or fast as she was in that mode. She didn''t want to have to always use the form if she could help it. Battery had told her not to rely on it as a crutch. She''d bust it out though if she had to. She wouldn''t let herself or Armin die.


    Her backpack faded out, allowing her to see Ears. The former Bad Timer member was growling at her. "It''s your fault Polaron is dead. Your fault Demonica has gone mad and joined that damn group! I''m all alone! Forced to work with this group! I''ll make you pay! You''ll suffer! I''ll kill you, and then your mom-"


    And just like that, she suddenly stopped caring about holding back.


    Her entire hair flickered into an orangish gold color. Due to how short her hair had become, it actually couldn''t be seen, and her eyes were hidden behind a visor on her helmet, so the fiery red also wasn''t visible. The only indication Ears had that something had changed was one moment she was across the room, and then the next she was in front of him, ramming her fist into the closest thing he had to a face.


    Ears was blasted back and smashed into a stone wall, shaking the entire area they were in. That was when she finally decided to look around. They were in some sort of underground parking arena. The kind with large stone pillars holding it up. There were a few cars, though not a lot, and she didn''t notice anyone else.


    "Damn?" Snowdawn stared at the cracked wall Ears had slammed into. "Did you really have to hit him that hard?"


    "He pissed me off." She said flatly.


    "Fair enough."


    Several black orbs suddenly appeared in the air above them. They opened up and began to drop several people into the area alongside them. It was normal civilians, from what she could tell. All tied up with bags on their heads. Another orb opened up, and she felt a chill go down her spine as Red Raptor, Red Scorpion, Black Skunk, and White Hummingbird all dropped to the ground. Hummingbird was already floating in the air, while Red Scorpion glared at her and Snowdawn. Red Raptor turned to face them and licked his lips, placing his claws on the head of one of the whimpering people.


    The man''s claws dug into the bag and caused the civilian to yell in pain as they cut into the person''s head.


    "Stop it!" She screamed and was about to move before Red Raptor yelled at her.


    "Take another step, and I''ll cave this bastard''s skull in. That goes for you as well, ice guy!" The villain hissed.


    Ears was most likely out cold from her attack. She was crazy fast in her Lord form, almost as fast as Battery, but she doubted she could cross the room in time and take out Red Raptor. Even if she could, though, Red Scorpion and Black Skunk both had weapons trained on their own hostages. Scorpion''s tail was placed under a bagged woman''s head, while Skunk held a grenade launcher with their finger eagerly on the trigger, aimed at a large group of people. In the back, Hummingbird stood, already pounding on her chest, buffing the three other former Zoo members even further.


    She slowly raised her hands up, though she kept her Lord form on. "Okay. Let''s just stay cool. Don''t do anything, man. Just chill out. Got that. We just need to stay frosty."


    Snowdawn glanced at her before looking back at the villains. His ice armor was already on, so he looked like some sort of ice demon covered in jagged spikes and claws. He also lifted his hands up. "Yeah. Cinder and I aren''t going to do anything rash. No need to burn through your load of hostages."


    "Do you two think I''m stupid?" Red Raptor growled. "One of you has fire powers, and the other has ice. You''re both making temperature-related puns. You''re about to do something! Well, not on my-"


    She blasted out a wave of fire. It seeped out in a bright flash, blinding everyone. Red Raptor howled and went to bring his claws down, but she blasted across the ground at top speed and rammed her fist directly into his stomach. Fire flowed out of her hands and feet, allowing her to move like an actual rocket, and she punched the transformed man so hard he was blasted clean out of the parking lot. She was only fast enough to get one of them, though.


    Red Scorpion brought her tail down, or at least tried to, but Snowdawn had somehow moved even faster than her. He had literally appeared in front of Red Scorpion and stabbed out with his claws, slicing the woman''s tail clean off. Red Scorpion howled and went to punch him, but her attack smashed into an ice sculpture of Snowdawn. The boy was gone again, seemingly moving with insane speed, as he was suddenly on the other side of the room, freezing the barrel to Black Skunk''s grenade launcher.


    The woman dropped her weapon and pulled out a poisoned knife, stabbing at the boy, but once again the knife found itself stabbing into an ice sculpture Snowdawn left behind, as the boy seemingly appeared behind Black Skunk instantly.


    "Teleportation?" The woman asked in shock.


    "Not exactly!" Snowdawn rammed his fist forward as hard as he could. He didn''t have super strength anywhere near the level of his best friend, but he was still able to punch Black Skunk hard enough to send the woman ramming into White Hummingbird.


    Red Scorpion went to bring one of her knives down on the hostage but never got the chance as Cinder came rocketing into her with a tackle, hitting the woman hard enough to break both of her legs. Red Scorpion screamed out and collapsed onto the ground, and Cinder pulled her backpack off, spinning around with it and using it as a weapon, smashing it into the girl''s head and knocking the villain out.


    She barely spun back around as her enhanced senses warned her of Red Raptor, who jumped at her. The man spewed out a wave of acid at her and the hostages, but Snowdawn managed to form an ice barrier around the people, appearing in front of them instantly again, and left another ice statue of himself behind.


    She dodged the wave of acid and grabbed the ice statue Snowdawn left behind, swinging it out as a makeshift weapon. It rammed directly into Red Raptor and exploded across the man''s body, causing him to howl. She followed up with the move Battery taught her, aiming one punch directly for the man''s liver and her final punch for his face, the fire blasting out of her elbow and downing the man instantly.


    Red Raptor smashed into the ground, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. She had knocked him out. Smoke poured off of her fist, and she blew it out as her Lord form slowly shut off.


    Red Raptor, Ears, Red Scorpion, Black Skunk, and White Hummingbird were now all unconscious.


    "Do you think you can freeze them so they can''t move if they wake up?" She asked.


    "Y- Yeah. Just give me a second." Snowdawn was on the ground panting. His ice armor kept cracking and was dripping off of his body. "I''m pretty tired." The boy gasped. "Used my new move way too much!"


    "What was that new thing you did anyway?" You kept teleporting, but also left an ice clone behind? It was like some move out of that old video game we used to play when we were kids."


    The boy managed to force his ice armor back on and gave a sly grin. "It''s a secret." He winked at her and stood up on wobbling legs, shakily going around the lot and freezing the bad guys in place with ice chains.


    She rolled her eyes and moved to the hostages. "Someone help!" One of the people pleaded. Her fingernails easily dug into the rope and allowed her to snap it off. She went around freeing them all. In total, there were ten different people. They were all fully dressed and looked like snotty rich nobles. They were likely some of the people who had been in Ward Tower. "It''s about time you come to save us!" One of them said when she freed them.


    "Do you know how loud you were during the fight?" Another rich woman demanded. "It hurt my ears, and your fire burned my skin!"


    "One of them nearly tore my head off, and you just stood on the side making puns!" A bleeding man demanded. "I almost died! I should sue you-"


    "Please don''t take an attitude with me. I don''t want to have to knock you guys out." That got the rest of them to shut up. Once Snowdawn was done freezing the others, she took her backpack off and pulled some bandages out. "Snowdawn, I still haven''t had any first aid training. You mind looking at this guy''s head?"


    "Yeah. Also, our signal is jammed; we can''t get a hold of the Hero Branch or Myth." Snowdawn said as he walked over. He grabbed the supplies she handed him and forced the rich guy to kneel so he could start bandaging up the guy''s bleeding head.


    "That hurts!" The man yelped.


    "Yeah, you got cut pretty badly. We need to get this checked out and treated before we move so you don''t get sick or anything." The boy explained.


    "What you need to do is get us out of here!" Another man demanded. "You guys are total newbies, aren''t you!"


    She casually placed her arms behind her head. "There''s a ramp over there leading out of this place. Be my guest if you want to leave. That said, we haven''t actually explored this area at all. We might not be in Oleander anymore, or we could be in the underground lot of some mafia man''s base. We can''t get in contact with our team either, so we''re by ourselves and possibly dealing with a powerful Super. Cybercroc was the one who kidnapped you guys-"This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Cybercroc!" Another man rolled his eyes. "He''s in Lillian, not Oleander, little girl. Get your facts straight. Also, these guys are part of Zoo. So it''s obvious Green Wolf was the one to capture us."


    "Isn''t that so much worse than Cybercroc?" Snowdawn snorted and kept working on the guy he held, bandaging the head up.


    One of the rich ladies turned their backs on them and began to head for the ramp. "Well, since you''re not doing anything, I''ll just save myself-" She jumped forward just in time and wrapped her arms around the woman, dragging them to the ground. "U- Unhand me, you fiend-" The lady was shrieking but quickly shut up when a beam of water rammed into the spot she had been standing at.


    "Snowdawn! Barrier! Now!" She called out.


    "Right!" Snowdawn formed a barrier around the nine other rich people, while she kept the woman next to her safe. She glared up at the top of the ramp where the boss stood. Cybercroc had arrived.


    As the name suggested, the villain looked like a strange mix between a crocodile and a robot. Cybercroc was someone who had been turned into a monster and served in the Emperor''s army, but then got badly injured. Half his body was replaced with machine. An idea the villain had gotten from an old Enforcer member named Omega, who was also a cyborg.


    The villain stood at eight feet tall and had green skin. He had the head of a crocodile, though one of his eyes glowed red and had a camera built into it. He had two large metal arms and metal legs, and his tail slapped out at the ground behind him. On his shoulder, two large cannons rested. The same kind another hero known as Hydro Cannon would use. The villain had stolen them from the hero. Two of those cubes connected to the realm were at the end of the cannons, connected to the gun. The lid was able to open at such a tiny amount that the rush of water would blast out at supersonic speeds and slice through even steel as if it were wet paper.


    "G- Get me out of here." The rich woman whimpered.


    Cybercroc seemed to almost sneer as he stared down at her. "Bloody ''ell, luks like I went an got m''self a wiebitty ''ero t''at slinked ''er way in ''ere. Now ain''t t''at just a rill nee slappa, it is."


    She blinked, slowly processing what she heard. "What?"


    A wave of water rammed into her so fast she was yanked off her feet and rammed head first into the wall next to Ears.


    "Cinder!" Snowdawn cried out. He had formed a thick wall around the other nine hostages and vanished, leaving another statue behind. He appeared next to the last one, forming a barrier just in time to block another blast of water the crocodile sent their way.


    "Got ma se''f one of em coldy ones I do." Cybercroc growled as his water beam began to spin, causing the liquid to boil and melt through the ice. "Nothing a bit of ma, gud ol, heatem techy ''an''t solve."


    "S- Seriously please shut up." Snowdawn hissed. As soon as his barrier shattered, an ice sculpture was torn in two as he and the woman appeared near the back next to Cinder. He collapsed, more of his armor breaking off as he gasped and dropped to his knees. "C- Can''t do anymore. Out of energy."


    The woman shivered as ice clung to her from the spot Snowdawn had touched her at. "Y- You guys are heroes! Save me! Y- You have to save me! I- I''ll reward you if you do."


    She stood back up, rubbing her head. The spot the gun had hit her at bruised a bit. Her hair shifted back to its gold color, and she stepped past the woman and stared down the leader of the Wet Bandits.


    "Lil girlie, still waning ta go a fer runds? Ma techy will wipe ya outta this realm, it will."


    "I don''t want to hear another word out of you." She blasted out a beam of fire, which tore through the water blasts the villain sent her way. A wave of steam was kicked up, and she blasted forward with inhuman speed. She punched out with her arm and went to ram it into the villain, but his robotic eye was able to track her heat signature, allowing him to easily swing out with his arm. He rammed it down into her, hitting her into the ground, and shook the entire parking lot.


    "Die ya ''ire bitch." The villain''s hand wrapped around her face, metal claws trying to dig into her skin. They weren''t able to pierce her flesh though, and so instead the villain swung and rammed her into one of the cars. He smashed her all the way through it and rammed her into the ground, cracking it.


    She growled and reached up, grabbing the metal arm that gripped her. Her fingers dug into it, and with a simple pull, she casually ripped the entire arm off. Cybercroc howled and stumbled back as oil, and black blood flowed down his missing limb.


    "Ya bloody wanker! Wanker! Wanker ya ''re. A ''eal bitch-"


    She smashed her fist into the villain''s gut, hitting him as hard as she could. As she did that, he struck back. His cannon''s beams grew even smaller, and they fired out a thin beam that sliced into her shoulder, cutting it open. Cybercroc was sent flying back and rammed into the wall, but he was already back up. His remaining arm grabbed onto a car, and he threw it at her as hard as she could.


    She reached up and caught the car, but a moment later a thin water beam sliced it in two. She ducked her head down just in time and used her helmet to block the rest of the beam. It bounced off, unable to slice through the metal and split the roof above them apart. She threw both of the halves of the car she held at the villain as hard as she could.


    Cybercroc caught one of them, but the other half rammed into his face. He shattered his way past it, walking through the metal and howling. He looked back up at her just in time to see several backpacks surrounded her. They all had arms and legs and were made out of fire. All of them flexed, and she folded her arms.


    "Get him."


    The mini backpacks suddenly charged forward. Cybercroc went to jump away only to suddenly find himself trapped as ice surrounded his legs. On the other side of the room, Snowdawn gave a smirk. "Works every time." He groaned.


    The backpacks reached Cybercroc and jumped up. They all glowed and then rapidly exploded, self-destructing. She saluted watching them all. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain, my babies. I swear by my pride as a hero you''ll all be remembered in my hearts as Baggy-One, Baggy-Two, Baggy-Three, and Armin-Junior."


    From the mini mushroom cloud, Cybercroc came roaring out. His guns spun getting faster, and he aimed. "''Ie!" He roared. He didn''t fire at her, though. The beams flew directly for the rich woman who was cowering in a corner.


    Snowdawn was still down, too tired from spamming his weird teleport move, and her Baggy''s wouldn''t be able to make it in time. She blasted herself forward with her fire and threw herself in front of the woman just in time. One of the beams rammed into her leg, blasting through it, and she cried out, dropping to her knees. The other beam went directly through her gut. She clutched her stomach, spitting up some blood as Cybercroc stomped his way toward her.


    Behind her, the rich lady stared at her. "W- Why? Y- You saved me."


    "Saves a strong word." She groaned.


    He slowly reached her and took aim, pointing his gun at her head. Her eyes met the monsters. "Uny lest ''ords?"


    "Your way of speaking is stupid."


    The cannon opened, and she saw the flash of water. A pair of hands grabbed the guns as Snowdawn appeared in front of her. The cannons froze over, and he ripped them up, tearing them off of the villain. "I won''t let you hurt my best friend!" He rammed an ice fist directly into Cybercroc''s gut, causing the villain to howl. "Seriously! Her mom would freaking kill me!" He kicked up with his leg, ramming it directly into the junk of the crocodile.


    Cybercroc rammed his last arm out, and it opened up, unfolding into a straight-up minigun. The weapon spun and began to rapidly fire out a wave of water bullets. She grabbed Snowdawn by the waist and jumped back, looping her other arm around the other woman''s waist, and used her super jump to shove them out of the way. Due to her injured leg, though, she simply wasn''t fast enough. The bullets tore into her back, and she cried out, dropping Snowdawn and the woman to the ground. She stood over them, shielding them from the attacks. Slowly though, she collapsed forward, badly bleeding from her back.


    Cybercroc rammed forward, and Snowdawn jumped past her, but he was already spent from using so much power. The bullets tore into his stomach as he tried to form a barrier. The other rich folk stood behind their own wall, watching the entire thing.


    "D- Don''t just stand there!" The man with bandages yelled out. "You still have to save me! I have a family."


    Snowdawn crashed to the ground clutching his bleeding stomach. "C- Cinder. You can still fight, right?"


    "Hell, yeah, I can." She groaned. "Why?"


    "I got one more left in me."


    Cybercroc reached them and slammed his gun hand down. It smashed through the ice statue Snowdawn left behind. A second later, Snowdawn appeared, swinging out with Cinder! She was swung like a weapon, and she went with it. Fire exploded out of her entire back as Snowdawn put all his strength into his swing, gripping her by the legs. She rammed her head directly into Cybercroc''s stomach and hit the monster so hard his robotic legs exploded when they tried to keep him steady.


    The villain rammed head first into the ground and groaned, trying to stand back up. Snowdawn dropped her to the ground, and she spat out, shooting a thin beam of fire out that sliced off the gun arm before it could fire again. Cybercroc howled and began to spew out more curses at her. She stood back up, forcing her damaged body to move.


    "You really did a number on me, big guy." She crashed her knuckles, staring down at him. "I was beating you, but then you had to go and pull that dirty trick and shoot me."


    "Ya ''ust one big ol'' cu-"


    She rammed her fist directly into the villain''s snout, knocking him out. "Shush. No more talking."


    Off to the side, the rich lady rested, still shivering from the cold. "Is it over?"


    "Not yet!" A wave of acid flowed out, nearly covering the woman, before Snowdawn hastily managed to put a barrier up. Ears had woken up and teleported himself out of the chains. "It''s not over until all of you die-"


    The roof above the man exploded and he looked up just in time to see two fists. Both Battery and Myth came down hard, ramming their attacks into the monster hard enough to cave Ears''s face in. Battery unleashed a wave of golden lightning, while Myth transformed into his lion form and roared out, sending a sound wave. The attack rammed into Ears, and he once again hit the ground hard, rolling across it. He wasn''t going to be getting up anytime soon.


    ***


    "Can you tell us what happened?" Some Hero Branch workers questioned.


    "Well, I was staying in the Ward tower when I was suddenly grabbed by a disgusting monster!" One of the rich men was explaining.


    The underground parking lot, as it turned out, had been connected to the Ward tower. Cybercroc had wanted to remain close to the scene of the crime to find out if Ocean Empress had returned. They all made it out onto the street, where dozens of cops and Hero Branch workers rested. Several cars and ambulances were set up tending to the rich folk, who had mostly gotten a bit banged up. No doubt Paragon would be requested to heal them all before the end of the day.


    Drones flew around, taking the scene in. She watched from the sidelines. Her and Snowdawn were mostly healed up thanks to Mr. Larison.


    "Make sure this bastard doesn''t teleport out." Battery was grumbling to a Hero Branch worker. "I don''t want him getting out again. He''s too dangerous. Next time I see him, I''m killing him."


    Ears was being loaded into an anti-teleport van and would be sent to Nightshade ASAP. She felt a little guilty about all of this. She had knocked Ears out way back during the mall stunt yet never bothered to check if the villain got sent to the proper place or not. That slip-up had seemingly caused all of this.


    "I tried to read the bad guys'' paths." Whisper said casually, standing next to her. "What they said mostly checked out. None of them know about Fairy Queen or know where Green Wolf is, so we won''t be able to use them as a lead. They were all captured way before Zoo and Bad Timers were working together."


    Myth nodded. "I see."


    One of the drones slowly came down and stared directly at her. "Hello, Mrs. Ward." She sighed.


    "How did you know it was me?"


    "It''s always you."


    "I see." The drone floated up and down looking at her. "You''re Cinder. New costume?"


    "Yeah. Boy Genius built it." She bragged. "I''m kind of a big deal, you see."


    The drone let out a hum. "I had some cameras set up in this lot. Both you and Snowdawn took out all the villains, mostly alone. Would you like to say anything about that?"


    "Nope." She threw her arms behind her head. "I have nothing to say to you."


    "Okay. I''m glad your gang did clean this mess up, though it would have been better if you didn''t let two cars get destroyed." She stuck her tongue out at the drone. "Still, thank you for taking my request."


    "I didn''t do it because it was a request." She shook her head. "You don''t have to uphold your end or anything. I would have done this no matter what. I did it because I''m a hero. So don''t bother with a reward-"


    Snowdawn and Whisper both covered her mouth. "What my good friend is trying to say is she wants you to keep your end of the deal." Whisper said, chuckling. "See, last month at the mall, Myth said he was going to make a change. That wasn''t a lie. We''re going to save this city. No matter what. We''re going to repair it and cleanse it. We''ll stop any bad guy. Even the Emperor or the Beast. So please. Believe in us, Oleander City. Put your bet on Pantheon. It could even save the world one day."


    Myth folded his arms, looking into the drone. "We''ll be taking our leave now, Mrs. Ward. Spin this story however you want. We saved these people."


    The drone watched as they turned and began to leave. They were stopped though by a shout. "Wait!" They turned and looked back, finding that rich lady. The woman was staring directly at her. The woman stood there for a moment. "T- Thank you. For saving me."


    She felt a smile appear on her face. "It''s my job. I''ll do it any time. If you''re ever in danger, just scream for Cinder, and I''ll come running over."


    "Saving people does seem to be something you''ve managed quite well at, dear Cinder." Alice''s voice came out of the drone once more. "After all. You''ve even saved me once."


    "I have?"


    "Yes."


    "Neat?" She turned away and gave a wave of her hand. "Well, like I said to her, I''ll do it again. It was nice talking to you, Mrs. Alice. You can count on Cinder. Because I''m a superhero."


    They left soon after that. It wasn''t a school night; the disaster with Ward Tower meant Oleander Bay was closed down for the week, so she didn''t have to worry about heading home. It had been Whisper''s idea that they all have a night to hang out with each other. That was why she found herself stepping out of the shower in the Pantheon base.


    She wrapped a towel around herself and got her clothes. In the other bathroom stall, Lois was doing the same. "It''s been a while since I managed to get Thaddeus to agree to a sleepover." Lois giggled.


    "I''m more shocked that Mr. Larison agreed." She chuckled.


    Sleepover wasn''t really the right word. Mr. Larison wouldn''t be staying for too long, but he promised he''d stay for the movie. She got dressed, alongside Lois, in a pair of simple civilian clothes and left the bathroom. It had been night when they started this mission, and it was well past midnight by now.


    Upstairs, Armin, Jack, and Thaddeus were waiting for them. A movie was on TV. Some cheesy action comedy about the hero Pretty Face, trying to become both a pop star and a famous hero. She was reminded of the bowling alley.


    Myth had brought them there to celebrate alongside the Sub Enforcers for capturing Saw Head. Today, though, had been just them. No Sub Enforcers, no Watch Dogs, not even Paragon. Just Pantheon. Pantheon had taken down the Wet Bandits.


    "Yo! I got popcorn!" Armin announced. He was on the couch, so she and Lois got on either side of him as the movie started. She couldn''t help but smile a bit more. Times like these were nice.


    "Any word from the Watch Dogs?" Mr. Larison was back in his dirty suit and rested at a table next to Thaddeus.


    "Yeah." The man nodded. "They agreed to help us in the next few days when we try and go after Green Wolf."


    "That''s good." Jack adjusted his tie. "I won''t be able to stay long. I got work in the morning. I''m going to be busy fixing Ward Tower." He chuckled.


    "You said you''d stay for the movie though?" She whined.


    The man shrugged. "Maybe next time, kiddo-"


    A ring echoed out. Thaddeus reached into his pocket. "Excuse me. I need to take this." The man answered the phone and moved to another room. She forced her enhanced senses to not turn on this time. She didn''t want to eavesdrop.


    "Do you really have to go?" She asked, looking up at her mentor.


    Jack reached down and flicked her on the head. "Tell you what, kid. In the next few days, when we''re done with all of this, let''s go play a game of catch or something."


    "Can I come?" Armin asked.


    "Ooh, I want to come also!" Lois said, throwing her arm up. "I want to hang out with Mr. Larison!"


    "You guys are crazy." Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Sure though. We''ll all spend more time together. Pantheon''s story has just started after all. It''s got so much life left in it. I really think Myth is on to something. Pantheon is the team that could maybe save this city."


    Thaddeus slowly walked back up the stairs. The man held a heavy frown on his face. "What''s wrong?" She asked.


    "He said no."


    "Huh? Who did?" And to what?" Armin asked.


    Thaddeus took a seat, biting his thumb. "I asked the mayor to shut down any big events that are being held in the next few days to avoid anyone getting harmed by Green Wolf when the man finally strikes. He said no, though. He isn''t closing any of them."


    "What does that mean?" She asked slowly.


    "It means Pantheon can''t afford to lose." Jack stated, frowning. "The mayor just gave us a big handicap. You know what you did in this fight? Keeping those ten rich guys safe? Now do that with an event filled with people."


    Her face paled a bit. "Are there any big events coming up?"


    "One." Myth said quietly. "The biggest event in Oleander City. In other words, the perfect place, someone like Green Wolf would love to attack."