The world morphed until they stood on a rooftop across the street from a dark four-story warehouse. Seagull’s cries, waves crashing, and the smell of brine filled their senses. A long pier extended a mile into the choppy bay nearby. It was a hyper-port for giant cruise liners and battleships.

Looking down to the street, Gabriel saw two long hover Transports, huge armored things. The metal around its thrusters still glowed red hot. They had just parked.

The warehouse lights were on, and he could see that a scaffold ran the length of the building - high above the ground floor. From the angle, he managed to catch a flash of the group walking across the floor before they were out of sight.

“Alright, team, form up.” Mystery said in a loud whisper.

The Supers clustered around her, but Libra lagged behind and eventually stopped at the railing - just looking at the building. When she noticed her team’s stares just shrugged and said, “I’m listening.”

Quite rude.

Alfred speaking up almost made Gabriel jump, but he stopped the reflex.

Mystery took the slight in stride and just made a silly face. “Well, fine. Look, we need to get in there and get this data drive of those robots, right? First, we need the drive. Second, we need to apprehend or eliminate the criminals. Is lethal force authorized?” Mystery asked.

Rey answered. “Ms. Liberty called them serial criminals. That legally means they have either escaped incarceration or fought free of arrest more than once. Either way, they forfeited the right of the benefit of the doubt. We are clear to go in hot, and we may spare them - should they lay down their arms within eight seconds of the encounter.”

Mystery blinked, surprised. “Thank you, Rey. Alright, so they are all inside with no guards. We can either sneak in somehow and take them out or charge in guns blazing. Either way, it’s us surprising them. We need to get as many as we can in the first engagement. Which way in has a better chance of that?”

Gabriel spoke next. “Could your magic let you control the earth?” He asked.

Mystery nodded. “Yeah, it can; you want to tunnel in?”

Gabriel nodded, smiling in his helmet. “Yes. But not just that, I want you to make a wall dividing the room - and the enemy. We can deal with them in smaller numbers. I’ve seen Plasma Lances and grenades. We could die quickly fighting eight Class 4s.”

Mystery nodded slowly. “I… could do that, yeah. I need to know where they are in the room, though.”

Rey raised his hand and said. “Worry not, beautiful, because I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.” His voice came from everywhere at once, and the air even wobbled a bit.

Gabriel ventured a guess Rey had just decreed a rule.

Mystery shook her head a little. “Warn me when you’re going to do that again.” She said icily, narrowing her eyes. “I guess that solves that. So I’ll divide the room, and we fight them separately.

When we get in there, I want Gabriel shielding us from plasma. Rey, can you deal with a Class 4 in one hit? I know this might not be either of your strong suits, but you are Offense and Defense today.”

The tall man laughed and smacked his hand onto Gabriel’s shoulder. “You ask about my strong suit? I have many. For example, I’m WAY STRONGER THAN THIS GUY’S SUIT.”

Rey suddenly shot upwards and outwards. He grew a full foot, the combat armor expanding alongside him. Rey finished beefing up and shook his head. “Phew! That’s it, no more rules for today.” He said as he flexed.

Mystery nodded, not surprised by the transformation. She looked to Gabriel - a question in her eyes. He scrambled through possible constructs before choosing one.

I agree, a good choice.

Gabriel raised his arms and activated his gauntlets. “Nobody touch the hands, please.”

Black antimatter burst out to form two giant hands. He didn’t want to surround anyone in antimatter; if they moved against it, they’d die.

Gabriel demonstrated by nimbly placing them to cover the three Supers huddled together with the left and libra leaning on the rail with the right.

Mystery said. “Creative, I like it. That stuff looks corrosive, though.”

Gabriel let the constructs dissipate and nodded. “Wasn’t kidding. Don’t touch it. I designed this energy to destroy. It will erase anything it comes into contact with. I’ll post them up and keep them there until you say so, captain.”

Satisfied with the defenses, Mystery finished her plans. “Libra, I want you behind Gabe, alright? Protect him while he protects us. Sound good?”

Libra didn’t turn to acknowledge Mystery. “I will support you with my rifle - from the ledge down there.” She pointed down the side of the building. “I won’t play guard dog; I’d support better with damage.”

Mystery was about to rebuke Libra for insubordination when the silver-haired girl jumped over the rail and out of sight.

“Damn it! Whatever, I don’t want to deal with her. She’s somehow gotten worse since the Academy. Are you guys ready?”

“Yes.” Both men said in unison.

Mystery raised her hand and spoke to the air, “Start the scenario.”

Gabriel lifted the team with antigravity and floated them down to the ground silently. Once they landed, Mystery drew her wand and stalked toward the building.

“Follow me, quick!”

As the trio walked, the ground began to slope gently, then more dramatically. Gabriel was astounded to see Mystery’s will bending the asphalt and dirt around them, forming a perfect tunnel wide enough to fit them comfortably when they reached the wall, even with Rey’s increased height. They walked in silence for about a quarter-minute before Mystery said, “This should be the center of the warehouse. I’m going to tunnel straight up from here. Rey, where are they”

Rey responded, “They are right above us, in two groups of four. They’re standing across from each other like they’re talking. Most likely part of the scenario. One group is here, the other there.” He pointed at the ceiling of the tunnel, falling silent and looking to Mystery.

“Perfect, I guess we divide them in half and hope we don’t have to deal with plasma grenades, huh?” Mystery said, smiling. “Gabriel, Rey, are you ready?” She said, spreading her arm and reaching out to touch the earth beside her. At their nods, she continued. “Stand here to my left. Closer, don’t be shy. Where’s all your alpha now, Rey?”

The man reddened.

“Let’s do this.” Mystery said excitedly. “On three, Gabe is flying us out. One.” Mystery’s posture stiffened, and the earth above their heads began to roil. “Two.” She fully extended her wand towards the spot between both groups. The ground hardened like steel and shook loudly. Then she pointed her wand above them. “Three!”

Gabriel grabbed hold of his companions in a gravity field, shooting upwards. The ground parted before them, and a second later they exploded out of the floor - shooting rocks and dirt in every direction.

The massive slate wall that divided the warehouse had alerted the Sims to their presence. Now the “criminals” stood - back to the wall - with their weapons pointed straight at the uninvited guests. They really did look like mannequins but made of clay rather than plastic.

Gabriel had time to notice the red Sim standing in the group before his heart skipped a beat - plasma grenades.

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They fired four blasts of plasma simultaneously. Mystery shouted in fear, and she shielded her face with her hands, but giant black hands surrounded the group - the superheated plasma sizzled as it disintegrated.

Rey let out a sigh of relief.

Mystery coughed, “Sorry about that. Let’s move closer.” Gabriel moved his hands a few feet in front of them as they advanced, Mystery to his left and Rey to his right.

Rey shifted stance and warned. “They’re circling around. I’ve got two over here!”

Mystery quickly responded. “ENGAGE NOW! TWO OVER HERE! GABE, WATCH OUR BACKS!” She backtracked slightly and send off a massive blast of lightning, easily a foot thick. The Sim she aimed at stopped short of running into the deadly electricity.

Rey sped off in a purple blur, moving as fast as Falco. He reached the two mechs on his side immediately - slamming one aside and sending it sprawling. The other stood a few paces away - it was the leader.

Gabriel watched the Sims on his left aim at Mystery, aware of the threat she posed. They were too far away to hit with his construct, so he elongated the left hand into a long rectangle and slammed it down between the combatants. The plasma fire was absorbed, and he reformed the hand to let Mystery continue her charge.

A colossal crash shook the building, coming from the stone wall. The other Sims must be trying to get in, Gabriel thought.

GABRIEL TO THE RIGHT.

Alfred’s highlighted a small orb the Red mech had just thrown at Rey, who was busy laughing at a Plasma Lance bouncing off his skin. He didn’t notice the grenade - Gabriel didn’t think he’d laugh that off.

Acting quickly Gabriel threw himself a forward, reaching out to catch the grenade. It detonated when it came into contact with the hand, and blue radiance shone through the antimatter. He tried to swat at the leader who was rushing Rey’s back - energy sword drawn - but his construct failed to respond. The grenade destabilized it, he thought. It would take a moment to reassemble itself, but he might not have that long.

Gabriel was about to move in to assist Rey when a Mystery shouted.

“HELP!” She squealed.

Mystery was desperately trying to hit a Sim that was dodging blasts of fire. The second Sim lay on the ground, its torso charred and smoking. Her opponent reached her and she raised her guard, dropping her wand. The Sim proved agile and landed a crunching roundhouse kick to the right side of her face. Mystery flew into a support pillar, shattering it.

The leader had reached Rey by that point, the first strike left a long blood-smeared gash in Rey’s suit and cape, but he moved around the follow up slashes like water. The man’s crown lay crooked as he grimaced darkly and front kicked the red Sim away from him - he sprinted across the room.

Signaling Gabriel, he yelled. “TAKE THEM FOR ME.”

If he said anything else it was lost in the boom as he went Supersonic, heading straight for the Sim that was now close to Mystery’s prone form, another boom followed - it was the wall again. Gabriel looked at his new targets as a second explosion rocked the wall, followed by a third.

It shook visibly with each assault, and wouldn’t hold much longer.

Gabriel aimed his left hand at the red mech - now feet from him, running full speed. Gabriel swatted at it with his remaining AM hand but it flipped side-ways and back, landing next to its teammate. The crippled Sim shot a lance of plasma at Gabriel’s torso, so he placed his construct between them.

Gabriel disengaged the hand to and slammed his forearms together. He held the shield up, feeling two more blasts of plasma fizzle off. His anti-gravity generator spun faster, and he shot ahead. Two more Plasma Lances struck his shield before he felt the satisfying crunch and sizzle of the downed Sim disintegrating from his body slam.

The red mech had been fast enough to roll out of the way - it stood and lobbed a grenade at Gabriel’s back. Luckily Alfred had been tracking its movements. Releasing the shield and tucking his wings close, Gabriel spun into the air at an angle. The grenade struck the stone wall, making a crater in the thick stone.

From the air, Gabriel formed a construct in his mind and an antimatter lance shot from his right arm. The Sim bounced left and evaded the blast, but Gabriel aimed his left hand and speared his quarry as it arced through the air.

He looked towards his comrades and saw Rey helping Mystery to her feet. The woman’s face was bruised and purple, but healing. Her jaw must have been shattered. Gabriel rushed over, landing a few paces from his team. “Are you alright?”.

“Yeah yeah, everything but my pride. Macho man had to save me.” Mystery answered glumly.

“You fried one of ‘em good!” Rey replied. “Hey, these things were fast and strong.”

“Are,” Gabriel responded. “There’s still four more on the other side of this wall.” As if by clockwork, a fourth blast struck the dividing wall. A deep crack appeared along its length, and the top half fell towards them.

“MOVE!” Gabriel screamed.

Rey cradled Mystery and rushed for the back wall, Gabriel close behind. The wall hit the ground, missing them. It shattered into pieces, however, sending blocks of stone the size of cars tumbling toward them.

“Stay back!” Gabriel yelled as he reformed his antimatter hands and cupped them around the team. Once the rocks settled Gabriel deactivated his constructs and surveyed the scene. Rocks covered the floor, raising the ground level by six feet. The Heroes stood in a hole in the new floor - Gabriel hovered them out.

Once standing on the rubble they to crossed over the wall since no Sims had attacked thus far.

Floating over the wall Gabriel noted it was easily ten feet thick. What could have destroyed it? The scene on the other side was odd. Limbs were strewn about. Rubble lined the floor and when the team looked at the wall they could see huge impact craters easily five times the size of the one the plasma grenade had made.

Soft footsteps sounded behind them and the three turned to confront the possible threat.

Libra laughed and said, “ Took you long enough, I finished those four solo.” She pointed at the arms, legs, and torsos.

“You did this yourself?” Asked Rey.

“No dip Sherlock. You morons blocked off my shots with that wall. I only had four left to practice on.”

“I think she means she used her rifle, Rey.” Gabriel was quickly catching on to Libra’s shtick and was fast tiring of it, as well.

Mystery spoke next, in a cold voice. “So you just shot them to pieces? See those craters? You could have killed us if I’d made the wall thinner. In fact, you almost did kill us. You made the wall fall over.”

Libra showed no signs of shame. “I got my job done. More than what you each did at least. I got four of them, alone. Did any of you? No, I didn’t think so. It looks like Houdini got her ass kicked too.”

Rey blustered, but Gabriel intervened. “You almost killed us, and you disobeyed your captain’s orders. Those are insubordinate actions. Now you want to belittle your comrades? Shut up, Libra. We don’t want to hear any more of your venom.”

He turned to the others. “Did anyone see the data drive on any of the mechs over there? If one here had it then we’ve failed, it was probably destroyed by Libra’s gauss rounds.”

Rey smiled and held out his hand. “Snagged this off the leader when it attacked me.” He had a small oval-shaped plate in his hand with two blinking green lights.

“Good. Then we made it out.” He turned his head pointedly at Libra. “Even with all the...snags.”

A loud beep echoed through the air, followed by Ms. Liberty’s voice. “Well done everyone! I was watching how you handled the mission and I want to say you all did great. Gabe is right about your misconduct, though, Libra. You and I have to talk once everyone else leaves.“

END SIMULATION

Once they assembled again, Libra sat on her own.

Ms. Liberty stood at attention and cleared her throat. “I prefer to begin my after mission talks with the team’s input. Who has something to say about how the mission could have gone more smoothly? Apart from the fact that Libra ignored orders and failed to act according to the parameters that involving finding the data drive. Anyone?”

Gabriel spoke up. “I don’t think it could have gone much better than it did to be honest.”

Ms. Liberty appraised Gabriel with a knowing eye. “Then you either fail to see the weak link or refuse to admit its existence. I mean you Mystery, your close-quarters combat skills left a lot to be desired today. Please find a good technique to fight at closer ranges and practice on your own time.”

Mystery paled, but managed a nod at their trainer.

“Good. Moving on, Gabriel you handled yourself spectacularly on defense, very creative use of your antimatter. Rey you performed admirably as well. Frankly, Gabriel is right for the most part. Things could not have gone much better than they did, given the circumstances.

Remember people, the reason we stick with positions in combat is to avoid causing more damage than we avoid. I know this could have gone different - any one of you could have blown the warehouse up, or knocked it down, but respecting civilian lives and city infrastructure is part of why we train.” She looked at Libra.

“Next time we meet we’ll switch up the roles and try another mission. That’s all for today. You are all dismissed, except you Libra.”

The three Supers sitting near each other filed out the door, leaving Libra sitting stone-faced in the training room. Rey broke the silence a few steps from the door. “You think she’ll get punished badly?”

“Knowing her luck she’ll get off with a warning.” Said Mystery glumly. “I mean it’s not like they will throw her out, it’s too late for that. The most she’ll get is training exercises, mark my words. Her mommy and daddy would throw a fit if anything serious happened to one of their babies.”

“What? Her parents? Pressuring… the Sentinels?” Gabriel said, incredulous.

Mystery subbed in, rubbing her fingers together. “Money. Techtonic and Meteora fund almost half of the Sentinels operations. Nobody likes biting the hand that feeds them.”

“Oh.” Said Gabriel, the wheels in his head spinning.

“Anyway guys, it was fun, but I should head back to my Strike Force.” Mystery said, waving a tiny wave.

“It was nice to see you again, Mystery,” Rey said. “Pleasure, Gabriel, thanks for having our backs. See you guys next session.”

Gabriel wondered if Falco had cut himself playing around with his knives by now.