When it was all said and done Lucy found herself back in her empty home not quite believing that the day she just lived had happened. Gracia had parted ways with her shortly after getting off the bus, leaving Lucy to walk alone. She made no promises of more nights like the one they just had, but it was difficult to ignore the calculating look that had seen her off, like Gracia was considering how far Lucy could be pushed.

Already, Lucy had let herself be pushed so far. Two weeks ago she’d have never imagined herself going to an underground fight, let alone talking to a supervillain. And the reason that supervillain had been interested…

Lucy’s chest started rising and falling faster. She’d almost forgotten about being the topless crook. Now that there was nothing left to distract her… there was nothing left to distract her.

After three muted screams into her own hands, Lucy reached the shower and made it run cold water. It didn’t take her mind off of the problem, exactly, but it helped a little.

Lucy swore when she got back to her room and saw the laptop still open on her desk. There was an entire internet to explore on the other side of the screen, but she really didn’t feel like doing that now. The clock read 21:37. It wasn’t even Sunday yet.

Hopefully Lucy wouldn’t have such a hard time with her dad having the day off tomorrow.

All the same, she wasn’t holding her breath.

~~~

“Is this your card?” Last Card presented the fabled two of hearts.

Ace looked up from his phone at the card, then at the grinning heroine. “I don’t recall picking a card at all.”

“No?” Last Card checked the card in her hand, then slapped her head as if it all suddenly made sense. “I see the problem. You don’t remember picking the card, and I…” She flicked the card, and suddenly it was the ace of hearts instead. “...Missed by one.” She looked at the hero expectantly.

“Still not getting it.” Ace said.

Last Card dropped her hands and sighed. She hadn’t even used her powers for that trick. “Your name, Ace.”

“I picked my name long before you were in the picture.”

Last Card rested her head on her hands and gave Ace a Look.

Ace glanced at her before returning his attention to his phone. “I didn’t even know you existed.”

Last Card doubled down on the Look she was giving him. He didn’t notice for almost an entire minute.

Ace cocked his head when he looked up, still not getting it. “Is there a point to this?”

Last Card tripled down on the Look. Then she pushed the queen and jack of hearts towards him for good measure.

Ace took the cards and frowned at them. He sighed and pushed them back. “Are you okay? It is still possible for you to use your words, right?”

“Yes.”

“Were you answering my first or second question?”

Last Card flourished the two of clubs.

“Two? As in both, or just the second question?”

Last Card repeated her flourish with the same card.

“You’ve given me the same answer twice. This isn’t helpful.”

“Oh, for the love of god!” Inheritor kicked the table, nearly making Ace’s coffee spill, and also collapsing Last Card’s intricate house of cards. “Ace. She’s clearly flirting with you. Last Card. Use your words or go somewhere private.”

“If we go somewhere private we won’t come back.” Last Card rebuked, put out by the collapse of the structure that had taken two and a half decks to build.

“I suspected something like that was the case.” Ace reached forward and picked up the jack. “But this isn’t me. If you had used the king instead, or paired it with the ace, I would’ve definitely understood.”

“But I decided I wanted to be on top today.”

“Queens can be on top.”

“Not in the hierarchy of the cards, they’re not.”

“Depends on the order.”

“Top ten lists don’t extend to J, Q, K.”

Inheritor interrupted with a loud groan. “Could you Please take the cute act somewhere that isn’t here. Or just stop it? We’re on standby right now, you know. Supposed to be able to leave at a moment’s notice?”

“We could do both.” Last Card quickly said, grinning. “Can’t we, Ace?”

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”

“Aha!” Last Card jabbed a finger at the superhero in spandex. “You just did!”

“Today, as with every day...” Ace trailed off as the air in the room suddenly thinned. “Ahem! We’ll do that later, darling.”

Last Card pouted as she flourished the seven of diamonds and activated her power. It glimmered in the thin air, and the air in the room returned to being breathable. She laid the card in the centre of the mess that used to be an elaborate house of cards and slapped a hand over it. A myriad of gusts played with the hair of all three heroes before settling, the cards now more or less returned to their respective decks.

“Sorry Innie.” Last Card said, not looking at Inheritor. She raised her hand, revealing a now mundane card beneath, and returned it to its deck. “It’s just that you’re so easy to tease sometimes. Maybe if I used the eight the cards would be better stacked.”

Inheritor ignored the pet nickname. “I am Not easy to tease.”

Last Card sucked in air through her teeth, doing everything but outright declaring her skepticism. Inheritor glared at Ace, who inclined his head apologetically. She forced herself to take a single deep, calming breath, before changing the topic.

“Remind me again what effect Diamonds has on powers?” She asked Last Card.

“Amplifications.” The heroine answered as she tapped the decks into alignment. “But it’s complicated. Higher value cards have more dramatic effects, but no two cards are the same.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I’ve already explained it to you, Innie. It would be the least you could do to not forget. It was only like, half a year ago.” Last Card sighed condescendingly as she shuffled one of her many decks. She would descend to the other heroine’s level to impart secrets most villains would kill or torture for. “But if you must know, reds enhance powers while blacks do the opposite. Clubs does so bluntly. Spades is a bit more to the point. Diamonds are the same, but again, in reverse. And hearts is just weird.”

“They enhance powers bluntly?” Inheritor guessed. A reasonable assumption, if entirely wrong.

“No, not really. With your power, a card of hearts wouldn’t be able to do much. Some, yes. But not much. That suit is more for personal powers, and powers with blue themes.”

“Oh.” Inheritor realised. “Hearts. That makes sense.”

“If you’re done with that elementary lesson, I will now proceed to explain how the numerical value-”

“Higher numbers mean stronger effects.” Inheritor cut her off. “That doesn’t take a genius to figure out.”

“Well-” Last Card said pointedly. “I’ll have you know that the Ace is the highest value of a given suit. Not the two, like it is in some games.”

“What about the jokers?”

“The wildcards will remain a secret.” Last Card told Inheritor cutely. “A girl needs some secrets, doesn’t she?”

“You have trump cards as well.” Ace added.

“Ace!” Last Card hissed. “I’m having a conversation!”

“So am I.”

“It’s fine.” Inheritor said quickly, likely so they wouldn’t start another argument. Last card shuffled her cards with more smugness than before. “But I am interested in your trump cards.”

Last Card sighed dramatically. “They’re my winning cards. If I play a trump card, I basically just win.”

“But...” Ace prompted.

“...But they’re random.” Last Card admitted. “For every person. Ace has two trump cards: the four of clubs and the ace of hearts. Do you know why?” She asked inheritor sweetly.

Inheritor paused. “I’m going to guess it-”

“It’s because he stole my heart!” Last Card cackled.

“Oh, is that the thing we keep in the freezer?” Ace asked the laughing heroine seriously. “I think we should throw that out. When I went to defrost some mince for last night’s chili, I noticed it was completely black.”

“Ace.” Last Card became entirely serious, mirroring the hero across from her, but keeping her voice down. “We’re not supposed to talk about my dark side.”

“You’re right. Apologies.” Ace looked at Inheritor. “Best not ask questions or it gets expensive. For you and for me.”

“But not for me!” Last Card pointed a thumb at herself, any trace of her previous gravity gone. “But I can’t tell you why.”

Inheritor looked between the two of them, looking as though she very much did not want to know. “Okay.”

“Great!” Last Card started arranging cards to rebuild her old house of cards. “Ace’s ace trump makes his maximum speed invert using his minimum speed as a baseline, and it triggers his calling card at the same time. Internally, rather than externally. It’s quite devastating. But was there a reason you wanted to know about my power? Or was that just killing time?”

“I just… if your cards let you trap and use a portion of my power, you’ll want to use a six rather than an eight if control is what you’re aiming for.”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Because you don’t do small scale. Got it.”

“But in regards to killing time,” Inheritor continued, “isn’t it strange that it’s us three standing by?”

“Not really.” Last Card said, already moving on to a second layer of her house of cards.

“I don’t particularly think so.” Ace said.

“But we haven’t been standing by in this group before.” Inheritor insisted. “When I told Sunshrieker that the hero lounge doesn’t get enough use, this wasn’t what I meant. The rotation is two heroes active in the city, with one or two here as reserve, with another on managing the comms.”

“I should thank Caligariman for his sacrifice.” Last Card realised.

Inheritor acted like Last Card hadn’t even spoken. “Three heroes in reserve is too much. And as far as we’re aware, nothing big is going down. It would’ve come up on the Friday debrief.”

“A lot of things get missed in rushed meetings.” Last Card said. “Just human nature. Doubly so if nobody wants to be there.”

“Alright, why don’t you think this is weird?” Inheritor demanded.

Ace raised his hand and spoke first. “You and I can move pretty much anywhere in the city with fifteen minutes notice, and it’s probably less for you. Last Card can piggyback off of my power and arrive on my heels most times as well. All the other heroes need motorcycles or cars.”

“And you?”

Last Card shrugged. “Thousands of possible reasons. But I think your suspicion is pretty on the money, and let me tell you why. The Sentry is way understaffed.”

“Those juniors?” Inheritor asked. “Come on, they’re just publicity.”

“Mostly, yeah. But I see those kids more than you. Jumpspark laid his hand on a topless woman just last week. Don’t worry, it wasn’t bad in the way that sounds, and she was a criminal to boot. Three arrests from that one. Tip Top wandered into a firefight and came out in almost tip top shape. Only two or three guys got away from that one. I forget the numbers. Do you want me to talk about Heiress?”

The airy heroine made a face.

“Thought so. Remember Inheritor,” Last Card said, affecting a lecturing tone, “powers are the great equalizer. The next time you find yourself in the eye of a storm of your own design, try to remember that at least three villains in this city could likely beat you at your strongest. Those kids need an injection to their numbers or they’ll start doing crazy things to make up for their lack of it, and I think that’s the reason we’re waiting here.”

“I’m starting to remember why I don’t talk to you much.” Inheritor eventually said.

Last Card looked up and grinned. “Right?”

“I for one, wish I was in your position.” Ace told Inheritor.

Inheritor frowned. “But what makes you so certain?”

“Well, us heroes are outnumbered. Always have been even before the vials started circulating.”

“I drank The Bloody Waterfall and I became a hero.”

“You drank a period? Kinky.” Last Card grinned as Inheritor rolled her eyes. “But the scales were always tipped in favour of the villains. Turns out manifesting powers makes people think they’re above the rules more often than coming to the realisation that they should help enforce them. When powers became a commodity, they tipped further.

“But with all the underground fights and other stuff in this city, there have to be what, thirty villains? Forty? Mistress counts for eight, right? So forty seven? Against them we have us thirteen Sentinels, six Sentries, technically, and those fabulous idiots at Lockdown. And let’s not forget how some of us have to leave town whenever a theta class anomaly pops up within a five state radius.”

“That’s important work.” Inheritor pointedly remarked. Likely because she was the one of them that did that work the most.

“Didn’t say it wasn’t.” Last Card finished a third layer on her house. “I was pointing out how horrifically understaffed we are. My hypothesis is that senior management are trying to solve that, and to that end are bringing in a shipment of vials. We’re here to help if that shipment gets hit. We’re being held back so the villains don’t catch wind of it. Otherwise, and I hope this is what happens, some interviews will be held and a racially and culturally diverse group of lucky plucky kids will get powers.”

“You’re not expecting it to go smoothly.”

Ace chuckled. Last Card gave Inheritor a Look.

“This stuff never goes smoothly.”

“It’s only Sunday afternoon.” Ace added. “The whole week’s ahead of us, and they don’t tell everyone they should when exactly things will start going down. Plenty of time for anything to happen.”

Inheritor sighed, shifting in her chair as she tried to get comfortable. “If anything happens, I hope it happens soon. But I don’t like spending so much time doing nothing. A whole week? I don’t know if I can handle that.”

~~~

It had almost been a week and nothing had happened.

Lucy had all but returned to her normal schedule of wishing for human contact and only receiving the government mandated minimum from her teachers and peers. Gracia had been around, but so had her many friends. The faces changed, but the numbers stayed around three to four other girls that didn’t know Lucy.

The idea of approaching them was intimidating, to say the least. Still, things were better than before. Every now and then Lucy and Gracia would make eye contact, and Lucy would receive a slight smile or a tip of the head. It was so natural and inclusive that Lucy had to remind herself that the other girl was as manipulative as the devils of hell.

Then, on Wednesday morning, a text came through from Gracia.

Coffee this afternoon?

Lucy immediately assumed Gracia wanted something from her. The problem was that she didn’t know that for certain, and so needed to check. She almost sent back What do you want? But then realised she wanted to ask that to Gracia’s face. So the message she ended up sending was somewhat different.

Sure. Same place or somewhere new?

It was too late when Lucy realised she’d forgotten to set her timer for three minutes. If Gracia noticed her faux pa, she didn’t say. In fact, her response came through just as promptly as Lucy’s had.

Thought I’d show you one of my favourites. Meet at school gates?

Lucy stared at the message. Obviously, Gracia wouldn’t tell her everything if she didn’t ask, and she struck Lucy as a careful person. She’d avoid leaving a trail in messages, probably.

Okay. See you then.

Lucy spent the next six hours of school waiting agonisingly for the final bell to ring. When it finally did, she speedwalked to the school gates but fell short of actually waiting there. Gracia wasn’t there, so she found a tree to lean against on the sidewalk. Some boys gave her strange looks when they also congregated there, but she didn’t move away, keeping an eye out as she was.

She had clearly been early. It took five minutes for Gracia to show up, and when she did three other girls were walking along with her. They paused, Gracia looking around while the others looked a little impatient, and ultimately stayed there for a while, chatting. Eventually one of the girl’s Lucy wasn’t on speaking terms with broke off and walked away, and another one followed.

The last girl looked impatient, and that had only been exacerbated while Gracia waited for something she apparently wasn’t sharing. Finally, Gracia found Lucy and beckoned her over. The impatient girl’s head snapped to stare at Lucy as she hesitantly began to approach.

“Lucy! You had me worried you’d forgotten or something.” Gracia spoke, ignoring the tension between Lucy and the impatient girl. “How long were you waiting? Not long I hope.”

Lucy was having trouble looking at Gracia under the judgemental eye of the impatient girl. “N-no. Not l-long at all.”

“This was who we’re waiting for, thank thanks?” There was scorn in the new girl’s voice that Lucy would’ve needed to be deaf to miss.

Gracia was entirely unperturbed. “Hanna darling, play nice. This is Lucy.”

“H-hi.” Lucy gave a small wave.

“I don’t care.” Hanna told her.

“She’s very shy, but don’t take that to mean she doesn’t have a spine.” Gracia said tiredly. “But let’s not have that conversation here. Lucy, do you have a regular order at CoastCoast?”

Lucy shook her head. She generally avoided chain stores like that because of how the internet insulted people, specifically teenage girls, who went there.

Gracia clapped her hands happily. “Then that will be our project for this week.”

Lucy nodded absently, aware that she would do it regardless of whatever came attached. Mostly she was warily watching Hanna, who was looking back with openly judgemental eyes. The look was one she was familiar with. The few times she tried to invite herself into another given circle of friends, that was the look being directed back at her. It served to remind her why she had a hard time approaching people.

Thankfully, Gracia stepped in between the two as they walked, giving Lucy some breathing room. She made idle chatter to that end, and even included Lucy sometimes. But with Hanna around, the girl was having a hard time coming out of her metaphorical shell.

CoastCoast was a coffee chain. There were probably thirty or so scattered throughout the city, and the one Gracia took Lucy to was packed. It wasn’t surprising, CoastCoast’s target market was the younger population that wanted caffeine to go. That it was also trendy and unique somehow hadn’t changed in the past half decade, and was probably why it was so popular.

When Lucy looked inside the walk-in walk-out cafe, she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. There were more girls than boys inside, which would’ve been relieving if the clothing trends weren’t so obviously apparent. Lucy wore a shirt and pants, with a light jacket over the top. Her colours were dark, mostly. Autumn colours, she thought.

The trouble with that was the fact that it was spring, and most of those girls were wearing leggings. Lucy had the clothes to fit in, but they weren’t there with her.

“Darling, what are you going to order?” Gracia asked, having already led Lucy into the throng of other people.

“Um.” Lucy peered at the menu. Where’s coffee? It wasn’t that she strictly needed coffee at the moment. It was just what people bought when they went to these places. Or that’s what she thought.

“I like the Mixti, but I only go for slim. I swear they put the same amount of coffee in no matter what size you pick. What about you, Hanna? It could help Lucy make a decision.”

“Nyx Grande.” Hanna said with no hesitation. “I disagree with what you say about the shots. Sometimes I ask for cream. And I have spice if they’re in season.”

“Looks like you have something in common with Lucy, doll.” Gracia smiled at Lucy and playfully flicked a few fingers in the direction of the menu. “So is any of that making sense to you?”

“Yes.” Lucy lied. “So where is the coffee?”

“Left column, but under the non-caffeinated stuff.” Gracia said, earning a bewildered look from Lucy. “There’s also spices under that. They’re seasonal, spring kind of sucks. Hanna much prefers this place when it’s fall.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Lucy ignored the bemusement coming from Gracia and looked again at the menu. Why does this place have to be so unique?

“Maybe you should go for a Nyx as well.” Gracia offered, but Lucy shook her head. All she knew was that Hanna got that, and Lucy didn’t want to have much in common with the girl right now. “Well then what do you feel like, honey? Help me help you.”

It took wading through a lot of confusing terminology, but Lucy ended up ordering what she thought was an iced tea. The word chai was in the name, so she felt confident about that. It was given to her in a tall disposable cup even though she had asked for a slim, and she couldn’t help but feel like she was sticking out in the worst kind of way as she clutched it close. When she slurped the drink inside it was tasty, and she could feel the kind of revitalisation that she had come to associate with coffee. But it was cold so she had to pace herself, which made her enjoyment last.

Lucy worried about breaking away from her dad’s teachings regarding coffee as Gracia sat the three of them down at a recently freed up table.

“Alright, thank thanks,” Hanna had one side of the four person booth to herself, and was lounging across the wide seat. “What do you have for us?”

Lucy leaned over the table and slowly slurped, waiting for Gracia’s inevitable offer. As for the girl herself, Gracia leisurely drank her Mixti, which Lucy had learned was not actually tea, and navigated on her phone. She placed it face down after twenty seconds of ignoring Hanna.

“Before I show you this, I’m going to need an assurance.” Gracia said.

Hanna rolled her eyes. “What is it, pretty girl?”

Gracia gave her a cool stare briefly before turning her eyes on Lucy. “That you won’t go gossiping about this.” She returned her stare to Hanna. “And that you commit or back out today.”

Lucy stopped slurping her iced tea. She’d been expecting Gracia to take this angle, but she still hadn’t been wholly prepared for it. Nonetheless, when Gracia glanced at her Lucy nodded quickly.

“Fine.” Hanna said irritably. Gracia pursed her lips. “Well?”

“P wants us to receive a package from someone.” Gracia said. “It’s not your standard delivery, either.”

Hanna sighed impatiently. “That doesn’t tell me anything. All I know is that P told you to, so it Must be important.”

Gracia narrowed her eyes. “It’s not mundane, darling. If, that’s what you were wondering.”

Lucy suddenly got it and dropped her tea. It had only been two inches above the table, so she didn’t end up making a mess. Hanna still didn’t seem to get it, and was using barbed words against Gracia, who still insisted on saying things evasively.

“You want us to help you steal power vials.” Lucy said. The argument between the two other girls died down as Hanna registered what was just said.

“It’s more of a shotgun approach.” Gracia said carefully, confirming Lucy’s suspicion. “Everyone who wants to be anyone will be all over this. But if you do this with me, your chances will be better than most.”

“Well shit.” Hanna decided, leaning back and crossing her arms, her Nyx Grande forgotten. “I’m in.”

“And you?” Gracia asked, turning her eyes on Lucy, waiting. It didn’t give of the feeling of expectation that Lucy had felt from her before. She wasn’t pressuring Lucy into this like she had with other things.

Lucy licked her lips, eyes darting between the two other girls, but eventually nodded.

“Okay.” Gracia flipped over her phone, revealing the picture of a smart looking man in a suit, currently fixing his tie. He almost looked as though he was a lawyer from a tv show, if not for the fact that it looked as though the lower half of his body was turning into metal. “This is Mercury. He’s a hero of Control, who fights monsters instead of villains, which is why he’s without a mask there.

“He’ll be carrying a case into this city tomorrow, alone and on foot. His power will make that more subtle and quicker than you’d think, but that won’t matter when every Bad Dog gets notified the second he steps foot on Westside. He’ll probably make it past most of them, and then we’ll be waiting.”

“So there’s a chance we’ll miss out.” Hanna said.

“Like I said,” Gracia shrugged, “it’s a shotgun approach.”