"Relax," purred Magne, giving Elise's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You'll be fine."

"Those fingers look expensive." She glanced down at the offending limb. "I'd fuck off." She met his eyes. "I'm smart."

"Enough, Magne," warned Tacti, gunning the engine. He adjusted a few dials along the boat's control console while addressing his brother. "Focus."

"I am. Just wanted to make sure our guest of honour," Magne regarded her condescendingly, "is prepared for what is to come."

"Why wouldn't I be?" sneered Elise.

Mother reached over and patted her knee. "Elise, killing your firstborn child, no matter the reason, will not be easy. I'm worried about you."

"I'll be fine," the Hero assured them. "I'm not here out of the goodness of my heart. There's a mission, and he's in the way." She looked out the window. "In the long run, he'll impede." Her shoulders sagged. "Besides, he's 'Skies' now. I only have one son."

"That won't make it painless," Mother soothed, smiling sympathetically.

"You think I don't know that? He's my fucking son , Amelia. I don't want to do any of this! I have no fucking choice! So ditch the counsellor routine and let's just get you your Alpha, yeah?"

"Feel better?"

"No ."

"Hmm." Mother produced a water bottle. "Drink, then."

Elise waved her off. "I'm fine."

Her, Mother and the Triplets silently sloshed under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge while steering well clear of passing vessels. Their contact correctly assured them that the Upper Bay would pose no problems, and soon, they were through.

However, the more they neared the Sheath, the worse Elise's unease grew.

In her experience, fortune was often the opening act of chaos.

Evo seemed to share her concerns. He hunched in the back of the pilot cabin, silently drumming his foot against the floor while staring holes through the window.

Tacti glanced backwards. "Evo, be quiet. Where do we dock?"

"Port 9-C," Magne read off his tablet.

"Is it quiet?"

Magne shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Skies cleared everyone. The island is running on automation. Our man said the blindspot will only last four minutes, though, so let's not fuck about."

Tacti nodded. "I think I see it. Confirm."

Magne's eyes lit up silver as he projected his telekinesis. "Bingo. Punch it. Our timer should start about now."

Tacti revved the throttle, surging their fishing vessel forward. No one dared breathe as they rolled past the Sheath's unprotected flank, or when a bay door cracked open for their boat to glide into. The instant it did, Magne floated out and fastened them to a docking post.

Evo helped Mother out of the cabin as Tacti leapt out and scanned their surroundings.

"What now?" whispered Elise.

SWORD's underground bay was colossal, with two miles' worth of docks forming the subterranean port. Elise spotted elevators a hundred yards north of their position, built around gigantic Cruisium support pillars, though her attention quickly shifted to the cameras and motion detectors.

"Sensors are down," Magne declared snobbishly. "Our man says we have five minutes to get to the Vault."

"Impresive," commended Elise. "Why not just have him bring her out himself?"

"Shut up," hissed Tacti as they hurried for the lifts.

Once inside, Magne checked his phone and took them down. Fifteen floors down. And with three giants taking up enormous amounts of space, it wasn't a comfortable trip.

The elevator deposited them in a narrow hallway. So narrow, in fact, that with the Triplets' width, Elise was forced to the rear. It took five minutes of jogging through winding hallways, strange turns and steps to reach their destination.

The Vault's impenetrable door was designed to outlast a besieged Sheath. The entire room was made of dense Cruisium, immediately ruling out brute force. A nuclear bomb would struggle to dent it. That didn't mean much to Tacti and Magne, but until they were ready to sink the island, an alternative was in order.

"I never took you for a lockpick," Elise told Magne.

"You weren't listening, were you?" he retorted before glancing the camera above the door.

A series of hydraulic decouplings hissed through the door. Elise watched the pins rotate, unlatch and shift as the gigantic grey slab slowly unbarred itself from the wall.

"Five minutes," Magne warned Evo, stepping inside.

The Vault was spacious, fifty feet by thirty. The power system was self-contained, as apparent by a generator wired to ceiling-bolted potlights. It had also been redesigned for its young occupant. Colourful books, dresses and games littered the floor, along with posters and magazines of teenage models and shows.

And sat on a plushy blue couch in front of a flatscreen TV playing Gilmore Girls was a small, brown-haired girl shovelling candy in her mouth.

She leapt at the door opening and paled in horror at the new arrivals.

"N-n-no... no. H-he said-d-d you w-w-wouldn't come. He said h-he'd stop–"

"Shhh," Mother soothed, approaching the trembling girl. "What's your name?"

"L-Lydia," she stammered, shaking violently enough to drop her candy.

"Lydia, dear, it's lovely to meet you. You can call me Mother. This will all be over soon, I promise. We're just waiting on a guest."

"Please don't let them hurt me," she sobbed.

Mother patted her back. "There, there."

Elise swallowed. "Guest?"

"A silent alarm went off the instant we opened the door." Magne faced her. "How else were we supposed to get to him?" Then he frowned, turning to look around the room. "Something's off."

Evo tore his eyes off Lydia and faced his brother. "What?"

"The room. It's different." He pointed to the pink potlights. "Those are new."

Mother glanced up, then turned back to the girl in her arms. "Sweetheart, where did the lights come from?"

Lydia, after several seconds of coaxing, spoke. "I d-d-don't like the d-dark. I c-c-can't sleep without Wilfred."

"Wilfred?" repeated Mother.

She pointed to a stuffed monkey resting against a small bookshelf.

Mother rolled her eyes. "They're just–"

"Fuck this," Evo suddenly interrupted, striding towards them. "I'm not waiting for the ant."

Lydia scrambled back in desperation. "N-no! Stop! Get–"

"Hold up," Magne suddenly interrupted, turning to face the door. A maniacal grin spread across his features.

"They're here."

----------------------------------------

TWENTY MINUTES EARLIER

"Den in T-minus twenty," confirmed Lucas, rechecking his monitor for what must've been the fortieth time that day. "We're gold. Knock on wood and all that."

We'd been cooped up in the View Room for nearly six hours, and it was starting to hurt. My mechanical spine kept cramping me something awful, even after stretching. Additionally, I didn't have the pleasure of Angela, Church or any other Hero's company. Just me, screens, and many, many trepidatious techs.

"Contact?" I asked Natalia.

She shook her head. Her brow was slick with sweat. "No."

"Let's hope it stays that way." I watched her take a generous swig of water. "You alright?"

"Yep. Peachy." She smiled weakly.

Lucas eyed her worriedly. "If you need a break, take it. I doubt they'll spring in the three miles left to Syracuse."

She nodded. "Sure. I'm good, though."

He shrugged. "If you say so."

My convoys rolled on, fortuitously unmolested. Not a single Rogue was spotted in all four hours of our watch party. It was getting to a point where even the techs were shifting from unease to confusion.

And for another fifteen minutes, nothing changed. In fact, affairs progressed so smoothly that my staff almost tricked themselves into thinking it would stay that way, at least until Lucas bolted upright so violently, his chair smashed into a table.

"What?!" I shouted, immediately on my feet.

He was staring at his tablet, pale as a ghost. "An elevator just opened on V. Weight distribution shows five, but at max capacity."

My eyes bulged. "FUCK! How? How did they know?!?"

Lucas sputtered uncomprehendingly. "I-I... I don't–"

Fucking moron , I thought furiously, spinning away from him to address Natalia.

"Call my family, now! Even my mother, if you can get a hold of her, and tell them to get here RIGHT FUCKING NOW !"

She leapt to her feet and scrambled for a computer across the room. "Do you want guards?"

I raced for the door, shouting over my shoulder. "Against who I think this is? I'll just be sending good men to their deaths. Lucas, on me! Figure out how they got in!"

I activated my earpiece with him hot on my tail. Even with the little exercise I knew he did, Lucas' Knight-Class physiology gave him more than enough legs to keep pace. We tore through the corridors like madmen, with guards staring at us in utter confusion.

We slammed into an elevator at top speed. I almost literally punched in my override. We watched the sliding doors meet, then began our excruciatingly slow descent.

"Boss," Lucas asked quietly, "what's the plan?"

I stared at the console. "I'm figuring it out. But we cannot let them get that poor girl."

"What if they already–"

"Then we're fucked," I told him honestly. "They shouldn't have known ! We were fucking perfect . I had them."

His face contorted. "Someone fucking flipped. Someone fucked us."

Fucking idiot .

"We stall," I told Lucas. "Until Jason and Matthius get here. We can't let them get her."

Two minutes dragged by before we stepped onto Floor V. I'd never run so fast in my life, especially with the spine. My heart was in my throat when we rounded the final bend, and it only rose when we jumped into the Vault.

Amelia Norton was seated beside the girl, with Evo hovering hungrily a few feet away. Tacti stood closest to the door, eyeing me critically, while Magne's face was split with one of the widest grins I had ever seen.

"About time," he snorted. "What took you so long?"

I didn't respond. My eyes were on someone else completely.

"Mom?" I rasped, staring at Elise. I could see hints of armoured boot peeking out beneath her, though a long coat covered the rest. Her makeup was done the way she liked before fights, with minimal touches and knots to keep hair out of her eyes.

"Don't give me that shit. You knew." She shook her head. "Should've stayed upstairs."

I swallowed. It wasn't easy. "How did you get... huh." I hung my head. "They don't have weight distribution sensors."

Lucas chuckled as he locked the Vault door behind us. "No, they don't."

"Why?" I demanded as he pulled the pistol from my hip and tossed it to Tacti. "They're fucking terrorists! How could–"

He slugged me. Hard. Even with armour, my torso folded around his fist, and I collapsed. He then crushed his tablet to foil while looming furiously over my fetal body.

"Wanna know a fun fact? Your family's collateral kill count is almost fifteen thousand. Hell, Novax only left sidekick program, what, six years ago? He's already got two. Two fucking thousand. And you call us 'terrorists'," he snarled, making air quotes, "because we want to fix it?!"

Fucking dumbass. Complete fucking imbecile.

I dragged myself to my knees, thanking god nothing was broken. The lights flickered and brightened as Lucas went on with his tangent.

"I am better than you, Skies. So much fucking smarter it's not funny. Do you know how exhausting it is to dumb everything down for your stupid little reptile brain? Every monumental, astonishing discovery or accomplishment I make cannot properly be recognized because you're too fucking stupid to understand them. I couldn't replicate Pink's exoskeleton, but I could make my own. That thought didn't even occur to you because you're a fucking dunce. You're a Neanderthal who tumbled his way to the tip of the most powerful organization in the world." He laughed deliriously. "God, you thought using illusions to outwit us at Guadalupe was some kind of unbelievable, genius manoeuvre. You're an ape in a suit."

I spat out blood. "They slaughtered civilians."

"And you don't?" he sneered. "At least we have a reason. You, what, protect a system that cycles decay? They're idiots , Bernard. Blanks can't govern themselves. Extinction, at this point, is a given, and it's not even that far off. Leaving their lives in their hands is like leaving the nuclear codes in a baby's playpen. It might not be today or even tomorrow, but eventually, everything burns."

"And you, Mom?" I heaved, getting to my knees. "They stabbed Matthius. They hurt Dad. You saw them at the hospital." The lights continued to brighten. "Why?"

She didn't reply, so Norton stepped forward. "Because it was worth it."

I turned to her. "Ah. Yes. Ms. Norton . We've been looking for you."

She flinched. "Clever. How'd you find out?"

I staggered upright. "Why? What was all this for? Payback? To whom? For what?"

"You don't deserve this," she told me, dark rage quickly overriding her features as bronze energy swam through her fingers. "You have no true, real power. You are an insect. And you dare control us . We shake mountains with our bare hands. Carve the world to our liking. And you have the audacity to dictate our lives?"

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Never again." She sneered at me, squinting a little as the lights started to get blinding. "And never to you."

She shoved me in the chest, using no more than her right hand. I bounced up into the door and tumbled back to the ground.

In the background, I saw Evo seize the girl by the throat and lift her over his head. Cords of pulsing gold energy latched onto her body, drawing screams of agony and a grin of glee from the Rogue. So gleeful, in fact, that he didn't seem to notice the potlights continuing to ramp up.

Norton seized my hair and lifted me from my stomach to my knees. "You killed my son. My blood, and with a weapon meant for gods. Your blasphemy warrants a fate worse than death, but I have neither the time, nor the patience. That is why your mother, the one who... Lucas! Can you stop that!"

The Rogues were now cringing, as the lights had gone completely, blindingly white. Norton even dropped me to shield her eyes as an ear-splitting whine filled the room.

"That's not me!" Lucas shouted over the noise.

Norton glowered. "What ?"

"He said it's not him," I told her, rising off the floor. I tapped my earpiece. "Do it."

Her eyes, along with the rest of her children's, barely had time to widen before everything truly went white.

----------------------------------------

"You're sure it can't be thinner?" asked Titan, cringing into the distance.

Opake groaned. "Just as sure as the last nine times you asked, yeah."

"I can't see."

"Well, gee golly, Mr. Titan! You don't fucking say? My name is literally Opake , dumbass. That's the whole point."

"Yes, but can't you just obscure them?"

"No, idiot, I can't. If we can see them, they can see us. It's that simple. Now shut up and sit down. You're huge, and this smoke won't block Blacklight. We're probably out of his range, but let's not tempt fate."

"He's in the other convoy, though," pointed out Blood Rain, shoving Proto-Knight to make space on the hillcrest.

Opake shrugged. "He's a shifty POS, but more importantly, erratic. Nothing says he didn't just tell Skies to suck it. Hell, ain't like anyone can stop him. Hope for the best, prepare and all that. I dunno about y'all, but I'd rather not get fucked."

Ivory nodded, joining the Rogues in laying flat against the slope. "Amen. Em-Cee says they just turned off Kennedy. We should have lights in five."

Titan narrowed his eyes. "Yes, we should. Unfortunately..."

"Shut the fuck up!" snapped Opake. "Do you want our ambush to fail?"

"I don't see how the fog becomes an advantage if we're just as blind as they are," explained Titan.

"We're not. I can see through it."

"So can Blacklight." Titan cocked his head. "Which puts us at an impasse."

"Yeah, but Blacklight hasn't got my control," countered Opake.

"Yes, he does. He controls shadows. And much better than you."

Blood Rain rolled his eyes. "Alright, enough. Focus, boys. We've still got Valkyrie and Cryo confirmed. They're no pushovers, so let's not fuck about, yeah?"

The Rogues muttered their assent and carried on peering through Opake's cloud. They'd sat camped at the edge of the Syracuse Academy's backfields for almost five hours, waiting to bust their captured allies. Strangely, however, there'd been no aerial activity, even with the convoy's imminent arrival.

Leaked intel said a Dragonfly was due to airlift their men to the Chasm. It had yet to show up.

Despite this, the Alphas remained focused. The Family depended on them to free their allies, especially Black Ram. Though his Kiss hadn't yet cemented, he'd soon reach a King classing. They'd need his strength in the coming weeks, especially given Crackle's death.

"Alright," whispered Opake. "I think that's them. I got... yep. Three Hunters. Big as fuck, too." He scowled. "But something's fucking with my fog."

Titan rose to a crouch. "Blacklight?"

"Nah, I don't think so," replied Opake. "It's different. The shadows aren't moving. At least, not that I can feel. It's something else. Something… airborne."

Proto-Knight gripped his pommel. "Novas?"

"Nah. They'd have heard us by now, and everyone save Titty would be roadkill. We're clear."

The group peered up to spot three massive APCs lurch down the Academy's damaged road before turning to park in the centre of the main lot. Their flanking SUVs stopped in a circle around them for a dozen armed marines to jump out and take protective positions.

"Are they inside?" hissed Blood Surgeon, narrowing his eyes. "They're not opening the doors."

Opake squinted through binoculars. "Their eyes are up. The bird's on its way."

Blood Rain glanced skyward. "I don't see it."

"That's 'cause it's not here." He produced a radio from his belt. "Gordon, gimme something."

It took a few moments for a response to crackle back. "We're on script, though the Dragonfly is running late. Something about supply mismanagement."

"What are the chances of that?" asked Ivory, skeptical.

Gordon shrugged. "Given the suddenness of this operation? Not that low, actually. It's only supposed to be five or ten minutes."

"They're fanning," announced Titan. "Combing the perimeter, and soon they will make us. Now or never, Fog."

Opake ground his teeth. "Gordon, where's the fucking bird?"

"I don't know," he replied truthfully. "But if they find you first, Prime and Novax will activate."

Proto-Knight unsheathed his weapon. "I'm going."

Opake sighed. "Fuck it. MOVE!"

He roared, and a dense, impenetrable black cloud swallowed the school. Fifty Breakers and a dozen Rogues tore from the hill, using the cover of night to rush the convoy.

By the time the perimeter guard realized what was what, they'd crumpled to the grass with a vest full of lead.

Titan and Proto-Knight quickly outpaced everyone to crash the lot like missiles and sent marines flailing with lazy, sweeping blows. In seconds, nothing remained but the Family and the convoy.

"Light work," snickered Blood Rain. "Now let's make haste and fuck off."

With a casual pull, Titan ripped the nearest Hunter's door open. Its yawning insides gaped back at them, empty. Frowning, he repeated for the second, then third. This one held a single passenger, though certainly not Black Ram, Sonnet, Second Skin, Gel or Migraine.

The scaled giant scrambled back and fell into a defensive crouch. The Rogue army did the same when they realized why.

"You've gotten fat," laughed Blacklight as he hopped onto the pavement. "And social. My goodness! Someone's been using their Rogue LinkedIn . Look at all your new friends!"

Proto-Knight levelled his sword at Blacklight's throat. "Where are our men?"

"Wrong question," replied Blacklight. "The right one is, 'where are my men?'. The answer?" He leaned forward, grinning sadistically through his mask. "Everywhere."

The 'dead' marines slowly crawled back to their feet. The Family stared as the soldiers discarded their clunky vests, long guns and helmets to unlimber Hero armour and weapons. Dozens of blurry little lumps simultaneously materialized in the weedy grass behind them, shrugging off strange camouflage cloaks to unveil massive, modified rifles. Above them, an illusion dissolved and down floated Eye-Lie, Valkyrie and Black Dwarf.

"Oh fuck," moaned Opake as the Nordic rose from a ditch. The viking only smiled as his frost axe fell from the sky.

"Indeed," intoned the Hero, using a new metal arm to level his weapon at Proto-Knight. "But fear not, my friends. Today is a good day. Today, you are cleansed. Your transgressions are washed clean in the glorious waters of retribution. Today, we petition the gods to erase your sins with holy, absolving flames of judgment."

He crouched low as Mammoth, Cher Fer, King Cryo, Roach, Ironer, and Vest shrugged off their disguises to take up battle positions. Blacklight drank in the night and armoured his body in a twenty-foot shell with massive clawed arms and a demon head. Its red eyes slit with hunger and fell on Titan's wide-eyed frame.

"But such flames must be sparked. Every fire must be birthed." The Nordic's grin spread. "And there is simply no greater mother than battle."

"FUCK!" screamed Opake, hyperventilating with terrified fury.

The Nordic thrust his axe high, shrieking with glee as he joined the Heroes in descending on the demoralized crowd of astonished Rogues. "TO BATTLE!"

----------------------------------------

Two hundred miles south, Angela hopped out of an Escalade and yawned. Her guards fanned out along the shore while eyeing the perimeter as she made for the pilot and Chasm warden. It'd been a long, stressful ride, but they'd made it.

And without so much as a scratch.

She hoped the others were finding similar success.

"Smooth sailing?" asked the warden, offering her hand.

Angela shook it, turning to watch Silver Shade, West Wizard and Regal wheeling the sedated Rogues out from the semi-trucks and towards the waiting Dragonfly aircraft. Against all odds, things appear to have gone down without a hitch.

For them, at least.

Please, please don't be stupid, Bernard.

"Smooth as can be, I guess." She nodded to the pilot, then peered out over the New Jersey coastline. "Let's get these guys in the air."

Please be okay.

----------------------------------------

I bolted upright, cringing at my bruised stomach. Lucas wasn't gentle, but my armour came from the best. I quickly swept my surroundings and smiled at the ocean of snow. Hundreds of gigantic icebergs, looming mountains and yawning caves peeked in the distance, detailing the horizon with bumps and groves. The sky held stars and shadow, which made sense.

Antarctica wasn't due sunlight for months.

I lowered my gaze to behold the scattered furniture and occupants of the Vault, where I couldn't help but grin. Everything had been taken, from the TV to the generator to the people. My mother, the girl, Lucas, and the Family all landed side by side, in the same relative positions from the Vault.

Thank god .

Force materialized around my throat and yanked me from my snow angel. Suffice it to say, I stopped smiling.

"What did you do?" snarled Magne, tightening his telekinetic hold.

"Can't... breathe..." I wheezed.

"Drop him," growled Tacti, already starting to shiver. "He has our answers."

Magne unceremoniously dumped me on my ass. At least this time, it was in soft snow and not rock-hard Cruisium.

"Thank you," I coughed, punching my chest.

"You have twenty seconds," Tacti warned me, "before we kill you."

I cringed. "Very generous. Though you'll probably need–"

"Get the fuck off me!" shrieked 'Lydia', pounding Evo's beefy arm uselessly. "Get your stinking mitts off my goddamn neck!"

Evo, looking both repulsed and confused, dropped her. "It's... not working. Why isn't it working?"

"What?" demanded Magne.

"I can't drain her," he muttered, staring numbly at his hand, dumbfounded. "Why can't..."

Tacti faced me. "What did you do?"

I shrugged. "Me? Nothing." Then to 'Lydia', "Well done."

She spun on her heel, shivering while stalking for a thermal blanket that'd fallen from the couch. "Go fuck yourself, Skies. And hurry up. I better not lose any fucking fingers!"

"Who..." Norton stared open-mouthed. "Who is that?"

'Lydia' shuddered irately, though this time punctuated by crackling, twisting and undulating flesh that grew to form a six-foot-tall, bald Japanese man in very small, girly clothes.

Unadulterated rage roared in Norton's eyes. "You dare?"

Second Skin bundled himself up and shrugged. "Oh, fuck off, bitch. I told you I was in for the money. This shit got way too big, way too fast. I'm getting years off, which is more than I can say for you."

Tacti finally put two and two together. "You knew we were coming."

"Déjà vu, huh? Hurts, I know." I rolled my eyes. "I mean, do you actually think Gordon fooled me? Or was I supposed to assume he conveniently decided to go on a cross-country golf trip the day his school was invaded?" I rounded on Lucas. "Or what, that my jetpack randomly malfunctioned at Guadalupe? I suggested that defect, dumbass! And how the fuck else would they have found Pink? We relocated him days before LA, and you, Angela and him were the only ones who knew about it."

Lucas was pale as paper.

"I'm not even mad, just disappointed. You are smarter than me. But you are also very fucking stupid. You were this close to a promotion. You would've had your own fucking division. Pink couldn't have given less of a fuck, so there wasn't even competition. Then you had to go and do…" I motioned to the Family, "this." I shook my head in disgust. "A fucking travesty."

"That's lovely," Tacti interjected, his eyes narrowing as energy flashed up to his fist. "But you have yet to answer our questions. This was clever, the cold weather. It'll slow us, but it won't save you or the shapeshifter."

I met his eyes. "Good thing I'm very clever, then." I spread my arms and did a slow turn. "We're in the middle of Antarctica. South Pole, dead centre. It's summertime, which sits us at a steamy minus twenty-two." I faced the Rogues. "Want to know your problem? You all have tunnel vision. The second I tickle your senses with the sweet scent of success, it overpowers your better judgment, and you toss your big, scary Alpha brain in the garbage."

I could see their teeth chattering. Lucas had already collapsed. My suit, on the other hand, rebuffed the arctic climate with ease.

"Additionally, you constantly disregard perceived 'weaker' assets and discard them as meaningless. You never consider that maybe, just maybe , they can do things you need. Except Lydia, of course. You're obsessed with her." I flashed a predatory smile. "And that makes you very, very predictable."

"Where is she?" demanded Norton.

"Peru."

Her eyes widened, then she spun on Lucas. "You said–"

"What he was told," I replied airily. "If it makes you feel better, it wasn't easy. Despite his general stupidity, Lucas knows how to work a computer." I tapped my chin. "Here's another name: Anita Bauer. You kidnapped her from the Den, remember? The one who got away. She has this fascinating camouflaging power that we were able to incorporate into cloaks. It's really something."

Magne uprooted a bungalow-sized ice block and hovered it thirty feet over my head. "And we should give a fuck, why?"

"Forget that." Tacti was still working through the full scope of their fuckup. "What's happening at Syracuse?"

I shrugged. "We're dealing with the Rogues, just like you were told."

"It's a trap."

"Your words, not mine." I frowned. "No, actually, I agree. It is a trap."

"We're done here," growled Magne, starting to stagger from the cold. He released the block with a dramatic flourish. I watched it descend before a beam of white energy materialized from behind me and blew it apart.

"Again, tunnel vision. Instead of asking why I was blathering on about Bauer and cloaks, you threw a rock." I sighed, shifting to address Norton. "Is this why you call yourself their mother? Because of the childish idiocy?"

The Family's eyes went comically large as Jason and Matthius dropped their cloaks and straightened in the snow behind me, the latter of which would no doubt demand a reward for his secrecy. That and saving my life a moment ago.

"Fucking finally," he hissed as his mechanical spine pulsed, spreading black sludge over his thermal undersuit. In moments, it froze and hardened over Matthius' smoking white eyes. "That hood smelled like feet."

Evo jumped back and agitated his surrounding gravity. "What the fuck?"

I glanced back. "Ah, yes, the armour. Some of Pink's best work, I'd say. He says hello, by the way. The idea came from a special young man named Jasper." I nodded to Evo. "I believe you two are acquainted."

The composite plating bore a scaled appearance, with Pink having based it off Jasper and the Kill Kollective's King Shihong. Gaps were filled with glowing red veins, hot enough that I was cringing, even fifteen feet away, in the blistering cold.

"Your Talons were a godsend, Amelia. Held the whole thing together beautifully." My own artificial spine flexed, surging out dark, gelatinous matter.

Norton finally swallowed her shock. Her retort dripped with scorn. "My sons are gods, Skies. Cleverness, while quaint, is not a sufficient substitute for power. Not only that, but you are outnumbered."

I cocked my head as the headpiece wormed into place. "No, we're not."

Her eyes narrowed. "More cloaks?"

I chuckled darkly. "Something like that, sure."

They felt it first—the searing heat of pure plasma—and when they turned, they saw it, too.

The Crimson Nova's cloak burned off like dry kindle, completely vaporizing as her Cruisium spine flexed. Black slime surged out, engulfing her body in jagged black scales. The veins of crimson heat combined with her own furious thermal energy melted every drop of snow within almost fifty feet.

Then I looked at her face. True, spiritual anger, the kind you only hear of in ancient myths and legends, twisted my mother's face into something haunting.

Her eyes exploded with light. Her fists glowed bright enough to hurt, even through my helmet's filtered lens. The ground cracked and buckled beneath her boots, and the wind howled as it boiled around her. The Family flinched back as the armour fully locked in, covering her head in a comparably terrifying demonic mask.

Then she growled five words to Magne, and the King-Class Rogue looked ready to shit himself.

"You stabbed my fucking son."

Maybe he'd have begged for mercy. Maybe he'd have tried explaining himself. Hell, maybe he'd even have tried making an understandable run for it.

We'll never know, as my mother was suddenly moving, bombing a meteoric, plasma-infused canon of a punch right in the bridge of his nose.