I rolled my eyes and groaned. Of course, of all people, Byron was the only one excited to risk his life for a damn pigeon.

“Good to see you up,” I said with a chuckle. “How’s the new class—”

Before I could even finish the question, he was talking rapid fire, his eyes alight.

“Oh my God, it’s so good, Dirk! No, it’s perfect! Exactly what I wanted. No, it’s exactly what I needed! It’s like if you took my old class and injected musical steroids right into its ass—”

“Byron, sweetie,” Mama G interrupted. He cringed and everyone in the room grew tense as they waited for her to scold him. But while her tone was firm, there was a hint of sweetness to it that I’d never heard before. “Perhaps butt would be a better term?”

Lacy’s mouth went wide with shock, nearly bugging out of her head. Athena had positioned herself on the far side of the room, her head low. But now, her head snapped up as she studied Mama G with narrowed eyes.

Behind Mama G’s back, a self-satisfied smile touched my lips for the briefest moment before I quickly hid it away.

Byron nodded, just happy not to be publicly scolded. His fire dimmed for a moment, then returned just as bright.

“Sorry, Mama, I meant butt. Steroids. Right. In. The. Butt!”

I laughed, walking past Mama G and holding out my hand to help him to his feet.

“That’s great, By’. You should go hit up your training zone and explore your new abilities.”

His face dropped. “Wh-what do you mean? We’re gonna go save Amos’ bird, right?” He looked around for confirmation.

“You didn’t tell him about Craig?” I asked Lacy.

She shrugged. “He literally just woke up.”

“What?” he asked. “What about him?”

“He’s gotten scary, dude,” Lacy said. “Mind controlled Amos from a hundred yards away. Nearly got me, too, until I formed my new core—”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, snapping my fingers. “Your new core. That’s amazing, Lace. What is it?”

Her cheeks reddened and she looked away.

“Uh…it’s kinda embarrassing.”

“More embarrassing than Pigeon Whisperer?” I joked.

“Oi!”

I held up a hand to let him know I was joking, then leaned in closer to Lacy.

“Come on, no one will judge you,” I said. “I’m actually a bit jealous. The only new core I formed was with the help of a literal god.”

She chewed her lip, scanning our faces for a moment. We all gave her encouraging looks and she eventually sighed.

“It’s…” She whispered the rest and only my enhanced Perception let me pick up on it. The others had no luck.

“Huh?” Byron asked.

“Speak up, babe,” Amos added.

Lacy took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin.

“Leadership,” she said. “I formed a Leadership core.”

I looked around in confusion. Mama G and I locked eyes but were very careful to keep our faces neutral. Amos was narrowing his eyes in confusion, while Byron was nodding as if he understood her embarrassment. Frank was fiddling with his glasses, examining Lacy in a clinical way that reminded me of someone dissecting a frog.

Jerome was the first to break the awkward silence.

“Tracks.”

Lacy turned with a confused expression. “Tracks?”

He grunted. “Yeah, that tracks.”

Byron nodded agreement while Amos shrugged. I had to admit, I was a bit confused by her hesitation.

“What’s wrong with Leadership?” I asked.

She shook her head quickly. “Nothing’s wrong with it. I just…feel like a phony.”

Byron scoffed, shaking his head. “Phony? Whatchu mean? You’re obviously our leader.”

Lacy pursed her lips and lightly smacked his arm. “Don’t make fun of me, jerk!”

He leaned away, confused. “I…I’m not…?”

I had to fight to keep down the laugh forming in my chest. She was embarrassed because she thought she didn’t deserve the Leadership Affinity. That, I hadn’t expected.

She was waving her hand around, obviously still not buying Byron’s sincerity.

“I’m obviously not the leader,” she argued. Her eyes locked on me and she pointed. “Dirk’s the leader.”

Amos and Byron shared a laugh and Lacy’s eyes darkened.

“What?” she demanded. “What’s so funny?”

Byron held up his hands in surrender, his laugh dying on his lips. “Dirk’s not the leader—no offense,” he quickly added. I shook my head with a smile. “He’s just the guy that gets things done. And sure, he tells us what needs doing that he can’t do himself.” Byron looked into Lacy’s eyes, his expression unusually serious. “But you’re the one that glues us all together. You get along with everybody, keep us all on the same page. That’s what you’re good at.” He indicated me with a wave. “He’s mostly just good at climbing and killing things.”

I put a hand to my chest like he’d wounded me. “And I’m uncomfortably handsome. Don’t forget that part.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Lacy let out a short laugh, then shook her head. “I don’t know if getting along with people makes me a good leader but…thank you.” She scanned everyone in the room. “Thank you all for…not laughing at me. For…I don’t know…believing in me, I guess.”

“Ye bet, babe,” Amos said with a wink. “Now, can we focus on what’s important? Me pigeon.”

“Hold up,” I said. “How does a Leadership Affinity stop Craig’s mind control?”

“Oh, right! It gave me a new ability, [Fortify]. Increases mental and physical health according to the description.”

“That’s awesome,” I said. “Single target, I’m assuming?”

She nodded with a solemn expression. “Yeah, unfortunately. But I had an idea when it was forming. My first Affinity is Projection. So, if I could find a way to, I don’t know, blend the two or something—”

“I see where you’re going with that,” I interrupted. “But according to Kurian, you can’t braid two separate energies unless they’re both at the Peak Tier. Burns out your cores otherwise.”

She nodded, a determination in her eyes. “Then I guess I need to start upping my Leadership Affinity.”

“Yer not gonna get all bossy now, are ye?”

“Only when you fuck up.” The corner of her lip turned up in a smirk.

“Which is most of the time,” I added, following the joke she was setting up.

She laughed, a lighthearted, airy sound that filled the room like a bright light.

“What the handsome guy said,” she added with a wink.

“Ohhh, I see it now,” I said in a mock serious tone. “That’s why everyone likes you…you’re a kiss ass!”

She stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry, while the others laughed. Mama G was squirming at the word ass, but I inwardly applauded her for holding her tongue.

When the good mood settled a bit, I turned to Byron.

“Okay, B-Nasty, back on task. Your new class—” His eyes lit up and I could tell he was excited to show off a bit. “—it give you anything to deal with mind control?”

His face dropped and he sighed heavily.

“Not exactly…” Then he perked up as if something had just occurred to him. “I can bump everyone’s Willpower by 50! Maybe that could be enough…”

He trailed off when he saw me shaking my head.

“Craig’s Charisma is over 200 now. I’m not positive, but I doubt 50 Willpower would be enough.”

“We could try?” he suggested.

“What if we’re wrong, though?” Lacy asked. “Who’s willing to risk their mind on that bet?” She looked around as if asking for volunteers. But we all knew that wasn’t happening. Even if someone wanted to take the bullet and try themselves against Craig’s mind powers, I wouldn’t let them anyway. The danger was too great.

“That’s a no-go,” I said. “We can’t risk that.”

Byron’s mood soured, his face shifting. “I’m useless. Even with a big upgrade, I can’t help the team.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that,” I said with a stern tone. “It’s not just about Craig. We’ve got a whole damn Tower to Climb. Come on, what else can you do?”

He perked up a bit at that. “The new Affinity I got is called Inspiration! It’s really sweet, actually. I can choose from nearly a dozen buffs and apply them to the team individually or as a whole. I can pick a mixtape and slot it into my boomie. Whatever tape I pick applies that buff. Only downside is I have to give each buff a few seconds in the boomie before I can swap it out with a new buff. But they last five minutes each!”

“That’s great, Byron!” Lacy said with enthusiasm.

“Sta-stacking?” Frank asked quietly.

“Ah, no. Each of you can only have one buff. If I play a new song on you, it overwrites the other buff. But I can pick and choose if it overwrites the previous buff individually!”

My thoughts churned with the possibilities. There were some limitations that would be tough to overcome. Having to physically swap tapes into his boombox would make buffing on the run difficult. And any surprise encounters would mean we couldn’t pre-buff. But he could give the entire team a single buff, like more Endurance, than take his time individualizing the buffs as the fight progressed. Leave Endurance on Jerome, then give me Agility, Amos Strength, and so on.

“Byron, this is great. We can definitely use this—”

“Hey!” Athena said from across the room. Her ear was pressed to the door leading out to the hallway. “I think there’s someone knocking on a door out there.”

My blood immediately ran cold.

“Get away from that door!” I barked, rushing over to physically pull her away.

Her eyes were wide in surprise and everyone in the room shot up from where they were sitting.

“What is it?” Byron asked.

“Umndirop’s people?” Lacy suggested.

It was possible—Umndirop had mentioned that he’d have someone posted in the Hall of Heroes to keep our line of communication open.

But something in my bones said otherwise.

“I don’t think so,” I said with a shake of my head.

“HONK!” Lex flapped his wings in irritation. “He can’t do anything in the Hall. It’s a safe zone!”

Red flexed across my back, wrapping over my shoulders and chest to form her new armor form.

“Are you sure, Lex?” I asked seriously.

“I-I…” His wings dropped and he shook his head. “I don’t know…”

I nodded, feeling a wave of shame and uselessness through our bond. With a thought, I beckoned him to my shoulder and he flapped across the room to perch there.

“Okay, here’s my thoughts.” I pointed at Frank. “You’re on thread-watching duty. You’ll be at my side, calling out any red threads you see. Don’t let Craig know that you can see them, though. Just give me a tap on the back and I’ll shut the door.” I turned to Lacy. “You’ll [Fortify] Frank out of sight. Jerome will be at your side, ready to restrain you in the worse case scenario.” She nodded as I turned to the others. “Byron, Amos, Mama, and Athena, sorry but you guys can only be used against us in this situation. I’d suggest you head into my training room where Kurian is. It should be the safest place for you, but if thing’s really hit the fan, head out through the portal back to Earth. It’ll drop you off in Sacramento. From there, standby until I come get you.”

Athena was scowling, her arms crossed in annoyance, but she nodded agreement all the same. Byron looked like a kicked puppy, but he didn’t protest. Mama opened her mouth, presumably to argue, but seemed to change her mind and pursed her lips instead. Amos nodded as well, and they all moved to the training room door.

I turned to Lacy and met her eyes. She nodded once, then turned to Frank with a look of concentration. After a moment, she gave me the signal that he was ready.

“Okay guys, let’s get into position. Fingers crossed it’s just the Co’xatl.”

With Lacy and Jerome staying in my room and the others safely tucked away in the training zone, Frank, Lex, and I strode into the hallway. Another knock had sounded a moment earlier, so I knew whomever it was, was still there, waiting for us.

The three of us stood at the ornate door leading to the Hall of Heroes. I paused there a moment, taking in the sight of the filigree, remembering back to the first day of the Apocalypse. What a different time that had been. What a different person I had been. Looking back on my past self, I didn’t even recognize him anymore. Those memories were like watching a different person masquerading in my skin.

Have I really not been back into the Hall since the Tower opened?

That was such a bizarre realization. In subjective time, it had only been a week. But it felt like months. We’d grown so much since then. I’d grown so much. But I had to remember, Craig was a master at manipulating others. He’d worked me over that first time we met in the Hall of Heroes. I needed to be on my game, steel my mind and emotions against whatever tricks he was about to play.

At my side, Frank cleared his throat. “Ready.”

Red quivered in anticipation, shifting to cover my face to provide the most protection. I forced her back with a gentle thought. This wasn’t a battle of strength and skills. This was a mental fight and hiding my face would be conceding the first point.

Lex flapped his wings once, his feathers brushing against my face. It would have annoyed me just a few days ago. But now, it gave me comfort, reminding me that I wasn’t alone in this fight. I wasn’t alone in this world. People cared for me, were willing to face death—and worse—with me.

That thought buoyed my spirits, giving me a sense of powerfulness that I hadn’t experienced in all my fights inside the Tower.

With a smile on my face, I reached down and pulled open the Hall of Heroes door.

Standing there, shoulder-to-shoulder, were my two greatest rivals.

Kneer looked ready for a fight, his powerful legs bent in anticipation of a deadly lunge. His muscles in his arms twitched, not with fear or nervousness, but with barely-constrained violent energy. When we locked eyes, his lips curled back, revealing his predator fangs in a strangely comforting deja vu.

In contrast, Craig was relaxed, his posture casual and loose. His teeth were also on display, but in a charming, damn-near friendly, smile. His golden curls framed his face like a Greek bust, his blue eyes deep and vibrant like a clear summer day.

And in his hands, he clutched something softly, his fingers tenderly stroking a blue-grey wing. Lala cooed quietly in his gentle grip, as if she were perched in her coop and not in the hands of our deadliest enemy.

A twinkle flashed in Craig’s eyes as he spoke with a soft chuckle.

“Forget something?”