If you told me two hours ago that I would be stuck in the same room as Witchling, I wouldn’t have believed you. Olympia wasn’t known for her detective skills, and chasing supervillains was a problem that eventually got too time consuming and tedious as they slipped deeper into the cracks of the city to warrant the effort. I left that to the SDU and the police, and whenever something came up on their lines, I would gear up and join them on their raids. But this was different, because she was walking straight toward me, a smug look on her face as she fixed her flawless hair.

A part of me wanted to retaliate for losing against Witchling and the rest of the villains that escaped just a few hours ago by killing her. You don’t take this seriously enough, Lucas had said, and standing in front of her, I almost reasoned lunging toward the possible S-Grade. But I reigned myself in, snuffing the flare of emotion burning inside my chest. If she was here, then she was part of Ava’s group, which only meant that Ava needed more than just what I brought to the table.

She needed power, superhumans on a level that could stand up against the SDU and a possible Cape from the Olympiad if it all went to shit. This must have been what Lucas was telling me about on the phone a few minutes ago, then. Or maybe this was another deterrent to keep me in check by having someone who already beat me on her side. How long had Ava really been watching me? Had the bank robbery also been a test of some kind? I glanced her way, finding that she was already looking at me, her face pleading for me to stay calm. I figured she was right in not telling me beforehand, because signing me up for this mess would have taken a lot more.

But you’re doing this for the right cause, remember? I thought. It still took a physical effort to unball my fists. They wouldn’t know who I was, but maybe I could use this to my benefit. Learn about how they operated and who was really in charge. Figure out their dynamics and secrets. As Lucas argued my case for me in the upper west side, I was helping his task force down here. Ava was giving me access to this for a reason, or maybe just to fuck with me so I thought I had some kind of advantage over her when our agreement came to an end. Swearing under my breath, I massaged my temples, annoyed at the stupid little mind games she was playing with me.

I wondered if dad ever had to go through the same hoops this human was putting me through, though a part of me couldn’t even see him wilfully playing along to a villain’s song.

Witchling stopped in front of me, arms folded across her chest. My gut turned as she stared me down with those deep black eyes. I wondered if she could read minds, or whether she could just speak to people telepathically. It didn’t matter. Out of everyone in this warehouse, she was the biggest threat. Little was known about her or where she even came from. She never spoke, and nobody really knew if she was able to, but someone able to manipulate reality wasn’t someone you could trust. She had a death warrant on her head; no point putting her in a prison that she could simply warp her way out of was how the DPIA, Olympiad, and ADA figured was the best option.

I could win myself a lot of praise by killing her and sending her body to Lucas as proof of how seriously I took being a superhero, but Ava was soon beside me, squeezing my arm.

If Witchling was here, I reminded myself, then Ava needed her powers, too, meaning I needed to try and not kill her. Gods, I hated working with humans. Damn their leverage.

Ace slid the toothpick in his mouth from one side to the next, then said, “Hold on a minute. This is all you brought back, Av’? I thought you were gonna get a somebody. Not some kid.”

Ava put her hand on my chest, getting between us before I made a bad decision. “She’s called Tempest, and if she wanted, you’d be a mess on the floor and smattered all over my guns.”

His eyes narrowed as he cocked his head. “Super strength?” he muttered. “We could’ve gotten Dumbo upstairs to follow us around if we needed another big old meathead.”

“Hell of a lot of talk coming from someone the Olympiad stopped chasing,” I said.

“They stopped chasing me because they couldn’t catch me,” he argued. “So how about you settle down a little ‘for I teach you to stop talking when you’re not supposed to.”

Hovering, I pushed past Ava, getting in front of him. “Yeah, and why’s that?”

He smiled a little. “‘Cause I’ve seen girls like you before, thinking they’re hot shit just because they can kill a man with their hands. They get cocky. Then they get dead. You ain’t special, kid, you’re a placeholder for the next super who comes along, just like the gal before you.”

There was someone else? I thought, glancing over my shoulder at Ava. It didn’t matter right now, anyway. “Fuck you,” I spat. “For all I know some Normal with a gun killed her.”

The warehouse seemed to collectively pause. Mercenaries straightened, looking my way with quiet malice in their eyes. I heard the silent snaps and clicks of safety switches being flicked off. The continuous thumping of their collective heartbeats was like a gong in the silence, this beating warning that only rapidly grew faster as I hovered a little higher. I had struck some nerve, something that ran deep through all of them, like probing a still bleeding knife wound. I saw it on their faces, the way they readied themselves. Ace’s face fell flat, his eyebrows lowering as he removed his arm from Damsel’s shoulders. Even Ava pursed her lips, sliding her hand off me.

Witchling continued staring at me. I wasn’t sure she’d blinked in five minutes.

“You come here,” Ace said quietly, “thinking you’re any better than what came before?”

I shrugged. “Well, she’s dead, isn’t she? So I guess I’m good enough to be alive.” Looking down at him, I smiled, only a little, then said, “Something she wasn’t good enough to do.”

A beat of silence passed. Seconds that felt like hours ticked by as we stared at each other. A part of me was rearing for a fight, something to burn away the voice in my head telling me that making a deal with Ava was a terrible idea in the first place. So I edged closer to him, right up to his face, itching for a fight that I could easily explain away as self defense when I killed him.

Instead, Damsel sidled up next to Ace, looking at me as she said, “Darlin’, I know you want to protect your ego and all, but picking a fight when we’re all on the same team won’t help.”

O’Reiley grunted. “She’s right, new kid. Don’t shit the bed the first time you get in.”

I waved my hand through the air. “Oh, please. He’s the jackass that started it.”

“And you’re not really one of us,” Ace said. “So nobody has your side on this.”

Ava spoke up: “I do. I was the one who brought her here, and it’s my fault that she spoke out of line. So I'll make sure she stays quiet and only speaks when she’s asked to next time.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”

She turned her head but not her body, as if she wasn’t going to put the effort in facing me. “The person I hired to do a job that didn’t include making a pain of herself to those she’ll be working with.” Ava’s eyes trained me, dead set, cold and serious. “Are we clear, Tempest?”

It took several seconds, but the message was clear. It left my mouth tasting bitter.

“Good,” Ava said. “Now that we’re done with that, let’s get to what brought us here.” She turned to the map on the wall, and the mercenaries continued sorting the ammunition and firearms throughout the warehouse. The four villains walked past me, with Witchling soundlessly brushing past my shoulder, Knuckles not bothering to look at me, Damsel smiling, and Ace taking one look at me before he whispered, “Stay on your fucking leash,” as he joined his boss at the wall.

Countless thoughts crossed my mind, none pleasant, as I followed them. I could almost hear what Olympia would have to say about letting a human talk down on her. But Ava knew who I was and where I lived, my friends and the only family I had left. It wasn’t me who I was afraid for, but everyone else who would get caught in the crossfire. Lucas knew who I was, too, but he knew more than anyone what it meant to keep your lives separated for the safety of the people you cared about. We had an unspoken agreement, me and him, but Ava was entirely different.

How many more people had she told about me? Her shadow could be in this room, maybe as one of the mercenaries, or they might be in my bedroom right now, searching through my belongings, or even at Veronica’s place, watching her from the neighbor’s window, waiting for her to come home and lock the front door and drink half the bottle of wine she kept in the kitchen cabinet behind the cereals. Right now, I had to play her game, or else I’d lose everything.

But swallowing my pride and listening to what she had to say wasn’t any easier.

You’ll get used to it, Witchling said in my head again. I shot her a glare, but she wasn’t looking at me, but at Ava. She’s got to show she’s in charge and as strong as her father.

“Get in my head again and I’ll sever your skull from your spine,” I whispered.

Though I was behind her, I saw the corner of her lips turn up into a smile. I wish to see you try, she said, the sound of her chuckle irritating in my head. It would be so much fun, wouldn’t it?

“Tonight could be the night everything changes for us,” Ava said, turning to face us superhumans and the few mercs listening in. “Right now we’ve got smaller numbers than the Triumvirate and would simply be a blip on the SDU’s radar if they so much as hear about anything we’re planning to do. Our ammunition is limited, and even though we’ve got a new member who can hold her weight”—Ace shook his head, then spat out his toothpick; O’Reiley gave him a warning glare before he could interrupt Ava—“we’ll still be in need of the element of surprise.”

“If the new kid thinks she’s hot shit, why don’t we just send her in all by herself?”

Ava barely looked at Ace as she stepped forward and said, “The objective is clear. You know what you’re all supposed to be doing, but for Tempest’s case, I’ll go over it one final time.”

I paid no attention to Ace as Ava pointed at the Lower Olympus docks, an area so filled with red pins you could barely see the port where the ships used to file into before a newer dock was built further along the coastline. I frowned, getting closer, pushing my way past a few mercs and supervillains I couldn’t care less about. The docks, though, weren't going to be a fun time for anyone, judging by the number of weak spots indicated around the area. Escape routes were blocked off by demolished buildings. Sealed tunnels due for maintenance work. Even the airspace above the dock was dominated by cranes and sagging electrical wires from what I last checked.

If Lower Olympus was in better shape, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

I spoke what was on my mind. “Who the hell would dock their ship there? Do they want to get hijacked that bad? Hell, if I was Olympia I’d be waiting for someone to even be that stupid.”

“Well, according to our info, Aegis Tech has decided to dock right there in about an hour’s time,” O’Reiley said. “I’m no genius, but I know what it means when a weapon’s manufacturer doesn’t want to go through the rank and file of the newer dock’s cargo search routine.”

Another piece clicked into place. I hated Aegis Tech just like any other superhuman would. They were the sole reason both Damage Control and the SDU could charge into battle against any A-and-S-Grade superhumans without pausing to stop and think about their career choices. Their special-grade rifles packed a punch, one so hard that, on full charge, felt like getting slammed into by several tank rounds. It couldn’t put a hole through me, but I’d been active enough on deep web forums to see exactly what the insides of a superhuman looked like after getting hit by one.

I had a reason for not wanting to work with the SDU, then. If they wanted to, they could shoot me down with a sniper round and proceed to piss me off as they tried to take me out. My only saving grace was that the guns were expensive, so regular gangsters and villains couldn’t get their hands on them without spending money that could otherwise be used to buy a small bank.

Technically, such weapons shouldn’t exist, and I for one agreed with the humans on that. But Blackwood Pharma explained it away by saying, “You can toggle the power of the guns.”

“Besides,” that gray-eyed CEO had said on TV last year. “We have to keep our own safe from the superhuman threat. You can’t possibly know what they’re capable of these days.”

But if Aegis were shipping more guns in through New Olympus’ back door…

“What the hell are they trying to bring into the city?” I asked. “Another special rifle?”

“It’s impossible to tell,” Ava said. “Our informant wasn’t able to tell us all that much.”

“You’d think they’d try and find out what’s so dangerous that Aegis would try to sneak it into New Olympus,” I said. Ava’s eyes narrowed, and I put up my hands. “Just saying.”

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“Some of us ain't built like Olympia,” Darling muttered. “She tried her best to let us know what exactly them boys in Aegis were filling the crates with, but I pulled her out for her safety.”

That’s the problem with these humans, I thought. A single bullet in the chest and they’re done for the day. Still, it meant that Ava’s stalker wasn’t anywhere near as dangerous as I thought.

“What matters most is that Aegis Tech is going to be docking soon, and the Triumvirate is going to be there as soon as it does,” O’Reiley said. He shrugged. “It’s all a little convenient that they know, too, maybe ‘cause they’ve got their own informant in there as well, but I doubt it.”

“Your informant is a supervillain,” I said. They turned to me, quizzical. “Highest bidder and all that, right? Isn’t that how it works for us guys? Because that’s how I usually work.”

I figured that was a nice enough save, and I got the reaction from Ace that told me it was. “Not ours,” he said flatly. “Aegis and those fuckers probably shook hands under the table.”

“Meaning that it won’t so much be a hijacking than a transfer of goods,” Ava said.

My eyebrows creased. “What would Aegis get from working with the Tristate?”

“Triumvirate,” Ace said. “God, where the fuck did the boss scrape you up from?”

“Keep talking, superstar, and we’ll spend the night rearranging those pearly whites.”

Ava took a mug of tea from Mr. Campbell, who had taken on the duty of organizing a platter of cookies as we spoke. “My best guess is simply for research. The weapons are probably untested, making them highly dangerous, too, both for the user and the victim. The Triumvirate gets a powerful and possibly new stock of weapons, and Aegis Tech gets their field research.”

A beat of silence. Ava sipped her tea, as if unfazed, but I heard her heartbeat and the blood rushing past her ears. She was nervous, barely swallowing without choking on the hot liquid.

But something didn’t click with me. “Why would Aegis even bother doing that?”

This time, the one wearing black and red kevlar body armor spoke. They had been silent for the entire meeting, standing so perfectly still I thought they might have died on their feet.

“Because you don’t try to get weapons approved by the ATF when you know it’ll lead to public scrutiny and further investigations to what else you have in your inventory,” they said. I couldn’t place their accent through the mask, with their voice coming out muffled. “Any company would rather not have a permanent stain on their records when trying to attract future investors.”

“Bingo,” O’Reiley said, nodding. “Once the shipment goes to hell, then they can mark it up as stolen goods. When they’re asked why they didn’t dock in the upper east side like anyone else would, they’ll just blame it on Mayor Blackwood for letting Lower Olympus go to shit.”

“Flimsy excuses, we know, but excuses nonetheless that’ll deflect the blame,” Ava said.

I was split down the middle on this issue, and I blamed the supervillains surrounding me. On one hand, stopping Aegis Tech from letting their cargo ooze into Lower Olympus would mean that whatever it is they had in store for the world would stay under wraps forever. But not stopping them, accidentally letting the shipment all go, would mean Olympia would be on the forefront for the battle against whatever gangs and guilds crept up from the influx of weapons. Imagine that, my face on the news every night as I took down another hideout filled with special-grade weapons. Gangsters scurrying away in terror as I exploded through the roofs of their warehouse, showering them with debris that would crush some, cripple others, but would make them understand that a new age of superheroes was on its way and I was going to be right there as the fucking poster girl.

The tabloids would spin tails about me, and kids would pull their parents along whenever I flew over the city so they could get a good glimpse of me. This wasn’t a supervillain, but it would be the beginning of becoming more than just the city-wide nuisance people seemed to think I was.

And… Well, maybe the Olympiad would let me join for free. It would mean I wouldn’t have to dirty myself being surrounded by thugs and mercenaries and wannabe C-lister villains.

But dealing with the shipment in just an hour’s time dressed as this other person, this make-believe supervillain that another supervillain had created, would be rubbing salt in the wounds. What happened after we stopped the shipment? Would I really be dumb enough to give someone who knew my secret identity a cache of weapons that could possibly harm me?

I had to probe for answers, something I wasn’t used to doing. Most of the time as Olympia, people told me things without asking. Here, I was fishing for information. “So what happens after we stop these guys?” I asked. “We sell ‘em and bag what we can before the SDU starts tracking them through the city? Or, you know, that superhero bitch tries to stop us from using them.”

Ace smiled. My gut turned at the sight. “We’d have weapons so illegal that Mr. Logan ‘Martial’ Kissinger isn’t afraid enough of the Golden Gal to hide what he’s doing. You think docking a ship that big is easy, new kid? He could have flown it in. Driven it in. Hell, if he wanted to, teleporters are right here for the hiring. If he was afraid of dealing with Olympia, he wouldn’t have made it hard for himself. He knows she’s not a problem for him, and that explains this.”

Who the fuck isn’t afraid of getting caught by Olympia? I thought. It was such a new concept to me that I almost let my tongue slip to tell Ace to see how afraid I could make him.

It was almost an insult that he was taking the easy route for something like this.

Instead, I soaked in the words like a serious superhero would, nodding as the broader picture started coming into focus. In short, I simply had to follow orders. But I couldn’t fully trust myself to make a decision on what I’d do with the shipment as soon as we found it. Leaving an anonymous tip for Lucas was always a possibility, but then Ava would have no reason but to expose everything about me at the drop of a hat if I screwed with her organization and her plan. Though, if I thought about it, wouldn’t it be somewhat of a good thing if I let the guns pour into the streets of Lower Olympus for Lucas, too? It would mean more funding for his department, more weapon allocations and technology they could use to track down supervillains and, importantly, more safety for the humans who wanted to party all night long without being afraid.

Or I could just destroy all of the weapons and stop anyone from even thinking they could ever hurt me, I thought. It didn’t matter who got the weapons—something so dangerous that a retired superhero like Logan Kissinger could wave away any form of concern was… worrying.

Not entirely, though. At least, that’s what I convinced myself to believe.

I was still Zeus’ daughter. The heir to a throne that didn’t exist. The freaking humans couldn’t have made a weapon to harm me, right? No, I doubted they had the guts to even try.

“Ace isn’t entirely wrong,” Ava said. “Besides, the price of such weapons would be beyond anything anyone would be willing to pay, so there wouldn’t be a point in selling.”

I folded my arms, still hovering, that bit higher above the villains around me. Mr. Campbell offered me tea and a chocolate cookie, but I waved him away. Eating would mean taking off the ski mask, and Witchling was watching me from the rim of her steaming black mug, ever curious of me. “So we’ll just keep the guns and use them against who, exactly? Whatever their name is would just retaliate if we used the weapons Aegis are bringing into the city against them.”

O’Reiley grinned, showing off tobacco yellowed teeth. “I like you, new kid. You’re smart, but not experienced. If we get the weapons, assuming they’re more than just special-grade rifles, it’ll be a deterrent to the Triumvirate. Fuck with us, and we might just blow a hole through you.”

I tapped my fingers against my bicep, a little annoyed. Scratch that, very annoyed. “Fear would just make them push back against us.” And it would mean more chaos, more damned noise to deal with. Ava would benefit, of course, as she picked up the pieces her eventual escalation of violence would create in Lower Olympus. More territory. More people needing her gang's protection as it all fell apart. I would also benefit, but late nights of saving civilians I otherwise put in danger wasn’t something I was planning to do with my free time this summer. I wouldn’t be the reason for that.

Ace shrugged nonchalantly. “On the other hand, all that the Golden Gal does is make us fear her. She kills us like freakin’ roaches so we scurry around in the dark, checkin' over our shoulders every five-fucking-minutes, looking for those damned golden eyes, and hell, look at where we’re hiding. There's a goddamned reason we only go out at night; at least that way it saves us from the embarrassment of getting killed in broad daylight.”

“We’re not hiding,” Ava said. “The Golden Guild is a safe-house—”

“That’ll protect us,” he said, interrupting her. The room silenced. “I know all about the… things your father used to do to make sure this place protected its own, but he’s gone now, and that’ll fade, and when the ceiling falls and that goddamned superhero shows up, we’d just be as scared as the roaches we still find living in the ensuites above our heads, hoss.” He leaned against the table, then pointed at me. “Got that, new kid? Fear works. Sending a message works. If it didn’t, then we wouldn’t be here. That blonde bitch might not be smart, but she knows a thing or two about being a villain.”

My mouth dried. “Olympia’s not a villain. She’s a freaking superhero.”

“Maybe it’s because we grew up in different generations,” Ace said, waving his hand through the air as if to bat away my nonsense, “but superheroes aren’t meant to make you afraid of every gust of wind and glimmer of light in the night.”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t a villain, you wouldn’t be so freaking terrified of her.”

“For someone who’s planning to join us in robbing a freight ship tonight, you’ve got a lot to say about Zeus’ little brat,” a merc behind me said. Several grunts of agreement. More deafening silence around me. I turned, watching as a woman with thin strands of brown hair, scars across her face, and a glinting black machete on her hip lit a cigarette. “Not to intrude on your meeting, Ave, but where did you pick this little girl up, anyway? She’s too green.”

“And maybe a little too starry eyed,” Ace added quietly, folding his arms.

“Just about the right kind of naive to call the SDU if it all goes to hell,” body armor said.

Ava set down her mug, a sound that beat through the growing silence. Everybody in the warehouse was staring at me, their heartbeats all eerily steady. They were experienced, thinking with logic instead of outright emotion. Judging what I did next and how I did it. I glanced at Ava. She had her mouth full with a biscuit, watching me just as her army of mercenaries was. We had a deal, but she was expecting me to hold up my end of the slack. If I screwed up, it was on me, and if I fought these people (something that wouldn’t last more than a minute), then I’d be screwed.

A part of me was disgusted that I let go of the simmering anger that had only grown when they called Olympia a villain. Like she was one of them but just a slightly different flavor. What she did—what I did—was different. I killed because the villains needed exterminating, a line they knew not to cross so they would remain sterile and away from the civilians. These people killed and racketeered and smuggled because it was their way of life. Their second nature. Making other people afraid was the only way to keep their footing in a world that wanted them long gone.

The world needed its one and only superhero, even if she didn’t have anyone else willing to play heroes and villains with right now. Nobody ever needed a supervillain for anything.

Because that’s what you think this is, a game you play because you’re bored. Witchling shook her head slowly, smiling at me as she sipped her tea. To be young and so naive again.

I warned you the first time, don’t speak through my mind again, I thought.

She smiled at me, but didn’t say anything else. I wondered how far her telepathy went, if she knew who I was behind the mask and the hair dye and the scowl. But if she did, then would she really have let me stay this long? Earlier tonight wasn’t the first time Olympia had fought Witchling, and I doubted it would be the last. We never liked each other, and she wouldn’t play ball with my faux supervillain ruse if she really knew who I was. I hoped so, at least. Dearly.

I sighed, pushing a hand through my hair. “Sue me for defending a superhero. We shouldn’t underestimate her, is what I’m saying, and calling her a villain doesn’t make us the same. But it won’t change the fact I’m still gonna be here to wipe out anyone who points a gun our way.”

"The girl does have a point," Damsel said, a hand on her hip, half-chewed cookie in her mouth. "We ain't the same. She's worse. At least when we kill, we own up to it. Olympia, well, I've seen the way she smiles; I doubt she even cares. Caution's the name of the game, ya'll. Take it from a thief."

I... didn't know if I should thank a supervillain for having my back, but I didn't return her playful smile either. And yes, I did think about the people I killed.

At least, I thought of how much of a pain they would be to get out of my hair the next morning.

Silence followed, even louder than before. Then Ava smiled. “I’d hope for nothing less.”

“She doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” the merc woman said. Her voice was thick, done in by years of unfiltered cigarettes. “You’re gonna have to earn your stripes before I trust you, new kid. No harm, no foul, but keep your ideas in that head before we pop it open and check what you really think.”

“Before any of us do,” Ace said. “No better way to start than wading in the mud for us, though.”

I shrugged, folding my arms and looking at him. "Let's see if you survive the night, then we'll talk about trust."

Ace simply smiled, chewing on the end of his toothpick.

The woman slapped my back. To play down how strong I was, I faked an awkward stumble. “Hope you’re ready to kill if it comes down to it, just like you promised. ‘Cause that’s what we do, it’s not like in the comics. More body parts. More screaming.”

I swallowed my words, close to telling her not to put her filthy paws on my shoulder, but instead I said, “Then I can’t wait to show you what the inside of a human body looks like. A lot less blood, but a lot more guts and broken bones than in the movies.”

She smiled, the kind I was sure dozens of people had seen before she slit their throat.

“Isn’t it wonderful that we’ve all agreed to work together?” Mr. Campbell asked. “Now, we should get going. I hear a storm is on its way, and I’d hate to get my fur wet so late at night.”

O’Reiley raised his voice and said, “Ten minutes pack up, five minutes warning to get out of here. I want you all stationed as planned. Escape routes, eye witnesses, all of it dealt with.”

“What should we do with civies?” asked the merc woman. She glanced at me. “I figure the new girl might want us to help them across the street and tell them the gunfire is just fireworks.”

A few of them snickered as they moved crates into idling trucks. I didn’t answer, just in case my tongue decided enough was enough. Instead, Ava spoke up for me. “No point in hurting them. We’re acting on the knowledge that the Triumvirate won’t know we’re coming. Less noise and less interaction with anyone who’ll see or hear us, then the better for our chances tonight.”

I didn’t know if she said that to satiate me, or to toy with me, but I took the small win.

“What about me?” I asked. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Witchling took my arm in hers, a move so sudden it was as if she had appeared right beside me in the blink of an eye. Her skin was cold, as if I’d just pressed my forearm against a meat locker. You’ll be coming with me, she said in my head. We’ll be working as teammates. Isn’t that exciting?

“What did I tell you about doing that?” I growled. “Do you want me to kill you?”

She smiled that thin, haunted, disgustingly beautiful smile. If you keep going the way you are, you’ll have no problem blending in. We can make a supervillain out of you yet, Tempest. I'm sure of it.