“What’s a V doing here?” Fursona asked as we dashed back toward the subway station. Iron Fist was out; I’d collected his surrender, and he wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

I grinned. “Probably playing right into our plan. I didn’t think they’d try something like this, though. The professors will mop up the Vs, and we’ll be able to make a play on the One L when whoever’s left runs away.”

“But the professors are busy with McHammer and Lord Destructo, right?”

“Let’s find out.” I leaped over the turnstiles and headed up the stairs into Roth Arena’s atrium.

Wherever Mindstorm and the hammer-wielding vils had gone, they weren’t outside. The dead, brown grass was covered in shards of glass, and the trees nearby had shining slivers jammed into their bark. It looked like it’d be a nightmare to clean it up, but Fursona and I didn’t have time to deal with it even if we’d had the powers to help.

“Okay. Wherever she is, she’s not our problem right now. This whole thing’s set up way too well. Using major leaguers to draw off the professors, then swinging in. 3V1L’s gotta be looking for us, right? If I were looking for us, where would I look?” Fursona asked.

[Back With Avengeance: Act Two in Progress]

“Walnut Tower? That’s where Professor Panic went to find me,” I said.

Fursona nodded. “Good enough. Let’s go.”

We took to the air and hurried toward my secret base. After all, if Peter had figured out where Understudy lived without ever visiting, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the One L to know, too, and if that was the case, we had all sorts of problems. Twelve stories of student housing, and having my secret identity outed—all that was bad. But worse, Su-Bin still lived downstairs, even if she spent more time at Cam’s place these days.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to help President Pak, but Su-Bin was a friend, and I couldn’t have either of them angry at me—at least not angrier than they already were.

So the moment I saw the V, whose number I still didn’t know, closing in on my home, I opened fire. The first [Starlance] punched into her back, and before she’d fully turned to face us, my second caught her in the side, driving her to a knee.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

She rolled as Fursona slammed into the ground where her head had been, leaving talon-shaped craters on the cold grass, and I continued strafing and firing [Starlances] for a moment. Then someone screamed from inside Walnut Tower.

“You got her?” I asked Fursona. She nodded, circled, and dove again, pulling up short and screeching. The sound blast ripped across the V, and I took off toward the roof.

I landed in a roll, rushing toward the stairs. There were twelve floors worth of students between me and whichever Vs were attacking Walnut Tower, and I had to keep as many people safe as possible. As I sprinted through the Green Room, passing the empty camera drone chargers, I cursed under my breath. “Rocko, you’re getting your damn finale!”

Then I burst out the door and into the hall, punched a window to create a plausible way I could have gotten up here, and started running down the stairs. “Villain attack! Stay in your rooms! If they get above this floor, head down as fast as you can!” I pounded on the doors, letting students know where they’d be safest.

I made it to the eighth floor, still far above where Fursona was—hopefully—kicking the V’s ass. Posters lined the walls about practicing safe sex, not drinking on campus, and a dozen ones with information about clubs I’d never bothered signing up for. If I could get through this, I was going to try out chess club or something calm like that. Boring and relaxing; that was going to be me from now on! I took a breath and turned around—-

—right into a squad of 3V1L henches. They leveled their weapons, but I fired off a [Limelight Barrage] right into their faces before they could shoot. Their front line crumpled like newspaper, and the rest turned and ran, yelling for help from a V.

[Dramatic Damage! +5 Drama Points]

Okay, so we had at least one more V in the building. I took a deep breath and followed 3V1L’s henches; if push came to shove, I could probably evacuate more people with Rescue Girl Lucky Star, but I’d rather give it a good fight before trying that game. Protecting the Extras would be a hell of a lot easier than teleporting them all out of here one at a time—even if that’d be so many Drama points.

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The elevator opened on the seventh floor, and out stepped a big man in an ill-fitting 3V1L mask. He looked a lot like Cam or Waterspout, a big, hulking villain, and a few henches ran past him to get to the elevator, but they stopped when he grabbed one and shoved him back toward me. “Come on. The One L’s offering power to any hench that takes down Magical Girl Understudy, plus a big reward to the V whose squad gets it done, and we’re gonna make it happen. Now let’s go.” He cracked his massive steak of a neck and stepped forward.

I started retreating to the stairs. “Why do you care so much about me?” My wand flicked out, firing a [Starlance] into the V, but he took it with a grin—a familiar one.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

“I don’t. The boss does. He really hates you.” The V stepped aside, and a hench with a pistol took aim, but I caught him with another [Starlance] before he could fire, and he crashed back down the stairs, taking a few henches with him in a tangle of limbs.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

But the massive V didn’t seem to care. He kept coming, walking up the stairs like nothing I could do would actually hurt him, even though the bruises from the shots’ impacts were already spreading. Then, when my foot missed a step, and I stumbled, he closed the gap like it was nothing. “Come on! Let’s finish this!”

His fist crashed into my nose, and I thought it was the end. Instead, it barely moved my superhero damage, even though my head recoiled back.

[HP 3/13]

He laughed. “That’s it? This is going to take a while, isn’t it?” Then he cracked his knuckles and kept coming at me as I backed up. Another [Starlance] caught him, and once again, he rolled his shoulders and kept walking—not running, just walking. I’d only met two tanks this ridiculously tough, and one of them was Waterspout. So, if I wanted to beat someone as impossible to damage as Brick House, I’d need a change of tactics.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

I turned and ran. How had Brick House almost lost to the Florida Maneater? He’d taken an incredible amount of damage, but eventually, he’d gotten worn down, right? So I could keep doing the same thing. But I didn’t have time for that, and if he kept pushing me back, it’d mean his henches could take more hostages—put more people at risk.

That wasn’t acceptable, so the next time I reached a landing with a window, I threw myself out of it and used [Solar Wing] to stop my fall. Then I turned mid-air and shouted back into the broken window, “You want me? Come and get me. I’ll be downstairs!”

The moment I hit the ground, I slow-transformed to Rainy Day. I’d have a few minutes before he got to the bottom, and I wanted as much HP as I could muster to fight him. I used [Virga], letting the healing rain down on me as the red-gray aura and Fursona’s screeches filled the air behind me.

[Medic! +1 Cunning Point]

[HP 5/13]

Then, I transformed into Understudy. I’d have time, surely. The music and light show started, and as I spun mid-air, the hulking V slammed through Walnut Tower’s double doors. He ran toward me at a pace that felt both glacial and far too fast. Choral music swelled, my tiara landed on my head, and my feet hit the ground.

[Rejuvenation Active: HP 10/13]

He hit me a split second later, before I could spin and fire a [Starlance] his way. It felt like getting hit by the train or a hench’s white van. His mass drove me into the hard ground, and I felt my sore shoulder scream in pain, but the actual superhero damage was shockingly low.

[HP 9/13]

I used [Improvised Ovation] and grabbed him, somehow hoisting him over my head while still on the ground and slamming him down. He hit the ground like an earthquake, and we both got to our feet. I brushed the mud from my shoulder as a camera drone hovered to one side. “When we’re done here, you can tell your boss you tried with your one phone call.”

[Faker with Flair! +1 Flamboyance Point]

“When we’re done here, you won’t be in any shape to make one,” he retorted. Then he rushed me, and I fired another [Starlance] into him. The increased damage to tough targets had to be hurting him, but he barely seemed to notice.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point]

Then, as his arms closed around me for another tackle, I used [Quick-Time Change] and switched to Copy Cat. His arms passed through me and he hit the dirt behind me as Tails and I merged.

[Flashy Fitting Room! +1 Flamboyance Point]

[Steel Yourself! +1 Grit Point]

Before he could get up, I’d already leaped through the air with [Leaping Leopards], and instead of having a Magical Girl wrapped up in a bear hug, he had a very, very angry Copy Cat to deal with. I scratched, activated [Hometown Heroine], and scratched some more.

[Badass Move! +1 Badass Point]

The V’s hand wrapped around my neck, and as his grip tightened, I used [Doom Ball] and scratched the absolute shit out of his arm from the elbow to the wrist. He grunted in pain and waved the arm—and me—around, but didn’t let go. “You have no idea who you’re messing with, do you?”

[Badass Damage! +3 Badass Points]

[HP 6/13]

“You’re…” My vision was going gray, and I couldn’t think right. I tried to suck in a breath and used [Cat Scratch Fever]. He jerked back and let go, and the air hit my lungs in a rush, only to get driven right back out as I bounced off the concrete bike path below me. I gasped for breath. “You’re just a V!”

“Just a V? No, Understudy. I’m much more than just a V. I’m the First V, and today, I’ve got all the power to tough this fight out.”

My vision swam, wavering back to something approaching normal, and I saw the First V breathe in deeply, then set his body. His eyes stopped watering, and he squared his shoulders at me. “Now, Understudy, do the boss a favor and die.”

He stepped toward me, and I got ready to fight as best I could without Costume switches. A moment later, Tails started going crazy in my head.

I ducked, and as I did, something big flew over my head. Eagle-sona screeched and crashed into the First V, talons out.