In Athena’s long life, there were few she’d counted on, and fewer that she’d counted as equals.

Mod and Arsenal had been both.

But that changed today.

Everything had been fine until they made it out of Gnosis. Then they’d been attacked by Summit capes and Brotherhood mechs. Arsenal and Athena stayed back, taking cover near the secret entrance of Gnosis. Mod and Lock took the lead, rampaging through the front line and taking down biomechs almost as fast as they could run.

Despite Lock clearly being Class 4 in strength, Mod was even more impressive. He might not have had greater durability or healing, but his agility, firepower, and versatility more than made up for it.

Until today, Mod had been a capable and welcome ally.

Now, Athena saw how dangerous he truly was.

They can’t be trusted, the voices whispered.

Mod and Arsenal knew her secrets. They knew where she was from. They knew when she was from. They knew about Lucy—

Oh gods, they knew about Lucy.

Athena heard whispers. She couldn’t tell where they were coming from, and in that moment, she didn’t care.

They’re going after Lucy next, the voices said.

Athena twisted, her body jerking involuntarily. It felt like she’d touched a live wire. Every muscle contract, pulling against each other, like she was trying to rip off her own limbs. Her legs went out from under her. She slumped over and fell to the ground.

Arsenal turned and knelt beside her. “What’s wrong?”

It was everything Athena could do just to look up at her. Athena had been used to seeing the young artificer encased in metal, but now, with the shimmering nanite disguise, Arsenal didn’t even look real.

You don’t know her. You never did. Don’t trust her. They’re going after Lucy next!

Athena’s eyes narrowed. She tried to yell. Tried to scream, ‘How dare you!’, but all that came out was a pained gurgle. She couldn’t even concentrate enough to make a barrier.

Then the awful spasm stopped.

Suddenly freed, Athena rolled away from Arsenal, and at the same time, shoved Arsenal away with a barrier. Arsenal shouted in surprise, but Athena ignored her and sprang to her feet.

New Summit capes and biomechs appeared around the perimeter. Gunfire erupted around the block. All the biomechs targeted the roof where Mod was.

Athena didn’t care. She stared down her former ally. Arsenal finally seemed to get the message—

Athena wouldn’t tolerate betrayal.

She started to conjure a barrier—

But Lock flung himself at Arsenal. The artificer barely dodged the former test subject. Lock careened across the pavement, digging his claws into the ground to turn faster. Arsenal’s suit flared, and she jetted away as Lock chased her down.

Athena’s anger only grew.

She’s running away. She doesn’t have the honor to face you.

Athena reached out, conjuring barriers to stop Arsenal from running or escaping. Arsenal twisted around some or bounced off of others. Each time, Lock would close in and try to grab her, and each time Arsenal managed to slip out of reach.

The artificer’s exceptional speed kept her one step ahead, but eventually she would make a mistake. They always did.

And crossing Athena would be the last mistake that Arsenal ever made.

~ ~

A brisk jog out of Gnosis and prying open some blast doors wasn’t much of a warmup. Between that and talking with his old boss, Lock was ready to really stretch his legs.

His mouth was practically watering when they got news the compound was surrounded.

That was weird, right? Lock hoped it wasn’t a vampire thing.

Mutagen-X made Lachlan Harris one of the most powerful supers in Belport. Class 3, easy. Strength, speed, regeneration, heightened senses, the works.

But it had also killed him, taken everything from him.

Lock wasn’t sure what had happened to him in the meantime, but he chose to take it as a sign. He’d been given a second chance. Now he was Class 4, and he bet he was one of the strongest supers in the country.

He certainly felt like it.

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He could’ve torn down the Gnosis compound with his bare hands, but he would settle for destroying some mechs. He’d never seen one, but if they were anything like Venture’s drones, they’d go down easy. It might even be a little cathartic.

When the doors opened, Emmett and Lock were the first ones out.

As strong as Lock had gotten, he figured he’d be running circles around Emmett, but somehow his old roommate had gotten even more upgrades. He was almost as strong and fast as Lock used to be… Maybe even stronger, though Lock wouldn’t admit it out loud.

Not that it mattered. Lock was still stronger and faster, thanks to his new mutations.

Lock tore the blast door off its hinges and hurled it through a line of mechs without pausing. They fell over in chunks. Then he leapt at the heavy unit. It fired a net, which Athena shredded in mid-air. Lock slammed into the heavy mech and dug his claws into its armor.

Most of the heavy mech’s weapons were huge and unwieldy. Now Lock was inside their range and there was no way they could turn enough to hit him. But the heavy mech had other defenses. A dozen thin metal arms unfolded from the mech’s chest. Each had a nasty weapon on it—whirling saw blades, needle-thin barbs, and others that glowed with heat or electricity.

They slashed and stabbed at Lock, but he only felt the first few pitiful attacks. His skin was already hardening, covering him in bone plates that could stand up to a tank shell.

Lock tore its arms off. Armor plating too. He probably would have dug right through it and ripped out its power core.

But a second later, Athena cut its leg. The giant mech teetered. Lock leapt off, then shoved it over. Tons of armor and weapons toppled to the ground.

Lock scoffed a laugh at the fallen machine before tearing off its final arm, leaving it defeated and weaponless.

Pitiful.

They’re all so pitiful, the voices said.

None of them can stand up to you.

They’re just using you. Just like Gnosis.

Lock doubled over. His muscles spasmed and pulled against one another. Lock concentrated, forcing himself to stand upright. One by one, his muscles stubbornly obeyed until only his head jerked from side to side.

His muscles relaxed. Lock quickly scanned the wreckage, his eyes settling on Clara.

Show them, the voices said.

Show them just how bad they fucked up.

~ ~

McGuire faced down Mod on top of the abandoned building. It was the first time McGuire had seen his best friend in months—

Two months and four days, the voices reminded him. Too long.

All McGuire wanted to do was spar.

It was completely abandoned all around them. Sure, there were capes and biomechs in the city. They might’ve even been shooting, but they were somewhere else—too far away to worry about.

McGuire leveled his slingshot at Mod. “Come on, buddy. We haven’t sparred in a while.”

McGuire fired, but Mod had gotten upgrades since they’d last sparred. The cyborg had already ducked under the shot.

Mod tackled his legs, and the pair tumbled across the roof. Thankfully, they weren’t playing for keeps. Otherwise Mod could’ve ripped his legs off!

But McGuire had his own tricks, and he’d been training over the last two months. As he rolled, McGuire reached into his coat for his electrified brass knuckles—just the thing for an unsuspecting cyborg.

McGuire didn’t even get a chance to get the knuckles on.

Mod hit him with two things simultaneously: Some kind of gadget on his face to blind and deafen him, and an electric shock. His world went dark and quiet, and his body spasmed again. McGuire tumbled onto his back and stayed there. His head swam.

Get up. Mod is ready to spar again, the voices said.

“I don’t wanna,” McGuire muttered.

The whispers became a scream in his mind. Get up!

“Yeow!”

Something pinched McGuire’s upper arm hard. McGuire lurched, his stomach muscles half responding. Instead of sitting up, he rolled to the side.

He rubbed the spot on his arm where his autopincher was.

“...Oh crap,” McGuire said. His autopincher just triggered, which meant a psychic had attacked him. But the only psychic was Kairon…

McGuire’s mind spun as he rolled over to his front. The roof shook, and the muffled sound of gunfire came back. McGuire couldn’t be sure but he also thought he heard the muffled sound of Mod’s fusion rifle.

“McGuire, are you sovereign?”

“TINA? Yeah. I’m good. Autopincher—how are you talking to me?”

“I’m transmitting through nanites.”

McGuire’s vision came back as TINA moved the stuff off his eyeballs. He felt for his Summit earpiece, but it was gone. His hearing was still muffled, but that wasn’t a bad thing with the copious gunfire on the street below.

…Gunfire which was slowing down.

“Get up, McGuire. Mod and Arsenal need you.”

McGuire pushed himself up. He staggered over to the edge of the roof and peered over.

The entire street was covered in wreckage. Biomechs lay in still-smoking heaps where they’d been cut up by lasers. An entire squadron of biomechs had been destroyed—well, almost all of them. Some were still twitching.

Mod stood over the wreckage, his fusion rifle simmering with heat. Even though some of the wreckage was as tall as the cyborg, he towered over the scene.

McGuire couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but there was no doubt in his mind that his buddy had just wasted the entire squad.

McGuire hesitated. He hadn’t seen Mod since the war with the Deep ones. He wasn’t sure his friend needed his help back then, and clearly Mod had gotten even more powerful since.

What could he possibly do to help?

As soon as the thought came, McGuire pushed it aside just as quickly.

His friends needed him.

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Stink bomb Athena, then bolas for the capes.”

Athena was still clouded in smoke.

McGuire pulled a stink bomb out of his vest pocket and hurled it toward the street. “Don’t tell her it was me.”

On the other side of the street, Mod, Arsenal, and Lock clashed. McGuire had to hope that they’d be okay.

He quickly turned his sights toward the capes littering the other rooftops. They were all conjuring attacks—mixes of fire, lightning, and pure power.

McGuire leveled his slingshot, but something tugged at his aim. His arms wobbled like they had a mind of their own.

Mod wants to spar, the voices said.

“Yeow!” McGuire flinched as his autopincher triggered again.

Despite the pain, McGuire felt his muscles relax. Hopefully, the psychic would get the hint and buzz off.

McGuire leveled his slingshot. “Alright. Let’s try that again.”

~ ~ ~