McGuire sprinted through the dark alley. His lungs burned and his heart pounded. He tripped over a trash can, scattering himself and its contents across the pavement. McGuire scrambled to his feet and kept going, all the while cursing himself for not bringing his hoverboard.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the street behind him, rattling the trash can. A heavy biomech was closing in. More footsteps—smaller and faster. Much faster. McGuire didn’t stop, he just hurled a handful of marbles behind him. He heard the telltale crunches as two medium-sized biomechs slipped and fell hard on the pavement.

But not all the footsteps stopped. Tap tap tap—the sound of a small rec unit running along the wall of the building like a possessed spider. A shiver ran down McGuire’s neck. It fired subsonic rounds at him—each shot like the clunk of an old typewriter. A shot hit McGuire’s shoulder. Another hit the back of his leg. They were probably rubber bullets, but McGuire barely felt them—his enhanced jacket working exactly as intended.

He skidded around a corner, slamming his shoulder into the brick and forcing himself onward. He could see the end of the alley now. Cutting through had bought him some strictly metaphorical breathing room away from the heavy mech.

“Duplicity, are you okay?”

On cue, Duplicity ran past the alley. Then another. Then another, each wearing the same sparkling jacket. She was another outlaw super on the run—a former cape who’d broken ranks and now joined up with them.

The fourth copy of Duplicity turned toward him. Her eyes widened.

“Get down!” she shouted.

McGuire dropped to his knees. He skidded across the pavement, his kneepads throwing up sparks into the night air. Taser bolts passed just over his head, missing him.

McGuire continued skidding forward—turned toward the pursuing mechs and fired his slingshot. The bolas flared open revealing two strands of razor wire knotted together in the center. Minirockets on all four ends activated, turning the bolas into a deadly windmill.

The two medium-sized mechs couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. The bolas chewed through the two mechs, scattering metal and gross fluid across the walls.

McGuire didn’t have a moment to admire his handiwork though, because the smaller recon unit had leapt off the wall and was flying right at his face. McGuire dropped his slingshot and fumbled for his brass knuckles—

He didn’t get them on his hand before the recon mech slammed into his chest. The pair tumbled over each other and out into the street.

McGuire wound up on his back with the recon mech on top of him. It jabbed tiny shock batons at his chest. Despite the electrical insulation of his jacket protecting him, McGuire could feel the heat and smell the ozone in the air.

Finally, he slipped his brass knuckles on and punched. A clang of metal on metal sounded, and the recon mech went flying up over the roof.

“I could’ve used some help!” McGuire shouted, while a clone pulled him to his feet.

The other Duplicity shrugged. “You looked like you could handle it.”

McGuire glanced around, finally realizing where they were.

Memorial Plaza. The central pillar rose four stories in the air, dominating the entire block. The stone almost looked like a piece of the night sky falling to Earth. Names of Belport supers, workers, and civilians glistened on the face of it—the hundreds of people who lost their lives during the Deep One’s attacks. Display lights shone across the reflecting pool.

It was the first time McGuire had visited, and any other time he would’ve stopped to marvel at it.

Now, he was just praying they didn’t wreck it.

Thankfully, most bystanders were running away from the battle.

Near the memorial, two more supers were fighting off biomechs. Unlike McGuire and Duplicity, Thunderline and Stonefist were wearing button-downs and slacks. They’d been carpooling home from their day jobs when a biomech squad ambushed them and tried to take them in. Neither of the two supers had gotten time to explain, but they didn’t need to. McGuire already knew the gist of it—

Up until a few minutes ago, Thunderline and Stonefist were masks. And because they chose not to register with the Summit, now they were villains and targeted for capture. The Brotherhood knew everything now—they knew where the two supers lived, where they worked, and the routes they always took home.

McGuire only knew this and was only in the area because of TINA.

McGuire and Duplicity tried to help, but their two groups had gotten separated by drones and biomechs.

Across the plaza, Thunderline sent waves of electricity out, stunning sec units and causing rec units to explode. Meanwhile, Stonefist smashed the stunned units in half. The two supers circled around each other, fighting like a cohesive unit. It reminded McGuire of the war, and fighting beside Mod and Arsenal and the others. It was easy to imagine Thunderline and Stonefist had a similar history.

Not that it mattered—Thunderline and Stonefist didn’t exactly trust McGuire and Duplicity right now.

More sec units ran out into the street. Clones of Duplicity appeared just as quickly. They dog piled some mechs and pulled others to the ground, ripping out wiring and smashing sensors. Some sec units managed to fire, causing several clones to disappear into puffs of smoke.

All the while, the hec unit closed in on them. Machinegun fire erupted down the plaza and swept across the street. McGuire hoped they were rubber bullets until he saw the chewed up asphalt in its wake. Gunfire stopped, and giant footsteps took their place.

McGuire wasn’t sure what Thunderline and Stonefist were capable of, but he was pretty sure that even all four of them working together couldn’t take down a heavy mech. Especially not one that was trying to kill them.

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“TINA, I know you can’t see what I’m seeing, but we need an exit. Like now.”

Her voice came through McGuire’s nanite earpiece. “I can see just fine. Help is on the way… but so is another hec unit.”

McGuire spared a glance up toward the Fast-Response drones circling overhead. He really hoped that TINA was as good at hacking them as she claimed.

McGuire’s heart skipped a beat. He and Duplicity exchanged a look. “What do you mean, another?”

“I’ll run a distraction,” Duplicity replied. Clones of her were already running across the plaza in the direction of the first ten-ton robot.

A distraction sounded good—in theory—but the hole in that plan quickly became apparent.

The first hec unit rounded the corner. Each step of the two-story tall biomech shook the street. Duplicity had already fanned out and her clones took fighting stances. The hec unit swept its guns across the street in a scanning motion. Then it lumbered forward—

Completely ignoring Duplicity.

Clones shouted. Some even clambered up the side of the giant mech, but there wasn’t anything they could do. Its armor was far too thick, and no wires were exposed. It was like trying to dogpile an elephant or a tank.

McGuire was already fumbling around in the pockets of his jacket and his vest… And it took him far too long before he found what he was looking for. A bag of marbles—almost identical to his Cluster Bombs. Those marbles were far too dangerous to use outside of a war zone. So, McGuire had spent the last couple weeks refining them again, and again, and again.

McGuire loaded a single marble in his slingshot and took aim at the lumbering mech.

“Duplicity, move!”

He fired, and the single Bunker Buster slammed into the core of the heavy mech. Thankfully, Duplicity had pulled most of herself back in time. An explosion rattled the block. All the power contained within the marble was channeled into sheer force—so the resulting blast was very little fire and all shockwave. Windows burst into dust, and people across the street were knocked over—

Including McGuire. The gadgeteer fell backward, landing on his ass and backpack. He scrambled to his feet and wiped his eyes.

The heavy mech staggered. It used to have three arms on each side, each holding a different armament—the arms had been blown completely off of that side, leaving nothing but severed gears and wires behind. McGuire cursed—the armor was still there. The plates were warped, even cracked in some places, but even a direct hit with the Bunker Buster couldn’t penetrate a hec unit’s armor.

McGuire was already fumbling for another marble when the mech turned all of its guns toward him. It might’ve been the shock or something with time slowing down before his death, but McGuire felt a swell of pride as the damaged mech bore down on him.

One of his gadgets had done that.

He’d done that.

Not that it mattered. The street was already trembling from the steps of the second hec unit. They didn’t have a chance.

Across the street, metal squealed as Stonefist tore a streetlight free. Both he and Thunderline shouted. Stonefist hurled the streetlight like a spear, and as it flew, Thunderline supercharged it with electricity. It struck the heavy mech like a bolt of lightning. The streetlight impaled it and discharged its power.

The world flashed. McGuire covered his eyes.

It was over as quickly as it happened. McGuire looked up and found the heavy mech barely standing. It was impaled through its gut and the streetlight glowed a molten yellow. But it was still alive, and it leveled a massive gun arm at McGuire.

He was still fumbling for another marble, but his hand felt numb. He’d never find the pocket in time.

It all felt like everything was happening so slowly. And as the moment stretched on, McGuire wondered if this was how Mod saw the world.

McGuire stared down the barrel of the mech’s giant machine gun when concussive blasts rippled along it. The blasts pushed the mech’s gun off course and then shattered the mech’s sensor arrays. Then a larger shot hit the mech center mass. Only this time, instead of an explosion, there was a splash of black nanites.

Instead of splashing like liquid, the swarm slithered inside through gaps in the plates. The hec unit spasmed, unable to move or aim its gun correctly.

Across the plaza, Stonefist and Thunderline shouted again as the second heavy mech bore down on them—

A figure leapt off the roof and down onto that second heavy mech. Even though they were cloaked, McGuire knew who it was.

Mod landed on top of the hec unit. His body shimmered as nanites poured off of him and through gaps in the mech’s armor plating.The mech wasn’t entirely defenseless—its armor flashed as high voltage electrical current passed through it. Most other supers would’ve been thrown across the block, but Mod’s suit was insulated. He held onto the mech another few seconds before dropping to the street.

By then, both heavy mechs were disabled. Nanites had chewed through all their major circuitry, leaving them as lifeless as the memorial pillar.

Without missing a beat, Mod switched to his rifle. He kept walking while firing, dropping a half dozen more rec and sec units all across the plaza. All McGuire could do was smile.

Mod’s disguise shimmered again and his rifle disappeared beneath formless black clothes. He called out, “Sorry I’m late.”

McGuire waved. “Hey man. How did you find us?” The cyborg scoffed a laugh.

Everyone regrouped, and soon McGuire was surrounded by Mod, Duplicity, Stonefist, and Thunderline. All showed varying signs of relief.

Duplicity said, “I don’t think these cloaking things are working.”

TINA replied, “I’ll need to make more pucks to cover your duplicates. It will take time.”

McGuire sighed. “I told you so.”

Stonefist and Thunderline couldn’t hear TINA, but for now, the group ignored the two distraught supers.

McGuire chuckled. “You know if the Summit would’ve shown up, they probably would’ve got us.”

Mod replied, “I might’ve knocked out a squad of capes on the way over.”

McGuire rolled his eyes. “Of course you did.”

Mod turned to Thunderline and Stonefist, who were watching the exchange in disbelief. “Don’t worry. You can trust McGuire and Duplicity. We’re all in this together now.”

Mod turned to McGuire. “I can’t stay. Arsenal is helping out another group on the West End—I think Larian’s with her. Athena’s with another group not far from here.”

McGuire whistled. “Three raids in the same night.”

Mod nodded grimly. “Three, for now. I’ll see you around, buddy.”

Then he raced off into the night. The three remaining supers flinched at his sudden speed, then Stonefist and Thunderline turned to McGuire.

“You’re with him?” Stonefist asked in disbelief.

McGuire shrugged. “We’re a team, really. All for one, one for all…”

He trailed off. They didn’t have much time. Mod had only bought them a few more minutes. Still, McGuire couldn’t help but turn and survey the wreckage and the—thankfully—unscathed memorial site. The gadgeteer’s heart swelled.

The odds were stacked against them; they all knew it. The Summit… The Brotherhood… The whole world was against them.

But they had TINA, and they had each other—

Which meant they had a chance.

McGuire reached into his pocket and pulled out two nanite pucks. He tossed one to each of the former masks.

“Welcome to the Resistance.”

~ ~ ~