“A bit of a problem,” Neviecha said as I relayed my decision. “How do we find Lekan?”

“GPS?” I asked.

“That’s one way to do it,” AV answered from the speaker. “But that assumes he has a phone with a GPS radio and doesn't know how to stop it from transmitting. For non-smartphones, I can try to triangulate the signal. But does he even have one?”

Lekan had a phone. I clearly remembered him receiving a call from . . .

“Jason,” I grunted.

Lekan wasn’t saved as a contact on Jason’s phone, which was smart. However, the call log retained the numbers dialed in the last hour. I scrolled through them, settling on the one that best matched the time and duration.

“Got a number,” I said.

“Text it,” AV said. “But chances are slim. A phone is the first thing the Villains would go for.”

“True,” Neviecha mused, leaning out of the alley to scan the streets. “Any Hero or Villain worth their salt knows to use a burner phone. This guy we are after is wanted by the authorities, yeah?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“Then you can bet he’s been careful. The Villains would probably also frisk him first chance they got. Unless they are green.”

They weren't. The Hebe guy had concluded I was a Council Super even though I'd never made a public appearance in costume. They would be taking measures to evade Council forces now. Kabash's words about a mole in our ranks filtered into my mind.

Buttons clattered on the other end of the line. AV sighed into the speaker. “Tracking him by phone didn't work. His last location is known. And the Villains are turning up blind on my pings.” He continued, voice forlorn. “Neviecha, is there something you can do?”

“I can scout the area,” Neviecha said. “If they are transporting him, it must be in some kind of van. Might be tough considering the havoc, but there shouldn't be too many cars leaving Sagidi.”

His words blurred into ambient noise. The mission couldn't end like this. Not when I’d gathered my resolve. There had to be something else we could do. Some option we weren't quite seeing.

Lekan's monstrosity shuffled forward. It worked its jaw, keening a rhythmic tune. Eyes the size of tennis balls locked gazes with mine, leaking fluid from the sides. The creature sniffed the wind and tipped its snout in a direction.

“The rat,” I murmured. “It can track him.”

AV perked up. “Scent? That doesn't sound very plausible—”

“No,” I said. The rat wasn't sniffing. It was gesturing. Sharp growls accompanied its movements.

“Telepathy,” AV said, right as I arrived at a similar conclusion.

I ran a hand over my face. “He can't control them. Not with thoughts. Not for the mutant ones, at least.”

“Yet,” AV said, “some kind of link exists between master and creation. The normal rats always knew to converge on his location within a certain radius. If it is the same—”

“Then we must find him before he gets out of range,” Neviecha finished.

“Volley,” AV said. “Take the rat.”

“What? No.” I recoiled from the creature.

“Volley,” AV pressed.

The abomination looked at me, almost brandishing a glare. It snorted and turned away.

“I understand you have some reservations,” AV said, “but you can’t travel by any other means. We can't afford to dally—”

“You do realize,” I gnashed out, “that I have a broken arm?”

“. . .”

“That's what I thought. Don't order me around. I’ll choose whatever I feel like.”

“I'm sorry.”

I cut the call and took a deep breath. The mutant rat snarled as I approached. It bared sharp teeth, dripping spittle. Why did it smell so fetid?

“Bariga,” I said.

It huffed at me.

“Bariga,” I repeated, steeling my voice. “Take me to Lekan.”

Bariga hissed, then lowered—actually lowered—its torso until it rested on the ground. I grabbed its coarse fur with my good hand and sank my fingers onto its flesh. The thick hide rippled under my palm, bulging with muscle. I vaulted onto the rat, careful not to nudge the bulbous sacks that dotted its skin.

No backing down now.

I flattened myself on the rat and loped an arm around its neck. Without warning, Bariga bolted off, streaking out onto the street. Seconds behind me, the Habakkuk's engine roared.

“Calm down,” I said.

Bariga didn't let up. It sprang from sidewalk to street and back again, never breaking course. The impacts of its footfalls went off like small bombs in my head. People scattered before our passage, and an oncoming vehicle swerved at the last possible second to avoid a head-on collision. The rat vaulted off the vehicle's roof and upped its speed. Tears streaked out the sides of my face.

“Slow down!”

Bariga squeaked in defiance. It charged through a flaming shack.

Up ahead the Habakkuk thundered, not even bothering with stealth. We blasted down the hell-turned landscape, taking tight turns and corners that threatened to unseat me. In less time than I anticipated, we left the fires of eastern Sagidi behind and pounded up the main road, heading west.

I could see now why the rats were built top-heavy. Bariga’s powerful torso labored with the exertion of its run. Cars came shooting down the opposite direction, swerving to avoid the giant rodent running straight at them. If our trajectory continued like this, someone was going to die.

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Someone, meaning me.

“Bariga,” I cried against the wind. “Lane. Lane!”

Bariga switched lanes. It actually switched, goddammit. Neviecha yelled something down at me, and the Habakkuk boosted forward, sporting a plume.

I didn't need a guess to know what he'd seen. He’d found them: Lekan.

A black truck accelerated in the distance. Bariga’s shoulder blades quivered, and the rat stumbled in its run. It couldn't maintain the incredible pace for much longer. We needed to end this before I fell behind.

“Neviecha!”

The Habakkuk was already on it. Its first shot of vortical air battered the ground in front of the truck. The air ignited with a flash. The vehicle swerved sideways, but another shot rocked its side. Then another. Until the truck veered off the road and down a weathered path. Neviecha kept up the airborne assault, hemming it in.

I followed on Bariga, unable to tear my eyes from the scene. Neviecha's actions were practiced, and he guided the truck in the direction he desired, vortex cannons wailing. The vehicle sashayed wildly in response, pelted by gravel.

One nasty shockwave bucked the truck and sent it ascending. The vehicle blew a tire on landing but maintained its course. It sheered off the road abruptly and ran headlong into a row of shanties.

I nudged Bariga’s side.

The rat replied with a valiant charge, gouging the asphalt. I buried my face in its rancid fur and gritted my teeth against the jarring. My broken arm throbbed in multiple places, but none of that mattered now.

The shanties the truck had plowed through were empty—or at least, I hoped they were; roadside shops closed for the night. The street beyond them, however, was cluttered with houses. If the Four-oh-Four reached those, the chase was over. I couldn't let that happen.

I spurred Bariga off the road, aiming to cut the Villains off at an angle.

The truck door tipped open. Corals like giant spikes burgeoned from the ground. Bariga twisted to dodge the assault, and my heart lurched as my tired fingers came loose on its fur. The rat went cannonballing into a shack. I smacked the ground, managing to shield my head.

I came to a stop beside a line of corals. Phantom bells tolled in my ears. My left arm dangled free, ripped from its sling.

But I'd survived.

I'd survived.

I lay for long minutes against a slab of corallite, whimpering in pain. In the distance, thunder rumbled. Or maybe it didn't. I couldn’t tell the difference between the sound of lightning and the cracks going off in my skull. Aches wracked every square inch of my body, and for the umpteenth time that night, I wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep.

My arm. Oh god, my arm. The sensation started as a sharp throb, then coalesced into a knife lodged in my temple. I screamed and grabbed my shoulder, intent on ripping the entire limb off. But that only made it hurt worse. Blood seeped out of the wound, flowing down to my fingers.

A feverish haze consumed me. Thunder rolled again in the skies. It lacked its usual cadence, going off in time with the quaking of the ground.

Not thunder then. A fight? Neviecha. He fought still.

Why was I lying around then?

Get up, Chachi.

Get up.

I struggled to a sitting position. My head . . . what had the doctor said about it? Right. Protect the head. I checked for bleeding or contusions. My hands came away dry. Apart from the splitting headache conjoined to my arm, everything else seemed fine. Small favors.

The wound on my arm looked neither small nor favorable, however. Swellings formed around the fracture, pulling taut against the splint. My blood-slick fingers spasmed, alternating between hot and cold. Simply looking at the appendage doubled the pain, so I turned away and grabbed the cloth that had come loose. I reformed the sling with great difficulty.

Where to next?

The ground swirled around me.

I put one foot forward first, then the other, swaying like a drunk. My shoulder found a coral, and I leaned there, catching my breath. I repeated the process, shuffling more than I walked. Each step boosted my confidence. I wasn't down yet.

The chill wind caressed my clammy skin, tingling up my spine. I focused on my breathing and ignored the concert booming in my head. Bariga had gotten lost in the mayhem, but maybe that was for the best. In my current state, I couldn't bring myself to ride.

Footfalls pounded behind me. I reached for my bandolier, grasping empty air for my troubles. Cnidarian's giant corals provided adequate cover. But before I could duck out of sight, the newcomer appeared.

The dark and gold costume proved a dead giveaway.

“Chetachi?” Activity said, not bothering to use my Hero name. He barked in laughter, tone incredulous. “What the hell? What are you doing here?”

“Toye,” I said, returning the favor. “I can ask you the same.”

“You can ask nothing,” he snapped.

My muscles tensed. In many ways, running into Activity was as bad as running into any of the Villains. Or worse. At least, with Villains, I didn't need to hide hostility.

Activity took in his surroundings. “Did you do this?”

“Does that make sense to you?”

The blondfart growled. “You left HQ hours ago. You have no business being here.”

“Maybe I live here.”

“Maybe.”

I held my breath, unable to read his expression.

“You look like you've seen better days,” he said. “Is that a sling? Been in your fair share of fights this evening, eh?”

“You can say that.”

“Oh, I can. I haven’t met anyone who loves stirring trouble as much as you do.”

Huh. The last time both of us had been in this position, I’d spat in his eye after being launched headfirst into a car. He wouldn't try to start something here, would he?

Moonlight glinted off his teeth, exposing a hideous rictus.

He would.

I planted my feet. “Look, Toye. I don't know what you were told before deploying, but the Four-oh-Four is behind this madness. They started the fires and are ganged up against Neviecha as we speak. We need to help him.” As if to punctuate my words, an explosion rippled nearby.

Activity cocked his head in the direction of the sound. “Alewo’s a big boy. He can handle himself.”

“Have you gone mad?”

Activity blurred forward, stopping inches before me. The pungent odors of wood smoke and burnt acrylic reached my nostrils.

“Way I see it,” Activity said, “you are the bigger anomaly. HQ mentioned nothing of your presence, and Alewo has been acting strange ever since we got here. I followed when I saw him streak by, and here’s what I found: A battle that has torn up most of Sagidi West, and a teammate who knows more than he’s letting on. You two are up to something, and I am going to find out what.”

More explosions resounded. A structure collapsed in our vicinity.

The Four-oh-Four was the bigger problem here. Toye, for all his faults, was still an asset in a fight. This wasn’t the time to antagonize.

“Toye,” I said. “We can argue over this later. Neviecha is in danger. Ensuring his safety should be our number one priority—”

“On your knees!” Activity barked.

“—huh?”

“Get down on your knees. I am not letting you speak any further.”

“What the hell are you saying?!”

“I am saying I’m subduing you until I uncover the truth. Did you set Neviecha up? Why are you standing around while he is out there battling for his life?”

Heat surged within me. “You fucking idiot. I am injured. We were fighting together.”

“I don't know that,” Activity said. “For all I know, you might be a saboteur. I am willing to employ brutal force if you don't stop resisting.”

A dark shape surfaced in the corner of my vision. It slunk out of a gap in the corals. Activity kept talking, oblivious.

“This isn’t the time for petty arguments, Toye,” I hissed. “You're telling me you would rather be an ass than put everything aside to help our friend?”

Activity took a heavy step forward. “You are not my friends.”

Bariga inched closer. Its fangs glinted in my enhanced sight, lined with drool.

“You're not reasoning like an intelligent being,” I yelled. “We are surrounded by enemies. Without backup. In the dead of night! We can’t afford to bicker.”

“You should have remembered that when you spat in my face.” Activity said. “Goodnight, Volley.”

I glanced at Bariga and nodded a fraction.

Something clued Activity in because he turned right as the rat lunged for him. He managed a single shriek. Bariga’s fangs snapped around his torso. Rat and foolish bastard tumbled off into the dark. They smashed through an electric pole, and it toppled. Wires rippled through the air.

I got the hell out of dodge, hobbling on my feet. I ran until the rumbling subsided and slumped against a building. Twice now, Bariga had saved me. I shouldn’t expect a third.

“Hope you liked that, Toye.”

I had seen him during the fight with No Light. He was a lot more durable than he looked. But, at the very least, that tackle would hurt.

Activity's appearance set a timer on our mission. I needed to best the Villains and save Lekan before the rest of the Council came probing.

A vortex ring detonated off to my right. Buildings lay wrecked in that direction, most of them uncompleted. The empty estate put the problem of stray casualties to rest. All I had to do was punch the Villains in the face.

I ambled toward the fighting, resting my good arm against the walls.

A second vortex ring expanded into the night.