The three teenagers and a teacher sat inside the 50’s Atomic Cafe diner looking at each other, exchanging a rapid, inaudible conversation.

Suddenly they all froze.

[She’s out! She’s close! I can feel her!] Martin stood up. [She’s alive and well! They didn’t destroy her mind! Woo-hoo!]

[This isn’t going to end well,] Ember whimpered, looking up at Martin and Cottie. [None of this is going to end well.]

[Oh psh. You’re too negative, Em. I mean yeah, she embarrassed the hell out of the Superstate, but it's not like she blew up… Wait. What the fuck is that?! Oh my G...] Martin saw what Alexa was seeing.

The catastrophe-barrier shield became visible over the town of Saint Mary as the blastwave from the massive explosion reached it, the surface of the enormous dome rippling here and there akin to a soap bubble magnified a million times. The windows of the nearby buildings rattled in their frames, a few doors swinging open and shut. The bell of Saint Mary’s cathedral started to ring once again, swinging back and forth. Dust and debris flew across town. An enormous mushroom cloud became visible in the distance.

A local news anchorman suddenly came up on the TV screens. He looked somewhat disheveled, but there was deep worry in his eyes.

“Please remain calm! Everything is under control. Nobody died in the explosion. This was… uh… just an incident that the heroes could not prevent. Yes I know it looks very big and all, but the heroes will come and help anyone who needs help. I promise. Please trust the Superstate. Do not sell S-credits. I repeat, do not sell S-credits!” He looked desperate. “The orbital ring was not hacked! I repeat, Titanomachy is under full SCA control! Your money is perfectly safe with the heroes!”

Mr. Canard was already clicking his watch. [Yea. I don’t think so, SCA mouthpiece. I’m selling off whatever compensation I got left over for helping arrest Alexa right now, before the price plummets any further.]

Ember tapped the SCA logo on her armor in an attempt to get to her account. It didn’t respond to her. Her own suit didn’t even recognize her own thumb print! [Shit. Wait... Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe they won’t sentence me for my crimes if they can’t find me.]

She looked around frantically at the world that was seemingly falling apart. [Nobody knows what I look like now... I’ll just remain Dixie Kettleburn. Dad won’t expose me. I haven’t told him anything. Does he know? No. He's too busy looking for villains plotting crimes across half of North America and probing that damn cathedral for information. How did he not see that fucking giant explosion coming? Could the SCA not stop it? Why? How?] Her thoughts jumped all over in panic. [Dad probably doesn’t know anything... He never pays attention to anything in the house. He didn’t even help me when Cottie broke down my door. God, I can never go back home! Where am I going to live now? Who else knows what I look like...]

[I know what you look like.] Cottie looked at Ember.

[Please don’t expose me!] Ember whimpered, wringing her hands. [Please. I’ll be a good person. I’ll be the bestest human being ever, I promise! I'll start over!]

Martin didn’t feel like Ember could be a good person, but the current events sure made it quite impossible for her to be Ember or Hero Resonance now.

[Sup, guys did ya miss me? Look at this big-bada-boom. It’s pretty cool, eh?] Alexa’s mental comment injected itself into the trio’s conversation. She sent them visuals of the colossal explosion cloud from her vantage point on the lake shore.

[Meet me in front of the cathedral, k? I’ll be over in a jiffy. Okki... maybe two jiffies? Might have to take an S-shuttle taxi over. Ugh. I think I’m on the wrong side of the lake. I’m freaking far, okay? Okay.]

[How did you make that explosion?] Cottie asked.

[I didn’t. Had nothing at all to do with this, honestly. They can’t pin this on me. I was an innocent bystander...]

[Since when are you innocent of anything?] Ember sent. [What are you going to blow up next? The Moon? The Sun? Is there no end to your insanity?]

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[While these are both quite excellent theoretical ideas for things that I could blow up,] Alexa sent. [I seriously didn’t cause this. It was…]

“This just in. The SCA has named the person responsible. The enormous explosion seen from NUSA, Ruskadia, Acadia and hundreds of other Super micronations and Native American territories has been caused by... Hero Nonpareil!” The news anchorman said from the screens, eyes bulging.

“Nonpareil will be charged to the full extent of the law for massive devastation caused to all nearby nations and territories. Several national parks appear to have been badly ravaged. Buildings as far as 1500 kilometers from the epicenter have suffered a variety of structural damage, foundation cracks, broken windows, etc. The explosion is not radioactive in nature.”

The anchorman made a deep pause, blinking as more information came up on his teleprompter.

“Oh. Khrm. The Doomsday Warning broadcast system activated by... villain Cassiopeia Terror Nova appears to have saved countless lives and properties, as the catastrophe-barrier shield generators have become active in every city and had stayed on all throughout her broadcast and afterwards, just as they were designed to do.

“Wait. This can’t be right… What? How?” The anchorman choked for a bit. “It seems that the Superstate had released her from Tartarus, declared her.. innocent mere minutes ago, dropping all charges made against her yesterday by the Five for planning to destroy Titanomachy! According to an anonymous tip and a reference to the updated Titanomachy database... Cassiopeia Terror Nova was registered for the Hero Academy as a Novitiate Hero yesterday!

“The barrier shields Hero Cassiopeia activated are still on now, preventing property damage as the massive blastwave is moving across the world. Yes, I will dare say it, she is clearly a hero for surviving Tartarus and saving so many people!” The anchorman went off script.

“The explosion appears to have been caused by a superpower resonance cascade of incredible power.” He continued. “Supers that were using teleportation or other transfer-related powers closer to the epicenter have all appeared outside of the range of the blast. Many of them had... apparently permanently lost their powers and are going to be suing the SCA and Nonpareil. For an unknown reason, not a single SCA precog was able to predict the explosion or see it coming! The SCA Future-sight Insurance Agencies are going to have a field day dealing with all of the incoming lawsuits!"

The teenage trio stared at the TV screens in amazement and shock.

“Wait… What? Are you kidding me?” The anchorman sputtered. “Cassiopeia Terror Nova has been declared a villain for illegally activating the Doomsday Emergency Broadcast System? This is ridiculous!”

Many of the people around the cafe started to boo at the TV. They saw her as a hero. The other half started to argue. Their arguments had made no sense in the slightest. They were simply speculating at what she really was and what had really happened. It was ruckus and confusion all around.

Martin started to snicker. Alexa had managed to befuddle the world at large, just as she had befuddled him during their first day together. Just yesterday she was hated by everyone and now nobody was sure what the hell she was anymore.

He leaned back in his seat, receiving updates from Alexa as she used the credit card of Hero Resonance to call up a flying taxi. He couldn't believe that the card still worked. The bureaucratic machinery of the SCA had yet to turn against Resonance, he figured.

They were probably as confused as everyone else was, busy dealing with the fallout of the enormous explosion.

As Alexa flew above sparkling, mercurial water of lake Eerie towards the little town of Saint Mary, she sent them a variety of fond memories from her years of adventures in the simulation, culminating with Three’s attack on number 8 Primrose drive.

[Uh. What kind of a super is he?] He asked her. [I don’t know of any supers who can turn into information. It’s like he was part of the sim, but also not really.]

[That’s because he is not a super, Martin.] Alexa replied. [I believe that he is something much more insidious. I’m sure that Nonpareil had only temporarily delayed him with that explosion. He will reconstitute. He will be back to hunt me down. We must all get a lot smarter, a lot better if we are to survive him and others like him.]

[There are others like him?] Martin choked.

[Oh yes. The Superstate precogs were unable to see the explosion because Three was involved. From what I figured out, whenever the Others are involved in world affairs, their actions are invisible to future-seers. Same goes for Nonpareil, by the way. From what I learned from Titanomachy, his actions are not tracked by precogs in any capacity. For some reason, he's the only hero in the world that's not even mentioned in the future-sight database, it's like he can do no wrong! Thus, when Nonpareil attacked Three causing a catastrophic resonance cascade, this action was impossible to predict.]

[Damn,] Martin thought.

[Yeppers. The SCA is now in full turmoil as they could not stop the explosion! They've been caught with their pants down since they could not foresee all of its consequences. Everyone near the epicenter who was using their powers at the time seems to have lost them due to the reality-warping nature of the event.]

[Are you... okay?] He asked.

[I'm okay,] Alexa replied. [I relied on Hero Pandora to get away. He's been de-powered, the poor lad.]

[Hero Pandora... He's a Tartarus Warden! I know him,] Ember thought. [Did you take away his power too...?]

[Nu-huh,] Alexa shot back. [I didn't do nothing! You can't blame me for this, Dimmy! I let people make their own choices!]

[WHY have you done this?] Ember demanded with an exasperated tone.

[I did say that there is a war on, did I not? Buckle up, frens. We’ve got some training to do!] Alexa replied with a mental grin.