Ember cradled the sushi bento box, walking after Alexa.

It was from her favorite sushi restaurant on Titanomachy too. She clung to the box as the last, final reminder of a future that she would never reach now. She had been undone, her destiny had been revealed in all of its fantastic splendor and then ripped away from her in the same instance.

Ember had accepted it all now.

She was no longer Resonance, no longer a hero, just a girl who Alexa made her minion for some inexplicable reason. Was it part of the villain’s post-gloating experience or something?

Ember felt that she was of no use to anyone now, a person shattered into a million tiny pieces with no way to put herself back together again. She was tired, cold and soaked from the summer thunderstorm that was passing over the little town.

She stared at the large, gothic revival style cathedral up ahead of them, water rushing down the dark parapets, pouring out of the gargoyle mouths. Why were they walking to the cathedral? Was the villain about to reveal her greatest crime of murdering her father to them?

How had she managed to bind Martin and the Equalizer to herself as obedient minions?

Had she broken them in the same manner, dismantling their hopes and dreams, unraveling their future right in front of them? No, that would be silly. Martin never had a power or a determinate future. Ember was always trying her best to push Martin towards being a hero, but he seemed to show no talent or aptitude for such.

Until today Martin had acted like an eight year old, had no backbone, no self awareness, showed no signs of growing up or becoming a man. His incompetence, naivety and shyness often made Ember feel like she wanted to strangle him. But now... Now he was different. He awoke at 14 as one of the most dangerous, most rare supers out there - a puppeteer type. Not just a partial one either, but a permanent puppeteer who could create an entire network of mind control and thought exchange via his freaky brain spider things. How the hell did he make those anyway? It was as if he had a set of two powers, not one. This alone was a terrifying prospect.

What the hell had Alexa done to her brother?

"Ke ke ke," Alexa responded, reading the ex-hero's mind. "I bound Martin to myself, in exactly the same way as I bound you..."

Martin's head snapped to Alexa.

"With social hacking," Alexa said just as Martin expected her to.

"What?" Ember asked.

[How did you know that my sister was going to be Admiral?] Martin demanded mentally. [Are you a precog?]

[Pfff, obviously I don't see the future like a precog,] Alexa laughed.

[Then how?] Martin pressed on.

[I socially hacked the Superstate precogs,] Alexa revealed. [I don't actually NEED to see the future. There are more than enough people who can see the future. Your mom can see the future. I simply had to call a bunch of precogs like her to get a general model of the future. Plus, I dug up a lot of clues in 2424.]

"WHAT?" Ember choked.

[The Superstate seems strong,] Alexa said. [But it's as weak as it's weakest point - you Ember.]

"ME?!" Ember barked.

[Yes you, Dimmy,] Alexa nodded. [You're the weakest point of the Superstate because you took on the position as Admiral, took it upon yourself to control the entire station. I simply walked into your room in 2424... and then stole a whole bunch of SCA pens from your desk. I used them in the present to call people in various departments. I talked to a lot of precogs that you had on your extensive contact list, including your mom, discussed the future with all of them.]

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[So, do the heroes know that Titanomachy will fall?] Martin asked.

[Nah, they don't see the future that far ahead,] Alexa said. [In fact, no precog can see the future past a certain point.]

[Why?]

[I dunno,] Alexa shrugged. [Maybe a Wizard did it.]

[Is that your answer to everything?] Martin asked.

[Yes,] Alexa nodded vigorously.

The group reached the cathedral's outer stairwell.

“I seem to recall you accusing me of murdering my father.” Alexa addressed Ember as she walked up the time-worn steps. “I do believe it’s time for this gang of monster-hunters to solve the mystery of Saint Mary’s cathedral and find out what really happened therein.”

The four teenagers passed under the gothic stone gate, the cathedral growing bigger with every step.

The girl villain wiped raindrops from her face as she stepped towards the double wrought iron doors of the entrance. The iron sculpture on the door looked like a depiction of the biblical flood, muscular men and women drowning in an ever-rising ocean, clinging to each other, clawing their way towards air.

“Friggin' rain. Really should have invested in a nice van and a cute mascot to carry my umbrella or something,” she complained.

“Or you know, get an umbrella,” Martin commented.

“Ain't nobody got space for umbrellas!” Alexa pointed at her belt full of tools. “They’re bulky and cumbersome.”

[Or a cloak.] Cottie stepped into the entryway arch, raindrops rolling off her. She took down her hood, looking entirely dry.

“You know, I recall asking someone to reward me with her cloak," Alexa said.

[It’s part of my armor. Would you like me to take off my entire armor right here and give it to you?]

“Hey! Keep it PG! You’re offending poor, easily impressionable Mittens,” Alexa laughed, drying her silver-white mane by twirling it with her hands.

[I’ve piloted all of your bodies via my brain-spiders for hours. I don’t think anything’s going to offend me anymore,] Martin sighed.

Ember stepped up to the stairwell.

Just yesterday she had no fear of this place, banging at the doors and windows, knowing full well that no matter what was inside, her power would protect her, catch bullets in mid air, disable traps, disarm and break minions. Now, as a mundane human she was feeling terrified of the place.

Who knew what sorts of horrid defense systems were hidden inside, designed by the late Dr. Terranova? Was she making a mistake following Alexa into the cathedral? Would she end up dead within, doomed to never to be found by the Superstate now that had she lost all of her recognizable features?

Alexa glanced back at Ember. “Somebody’s frightened. Are you scared of spooky scary church ghosts? Don’t worry, daddums is perfectly alive and well. I just want to show off my impressive team of minions to him. He hasn’t left me any praises lately!”

Ember reached the ancient entryway, looking up at the latin inscription above the doors. "Omnes Relinquite Spes, O Vos Intrantes" She understood the latin phrase from her academy days, having studied multiple languages with the use of her avatars. “All hope abandon ye who enter here? A bit somber for a regular cathedral, but makes sense for a villain’s base.”

“See? You’re not completely useless. Nobody can take away your smarts. How many extra lifetimes have you experienced through the use of your avatars? How many books have you read? You gotta be like a thousand years by now or something. See, we already have something in common, Dimmy!” Alexa winked at Ember. “Both of us have far more experiences in our brains than we really should.”

“Don’t call me that. That is a horrible nickname and also I hate it,” Ember said grouchily.

She realized that she was starving, opened the sushi box and started to nibble on the rolls, praying that Alexa didn’t poison them or something.

“Oh, you’ll learn to love it like these two,” Alexa waved her hands at Martin and Cottie.

“I don’t like my nickname that much,” Martin said.

[I am also not enthused about mine. It is tolerable.]

“Are we all having a minion-assigned-name mutiny?” Alexa lifted the great brass handle and slammed it into the door producing a deep gong sound. “For shame.”

“I’m going to give you a nickname, see how you feel about it.” Martin leaned towards Alexa.

“What?” Alexa blinked listening to any kind of a response behind the door. “You can’t nickname me. I already nicknamed myself Cassie the Terror Supernova! Rawr.”

“I’m going to nickname you and there’s nothing you can do about it. Mwa ha ha,” Martin attempted to sound like Alexa. “See? That’s what you sound like. You have a villain-theme problem.”

“I do not sound like a high-pitch boy’s voice. I have an angelic, heavenly voice adored by the masses. Also, being a villain isn’t a problem. It’s just a matter of filling people’s expectations of you so that you can socially hack them later,” Alexa waved Martin off.

“Daaaaaadums! Open the hell up! I got minions to show you!” She yelled into the keyhole, banging the handle twice as hard.

[Has this worked before?] Cottie asked.

“Nope. Never did.” Alexa scratched her head looking at the large iron doors. "But it doesn't hurt to try again."