“Awfully convenient timing you have.”

Gold didn’t even hesitate to jump down the Old Man’s throat.

“You say convenient. I say effective,” the old man shrugged. “We had hoped to get here before anyone got hurt but… well, I guess effective doesn’t mean perfect.”

“You’ve been tracking us – no, you’ve been tracking everyone. Watching the whole city as it descends into chaos. Who are you?”

The Old Man stared at her as the rest of the convoy came to a stop. Doors flung open, and figures decked out in power armor leaped out. It wasn’t as advanced as the ECU’s best gear, but nothing to scoff at. My first thought was that these guys were recovering experiments for Masquerade. A twitch of my hand was all it took to have the soldiers leveling their weapons in my direction.

“I wouldn’t,” the Old Man warned.

“Who the hell are you guys?” I demanded. None of this made any sense. I hadn’t heard hide nor hair from these guys since The Cains got me. “Who’re you with?”

“No one you’d know.” The Old Man explained, signaling for the men to lower their weapons. They obeyed and continued moving. Alice and I watched as they made their way toward the deceased monster. It took over half a dozen of them to move it. “You could say we’re like the Secret Service.”

Alice laughed.

“Nice try, but you aren't the government, not even close. You’re secret something though. Private contractors for someone powerful. Geared to the teeth, prepared, and moving discreetly in the middle of a warzone.”

The Old Man nodded, unfazed by her words.

“Looks like you do live up to your reputation, interesting,” he turned to the rest of his team. “Get that thing on board,” he turned back to the three of us with a flat gaze. “Feel free to ride with us. I think you’ll find we have something you're interested in.”

“Like what?” Alice challenged, her eyes narrowing. The Old Man didn’t reply, but his silence was all she needed. “Oh, God damn it. I was wondering why we couldn’t find them.”

I clued into who Alice was talking about and felt a grumble escape my throat.

“They’ve got Splicer?”

“He was careless and panicked. Made for easy pickings,” he walked back to his armored transport, reached into the passenger seat, and dug around for a bit. A few moments later, he grabbed something and tossed it to me. I caught it and stared at the item. I was a container of some kind. “For your friend,” he gestured to the puddle that contained half of Anomaly. “Wouldn’t want to leave anything behind.”

Alice sighed.

“We need to make this quick.”

I stared at her incredulously. “We’re going with them?”

“They’ve got Splicer and I’m not allowing sole access,” Gold replied. “Regardless, there is little danger. These guys are amicable. It’s as they said, they’re just cleaning up the mess and they’re interested since the old man has a history with you.”

“He’s part of the group I was dealing with the night The Cains got to me,” I explained. “Ceph.Co. That was the name.”

“An alias,” Alice muttered. “They have many throwaway names they use. The person behind their organization clearly wants to remain concealed – and they’ve been doing a good job at it. Bayside doesn’t know of them. Pandora and The Cains are the same. The Queen’s Court though? Hm…”

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

“I investigated them after you told me about your encounter. I concluded that they were just new arms dealers as I couldn’t find much,'' Gold explained as we walked to collect the remnants of Anomaly. “Now that I’ve seen them up close, I’ve had to revise that. They’re professionals with a big roster and a ton of experience.”

I shuddered.

It wasn’t too long after I got my powers that I dealt with these guys. How much do they know about me?

It wasn’t until I had gathered Anomaly’s gooey remains in the container that I finally noticed Mia’s absence. I turned and examined the street, only to find one of her statues standing near an empty trashcan. None of the strangely geared soldiers even seemed to pay it any attention.

It was like they couldn’t even see it.

“Where did Mia go?” I asked. “What is she doing?”

“Playing to her strengths,” Alice grinned — switching to Blue again. “She’s keeping her distance and sticking to the shadows. Without the Big Bad Wolf around, she’s free to move as she sees fit. Contacting her is going to be annoying though. We’re just going to have to trust her.”

“Trust her to work alone?”

Alice nodded.

“She’s got our backs if shit goes south,” Alice turned, and I followed her gaze. We stared at the convoy that was waiting patiently for us. “Deep breath, Upgrade. This is where things are going to get tricky.”

I could feel my anxiety getting the best of me as we got closer to the trucks. Half of Anomaly was still trapped inside the Morpher, unable to reform, which meant we were down a member. That didn’t make us powerless, but we had to get him out somehow. If worst came to worst, Mia would act as backup, and Alice and I were already a good team.

We weren’t going to go down without a fight.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just bail?” I asked tentatively. I was far too exhausted to dive headfirst into another fight. These guys looked like they could march into a warzone and come out with all their limbs intact. “I’m not doubting our abilities but I’ve gotta be honest here. I’m running on fumes.”

“I know, which is why we’re going with the flow,” Alice replied, giving me a supportive nudge. “I’ve got your back. Just follow my lead, okay? It’s going to work out in our favor, trust me. No surprises this time.”

Things had gone poorly before. Not a lot, but enough for me to know that her powers weren’t foolproof. There would always be an inkling of doubt in my mind, nagging me to expect the worst. That instinct was probably a good thing, but now, I had no energy to act on it. I would have to place my complete trust in her here.

“You seem certain.”

“I’ve got a good read on them,” Alice said confidently. “It’s as they say. They’re not here to fight and they’d prefer us on their side for now.”

I didn’t like that ‘for now’ part, but I’d cooperate. I needed the short reprieve.

“Alright,” I agreed. “I don’t really think I have the energy to argue anyway.”

Alice giggled.

Slowly, we came to a stop in front of the Old Man. He looked us up and down with squinted eyes. It was like he was measuring us and evaluating our worth just by our appearance. If I were to guess, I would confidently say I looked more impressive than Alice. My armor completely outshone her ridiculous costume.

“All set?”

“You know, you’re awfully quick to trust that we’d play along,” Alice noted. “You know I’m a Mentalist so you know I’ll be able to pick some things up. You even claimed that someone’s said that I ‘lived up to my reputation’, so you have to know what I’m capable of.”

“We do,” the Old Man replied dismissively. “But we can’t stand here and play twenty questions and you’re the best shot we have at getting information quickly. Now, these streets are going to be swept by the ECU soon, so we need to get moving. I’ll ask again, are you set to go?”

“Just so long as you know who you’re dealing with,” Alice replied innocently.

The Old Man momentarily stared at us before looking past us. His eyebrow furrowed a bit before he blinked and shook his head. I frowned and looked over my shoulder. He had seen something, but outside of us, there wasn’t anyone in the street. I felt a surge of panic when I realized who was missing.

Mia. Where is she?

She had vanished, and I couldn’t spot any of her statues. Had she switched?

“Get in and we’ll be on our way.”

Alice started walking before me, so I guessed she knew what happened to Mia. It would be unlike Alice to forget something that important so quickly. I just had to believe that Mia was concealing herself for her safety.

We climbed into the back of the Old Man’s armored vehicle and found a seat next to each other. I had never been in one of these armored transports before, but it was pretty much what I always imagined. There was less space here than I liked, but at least we weren’t packed like sardines. There were several empty seats with only a handful of geared soldiers.

“Comfy,” Alice said, trying to make conversation. “So are you guys allowed to talk or are they making you play the strong silent type?”

Silence. None of them even turned to address her question.

I suspected Alice didn’t need Gold to figure this one out.

“Strong and silent it is. I’m going to take a guess – ex-military. A few might even be ex-ECU. I think you all made the right choice, probably better job security in what you're doing now. It certainly gets you off the frontlines, and you get to pick your battles instead of being sacrificial fodder for the government,” Alice clapped with light enthusiasm. “Win-win for all of you!”

I grunted and nudged her. “Psychoanalyzing them is probably not the best idea, Alice.”

“Old habits die hard,” I received a light sigh in response. “Besides, talking helps break the ice.”

“Just try not to piss them off,” I leaned back into my seat. “I’m not exactly keen on getting shot any more tonight.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Alright-alright,” Alice said, leaning into my side. “Anything for you.”

Despite potentially being at the mercy of some unknown party, I found myself drifting in and out of consciousness. My body had hit its limit and was demanding rest. My muscles were sore, and my head was beginning to throb. I awoke several times when the vehicle jolted – a speed bump maybe – and each one reminded me that my nose was still busted. The painkillers I had taken earlier were starting to wear off. Unfortunately, I had left my suit’s medical systems empty because I couldn’t decide what kind of drugs I would need out here in the field.

Strong painkillers seemed like the obvious choice now, but there was always the concern of dosage. Could my power fill the system with the proper dosage for my body, or would I have to figure that out manually? If I could, I would check, but I was still wearing the suit.

“We’re almost there,” Alice’s voice sounded a million miles away, but it brought me out of my brief sleep. Her arm wrapped around mine to pull me closer so my head could rest on her shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“Garbage,” I mumbled in response, straightening myself up. “How long have we been driving?”

“About thirty minutes. There’s been a few turnarounds, apparently there’s lots of blocked streets.”

I blinked the sleep from my eyes. I’d need more rest, but a thirty-minute nap would have to do for now. I cracked my neck a bit to try and wake myself up. It worked for the moment, and we found ourselves in an underground parking lot.

“Lots of tech around,” I noted as our convoy stopped to park.

My suit’s systems were picking up all sorts of connections. Some were easy to break into, while others were borderline impossible. My best guess was they had a mishmash of Mechatech.

When the back of our armored vehicle opened, we emerged into what felt like a secret military base. Countless more soldiers were moving around, unloading things from the armored convoy, while a few watched the exits closely. It wasn’t just us they had managed to find. Other Supers emerged from similar armored vehicles, all sporting different costumes. I recognized a few of them as solos from the meeting with Gaea.

“Picking up all those strays must’ve been tedious. I doubt they all came quietly,” Alice said. The Old Man simply hummed, confirming her suspicions. It was only then that we saw one of the soldiers pull a bound man from one of the trucks before flinging him over his shoulder. He turned and made his way over to us. “There’s our guy. You gift wrapped him for us, how kind!”

The Old Man grumbled. “Sometimes… they don’t know when to stop. He also has a mouth on him.”

Splicer was thin, a bit gangly. He was wearing the same get-up that I remembered seeing on the cameras back at the club when he was talking to Masquerade, only this time, his hands and ankles were bound, and he had tape over his mouth. He wore a furious expression, thrashing around on the soldier’s shoulder. He hissed into his gag when his eyes locked with us.

He looked to me, then to Alice.

Then, he squirmed even harder.

Alice grinned. “I think he likes me.”

“Take him to the fourth floor and prepare him for interrogation,” the Old Man gestured to me and Alice. “We’ll be down shortly to pick his brain. Alice will do the heavy lifting.”

The soldier nodded and walked off, carrying a wriggling Splicer who looked ready to bite his tongue off.

“Oh, will I now?” Her tone was playful and filled with anticipation. “I would have thought you’d want the first crack at him.”

“You telling me you weren’t going to argue for first dibs?” the Old Man intoned, curious. “It’s not every day a Mentalist of your caliber comes along and your assistance would be appreciated. I don’t think I need to state how much time we’d all save by throwing you at him.”

“How kind of you,” Alice smirked. “I’ll need a bit of time first. My partner here is in need of some medical attention and some rest.”

“I’ll fetch a first aid kit and I’ll have some food prepared. Would you like coffee?”

“Yes!” I cut in, unable to mask my desperation. “Yeah, sorry. A coffee would be good.”

“It’s going to be a long night. I’ll make sure to get something with some more kick to it.”

With the Old Man as our guide, he led us out of the parking garage and through a corridor to a taped-off elevator. He then went through a door on the left, which took us into a spiraling staircase. When I expected him to go up, he instead began descending, where echoes of loud voices bounced off the walls.

The first indication that downstairs wasn’t part of the original building plan was the doors on the first and second floors we passed on the way down. They had significantly more security than the doors on the way out of the garage. These had scanners and a whole bunch of other tech built into them. I wasn’t picking up anything like that on the floors above ground level, so there were good odds it was all custom-built.

We stopped at level three, the old man passing with ease through the security checks. He didn’t stop for anything, not even pausing before doors that looked like they could weather the direct impact of a missile. They just opened at his presence.

Interesting. Some type of bioscanning? Maybe he has something on him that detects his proximity. I could make something similar for our hideout. But then we still have windows as a weakness, but I could always—

“Through here,” he said, shaking me out of my thoughts and leading us into a room. It was an empty room with a couch, table, chairs, and a small kitchen. It was pristine, with the only sign of use being a wet dish rag that hung over the facet. “Some of the staff usually linger here, but tonight’s a busy night. All hands on deck.”

Alice and I saw the two cameras set up to view the room, and they weren’t exactly hidden. Every room must’ve had them to ensure no one was slacking off. In an organization like this, I couldn’t imagine whoever was in charge would be happy if their employees weren’t productive.

Alice clicked her tongue. “A little privacy would be appreciated.”

The Old Man shrugged. “Upgrade can disable them if you want. It won’t raise any alarms, I’ll make sure of it.”

I didn’t hesitate. As the electronics powered down, I scanned the rest of the room for anything else, only to come up empty. The only thing I switched off to be safe was a smart TV, but all the other electrical devices registered as kitchen appliances to my suit, so I didn’t bother to mess with them.

“I’ll be back shortly,” the old man said. “After you’ve taken a moment to rest, we’ll see what we can do about retrieving Anomaly.”

“The other half of him is probably in that thing’s lungs,” I said, grimacing. “You’ll have to cut him out.”

This information didn’t faze the Old Man.

“I figured as much. I’ll get the Morpher prepared for surgery,” he pointed to the wall. “There's a first aid kit there to tend to whatever injuries you have. If it's more serious, we’ll have equipment for something more invasive.”

The implication was clear. My suit would have to come off. Thankfully, the only serious injury I had was a broken nose, and I’m sure Alice could fix that up.

“It’s not that bad,” Alice reassured him, speaking before I could. “We’ll be fine.”

“Fine by me. I’ll be back shortly.”

He left the room, leaving us on our own.

“Have you cleared the room?” Alice asked quietly.

I nodded slowly. “The cameras and TV are disabled. There’s some other stuff but it's all mundane,” I gestured over my shoulder toward the kitchen. “Just the appliances.”

“Disable them anyway.”

Alice started walking around the room, checking every nook and cranny she could find. She continuously switched between Orange and Gold to ensure she covered everything. I followed her lead and switched off the rest of the electronics in the room. They might appear mundane, but she still had more experience than me. We could never be too careful in a situation like this.

“We’re good,” she finally said, finishing her search. “Find somewhere comfy.”

I didn’t hesitate to collapse on the couch and lean back, closing my eyes and counting to ten. The quiet eased my senses, and once again, I felt the onset of exhaustion threaten to pull me under. I felt Alice sit beside me, her hand reaching for the base of my neck to find the button. She found it before I could protest and retracted my helmet.

“Ugh, that looks nasty,” the ugly look on her face was hard to miss, and her tone reflected as much. “Looks like you headbutted a wall.”

“Try being blown into one instead.”

“Has it been hurting this whole time? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Mia found me some painkillers and I used my power on them. They’re only just starting to wear off now,” I flinched as she gently traced the injury. I could feel how crooked it was from her touch alone. “You're going to set it, aren’t you?”

Alice’s lips thinned, trying to suppress a smirk. “Do you want me to?”

“If I want it to heal properly, I don’t think I have a choice.”

“I’ll be quick then,” she turned my head to face her. Both hands gripped different parts of my nose, and I closed my eyes. “On three, okay?”

I hummed out an acknowledgment.

“Three—”

CRACK!

“FUCK!”

I reeled back, spitting out a line of curses as pain seared through my skull. I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets as I endured the agonizing aftermath.

“You said ‘on three’!”

There was an incredibly guilty giggle that bubbled out of Alice’s lips. “Sorry, I did say that – and, well, technically I was right. I said three. My bad, Pink slipped through a bit there.”

“Fucking—” I stopped myself and took a breath. I could at least breathe through my nose again, albeit lightly. “Thank you, but please do a better job at holding Pink back when it comes to shit like this. The last thing I want is my nose to be ripped clean off. Ugh…”

“If it makes you feel any better, it would have hurt more if I had counted up.”

“I suppose that does make it a little better:”

She dressed the injury with finesse better than a doctor. Given some time and help, along with some biogel, it would be as right as rain in a couple of days. All I needed to do was survive.

“I’m guessing you probably know how this all started,” I said softly, unable to meet her gaze. Alice had since reclined on the sofa, taking this opportunity to rest. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“Ah… Look, shit happens. I’d chew you out but it’s not like I haven’t made my share of mistakes and you’ve already learned from it. Besides, this was bound to happen,” Alice shrugged lightly. “We were all waiting for it. Whether or not you were the one to set it all off doesn’t matter in the end. You're not the one out there waging war across the whole city. That’s Grim and Pandora.”

“I…” I bit my lip anxiously. I felt vulnerable, and I had already had this conversation with Mia. Maybe I was looking for validation – for more people to tell me it wasn’t my fault so I didn’t have to feel so guilty. “I don’t know how to feel about all of it.”

Alice heaved a sigh.

“Look, this is definitely one of the bigger conflicts Bayside has seen, but it could be worse, they aren’t going after civilians and the ECU hasn’t called in overseas support. I’ve been a part of a few where they did escalate like that, though I mostly stuck to the shadows. Those conflicts? Those were carnage. This one hasn’t reached that point yet because Pandora and Queens Court live and die based on their public perception. They can’t afford to kill civilians and want to be seen as the good guys, so they’ll keep people safe. Hell, Pandora’s probably leading a bunch into bunkers as we speak,” she reached over and gave me an affectionate nudge to my knee. “So don’t worry about what’s going on out there and focus on us, here and now. Mia’s probably trying to figure out a way to get inside this place without being noticed and Anomaly is…” we both looked over at the container we left by the door “...definitely feeling something.”

I couldn’t even begin to fathom what sensations he was experiencing right now.

“All in all, we’re in a good spot. Our job is to get information out of Splicer. After that, we’ll play it by ear.” Alice said.

“Alright, so what’s our next move?”

“First, food and coffee,” Alice giggled. “Then, we cut open the big doggie and put Anomaly back together. After that we talk to Splicer and figure out what he knows.”

“Okay,” I nodded, following along. “And what about these guys? I doubt they brought us here just for us to get info. They’re going to want something.”

“Oh they want a lot of things,” Alice grinned. “Things we can give them – but that can go both ways.”

I saw where she was going with this, and a grin of my own formed. “A business partnership then?”

“Absolutely,” she confirmed. “They’re going to try to finesse us, but. I’m not going to let that happen.”

“That’s going to be tough,” I exhaled, looking around. “They seem to be pretty powerful, they’ve got gear in abundance and we’re in the middle of their base. They probably also have a lot of supers on payroll that we don’t know about. It won’t be easy.”

“No, I don’t expect it will be.” Alice’s grin turned devious. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”

The door leading into our room opened, and the Old Man walked back in.

Our coffee had arrived.