Inez watched Victor talk to the press, sitting behind him with the rest of the city’s heroes. Victor explained the situation, explained what they thought was going on, and told everyone they had it handled. He showed far more confidence than Inez was feeling.

The battle had gone poorly. The augmentor had focused on doing as much damage as possible while fighting, breaking a lot of windows. And the floor. The building had been evacuated; engineers were still testing for structural damage. But that was nothing compared to letting the flier escape.

In their defense, the flier had a gun. And not a dart gun, like Nick used. He’d shot Victor in the arm before taking off. The surprise and pain had held him up long enough to let the flier get out of sight.

Inez watched the bandage on Victor’s arm in case blood started seeping through. He’d been given stitches and all that, but she was still worried. After all, who wouldn’t be worried about their boyfriend having been shot?

Paul, sitting next to Inez, nudged her elbow. “Hey,” he whispered. “Where’s Shawn?”

“He has a cold,” she whispered back.

“Are you ok without him?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, we got this. No worries.”

Paul raised an eyebrow at her. “One of you got shot, and the person responsible escaped.”

“You let someone escape, too,” she hissed.

Emmy leaned around her to whisper at Paul. “They’re organized, he was probably ordered to bail if we got close to winning.”

“Yeah,” Inez nodded.

Sally leaned around Paul. “Same with the one who got away from us, we aren’t to blame.”

“I never said-”

“We’ve got this,” Inez interrupted. “They’ve just had a long time to prepare, while all we can do is react.”

“Yes, but-”

“Exactly,” Sally said. “We’re doing the best we can.”

“All I-”

“I’d like to see someone do better,” Emmy said.

She and Sally high-fived.

“Girls,” Paul hissed.

Victor glanced back at them, frowning. Emmy and Sally flinched back into proper sitting positions.

Paul quietly cleared his throat. “All I was saying is, this is a big deal. We need everyone. Including your team manager, even if he’s sick. He should be with you on your next fight.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Inez said softly. “But I can assure you, we’re fine without him.”

He sighed, watching Victor calm the crowd. “If you need help, call us.”

“Thank you. And, same.”

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Nick grimaced as he chugged a cup of coffee. “I don’t know how you people drink this stuff.”

“Believe it or not, I like the flavor,” Inez said, pulling into a parking lot. She’d won the coin flip to drive for the night.

“Why did we get the two in the morning fights?” Emmy whined. “Nick, let me have coffee.”

“No,” he said flatly, stumbling as he got out of the car.

“Please?”

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A drop of rain hit his glasses. “No.”

Inez drained her cup before getting out. “Come on, Emmy, we’re up against another speedster. You have to focus for this one.”

“I don’t want to focus,” she complained.

Victor landed in front of them. “The report was wrong,” he whispered. “There are two people inside. The speedster wearing a Darth Vader outfit, and a guy in normal clothes.”

“Any power?” Nick asked.

Victor shook his head. “None that I could see. He was just helping put stuff into bags.”

“If the cameras didn’t pick him up, he might be an invisible,” Inez said. “Let’s proceed as if he is.”

Nick was tempted to ask who’d made her leader, but decided it wasn’t worth it. Besides, he agreed with her. Unless the second person hadn’t entered the building until after they’d been called, there weren’t a lot of powers that could hide someone from a security camera.

“I barricaded the back door,” Victor said. “The only exit should be the front.”

“Unless they crash through a window,” Emmy pointed out.

“Let’s presume they won’t do that,” Nick said. “What’s the plan? Chuck in a smoke bomb, hold a tripwire at the door, sleeping darts when they fall?”

“No smoke bomb, Emmy and I can flush them out,” Inez said. “Right?”

“Right,” Emmy said, nodding.

“I’ll help Nick hold the rope,” Victor said.

“Ok, let’s go,” Inez said, sprinting towards the jewelry store.

Nick followed as quietly as possible, double-checking his darts. Emmy and Victor were instantly at the door, peering inside as she slid the rope off her arm. Victor took it, tossing one end to Nick.

Inez took a deep breath, then slammed the door open. “Drop the bags!” she ordered, blasting light into the shop. She ran in, straight at the thieves.

Emmy turned into a pink blur, running in to catch the other speedster.

Nick wrapped the rope around his hand, kneeling by the door. Victor mirrored him, watching the action.

The speedsters, out of which Vader seemed slightly faster, were running circles around a long display case. The second thief grinned at Inez, pointing at her.

Nick frowned, watching. Pointing was never good. Most superpowers that involved pointing were extremely dangerous.

Inez stopped moving, the light in her palms flickering out. Vader also stopped, catching Emmy to hold her still. The thief raised his other arm to point at Emmy.

Nick dropped the rope, pulling his dart gun around. Whatever that dude was doing, it needed to stop.

The thief spotted his movement. He swung his arm around, leaving Inez in favor of Nick.

Nick suddenly felt… ashamed. What was he doing? The plan, his plan, had failed miserably. Everything was going wrong, and it was his fault. They should have brought Shawn. Nick understood chemicals, he was a scientist, why the hell did he think he was qualified to be out here? What did he think he was doing? Nick stared at his gun, wondering if he should leave.

Inez’s voice cut through his insecurities. “Oh hell no!” she shouted. “You do not get to do that! You think you can get me to give up?” She stalked towards the thief, fists clenched.

The thief quickly pointed at her, releasing Nick.

“No, no, no,” Inez laughed. “I have news for you: I am the best at what I do. I am the smartest and strongest person on this team!”

The thief took a step back, aiming both fingers at her.

Light radiated from Inez’s fists as she stomped towards him, turning the area red. “I will not allow some loser with a fancy power to scare me! I worked my ass off to get here; nothing and no one will ever make me feel like I don’t deserve to be a superhero. Is that understood?”

The thief, now pressed against the wall, held his hands up in surrender.

Inez punched him in the face. And then… continued punching him as he crumbled to the ground.

Nick finally realized the speedster was just standing there, staring at Inez. He shot her in the arm, the sleep dart instantly taking effect. That done, he turned to Victor.

“You should stop Inez before she does permanent damage.”

Victor paled. “Me?”

“She’s your girlfriend,” Nick pointed out.

“Yeah, ok.” Victor gulped, reluctantly climbing to his feet. “Hey… Inez?”

Inez, apparently focused on making sure the man would never have children, paid no attention.

Victor scooted towards her. “Inez? Babe? You can stop now…”

Nick wondered if shooting Inez with a sleep dart was a good idea. He looked around, wanting Emmy’s opinion. She wasn’t visible. He slid into the shop, checking behind display cases. She was gone.

It took a few seconds before panic hit him. If the thief had a power that pulled insecurities or fears to the surface…

Deciding Victor could handle everything, Nick ran to the car. Ignoring the rain, he pressed his face to the window. Emmy’s phone was in the cup holder, where she always left it during a fight. He cursed, looking around.

“Emmy,” he called, then shouted. “Emmy!”

His voice faded in the rain, getting no response.

Panic turned to dread.