“Is that a gun?!” Glory Girl shrieked as I raised another borrowed rifle and fired at Purity.

  “Don’t play the dumb blonde,” I snapped. “We need to take her down. You want to get up there and do something, wings?”

  “Amaranth you—”

  “Bigger problems!” I shouted as a beam blasted down and took out the side of a house. “Hey! Stay the fuck away from the buildings!”

  “Where else are we supposed to take cover?!” Zeke yelled, sprinting past me.

  “God dammit.” I reached up tapped Glory Girl’s shoulder. “Can you run interference? I need to find Nadir, she might be able to drop Purity.”

  “I…” Another blast tore through some trees and made her flinch. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Fuck you Amaranth.”

  With that, she blasted off into the sky. I wanted to scream, but whatever, she was with us and that had to be good enough. I took a second to steal yet another carbine, this time pocketing a few magazines as well, then ran off to find Nadir.

  The street was a chaotic scene, with dark figures running all around, lit by muzzle flashes and helical beams of light. Tracers tore through the sky like ruddy stars, and I added my share trying to make a one in a million shot. Either she really was a Brute, or we needed to hit the range more. Either way… I dumped a spent magazine and reloaded, running down a side street and nearly hitting Nadir.

  “Oh thank fuck,” I panted, racking the charging handle of my gun. “Think you can nail Purity?”

  “I’ve been trying,” Nadir said tensely. “Don’t know what it is but...either it doesn’t go up that high or she’s not being affected.”

  “I don’t know which is worse,” I sighed.

  “The latter,” she said flatly. “Former just means it’s a sphere, or a cylinder or something. If she’s not affected at all…”

  “Okay yeah, pretty bad.” We both paused and fired a few bursts at Purity, then split up as a beam demolished the fence we’d used for cover. I ran back to her after, ducking raining splinters. “Got to watch our fire, Glory Girl’s up there.”

  “Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”

  “I…” I chewed my lip.

  I was in charge now, I was supposed to know what to do. That’s why everyone had chosen me right? But I had nothing. We were limited because an ally was in the air at my request, we weren’t hitting the villain anyway, and our powers were apparently no good. The PRT was definitely on the way, but no telling when they’d actually arrive so we couldn’t count on it. It was down to us, which meant it was down to Vicky.

  Or maybe…

  Of all things to remember, Glory Girl throwing dumpsters at Nazis was certainly one of them. But at the same time, it didn’t have to be a dumpster, did it? Oh that was a stupid, stupid idea, but what better way did I have to close the distance? I licked my lips, then held my rifle out to Nadir.

  “Hold this,” I said, rising to my toes and taking a deep breath. “Hold fire! Hold fire!”

  “Amaranth, the fu—”

  “Trust me.”

  I ran off without another word, yelling for Glory Girl to get her ass down here. That made me a prime target, and blast after blast struck the ground around me, and even clipped me a few times. I turned and drew my pistol, firing a couple shots her way just to piss her off, then sprinted my ass into a small park dotted with dozens of trees. Bare, not the best cover, but something maybe— I let out a muffled yelp as a hand covered my mouth and I was wrenched back a hundred yards into a hedge in a second.

  “This is a fucking shitshow,” Glory Girl spat, uncovering my mouth and letting me go. I pulled away and poked my head out of the brush, scanning the sky above. Purity was moving slowly, a brilliant star against a dark sky. “What’s the plan?”

  “I’m going to get her attention,” I said, ignoring the eyeroll. “Again yes. When she’s hovering in place, you throw me.”

  “What?”

  “Trust me,” I hissed. “I can take her down, or keep her from doing any damage, as long as you can aim.”

  “Amaranth that’s insane,” I growled.

  “It’s fine,” I countered. “You’re used to throwing dumpsters right? And I’m a piece of trash, not that different.” She blinked, staring quietly at me. A blast through the branches overhead made me flinch. “Glory Girl, fucking do it.”

  “You’re crazy,” Glory Girl said, shaking her head. “But you’d better be right.”

  I ran off without another word, firing a few rounds towards Purity as I headed for the street. That certainly got her attention, and a blast I was too slow to get away from cost me a thousand bucks as it destroyed my gun and not much else. I poured on the gas and got onto the street, running in a straight line right up the middle. A perfect target, and checking over my shoulder I saw Purity fixed in place against the sky.

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  “Glory Girl, now!” I shouted, skidding to a halt and turning on my heel. A blast caught me in the face and blinded me for a moment, but when it cleared Vicky was there.

  “You’re cra—”

  “Just fucking throw me!” I screamed.

  She did, grabbing my waist and hoisting me for a split-second before launching me like a missile, hard enough I felt my neck sing with pain. Another blast hit me, but too late to stop my momentum. I didn’t quite get my hand all the way out, but my elbow hooked around Purity’s neck as I struck. She started to climb rapidly as I scrabbled for a hold, gripping with my hand tighter and tighter just so I didn’t fall off.

  The lights went out.

  A startled shriek escaped my lips as I started falling. Glancing over, I saw a dull Purity, costume undamaged, throat a mangled mess in my fingers. We hadn’t even scored a hit, except my last one. I looked down, then shut my eyes and braced as I came hurtling towards the pavement. The impact rattled me to my bones and made my teeth click together hard enough I was worried they’d broken. Then it was quiet, except for the approaching sirens and the rushing of blood in my ears.

  “Amaranth!” I heard Nadir first as I slowly pushed myself to my knees, raising my head. She pounced and wrapped her arms around me. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I croaked, stomach suddenly rebelling. I pushed her off and scrambled away. I retched and gagged, but fortunately nothing came up. “Hooo, god I fucking hate falling.” I rose unsteadily and gave her a look when she held out my stolen carbine. I took it and sighed. “Okay, bring it on.”

  “That was insane,” she snapped. “Getting thrown at Purity, are you kidding?”

  “Worked didn’t it?” I said, gesturing to the body in question.

  “Yo Amaranth, you good?” Zeke yelled as he ran over.

  “Fine,” I called back, rolling my shoulders and neck. “I...want to sleep for the next forty-eight hours.”

  “Let’s get back,” he agreed.

  I limped up the street with them towards the house where all this started, grimacing at the sight of green, white, blue, and red all strobing up and down the road. I could see uniformed figures moving around the perimeter of the wreckage and paused. My friends looked at me, confused, and I let out a sigh.

  “Go home,” I said flatly. “Call the others and tell them to scatter. I’ll...I’ll handle the mess.” Like usual.

  “Amaranth, that’s not a great idea,” Nadir said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  “No, but it’s that or going on the run,” I retorted. “Get out of here, and if they decide I’m going behind bars...well, the team’ll have you.”

  She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a tight squeeze, then turned around and headed down the street with Zeke, away from the cops. I rolled my shoulders and limped towards the scene of the fight, keeping things nice and slow so I didn’t spook the many, many cops ahead. As I came near the perimeter, two cops raised their weapons and demanded I identify myself.

  “Amaranth, hero,” I replied flatly. “Was conducting the raid here when I got attacked.” The two cops shared a look.

  “Is that a Title II firearm?” one asked, pointing at the carbine I’d borrowed. I narrowed my eyes and hefted it slightly.

  “Are those level four plates?” I snapped, making both of them look uneasy.

  “Amaranth, what the hell is going on?” a voice shouted. I saw Adamant’s hulking, armoured form stomping towards me.

  “Hey Adamant,” I greeted him, making a little show of unloading the carbine for him. “You want the long story or the short one?”

  “I want to know why I shouldn’t arrest you and make an argument for the ‘cage,” he growled, crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes.

  “Well first of all, this isn’t mine,” I said, hefting the empty carbine. I pointed to the bodies laid out on the lawn, covered by white sheets. “Werwolf operatives teleported in, which by the way they can do now. When Purity arrived, I decided to...borrow it, so I could reach out and touch. You want it?” I held the empty carbine out, and one of the cops snatched it away. I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “The bitch in question landed about a block that way. Before you get started, it was either her or me.”

  “She’s dead then.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Tends to happen when you fall a thousand feet and hit the ground,” I replied, shrugging. I gestured around to the damaged street, and the houses that had been hit too. “I think you’ll agree that it’s not over the top.”

  “You’ve got some questions to answer,” Adamant said gravely.

  “Well ask them then, because I’m not going anywhere,” I said firmly, hands balling into fists. We glared at each other silently for a minute, two, then he sighed and his shoulders slumped slightly.

  “Come on,” he said, turning to the scene.

  I followed, hoping I wasn’t walking into another ambush.

  “All hail the conquering hero!” Zeke crowed as I pushed into Papa’s house, stumbling over my own feet. “Motherfucker extraordinaire, the littlest assassin on the East Coast!”

  “Shut up Zeke,” I muttered as I wandered into the living room and flopped down in Papa’s armchair. I peeled off my mask and rubbed my sandy feeling eyes. “God fucking dammit.”

  “Everything okay?” Joy asked.

  “Got threatened with the Birdcage for taking down Purity,” I spat bitterly. “Told I’m on my ‘last strike’ whatever the fuck that means. Guess they’re sick of me making them look bad.”

  “The Birdcage?” Wick said, giving me a confused look.

  “S’where the real hard fuckers go,” Reese explained to his friend, giving me a look I didn’t have the energy to try and understand. “You fronting?”

  “Fuck off,” I growled. “Why would I lie about something like that? Don’t be dumb.”

  “Alright,” he said with a shrug. “Ay Wick, show her the flick.” I arched a brow as Wick pulled out his phone and tapped away on it. After a moment, he handed it to me.

  “Just fucking throw me!” I heard myself scream as the camera rapidly panned to a glittering point of light in the sky. Against the backdrop of the dimly lit sky, I saw a figure rocket towards the light, intercepted by twisting beams as it flew. The light raced upwards for half a second, then it winked out without warning. As the camera adjusted to the much dimmer light, I vaguely saw the silhouette of us falling, and felt my blood pressure rise.

  “You fucking filmed it.”

  “Hell yeah,” Wick said. “You seeing that shit? You look like a bad motherfucker.”

  “For real, it’s cool as hell,” Jeep added.

  “It’s evidence,” I hissed. “Shit they’ll use to put me in the Birdcage. Jesus fuck…” I groaned.

  “Hey it’s cool, won’t show this to nobody,” Wick said, retrieving his phone before I threw it through the wall. “Just for us, you know? It’s cool.”

  “God, fucking whatever,” I sighed, crossing my arms and slumping back in the chair. “If I see that shit online, I’m breaking your nose.”

  “No sweat boss, for real,” he replied.

  “Hey, let’s chill, for tonight at least,” Joy said, rising and walking over to me with a smile. I shuffled over and let her squeeze into the seat, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Come on, I know it’s kind of weird but...I don’t know, it was pretty cool.”

  “I...guess,” I mumbled, leaning against her. “Okay, fine, sorry just...sorry.”

  “Nothing to apologize for, right guys?” she said.

  “Hell yeah,” Zeke answered as everyone nodded their heads.

  Well…at least I had some people who wouldn’t abandon me.