“What the fuck is that?” J-Dog yelled as we scrambled towards the side of the road.

  “Hookwolf!” I shouted back, taking a knee and firing a burst at the tornado of whirling metal in the middle of the road. “Take cover, you can’t scratch him.”

  “The fuck are we supposed to do then?!” Zeke demanded as he sprinted past.

  “Take cover,” I repeated, dropping into the ditch at the roadside and dumping my bag.

  Miss Militia was taking point, firing round after round from an RPG on her shoulder. It was having some effect, blasting away chunks of metal shrapnel, but didn’t seem to be slowing him down. I knew his core would be buried deep inside, so it was a matter of burrowing through and tearing it out. Luckily there was a cape around who could get there.

  “Explosives,” I demanded, looking to Reese. He blinked slowly, then scrambled into his backpack to retrieve them. I took two bricks of Semtex and taped them together, then pushed a detonator into one of them. No need for a fuse, all I had to do was pinch really hard. “I’m going to do something really stupid. Keep an eye out, Hookwolf might not be the only one here. Oh, hold these…”

  I dropped my rifle and pistol, then unbuckled my vest and threw it to the ground. My jacket followed, and I shivered as I clutched the explosives to my chest. Fuck me it was cold, but my projection wasn’t going to protect any of that. I could deal with it for the little time it would take to execute my plan.

  Without another word, I ran straight into the thick of things, my hearth and home. The PRT troopers had joined Miss Militia in attacking Hookwolf, pounding him with explosive and confoam grenades. A sharp bark from Miss Militia had them stop with the confoam as Hookwolf’s whirling form scattered it around it battlefield, making a series of slowly expanding landmines that’d stop me if I hit them.

  “Going in!” I shouted tersely to alert Miss Militia, then raced towards Hookwolf.

  Her reply was lost in the noise of battle, the chattering of gunfire and the detonation of explosive rounds. I wove through the foam carefully, keeping a wary eye on Hookwolf. He wasn’t in his usual lupine form, more resembling a storm of whirling blades than any creature on Earth. It still roared though, furious and bloodthirsty, loud enough to make my ears ring. I clutched the bomb to my body and went in with a scream, making a final lunge before being enveloped.

  Once, long ago, I had been swallowed by Hookwolf’s maw. That had seen me lose the tip of my nose with my lack of control, but this time was different. Blades scraped against my projection, trying to find a way inside. I could feel myself being shaken like a rat, and grit my teeth hard trying to keep myself from vomiting.

  The whole while, I forced my eyes to remain open, searching for Hookwolf’s core. I didn’t know what it would look like, only that it would be somewhere deep inside him. It was difficult to avoid flinching, with razor-sharp blades stabbing at my eyes, but I managed as I searched relentlessly for a target. Unfortunately, I found nothing but whirling metal and clashing blades, like a tornado that sucked up a medieval armoury.

  Time to try something else.

  “Hookwolf!” I screamed into the storm. “You fucking coward! Face me and die like a man!” I knew he was prideful, with an overinflated view of himself as some kind of ‘warrior’. If I could challenge that…

  “You little rat!” I heard a roar. The blades in front of my face pulled away, making an ugly death-mask that snarled at me. “I’ll skin you while you scream.” I grinned and pinched the detonator.

  Bingo.

  The explosion from my makeshift satchel charge was louder than I expected. The detonation struck me like a giant’s fist, battering my arms that had held the bomb. The effect on Hookwolf was spectacular, blowing a hole through his metal body large enough that I could see the sky beyond. I didn’t even have a chance to cry out as I plummeted to the ground below, slamming into the pavement somewhere just below terminal velocity.

  Metal tinkled as it fell around me, some pieces of shrapnel clattering off my back. I pushed myself up and grimaced as I caught sight of the state of my clothing. Or rather, my lack thereof. My projection protected my sports bra and underwear, but had left my shirt and pants to the tender mercies of Hookwolf's blades. The pavement was freezing, but I heard the scraping of metal and knew this wasn’t over yet.

  “Amaranth, left!” Miss Militia shouted.

  Twisting my neck, I caught sight of a roughly human-sized chunk of metal worming away from the battle. I leaped to my feet and sprinted after it, heedless of the frigid temperatures. He needed to die and he needed to die now. When I was close enough, I pounced and sunk my hands deep into his metal skin, the steel bending like taffy under my grip. Hookwolf screamed, but I screamed louder for Miss Militia to shoot him.

  She didn’t need any encouragement from me. The word had scarcely left my mouth when a rocket impacted dead center on the metal mass of Hookwolf’s core, sending shrapnel flying in all directions. I clung harder as he thrashed and another rocket struck, blasting away more of his body. It took three more for him to stop struggling, and even then I demanded she put one more into him to make damn sure he wasn’t coming back.

  Like that, the street was silent, beyond the freezing wind whipping through the trees and the ringing in my ears. I struggled to my feet, head swimming as I stumbled away from the ruined scrap pile once known as Hookwolf. I wrapped my arms around myself, unable to suppress the shivers from cold and pumping adrenaline. A weight fell across my shoulders and I flinched violently.

  “Are you alright?” Miss Militia asked, fixing the blanket she’d out on me so it stayed in place despite my efforts.

  “Fine,” I mumbled. “Can always rely on me to kill a Nazi.”

  “That was incredibly risky,” she chided me. In the corner of my eye, I could see my team running over. “But it worked. Thank you for your help.”

  “Amaranth!” Joy exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me. “Are you fucking crazy?”

  “Yes,” I said flatly, leaning against her and sighing. “God you’re warm.”

  “Yeah, let’s get you dressed,” she said, pulling away and giving me a sour look. “Did you know that would happen?” I shrugged.

  “Had an inkling,” I replied. “Not the first time I’ve fought him. First time I’ve killed him though so…” I shuddered and Joy put her arm around my shoulders, pulling me towards the vans. “Was there anything else?”

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  “No, it was just Hookwolf,” Joy replied. “Hey, next time...maybe tell me what the plan is? I almost had a heart attack when you jumped at him.”

  “Wasn’t time,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I know but…” She sighed and gave me a squeeze. “I don’t want to lose you. And I know you’ll come back just…”

  “Don’t worry,” I said, leaning my weight on her. “I’ll try, okay?”

  “Cool,” Joy said with a nod. “Now come on, you must be freezing.”

  Maybe I was, but with her I felt warm as could be.

  “That shit was crazy,” Zeke said, shaking his head. “You sure you’re good?”

  “Yup,” I said, bumping my chest with a fist. “Not even a scratch. I was just fucking cold, but I’m okay now.” The PRT had offered a pair of fatigues, way too big but better than being naked. We were sitting in the back of the van, waiting to find out our next move.

  “The suicide bomber that came back,” J-Dog said, smacking my shoulder. “Man they’re gonna be telling stories about you.”

  “All of them bad,” I said flatly. “Look, forget about it, we need to focus on the road ahead. One bastard down, god only knows how many to go.”

  “What’d we lose?” Joy asked.

  “The lead van was taken out,” I replied, scratching the back of my neck. “Six PRT guys dead, four more wounded, and Sere lost an arm.”

  “Jesus,” she said, eyes widening. “And it was only one guy?” I opened my mouth to reassure her, but was interrupted as the door opened.

  “Amaranth, Nadir,” Miss Militia said. “Are you ready to move?”

  “What’s going on?” Joy asked, gripping her carbine tightly. “What about Zeke and—”

  “Other teams have been ambushed as well,” she cut Joy off. “The Boston group was hit hard and suffered bad casualties, as was a group of independents from Syracuse.” I heard the distant whine of jets growing louder outside as I rose and checked my weapon.

  “Has Dragon had any success finding them?” I asked.

  “Not yet, but there’s only one major population center relatively nearby besides Boston and Brockton Bay.”

  “New York,” I said flatly, getting a sharp nod.

  “Dragon’s craft will be landing in sixty seconds,” Miss Militia said as the engine noise grew louder. “We’re only taking parahumans, since we have limited capacity.”

  “Seriously?” I frowned and glanced at my team. “We need them ma’am.”

  “No, we need the strongest fighters we can get,” she replied, offering the others an apologetic look. “I have no question as to your bravery, but this isn’t a fight regular people can survive.”

  “Man fuck that,” Reese said. “Telling me we came all this way to go home?”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Miss Militia said, apparently done entertaining them. “Either come with us or go back to Brockton Bay. Of course, we’ll have to detain you since you’ve escaped prison…”

  “Oh don’t be shitty,” I said acerbically, flipping her off as I headed to the door and hopped down. “Nadir, you coming?”

  “Yeah,” Joy said, joining me and waving to the guys.

  “Good luck!” Zeke yelled as Dragon’s craft shrieked overhead.

  “Thanks,” I called back. “We’ll take all we can get.”

  I slung my rifle and followed Miss Militia beyond the vans toward the road beyond. Dragon’s ship had touched down, engines still whirring as it waited for us to board. I’d never seen it before, and it was certainly impressive. Draconic, with massive wings and thick armour plating. A door on the side opened and Miss Militia clambered in first, then Joy, and finally me with her assistance.

  The door sealed immediately, plunging us into near-darkness as the craft jolted and rose into the sky. Joy grabbed onto something overhead and, lacking the reach, I grabbed her arm to avoid falling over. A few seconds into the flight, the lights came on and I realized we weren’t alone in the cramped space.

  “Miss Militia, good to see you,” a cape I didn’t recognize said. He was wearing a suit of burnished plate-mail, decorated with fine filigree depicting some kind of monster. A massive sword was buckled across his back, longer than I was tall. “Who are the stragglers?”

  “Lionheart, it’s been some time,” Miss Militia said with a nod. “This is Nadir and Amaranth, two Brockton Bay capes along to help.” The knight’s head turned to me.

  “Not Amaranth as in the terror of the Terriers?” he said, sounding surprised, and none too happy. “I thought you were locked up in the Birdcage.”

  “It’s a Christmas miracle,” I said dryly. “I thought knights went extinct in the Middle Ages.” He bristled and I got a glare from Miss Militia.

  “Lionheart is the second in command of the Boston Protectorate, show some respect,” Miss Militia said, her voice cold. She looked back to him. “Were any of your team able to come with?”

  “None who were willing after encountering Mannequin and Night Hag,” Lionheart said gruffly. “Though only one cape was uninjured, an independent you might know. Foil, though she was on your Ward team as Flechette.” I perked up.

  “Foil was with you?” I asked, cocking my head.

  “Indeed,” he said with a nod. “For all her reluctance working with us on the day-to-day, she was quite happy to come along for a mission like this.” I pursed my lips, something tickling at the back of my brain. Why did I feel like it was going to fuck us over, her not being here?

  “It’s good to hear she’s still operating,” Miss Militia said. “A shame she couldn’t come. Did you get any intel from Hunch before you left?”

  “It’s ‘extremely bad’,” Lionheart replied. “First time I’ve heard him use ‘extremely’ for a prediction.”

  “The last time I heard of it was regarding Madison,” Miss Militia said grimly.

  “Christ alive,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Then this is going to be quite dangerous indeed.”

  “Hey, where’s Weaver?” I asked, looking around the cabin. “I thought she’d be with us.”

  “She rejoined her...employer,” Miss Militia explained. “She’ll join us at New York when we need her”

  “Hopefully,” I said with a frown. God dammit, we’d need her if everything went to shit.

  “So, Nadir,” Lionheart said, turning his head slightly. “Are you an associate of Amaranth’s?” His tone was level, but there was a hint of disapproval in it.

  “I don’t think I need to answer that,” Joy replied, narrowing her eyes.

  “Miss Militia?”

  “The current leader of the Terriers,” Miss Militia said. “Amaranth’s former right-hand, an extremely dangerous parahuman.”

  “Fuck you,” I snapped. “The hell she’s dangerous, Joy wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

  “I have though,” Joy said quietly, putting a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Never without a good reason, but yeah I’ve hurt people, killed people. But...I’ve got a feeling everyone on this ship right now has.” The atmosphere cooled as the tension in the craft thickened, Miss Militia and Lionheart bristling at the comment.

  “There is a difference,” Lionheart said icily. “Between the unfortunate but necessary death of combatants and the wanton murder of helpless men and women.”

  “Something, admittedly, she did work to prevent after Amaranth’s capture,” Miss Militia offered. “However, I think you can understand why we classify you so; with your power and willingness to take lives, you could hurt a great many people.”

  “That power is probably going to save your ass when we land,” I spat.

  “Probably,” she said with a nod. “For what it’s worth, I am glad to have you on our side for once.”

  “And I’m glad I don’t have to worry about being arrested for doing the right thing,” Joy said with a sardonic grin. “Glad I am doing the right thing.”

  “Landing in three minutes,” Dragon’s voice came over a speaker, interrupting our conversation. “Received word that there have been skirmishes in the outer suburbs of the city, so be prepared to land in combat.”

  “What are we facing?” I asked.

  “Reports have indicated at least one other Hookwolf clone,” she said. “Along with a Night Hag, a Breed, and some strangely built Mannequin that seems to have additional powers.” I wracked my brain, but came up short on what powers Night Hag or Breed might have. Maybe Breed spawned something, considering his name…

  “What can they do?” Joy asked for me, bless her.

  “Night Hag is a Breaker who can slowly infect an area with her ability,” Dragon explained. “If killed, she can reform herself from that infected ground, so long as it exists. Breed creates insectoid creatures that eat human flesh, living or dead, and evolve to become more dangerous. As for the Mannequin, it seemed to be capable of sapping energy from its opponents and surroundings, potentially Winter’s power.”

  “Night Hag sounds like a problem,” I said grimly.

  “They’re all problems,” Miss Militia said dryly. “But yes, she’ll be difficult to deal with. Dragon, what teams are on the ground already?”

  “The entire New York Protectorate’s combat detachment, several Ward precincts, and at least two independent teams,” Dragon said. “Defiant is en route with a joint team from Chicago and Detroit. In all, we should have about a hundred parahumans for this fight.”

  “Pretty long odds,” I muttered. “God only knows how many clones they have.”

  “It’s been just over a year since their disappearance, there can’t be that many,” she replied. Well they were early…

  “However many there are, we must prevail,” Lionheart said. “Too many lives are at stake.”

  “Preparing to land,” Dragon said shortly. I swallowed my retort and turned to the door.

  He didn’t know the half of it…