It didn’t take Summer long to gather everyone for her impromptu idea of a celebration. It seemed she had settled on a shopping trip and a picnic. Shopping didn’t seem like the most celebratory thing to do, but they couldn’t have a picnic without buying the food for it first. Since five was one too many to fit in either of their small cars, both Summer and Ashton had to drive to the nearest supermarket.

  "We need a tablecloth and some paper plates," Summer instructed once they all gathered in the parking lot, "We might need some plasticware too depending on what we choose to eat."

  "How about sandwiches?" Kai suggested, "They always eat sandwiches at picnics, right?"

  "Sandwiches are a good start," Kayla approved, "but we need something to go with them."

  "We should get something to drink, and cups," Levi suggested, "Mayba soda or fruit punch."

  "Chips usually go with sandwiches," Ashton added.

  "Do we want to buy pre-made sandwiches or make our own?" Summer asked.

  This started an argument, but even the banter was surprisingly comfortable. Ashton had never considered shopping fun or relaxing before, but he had to admit this was kinda nice. Perhaps he was only able to enjoy himself because of Summer’s infectious smile. Harper had been right to claim she would bring an important perspective the rest of them lacked.

  Once they got back from shopping, things became a little more chaotic than relaxing as they realized they had overestimated the capacity of the circular picnic table to the side of their apartments. They even ended up having to use the cooler Summer had bought as an extra surface to hold the ridiculous amount of food they had purchased. Ashton felt a bit embarrassed that he had let himself get carried away by the atmosphere so much that he hadn’t even noticed how overboard their shopping had ended up.

  “We should have gotten another table,” Levi muttered, struggling to secure a place for the tub of fruit salad he had purchased.

  “Should we grab a blanket and eat in the grass?” Summer suggested, “It might be fun.”

  “Does anyone have a spare blanket?” Kayla asked, “I only have what is on my bed.”

  “I might have a spare sheet,” Ashton offered.

  If he had brought it along. Ashton might have thrown it away when he moved. There was no reason to hold onto a secondhand sheet that didn’t even fit his bed, but it was the first thing he thought of in this situation. He left to dig around in his apartment and found the sheet in question crumpled up in a corner of his closet. If he was going to keep the thing, he should have at least put it away properly.

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  The sheet was wrinkled, old, and probably a bit musty, but everyone was happy to see it when Ashton returned. The fitted corners made it a bit more difficult to lay out, but they made do and everyone started digging into the food. He truly must have grown close to them if he found even this chaotic mess to be fun.

  Every so often Ashton found himself staring at Summer. Sometimes she would look back at him and smile, but she continued eating and laughing with everyone. She had always seemed brighter when surrounded by others, even back when she was Golden Reign. Ashton couldn’t help but think she could be living a much safer life if she hadn’t been dragged into his mess. The fake bomb had made it even more clear that the only one MysteriousMaskz cared about was Shadow Phoenix.

  Ashton’s phone buzzed almost in sync with every other member of the team. Was it a mission? He pulled it out to check and found two new messages. The first was from Jared. The box had been carefully tested, and the bomb had been very real after all. If Ashton hadn’t stayed behind to open it, everyone there might have died.

  The second message was from an unknown number. “Would you like to sign a contract?”

  “Did you all get the same message?” Summer asked nervously, showing her phone to the others.

  She had gotten it too? Ashton scanned the faces of the rest of the team as they all confirmed that they had gotten the message as well.

  “This can’t be good,” Ashton muttered, “I need to check how far this has spread. If we aren’t specifically being targeted, that means this has been sent out to countless people. Don’t reply to the message. Don’t even open it if you can.”

  Just in case, he contacted Jared. “Did you get the message too?”

  It only took Jared a moment to reply. “Yes.” There was a pause, and more information followed. “Not just me. My team members and family did as well.”

  “Warn everyone you care about not to reply to the message,” Ashton ordered, “I don’t know how far it has spread, but unrelated parties have already been confirmed to have received it.”

  In a moment, Summer had her phone to her ear, undoubtedly calling her parents. No one else made a move. It seemed that just like Ashton, they had no one to call. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Ashton returned to his conversation with Jared.

  “Did they examine the USB?” he asked.

  “They did,” Jared confirmed, “You will have to drop by in person to see the details, but I have reason to believe that is what triggered this mass messaging attack.”

  Was it some sort of safety measure just like the bomb that activated because Ashton had not personally examined the contents of the USB? Why? What could be on there that would warrant such an overwhelming punishment?

  “I need to go,” Ashton told his team, setting aside his plate of half-eaten dessert. To Jared he sent a quick message to let him know he was on his way.

  Once he arrived, the reason he needed to see it in person became clear. The USB had one folder on it. The folder was locked, though it seemed impossible to enter a password. More important was the title of that folder.

  “Only Shadow Phoenix”