Despite their fears the office building did not collapse even after they left it. A car came to pick up Jargon, and Mason seemed perfectly content sitting between the twins. Ashton was almost relieved to see Summer pass out once he brought her to the car. She had been fading the entire walk down the steps. Besides, this way she wouldn’t notice that Kayla was missing. Jared had already sent her off with a team of paramedics to get immediate treatment.

  Both Jared and Ashton were on the phone for the majority of the drive back. Luckily one of the hostages was confirmed to be Mason's mother so they were able to reunite the family on their way back. May wanted to talk to Summer, and Ashton had to admit to her that she was passed out but otherwise fine. Honestly, after using so much power it was a wonder she had lasted as long as she had.

  As soon as they returned, Ashton had to write his report, which he knew included several things that might get them in trouble. Summer and himself had both acted recklessly at that office building. Hopefully this would not result in the MysteriousMaskz case being taken from them. No, there was no telling what kind of tantrum he would pull if he lost Ashton's attention.

  Once he was finished writing the report, Ashton was invited to witness Jargon's interrogation. It was held in a slightly different place than last time, but the vibes were very similar. Ashton was guided to the observation room behind the one way mirror. From the looks of things he was a bit late. It was hard to say how far along they were, but the interrogation had already started.

  "-always been good at making people keep their promises," Jargon was saying.

  "Excuse me, but what does this have to do with your relationship with MysteriousMaskz?" the interrogator asked.

  "Everything," Jargon answered, his voice tired, "If it wasn't for that power I never would have had the misfortune of meeting that kid. I let it get to my head once I realized it was my power and started bragging about it to my friends. It was nice having everyone around me know they could never break a promise they made with me. Occasionally some dangerous people would show up, but I always managed to make them promise to behave themselves. I thought I was on top of the world."

  The bitter tone to his voice hinted that his story was about to take a sour turn. Ashton already had a guess to what might have happened, but he listened patiently.

  "Then this kid I had never seen before came up to me one day," Jargon continued, "He told me my power would become even greater if I tried deals and contracts and I should practice. At the time, I brushed him off thinking it was all a waste of time. He was obviously upset, but I thought he was just a kid. He shouted some nonsense about it being such a shame that this world was full of so many unique powers, but no one would use them properly."

  The interrogator noted that down. Any information about potential motives was important. That must have something to do with this world Maskz was trying to make Ashton create for him.

  "He came back the next day and proposed a bet. One I thought I couldn't lose." Jargon's voice now carried a slight tremble. Was it fear? No. One look at that face and it was clear he was furious. "He told me he could prove just how flimsy my promises were. Whoever lost the best would just have to do whatever the other said one time. I had never made a deal like that before, and at the time I didn't realize that my power held me to my promises just as much as it did everyone else."

  If Jargon’s power was truly binding like a contract, Ashton could already see how easily Maskz would have weasled around his own words to assure his victory. He could also see how knowing everyone had to keep their promises to you would make you let your guard down and believe no one could betray you even if they wanted to. The question was, how far did Ned take things? Ashton had already experienced a certain lack of moderation when it came to his methods, but he also had a concern that Maskz was treating his case differently from everyone else.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I don’t know who he got to first, or how he convinced them, but he started with my closest friends,” Jargon recalled, the anger in his voice only growing more evident, “Or rather, my closest minions. Turns out that because of my ability I didn’t have a single actual friend. Especially not after he taught them how to slip out of their every promise to me. At first I didn’t even realize what was going on, and even when I did, I denied it as impossible. When everyone I knew had turned against me, he showed up again with a smug little smirk on his face.”

  The story from there was more or less as Ashton expected. MysteriousMaskz used the first favor to force Jargon to work for him, slowly binding him with more and more promises until he couldn’t escape no matter how much he learned. He forced Jargon to write him contracts for his business, but never let him find out anything that was actually important. Even for his name, the only ones Jargon knew were Ned and MysteriousMaskz.

  “If you were so useful, why would he throw you away like this?” the interrogator asked.

  This time Jargon grinned, as if this was the question he had been waiting for all along. “He didn’t. All of my hard work to find out about his plans finally paid off and I volunteered before he could pick someone else. He agreed so easily it was like all of those years he controlled me were all a lie. All I have to do to be left alone by him forever is to never see Shadow Phoenix.”

  “Is that why there were reports of your eyes being covered by some kind of darkness?”

  “Yes, but that wasn’t me. When I complained to Ned that there was no way I could avoid seeing one person in particular without knowing who they were, he promised to give me some assistance,” Jargon explained, “I don’t know who he managed to rope into it, but they must be someone powerful. I was shocked when the windows suddenly went dark.”

  Assistance, and windows going dark. Ashton didn’t like the way this was going. Now that he thought about it. Summer’s behavior had been odd. He thought she had overdone it out of her usual desire to prove herself, but if she had put herself in danger out of fear of MysteriousMaskz that changed everything. He had thought keeping her close would help him protect her, but it was starting to feel like it was only making things worse.

  Ashton went to see Harper once the interrogation was over. It had almost felt more like an interview with how eager Jargon was to speak. Were those words all planned, too? Was Ashton about to do what Maskz wanted again? It was hard to believe the emotions Jargon had shown were fake, and the serum had ensured he was no longer bound by his own power.

  “Did you need some advice, Ashton?” Harper asked when he showed up.

  “I guess you could say that,” Ashton agreed, “I no longer think it is safe for Summer to be a member of my team.”

  “Why Summer specifically? Kayla is the one who was injured during this mission,” Harper pointed out.

  That was a fair point. “Either one of them,” Ashton continued, “Right now I am being targeted by a dangerous criminal and am in no space to protect anyone.”

  “If this is because of one criminal, why don’t we suspend them instead of permanent removal?” Harper suggested, “Kayla needs a break for her health, and Summer has gone through a traumatic experience. Those are good enough excuses to have them step back for a bit.”

  “You are right,” Ashton admitted after thinking about it for a moment, “Summer won’t stay still if she thinks I am trying to remove her from the team. It means a lot to her. Go through with the suspension. I will try to think of some way to guard the two of them without it being obvious.”

  “I have an idea for that, if you will allow me,” Harper told him, “What if we place Summer in charge of Kayla’s protection during their suspension? We would be able to supply all of the tools and assistance they need, and it will help keep both of them safe.”