Pushing all thoughts of Checkmate aside, Summer told her family the news. She had her appointment scheduled and would be back to work, and her apartment, in no time at all. Mr. Aster called off work so they could spend the most of their remaining time together, and Kayla was invited.

  They went to a nice restaurant, stopped by the zoo, and even spent an afternoon at the amusement park. All of this was incredibly reporter free just like before Summer had ever gotten herself involved in this mess. It was nice to see Kayla be able to properly unwind as well. To finish everything off, Mr. Aster ordered them each a deluxe box from the local chocolatier to take back with them when they left.

  During her appointment, Summer did end up confessing that she was still worried and scared of everything that was happening, but the psychologist assured her that these were all perfectly normal reactions for what she had been through. In fact, it would have been far more concerning if she hadn’t been worried.

  The final question she was asked was if she was ready to return to the team. It probably meant that if she said no here, her suspension would continue until further notice. For the smallest of moments it was tempting, but Summer found that deep down she missed it. The danger, the chaos, and most of all, the team.

  Once her appointment was done, she met up with Kayla who had also left her appointment with a certificate declaring her free and clear to return to work. One trip to the doctor later revealed that Kayla had fully recovered from the effects of the drug Jargon had used on her as well. With everything settled, it was time to pack.

  Somehow both of them ended up returning to their apartments with more than they had left with, and Summer felt far closer to Kayla than she had before. It was hard to imagine she had ever seen this girl as a rival in the first place.

  Right away Summer could feel something different when she arrived at the apartments. There was a new car in the parking lot, a new nameplate on one of the doors, and the door to the final apartment that should have been empty was ajar. Were there two new members of the team? It had only been a few days since their meeting with MysteriousMaskz, but Ashton might have found a seventh team member in the meantime.

  A man stepped out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. He looked down from the second story walkway and caught sight of the girls almost immediately. “Need some help carrying your luggage?” he called.

  “I think we’ve got it,” Summer called back. Even if they did have more than they left with, they would likely be done taking their bags to their respective apartments before he even made it down to them. “Thanks for offering.”

  The girls put their things away and headed back out to greet Ashton and let him know they were back. The man had come down in the meantime to introduce himself. For some reason, Summer expected him to introduce himself as his villain alter ego so she was surprised to hear his real name.

  “My name is Derrick McNeil, and I am new to the team,” he introduced, “My power allows me to replicate objects I am in contact with, or am very familiar with.”

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  “I’m Summer Aster,” she replied in turn, “I can control light.”

  Kayla seemed a bit hesitant but joined in. “I am Kayla Penn. I can give temporary abilities to others.”

  “The twins are in the training field,” Derrick reported, “Ashton went to go see Harper. We were told we would be assigned a new mission as soon as you got back.”

  It had been less than two weeks, but the new face and the way Derrick seemed to perfectly settled already made Summer feel oddly out of place. Ashton had already told her that he knew who she was, so why wasn’t he saying anything? Summer couldn’t shake the feeling that he was probably looking down on her for her past as the most useless hero. No, she couldn’t let her prejudice ruin her relationship with a future teammate.

  “Do you know what kind of mission it is?” Summer asked, trying to distract herself from her intrusive thoughts.

  “Nothing concrete,” Derrick replied, “Ashton guessed it might have something to do with the loose ends on the Jargon case. You know how Checkmate was referenced in the contracts?”

  Checkmate, yet another thing that Summer had been trying to avoid thinking about. She nodded anyway. “You think this new mission has to do with him?”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me, but it could be unrelated,” Derrick said with a shrug.

  While they were chatting Ashton returned. “I see you have already met,” he noted, “I already asked the twins to meet us in the base of operations as soon as they come to a stopping point.”

  They had a base of operations? The more she found out, the more Summer felt like she had been left behind. As the group headed to the second floor, she realized that it was the final apartment, and the door that Derrick had come out of. The apartment really was set up like a base of operations, stacked high with equipment, supplies, and even a desk full of tech. This must be where they handled all the audio from the listening devices she had helped plant.

  “It’s pretty nice, right?” Derrick bragged, “It took me a bit to set up, but now the team shouldn’t be lacking in any of the basics, and the location is convenient.”

  Of course he had been the one to set everything up. When the twins arrived and Summer saw Derrick exchange high-fives with them Summer felt even more left out. Not only was he skilled, he was experienced, and even his power was amazing. Compared to him, she could mess with light a little. If only she could pull that total darkness trick without borrowing Kayla’s ability. She had tried to mimic it before by cancelling out all the light, but something felt lacking.

  “Alright, now that we are all here, I will go over the mission details,” Ashton announced, “As I suspected, our next target is Checkmate. His mental ability is one of the most dangerous ones that are known. It is more or less mind control. A reporter recently leaked information on his potential location and has recently been reported missing. That means this is going to be far more dangerous than our first two missions.”

  Summer felt chills as she realized she knew exactly who that reporter was. No wonder Claudia hadn’t been able to bother them. Since Checkmate had been seen at the Golden Club, did that mean he was connected to Maskz? If so, that might mean this was Ned’s real plan all along. Silence the reporter and use her as bait at the same time.

  “How long has she been missing?” Summer dared to ask.

  “About five days,” Ashton answered.

  “So right after she published the article,” Summer realized. “But I read that article just a few days ago. If they knew about it, why didn’t they take it down? Or is Checkmate acting independently?”

  “I don’t know,” Ashton admitted, “Checkmate won’t just bow down and let himself get captured like Jargon did. If MysteriousMaskz is involved there must be a different kind of plan in play.”