I'd done all this before.

The tour. Seeing where Image was and where the PRT squads hung out, all of it. Administration, the cafeteria, Protectorate offices…

It all felt different now, though. Like a weird dream I couldn't wake up from.

I didn't have a costume yet, only a makeshift mask (because it wasn't like the entire office knew who I was), and a new ID, this one without a picture and "Knockoff" for a name. I still had my old one, at this point simply as a cover and for the discount train fare.

My power buzzed in the back of my head. It was something I'd become more and more aware of lately; I could get a general idea of how many capes were around me based on how erratic the thoughts became. The entire Ward and Protectorate teams were here today, along with some of the Wards from the Medford office for a city patrol. Needless to say, that part of my brain was currently in the back of my head, coked out and twitching.

"Knockoff?" Jack asked, poking my shoulder. He was the "cape" HR guy, apparently his job was to do everything by the book even if I'd done this before. Sorry Knockoff, PRT Manual 18 specifies under part 2.3 subsection A that upon onboarding all new parahuman employees be given a full tour of facilities they have access to. Kill me.

"Hi," I said, shaking my head to gather my thoughts. We were standing in front of a secure set of double doors. "Sorry, just distracted."

"Well, this is the last thing," he said with a reassuring smile, pressing his ID into the reader and getting his eyeball scanned. There was a beep, and five or so seconds later the double doors clicked open. He pulled one open, gesturing for me to enter. "Your new home away from home." The Wards HQ. Fifth floor. I'd been here before once or twice, when the Wards had needed something. Usually I'd kept my head down to escape as fast as possible, you know, to escape all the… Wardiness.

Now, though, I could get a good look. Historic early-20th-century brick complemented with the latest innovations in excessive wall-mounted screens and LED lights. An ornate pressed-tin ceiling high above, centered below it was a weird combination of a living room and a war room. The kind of room where you were NASA and had to launch a rocket at 3:00, but had a video game tournament at 4:00, and a ballroom dance at 5:00.

And then there were the Wards. Hotshot, Hypothermia, Magnum Opus, Powerplay, and Mirage… and me, I guess. Fuck, I was a Ward now. That wasn't unsettling at all.

"Sticking with Knockoff, huh?" Hotshot said, walking over and offering a handshake. He was the captain of the team, and certainly always acted the part. Recoil and I had always thought he was full of himself. Plus, his stupid sunglasses meant I couldn't see his eyes, and I was always a bit uncomfortable with that.

"It fits," I replied simply, returning the handshake. His grip was strong, just shy of being too much.

"Well, you already know the team, right?" He gestured at the rest of the Wards. Mirage gave me a weird little wave, the rest just looked at me. Great.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Great! Well I'll show you the HQ then, since I know for a fact you haven't gotten that far," Hotshot said with a grin, leading me away. The rest of the Wards stayed behind.

The Wards HQ was most of the fifth floor, and over the next half hour I got to learn all about the wonderful amenities. Kitchen, laundry room, showers, pool (that Hypothermia wasn't allowed to use), sparring room (that, incidentally, Hypothermia also wasn't allowed to use), offices, you name it. There were even bedrooms for everyone, although most had homes to go home to—

"You can just use Recoil's room, until we get the boxes cleared out of one of the others!"

What. "What?"

"Yeah, she's out of town for a few months, I'm sure she won't mind. That's okay with you, right? We haven't ever had more than six Wards, so all the other rooms are storage right now."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

He took my internal screaming as external agreement. "Okay, cool!" He opened the door to Recoil's room, and held it open for me. "Why don't you get settled in and be ready in about… fifteen? We're heading out to do some training, you should totally come with!"

Not knowing what to do, I stepped into her room as Hotshot wandered off. It was… chaos was a good word. Well-managed chaos, though. Like a Van Gogh painting, or something. Some cute posters on the wall next to the door, I got the feeling Recoil would've been shy about the rest of the team seeing them. Her desk was littered with little metal statues among the chaos, and I could see a note-filled cookbook in one of the open drawers.

How the fuck was I supposed to get settled in when I was in someone else's room? And I had nothing of my own besides a temporary mask and an ID card?

I sat down on the bed, looking around at the anarchy. Fuck. I didn't even know what was going on with Recoil. Was she alive, even? Probably, I felt like that would've come up in conversation. Her phone had been dead the last few weeks, or at least, I'd tried to call and it'd gone straight to voicemail.

I found myself pushing the button on my phone. Holding it to my ear. Maybe this time I'd finally leave a message.

It started ringing.

Fuck! Shit! I was just going to leave a message, not actually… what if she was in a fight, or hiding from a supervillain, or—

"Hello?" Yep, that was her. Lana.

"Hi," I squeaked, not sure what else to say. Why couldn't it have gone to voicemail? Not like I would've known what to say then, either.

"Shit, Sara? Is that you?" She sounded excited. Excited?

"Hi yep it's me!" Fuck fuck what do I say? "How's, uh, Indiana?"

"I'm not in Indiana."

"Oh." God dammit Sara. "Uhhh…"

There was a laugh on the other end. "It's good to hear from you though, this place is fukken bullshit. How's Portland?"

I leaned back on the bed, resisting the urge to groan. Of course she'd ask. Why wouldn't she ask? That was, like, phone conversation 101. What the fuck was I supposed to say?

"Sara? You there?"

"Yeah, hi. Um… it's okay. Things are… well, the city's quieter than usual. It's been hot but today's not so bad."

"I miss it. Well, except the assholes. Fuck those guys." She paused. When we'd hung out, it was usually a lot of silence. Why fill it with pointless words? Just hanging out was always nice, and Lana was always cool to hang out with.

After a moment of peaceful-seeming silence filled with internal panic, Lana spoke again. "So I heard on the news someone captured Everything Evil? Something about a new Ward, too."

Fuck god dammit shit, since when did Recoil follow the news? Shit!

"Oh yeah, that's a thing," I ventured cautiously. Please change the topic.

"Have you met them? Are they cool? Or just another asshole like the rest of 'em?"

"I uh…" I have to tell her. Fuck, why is this somehow harder than telling my PARENTS oh my god.

"Sara? You there? Fucking phone."

"Yeah! So it's me." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"What the fuck are you on about?"

"I'm the new Ward."

There was silence. "...oh. I see." She didn't sound happy. Not angry, or sad, just… some emotion I couldn't put words on. It wasn't a good emotion though.

"You okay, La—Recoil?"

"You triggered."

Triggered. It'd always struck me as a weird way to word it. "Yeah. I'm, uh, a Tinker, like you. When you get back we could Tinker together and stuff, y'know? I don't really know what I'm doing, so it'd be nice to have someone who knows their shit."

"Sara… fuck, I'm sorry. I should've fucking been there." There was a loud sound on the other end, like someone punching something.

"Why? I mean, there's nothing you could've done. It's fine. I mean. Uh. Like, I wish you were here too, but it's not, like…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say. What could I say?

"Dumbass, it's not…" She trailed off too. "Fucking hell, I can't do this over the phone. We're going to have a very long talk when I get back. So you're a Ward? Do your parents know?"

I grimaced. "Yeah. They're… dealing with it. It was a long weekend. They had a lot of questions I couldn't answer, and kept pestering me even though I just didn't fucking have the energy for it and just wanted to sit up in my room and work on stuff, but… yeah. Sorry, venting a little there I guess. How are you holding up?"

She snorted. "Machine Army's fukken scary. Pictures on the news don't do it justice. HQ is bullshit, my team's mostly assholes, and my boss is a hentai monster who'd give Cooper a run for her money."

"Mostly assholes?" I asked. That was a very un-Recoilish thing for her to say.

"Maybe. Another Tinker here. At first I thought he was just another tryhard like Magnum Opus but…"

"But he's cool?"

"Wouldn't go that far. He's alright."

Alright was pretty much cool in my book, but sure. "That's nice. Hey, before I forget, um, this kinda came up and it's weird but I thought I'd run it past you even though nobody else did…"

"Why do I feel like I'm going to hate this."

"They, uh, assigned me your room. At the HQ, I mean. Is that…"

"You've been sleeping in my bed without me," her voice was deadpan. Why did my face feel so hot?

"No! I mean this literally just happened! Like, I just sat down in here and called you. It's… weird."

"Well fuck you too, asshole. I like my room."

"No! Not like that. The situation, I mean. Your room is… messy, but cute. Very Recoilish, I mean. The posters are cool too."

"Aaaaaaaa take those down!"

"No they're dorky and cute and you'll have to come here and do it yourself."

"Sara, I'm—" she was cut off by a loud sound on the other end. "Hey I've gotta go, Machine Army bullshit. I'll call you later?"

"Sure—" I was interrupted by the call ended beep. Okay.

I gave the room one last glance as I returned my phone to my pocket. Talking to Recoil had made this a little less weird. It was still weird, but… y'know. I slid off the bed, smoothing the PRT-issue bedspread and stepping out into the hallway. The Wards—the rest of the Wards—were chatting in the main room, by the sounds of it. I made my way down the hall, poking my head through. "Hey."

The conversation stopped.

"Hey Knockoff," Hotshot said. "You ready to head out?"

"I mean…" I glanced down at myself. "I don't exactly have… anything? So yeah, I guess."

"Don't sweat it, that's probably a good thing. You Tinker types always get used to your tech, but it's good practice to get some fighting in without, just in case it breaks or something."

Magnum Opus punched his shoulder from across the table. "Give her a break, asshole. You don't have to throw her into a spar, without tech, on her first day."

"It's fine," I butted in. As little as I wanted to do this, I was supposed to be a part of this team, and at some point I had to rip the band-aid off and actually try, right? "I can go. Can't promise I'll be any good, though."

"You'll do fine," Mirage said. "Don't worry about it."

Yes, I'm sure the useless girl with no tech, no powers, and no fighting ability will do perfectly well against the elite squad of child soldiers. Okay, dude. Instead of saying all that, I simply said, "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Ugh, get a room, you two," Powerplay moaned.

Mirage laughed, "Oh, like you and Hotshot don't—"

Hotshot interrupted. "Okay! Let's head out."

Oh, okay. I nodded, and followed them out the door to the elevator… the nice elevator. In the garage, we all piled into a PRT vehicle, with Hotshot driving, Mirage in the passenger seat, and the rest of us in the back seats. We set off. Mirage was staring out the window at traffic, Magnum Opus adjusting the tinkertech gilding on her armor, Powerplay was texting, and Hypothermia was reading a book. And then there was me. Good ol' Sara, a.k.a. Knockoff. Awkwardly glancing around and twiddling my thumbs. I couldn't even work on my Tinker stuff because that bit of my head was still dying of sensory overload from so many capes nearby. I'd need to figure that out at some point, since it seemed that I'd be around at least five others for the foreseeable future.

The Monday morning Portland traffic nightmare had thankfully died off, so we made good pace. Our destination was one of the many semi-remote locations the PRT had secured, since the more-destructive elements of Portland's superhero teams meant that they couldn't really use their powers downtown. In this case, we were heading to a government-owned island in the middle of the Columbia creatively called Government Island.

It was a short, fifteen-minute drive, and then we were there, pulled off the shoulder of the interstate next to a gate in the chain-link fence. I couldn't help but wonder how that looked to the SUV-driving commuters heading up to Vancouver. Five bona fide superheroes hopping out of a PRT vehicle on the side of the road, followed by some girl in business casual with a domino mask.

The island was five miles long, and maybe a mile wide, mostly trees and fields that might've been farms a hundred years ago. While Hotshot was fiddling with a keyring to unlock the padlock and Powerplay was hovering over the fence with a smirk, I glanced around. There were little dents in the ground all over, some still half-filled with last night's rainfall. That would've been Hypothermia's power. Other bits looked like a giant had stubbed his toe on the ground, kicking up bits. I wasn't sure, but that struck me as Scarab, one of the Protectorate heroes.

"There we are," Hotshot finally said, sticking the right key into the lock and holding the gate open for the rest of us. He gave me what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile. "We try to head out at least once a week, do some training as a team. The rest of the days, those of us with less-destructive powers will spar at HQ."

"'Those of us'," Hypothermia quipped. "You can just say it's me, I don't mind."

"It's not just you. Recoil had some nasty stuff and by the sounds of it Knockoff here is continuing the tradition."

I winced. Thanks for that reminder, asshole. "I didn't know it would do that," I said quietly.

"Hey, that fucker deserved it. Just turn it down a little for the guys who don't decapitate their victims, you know?"

I didn't answer him, instead just walking through the gate and waiting with the others while he closed it behind us. There was a halfassed road through the field, the kind that was just two tire tracks with grass between, and once the gate was shut, we all headed down it.

"So, Knockoff, we try and mix it up every week, but usually it'll be two teams against each other, doing something. If the Protectorate joins us we'll go against each other, but normally we draw straws to keep it random."

"We actually have six people now, so the teams'll be fair!" Hypothermia butted in excitedly. "Well, I mean, you don't have any tech but…"

Thanks for pointing that out.

"This week we'll keep it simple. There's a barn, just on the other side of those trees over there. Short straws defend, long straws have to capture it. Attackers win if they get all three of their team without a defender in with 'em." Hotshot pulled some straws out of his pocket and shuffled them around in his hands. Seriously, who pulled Actual Straws when they said pulling straws? Whatever.

Once he was done and we couldn't tell which were cut short, we all grabbed one. I winced as I pulled a long straw. How the fuck was I supposed to help attack three superheroes? Especially if they were...

"Okay," Hotshot called out. "Hype, Magnum, Mirage, see ya. We'll give you ten minutes or so?"

Great, I'd be fighting two tinkers, one of whom could turn invisible, and Little Miss Property Damage. Woo. The trio wandered off, leaving me with Hotshot and Powerplay.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, hoping it involved me not being involved.

Hotshot glanced between Powerplay and me. "Knockoff, I don't want you going against Magnum Opus or Hypothermia without tech, that's a great way to get hurt. I'm gonna have you deal with Mirage, don't worry about winning, just get him distracted and away from the barn. Heather—" that must've been Powerplay's name? He was just dropping it like that? Okay. "—you'll take on Hypothermia. Use your lasers and keep your distance, try and draw her out. I'll get Magnum Opus, I'm the only one who can tank her hits."

"I can totally handle her!" Powerplay interjected. "And what's the deal using my name in front of the kid, huh?"

Is this what death feels like?

"Okay, sure. And while you're dealing with her, Hype's raining frozen hellfire down on us two from above. And Sara is a part of our team now, so she'll get everyone's names eventually."

"I don't recall Recoil's name, Dutch."

"Wait," I cut in. "You're Dutch Boyle? That rumor's actually true?" I'd always dismissed the schoolyard rumors that the local rich kid douche with the old man name was Hotshot. Even if it fit, from what I'd heard of the guy.

"A little bit yeah. And Play, you know Recoil was a special case, not cool." That's one way to put it.

"Yeah, whatever dude," Powerplay grumbled.

"So uh, we'll hit them in ten minutes?" I asked, desperate to change the fucking conversation to anything else.

"We will hit them, you'll try and distract Mirage," Powerplay snarked. I was starting to get the impression she didn't like me.

Hotshot gave her a glance. "Is there any particular reason you're being a grade-A certified asshole today? You two got history or something?"

"Yeah, actually," Play said. "To the first bit. Not the second. Which is part of the problem. This bitch doesn't even know me and she decides to steal my power?"

"I didn't steal your power!" I shouted. "I copied it, kinda. No stealing. At best, copyright violation of powers. Although I'd argue that fair-use applies in this case."

They both stared at me for a second, before Powerplay broke in again. "You fucking nearly killed someone with my power! What if he would've actually died, and you didn't get arrested? Who do you think they'd look for?"

"I wasn't arrested!"

"Really? That's your takeaway from what I said?"

"Both of you, shut the hell up?" Hotshut cut in. "Powerplay, she didn't get to choose her power, give her a break. What happened happened. Knockoff, please don't kill people and make it look like the original cape did it."

"I've never done that?"

"Then it'll be really easy to do." He sighed. "Are we good?"

Powerplay glared at me some more. I met her eyes calmly. Well, I hope I looked calm. In reality my heart was pounding and I felt like shit, but y'know. Then she shrugged. "We'll see."

Fucking hell, this bitch. What would it take for her to be happy, me being brutally murdered by the fucking Slaughterhouse Nine? "I'll take what I can get," I said with a laugh.

Hotshot snorted, and pulled out his phone. The next few minutes passed awkwardly. I spent the time running up my data plan by looking at the Portland PHO board. Apparently there was some speculation on who I was. The PRT had released a simple statement, saying only that a new hero had captured Everything Evil and that they were joining the Wards. The vagueness that had always infuriated me back in the day, but right now it was a relief. I didn't have a costume, or Tinkertech, or real powers, or anything else really. Being thrust into the limelight would be awful.

Hotshot's phone rang. "Time's up! Let's kick some ass!" he shouted cheerfully, running off towards the trees while Powerplay leaped into the sky, her hands already beginning to glow gold. I ran to keep up, stuffing my stupid ID lanyard into my pocket to stop it hitting me in the face. I'd never exactly been athletic, and without the Everything Evil-induced adrenaline shots, I was breathing heavy by the time we made it far enough into the forestey bit that I could see a vague building shape through the woods. Hotshot was decent enough to jog alongside me, but Powerplay had shot ahead, the distinctive crackle of her handheld lasers flashing every which way, cutting through branches in a vain attempt to intercept Hypothermia, who was darting around the trees.

A golden-armored figure rose out of the underbrush in front of us. Magnum Opus. "Sara, go left and around!" Hotshot shouted, rushing towards her as a faint sheen covered his skin. I nodded, cutting to the side as him and Opus smashed into each other.

Fucking shit, my heart was pounding and all I'd done was see someone.

My sprinting took me around and through the growth, branches catching on my clothes. My shoes already felt thick with mud, but I ignored them. Mirage… if I were Mirage, where would I be? Fucking hell, who are you kidding Sara. Right. If I were Mirage I'd know what the hell to do. This was insane.

I slowed to a stop, listening to the thundering of Hypothermia and Magnum, the roar of Hotshot's flares and the crackle of Powerplay's lasers. It was like being in a war movie, except instead of kevlar and a machine gun, I had business casual and a smartphone, and everyone else had superpowers. The rear of the barn was directly in front of me, maybe fifty feet away, old rotting wood framed by a hole that I assume had had a door in it at one point. No Mirage to be seen, of course. That was his power, being unseen.

"Fuck it," I said under my breath. I started walking towards the barn. Nothing happened, so I kept walking, pulling bits of twig out of my hair. Surely he'd show up if I just walked in?

Nope. I stepped through into the barn. It was empty, except for the smell of bird shit, old oil, and dust. There was some old straw on the ground, and a little loft with some 55-gallon drums. I sat down against the wall next to the back door, where I wasn't exactly hidden but not a place somebody would look at right away. Or maybe they would, what the fuck did I know? The barn shook slightly as Hypothermia rocketed overhead, the air becoming frigid for just a heartbeat.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and sighed, and the sounds of fighting got quieter. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this. Was it too late to… not join the Wards? Like I could just ask Jack the useless HR guy to undo everything, right?

And then what, though? Director Hibbert had made it sound like it was my only option, other than jail. Fuck, I couldn't go to jail. I had powers, so they'd put me in cape jail, with like supervillains and shit. I'd be murdered after ten minutes. I could run away and become a supervillain, maybe. Except that would mean hurting good people, unless I only attacked other supervillains. Would that make me a vigilante or something? Regardless, I'd still get attacked by heroes. I'd have to join a gang anyway, my power was useless without other people nearby. That'd mean joining the Elite, or the Teamsters, or the Burnside Street Gang. Maybe I could even join up with the Cascadians, eco-terrorism was kinda in nowadays wasn't it?

The barn shuddered as a loud thump echoed outside, and spears of ice shot into the wall on one side. A second later there was pitter-pattering of dirt on the room. Hypothermia again. I jumped up, not sure what to do. Hide? Make a run for it? Fucking… whatever, fuck it.

I ran for the loft, taking the ladder up two rungs at a time, nearly throwing myself behind the leaking oil drums. A moment later, footsteps beneath me. I poked my head out to see Hypothermia, facing away. She sighed, and muttered something under her breath I couldn't catch.

Is this my chance? I could just, like, surprise her, and save the day! Wherever Hotshot and Powerplay were, surely they'd make short work of Mirage and Magnum, with Hype out of the way… fuck it, what did I have to lose?

Slowly I pulled myself up to my feet, tiptoeing right to the edge. My heart was pounding, and everything felt tingly. It was an oddly-familiar feeling. In slow motion I could see the young Ward below me starting to turn around, and I realized I had to do it now before she saw me. So I jumped.

Her eyes met mine as I was in midair, about to tackle her to the ground. In glorious adrenaline-induced slow-motion I saw her eyes widen, saw her stance change… and then I landed on her. There was a loud roaring sound, and I felt a cold, colder than anything I'd ever experienced, filling me to the core. The only thing worse than the feeling of my eyeballs freezing under my eyelids was the roar, like sleeping under a speeding freight train where every car was full of rabid, horny, angry cheetahs. My stomach lurched, and I realized I was clinging onto Hypothermia, wanting nothing more than to upend my stomach onto her fur-lined combat armor. Then I felt the lurching stop, felt myself stop with it, and then I stopped being awake.

Ouch.

Someone was shouting. Distant footsteps coming my way like an approaching thunderstorm. I was cold, freezing, I couldn't feel my extremities and I was fairly certain my eyelashes were covered in frost.

"Sara! Oh my god I'm sorry aaaaaaa!" the someone said, as the footsteps got closer. I opened my eyes, wincing at the burst of light searing my retinas away. Through my squinting, I could make out a Hypothermia-shaped outline, panicked eyes barely visible behind her helmet's stupid visor-thing.

I groaned, shifting a little, which only caused agonizing spikes of cold to flare up. I was leaning on something, a tree maybe? It didn't really matter.

"Just, um, stay still, okay?" Hypothermia asked, kneeling in front of me. "Jesus I'm sorry, you just scared me and I… I…"

In her defense, jumping out like that WAS kinda stupid.

"It's fine," I groaned, shifting again. I looked down at myself, and felt my heart sink. There were little icicles sticking out of my arms and legs and chest and everywhere really. I could see some red appearing around some of them as they melted. "Oh. What… what even happened?"

"You jumped out at me, and and and I panicked and sorta jumped except you were attached to me and then I stopped and you kept going and…" she took a deep breath. "Well, Mirage slowed you down some when you hit him so at least you're not dead?"

"Woo," I said, deadpan. "Wait, Mirage?"

"He was sorta between you and the, um, tree. He's fine, don't worry! Just grabbing the others."

That made me groan. "It's fine! I'm fine! We don't need to make a scene!" Seriously, some cold weather was nothing compared to getting hit by a car. I started to push myself up, grimacing through the pain.

"Sara! What the fuck? Stop!"

"I'm fine!" I shouted, wheezing as I finally pulled myself to my feet, just in time for the rest of the team to crash through the dead leaves and twigs and bushes. I gave them a wave "Hey guys."

"Knockoff!" Hotshot shouted. "What the fuck happened to you?"

I grimaced. "Uh, long story short, I tried to ambush Hypothermia."

"You what? Why? Just… why?"

"Because you said to distract Mirage but I couldn't find him so I just walked into the barn and sat down and then she showed up and I figured, y'know, why not?" Yeah, it definitely sounded stupid when I said it like that.

Hotshot was quiet for a second, and then he snorted. "You really just wanted to be the hero or something, huh?"

"I just joined a hero team! That's literally in my job description!"

"...Point taken."

"You two are both idiots," Powerplay cut in, stepping forward. There was a faint trace of a smile on her face, which I took either as a sign of victory or, more likely, vindictive grinning at seeing me filled with ice-flavored shrapnel. "Sara, I've got to fly you to the hospital, so please don't make this weird."

"Make what wei—" I was cut off as she swept me off my feet into a bridal carry, making every shard of ice embedded in me shift and flare up with pain. To be fair, if I wasn't busy trying not to cry I probably would've said something snarky about it.

"Wait!" I managed, thinking quickly. "Um… can I… can I talk to you and Hotshot in private? No offense to you guys, I mean. It's just, um…" I trailed off.

Hotshot glanced at me, then at Powerplay. "Can it wait?"

"No!"

"Alright, fine," he sighed, and started walking away. Powerplay followed with me in her arms, floating slightly off the ground to not jostle me.

"Over in the barn."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

He adjusted course, and we pushed through the forest, back towards the dilapidated structure. "Sa… Knockoff, you really should get to a doctor. Are you sure…?"

"I'll be fine, I've been through worse. Inside, please. I'll explain." I glanced back over Powerplay's shoulder. Mirage and Magnum were talking to Hypothermia in quiet, reassuring-looking tones. The shadow of the barn fell over us, and we stepped into the frost-and-icicle-filled barn. It definitely looked a lot worse for wear, I guess that was my fault.

"Okay. What's up?" Hotshot said, turning to face us.

I grinned. "Well, we won."

"What," Powerplay said flatly.

"Our team is now all in the barn, and none of them! That means we win, right?"

There was silence from the other two. Awkward silence.

"Knockoff, you're a fucking idiot."