Smoke was covering the skies, the midday sun blocked by the black and grey fumes of the explosives that had gone off in the city. The explosions from the speeding cars had thankfully stopped, but the damage had left its mark.

The caravan of trucks were riding towards the portal, straight towards the Teeth. The drivers were mindful of the running civilians, of the wreckage and of any potential enemy attack. I had Atlas flying overhead, keeping up with moving vehicles. I also had my swarm on the prowl, just in case any surprise attack slipped through the PRT's awareness.

I looked at the front of the truck, where Miss Militia sat, she had my and the other's bags with her. Crow's phone and my own were there. If I could, I would've communicated with Grue and informed him of where I was going. I wasn't exactly going to uphold my end of the deal about the medical supplies. Watching the clocks in Clockblocker's hero suit reminded me that I didn't know how long Rachel had, or Lisa or Aisha for that matter, but they needed every drop that was in those crates. Especially if the Teeth decided to start wasting them for asinine reasons.

I didn't like to be entirely reliant on the hero's assistance for now, but it would have to do. I hoped everyone back in my territory was doing okay, especially with Joker being free from his cage and all. Dangerous and crafty. But he seemed to be fighting alongside Grue in stopping this new situation and preventing further damage from gripping the already scarred Boardwalk.

'Who's responsible?' is a good question to ask. Was it really the Teeth like I had bluffed? Probably. From what I had researched and Tattletale had made clear, the Teeth were a dangerous group. Chaotic and destructive, not as heinous as the Slaughterhouse Nine, but still a pack of villains that people would either prefer to be as far away as possible from any city, or dead. Watching the wreckage around us, I couldn't exactly blame them for the sentiment.

"Went on for twenty minutes…" Clockblocker grunted as he looked out of the small window of the truck. "Never stops, does it…"

I frowned as I looked at the time-based hero. I...liked him, better than the rest of his teammates. And not because I outright disliked all of them, barring one of course. But because Clockblocker seemed more open minded; he didn't immediately classify a villain as a lost cause and do his damndest to stop them. He took time to ask me about my villainy and tried to understand.

"Why'd you leave, Flechette?" Vista asked, voice harsh, curious and a little hurt. She was sitting, arms crossed, spine rigid and chin up. Like if she even showed the slightest bit of weakness we would pounce on her and take advantage. I frowned slightly, realizing how young she was. She's the same age as Dinah, isn't she?

Flechette, or Foil as she made her name known to Grue, looked away. "There's a couple of reasons…"

"A couple of reasons, hm? And all those reasons just made it okay for you to throw away being a hero and go off to become a villain?" Vista's tone didn't rise at all, but there was a great deal of anger and something else embedded in her voice.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Parian wrapping her fingers around Foil's hand. A silent encouragement. I decided to focus on the young girl.

"Her reasons are her own. Leave her be," I said, and the young Ward's face snapped quickly towards me.

"So what? You want me to leave her alone after she left us and because you got her on your team?" Vista's tone turned derisive as she shook her head. "Not how it works."

"It's precisely how it works."

"Oh, right, sorry, I bet you took your own advice when you went after Triumph and nearly killed him," the green themed hero sniped harshly.

I didn't flinch outwardly, but I felt the spikes of guilt and shame eat away on the inside at reminder. I pushed them back and answered the girl. "That was a different situation entirely."

Vista leaned forward, shoulder tense and ready for a fight. "Sure it was, just like this is a different situation entirely as well."

"Enough!' Miss Militia interrupted, looking back at us. "Vista, if you don't stop, you'll be joining Clockblocker in his detention duties. And I'll make sure to double them."

Vista looked as if she was trying to restrain herself, then she just snapped, "Fine! I don't care! Why the hell did you betray us!?"

Foil flinched at the growl that exploded from the younger girl. My swarm buzzed in agitation at the girl's insistence on the subject. I leaned forward and answered.

"Drop it."

Vista's lips pulled back into almost a snarl. "No...because I don't think you know what it feels like to get betrayed by a comrade. To see that very same comrade go run off to a pack of villains all because of "reasons." To know that I worked with someone and wanted to trust them to protect this place in honor of all the heroes we lost! So fuck off with your high and mighty attitude!"

"Vista…" Clockblocker finally stepped in, placing a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. She deflated, crossing her arms and looking away.

"She's really hurt." I flinched, looking down at Morgana in my lap. I had almost forgotten about him being there. He looked up at me. "I don't know if you have any beef with her, but take it easy, okay?"

I exhaled through my nose, looking at the moody Vista. Her words were full of barely contained emotion. I clenched my hands tightly and just shook my head. I know how it feels to get backstabbed...so I can understand the anger and lashing out. But-

I looked at the miserable and guilty Foil, mouth set in a frown and head bowed. Parian was tense and didn't look like she was going to move from her seat after the outburst. Though, her hand was gripping tighter on Foil's own, shoulder knocking with the younger cape. I returned my gaze back to Vista, feeling pity towards the girl.

"Man do I miss the when it wasn't so hectic," Clockblocker commented, ignoring the sharp look from Miss Militia. "City started from a cesspool of scum and villainy, and somehow managed to get worse. Makes me wonder why the place hasn't been deserted yet."

"Because we won't let it." I made it very clear that the 'we' meant the Undersiders when I gestured towards myself and the two girls beside me. "We aren't going to let Brockton Bay become some desolate place, not after everything."

"Seems to have attracted the wrong crowd though," Clockblocker pointed out. I shrugged.

"Consequences like that were bound to happen." I looked out of the truck's window. "But the Undersiders were more than ready to go and make sure no one started to get any ideas."

"Playing the hero?" The male Ward crossed his arms. "Stealing our jobs too?"

"We were already doing a better job at it than any of you." I hammered the fact ruthlessly and Vista's lips pulled into an ugly snarl.

"...low blow?" Clockblocker's words came after a few seconds, rough and with something very similar to Vista's in his tone.

I took the time to consider my words, the situation and the atmosphere. There was a tension so clear in the air right now, that I was surprised I hadn't choked to death because of it. I also came to the somewhat dampening realization that I was in a bad mood and Vista had given me an excuse to start snapping or start an argument. Just looking at Clockblocker's armor had me on edge, knowing that time was ticking down and I was here, sitting and arguing with a girl as old as Dinah and a hero.

"Sorry," I conceded, looking away. "Last few days have been quite trying."

"Word on the street is that some cape attacked the Undersiders. Made a right mess." Clockblocker steered the conversation from the emotional and guilt ridden mess that we were heading to. It was a clumsy steer, not all smooth like Lisa's.

"Shouldn't trust word on the street that much," I fired back tonelessly. "Villains rule them."

There was a snort that went off behind the white helmet. "Not denying it though."

"I won't deny that there's capes that are taking an interest in Brockton Bay, but it's your job to keep them in line." I pointed at him.

"It's our job to keep the civvies safe, you're the ones who want to impose order and rules." Clockblocker waved off.

"That is enough," Miss Militia interjected, her gaze narrowing as she looked at Clockblocker. "We're here on a job, not to socialize."

The male hero nodded, crossing his arms and leaning back. I decided to focus on the older cape.

"After we take down the Teeth, there won't be any issue when we go our separate ways, right?"

The woman looked at me. "That depends entirely on you and the end of your bargain."

Shit, fight our way it is then. "We'll see."

Morgana's claws scrape against my suit, calling for my attention, and I looked down. Big blue eyes were narrowed as he regarded me. "Don't say anything, just tap my tail once if it's a yes or twice if it's a no."

I blinked at the sudden seriousness in the cat's voice. I tapped once and Morgana nodded.

"Are you going to fight them?"

One tap.

"Why!? No, dumb question." I tap his tail once, and the cat glared at me. "Funny, listen, is it because you don't like them?"

I tapped twice.

"Because they'll attack you, then?"

Would they attack me just because? It all depended on the situation, and right now? I wasn't the biggest threat around. So no, I didn't think they would outright attack me. But if I left the heroes to fend off the Teeth by themselves while I and the others went after the supplies, then there was a possibility of retribution. Especially if back up came after us.

I tapped once.

"Hrm...not good, and we're here by ourselves. Your team is way too far away, Ren got out but he doesn't know where we are…" Morgana's eyes drifted towards our bags, his mouth pulled back into a snarl. Or maybe it was a smile? "I can send out a message to Ren though! I just need...damn! I don't know Akechi's password...if Futaba were here she would've fixed everything with her laptop…"

I frowned, that wasn't a bad idea. I looked at the bags, specifically mine as I knew my phone was tucked away in there. If Morgana could really start tapping on the screen to get a message out, then it would be incredibly beneficial. But it would require trust and lending access to a dangerous individual. All my contacts as Skitter were there, some notes about what to do with the Undersiders also were there. Even though it was all inscribed in coded text, I wouldn't put it past it that someone who could dive into the head of people would figure some things out.

But that medicine needs to head back to my territory right now. I would have to deal with the consequences later, right now I-

A rain of bullets came from beyond the range of my swarm and cut through them, hitting Atlas in one of his legs and tearing it apart. I only had time to get "Ambus-!" out of my lips before the bullets all impacted the caravan of trucks. Parian, Foil and myself jumped to the other side where Clockblocker and Vista were as the side of the vehicle we were we sat against grew dozens of dents.

"To the right!" Miss Militia ordered the driver, trying to get us out of the way of the hail of bullets. Our truck broke from older cape grabbed a communication device from the dashboard. "This is Miss Militia! Communications with Assault's team, now! I repeat-!"

My eyes widened, whirling towards the front. "Trap!"

There was no time to heed my words, the truck was smashed from the side and we were hurled by a massive animalistic body. We all were flying in the truck, smashing against one another and against the sides as the vehicle rolled violently and crashed. The chaos came to a screeching stop. Everything was dark, my face felt wet and a metallic smell assaulted my nostrils. The sound of grunts and moans filled the truck, I felt a hand pressing against my right thigh and I groaned at the pain. I stilled as several individuals surrounded us.

I felt it through my swarm, the sharp bone capes all gathering around. One of them carrying an incredibly heavy gun. I recognized them instantly.

"Shit...the Teeth!"