Spitfire asked the crowd who among them had children. One person raised their hand. "Alright, you can leave." The young man left quickly.

Leet followed up with, "and women are allowed to leave too."

Before anyone could rise up, Regent shouted, "that's sexist you ignorant fuck. Men have rights too!"

Lyft and Spitfire were holding the front doors open with Bitch and her dogs next to them. Lyft opened her mouth to say something, but Spitfire stopped her. "Let it go Lyft, he needs a win."

Leet grumbled, "alright fine... Everyone with long hair can leave too." And with that, three women among the hostages left through the doors. Regent nodded in approval.

Lyft said, "and anyone with college debt can go."

Two people left. The number of hostages were dwindling as they announced arbitrary reasons for why they couldn't have them. Bitch added, "anyone with dogs can go."

Beyond the lobby entrance, Rush, Grue, Uber and Tattletale were huddled around an office table. They looked over a street map to plan out their escape. Tattletale said, "here are their blindspots. Aegis and Clockblocker switched costumes. Rush's gravity actually negates Vista's warps, so you're the only one that can go in there and disarm her powers."

Rush commented, "oooor," she rubbed at her chin. "I can call my stripper friends, have them come here dressed up as cops, and let them seduce the Wards into letting us go."

Uber mentioned, "Rush, Faultline's crew aren't strippers."

Rush hissed, "they'll do it for money. I have them under contract!"

Before Grue could protest, Tattletale raised her hand, "I'm in favor of that plan."

"Seriously?" Grue said.

Bitch knocked on the cubicle wall. She said to them, "the hostages are gone. Leet needs your help with the last guy."

"What?" Grue and Tattletale said together. They turned to Uber and Rush, who quickly turned away to feeblishly whistle (despite neither knowing how to whistle). Grue and Tattletale rushed past Bitch into the bank floor lobby.

Their tied hostages had disappeared. Only a young adult, no older than twenty, sat in the middle of the floor with his hands and feet tied. He wasn't at all afraid, and almost looked bored from the spectacle of things.

Leet let out a deep breath, "alright, anyone who's a virgin can leave."

The hostage stayed in place.

Regent said, "if you're bicurious, gay, or lesbian, leave now."

He stayed.

Spitfire called out, "all non-vegetarians leave too."

He still stayed.

Lyft mentioned, "if you're a cis, straight, white guy, then just go."

The hostage shook his head, "I'm actually asexual."

They all squinted. Grue yelled out, "where the hell are the hostages!?"

Leet raised his hands in defense, "oiy, you guys said we could choose who to keep. Apparently, this is what we're left with." He gestured at the hostage. The person shrugged, not sure what more to say.

Rush and Uber entered the lobby after them. Uber looked down at the tied up teenager. He was similar in age and body tone as Uber. "Who's this guy?"

The hostage answered, "I came to pick up my paycheck. To be honest, this isn't the worst day I've had."

Rush walked over and untied him, "its okay bud, you've gone through enough."

She gestured for him to leave. "Stop!" Tattletale said stepping in front of him. "Are you kidding? We don't have any leeway here. Half your tinker weapons won't work since Armsmaster made it his mission to block them. Letting hostages go isn't an option!"

The hostage sat back down, accepting his fate.

Rush pushed him forward towards the door, "nonsense, hostages are overrated. They're just bodies that take up dead space. No offense dude."

The hostage commented, "none taken."

Tattletale pulled him back, "he stays!"

Rush pulled him out further, "he goes!"

The boy stayed quiet as the both of them tugged him in and out towards the door. The Undersiders and Losers watched the spectacle quietly with piqued interest. Grue asked Regent, "why didn't you try and stop this?"

Regent answered, "they literally paid me twenty dollars to call Lisa a blonde homophob from now on. And I said yes. Do you really think I have any control here?"

Grue walked forward and put a hand on Tattletale's shoulder,"Tattletale, let him leave. There's nothing we'd gain from a single hostage."

Tattletale let go, and Spitfire and Lyft opened the doors to his freedom. After he left, Tattletale pointed to Rush, "you're not invincible! Just because you have a tinker it doesn't mean you can't lose!"

Rush rolled her eyes, "seriously? You think a team calling itself Losers doesn't know that?"

Grue said, "Rush, you have a debt to pay. Can you really afford to keep playing games like this?"

Rush pouted her lips and turned her head away. Uber asked, "wait, what debt?"

Tattetale raised her chin, "you really think she fixed you guys on her own? Toy Box couldn't do it, the Elite couldn't do it, even Bakuda didn't know how to set you guys free. But our associate, a person with connections all around the world, managed to find an international tinker that could relapse the molecules frozen in time."

"What?" Leet grumbled, "I thought a corporate tinker saved us. Rush, what sort of debt are we talking about?"

Rush looked away and raised a finger, "just one soul."

Uber clenched his fist, "after what happened with Accord, you seriously-"

"You think I don't know that!" Rush shouted back. "Yes, I sold myself to save you guys. And you know what, I'd do it again! Because I'm not gonna keep acting like I'm okay with losing everything!"

"That isn't what we wanted," Uber yelled back. "You hate commitments, you can't just sell yourself to whichever villain says they'll help."

"But he did help, you guys are here aren't you?"

"Hey," Spitfire interrupted. The others turned their head towards her. Spitfire pointed a thumb at Tattletale, "you're making her smile."

They looked over at Tattletale. She was grinning, clearly satisfied that she managed to drive a wedge within the team. Rush and Uber turned away from each other. Uber said, "we'll talk later."

"Yeah," Rush said with a sigh. Neither wanted to give Tattletale the satisfaction of control over them, so making peace made the most sense.

Grue said, "we're trapped in a bank and Light just got captured. We need to find a way to rescue him now, before their reinforcements arrive."

Rush looked down at her arm. She noticed a message written on her arm. It read: Don't forget about Imp.

"Oh yeah," Rush asked, "have we sent Imp there yet?"

The others suddenly remembered her. Grue shook his head, "if Imp got sent there alone, that's worse than doing nothing."

Lyft commented, "actually, we can check the website for how she's doing." The others looked towards Lyft. Lyft explained, "when her powers are activated, the cameras can still livestream her presence. If we sent her out earlier, she'll be broadcasting on the website."

They all pulled out their phones. Regent, with his phone already in his hands, was the first to open up the website page. "Hey guys, when there's a black guy and a mexican in a car, who's driving?"

All the present Loser members answered, "the police."

Regent snapped his fingers, "bingo."

XXX

The walk towards Light was an easy one. Her droid told her where the blind spots were, and she was able to avoid Vista's traps by circling far and away from her. "God I love my power."

Wheatley said to her, "Imp, am I shrouded in your powers? Because it would be really awkward if I floated close to them and they could see me too."

Imp hissed, "you can go invisible too dumbass. Just turn on your cloak so they can't see you."

"But Rush said I'd die if I went invisible. What if… What if I die!?"

Imp grabbed Wheatley and began pressing buttons, "how the fuck do I put mute on this thing?"

"Haha, stop that, it tickles!"

"You're a robot, you can't friggin feel anything!"

Imp wrestled with him as she reached the Wards on the other side of the block. Imp took the liberty of taking a selfie with the Wards before going over to free Light from within the PRT van. Wheatley yelled as he hovered behind her, "wait, Rush told me specifically not to stop looking at you!"

"Be quiet moron!"

Kid Win was nearby when Wheatley spoke. He asked, "did you guys hear that?"

Clockblocker elbowed Kid Win. He put a finger over his lips to signal for silence. Pulling up his phone next to the rest of the Wards, he showed the livestream of Wheatley recording Imp nearby.

"Is this live?" Gallant asked. Clockblocker nodded. Browbeat commented, "of course it is."

Imp was clearly hidden from their sight, but the livestream could see her easily. Their own website exposed Imp for the rest of them to see. Imp opened the PRT doors and stepped inside. When Light saw her, she began fiddling with his tinker-made handcuffs. "Fuck, how do I open this?"

Light said, "its password locked."

Wheatley moved closer, "okay, I have an idea…. Start putting the codes that I give you…. 0000….0001….0002."

Imp yelled, "we are not fucking doing that!"

Light said, "I thought it was a good idea."

Browbeat said to the Wards, "follow my lead."

Browbeat and Gallant walked over to the PRT van and locked the doors in front. As soon as Clockblocker gave them the thumbs up, they closed the back doors as well. Gallant locked it from the outside, imprisoning Imp, Wheatley, and Light inside.

Clockblocker continued watching the livestream:

Imp was panicking as she knocked on the back doors. "Fuck, how did they know!?" She looked over at Wheatley. A daunting realization fell over her. She grabbed Wheatley and began shaking him thrashfully. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Wheatley cried out, "I was only trying to help!"

Clockblocker nodded to the others, "we got'em."

XXX

The Losers and Undersiders watched stupefied as Imp got herself trapped inside the PRT vehicle. Rush mechanically turned her head towards Grue.

Before a word could be said, Rush yelled, "I can fix this!"

"How!?" Grue yelled back. The dark reverberation of his powers resonated in his voice. "Because her going to prison was never an option!"

Rush twiddled her fingertips. She turned to Leet who shrugged in response. Rush grumbled, "so right, we don't trust AI's so we implanted every drone with an EMP bomb. Wheatley can set off the bomb anytime. It would break out Vivan easily, and then he could break Imp out from the van."

"Do it," Grue said with a hard tone.

Rush stepped back from him. With a sheepish tone she said, "but… That'll end the livestream."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"Hold on," Uber called out. "If we activate the bomb now, they'll still be locked inside the van surrounded by Wards. If we can get close enough, I can break through the doors and get them out of there." Uber's hand wrapped around in black goop, emphasizing the point.

Spitfire added, "and if he gets close enough to break them out, we might not even need to trigger the bomb to get them out. He can break them out without triggering the bomb."

Regent rubbed at his eyebrows, "you're seriously gonna risk getting arrested… For a website?"

The others all nodded together. They all looked over at Grue for direction.

Grue crossed his arms, "fine, but we go by my rules from now on. No more messing around. Follow my orders. And if you do, we'll both get what we want."

XXX

Light spoke kindly to the camera drone, "feeling cute today, I think I might get arrested."

Imp yelled, "I'm not going to jail! I'm literally thirteen!"

Light said, "I thought you were fifteen, you lied about your age!"

Imp banged her head against the door. "How are you so calm right now? Your powers aren't even working."

Light shrugged, "I think I've been arrested five times before getting broken out. I'm beginning to think God doesn't want me to go to jail." Light gestured the holy trinity with his hands, "praise be Leet."

Imp kicked at the door, "let me out, or I'll use my race card on you!"

Light said, "Technically, isn't the race card you being arrested?"

"Open the doors!" Imp cried out. The Wards outside could hear them complain. "You haven't read me my rights! I was just walking by when he trapped me, I didn't do anything illegal!"

Light yelled out, "I'm the victim here, I was trying to arrest the Undersiders!"

Imp added, "banks steal every day, you can't go to jail for stealing your own money!"

They continued shouting moot talking points as the others ignored them. Gallant asked the last hostage, "do you know how many hostages are left inside?"

"None," the last hostage answered. "Can I keep the money they put in my pocket?"

"Sure," Gallant said shaking his head. "But were there any traps you saw, or anything that might be there to stop us?"

The teenager shrugged, "I don't know, but they argued with each other a lot before I left."

Gallant rubbed at his chin. He wondered how much friction there might be between the two teams. He was glad that the hostages were safe, but the last thing he wanted was to charge in there without a plan set in place.

Clockblocker said, "this is too easy. They have to be messing with us."

"It wouldn't be the first time they faked losing," Gallant admitted. "Right now, the safest bet we have is to wait for reinforcements. We're still outnumbered. The longer we stall, the better."

Browbeat shook his head, "that would be easy, but I don't recommend it. The Losers have a knack for disruption. The higher the stakes, the more they'll need to disrupt. If we wait until the Protectorate arrive, they'll probably become more reckless to outmaneuver them."

"So you're saying we shouldn't wait?"

"I'm saying we should be smart about this, and not rely on others." Browbeat pointed his thumb back towards the van, "we can start by taking these two away. That way, if the rest do escape, it won't be a complete loss."

Clockblocker crossed his arms, "you really think they're in control here?"

"You have no idea," Browbeat answered. "To them, everything is just theater. But they still know how to set the stage."

"Hey Losers!"

Rush stepped out of the front doors of the building. She had a megaphone at hand, calling to the other side of the street directly at them.

"Yuz motherfuckers think you've got the law on your side, but I've got something better!" The drone above them hovered closer to Vista. Her powers slowly dissipated as Rush disrupted her environmental effects.

Rush yelled out, "I've got three things that make us better than you! One is cosplay, two is an ungodly amount of cash, and three is a pissed off tinker who takes advice from the internet!"

Leet and Uber stepped out of the bank with bags of money over their shoulder. Spitfire and Grue exited. Grue began growing his smoke around them, and Spitfire began shooting liquid nitrogen over the streets, encapsulating the area with ice.

Leet and Uber threw their bags of money into the air. Rush flew the bags forward, and let the money spread out over the air in front of them. The drone overhead projected a thousand times the cash they threw, turning the sporadic pieces of bills into an ocean wave of money.

Kid Win reacted by activating the Armsmaster's weapon. Deactivating the hologram was easy. But as soon as the holograms disappeared, a black smoke cloud replaced the illusion.

"Grue!" Gallant yelled. Rush flung ahead of the smoke cloud and embraced Vista for a bear hug.

"Let go of me!" Vista cried out.

"Nein," Rush nibbled at her shoulder, "hippity hoppity, you are now my property."

Vista sank to the ground as Rush pinned her down in a wrestling maneuver.

Kid Win and Clockblocker instinctively ran forward. The cloud of smoke cut off the Wards from the bank view, and Uber and Leet stepped out of the smokescreen to face off single handedly against the Wards.

Uber said, "what better hostage than a Ward?"

Kid Win said, "that's not happening under our watch."

Clockblocker, in an unusually stern tone, said, "a lot has changed since you were gone. The Losers aren't going under our radars anymore."

"Fine by me," Uber said with his biosuit encapsulating his body. "I'd topple a third world government if it meant getting more youtube views."

Uber rushed towards Clockblocker without hesitation. But instead of aiming to hit him fast and hard, he swerved around him, and ran straight towards the PRT van. Before Clockblocker could react, Leet shot him in the back, knocking him out.

Kid Win hovered back on his board to hide behind some parked cars. Leet took cover between the smoke and cars on the other side of the street. The two of them soon started shooting each other, trying to land a hit on each other as Uber reached the PRT van.

Kid Win shouted, "how'd you know they switched costumes?" He asked, referring to Clockblocker's costume switch.

Leet yelled back, "wait, they switched costumes?"

Uber banged against the back doors of the PRT van. He yelled, "don't worry Light, I'll save you! Villain lives matter too!"

Light yelled back from inside, "all lives matter you inconsiderate fuck!"

What followed after was a kick in the shin from Imp, and Light groaning in pain.

Uber forcefully opened the doors. His biomechanical slime enhanced his strength to easily break open the doors. Inside, he was met with Browbeat's presence. He sharply remembered what Tattletale had told him and went pale. "Oh fuck no, not a-"

Clockblocker, masquerading as Browbeat, touched him. Imp and Light watched as their ally went frozen. Light grumbled, "why does this keep happening to us?"

Imp and Light were both handcuffed in the van. Imp said, "wait, did his powers change?"

Clockblocker lowered to Uber and began handcuffing him. "Me and Aegis switched costumes, and then me and Browbeat switched costumes."

Light said, "I am so confused."

Imp yelled, "how could you not notice? You said you and him were friends!"

Light said, "I honestly thought I was talking with Browbeat. I feel both betrayed, and disappointed by my friendship skills."

Clockblocker mentioned, "the fact that you didn't realize that Browbeat never makes dick jokes, tells me you really don't know the guy."

In a feeble tone Light said, "I thought we were just bonding…"

Imp and Clockblocker said, "you're a bad friend."

Uber soon returned to normal with handcuffs wrapped around his hands and feet. Clockblocker pushed Uber forward, right next to Light and Imp's feet. "Tell us what your escape plans are. And don't bother trying that suit again. The lights in this van negate your biosuit."

Uber growled, "you'll have to torture me before I tell you anything."

"I can get Dragon to delete your gamertag."

Uber cleared his throat. "Spitfire is behind the smoke wall. She's blocking off entry with her powers. There's a gap far right from here, that's also where Grue is. Inside, Tattletale and Lyft-"

Imp kicked Uber's head, "the fuck is wrong with you guys!?"

Light said, "no no, I support this. Uber, go on."

Imp covered Uber's mouth with her shoes. What ensued was Uber desperately trying to tell him the truth with Imp wrestling him with her feet.

XXX

Leet peered his head through the car window. Kid Win carefully took aim, and shot through the open window directly at Leet's head. His robocop armor froze in place. It stopped Leet's body from moving. "What the fuck?"

Kid Win stepped out from cover, "my laser locked your suit. Thing is, your show gave me a lot of ideas. I had a feeling working with molecules could freeze up most of your tinker tricks."

"That's bullshit!" Leet yelled out frozen in place. "Tinkers are so fucking bullshit!"

Kid Win shrugged, "yeah, I can't really deny that."

Kid Win looked over to Vista, who was still wrestling with Rush in the air. The black smoke still covered the bank entrance, stopping him from proceeding further. Before he could aim his weapon at Rush, a shot of cold win landed directly by his feet.

"Dammit!" Kid Win's hoverboard flew upwards, but the cold wind knocked it off his balance. Kid Win jumped off the board and started backing away. It was Spitfire, revealing herself from the black smoke to walk towards Leet.

"Come on," she said as she pulled Leet back. He was heavy, but she positioned herself to take him into the black smoke. "Come on, I'm not letting you lose to a tinker so easy." she said as she pulled Leet back.

The world became quiet as they walked through the darkness. All the noise and action from outside was muffled, and they could only hear the faint whispers of one another. Leet commented, "you know we're losers, right? Isn't it like, my job to lose?"

"Not all the time," Spitfire said while walking slowly. The weight of the air slowed her down, but patience would get her to the other side. "As long as you're with me, you'll always be a winner."

"God you're cheesy Emily… Never change."

The two of them returned to the bank entrance. With Lyft helping them inside, Spitfire said, "Kid Win locked his armor. We have to take it off piece by piece."

Lyft reached down as Spitfire turned back. At that moment Tattletale yelled, "cover!"

Confused, an arrow shot at Spitfire's head. It was a muffled arrow, with a blunt end which released gas upon impact. The noxious gas covered Spitfire's head, and she quickly passed out.

Lyft looked over. Tattletale pointed outside and they could see gaseous smoke leaving the periphery.

"What was that?"

"Shadow Stalker," Tattletale answered. "And in other news, New Wave is on the rooftop."