Crusade half lays on the ground, propped up on one elbow, staring up at Glade, her partner's blood-drenched hand stretched out to help her up. She grabs it with her right, wincing as he pulls her up. Everything hurts; both arms, her back, one of her knees, and those are just the ones that stand out. She puts her armor back up as she looks around. Reaper lays nearby in a rapidly expanding pool of blood. There are heaps of rubble, remnants of the ruined maze, with Hellion's body near the center. She doesn't see anyone else. Desperado must have gone after Rite somewhere, but where? Where are Jackass and Lamplighter?

With her brow furrowed, she speaks into the comm. "Status update."

Jackass' voice responds. "I took Lamplighter outside, he's awake and getting his head on straight. Phantom has Grotesque handled and Cannis is keeping an eye on the perimeter. Tether took Monolith to the hospital." Crusade lets out a sigh of relief. They're alive. "I'm on my way over."

"Good. What abou–"

A loud bang echoes in the stone cathedral and she turns to see Desperado fly backwards from the top of the stairs. Her back hits the stone railing and her body just folds around it, flipping backwards, as she plummets to the floor. Crusade's heart stops in her chest and her breath catches in her lungs. No no no, this can't be happening. A voice yells Desperado's name and it snaps her back.

Crusade takes off running towards the tinker as fast as she can given her limp, Glade right behind her. She rounds the bottom of the stairs to the far side where there's a space between the railing and the outer wall of the building. Desperado lies on the ground, crumpled in a strangely shaped heap. Please please be ok please.

She falls to the ground next to the Texan, her right leg sticking out to the side, hands nervously hovering over her, unsure whether or not it's safe to touch her. "Desperado! Talk to me!" There's blood everywhere, but she can't tell what's hers and what's not. Gingerly, she grabs her shoulder and pulls.

Desperado flops onto her back and her head lolls, hat falling to the floor. She's covered nearly head to toe in blood and she has cuts with bits of metal sticking out on her cheeks and a larger hunk jutting out of her neck. Her brown eyes are wide and vacant.

Crusade's heart thunders in her ears and she can't quite breathe right. She shakes her head, dislodging the tears gathering in her eyes. With shaky hands, she presses her fingers to Desperado's throat. Please let there be a pulse.

Nothing.

"KODA!" Jackass falls to his knees on the ground next to her. He grabs Desperado's head and mutters to her. "Come on Koda, wake up. Come on, you're ok. You're ok."

Crusade shakes her head as her hand drops away, her voice cracking. "She gon-"

Jackass' head whips towards her, eyes glistening with tears, pain etched into every feature. "DON'T SAY THAT!" He gathers her into his arms and bows his head over her as he sobs.

A high-pitched cackling pierces through Crusade's fog. Rite.

She did this. You weren't fast enough and she killed Desperado. Are you just going to let her get away with it? She deserves to be avenged.

White-hot anger courses through her, her hands clenching into fists. She looks up at Glade, but he just stands there, the big trunk not moving one bit. With a growl tearing from her throat, Crusade jumps to her feet and launches herself over the railing, her wind walk helping her get leverage. She limps up the steps, using the railing to half pull herself up. As she follows the curve of the stairs, more of the second level comes into view. There's a seating area with old ornate furniture in front of a wall with doors. And she sees her.

Rite slowly crawls across the floor on her hands and knees. She wheezes like she's having trouble breathing. Crusade sprints over and kicks her in the side, knocking her onto her back. Rite cries out and clutches her ribs as she rolls, blood seeping between her fingers. There's blood dribbling out of her mouth and her eyes are clenched shut in pain.

Crusade kneels on her chest and Rite coughs, desperately trying to take a deep breath. "You're going to pay for what you did to Desperado." Rite's lips curl a little and she chuckles a little. She starts to say something, but she just coughs again, blood splattering onto Crusade's thigh. "Where's Incarnate?!"

Rite cracks an eye open and manages to take a breath. "Go to hell."

Crusade stands and plants a foot on Rite's shoulder as she grows a small, short sword. Twirling the blade around in her hand, she points the sword at her chest. "You first." Rite watches as she slowly extends the length of the sword until the tip rests against her skin. After a second's hesitation, Crusade shoves the blade downward, stabbing through her chest until the point hits the stone floor.

Rite's eyes bulge and her mouth opens, air rushing out of her. She sneers a little before her head falls back to the ground, eyes rolling to the back of her head.

Crusade releases her concentration on her sword and armor as she turns away from Rite's body. She tries to take a step, but the pain in her knee flares back up and she crumbles to the floor. She lets out a frustrated yell, slamming her fist into the floor, and tries to push herself back up. There's no time to deal with this, they still have to get Incarnate. Her eyes burn as tears gather around the edges of her vision. They're going to make him pay for all of this. With a grunt, she shifts and gets her feet under her again. She's going to make him pay.

As she pushes herself up a hand grabs her upper arm. Her head snaps up to see Lamplighter standing over her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. "You ok?" She shakes her head, not trusting herself to actually open her mouth without completely losing it. She lets herself lean on him and he helps her stand up straight. She clenches her teeth and bites back a groan as she tries putting weight on her leg again. He gestures over to one of the ornate couches nearby. "Let's go sit down and take a look at that leg."

"No." Her voice breaks and she angrily wipes the tears out of her eyes. "We need to find Incarnate. That was the plan. No loose ends. We can't…we can't let him get away with this."

Lamplighter nods. "We won't, but you can't even walk. If Incarnate were here, he would have shown himself by now. We have to figure out where he is."

Everything in her needs to just keep moving, needs to get to Incarnate. But he's right. She needs to fix her leg. They need to actually figure out where he is. With a huff, she nods. "Fine."

Lamplighter walks over to the couches and helps her sit on the stiff velvet cushion. Kneeling in front of her, he examines her knee. After a moment, he looks up at her, a frown on his lips. "It's dislocated, we need to reset it."

Shit, this is going to hurt. "Ok just…do it." She leans forward and grips the edge of the couch.

He puts his hands on either side of her leg, still looking up at her. "On three, ok? One –"

She cries out as a sharp pain jolts through her and there's a loud crack. As fast as it came, the pain recedes and she sighs in relief. Lamplighter hinges her lower leg back and forth, testing the motion. It still hurts, but it's more of an ache now than a sharp stabbing pain. She grabs his shoulder for stability and stands up, testing the joint. She takes a step and doesn't fall, which is good enough for her.

He stands and puts a hand on her shoulder. "I'll go look around, see what I can find. You…go be with your team." Without waiting for her to respond, he squeezes her shoulder and walks off towards the doors leading to Incarnate's rooms.

Crusade's gaze floats down to Rite on the floor, her eyes half closed and mouth hanging open. This all should have happened months ago. If they hadn't let them just walk away over and over, Desperado would still be alive. With her brow creased, she walks back towards the stairs, following the sounds of crying that reverberate up the stairs.

She finds her team just where she left them behind the staircase. Glade stands there, having not moved an inch. Jackass sits cross-legged on the stone floor, holding Desperado's body to his chest in a hug, sobbing into her shoulder. She looks up at her partner, jostling the arm of the trunk he's in. "Glade?" But he doesn't respond. He just stands there.

Turning back to the others, she lowers herself to the floor and sits next to Jackass. She pulls her knees to her chest and wraps an arm around his shoulders. He doesn't even look up or acknowledge her presence. He just keeps crying. Crusade doesn't have any tears though. All she feels is anger. She's angry at herself, angry at the Triple Six, angry at Incarnate, angry at Desperado even. And it all churns in her belly, filling her with this urge to move, fight, do anything. Then need to finish this. She can't let Incarnate start over and make everything they gave here meaningless.

Looking up at her partner, Crusade jerks her head towards the stairs. "Glade, I need you to go help Lamplighter. He's trying to figure out where Incarnate is." Glade doesn't move or acknowledge he heard her. She keys the comm. "Glade!" The trunk finally moves, like he's been startled. "Can you go help Lamplighter? The sooner we figure this out the sooner we can end it." Without a word, the big tree with her partner inside turns and starts climbing the stairs.

She turns back to her sobbing teammate and squeezes his shoulder. "Jackass." He doesn't respond, so she does it again. He finally lifts his head a little. "We should get her out of here, take her outside." He leans his forehead against her shoulder again, sniffling. After another minute, he nods.

Shuffling onto his knees, Jackass gathers Desperado's body in his arms. Her head starts out leaning on his chest, but it rolls back as he stands, dangling back over his arm. Crusade reaches out to help but he shies away, shifting her into a more manageable position himself. He starts walking towards the front of the building, carefully picking his way over the rubble. She goes to follow, but stops as something catches her eye; Desperado's hat. She grabs the blood-splattered hat and dusts it off the way she saw the Texan do so many times. She spins the Stetson in her hands, not sure how to hold it right. Dakota is fussy about her things; she wouldn't want to do it wrong.

Her hands freeze on the brim of the hat. Was. Dakota was fussy.

Tears suddenly spring into her eyes and Crusade clutches the hat to her chest with a sob. This is all her fault. She should have been there to back her up. She should have tried harder to go after Rite so Desperado didn't have to. If she had known she was going after Rite she could have done something, anything to help. But no, she had to go do it on her own. And now…now the only thing they can do is finish what they started. Finish the mission…just like Desperado would have wanted. She blinks and clears her throat, wiping the tears from her cheeks away, and follows Jackass outside.

As she steps out of the Basilica for the first time in what feels like hours, the cold night air slaps her in the face. It clears away the haze of exhaustion and pain a little so she can focus on what they need to do. She spots where they've gathered and climbs the grassy hill to join them. Jackass kneels over Desperado, arranging her hands on her stomach. Crusade walks over and holds the hat out to him. He looks up at her, fresh tears in his eyes, and takes it, setting it on Desperado's chest. He grabs her hands and sobs.

Cannis stands a little further down the ridge facing the Basilica while Phantom stands over a thin man in a gray, stone patterned bodysuit who lays on the ground, his hands and ankles bound. That must be Grotesque. Her fists clench. He could know where his boss is.

Putting her armor back up, Crusade storms over to their captive. She grabs him by the front of the bodysuit and hauls him up. "Where's Incarnate hiding?" A smirk spreads across his face, revealing rotted teeth. Crusade lets go with one hand, reels back, and punches him in the face. "I said where!" Grotesque just laughs and it makes her blood boil. Reaching back, she hits him again.

Phantom jumps back a little. "Crusade! What the hell?!"

She throws him a look before shoving Grotesque back down to the ground. The bound man rolls onto his back as he laughs more. "He's everywhere and nowhere. He is evil itself! You'll never be able to stop him!"

Crusade grows a small, sharp sword in one hand and presses it against his throat. "We stopped you; we can stop him. Your whole team is dead. And if you don't want to join them, then I suggest you tell me where Incarnate is." Grotesque glances nervously down at the glowing blue blade at his neck. It illuminates the darkness and highlights every scar on his face. She presses it harder against him, cutting him just a little. "Tell me!"

He shakes his head back and forth. "I stay in our home and protect it. He leaves but he always comes back! It's my job to protect our home!"

"Crusade!"

Her head whips around to see Lamplighter and Glade climbing the hill, papers in their hands. The leader of the Cardinal Alliance waves her over. With a final glare at Grotesque, she drops him onto the ground and sends away her sword. The man curls into a ball repeating the phrase 'protect our home' over and over again as she walks away.

Jackass, Glade, and Lamplighter are gathered in a circle looking at two notebooks and a few papers. Lamplighter looks up at her as she joins them. "We found notes referring to someone named Doctor Hex and some sort of recruiting project. If they've got another location, he's probably there."

She holds out her hand. "Let me see." Lamplighter hands her one and she scans it quickly. Talking about finding more recruits and how their powers are improving. "Whoever these recruits are, they're brainwashing them to be loyal soldiers to Incarnate."

Jackass holds out his hand to see the other book and freezes as he opens it. "I recognize this handwriting."

He nods. "We can't find an address or any reference to a location, though. There's a list of names, but I don't recognize any."

Jackass snatches the paper out of Lamplighter's hands and looks it over. His brow furrows and he looks up. "This is a list of all the kids at the STRANGE Academy."

"What?!"

"Are you sure?"

He nods, anger written into his every feature. "I'm positive. Fidget and Steampunk are on here." He practically growls as he curls his hand into a fist, crumpling the paper. "That son of a bitch Samuels is running a soldier factory for Incarnate."

Crusade looks at Lamplighter. "Was there anything else up there that referenced a hideout or other projects?"

He shakes his head. "No. This was the only thing useful."

"Then that's where Incarnate is. That's where we need to go."

Jackass flings his arm out and he shouts. "We have to go save those kids."

Lamplighter holds out his hands. "Everyone just hold on." Jackass lowers his arm and Crusade huffs. "We need to think this through for thirty seconds and get a plan." He sighs and runs a hand through his black hair. He looks over at Phantom and Grotesque, then past them to Cannis. "Cannis!" The short girl turns and starts jogging back towards them. "Can you go and make sure that there aren't any areas we missed? Things that might be boobytrapped. We don't want the police getting caught up in anything." She nods and jogs down the hill. He turns back to Crusade. "Call Jenkins and get the cops over here. We'll need containment on Grotesque. No stone." She nods and pulls out her phone. Lamplighter grabs his own device. "I'm going to update Corona, see if she can meet us there." He looks at Glade and Jackass. "Figure out the fastest way for us to get to the STRANGE Academy."

Crusade steps away from the group and dials Jenkins' number. He picks up after a few rings. "Crusade?"

"Hey Detective."

"Am I glad to hear your voice after the Captain told me what you were up to. Is everyone ok?"

"Not exactly. We've got some injuries, but we're fine for now. Desperado…she uh…she didn't make it out."

"Jesus, Crusade, I'm sorry. We'll take care of her."

Her eyes well up again, and she pulls the phone away from her face to sniff and shake her head. "We captured Grotesque, he'll need to be contained. Don't let him touch any stone. Hellion, Reaper, and Rite are dead. You might want to bring a big team to go over this place, it's massive. Phantom and Cannis from the Cardinal Alliance will be here to meet you."

"What about Incarnate?"

She huffs. "He was never here, but we think we know where he's hiding. I'll let you know once we do."

"Ok. I'll send the boys over now."

"Thanks, Jenkins. I'll keep you updated."

"Be careful, Crusade. The things you hear about Incarnate are enough to scare the boogeyman."

She nods. "We will." Hanging up the call, she places the phone back in her pouch.

Lamplighter wraps up his call too as he turns back to the group. "She's on her way and can meet us nearby." He looks over at Glade and Jackass. "How do we get there?"

Jackass holds his phone out for them to see. "We're close, but because of the mountain roads we gotta go back and forth a bunch. Once we get back down, though, it's easy."

Crusade looks at the map. It really isn't that far, but they have to get away from this secluded area again, and that'll take time. Once they get back to normal roads, it's only about a mile and a half. "I can get us down to the roads faster than the car will. Then we just run there."

Lamplighter arches a brow at her. "You think that'll be faster than driving?"

She nods. "It took us 20 minutes just to find the right way up here. Every second we waste going down a wrong road or whatever is more time for Incarnate to get away."

Jackass nods. "I'm with her."

Lamplighter looks up at Glade, who just says fine. He nods once. "Ok. I'll tell Corona to meet us at the base of the mountain."

Crusade looks up at Glade. "I don't think I can make something big enough for everyone with you in there. Can you come out and make a new vine when we get down there?" He doesn't respond, but the front of the trunk splits open and Glade maneuvers his way out, hopping on his one good leg as he lowers himself to the ground. She takes a step back and waves to everyone. "Bunch up."

Jackass and Lamplighter move to either side of Glade. Lamplighter offers him an arm to balance on, but Glade just shoos him away. Crusade puts up her hand and reaches out with her power. A barrier extends around them, creating a floor and a dome over them. She leaves the very top of the dome open for air. They shouldn't be in there too long, but with three people in there she doesn't want to chance it. "You guys might want to sit, this'll be a little bumpy."

Activating her wind walk, she runs straight off the top of the hill and out into the air. Lamplighter groans and curses as the ground disappears beneath them. She tries to keep her hand as steady as possible, but there's only so much she can stabilize when she's running. Once she's clear of the trees, she starts angling downward as much as she can. It's like going down an extremely long staircase, and her recently injured knee is not handling it well. She grits her teeth and takes steady even breaths. Keep going. Just a bit further.

She has to stop about two-thirds of the way down to shake out her knee a bit before she can keep going. They finally reach the city streets and she releases her friends. She joins them on the ground, trying to reign her breathing back in.

Lamplighter sits with his knees against his chest and his head covered by his arms. Realizing that they've stopped moving he peeks his head over his arms and sighs. "I am never doing that again." He groans as he pushes himself off the ground.

Glade reaches into his pouch and pulls out a handful of seeds. He tosses them onto the ground as they sprout and start growing into a new vine.

Jackass jumps up and looks at his phone again as he takes a few steps down the street and checks the signs. "We're less than two miles away. We can get there in no time." He turns back towards them and puts his arms out. "Come on, let's go!"

Lamplighter walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Give Glade a sec to get on his feet. Corona is meeting us here too. Just take a breath."

Jackass shoves Lamplighter's hand off his shoulder, his brow creased. "Don't tell me to relax, man. Samuels and Incarnate are doing God knows what to those kids and we need to get them."

Crusade huffs. "We're going to. But unless you want to carry me and Glade, you gotta give us a sec."

Jackass huffs and starts pacing but doesn't say anything else. He's upset and agitated. They all are. But he has a special place in his heart for those kids. If he loses them right after losing Desperado, he may not recover.

There's a creaking next to her and she turns to see a tall vine standing next to Glade. The vine reaches down and helps pull him up and he climbs into it, the layers of wood closing behind him as he settles himself in his minion. His voice comes over the comm. "Let's go."

With one last deep breath, Crusade climbs to her feet and puts up her armor. Jackass mutters under his breath and takes off at a run down the street. They follow him as he leads them down the quickest route, with Glade right behind him, then Lamplighter, with Crusade bringing up the rear. Less than half a mile in, a figure floats down from the sky in front of them.

Corona lands, her hair swooshing around her, and looks at them with a serious face. "Sorry I couldn't be here sooner. What's the plan?"

Jackass runs right past her, shouting as he goes. "Get there and fucking end this!"

Her eyes widen as she watches him run by, then turns as Glade runs right past her too. Lamplighter shakes his head and gestures for her to follow. "Come on, I don't trust them to wait for us."

Corona looks at Crusade as she approaches, her brow furrowed. "What's going on?"

She throws Corona a look. "Most of the Triple Six is dead, they killed Desperado, and we found out that Incarnate is working with the principal of the STRANGE Academy. The school's just a soldier brainwashing facility. And we're going to stop them."

Corona floats along beside Crusade as she runs. "They're brainwashing a bunch of kids? Jesus! So we're going to have to evac a bunch of kids that will probably be attacking us." She glances over at Crusade. "You think your barrier can stand up to them?"

Crusade shakes her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're our best bet for getting them out of there. Do we know their powers?"

"The kids will be fine. We need to make sure Incarnate doesn't get away."

Corona looks at her, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean they'll be fine? They're probably going to be using them as shields. You're just going to, what, go through them?"

"If Incarnate gets away then all of this was for nothing. He'll just start all over again. I'm going to do what I have to to make sure that doesn't happen."

Corona frowns and pulls ahead of her and lands again in front of Crusade. "Ok. Just stop for a second."

Crusade shakes her head. "We don't have time." She starts to go around Corona, but the former leader of the Cosmic Watch grabs her upper arm and stops her dead. Crusade turns, her brow creasing. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing, Crusade? Your plan is to mow down a bunch of kids to get at Incarnate?"

Crusade pulls her arm out of Corona's grasp and rounds on her. "How many people are dead because of Incarnate? How many people have died at the hands of Triple Six? How many times do we let them walk away and start over? Desperado is dead! And I'm going to make sure Incarnate pays for everything he's done!"

Corona shakes her head and gesticulates wildly as she shouts. "Just listen to yourself! That's not what we do! We're not judge, jury, and executioner!" She huffs and puts her hands on her hips. "The way I see the world, there are two types of people that put on the mask. People who want to help and people who want to hurt. Doesn't matter whether you're a villain, hero, or vigilante. And from what I've seen of you, you're the type of person who wants to help. You believed me when no one else did. You stuck your neck out for people you hardly knew. You nearly killed yourself to save an Elemental! That's the person we need right now. Not this person on a quest for revenge." She puts a hand on Crusade's shoulder. "I know how bad you're hurting right now. Losing someone you love is never easy. But your team is falling apart and they need you. So get your shit together and show up for them." Corona crosses her arms over her chest and stares her down.

Crusade's teeth grind together as she glares at Corona, her words sinking in. She huffs and her eyes dart away. She's at war in her head. They can'tlet Incarnate get away. But Corona is right; her team is suffering. Glade beat a man to death and then some with his bare hands. And Jackass, one of the most pacifistic people she knows, is out for blood. It's her job to bring them through this and have them still be themselves on the other side. Desperado would never forgive them for compromising who they were to take down some villain.

She looks back up at Corona. "We can't let Incarnate start over again. He's wreaked too much havoc on the city already." She groans and Crusade holds up a hand. "That's why I need you and Lamplighter to handle the kids safely. We'll make sure Dr. Hex and Incarnate don't escape."

A smirk slowly grows on Corona's face and she nods. "That we can do."