One day before Sententia.

Lupo sighed as he got into his car. It had been a long night with the carnival and everything. A lot of kids hadn't made it out of the carousel in time. Then if the trash cans weren't enough there were the people who showed up afterwards. He had spent the night interviewing witnesses. Some of them were eight so he hadn't been expecting much. Even the adults were unreliable though. It seemed like no one knew exactly what had happened, especially with the other costumed people.

He had a few guesses who those people could've been. None of them were one hundred percent things though. He lit a cigarette as he started up the engine.

"Those things're gonna kill you."

Out of a mixture of instinct and calculation Lupo jerked around and pointed his revolver at the back seat.

"Bet this will kill you quicker!"

"How have you been Lupo?" Kraken asked casually.

"Jesus Kraken…" Lupo sighed in frustration, "I could have smeared you against the back seat. I think you do it on purpose…"

"What do you think?"

"Have you come up with a story for Vanya Hargreeves yet?" asked Lupo, "People are asking you know. I can only keep it out of the papers for so long."

"I'll work on it. I need help Lupo."

"Why? All your enemies are on the ice…or is it that time again? The end of the world?"

He was fishing for information, and Kraken knew that. Still, he didn't say anything for awhile.

"Maybe. I've been searching," Kraken said as he looked out the window, "Got zip. I need a lead."

Lupo picked his brain for a few seconds as he turned the corner.

"Well, it's probably nothing. But recently there's been rather a lot of thugs getting captured and put in jail. Normally I wouldn't bother you with this but they're west coasters. A lot of them are screaming about how aliens are going to take over the world and something going down near Icarus Theater in the Performing District near Narroway. I searched the place but didn't find anything. Still, that's just me…"

Glancing back at the back seat of his car Lupo saw that Kraken had left. He lit another cigarette.

"Hmph."

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"I brought you some coffee. What exactly are you looking for?" Pogo asked as he walked into Hargreeves's old study.

"Hargreeves's revolver," .05 said as he threw books and random collectibles over his shoulder, "I refuse to be taken unawares. I'm a wonderful shot. I'll have to demonstrate sometime."

.05 could tell that his Pogo wasn't exactly comfortable with that information. He saw it in his eyes as he accepted the mug from him. Well who cared? Taking a sip he saw an old-fashion clasp box from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, hello…" he murmured as he opened it.

Hargreeves's old monocle. Smiling he pocketed it.

"I've been meaning to ask you about…well everything really," sighed Pogo as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I always knew you were smarter then the rest of your siblings. Even your father said that. I don't believe it took you that long to get back."

For a minute .05 paused and took another sip. When he was younger he had liked Pogo for the fact that he didn't care about powers. So he still had an old aversion to lying to him. He decided that evasion was the best technique.

"There are things about me you don't- no wouldn't understand," he said at length, "Things that I've done to get back here. It's too complicated to explain."

"Why don't you try me?" said Pogo as he raised his eyebrows.

"Well…" .05 said hesitantly, "I don't know where to begin…"

He thought back about his last mission.

"But I suppose I should start with the Kennedy assassination-"

Just then an old folder caught his eye. Frowning he stooped down to get a better look. It was labeled 'Sententia'. Quickly he flipped it open and started to skim the pages.

"You were saying .05?" Pogo asked.

"Now isn't this interesting," .05 murmured.

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"Brought you some coffee," Rumor said as she walked across the roof to Space, "You look like you could use it."

"That bad, huh?" smiled Space absently, "Thanks…"

Space sipped in silence. While he hated to think that Kraken might've had a point patrol was useless. The city was as it always had been, probably the same way as Atlantis the night before it sunk. Patrol had usually yielded something before though. He had gone out on instinct like he always had. This time though it probably wouldn't pay off.

He wondered if it actually was the end. That was a possibility of course just like it had always been. Hargreeves, Sententia, Lenore, Stigand, Regents, Sentinels, they whirled around inside of his brain in circles that he didn't want to think about. Deciding to move on to safer ground he said;

"You wore the mask."

"I've been having a hard time with all this. I figured it would help me feel more comfortable in my own skin…" Rumor smiled, "more like myself."

"More like yourself," said Space thoughtfully, "or who you think you're supposed to be?"

The look Rumor gave him was pure venom.

"Luther, don't do that. Don't play team leader with me," she snapped, "I've lived this whole other life since leaving the academy. You know what I'm thinking about right now? I'm not worried about the end of the world. I'm not worried about aliens betting on some sort of freaky battle royale. I wonder if my little girl got to sleep tonight, or if she's up with Patrick right now. Or Patrick's girlfriend."

She finished with a note of bitterness in her voice.

"Her name's Claire…?" said Space hesitantly

"Yeah," once more Rumor smiled, "That's right. I've told her all about you. Her uncle on the moon…"

Uncle. Brother. That's all he was and he was barely those. He would never be anything more to anyone else. Thirty years on Earth and it could end in a day or so. What would he have accomplished? Kraken had probably been right again. He was jealous of him and Vanya. Jealous of him having someone who cared about him. What did he have? Nothing. Almost angrily he pushed the thoughts out of his head.

"I'm worried about you Allison," he said, trying to regain some semblance of control, "Last night with the terminauts and Sentinels was nearly a disaster. I haven't even seen you use your power…did you lose it?"

Once again Rumor gave him a venomous look.

"Luther, I'm talking about my real life, your niece, and all you care about is our powers," she hissed, "You're still so obsessed with being a hero you can-"

"Allison. Look at me," interrupted Space tiredly. After the fight with Kraken he didn't have the energy to cover it all up anymore, "How am I supposed to relate to anyone at all, let alone your feelings about your daughter? I would've liked to have had a daughter. A wife."

He paused for a minute, unsure that he should've said this. Already Rumor was looking at him with something like surprise. He had to finish it now though.

"But I think that focusing on our work is probably the healthiest thing for someone like me. So help me save the world for your daughter. For Claire."

Closing his eyes briefly he thought of what Claire would look like. Would she have Rumor's purple hair? Or would she have Patrick's brown? A shudder of disgust went through him when he thought of Patrick. He'd never liked him. While his initial dislike had been for selfish reasons it proved well founded. No, he was sure that Claire had had the fortune to look exactly like her beautiful mother.

"I'd like to meet her some day," he said wistfully.

A mischievous look came over Rumor.

"You know Space…" she murmured seductively, "I heard a rumor that you've wanted to kiss me since you were eight years old."

He blinked once. Then before he knew what to say her lips were pressed firmly against his. Without thinking he kissed her back. Once more without thinking he grasped her back and pulled her closer.

"Well isn't that sweet."

Both of them pulled apart to see Alchemist and Comet balancing on the water tower.

"We can come back later if you're busy," grinned Alchemist wickedly.

"What do you want?" Space snarled, angry at them for being there and interrupting his first kiss.

"Big brother's set a place," Alchemist smiled impishly.

"Reaper," Comet said sharply, "has selected the Performing District down near Narroway as the center of our Sententia battle. Georgiana has been informed. We expect you there at midnight tomorrow."

"Fine," Alchemist pouted, "Be all formal."

"Not being there counts as forfeiture, in which case we automatically win," continued Comet, "You all have to be there."

"Even the one who can't fight for shit," added Alchemist.

Comet glared at her sister.

"We'll be there," said Spaceboy levelly.

"Good," Alchemist said cheerfully, "it's boring otherwise. Now go back to whatever you're doing."

In a blur the two of them were gone. Space gritted his teeth angrily just as his communicator started to ring. Breathing deeply he picked it up.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"Someone is angry," said .05 mildly, "Come back. I think I've found what we need."