Autumn leaves whirled around Victoria, whipped by the wind left in her wake. A cone of red, orange, and brown, tousled about. She felt like a seasonal goddess, heralding the power of Fall, the end of the old and the hope of the new. She tossed and turned in the sky, careful to try and keep the small cyclone of leaves as a faux cloak. Not too fast, not too slow. The day had started well with her mom having left early, and a text from Dean inviting her to coffee. Autumn weather meant pumpkin spice lattes, and though she felt like a stereotype each time she drank one, it did not stop her enjoying them.

The cell on her belt rang and she slowed, reluctantly, to pick it up. The dancing leaves that surrounded her slowly fell to the ground as she placed the phone against her ear.

"Glory Girl?" Her mother. Of course. "Lady Photon and I require your presence. See if you can get ahold of Laserdream as well, she hasn't been answering her phone." She paused, and Victoria heard her take a deep breath. "This is important. The address is 4238 Jackson Lane, over near the Commercial District. Do you understand?"

Victoria's heart plummeted, along with her form. She allowed herself to fall slowly out of the sky, a physical manifestation of her frustration. "Yes, Mom. I understand."

She hung up, checking the time. Dean had said he'd be at the café around 9:30, and her phone's clock only read 8:50. She had time. Plenty of time. In the worst case scenario, she'd be a few minutes late, and Dean would forgive her. He always did, after all.

Victoria rocketed back up, and dialed Crystal's number as she flew. She headed towards the general location her mom had given her, and trusted that she'd be able to find where she needed to go from there. As she flew, she saw more emergency vehicles than usual headed to the upper docks. She had heard some loud noises last night, but her dad had told her to go back to bed and that he and her mother were managing it. As much as Victoria enjoyed being a hero, she still needed some sleep after staying up the night before last to study for that quiz, and she had gracefully accepted the offer to catch a few more Z's.

Crystal didn't pick up. Hardly unusual after a cape fight, she usually needed some time to herself. Victoria almost swerved over to stop by her place to see if she was there, but stopped herself in the last moment. While Victoria got angry after witnessing some of the shit the gangs in this city got up to, Crystal just got sad. If Crystal wanted some time to herself, Victoria was not going to interrupt it.

Instead, Victoria rocketed on to the Commercial District. She had forgotten the exact address her mother had given her, but the concentration of police vehicles, PRT vans, and loud sirens around a single suburb made it easy to find the right spot.

She descended slowly. Mom and Aunt Sarah were there, but so was Eric, Dad, and Uncle Neil. All of New Wave, beside Amy and Crystal. Armsmaster stood with them as well, arms folded. Some opaque plastic sheet had been draped over… something in the center of the lawn. The red door to the house was open, various police and PRT officers passing back and forth. It looked like Armsmaster had set up some sort of mobile lab, a plastic picnic table piled with various high tech.

"Where's Laserdream?" asked her mom. Victoria just shrugged in response, looking curiously at the strangely draped sheet.

"What's going on? Why are we all here? I know there was a fight last night, but…" Victoria trailed off as Armsmaster held up a hand.

"Those who fought last night already know the details, and can fill in your team at a later date. The basics are simple. Led by Purity, the Empire attacked various ABB locations last night. Several unaffiliated businesses were hit as well. The current death toll is 27, with 87 injured."

Victoria's eyebrows flew high. The city had continual gang violence, but a night like that meant a serious fight. Eric shifted from foot to foot, and her father just looked tired. Scorch marks covered parts of his costume, and Victoria wondered if he had been injured. She dismissed the worry. Amy would have fixed him up first, before heading to the hospital to deal with this crisis. She just hoped that her sister wasn't overworking herself.

"Three capes joined Purity in her attack. Rune, Victor, and Othala. We believe this attack was to disrupt ABB money laundering and distribution centers, as the attack focused primarily on locations already under investigation by the PRT," Armsmaster continued.

"This is all very fascinating, but get to the point," Aunt Sarah said. "You've called all of New Wave here for a reason. I'd like to know it."

Armsmaster glanced about. His mouth parted slightly as if to take note that Crystal wasn't there. He turned to face Aunt Sarah, and dropped the subject before he could start it.

"I understand. A few hours after last night's battle, close to five in the morning, we received several emergency calls from this neighborhood. Calls conflicted on the nature of the emergency, but they all agreed that some cape had attacked the inhabitants of this house. Upon arrival, PRT and police forces were greeted by this sight." He gestured to the propped-up sheet on the lawn. Seconds ticked by before Armsmaster realized that no one could see beneath the sheet. He sighed, scratching his chin. "Right. I'm sorry, it's been a long night."

The hero walked to the sheet, the officers near it parting to make way. He paused before he lifted it up, facing the members of New Wave. "I will warn you that this sight will be disturbing, and I apologize in advance. I regret the need to show it to you, but I need to impress the importance of why I have called for your help."

Armsmaster lifted the sheet.

Eric whipped his head to the side to avoid looking. "Oh God," Victoria heard her father say. Aunt Sarah just gagged.

Three decapitated heads stood impaled on stakes. Othala, Victor, and Rune. Each wore their mask, or eye-patch, in Othala's case. A small puddle of blood had formed beneath each head, soaked into the well-maintained lawn. Their jaws hung slack, their eyes dead and lifeless. Dried blood clung to the sides of Victor and Rune's faces, while Othala's jaw only hung to her face by a few strands of flesh. The letter 'A' had been carved on Othala's face, the letter 'B' engraved on to Victor and Rune's. The carving had broken the two other's masks, which seemed to be stuck on with some sort of glue.

The stakes themselves had been fashioned from the white picket fence that surrounded the property. The dichotomy from the perfectly well-kept house and the horrific sight before them gave the scene an almost film-like sense, as if something like this could not be real.

Armsmaster let the sheet fall back down.

"It's disturbing, yes, but that cannot be the only reason you called us here," her mom said. "We've faced the Teeth before, and the Boston Games. We're hardly strangers to horror."

Speak for yourself, mom. Victoria had seen the aftermath of a few brutal beatings, mostly caused by the Empire itself. She felt some sympathy for those in the neighborhood, but it shocked her that she did not feel much sympathy beyond the initial shock for the slain capes. She had seen too much of their work.

"I agree. It's a terrible sight for people as sheltered as this neighborhood, but it's hard to avoid in our line of work. No, I called you here for a different reason." Armsmaster went back to the picnic table that held his technology and notes. He spun a laptop around, began to display various pictures - most of various documents.

"I called you here because of the circumstances of these kills. What you see before you is a long list of documents tying each of these individuals to their civilian identity. This proof is appreciated for its aid on ongoing PRT investigations, but…" He trailed off, then stepped closer to the white-clad group of heroes.

"The official story we've given to the press is that Oni Lee followed the trio back home after the fight, and killed them when they arrived. But that story does not match up with what facts we have. I'll spare you the pictures, but forensics tells me it's clear that each one of these capes were killed in their sleep. The masks were put on after the kill had been done. Their bodies are in civilian sleepwear."

"Who cares if someone violated the unwritten rules against the Empire?" Victoria found herself saying. "They killed Aunt Jess!"

"Names, Glory Girl." Her father admonished her.

Armsmaster held up a hand. "I confess I cannot summon much sympathy for these three, except for their youth. Perhaps at least one could have led a different life as an adult, though statistics cast a dim view on that hope. No, I called you here because of the proof provided."

He gestured back to the computer. "Someone investigated these three. Searched their house, found the right documents to link their civilian and cape identities, and laid it out for us on the dinner table. Either the ABB has spent significant resources on finding out the identities of their foes, or…"

"Or they've got a new cape to do that for them," Uncle Neil finished. "And you called us here to investigate because this cape can't threaten us with exposure."

Armsmaster nodded. "As you said. I know that we have our differences on this issue, but I'm certain you can appreciate the gravity of the situation. This could be an isolated incident, but a few other items raise my suspicions." He went back to the computer and pulled up a video file. It displayed a man in a trench coat and low trilby depositing a package in a slot, near PRT headquarters. "This is security footage of the PRT anonymous tip dropbox. Note the figure's outfit."

Victoria tilted her head to the side at the contradiction in Armsmaster's words, and she saw her mother's lips press tightly together at the thought of the possible lawsuits this sort of thing could bring.

"Next, here is some footage from a nearby gas station." The second video portrayed a man in a similar outfit, though the quality was much worse. "It could be nothing. But if the gang with a teleporting suicide bomber assassin has the ability to pinpoint anyone's identity, I do not need to emphasis the trouble this could bring."

"I understand, Armsmaster." Uncle Sarah spoke. "We'll do our best. Good luck with your investigation."

The tinker hero nodded once more, and turned back to his work. The adults of New Wave began to discuss quietly amongst themselves, but Victoria slid close to Eric. She knew she wasn't the closest to him, but she did consider them to have at least a decent relationship.

"You alright?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I mean… yeah. Just not what I wanted to see first thing in the morning."

"Me either."

They stood in silence for a few moments, surrounded only by the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles and the hushed conversation of their parents.

"Is Crystal alright? She went out with Dad last night, but she hasn't come back yet."

Internally, Victoria wondered why everyone asked her about her cousin. This was her brother here, after all. "I'll check on her. Let me know what our parents decide about all this, will you?"

Eric nodded, and Victoria ascended to the sky. She pulled her phone from her belt and texted Dean. After a sight like that in the morning, she did not feel in the mood for coffee. She could see Eric below, talking to the other members of New Wave and explaining her absence.

Crystal had a spot she stayed when she needed peace. She had only let Victoria in on the secret reluctantly, and Victoria tried her best to avoid abusing that trust. But Victoria knew she had to let her cousin know about a development like this. Besides, she needed to know more about what had gone down the night before, with the adults so cagey about it all.

Victoria flew back across the bay, up, up, and away to a small crimson platform that floated high above the water, towards the early morning sun. She could see her cousin hunched over on a chair, a mug in hand. It took only a moment to reach the spot, though Crystal barely acknowledged her presence. She did construct a crimson chair opposite of her own, and Victoria sat at the implicit invitation.

They sat in silence while Crystal sipped from her mug. Victoria could smell it over the salt air of the bay, a coffee strong enough to stain a fence. Eventually, Crystal spoke up. "Last night sucked."

"I heard," Victoria replied.

"I hate the fucking Empire."

"I know. Me too."

"They burned the bakery I get bagels at." Crystal took another sip of her coffee. Her hand had a small shake to them. "I know it's stupid, because a bunch of people died and other places got burnt too. A single bakery isn't that important. But…"

She sighed.

"I went there almost every day. They gave me free lox for being a regular. It's silly, it's stupid, I-I-I I just wish we could have done more. We go out there and fight those Nazis almost every night, but no matter what we do, it just… sorry."

"Well, I've got some news about the Nazis, at least."

Crystal looked up from her drink. "Did they have another bust like Krieg?"

Victoria raised her hand, and shook it back and forth. "Wellllll, kinda? The ABB killed three Empire capes last night. In their civilian identities."

"Fuck," Crystal said.

"Yup. Apparently Armsmaster thinks the ABB's got some new thinker cape or something, claims the rando who helped bust Krieg is the one who tipped the ABB off about the Rune, Othala, and Victor. Some dude in a trench coat." Victoria shrugged. "I don't know, it seems a little out there to me."

Crystal's brows knit together. "In a trenchcoat? Any other information?"

"Yeah, I think he had glasses? Some old timey hat too, looked like a detective out of some black and white movie. I think it's probably some guy with poor fashion sense, it seems a bit far-fetched. I mean, who ever heard of a power focused around just secret identities?" Victoria looked at her cousin after she spoke, concerned. She had hoped that telling her of Armsmaster's, quite frankly, silly worry would help her lighten up a little after last night, but it just seemed to worry her more. "Look, I'm sorry for talking about all this cape stuff. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

"Yeah," Crystal replied. "Sure, right. That's probably for the best. Sorry."

"It's okay." Victoria felt bad for her cousin, but she didn't quite know what to do. Still, she sat with her as they watched the sun shine over the bay. What a shitty start to the weekend.