Mona was rusty. He knew that. It was a consequence of years spent living a rather sedentary lifestyle with Ren and his wife. His skills had atrophied, and he was not proud of how much difficulty he had with performing techniques he could've done with ease in his prime.

A novice like Missy wouldn't know the difference and it was good enough to mentor her, but he had too much pride to just accept that. Not if he wanted to call himself a Master Phantom Thief. Which was why he spent so many of the nights here since his arrival scouting and robbing the many criminals of Brockton Bay. It was training, practical experience, and more funds needed to get them both gear. He did all this without revealing himself to the wider populace of the world, preferring to stay in the shadows.

Eventually though, a Phantom Thief had to reveal themselves to inspire the masses. Reactions of his reveal were varied.

"So wait- Does this mean you understood me this entire time?" Fang asked as they chased after the Mecha alongside Father. It wasn't exactly hard to track with the destruction it was leaving in its wake.

"Yes," Mona replied curtly. He had lurked around the Shelter on occasion, mostly to make sure nothing bad happened to the place once Jack had acquired his Persona. The man… wasn't the smartest, but he was experienced, meant well, and put great effort at learning how to make the Shelter a place to live in for his kids.

"You played with the kids," Fang commented.

Well more accurately they played with him and Mona tolerated it. "Yes."

"You bathed and slept with Viv!"

"She forced me into that bath," Mona grumbled as he leapt over a pile of rubble. "And she had nightmares, so I let her hug me while she slept."

"It's-…. Fine. The kids like you, but… its weird."

Mona shrugged. "My best friend's a grown man who I shared a bed with until he got married and I got kicked out by the wife." Turns out she didn't like the constant, if necessary, reminders for them to go to sleep at a reasonable time. Also she had been wanting kids at the time… so yea they probably needed their privacy in retrospect. Didn't have to be so mean about it though. "I'm not really a cat but you can just treat me like a really smart one."

It took a few years and a bit of soul seeking but he had more or less accepted the cat part of himself. Still would be nice if he could one day take on a human form though, that'd be fun.

"You're not using my bed," Fang replied in a deadpan.

Mona scoffed. "Of course not. I could smell that thing from here."

Self-care and grooming was apparently something Fang had trouble with. Mona was used to it though, he had dealt with Ryuji after all.

… Ah actually Ryuji was never that bad. He was just always exercising or going out in some way so he kind of just associated the smell of sweat with him even if he did make sure to shower often. It was one of the reasons why had such a bad first impression even if their relationship now was better. Cats had sensitive noses and primarily associated people through smell, sue him.

"You are adept in combat. How long have you had your Powers?" Father asked.

"Since I was created so… five years?" Mona mused.

"Meu Deus! You're more of a baby than Menina is!"

"Not in cat years!" Mona bit back. "I'm veteran Phantom Thief, Persona user, and Missy's mentor."

Though not her only mentor admittedly. Missy needed a lot more guidance than Ren ever did, but to be fair she wasn't even twelve yet. She was a kid. She hated being treated like one, so Mona avoided bringing that up around her, but she was still a kid.

Probably the youngest of any Fool and honestly that wasn't a responsibility that should've been thrust on her until she was at least a teenager. Couldn't exactly blame Igor, he didn't choose the Fools. He just provided them with guidance and help to people that for whatever reason were meant to be important, and unfortunately this world and Fate decided that Missy Biron had to take on the mantle at such a young age.

And to this day Mona was still learning about how to deal with this particular Fool.

Ren was stubborn to a fault, reluctant to open up, and tended to plan things without telling anyone else. Once he set himself on a path you weren't going to be able to convince him otherwise and that led to trouble. But at the end of the day he kept himself calm in any situation and knew his limits.

Missy was his opposite in a lot of ways. She was willing to listen and defer to others, was essentially an open book with her feelings, and tried her best to communicate her plans with other people. She didn't even lead herself to trouble, just that trouble brought itself to her. The biggest issue was that she couldn't keep her cool, panicked a lot in stressful situations, and most importantly of all pushed herself way too hard. She was in such a rush to be an adult and prove herself that she ended up doing things that she simply was capable of right now.

You couldn't tell her that though. She wouldn't take it well and would stop listening to you. This made teaching her a delicate balancing act of encouragement and criticism to make sure she didn't reach too far.

She had already done so today and would've pushed even further if Mona hadn't put a firm paw down. He would probably suffer from that later, but better that than her getting seriously hurt because she wasn't at her best.

"You all seem to be putting a lot on the plate of a little girl," Fang commented.

"Like she didn't have to risk her life saving you and Viv?" Mona bit back and immediately regretted it after seeing Jack's flinch. If it had been the him years ago, Mona would've just continued with the insults… but he had to better now. Wanted to be better now. "We try not to put so much on her but either she keeps grabbing at it without our permission or it gets thrown at her and she has to deal with it. We're trying to prepare as much as we can but… she is a kid."

"Many Parahumans are paradoxically more vulnerable yet more powerful the younger they are when they Trigger," Father commented in that monotone robotic tone of his. He sounded unnatural, yet he acted more like a person than any robot Mona had ever met, short of that one Wild Card he had a passing meeting with. "Stronger Powers and a drive for conflict at a more impulsive age has higher chances of leading to harm. It is why Clara must remain at the base during this mission."

"Missy isn't… that isn't the same," Mona replied as they finally caught up to the Mecha. It had apparently been intercepted and stalled out by Glory Girl along with a few other fliers of New Wave. Unfortunately, they couldn't stop Squealer until she had already arrived at the local shopping district and was tearing through the streets. Even now he could see people screaming and running away from the fighting.

Some of them weren't fast enough. There were plenty of people trapped in the rubble or hiding and others…

Mona growled as man fell and was too late to get up before the Mecha landed on top of him, crushing him to a pulp with its feet. A terrible fate and a horrible death for an innocent person. The same fate that Squealer tried to inflict on Missy. A young girl.

Okay. Now he was mad.

"Diego!" Mona shouted as her Persona emerged and released a wave of healing that enveloped the injured in the area around him. "Father, evacuate the civilians. I'm going to teach a Villian a lesson."

"Understood," Father replied. With most of his weapons systems used up he would be better off using his metal body and brute strength to rescue the people around them.

"Fang, with me," Mona replied as he sprinted into battle. Squealer's rampage would end today by his paws.

Dinah didn't know what to do anymore. Clara had Triggered, Missy was off helping her and doing Hero stuff, while she herself did nothing.

Armsmaster was right. She was useless. A burden to her friends. So wasn't it the best thing to do was to just stay away from them? To let them find a better friend who could help?

Dinah's parents agreed.

They didn't say anything or forbid her from meeting her friends, but she could tell they were worried about her being around them. Missy having Powers that needed her to shoot herself was fine once everyone got used to it, but then Clara's father died and then she Triggered too and well… Not hard to blame any parent from wanting their daughter away from all that.

But Dinah couldn't get her friends out of her mind. Couldn't get over the fact that she failed them.

It was why her parents had decided that the best thing to do was to go shopping to get her mind off things. Dinah liked to go shopping. Buy some nice clothes, get her nails done, get some cute dolls for her room. All sorts of things that she never did with Missy or Clara since they didn't want to or just didn't have the money.

It should've been a fun day, but without her friends she just felt empty. She still smiled for her parents of course, they were putting in a lot of effort into making this a great day out for her, but that didn't change how she really felt deep inside.

And then the building exploded while she was getting dressed in the changing room. Dinah was unharmed thankfully, but an entire wall collapsed, separating her from her parents. She could still hear them shouting for her, but there was no way she was going that way. Instead, she made her carefully past the rubble until she found a giant hole to the outside. She carefully climbed and she reached the top she immediately ducked back down.

It was chaos. A bunch of Capes fighting off some sort of giant robot. Laserdream taking potshots from above, Glory Girl swooping in to deal punches that bounced off some sort of force field, that new Cape Fang that Missy worked with blocking strikes with his huge blade, and… some sort of Anthropomorphic Cat jumping around with a saber and shouting orders?

"Persona!" the cat shouted.

Persona? The only other person Dinah that shouted that was- wait was that Morgana!? Did Missy somehow give Powers to her cat!?

Dinah was content to continue watching the bizarre sight of cat vs robot when she heard something crack near her. She turned back, noticing the noise despite all the fighting, and immediately jumped back when the wall exploded and a large figure emerged from the rubble.

"Civilian found," the smaller but still large robot stated as it looked at her with its metal eye. Why did it look so familiar? "You will be evacuated and taken to safety. Please do not resist."

"Um… okay," Dinah said hesitantly though she didn't immediately approach the unknown Cape. Or was it some sort of machine some Tinker made? "Are you a Hero?"

"I am Father." The robot paused for a brief second. It was unnatural how still it was. "You are Dinah. You are important to Clara."

Clara? Why would this robot know…

"She made you?" Dinah asked.

"Yes. Please come with me."

Dinah didn't walk to the robot. Instead, she took a step back. "You're the thing she created because her Dad died. Because I…"

Couldn't help her closest friend. Someone… who she had wanted to be more than a friend.

"It is not safe," the robot replied as it approached. Each of its steps cracked the rubble underneath it. "You must be evacuated from the-"

"Vicky, wait!" A voice shouted from outside.

There was a whirring sound within the robot that sounded like gears shifting before its eye moved and turned toward the outside. The robot then immediately sprinted with its giant metal frame and closed the difference between it and Dinah. It kneeled down, covered her with its body, and then-

More explosions.

Dinah closed her eyes and screamed as more of the building started collapsing around them.

It was hell. She was going to die, crushed and buried under this prison of steel, concrete, and wood. She would never get out of here, never spend time with Missy again, and never apologize to Clara for everything.

It was that very brink of despair, when she was about to break and give up completely, that she heard a voice. A whisper within her. Its voice was intelligible… but comforting. Dinah tried to listen for it again, but it was gone as fast as it appeared.

"The threat has been neutralized."

Dinah opened her eyes and finally realized that she was still alive. Scuffed, bleeding, and a bit cut up form all the concrete flying everywhere, but still alive. She and father and father were still surrounded by the wreckage, but there was still a pocket of space for them to move around in.

The robot… Father had protected her with its body. It… he looked scratched but otherwise intact.

"Dinah." A voice came out of Father's shell. A voice that Dinah both dreaded and wanted to hear for so long. "Are you okay?"

Dinah's first instinct was to nod. "I'm fine."

"Squealer… hurt you too. Just like she hurt Daddy."

"Squealer's mech is incapacitated. She is no longer a present threat," Father commented as he turned toward the Mech that was the cause of the explosion. It was more scrap than machine at this point though. A nice fist shaped hole in its carapace being the finishing blow, Glory Girl's handiwork most likely.

"Hurry! Dig them out!"

Dinah could hear several voices shouting through the rubble. That was good. They'd be free soon.

There was a sudden hiss from the Mech. The cockpit would open and Squealer would crawl out. By all rights Dinah should've been afraid of this Villian but all she could feel was pity. That wrinkled sunken skin, those deep bags in her eyes, and the needle marks all over her body.

Dinah had heard rumors that Squealer had originally been an independent before Skidmark had gotten his hands on her. Twisted her into this… thing. Was thing what would happen to Missy if she was ever kidnapped by Villains? If Clara was?

"I won't let her hurt anyone else," Clara's voice whispered in the space they were in. "Kill her Daddy."

Dinah's eyes went wide as she finally registered what Clara had just said. That couldn't be right. Clara would never say something like that.

"… I do not agree with that order. She is incapacitated," Father commented. "Killing her is detrimental to the discussions we are having with the Protectorate."

"That's fine. We'll make it look like an accident," Clara replied, each word causing Dinah's blood to grow more frigid. As the harsh reality of what her friend wanted finally set in. "Crushed by her own Mech, just like what she did to you Daddy."

Squealer moaned. Were their words even registering to her? Was she unconscious or so drugged out that she wasn't even aware that Clara was trying to plan her execution!?

"Clara. Don't do this," Dinah pleaded her friend. Pleaded to stop her from making a mistake that she could never take back.

"Daddy. Override Command 44 Delta."

Father suddenly stood stock still as his eye changed color to a frigid blue. There was no further response from him, apart from slowly walking toward Squealer. He raised his hand, a bright light gathering on its palm.

"This is a weapon that I was experimenting with. Wasn't sure it was ready, but you'll be a good person to test it on Squealer," Clara said with a voice full of joy and glee. A voice that brought back so many memories for Dinah.

It so much sounded like the old Clara. The person she was before her father had been killed. If she did though then that person would be gone. There would be no going back for her.

Dinah couldn't let that happen. She got up on her feet and ran. Before anyone could react, she sprinted past Father's legs and tackled Squealer's body. There was a flash from Father's hand just as she made contact.

At first Dinah saw a bright red light that enveloped all her vision. Then nothing. Just black and silence. It wasn't until a few seconds passed that she finally registered the searing pain in her eyes. A pain so great that she could only scream herself coarse before everything just faded away.

"I can't- I can't heal this!" Missy cried as her hands hovered over the remains of Dinah's eyes. There was almost nothing to heal, just burnt-out stumps still in her head. When she heard what had happened Missy had hoped that she could've done something. That Pixie could fix her friend like it had for countless people before. That she could do something that Mona couldn't. But Pixie had its limits, Missy had her limits.

Just like back at the aftermath of that Endbringer fight, there was nothing she could do for the person she was trying to save.

"H-how did this happen?" Missy asked, begged to have her question answered.

Glory Girl answered, her expression and posture sullen. "I punched Squealer's Mech into that building. I'm sorry."

"This is why we keep telling you be careful Vicky," Laserdream chastised her cousin. "You didn't watch your strength and now-"

"That doesn't explain why her eyes were burnt out like this!" Missy shouted. She needed answers. Needed someone to blame, to punish! Dinah was innocent in all this, she didn't deserve any of it. Whoever did this deserved to pay!

Father was silent, though Clara's voice came out through the Coms.

"I… I…"

"It's my fault," Dinah whispered, somehow having woken up despite having her eyes burnt out of her skull. "I wanted to see… if Squealer was still alive… Something in her machine exploded."

Mona didn't say anything, though for some reason his expression looked doubtful as he looked at Father. Almost suspicious.

"Dinah…" Missy cried freely now. There was no she could control the tears that poured down her face. "I can't save your eyes. You're…"

"It's fine Missy… It's no one's fault," Dinah replied. She reached forward with her hand only to grab nothing but air. "I'm just sorry… for everything."