Ember cradled the sushi bento box, walking after Alexa. It was from her favourite sushi restaurant on Titanomachy too. She clung to the box as the last, final reminder of a future that she would never reach now. She had been undone, her destiny had been revealed in all of its fantastic splendor and then ripped away from her in the same instance. No, even slightly prior, she just stubbornly refused to accept it.

Ember had accepted it all now.

She was no longer Resonance, no longer a hero, just a girl who Alexa made her minion for some inexplicable reason. Was it part of the villain’s post-gloating experience or something? Ember felt that she was of no use to anyone now, a person shattered into a million tiny pieces with no way to put herself back together again. She was tired, cold and soaked from the summer thunderstorm that was passing over the little town.

She stared at the large, gothic revival style cathedral up ahead of them, water rushing down the dark parapets, pouring out of the gargoyle mouths. Why were they walking to the cathedral? Was the villain about to reveal her greatest crime of murdering her father to them? How had she managed to bind Martin and the Equalizer to herself as obedient minions?

Had she broken them in the same manner, dismantling their hopes and dreams, unravelling their future right in front of them? No, that would be silly. Martin never had a power or a determinate future. Ember was always trying her best to push Martin towards being a hero, but he seemed to show no talent or aptitude for such.

Until today Martin had acted like an eight year old, had no backbone, no self awareness, showed no signs of growing up or becoming a man. His incompetence, naivety and shyness often made Ember feel like she wanted to strangle him. But now... Now he was different. He awoke at 14 as one of the most dangerous, most rare supers out there - a puppeteer type. Not just a partial one either, but a permanent puppeteer who could create an entire network of mind control and thought exchange via his brain spider things. How the hell did he make those anyway? It was as if he had a set of two powers, not one. This alone was a terrifying prospect.

What the hell had Alexa done to her brother?

“I seem to recall you accusing me of murdering my father.” Alexa addressed Ember, turning to the cathedral. “I do believe it’s time for this gang of monster-hunters to solve the mystery of Saint Mary’s cathedral and find out what really happened therein.”

The four teenagers passed under the gothic stone gate, the cathedral growing bigger with every step.

The girl villain wiped raindrops from her face as she stepped towards the double wrought iron doors of the entrance. The iron sculpture on the door looked like a depiction of the biblical flood, muscular men and women drowning in an ever-rising ocean, clinging to each other, clawing their way towards air.

“Friggin rain. Really should have invested in a nice van and a cute mascot to carry my umbrella or something.” She complained.

“Or you know, get an umbrella.” Martin commented.

“Ain't nobody got space for umbrellas.” Alexa pointed at her belt full of tools. “They’re bulky and cumbersome.”

[Or a cloak.] Cottie stepped into the entryway arch, raindrops rolling off her. She took down her hood, looking entirely dry.

“You know, I recall asking someone to reward me with her cloak.”

[It’s part of my armor. Would you like me to take off my entire armour right here and give it to you?]

“Hey! Keep it PG! You’re offending poor, easily impressionable Mittens.” Alexa laughed, drying her silver mane by twirling it with her hands.

[I’ve piloted all of your bodies via my brain-spiders for hours. I don’t think anything’s going to offend me anymore.] Martin sighed.

Ember stepped up to the stairwell. Just yesterday she had no fear of this place, banging at the doors and windows, knowing full well that no matter what was inside, her power would protect her, catch bullets in mid air, disable traps, disarm and break minions. Now, as a mundane human she was feeling terrified of the place. Who knew what sorts of horrid defence systems were hidden inside, designed by the late Dr. Terranova? Was she making a mistake following Alexa into the cathedral? Would she end up dead within, doomed to never to be found by the Superstate now that had she lost all of her recognizable features?

Alexa glanced back at Ember. “Somebody’s frightened. Are you scared of spooky scary church ghosts? Don’t worry, daddums is perfectly alive and well. I just want to show off my impressive team of minions to him. He hasn’t left me any praises lately!”

Ember reached the ancient entryway, looking up at the latin inscription above the doors. "Omnes Relinquite Spes, O Vos Intrantes" She understood the latin phrase from her academy days, having studied multiple languages with the use of her avatars. “All hope abandon ye who enter here? A bit somber for a regular cathedral, but makes sense for a villain’s base.”

“See? You’re not completely useless. Nobody can take away your smarts. How many extra lifetimes have you experienced through the use of your avatars? How many books have you read? You gotta be like a thousand years by now or something. See, we already have something in common, Dimmy!” Alexa winked at Ember. “Both of us have far more experiences in our brains than we really should.”

“Don’t call me that. That is a horrible nickname and also I hate it.” Ember said grouchily. She realised that she was starving, opened the sushi box and started to nibble on the rolls, praying that Alexa didn’t poison them or something.

“Oh, you’ll learn to love it like these two.” Alexa waved her hands at Martin and Cottie.

“I don’t like my nickname that much.” Martin said.

[I am also not enthused about mine. It is tolerable.]

“Are we all having a minion-assigned-name mutiny?” Alexa lifted the great brass handle and slammed it into the door producing a deep gong sound. “For shame.”

“I’m going to give you a nickname, see how you feel about it.” Martin leaned towards Alexa.

“What?” Alexa blinked listening to any kind of a response behind the door. “You can’t nickname me. I already nicknamed myself Cassie the Terror Supernova! Rawr.”

“I’m going to nickname you and there’s nothing you can do about it. Mwa ha ha.” Martin attempted to sound like Alexa. “See? That’s what you sound like. You have a villain-theme problem.”

“I do not sound like a high-pitch boy’s voice. I have an angelic, heavenly voice adored by the masses. Also, being a villain isn’t a problem. It’s just a matter of filling people’s expectations of you so that you can socially hack them later.” Alexa waved Martin off.

“Daaaaaadums! Open the hell up! I got minions to show you!” She yelled into the keyhole, banging the handle twice as hard.

[Has this worked before?] Cottie asked.

“Nope. Never did.” Alexa scratched her head looking at the large iron doors. “You know what? I know you’re watching me. Guess I’ll have to start my minion presentation outside. Prepare to be impressed!” She theatrically waved her hand at Martin.

“This is Mittens! Drumroll please…” Alexa yelled. Cottie tapped her fingers against her gun, making a miniature drum-roll like sound. “He is my minion numero uno. Part man, part spiders!”

“This is a terrible description of me.” Martin said.

“He’s worth at least four spidermens right now! Observe how he looks like a useless, weak 14 year old boy! Well you couldn't be any more wrong, daddums! He’s full of surprises and… uhh.. also spiders. Damn it, I should have rehearsed this. Okki.” Alexa shoved Martin towards the door. “Do the thing.”

“What thing?”

“Kiss the keyhole” Alexa pointed.

[What?]

[God, you’re so dim for someone who has four people and four spiders worth of brains at your disposal. Make a tiny skinwalker scout. Get inside the keyhole. See what’s inside.]

[Ah, right. Gotcha.] Martin leaned towards the door, disconnected a tiny segment from Spiderbro and made it jump inside the keyhole. He suddenly felt very lightheaded and confused as his perspective shifted from his human self to a new, tiny skinwalker. The spider walked through the keyhole, bumping into some sort of a shimmering barrier that began right after the keyhole ended. Martin made it shove a sensor tendril as small as he could make it, squeezing it between the end of the door and the shimmering shield. This allowed him to observe the stuff all around. He saw what appeared to be a very fancy, gothic motif stone room with another set of doors leading into the nave. Right above the door a jar stood on a pedestal with a human brain floating inside, tubes leading from the it into the depths of the cathedral.

“There’s a brain in a jar right about the door. That’s about it.” Martin said.

“Shit. That’s biotech stuff. Highly dangerous and illegal. Now I know why I couldn't get in! He’s using super brains to make an impassable shield!” Ember said, backing away from the door. She did not want to anger the brains. Who knew what kind of nasty things they could do?

“Dimmy, go run home and cry to your own daddy if you’re scared of some musty, old brain jars. I’m sure Daniel Kilborne would love to hear how and why you lost your powers.” Alexa pointed towards the direction of the Kiborne’s home.

Ember glared at Alexa. “Screw you.”

“Feisty as ever, I see. Alright, Martin, use Cottie.”

“Uh?”

[Shoot the brainjar with Eva! You can see exactly where you need to aim! What else are you thinking of? Seriously!]

“Sorry, Cottie, do you mind if I aim you?” He inquired with a blush.

[This is fine. Direct me.] Cottie nodded.

[How the hell did she brainwash an Equalizer?] Ember thought angrily.

“I didn’t. She came pre-brainwashed.” Alexa grinned, leaning on the ex-hero. Ember sputtered, not knowing what to say to that, concerned that three other people were privy to her thoughts.

Martin took over Cottie’s arms, switched on the nullifier and pressed the trigger. Colors faded from the world. The nullification effect struck the shield, causing a ripple in it. It didn’t seem to fail completely. There must have been similar brain jars all over the cathedral supporting the shield, Martin figured. Titanomachy had one such protection that he read about. Different backup fusion reactors reinforcing each other, creating an impervious barrier. Except these weren’t fusion reactors. These were the brains of supers. Where did the supervillain get so many super brains? Martin shuddered ever so slightly, focusing on aiming Cottie, triangulating the approximate position of the jar via his small spider keyhole spy and positions of the four teenagers in front of the door.

“I suggest you step back. We don’t have Ember to catch shrapnel anymore.” He said, making the little scout jump out of the keyhole and onto his shoulder. Martin and the others retreated away from the door. Cottie stayed perfectly still, aim unchanging.

Martin made Cottie release the trigger. The gun fired with a supersonic bang, the bullet going through the stone wall of the church like it was made of butter. It struck the shield and it warped inwards, wobbling and slamming the jar off the shelf. Martin heard it smash against the floor. The shield in front of the door flickered, growing very weak. Martin directed Cottie to press the trigger again, walking her forward. Eva’s nullification field struck the shield and it vanished.

“I did it! The path is clear!” He yelled.

“Hooray!” Alexa jumped up and down excitedly. [Wohoooooooo! Finally, finally, finally! Take that daddums!] Her thoughts screamed.

Ember looked at the villain, stumped. Her theory about parental murder was beginning to come apart at the seams. It was becoming obvious to her that Alexa had never been inside the church. Maybe she was a really good liar? Ember temporarily reassured herself with this explanation.

Martin made Cottie push against the giant doors and they slid apart with a deep groan, revealing the grimy, stone interior to them. There was a deep layer of dust on the floor. It was obvious that nobody had stepped inside the place in decades.

Alexa looked at the dust. “I should really hire a cleaning lady or buy a roomba or something. This is definitely an allergy zone.” She looked back at Ember. “You don’t have asthma, right? I should really look into your medical records. You’re an unexpected addition to the fellowship of the loop.”

The third minion shook her head, feeling perturbed by the deep silence within the church. The four teens entered the cathedral, making footprints in the dust.

“I shall file you under Boromir. You’re here because you’re curious, Dimmy... not because you want to help us save the world. You’re probably going to betray us at the earliest convenience and then cry about it a lot.” Alexa commented, as Cottie shoved the next set of doors open.

The figure of Doctor Terranova stood in the center of the nave. He turned around, facing them, looking silver and transparent. A skeleton wearing a lab coat laid on the floor in the center of the nave, surrounded by dust covered lab equipment and machinery that nobody had used in decades.

“GGGgg-ghost!” Martin yelped, stepping backwards and tripping on Ember who also howled in turn as he stepped on her foot.