Sam felt the Greek kopis break through the fabric of his suit. He felt the blade’s tip pierce into his flesh and draw blood. Only then was he able to pull away while knowing full well that he was too late.

WARNING! You have been poisoned with the [Kiss of Achlys].

“Styx,” Sam gasped.

ALERT! [Regeneration (ζ)] cannot counteract the poison. The power level is too low.

Sam could already feel the poison working inside him. It wormed its way slowly into his internal organs and even intensified the pain that came from his left fist.

ALERT! [Regeneration (ζ)] can slow the rate of infection, but it is recommended that the hero ingest [Hydra Venom] to counteract the [Kiss of Achlys] before paralysis sets in.

“Don’t run away!” The Trickster chased after Sam while slashing his knife across the air in a frenzied flurry. “We were just starting to have fun!”

Sam could barely dodge his attacks. His legs were weakening, forcing him to stumble away almost desperately.

“I need...” Sam gasped for air. “I need... a second...”

But the Trickster would give him no quarter. He chased after Sam like a shark that smelled blood in the water, and he laughed while he did it. Soon enough, Sam’s left leg began to numb, and with it went Sam’s ability to evade.

“Let me show you my latest trick.” the Trickster thrust his kopis forward, “I call it the Sword Box, but without the box... ha-ha-ha!”

Krak-ka-boom!

The Trickster was swept away by a wave of static energy that had ambushed him from the left.

“Thank... you,” Sam said.

Sam now had precious seconds to reach into the potions pouch of his utility belt and pull out the small vial he’d stashed in there. He raised this vial to his lips, and as he stared at the dark green liquid held within, Sam’s mind flashed back to earlier when he was about to leave Mr. Moonday’s workshop.

“Wait, Mr. Shepard,” Mr. Moonday had called after him. “I have one more thing for you.”

From his worktable, Mr. Moonday had picked up a small wooden box with a pink Caduceus stamped on its surface. Inside this box was a small vial of dark green liquid.

“Mr. Saturnday asked me for a favor,” he’d pulled out the vial from its box and offered it to Sam. “He and Mrs. Mercuriusday don’t get along you see.”

Damn, right, Chiron had chimed in. I can’t stand that alcoholic braggart...

“And so he asked me to procure this vial of Hydra Venom extract from the ancient apothecary,” Mr. Moonday had added. “I’ll just put it on your master’s tab.”

The sudden numbness of his fingers forced Sam’s mind to focus on the here and now. And with barely a second of hesitation — his nose cringing from the liquid’s scent of rotten eggs and snake oil — Sam downed the vial’s contents, and it was the worst drink he’d ever had in his life.

Not even a spoonful of sugar could make this medicine go down fast enough. That’s just how bad it was. Hydra Venom burned to touch, and even this diluted bit felt like Sam had just swallowed a mouthful of fiery water from the river Phlegethon.

ALERT! [Hydra Venom] has begun to counteract the [Kiss of Achlys]. The hero will experience incredible pain while one poison burns out the other. [Regeneration (ζ)] will attempt to dull the pain.

The inside of his mouth burned, his throat burned, and then his gut. Only then did he fall to his knees and finally let loose that strangled cry.

Sam felt someone's arms wrap around him and didn’t pull away from her embrace.

“Are you alright?” Thunder asked.

CONGRATULATIONS! The [Hydra Venom] has successfully burned [Kiss of Achlys] out of your system. [Regeneration (ζ)] is currently attempting to heal your body. Please refrain from taking any action while healing is in progress.

For the first time, Sam was fine with following this particular advice.

“Y...yeah...” Sam’s own arms rose up to wrap around her. “It just... it tasted really bad.”

“I can imagine,” she replied, and a bit of her old playfulness was back in her voice.

Sam cleared his throat. “Are you okay?”

“The bard helped a little,” she admitted. “But seeing you in trouble... I guess I just—”

“—needed to get off your ass?” Sam finished for her.

“Shut it, lame-brain,” Thunder snapped.

They held each other like that for only a brief moment, but to Sam — and perhaps to Thunder too — it felt like time had stretched so that an entire life age of the Earth had passed before their cozy embrace was finally interrupted by the deranged laughter of a psychotic villain.

Sam and Thunder pulled away from each other as if they’d been caught in an embarrassing position. Although he did manage to slip an item into the pocket of her hoodie that he knew she’d know what to do with.

“If Romeo and Juliet are done cuddle-snuggling like a pair of care bears, perhaps we can return to the business of killing each other?” the Trickster chuckled. “I am in a bit of a hurry, after all.”

Too late, bastard, Sam thought as he rose to his feet. Crow-Man should have taken Farsight out of the building by now.

He gave Thunder a meaningful glance that he hoped translated into “Look inside your jacket,” and, “You know what to do with that,” but all the reply she gave him was a confused look that suggested they weren’t as in sync as he thought they were.

Then Sam felt a familiar tingling sensation rise up his back, forcing him to turn his gaze on the Trickster who was in the midst of conjuring his six-armed illusion.

“Um, that’s new,” Sam said.

One by one, each of the shimmering, golden hands appeared out of thin air, with each now carrying an equally shiny golden sword.

“I call this trick the ‘God of Death,” the Trickster explained. “Doesn’t it just get you all tingly?”

And with that, the Trickster hurled his many golden arms at Sam and Thunder. But just before these murderous illusions reached either hero, a charred hole opened up underneath the Trickster, causing him to fall into the hospital floor below.

“That was perfect timing,” Thunder noted.

“Sorry,” Farsight, who was with Crow-Man by the broken wall that lead back into the hospital, had her hands pressed on the garden floor, “did I step on his moment?”

With a knowing smile and a wink at Sam, she pulled her hands away and the hole that had swallowed the Trickster vanished in a flash, trapping him in the floor below.

“Let me guess,” Sam wiped away at the sweat on his brow, “you found a probable future where I punched a hole in the ground?”

Farsight shook her head. “I found a probable future where Thunder’s last lightning bolt was so powerful it shattered the floor.”

“Ashley Day?” Thunder raised an eyebrow at the pixie-haired teenager. “She was Farsight all along?”

“You hung out with Maeve and you didn’t know that?” Sam asked in surprise.

“I met her after they’d broken up,” Thunder replied. “And Maeve never talked about the Weird Sisters...”

Sam watched the sadness flit across Thunder’s face, and his hand automatically rose up to wrap around her shoulder.

“We’ll make her proud,” he said. “We’ll make sure Farsight’s safe—”

The surrounding air dropped in temperature. Dark clouds appeared overhead.

“What the—”

Sam sensed it then. That chill one gets when they imagine a ghost is in the room with them.

The ground rumbled beneath them.

“Yes, about keeping me safe...” Farsight raised a finger up. “I’d say there’s a fifty-fifty chance none of us will make it out of here alive.”

Cracks formed on the ground between the four heroes. Then it burst apart — a shower of concrete and steel exploding upward — as the shadow that haunted Sam’s nightmare rose up from below.

“Fifty-fifty,” Sam repeated. “Somehow... that feels like an optimistic estimate...”

He felt Thunder’s right hand reach out for his. Their fingers intertwined.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ve got this...”

And despite the great threat rising before them, he couldn’t help but be infected by her optimism. That was the thing about top-class heroes. Even the simplest of words can become inspiring enough to make one believe anything was possible.

“Yeah,” Sam replied. “We do have this.”