Sam... Sam...

He heard someone call his name from afar, from beyond the inky blackness he found himself in.

Come back to us...

Everything hurt. Everything ached.

Come back to me...

There, just over the horizon, a flash of light cut through the dark. Once, then twice, and then a third flash of brilliant light — each one causing a shock in his chest that made Sam double over in pain.

“Come on, lame-brain,” said the now irritated voice. “Breathe!”

There was one final shock — static energy spreading all around his body — and then Sam woke up with a start.

“Ouch,” he gasped.

“Thank Apollo,” Thunder said as she hugged him tightly. “Damn it, lame-brain... I thought I lost you...”

“I...I’m okay,” he said, even though that wasn’t exactly true.

He was sitting on the ground and staring up at the cloudy sky while Thunder held him. Every part of him hurt, although he wasn’t about to tell her to let go.

“The civilians...?” he asked.

“They’re on their way down,” Thunder replied.

Sam felt relief flooding into him. Then he remembered the giant shadow, and that relief vanished instantly.

“It’s not over, is it?” Sam asked.

“Nope,” Farsight said.

She and Crow-Man were standing protectively over Sam and Thunder.

“But...” She pointed a finger behind Sam. “We did find the Trickster.”

Sam turned his head, and what he saw behind him caused him to spew several curses that would be inappropriate to write in this record.

The giant shadow had been damaged enough by Sam’s Mortal Punch that its entire form flickered erratically, allowing Sam and the gang to see what was hidden underneath the darkness.

“Holy...”

Floating in the spot where the heart would have been was a figure Sam recognized instantly.

“...Zeus.”

“Conjuring up such a powerful being required a host sacrifice, and he does make the perfect patsy for an avatar of destruction, doesn’t he,” Farsight said.

From what Sam could see, the Trickster looked to be in tremendous pain. He was writhing inside the shadow, his body contorted in weird ways. His face was a mess too, eyes bulging, teeth-gnashing like he was in the midst of a silent scream.

“Gods...” Sam couldn’t help but feel sorry for this villain who’d already caused him so much pain. “We have to save him.”

Each of his companions gave him a look that suggested they didn’t think Sam was thinking straight.

“You guys know I’m right,” Sam insisted as he pushed himself up and just barely managed it with Thunder’s help.

It can’t be just about one person, Chiron had said earlier.

“It has to be about everyone,” Sam finished.

“You’re right, Sarah.” Farsight raised her eyebrow at Sam. “He is annoyingly naive...”

“He’s also right.” Crow-Man pulled one of his throwing knives out. “Even the Trickster doesn’t deserve to be an elder giant’s sacrifice.”

“So... superhero team-up,” Thunder said unenthusiastically. “Yey...”

To the casual observer, the four of them standing there side by side against a backdrop of a ruined building while facing the shadow of an elder giant might have looked like the perfect shot for a movie poster. Honestly, a gathering of heroes was always going to look cool.

Are you guys done posing like a bunch of idiots? Chiron asked. We got a giant to slay.

Sam didn’t bother relaying that message to his team. His team — that was a really strange thought to have. Still, Sam knew he needed them because he was operating at critical levels.

HEALTH POINTS (HP): 05/700 STAMINA POINTS (SP): 03/350 FATIGUE: 98%

“I don’t suppose you guys have a—”

“—here,” Farsight tossed Sam a small vial. “Healing water and adrenaline cocktail... enjoy!”

“Thanks.” Sam pulled off its stopper and then downed the contents without a second thought. He made a sour face, groaned, and then said, “That’s the stuff...”

HEALTH POINTS (HP): 152/700 STAMINA POINTS (SP): 55/350 FATIGUE: 64%

Just barely enough for one very short round... Sam sighed. “So, what’s the plan?”

All gazes turned to Farsight, who, although the youngest member of this little group was also a precog with a degree in astrophysics. Her eyes were glazed in that telltale sign of a seer checking out the future, or in Farsight’s case, probabilities.

Luckily, the giant shadow was busy trying to keep its form together, and it wasn’t currently paying attention to the four noisy ants about to give it an even rough time.

“I don’t suppose you can fire off another one of those glowing punches?” Farsight asked.

“The last one nearly killed me,” Sam said.

“Figures,” Farsight sighed. “Then you’ll have to do your bond thing.”

“My what?” Sam asked.

Farsight pointed to both Sam and Thunder. “You two clearly have a bond. Use it to rip the Trickster away from the giant shadow’s hold.”

“Remove the core and the summoning spell ends,” Crow-Man guessed.

“Exactly,” Farsight nodded.

Thunder and Sam glanced awkwardly at each other.

“We don’t,” she began, which he finished with, “Have a bond—”

Sam stopped mid-sentence.

Could she be talking about that kind of bond? he wondered.

Sam quickly pulled up his [BONDS] menu.

BOND: Capricorn NAME: Sarah Ryder (20) LEVEL: 2

Underneath this title was a brief description of their first meeting, and the moment they formed their bond. Below that was a list of the benefits given by the Capricorn bond which now included a third bonus that hadn’t been there before.

BONUS THREE: Your growing bond has opened the possibility for a [Fusion Attack] that has a successful fusion rate of 50%.

“You two learn how to dance, and quickly,” Farsight suggested. “Mr. Crow and I will keep the giant busy.”

“It’s Crow-Man,” the older hero corrected.

Sam and Thunder gave each other another awkward look.

“I did say hurry, didn’t I?” Farsight gave them both a pointed look before pointing her thumb behind her. “Get going already.”

“What the kid said,” Crow-Man agreed.

He threw one, and then a second throwing knife up at the giant shadow that was now stable enough to focus back on the heroes. Crow-Man’s throwing knife intercepted the giant shadow’s fist and detonated upon impact.

The ear-shattering roar that followed caused Sam to look up.

“The fire hurts it,” Sam guessed.

A light bulb lit up inside his head. It was the spark of an idea that might just save the day.

Sam pulled Thunder back to what was left of the garden’s rear and far away from their giant problem.

“You’re an Argonaut so you know about bonds, right?” Sam asked.

All she could give him was a gaze that said ‘duh’ which he guessed was the only way she could get around Triple-A’s security measures.

“There’s this thing called—”

“—fusion attacks,” Thunder finished for him.

“You’ve done it before?” Sam asked.

Thunder nodded. “With my cousin... it doesn’t always work.”

Sam offered Thunder his hand. “It’ll work this time.”

“And what makes you so confident?” Thunder asked.

“Because we’re heroes...” Sam wiggled his fingers impatiently at her. “And we make this kind of thing work when it matters.”

“You’ve gotten more confident.” Thunder entwined her fingers around Sam’s. “Chiron must be rubbing off on you.”

A second or two passed, and nothing happened. This was pretty bad because the ground was shaking more and more.

“Um, how’s this supposed to work again?” Sam asked.

“Seriously?” She rolled her eyes at Sam and then dragged him closer to him. “What exactly do you want to do?”

“I...I...” Suddenly being that physically close to Thunder was causing Sam’s brain circuits to fritz. “I want to make light... a really big one.”

“Wow... nice plan, genius,” she said sarcastically.

Maybe if you stop thinking like a love-sick idiot, you might actually make sense, Chiron chided.

Sam shut his eyes and reclaimed his concentration before speaking again. “The explosions from Crow-Man’s knives clearly hurt it... I think it’s because the light negatively affects the shadow’s form.”

“So you want to create an even more powerful light source?” Thunder guessed. “Sam, I’m not—”

“—strong enough to summon a lightning bolt with your current condition, I know,” Sam finished for her. “So use me... let me be the conduit for your power and then hurl me toward it like you usually do.”

“You want me to channel my energies into you like a lightning rod?” Thunder asked.

Sam’s response was interrupted by the ear-splitting roar of an angry giant that was trying to swat his companions to death.

“If we can combine my Bulwark’s aura with your static energy, then I think we can give me the edge I need to pierce through the giant shadow’s form and reach the Trickster inside it,” Sam explained.

“Sam, you’re too weak—”

“—I can handle it,” he insisted.

Uncertainty flitted across Thunder’s face.

The ground shook some more. The sounds of battle intensified.

“Trust me,” Sam urged.

Several seconds passed before the doubt disappeared from Thunder’s face. “Fine... I trust you.”

Lightning crackled along her arm and raced toward Sam’s hand.

“Hope you survive this experience, Sam,” she said.

He felt a tingling in the tips of his fingers which were his cue to summon Bulwark’s aura to spread across his body and join with the static energy now rolling up his arms. Usually, such dissimilar forms of energies wouldn’t be able to meld together so seamlessly, and yet they did.

“This is...” Sam breathed.

This static energy coursed through him, turning what was usually a near-transparent kinetic shield into a shiny coat of electricity.

“...so awesome.” he finished.

CONGRATULATIONS! Fusion attack is a success! You have temporarily inherited the Lightning Raiment of the hero [Thunder].

“Yeah,” Thunder sounded equally impressed. Then she punched Sam playfully on the shoulder. “You’ve got the lightning now, Sam... It’s time to bring the thunder.”