“You were about to upset the balance of life. Please do not hold it against me. I could not allow it, I took action, and now your life is forfeit.”

- Speech delivered by Deus Ex Machina to each person slain by her sword.

_____________________________________________________________

Hayley was the last of the group to get spidersilk bones. The first had been Conrad, and it hadn’t even been anything serious. The doofus had fallen down the stairs. That had been an interesting day off. After that was Kent, another one of the guys racing ahead to prove… Something, Hayley was sure. At least Kent’s had been on the job, that meant it hadn’t come out of their savings.

Lucy and Natalie had been caught together a few weeks later and neither had got out of that one looking pretty. They had gone into the territory of the Courtesans for some reason, Hayley couldn’t remember. Both of them had needed care for more than broken bones after that huge disaster. There had been so much blood everywhere, they’d needed to torch that safe house just to make sure they were safe.

Although, Hayley supposed, since Natalie was the one that did the procedure, it was possible that she had attempted it on herself first. She just needed to be present, after all. It wasn’t technically her doing the work. Either way, the girls had been put on equal footing with the boys in terms of recklessness, and Hayley had missed the bragging rights.

Hayley and Hayley alone had slowly eked back those rights as the rest of the boys fell prey to accidents one by one. First had been Jackie when he got hit by a blindfired blast from Headache. Normally Jackie didn’t need to worry about that kind of thing, seeing as he was usually the only one that could see in a given situation. That time was a special occasion though, and even Hayley had been hard pressed to avoid all those rapid fire explosions.

Gifted always acted weird after Halcion.

Philip was the next and last boy to get any limbs broken. He tripped up during a bank heist and got snatched by Orcus. He was supposedly interrogated and sent away to prison before he’d been extracted. Then he was sent to Natalie for treatment, as the Regulation only saw fit to give Philip a sling and a crutch. He babbled the entire time from him showing up, to him disappearing. It was scary, the effect of the gray demon. Boss sent him away for good after that, and Hayley was finally the only one who hadn’t broken anything.

But the bragging was glorious. Even if the team was hurting without Philip’s ability to predict ‘the good shit’ as he called it. None of them were ever trained or anything. They’d only been pulling through by the skin of their teeth thanks to Junkie and improvising the rest.

That changed when Andrew joined, which was great for the job. His Regulation training meant the team could talk tactics again, sometimes doing a better job than Philip had. But Hayley realised straight away she had lost. Andrew wouldn’t break a bone, period. Hayley ceded the point and took pleasure in bragging about other things, like how fast she was. Then the impossible happened and Channel wrecked Andrew in her debut appearance.

Andrew got the spidersilk and a bath, while Hayley got the bragging rights back. It was cathartic. But only for three weeks. Then another transhuman debuted, Hayley didn’t even know their name. One keyboard hitting impossibly hard later, Hayley was getting the spidersilk. Hayley thought she was quite justified in being bitter about the whole thing.

“Hold still.” Natalie scolded.

Hayley did not want to stay still. There were spiders in her leg.

“Why do we have to do this here?” Hayley whined.

“I’d have moved you,” Natalie flicked Hayley’s forehead. “If you didn’t currently have a broken leg.”

“This is the lounge.” Hayley moaned. “You have opened up my leg, and Kent’s trying to watch T.V.”

“From my point of view, this is an absolute win.” Kent commented. “I can take my pick between the exploits of Bagman Slam Jam, spectacular as they are, and watching you finally get your comeuppance.”

Kent grinned right at Hayley. “And I don’t even need to change the channel.”

One side of Kent’s face was covered in bandages. Underneath the bandages was the result of someone’s face being cooled to freezing, then superheated when Victorious had knocked him out. His foot was resting on a stool, wrapped in a compression stocking and iced. That one was because Kent had thought it was a great idea to fall down a level in an attempt to escape Victorious. It had ended the same way most stupid ideas did.

Hayley flipped him the finger. “Are you sure this is safe? I can see my bones when I shouldn’t really be seeing them at all.”

Natalie scowled. “Of course it’s safe. I’ve patched up everyone this way. Andrew got done on the table, remember? The only difference is that your leg got shattered while his ribs were a clean break.”

The boy in question grunted. He was sitting next to Kent and his black glass trident had been left at the door, which he’d done today without arguing. He’d escaped without wounds, predictably, but he wasn’t saying much of anything today. Victorious probably put the fear of death in him.

“You haven’t patched up everyone yet.” Kent pointed out.

“Kent, can you stop? I need to focus.”

Natalie was holding her hands above two spiders, each about half the size of a tarantula. They had black fur that turned white at the tip, and Hayley knew from experience that they could produce very strong silk. They were the source of the spidersilk bones, and they made Hayley’s skin crawl.

When the spiders were done and her leg was sewn up, they’d nip her in the leg, injecting venom that made the silk harden on contact. The end result was supposedly stronger than normal bone. Stronger in one direction and weaker in the other, Natalie had explained it. That explanation had flown straight over Hayley’s head thanks to the spiders crawling in Natalie’s hair when she was describing the process.

The spiders were a gift from Boss, as Hayley understood it, made by some genetic techo somewhere with a special place reserved for them in hell. She had no idea what the spiders were called. Hayley blanked out those portions of her interactions with Natalie. The two girls worked together in an unscrupulous profession, and they felt closer than just coworkers. But Natalie’s intimacy with her spiders was too off-putting.

Natalie’s power let her control arachnids. Normally, it was general orders. Go here. Build webs. Bite people. Etcetera. Most of the time that control was en mass, but right now she was focusing to gain fine control over two specific spiders to perform surgery on Hayley’s leg. Each twitch of Natalie’s fingers indicated a new instruction to the spiders, and they continued to act on it until told otherwise.

Natalie was the designated medic. Her power had apparently come with a degree of Smart powers. She just understood medical stuff. It was an extremely useful thing to have on your side.

The blow to Hayley’s leg had shattered the bone in several places. Natalie had told her to get comfortable, but Hayley was worried she hadn’t put enough effort into getting comfortable before going into this.

“You’re sure you’re not feeling anything?” Natalie checked, worry in her voice.

Hayley dug a fingernail into her thumb, feeling nothing. “No. Why?”

“We didn’t have enough of the anaesthetic I normally use for this kind of thing on hand.” Natalie explained. “So I had to improvise a little. Hayley, just let me know if you start feeling any side effects.”

Hayley snapped her fingers a few times, marvelling at the lack of sensation. “Is this what getting high is like?”

Jackie had just walked in. “Would you want to know?”

“Not with you.” Hayley shot back with a snap of her fingers.

Jackie shrugged and went to the kitchen, unphased. Hayley pouted. The boy had become boringly mellow after he lost his staff. Normally he would have kept the banter going a bit longer.

Considering how badly beaten the rest of them had gotten, Jackie and Natalie were the ones who got the good end of the stick. Jackie had been up against Orcus, but his ability had successfully isolated the grey man until reinforcements showed up. He spoke strange, but he did good work when it counted.

On the other hand, Natalie had spent most of the day in the basement where the electrical stuff was. Her spiders had made short work of the building systems, and then she left spiders guarding it to make sure it stayed that way while she went around on medic duty. No one showed up before she extracted.

Natalie lowered her hands. The spiders had finished clearing away bone shards, placing them in a small box, and were now filling in the gaps with silk. They would stop automatically once the missing bone parts had been filled in. “Now I’m worried. What are you feeling right now?”

Hayley considered drawling her words, but decided the joke would have been a step too far given that there were spiders in her leg. “Fine. Moving doesn’t make me feel anything. Scratching doesn’t either. That.” She pointed at the spiders moving up and down her leg. “May as well not be happening when I’m not looking.”

Natalie frowned. “Why? What happens when you look?”

“My skin fucking crawls.”

Natalie laughed. “Okay, you’re in a good mental state. Still, drink lots of water and keep pressure off the leg for twenty minutes starting from the bite. You’ll be right as rain.”

Hayley smiled. It was genuine. “Thanks Nat.”

“Ew.” Conrad said grossly as he walked in. “What the fuck is that on your face?”

Hayley’s smile vanished. “It’s called a smile, dickwad. What the fuck is that on your face?”

“What?” Conrad squinted. His face lit up in multicoloured light as he used his power to see himself. The blows Conrad had taken were mostly superficial, except for the one the flying girl had given him. That one had knocked him out for a bit, and that was before Victorious wiped the floor with them. He wasn’t allowed to sleep for another six hours. Hayley was a little disappointed in herself that she hadn’t knocked that one around harder.

But right now Conrad looked fucking stupid with his power lighting him up. Hayley started cracking up.

The lights faded from Conrad’s face and he frowned. “There isn’t anything on my face.”

“Wrong!” Hayley cackled.

Natalie gave a bemused sigh. “It was your face.”

“Well that was hecking rude.” Conrad scowled as he retreated to the kitchen.

Hayley enthusiastically pumped her fist. “Still got it.”

“Don’t!” Natalie pushed Hayley’s fist down. “Move. Or I’ll make it impossible for you to.”

Hayley knew the threat was genuine so she calmed down and let herself be nursed. It wasn’t normally her thing, but Hayley found herself enjoying the over the top escapades of Bagman, the wrestler turned manifested hero. The fact that he had a camera following him around as he busted villains was a bit off putting, but now was as good a time as any for some crap television. Wasn’t this reruns anyway?

“Right.” Kent flicked the T.V. off once the credits rolled. “I’m conking out. See you in the morning.”

“Night.” The rest of them murmured. Jackie and Conrad had long since returned to their cave, likely playing some fighting game Hayley couldn’t be bothered remembering the name of. Natalie was still working on Hayley so she didn’t follow him out. Andrew didn’t move either, staring at the television even after it had been turned off.

“Is something wrong, Andrew?” Natalie asked, ever the empathetic one.

Andrew started when his name was said, which Hayley found amusing.

“Ah. No.” Andrew blinked, relaxing and seemingly just realising what the time was. “Just, you know, thinking.”

“About how you nearly died?” Hayley guessed.

Andrew met her eyes with a frown, like he hadn’t realised she was there. “Not really, no. Well. I suppose so. Toeing that line was also something that happened today.”

“Do you want something to help sleep?” Natalie asked.

“No, I’ll wet the bed again.” Andrew shook his head, completely serious. “Where’s Lucy? I haven’t seen her since we extracted.”

“She’s doing some shopping and spending the night somewhere else.” Natalie explained. “She still has people that she likes.”

“Hm.” Andrew had burned a lot of bridges when he joined the team, but he took it in stride. “I’m going to go for a soak.”

“Be careful!” Natalie called after him. Andrew picked up his trident on the way out and didn’t wave goodbye.

“Thinking is bad for people like him.” Hayley commented once the closing door told her they were alone.

“He has a lot to think about.” Natalie said. “Andrew took on a lot of responsibility when he joined up. It might be finally taking its toll.”

Hayley looked Natalie in the eye, and was surprised when Natalie was already making eye contact. “Have you ever considered he’s actually a mole for the Regulation.”

“Queue would have accounted for it.” Natalie answered easily. “That’s, um. I was thinking as well.”

“That’s a dangerous game.” Hayley jibed.

Natalie smiled and kept going. “I was wondering if you’d be open to talking about why we’re here, if that isn’t too much.”

Hayley raised an eyebrow.

“N-not about manifesting or anything. Just why we’re on the team.” Natalie stammered.

Hayley blinked away from a memory of tail lights fading and bursting lungs. “If it isn’t that, then fine. What do you want to know?”

“What did they offer you?”

Hayley tried to recall the exact amount. “Something above one thousand for the first job. That was just a trial run though, I’ve been getting more since then.”

“Oh. Just money.” Natalie looked like she hadn’t been expecting something so simple. She was, in a word, disappointed.

Hayley shrugged. “I never had any problems grappling with morality or anything. I’m not a monster any more than you are. The Entrepreneurs get a bad rep because they’re the biggest fish in town, but they do the work and put the effort in. I’m totally okay working for them.”

“Even with the…” One of Natalie’s hands disappeared behind her, drifting towards her mark.

Hayley felt an unconscious tingle on her left shoulder blade, where her mark was. “Means to an end. It does wonders for loyalty as well. What did they offer you?”

“Um. A chance to use my powers in ways I wouldn’t be able to on the side of the law.” Natalie flusteredly looked away.

It made sense to Hayley. Flexing a power was fun. Finding out where its limits lay was something every transhuman felt the need to do, and it was even better when it was done in a crisis.

“My powers don’t really work if it’s just pen to paper.” Natalie started talking faster. “I don’t think I could get into medical school with it.”

“Wait, you weren’t talking about the spiders?” Hayley asked.

“The spiders are cool, but they aren’t the point.” Natalie said and tapped her head. “I wanted to use what was in here. It looks like I can start on the next step now.”

The two white tipped spiders had crawled out of Hayley’s leg and disappeared off to some corner of the house. Natalie started moving the muscles and flesh back into place. All the while Hayley watched and felt nothing.

“It’s surreal.” Her voice croaked. More because that was how she talked than a feeling of wonder. Natalie was expertly nudging all the bits and pieces that made up Hayley’s leg back into their rightful place.

Natalie’s cheeks coloured in as she kept working.

One of the white tipped spiders returned holding a needle. Arriving with it was another spider that had a thread of silk attached to said needle. Natalie took the needle and started stitching up the long cut she had made to access the inside of Hayley’s leg.

“Why ask about that now?” Hayley suddenly asked.

Natalie paused, needle less than an inch from piercing Hayley’s skin. “Um...”

“Not suspicious or anything.” Hayley followed up. “Just curious.”

“I was... Um...” Natalie closed her eyes. “I was troubleshooting.”

Hayley cocked her head. “Okay?”

“Let me finish this.” Natalie quickly said. “Then let’s talk about it.”

“Okay.”

Natalie was soon done with Hayley’s leg. With a snap of Natalie’s fingers, the white tipped spider bit Hayley’s shin.

“Ah!” The bite was the first thing Hayley had felt in a while.

“Okay, you need to take this.” Natalie pushed some pills into Hayley’s hands. “Here’s something to drink with it. Remember not to walk for the next twenty minutes so the venom can circulate and finish hardening the silk. After that, keep it light while it hardens further. And no superspeed. I don’t know if your power considers the silk as part of your body yet. If you loosen your leg, you could end up worse than you were.”

Hayley nodded. “Thanks doc. Can we talk about the thing now?”

“Yes.”

Someone knocked on the door seven times. Someone had forgotten their key.

“In a moment.” Natalie said exasperatedly and went to open the door. Hayley took a moment to appreciate the patterns on the ceiling.

Two snaps. Three snaps.

Hayley urgently looked over her shoulder. The snaps didn’t mean anything, it wasn’t like they had a system for things like that. They were still figuring those things out. Hayley couldn’t see who was on the other side of the door, but Natalie was faking a polite smile at whoever was on the other side. Natalie didn’t smile at any of the team like that. That meant she didn’t know whoever was on the other side.

Staying quiet but urgent, Hayley pulled her Vphone out and started blowing up their group chat.

intruder - Sent 23.22

intruder - Sent 23.22

fucking intruder - Sent 23.22

Conrad was the first to see the messages.

Hayley kept typing. Conrad i know you see this fucking wake everyone up theres an intruder - Sent 23.23

She heard movement from further into the house. That was good. Meanwhile, Natalie was trying to refuse the intruder entry.

“We’re not buying, miss. It’s a little late for door to door soliciting, don’t you think?”

The other voice replied, voice as smooth as velvet. “But you don’t know what I’m trying to sell. I’m offering a heavy discount due to the poor timing of my arrival.”

“Miss, I don’t think you realise.” Natalie was stressing. “We’re strapped for cash right now. There’s no way we will be able to afford anything. Even if we wanted it, but we don’t.”

“Ah, but you haven’t even asked what I’m selling.”

“We’d rather you didn’t tell. It’s better not to think about the unobtainable, don’t you think?”

“You keep saying we. Is there someone else in there?”

Even though Hayley’s procedure was finished, she knew Natalie would to something horrible to her if she moved now. So Hayley was stuck on the couch as a tan female face poked around the doorframe, barely visible behind a green veil.

They immediately homed in on Hayley. “You there! Would you be interested in the dealings of a wandering Genie?”

“You what now?” Hayley frowned.

The woman barged inside, passing by Natalie who stepped back in alarm. Her clothes weren’t anything someone in their right mind would wear on a night like tonight. She had a vibrant green tank top that had dozens of string of beads attached, and the veil was hanging from a circlet that was similarly adorned. Hayley realised this woman was either insane or a Transhuman. If their luck held as low as it usually did, she was both.

“I’m released of my former prison!” The woman declared, dramatically raising one hand above her. “The shadows that once bound me are no more. And you know what the great thing about that is?” She leaned towards Hayley with one hand cupped around her ear.

Hayley didn’t respond. She made eye contact with Natalie. The brief moment they were looking at each other they came to the agreement that this was very bad. They weren’t telepaths or impressionists, though, so that was all they managed.

“You see, I hold within me the power of the universe!” The woman continued, gesturing great size. “But until recently. I was trapped.” She made a small box with her hands. “In a tiny space!”

“The fuck does that have to do with anything?” Hayley demanded.

“I have been freed, and I am feeling generous!” The woman shouted, striking a powerful pose.

Hayley was grumbling at the onset of a headache when the door slammed open as Kent and Conrad stormed in.

“Who the fuck are you!?” They shouted, nearly in unison.

Kent gave Conrad a side eye and continued by himself. “And what the fuck are you doing in our house? Actually, no. Get out.”

“Two more boys!?” The woman shrieked in joy. “This is good. I may have to grant more than one wish tonight to sate my generosity.”

Conrad looked at Natalie. “What’s her deal?”

“She thinks she’s a genie?” Natalie answered. “She knew to knock seven times.”

Kent frowned.

“I know all!” The woman declared, dramatically jumping up onto the table. “I held the code of seven even before I left my prison!”

“She’s crazy.” Kent realised. “Shit. What did you have tonight?”

“Glorious freedom!”

“Miss… I don’t know what to call you- can you please come down from there?” Kent held his hand towards the woman.

“Kent, I think she’s got a power.” Natalie warned. “Be careful.”

Kent frowned, causing two sheets of paper to appear in the table making parallel lines around where the woman was standing. When the paper appeared it overrode what was already there, meaning the table was ruined. They’d have to get another one, which was a shame. Hayley had been the one to pick out that table. Kent was probably planning to cut a square in the table if things went badly.

The woman shifted gears, suddenly becoming bashful when she noticed the outstretched hand. She daintily took it and the lights in the room dimmed.

“Natalie speaks the wisely, Kent Worthington. You should listen to her advice in the future.” The woman’s voice had layers now, like there was a fire mimicking everything she said.

There was a moment of quiet.

“I- I didn’t say my name.” Natalie cautiously announced.

Or Kent’s last name. Hayley thought to herself.

Kent seemed wrapped up in his own world. He was caught in whatever the power of the woman was.

“Shit.” Hayley muttered. “Close the door.”

Natalie absently pushed the door closed. Hayley noticed Natalie’s fingers were twitching, calling her spiders. That was something, at least. Conrad wasn’t good in a straight up fight, and who knew what Jackie was doing. Lucy and Andrew were still out. Hayley wished they were here. At least Andrew would have tried to do something, which would have been great because Hayley’s leg was still out of commission. If it wasn’t, she’d have been clotheslining that bitch so hard.

“Kent.” The woman repeated, her voice crackling. “I am a genie. You know this to be true. I will grant you a wish. One of your many great desires: sated. But my power must not be squandered. You must utter a single word. It can be anything, but it must be one word. Describe a desire of yours and I will grant it.”

Hayley’s leg was itching. She wanted to move, move and save Kent from this thing. She adjusted herself in her seat, and just as she was about to move she felt a prick in her leg. Hayley whirled to find a purple spider jumping off of her leg. While Hayley could still move she whirled to face Natalie, who met her accusing stare with a sorrowful gaze.

Natalie’s face said. “I’m sorry.”

The spider had paralyzing venom. Hayley knew that. If that’s how things were, Hayley would be hitting Natalie at the first opportunity. She hated being locked down. Hated not being able to move. The chills were already setting in.

Hayley’s lungs started to burn.

Not now.

“Money.” Kent said one word. It was strained, like he hadn’t spoken in a week.

The woman immediately erupted in green flames. The fire didn’t roar like Hayley expected it to. It was a silent eruption that cast the entire room in an eerie green light. The fire spread to Kent, but only to his hands. The fires weren’t spreading beyond that at all.

After a few tense seconds the green fire started to recede. First, it revealed Kent’s hands, which were unharmed. Then the fires on the woman quickly died out, all except for her eyes. The woman’s eyes burned in a raging green inferno, causing the veil to flap upwards. She withdrew her hand.

“Five.” The woman said, her voice even more surreal than before. “Five.”

“What?” Kent said, now back to normal. He was holding a credit card in his hand. It hadn’t been there before.

“Four.” The woman continued.

“Is this a credit card?”

“Two.”

“Was that the pin?” Kent asked.

The woman with green eyes, was that the right term when they were on fire? She just smiled.

“I have granted your wish.” She spoke. “Is there another among you that would like a wish granted?”

There was a general discomfort in the room. Hayley watched as Conrad seemed to be grappling with something, while Natalie was glancing between her and the woman with green fire eyes. Would they take a wish? Hayley knew what she wanted, what she would say if the woman forced her to answer.

“I think we should calm down and not rush anything.” Natalie said to the room. “We should see what the deal with that credit card is, and ask this woman questions before taking another wish.”

“Right.” Conrad murmured distractedly.

“We don’t know what she’s doing. Kent has a credit card now, but who knows what strings are attached.”

“Be careful.” The woman cheerfully warned. “My generosity wanes with the passing minutes.”

“Of course it does.” Natalie muttered.

“Does it have to be one word?” Conrad asked.

“It does.” The woman answered.

“Shit.”

“I don’t feel weird or anything.” Kent suddenly mentioned, flexing a fist open and closed. “A bit more awake, but that was probably shock from the fire.”

Natalie nodded.

“I-...” Hayley uttered. It was a quiet sound. Strained and breathy, but cutting through the tense atmosphere that permeated the room. The venom had paralyzed most of her body, restricting movement to the point that speaking was near impossible. The experience was nothing like the anesthetic she’d taken earlier that night, which had erased all feelings of movement. Being paralyzed sent chills running up and down Hayley’s body, and movement never came no matter how hard she tried.

The taillights kept vanishing and it was colder than it should have been. Hayley knew what she wanted to wish for.

The woman hopped off of the table and bent close to Hayley. She didn’t speak, eagerly waiting for Hayley to continue.

“-ant-...” Hayley’s throat caught and she reflexively coughed, her entire body shuddering from the sensation.

“Hayley, please don’t do anything brash.” Natalie begged, but it was a futile request and she knew it. And Natalie’s voice was far away.

The woman’s green eyes burned expectantly.

“Love.” Hayley barely finished, her voice dropping half of the word.

But the woman smiled, the message had been received. She placed her hand on Hayley’s forehead and the flames darted down from the woman’s eyes to Hayley and her entire world became green. With the touch, Hayley heard the fire for the first time. It crackled and roared. She felt like she was at the centre of a raging inferno.

Hayley closed her eyes, but she still saw green. Scenes replayed in her head. Of comfort, of cuddling on the couch, and of lazy days. All of the good on display, and the bad pushed far away. The taillights didn’t matter here, she felt like she could stay here forever. The experience ended the moment she felt the urge to remain, and Hayley opened her eyes.

She had moved. Before, Hayley had been sitting on a couch in the group’s house for the time being. Now, she was sitting on the floor by the front door. Natalie was right next to her. The green eyed woman was standing where she had been before, they hadn’t moved when Hayley did.

“You’re wish.” The woman turned and gave a formal bow to Hayley. The flames had receded back to her eyes. “Granted.”

“Ah!” Natalie shrieked when she noticed Hayley had moved.

I don’t get it. Hayley thought. She didn’t feel any different, the good feeling from the revisited memories notwithstanding. Actually, her lungs had stopped burning.

“I feel like I have another in me.” The woman announced.

“Uh…” Condrad muttered.

“Come on, Conrad.” Kent shoved him. “Say something. Just anything.”

“That’s too limiting.” Conrad replied bitterly. His eyebrows were furrowed, indicating a level of thought he usually didn’t attempt.

Natalie was urgently checking Hayley’s body, no doubt trying to find something that was different about her. She stayed away from the leg though, which was good, Hayley noticed.

You wish for something. Hayley wanted to tell Natalie, but she was still paralyzed. The fact that her lungs had stopped burning seemed to be a temporary thing. There was a cold tingle in her stomach, and once she noticed that, the feeling spread just as fast as it usually did. Once it overtook her entire body, the unpleasant warmth started welling up in her chest.

“My generosity has run out.” The green eyed woman suddenly declared, snatching everyone’s attention. “I wish away!”

The green flames in her eyes vanished, and a rectangle of blue mist spread behind her. Once it was wide enough, the woman stepped through and the mist vanished. The four of them were left to blink at each other and wonder what just happened. All except Hayley, of course.

“What the hell was all that for?” Conrad muttered disdainfully. “Fucking. Carrot. Bitch.”

The door slammed open, and Andrew stormed in. “What’s going on? Where’s the intruder?”

Kent tucked the credit card into his pocket. “You just missed her.”

Andrew’s face took on a perturbed expression. “What? Did you rent a call girl and not tell anyone? Make a purchase of any kind? Did they ask why a kid was paying for sex below eighteen?”

“No, actually.” Kent waved the wallet. “She actually gave me a credit card.”

“A credit card?” Andrew turned to Hayley. “What junk is he on about?”

Hayley met his eyes, but wasn’t able to reply.

“What’s wrong with her?” Andrew demanded.

“She was going to move and ruin the spidersilk bone, so I stopped her.” Natalie explained and started pulling Hayley into a more respectable sitting position. “It’ll wear off in a few minutes. The woman barged in calling herself a genie, recently freed and willing to grant wishes.”

Andrew stared at Natalie, gears clearly turning in his brain. His expression did not bode for optimistic thoughts.

“What?” Andrew repeated, a dangerous edge to his voice. “Tell me what happened.”

“Kent wished for money and got a credit card.” Conrad said loudly. “Then Hayley wished for love and got teleported across the room.”

“Shit.” Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself. “Why? Always idiots. Why?” Then more loudly he asked. “What colour were the flames?”

“Green.” Natalie answered without hesitating. Hayley noticed he knew about the flames without being told.

“What the fuck were you thinking!?” Andrew exploded. “That gypsy woman is the reason Hayley has a broken leg to begin with. She’s bad fucking news. You’re telling me she barged in, called herself a genie, offered you a wish, and you accepted it!?”

“Basically, yeah.” Kent shrugged. “What are you all worked up about?”

Andrew shoved his trident in Kent’s direction. “She tempers with the goddamn future, Kent! You have a credit card now. Did she give you the pin? What account is it attached to? Can it be traced? What happens if it gets stolen? Greenflame gave you a piece of plastic, and you gave her your entire life for all you know!”

“She did give me the pin, thank you very much.” Kent made a copy of his mask appear and put it on. “And it’s not like I was really doing anything with my life, anyway. I’m a villain. I knew life was going to be short and bright anyway.”

“And you asked for love?” Andrew reared on Hayley.

Hayley continued to be paralyzed.

Andrew shook his head. “I’ll talk to you later. Anyway, we need to pack up. This safe house is compromi-.” Andrew’s face was suddenly dragged down several inches, then it righted itself. Kent’s mask hit the floor.

Everyone just looked at each other, except Hayley of course.

“She lead Satellite here.” Andrew stated. “Everyone run!”

“But our shit!” Conrad protested.

“I’ll burn it all.” Andrew declared. “If any of you gets trapped, they’ll have you until Boss can get around to extracting you. I don’t want to worry about that. Fucking move!”

Conrad and Kent took a long look at Andrew’s trident before they eventually decided to follow his orders. Soon both of the boys were swiftly out the door.

“What about Hayley?” Natalie asked, panicking. “She still can’t move.”

“Just fix her.” Andrew replied as he started opening cabinets, finding a stash of kerosene that Hayley hadn’t known about.

“But-”

Andrew cut her off. “Of all the people to catch any of us, I’m least comfortable with Satellite taking us in. Treat this as life or death. The illusion is flimsy at best and doesn’t matter.”

Natalie sighed. “But-”

Hayley would have frowned if she was able. What were they talking about?

“Just do it, Spinnerette.” Andrew switched to their other names as he splashed kerosene on the couch Hayley had just been sitting on. “Is there anyone else in the house?”

Natalie’s eyes widened. “Jackie! He didn’t meet with the gypsy woman.”

“Silver lining.” Andrew finished splashing kerosene around the living space. “I’ll get the airhead and get out with him. Stop delaying and fix Clothesline already.” And he disappeared further into the house.

Natalie closed her eyes. The spell of alcohol was worming its way into Hayley’s nose. She wanted to do something. The unrelenting desire to move screamed within her. But the energy had nowhere to go, no avenue to travel down. It just circulated within, growing.

“Okay.” Natalie snapped her fingers and from around the corners and under the floorboards spiders started gathering. It seemed Natalie had called the entire clutter. There were white-tipped spiders, yellow spiders, bioluminescent spiders, and many more. Some were carrying various tools Like the spider with the thread earlier, these spiders were carrying various tools Hayley would associate with surgery.

One spider delivered a vial. Natalie picked it up in one hand while the other picked up a scalpel before using it to kill the spider that delivered the vial. Still using one hand, Spinnerette opened the spider and expertly extracted something from within, then added it to the vial. She rapidly repeated this process with four other spiders, then grabbed a handful of glowing spiders, which she crushed in a fist and let the glowing juice drip into the vial. When she swirled the vial it’s colour shifted from green to red, then to a pale orange.

Spinnerette tapped the vial, then tilted Hayley’s head back. “This should return your agency.” The contents of the vial went into Hayley’s mouth. She had no say in any of it. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Spinnerette repeated like a mantra as the liquid reached Hayley’s stomach. For a long and terrifying while, nothing happened.

A finger twitched. Finally.

Hayley punched her friend in the gut. The movement was swift and smooth, like how she normally moved. Natalie took the blow and collapsed into a hug with Hayley. That surprised Hayley, she hadn’t been expecting a hug.

“It worked.” Natalie coughed in relief.

“Don’t fucking paralyze me.” Hayley told her, bringing Natalie into a bear hug and squeezing until she squealed. “Ever again.”

“I got it! I got it! No paralisis!” Natalie slumped as Hayley released her.

The building suddenly creaked, then kept creaking. The spiders that were holding heavier objects were crushed under their weight and things started falling off shelves.

“Time to leave!” Andrew announced, running from within the house with Jackie close behind. His body was consistently dragging itself downwards. The hallway behind him was glowing orange. “Go! Go! Go!”

Hayley wrapped an arm around Natalie. “You’re my second leg until we get far enough away.”

Natalie nodded and rose, pulling Hayley with her. It took a moment seeing as Natalie wasn’t the strongest member of the group. Andrew and Jackie were already out the door. Hayley and Natalie moved to follow.

The house creaked and visibly squashed. They didn’t have far to go, but they still weren’t out when Hayley noticed one of the walls start bending. Against Natalie’s warnings, Hayley channeled her power into one of her arms, feeling it solidify as the rest of her, including her leg, loosened. She went as dense as she could for a single movement, and shoved Natalie forward with all her strength.

Natalie went sprawling on the veranda as Hayley hopped back to avoid a portion of the wall falling down. She landed as lightly as she could, and a moment later the house shook as several walls failed at once. The house shook as dust was flung everywhere.

For the moment, the creaking stopped. Hayley stood rock still, fearful of her leg snapping. Outside she could see Andrew picking Natalie off the ground and waving at her to follow. Inside there was debris strewn everywhere, hopping would be a bad idea. Hayley tentatively took a step. She was okay.

She took another. That was okay too.

Then another step. Everything seemed fine. Her leg was holding up to the stress and it hadn’t been twenty minutes yet.

Two steps later the leg broke.

Hayley screamed in pain as she fell, then bit her tongue to make herself stop. Ignoring the pain, Hayley forced herself to her one good foot and started hopping towards where Natalie was desperately trying to approach, but Andrew was pulling her away.

Then the house started creaking again, and this time things came down much quicker. Hayley got to the veranda, but the ceiling for the veranda came down while she was under it.

When Hayley came to she could see Natalie fighting with Andrew to get closer to her. It was a fruitless effort. When Natalie chopped at his arm, the attack just went through, finding no purchase or traction on the watery limb. Spiders were trying to bite him, but they didn’t have any effect and Andrew was stabbing the yellow ones that were capable of harming him before they could even try. From where she was pinned, Hayley could see Natalie had tears streaming down her face.

Why was she crying? They were barely friends.

Well... That’s how Hayley viewed their relationships. They met because each of them had been given offers not worth refusing and had been placed on the same team. They lived together, sure, but that was just extended time spent with a coworker. Their interests barely aligned and they didn’t talk to each other much. At least, that was true from Hayley’s perspective.

Natalie spent a lot of time to herself. It was possible that the group of seven were the only people Natalie really talked to. Of them, Natalie seemed to spend the most time talking to her. She’d been acting weird earlier as well. What had she called it? Troubleshooting?

Oh...

That’s why she’d been moved across the room, Hayley had asked for something she already had. What a fucking bummer. Though, the idea was actually quite appealing, and it wasn’t like this was the end. The Regulation would take her in, then Boss would get her out. Her identity would be shot, but that was hardly a blow against her. Then she could sit down and have a chat with Natalie about how to properly “troubleshoot”.

Natalie was still there, so Hayley blew her a kiss and waved. She mouthed the words “See you soon” before Andrew finally got her around the corner. Then Hayley was left alone and pinned by debris.

The fire was spreading, which made Hayley nervous. The only thing that stopped her from panicking was the fact that Andrew had started the fire at the other end of the building. Someone should show up before it spread to where it could damage her.

Surely enough, one of the Graceland heroes walked into view and approached. Hayley got a good look at him as he walked up. It wasn’t one she’d had a fight with, which was good. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too rough. That’s if they even recognised her as a villain.

“Can you help me?” She rasped.

The Sentry was still quite a distance away, they didn’t respond until they had walked right up to Hayley. Even then they took their sweet time observing the burning and collapsed house. Eventually though, the Sentry looked down at Hayley.

“Hello villain.”