Circuit turned towards me. “Elira?” he blinked several times in a row. Everyone at the Union knew I’d joined Villains Corp, but none of them had seen me since I’d left. I guess some people, like Circuit, didn’t believe I’d really done it.

“Oh bloody socks, you’re really here. You’re really with them,” he lifted a hand towards his com device to let the others know. I would let them know I was back, my way.

My powers rushed through me, finally back in use after so long dormant.

Glorious.

I surged forward and destroyed his com device.

“Don’t struggle, I wouldn’t want you to break anything,” I hoisted him up, and stepped towards the gaping hole he'd made in our HQ.

“Let me go!” Circuit tried struggling and I tensed my grip by a tiny fraction.

“Agh!” he yelled.

"Don't worry, I will," I said this as I looked out beyond the broken glass. There they were.

Flashes of black and white collided again and again in the sky around the building—Dark and Knight in the midst of battle.

“Knight!” I called out, and then I threw Circuit out the window. His body tumbled through the air, his red outfit a smear of color against the chrome of the building. He screamed some choice words.

The white blur zoomed towards me, until Knight was close enough that I could make it his face. Under his trademark white mask his mouth was tensed in a straight line.

Knight caught Circuit, holding him like a fairy tale princess, and looked up at me.

“You.” Rage smouldered in his brown eyes.

“Missed me?”

He set Circuit down below, away from the fray, and then flew towards me, his black curls pressed flat from the force of his speed. When he was only several yards away I smiled and waved.

Dark knocked him out of the sky.

I sighed and stepped back. Knight obviously hadn’t gotten over what had happened. But then again, neither had I.

Apart from Dark and Knight’s ongoing duel, several vehicles, hulking beasts, and flying forms were streaming away from HQ. Good. The less fights that broke out meant fewer headaches later, after we could recoup. I was glad to see that our people weren’t trying to get into a battle for the sake of it.

I dashed towards the emergency stairway. There were about fourteen steps, but I jumped to the bottom of each staircase from the top of each step with ease. So much more fun than the elevator.

Our HQ had only one floor for parking, as the rest of our underground floors housed experiments and our more nefarious weapons that needed to be kept under stricter watch. It didn’t take long at all to find the Aqua-Auto. It stood out even among the ugliest super villain vehicles. The car was cerulean blue with blasters on its sides, and had the shape of a grinning dolphin's head on the front.

Apart from the tracking tech, how had Leonine gotten that monstrosity into HQ without being followed? The thing was not subtle.

I unlocked the car and turned the ignition on. The vehicle hummed to life, the machinery almost inaudible. I exited the garage to carnage. Outside, the villains who hadn’t escaped quickly enough duked it out with the other heros. A familiar cerulean caught my eye.

I accelerated towards Daulphin and shot him with his own blasters.

A cat-like figure arced over the Aqua-Auto, intent on stopping me. Another pesky hero. I floored it and shoved the wheel to the right.

The car strained beneath me, and even tipped, but being hero tech, was none the worse for the wear. I fired the blasters again to keep others at bay and headed towards Lake Reynard.

Pedestrian vehicles were a rarity these days, so the roads were clear.

Lake Reynard’s glittering blue surface came into view. Perfect.

I drove the Aqua-Auto over the railings.