Astrid ran a shaky hand through her dark brown locks of hair with purple highlights. She still had dark bags under her eyes from handling this operation herself.

“Again… I am not planning on doing this alone but… I think this involves prodigies and humans alike,” said Astrid. “And I have some friends I can call or get into contact with to do this. The girls can help me from home but not be involved in the actual danger of it all.”

“That seems logical, but uh… who are you calling?” asked Joseph.

Astrid over the next few days made a list of people of whose help that she needed in her current situation. She was hesitant in writing down Frank and Cole’s names because she didn’t want to put them in unnecessary danger. She would need her hero team and she would need Nightfall.

Nightfall was her partner, even though she had a team. They were like yin and yang. They perfectly balanced each other in the field, and she would need his help there, especially in this conflict. She wrote down a couple of agents that she had worked with as well.

“Hungry?” asked Joseph. “Tired?”

“Can I say all of the above?” asked Astrid.

“You look all of the above,” Joseph joked as he sat down next to her. “Is that the list of people you need?”

“Yeah…” said Astrid. She broke the extrapolator in half with a sigh of relief. “I’m glad I don’t have to use this.”

“Want to grab some lunch then?”

It was warm summer day when they walked outside. They used to have lunches together when he was mentoring her as a Phantom. Nowadays, he was so busy with his own operations that he didn’t get the time.

“Do you think it odd that I love your mother?” asked Joseph.

Astrid blinked twice at the randomness of the question, but then she guessed it was not random.

“Odd… isn’t the right word. I couldn’t be happier for you two. It’s only… I literally feel like I only became a part of the family now and I guess it’s hard to move on from dad even though I never really knew him that well.”

“It’s hard to grow up with stories,” said Joseph.

“I’m honored to have you as my new dad,” said Astrid. “It’s just going to take me some time to adjust to this new situation. Trust me. I am happy that mom found someone.”

After lunch at her favorite Japanese restaurant, they headed back home. Joseph said he was going to stop by the school. The people whose help she needed were going to arrive tomorrow and she needed to come up with a game plan.

“I need their plans and then I can come up with a way to stop The Circle and whoever is behind them,” said Astrid.

Galaxy X’s building was the most heavily guarded building in the nation with live cameras, motion detectors, and laser sensors. It was a black site for the world’s most terrifying terrorist organization and terrifying family.

“Stressing out won’t help,” said Cameron.

“Do you have any idea how to get into a secure facility?” asked Astrid. “Without getting detected. I could really use the help with this.”

Cameron sat down next to her. “Well, you don’t have to figure it out alone. We are also here to help. Are there any underground tunnels?”

“Some… but the entrances are blocked out,” said Astrid. “There would be no viable way to get In that way.”

Astrid messed with the stone on her necklace. The stone was not what gave her the raw power she possessed. It helped her control them.

“I know,” said Astrid.

As much as Astrid needed her family’s help with the mess she had gotten into and even though it had a little to do with her family, she could not put them in danger… no more than she already had.

“I need some fresh air,” said Astrid as she closed her notebook. “Mom left some leftovers in the fridge if you are hungry.”

Her friends arrived late that afternoon. She and Nightfall knew almost everything about each other and knew how the other thought but knew nothing about the others personal lives whatsoever.

Her mother had rented a house next door to her family home where she would be staying with her friends until they worked this out.

“Reflecting, are you?” asked Nightfall.

“On the good things this time,” said Astrid with a smile. She still had her costume on. It was a rather unique design. “Glad you could make it. You knew I would not be able to pull this off without you.”

“So… what do you know about this threat?”

Astrid and Nightfall compared and shared notes. He never judged her for choosing another career in espionage or for making such a big decision at such a young age. He had such a blind trust in her.

“You had that feeling too,” said Nightfall. “That cold chill the other night?”

“You did too?” asked Astrid as she scratched her head nervously. “I thought I was being paranoid. I think maybe I should start looking for the unusual.”

Astrid had a computer that could trace signatures like theirs. She tapped a few keys on the computer. “… and this is what I found.”

“You think that he is the one backing and supporting the Circle,” said Nightfall. “He hasn’t made an appearance on earth in years, not to mention the big battle—”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Astrid.

“Okay…” said Nightfall. “All I am saying is that it would take time to pick up the pieces.”

“You’re right…” said Astrid. “Maybe, I am worrying over nothing.”

“I’m not telling you not to be conscious,” said Nightfall. “All I am saying I don’t want you to panic. He doesn’t know there are more of us, and he doesn’t know how much you have progressed.”

“You have a point,” said Astrid. “Speaking of, I don’t want to involve the others yet. I need someone to break into the building with me to steal information on their plans.”

“Consider me hired,” said Nightfall. “Meet tomorrow night at the Needle?”

The Needle had been their favorite meeting spot with him since they had started. Her dark blue eyes watched the people below with a sort of wonder. She was always curious about why people wanted to be prodigies when they had their own strength inside them.

“Well…” said Nightfall. “This might not be the craziest plan you would have ever thought of, but it definitely is one of the top ten.”

“Hey!” she protested, but there was no bite in her comment because a part of her knew that he was right. “But you are right… it is a crazy plan. Though, it is the only plan I have right now. So, we are going have to do with what we have.”

“Is that other backpack for me?” asked Nightfall. They were wearing casual clothes but were using a part of powers to mask their identity. “I doubt you will be carrying two.”

“One of the advantages of previously being part of an S.A.S. unit. They are like a bunch of older brothers and when you ask for something… they don’t question why you need it,” said Astrid. “The second backpack is for you. Both contain tactical gear because we are trying to get into the most secure building on the west coast of Artemis.”

“You remind me why I like to work with you,” said Nightfall as he slung the backpack over his shoulder. “Are you sure you want to open up old wounds in your family? This terrorist organization?”

“I know my mom isn’t telling me something,” said Astrid. She took a deep breath as she stole a glance. “And I thought we were past the point of secrets. Can you manage to shadow transport us into the building?”

“They won’t be able to sense us, will they?” asked Nightfall.

“No… I think we will be fine,” said Astrid.

She grabbed his hand and he smiled but then concentrated. Within minutes, they were inside the building, and she pushed them into a closet. She pulled up the schematics on her watch.

“A secret floor?” asked Nightfall. “Sounds suspicious.”

“Very,” clarified Astrid. “There seems to be no entrance into the secret floor.”

“Hmm… let me see those schematics,” said Nightfall.

She sent it to his phone as she worked on hacking into their security systems. The loud blaring of the alarms stopped as she pressed the last key.

“Hopefully, they did not already realize that we are here,” said Astrid.

“I think I found us a way in,” said Nightfall, as she pointed to the schematics of the building. “There is a ventilation shaft in the computer room but getting there will be hard.”

“Leave that to me,” said Astrid.

She opened the door. “We are going to need a distraction. A big one if we are going to get to that secret floor unnoticed.”

While he distracted the guards, Astrid grabbed Dale’s ID card from his office and then followed him.

“What about your fingerprints on his ID card?” asked Nightfall. “And he is obviously going to have security cameras, how are we not going to get caught?”

“Trust me. I don’t think we will get caught,” said Astrid. She removed the lid of the ventilation shaft and climbed in. He climbed in after her and closed the shaft. “So, now turn left and then right and then go down.”