On Saturday morning, Larkin awoke in a puddle of her own sweat. The inside of the tent she was sharing with her aunt was practically a sauna. She hadn't realized that early September could be so hot in the mornings.

She saw that Aunt Libby had already left the tent, probably to start a fire for breakfast. After deciding that she was done burning alive in her tent, Larkin unzipped the door and stepped outside. It was considerably cooler outside of her tent. She grabbed her clothes for the day and went to the bathhouse to change.

Larkin joined her aunt at their campfire next to the tent and sat on the picnic table, waiting for breakfast. She admired her surroundings. Their tent was on a patch of grass with trees at the back and small road the front. There were more places for tents to the right, left, and across the road. They were camping at Sterling Lake, which was right outside of Markusville, surrounded by forest. Larkin had camped here before, but her family was usually with her.

Larkin didn't want to think about them at the moment, so she pushed them out of her mind.

"What's for breakfast?" asked Larkin. There was something sitting on the grate over the fire that smelled heavenly.

Looking up from where she was reading near the fire, Aunt Libby smiled at Larkin and said, "I've got cinnamon rolls in the Dutch oven. They'll be done soon."

With a nod, Larkin proceeded to wait.

()()()

After a satisfying breakfast, Larkin found herself floating in the lake. It was surprisingly clean and the bottom wasn't slimy, so she was rather satisfied. Her friends were there, too, and she had stolen an inner tube from Greta. Larkin would say that it was relaxing, but Greta was trying to flip Larkin out of the tube to take it back. She had to use all of her willpower to stay upright. Relaxing was not an option.

Around midday, after being flipped out of her tube too many times to count, Larkin felt the mood shift. She felt the subtle change in the air that allowed her to know when someone was in danger. Her heart seemed to stop and turn over before continuing on its regular beat.

She had been sitting at a picnic table outside of Aunt Libby's tent, and immediately jolted from her relaxed position. She didn't look for her aunt before leaving their tent. Larkin went. Even when on her break, Larkin still had duties in the city to fulfil.

As she strode towards the entrance of the campground, it briefly crossed Larkin's mind about how she was going to manage to get back to the city in a timely manner, however she didn't have to worry. Finn quickly fell into step beside her. My ticket to the city.

"You felt it too?" asked Finn.

Larkin only nodded in response before pulling him off of the main road that led out of the camp grounds. They were on a path that cut through the woods and back to the campsites. Tall trees surrounded them, creating lovely shade and a breeding ground for mosquitos.

"Do you have your suit?" asked Larkin, while simultaneously allowing her suit to reform over her limbs and other clothes.

Finn spun around, making the draw-string bag he had on his back visible to Larkin. "I've got clothes, but I can't really change anywhere around here without being seen by someone. And we all know that would be bad," he explained. He reached into the bag and pulled out his mask-helmet combination and pulled it over his head. "This will have to do for now."

Without wasting anymore time, the two supers flew out of the woods and back to the city.

()()()

From her vantage point on Finn's back, Larkin couldn't make out the fine details of her city, but it was very obvious that the disturbance was located at the downtown clock tower. Disturbingly enough, with her sharp eyesight, Larkin could see the outline of a body, sitting on one of the ledges closer to the top of the tower.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she asked Finn. Larkin gaped open mouthed at the scene unfolding beneath her and Finn.

A large crowd had noticed the person on the ledge of the tower and had gathered around the bottom. She could hear that police sirens were approaching in the distance, and knew that law enforcement would be at the tower within a few minutes.

The clock tower was old. The gigantic face of the clock was lined in black with the numbers written in Roman numerals. The peak of the tower housed an old belfry, and the bells chimed at the hour. Larkin imagined the structure being one of the first things build in Markusville.

As Finn and Larkin flew closer to the figure resting on the ledge, Larkin tried to make out the person's features.

"How did they get up there?" Larkin wondered aloud. "It doesn't make any sense."

Finally, when they were ten yards from the ledge, Larkin recognized the pair of black suede boots that hung over the edge and saw the pearly white smile that could only mean the person was Magnolia. Or Sway. Or whatever she wanted to be called.

After telling Finn who they were up against, Larkin urged him closer. "We need to get her down. Who knows what kind of scheme she's planning."

Finn argued against Larkin's logic. "We can't take her down with that crowd. Civilians might get injured."

With a heavy sigh, Larkin relented. "We'll just go talk to her. If she makes a move, zap her with your lightning."

When the pair was only ten feet away from the villain, Larkin called out to her. "Stirring up some trouble? I figured you might want a day of on this lovely Saturday."

The girl in black locked eyes with Larkin, acknowledging her presence. "No," she said. "I don't do trouble."

Larkin furrowed her eyebrows. "Then what is this? Why draw such a large crowd?"

Magnolia didn't answer Larkin's question. She simply moved her eye contact from Larkin to Finn. In that moment, Larkin felt something shift. She felt like the world was flipping upside down, causing her to cling for her life to whatever could keep her anchored.

Larkin felt like this because the world had indeed flipped over. Finn had abruptly spun so that Larkin was hanging off his back, her arms wrapped around his torso the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground.

"Finn!" she screamed. "What the heck are you doing!"

Faintly, she heard a groan escape from Magnolia. Larkin thought she could hear the girl whispering to herself, but in her current state of panic, she couldn't be certain. Instead of focusing on Magnolia, Larkin tried to focus on Finn.

"Finn. Finn. What are you doing?" She was practically yelling into his ear, but her didn't seem to respond to her words. He appeared to be brainwashed.

But, with another groan from Magnolia, Finn was released from whatever kind of trance he had been in and maneuvered in the air to allow Larkin to ride on his back again.

"What kind of game is this?" Larkin asked. She didn't expect anyone to answer her question, but apparently, Magnolia thought it dignified a response.

"A distraction," said the girl. Her face was contorted with pain, and real tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Larkin couldn't fathom why the villain would be crying at a time like this. As Larkin sat, confused, Magnolia simply jumped off of the clock tower and ran into the streets of the city. Finn was still stunned from whatever had happened to him to be able to fly after her, and Larkin, though she hated to admit it, was shaken as well.

"What just happened right there?" questioned Finn. "I was completely fine, and then it was like she was controlling my mind, making me flip over and try to knock you off."

Larkin's eyebrows rose. She would never be sure of what exactly had went down at that moment. "Why did she suddenly decide to let go of your mind and start crying?"

"Maybe she can read minds, too," suggested Finn.

"Is it really that sad up there?" Larkin asked, tapping Finn on the head.

"It's not the happiest."

()()()

The heroes had already began to fly back to Sterling Lake when Larkin realized they were going the wrong direction. A distraction. The words floated inside her head for all of a minute before she realized what she had missed.

"Finn. Turn around. We need to go to Des Moines," insisted Larkin.

"Why?" asked Finn as he banked to the left to head north.

"Because we need to go check on my father. That's where he is. That's where George Fredericks is."

Finn, not quite comprehending what Larkin was implying, asked again, why they needed o go to Des Moines.

Larkin then explained. "Last weekend, the mediator died after shaking hands with George Fredericks. I can't let the same thing happen to my dad."

As the full truth and importance of the matter settled over the two heroes, Finn picked up speed, racing towards Des Moines. Larkin hoped they would be able to beat the inevitable.