“AMY!!”

“V-Vicky!” Amy sputtered, pulling away from me like she’d been burned. I whined, caught halfway between need and alarm, and though her eyes flicked to me briefly, they quickly returned to her sister, who was hanging in the sky with wild eyes, her costume and hair disheveled.

“What are you doing here?!” the other girl hotly demanded. [Rotlimb: Aww come on, I want some action! Fuck, how long’s it been since Fourteen was with that last chick?] [Edict: Thank god! Kid, people are watching! You can’t just go at it like animals in public!] [Footloose: Ooooo! Is that a spurned girlfriend I spy with my little eye?]

Edict wasn’t wrong. Capes and non-parahumans were all around us, and they were watching the developing confrontation with varying expressions. More than a few people were leering, and I abruptly remembered I was naked but for my scarf, since the metal I had covered myself in earlier had fallen away after my brief beheading and teleporting my body. My bare feet were touching the ground, so I hurriedly transmuted the dirt into steel that I swept up over me in a thin layer. “Looking for you! Amy, you can’t do this to people! Fix them now!” [Toro: Shut the fuck up, Ten, you goddamn prude. Hey Sixteen! You know you can use my power to get people horny, right? Just saying!]] [Footloose: Just invite her to the party, Sixteen! Everyone likes a little ménage à trois, right?]

Douchebag though he was, Toro’s suggestion did remind me I could use his power to forcibly suppress my fear, which in turn led to the fire in me swelling again as I reached for Amy’s robes with growing need. ‘Fix them?’ Who is she talking about? [Klaus: Oh god. June, honey, wait! Get away from her!] [Rotlimb: Ah shit. Mastered then. Damn, it’s been a while since that happened last. Remember that, Eleven?] [Footloose: Whoa whoa whoa, timeout! Party foul! Consent is important!] [Edict: Oh fuck me…] [Butcher: Jesus, new blood. Fucking up again already.]

My nerves screamed, but I hesitated to pull away from where I was caressing Amy’s firm hips. Victoria slammed into the ground next to us a moment later, grabbed my arm, and threw me away hard enough I felt bone crack in my arm. “Stay away until I convince her to fix you!” [Klaus: She’s a master! Get away!] [Toro: Impossible, Ten—you’re an unfuckable travesty against nature. And really, Sixteen? You got mastered into being crazy horny?]

I quickly caught myself with my scarf before I ate dirt, the act straining my neck but not enough that I couldn’t keep moving. Glory Girl is a master?! I thought with a snarl, as I angrily stalked forward, growling as the bone in my arm reconstructed itself. She mastered me?! I removed the layer between the bottom of my feet and the dirt again, using each step to add more and more material to my arsenal. [Klaus: What? No! It’s Amy! Amy is the master!] [Rotlimb: Like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Any of you have popcorn?] [Edict: Kid, you’ve got to stay away from Panacea!]

I froze, caught off guard by the voices’ claims. If it had been any of the Teeth, I’d have ignored them, but Klaus and Edict had done nothing but help me so far. Amy though? Amy? I couldn’t believe it. She would never master someone. For that matter, she couldn’t, could she? “This isn’t a game, Ames!” Victoria insisted. “Fix Meteor, then we can find Gallant, and you can fix him too!” [Klaus: Oh thank god, I thought we’d lost you…] [Footloose: I’m getting all confuzzled. Did she do it or not?]

‘Gallant’? ‘Him’? Did she really expect everyone to buy this? That Amy could not only master people, but would actually do it and to two people no less? I couldn’t believe she did it to me, much less Gallant as well! No. No, she was lying. And I was not going to let her continue! “You just have to fix them, then you can come home! Please, just—” [Klaus: No, June, no!] [Rotlimb: Get her, Sixteen! Ha ha ha ha!] [Footloose: See! Confusing!] [Toro: Yeah, go after the big bad master, Sixteen!] [Edict: No! It’s Amy! For fuck’s sake, it’s Amy!]

“Enough!” I bellowed, rocketing towards her. Victoria’s head snapped around to face me, but she was too late to avoid my roundhouse kick, which sent her careening away, kicking up dirt as she skidded along the ground. You’re wrong! Amy wouldn’t do this! “Leave her alone! She’s your sister, for fuck’s sake! How could you think she would master anyone?!” [Klaus: Stop this!!] [Diamondback: You’re being foolish. If someone asserts you’re mastered, then you must at least give it due consideration.] [Butcher: Cut her to ribbons, Sixteen.]

“You idiot! I’m trying to help you!” Victoria began to yell back as she lifted up out of the dirt with righteous fury on her face. Our confrontation was interrupted before it could escalate further, however, when blue-white lasers slammed into the ground in front of us both.

“Everyone calm down.” My jaw dropped as my childhood hero, motherfucking Legend touched down between us. “The fight is over thanks to Meteor. Whatever this is, we can settle it peacefully.” [Klaus: Yes! Listen to him!] [Rotlimb: Aw c’mon, man! Things were just starting to get spicy!] [Edict: Finally a voice of reason!] [Footloose: Oh man, I love this guy! Nothing better than a walking, talking light show!] [Butcher: Hn…]

While I was starstruck that Legend had just name dropped me, Victoria was apparently not to be dissuaded. “Amy mastered her! She can do brains, and she’s twisted her, just like she did to Gallant!” [Klaus: She’s right, June!] [Rotlimb: Hey, credit where it’s due. Sixteen did just make a real name for us.]

I expected a hot denial from Amy, but shockingly, she didn’t say a word, cowering under the effects of Victoria’s aura while the crowd watching the drama began to murmur. I realized the crew had arrived, but I couldn’t afford to pay attention to them right now. If Amy wouldn’t defend her own innocence, then I would have to do it for her. “Big words from someone who’s using her power to keep Amy from speaking!” [Toro: Not for us. For her. Sixteen, set the record straight that we’re the ones who gave you the power to do anything, or we’ll make you.] [Diamondback: Listen to us. You’re getting it wrong.]

“That’s enough, Meteor,” Legend sternly rebuked before turning his attention back to Victoria. “I trust you realize the magnitude of what you’re claiming. Do you have some form of proof?” [Klaus: For god’s sake, Toro, it doesn’t matter who gets credit! We have bigger things to worry about right now!] [Footloose: I really like a man who can take charge of the situation… Hey Sixteen, think Legend’s impressed enough for a romp in the sheets?]

“Amy confessed to me,” Victoria pressed, dissuaded. “She told me herself! She made Meteor a lesbian then got upset when she found out Meteor had gotten together with Labyrinth. Meteor’s crew—Thinkers! They’ll tell you she’s acting strange!” [Klaus: Oh god.] [Rotlimb: Ha ha, whaaat?] [Footloose: Aw, man… Are we really gonna be limited to just the one gender?] [Edict: Holy shit. How deep does this go?] [Belial: My my…] [Delible: Oh. Oh, Labyrinth is going to…]

“How dare you!!” I furiously seethed. “It’s not enough that you’re spewing this bullshit about Amy, but now you’re dragging my love life into it?!” [Klaus: June, honey, please just stop and think about what you were doing with Amy just a few minutes ago! Have you ever done that with her before?] [Footloose: I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing as sweet as a good lady’s honey, but gurl, you can’t seriously tell me you’ve never thought about getting a good hot dicking before!]

For fuck’s sake, Footloose, yes! Yes, I’ve fucked a guy before! I did it with Jess right before I… My blood ran cold. Whatever Legend had begun to say fell on deaf ears. Even the voices in my head felt distant. Jess and I had sex before I left for Brockton Bay. Hell, I had asked him—begged him!—for it, afraid the Neo Nazi presence in the city would mean I’d be a virgin until I was old enough to tell CPS to fuck off. And Legend was in front of me. Legend, who I used to think about him all the time when I… I…

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Amy had mastered me? Made me try to, what, jump her bones? Could she do that? Fuck. Fuck, of course she could. I had watched Aisha use Amy’s power to get rid of the other girl’s desires for Victoria. If she could do that much, then surely she could flip my orientation? Make me want her.

Amy sank down onto her knees in the wet grass, her hands behind her head. The sun crept up over the horizon behind her, bathing her in the deep red light of the sunrise. More capes had arrived—a portly man in a suit and another in a hoodie—the latter rambling on and on, but I heard enough.

It was true.

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. My eyes dully focused on Gregor—on Elle, who he had lead over—and I realized I was shaking. My heart beat a violent tattoo in my chest, the sound of it thundering filling my ears. The memory of it refused to go away. The desire, the need… And how little I had cared when I thought about Elle. A lie. Our relationship was built on a goddamn lie. Three months together. Three months of sharing smiles and secrets. Of holding hands on walks to the park. Of sharing beds, stealing kisses, of and f— Fuck. Fuck! Fuck!!

Elena and Gallant were arguing. Their words washed over me, past me, but I could hear their tones. Elena was apoplectic, baying for blood, and Gallant was firm, refusing to budge. Gregor’s voice rumbled in my ear. It should have been soothing, but all I could hear was the thunderous beating of my heart.

Amy looked up from staring at the ground, her eyes meeting mine. There was resignation and weariness…

But there was no shame.

Steel erupted out of the earth, enveloping her. She screamed, and others shouted in alarm—a sea of sound both outside and inside my head. They were too late.

I crushed her.