“Here,” said Adrian, taking out his marker. “I can stitch them up for you.”

Ruby hesitated, but then nodded. Danna helped unwrap the wounds, revealing the deep gashes that had been there, unhealed, for years.

“Do they hurt?” Oscar asked as Adrian wiped away what blood he could and started drawing stitches onto her skin.

“They’ve always hurt,” Ruby said quietly, watching, expressionless.

Oscar started in surprise. This was news to Adrian, too, who had never once heard Ruby complain about her injuries. She had always focused more on the results. The bloodstones she had weaponized, the superhero she had become.

“That will do for now,” said Adrian. “Keep you from losing too much blood before the healers can get to you, at least.”

Ruby tenderly touched the black lines that had become black thread holding her wounds shut. “Thanks, Sketch,” she whispered. Her lip began to tremble, but she hastily covered it up with a brilliant smile. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell the twins. Being a superhero was the only thing that kept me even remotely relevant in their eyes.” She chuckled, but it sounded forced.

“That is definitely not true,” said Oscar.

She cut him a sideways glance. “You’ve met my brothers, right?”

“Yes, which is how I know they idolize you, and not just because you’re a Renegade or because you bleed rubies.” Oscar gestured at Ruby, sweeping one hand from her dyed black-and-white pigtails to the toes of her muck-covered boots. “It’s because you’re, like, the coolest big sister any kid could ask for. You can hit a target with a dagger from fifty feet away. You’re proficient at three different kinds of martial arts. You know how to use a grappling hook.”

“Oh.” Ruby sighed longingly. “I’m going to miss my grappling hook.”

“I will get you another grappling hook,” said Oscar, reaching over to take her hand. “You’re still Red Assassin. You’re still a totally kickass superhero.” He must have noticed the way Ruby’s eyes had started to shine, because he went on, growing more emphatic with each word. “You’re still the coolest person I’ve ever met, except for maybe Captain Chromium, but that’s not really a fair comparison.”

She chuckled. “Oscar…”

“And you’re beyond relevant. You’re, like, the thing that other things try to be relevant to. And you’re fierce and loyal and crazy adorable when you’re playing Battle to the Death, and I’ll even admit, okay, it’s not easy to say this, but you’re right. You beat me in that last game, fair and square, even though I—”

“Oscar, stop!” she said, laughing outright now. “I get it. Thank you.”

He paused and cleared his throat. “Right. Yeah. Sorry. Just saying.” He hesitated, his focus landing on their entwined hands. He gulped. “Just … one more thing?”

Ruby faked an exasperated eye roll. “Oh, if you insist.”

Oscar lifted his head. “You’re the girl of my dreams.”

Ruby’s head swiveled toward him, the nonchalant smile evaporating.

“With or without superpowers,” Oscar added, holding her gaze.

Color bloomed in Ruby’s cheeks. Fresh tears started to gather in her eyes until, without much warning, she grabbed the front of Oscar’s uniform and kissed him.

Adrian’s eyebrows shot upward and he spun away, meeting Danna’s amused gaze for half a second before they both spent some time inspecting the damaged roof overhead.

“Adrian?”

Adrian spun around to find himself face-to-face with both of his dads. Their features, at first, were unreadable. Weary. Cautious. A little relieved, a little disappointed, but not angry as far as he could tell.

They must have been done organizing the others, making sure aid was offered to those who needed it and cleanup of the arena was underway. It was time to focus on other matters.

Evidently, he was up first.

He swallowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Hugh’s mouth thinned and there was the anger Adrian had expected. But it was short-lived. He wilted and stepped forward, pulling Adrian into a tight hug.

Adrian held him back. “Thanks, Dad. I’m okay.”

“That’s the most important thing,” said Hugh. “You are the most important thing.” He pulled away, stoic again. “You still owe us a lot of explanations, though. Not just how, but why. You’ve broken a lot of rules, and taken advantage of our trust. But…” He sighed heavily. “Today, at least, I’m glad you did what you did. You were very brave, and … you saved a lot of people.”

Adrian flinched, feeling like he hadn’t saved enough. “We’re superheroes,” he murmured. “That’s what we do.”

“First order of business,” interrupted Simon. “You need to tell us where Max is. It’s likely Ace Anarchy will try to target him. We need to keep him safe, and we can’t do that if we don’t know where he is.”

Adrian nodded. “He’s staying with Ruby’s family.”

“I can go,” said Ruby, standing beside him. “I’ll get him, take him wherever you want me to.”

Simon frowned. “What about…?” He hesitated, taking in the stitches along her arm. Understanding swept over his features. “Ah. I’m sorry, Ruby.”

She shrugged, and Adrian realized that she was still holding Oscar’s hand. “These wounds aren’t what made me a superhero.”

“You’re right, they weren’t,” said Hugh. His attention swept around the arena, at all the neutralized prodigies. “I hope you’re not the only one who feels that way.”

“What are we going to do?” said Danna, still limping as she joined them. “We only have a fraction of the prodigies we had before. How are we going to defeat Ace Anarchy now?”

“We only have a fraction here in Gatlon City,” said Simon, “but we’ve already started reaching out to the international syndicates. They’re sending reinforcements. All available Renegades will be arriving in the next twenty-four hours to help us move against the Anarchists.”

“But we don’t even know where they went,” said Adrian.

“Actually,” said Hugh, rather darkly, “we know exactly where they went.”

“Ace Anarchy was never known for subtlety,” added Simon. “He’s returned to his cathedral.”

Adrian stared at him, recalling the ruins where he and his team had fought Phobia. “The cathedral? Why would he want to go back there?”

“Maybe he’s sentimental?” Oscar suggested.

Simon shook his head. “It’s brilliant, actually. He’s familiar with the landscape, the location, its strengths and weaknesses. Plus, with the wasteland, it’s impossible to take the cathedral by surprise. They’ll see an attack coming long before we get there.”

“But … it’s nothing but a pile of rubble and a bell tower,” said Adrian.

“Not anymore. He’s rebuilt it,” said Hugh. “You were too young to remember the extent of Ace Anarchy’s abilities, but it isn’t terribly surprising to us. Some of the news media caught footage of the cathedral being … pieced back together.”

Adrian’s jaw dropped. He had heard a lot of stories of Ace Anarchy using his powers to tear buildings down, but he’d never known the telekinetic could also put them back up.

Adrian scanned the arena. So much violence. So many casualties. While they were waiting for help to arrive from the international syndicates, Ace Anarchy would be developing his own strategy to destroy the Renegades once and for all.

Could they afford to wait?

Hugh playfully smacked his arm. “Don’t look so helpless. I’m still invincible, you know. We’re not beat yet.”

Adrian glared at him. “And you’re going to stop him single-handedly?”

“If I have to. I’ve done it before.”

“No, you didn’t. You…” Adrian trailed off, not wanting to remind them all of what was actually their greatest weapon. Not Captain Chromium. Not even Agent N.

Their greatest weapon was Max, had always been Max.

But Adrian didn’t want Max anywhere near Ace Anarchy.

“You had help,” he finished lamely.

“He still has help,” Danna said. “Those villains haven’t defeated us yet. I’m ready for another round.”

Adrian bit the inside of his cheek, considering. She was right. They were beat down, but not defeated.

Ace would be expecting them to realign their forces before making a move. He would expect a full-scale attack on the cathedral, because that’s how the Renegades operated—with flashy attacks and extravagant displays of their strength. Whereas the Anarchists had adapted to be stealthy and secretive. They used the element of surprise, and that’s how they had bested the Renegades this time. That’s how Nightmare kept beating them.

Maybe he could win at her own game.

He faced his dads. They were already discussing counterattacks and battle maneuvers when he interrupted them.

“How much Agent N do you think they have left?”

Hugh shook his head. “It’s impossible to say for sure, but from the amount we had in storage, and what was used here today…” He frowned, pondering the question, then shook his head. “I can’t imagine it’s much.”

“Let’s hope so,” said Adrian. “If we’re going to attempt a counterattack, it would be nice if they didn’t have any more of that stuff at their disposal.”

“It would,” said Hugh, “but we can’t know for sure. It wouldn’t have required much to arm those bees with it. But I can talk to the lab, see if they can pull together an estimate for us.”

“And do we have any left for ourselves?” asked Adrian.