"Where do we go?" Sam asked breathlessly.

The SVE club ran furiously down the dark, narrow hall, Rachel leading the pack and Evan bringing up the rear. Light was scarce, and only Sam and Evan had thought to use their phones as flashlights.

"No clue. Nobody comes down here, hardly ever," Rachel answered rapidly.

"Uh, guys?" Evan said, looking over his shoulder at the heroes speeding towards them. "We've got company."

"Split up!" Nate commanded.

"Why?!" Willow cried.

"I don't know, but it sounded like a good idea when I said it!" Nate exclaimed.

"I second that opinion," Sam declared. "Everyone split up, it'll be harder for them to find us."

They reached a fork in the hallway and everyone split, Taro and Willow turning left, Nate and Evan taking the right and Sam charging straight ahead.

Rachel decided to take a different route as she scrambled up the walls and into the shadows, bracing herself against the ceiling. She watched as the ISH students gathered below her.

"They split," Red Phoenix spat. He began barking orders. "Iron, go right, Masque, left, Bond, keep going down the hall. I'll wait here in case any of them come back."

Bondette sighed. "I hate hide and seek. This would be a lot easier if White Flame were here."

Rachel frowned. Who was 'White Flame'?

"Shut up about him," Iron Ice retorted coldly. "Let's just go get these punks."

They left Red Phoenix patrolling the area below Rachel. Nobody had seen her yet. Silently, Rachel scooted herself down the hall so she was directly above the super.

She dropped on him....

And crashed to the floor.

Red Phoenix chuckled, leaning over to examine Rachel, who was scrambling to get her feet beneath her.

"I saw you coming like you were miles away. You've obviously never met a Sensun before," he said coyly.

Rachel stood up and faced him, fists drawn up defensively.

"And you've obviously never met-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence and threw what she hoped was a sucker punch.

Red Phoenix easily caught her fist in his hand. Rachel gasped in surprise.

"Someone like you?" he laughed. "I can even see your sentences coming before you speak. Am I just that good? Or are you just that predictable?"

Without answering, Rachel grabbed the arm he was holding her fist with and swung him into the wall, pinning him there.

Rachel smirked. "Sluggish for a class A Sensun, aren't you-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Red Phoenix had turned the tables on her and Rachel found herself with her back against the wall, the hero pressing her shoulders against it.

He leaned in close to her face, close enough for her to feel his breath on her forehead.

"I can hear your heart. It's beating twice as fast now. Does being this close to me make you... nervous?" he taunted playfully.

"Nothing makes me nervous," Rachel said nervously. She squirmed and kicked viciously to free herself from his grasp. She staggered and was tripped immediately by a foot sweeping under her. As soon as she hit the floor she began getting up again.

While Rachel's back was to him, Red Phoenix said to her, "Sorry. You're cute, but I can't let you win. Not this time."

Rachel turned back around, fists back up. Her face was a picture of fury. "I'm not cute. Come at me."

<><><><><><><>

    "Quick, in here!" Taro said as he and Willow ducked into a dark utility room and shut the door.

    They took a moment to catch their breath.

    "Do you think they'll find us here?" Taro whispered.

    Willow said nothing. All Taro could hear was her terrified breathing.

    "What was Midas thinking?" Taro complained. "Putting us up against those ISH kids? Is he crazy?"

    Willow remained silent.

    Taro chewed his lip anxiously. He didn't like it when people didn't talk, it made him nervous. And when he was nervous he got hungry.

    "You got any food on you, Willow?" Taro asked.

    "...No."

    "Anything? Snacks? Mints? Gum?"

    "I don't have anything. I'm sorry," Willow apologized.

     "Don't worry about it," Taro replied as he continued to chew his lip.

    "Taro? Willow? Guys?" called a voice from the hall.

    "Who's that?" Taro hissed.

    The door creaked open and... Sam poked her head in the room.

    "Hey, you guys can come out now. The fight's over," she said.

    "What? Already?" Taro questioned.

    "Yep," Sam said, opening the door wider. "Come on out."

    "Thank goodness," Taro laughed as he and Willow went back into the hallway. "I was starting to get afraid that-"

    Suddenly, Sam lashed out, yanking on Willow's hair and pushing Taro to the floor.

    "Sam?!" Willow shrieked, watching as both Sam and Taro tumbled to the floor. "Taro, are you okay?"

    "I'm okay."

    "I'm okay."

    Willow watched in horror as not one, but two Taros stood to face her. Sam was gone and had been replaced with a nearly exact copy of Taro.

    It was the Biotac, Masquerade! Willow thought with alarm. She shifted into Sam and tricked us!

    With a sinking feeling, Willow realized she didn't remember what Taro or Masquerade had been wearing.

    "Oh no," she whimpered.

    "Willow?" both Taros said, approaching her.

    Willow turned on her heel and ran deeper into the basement, leaving both the real Taro and the fake behind.

<><><><><><><>

    Meanwhile, the real Sam was fleeing for her life, pursued by Bondette.

    Passing an empty library book cart, Sam pulled it out and pushed it in Bondette's direction. Bondette deftly vaulted it and continued her chase.

    "Gah!" Sam screamed in frustration. She had to come up with a new strategy; she couldn't run forever.

    Upon turning a corner and seeing an empty classroom, Sam thought, Maybe I don't have to run forever.

    Moments later, when Bondette stalked into the hall, Sam was nowhere to be seen. The super slowed her pace. Something wasn't right.

    Just when the Conjoiner was about to move on, Sam sprung out of the classroom and jumped onto Bondette's back.

    "Get off me, you little-" Bondette shrieked as Sam squeezed and refused to let go. The super roughly backed the girl into a wall in an attempt to shake her off.

    "Ow!" Sam shouted as she was crushed between Bondette and the wall.

    Bondette prepared to back into the wall again, pummeling Sam's body several times. Sam shouted in pain.

    "Sorry about thi- Ow! I'm actually a big fan- Oof! Can I have your autograa-Ahp! When we're done he- Ah!" Sam shrieked. She knew her back would be very bruised the next day.

    "You are so annoying!" Bondette stated shrilly, dumping an exhausted Sam on the linoleum.

    "Yeah," Sam sighed, "I get that a lot."

<><><><><><><>

    "This is a terrible plan," Nate told Evan.

    "Have you got a better one?" Evan asked, folding paper from ripped book pages like a madman.

    The two of them had found an abandoned library of sorts filled with outdated textbooks from the eighties. Evan and Nate sat against a shelf in the middle of the room, invisible from the door.

    "Okay, but when they come through that door, what's a bunch of paper airplanes and playing cards gonna do to supers like that?" Nate argued. "What, are they gonna get a paper cut and decide to go home?"

    "Again," Evan said impatiently, "Do you have a better plan?"

    "No," Nate muttered, shuffling his cards.

    The door clicked. Nate met Evan's eyes. Evan nodded slowly. They were here.

    "I know you're in here," Iron Ice growled, stomping into library.

    Evan held up one finger, indicating that there was only one super in the room. The others have likely gone after the rest of SVE, he reasoned.

    "Not gonna come out, huh?" Iron Ice asked. "Let's see if this can convince you." With that, the Forzatac pushed the shelf nearest to him over on the next shelf. The shelves began to fall like dominos towards where Nate and Evan sat.

    "Go, go!" Evan ordered. He and Nate rolled out from under the falling shelf.

    "What now?" Nate asked as Iron Ice approached them.

    "Throw stuff at him," Evan said with a shrug.

    What followed was a barrage of playing cards and paper planes aimed for the hero. Iron Ice merely batted them away and grinned. "Is that the best you've got?"

    Nate paused his throwing. "Um, yes, actually."

    Iron Ice laughed, picked up a fallen textbook and hurled it at Nate. The book clocked Nate in the stomach and sent him reeling back with a pained shout.

    "End of the line, villains," Iron Ice cackled as he stepped towards them.

    Evan swallowed hard. This was not going to be pretty.

<><><><><><><>

Midas warily observed the drones hovering around the room. He attempted to obliterate one using his power, but was unsuccessful.

"These drones are impervious to Dynamopsychs," Hardwire explained. "You'll never get one of them to blow."

Midas took a step backwards and stepped on something that crunched beneath his weight. He looked down to find a small pile of mints that hadn't been swept up. A broom leaned against the nearby wall, but there was no dustpan to be found. Midas bent down and grabbed a mint.

Hardwire snickered. "Hungry?"

Midas made a face. "You know I hate mint," he replied. He lobbed the mint towards the nearest drone and detonated it in a miniature explosion. The drone caught flame, but didn't fall to the ground.

"They're also fire resistant," Hardwire said. "Of course, if it wasn't me controlling them, such a feat would be impossible. Class B Technas can only operate machines with their minds; and even in class A, it's rare for Technas to be able to modify the physical properties of a machine."

"Did you come here to brag or to get your butt kicked?" Midas questioned, grabbing the broom.

Hardwire gave a little laugh upon seeing the broom. "You're a class A Dynamopsych. You're going to use a wimpy little broom to fight me?"

The broom bristles were suddenly engulfed in flame at Midas' command. "Who said anything about wimpy?" he asked, holding up his burning broom.

Hardwire's eyes narrowed. She raised her droids and prepared to attack. "It doesn't have to be like this, Midas," she pleaded tiredly.

"Yes," Midas said through gritted teeth, "It does."

"Have it your way," Hardwire huffed. She sent the droids towards Midas, who swung his torch widely, batting away the drones. One of the drones managed to reach the back of his neck and let off an electric shock he felt throughout his entire body.

All it took was a slight hesitation. Before Midas knew it, more and more drones were getting past him and settling onto his skin and clothes, shocking him many times. It took everything in him not to drop the broom as he sank to his knees in pain. He let out a long yowl of agony, unable to hold it in.

"Wire! That's enough!"

Hardwire and Midas looked towards the doorway to find the rest of Hardwire's crew waiting. Midas noted that they all looked no worse for wear, besides the bloody nose and purple, swollen eye Red Phoenix was sporting.

"We won," Red Phoenix said to Hardwire. "Now let's get out of this place."

Hardwire turned her attention to Midas, shocking him once more.

"You idiot!" she screamed at him. "You idiot, why did you do it, huh?! Why?!"

"Because I'm bad," Midas replied miserably. "I'm bad and evil and far too twisted to be part of that stupid school. I'm. A. Villain."

Tears began to soak Hardwire's mask. "Was any of it real? Were you ever really a friend to any of us?"

Midas gazed at the floor. "None of it was real," he seemed to force himself to say. He met Hardwire's eyes. "I hated every second of ISH."

"Wire, let's go," Bondette urged.

    With a shout, Hardwire shocked Midas once more before commanding her drones to fly back to her and reconnect to her suit. She rejoined her companions.

    "It'll never work," she said before she left. "Those kids you call villains? They'll never be a real team."

    The ISH student left. Midas kneeled on the ground for a few moments, his shaking hands still gripping the broom.  He forced himself to stand up.

    "Midas?"

    He turned around to find Willow staring at him with concern.

    "Are you-?"

    "I'm fine," Midas insisted, walking gingerly towards her. "How's everyone else?"

    Willow hung her head. "You better come see. We lost, Midas. We lost really, really bad."