What am I doing? I never ask for this. I should find Mom and Dad, Flat thought. She saw the last of the families in the stands run out.

Where are they? Flat thought.

The laughter echoed as she got to the ladder.

"God gave me abilities and put me here for a reason," Flat said. She grabbed the rungs to climb.

Stepping on the catwalk, two of the men moved towards Flat. She rushed forward to slam into the man in the lead with an uppercut to his stomach. The punch lifted him off the ground. He dropped.

The second man in a brown suit growled at her.

A dog guy? Flat thought.

Flat had a few months of training; the dog guy had real skill. He slipped her punches and countered with a jab. His fist pounded Flat's nose. A flurry of punches followed. Flat blocked as the blows landed.

Then, Flat dropped her guard and let the blows hit. She winced in pain with each impact, and soon the punches stopped. The dog guy took a step back to run. Flat hit him in the kidney and sent him to the catwalk. He rolled on the grates holding his side.

A silver-haired man stood on the catwalk under the scoreboard. He wore a gray trench coat with silver lightning bolts on the lapels and belt.

"I am the Arc-Duke. Can you get on the scoreboard?" Arc said. Flat focused her breathing, three seconds in, a pause, three seconds out.

"Not a talker?" Arc said with a hand reaching to the stadium lamps.

Bulbs popped as electricity flowed into his hands, and a long rope of lightning formed. Arc snap the bolt like a whip. Sparks flew off anything it touched. Arc lashed a bolt out at her and released it. The lightning shot past as Flat dropped to the catwalk. More bulbs popped as Arc pulled more electricity. A quick three lashes struck as her hands covered her face. Arc smiled. Flat lay still on the catwalk.

She laughed. "I'm immune to lightning." Flat said.

"The floor isn't," Arc said, sending a bolt to cut at the grate. Flat scrambled back as pieces fell away.

The stadium lights and the scoreboard flickered out to send them into darkness.

"What?" Arc said. The electricity in his hands puttered out.

"Kick his ass," Colby said from below. Flat looked down to see Colby by a power switch.

Flat stood up, took a moment to straighten her jacket, and started to walk to Arc. The man stood still as Flat approached.

"Misty," Arc said, and mist rolled over the catwalk with a wall blocking Flat's view.

"This school's nuts. I got sidekicked." Arc said. Next to the Arc-Duke, a short figure appeared clouded by the mist. Flat could see the outline of a loli dress. They vanished into the mist and Flat looked around; she was alone.

Well? It's a win, Flat thought.

She leaned over the rail to watch Gyaru get slammed into the ground. Flat slipped over the railing. She dropped two stories from the catwalk. The landing dented the turf along the sideline.

Gyaru and Go-Go were on the ground. Billhook rubbed the powder into his neck. Flat moved to Gyaru. She had turned back to human. Her regeneration would heal her wounds, but it cost her energy. She lay still except for breathing. Flat leaned close, the bones in her face made a popping sound as they reformed.

"The strength of the wolf is the pack," Flat said. The girl's eyes opened, and she rolled over.

"The strength of the pack is the wolf," Gyaru said as she stood.

"Stay down girls," Billhook said. He had pulled off a strip of duct tape to cover the cuts.

Go-Go's hand covered her missing teeth. She zipped off the field to zip back with the spear.

"We do this together," Flat said.

"Together," Go-Go and Gyaru said.

The mist rolled over them in a wave. Flat saw the figure walk out of the mist. A short girl in a red and black frilled dress, she wore a day-of-the-dead mask with red hair spiked out the sides. Billhook and the girl vanished.

"Shit," Gyaru said as she dropped back to the ground.

Go-Go bent over, hands to her jaw, blood splattered as she coughed.

Arc watched Billhook walk out of the mist with Misty.

"I had that fight," Billhook said.

"They quoted Kipling," Misty said.

Arc stepped between the two. "Friendship was about to kick your ass." Arc waved the goons to gather around.

"You had to show off the dress?" Arc said to Misty.

"I got this from Shibuya 109. I'm showing it off," Misty said.

"Fine. Good work everyone. We achieved our goals and made money. If anything happened, let it go," Arc said.

"I'm heading back before they notice I'm gone," Misty said.

"OK," Arc said. She was gone. Arc looked a the group with a smile.

"We stirred up a hornet's nest. Now we hide out for two weeks. Joel, hand out the beer," Arc said. The goons cheered except for Billhook.

Arc found Paulie, Spark Gap, and Blitzy in the restaurant's kitchen. The two men sat at a table with a television playing the news. Chaos filled the east coast with Super Villain attacks in every city. Blitzy zipped from station to station getting food ready. She was a blur of movement. When she noticed Arc, she zipped over to him.

"Where’s Misty? I wanted pictures," Blitzy said.

"She had to go back, that school is locking down. We can get pictures later," Arc said.

"The Cartel really had a night," Spark-Gap said.

"Thanks to Misty we got away clean. Dad, have you figured out what the big job was?" Arc said.

"Nope, everyone is tight lipped. When the Manticore group is involved, it is better to follow orders to the letter. From what I can see most of this is a distraction, the real job may never be know," Spark-Gap said.

"They'll have a hell of a time finding us in New Jersey," Arc said.

Police cars and ambulances filled the parking lot. Within the hour, Coy, Rudy, and the parents who could make it into town met in the locker room. Two dozen angry Heroes demanded answers. Maple stood next to Coy.

"Why isn't there more security?" they demanded.

“More? What more are we going to get? The school has the largest team outside of Atlanta. And where the hell were any of you?" Coy said.

Rudy stepped out to the parents.

"The mind controller has been ID'ed as Encephalon, and there was a teleporter. Encephalon's marked for National Squad, Special Teams. No one in the P.A.H.A. can handle him except vampires and ghouls," Rudy said.

"Why didn't the vampire do something?"

Maple raised her hand.

"Loupe-Gyaru was on the field. Werewolves are well documented to be erratic under mind control. Dark Cape could have make this worse," Maple said. Coy put a hand on Maple's shoulder.

"We're calling it a night. If you have any issues, bring them up at the board meeting. But remember none of the Association's sibyls had visions. And there was no word of it beforehand on the street," Coy said.

The meeting broke up. The parents left unhappy. Rudy went to talk with the police, and Coy walked Maple to the bus. They stopped out of earshot. Maple could see Gyaru asleep in the front seat.

"Don't say anything to Misty," Coy said.

"Why are you letting her get away with this?" Maple said.

"We can't stop her. Tonight Misty Sparks proved that she's at the National Squad's level. I need influence, and expelling her will not give me that influence. This was the Cartel of Doom. They brought too much and accomplished nothing. Her mother had to pull some strings to get Encephalon for this job. It was a distraction.”

"Blitzy Sparks?" Maple said.

"If Blitzy comes back to Charlotte, it will take three Go-Go’s to stop her. If Jenny’s jaw is broken, I expect the Coopers to go looking for the Sparks. This can get out of control fast. Help Mama Bear with the girls. I'll call you later," Coy said.

The ambulance drove off with Go-Go. Out on the sideline, Gyaru hugged Vincent. Her face had reformed, but she looked thin. She started to get her legs back to walk.

"Baka. Baka. Baka. Wait for me next time," Gyaru said, hitting his back in the hug with each Baka.

"I tried to buy some time," Vincent said.

"You paid too much," Flat said. Crested walked across the field.

"And you did a good job," Vincent said.

"Thanks," Flat said.

Gyaru and Flat watched Crested.

"She's sniffing the ground?" Flat said.

"She found something," Gyaru said.

"Go-Go's teeth?" Flat said. Gyaru let Vincent go. Her hand lingered on the side of his face.

"She found a scent. Stay here," Gyaru said.

"Don't underestimate the dog girl," Vincent said.

As Gyaru got close, Crested waved her over to the scent. Both knelt to smell.

"Poof, wha’d you find?" Gyaru said.

"A girl from our school. I've smelled her in the hallways. Who is this?," Crested said.

"The teleporter is at our school?" Gyaru said.

"We have a bad apple," Crested said.

"Look for her. Keep it quiet," Gyaru said. She turned back to see Flat in the distance.

"Keep Coy out of this," Gyaru said.

"Bark."

"Don't tell Flat," Gyaru said.

"Barbra! The parent's meeting is winding down. Get on the bus," Mama Bear said from the sideline. She walked out to the girls.

"Tsk, I'm going to the hospital to be with Go-Go," Gyaru said. She had Go-Go's hair ribbon around her hand.

"No, you don't Tsk me, and you'll go back to school," Mama Bear said.

"I'll walk if I have to," Gyaru said.

"The other girls will need your protection. Florida already went with Go-Go. Barbra, your tired," Mama Bear said. Vincent stepped out of the shadows.

"Babette, the other girls need protected. I'm not allowed in the girls' dorm," Vincent said. Mama Bear rolled her eyes.

"Fine," Gyaru said. She fell asleep on the bus moments after sitting down.

Flat walked out of her bedroom the next morning with a profound need for coffee. Laying by the couch, Crested had fallen back asleep in front of the television. The news played clips of the attacks from up and down the East Coast. Flat headed to the coffee maker.

With the coffee made. Maple walked in, still in the Cheerleader uniform. She sat at the table and dropped the newspaper in front of Flat.

"Good morning. Please sit down," Flat said.

"Must be nice to get sleep," Maple said.

"I thought you take meds," Flat said.

"I can still get worn out. It was a long night," Maple said.

"How's Coy?" Flat said.

"Still fielding phone calls," Maple said.

"I talked to my Mom to save you a call," Flat said.

"Gyaru's mom called to find out if she needed to send bail money," Maple said.

Gyaru in the yellow bath rode staggered over to the table. Flat poured two cups of coffee.

"La Me're always comes through with the bail money," Gyaru said.

"Not Okaa-san?" Flat said.

"We're French. Only on papa's side of the family would I use Okaa-san," Gyaru said.

Maple dropped her notepad on the table.

"I'd love to discuss the nuances of language and formality, but I have to write the Notice to Heroes for this mess. Who was M.V.P. last night?" Maple said.

"Not me, Flat did good, but Colby. She pulled a classic sidekick with no training," Gyaru said.

"I had the boss fight," Flat said.

"He got away," Gyaru said.

"Colby," Flat said.

"Good. Colby will get M.V.P. How's Go-Go?" Maple said.

"Still sleeping," Flat said.

"Did we ever find the teeth?" Maple said.

"No, I'll take her to Doctor Enamel's today," Gyaru said.

"He's a villain," Flat said.

"And the only dentist in the city who works on advanced humans. We have an agreement," Maple said.

"An agreement? Like not attacking the school?" Flat said.

"The field is city property. C.O.D. sent a note with a promise never to do it again." Maple said. Flat opened the newspaper.

"Oh my, C.O.D. promised, never again," Flat said.

"I bet they got to sleep last night," Maple said.

"Are you going to write up the girl who manifested powers?" Gyaru said.

"No. Kelly's going home to study remote. The Winston family wants to keep everything private for now. They talked to Avalanche, and you know what he's like. We hope she'll be back next year. Alana should be discharged from medical observation tomorrow. Florida said the damage was the same as a car accident," Maple said. She started to ruff out her notes for the official notice.

"Great start to the year," Gyaru said.

"Yep," Maple said.

Flat dropped the paper on the table, and her finger pounded the article.

"They got my code name wrong." Flat said.

Gyaru read the paper. "You’re the Bandleader! HA HA HA." Gyaru said. The article headline said the Bandleader Vs. the Arch-Duke. The picture showed Flat on the catwalk as Arc lashed her with electricity. The band uniforms did not fuzz pictures like the school uniforms. And the paper had misspell Arc-Duke.

"Maple, fix this." Flat said.

"Sorry Bandleader, there is only so much spin in the world," Maple said.