Victor arrived at the park first. Tucked in a corner near the riverside, the park only had a few streets leading to it, and therefore only a few ways for a motor scooter to arrive. Victor crouched under a towering pine tree, studying the half-filled parking lot nearest the direction of the warehouse. Several cars, a few bikes, but no mint-green Squirrel Girl scooter with sidecar.

Victor leaned against the tree trunk, rubbing his temples against the headache throbbing in his skull. With the inhumans dealt with, he could rest his powers and regain his strength. By tomorrow, or tomorrow night, they could go after Hala.

His stomach growled, and he checked the paper bag at his foot again--even though he knew he hadn't brought any food out of the apartment. Just clothes and boots and spare earth money.

He frowned. He'd never thought to ask where the kree got local money from. It just showed up as part of Victor stationing himself on some planet after the terrigen mist.

He kicked the bag again, muttering under his breath. Did they steal money, or sell valuable gems or technology?

He sat against the tree, bark flaking against his backside. Here he was, third planet ever recruiting inhumans, asking questions he should've wondered long before the first. What is your army for, Hala? Why do you need so many inhumans? Where did you get those coins, or those sleeping quarters, when we've never set foot on that planet with the towering fungal trees? Where did you get the language recordings from the barely-hospitable swamp planet with the strangle vines? How did you know to set me up in this city, on this coast, where so many inhumans would spring up?

He groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Hey Victor."

Victor's eyes snapped open, arms reaching for the shadows. Until he registered the voice as Dante's, then he tried to casually fold his arms instead. "You made it," he glanced between Dante and Squirrel Girl--bushy tail hidden, somehow--standing outside the tree's shadow.

"You beat us," Squirrel Girl ducked under the branches, sitting against the tree trunk too. She glanced up into the rings of branches. "This is nice. Shady tree, crunchy pine needles..." she grimaced and shifted. "Cramping tail..."

"Yeah, real nice," Dante crouched down, but didn't come any closer. "I think I'm good with not sitting beneath a large, flammable object."

Victor rubbed the blister on his palm.

"So, Squirrel Girl," Dante said. "Where's the inhumans who are willing to help us?"

"Hold that thought," Squirrel Girl said. "Out here, it's Doreen." She leaned closer and whispered, "that's why I hid my tail. Superheroes don't ride scooters around on busy weekends or take naps under trees in the park," she yawned. "Speaking of naps..."

Victor raised an eyebrow, motioning to his blue-gray armor and Dante's jumpsuit. But Dante spoke first. "Have you seen who you're hanging out with? We don't exactly blend in."

Squirrel Girl frowned. "Yeah, you really don't...haven't you got any other outfits?"

Dante shook his head. Victor scooted his paper sack full of identical armor behind his back.

"Right," Squirrel Girl slid to a crouch. "Weird alien spaceship. We should scamper somewhere more secluded before somebody spots you two."

Dante glanced back toward the parking lot. "But we rode here..."

Victor carefully stood. "Is this 'secluded' place also where you sent the inhumans willing to help us?"

Squirrel Girl--Doreen--crawled out from under the tree. "No? Not really? By the way, on the way here I called the police. I told them about some incident back at that warehouse," she led them from the tree towards a windy path.

"She told them they might find some locked up super villains," Dante muttered, falling in step with Victor. "So at least they're prepared," he pointed at Victor's hand. "What's in the bag?"

He tucked the sack against his side. "Just the belongings I took from the apartment where I was stationed. Some armor. A little bit of cash," he shrugged.

"You...you own nothing but what's in that sack?" Dante asked.

"When you put it like that..." Victor glared at him. "It sounds sad."

"But it is kinda sad. I mean, I don't even have a change of clothes right now, but back at my parent's place I still have everything I grew up with. Except the kitchen that I burned down...But everything's still there, you know?"

Victor shook his head, picking up his pace. Doreen might pull ahead of them down the path, if they walked too slow. He ground his teeth together. She walked just as slowly as them, actually, and Victor didn't escape Dante's side. "Maybe we could focus on taking down Hala right now?"

"Okay," Dante said. "But what about after? We take down the kree leader, crash the spaceship, then what? Where are you going to live?"

"Where are you going to live?" he shot back.

Dante shrugged. "Wherever I go, my powers are a danger," he said softly. "Just like I burned you. Maybe I'll live in parks like this," he motioned around them, to patches of half-dead grass and swaying trees, laughter floating from the distance.

"You'd be happy sleeping in a park forever?"

"Alright," Doreen halted in her tracks and turned, fists planted on her hips. Victor froze. "Can someone please explain what's going on?"

Victor furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean, what's going on?" Dante asked. Victor nodded.

"That!" Squirrel Girl pointed back and forth between them. "Victor abducted you after you both fought and blew up a city street, then he changed his mind yesterday and freed everyone he captured and suddenly you're best friends? What happened there?"

"Well--I wouldn't say--" Victor stumbled.

"--best friends," Dante waved his hands about. "Or maybe--" he glanced sharply at Victor.

"Yeah, no, not best friends--"

"We just talked last night and, I don't know--"

"--it wasn't a ton of talking. After the ship and everything and it was late--"

"--we just, you know, talked," Dante shrugged.

Victor clamped his mouth shut. Doreen narrowed her eyes. Victor's cheeks warmed under that stare. "Are we there yet?"

"No. And before we get there, I have to tell you," she spun on her heel. "Only two of them were interested in helping. The rest just wanted to return to their homes. So they're only here since I told them we could teleport them back to wherever they lived," she glanced over her shoulder, jabbing a finger at Victor. "And I meant you would be teleporting them, in case that wasn't clear."

Victor rubbed his skull. "Great."

"What?" Dante asked.

"I portaled a whole boat into that warehouse," he whispered back. Doreen shot them another suspicious glance. "My head hurts like someone dropped a boulder on it."

"Oh," he winced. "That sounds painful. Maybe we can ask them to wait for you to recover?"

Victor shook his head. "The less time I have people glaring at me for ruining their lives, the better."

"O-oh. Yeah. Hey, how's your hand?"

Victor held it up. "It'll be fine."

Dante studied the blistered red skin, brow creasing. "I'm sorry abou--"

"You've already apologized," Victor dropped his arm. "More than once."

"We're here!" Doreen shouted, throwing her arms in the air. Victor and Dante stopped.

"The public restrooms?" Dante asked.

"No," Doreen shook her head. "Behind the public restrooms."

Victor frowned. "What's behind them?"

She flashed a sly grin, wiggling her eyebrows. "I'll boost you onto the roof, then you'll see. Come on," she guided them off the path into thick shrubs, and her voice dropped to a whisper, "but be quiet, because sometimes these restrooms actually get used, and we don't want to spook people by thumping about on the rooftop."

Victor nodded.

"You first, fire boy," Doreen crouched beside the brick wall, cupping her hands and motioning for Dante to step up.

"I thought we weren't using code names," Dante whispered, stepping into her hands and reaching for the lip of the roof. Doreen boosted him up easily.

"You're still in costume," she hissed. "Fire boy."

"I don't want to be fire boy," he hissed back, disappearing out of sight. "Oh, it stinks up here."

"Your turn," Doreen motioned to Victor. "Uh...what's your codename?"

"Exile," he muttered, stuffing the paper sack in the bushes. "I can get up by myse--" She ignored him, planting her hands deftly under his footstep and launching him toward the rooftop. He flailed and grabbed the edge, startled into silence. Squirrel Girl pushed him from below, heaving him onto the tin rooftop.

"You're welcome," Doreen's voice whispered. Victor gagged on the scent of refuse.

"Where now?" Dante asked thickly, nose plugged.

Victor turned a slow circle, covering his nose. The bathrooms pressed up against a solid, gray fence, dropping off into the riverbank. "I'm guessing back--"

Doreen vaulted onto the roof, making him jump. She pointed towards the glimmering river. "Down there."

Victor sighed. "I was just about to say that."

"Good guess, Exile," Doreen patted his shoulder. He glared at her. She didn't notice, just tiptoed to the back of the roof and jumped off. Crackling leaves announced her landing. "Okay, now drop down! I'll catch you!"

Dante met Victor confused gaze and shrugged, crawling to the edge of the roof with one hand still plugging his nose. He didn't even peer down before sliding off, feet first.

"Your turn, Exile!" Doreen's voice hissed.

He shook his head, stepping to peer off the edge. Doreen stood in a heap of browning leaves, Dante beside her balancing on a pair of yellow rocks. Victor took a deep breath, unplugged his nose, and stepped off.

Doreen caught him in both arms, like a baby. Victor squinted at the sun. "Neat shortcut," he said. Doreen lowered him to the ground. "What is this place?" he asked.

"The riverbank," she planted her hands on her hips. "Quite obviously."

"But why are we here?" he corrected.

"Okay. So. Storytime. The water level in some of these river inlets drops each summer, then doesn't go back up until late autumn. It exposes all these rocks and a bunch of litter. Tippy and I spent two whole weeks in July clearing this place out."

"So where are the inhumans?" Dante asked.

"Down this way," Squirrel Girl pointed upstream--not that there was much of a stream--and led the way, hopping over loose boulders and shifting pebbles, kicking heaps of fallen leaves. "While clearing all the trash, Tippy discovered this wickedly insane cave. We had to wait two whole days until the mud dried so we could sneak inside, but let me tell you. The ceiling is quartz or something, so it sparkles like crazy when you shine a light at it. And it's perfectly clean--except all the dead algae and dirt on the floor, I guess. But the best part is how small it is. No secret tunnel shafts, no cave mouths extending forever into endless darkness..." she shivered. "It's like someone cut out a spherical room straight into the side of the riverbank."

"Wow," Dante said. "Sounds pretty neat."

"Yeah," Doreen nodded. Her phone squeaked and she jumped, yanking her phone from her jacket. She stopped in her tracks, staring. "Ms. Marvel," she groaned, slapping her forehead. "Not now!"

Victor frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Ms. Marvel's wondering where I am," Squirrel Girl tapped at her phone. "Because she just heard about an explosion in a boat shed and she told me I should go superhero it up," she glanced up. "She's confined to her bed," she hissed, as if Ms. Marvel might overhear them. "So she can't."

Victor frowned. "What's a boat shed?"

"Somewhere they store boats?" Dante shrugged. "I'm from Illinois. The south part. We don't have boats."

They turned to Squirrel Girl. "Don't look at me! I do squirrel stuff," she turned back to her phone. "Little busy MM," she muttered, "helping Exile and Fire Boy."

"Was it the warehouse where we left the inhumans?" Victor asked.

Dante's eyes widened. "I hope not."

Victor squeezed his eyes shut, biting back a groan. "We'll deal with that later."

"Right," Doreen shoved her phone in her pocket. "Ms. Marvel's going to demand details in approximately three minutes. To the cave we go!"

***

"Ta-da," Doreen flourished to an inconspicuous, round hole in the wall of the riverbed.

"Okay..." Dante said.

"It's just dirt," Victor clenched his teeth. "Are caves supposed to be just dirt?"

"Not this one," Doreen crunched over brown leaves, approaching the hole.

"Squirrel Girl?" a voice floated from inside. "Did you bring your friend?" a head poked out, brown eyes as large as water glasses in a round face.

"Yep," Doreen pointed at Victor.

The inhuman--Victor did not remember their name, or even the color of their uniform hidden behind their face--glanced over, frowned, eyes narrowing to wide slits. "You two--"

"Just go inside," Doreen waved them along. "I promise, they're friends. Come on, Victor. Sorry Dante, the caves already cramped with ten people."

Dante's fleetingly grinned. "Oh, that's no bother."

Victor shot him a glare, but marched after Doreen, ducking into the hole of dirt.

Inside, the cave was not just dirt, as Squirrel Girl promised--small, nearly spherical, save the dried algae making a slightly spongy, flat floor. When he stepped away from the cave mouth, rays of sunlight sparkled off the walls and ceiling, shimmering indigo-black. The walls had been smoothed down--presumably by the river--while sharp crystals jutted from the cave ceiling.

"Exile!" half a dozen growls pulsed into Victor's ribs, from the inhumans seated around the floor.

"Doreen, what is he doing here?" a tall, lanky inhuman climbed to her feet.

"He captured us," one in a black and yellow suit pointed, sparks bouncing up their fingers.

An inhuman with a furry, earthling-bear face stood, nearly brushing the ceiling. "You can't--"

"Calm down!" Doreen waved her arms, silencing the echoing cave. "I know what Victor did, but then he...you know what I'll just let him explain," she glanced over her shoulder, and dozens of eyes followed.

Victor swallowed. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the cave mouth, slowly inhaling. "I became a double agent." Light from the round opening bounced over his knuckles. "That's why I'm here."

The kid who could turn invisible glared at him, unspeaking.

"And I'm going to teleport you all to your homes," his skull throbbed with the mere thought.

"This guy freed us?" the bear-inhuman growled, staring at Squirrel Girl. "He snuck into my bedroom in the middle of the night and told me I was being recruited. Then he punched me. Twice," her hands curled into claws. "Maybe more, but I was unconscious after that. I'd rather ride a bus in broad daylight back to Connecticut then let him teleport me anywhere."

"Fine, then I won't teleport you," Victor snarled.

She snorted. "I'd sure feel a lot safer that way. You might drop me back on that prison spaceship!"

"Everyone," Doreen stepped around three seated figures to stand in the center of the near-spherical cave, arms raised. "Victor's not going to teleport any of you back to the spaceship. I've only known him for, what, twelve hours? But hey, he's been fighting kree, helping you guys escape--he's not going to teleport you back to the spaceship."

"If you really don't want him teleporting you," a girl with a cyan costume piped up from the back, "you could just stay here. Like me and Ette."

Bear-inhuman glared. "I have no interest in risking my skin to act like a superhero and save dummies who don't deserve it."

The girl in cyan shrugged. "Fine then. I guess you're walking."

"It's the bus, actually," she stormed past Doreen, snorting at Victor then ducking out the exit.

"You'll have to cross the river!" Doreen shouted. "Or figure out how to climb over the fence!"

"I'm half bear! You think I can't climb a fence?"

"Yeah, sure, I believe in you!" Doreen's phone squeaked. "Oops, sorry everyone," she yanked it out.

"How often do bears climb fences?" Dante's voice muttered from outside.

Victor sighed. "Does anyone here want a portal trip home?" Eyes glared back at him. No hands raised. "No? Okay," he ducked out the exit, shaking his head.

"Yeah, run away," the lanky one's voice floated out the cave after him. He stopped in the rocky riverbed, fists clenched.

"Don't pay attention to them," Dante said softly, crouching a few paces away and building a tiny tower of stones.

"Don't pay attention to them?" Victor hissed, trudging over. "They're right."

Dante quirked an eyebrow. "About what?"

"About how I abducted all of them. You. Of course they don't trust me."

Dante's rock tower clattered to the ground and he stood, dusting his hands. "If they can't tell you're changing, they deserve to climb the fence to the park."

Victor glanced back. A distant, brown and white figure clung to the side of the looming concrete fence. "She's going to take the bus home," he muttered. "She's going to get herself caught."

"Look," Dante said, "maybe you just need to tell all of them you think they're beautiful, and blush and tell them sorry. That worked on me pretty well. I mean, confused me super well, I..."

"I'm not saying that to any of them," he glowered, then glanced toward the cave opening where Doreen's voice echoed. "Except maybe sorry. I'd be lying about the other part."

Dante's lip twitched. "They're all ugly?"

"No. Just by comparison to you they're--" he froze. "Like..." Heat raced up his neck and he kicked a scattering of pebbles. Silence. He risked glancing at Dante's face, only to find him blushing hard, staring at the sluggish water in the middle of the mostly-dry riverbed.

"Hey!" Doreen's voice shouted from the cave opening. "Any of you can stay here, but the river rises before winter and floods this place. Ivy and Ette, we're leaving." Doreen popped out from the cave, expression stony. The girl with the cyan costume and another in baggy beige ducked out after her.

"Hmmph," Doreen announced, pacing towards Victor. "Why'd we bother helping them? They're convinced your mind controlling me! Can you believe it?" she threw her arms in the air. Then she settled on Dante's slack face and frowned, hands dropping to her sides. "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing," Victor said. "So it's just..." he glanced at Ivy and Ette.

The olive-skinned girl, in a baggy beige costume, nodded.

"Yep," the girl in cyan--the shortest of the five of them--stuck a fist forward. "Hey Victor, I'm Ivy. Double agent sounds intense."

Victor reluctantly bumped her fist. "That ended when I blew my cover. I wasn't a double agent for all that long." Technically, it'd been about a day. He didn't mention that.

"Still," Ivy stepped back, hands on her hips. "I don't know if I'd have the guts to do that."

He shrugged. If he hadn't abducted them at all, he wouldn't have had to break them out either. That hardly took guts.

"I'm Ette," the girl in beige fiddled with her pigtails. "I make plants grow fast."

"My name's Dante. I...do fire? Is that what we're sharing?"

"This is nice and all," Doreen interrupted. "But could we maybe do introductions elsewhere?" she flicked her eyes towards the cave. "I'm thinking Ms. Marvel's rooftop."

Victor hesitated. "The one from..."

"Yep," Doreen's phone squeaked again.

Victor nodded, wordlessly opening a portal and dropping them through.

***

In the sunlight, the apartment rooftop was more dirt streaked and cracked than it'd appeared the night before. Victor closed his portal and stepped back, the others carefully putting distance between themselves.

"That went awesome," Doreen yawned.

"No it didn't," Victor muttered under his breath.

"You look like you could use a nap," Ivy said.

Doreen waved her off. "I'll be fine. Like tonight, when I get to sleep."

"Quick question, what day is today?" Ette asked.

"Saturday," Doreen yawned again.

"I mean, what month?" Ette tugged at her pigtails.

"September. Why?" Doreen asked.

Ette fell still, staring at her feet. "It's been two months?" she whispered.

Victor clenched his jaw.

"Hey, it's been three months for me," Ivy patted her shoulder. "What keeps me going is the thought of grinding those guards' faces into a pile of ice shards," her dark eyes glittered, sepia-brown lips pressing to a line.

Ette rubbed her arms. "I have a plenty good reason to keep going, Ivy. It's just sad that I haven't touched earth for two whole months..."

Doreen glanced at Victor.

"I'm sorry I abducted you," he said.

"Don't worry about it," Ivy waved a hand. "I don't shoot the messenger, as they say."

Victor's eyebrows knit together. Didn't shoot the messenger?

"I don't even remember you," Ette shrugged. "And I believe in tearing down wicked institutions, not the individuals who fall prey to those institutions," her lip twitched. "I'm glad you double-agented yourself free."

Victor crossed his arms. "Th-thanks." He studied the concrete under his boots, not sure what to say to that.

"So is this it?" Ivy asked, side-hugging Ette. "The five of us, against the whole kree empire?"

"We have seven, actually," Doreen corrected. "There's Ms. Marvel, who is currently on bedrest with an injury, and Tippy, my best squirrel friend and leader of our squirrel army."

"Right..." Ivy hesitated. "I'm sure the squirrel army will be very..."

"Helpful," Doreen said shortly. "You can't beat squirrels, ice girl."

"Ice girl?"

"Maybe you should let us think of our own code names?" Dante suggested, stepping forward. "Like, I was thinking..." the rust red door to the stairwell rattled. "Uh, guys? Should we hi--"

The door burst open, releasing a stumbling Ms. Marvel and a chattering squirrel.

"Stupid jamming door!" she muttered, rubbing her shoulder.

"You made it!" Doreen darted over, pausing at the last moment before hugging Ms. Marvel and her injured shoulder. "Everyone, this," she flourished grandly, "is Ms. Marvel. Aka, Kamala when not in costume."

Kamala glanced down at her tennis shoes, jeans and cardigan, and then around the rooftop. "Uh, I didn't know we were supposed to be in costume?"

Doreen patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, I didn't wear mine either. But we can blame yours on your head injury," she tugged Kamala towards the circle.

"This thing?" Kamala rubbed her forehead, where a vague, purple bump remained. "It's practically healed itself in the past four hours. I didn't know I could do that."

"Hey Kamala," Ivy extended her fist. "I'm Ivy. Apparently I'm supposed to think of a codename too. I create ice. Specifically from carbon dioxide gas. I don't do well with water."

"I'm Ette," Ette said, Kamala bumping Ivy's fist. "I make plants grow quickly."

"My name's Dante. We haven't really met, but I did see you on the spaceship."

Kamala blushed. "Right. I don't remember most of that," she rubbed her forehead again.

"I create fire," Dante finished, glancing toward Victor. "Your turn."

He sighed. "You all already know me. But I'm Victor, and I portal people and make weapons out of shadows."

"You definitely all know me," Squirrel Girl said. She motioned to the squirrel by her foot. "This is Tippy-toe. Secret agent of the squirrels, lover of all things nutty," she glanced to Kamala. "Your turn."

"Okay, well, I have stretchy powers," Kamala's arm lengthened and her fist grew triple in size. She retracted them. "Which sometimes doubles as shapeshifting, like copying what other people look like. And I possibly, apparently have healing powers too?" she gazed up at the slight bruise on her forehead.

They fell silent, shuffling and glancing around the circle.

"Nice to meet you all?" Kamala crossed her arms.

"All this is missing is each of us sharing one fun fact about ourselves," Dante muttered, "and we'd be in school."

Ivy stuck her tongue out. "Don't remind me."