Victor swung around the corner of the path, running through dappled shadows.

"We need some way to contact Rescue!" Squirrel Girl's voice exclaimed, over the buzzing squeal, like a ringing microphone, pulsing from the spaceship above the park.

"What about Dante and Victor?" Ms. Marvel shouted back.

"Right here!" Dante called.

Ms. Marvel spun around, expression melting in relief.

"What on earth did you do?" Squirrel Girl shouted. "You were supposed to lure Hala here, not her entire freakin' spaceship! And not immediately!"

"The apartment was empty," Victor gasped, skidding to a halt before plowing into Ivy and Ette. "So we came back to the park."

"But then we realized Hala has access to all the cameras in the city," Dante panted, "and could have been watching us the entire day."

"We didn't do anything to lure her here."

"She already knew what we were planning."

"And," Victor said, "there's a chance she bugged the apartment, and heard us talking about the park. But we have no way to know."

"That's possible, though there's more than one park around here," Squirrel Girl narrowed her gaze at the sky. "Charred chestnuts, we've been had this whole time."

"I wouldn't say whole time," Ivy's eyes glittered darkly. "She didn't expect Victor to free all her inhumans."

"But now she's expecting us, and our squirrel army, and all our traps," Squirrel Girl jabbed a finger to the air. "How are we supposed to fight that?"

The buzzing squeal went silent. Victor's ears kept ringing.

"Oh..." Ette's face went pale.

Victor glanced up and stared. Waves of gray orbs, almost like rain, plummeted from the kree ship's underside toward the green park.

"Missiles!" Ette shouted, crouching to the asphalt. Green tendrils erupted from the ground, winding up her arms.

"Cover!" Ivy yelled back, ice crackling out of the air.

"Run, squirrels!" Squirrel Girl roared.

Victor simply opened a portal beneath their feet, but hesitated at the word "squirrels." He couldn't drop everything into the void to shield them from the missiles.

Sears of light crossed beneath the spaceship, ricocheting between the raining missiles. Victor gaped; hordes of dark-silver robots soared from the city, blasting pulses of energy into the spaceship's assault, and green gas puffed harmlessly into the sky.

"She's taking them all out," Ms. Marvel whispered. "Rescue's on it."

"Well," Ivy said. "Let's pretend I reacted more calmly then," she twirled a pair of staff-long icicles. "Cover?" she muttered. "What was I even saying?"

"I have a new plan," Squirrel Girl announced. "With Rescue up there, we need to defend the ground. Escape pods already landed somewhere out in the city, but I bet those soldiers will converge here, on this park," she met Victor's gaze. "She'll want to take the inhumans back, right?"

Victor hesitated. "I think so. But there's plenty of inhumans that aren't at this park. We don't know which ones she's after first."

Squirrel pursed her lips. "True..."

"Why don't we take the fight up to her?" Ivy pointed towards the ship with her fog-trailing ice staff. "Then we don't have to worry so much about protecting people down here."

"Squirrel Girl and I are the best on the ground," Ette said, eyebrows drawn to a line. "We'll round up the kree forces who've already landed. The rest of you," she motioned up with her chin.

"Go annihilate some kree butt," Squirrel Girl planted her hands on her hips, but paused. "Wow, that sounds awesome. Go annihilate some kree butt!"

"Oh we will," Ivy stepped closer to Victor. "See you guys after that thing crashes into the ocean."

"You bet," Ette nodded, glanced to Squirrel Girl, and they darted off down the trail.

"Let's do this," Ms. Marvel said to Victor.

"Yep," Dante said.

"I'm so ready," Ivy glared up at the spaceship, through crowds of Rescue drones blasting away at plummeting missiles.

***

Hala had made one miscalculation: with her ship no longer far beyond Earth's atmosphere, Victor could portal inside wherever he wished. And without terribly weakening his powers.

He opened a portal straight into the command deck, beside Hala's central computer platform, the white stairs and throne and screens of data. He'd briefly warned the others before sinking into the void: they'd go straight into the command deck, crawling with kree and reptilian soldiers, Hala presiding over it all.

In the shadows behind the central computer, against the metallic wall, the four of them crouched, silent. Victor drew a sword from the murky depths, and pointed to the central computer--a sleek prism beneath the steps to Hala's throne--with his eyes. They each nodded. Dante's hands burst alight, and he stood, blasting jets of fire into the side of the computer.

An alarm blared, and the screens projected atop Hala's platform flickered.

"I think we've been found out," Ms. Marvel whispered. A silhouette on the platform shifted.

Ivy hurled one of her ice spikes at the silhouette, through the screens projected in the air. The figure dropped out of sight.

Dante grunted, and the metal prism began to melt, revealing sparking machinery within.

Ivy's ice spike flew back at them, launched through a flickering yellow projection. Ivy yelped, but Ms. Marvel punched the projectile away with a massive fist. "You'll have to do better than that!" Ms. Marvel called.

A gold and blue blur vaulted through the projected images. A violet laser, shooting faster than Victor could move, took Dante in the arms and he tumbled backwards, a searing jet of orange cutting sharply upwards before Dante hit the wall and his fire flashed out.

"So you came back," Hala landed beside the computer prism, eyes narrowed at Victor. He swept a second sword from the shadows. "Little traitor boy. Did I not offer you enough?"

Ivy shouted, hurling two white ice javelins in rapid succession. Hala sidestepped one and knocked the other aside with her staff--it bounced into the melting metal of the exposed computer circuits, hissing fog.

"You're going down," Ms. Marvel shouted, swinging both fists. Ivy growled and thick frost formed around Hala's feet. Victor darted to the side, hunting for a clean opening between Hala and Ms. Marvel, glinting staff blocking enlarged fists and lengthened legs. Ivy shuffled toward a dazed Dante, staring intently at Hala's frozen feet.

But Hala snapped one foot free of the frost, sweeping out Ms. Marvel's legs. Ms. Marvel tumbled and rolled back to her feet, but a glowing violet light began sparking atop Hala's staff. Victor swung in, aiming for Hala's arm and forcing her to block with the quarterstaff. The violet beam shot towards the ceiling, ricocheting off the lights. The interlocked weapons squealed.

"Maybe I am a traitor," Victor hissed. "But I'd rather be a traitor than follow you still."

Hala's lip twitched, and she yanked her other leg free of Ivy's ice and kneed him in the gut. He stumbled away, armor absorbing most of the blow.

Her weapon whizzed for his shoulder, but Ms. Marvel's speeding knuckles punched Hala in the side of the head, forcing her retreat.

"Exile, I don't think you understand," Hala's glowing white eyes flicked between him and Ms. Marvel. "You never followed me."

A blur of white ice launched from the wall, but Hala ducked beneath it.

"You mean absolutely nothing to me," Hala said. "You're replaceable." Ms. Marvel punched for her again, but Hala vaulted backwards, landing atop the computer platform. "I kept you in a cage like a pet, but now that you've escaped, you're worth nothing but meat. Kree!" she shouted. "Intruders are trying to sabotage the ship!" she ducked another ice spike from Ivy, disappearing behind the platform.

"Did she just say she wants to eat you?" Ivy muttered. "In English?"

Victor shuddered, shaking it off. "I don't think that's what--" Kree guards swarmed around the computer platform, ray guns blazing.

"Get up, Dante!" Ivy shouted. Ms. Marvel ducked and shielded her head, stretching like a contortionist to avoid whizzing red ray bolts spraying the air. Victor slammed his swords together and formed the shadow-matter into a shield, ray bolts bouncing off it.

"Ivy, can you wreck the computer?" he called, running towards her and Dante and crouching against the wall.

She replied with a shrug, heaving Dante to a stand. Dante grimaced, "I'm okay now, honest. I just lost it for a bit."

Ms. Marvel skidded into cover, the shoulder of her costume smoking. "Can you make that shield any bigger?"

"I won't need to. Dante, you blast them," Victor jerked his head towards the kree, his shield still buzzing with their blaster fire. "Ivy, hack apart that computer. Ms. Marvel and I will cover you."

Dante nodded, hands bursting alight. Raising his fists, he aimed around Victor's shield and growled, fire searing into the kree.

Dante's fire surge faded. "Go," Victor hissed, advancing from the wall. He kept his eye on the platform above the computer, expecting Hala to jump at them again. Stray blaster fire buzzed against his shield, and Ivy and Ms. Marvel jogged beside him, crouched low. Dante shot another wave of fire into the kree and the ray blasts petered out.

They crouched by the exposed computer circuits, avoiding red-hot metal melted from the sides. "Alright," Ivy formed a long, crackling spear in both hands. "You may want to step back."

Victor and Ms. Marvel obliged.

A violet beam flickered from the platform, and Victor brought his shield up, barely deflecting the blast in time. His wrist and forearm vibrated from the blow.

"Hit it now, Ivy!" Ms. Marvel swung both fists into the air. Hala launched herself from the central computer, soaring high overhead, golden armor glinting. Another violet beam sparked from her staff and zapped Ms. Marvel's nearing fist. She gasped in pain, limbs recoiling.

Distinct crackles of ice split the air, and Ivy drove an ice spear, as long as her leg, into the exposed belly of the central computer. Electricity flashed. Ivy screamed, launched backward in a smoking hiss.

The central computer sparked, then exploded, shrapnel flying. Victor tackled Ms. Marvel to the ground, covering them both with his raised shield-arm.

When he opened his eyes, the command deck had gone dark, save the faint sunlight pouring through the observation windows. The metallic tile shuddered under his body. He rolled away from Ms. Marvel, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder. His shield faded into the shadows.

A violet beam sliced up his other arm, cutting into the armor. He grimaced and rolled to his feet, pain stinging his forearm. "You've lost, Hala," he shouted, voice echoing. Ms. Marvel sat up and groaned. "Your ship's going down."

A silhouette blurred through the air, cloth whipping. Hala crashed to the ground in front of him, and Victor pulled the shadows into a broadsword, barely blocking her quarterstaff's descending blow. The weapons shrieked. "At least I'll spare your worthless inhumans the sight of my ship wrecking their sad city," Hala jumped backwards, the staff glowing to life.

Victor advanced slowly, eyes narrowed. She swung the staff forward, shooting a beam of energy, but Victor just plummeted into the void. He popped up behind her, already swinging his sword in a downward arc. Hala managed to twist, kicking him in the knee and knocking him off balance. His sword still pounded her shoulder armor, ringing out. She gasped, but swung the butt of her staff up and hammered him in the chest. His armor absorbed the brunt of the blow, although he stumbled backwards.

Carefully, he sidestepped in a circle, sword ready, favoring his injured arm. Hala lunged lightning-quick, thrusting with the staff. Rather than block, Victor fell backwards, discarding his broadsword and catching himself in a portal, then launching himself underneath her. He tried grabbing her ankles and dropping her into the portal with him, but she danced away.

Victor leapt out after her, forming a pair of knives from the shadows. He hurled them, but she knocked them away with the spinning ends of her weapon. She shot another violet beam, but he rolled aside, a curved sword forming in hand even before he returned to his feet. Her staff sparked again. "What, you're scared to get close to me?" he called.

She replied with another laser beam, aimed for his head. He ducked, and hurled the curved blade, already forming a second from the shadows. Her staff clanged, and the thrown sword clattered to the floor.

"I can keep throwing swords," he called, trying to track her as she hid in the darkness against the wall.

Dante's hands burst afire. From the corner, he shot a bright yellow jet of flames. Hala screamed, the flames cascading over her, but she leaped, soaring nearly to the vaulted ceiling, and her armor trailed sparks that quickly faded. Her staff glowed violet, and Victor ran for Dante, dropping them into a portal before the violet beam struck. He brought them back up, pressed against the coolness of the large observation window. Victor stabbed his blade at the glass, but it slid off, hardly leaving a scratch.

"What are you doing?" Dante hissed, hands dimming. Outside, a looming cityscape tilted with the ship's shudders.

"Break the window. The atmosphere outside has to be weaker than the air in here. It'll suck everything out."

"Okay--"

"I'm going back for Ms. Marvel and Ivy."

Dante nodded, standing up. "Okay. I'll blast this thing wide open."

Victor sunk into the void, returning to the carnage around the central computer. Kree bodies littered the ground amidst the slag heaps, and he found Ms. Marvel among them. He hoisted her over his shoulder; she muttered in complaint. He hunted the ground, spotting Ivy's cyan costume near the wall and grabbing her by the wrist.

"You think you're leaving?" Hala asked. He twisted to face her, and she kicked a white chair out of the debris, once a throne. "My soldiers are already evacuating. I'll rebuild my ship, Exile. We'll plunder this planet. You haven't stopped me."

Victor glared. "Then we've at least slowed you down."

She charged with blinding speed, staff swinging, but he disappeared into the void.

***

The window melted bright orange under Dante's unceasing fire stream. "I take it this wasn't designed to resist flying next to a star?" Dante hissed, face a mask of concentration.

"It was designed against the vacuum of space," Victor lowered Ms. Marvel and Ivy. "And even then, it's heavily dependent on the energy shield the central computer maintains," he jerked a thumb back toward the carnage.

A whistling wind knifed through the window, swirling Dante's hair. The hole in the glass widened, and Dante started to slide toward it. Victor grabbed his arm, ears ringing. The wind cranked up to a roar.

Hala's cackling laugh echoed behind them. Then a beam blasted Dante in the backside, and he shouted in pain. His cutting beam of fire flickered, but exploded brighter, melting the glass in an arc.

Victor growled, forming a thick shield from the pale shadows. Wind roared in his ears, overwhelming Hala's shouts. Another violet beam crashed against his shield, and he slipped, thunking to his knees. He clawed against the ground with his free hand, trying to get a grip against the sucking wind.

Beside him, Ms. Marvel dragged Ivy behind a wall of debris, but that only slid closer to the roaring wind from the torso-sized hole in the glass. Ms. Marvel shouted incoherently, hugging Ivy close and crawling against the wind. Debris shot out the glowing-rimmed hole and spun wildly into earth's atmosphere.

Victor heaved himself to a crouch, shoved backwards under the onslaught of piercing violet energy beams.

"Remember your thing about holding hands?" Dante gasped, backpedaling but still sliding closer to the hole. Ms. Marvel stretched out an arm to the two of them. She shouted again.

"I figured it out!" Dante yelled, practically in Victor's ear. "The cooperation!"

From Dante's hands, a blinding yellow light detonated. Victor squeezed his eyes shut, awash with heat. Ms. Marvel's hand latched into his elbow. Glass cracked, a single, in-unison tone screaming outward. The wind howled, and Victor plummeted into the sky.