But that's why I have a team, right?

How naive. Team? More like spectators. What went through Echo's head when she had the brilliant idea for injured me to go ahead as "an award" for my plan not completely failing? Don't tell me, I don't want to know what went on in that psycho's head.

To make things worse, my own sister sided with the little witch. "Why don't you go on ahead, then? Cause a distraction for Echo to survey the building," she said. "I can tail you in case something goes wrong."

Thirty seconds ago she'd been fretting over my broken ribs. What happened to "don't push yourself"? And they say I had a short attention span.

But at the time, the urge to distance myself from my arch-nemesis and my constant reminder of the day's earlier events trumped worrying over my pain tolerance and next conflict. I took the offer with glee, my plans for a suitable distraction already buzzing through my mind.

Careful not to step on glass shards or stub my toe on the fallen wooden chairs, I stepped through the lobby, my ears open for footsteps or opening doors. Hydel and his men trashed the joint- splinters of wood decorating the marble floor, picture frames knocked off the walls, and the cashier split into two pieces thrown across the room. Considering the thin layer of dust lining the floor and shelves disturbed only by sets of footprints from the door to the hallway, it had been a while since they first settled in.

I twisted around the corners and examined the burgundy carpeted halls. They had a cramped home feeling complete with torn floral wallpaper. Numerous doors ran along the hallway. Their wood swelled from water damage, making them difficult to open quietly. This must have been an inn or hotel at some point.

Although Echo was probably doing the same, I cracked open a few doors on the way to peek inside. Most of the rooms had busted walls where they'd made them larger to accommodate for the stacks of boxes and equipment. Curiosity urged me to examine them, but I knew the others were waiting on me to make a distraction.

I had pictured the building swarming with guards in my head, but inside, there were only a few on patrol. They walked back and forth down the halls in an almost predictable pattern, but there was a time or two I had to duck beside a broken water fountain or sneak through doors when they unexpectedly appeared around a corner. Nonetheless, I figured Hydel wasn't expecting guests.

Now and then, I'd feel eyes on the back of my neck from Pudding or Echo, but I didn't turn around to look. They were probably waiting for my brilliant distraction that I hadn't found the perfect place to perform yet. Distractions were an art that I put my utmost pride in.

After scanning the entire first floor for said "perfect place", I found myself tired and extremely disappointed. Not a single room screamed Hydel will despise me for the rest of his reptilian life if I make a scene here.

After a moment of wandering aimlessly through a hallway I had already investigated, I stared dumbly at a floor map across from the lobby between two elevators that probably didn't work. I could feel Pudding's gaze burning into me, and I tried my best to pretend I didn't notice the judgment. I tried even harder to pretend Echo wasn't watching me too with her evil smirk.

There were three floors above the ground level we were on, but what really caught my attention was the clearly marked "off-limits" basement. What can I say? "Off-limits" had a tempting ring.

I found the stairs and swung the door open with my right hand so my custom-fit trash can lid shield wouldn't knock on the door and create a racket in the stairwell. Not that it mattered since I forgot to stop the door from slamming behind me when I let go. The sound echoed around me, loud as a gunshot, and I listened for the stomping of feet up the narrow stairs. I couldn't hear anyone, so I huffed, let down that I couldn't take out a few guards while I had the higher ground.

It only took me a moment to skip down to the basement level like a child. Within that time, no one came up after me, and I was beginning to feel a little concerned for the lack of guards.

Come to think of it, I thought, Hydel's been hiding here for a while. Usually, his hideouts are crawling with semi-humans —guards and customers alike and easy enough to locate. He must have decided to ditch his guards in favor of secrecy. That doesn't sound like Hydel.

The room I stepped into was wide, high-ceilinged, and dark. Dim lights were on in the far back accompanied by muffled voices. A line of clear plastic wrap draped from the ceiling and blurred the light. It separated my half of the room from the far half and created a lined path to the center. On either side of the path were large machinery and boxes much like the ones upstairs but in a larger quantity. Lights flickered in buttons and switches, but I had no clue what they meant. Mechanics weren't my expertise, and last I checked, neither were they Hydel's.

My breath hitched when a presence appeared behind me. I turned around to find Pudding followed by Echo. They took in what they could of their dark surroundings, and I partially expected Echo to shift into cat form to use her power, Echolocation, to "see" the layout.

To clear up any confusion, no, I didn't mean "hear the layout" as one would expect from a power titled Echolocation. Echo's power sent out a tiny wave and returned in the form of silent vibrations. I'd felt the vibrations once or twice before when I stood close enough to her, but usually, I kept my distance from the black-haired menace.

My eyes flicked over the nearest boxes, landing on a metal rod. A smirk formed on my lips at my new idea. I lifted the rod with my free hand. It was heavier than I had expected, but that made it all the better. Pudding and Echo must have noticed I had a plan because when I turned back they scattered like someone pulled out the spray bottle.

I swung the metal rod a few times to get the feel for it. Content, I continued walking toward the light straight through the middle path. I played the plan over and over again in my head, and with each step closer to the voices, my smirk faltered.

Maybe I should rethink this, thought common sense in the smallest portion of my brain which made rational decisions, but since when did I listen to it?

Only ten or so steps away, I lifted the metal rod and prepared my shield. A few more steps forward, and I brought the rod down on the lid.

Clang!

The conversation quieted. When I took another step, bringing with it another clang, the conversation died completely. For a moment, I wondered if I should have given Echo more time to listen in, but the thought of disrupting her brought a smile to my face.

I kept clanging my shield until I reached the end of the path which widened into the second half of the room. Both the right and the left wall had staircases that wrapped around the wall and connected to a platform. A couple of guards watched me from their post on either side of the platform, but our star of the show, Hydel Triant, stood in the middle of the room behind a large table.

His lips were pulled down into a scowl only Zeal could compete against, and his pinched face burned a bright red.

Needless to say, he wasn't happy.

***

Pudding slid around a metal box. Her brown shirt and blue jeans were littered with black smudges from sneaking around the filthy room. She hated this part of being a hero, but as much as she wanted to, she didn't trust Echo and Misha's team dynamics enough to have Echo keep her sister safe.

Plus, Echo did a better job at searching and collecting information than her, even if it was more of a shadow class spy's duty. Technically, Echo's rogue class was better equipped for Pudding's current job. Better yet, an anonymous class spy would have certainly come in handy, but Pudding didn't know many spies. With any luck, the shadow class spy Ilene had mentioned Misha wanting on the team, Ninja, would join them sometime. Pudding wouldn't hold her breath.

She didn't dare take a peek around the box and risk being seen. A brief moment of envy for Echo's talents passed over her, but she shooed it away as quick as it came. She could see Misha, and hopefully, that's all that mattered.

Misha's "talent" at distraction was the only reason she could hide so close without alerting anyone's attention in the wide room. If Misha could do one thing, it was making noise, and while it worked out on occasion, Pudding knew the "talent" would kill her someday.

After taking a few steps into the open, Misha stopped walking but kept the metal lid up in guard. Her lips were turned up in a smile, but Pudding could see her building apprehension. Pudding prayed to Maxima in hope her sister had an idea past getting everyone's attention. Wishful thinking on her part.

"Hydel! My old friend," greeted Misha, her smile giving off a cocky air but her blue eyes filled with concentration. "It's been a while. Good to see your illegal business is still running well."

Pudding's eyes swept over the people in the room. Other than the two guards, everyone else stood around a circular table. Besides Triant, who wore a thick leather vest over his shirtless, sun-tanned six-pack and beefy arms, the others were dressed as if they were attending a business meeting. Since when did Hydel's clients wear fancy suits and carry office handbags?

Triant was noticeably larger than them.  His fists, easily double the size of Pudding's, clenched and veins bulged up his arms. He narrowed his swampy green eyes, the same shade as his mohawk buzz cut, and creases appeared across his tomato red forehead.

"What's wrong?" asked Misha with fake concern. "Are you under the weather?"

Finally, Hydel Triant regained his ability to speak. "Just fine till you walked in. You'd better run along. I don't sell to kids your age."

The two guards began walking down the stairs. Pudding couldn't see the closest guard without showing herself, but she could see the one across the way wearing a black cap pulled down over his face. Her eyes followed his hands to the small firearm hanging from his side.

"Don't make me laugh," replied Misha humorlessly. "You'd sell to anyone with money. But I'm not here for drugs."

"Then get out," ordered Triant, the veins on his forehead beginning to bulge. "I don't have time to waste playing games with kittens."

"What games do you speak of?" asked Misha, her grip on the metal rod tightening. "Using kids to fulfill your evil deeds? As slaves? Scapegoats? Pawns? That's not a game, Triant."

Pudding's heart leaped out of her chest when something tapped her shoulder. She spun around, nearly knocking the metal box with her elbow, and Echo pressed a finger to her lips. Pudding closed her eyes to slow her breathing before giving Echo a what is it? look.

Echo slid the cloth cover on one of the boxes Pudding had been hiding behind and pointed towards the emblem imprinted into the metal: A black gear surrounding the two halves of a broken heart. The right half of the heart filled in with black paint.

Something about the strange emblem tugged at Pudding's memory as if she should remember its meaning. It made her stomach feel uneasy. She turned around, looking at all the boxes and machines. They each had the same matching symbol painted on their metal sides.

Pudding locked eyes with Echo and scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. Echo rubbed her finger over the paint lost in thought, a dark look in her eyes.

"You are but a child yourself," said Triant. "I reckon there are others within this very room as we speak. You heroes never work alone."

Echo growled beneath her breath, angered that their cover hadn't lasted a little longer. The guard Pudding could see stopped by the table, but the sound of approaching footsteps told her the other guard was advancing on them. They didn't have much time before being discovered.

"That's one thing we have in common," replied Misha with a forced smile. When she noticed the other guard wouldn't advance further without Triant's consent, she twirled her metal pole between her sweating fingers.

"Among many."

Despite her stressful situation, much of Pudding's anxiety subsided, taken over by a flare of animosity. She barely refrained from standing up and shouting at the reptilian semi-human. To her, heroes and villains were nothing alike. As Rain always said, heroes were water and villains were fire. And water always extinguished fire.

Then again, Rain also always told her things were never that cut and dry. After all, water did have a boiling point, and water and fire weren't the only kinds of people out there.

Pudding bit back her anger and settled down. She knew better than to take things to heart, but Rain's teachings always held a special place there. That, and her strong dislike for Triant certainly didn't help the situation. She worried Misha wouldn't have the same self-control as herself.

To her surprise, Misha didn't show any reaction. Neither her forced smile nor her heated glare quivered. They didn't build either. If Pudding didn't know any better, she'd have assumed Misha didn't care about the remark.

A shadow grew beside Pudding, taking on the shape of a head, shoulders, and two arms no doubt holding a firearm. Pudding sucked in a short breath. She turned toward Echo only to find the black-haired spy had slipped away without a word.

"This is why we're supposed to have a communicator," muttered Pudding just loud enough for her own ears. Irritation briefly surfaced before washing away in the flood of adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Ilene should have been keeping in contact. Even if she no longer joined them on the field like in the old days, she could still talk to them through their watches. Pudding figured Ilene and Misha's morning squabble set off the sunshine-haired girl, and she opted out of the job.

Not that Pudding really understood what was going on between them. They only let her in when they needed a shoulder to lean on, and even then, they wouldn't tell her why they needed her. Pudding was a pillar that could never look up to see what she was supporting.

That's just how it'd always been.

"Boss would've killed you," said Misha. Pudding snapped her attention back to her sister. "She'd have done it in a heartbeat."

Triant's guests shared uneasy glances with one another. In the past when S.H.H.A. intercepted Triant's operations, his customers were armed head to toe, prepared for anything to go down. Change of plans, police, sometimes heroes, you name it. However, his newest customers were better fit to be sitting around a conference table of a well-respected company than standing beneath an abandoned hotel in the presence of a notorious drug dealer.

Hydel smirked, giving them no mind. Heck, he'd probably forgotten they were there, his mind so preoccupied with Misha. "But you won't," he said certainly.

"What makes you say that?" asked Misha a little too quick to hide her resentment.

Taking a step forward, Hydel's smirk was the last thing to vanish as he disintegrated into a mass of dark turquoise particles and the first thing to reappear on his alligator face as the particles resided. Dark green limbs splayed across the round table knocking over containers and scattering papers. His swampy eyes gleamed with a frightening mixture of anger and amusement.

The shadow of the guard grew larger over Pudding, and she expected to see the tip of their gun beside her head at any moment. Even so, she couldn't pull her attention away from her sister when the blonde's sky blue eyes flashed with a wave of burning anger from the alligator's reply, "Because you're not half of what she was."

------------------

Whew, that was a lot of editing. It's not even that long of a chapter.

I hope you're enjoying it. It would mean a lot to me if you silent readers out there made a comment as simple as "still reading". I'm afraid I lose most of my readers in the beginning.

Speaking of which, any constructive criticism is helpful. I know that I have a long way to go, and I'd love help from my readers.

Thanks so much for making it this far!