"What's the plan?" Mom asks as she parks the car down the street from the hotel.

I think about my speed coming back in that brief moment when I ran away from Sophia. I'm not sure why it came back, but it proves that my powers aren't completely gone. I'm slowly being drained, but I'm not powerless.

"I'm going to try to turn invisible. It's going to take a lot of energy and it's probably not going to last long. So I need you to be Titania for the night."

My mom admitted to me that she was Titania, but she never went into further detail than that. If it weren't for my prior knowledge of the super hero legend, I wouldn't even know what her powers were. But everyone knows who Titania is. I smirk to myself knowing what kind of damage she can do.

"Della, I'm not going to do that." Mom objects.

"You haven't even heard my plan!"

She rolls her eyes, "Please, do tell."

I huff, "You use your super strength. Slam your fists in the concrete outside and create an ominous 'boom'. Everyone will come running out to see you - Titania - ready to fight again. It'll be enough time to keep them occupied."

She closes her eyes with a sigh. "My super suit is at home." 

I reach for the door handle, not giving her another option. "Have dad teleport over here with it."

She grabs her phone, acknowledging the fact that I am not letting her back out of this. I begin to open the car door when she grabs my arm. My mother has never looked at me with so much fear yet so much pride.

"Be safe."

I smile and exit the car. It's showtime.

Hardly anyone is around, which is in my favor because no one will rat me out. Plus, it's pitch black outside and I can hide my face easily amongst the shadows.

I hope this isn't a suicide mission.

I find myself holding in a deep breath that I didn't realize I was holding. I breathe out a sigh and keep moving into the light of the hotel. Before I enter, I make sure my invisibility works. It takes a lot more of my energy and concentration than usual, but I find my Converses disappearing from my sight and my clothes eventually fade away too. Perfect.

I don't know how long it will take my mom to get her suit on and cause the distraction, but I know I can handle myself if I am caught. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but I'm prepared for the worst.

The hotel door is revolving, so I easily step inside the building without anyone seeming suspicious. I would be terrified to be at the front desk and watch the automatic doors open up for someone who wasn't there.

My feet take me straight to The Undergrounds. Let's be honest, my brain was flipping out on me. I had to let my feet take over or I was never going to get there.

The grungy steps are a huge contrast from the pristine hotel floors. I try to step as softly as I can so I won't be heard. Immediately, I begin to hear conversations of the villains in the pit of the basement.

"She's going down, and she's taking her whole family with her."

"I haven't heard anything out of Crossfire recently, have you?"

"Does this cape make me look fat?"

To which I hear the response, "Dude, no capes."

I shrug off the comment because maybe they're right, but I am in love with my super suit and it's flowing cape.

I make my way past some of the villains into the side hall where the filing cabinets were. Key word: were. Not a single filing cabinet is in sight. Of course I should've expected they'd move all of the information to computers now. Bright plan, Della.

An explosive boom shakes The Undergrounds and almost knocks me down. I grab onto the wall near me and victoriously smile when I realize mom came through for me. All of the villains start mumbling to each other until one of them hollers out, "Come on, guys!" They all leave the room and I watch the multiple colored suits run up the staircase.

Before I even make my next move, I hear a clank of metal against metal. It's faint, but I know someone else is still in here. I tiptoe around the corner to the dark area I once spent a few days in. The cell bars are still as grungy and uninviting as always.

I almost let out a gasp, but I'm careful in keeping my cover. Jonas grips onto the bars, trying to hear what's going on upstairs. It was his class ring against the bar that I heard. He's wearing khaki colored cargo shorts and a dark green t-shirt. His hair is sticking up in all different directions. Sophia was right: Jonas is trapped in The Undergrounds. Although I'm not sure I believe everything she told me. I mentally sigh. There's only one way to find out now.

I hate myself for doing this, but I make myself visible right in front of Jonas' cell. It takes him a second to even acknowledge my presence, but when he does see me, he does a double take.

"Della? What- how- when did you-" He stutters out.

I roll my eyes, "Are you going to finish any of those questions?" Just like that, Orage is coming back out of her shell.

"What are you doing here?" He looks conflicted, like he wants to be excited that I'm here, but we both know we didn't end on the best terms.

"I came to get information, but they were smart enough to hide it from me. Sophia said you'd be here, but I didn't believe her." I stare at him in awe.

"You've been talking to Sophia?" Jonas tilts his head to the side. I huff.

"Yes, keep up. Now, tell me what you know and I might let you out of here." Yeah, I know. Wouldn't it make more sense to get out of there as soon as possible since you don't know when the others are coming back? Well, yes, maybe, but then if they see he's gone they'll immediately come hunting me down.

"Um, well, Owen is a villain. I knew I didn't like that guy," Jonas adds under his breath.

"Steel Hawk is alive. I'm not sure where he is or what his evil plot is, but he's alive. I've heard the murmurs of the villains down here. Even they're afraid of him."

A distant sound of footsteps on the staircase makes us both freeze in place. I disappear and the look on Jonas' face says he wishes he could disappear. My feet lead me around the corner to see who's missing all the action outside with Titania. Obviously, this guy didn't get the memo that nothing interesting is going on down here.

My heart drops to my stomach when I recognize the suit. All black, purple stripes down the sides. He reaches the bottom step. Perception. What is he doing here?

He makes his way across the floor, but he doesn't go towards the computers or where the filing cabinets used to be. Perception takes out a keycard and waves it in front of the door that leads to the Board room. Curiously, I follow behind him. He has a key card? Who left that lying around?

He enters the room after a green light flickers over the door. Perception hurries through the door and it locks behind him. Immediately, I go back to the cells to report to Jonas.

"What do you know about Perception?" I ask quickly, but stay invisible.

Jonas shrugs, "It's your impression or view of something, right?"

I bite the inside of my cheek, "No, idiot, I meant the super who calls himself Perception." I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the Board room door when it opens.  Perception walks through with a small device in his hands and tucks it in a pocket on the side of his leg. My heart races. What was that device? He hastens up the steps before I can get closer to see.

"Was that Perception?" Jonas asks when Perception is out of ear shot. I turn myself visible again, feeling more confused than ever. Maybe Perception had stolen the key card in order to retrieve whatever he came out of the room with.

Although maybe my gut feeling was right. Perception is Owen and Owen is a villain. But why wouldn't Jonas know who Perception was if he knew everything about Owen? And the fact that I just saw Perception and Jonas in the same room rules out Jonas as Perception.

Here comes the dizziness again.

Another boom erupts throughout the building and I grab onto the cell bars to steady myself. Jonas does the same and our hands brush against each other and our eyes meet. If it weren't for the chaos going on above our heads, I would've stopped to question the spark. But I have find out what's going on up there. I hope my mom is okay.

"Where are you going?" Jonas catches my hand before I run away again.

My eyes only flash back for a moment before I snatch my hand away. "I have to go. I'll come back for you later, I promise." I jog up the stairs without looking back.

Right as I reach the top of the steps, I see the villain Blizzard rush by me. He didn't stop to notice my presence, but I quickly use my super speed before anyone can recognize me. I have to get to my mom. I have a bad feeling about what I saw with Perception.

I stop short at the entrance of the hotel. Outside, I see the sidewalks and roads crumpled up. It looks like a earthquake shattered the ground into pieces. I take a moment to chuckle to myself. My mom hasn't used her powers in 12 years and all of a sudden she turns into the Hulk.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Perception and his purple stripes running down the busted sidewalk, along with a team of villains. Perception is definitely not a hero.

But he did save my life, and I am especially bewildered by that.

I take off, trailing behind the villains, and then pass them. There's no telling how far these cracks in the road go, and how far I have to get to find my mom at the source of them all.

I see her pound her fist into the ground one more time. She certainly caused a distraction. She seems to have enjoyed coming out of retirement.

I run up to grab her hand but something registers in her eyes and she glances behind me. "Della look out!" Mom tackles me to the ground and I feel something tickle my ear as it whizzes by. A bullet? Did Perception and the others try to shoot me? My heart is about to pound out of my chest.

"I think you boys better run back to the sewers you came from." Mom stands up and raises her fist again. I expect them all to run away, and by the sound of running footsteps, it's my understanding that's exactly what's happening. Except, my mom is still talking to someone.

Why do I have a feeling it's Perception?

My hand reaches up to touch the back of my head. Good, no blood there. I run my hand along my right arm and bite my lip to keep from screaming. I pull my hand back to see blood running down my fingers. I guess the impact of mom sheltering me was too much when she was still in Titania mode. At least it's not my head again.

"Go home, kid. Or I'll end you," She's about to turn around to help me up when she sharply turns on her heel to catch something right between her fingers. I forgot Titania had quick reflexes as well.

"A power disabling needle. Hm. That's new." She drops it to the ground and crushes it beneath her foot nonchalantly. If I weren't in so much pain, I'd get up and high five her.

To my surprise, I hear Perception run off too. That's unusual for Owen's nature. I wouldn't think he'd stand down so easily. Unless he has something greater planned.

Mom scoops me up in her arms and I wince as my right arm dangles. "Where are we going?" I ask in a slight daze.

I hear her breathing heavily and her heartbeat is pounding against my ear. Yet, she's so calm when she begins to walk down the ruins of the road.

"Home, Della. It's time to regroup."

A/N
I went almost two weeks with writer's block just for this chapter alone and then, all of a sudden, inspiration hit me like a bus. I wrote most of this chapter in one sitting and I feel so proud. Like I might give myself a cookie or something.

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. You all deserve cookies for being patient with my updates. We're almost done, and I hope to be finished by the end of this month. I wanted to be finished with Villains Rise about a month ago, but I wasn't happy with how it was going to end. Like Della's mom just said, "It's time to regroup."

Comments? Questions? Theories?

Thanks for reading!
Always, Sunny