The first thing I noticed, once I'd stopped shivering from the dangerous quantities of adrenaline swimming through my veins, was the heat.

  I pushed myself off Amy, giving her a brief once-over to make sure she was okay. No obvious burns, cuts, or anything besides her missing fingers. She stared up at me, eyes wide, lips slightly parted like she was going to say something. She didn't though, so I rose and turned, striding out of the door I'd broken to see what the damage was.

  I raised my arm to shield against the sudden wash of heat as I exited the small building. When I lowered it, I couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sight. Two buildings down, the street was nothing but fire in every direction. Thick, black and white smoke covered the horizon as far as I could see, lit orange by the firestorm below. Above, I could see large cones of sparks lazily drifting down, brilliant white against the orange glow from the fires. The realization sent a shiver of revulsion up my spine: phosphorus.

  It was dangerous here, with the fires so close, so I went back inside the building and helped Amy to her feet. She didn't say a word, didn't make a sound beyond the gasp of shock as I led her out of our shelter. Glancing back, I shivered again. We'd been too close to getting cooked. I was confident I could survive just about any type of conventional bomb the world over. I was sure, if I had been caught in that raging firestorm, I'd be dead.

  Taking things slowly, I led Amy further up the road, away from the sea of fire behind us. Glancing back...it didn't feel right we'd survived that, didn't feel right I wasn't waking up in my room right now. And yet, here we were. Alive, certainly not unhurt but that all could be dealt with later; if, of course, I was allowed to have a later.

  We passed the building where the Undersiders were taking shelter as quick as we could. I really didn't want to get stuck in with them, not in the middle of this shitshow. Things were, quite literally, heating up and I knew if we were caught up in it we'd be cooked. Just because they got to survive didn't mean I would.

  “Hey!” I ignored the shout from behind us, even as Amy turned her head. “Hey hold on, we've got wounded!” I jerked to a halt as Amy paused. I looked back and saw her staring at Tattletale.

  “Lia...” Amy said plaintively, and I sighed.

  “Let's go,” I replied, turning around and heading towards the building.

  It was some kind of rec center, the Undersiders and Travelers gathered together in the lobby. Tattletale stood up front, her arms cross as we walked in. Grue was behind her and he looked...had he lost weight? I remembered him being twice as wide as I was, now he looked...diminished. Oh, oh hell. I averted my eyes and flinched when I saw Regent and Imp standing beside Shatterbird.

  “I'm going to assume,” I said, my eyes locked on the Nine member in our midst. “She's either on the level, or Regent's doing shit that makes my skin crawl.” Tattletale snorted. “Don't, I can already hear what you wanna say.” She glowered at me for a moment, then an easy smile grew on her face.

  “Someone's protective.”

  “I did literally try and fight the Siberian,” I replied. “What do you want, you said you had wounded?”

  “We will soon,” Tattletale said, glancing back at her gathered team. “Nothing that needs attention from your girlfriend right now.”

  “She's not my girlfriend,” Amy and I snapped. Tattletale's smile only grew.

  “Come on,” she said. “Outside everyone, lets make some elbow room.”

  We filed out after the villains and fanned out on the street. Amy stood next to me, I'd been directed to make sure one of the flanking roads to us was covered. Behind us, Sundancer was working to extinguish the fires the PRT's bombing had ignited, clearing a path into the blaze it seemed. Grue was doing...something with his power. He could steal others' powers, could he feel them too? Or maybe it was just to keep the heat down from the inferno raging not a block away.

  A sound like a drumbeat echoed overhead, and looking up I saw Skitter mounted on the back of Amy's beetle. It was a bizarre sight, but somehow completely fit with the Skitter I knew both here and in what I'd remembered. She circled the street once before coming down awkwardly a dozen feet away from us, near Tattletale.

  “What?” I heard her exclaim as we approached. “Is he okay?”

  “It's a he?” I couldn't help but hear a sarcastic edge in Tattletale's voice. Hilarious.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “It's legs work sort of like hydraulics,” Amy explained as she stepped forward. “When it's flying, it diverts those fluids to the flight system. Do you know how hard it was to make that thing able to fly? I don't usually go around creating monster bugs.”

  “It's fantastic,” Skitter said flatly. “Really. Thank you. Do you think you could work on making him a little bit bigger while I get prepared? I'll give you more bugs.”

  “No,” Amy snapped, making Skitter freeze in the middle of turning around.

  “No?” Skitter's voice was cold. “If it's the physical limits of something that big, then--”

  “No Skitter,” Amy cut her off. “I can, but I won't.” Skitter turned on her, but she just shook her head. “This isn't a present, it isn't a toy. You said you needed mobility, help escaping? You got it.”

  “Did you forget that your sister is with them?” Skitter asked, making Amy flinch.

  “I've never seen someone so unhappy about a freebie,” I said, drawing her gaze. “Did you forget that, once the Nine are gone, we're enemies again?” She seemed to glare at me.

  “I didn't want that,” Skitter said a moment later.

  “Should have thought about that before becoming a twenty-first century warlord,” I retorted, crossing my arms.

  “I'm not--”

  “You hold territory that is claimed by an extant nation, and you're using the instability and violence here to hold onto it.” I rolled my eyes. “If you'd prefer I could call you a 'conflict princess' instead.” Skitter bristled.

  “And what about your use of the instability and violence?” Tattletale asked, coming to Skitter's rescue. “Face it, the only reason you don't like us is because we're using your tactics against you.”

  “Also the pain and suffering you cause to maintain your grip,” I countered. “And because I just don't like you personally, Tattletale.” I sighed and shook my head. “Fuck sake, forget it.” I turned on my heel before the Undersider's queen bitch decided this was her new crusade.

  “Hey,” Amy quietly stopped me as I stepped past her. “Um...what should I...” She trailed off, staring at the ground. I looked back at Skitter, gathering grenades and guns to take off back into the fighting.

  “God dammit,” I swore under my breath. “I don't know, she'll probably need to carry people out of there. Can you make it easier to fly, maybe with better wings for more lift but less speed?” She stared at me for a moment.

  “You know a lot about bugs.” I wasn't sure how to take that.

  “I'm just spitballing,” I replied with a shrug. “I don't actually know how to do any of that, they're just ideas that won't make Skitter more of a nightmare than she already is.” Amy glanced past me at the villains, then sighed and put her hands on the beetle's carapace.

  “Skitter,” she snapped, drawing the villain's gaze. “Gimme some bugs.”

  The beetle bulked up just slightly, but its back seemed to grow compared to its head. Before long, the shape had changed; longer, like a really fat dragonfly but with horns. When it flexed its wings, I saw they'd become wider, fatter. My suggestion? Amy stepped back and took a shuddering breath, running her fingers through her hair.

  “There,” she said flatly as Skitter put her hand on its carapace. “Should be able to carry two, if it's tight. I don't know if flying will be easier, but I tried.”

  “Thanks,” Skitter said simply.

  “Make sure my-- make sure Glory Girl makes it out.” Skitter stiffened, but gave a brief nod. Like that, she was airborne again.

  “Come on you two,” Grue barked. “Back to it.”

  I sighed and returned to guarding the flank with Amy. I had my doubts we'd actually be ambushed, the Nine were probably...preoccupied, considering the state of things. Maybe the Nazis would intervene and I could crack some deserving skulls, but I doubted it. So I just kept steadily moving with the group, keeping an eye out for anything.

  Amy was practically glued to my side, not quiet touching but close enough that I could feel her. I wasn't sure why she was suddenly so comfortable with me, but maybe it was just more comfortable than being nearer to any of the Undersiders. That made a lot of sense, and besides I'd spent most of the past two days trying to help her; maybe it finally sunk in that I was on her side.

  Maybe it was the utter shitshow around us, but that didn't make me feel any better. Skitter was about as useful as a particularly angry dachshund when it came to morality and emotion, and Tattletale was Tattletale. Grue had second-triggered and was as stable as a neglected nuclear core, and I trusted Imp and Regent about as far as I trusted his thrall. There was no one else around who Amy would actually talk to, listen to.

  No pressure.

  The progress up the road was slow, and I shivered as the asphalt became sticky underfoot. Not too hot, but it meant we were moving into the area that had been bombed. Bitch was bringing up the rear, the others covering other flanks. Grue and Sundancer were still ahead of us, extinguishing fires or shielding us from them as we crept forward.

  Beyond them, walls of flame and curtains of smoke towered over the buildings. Hell was real and it was here to say hello. How the fuck had Piggot got authorization to hit a civilian area this size with incendiaries? Evacuation or not, and I had to assume there had been one, there were certainly casualties. Maybe thinking about it was worse for me, because I knew it didn't work...

  I kept my eyes peeled, now for any survivors as much as enemies. I had basically zero supplies and a healer too unstable to be trusted right now, so I wasn't sure what help I could give. But if anyone survived this nightmare, they deserved every ounce of help I could give. The more I looked though, the less I found. All that was left were charred buildings, facades blasted apart. Ruins.

  “The heroes did this?” Amy's voice was brittle.

  “The air force, I think.” I shook my head. “It's fucked.”

  “It's insane.”

  “Got to be ready,” I replied. “Don't know when--”

  I was interrupted by the drumming of Skitter's wings, or at least the beetle's she was riding. I glanced up and saw her coming in fast, along with a bundle of white tossed over the back. Casualties? I caught a glimpse of golden hair as she landed and my heart sunk.

  Victoria.