---

---

---

Leah grabbed her things from the locker, she quickly stormed out the door. She needed to be outside, so she darted around the green room and the countless cameras, ignored the occasional bystander with a microphone or notebook, and made for an exit. She nearly sent some guy wearing a red shirt into a wall by storming down the hall. Leah checked her phone and saw two messages. One of them was... Weird. She hadn't checked them since earlier last night before they all played a game of Which Super People Would You Fuck? :tm:





What the fucking hell was that about... Wait. She remembered now. Leah had sent out a bunch of texts to Vision, She Hulk and the girls yesterday, after she had been tricked into thinking her dad was back. By the Hex Girls. She still had that talisman thing Strange gave her. She wasn't sure how in the mood she was for making them regret enchanting her, suddenly. Maybe later. But it did make her emotions come crawling back seeing the text. Did they fucking hack her phone? Magic made Vicky spark and bluescreen, maybe she needed to do that to her phone. Or maybe they just had some kind of technomantic spell. Either way...

Her fingers started flying across the keyboard.





Leah turned a corner, looking for the exit. There weren't many directional signs to find her way. She found a hallway where few people were, and assumed she was near the exit. But then she walked through a door and... It was a bathroom. She found the damn bathrooms, because of course this place just had to confound people. How did anyone willingly find this one?

She sighed, and sent She Hulk another message before putting her phone away.



Leah pulled her rune pouch of her pocket and started digging for them. Eihwaz, no. Gebo, no...

"Motherfucking... Goddamn... There." Raidho. The rune of travel.

She held it flat in her palm and thought on how to actually do this. When she tried growing flowers back in California, it was instant and easy. This was... A bit different. The stones felt right in her hand, they felt familiar in that strange way geological things always did, only more.

"Show me the way out of here."

The lines making up the symbol began to glow a brassy orange, and Leah felt something in it pulse. That felt familiar, and she assumed it was working, because the rune began to levitate a few inches above her hand. It spun around and the top of the symbol pointed elsewhere, like a compass. Leah was a bit surprised that it was that easy. Didn't people who really got into magic take longer than this for basic stuff?

She could worry about that later. Leah followed the rune out of the hallway, down another hallway she could've swore she'd been to already, and then another several winding turns. A minute or so later, she found the main entrance. Then she found her way back out into New Orleans. It was warm out here, and the fresh air alone made her feel a bit less on edge.

Leah sat down on a bench and just... Breathed. The glowing rune in her hand took to gently spinning in place, probably because she was right on top of where she wanted to go. The sounds of people walking and running, of skateboards clacking against pavement and the general buzz of the city grounded her. The fluttering in Leah's chest wasn't so bad here. It felt nice. Peaceful, even.

She once again messaged her "mom."



Then she messaged her girlfriend.



Leah closed the messages and focused on the rune that was rotating in her hand. She needed to think about things, but she wouldn't mind if She Hulk suddenly appeared behind her and bothered her endlessly.

This wasn't the best day.

---

---

---

Sabine lay there with her eyes closed, allowing the medical staff to work on her. She tried not to let the intrusive thoughts in, but she didn't really have much else to do but lie there and catastrophize.

She wondered if any of the others had listened to her or felt she was a big phony. Would they respect her words or think she is just some faker who didn't care about any of it? She thought she was eloquent with her words, but perhaps they fell on deaf ears. She wondered what everyone watching thought, also. The parents, the friends. Had she let them down as well?

As she started to shift, she felt a presence nearby. She kept her eyes shut, hoping it was one of the staff checking on her, when she felt weight on the bed she was lying in. She felt an arm around her, a leg touching another, and the gentle press of someone's head against her neck. She didn't have to open her eyes to know who it was.

"Hey Danni."

Part of her wanted to tell Danni to leave her alone for a bit, but she knew better. Danni had just gone through something intense, and Sabine could only imagine how he was feeling, seeing Dorian in that position, the after-effects. She nuzzled against his head, moving one of her hands to gently stroke his hair as he relayed what he had experienced. It was hard for her to process, but whatever had happened inside the Entity, it seemed...cosmic and otherworldly. Danni expressed concern, and Sabine wanted to comfort. Did Danni know what she did? Did she tell him?

"I am so proud of you, Danni. You did something incredibly hard and managed to get out and help Dorian and Billy in the process. You should be proud of yourself.

Your parents were understandably angry, and I am angry at myself, too. I should never have taken charge and assumed I knew best. I am not like the others. I haven't been training for years to get to this contest and win. All my life, people have seen me and assumed they knew me and my intentions. One inkling of psychic abilities, and people assume the worst. Hell, Dorian has a sword specifically for people like me. Especially with my powers, where no one ever felt like they could trust me because they assumed I used my powers to get what I wanted. So I opted to be the bad guy they thought I was. Even when I came to this school, I never intended to be a hero. I never felt like it was what I could do. And then I met a bunch of others who made me see what good I can do. When I worked through it with Arcade, I felt...it felt good to help. When I tried with Casper it felt wrong. That's what is constantly going through my head whenever I opt to use my powers: is this the right time for it? And I can't do that if I want to be a hero and help people."

"I abstained from the fight. I couldn't do it anymore. There was too much hurt, on both sides, and it felt wrong to attack them when they were down. Heroes don't do that. A villain makes sure the hero dies, but the hero makes sure the villain lives. I didn't feel like fighting them anymore at their lowest point, seeing a friend of theirs in such a horrible predicament. And I am mad at Leah for attacking America, but I also don't blame her. Everyone worked hard to get here, and I feel like a fraud because I gave up, but I couldn't go on with myself knowing I kicked someone at their lowest point. I didn't want to prove the others right. I wanted to prove to myself I could make good decisions with my powers."

Her mind raced to Leah, wondering if she was still on the field fighting. To April, who had kissed her not once, but twice. To Dorian, who has been through an ordeal. To Andi, who remained steadfast. To Percy, who currently saw his boyfriend through that and panicked. To Max, and if he was proud of her, and felt her heart hurt when she thought at any moment he wasn't.

Danni had sat up abruptly, addressing the YA in the medbay. Sabine finally opened her eyes and saw that some of the others had joined with her. Sabine pulled Danni back down. "We can discuss the party after everyone finishes and we heal up, but I like the idea of an afterparty with them. Honestly? Fuck the Hex Girls cheating asses. They still got stomped. We did that. And no matter what happens with this, we won.

---

Victoria could summarize what happened in the last minute in one word.

Huh?

She let go of the guardrail and stepped back, a mixture of different feelings plaguing her core, confusion chief among them.

What just happened? Did they only now just realize this business is less olympics and more hunger games? I've been trying to tell you for an eternity... At least Andy and Flynn have the stomach to follow through once they started! You don't wanna play anymore because a fight turned ugly? What a fucking surpr-

She paused her inner tirade.

Assumptions. Last time I made assumptions about why humans did things didn't work so well. Vicky chastised herself, albeit logic did nothing to quell the emotions, merely suppressed them.

It looked like some of the contestants were still in it though. There was still useful data to be recorded, and she can ask Sabine and Leah for their thoughts on the matter when it was over. She needed more context.

---

---

---

---

The energy within the stands had changed so much in such a small manner of time. The roaring cheers that goaded the would-be champions had fallen to a wave of gasps as a strange being emerged beyond the plane. Parents, teachers, and hero's, collectively watched with baited breaths in the event they needed to interfere. But once the threat had passed and relief swept across the onlookers, the question stood what would happen next? A temporary truce in play as the students decided amongst themselves how they would continue, as the audience's silence turned to hushed murmurs.

Dorian waited until everyone who didn't want to continue had cleared out. April and Andy seemed to want to continue the fight. With three Young Avengers wishing to continue as well, it left Dorian no choice but to aid his allies, his friends, in this Contest of Champions. He wanted this more than anyone, but even more so…he wanted this the right way, one that could be called Heroic. This was it. The teams split amongst their sides of the arena once more, the tension palpable but different. The attitude each contest held had shifted, this was more than winning, it was about being true to one's self and a beacon to others. This was what heroes were made of, and where their legends began.

Dorian looked towards the Young Avengers with a smile. ”May the best Hero's win! Genosha knows we're all trying our hardest.” He looked towards the announcers box, nodding to let him know they were all ready to go now.

“ALRIGHT EVERYBODY! WE DO APOLOGIZE FOR THAT BRIEF INTERRUPTION BUT NOW THAT THE COMMERCIALS ARE OVER WE CAN CONTINUE ON WITH THE FIGHT! TO THE LEFT EXCELSIORS CASCADE, POLTERGEIST, AAAAAND LUUUUUUNA MINOR! TO THE RIGHT THE YOUNG AVENGERS PATRIOT, AMERICA, AAAAND STATUUUUUURE!! SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO LET THE FIGHT …
…
…
BEGIN!”

Dorian unsheathed his sword, wrapping it in telekinetic energy while attempting to manipulate it with his electromagnetism. A combination he'd never attempted before. His hope was a faster, more agile control over his sword at a range, and that was exactly what he'd gotten. He'd tossed his sword towards Patriot, purposely missing so that he could call it back and attack him by surprise, but the speed was too great, and the sword launched itself back quicker than Dorian could control. It felt like trying to catch a wet snake, slipping between his invisible grip every time he tried. The sword made its way back towards Dorian, past Excelsior, and into the stands inches away from Magneto who had held it by pure instinct alone.

“Do be more careful next time.” He chastised from the stands.

”Sorry Erik!”

Andy smiled at April, ”Cascade, soak them.”

April flushed slightly - before she nodded. Get your head in the game! she chastised herself, before pulling from the barrels of water - her resource was starting to run low, only about 20% of it left at this point - and she blasted the Young Avengers with a veritable tidal wave. “All yours, Andy!”

Once the group was wet she went straight for America. Andy was quite happy with the idea of a 1v1, that was what she liked, what she was used to. Large group fights were too much to handle sometimes. She felt like she missed things. However, there were only six combatants left in the fight. This was something she could handle.

Andy darted forward, her fist still crackling with lighting, she punched America. Since America was soaked the lighting was conducted and it spread. America was reeling from it.

There was a mad grin on America’s face. She loved a girl who could throw a punch. Could Andy take one? Another question entirely. An idea then popped into her head, one that her poor impulse control immediately signed off on. “Remember the time with the zombie rats?” she called out to her teammates.

“The ones who were trying to recreate Ratatouille? Hell yeah!” Patriot affirmed.

“On it!” Cassie agreed.

Boosted by Patriot’s praise, America punched open a portal to another universe. Cassie grabbed onto Dorian and threw him on through like a ragdoll.

“Sorry, had to help them out a bit there - but now you have my undivided attention - probably!” America apologized to Andy.

Dorian was too distracted by his accidental attempt at Erik's life, unable to quickly react to Cassie's attack as she threw him through one of America's star-shaped portals and into another universe. He was surrounded by what he could only describe as a Candy-Land nightmare. Rivers of chocolate rushed past him as mountains of chocolate chip cookies stood far ahead. The grass was made of green licorice-like material and the soil beneath oreo crumble. ”T'at's not fair!” Dorian huffed as he kicked a small round of rock candy.

”It's fine, it's fine. Every world touches t'e Astral, so all I need to do is enter it and navigate it back to my own…before t'e fight ends.” Dorian gripped his hair and scrame out into the void in frustration. He attempted to go ghost, something he'd done so many times before, but the candy called to him too greatly as his powers failed him. Making his way over to a chocolate bark tree, he snapped a branch off and began to eat it as he followed the path down river.

Andy looked at the spot where the portal had been. Great. Now their numbers were uneven. She wasn’t about to let that stand. Patriot was pretty messed up. He had been about ready to fall over, why he had been willing to stay in the fight was beyond her.

”You made the numbers uneven again. Tsk.”

She darted over to Patriot and punched him. He was still standing! How the hell? People with self heal were cheating. She looked at America.

”Well I tried.” She shrugged, ”Guess our numbers are still uneven.”

April eyed the battlefield. Her heart was thundering even faster now that Dorian was gone - but somehow that was not even the most stressful thing that had happened involving him today. America would bring him back. Right? Right?

So instead of freaking out, she saw an opportunity in front of her - and she pulled up the water from the ground, and had a tentacle dart out, whacking Patriot in the back of the head - and the Young Avenger’s leader fell unconscious, his body vanishing from the field.

“Now we’re even!”

“Eli!” Cassie shouted, unable to stop from gasping as her beloved teammate was taken out. It was just her and America now. She had to even their odds, somehow.

Instead of attacking, she bounded forward, her gigantic feet leaving small craters in the ground - and she picked up the barrels of water, and drank them. No more water, no more mermaid problems.

“You don’t know bloodbending, right?” America said with a nervous chuckle. “And as promised - let’s see how well you can take it. I hope it’s half as good as you can give it!”

She then leaned back, and sucker punched Andy in the stomach. A solid hit, but Andy’s reflexes would allow her to stave off some of the impact.

As time passed by and the marvelous candied world encircled him, he realized something. ”What am I doin?! I can try and teleport!” Sure the Astral had failed him, but maybe if he pulled on his connection, his tether to their world, it would help guide him back. Dorian envisioned the arena back home, thinking about his friends, the victory, and how absolutely rude it was to think he was so easily removable. Blue energy swirled around him and with flash he was back on the field in time to hear America's question. ”She doesn't, but I do. Miss me?” He said with a devilish grin.

Andy coughed, trying to catch her breath. It was a good thing that Dorian came back at that time. How he got back was beyond Andy, but she didn’t care. He was back. And now the numbers were in their favor.

”Oh, now it is uneven in our favor.” Andy dove at America again. She felt a little like a ping pong ball with the movement. America and Andy fell back together - into a portal.

Andy landed and got to her feet; she looked around. The building was made of metal. The cool temperature of it felt familiar. A large portrait on the wall drew her attention. The portrait was of Magneto and his children. Including her. She smiled at it. There was Polaris and Wanda, even Peitro was in the painting, though he was toward the back partially hidden by his sisters. She had never met him, or Wanda. But she knew Polaris. It had been how Magneto had fought for Polaris that had made Andy want a family like that.

”Uh, can you take us back. I mean this world is sort of perfect.” She gestures to the portrait. ”But I’ve done a lot of fighting, literally, for where I am in my world.” At least this wasn’t a world where Selene was actively being her mom. ”Also I expect if we meet me from here she’s probably gonna be...weird.” Andy did not want to think about that.

Back in the main universe, April’s eyes widened as Dorian appeared again out of nowhere. She had absolutely no fucking idea how he did that! Had he gone astral and crawled his way through? “Why the candy cane?” she blurted. “Why a candy cane shiv? Um, anyways…” her thoughts raced. “You can do stuff with electromagnetism now, right?”

April did well in her science classes. But in the moment, she had no idea if her notion would work. If she held Cassie in place, could Dorian replicate what Andy had done?

“Or bloodbending works too!”

She had no idea if she could do that.

The thought of it made her a little nauseous.

She needed to get some more water.

Her gaze darted into the stands.

Focusing on the cups sloshing with soda, with beer, with lotus energy drinks, with water. And she pulled and pulled and pulled, as all the cups in the stadium went flying towards her.

She was going to Baja blast Stature.

Stature who - clearly unnerved by how quickly Dorian had returned and fully believing him about bloodbending - kicked at him, aiming to punt him through the open roof of the stadium.

She missed, and the sudden shift in momentum altered her balance, sending the giant tumbling to the floor. The seismic impact would nearly knock Dorian and April off of their feet.

And in the other realm, America nodded. “Yeah, I can take us back!” Andy hadn’t asked her the much more crucial question: would she take them back now. America preferred fighting away from all the cameras anyways. And the palace backdrop? She loved it. It was more interesting than some boring old arena.

She swung a punch, one Andy would easily be able to duck underneath. “So what’s the deal with you and Magneto, huh?”

Dorian whipped his head to the side as Andy and America vanished from the fight. Of course America would take one of them out and away for a cage match. It was a good use of her powers, but annoying nonetheless. The ground shook beneath his feet as Stature went flying back. ”What's a matter Stature? You look like you've seen a ghost.” he chuckled. ”Not so much a shiv as much as t'at's what ‘appens when you ‘ave a long trek in anot'er world made of candy t'at you get abandoned to.”

Dorian tried to reach out and use his powers to electrocute Stature. Originally he'd wanted to borrow the electricity off of Andy's fists to ease the ability to do so, but she was gone and he had little to work with. Static built up within his hands as he reached out and made Cassie's hair stand on ends. ”Shoulda done t'e bloodbendin’ “]

”On Genosha,” she explained. ”He adopted me.” There was a lot more to the story than just that. This was the first time she had really talked about Magneto with anyone outside her group of friends, and Dr. Whitehall.

Andy, was a trained MMA fighter, she had experience boxing and kickboxing prior to that. She enjoyed this type of fight and didn’t really care about going back immediately. As long as she could go back. She smiled, punching America, lightning crackled when she did. America was still standing, but that probably stung more than a little bit. Andy wondered how much America fought like this. She was good so probably a lot.

”Everyone thought I was dead because I time traveled to the future seventeen years. But because of the Contest I’ve reconnected with my old friends. It’s been nice. Do you want to spar again sometime? This is fun.” Andy liked sparring with Leah, but it was not always safe. Last time she almost died. If she hadn’t still been an energy vampire she probably would have. Leah had sacrificed looking normal to save her. Andy did not understand what was going on there and didn’t like prying on people’s secrets. She hated it when people did it to her.

“Oh, wild! That’s so cool! I’ve been to a few Genoshas, honestly one of my favorite mutant nation concepts - it pops up a few times across the multiverse, and the beach vibes are iconic,” America gushed. The tragic reality that Genosha here had been obliterated hadn’t quite registered to her, so she didn’t modulate her tone as may have been appropriate. She was just genuinely excited. “Do you find stuff weird and confusing? I’m from a lesbian utopia, so this place - well, not this place, but the place we just came from - is weird sometimes, y’know? Like you go on green and not red? Insane.”

In the midst of that mini monologue, America feinted a punch - only to instead deliver a nasty roundhouse kick, connecting with Andy’s side. She was having a blast. It felt so good too to fight with someone who wouldn’t break.

And back in the main reality, April found herself really wishing that Cassie would break already. With the disgusting current of fizzy sodas, backwash filled waters, and cheap beer swirling around her, she concentrated the stream as much as she could, ramping up the pressure. “I think you’d call this a Baja Blast!” she teased, riding a bit of the high of controlling that much water, and she shot it forward like a bullet. The water spray spread out as it traveled, the pressure dropping so that way it wouldn’t actually pierce Cassie’s skin - and the giant was sent tumbling, bashing her head against the jumbotron at the top of the arena as she fell.

Her arm shot out though, as she flailed - and she managed to grab April in her fist, holding onto her tightly - not enough to crush, but definitely enough to restrain. Cassie had noticed the way April needed to use her hands to use her powers. This ought to keep her locked down for now, allowing her to focus on Dorian - and to stall for America to come back.

Training took over for Andy. She grabbed America’s leg, and as she slammed her hand into the side of America’s knee she pulled back just a little and didn’t electrocute her. It was not a good noise that came from America’s knee and Andy winced. She hadn’t pulled back enough. But suddenly they fell through another portal. Landing, thankfully, back in the arena. Andy felt a little woozy with the portal hoping. She wondered if America ever ended up in a world just slightly different from the one she had been in. Did she notice? Or had inconsistencies become par for the course.

”Fuck, I am so sorry. Fuck. Are you okay?” She’d explain about how being out of time sucked later. America would probably be one of the people who would understand her better than anyone else now. America didn’t even seem to realize that Genosha here was destroyed. But it was nice to know someone else who had been there and seen a version of Genosha. Andy still held America’s leg.

Cassie was trying to lock down April, and Dorian wasn't about to let that slide. With Andy gone and them being the only ones left to fight Stature even without water or sword, they needed to stick together and stay creative. Dorian ran up towards Cassie's hand where she held April, placing his palms against her. ”Oh no you don't!” He was about to try and phase April out when Andy and America came barreling back, America's leg inside in her hand but most definitely not in any direction that it should be bending. His concentration broke as he let go of Cassie and clasped his hands over his mouth with a gasp. ”Oh my god t'at's disgustin’” Was all he could manage out before the sound of a small gag.

Cassie froze, still holding onto April like she was King Kong. She wasn’t squeamish she wasn’t squeamish she wasn’t squeamish - okay maybe she was a little bit squeamish and the way the bone was poking out and the blood being neon pink somehow made things worse and she felt so suddenly incredibly aware of her own bones and her own blood and gosh was the room swimming why did she feel so hot why did she feel so…

…

…

Cassie fainted.

Her massive body reappeared in medical - and April dropped to the ground.

America stared at her own wound. “Gross!!” she enthused, before poking at the bone and screaming in pain. She then considered poking it again. “I think that’s us then? Gg no heals?” she joked, before throwing up a peace sign, and surrendering.

April blinked.

America was gone.

But there was neon pink blood everywhere.

And no more Young Avengers.

They’d won.

They’d… won?

They’d fucking won!!!

Andy had seen dead bodies before. The sight of pink(?) blood wasn’t something she hadn’t seen before. The bone sticking out had been unpleasant. She was a little green, but Cassie and America were off the field. The whole thing suddenly felt very surreal.

She spun around looking at April and Dorian. ”We won?” She was struggling not to vomit. But the adrenaline high was kicking in. The fight was over and she had nothing to spend it on. She pulled April and Dorian into a hug. ”We won!”

Thank goodness the visual was pulled away before Dorian could spew, feeling Andy's tight grip around him and April as she pulled them in for a hug was enough to jostle him back to realize they'd actually won. The color of his…everything drained as he became translucent like a ghost. Still tangible enough to hug but thin enough to be seen through. It all snapped back into focus as his color returned and he let out a loud ‘Whooooooo’. His powers wrapping around all three of them as he jumped up into the air and made them all float from excitement. ”We won!!! We won!!!!!!!”

April screamed, returning the hug as tightly as she possibly could, screaming her head off - it was probably for the best all of the water had been tossed around and used up, otherwise every bottle in the stadium would be liable to burst. ”WE FUCKING WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! THE YOUNG AVENGERS REIGN OF CHAMPIONSHIP IS OVER! YOU HATE TO SEE IT, BUT WHAT A DARING DISPLAY OF COMRADERIE AND HEROISM FROM ALL THE CONTESTANTS! LETS HEAR IT FOR EXCELSIOR OUR NEW CHAMPIONS!”

The announcer placed their hand over the microphone and looked towards someone off to the right of where he was sitting. “Yeesh, we got about half the stands hurling at the sight. Can someone fetch a mystic janitor or something pronto.”

From across the stands, Doctor Stephen Strange stared at Max. I believe that would be you.

Max nodded, sending a mystic card flying into the hands of Agatha Harkness. It read “Losers get to clean up. Enjoy.”

By the time Jen emerged from the pocket dimension the arena was contained within, she was green.

She was green most of the time - she was a superhero and a lawyer for superheroes, and she was proud to be visible as such. But sometimes, particularly if she didn’t want to draw too much attention, she’d let the green cool off. She’d be a tiny five foot tall woman, instead of the seven foot tall Hulk. That had been how she’d arrived at the arena today. But with all of the winding passages and shifting corridors, she was a healthy, annoyed green by the time she got out of there.

“Remind me to sue if they ever host again in there, that place is a nightmare,” She-Hulk said, as she walked up to Leah. They hadn’t known each other very long - just a few weeks, really. And she knew that while she was her legal guardian, she wasn’t her mother. That wasn’t a role she could claim. It was one that only Leah could give to her. But it didn’t mean she couldn’t care fiercely for her, that she couldn’t do everything in her power - legal or otherwise - to help.

She sat down next to Leah on the bench. She resisted the urge to scream at the writer to just let her be a kid for fucking once. There were so many things she wanted to say to her, and she wanted to hug Leah so tightly it hurt.

Instead, she started with: “you know, bad people don’t worry about if they’re bad. Only good people do.”

”Yeah, that makes sense.” Leah had mostly spaced out, watching one of her runes float like a balloon. She grabbed it out of the air and tilted her head to look up at She Hulk.

”Is it just me, or do good people not wonder that often?” She asked. ”It’s been three years, almost four now, and I don’t ever doubt that I’m better than my dad or all those monsters he’s friends with. I feel really stupid for that, right now.”

She-Hulk tilted her head for a moment, considering. She’d had a lot of these same questions, back when she was fresh out of law school, working for the district attorney’s office. She’d thought she was doing good - that the system was doing good. It was only later, when it had all come crumbling down around her, when she had lost her job and her life changed thanks to an accidental blood transfusion that she had started to really question things. She still didn’t have all the answers.

“Hmm. That’s a good question. I imagine it’s different for everyone. But for me, these crises of faith happen when I leave stable ground - when I don’t know where the road leaves. When it’s just me and the mirror.” She paused for a moment. “You’re going through a lot - more than you should have to. I think this - your dad, Arcade, the Contest, your first break up… It’s all new. It’s a place you’ve never gone before. So you question yourself - beat yourself up about your choices, call yourself stupid or wicked - when you’re anything but.”

There were a lot of things new to Leah, lately. Being a kid like she had been yesterday was practically Alien to her.

”I guess. Yeah, you’d think things like a break up would be easier than fighting. I mean- It wasn’t a bad one, for me anyway. She was in CAGE and stressed and-“ She shook her head. ”Sorry… I’m really not good at talking about this kind of thing, I’m used to just putting up with it.”

Not that she was actually over April. When she tried to think about a time she didn’t feel absolutely, pathetically lovestruck about her, Leah couldn’t remember if it existed.

She-Hulk shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize for that - I wanna hear whatever you have to say. As for breakups being easier than fighting… I don’t know. When my ex, Peter, dumped me it hurt more than anything Titania’d managed to do to me. I don’t think I’ve mentioned Titania to you before. You’ll probably meet her. She’s fixated.”

Oh, good, Leah wasn’t getting out of this that easily. Her whole life, she’d been fighting one person or another. If it wasn’t her dad, it was the people around her. If it wasn’t them, it was herself. She just couldn’t turn her brain off.

”…I feel like there was something I could have noticed, or said to her. I had no idea she was going through that stuff. I- I get why she needed space. That’s not her fault.” She hadn’t even talked to Sabine about that. Not really, when Sabine had taken it much worse and didn’t need to hear her bitching about it too. ”And I still can’t do anything about it.”

Bolstered by a nat 20 insight - see, the dice couldn’t actually be cursed when Morose was rolling them, right? - Jen looked at her adopted child with a discerning eye. She had so much trauma. She had been brave for so long, surviving in a situation that had required her to stifle her emotions, to not feel. Sure, some of this seemed to be due to the fact that Leah was certainly on the spectrum, struggling to connect with others and understand them - but She-Hulk was more concerned about the fact that Leah didn’t allow herself to feel - that because her ex-girlfriend had been doing bad, it was wrong of her to be upset about the break-up. That wasn’t healthy. She hoped she could get Leah to agree to another session, Dr. Whitehall might have better insights than she did. But still, she had to try. It was what she had signed up for the moment she had made Leah a part of her family.

“Some people don’t like to let others in,” Jen offered. “It can be scary to tell people how we’re really feeling - even people that we love and care about. And it can be just as scary for us, when we get a glimpse at how someone really feels. I know you feel bad about not being able to save her - I’ve been there, running the scenarios through my head, second guessing every interaction, each chance I had to do something if I hadn’t been too thick to notice… I still struggle with that. And the only thing that helps me is to recognize that I can’t be there for someone if they won’t let me. It sucks. It really does. But you can’t save people who don’t want to be saved.”

Leah wasn’t sure she agreed with that. If someone were suicidal, like April was, did they actually want help? Nemo saved her, but he wasn’t around to ask for an opinion.

It made sense, though.

”You can still try, can’t you?” She asked, leaning forward. Her hand found the ends of her hair. ”I mean, heroes don’t wait until someone asks them for help, right? Still have to do something.”

Jen nodded. “That’s what heroes do - we try, even if we might fail,” she reassured her. “Leah - feel free to say no - you don’t need to worry about hurting me either, I’m pretty tough - but may I give you a hug? I think you could use one.”

Oh, how quickly she tensed up. Anyone else on the planet, barring Sabine or Vicky, would have missed that. Her whole body shifted fractions in one direction, and back the other.

”…You know what, I think I could.” Leah tilted her head away from She Hulk, and very awkwardly held an arm up in her direction. Hugging someone smaller was one thing. Being the smaller one hugged, though? Weird.

She-Hulk did her very best to not cry.

She moved slowly, as not to startle Leah, gently putting her arms around her at first - and then, if the contact seemed okay, tightening her grip until she was hugging her just the way Jen’s own mama would. “There is someone else you’ve managed to save,” she said softly. “Yourself. You’ve come so far, Leah. You did it all by yourself. But I’m so proud to see you - to see you realize that you don’t have to be alone. That you have friends who love you and care about you - friends who I know you’ll do anything you can for, and friends who have your back just the same. That’s incredible. Don’t let anyone ever take that from you.”

She leaned in, putting arms around Jen. This didn’t feel familiar, but it felt right.

Her eyes stung. She needed to hear this.

”I won’t. I- I won’t. I can remember being… I don’t know, maybe ten or eleven years old and having to tell my mom not to do this. In case my dad caught us. It wasn’t just me he was awful to and- He-“

Leah’s voice cracked. ”I really, really don’t want anything like what happened to her, happen to them. I know I don’t make it easy for them, but… Friends make you want to be better.”

Jen couldn’t resist the urge to cry any longer, as she held onto her kid as tightly as she could - any tighter and one of them would have been crushed and the other shredded. She wanted to go back in time and stop any of this from happening - to spare an innocent child from this. She fought monsters every day as a super hero, but people like Leah’s dad - those were the real monsters, the ones who all too often got away with it.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jen whispered, automatically going into a gentle rocking motion, the two of them swaying on the bench. “I can’t promise nothing bad will ever happen again - but I can promise you’ll never be alone. Any time you need help, any time you’re scared, any time you need me - that your friends need me - just call. I’ll be there. And we’ll kick his ass. We’ll get him, Leah. I promise. I promise.”

It was hard to believe that. Many had tried. Hell, she wasn’t even sure he was actually alive anymore. Agatha never said as much when she said it was inevitable she’d confront her past. But things were different. She knew they’d try.

”Yeah- We’ll do that. We’ll- Fuck. God. I saw him yesterday- It- He wasn’t even real and I-“ She took in a deep breath.

”Someone had me fighting a damn ghost. I broke down. I don’t know how people do this. I don’t know how people understand feelings, the way they don’t want to tear the ground into a canyon every time someone’s mad at them. People fucking confuse me, you know?”

She-Hulk harbored her suspicions about Leah - she didn’t need to break the fourth wall to have an idea that she might be autistic. But right now, Leah didn’t need a diagnosis. She just needed understanding. She rubbed soothing patterns into her back, once again mirroring the motions her own mother would practice, as she nodded. “I don’t know either,” Jen admitted. “I’m mad all the time - and it never really seems to go away. But you keep on moving - you keep on putting one foot in front of the other. And fuck being like other people, pardon my language. I’d rather you be yourself. Confusion and kindness and strength and all.”

”I dunno. I’d love to be less confused about things.” Leah raised her head and gave Jen a sidelong look. ”Maybe then, I wouldn’t make other people wonder if I actually care- When we went to see April at CAGE, Sabine handled it worse than me and she really didn’t like that I seemed okay about it.” And she wasn't, she just didn’t show it. The whole thing was new to her.

”I need help. It feels wrong to say that. But I do.”

“There’s nothing wrong with needing help. I’ll remind you of that until you believe me,” She-Hulk reassured, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Your friends need help sometimes and that’s okay. So why can’t the same be true for you? Part of being a hero - part of being strong is knowing when you’re weak - knowing when to ask for help.” She then paused for a moment, considering. “This might be something that would be good to talk to Dr. Whitehall about. There are other people in the world just like you, who find other people hard to understand and need a little help. She might have some ideas, some strategies - but… I think what I would do, if I were you, is just be direct. It might be scary, but sometimes it’s best to just tell people that you care - you can even say that you have trouble showing it or you’re worried they don’t know. But being honest about how you feel, even if you feel differently than other people, that’s always a good call.”

”I can try. That’s just hard, sometimes. I don’t always know what I’m feeling… I told Whitehall I wasn’t going back, I guess she gets to say I told you so.”

“I mean, if you want, you can also try a new therapist - it doesn’t have to be Whitehall. But I’m proud of you already for wanting to try - it took me years to work up the courage to get a therapist. And years after that to find one I liked,” She-Hulk reassured. “But we don’t have to do that today. For the rest of today, I want you to focus on having fun. Be a kid. Party with your friends. Everything else can wait.”

”Party? You’re not asking me to get drunk or something, are you? Because I’ve got superpowers, so… No. But- I- Okay. If nothing bad happens between now and tomorrow, maybe I will.”

She-Hulk chuckled. “Pfft. If you want to drink, just watch your cup and make sure no one drugs you. Don’t go crazy hard the first time. Keep an eye on yourself and your friends. And if you’re uncomfortable or just want to leave and need someone, call me, okay? I’d rather you be safe.”

”Yeah. Yeah, I will. I should- Uh, maybe apologize to America and her friends anyway,” Leah admitted. ”I was kind of a bitch in that fight. The Hex Girls suck, though. They cheated.”

Then Leah remembered. ”Oh, right, I think they hacked my phone or something too. Got a weird text last night after I saw a fake of my dad.”

Jen frowned. Not at Leah’s recognition that maybe she was a little mean to the Young Avengers - she didn’t hold it against her, sometimes people were competitive and talking shit was part of that environment - but it was still good for Leah to be able to reflect on that. No, she was instead concerned about the revelation that the Hex Girls had cheated and hacked Leah’s phone. “Want me to beat them up?” she offered. “I can send them some scary documents, tell them to cease and desist immediately, yadda yadda yadda. We should probably change your phone number, too - or get you a new phone if you’d like.”

”All of the above, maybe? Sabine and I got teleported by Stephen Strange, he gave me a thing to find which of them cast that thing on me. So I’m maybe gonna kick someone for a field goal and-”

Leah’s head whipped around. The street became a lot louder suddenly as the sounds of the arena could be heard. The crowd was so noisy that it carried all the way out here, and she heard the announcer’s voice over them all.

They won.

”...Holy damn.” She looked back at Jen. ”They did it.”

She-Hulk blinked. She did a double take. She made a mental note to ask Strange why the hell he was being cryptic and weird and not just helping - wizards were the absolute worst. And then she screamed, her eyes lighting up and she grinned so wide. “You did it. You won! Leah, you won!! Gosh, I’m going to have to get some papers started to draw up a trust fund for you - I don’t want you blowing through your winnings, not yet - and please let me handle any sleazy people who come out to get you to be the new face of their energy drink, the vultures. But you won!! That’s incredible!! You should go see your friends - go celebrate! You took down the Young Avengers!”

”We- They really did. I knew they would… They-“ She felt floaty. A fucking smile cracked over her face. A big, unburdened smile.

”We won!”

---

---

---

Sabine Bassard. April. Percy Novikov. Leah Jordan. Danni Kingston. Dorian Gray. Andy Lensherr. Team Excelsior.

And now, the victors of the Contest of Champions, dethroning their rivals, the Young Avengers.

From the start of the year, the odds had been against them. Divided into three separate teams, they had struggled to even qualify, infighting and squabbling dogs at their heels. Desperation to meet the skill gap drove them into Arcade’s path and the arms of Death. They were betrayed by their coach Usagi, betrayed by their teammates Ed and Ardere - betrayed by their feelings and emotions, as their bonds were tested and sometimes frayed. Even when they made it to the contest, the road was not without strife, not without challenge - more of their teammates disqualified or suddenly leaving the competition than remained, their beloved coach dead, and the remaining coach gone with the wind. Three teams became one.

And somehow, they carried on - even in the face of arcane trickery and deception, even as they saw in their sworn enemies a mirror - even as Entities were summoned and arenas were sundered and morals tested and transformed.

Through it all, they persisted. Somehow.

They defied their mortal limits.

And won.

The team who never should have even made it to the arena had won.

The fame, the glory, the accolades, the prize money - all of it was theirs. And no matter what happened, no matter where the road took them next, it could not be changed.

Today, they were victors.

Today, they were champions.

---

The aftermath was chaos.

Their disgusting victory quickly went viral, clips replayed on stations across the globe and beyond - reaction gifs curated, memes generated, as each of their social media followings ballooned to massive sizes. Fan accounts were created, their email inboxes swarmed with brands reaching out for ambassadorships and endorsements, even rival schools sending offers of admission. A trophy almost as large as Percy and a gigantic check for $1 million USD had been presented to the standing three, as confetti exploded in the arena, the energy matching the vibrant exaltation of the crowd.

Once everyone was healed, the remaining competitors were returned to the arena - photography had to be done, promotional images and documentation created. Shots were dedicated to both individuals and groups, some of whose motivation was not so cleanly hidden. The Contest of Champions committee walked away with plenty of material to post for events such as Pride, Mutant Heritage Month, Asgardian Day of Visibility, and more.

After the photography session came the interviews - the children placed at an elongated table, with Contest of Champion logos on the fake panels behind them as a backdrop. Reporters shouted questions at them, some easier than others - ranging from ones such as “Andy, how did it feel to break America Chavez’s leg like that?”, “Who is dating who?”, and “Danni, why did you join the gestalt? Did you know you would be able to break it apart?”

The interviews were then followed by a corporate mixer - at least a hundred people in suits and ties, most of whom the children had never met before, swarming them with offers and deals and potential sponsorships. While this event was catered, the kids would barely have a chance to eat with how much they were being pestered and hounded - and offloaded with what must have been thousands of dollars of free swag, so much that Vision looked more like a swaying stack of boxes than their coach and mentor as he attempted to contain it all. He did his very best to keep the nastier, more exploitative elements away from the children, but he was only one synthezoid.

The most he had been able to do was apologize and say the children were needed for photoshoots and interviews conducted by the school staff to be used in marketing material, allowing them an early exit from the corporate mixer - almost five hours after they had emerged victorious in the contest. It was one of his better lies. He managed to get the kids back to the Kingston-Gray estate instead, informing them that he would keep the vultures at bay for the rest of the day - and to rest up and relax and celebrate.

As for celebrations, they had two to choose from: one with the Young Avengers at the Court of Two Sisters, a restaurant here in the French Quarter. And another with the Hex Girls at the Haven, a magical speakeasy loosely connected to Strange Academy.

Tomorrow would be more bureaucracy, more questions and photographs and exploitation. Then once they were ready, a portal provided by Max Gray would transport them back to school, where they would have a few days before they would need to vacate for winter break on Monday December 20th.

But for now, they could just be children - an opportunity too rarely afforded to them.

---

---

As the sunlight faded away, the French Quarter of New Orleans truly came to life. Tourists and locals alike filled the streets, dodging the occasional mule pulled carriage and slow moving car - and more excitingly, drag performers and costumed pirates and magicians and artists and more. On every corner was a new attraction, a new venue bustling with vibrant life - so palpable that it could easily be mistaken for the soft aura of magic that permeated this place. And while plenty were taking advantage of the ease of access to liquor and other libations, others were taking their fill of the hearty creole comfort food available. One such establishment would be intimately familiar to not just the Young Avengers, as their favorite restaurant in all of Louisiana, but to Andy, too. The Court of Two Sisters was where Brother Voodoo had removed her curse.

Its exterior was relatively simple and unassuming - classic French colonial architecture, black columns between white window panes and vibrant pops of green from the plants dangling up above. And while the restaurant had a lovely and packed dining room, the newfound champions of Avengers Academy would be directed by the restaurant staff to the courtyard, reserved for a private event - a celebration in their own honor, where all of their friends, loved ones, and family could gather.

The courtyard was decorated with tasteful fairy lights and greenery, complete with a water fixture. A cluster of light olive green tables adorned with white cloth were located near the entrance, clearly intended for folks to sit at and dine - the rest of the courtyard had been left as open space, where a Jazz band was beginning to set up. This wasn’t just about food - it was about dancing, too.

Dinner menus had been placed at the tables as well, showcasing the variety of options. Tommy Shephard had already placed a gigantic order, sitting at a table all to himself, as he ate at superhuman speeds, practically inhaling plates of crab cakes and duck breast, turtle soup and gumbo, filets and pecan pies. Sitting one table over, somehow still mesmerized and stunned by how quickly Speed could eat, Hulkling and Wiccan had hardly even touched their foods.

“Damn, Tommy… You’re going to choke like that,” Teddy shook his head slightly. His hand was resting on Billy’s knee underneath the tablecloth - or perhaps a little further north.

“If we’d only be so lucky,” Billy smirked slightly, his tongue sticking out a bit between his teeth.

Tommy paused for a fraction of a second to flip them off, before returning to his deadly onslaught.

At the third table of Young Avengers sat Eli, Cassie, Kate, and America. None of them looked worse for wear - even America’s bones were perfectly intact again, as if the injuries Andy had delivered her so decisively had never happened. Eli was periodically pulling out his phone, checking for a response to a text.



He didn’t know why he felt somewhat jittery and on edge. He didn’t like Danni like that. He didn’t like anyone like that. But he was excited to see him nonetheless, and it was taking all of his self control to not leave the courtyard and wait out on the street, and wave frantically like an idiot.

Kate rolled her eyes. “That’s the tenth time you’ve checked your texts. Someone has a squish~!” she teased.

“I do not!” Eli crossed his arms. “... Is it really that obvious?”

Cassie giggled. “It’s fine, at least you aren’t mooning over him like America is!”

“I have no shame,” America said, holding her head high. “A girl who I can’t break and can break me? That’s hot as shit. She can snap my leg like a toothpick any time.”

---

---

Of course, the party was not only alive in the French Quarter, but also in a pocket dimension beyond it. Two enterprising students of Strange Academy had created a magical speakeasy of their own, nestled within the safety of the Neverish. This private social club required an invite to access in order to maintain its exclusivity. Its entrance was tucked away within the bowels of Strange Academy, concealed behind the portrait of “El Aquelarre”. And even then, its access was not so simple as casting the portrait aside to reveal a wall - no, instead a smartly dressed young gentleman stood outside as a bouncer of sorts, awaiting proof of invitation. A small queue had formed, composed largely of other competitors from the contest, all dressed up for the occasion - the theme, of course, as Midnight Masquerade. Masks and gowns and capes were aplenty, largely concealing the identity of those who were about to enter with few exceptions.

While the Young Avengers were not invited to this celebration, everyone from Excelsior had been. And of course, Vicky had been instructed to make a particular delivery this evening to her one-time patron, Barty Mccleod. The Hex Girls were almost certainly already within, nursing their wounds with liquor and more illicit substances - perhaps even the very ones they had used to attempt to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat.

---

---

---

Leah’s mental bandwidth was being tested a lot after her team’s victory. She had walked back inside, able to find her way around a bit easier, and it seemed everyone from here to Mars wanted to take a minute of her time. Some pretty-looking guy with goat horns and immaculately braided hair, about her age, came running up to her with his younger sister asking for a picture. She didn’t smile in it, but he insisted he’d follow her with it on her socials… Which she didn’t have. A kid who couldn't have been older than five asked her to sign a fucking cinder block. She did, and the kid ran off like he'd stolen the Declaration of Independence.

When she got away from all of that, it was just suits and bureaucrats inside. Someone led her to meet up with her team for one big interview, and it wasn’t fun. Leah didn't have the social capabilities for this stuff, even if she knew that most journalists who hounded superheroes in this environment just wanted sound bites.

How did you get so strong?

What brought you here from Asg- You're not Asgardian?

Why did you abstain near the end of the Contest?

Blah. Blah. Fucking. Blah.

A few questions of the lot did seem like they were actually thoughtful, though.

“Leah! Your earth bending is incredible! Who is your inspiration?” Asked a woman with a notepad and a cellphone in her hands. That was an incredibly vague question, but miraculously, she knew how to answer it.

"...Villains, terrorists, other evil people like that. They inspire me to be better than them, so there's someone to stop them." She omitted the part where it was personal.

An older guy in a baseball hat spoke up next. He looked old enough to have grandchildren. “Leah! What’s your opinion on the recent Humanity First movement to remove super powered kids from being able to compete in sports and use public facilities?”

Leah heard about them once. She did not fuck with that. She sat up and leaned towards the microphone someone had given her.

"That's stupid. People like that would lose to kids without superpowers, and they've probably never even sat foot on a field in the first place. And since I know one of you is about to bring up segregating them so they play against each other- Look around you. And when they don't, there are rules about it," She added. "That's the same thing people said days and weeks after it was suddenly illegal to kill mutants- Don't let them exist in public... We solved this problem decades ago. You'd have to be delusional to think we didn't."

Somebody asked her about her nonexistent social media presence and if that would change now that she was famous. It wouldn't.

And then the corporate drudgery happened. Contracts, brand deals, stuff she really wasn’t equipped to understand in an hour, let alone a brief conversation. She Hulk was right about letting her deal with things like this, so Leah had told several of the suits that she’d ask a lawyer to look over anything written down first. Unsurprisingly, several of them suddenly needed to make a phone call. The rest assured her that it would've been above board, but they were gone when she turned around. Funny how they didn't want to talk to someone who knew enough to call them out on their shady tricks.

Then, two men with lanyards found her, one holding a clipboard and the other holding a box full of stuff. When she was alone, she opened it up and… It was like the entire sphere of queers and shades of gays had all been distilled down into a box. Leah wasn’t really sure what to do with most of it. But she picked out a bracelet that somehow fit her huge wrists. It was made of plastic beads in alternating colors that made up a bisexual flag. And, interestingly enough, there was bag of enamel pins. One in particular caught her attention; A three color flag with blue, pink and dark purple with a white triangle on one side. In the white triangle was a yellow heart, pointed sideways.

It was a polyamory flag. She sat the box on the floor, dug out a conveniently Leah-sized jacket with a Margaret Carter Institute logo on the back. She stuck the pin to the front and threw it on, then decided that she'd be wearing this thing every day. She left alongside everyone else, after Vision had performed some Jedi mind tricks to get Excelsior away from the rest of the nightmare that was corporate functions.

---

The rock-shaping giant felt a bit small walking into the Court of Two Sisters. The place looked awfully pretty, natural and calm. This whole city felt like it was just one big fairytale from what she’d seen of it so far, it was nice. Nice in ways that made Leah stop talking and just chill out. She was led out back to the reserved area, and momentarily forgot why she even came. The smell of food was damn near intoxicating.

Looking around, she didn’t see any of her team yet. She must have gotten there early. Leah got to a table, and ordered some crawfish and crab cakes with black coffee. Leah heard someone calling someone hot. She craned her head around and… Oh. Her table was right across from America, Cassie, and Patriot. Leah suddenly remembered why she’d come here and felt nowhere near as confident about it as an hour ago.

”Um- Hi… You three. Heard Andy snapped your leg.” Great start, Jordan. Masterful. ”You seem to be walking it off okay, now.”

Get it? Because it’s your leg and- Yeah. That was dumb.

”Sorry for being awful, in the fight.”

As medical equipment beeped, a dozing Danni curled up beside her, Sabine had a few brief moments to think things through. Was she proud of her efforts? Could she stand back and see how she did in the fight between the Hex Girls and the Young Avengers and be content she gave it her all? The answer came fairly easily to her.

No.

The team itself was ramshackle, put together at the last minute. They had trained somewhat together, and they were friends, but that did not make them a great team. They gave it their all, they won against the Hex Girls despite their cheating attempts, but what was Sabine's contribution? She was not a close-combat person. She helped get some of their defenses down, but when it came to offense she was lacking significantly. And how many times had she tried to fight back only for her efforts to fail or worse?

She needed to get stronger. She needed to be better. Surely there was something she could do to focus her powers on more offensive capabilities. She would need help though and, so far, most of their teachers or supports had betrayed them or were gone. She wondered if Max knew of someone. Would he want to help her powers grow though? She supposed it didn't hurt to ask.

Someone came barreling in to the medbay. One of the staff for the contest who shared the news. The contest was over. Champions were crowned. And it was them.

They had won.

---

---

---

After it was announced it was a whirlwind of information flying at her. Once she had her phone back she opened her social media accounts to see her numbers (formerly at a substantial amount) had doubled in size. She read messages of hope and inspiration, along with a few death threats. There were sponsorship offers and one invitation to a school that specialized in working with telepaths. She almost clicked on it instantly, but decided against it. She wanted to savor the moment.

They were photographed and it felt like hours. Sabine was used to it, but she knew the others were not. Her eyes drifted to Leah. How had she felt in this moment? Excitement over the victory? Upset with her for leaving? And what of the whole thing with the Hex Girls? That had not been resolved as far as she knew. Sabine made a mental note to go talk to Thuy at some point.

They were bombarded from all over and it was dizzying and spectacular. The team was rounded up to give answers to interview questions. Sabine had done a few AMA's in the past so she knew the score. There would be softball questions until they got to the soundbite questions; the ones they knew would get a quote to plaster over social media and make them look bad. Sabine had done it before, she knew how to skirt around a question or answer it in a way that it still made her look good. But Sabine was also not in the best headspace, reeling from recent events.

"Sabine! You've amassed a large social media following - how do you stay humble amidst the fame?"

"This is going to sound cliche, but it really is about my fans. I've felt more connected to them than ever, especially after sharing my own struggles. I think a lot of influencers try to hide the flaws that we all have. And trust me, they keep me grounded!"

"Sabine! What is your connection to the Hex Girls?"

"We met before the contest. Or rather, I met their leader Thuy. We traded barbs, but nothing more than that. She seemed eager to fight and I hope we put it all out there to her satisfaction."

"Sabine! You surrendered on the field, and now here you are, celebrating. Why?"

She knew this question would come. She had prepared. "I did not surrender with an easy heart. My choice to abstain was from different angles. I was in no safe shape to continue after being hit hard, kudos to America. But also we had just been put through the ringer and it didn't seem like the best option to continue, especially when I was so worried for Danni, Dorian, and Billy. Being hit out of the contest is one thing, but to go through something potentially traumatic and be expected to continue, it didn't feel right. However, I am still proud of my team for their continued desire to fight despite all of that and I'd like to think I helped before that all went down. Why wouldn't I celebrate my team's victory?"

"Sabine! Are you back together with your ex, April? How does Leah feel about this?"

"That is between us, if you don't mind. Let's keep the questions focused on the contest, yeah?" Not the best response, but April or Leah didn't need that at this moment.

"Sabine! Telepaths are more often seen as villains rather than heroes. How can you commit to earn the public's trust, if we cannot know the choice is our own?"

"I understand the initial mistrust of telepaths and psychics and those with mind altering abilities. It is very easy for them to go down the path of evil, to get things they want with little effort. That is why it is important to highlight those that choose otherwise. Those that make attempts to do good, to lay everything out there for the world to see. And yes, part of it is on you, the world as a whole, to allow yourselves to trust. I've met people who have every reason to hate me and they don't. Someone close to me has every right to distrust me and want nothing to do with me and yet they still call me their friend. Heroes give people a chance to show they can be good and I do not, no I will not throw away that opportunity."

"Sabine! Can you do the new Snikt! dance?"

Sabine held in a laugh that would have rocketed the table. After being bombarded with personal questions, it was honestly soothing to be asked something so light-hearted. "I can try. I haven't practiced at all, but let's see what I can do."

---

It had been settled before, but Sabine wanted nothing to do with the Hex Girls for now. She hoped the others would join them at The Court of Two Sisters for an impromptu celebration with the Young Avengers.

Sabine had gotten changed into something more comfortable and made her way over. As she did, she marveled at New Orleans. She had not traveled much within the United States, her family preferring to take trips to Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, Greece. The closest she ever came before was going to Mexico. But she knew cities like this were filled with magic and culture. A city that felt like it had its own heartbeat.

She arrived at the place and made her way inside. She scanned to see if she could see anyone and saw the Young Avengers talking and laughing with each other. As she made her way over she caught the tell-tail head of curly hair. Leah had made it. That was good, she reminded herself.

"Hey guys. Nice to see you. That was a great fight. Especially you America. I think I am still reeling from that punch." Then her eyes wandered over to Leah as she stepped closer. "Leah, we haven't had a moment to talk since the contest ended. How are you?"

---

---

---

---

After the fight was over things got really crazy. For a minute there she had more people talking to her at once than she had had during the whole school year. At least that was how it felt. She was getting overwhelmed and upset. But she could glance to her side and see the others. They were also under the same pressure. She gave them a reassuring smile. And if she could a little shoulder bump (except for Percy). Andy wanted them to know she was there and felt the pressure too. She didn’t know how to deal with it, but if they could win the contest together they could deal with all the aftermath together too.

“Andy, how did it feel to break America Chavez’s leg like that?”

”Gross.” If she was fully honest she hadn’t meant to. She had been trying to hold back, but reflex was a powerful thing. It had taken over and she had slammed her hand into the leg at just the wrong angle with just enough power. Andy was honestly surprised she had. Maybe she had spent too much time with Leah who was almost impervious to her punches normally.

“Andy, is it true you were there when Genosha fell?”

”Yes. I was there. I defended it.” She was clenching her fists. She didn’t want to be in the room. Andy thought of Veil and her ability to disappear and wished that had been her power.

“Andy, did you enroll in superhero school because you were ashamed you couldn’t save Genosha?”

Andy regretted having mentioned during the fight that she had been there. It was already becoming an issue. She didn’t want to talk about Genosha. Yeah she felt guilty about her failure, but she also knew that they had saved as much as they could have.

”That isn’t why I joined Margret Carter. I came to the future and joined the school because I was following my friend to this time. This was the first time I could go to school without fear. This has been the first time I’ve been able to learn in a proper environment.” Her anger was rising and she bit off more that she could have said. Leah covered most of her feelings with the question that had been lobbed her way.

The interviews and chaos continued until they were finally whisked away. At the K-G household she went into her room and sat in the quiet for almost thirty minutes before looking for Gideon. The group had two invites. Andy wanted to go to meet up with the Young Avengers. She didn’t really care about the Hex Girls’ invite. She hoped that Gideon wanted to meet with the YA group. She also wanted to talk to her about the making out they had done. Did Gideon want a relationship or was it just making out? Andy would be fine with either. Though she was a little worried about diving immediately into a relationship. She had known others back in her foster homes days who would serial date and it was always weird to her.

”Hey,” Andy said once she found Gideon. ”I was thinking of going to the Court of the Two sisters to meet up with the Young Avengers group. Want to go with me?”

Gideon had been outside of the Kingston-Gray property, leaning up against the fence as she smoked. The entire housing situation had been a little weird and up in the air, but her friends had won the contest! Of course she was going to come by and be here, as tempting as taking advantage of a free, unoccupied hotel room in New Orleans was. Not that she was as interested in anyone who existed in her phone as she was the incredible goth boxer royalty in front of her. She grinned like mad at Andy approached, and stomped out her cigarette. “Hell yeah I do!! Congrats, btw! That was fucking killer what you did - you really said to the floor and went with it! Hot as shit.”

”Thanks. I didn’t want to fight Patriot, he looked like he was about to drop, so I was glad he didn’t stay in the fight long.” She gave a bit of a shrug and smile.

”Thankfully America was ready to roll. She is really into fighting. I asked if she wanted to spar again sometime. It was fun.” Andy shifted from side-to-side then leaned up against the fence next to Gideon.

”That kiss was nice.”

Gideon turned, so that way rather than having her body pressed up against the fence, she was practically pressed up against Andy. “Oh yeah?” she smirked. Behind the shades, her eyes were positively sparkling. “I could show you something a little more interesting than nice - if you’re up for it,” she offered innocently, placing one hand gently on Andy’s arm. She slowly started to trace patterns, swirls and spirals with the tip of her fingers. Her index and middle fingernails were trimmed short. “Something a little more like sparring. I don’t break easy.” She licked her lips.

Andy looked up, she swallowed, suddenly very nervous. She was very inexperienced. Her only serious relationship had just ended. Before that she hadn’t even kissed anyone. Her heart pounded. Then she made her decision. ”Yeah. My room.” She grabbed Gideon’s hand and pulled her behind her for a couple of steps. Andy paused and looked between the two houses. Going to Magneto’s felt...weird. She had just reconnected with him and she doubted the room would be...sound proof. She looked at the K-G household. There was like an 80% chance that Max had set up some anti-sex charm, but she doubted it since Casper lived there. She decided to risk their house, and continued walking back into their house and to her room.

Gideon’s eyes widened slightly, realizing where Andy was taking them - she’d had the hotel in mind, but a wizard’s mystic mansion? How could she pass up the opportunity? It’d be memorable if nothing else - and the thought that the wizard might not want them to do this in the house sent an added thrill down her spine. Maybe there would be some sort of wards telling them to not do it. She swallowed. Yeah. This was going to be good. Although, it would have been good no matter where it happened - a few days again she hadn’t dared to do more than imagine that she could be with Andy, and now? Now it was really happening. And she couldn’t wait to worship her like the goddess she was. “Yes ma’am.”

Andy navigated the house as quickly as she could, finding her door and stepping into her room. It still looked exactly like the one at Magento’s house. She didn’t mind. Though it was a time capsule and she suddenly felt a little exposed. Between the old 2020’s style, and the poster from her boxing days she was showing Gideon a little piece of herself. Even though she hadn’t decorated the room, it was exactly what she wanted. She squeezed her free hand a couple of times.

”I’m...new to this.” She gestured between them. ”You okay with...teaching me?”

“Sweetheart, I’m a service top. I’m more than okay with doing anything you’d like me to do,” Gideon agreed. She then paused for a moment, as she shut off the lights in the room. And then, with them dimmed, she removed her shades - revealing a pair of soft golden eyes. “I have a light sensitivity thing,” she explained. “Shall we?”

Andy grinned.

---

The pair of them, sometime later, arrived at The Court of Two Sisters. Andy was still smiling. She hadn’t noticed that her hair was mussed, as was her make up. Andy felt great. Between winning the contest and...making out with Gideon she was on cloud nine. She looked around the gathered group. All of the YA group was there, and her team was filtering in. Andy bee lined for America. Leah and Sabine were there too and she gave them both a smile and nod. Everything after the contest ended was basically a blur and she hoped the two of them were doing okay. She did not blame them at all for stepping down. She was proud of them both.

”Hey, America. First, you’re a great fighter. I one-hundred percent would love to fight you again. Second, I am sorry for breaking the shit out of your leg, did it get healed okay?”

“Andy!!!” America squealed, jumping up out of her seat. She didn’t bother to ask for permission, as she wrapped her rival into a hug, and flew them up into the air. “Do you wanna arm wrestle?” she then immediately asked, flying them back down and depositing Andy gently. “And yeah, let’s fucking go!!! I haven’t had a spar that good in ages!!!”

Andy laughed. For those that knew Andy well this was probably a bit of a shock. Andy had been wound up tight the whole time they had known her. She never really let go. A few of her friends had seen her cry and yeah laugh, but not like this. Not this light hearted.

She hugged America back tightly. Not from fear but from joy. Sure, she had been stressed as hell dealing with the media storm, but for right now, she was free from that. A small part of her, a currently very quiet part, screamed that this would all end in fire. That everything would be destroyed. That this moment of happiness was a lie that would be gone in moments. She ignored it. She pushed it away. She reached out and found Gideon’s hand, squeezing it. Then Andy pulled up a chair and put her elbow down on the table, hand up, ready for America to arm wrestle her.

”I absolutely want to arm wrestle. I won’t even shock you.”

“I call winner!” Gideon chimed in, her sunglasses securely on her face again. She spun her chair around, and sat on it, her legs spread as to hang over either side.

“Bet!” America laughed, taking a seat as well, and holding out her arm. “Don’t go easy on me, Andy! I’ll know if you do!!!”

”Don’t worry. I won’t.” Andy grinned, she winked at Gideon.

Andy did not hold back. She put her effort into it, but so did America. It was quickly obvious they were fairly evenly matched. She was tempted to do something silly like try to tickle America to distract her. Rather than go for something like that Andy decided to stick her tongue out.

America stared at the tongue.

Stared at the nice, unprotected, innocent tongue.

And leaned forward.

And bit it gently.

Andy’s plan backfired...sort of? She wasn’t certain, but she certainly wasn’t paying attention to her arm anymore. She was much more focused on the fact that America had...bit her tongue. It didn’t hurt. It was actually very pleasant and stirred a lot of feelings. Her body warmed up. Parts of it tingled, and she was no longer unwise to what that meant.

Oh...boy. There was definitely going to need to be a conversation, but right now Andy didn’t really fucking care. She leaned into it, and kissed America. After a moment, she leaned over and kissed Gideon. Damn...this was really nice. She kissed America again.

”I don’t want to pick.” She announced to them.

“Then don’t,” Gideon said with a shrug.

“My girlfriends won’t mind,” America agreed with a grin. “Right, Kate? Cassie?”

Kate glanced over, and rolled her eyes playfully. “Oh noooo, you’re cheating on me? Right in front of my salad? How will I eeeever recover?”

Andy didn’t blink for a moment. ”People still know that reference?” She asked Kate.

It was a dream come true.

Napping on Sabine was nice after the chaos of the tournament, the Entity, just all of it. Beanie was warm and familiar and safe and Danni could have happily spent another hour dozing. But when the news hit the infirmary, when Katie and Tommy’s tablet blared with the announcement and everyone jolted into action and people rushed in with congratulations and condolences, Danni could only sit there and blink. April and Dorian and Danni wanted to join the competition together from the second they’d collided. Every moment of extra time was dedicated to training once they’d realized. The burns, the aches, the blisters, the near brushes with death, the frustration when they were separated, the irritation at the rest for standing between them – all of it led here, their team name plastered across screens, shouted in the stands, broadcast to all the world that the time and effort and suffering was worth it. Things were quiet, Danni felt numb, and everything seemed a little too bright to be real.

It took him several long minutes to shake off the strange numbness that seeped into his muscles, that took his breath from his lungs, that muted the energy that surrounded him but when he did, he exploded. The exhaustion and fatigue fell away because it mattered so little when in the face of such challenges, they’d won. Danni swept Beanie off the bed, screaming incoherently. He almost tackled Percy if it wasn’t for a nurse managing to intercept him and redirecting him like an overexcited puppy to the next nearest patient – Eli. Danni didn’t mind one bit, immediately falling into the medical cot, bouncing up and down while screaming his head off, and racing off to the next person just to repeat until he bolted out the door.

The resulting whirlwind of events only served to hype Danni up further. Selfies were taken and posted through the entirety of the next five hours, Danni screaming and fanning over his own fans and pulling up the memes about them to show the team. His accounts blew up and he knew he’d have to get everyone on his channel one way or another. But plotting (or puppy dog eyes and begging) would come later because right now, Danni had as much attention as he wanted and he was going to absolutely milk that for every bit it was worth.

Danni was disappointed that the photoshoot wasn’t longer. There were so many more interesting poses he had in mind and Excelsior had an entire professional team at their command – it was crazy the amount of them that were relieved when it was done. Danni had tried to make Vision listen to reason but even then, he was overruled and they were ushered out even as he tried to beeline it back. Danni was appeased when they were placed at the long table in front of cameras, both live and recorded, and they got to bask in the limelight once more – even if some of them were clearly trying to egg them on.

Danni! California is regularly plagued by wildfires. This year, thousands lost their homes and were displaced. Where were you?

“Oh well, def in school. My Pops-shout out ta t’e fam best one in the world and I love y’all!-always reminds me t’at just ‘cause I’m learnin’ ta be a ‘ero doesn’t mean I’m ready ta be one so I gotta leave savin’ everyt’in’ and everyone ta t’e experts ‘cause yeah we got powers, but we don’t ‘ave all t’e esperience t’e best of t’e best ‘ave yet, right? T’at’s why we’re in school – ta learn ‘ow ta ‘elp in t’ose sitchs. I mean, ya wouldn’t want a ‘eart doctor ta cut inta your ‘eart wit’out some books under t’eir belt right?”

A follow up – Did you set any of those fires or make them worse when practicing?

“Woooooow. We accusin’ kids of ‘urtin’ people. If you must know, my practice ‘as been in danger rooms, not outside, where people are ready and trained ta ‘andle any emergencies or problems. I’ve want ta go ta t'is institute since I was a kid – I know t’eir t’e best of t’e best and t’ey wouldn’t let students or bystandards get ‘armed! Danni definitely wasn’t going to mention how often superhero students just… ignored the school and did what they wanted anyways.

Danni! Your skin is so good! What’s your routine?” Danni pointed at the reporter in question and beamed. “You’re my favorite, askin’ t’e real questions! Okay so…. The reporters would then regret this question as Danni quickly overtook any particularly aggressive questions with detail recommendations for facial routines.

The next phase was another exciting one: sponsorships. That meant real gear, real work, real press. Danni chatted with everyone and anyone who approached, taking business cards and portfolio summaries and numbers at every turn. Danni knew one thing about this – don’t turn anyone down directly, don’t turn anyone away, and if someone clearly doesn’t want another suit and tie to talk to him, that’s the next person Danni’s talking to. He smiled and smirked and played the room, flitting about like a hummingbird in a flower garden and soaking up attention like sunshine. Danni was more than happy to drop things off with Vision and, finally, the fam (their arrival did in fact trigger another round of excited cheering and roping in the stuffy corporate suits into the frenzy).

One would think that, upon returning to the Kingston-Grey house, Danni would finally come down off his sugar high but after swapping numbers with America and Eli in the infirmary, Danni was determined to show off. They had to be fashionably late and he needed full creative control over his outfit, which meant Danni tore through the house in search of the perfect set. To most, that meant Danni coming in and out of his room a hundred times but at the Kingston-Grey House? This was war. No closet was safe, no accessory hidden enough, every bedroom was an opportunity and he pursued it relentlessly. Casper was dragged into it and the pair tore Danni’s closet, his parents’ closets, and Dorian’s closet to satiate Danni’s need for the greatest, strangest, most stunning fashion statement he’s worn this year. He grabbed styles from Dorian and Max, colors from James and Casper, and brought a number of his own items and begged his Pa to make his vision happen because Danni had to go do hair and make up and everything else still! He didn’t need hours – he needed days!

---

Danni’s outfit

Danni tucked his phone away in his jacket as they crossed the threshold of the portal. The music and life of New Orleans washed over him and the brief bit of him that started lagging suddenly roared to life once more. It bubbled out and Danni laughed in disbelief. They’d won. They’d won They’d won! He paused a moment outside the restaurant, unable to resist dancing to the street music, before he spun his way inside and thanked the staff as he bustled past. Danni followed the noise out the short walk and grinned. Music started up as the band set and Danni knew he’d absolutely drag someone into dancing with him. He pulled on a little fire, fully planning to burst out like peacock feathers behind him, but he could only manage a short wave and dissipated seconds after rolling past his shoulders. He felt a pang of exhaustion shot through him and he grimaced. Danni supposed he was pushing himself a little too much. They had just won the Contest after all. Danni waved the lingering warmth away and bounced his way to Eli, bopping him on the nose.

“‘eeeeeeeeeeeeeey! I told ya I was comin’! Now what do ya t'ink? Do I look good or do I look good?” Danni flaunted and preened, addressing the table before putting an order in for gumbo and water. He caught sight of Tommy all on his lonesome, shoving food in his face faster than Danni could see. A terrible idea flickered in the back of his head and cackling like a gremlin, he gave in. “BRB! Imma see if I can do a little sneaky sneaky. But I got a question for you so don't go anywhere.” Danni pointed at Patriot, before sulking poorly across to Tommy.

“‘eeeeey, Tommy. ‘ow's it goin’? T'ose were some sick moves out t'ere-” Danni dove for one of the tomatoes and he'd thought he'd been sneaky, waiting til Tommy was distracted, when he found himself a victim that same.super speed and cackled like a mad man in Tommy's head lock. “And ‘ere I t'ought I ‘ad ya! Guess I'm t'e loser tonight, pffft.” Danni cackled, putting the offending piece of food back and trying to wiggle free.

---

---

---

Dorian was blithefully unaware at the fact that his phone was currently blowing up back at the locker rooms, that his socials had doubled in size and a new wave of onlookers would be peering into his gaming streams coming forward. For now he was more focused on what was happening around him. He gladly grabbed one side of the trophy so that Andy and April would be able to hold it as well as he posed for the photo op with a massive and genuine smile. This was everything he had worked for, everything that he’d been wanting. A chance to not only win in the Contest of Champions, but to defeat the reigning champions while keeping it a fair and honest fight. He’d forgotten all about the prize money, having never had such need for it, and was already ready to aid in the creation of his gaming skins and emotes to make sure they got every detail right. Some skins didn’t translate well, but he’d make sure his wasn’t one of them.

More photo’s were taken, this time with the whole team. The instant Dorian laid eyes on Danni, he flew towards him and wrapped himself around him screaming “We Did It! We Did It!” Dorian tried out every pose he had settled on for his promotional shots, late nights spent with Danni to try and find the best angles and expressions for each and every type of lighting situation. Though as the victory lap continued, more and more people began to file in. He was grateful that his parents were there, armed with extradimensional bags to aid in gathering the PR supplies being pelted towards them at whirlwind speeds. It felt like the scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, where he’d being fed fudge and pudding from every which angle and there seemed to be no end in sight. Business cards were handed towards him, some he knew, some he cared for, and some he disliked for their views or treatment of other heroes. Those he let fall to the ground or handed them back with a “No thank you” before moving on to the others.

Before long they were sat at a table with a fake backdrop for the contest. It felt a bit wrong but his immediate first thought was that his father could have done better. Even so, he was able to snag a quick wardrobe change before all of this had began. Magic helped to always be prepared for photo ops and press tours. As they all sat down, each began to get bombarded with questions “the public” was dying to get answers to. He sat up straight, hands folded before him, and a smile on his face as he tried his best at his first live Q&A. This certainly wasn’t like streaming, and every word he said reflected not only on his team, his brand, and his parents, but on all mutantkind too on top of the Margaret Carter Institute. No pressure.

“Dorian! How did streaming prepare you for the contest?”

”In terms of fightin’, it allowed me to always stay vigilante as bot’ readin’ a chat and answerin’ t’em while tryin’ to game requires attention to multiple targets at one time. In terms of post victory preparation it allows me to be able to speak to and answer questions wit’ a bit more confidence t’an I would ad I not interacted and chatted with my lovely followers. Love you my Boo-Crew!” Dorian answered as he punctuated the final comment with a finger heart.

“Dorian! Dorian over here!” ”Yes, you.” “Dorian, Are you disappointed in your fellow competitors for giving up?”

”Not at all. ‘eroism take’s many forms, and every ‘ero ‘as a reason to rise or stand aside. I know t’at my team did what t’ey believed was best even when it was a difficult choice. T’at’s what makes t’em all ‘eroes, t’at’s why t’ey're all champions. Everybody loves a ‘ero. People line up for t’em…cheer t’em…scream t’eir names. And years later, t’ey’ll tell ‘ow t’ey stood in t’e rain for ‘ours just to get a glimpse of t’e one who taught t’em to ‘old on a second longer. I believe t’ere’s a ‘ero in all of us…t’at keeps us ‘onest…gives us strength…and makes us noble. Next question.”

“Dorian! Why did your previous teams fall apart?”

”For various reasons I won’t get into mon ami.”

“Dorian! What do you say to the rumors circulating that you paid Wiccan off to throw the match?”

”I say t’at t’ose rumors are unfounded and undermine t’e victory and ‘ardship my and t’eir team went t’rough. I didn’t pay anyone off, I wanted to win fair and square and simply appealed to ‘is better nature to take stock in ‘is own team and ‘imself.”

“Dorian which teammate is the weakest link?”

”None of t’em.” Dorian turned to look at all of his teammates, smiling as he saw their faces, each answering their own questions and handling them with various degrees of grace and success. ”Every ‘ero ‘as t’eir limits. Every ‘ero tries to push beyond t’em when t’ey can. But true strength lies in teamwork. We make up for our allies short comings, I can’t brawl like Luna or Jotunn, nor can I dismantle ot’ers like Amnesia or snipe like Hot Shot, My own boyfriend ‘as more maneuverability t’an i do and ‘e showcased it well in both rescue attempts, avoidin’ danger, and even ‘elpin’ a competitor out of a disaster situation. Each one of us brin’s out t’e best of t’e ot’ers. T’ere are no weak links in Excelsior, only a singular blade forged in t’e fires of ‘ardship’s and tempered by t’e bonds we create.”

---

Max was helping the locale get their decorations ready and set. Applying the finishing touches as students began to file in for the celebration. Between how the children had reacted to their newfound fame, watching Sabine try a dance for the paparazzi, and seeing an old friend smile so brightly for the first time, all Max could think of to himself was that he’d made it. This, all of this, was what their little spot of home was about. Seeing kids so open and free, no fear in their eyes, no care in the world, just mutant kids being kids. This was what wealth looked like, this was what being fulfilled was all about and it was the best gift he could ask for this holiday season.

Dorian came in right behind Danni. He wanted him to have his entrance, he deserved it. He waved awkwardly towards Billy and Teddy, wanting to catch up to them but it seemed like they may want a bit of alone time first. That was fine, he could find them later once more people showed up he guessed. Andy, Leah, and Sabine were all gathered around America’s table alongside Gideon. They seemed to be locked in an arm wrestling contest while Danni was attempting to snag some food from Tommy, an idea Dorian had already had. This just made it easier. While Danni was locked within a speedster chokehold, Dorian used his Telekinesis to grab ¼ of the food off the plate and shoved it onto his own empty one, sitting beside Cassie as he ate his spoils. ”Too slow Sheppard, my food now.” He offered another finger heart before continuing forward with his meal. ”Great fight you guys! Was a little sad i couldn’t test out using your portals t’ough America, but Cassie you’re a real tough fight to go against and Bishop’s shots were a little too good, sorry we ‘ad to remove you early but we couldn’t allow t’at to stand.”

---

Almost five hours. Five! If this absolute media circus and then a mandatory hangout with some suits was what fame was like, Tori would be happy to live her entire life with no one knowing her name.

At least she had the time to do some Christmas shopping, and now she was on her way to be rid of a certain errand.

Easier said than done though.

The entrance to wherever the locals were holding their celebration just happened to be inside the Strange academy. The one place where she could not find her way through, and tonight was no exception. Because fuck my life!

After ten minutes of searching, Victoria found herself back at the entrance. Her pupils ticked to red. The air conveyed the hum of multifield generators powering up. Vicky's fuses were just about ready to blow and she was about to make a new hallway to where she needed to get, when...

"Hey, uh...you look lost. You were talking with Nicky and Barty the other day. Are you looking for them?"

The hum died down. "Oh! Yes, actually. 'Barty' asked me to fetch something for him, but I can never find anything in this place. If you could point me in the right direction-" Vicky paused. That's how she got into this miserable situation in the first place! "-at no price, I'd be very grateful."

"Yeah, they are in Haven, their bar. Follow me."

Saved by a kind stranger.

"I don't count favors. That isn't how my magic works."

Vicky filed that interesting fact. Barty told her that all magic has a price. She supposed that the payment could take many forms. She also supposed that Barty could have been lying. But if magic could be considered a form of energy, could I just not 'simply' change one form of energy to another? Hm. Something to ponder over the break.

She was led to what looked like a door masked as a painting, with the twinkiest bouncer she has ever seen minding the queue. Fortunately not a large one, so she foregone trying to get ahead and waited her turn.

"'Evenin', I have a delivery for Barty Macleod. I was told I could find him here?"

“A delivery at this hour?” Alfonse frowned, gave Vicky a look over, and his expression melted into something more pleasant. “Ah, yes. Barty did mention someone would be coming and they would be inexperienced in all this. Please step forward and through. Stay focused on the door at the end; the Neverish isn’t kind to those who lose their way.” With a press of his finger against a painted heart and a rush of magic, the painting bent inwards and stretched until its color faded and in the far distance, a plain wooden door spilled light beneath it.

“Good luck.”

Inside the speakeasy, the usual dark décor had been enhanced. The ambient lights stayed dim and new, brighter strobes pulsed in time with the music from the DJ who’d taken over the space previously held by a piano. Wooden paneling covered the playroom floor, cleaned and cleared to make space for the party, and the dark room door stayed close to offer a quieter, more relaxed atmosphere the energetic club music couldn’t offer. Waitstaff circulated with water and juices and mocktails, alcohol strictly limited to long time and responsible patrons, and finger foods flew from the kitchen almost as fast as it was eaten. One of the twins was at the bar, chatting under the roar of the music, as they mixed and served.

From amongst the people gathered within the space, sat Barty dressed in all black suit, a white round mask with silver accents and a beak that curved downwards upon his face. He held a drink in one hand, whiskey with a single large clear sphere of ice. There was a black cat with yellow eyes curled upon around his feet, and as soon as Vicky entered the space, its head popped up and locked eyes with her. Barty hardly looked her way, but it was clear he'd noticed her presence.

Tunnel visioning on an objective? Not a problem for Tori. She thanked the bouncer and marched to the door, entering the establishment. She had to admit, the place had character, and dare she say, a certain kind of appeal. On a regular day when it wasn’t commandeered for a party, it could be a place she might fancy frequenting, were she from around here. The physical was about where the appeal stopped though.

She spotted her target right away, marching straight for him. With Billy Butcher’s ‘Oi! Evenin’ c**t!’ on her mind, she settled for a ”’Evening, mr. Macleod. I believe this is yours?” she said as a compartment on her suit opened and she reached in, pulling the red gem out in her fist. A brief thought entered her mind whether it would set the place on fire if it wasn’t surrounded by her ‘aura of hate’, but then again, Barty explicitly told her to give it to him here. If there was some adverse reaction, well… it was his to deal with.

Barty quickly stood up and placed his hand over Vicky's, ensuring she didn't simply show off the gem inside the room. The cat around his feet stretched before it made its way up his side and sat on his shoulder. ”I appreciate the timely manner but please follow me before you go waving that around.” He said with a smile, he snatched a beverage off of one of the trays and held it out for Vicky to drink as he began to walk towards a more secure area towards the back, one that required a key he held.

”This won’t take long, will it?” Vicky asked in an ‘I am done with this’ tone, but followed, not trusting anything served here and holding the drink in her hand, but leaving it otherwise unattended. Heck, there was a chance that she might actually get a buzz from some magic spiced drink, and she had places to be. Piloting under influence was not on the agenda today.

”Not long at all no. Oh and its a mocktail, no real concoctions are for free here unless you're me. But also I brew it all so it better well damn be.” He unlocked the door and gestured for her to walk in before him. One of the few times he was ever polite, but it was a party after all and he had to be somewhat of a good host. ”I take it from your lack of mask that you wont be joining us in today's festivities?”

”The invitation I got was verbal and did not state a dress code. Not that I have any particular place to put this stuff at the moment.” Vicky pointed to her armor as she entered the room, ”But yes, when presented with a choice of a place that could kill me and a party thrown by cheating hacks versus a normal establishment with friends and family, which would you choose?” Macleod could blast the Margaret Carter Institute all he wanted - Vicky for one knew it was far from perfect - But their team couldn’t hack it even with illegal support. Spoke volumes, in her opinion. ”Where do you want this thing, do you have a shielded container or something to that effect?” she inquired.

”Im offended youd say as much. This party is thrown by my brother and I alone. It has no bearing on if the schools team wins or loses, even if those fourth rate casters with fifth rate magic couldn't even afford to win with our aid. Waste of good magic, but a boon I shall hold over their heads in perpetuity. I didn't help them so they could win, I helped them so I could get ahead. As for where I want it.” He held his hand out, palm turned upwards. ”You can simply give it to me. I just didn't want those intoxicated ‘mages’ seeing my gem. They might get ideas, and I hate ideas.”

Victoria saved a record of that conversation. If not Max, Sabine would be interested in hearing the admission. ”All the reason for me to make a hasty exit.” she said, dropping the gem into Barty’s palm. ”And now that our business is concluded, have a nice evening, Mr. Macleod. May you live in interesting times.” she gave him the briefest of nods, before turning on a heel and stepping out.

Barty faked a smile, cold and calculated. Her last sentiments sounding like a threat, especially to one who had lived through many interesting times before. He gripped the gem in his hand before looking at his familiar, and scratching beneath the chin of dark fur. He had what he needed, and it put him closer to what he desired. The gem was stashed and hidden, the mask affixed and ensuring it didn't show his true feelings before the roar of the party came back into view as he stepped out of the room once more.

---

Vicky stopped by a big mall and got herself two large suitcases. She really needed to figure out how to make the armor more portable - or at least easier to put on.

Finally wrangling the armor inside, she arrived at the Court. Others were already there, but first, she padded over to Max. “Good evening. I learned something that might be of interest for you.” She said, raising her palms. A holo displayed, replaying the earlier conversation with Barty regarding the source of Hex Girls' doping from Vicky’s point of view.

---

---

They’d done it!!

April could hardly believe it, screaming and hugging the rest of her team excitedly, especially the ones who returned from medical. She made sure to take pictures with people, especially a selfie with her boys. They’d done it!!! They’d won!!! The high propelled her through the photography session, and she was still riding it when they transitioned to doing a group interview with reporters.

No one in her family had messaged to congratulate her or even check in on how she was doing, but she didn’t care. Their stance on her was clear, so she was more than happy to return the feeling in kind. Her real family was here with her, sitting behind microphones at the interview table. She didn’t need anyone else. She didn’t want anyone else. She’d shut her phone off and put it away. No distractions, just living in this moment. And when she got the first question directed at her, she perked up in excitement.

“April, are you sponsored by Mountain Dew? We loved the Baja Blast!”

She grinned and laughed. “Yeah, totally!”

In the back, She-Hulk made eye contact with her and shook her head. The message was clear. No.

“... totally not, I mean!” April recovered quickly. ”But, um, I think it would be super cool if I was so - if Mountain Dew wants to hit me up?” She knew that some brands tended to do sponsorship deals with contest winners, in order to boost their own popularity. She wasn’t really interested in those in general, as she wasn’t particularly excited about fame. But she could make an exception for Mountain Dew, she supposed.

The next question directed towards her was less fun.

“April, is it true that none of your family showed up for your own matches? How does that make you feel?"

She couldn’t help but grimace. She’d thought they were supposed to be largely anonymous - school affiliations, superhero names, first names. But as she looked at the group of reporters, her stomach churned slightly. They weren’t here to give them easy questions. They were here for a story. And the time they’d spent in medical and taking photographs had been enough for them to do some digging, enough to realize April hadn’t had anyone cheering for her in the stands. No one that she was related to by blood, at least.

“Um…” she trailed off, biting her lip. She didn’t know how honest to be here. She hadn’t been prepared for this. Sure, she’d fantasized about winning the contest for ages, but she’d never considered this part of the process - had never studied how to answer these questions. So she tried to keep things vague, to mimic the way her teammates were answering things - to be honest without letting things get too parasocial. “It really sucked, at first. But… now I know where I stand with them. And I know who the people who really care about me actually are. They’re the ones up here with me today.”

The next question was even worse.

“April, why did you go to CAGE before your debut in the Contest? Were you simply looking for attention? Did you fear you may snap during the battle?"

She was speechless for a moment. These people didn’t know her. They didn’t know her and here they were, circling like vultures. Had they cheered when they uncovered that fact about her - had they excitedly told their coworkers about how they were going to get such a good story, interviewing the deranged, crazy member of Excelsior? Did it matter to them that she was a child? Did they care?

“I…” she swallowed, trying to keep her composure. She didn’t want to answer this question though. She didn’t want the world to think that she was insane. She was barely comfortable telling her friends about her diagnosis, that she was bipolar, but complete strangers? She shook her head, as her heart started beating faster and faster. Could she just get up and leave? Or would that only make matters worse? Could she…

But her rescue came in the form of Danni - who helpfully interjected, and began to talk loudly about his skincare routine.

Her hands were still trembling, though, by the time she received her final question. It was gentler, at least.

"April, what does it feel like to have such a finite power? Did you panic when the water ran out?"

“Um, it’s fine? Like - I actually would argue it’s not really finite, the majority of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. But even then, you just need to keep an eye on your resources… and the fans in the stadium just so happened to have what I needed.” She then paused for a moment. “Most heroes have to do that, too. Even for something like your stamina, not everyone is Captain America - you have to think about how often you attack and how hard. Mine’s just a little more visible.”

After the interview session, they transitioned to what was supposed to be a small party for them, with snacks and refreshements… but instead seemed to be a networking event, with stressed out, balding folks in suits and heels swarming them at every opportunity. At first, April tried to be polite, but it became clear relatively quickly that these folks wouldn’t just take anything but a firm commitment. She faked receiving a phone call a few times - which was actually easier than she’d thought, as while her family hadn’t messaged her, her phone was vibrating so much from incoming messages from friends and strangers that it mimicked an incoming call vibration pretty well.

And by the time they managed to escape, loaded up with more swag and business cards than they could possibly know what to do with, April was beyond starving and exhausted. Returning to the Kingston-Gray house, where she could lounge on the couch with her friends and eat junk food was all she wanted in the world. And maybe a cuddle pile. And a Shark Girl autograph.

---

Later that evening, April headed with the rest of her friends to the Court of Two Sisters. She’d never tried it before, and she was pretty excited to have some authentic Cajun food. The bag of Oreos she had scarfed down at the Kingston-Gray house hadn’t been as filling as she had hoped. And with the contest winnings, she didn’t have to worry about money for food - even though she wasn’t entirely sure if this place would even accept money. Danni and Dorian’s descriptions of how things worked in the French Quarter confused her still.

She had opted for comfortable clothes, wearing a branded pair of Margaret Carter sweats, a blue, white, and pink Team Excelsior jacket that had just felt right, and a retro Mountain Dew t-shirt (they had, in fact, had a representative there for her to talk to!). It wasn’t the prettiest outfit she’d ever worn, but strangely enough, she felt more comfortable in it than she ever had in a dress or a skirt.

“Hey guys!!” April waved happily, as she identified the teen zone and headed on over there. She gave a quick hug to everyone who would let her, for both Excelsior and the Young Avengers. “Honestly that fight was intense - it was so close the entire time! But, um, how are you all feeling? I know it got a little rough there at the end and if you need anything or if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know, okay?” She felt a little flustered as she made her offer, worried that it would come across as ingenuine, but she meant it. They were all just kids trying to figure things out.

---

---

Percy did not want to be here.

He hated being photographed. He hated being touched. He hated it when strangers asked him personal questions. And he hated the feeling that he could not leave without disappointing Dorian and the others. He had calmed down since his treatment in medical, managing to breathe a little easier, and the sensation of ants crawling all over his skin had ceased. But after the extended photography session, he was beyond ready to be done.

In short, he was essentially glaring at the reporters as he sat behind the table, a neat little placard in front of him identifying him by his superhero name, Odysseus. This must have been how the real Odysseus felt to return home to Penelope, only to find a swarm of suitors in his home. He wished that he had his axe. He didn’t want to attack anyone - only to scare them enough to leave him alone.

The questions he received were infuriating as well, and tested his already thin patience.

"Percy is it true your jumps are so small they may as well be running leaps?"

“No.”

"Percy, was it intimidating being so small surrounded by such large competitors?"

“No.”

"Percy, how does having the ability to translate languages help you at all?"

“geugeos deogbun-e dangsin-eul ihaehal su issge doeeoss-eoyo. geuleohji anh-assdamyeon jeoneun babocheoleom malhaess-eul tenikkayo.”

"Percy did you ever actually learn to speak and read or is it only a mutation?"

“Yes.”

"Percy how does it feel to know your own boyfriend merged with two other guys but didn't ask you?"

“Horrible, thanks for asking.” If looks could kill, that reporter in particular would have perished long ago. His stomach had started to churn again with a vicious mixture of anger and jealousy. His knuckles were white from how he’d clenched his hands, and it was taking all of his willpower to not teleport out of the room, and leave all of this in his wake. But he wasn’t here for himself. He was here for the others. He didn’t want to ruin their moment. And once this was all over, he would go back to the Kingston-Gray house and lock himself in his room for a few hours. Maybe find something to drink. He wanted to turn his brain off and pretend like the last few hours simply hadn’t happened. The others wouldn’t miss him too much during their celebrations. He hadn’t been meant to be on their team in the first place.

After the interview had concluded, they were whisked away to a corporate mixer. Percy avoided talking to anyone at all costs. Whenever someone got too close, too keen on speaking with him, he redirected them in Danni’s direction. He was soaking up the attention, anyway. The ones who could not be persuaded to leave, he teleported away from, appearing on the other side of the crowded room. At one point, he took refuge in the bathroom, hiding in a stall as long as was acceptable.

He almost jumped for joy when Vision lied for them and ushered them back to the Kingston-Gray house. The synthezoid quickly shot up in his mental rankings of the teachers at Margaret Carter, becoming his newfound favorite. But there was nothing he loved quite more than peace and quiet. Once at the house, he made his excuses, lying that he had a headache, before practically running up the stairs to his room, closing the door behind him and locking it.

Percy was too overstimulated to crawl into the bed, instead slowly sinking to the ground and hugging his knees to his chest. He then fished his phone out of his pocket, and turned it off, before setting it aside.

He vowed to never do something so public again.

He closed his eyes, and after a while, drifted off to sleep, his back against the door. At some point, Dorian had come to check on him; he woke up in the bed, gently tucked in.

---

By the time he arrived at the Court of the Two Sisters, Percy had started to feel a bit more like a person again. The time alone had helped. He could have used more of it, though. But he didn’t want to disappoint or worry his friends by not showing up. He knew his mother would be at the dinner, too. He didn’t want to add stress to her, especially with Diana’s situation.

As he entered, he did a quick scan of the people there. The Young Avengers were concentrated in one area, including Andy and Gideon. Speed had put Danni into a headlock, and Dorian had gone to sit with Cassie and Patriot. Sabine and Leah were over there as well. And at the other end of the setup, the adults had gathered - where Vicky was speaking to Max.

Percy was still for a moment.

He knew he ought to go over to where the other teenagers were - that he should be sociable and interact with them all. But after everything that had happened for the contest that day, the thought of talking with a large group made him nauseous. He didn’t want to make a scene, though. He didn’t want to be an embarrassment.

He wished he’d brought a book with him.

He hadn’t for this very reason - to not give himself such an easy path to avoid everyone.

So instead, he made a compromise with himself. He didn’t have to go sit at a table with other people. But he had to go sit at a table near other people. He didn’t have to initiate conversations. But he had to respond if someone talked to him. He had to stay for one hour. He had to try to have fun.

And if anyone touched him, he got to leave immediately.

He could live with these rules. He took a seat near the other teens, but not next to anyone, and began to quietly study the menu. That was one of the rules, too. He had to eat something.

---

---

---

Leah approached the Young Avengers first - namely, Cassie, Eli, and America. The apology was short and brief, but followed by flickers of genuine surprise on their faces. In that moment, Leah would realize that she hadn’t been the first person to treat the Young Avengers like that in the fight, and she probably wouldn’t be the last. She was, however, the first one to apologize for it. “No hard feelings,” Eli said. “It’s a lot of pressure - people can get carried away, I get it.”

Cassie nodded in agreement. “The first year we fought - before Tommy and Billy joined the team - we lost in the second round to the Future Foundation team. I was so mad at them, I threw away my Herbie plush I’d gotten as a kid… I still miss it,” she said with a soft sigh. “You’re friends with my sister, though, right? Is she… is she doing okay?” she asked, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I’m kinda worried about her. She’s been really going through it lately.”

America grinned as Sabine offered her a compliment on her punch, kissing her fist. “Hell yeah!! You took it like a champ, too - I am really sorry by the way, I try not to throw punches I don’t think people can take when it’s a friendly match. But damn, I was fucking impressed. You’ve got a secret second power that gives you a chest of steel or something?”

Of course, before America could find out the answer to that question, she was whisked away by lesbian fantasies as Andy entered. She was deep in heaven as they arm wrestled, and the kisses weren’t half bad either.

Kate Bishop snorted as Andy caught her reference. “You didn’t strike me as the type of girl who would get that reference, no offense,” she teased, before taking a sip of her mocktail. Had she been at home, it would have been the real thing. But technically, this was a school event, and she was supposed to be on her best behavior. That wasn’t an option, so second best would have to do. “So, which one of you won?” she then asked, glancing at Andy and America. “Is it a kissing contest now? I’d love to judge that.”

Cassie gagged a little. “Why does everything always have to devolve into kissing...” she pouted.

“Why not?” Kate countered.

Tommy was similarly a little put out - not from PDA, but rather from the violation of that which he held most sacred: his food. He consumed over 10,000 calories each day, and that was for a normal day - one where he wasn’t fighting some of the best young heroes around the world. On a day like this, he had to easily triple his intake. Excelsior may not have been much of a threat according to the betting boards, but they’d given him a run for his money (and of course, he had bet against them… so they had taken his money, too).

“You wanna play?” Tommy half growled, as he released Danni from his headlock. He glanced between him and Dorian. “If you’re going to steal my food, you have to prove that you’re worth it. And there’s only one way to do that.” He crackled his knuckles. “FOOD. EATING. CONTEST.”

Eli groaned. America pulled away from a kiss from Andy and screamed excitedly. “Yes!!!!! Let’s fucking go!!!!!” She looked at Andy apologetically. “Wanna do it? We can do teams? Tommy can we do teams? Us versus them in a food eating contest?”

Billy and Teddy looked at each other for a moment. A rapid nonverbal conversation occurred between the pair. And then Billy stood up, cracking his knuckles - mirroring the same motion Tommy had made. “Poltergeist - I believe it’s time for us to have a rematch,” he challenged.

Teddy prepared himself for the arduous process of growing extra mouths. “I guess we’re doing this,” he said, shaking his head. “Hey - one of you mind reffing for us?” Hulkling called out, gesturing towards the adult table - where the friends and loved ones of Excelsior had gathered. The crowd was much the same as had been in attendance at the matches, minus the Canadians. They were conspicuously absent.

Magneto shook his head ruefully. "The youth of our day..."

---

---

---

Chase had clung to the shadows for most of the evening. Once the show was over and it was all said and done, he didn't have much of a place to go. His ‘parents’ were back home in California, having deemed this trip safe enough for him to do alone. It helped that one could see the future, the other could mess with luck, and they both had faith in the safety of the area, though he had been warned not to leave the French Quarter under any means. That was fine enough, he'd brought his board with him, and while the streets were a little rougher in the bricked sections, it still helped to clear his mind. He still needed that from time to time. Some days his inability to sleep felt like a blessing, knowing that he wouldn't be trapped in that nightmare, trapped back within the tanks and being experimented on, but other days it felt like a curse. But this city never slept, and so far he enjoyed that fact more than anything.

He'd heard about the Victory party that was going to be held for the winners of the Contest, well two of them, but it seemed the goody two shoes only cared for the least fun one. But it would certainly be easier to crash. With enough time for everyone to arrive, Chase finally emerged from the shadows. The darkness curling around him like smoke before it vanished and he looked upon the room. Great, rents were here. That was fine, he could still have a bit of fun. There was that girl again, from behind she looked just like her, and it made his blood run cold. Yet from the front she was so different, enough to put Chase a bit more at ease as he made his way across the room before he stopped a few steps in. ”Holy shit! Is that Perce?!”

Shadows enveloped him again quickly, as Percy's own shadow stretched to his left before Chase emerged again from them, the cold darkness licking Percy as it evaporated away. Chase slung an arm around Percy, smiling from ear to ear. ”I haven't seen you all year! Is this where you went off to? Man, What. A. Coincidence, running into you here. I was told to scope out the Contest so I can see what this school was all about and here you are!”

Percy stopped breathing, as every muscle in his body tensed, as every atom screamed. He didn’t have the time to process it, to understand how this was happening. He’d had nightmares like this before, where this face came crawling back into view - where his body was once again compacted, and covered in bruises. On his very first day at Margaret Carter, he had assumed Dorian and Danni and the others were just like him - that he had escaped one hell just to enter another.

He was completely wordless as hot tears spilled out of his eyes, his entire body trembling, a tremor that was echoed in the dishes and tables and chairs and decor around him. The quaking grew more and more violent, until half of the dishes in the area suddenly shot up, plates and glasses and forks and knives flying at him - at Chase.

Chase watched as the dinnerware came crashing towards him, he tried to call on the shadows, on safety, but they came too late. Food, glass, and metalware all collided against him as he ripped his arm off of Percy with a shocked look upon his face. ”Geeze man, I didnt mean to startle you…Its fine though, i can go clean up…maybe…” He stood up slowly, trying not to make a ruckus as the food and glass fell to the floor while Chase tried to make his way away from the table, looking like a kicked dog.

---

---

---

Leah inched over in her seat to give Sabine some space while giving the smaller girl a knowing look.

”Uh. Yeah…” Leah wasn’t sure how to react. First, she’d sat down to apologize to the Young Avengers, and then suddenly Andy was making out sloppy style with America and Gideon. Leah didn’t have any issues with that. And why would she? But… Holy shit, that came way out of left field. Her face might’ve turned red if her skin wasn’t rocky. It was awfully hot, really. She didn’t know Andy was into polycules. Or maybe she just had a revelation or two.

Either way, she definitely deserved some love after the Zari thing.

”She’s… Uh- She’s fine.” Compose yourself at once, Jordan. ”She’s got friends who care about her, and she knows she can ask for help. Victoria’s better than she was a month or two ago.” Leah was, of course, referring to CAGE. But she also didn’t really think it was her place to answer anything intimate. Vicky could speak for herself when it came to that stuff.

She put an arm around her girlfriend, nudging her and being the clingy one for once.

”I’m… Okay, I think,” She whispered, so as to not interrupt Andy’s whole moment. ”Glad I left the field, before they won. Remind me not to be around people in suits ever again.”

A few tables over, an eating contest was about to commence. Leah couldn’t help but roll her eyes. If anyone tried to steal her food they’d probably overdose on capsaicin or get kicked halfway to the moon. Couldn't they just chill out? She kind of agreed with Magneto.

”You wanna eat?” She asked, still keeping her voice down. ”Don’t have to, we can step out whenever you want. It’s mostly fish and crabs, I think.” She hadn’t forgotten that food was a thing Sabine had to be careful about, or the fact that she wasn’t a big fan of seafood.

---

---

---

---

"Well, I had unsupervised access to the internet in the 2010's, so... Yeah. I never saw the uh... source material. But I am aware of its existence." Andy responded to Kate. She was very hot in the face suddenly. Somehow it was not from the public kissing. She was pulled from that conversation, though, as a food-eating contest was declared.

Andy was not a fast eater. She also didn't eat much in general. Usually just what was needed to get through the day. She was hungry, so she could eat, but she doubted she'd be good at a food-eating contest. She was about to reply when she saw someone she didn't recognize got into Percy's personal space. Percy did not like people in his personal space. She barely knew the guy and knew that. She frowned.

Andy watched as Percy tensed up, as tears formed in his eyes, as fear rolled off of him. This kid had hurt Percy. She didn't know how, or when, or why. She didn't care. Andy had seen kids in foster care with this exact look. Percy was defending himself, and the guy was stepping away. She wished she had a power set that could help right in that moment, but she didn't. She also wouldn’t let it stand. Percy may not need her stepping in, and she decided she wouldn’t be violent about it. But she would make it clear she would protect him.

"Be right back." She told America and Gideon. The food-eating contest could wait. Or they could do it without her. She went over to where Percy was sitting, and the stranger was slinking away. Andy pulled up a chair and sat with her back to Percy, staring at the new guy, placing herself between the two of them.

---

---

---

New Orleans was a beautiful city. It was a rough few weeks, moving across the country and then getting setup in a new school. A new school in a new neighborhood, surrounding by new people, with a new expectation on her shoulders. But Marlena was doing fine, all things considered. Her new classes weren’t anything particularly intense, since she opted for the less combative beginner heroics. Nothing crazy.

When she got settled, she started picking up on the goings-on around the school. The legendary, incredible, absolutely overpriced Contest of Champions would be happening in days. Though she wasn’t one for being a hero herself, Marlena had gone with the rest of the plane-goers to watch in-person. She hadn’t told her dad but she wasn’t really answering his calls at the moment. Not yet, anyway. The Contest was a fun event, it really took her mind off a lot of things. When Excelsior somehow squared away a win from the jaws of defeat, her head was spinning from the noise.

Then she hit the pavement, board in hand, and went on an adventure through the French Quarter. Every city had its different scenes, the streets were always different from the suburbs, the back-alleys were always different from the fancier communities. Back home in New York, she made a habit of keeping her powers a secret. It was different here, she could cruise with her powers pushing her along without a care in the world. There wasn’t any need to keep quiet, especially after she’d been sent to California.

She got some pictures for her camera roll, and by the time the arena was fully empty, she was hungry. So Marlena rolled across the French Quarter for a while, looking up some of the highest rated spots. The one that caught her eye was the Court of Two Sister. The menu made her stomach cast a rather impactful vote, so that was her destination. And, as it turned out, there was a private party being held for students from Excelsior’s team.

The food smelled incredible.

But when they led her out into the very pretty, very aesthetically pleasing private dining area… It looked like hell broke loose. Cutlery and dinnerware of all shapes and sizes went flying, a very hot girl looked ready to stab some poor bastard, the adults didn’t seem to care that much.

She whistled lowly, walking out the door past Max and Magneto with a board resting under her arm. Well out of the way of the post-game shenanigans, in case something went flying her way. And she cracked a joke.

”Somebody give the place a bad review?”

---

---

---

Sabine rubbed her chest where America had sacked her, still feeling the pushback she got at that moment. Thankfully the healers did wonders and there was no bruising or broken ribs. "Hey, it was the Contest. I would be angrier if you held back. Though if I got a nasty bruise and couldn't wear any of my cute outfits I would have had to murder you. So it worked out!"

Sabine had tried to joke around but it seemed Andy had other plans. It warmed Sabine up to see Andy....unleash? Was that a good word for it? When she first met Andy it was, admittedly, not the best moment for her, but even when she apologized and became friends Andy always seemed guarded, uncertain, not allowing anyone in for the most part. As they worked together Sabine noticed the shield drop. Whatever was going on, Andy was in a good place.

And now she was in an even better one with America and Gideon. And who knew what else.

Everyone was trickling in now. Sabine glanced at April, uncertain how to approach her. Sabine wanted to talk to her. Needed to, if she were being honest. Sabine enjoyed those kisses despite the uncertainty of where they came from. And she was also upset. How do you break up with someone and then kiss them twice?

On top of that, it was...weird with Leah too. Sabine didn't hate Leah, she wasn't even angry at Leah (well...not as angry as she was), but things were still awkward. She felt the strong arm around her and Leah nudging her, moving her slightly around. Typical girlfriend bullshit, which on any other day would have made Sabine elated that Leah was trying. But it felt...forced?

Sabine eyed the food. She hated seafood. But she had to eat something. "Yeah, I could eat. I am sure they have something here that hasn't swam in water recently." She felt slightly guilty as they were in New Orleans, which was partially famous for their seafood, but she couldn't stomach it. Or perhaps it was the situation as a whole.

Sabine felt a presence just then as her eyes lifted to someone new. Someone she hadn't seen before. Whoever the new figure was, he felt intense. She watched him stroll over to Percy, who didn't seem to want to be anywhere near anybody else, but especially the new guy. Sabine felt an instinct to stand up and walk over, ensure Percy would be okay, but Andy, fresh from her dalliance, walked over and stared the guy down.

Still, Sabine was uncertain. "Hey, do you know who the new guy is? I don't know, I get a bad feeling, especially with Percy. Keep an eye on him."

Sabine desperately hoped for some type of distraction.

---

---

---

It had been the first time Millicent watched a performance.

Or at least, one of the first she could remember. She didn't think she ever attended a concert or a play or a musical in her childhood. Her father was always too busy and her mother....well that door was better left closed.

So when her uncle and aunts invited her to come watch the Contest of Champions featuring a team from the school she would be attending, she couldn't pass up the opportunity. What she hadn't expected was to be left in the city alone. She arrived at the hotel as scheduled, but her family was nowhere to be seen. Apparently they had gotten to the wrong hotel, leaving her to fend for herself.

And let's be so fucking for real, Millie could handle herself just fine. She had played sold out stadiums, she had walked along red carpets in dresses that no human woman should ever wear (seriously they had to know women had internal organs too that didn't like being squeezed into ill-fitting costumes that even her great-great-great-grandmother would balk at), she had faced a crazed fan and lived to tell the tale.

Well, she lived, at least.

Thankfully she had reunited with her loved ones and was able to watch the contest in the stands. She had remained invisible due to not wanting to take attention away from the teams. Though she had to admit, the show they put on was stellar. The Hex Girls were a quick favorite of her's, though she was rooting for Team Excelsior to go all the way (she may as well show some school spirit early on).

And sure enough, they had defied the odds and won. Millicent noted some of the team had opted out, which felt sort of....well it was understandable, but it was also boring. A performer knew the show went on, trauma be damned. But she also commended them for understanding their limits. Goddess knows she could learn a thing or two about that.

She walked the streets to the Court of Two Sisters where the Young Avengers and Excelsior were partying at. She had heard the Hex Girls were throwing their own shindig and she kind of wanted to be there, but she also knew this would be a good opportunity to meet her classmates and get to know them before school started.

They entered and dropped the invisibility. "That's an interesting scent in the air. So, we doing introductions or are we throwing me to the wolves?"

The second Danni was released from the headlock, Danni checked his reflection in the nearest thing he could. He straightened out his clothes, put the few strands of hair back in place, and whirled around laughing. “A food eating contest? Nah, I’mma sit outta t’at. I’m lookin’ ta dance in a bit and I don’t wanna ruin everyone’s view wit’ bloatin’, ya know? And I promised ta spend time wit’ Eli! I can’t back out on my guy like t’at!” Danni twirled away, coat ends sweeping up as it did, until he plopped into the seat next to Eli and hooked a leg over his. “Dude, I know I got knocked out, but t’at was ‘ella impressive t’at you kept goin’ like t’at. Tots wish I could be t’at resilient but I get a little roughed up and-“ Danni drew his finger across his neck. “If ‘merica t’ere ‘it me wit’ one of t’e punches, yeeesh. Down for t’e count. We outta ‘it t’e gym tagether so I can steal some of your routine! Oh! Maybe we can go runnin’ toget’er. Do you ‘ave a runnin’ partner? Who do ya do cardio wit? Dee’s an early bird get’s t’e worm kinda guy and I like ta do it in t’e evenin’. Or are ya a swimmin’ kinda cardio guy? Simming is good overall, but like I don’t really like t’e cold-actually, I ’ate it-so I just stick ta runnin’. T’ough, I’ve been flyin’ a little more recently and my shoulders are ‘urtin’ a bit. What’s your arm routine? I really need ta get t’em less noodly like yours!” Danni squeezed Eli’s bicep and sighed appreciatively. “Oh, you wanna share somet’in btw? I snacked a lot ‘tween stuff and if I’m jumpin’ ‘around on t’e dance floor wit’ a full stomach, I’mma get grumpy reaaaal quick. Do you dance? You wanna dance wit’ me? I can show ya some moves – its fun! ‘onestly, wit’ ‘ow ya move on t’e field, you’ll do great wit-“

Danni yelped as he ducked a cup and a plate nearly took a chunk of his ear and he found himself clinging fully to Eli as some poor sucker got introduced to all the food options simultaneously. Danni didn’t know who he was but Danni definitely knew one thing for sure: poor guy needed a hospital for those eye bags, yeesh. Someone call 911 cause that kid’s skin was going through it. Still, Danni thought it was weird how quickly Andy went from sucking face to guard dog. “’eeeeeey, what’s t’at t'in’ we’re supposed ta say again? Moss and Toph, right? Moss and Toph!” Danni cheered, reaching out to toast with anything that hadn’t been snatched and thrown. He cut a glance towards Dorian, trying to see if they needed to turn up the heat on the new guy but at Dorian’s little head shake, Danni knew to keep on Percy but otherwise stay chill so he turned back to the group. “America! Now t’at you’re not sucking Andy’s face anymore, we gotta get t’at photoshoot scheduled! I was t’inkin’ of doin’ a winter special one – maybe we can pop off ta a snowy place, you, me, and Eli and we can do some cool shots. Eli can ya t'row bot’ of us at t'e same time? You def can t'row me, but America actually ‘as real muscle which ‘ot damn girl, but its ‘arder ta move t'an my noodles. ‘cause you'd bot’ look so pretty in t'e snow, just a bit o’ fire, see if we can get t'e glow ta contrast real nice! Gotta do a snuggle look too! Hot cocoa and scarves and- oooh, we can share a scarf! Get one o’ t'ose real big ones too! I wonder if it’s too late t'at get some…”

Danni clocked it the moment the invisibility began to fade and he did a double take before waving madly from his perch on Eli's lap. ‘ey, its Milli-illi-illi-pede! I didn't know ya were comin’ ta t'is shindig! Come on over, pull up a chair, ya want somet'in’ ta eat? Eli and I are gunna share and-did ya order for us yet, btw? I wanna get a bowl of gumbo pls!-t'en ‘it t'e dance floor, but ya gotta tell us all ‘bout what's goin’ on! Like, duh you're all over t'e news ever ‘ere, but like ya gotta tell us ‘bout t'e personal stuff, not t'e TV stuff! ‘ow's life, ‘ow's t'e ‘rents, what's your favorite She-Ra episode?” He whipped back to Eli and bopped him on the nose.

“And we gotta plan t'at picnic! Text me your favs so I can try t'e recipes and get it all good!”

---

James calmly placed his hand over the gin and tonic as things flew about the room. His glass shook, but didn't move. While the kids made general sounds of dismay and cracked jokes to lighten the atmosphere, James took a sip of drink. The newcomer was a troublemaker. James knew enough of that type that he noticed the realization and the excitement, the cruel and vicious kind steeped in malicious intent. And his target… Well, his morning conversation a few days ago with Dominika came to mind. Percy's alcoholism and this kid may very well have a link.

“Percy may bolt. We need to keep an eye on him.” James leaned into the bar and murmured to Max across Casper. “New kid's a problem. If he makes a move towards Percy again, I'm removing him from the party.” James turned his gaze back to the shadow kid, making no effort to conceal his observations. The kid was cocky and confident, but James would fix that if he thought the shadow child was a threat to those under his care.