“What do you mean the dungeon disappeared?” Aiden inquired as the furious-looking Max paced. “You mean, you got rid of it?”

  “No. If I meant I got rid of it I would have said that.” The terse response was punctuated with a glare. He then rubbed his forehead. “It disappeared by the time I got there.”

  “It resolved?” Aiden’s eyes widened in shock. “Did someone get trapped there?”

  “I don’t know. But I got the alert and within minutes it was already gone. It’s very unlikely a dungeon spawned and resolved in that short a time frame. Especially a high-level dungeon like that.”

  Aiden rubbed his chin, worry spreading across his face. "Was there deadspace?"

  "Nope. Nothing. Like the dungeon was never there."

  “That’s unusual.

  “This is all unusual!” Max threw up his hands. “The world hasn’t made any sense for months now, and no one but us cares! I’ve gone to the hero center myself to make the report. Called the crisis call line. And guess what? Nothing. It’s like someone somewhere is mocking us and I don’t like it one fucking bit!"

  For the first time, Aiden didn’t caution Max about his language. Aiden's eyebrows were furrowed deep in thought, his shoulders tense. Lexie was also starting to tense up again, her mind wondering about the dungeon.

  “What happened to your arm?” The other man said, addressing Aiden. His voice was quieter and steadier compared to Max’s rant. He had Max’s hair and eye color and was only slightly taller than him, but while they resembled each other physically, they gave off totally different vibes. This man seemed more relaxed, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, as opposed to Max’s frantic pacing. Also unlike Max who was wearing leather pants and a shirt with ripped sleeves, this man was wearing a long regal-looking white robe, a black shirt with gold trimmings, and a collar that reminded her of a priest.

  At his question, Aiden glanced at his own shoulder, as though just remembering it was still dislocated.

  “There was a bomb in the city,” he said. “And then Lexie got kidnapped.’

  “By who?” Max finally stopped to stare at the two of them. “What did he want? And where is he hiding so we can kill him?” Max radiated so much violence that Lexie wasn’t sure whether to be flattered that he cared or worried about his mental state. Maybe he wanted to avenge her, or maybe he just wanted an outlet for the fury he was experiencing.

  Probably both.

  “He’s already dead,” Aiden said.

  Max’s eyes widened in shock. “You killed him?”

  “No. He killed himself.”

  Max looked even more surprised, and Aiden waved his good arm. “It’s a long story and I’ll tell you all about it later. Let’s figure out this dungeon mess first.”

  “Well, I don't know if there’s anything to figure out.” Max gestured. “The dungeon is gone.”

  “Yes, but we need to know why and if it left anything or anyone behind. Or if it took anyone with it.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Max cracked his neck and turned to the pillar, knocking his forehead against it. “This is driving me crazy.” Then his head snapped to Aiden suddenly. “Do you still have that book on you?”

  “What book?”

  “The dungeonology one with the funny name.”

  Aiden then said a word that was such a tongue twister, Lexie couldn't make heads or tails of what it was. It didn’t sound human. The word was between a growl and a hiss like a bear and snake decided to learn each other’s languages.

  “Yeah. That one,” Max confirmed.

  Aiden shook his head in regret. “No, I don't have it anymore.”

  “Damn it.” Max went back to hitting his forehead on the pillar.

  “Stop that before you lose even more brain cells, Max.” The other man said. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “That’s what you always say,” Max grumbled with the countenance of a kid who had been promised a PS4 for Christmas one too many times.

  “Because we always do in the end," the man responded. "If we haven’t yet, then it means it isn't the end.” He then calmly glanced back at Lexie's father. “In the meantime, Aiden, we need to get your arm fixed.”

  Aiden sighed and nodded.

  They ended up going to the hospital in his vehicle which was a self-driving car that Lexie didn't know how to describe except to say that it wasn't a road rocket. It was squarish on the outside and on the inside, it looked more like a carriage than anything. There was no wheel area or front seats. It was like sitting in the back of a limo, with black leather bench seats on either side of the door.

  The seats were plush and the perfect temperature which made for a comfortable ride as they ambled along, trailing Max’s hoverbike.

  While in the car, the man seated opposite them finally said, “I’m glad to see you doing better, Lexie. You probably don’t remember me but I’m–”

  "Luke, the mayor,” Lexie completed. “Max’s older brother.”

  He gave her a surprised look. “You do remember. But I’m younger actually. By a whole year.”

  “You are?”

  “Can’t you tell?” He shot her a look of mock offense and she gave him an apologetic look because really she couldn’t tell. Not that the mayor looked older necessarily. He had similar crinkles by his eyes that Max had and very similar features but she just assumed Luke was older because he acted older.

  “I’m also the one who christened you by the way. But we can catch up later. I would have visited sooner but life has been a little chaotic for me."

  Lexie nodded. “Sure. I get it.”

  He smiled. And then he said, “What do you think is happening with this dungeon thing?”

  Lexie at first thought he was still talking to her until she realized that his eyes had flicked over to Aiden, who was staring out the window.

  “I truly don’t know,” he said. “But I have a sinking feeling that it had to do with the attack in Arcadia today.”

  “What do you mean?"

  “There was a mana bomb in the city, and it was set to go off today. As we know a mana bomb could disrupt the mana flow in an area, and as close as Arcadia is, that could be widespread enough to hit Hovelton.”

  Luke nodded slowly. “Yes, but none of the other surrounding cities are experiencing anything close to this level of dungeon instability.”

  Aiden nodded. “Not to mention that the bomb today didn't actually go off.” He sighed heavily. “Max is right. Something very strange and unprecedented is happening, and the longer we allow it to go unchecked the more dangerous and problematic it becomes.”

  Luke was consideringly quiet as his vehicle meandered down the road. A part of Lexie’s brain that wasn’t engrossed in the conversation wondered silently how the car worked. It was likely powered by external mana but there were no wheels or blue mana-coated tracks so how did the floating mechanism work? Was it triggered by repulsion? Like with her black hole exercises?

  “Max thinks it’s the hero association,” Luke finally said, breaking the silence. “He thinks they’ve hired [Researchers] to run secret experiments again and that’s what’s causing all this.”

  “They wouldn't do that.” Aiden’s voice was certain.

  Luke spared him a glance. “Are you sure about that?’

  Aiden was quiet for a few seconds before he said, “I know you and Max think I’m naive for still believing in the association after everything.”

  “I don’t think that,” he said. “Max might, but that’s because Max has his personal bone to pick with them.”

  “Yes, I know. Look, the association isn’t perfect, but the current leadership won’t allow anything like that to happen.”

  “You mean Stella Firebringer?”

  “Not just her. Even if you ignored her and the other elementals acting as checks, Vice President Jerry Haynes is not a man you can easily deceive. Not to talk of Dominic Vacek himself who would definitely not let something like this slide. It’s under his leadership for the past few years that the hero association has been tightening the reins and you know how strict he is about acceptable [Hero] behaviour. Do you think he would allow experimentation on this level to carry on under his watch?”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “They may be doing it behind his back. He’s in Planet Fae at the moment.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Jerry is here and I don’t think anyone from the association would risk Vacek’s wrath by doing something as foolhardy as that.”

  Luke didn't answer. Another stretch of silence descended and Lexie eyed the buttons by the door, wondering if one of them was for a radio.

  “So how do you explain the fact that nobody from the association has even come around to check out our reports?”

  Aiden leaned his head back in the seat, shutting his eyes. “That I don’t know. Maybe someone is interfering with the message.”

  “The only person who could do that would be someone who has access to the system government alert database. Those would be the heads of state and important politicians and I can’t think of any reason why they would do that. Hovelton isn’t politically important in any way. An attack on Arcadia makes sense but one on Hovelton…”

  “It could simply be that the association intends to check on it eventually,” he said. “But they simply have a lot on their plate right now.”

  “Could be. Although I struggle to find out what’s more important than the threat of magical instability.”

  “I don’t know. But there’s someone I can ask to find out.”

  Luke remained quiet. He didn’t ask who the someone was, perhaps sensing instinctively that Aiden wouldn't answer that question.

  They finally arrived at the Healing House where Aiden and Lexie were fussed over by a worried Emma.

  She checked Lexie first after Aiden told her that Lexie was caught in the blast. That alarmed Max and Luke too and they asked her a bazillion questions about what happened and whether or not she felt she was targeted. Lexie told them the truth, that she was pretty sure it was a mistake and she wasn't supposed to be there. But that didn't stop them from blaming the [Heroes] for everything and Max went on a rant calling Theo Firebringer and his ilk every name under the sun.

  While Emma was making sure that Lexie was all healed up with no more concussions, Lexie asked about Xena. She was happy to discover that Xena made it home safely, and was more irritated than hurt after someone shoved her while on her way to the shelter.

  Once Emma assured Aiden that Lexie was completely fine, he relaxed a little and finally let her work on his arm.

  Emma scolded him for not seeing a healer at the bomb shelter, and for waiting too long to set it. And then she grabbed his arm, held his shoulder, and pulled. They all winced at the sound of it snapping back into place. Lexie had never had a dislocated arm before but she had to imagine that hurt, but Aiden barely grunted. He must have a high pain tolerance.

  Lexie's eyes trailed down to the bands around his neck, recalling what they looked like when they glowed. Aiden had used some of his power today, or at least attempted to. His hands were even still shaking with the aftershocks, so much so that both Emma and the mayor commented on it. After he told them what happened, they both scolded him, Emma much harsher while the mayor did it in a calm ‘fatherly’ manner.

  And then after they were both done, Aiden and Lexie finally got sent home to eat and rest.

  Except Lexie couldn't rest.

  Lying in her bedroom in Hovelton, she finally started to process the day, her heart still racing with the left-over adrenaline, her muscles twitchy with the need to run. Her mind bounced from one thing to the next.

  From the beginning, the dream she’d had about her brother.

  To getting caught in a blast.

  And then being kidnapped by a villain named Mouse with weird magnet powers.

  Getting rescued by a Firebringer and her father.

  And then now.

  Her brain made the journey over and over, trying to sort through the tangle of emotions that till now she’d been too stressed to acknowledge.

  Sadness about her dream. Longing for her brother, delayed panic from the bombing and the pain of the blast and kidnapping. Relief at the rescue, acceptance that this was her life now, affection for Aiden. Guilt that she was forgetting her home and her family in favor of this new strange world, fear that this world was dangerous and she would somehow lose Aiden and anyone she cared for...

  She forced herself to breathe, slowly, so she didn't hyperventilate.

  Her mind lingered on that last thought for so long that her chest felt tight.

  It was close.

  She could finally accept it, her fingers clenching, her toes curling as her heart drummed out of her chest. A delayed flight-or-fight instinct took over her body.

  Mouse had been too powerful and seemed determined to kill Aiden. Lexie couldn't have done much to stop him with her cards. If Theo hadn’t showed up…

  Aiden would probably be dead. And she might be dead too.

  Maybe for good.

  She didn't let the thought sink, didn't let it take hold. She knew herself and if she allowed it she would obsess over that outcome for hours. She would sink into a hole of anxiety-laden thoughts as she considered the worst-case scenario over and over until she got depressed by it and felt all the attached loss and hopelessness of something that hadn't even happened.

  But she did have to deal with the feeling of her impotence. Eventually, she would have to think about how weak she was in the grand scheme of things.

  But for now, she tried to focus on things that wouldn't make her sad. Like Mouse's powers. How did it work? She understood the magnetic part of controlling metal, but how had he been able to keep hold of her?

  Maybe he'd targeted something small and metallic on her body, like a zipper or a hairclip, and used that to generate a magnetic field. For example, maybe he'd locked onto the little bit of iron in her hair clip and magnified that force of attraction so he could pull her body to him.

  That was the only thing that made sense.

  But then how come he’d never targeted her dad or Theo? Silver was a type of metal and Aiden had a bunch of it, so it would probably have been easier to catch him. And Theo had a zipper too. Instead of attacking them, he could have frozen them in place and done whatever he wanted. Mouse could have kept Aiden still and used the war hammer to bludgeon him to death.

  Lexie shook away the image. Too gory. Too much.

  Stick to the question. Why hadn't Mouse done any of that?

  Perhaps Theo and Aiden were too heavy? Or too powerful? Were their pathways too well-guarded?

  But her father was mundane now, so that didn’t make sense either. Unless, he still had guarded pathways from prior training. Maybe he knew how to control his pathways without mana.

  “Hmm,” she murmured.

  For some reason, it felt extremely important for her to figure out how Mouse's powers worked. She needed to know what she would do if something like this happened again.

  Did she have a card that could have helped her?

  She didn't think so. Which meant she had to either get better at finding more creative uses for her cards or look into another deck.

  Either way, Lexie was no longer satisfied with simply advancing her powers for its own sake.

  Now she wanted to be able to use it to fight back. To defend herself and Aiden from people like Mouse. And maybe even from [Heroes] like Luther Firebringer, or Theo or Stella if they ever turned against him.

  Today was the last straw.

  No one would be messing with her or her dad again.

  Lexie exhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

  She wanted to text Xena and find out how she was but Emma told her Xena was resting. Plus she didn't have the girl's number.

  She also thought about the sliver of a crack in her dad's silver neckband. What could that mean? Was the band breaking? Because of his powers or something else?

  Was that just from today? Or had that been there before? Had Aiden been actively trying to break the bands before they got attacked? She didn’t know but she thought the answer was ‘maybe’ because of what he'd said to Mouse.

  What if that wasn't a bluff? What if Aiden could somehow regain his abilities by generating enough power to break the Tilling bands?

  Lexie didn't know how to feel about that.

  On one hand, she wanted her dad to be free of the suffering and the powerlessness.

  But then if he regained his powers…the hero's association might take that as a threat too. Lexie knew from her research now that if they felt the bands didn't work, they would probably take him to the next best thing... a high-security prison used to house the most dangerous [Villains]. She didn’t want that for her dad.

  So she hoped that the crack was simply a fluke and Aiden didn't notice. Lexie didn't plan on telling him about it either. She would simply keep an eye on it to make sure the crack didn't expand. She would add that to her list of things to do.

  Lexie inhaled again. Exhaled.

  There was still so much to think of with the GLITCH gang, her dad’s silver, the unstable Dungeons. She wanted to research it. But she felt like if she thought about all of that anymore, her mind would explode.

  So instead she did what she always did when she needed a distraction to clear her head. She opened Video Alley and watched match highlights.

  The latest one was Kane the Mundane vs Conrad Grace and it had a lot of views but a significant dislike ratio.

  Lexie knew almost instantly who would win the fight.

  Conrad was overwhelmingly better than Kane in every way. And Kane hated it.

  Lexie figured there was probably some interesting personal tension there because the two came from similar backgrounds, both of them with highly powered parents and a chip on their shoulders. Except Kane’s parents were politicians and Conrad's were [Heroes].

  Conrad was once again not taking the fight as seriously as he should have been. He seemed like he was toying with Kane, lobbing all his bullets and arrows back at him, laughing in the face of his frustration.

  Conrad knew he was going to win. Everyone watching knew he was going to win and they laughed with him every time he got in Kane's face and made him stumble. And maybe Conrad felt a little sorry for Kane because he was letting him get hits in and not tossing him around like he did to Top Dog.

  Why would he since the conclusion was foregone anyway?

  But then something went wrong.

  While he was laughing and dancing, Conrad tripped.

  Yes, he actually tripped.

  And unfortunately for him, Kane was the type to take advantage of something like that.

  He immediately trapped Conrad between two large force fields and shot sharp, barely-legal bullets at him. Each one hit Conrad, likely creating deep bruises on his body even though they didn't break skin. Conrad couldn't move as the force field pressed on either side of him and Kane was out of his reach so he couldn't fight back. He pushed against the forcefield but they didn't budge. Kane had spared no expense on them. He continued shooting mercilessly, never seeming to run out of bullets. Conrad held out for a really long time, and he snarled like a Berserker but he could do nothing but take the damage until his health bars blinked red and the ref called an end to the match.

  Kane had won.

  It was a shocking twist that left the entire audience stunned. Barely anyone cheered although Kane danced happily around the field. Conrad himself looked shocked and embarrassed, and the cameras zoomed into his face to expose that to everyone.

  Shit. Lexie thought. Xena is going to be pissed when she watches this. If she hasn't already.

  Lexie couldn't believe that Kane had won over a simple mistake like that.

  But that was life though.

  Sometimes, shit happened and things went wrong.

  And you lost.

  And sometimes like today, you won.

  But today didn’t feel like a win to Lexie. Especially since she was still haunted by the image of Aiden being clobbered. Blood spilling from his arm. She saw him barely ducking the hammer and imagined that he hadn't been able to avoid it. She saw it hit his head and split his skull open.

  It would have all been over in a flash.

  The panic clawed on her throat and she fought to breathe again.

  Inhale. Exhale

  At one point, she closed her eyes and recited the mantra.

  She was fine.

  Everything was fine.

  It had all worked out.