I sit down at my desk instead of going to bed. Stare at the dead tracker app. At the timestamp: 9:47 PM. Less than an hour ago.

  The evidence is fresh. If Kingdom is watching the location, they're watching now. If there's camera footage, it's being recorded now. Every hour we wait, the trail gets colder.

  But we can't tip the DVDs. Can't risk walking them into a trap. Can't go ourselves - we're teenagers, we're injured, we'd be obvious.

  My eyes drift to the burner phone sitting on top of my desk. An old, shitty flip phone, the one that Rush Order gave me maybe thirty seconds of heads up on. Did that thirty seconds mean anything? Was I any more meaningfully prepared because of a "square up"? Did it make the situation better, or worse? There's too many... what are they, second order effects? I can't think about them all.

  I grab the burner phone. Stare at it as if it has the answers for me. This is stupid. This is absolutely stupid. I should sleep on it like we agreed. Wait for tomorrow when everyone's thinking clearly... But the trail is fresh now. The evidence is warm now. The Kingdom's guard is up now.

  I open the group chat on my regular phone.

  Sam: Still awake?

  Maggie: yeah

  Lily: cant sleep

  Amelia: Unfortunately yes

  Tasha: painkillers are wearing off. everything hurts.

  Sam: I have an idea. its a bad idea. but I dont have a better one.

  Amelia: Oh no

  Maggie: im listening

  Sam: We cant tip the DVDs. Might be a trap, might taint evidence. We cant go ourselves, too obvious, too dangerous. But the trail is fresh RIGHT NOW.

  Lily: okay...?

  Sam: So what if I fulfill my end of my obligation to Rogue Wave?

  Sam: They said they want my help grabbing Mr. Polygraph.

  Sam: I don't think there will be a better opportunity than this.

  The chat goes quiet for a solid thirty seconds. I watch the little typing indicators appear and disappear as people start messages and delete them.

  Amelia: That's

  Maggie: I hate that that's not a terrible idea

  Lily: Sam we cant just sic one criminal organization on another

  Amelia: That's extremely morally ambiguous.

  Amelia: And runs a high likelihood of getting civilians hurt in the crossfire.

  Amelia: We can't do this.

  Sam: Why not? They already attack peopole every day.

  Sam: *People

  Sam: They're both hurting people. This causes both sides to hurt each other instead of random people on the streets.

  Sam: Maybe it is morally ambiguous. But so is being a vigilante at all.

  Sam: If we lived in a nice, tidy Saturday Morning Cartoon there wouldn't be morally ambiguous options presented to us.

  Sam: But we don't.

  Sam: This is real life.

  Several uncomfortable seconds of typing pass.

  Amelia: It escalates the gang war

  Sam: The gang war is already escalated. They attacked a noncombatant directly just because she was there, to hurt me. They're fucking with Jump shipments in a way that's causing people to get hurt.

  Sam: I saw it happen. It electrocuted me.

  Sam: That guy would've died, and he would've injured a bunch of people with him.

  Sam: Just running the numbers here. A conservative estimate is that they've already killed dozens if not hundreds of civilians with this Jump stunt alone.

  Sam: And that's not even including Rogue Wave's end of this. The total body count on Jump and Fly is probably astronomical. More than we can understand.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Sam: So what if we aim them at each other for once instead of at the rest of Philly?

  Tasha: do it

  Maggie: tasha youre high

  Tasha: im high AND right. fuck the kingdom. they dislocated my shoulder.

  Lily: what do we even say? "hey rush order go check out this hospital for us"?

  Sam: I tell them the truth. I explain the situation in a way that is ambiguous enough that it can't tie back to me, legally. And then I tell them that they can do what they want with this information.

  Sam: I'm not goading anyone. I'm not putting a gun to their heads and making anyone do anything.

  Tasha: he did text us first

  Tasha: this is symmetrical

  Maggie: its also insane

  Sam: you have a better idea?

  No response.

  Sam: We wait, the trail goes cold. We tip the DVDs, we risk them walking into a trap OR tainting evidence. we go ourselves, we get hurt or caught or both. Rogue Wave is already criminals, they're professionals, they can handle an ambush, and they WANT to fuck with the kingdom

  Lily: what if kingdom figures out WE tipped rogue wave?

  Sam: They already know were investigating. and rogue wave has their own intelligence networks. kingdom might not even know it was us.

  Amelia: What if Rogue Wave gets mad we're using them?

  Sam: This is just business. I get the indication Monkey Business would enjoy the poetry of it.

  Tasha: plus your dads under their protection.

  Maggie: this feels wrong

  Sam: it IS wrong. but whats the alternative?

  Another long pause. I watch the typing indicators.

  Amelia: I don't like it

  Amelia: But I don't have a better option

  Lily: Me neither

  Lily: God this sucks

  Maggie: if we do this were basically saying "we're okay with escalating gang violence as long as it helps our investigation"

  Sam: If we lived in a good, just world, we'd be able to take everyone involved to therapy and put them in nice cushy cells where they can live dignified lives, far far away from the rest of society.

  Sam: But we don't live in a good, just world. We live in this shitty, stupid fucked world.

  Sam: And if we can lower the total harm done to everyone around us by pitting two supervillain groups against each other, then... Fine. I'm not going to lose sleep over that.

  Lie. But I'm not going to say that out loud. I have to be the leader, now. That's my job.

  Tasha: do it sam. seriously. fuck these guys.

  Amelia: If you're going to do it, do it soon. The later we wait the less useful the intel is.

  Sam: Okay.

  Sam: I'm texting him now.

  Maggie: were all going to hell for this you know

  Sam: Mags. I'm Jewish.

  Sam: I don't believe in Hell.

  I close the group chat. Open the burner phone. Pull up the message thread with Rush Order - just his text from yesterday, the warning before Garbage Day arrived.

  My thumbs hover over the keyboard.

  This is crossing a line. Not quite working with criminals, but, frankly, I feel like somehow this is worse in a way I can't morally articulate. This is different. This is weaponizing them. Pointing them at a target and letting them loose.

  But the trail is fresh. The evidence is warm. And someone needs to act.

  I type:

  kingdom evidence disposal roxborough memorial hospital back lot. dumped 9:47pm saturday. probably watching for whoever shows up.

  I stare at the message for a solid minute. Thumb hovering over send.

  Then I add. this isnt a courtesy. this is shit on your plate. eat it.

  If I do this, Rogue Wave goes to investigate. If Kingdom is watching, there's going to be a fight. People might get hurt. Might die. And I'll have started it by sending this text.

  But Kingdom already hurt Tasha. Already destroyed our headquarters. Already made it clear they're willing to target support staff and civilians to send a message.

  Fuck it.

  I hit send.

  The message shows as delivered immediately. No read receipt. No response.

  I set the burner phone down on my desk. Stare at it like it's a live grenade.

  What did I just do?

  I pick up my regular phone.

  Sam: sent

  Amelia: no response?

  Sam: Not yet. Might take a while. Might not respond at all.

  Lily: what if he ignores it

  Sam: then we're in the same position we were before. no worse off. The strategic cost is minimal unless someone goes totally off the rails in a way we couldn't predict in the first place.

  Maggie: what if he doesnt ignore it and kingdom and rogue wave have a giant superhuman gang battle in a hospital parking lot and civilians get hurt

  Sam: Then I'll feel like shit. And it will feel bad.

  Sam: Civilians always get hurt because of me.

  Sam: The Philly Phreaks did an entire terrorist incident that killed a couple of people and injured dozens of others, directly because of me. Because I helped get Patches locked up and put Deathgirl at the helm.

  Sam: And that got you. Your powers.

  Sam: I can't hold myself hostage to the future.

  Maggie: ...

  Tasha: you did the right thing sam

  Sam: doesnt feel like it

  Tasha: the right thing usually doesnt

  I set my phone down. Look at the burner phone. Still nothing.

  Maybe he's asleep. Maybe he doesn't check the burner. Maybe he's ignoring it because why would he trust intel from a teenager who bit his teammate?

  Or maybe he's already mobilizing. Getting his crew together. Heading to Roxborough to see what Kingdom left behind.

  I should go to bed. I should absolutely go to bed. Instead I just sit at my desk, staring at two phones, waiting.

  The burner phone stays dark.

  I pick it up. Check the message. Still delivered. Still no response.

  Put it down.

  Check my regular phone. The group chat's gone quiet. Everyone else probably trying to sleep or at least pretending to.

  Check the burner phone again.

  Nothing.

  This is stupid. He's either going to respond or he's not. Staring at the phone won't make it happen faster.

  I stand up. Start getting ready for bed. Plug in my regular phone. Change into actual pajamas instead of just sleeping in my hoodie. Brush my teeth. Wash my face. All the normal nighttime routine stuff that feels absurd after the day I've had.

  The burner phone is still on my desk when I get back. Still dark.

  I pick it up one more time. Check.

  Still nothing.

  I set it on my nightstand instead of my desk. Close enough that I'll hear it if it buzzes. Far enough that I'm not staring at it.

  Lie down. Close my eyes. Try to sleep.

  Can't sleep.

  Open my eyes. Look at the burner phone.

  Still dark.

  Close my eyes again.

  My brain won't shut up. Keeps running through scenarios. Rogue Wave shows up, Kingdom's waiting, there's a fight. Rogue Wave shows up, finds nothing, thinks I'm wasting their time. Rogue Wave doesn't show up at all. Kingdom somehow figures out I tipped them off. Davis finds out what I did. My parents find out what I did.

  The burner phone buzzes.

  I grab it so fast I almost drop it.

  One new message from an unknown number.

  :)