For some reason, the Boss was letting Glamazon lead them. It was weird, since she wasn’t a boss like the Boss, but Teddy didn’t question it much.

No one seemed to mind Hindsight just sitting there. To be fair, Teddy’s legs could use a break. Bears were not always long-distance walkers.

Teddy plopped herself down on the grass next to the Boss, arm reaching way, way up to keep a hold of the Boss’s hand. She was still pondering cool things, like how she’d get to be real smug at Athena later when they got back home, when Hindsight jumped on his bench and let out a low gasp.

“You all right?” Glamazon asked.

Hindsight scrambled to his feet. “That way,” he said, pointing off to the side.

“What? No, we’re meant to go that way,” Glamazon said with a gesture in the other direction.

The Hero shook his head. “No, you don’t get it. There’s a Villain over there. I saw it.”

“What?” Glamazon said. She was pulling her phone out already. “I’ll call it in.”

“Never mind that!” Hindsight said. “We have to stop them.” He turned to the others, the Boss included. “Come on, quick!”

“Oh no,” the Boss said.

Teddy didn’t see it as much of a bad thing. Beating people up was one of her favorite things to do. “Let’s go, Boss! We’re gonna be big ol’ Heroes today.”

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Unwise

Emily was very much uncertain. She didn’t know how wise it was to run toward a problem, as opposed to away from it.

For one, while she was surrounded by an entire group of Heroes, these were Heroes with no real training.

Glamazon seemed to be the only one with an idea of what she was doing, probably from having gone on patrols with Silver Fox. The others? Hindsight was blatantly focused on his own wallet, Slaymaker a bit brutish, and Cheatah seemed rather skittish at best.

Teddy was the only one Emily found herself trusting, which was probably why she held on so tight to Teddy’s hand as they ran after the others.

She could have refused, could have turned around, and if asked later, she would admit that turning around would have been the brightest thing to do right then. But the peer pressure, the sudden urgency, and the shot of adrenaline to her spine all precluded thinking too hard about what she was doing.

They came around a corner and the group slowed down.

The street seemed perfectly ordinary at first glance. Cars parked by the road, a few people moving about, shops lining one side, a rocky outcrop on the other side of the street with a wide sidewalk cut into it.

It was definitely a nicer, if older, part of Eauclaire.