Emily stood up and quickly moved over to the opposite side of the stairs from her sisters. She saw Teddy backing up from the crates and bending forward, her hands on the ground and her back arched. Emily gave her a thumbs-up, then stepped up toward the middle of the room.

The lighting was poor. What little illumination there was came from between the boards placed over the windows and from the glowing embers left from Glamazon’s power all across the floor. Emily could still make out Glamazon in her bright costume in the dark. She cleared her throat. “Glamazon?”

The woman spun around, twin trails of hissing sparks shooting out toward Emily.

She eeped and ducked down, narrowly avoiding the sparks.

The sparks that fizzed and popped with such cute noises. Emily found herself turning, a faint smiling coming up onto her lips despite the thumping of her heart.

She wanted to see them spit and sputter.

Emily shook her head and took a quick step away from the sparks, her eyes fixing onto Glamazon with some effort. “Glamazon!” she called. “It’s, uh, the Boss. We met already?”

Glamazon paused, her hands hovering below a pair of new sparks. “The girl with a kid?” she asked.

“Um, yeah, that’s me,” Emily said. “I, uh, heard a disturbance? Yeah, and I came to see what was going on.”

“In costume?’ Glamazon asked.

“I heard it a while ago,” Emily excused herself.

The Hero didn’t look convinced. “And you tracked me here?”

“You, uh, left sparks all over?” Emily said. She gestured behind her, where she could still see the reflections of the sparks on the pillars and walls around her.

“Oh,” Glamazon said. “Right . . . So what are you doing here?”

Emily worked her mouth as she searched for an answer. In reality, she really just wanted to be back in her dorm, studying ahead and maybe watching kittens fighting over string on Outube. “I really don’t know,” she said. “Uh, you looked like maybe you needed help?”

Glamazon huffed, hands on hips. “Trying to steal some of the glory? No, no, it’s fine. I’d do the same. Yeah, I could use a bit of help. That jerk keeps hiding.”

“What jerk?” Emily asked.

“Some two-bit wannabe Villain,” Glamazon said. “He was seen going around and using his powers on civilians. Just want to lock him up, is all.”

“How did you know where he was?” Emily asked.

“What do you mean?”

Emily shifted. “I mean . . . was he in costume? Did you find his real ID and track him? How did you know he’d be wherever you found him?”

Glamazon shrugged. “I’ve got sources.”

“And how did they know?”

The Hero glared. “Look, do you want to help me or play twenty questions?”