“You saw him in there?”

Emily nodded, then hesitated. She didn’t want to be caught out in a lie. “I think so? Was he, uh.” She flashed her light deeper into the chamber and made out a few rough piles of dust-gray cloth. “Was he wearing a gray shirt?

“Yeah. Gray hoodie.”

“Then I think so.”

Glamazon fired a few lights into the chamber, bigger ones, that served as decent flares. “It’s a dead end,” she said before raising her voice. “We’ve got you now, you dumb bastard!”

Emily moved up with the Hero until she paused.

“You’re more of a close-range type, right?”

“Huh? N-no, not really?”

Glamazon’s mouth set into a firm line. “Me neither. I know some martial arts, and my sparks can sting like mad when they’re fresh, but that’s about it. Stay close, then, I guess.”

“Right,” Emily said. She had to stay close one way or another.

She . . . probably shouldn’t have placed herself in the middle of any sort of action. Her power was more of a minionish one, even if her minions weren’t very expendable-looking.

She didn’t like thinking that way at all—it felt wrong.

Something rustled way off behind her, and Emily started to turn before remembering that Jacob was meant to be running.

Glamazon’s head rose and she started to look behind.

Thinking fast, Emily pointed ahead. “What’s that?”

Glamazon blinked. “It’s a box?”

It was, in fact, a box. “He could be . . . in it?”

Glamazon looked at Emily, even with half her face covered, the doubt was easy to read. The box was far too small to hold anyone.

“Uh, never mind?”

Something scuffed the ground behind them, and this time they both turned to see Jacob, in the middle of the factory, arms pinwheeling while some piece of wood skittered underfoot. She imagined that he’d tripped. Which meant that his luck really had run out.

“Got you!” Glamazon shouted even as her sparks raced out across the factory and smacked Jacob in the back.

He yelled, his flailing turning wild before he crashed to the ground.

Glamazon tugged something out from the back of her costume, and for a moment Emily thought she had a gun until she saw the yellow cap on the end. “Media’s going to eat this up,” Glamazon said. “Worth every penny.”

Emily’s eyes closed. “Sisterportation: Teddy,” she muttered.

A grizzly appeared before her. “Boss?” she asked.

Glamazon turned.

Teddy was a lot faster.

A paw the size of Glamazon’s head came around with a heavy swipe. Emily flinched back as the paw smacked Glamazon with a dull thump. She only just caught the Hero’s feet flying out from under her.

It ended as soon as it started. Glamazon landed with a cough.

At the other end, Jacob scrambled to his feet, glanced back, then took off running.