Error had a costume with red ‘x’ icons across it, in a motif that recurred like spikes did on a punk rocker. She wore a medical mask with a red ‘x’ on it, and a flat-top hat with the same above the bill, and I could see a white outline where it had been cut imprecisely from whatever the source material was. The non-red parts of the costume mixed khaki green and black. Nothing about it was even B−.

Error. She made people fuck up. Right.

It was such a bad name, it gave so much away and it barely worked as a cape name. It was such an offensive costume from a design standpoint… Trial, unless I was missing something in the background of the name, didn’t even make sense given the guy’s power, it was a shitty gimmick…

“Didn’t ask for help,” Shortcut said.

I was already irritated, digesting who we were up against, and he had to go and say that.

“I had something to hand over, you guys can watch it or pass it to Mayday. If you want, we can leave.”

“Leave,” Shortcut said.

“Don’t leave!” Spright said. “Please. Shortcut, ease—”

Trial lashed out with chains.

I flew to intercept.

“No!” Shortcut bellowed.

I felt the pressure wash over me before I even got to the chain. If my response to Shortcut saying something might’ve been mixed, given our past history, the sensation helped tip me to the one side of the scale. I changed course in mid-air, flying straight to the ground.

The chain flew over my head. It came perilously close to Spright and Shortcut, but both were nimble, using Shortcut’s power. They dodged.

Sveta, as quick as her hands were, wasn’t able to reach out and grab something, and also haul herself away, before the chain could connect. The chain clipped her. I heard the impact.

“Error’s specific,” Shortcut said, like Sveta hadn’t just taken a hit. “She turns your attacks—”

I flew to Sveta’s side.

“Against you. Including deflections.”

I saw the chains move. I tensed, ready to fly up there, to beat the incoming attack back, collateral be damned.

What happened, then, if I deflected? The chains went in the worst possible direction for our side? Did I miss and hit the wrong part?

“Don’t,” Shortcut said. “Trial. Don’t.”

Spright added, “You lost your cargo, she’s giving medical attention, the other one needs it. You don’t fuck with that.”

“Nobody cares about that anymore,” Error said.

Sveta’s chest was broken. Tendrils were creeping out.

“You alright?” I murmured.

“Rattled. Broken. I have stuff, but I can’t move my arms.”

In another situation, where the rules were in place, Sveta might be fine like this. She could lie dormant and wait for help, or ask for the coast to be cleared.

It was always the problem, lingering in the background.

She looked tense.