“Lookout,” Rain said. “If we un-lens or whatever, is it possible that we could use one of Teacher’s doors to make our exit?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But just from what my phone says, I’m pretty sure he closed all the doors.”

I saw Rain grimace.

“Talk while you run, but time is short. Go,” I said.

“And what are you doing?” Byron asked.

“Looking for Coalbelcher,” I said.

“Coalbelcher?”

“I think we can use him,” I said. “Do you—”

The ground illuminated as though a spotlight was being directed at it, but the light was neon, the edges of things highlighted and then multiplied.

I looked around, and I saw the source.

The first of the max sec prisoners. The dangerous ones that needed to be kept away from gen pop. The ones who Teacher had reached out to personally.

“Go! Avoid those guys, avoid eerie glowing ground!”

“He went that way!” Rain raised his voice and pointed, as the ground began screaming. I took to the air, and I could see how the distorted lights were whisking and whirring against one another, like worms in a tangle. There were shapes like people inside, writ large.

I thought about going after the guy with the shaker effect. I decided it was too dangerous. Too easy for me to get bogged down.

Hit like Glory Girl, hold nothing back as the Wretch, judge like the Warrior Monk, problem solve as the Scholar, and don’t lose sight of who you fucking are, because that’s a metric shitton to keep track of, Victoria Dallon.

Rain had given me a direction.

I was being so unfair. Monstrous, even. I could remember times when I had been scared, even terrified. Gold Morning. Day after day in the hospital. After Crawler. The day Amy had triggered, when I’d been the one hurt.

I didn’t have a chance to finish the line of thought. I found Coalbelcher.

The head of the guy’s side of the prison had his soldiers with him, and they were gathering at the flanks, near the side of the entry building. Some staff would still be inside, probably behind the shutters, protected by thick walls.

Up until Seir came back, razing the place to the ground so the bridges would be burned and Goddess’s army of prisoners would have no way to go but forward.

I could count them. Seventy or so parahumans. The prisoner coveralls designated the security level and the building they belonged to.

It took a moment of hovering before I saw Coalbelcher. His face-paint was striking enough to make him obvious even in the gloom.

I landed, and he didn’t flinch as I appeared in front of him. I saw him smirk.

“You’re out of your cell, but you’re only partway out,” I told him.