We’d told other teams that we’d have our system online this morning, and Kenzie had set it up to go online at ten. Advance Guard had multiple members out on patrol at the time the imaginary starting pistol had fired.

That was just who they were.

But it was a win. So long as I didn’t look too much into it, investigating the particulars of the fight, how the public tied into it, whether there was property damage, it was a clean, cooperative, perfect win.

I would, of course. I’d get the details further down the line. This was an experiment, and it would be for nothing if I closed my eyes to everything that took away from my desired result.

I flew across the room to make a note on my whiteboard, because I would’ve been risking a Kenzie-like happy skip or bouncy walk if I was using my feet to travel.

Already, another Advance Guard team was reporting to the network that they were entering an area with known villains. Spright and Flapper against Eclipse Arc.

To them, being first and being on top were things that mattered. I wasn’t going to complain.

My skin prickled with goosebumps as the door to the fire escape opened, cold air flooding the space. Alternate-identity Rain and Tristan. They both set to kicking snow from their boots and shoes, respectively.

“Did I miss the start?” Tristan asked. “Did we win?”

To him, being first and being on top were things that mattered. I smiled.

“You missed it, and we won. Advance Guard, Majors assisting. Bullhorn.”

“That sounds one-sided,” Rain said.

“That’s part of the idea,” I said, turning to look at the screen. Spright and Flapper had already retreated from the scene. They were putting out a call for assistance. If they hadn’t been way out on the end of the city closer to Brockton Bay, I might have flown out.

I went to my computer and opened the page, adding in details on the fly because it looked like people were looking up the particulars. Eclipse Arc were serious, as villains went. Good costumes, good powers. There were ‘heroes’ out there who got themselves labeled Vigilantes because they crossed lines or shrugged off law and convention in their pursuit of the bad guys. Eclipse Arc were the opposite, a pair of villains walking a ‘Robin Hood’ line where they really only preyed on those who deserved it. They supported convention rather than flouting it, tending to go after villains where possible, and among those villains, going after those that had broken the unwritten rules first.