“Well,” Dennis replied. A full, one-word statement. “Couldn’t really help it.”

“The mutated hair looks cool, at least,” Vista said. “I bet it’s a pain in the ass.”

“You have no idea,” Dennis said, touching hair that might as well have been time-stopped, it was so unmoving. “I can’t wear my usual style of helmet. But that’s enough about me, and creepy changes. Let’s talk about you, catch up. You can explain this whole punk, grunge, angry little Vista—”

“Little?” Vista asked, arch.

“And angry, see?”

“Angry enough to toss you off the edge. I’m not even kidding, I’m still so mad you went and died on us.”

“Couldn’t help it! The world ended!”

“I managed it!”

“You’re ridiculously powerful!” Dennis protested. He looked at me. “Please tell me that our little Vista found a Gallant to use as a release valve.”

Vista puffed up, pink touching her face and ears again. She shot me a glare, daring me to comment.

“You do. That’s amazing. Who?”

I backed off, staying where I could fly after Dennis if she really did toss him.

Kid Win approached me.

“Was he like that, around Gold Morning?” I asked him.

Kid Win shook his head.

“He was like that at different points. Jokey, teasing. On the battlefield, when on the defensive.”

“Yeah. I remember a bit of that.”

The back-and-forth between Vista and Dennis went on.

“You’re quiet,” I said. “I know that’s a dick thing to say, but…”

“I’m not very me, not whole,” he admitted. “Not yet.”

“I won’t hold it against you.”

“Thanks,” he told me. We watched the arguing continue. “Valkyrie said you wanted details.”

“Do you have details? About the agent’s territory? The crystal landscapes?”

“Some. Kind of. We’ve been… talking about stuff. Doing some training, digging into memories, experiences, stuff from when we were gone.”

I nodded.

“She figures we’re going to have to be prepared to fight on that level, or at least deal with things on that level.”

We.

That we felt different.

Yes we are, I silently agreed. I wondered if my agent heard me. The ‘Wretch’.

“Tell me what you can,” I told him.

Sundown 17.3

“Where the hell do I even start?” Kid Win asked. “I never was much of a teacher. There used to be those school events every couple of months where the top students and most improved students would each get one-on-one hangouts with the Protectorate or the Wards for the day, I dunno how much attention you paid to that stuff.”

“Little superhero obsessed Victoria? A lot. There was actually an issue when I won the one year. I was supposed to partner with Challenger but people thought the girl with superhero parents didn’t need the experience.”

Kid Win snorted. “What happened? I don’t even remember Challenger.”

“I gave up my spot. Then I went home and crieeed.”