My arm around her waist, her arm around my shoulder, we flew after Spright.

Airborne, a ways ahead of us, Spright put his arms out to his sides. Ribbons extended out from his wrists, loose in the air, one from each wrist.

I gave him a wide berth as I realized what they were supposed to be.

He gave us a sly look over one shoulder, then reached out. The ribbon moved faster than the eye could follow, reaching for a ventilation duct on a roof. He pulled himself to it, in a very familiar way, reached out with the other, and through a combination of flight and use of the two ribbons, sped well ahead of us.

I realized what it was I was seeing.

“I’m kind of not a fan of these guys,” I said.

“I kind of get what you mean,” she said. With the wind in my ears, I looked at her to track what she was saying better. The look on her face broke my heart a little. It was a longing look, where she didn’t take her eyes off of Spright and his casual use of her power until he was out of sight.

A trash can was knocked down here, the contents blown around by wind. A section of roads had cracks in it that I was pretty sure weren’t from the road settling.

In the distance, I heard Love Lost’s scream. The mob. She and Nailbiter had returned to the scene, it seemed.

I reached for my phone, and I hit the button.

“It’s me. Update?”

“I can talk? Are you there? Did you leave?” Kenzie. Looksee.

“I don’t think they’re listening in on phones, no,” I said. “Codenames only, to be safe.”

“Codenames. It’s Looksee here with Capricorn. He’s on the phone. I lost track of who with. I’m at the perimeter. Are we good to go?”

“Not yet,” I said. “Hand me over to Capricorn as soon as he’s free?”

“Can do.”

Closer to the scene where the fighting had initially broken out, things were more chaotic. I stopped at a rooftop to try to get a sense of it all.

Eight members of the twelve initial Advance Guard capes were present. Spright was near someone I presumed was Mayday, a guy who wore a costume with red and black armor panels and a cape that covered one shoulder.

“Handholds and footholds?” Sveta asked, quiet.

I pressed the phone against my chest, to muffle it. “Yeah. I guess.”

“That’s the wolf? I saw the expression on your face.”

In the midst of the fight, Advance Guard was actually faring well enough, even though I couldn’t tell where four of their members were. Spright was having a conversation with Mayday, as villains approached them, crowding in. Mayday raised a hand, palm flat, then brought it down, so it pointed forward. Villains started scrambling out of the way.