The SVE Club

54. One Way

    The SVE club quietly made their way through the top floor of the deserted mall, the emptiness of the building suitably eerie for the occasion.

    "You remember this place?" Sam whispered to Midas, referring to the first time they'd met.

    Midas nodded, trying not to let the memories of the incident cloud his thinking. It was tempting to dwell on that perfect time- When he had been a hero, saving people, and putting villains behind bars. Nowadays it seemed he was doing the opposite- He was a villain, putting people in danger, and helping a villain to take over the world.

"Why didn't you give me your autograph back then?" Sam continued to whisper, unheard by the other members. "You promised that if we survived the attack, you would sign my book."

Midas gave her a strange look. "That's a weird question to ask in the middle of all this."

Sam shrugged. "I just figured, since there's a possibility we won't all leave this fight alive, I might as well get an answer to something I've wondered about for the past two years."

    "To be honest, I thought you were just kidding back then," Midas admitted. "I was going to humor you, but then after Empress was taken care of, the police were asking a lot of questions and we got separated. By the time I found you again, you were with your family again, and they looked really happy to have you back safe. That was enough for me. To know you were safe. That was my job."

    Sam nodded. She waited a beat and then said, "Thanks for that."

    Midas found that he couldn't respond, not because of any menta interference, but because he simply couldn't think of any words to counter with.

    "Whatcha talking about?" Rachel asked a bit too loudly as she popped up between them.

    Sam and Midas both jumped. Midas faced Rachel. "What'd we say about quiet?" he hissed.

    "Oh, come on," Rachel said, speaking in her normal tone. "There's nobody in here."

    "Um... There's somebody," Willow squeaked, pointing a shaking finger at the still moving escalator. Sure enough, they could just make out the silhouette of someone standing by it.

    "Quick!" Midas said, pulling Sam into the nearest store and motioning for the others to follow. "Did they see us?"

    Evan peeked around the corner at the figure Willow had pointed out. "Her back is to us. It looks like she's patrolling. Do you know this kid, Midas?"

    Midas took a look. "That's Firesse. She's a-"

    "Dynamopsych," Sam finished. "I met her at ISH."

Midas nodded. "We can't let her see us. Is there another way?"

    Sam shook her head. "We need to get past her somehow. It's the only way out of here."

The others were quiet for a moment. Evan glanced pensively at Nate and Taro, his forehead wrinkling as he thought. "There... might be one way." He looked back at Midas. "Dynamopsych powers are sight based, right? Taro, Nate and I could distract her."

    Nate's eyebrows shot up. "No. No way. We're staying together, remember?"

    "Nate's right," Midas agreed. "We can't let her see any of us."

    Taro seemed to sag in relief.

    "And she doesn't have to," Evan protested. "I think I have a bit of a plan... Anyway, as long as Insomnium doesn't see Sam, isn't that the important thing? He wants to take Sam out, but if he sees she's not with us three, he probably won't spend much effort on us."