It was getting late. The sun was falling, and Lian was getting antsy as Micah and Adelaide talked on and on. Though they hadn't been apart for long, it felt like it had been forever. The two siblings were thick as thieves; being separated had been miserable for both of them.

    But the more Micah caught up with Adelaide, the more torn he was about this plan of Scythe's.

    If Adelaide hadn't gotten involved, he would've been far less worried. But now, if he wanted this plan to succeed, he had to betray her trust. He'd never done that. Not to this extent, at least. She might never forgive him. He might lose the only family he had left.

    He couldn't lose her.

    But... he couldn't back out of this plan now. Not now that she was already involved. If he betrayed Scythe, the man might come after her. And Micah wasn't too sure he could protect her from him.

    No, the safe thing was to go along with it all.

    But the safe thing was going to cost him his good relationship with his sister.

    He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

    Micah and Adelaide were talking about hero school, about what to expect, about what he'd need to work on before he applied, when Lian interrupted their conversation.

    "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's getting rather dark." He said. "Perhaps we all should go home."

    "Of course." Adelaide nodded. "We'll see you later."

    There was a pause.

    "Um. Addie?" Micah tentatively began.

    "Yes?"

    "I'm not... going with you."

    Adelaide laughed. "Of course you are! Where else would you go? A park bench? I've got an actual hotel room, Mikey. Why would you pass that up?"

    That was a very good point. The idea of a real, comfortable bed in a safe, warm hotel room sounded divine. His cot and damp, stuffy room back at the warehouse was not growing on him. No, the only thing that was growing there was the mold.

    "I..." Micah turned his head towards Lian. "I want to stay with him. Him and the other, uh, friends I've made."

    "You've made more friends? She excitedly inquired. "That's great!"

    Micah laughed. "You say that like I have trouble making friends."

    "You do." She pointed out. "You haven't had a friend your age since Ben." When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up a hand. "Girlfriends and boyfriends don't count, Micah. Dating isn't quite the same as friendship."

    "Dating can be about friendship," Micah muttered.

    "It can be, but it hasn't been for you." She laughed. "You only date for one, superficial reason. That's why nothing ever lasted for more than a few weeks. You don't like letting people in. You break up with them before they can really get to know you. True or false?"

    "Please don't psychoanalyze me in front of someone I haven't even known for a month, Addie."

    "It's true." Lian butted in. "I haven't known him long, and I can already tell you that."

    "Thanks, Lian." Micah drawled. "Way to gang up on me."

    The boy just shrugged.

    Adelaide laughed. "Don't be mad at him, you know he's right."

    "How did we get to this topic?" Micah sighed.

    "You said you made friends, and Adelaide was shocked that you made friends," Lian said rather matter-of-factly.

    "I know, Lian, it was a rhetorical question."

    "Well, if I'm going to be honest, Micah, I was rather surprised as well," Lian said. "I wasn't aware you consider us all friends. I thought we annoyed you."

    "You guys do," Micah muttered. "But some of you aren't too bad."

    "Aw." Adelaide cooed. "He really is making friends! I'm so proud."

    "Shut the hell up, Addie, I'm not five." Micah felt his face warm a bit. This was humiliating.

    "I will not shut up." She declared. "Tell me about them. Your friends."

    Micah let out a long, frustrated breath. He clearly wasn't getting out of this. Great. He had to make his acquaintances back at the warehouse seem like people Adelaide would at least marginally approve of. That might be... tricky.

    "Well, you've already met Lian."

    "I have." Adelaide turned towards the boy, probably flashing him a smile. "And I like him. He's very nice and very polite. And his mom's a hero. I have a feeling we'll get along great."

    "Thank you," Lian said simply.

    "See?" Adelaide laughed. "I hope the rest of your friends are like him."

    Micah cringed. "Yeah... no. They're not. Not even close."

    "Why do you say it like that?"   

    "Yeah, Micah?" Lian said, a warning in his voice. "Why do you say it like that?"

    "It's just..." Micah huffed. "Look, they're not very nice. You wouldn't like them, Addie. For one, Alastor is a sexist, homophobic piece of shit who is most certainly not my friend. Not even close. He's just there, and I wish he wasn't. But he's part of the little friend group, and I don't think I could get rid of him if I tried."

    "Have you tried?" Adelaide crossed her arms, a challenge in her tone.

    "No. But that's beside the point."

    "Is it?"

    "Can we come back to this? You were the one who asked about my friends, after all."   

    "Fine. But we'll talk about this Alastor character later."

    Micah nodded, then continued. "The next worse one there is Rose."   

    "She's not all that bad." Lian butted in. "You two just get on each other's nerves."

    "That's 'cause she's an asshole."

    "Don't be rude, Micah." Adelaide chided.

    "No, no, she is a bit... brash." Lian admitted. "Though, Micah seems to bring out the worst in her. He and Alastor can't seem to get along with her."

    "Why not?" Adelaide asked.

    "Because," Micah earnestly said. "She's so stupidly obsessed with this blatantly creepy and manipulative guy. Everyone sees how horrible he is except her. It's like she's blind to all the red flags he's waving right in her face. She hangs off his every word, and it drives me insane."

    Adelaide began to chuckle. "Well, I know what the problem is, Micah."

    "What?"

    "You're jealous." She sang. "You're jealous of all the attention she's giving this other guy."   

    "What!?" He exclaimed. "No! I'm really not!"

    "That's kinda what it sounded like when you said it like that," Lian muttered.

    "Shut up." Micah glared at him.

    "He's right, and he should say it." Adelaide laughed. "It really does sound like you're jealous of this mystery guy."   

    "If you met him, you'd know that's not true," Micah said flatly. "He's disgusting. He's just... the worst. I've only known him for two weeks, but if he died, I would throw a party. I hate him."

    "Mhm, mhm, sure." Adelaide nodded, suppressed humor in her voice. "I absolutely believe you."

    "Can you maybe do without the thinly-veiled teasing, Addie?"

    "Never."

    "I didn't think so."

    "So, Rose was her name, right?" Adelaide circled back to her topic of teasing. "Do you have your eye on her, so to speak?"

    "Like, romantically?" Micah laughed. "Uh. No. She's a bitch. And bitchy girls aren't really my type."

    "Liar. What about Ben?"

    "I was a lot younger then, Adelaide. I've changed."

    "And yet, here we are."

    "We aren't anywhere, Addie. Stop seeing something that isn't there."

    "Lian, what do you think?" Adelaide mused.

    There was a strange note in Lian's voice when he spoke. "I'm on Micah's side, actually. There's nothing between him and Rose. He's only jealous that more people listen to S... Steve."

    Micah bit back a laugh. Oh God. Did Lian just do that? If Scythe ever heard Lian call him Steve, Lian's life would be over. But, by God, did it make Micah's day.

    "Besides, there's nothing romantic between Rose and Steve." Lian continued, somehow keeping a straight face as he said it. "Steve's an adult. Somewhere in his thirties or forties."   

    "Oh." Adelaide paused. "Well, if Mikey had said that in the beginning, I wouldn't have made any assumptions." There was a smile in her voice as she continued. "My teasing isn't going to end anytime soon, though, my dearest, darlingest brother. It's just on pause. Tell me more about this Steve guy. Why is he hanging out with a bunch of teenagers?"

    "He runs the shelter we stay at." Micah half-lied. "He's an absolute creep. I hate him. But he was the only option I had. The only option a lot of us had."

    "Really?" Adelaide asked. "Aren't there lots of shelters in Amberchase? You could've gone downtown and found something there."

    "I don't like downtown." Micah shook his head. "I'm sick of cities. I wanted a change of pace."

    "Well, honestly, you could've done better." She snorted. "We aren't too far from downtown right now, you know."

    "Whatever, Addie. I'm blind and broke. There was only so much I could do after David dropped me off."

    "So how did you find out about this place, then?" She asked. "The place with Steve?"

    "He found me on the streets, actually, and invited me to his place."

    "You understand how inappropriate that sounds, right?"

    "Now I do, thank you." He shuddered. "Gross."

    "What was inappropriate?" Lian asked.

    "You don't want to know." Micah waved a hand. "It's gross."

    "Yes, I assumed as much, since you just said it was."

    "Look, I'll explain later." Micah laughed awkwardly. "Just... can we move on?"

    Lian nodded.

    "So Steve invited me to this place, and that's where I met everyone. Lian, Alastor, Rose, Max, and Colton."

    "Max and Colton?" Adelaide perked up. "You haven't told me about them."

    "Well, Max is strange. I think he's nice, but I can't tell. He acts like a child. And Colton? I can't get a read on him."

    "Why not?"   

    "Because I can barely communicate with Colton." Micah laughed. "He's mute and talks with ASL. And, you know... I'm blind."

    "Oof." Adelaide snorted. "That's rough, buddy."

    Micah laughed. "Yeah. Exactly. Thank you. It is pretty rough."

    Lian looked between the two, a bit confused by what they were so amused by. But he didn't ask. He seemed to be realizing that these two got along very well. If he tried to follow along with all their inside jokes and memories, he'd get so, so lost.

     "So how do you deal with that?" Adelaide asked.

    "Well, sadly, Rose is the only other one there who knows ASL." Micah sighed. "So I either have to talk to her, let him spell things out in my hands, or have someone try to figure out what he's miming on my behalf."

    "Sounds... annoying."

    "It is." Micah sighed. "If only I could sharpen my sixth sense just a little more. Then I could make out hand signals. He and I could talk. Aside from Lian, here, he seems the most sane."

    "What if he's the most batshit crazy of them all?" Adelaide laughed. "And you only didn't know because you couldn't speak with him? Wouldn't that just be fun?"

    "No, actually, it wouldn't." Micah snorted. "Please, just let me have a few sane people to live with."   

    "Well, you won't be living with them forever." Adelaide pointed out. "I mean, you're coming back to stay with me, right? And then you and Lian are going to TAFAH."

    Micah hesitated. "Actually, I was kinda hoping I could stay at the shelter a little longer. I've applied for jobs around here, and I was just starting to settle in."

    "Well, we can book a hotel in this area if you want." Adelaide shrugged, not backing down. "And you can bring your things. And your friends can visit."

    "Addie." He huffed. "Remember what I said earlier? One of the big reasons I left was because you were being too controlling. You wouldn't let me do what I want."

    "Well, that's because you don't usually make the best decisions." She said pointedly. "You got into fights every time I looked away!"

    "I had to get practice in somehow! You wouldn't let me train!"

    "Yeah, I did! We worked out every day!"

    "I mean really train." Micah retorted. "All our little workouts were boring. I could handle so much more than what you'd throw at me. You babied me. You went easy on me in our sparring sessions."

    "Of course I did!" She huffed. "I don't know if you've noticed this yet, Micah, but you're blind."

    Micah stiffened. "Excuse me?"

    "You've never known your limits." Adelaide rambled on. "You push yourself too hard. You're reckless with yourself. It's like you don't care about your own well-being. You're trying to live up to impossible standards. You're trying to be like you were before! But you can't, Micah. You just can't."

    "You don't know what you're talking about." His voice lowered.

    "I don't?" Her voice, in turn, grew a bit louder. "Oh, like hell I don't! Who was the one dragging your half-dead carcass out of alleyway after alleyway! Who tended to you after you got your ass handed to you over and over? Who stayed up with you every sleepless night? Who held you during your panic attacks and helped you through your trauma! I know exactly what I'm talking about."

    "No, you don't!" Micah exclaimed. "You think you do, but you don't! You only see my weaknesses, my flaws! I know you mean well, but you're holding me back! Why can't you see that?"

    "Excuse me for trying to protect you." Adelaide retorted. "I'm so sorry for helping."

    "Don't do that." Micah jabbed a finger at her. "Don't you dare try to guilt me. You know I'm grateful for everything you've done for me, but—"

    "Do I know that?" She said. "Do I really?"

    "Adelaide!" He was on the verge of shouting. "Just— shut up!"

    She went silent, and he instantly regretted his words. Oh great. This was not going to go well.

    "Did you just..." She slowly said. "What did you just say?"

    "You heard me." He muttered, folding his arms around himself.

    He heard her sigh. "You know what? Fine. You'd rather live with a bunch of strangers than your own sister? Fine. I'm fine with that."

    That wasn't at all what he expected. Honestly, he'd thought she'd rip off her shoe and beat him with it.

    "But—" She continued, and he cringed. Of course there was a 'but'. "I want to meet them. All of them."

    "Tonight?" Micah exclaimed.

    "No," Adelaide said. "Tomorrow. I'll come visit you all at this shelter of yours."

    Shit.

    "I don't think you'd really like it there." Micah hurried to say.

    "I'll be the judge of that." She firmly said. "Text me the address, and I'll meet you there."

    He wasn't getting out of this. That much was clear. All along, he'd known making Addie a part of this plan was a horrible idea. She was too nosy and too smart. She'd figure them out the moment she stepped into the warehouse. And even if she didn't, she'd figure it out as soon as she heard the news about the school. And she'd know just where to send the police.

    "Fine." He muttered. "I'll send you the address later."

    "No. Now."

    Micah rolled his eyes. "I can't. See, I don't know the address."

    "How do you not know the address?!"

    "I can't read street signs, Addie." He retorted. "And I haven't bothered to ask."

    She paused. "You know, you really aren't helping your case about being all self-sufficient."

    "I'm not entirely self-sufficient." Micah shook his head. "I never said I was. All I want is a bit more freedom. Some space to spread my wings and fly. Some room to grow. That's all."

    "Whatever, Micah." She said. "I'm sorry I've been such a burden on you. I hope your new friends help you find what you're looking for." She turned and began to walk off in a different direction. "I'll see you tomorrow, Micah."

    He didn't say anything in return. This wasn't good. Honestly, this was a disaster.

    "That was a disaster." Lian's voice sounded from beside him.

    Micah flinched as his thoughts were voiced. He'd kind of forgotten Lian was there with all the arguing. That was rather awkward. Lian had heard way more than he needed to.

    Micah eyed him. "Look, man... some of the things she said..."

    "I'll keep it to myself." Lian sighed. "I'm coming to realize how private you are. How can someone so big and loud and obnoxious be so closed off?"

    "It's a strategy," Micah said with a forced laugh. "No one sees the pain in your eyes if you're smiling big and laughing loud."

    "That is... depressing."

    "Well, I am depressed." Micah shrugged. "It is what it is. We all do what we can to cope."

    "Sure, but that doesn't sound too healthy."   

    "That's what my therapist said." Micah chuckled.

    "Clearly, you didn't listen."

    "Of course not. Why confront your crippling traumatic memories when you can shove them into some far corner of your mind and never deal with them?"

    "You are a bizarre person, Micah Pierce."

    "Thank you." Micah sketched a little half-bow. "I appreciate that."

    "It wasn't really a compliment." Lian shook his head.   

    "Sure it wasn't." Micah winked.

    "No, it really wasn't. I'm being serious."

    "Sure you were."

    Lian just sighed. "Why are you like this?"

    Micah shot him some finger guns. "It's the childhood trauma, buddy boy."

    "Please don't call me that."

    "Cool beans, buckaroo."

    "That's worse."

    "Is it?"

    "Yeah. How about you just call me Lian?"

    "No chance." Micah cheerfully said as they walked along. "I give everyone a nickname. We've just got to find yours."

    "Any way I can convince you otherwise?"

    "Nope!"

    "Great."

    As Micah and Lian went back and forth, Micah couldn't help but think about his fight with Addie. Even banter like this couldn't distract him from it. His mouth ran on and on, spewing teases and jokes like it was second nature. He supposed it was, by now. But his mind? His mind was stuck on this problem.

    How was he going to fix this? How was he going to introduce Addie to these people without revealing their true natures? He highly doubted that they'd be good actors. Rose was too blunt, Scythe was suspicious as all hell, and Alastor was just the worst. The only one who might pull it off was Colton. Micah could only pray the boy didn't look like a criminal. He didn't act like one, at least. Hopefully, that would be enough.

    Otherwise, this plot was foiled before it even really began.

~ ~ ~

    It was night when the boys arrived back at the warehouse. The air had cooled, and crickets had begun to chirp around them. Two people were waiting within, standing near the door as Lian and Micah approached.

    "How'd it go?" Rose called, standing near Scythe. "Did she buy it?"

    "She did." Lian nodded. "Though we've hit a bit of a snag."

    "What?" Scythe asked, his head swiveling towards Micah, as if he were already blaming him for it.

    "She wants to meet all of you," Micah said flatly. "Here."

    "What?" Rose exclaimed. "Why?"

    "I don't know," Micah said. "She just does. I think she was suspicious of why I didn't want to go back and stay with her."

    "And meeting us is the only way to quell her suspicions?" Scythe mused. "What a conundrum."

    "It's a clusterfuck, that's what it is," Micah grumbled. "I said we shouldn't involve her. But of course, no one listened to me."

    "Hey, you suggested using her." Rose jabbed a finger at him.

    "Sarcastically." Micah threw up his hands. "I suggested it sarcastically. Can't anyone here understand sarcasm? Seriously. It's ridiculous."

    "Nevertheless, using your sister to gain access to the school is necessary," Scythe said. "We had no real connection otherwise. This was the best route for us to take this plan down."

    "Yeah, well, you won't be thinking that tomorrow, when she comes here and calls the police on us," Micah retorted. "We're screwed."

    "Not yet," Scythe said. "You know your sister, Micah. You can teach us to act the way we need to in order to earn her trust."

    "That's not the only problem!" Micah exclaimed. "First of all, we're in a damn warehouse! I told her I was staying in a homeless youth shelter. Besides, if we bring her here, she'll know just where to send the police if she figures out it was us who attacked the school later on. We can't bring her here."

    Scythe thought for a moment. "I have a solution to that. I have an old friend nearby who'd lend me his home if I asked. We can set it up as a youth shelter."

    Micah shook his head. "No, that won't work. She's smart. She'd use that old friend of yours to find us."

    "Then I only have one other solution," Scythe said.

    "What?" Micah asked.

    "After we've done our job, we'll threaten her," Scythe simply said. "We'll tell her we'll kill her if she says a word about us to the authorities."

    "No!" Micah exclaimed, instantly furious. "No way in hell are we doing that! Are you insane!? I'm not going to kill my sister!"

    "Why not?" Scythe crossed his arms. "It would solve our issues. Micah, as a villain, you should have no issue with killing a hero to ensure the success of a plan."

    "It's my sister!" Micah shouted. "I'm not killing my sister!"

    "Fine, I'll do it," Scythe said far too casually for Micah's taste. "As a favor to you."

    Micah stormed forward, the energy within him burning like acid. He grabbed Scythe by the shirt, dragging the man close.

    "If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will eviscerate you," Micah seethed. "I'll rip off each and every finger you have and shove them down your throat until you choke and die."

    "Let go of me, boy." Scythe's voice was tight, tense.

    "No." Micah's grip only tightened. He fixed his sightless glare on the man. "I want you to know how serious I am. I want you to know that you? You mean nothing to me. Killing you wouldn't be hard, and it wouldn't give me any grief. But my sister? My sister is all I have left. We have our ups and downs, but she means everything to me. Got it? You touch her, and I'll skin you alive with the fingernails of your own dismembered fingers."

    He felt a rather small hand yank on his shirt, pulling him away from Scythe. "Get off him, you asshole!" Rose barked.

    Micah glared at her. "Stay out of this."

    "No." She got between him and Scythe. "Back off."

    "I'm not going to back off," Micah growled. "I'm not going to let some B-list, half-baked, wanna-be, self-proclaimed villain threaten my family."

    "It's not our fault your sister is a hero." Rose crossed her arms. "If she's got to go, she's got to go."

    Micah bristled, his fists balling at his side. "Oh, I'm going to kill you both—"

    Just before he could step forward, he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, keeping him in place. Micah whirled, smacking Lian's hand away.

    "Let me go!" He hissed.

    "Calm down, Micah."

    "I'm not going to calm down! Not when they threaten Addie like that!"

    "Micah. Please. I think I have a compromise."

    "I don't care, Lian." Micah retorted.

    "You should if you want Adelaide to live."

    That silenced Micah. Micah crossed his arms and clamped his mouth shut, letting Lian speak. This had better be good. Otherwise, he was gone. Screw the mission. If it cost him Adelaide's life, it wasn't worth it. Not by a long shot.

    Lian cleared his throat. "Correct me if I'm wrong about any of this. But we need Adelaide for this mission, right? We need her to give us a connection to TAFAH so Micah and I can scope out the school grounds and look from entrances, exits, guard postings, and prime places to set fires."

    "That's true." Scythe nodded. "We'd only kill her afterward."

    "No, we aren't going to kill her at all!" Micah was so close to ripping Scythe apart.

    "I agree with Micah," Lian said. "Burning the school is one thing. Killing a hero will bring too much heat on us."

    "I disagree." Scythe countered. "A hero's death might be the perfect crime to raise me into the spotlight."

    "You are not going to kill my sister to further your bullshit agenda." Micah bit out.

    "I might." Scythe lifted his chin.

    "Lian, if you don't finish your little speech right now, I'm going to kill him." Micah seethed.

    Lian took the cue. "Scythe. You can't kill her. After all, it's more trouble than it's worth. Micah will have it out for you, as will some of the city's top heroes. She has ties with TAFAH's administration. Killing her could be disastrous. We aren't ready for heroes on Platinum's level."

    "I'll train you." Scythe waved a hand.

    "Besides, I'm ready." Rose chimed in.

    "Like hell you are." Micah glared at her. "You couldn't even beat me, and I'm nowhere near Platinum's level."

    "Excuse me?!" Came her indignant, high-pitched exclamation.

    "Please, can everyone just listen to me?" Lian huffed out a sigh. "I have a solution, remember?"

    "Solution or not, I'm going to kick both Scythe and Rose's asses after this," Micah muttered. "Just for shits and giggles."

    "No, you aren't," Lian said flatly. "Settle down and listen." He turned his head towards Scythe and Rose pointedly. "You two, too."

    Scythe shrugged. "I've remained silent since you asked me to."

    "Just stay silent." Micah retorted.

    "Micah." Lian snapped, beginning to lose his temper.

    "Fine, fine, I'll shut up."

    "Thank you," Lian said. "Alright. Here's my plan. We take her to a secondary location."

    That's a kidnapping term, Micah thought. But he kept silent, waiting for Lian to continue, deciding to hear him out. But he already had decided. If the plan involved hurting Addie, he wasn't going through with it.

    "There, we'll introduce her to someone else." Lian continued. "We'll say that the others were busy and that the shelter was being fumigated or something. She'll be suspicious, so we'll distract her." Lian nodded in Scythe and Rose's direction. "With her. We'll say Rose wanted to try out for TAFAH too. She seemed interested in Rose, and judging by how she reacted to when you told her about us joining TAFAH earlier, it should work."

    Micah nodded slowly. He could see that working. He hoped it would, at least.

    "Alright." Scythe said. "Then what about after our plan has been enacted? What do we do to her to keep her from revealing us?"

    "I'm not sure," Lian said hesitantly.

    "I have an idea," Micah spoke up, biting back a sigh. "We'll pull a page from Pardus's book."   

    "How so?" There was an eagerness in Scythe's voice that sent shivers down Micah's spine. He hated how the man seemed to idolize his tormentor.

    "Well, Pardus kept me in line by threatening those I cared about," Micah said. "We could do something similar."

    "Won't that just make her eager to rescue you?" Lian pointed out.

    Micah shook his head. "No. Not if we threaten me."

    "Threaten you?" Lian seemed confused.

    "I'll call her after the attack," Micah explained. "I'll act nervous, as if I'm terrified of something. I'll confess. I'll tell her that I was a part of it. And I'll tell her that I had no choice. That Scythe knew who I was, and planned on exposing me to the authorities. And once I'd joined his crew, he threatened her." Micah threw a glance over at the man. "Some of that, at least, is true."

    "Still," Lian said. "She might just try to rescue you."

    "No, she won't," Micah said. "Because then I'll pass the phone to Scythe. And he'll tell her that if she tries to look for me, he'll kill me and send my body back to her in little bits."

    "Oh." Scythe seemed to be smiling. That wasn't frightening at all. "I like that plan."

    "Of course, Scythe won't actually be killing you," Lian said. "Right?"

    "Of course not." Scythe chuckled. "I wouldn't kill my prized pawn."

    "Yeah, sure you wouldn't," Micah muttered, not believing him for a second.

    "So that's it?" Rose stepped into the conversation. "That's the plan?"

    "That's the plan." Lian nodded. "Is everyone here okay with that?"

    There was a chorus of muttered agreements. It was a risky plan, one that might not work. But he'd take the risk if it kept Addie alive.

    "Then that's it," Micah said. "We'll talk more about it in the morning."

    With that, he brushed past everyone, not wanting to hear another word from any of them. What was wrong with these people? They were all crazy. And not the fun kind of crazy. They were all going to get themselves killed or arrested. And if he stuck around, he might face the same fate.

    "Idiots." He muttered as he marched up the stairs.

    Idiots they all were, but they were all he had. They were a team of mismatched misfits, kids who could barely get along, much less create a cohesive plan. And Scythe? He was the furthest thing from a responsible adult, much less a leader.

    If they were going to survive this, Micah was going to have to start taking charge.

    It was time to go to war. He was going to have to fight Scythe for control of this place, of these people. It was going to be hard, but he didn't care.

    He was going to win.