For once, they had not gone into action using one of America's stupid, idiotic plans.

No, instead they were using the stupid, insane plan of super villains. Because that was fine.

The Dream Team had passed their last few days feeling a mixed bag of emotions. And it just kept getting worse.

For starters, there was the Magician. Arthur Kirkland. Friend and foe. At the same time. Although Arthur seemed to insist that it was more friend than foe nowadays, they had not had time to assess the truth of that statement. Not much anyway. Most felt that this was likely true, but their feelings had been severely hampered by the fact that Arthur had then killed Jeanne Ofarcher on live television and was currently threatening to do the same to Elizaveta, Sam and Sal, in that order.

On the other hand, apparently Arthur was not in control. He needed saving. From himself. This, from fellow heroes Mr. Scary and Young Santa. And Arthur's little brother, Peter. Although the trio were clearly aligned with good... It wasn't clear if their loyalties lay with doing the right thing, or if they were more interested in protecting their friends and family.

Then the Magician's friends entered the mix. Villains. Sure, Yao could be trusted, much as he had changed in the last few years, but the other three were... Well, one of them was Aquangel, infamous for causing a tsunami and killing thousands. Apparently, like with the Magician, this was also "not her fault". That didn't mean they would warm up to her though. After all those years as a rogue, there was some serious bad blood between some of the Dream Team members and the former villainess.

Then there was the Whisperer and some butler dude that refused to identify himself. Thanks to America, that guy was called "The Butler Dude". Those two declared themselves neutrals... but they were connected to Aquangel. And they had admitted that the entirety of their clientele consisted of super villains. So their trustworthiness wasn't particularly high.

And yet. And yet... It was the complete unknown Whisperer who had come up with this plan, Aquangel and Yao who had vouched for the idea and now they were all taking part in it.

This shouldn't work. This really shouldn't be working.

And yet, the plan was.

Because "good" or "bad", everyone wanted the Magician defeated. Not killed, but defeated. And Arthur rescued.

So the plan, the bizarre, villainous plan, was actually working.

Veloce was uncertain about this. More than usual. His hands kept wringing the rope in his hands. America, on the other hand, was practically beaming that for once, everyone was trying to save the day, irrelevant of their status of "good" or "bad".

Shiro wasn't concerned about either of his friends' feelings. He was still on the ceiling, having pulled the Magician through it from the floor above. This, of course, was fine. As the trio had been paired with Young Santa and Mr. Scary, Veloce and America didn't currently need Shiro's assistance.

It still wasn't entirely clear to them what Mr. Scary's abilities were, but it had to be something telekinetic. Without moving, Mr. Scary was holding the Magician down, preventing him from going back up to the floor above. Or at least, this was what Mr. Scary was trying to do.

The Magician was clearly fighting back, steadily rising to his feet, slowly and sluggishly and under great strain. The Magician hadn't acknowledged the five heroes that had come to stop him and it looked like he wasn't about to now. Once the Magician was on his feet, Young Santa shouted "Now!"

Veloce leaped into action and started tying the Magician up. As planned. Obviously, the Magician's powers wouldn't be hampered by being tied up, but with the Magician currently using all of it to counteract those of Mr. Scary, they didn't want him able to punch them once they were in range.

With the Magician now for all intents and purposes neutralized, America moved in to remove the helmet. Should be easy enough. If he couldn't pull it off, he'd tear it apart. Just damaging the helmet should be enough to get Arthur to snap out of it.

Shiro dropped down from the ceiling and stood next to Young Santa, thinking that this had been easy.

It didn't stay easy.

The Magician's head jerked for a second, and that was when the tables turned. His wings, which had previously gone entirely unused, opened up, feathers acting like knives and shredding the rope as they stretched out. He then ducked completely out of America's reach and smashed his back into the floor, cracking it. There was no sound of crunching bones, but the sight still made the present Supers flinch. They were still unaccustomed to the idea of the Magician, of Arthur being anything but a non-Super.

"What's he doing?" Kiku asked. Mr. Scary knew. Mr. Scary was trying to restrict Arthur's upward movement. The sudden destruction of the floor had not been anticipated. Mr. Scary lost his concentration and that was all the Magician had needed. Smirking, the Magician leaped up and smashed through the ceiling, escaping the five that were supposed to get that helmet off Arthur.

Someone swore.

Many floors below, Alex was smirking at the four that had cornered him. This was going to be fun. Screw the consequences, he was still the best cleaner in the damned business, a fuck up now and then could easily be forgiven.

And Alex had been all work and no play for the last few years. He was done being a dull boy.

"Don't move," Germanium warned, fingertips crackling with electricity. "We know you can only hypnotize one person at a time, so don't try anything."

"Oh, gentlemen, my lady, you think you've got me beat? Well, you are absolutely right about that ability of mine. I cannot hypnotize more than one person at a time. However, that is not my only power. I can't help but notice that emotions are running a little high here..."

Alex wanted to laugh. The idiot heroes still hadn't learnt to not let the villain talk, despite all those years of fighting the Magician. Oh well, their loss, his gain. He had never done this with more than two minds before, but hey, he loved giving himself a challenge.

Before either villain or hero could ask, the world disappeared into darkness. Everything was gone, all they could see were each other and a boundless black void.

"What's happening?" one of them asked, but no one was quite certain who. Angélique felt her skin crawl. This emptiness was familiar, but she didn't know why.

"Miss Da Gama, I have always wondered what it's like to be controlled. Who would have guessed, it felt like this?" Alex's disembodied voice whispered.

A quiver and suddenly, Angélique stood alone in the void, the other three gone. She couldn't help but hug herself. Something wasn't right here. It was all too familiar, too unsettling. She could feel a lump forming in her throat; she was having difficulties breathing.

"Hello?" she called out, suddenly scared. She took a few steps forward, looking around. "Where am I?!" she shrieked, as a lost memory began stirring. She was beginning to remember why she thought she knew this place, why she felt like this had happened before.

"Angélique?" she heard someone call back. Yao. She turned on her heels, but still there was nothing but dark void.

"Blackie?!" she called.

"I can hear you! You're not alone!" he replied and she felt some ease. She remained anxious.

"I- I can't see you!"

"That's ok! Stay calm, this is a..." His voice faded away.

"Yao!" she screamed, but there was nothing. She walked back and forth. Nothing. "Wake up, wake up," she muttered to herself. She wasn't awake. This wasn't real, where were the others? She felt something, remembered something, the void was somehow starting to ripple, forming waves.

"No, stop! Not again!" she hissed to herself, burying her face in her hands. Not again, not again, no, not this time. This time she wouldn't...

Only once it was gone, did she notice the void wasn't filled with silence anymore. She could hear whispers. At first they were murmurs and mumblings, indistinguishable as words, but the were becoming clearer and louder, a storm of accusations and cries. They came at her like a tidal wave, she felt it collide into her, the verbal outburst of angry sound.

"You killed them! You killed everyone!"

"My baby! Where's my baby?!"

"Kiku? Kiku, where are you!"

"Lizzie!"

"It's your fault they're dead!"

"What did you do? What did you do!"

Voices, so many voices filled what had previously been silence, angry, mourning, agonised voices. More and more spoke and she ceased being able to make sense of the words, as they blurred into each other. Suddenly Angélique was dropped and she landed on her back on the floor of an unfamiliar room. She sat up, looking bewildered. Where was she?

It looked to be... Arthur's living room? But it was all... tattered. And broken. And on the floor, next to the sofa, sat...

"Arthur...?"

"Go away," he snapped. "You're not real."

Her breath caught.

Was he real?

Yao was disturbed. After the void, he had been dropped into a long, empty hallway. At first he thought it was a quiet hallway, but now that his ears had adjusted, he could hear distant screams, running feet, children crying, someone's laughter. It was dark, why was it dark?

With his back pressed against the wall, Yao crept along, sneaking a look around the corner.

"The fun thing about reading minds," came the Buttoner's voice from overhead, "is that you can remember them and recycle them to torment others. Do you know who's memory this is?"

Yao looked around the corner and... he did not recognise the child that now ran past him. Blond hair and red eyes. He was speaking a language Yao couldn't understand.

Why was he running?

A wave of heat washed over Yao and suddenly, he felt weakened. He leaned against the wall for support, rubbing his eyes. When he opened them again, the world was ablaze.

"What is going on...?" Yao half-asked himself, then ran after the child. What was he running from? Yao couldn't tell. Despite the fires, the world was still too dark. The boy stopped at the end of the hallway. He turned around and looked passed Yao, at something in the dark. "Do you see me? Can you hear me?" Yao asked, but the boy didn't reply, instead saying something else and pointing accusingly at an empty space.

Yao stepped aside and looked back, to see...

Mr. Scary? A child version of Mr. Scary?!

What was this?

"I don't understand..." Yao muttered.

"Of course you don't. In this reality, you never met me," someone replied, right by his ear. Yao jerked away, to see... The boy again. But now he was a smug teenager. His front looked like someone had sprayed it with blood. Or he had been coughing it up. "Who you are?"

The teenager looked sad.

"Does it matter?" he asked, then shoved Yao through the wall. Yao fell again, landing with his back against a wall. He blacked out for a moment. When the stars disappeared, he was in a white, sterile environment. "The joke is, you were supposed to meet me in this reality," the teenager said, sitting opposite Yao, slumped against the wall. Yao frowned.

"Then why haven't I?"

There was a wet cough. Yao turned to look. Another teenager was sitting propped against a wall, his red coat shabbily buttoned together and blood dripping from his lips.

"Me. I'm the reason," Arthur said.

"I..."

"Why does this matter? Why does any of this matter?!" Yao snapped. The red-eyed teen leaned forward with that smug, playful smirk.

"If I had lived, you wouldn't have become the Great Dragon's slave, buddy," he informed Yao.

"How did you die?"

The floor disappeared and Yao fell into a starry forest, landing on his stomach. He groaned and looked up, to find a gun pointed at his temple. Arthur was looking down at him angrily, now himself covered in blood. In the corner of his eye, Yao could see a body lying still on the ground.

"How do you think?" he asked.

"You..."

Arthur pulled the trigger and the world went white.

Germanium was in a maze, he had to be. No matter how many doors he walked through, he wasn't making any progress, always the same hallways and corridors. This wasn't real, couldn't be real and yet, he couldn't find a way out. What was he supposed to do?

While he wore a stony expression as he ran, he was starting to get scared. Then, finally, something happened. A voice. It wasn't calling for him though.

"Yao!?" Ludwig called. He heard the former villain's voice again and raced towards it. "Yao!"

"Kiku!" Yao replied. Kiku...?

The Black Ninja burst into the room, looking bewildered. A younger version of the Black Ninja burst in. The costume, it was the one that Yao had last worn before he...

This was a memory. Yao didn't see Ludwig, wouldn't see him. Yao called again. "Kiku!"

Another door was thrown open. Germanium spun on his heel to see who it was and low and behold, there stood the Great Dragon, his hand around Kiku's neck. Shiro Ninja was unconscious.

"Oh no..."

Ludwig didn't want to see this. This must have been what happened, how it happened.

"Black Ninja, are you looking for someone?" the Great Dragon asked. Yao grimaced at him, but dropped into a battle-ready position.

"Let Shiro go," he growled.

"Of course," the Great Dragon coolly replied and threw Kiku at Yao. Yao stumbled backwards under Kiku's weight.

"What? Why... What's going on? What's your game, aru?!" Yao demanded.

"I have an offer to make you, Mr. Ninja." The Great Dragon paused. "You realize ninjas are Japanese and you are Chinese. Don't you?"

"I'm not here to debate what the city called me, now surrender, before I give you an ass-whooping you won't forget, aru!"

"Mr. Ninja, I would like you to join me. As my... How do you heroes call it... Sidekick. I think you and I, we have a lot in common."

The Great Dragon had always had a weird obsession with Yao. Ludwig just wanted to get away from this, he didn't want to witness this. They should have known, they should have realized... But they didn't. It had taken the Magician of all people to do anything about...

The Magician, he... helped...

Arthur was probably trustworthy. And really was their friend. Probably.

The Great Dragon laughed and pointed at Germanium.

"Now that's not the reaction I wanted. You sympathize with the Magician now?! Seems I got a wrong read on you, Germanium. You're more like your brother than I thought..."

"What..."

The Great Dragon suddenly lunged at Germanium, grabbing him by the neck and tossing him... Through... the ceiling? For a moment, Ludwig floated upwards, then hit something solid and smacked back down onto the floor of a different room.

"So tell me, Germanium, you don't think he's a monster anymore?" the Buttoner asked from behind an overturned table. Germanium looked around himself, bewildered. He was in an office, a red light was flashing, an alarm was ringing. Ludwig was hiding behind a table. "Watch," the Buttoner said and pointed at the door. A man walked by that Germanium didn't recognise, but it was followed by someone he did.

"Arthur?" Germanium half-called, then shot out of his hiding place after them. Arthur stopped in his walk and turned to him. He was younger here. Wore a red coat over black tie. He was covered in blood, he was carrying a gun. Arthur lifted it at him.

"No survivors," he said and Germanium could only stare as Arthur shot him in the head. As Ludwig fell backwards, he realised he was wearing the clothes of a security guard. Someone else's memory. And he doubted he was meant to hear it, but the man accompanying Arthur said "Good catch, kid." before the world faded to black.

Francis was in a city he couldn't recognise. It was daytime, somewhat busy, people on the street. He saw a flutter of blue.

One girl in the crowd was wearing a blue summer dress, her hair in pigtails, talking to someone on the phone as she strolled down the street. She somehow shone brighter than anyone else there, practically radiating sunshine.

Was that...

Aquangel...? Without her mask? Not in New Pond?

She looked... happy.

He knew this wasn't real. At least, it wasn't happening now. What was this? He tried to teleport out, but he would always end up in the same street, a happy Aquangel strolling down, talking like she didn't have a care in the world.

He tried to approach her.

"Aquangel? Angélique?" Francis called. She paused and looked in his direction, but didn't seem to see him. She visibly shrugged and continued her journey to nowhere. And then there was... the Buttoner. Coming toward her.

"Aquangel! Listen to me! There's someone..."

She didn't hear him. Alex greeted her and she got annoyed. Then... she was in a trance.

"You know..." someone spoke over his shoulder. Francis turned, but saw no one. He knew that voice though.

"Angélique?"

"... some say a hero is responsible for their villains."

He turned around again and suddenly the street was gone and he was standing in a void again. Angélique stood limply opposite him, eyes cast downward. She had a glazed expression and Francis belatedly noticed the Buttoner, standing just behind her, shrouded in darkness.

"Angélique?"

"You agree with that sentiment," she continued, eyes now looking far into the distance. "You feel it's your duty to care for us. Because no one else will." She stepped forward and her eyes became sharp, looking into his. "Why didn't you care about me?"

"Angélique..." Francis said, but his voice died and he was unable to explain himself. He just opened and shut his mouth helplessly. She gave him a weak smile, then gave him a peck on his cheek.

"Do you want to know why Jeanne had to die?" she asked softly. With a gentle push, he found himself slowly falling backwards, gravity taking him spiraling down until he landed on a hospital bed.

He blinked a few times in confusion, then sat up. Jeanne sat in another hospital. She was young. Looked barely thirteen. She was crying.

"Jeanne?" Francis asked. She turned sharply to look at him.

"Marie," she corrected. "I'm Marie, always have been. I never told you."

"I don't understand..."

"Marie Antoine. People made fun of me. Of my name. So I... I reacted. I lashed out. I didn't mean to hurt anyone!" She continued crying. They were in a hospital, or at least, Francis thought they might be. A man was suddenly sitting beside Jeanne.

"I know. But it's ok. I know someone, who can make it all go away," the man promised.

"What's going on?" Francis demanded. Jeanne appeared next to him, sitting with her hands folded on her lap. Not the teenager still sobbing on the bed, but the policewoman who had wanted to change the world. Blood was dripping down her face and she turned to look at him.

"Have you ever hated your powers? Wished you could be rid of them?" she asked.

"What... No, no I would never..."

"I would. I did."

Water hit him. He was drenched in it and he reflexively closed his eyes. When he opened them again, it was raining heavily. Teenage Jeanne (Marie?) was standing at a bus stop, visibly shivering. Her eyes were wide, at her feet was a duffle bag.

"A man said he would help me. It was a lie. I escaped. And that's why I had to die..."Her voice became weak and she looked up. "All of us are just rain. Washed away, gone so quickly. None of us get a happy end."

"Jeanne... This... No, this isn't real..." Francis turned away, closing his eyes. Think. He must still be standing in SNC HQ, so... maybe if he focused, blocked out what he heard and saw, he could... teleport out. He focused and eventually the rain ceased. Everything ceased, just silence remained. He breathed out. All he had to do now was teleport. Go somewhere else. Get outside.

There was a flash and fresh air hit his face. Sun was shining.

He smiled. He was out.

He opened his eyes.

He wasn't.

"Arthur Kirkland..." Angélique spoke, approaching him. "The Magician."

"I'm not doing this anymore. Go away," Arthur repeated. He didn't bother looking at her. He had adjusted himself to lying on the sofa, an arm covering his eyes.

"Arthur, I'm real. Are you...?"

Something crashed in the distance.

"Go away. You've already shown me Aquangel's torment. I don't need..."

"I'm Angélique. I'm Michelle Vel," she interrupted.

That woke him up. Arthur sat up and looked at her.

"I never told you what her alias was," he stated. He looked her over, noticing her get-up. She was wearing her Aquangel outfit. "Are you... really..."

"... Arthur?" Angélique asked, hesitantly approaching him. He sucked in a deep breath.

"But you can't be. How are you..." He rose to his feet.

"I could ask you the same thing!" she replied, closing the distance, smiling widely.

"But everything in here is an illusion, there's no... escape. How did you get here?"

"I don't know!" She approached him and hesitantly touched his shoulder. "You seem real."

"And you seem real, but... You weren't caught too, were you?"

"No, I... Well, maybe... Arthur..." Angélique looked nervous. "What do you last remember?"

"Well, I was... I don't think... I should tell you... here. He can hear us. I'm surprised he's letting us talk to each other," Arthur muttered. "Or maybe I'm just paranoid."

"You know him?"

"Hardly. He's some arse I insulted several years ago, apparently. I... Angélique, I'm so tired. I just want to go home."

"And you will! I'll help you," she replied.

"How? We're both stuck here. There's no way out, believe me, I've tried," Arthur despaired. Angélique frowned. How long had he been here? Probably too long. What had he seen? Had he seen her worst day? But how...? And now that she was thinking about it...

"Wait... Arthur, the world..."

"Yes?"

"The world hasn't been shifting. Changing. We've been in your apartment for a while and nothing has changed. This... Maybe this place is stable?" she suggested. Arthur just gave her a flat look. Then his eyes widened, like...

"I have an idea. Maybe... Maybe there's something different about us. Maybe it's related to... whatever that armour did to you, the helmet did to me! Maybe we can break free from... No..." He ran a hand through his hair, looking away.

"What?"

"I've escaped before, by realising this isn't real. That was enough then, but now it's not. But- but maybe us both being here..."

"I'm not here alone," Angélique blurted out. "Germanium, Black Ninja and Allure are here too." Arthur's head snapped to her, eyes wide with excitement.

"That would do it," Arthur said, "If he struggled with just me, he'll barely be keeping it together with all five of us here! Maybe we can get out if we unite everyone!"

Angélique stared at him for a moment. That didn't sound like something that would work, but she had worked with stupider and still succeeded. So she said "Sure! Let's try!"

Arthur grinned and led the way to his front door. He closed his eyes, let out a deep breath as if focusing, then with much apprehension slowly opened the door... To a long, long hallway.

"I thought so. Compartmentalization. It's the only way the Buttoner has been able to pull off these... nightmares. Are you coming, Angélique?" Arthur asked. Angélique blinked and looked back at the apartment. It was still broken and torn apart. Had Arthur been trapped here, not knowing he could simply exit through the door? That was... that was sad.

Then she ran after him.

"So this is your worst day..." the Buttoner said from beneath his umbrella. Yao was standing in front of a grave. Rain was pelting down on them. It was the day of the funeral. He was the last one there. The Buttoner grinned. "It's always a pain to find out where your limitations are. Who woulda thought that you can't heal depression..."

"Shut up."

"At least, not with super powers."

"I said shut up," Yao snarled. He threw his umbrella to the ground and turned to the Buttoner. "How dare you- how dare you-"

"You tried so hard to save her and you failed. I wonder who else you failed..." the Buttoner instead spoke, uncaring of the pain he was dragging back up in Yao, pain that Yao had thought was long dead.

The scenery changed to a school hallway. Yao felt his stomach drop. "No... Not this..." He had failed one of his students spectacularly once. He hadn't seen it, maybe he hadn't wanted to see it, maybe he had simply never been around enough. One of his kids had been coming bruised to class and he had never noticed, not until social services was at his door asking questions.

Some hero he was.

Yao expected the Buttoner to sneer at him and force him to see it all again. But the hallway remained silent.

Yao became nervous. What was happening now?

"So, aru? What is it?! Why did you bring me here?!" he snapped.

Nothing.

A classroom door suddenly opened.

"Blackie!" Aquangel squealed and all but threw herself at him.

"What?"

"Hey. So you're here to rescue me too? Back to heroic incompetence, I see," someone else said.

"Arthur, aru?"

"I'm afraid so. Angélique thinks my mind must be trapped here in this... Whatever. Perhaps that's the Buttoner's powers, creating... nightmare dimensions especially tailored for us."

Yao let out a deep sigh at that.

"I'm getting too old for that kinda bullshit, aru."

Angélique shrugged.

"Arthur reckons if we can get to Germanium and Allure, we can get out."

"But... Are you two real, aru?" Yao asked, heart sinking. Angélique hesitated.

"Well, there's no way to prove it..."

"Yao... I... I know what's been happening outside of here. I've been... killing people. I killed..." He hesitated and chose not to continue, looking away. Angélique placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.

"You really are Arthur, aren't you?" Yao asked.

"We need to get out of here and stop... well. Me. As stupid as that sounds. Bloody hell, when did we start getting hero problems?" Arthur asked, letting out a deep sigh.

"Even if this isn't real, what's the harm in coming? We can't be afraid forever..." Angélique continued. Yao looked at them suspiciously then closed his eyes, palm resting against his forehead.

"I'm too old for this, aru," he repeated and followed after them.

Germanium was in a void. He didn't know what happened, just that the psychedelic nightmare show had come to an end. He almost preferred it. It gave him time to try and figure out how to get out. He had quickly noticed the difference between electricity he made inside the void and in real life. That was his only connection to the outside world. Generating real electricity. He could otherwise not get any sensations from outside.

Something flashed behind him. He turned and... there stood Francis. He was facing away from Ludwig and so, didn't see him. Francis swore and fell to his knees, but otherwise, did nothing.

"Allure?" Germanium asked. There was silence for a few moments.

"Are you real?" Francis replied, not daring to turn around and look.

"Yes."

"Prove it. S'il te plaît."

"You hate la vie en rose because your sister played it every day for five years. It drove you mad. You appraise art at the museum, but sometimes you get bored and you got into trouble for licking one of the paintings once, on a dare."

Francis snorted.

"People think you and I don't get along, because we don't speak much to each other. But the truth is, we just know each other that well. Are you Allure?" Germanium finished. Allure clumsily got to his feet and turned to look at him.

"I used to think of you as my friend's little brother. Now you're an ally I know I can trust and depend on. You tell me about every crush you have, because you don't trust Gilbert with the information. You even told me about some cute Italian thing that broke your heart while you were on holiday in Spain several years ago."

"This is crazy... Where are the others?" Germanium asked. "What did you see?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Allure answered.

"I saw... I need a beer to talk about it," Germanium answered, changing the subject.

"You can't legally drink."

"I'll go to Germany then."

"You have no money."

"Shut up."

Silence fell.

"Jeanne's dead."

"I know."

Silence. Then Francis turned to the void.

"And this fucker tricked us!" he screamed, kicking at the void and hitting nothing.

"We need to get out of here. Stop the Buttoner, stop Arthur."

"I'm open to suggestions..." Francis muttered darkly.

Then a door opened.

The two turned and looked. There stood Black Ninja, Aquangel and the Magician. They gaped.

"We know how to get back!" Angélique announced.

"Is that..."

"Arthur..." Francis growled, fists clenching.

"It wasn't his fault," Yao started, but Francis still approached with clear violent intent. Germanium held him back.

"You still pulled the trigger, you..." Francis snarled, but Germanium tightened his grip until Francis stopped struggling. He did, but by the low swears, it was obvious he was still angry.

"I'm sorry Francis. I... I really tried. To stop myself. But... I can sometimes see what my eyes see, but nothing else," Arthur clumsily explained.

"Don't. How are you here?" Ludwig demanded.

"This is where the Buttoner must be keeping Arthur's mind!" Angélique answered before Arthur could reply. "Arthur can't escape here by himself, but he thought if we get all of us together, we can collectively escape!"

"Are they really real?" Francis asked Ludwig.

"You once tried to reveal your secret identities to me. I pretended to get a phone call and left," Arthur replied.

"And Arthur's a telepath, so he would know if they're real..." Ludwig whispered to Francis. Francis nodded and Ludwig finally let him go. Francis straightened his costume.

"All right, rosbif, you've got us all together. How do we get out?" he asked coolly.

"Well, usually knowing this is an illusion is enough, but this time it isn't... I know why I can't escape, the question is why can't you?" Arthur tapped on his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe... Oh, but that would require trust..."

"What, aru?" Yao asked.

"Maybe if... If you let me into your mind, I can trigger a way out for you."

The four looked at each other.

"What?" Angélique asked.

"I'm a telepath. I can do it, if you let me... oh fuck."

The world collapsed back into reality. The image of Arthur vanished, now replaced by the Buttoner and the four Supers were back in the reception of SNC HQ standing around a newly-made crater. There was a very large hole in the ceiling, going all the way back to the highest floor and there in the remaining crater was the Magician and Mr. Scary, both trying to kill each other.

Alex got to his feet.

"What the fuck?" he asked.

Who's ready for some quarantainment? Yeah, this was still a bit slow in update, but studies continue, even if I am restricted to the four walls of my home. Y'all stay safe and healthy. I hope you and your families are ok.