Linda sighed as she walked up to the Director’s office. Londyn was standing still, watching a monitor and rubbing her chin.

“Hello Director.”

“Hi Linda, what’s our status?”

“A handful of minor injuries, but nothing permanent, thankfully. Wonder Knight seems a little shaken up but physically he’s fine.”

Londyn let out a sigh.

“Just one thing after another for him, isn’t it? First those Nemesis punks, and now this. I’ll have a talk with him later.”

Linda nodded.

“We’ve reviewed the footage, but we never got a glimpse of the attacker’s faces. We’re searching through our database now, but we haven’t found anything that matches. I’m sorry Director.”

The edge of Londyn’s mouth curled up.

“Don’t be.”

“Director?”

“We don’t know who they are, but I do know where they went.”

“What? Where?”

Londyn motioned for Linda to join her. Linda walked up and turned to face the monitor. It showed a live feed from a camera high in the sky, the view centered on a particular building. Londyn smiled.

“The new grav-drone prototype. We were supposed to test it in a more controlled setting; it seems it's ready for the field after all. Fortunately Wonder and the Captain injured two of our assailants, with two packages on his back the third ended up just slow enough for us to follow.”

“Should I call up the nearby heroes?”

“Already done, just waiting for them to arrive. We’re heading out as soon as they do.”

Londyn rubbed her chin and nodded once.

“Since Wonder Knight’s unharmed, go ahead and let him know too. The rest of Aurora’s already enroute, and some payback should help restore any lost confidence.”

Linda nodded and turned to leave.

“Right away, Ma’am.”

As soon as she was out of the room, Linda ran for the room with the private line.

Bob watched the footage Linda had sent him, glancing over at a tablet in his hand. He was comparing the attackers to the list of EL loan recipients and applicants.

He sighed.

No clear matches.

Or rather, these attackers were very subdued, relying purely on fists. Without any weapons or easily identifiable powers, there was simply not enough to go on. He could make some guesses, but the situation was too delicate to act solely on a hunch.

And then his phone rang.

And a bad feeling rose in his stomach.

“Linda.”

“Bob! We have a problem!”

“What is it?”

“Director Green found the attackers!”

“And what’s the problem?”

“They fled to Midnight Staffing! The Director already has the building under surveillance and is gathering a strike team!”

“I have to go.”

Bob hung up the phone and immediately dialed another number.

“George.”

“Bob! How are you doing?”

“Evacuate Midnight. Now.”

“Huh? What’s going on Bob?”

“Midnight’s compromised. ILS strike team is enroute.”

“Seriously?! Bob, there’s way too many of us here, no way we get out in time!”

“I’ll try to buy you some time and clear you a corridor. Just focus on our people, prioritize the ones we’ve verified. Get out by yourselves if you have to, the newbies should be fine. ILS will grill them but shouldn’t keep them for long. And the Eternal Night folks can handle themselves.”

“Got it. Eternal Night, huh…”

“...did something urgent happen?”

“Maybe. Saw a big shot moving through. You know, the guy from the oil job? What was his name, that’s right, Senior Brother Wu. First time I’ve seen him since then.”

Bob froze for a second.

“Bob?”

“Get moving, we don’t have any time to waste.”

Bob hung up, and then rang up Cikizwa, letting her know to get Nemesis ready for a mission. He stood up, walking towards the hanger. As he did he dialed another number.

“Hello Bob.”

“What’s going on, Xiong Huang?”

“What do you mean?”

“...several martial artists just attacked the ILS, then fled to Midnight Staffing. That was you, wasn’t it?”

“So? You think I'm responsible for every cultivator out there?”

“You sent a Core Disciple there. That’s not a coincidence, you made it very clear Midnight is Outer Disciples only.”

“Again, so what? What does the movement of my sect have to do with you, Bob?”

“...what are you doing?”

“What I always do, Bob. Whatever I want. The Master of the Eternal Night Sect doesn’t answer to anyone, least of all a mortal like you.”

“...”

“Tell you what, we’re friends, aren’t we? So I’ll go ahead and tell you. That little hero club has something I want. Something powerful and far beyond mortal ken. So I’m going to take it. You want to protect your little hero girlfriend from big bad Xiong Huang? Then tell her to get out of my way. And then I will graciously allow her to offer it to me with her precious League still intact. A special offer, in honor of our friendship.”

“...”

“What, you don’t like that? Well, then stay out of my way, Bob. Wouldn’t want to hurt my friends, after all.”

And with that, Xiong Huang hung up. Bob let out a sigh, rubbing his temples, before dialing a second number.

“Bob?”

“Hello Londyn.”

“Bob, it’s really not a good time. If it’s not urgent, I’m going to have to ask you to call back.”

“It’s about the recent attack.”

“...how did you know about that?”

“I know who did it.”

“I see. Thanks but I already found them. Unless you’re saying you got the boss already?”

“Yes.”

“I should have expected that. Well, excellent work as always, Bob. Where are they?”

“Londyn.”

“What?”

“Give it up.”

“...what?”

“This one…this one is beyond anything you’ve ever faced. The League can’t win this fight.”

“...”

“And…they don’t threaten the world at large. You can afford to lose here. Just let it go, it’s not worth it this time.”

“...I can’t do that, Bob.”

“It’s a war you don’t need to fight, and you’re going to lose if you do.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Londyn?”

“We’re the International League of Superheroes, Bob. Fighting lost fights is what we do. And someone hit us in our own home. We cannot, will not let that go unanswered.”

“...”

“I appreciate the concern. We might end up losing. But we have to try. I’m not just going to sit back and take attacks like this. They went for the vault, Bob. The things we keep there…they cannot be let loose on the world. So I don’t believe anyone who went for the vault can be left unchecked, least of all if they have supers at their command. Whatever they’re planning, no matter who’s vouching for them, it’s my job to put a stop to it. So we’re going after them. If you want to help us, tell me what you know.”

“...I can’t. For your sake, I hope you never find them.”

“...part of me hopes so too, but this is what I do. Take care, Bob.”

And she hung up. Bob let out a sigh, then continued walking towards the hanger. The Nemesis Squad was waiting for him by the grav-jet.

“What gives, boss-man? I thought we were on break today!”

“Change of plans, it’s an emergency.”

“For real? I mean, shaking down small-time villains and beating a no-name hero or two is so important, don’t get me wrong, but like, girl’s gotta get her beauty rest, you know?”

“I’ll explain on the plane, just get on board for now.”

“...oh, um, ok.”

The Nemesis team glanced at each other before following Bob up the exit ramp. The team all strapped themselves in, and the jet took off.

“So, um, what’s the big deal, boss-man? You seem, well, I guess you’re always like that, but like, a bit more gruff than normal? If that's even possible.”

“The ILS is closing in on a critical asset. We’re going to stop them.”

“Wait, for real?! I thought we were supposed to avoid the ILS after we embarrassed their star team and crap!”

“As I said, this is an emergency. We don’t have time to handle it quietly, so we’ll have to improvise. But you don’t need to attack the ILS directly. The ILS is targeting a third party, the assets are caught in the crossfire. We just need you to cause a distraction, the ILS won’t want to engage if they know you’re around. Once the asset is clear, we’ll get out of there.”

Arvid rubbed his chin.

“This seems very risky. Battles have a way of growing on their own. Will we not risk getting caught up in whatever fight is going on?”

Bob nodded again.

“The situation is dangerous, and far from ideal. You will need to be very careful, and ready to retreat at any moment. But this is what we hired you for. Believe me, if there was any other choice, I’d have a much different plan.”

Saydaa crossed her arms and mumbled.

“Well thanks for the vote of confidence there. Just tickles my heart knowing we’re the last choice.”

“Friend Saydaa, that is not his intention. My ancestors have encountered multi-party battles before. Believe me, they never end well.”

Kiyosuke scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Only if you’re caught on the wrong side.”

“I’ll reiterate once more. The goal of this mission is to preserve assets. The assets on the ground primarily, but you all as well. It will be counterproductive to save the asset only to lose one of you. I’ve no doubt in your skills, you’ve proved that much, and that’s why I’m sending you into a situation as dangerous as this. Your number one priority is your own safety today, so the moment the situation is turning against you, pull out. Any time you can buy is good enough, I’ll handle the rest.”

Elise turned to Bob at that.

“Concerned Query: Commander Bob, what will you be doing?”

Bob let out a sigh and shook his head.

“I’m not sure yet. But…”

Bob grimaced as he narrowed his eyes.

“...hopefully…stopping a war.”