Josh carefully maneuvered down the stairs, lifting a wooden dresser over the railing. Skye held the other side of the dresser and followed Josh’s path. Either one could lift the dresser by themselves easily but had decided not to show Sidney their enhanced strength. The movie character had decided she wanted to wait on buying new furniture, instead asking the team members to bring stored furniture from the attic. This dresser was the last piece they needed to bring down.

“Put it over here” Sidney directed as Josh stepped into view. She was motioning to an open area besides an old wooden rocking chair. Josh and Skye quickly brought the dresser to the indicated space, placing it carefully on the floor. Crystal stood to the side of another wooden dresser, putting a new lightbulb into one of the surviving lamps.

“Thank you so much for the help” Sidney said in gratitude

“More than happy to help” Josh replied

“Least we can do” Crystal said

“Are you sure you don’t want to go get some more furniture?” Skye asked.

The furniture from the attic was mostly bedroom furniture, with two dressers, the rocking chair, and a padded bench now the only living room furniture.

Sidney let out a small cough before answering “No I’d rather stay home for the time being”

“Maybe you should take a shower” Crystal suggested to Sidney. The movie character had dusted all the furniture off before bringing the team members to the attic, leading Sidney to be covered in dust.

“I think I will” Sidney said with a laugh “You make yourself at home, help yourself to anything in the kitchen”

“I’ll have lunch ready for you,” Josh said as Sidney stepped into the hallway. The movie character called back her thanks and could be heard going up the stairs seconds later.

“I didn’t picture you the cooking type” Crystal noted

“Mom made me sign up for a Home Ec class” Josh explained “Wanted to make sure Lance and I would be able to survive whenever we moved out”

The trio moved into the kitchen, the majority of the dishware had been spared in the attack. Josh quickly went to work, collecting ingredients to make quesadillas.

“How was your talk with Logan and Lance?” Josh asked Skye

“A lot of fun!” Skye said brightly “I want a rematch against Logan soon, I want to see the second stage of the unlocked mode”

“Lance warned me you would be looking for a fight” Josh said with a chuckle

“So Lance is your brother right?” Skye asked suddenly

“Technically stepbrother” Josh explained “but we’ve been growing up together since we were eleven”

“He seems like a smart guy” Skye said “I’m glad Logan made him the team strategist”

“Did Logan assign him that role?” Crystal asked “Matt made it sound like Lance woke up day one and made himself the team strategist”

Josh let out a laugh “More like that. I don't know if there was ever an official appointment, Lance just did what he always does”

“Plan how to survive horror movies?” Skye asked with a grin

“Share his predictions” Josh corrected “Ever since I met him, Lance would notice things no one else could and use them to predict future events. He could tell when our parents would get into fights and always knew when I planned to sneak out of the house. He was never quiet about these predictions”

“Did he tell your parents?” Crystal asked

“No” Josh shook his head “He actually would text me what times they would be asleep and when they were going to wake up”

“Sounds like a nice brother” Skye noted

“He can be” Josh said “Sometimes it can be frustrating as hell constantly hearing how things are going to end up. I was actually mad at him about it right before we came here”

“And now everyone relies on him for that exact reason” Crystal said with a laugh

Josh also let out a laugh “Yeah so it's not really surprising Lance ended up the team’s strategist. He really just blended into the team”

“I’m glad Lance and Logan get along so well” Skye admitted “I was worried I’d be stuck with a team leader and strategist similar to the ones on team China”

“They don’t get along?” Josh asked

“The strategist is constantly scheming” Skye explained “Purposefully putting team members at risk in order to strengthen the team. The Devil lets him because he wants more power on the team despite claiming he cares for his comrades”

“Lance wouldn't do that” Josh said hesitantly

“He might do that” Crystal disagreed “Logan claims he led them to a bonus mission far harder than they expected”

“Lance said he didn’t expect that kind of difficulty” Josh defended “Lance wants a strong team, he wouldn’t send people on a mission they couldn’t handle”

“Team China’s strategist says the same thing” Skye warned

Josh didn’t have a response after that.

“Can I ask you a question?” Skye broke the silence “You have to answer honestly”

“Sure” Josh agreed

"Do you really believe Lance won't try on the mask?" Skye asked playfully

Josh took a moment before answering, trying to decide the answer for himself. Lance was ambitious, never afraid to go after what he wanted. He was cautious though, able to wait patiently till the best time to strike.

"It really depends on how confident he is that he can handle the mask" Josh decided

"If Logan could barely handle it," Crystal pointed out "does Lance have a chance?"

"Lance has a pretty strong mind” Skye said “He might have a shot”

“I’d rather he try it on than Logan or Matt” Crystal said “Lance we know can be captured easily”

“He’ll be a lot stronger if he unlocks his genetic constraint” Josh said

“Strong enough to fight off the whole team?” Crystal questioned doubtfully

“He’s a smart guy” Skye said “I bet he could figure out a way to beat any one of us. Just a matter of having enough power for whatever he comes up with.”

“Power is what he’s lacking” Josh said “Lance is smarter than most of us but he’s falling behind to the rest of us”

“You think so?” Skye asked

“In my opinion yeah” Josh stated “He’s split his points so much, I don’t think he’s even in the five strongest of our team”

“Eve is pretty badass” Crystal said “I think she could take Lance on easily”

“That would be an interesting fight” Skye said “I hope they grow stronger soon, I want a match”

“I don’t know if Lance would agree to that” Josh said with a laugh “maybe after he’s unlocked his genetic restraint”

“You unlocked yours in your second movie right?” Skye asked

“Yeah” Josh said sheepishly “Right before we finished the movie”

“That’s pretty impressive” Skye stated “My father knew several people who unlocked in their second movie. Most of them were clones on team Devil”

“Do you think I got cloned?” Josh asked

“Possibly” Skye said with a shrug “God has no clear factors that determine why a person is cloned. A woman who’s original didn’t survive her first movie was cloned but a trained assassin who had already unlocked her genetic constraint wasn’t. There’s no certainty until we meet team Devil in person”

“Are we going to meet team Devil?” Crystal questioned

“I will” Skye declared “If I’m going to fight team China I’ll need to be even stronger than team Devil”

“That’s a long ways off though” Josh countered “Our team isn’t nearly that strong yet”

“Oh definitely” Skye agreed “Logan, Matt, and I are the only ones who could compare to an average team Devil member. It’ll be awhile till we’re even on team Celestial’s level”

“Let’s just focus on surviving the current movie” Crystal said “I don’t want to face any teams in these movies”

“By the next team battle I’m sure you’ll have dozens of monsters to protect you” Josh joked

“I don’t want dozens of monsters” Crystal dismissed “Just a handful of powerful monsters and spells to back them up”

“That reminds me we should discuss self created abilities” Skye said

“For me?” Crystal questioned

“You should keep thinking about potential abilities” Skye said “but Josh is the better candidate for making one”

“Faor enough” Crystal said with a shrug

“What kind of abilities could I create?” Josh questioned, placing the finished quesadillas on the kitchen counter

“Let’s step outside and you can show me what you can do” Skye suggested “I can give you a better idea when I know what you are capable of”

“I don’t really have much to show” Josh said with a shrug “but i’ll show you what I have”

“I’ll wait here” Crystal said “i’ll let you know when Sidney comes down from the shower”

Skye and Josh left through the backdoor, finding a spot out of immediate view from the kitchen to use.

“So what do you have to show?” Skyye asked, anticipation clear in her tone

“My Divine energy mostly strengthens my body” Josh started “When I was in the unlocked mode I could use my hammer to shoot lightning into a basilisk and had lightniing covering my skin”

“How many times have you entered the unlocked mode?” Skye questioned

“Only the one time” Josh answered “Logan says i’ll need to experience life threatening danger to re enter it”

“That’s true” Skye said with a chuckle “Thankfully my dad taught me a few ways to safely unlock. We’ll practice more when we’re in the lobby.”

“Sidney says thanks for lunch!” Crystal called from the backdoor.

“Since you are still newly unlocked” Skye said “we will start on trying to recreate the techniques you used when unlocked”

“Can I do these techniques out of the unlocked mode?” Josh asked “I haven’t done it since”

“We need to practice and see what you can and can’t do out of the unlocked mode” Skye explained “Better knowing your limitations will give us better insight on what kind of ability would best help you”

“I’ll do what it takes” Josh decided “The stronger I am, the better I can protect everyone”

“Josh” Sidney called from inside the house “Lance is on the phone for you”

“I’ll be right back,” Josh said.

Josh ran inside, accepting the phone from the movie character.

“Hello” Josh greeted into the phone

“How are things with Sidney?” Lance asked immediately

“Everything is great here” Josh said “No killers or threatening phone calls”

“Excellent” Lance said pleased “we might need to rework our arrangement with her. Maybe have someone stay in the house full time.”

“What do you mean?” Josh asked “What changed?”

“We made a breakthrough on the mask” Lance explained “A museum in a city less than an hour from here announced they would be featuring a newly uncovered stone mask on display. It’s been a week since the initial announcement but no other information has been released”

“You think it's related to this mask?” Josh questioned

“Almost certain of it” Lance said “The librarian was the one to tell us about it and he said he heard of a black and white stone mask that would be part of the exhibit”

“We need to send people up there” Josh stated

“Eve is trying to contact the museum now to arrange a meeting” Lance said “Logan is already aware of this discovery and we’ve started planning who to send”

“Any idea what movie we’re dealing with?” Josh asked

“Not yet” Lance answered “I’m still not recognizing anything from the movies I know”

“Who are we sending to the museum?” Josh wondered

“You and I definitely” Lance said “Crystal is also likely and possibly Dale”

“Could this be dangerous?” Josh asked “Could this be a bonus mission?”

“It might be” Lance admitted “I’m still not confident in my ability to predict God’s bonus missions. I think it is likely but I can’t be sure what kind of mission it will be”

“Should Skye join us?” Josh questioned

“She may join as backup power” Lance stated “Though Logan wants you to take the lead on this mission”

“I’m leading the mission?”

“Working in small groups often works better than large groups” Lance explained “If the team continues to grow we will need to have several individuals ready to lead. Dividing our team while working in unison could be the difference between wiping in a movie or keeping everyone alive”

“I understand” Josh said, “Not like I haven’t been team captain before. When are we heading out?”

“One moment,” Lance said.

Josh could hear his brother talking with someone in the background before returning to the phone.

“Josh” Lance began “We’re going to come to the house now. Eve called the museum and the director in charge of this exhibit is saying he won’t meet with us. We’ll pick up Logan and head there immediately”

“Should we really go if he doesn't want us?” Josh questioned

“He wouldn’t be denying us if there wasn’t something to hide” Lance explained “I’d rather get to him before he has time to hide anything”

“That’s true” Josh said reluctantly “I’ll let Crystal and Skye know”

“We’ll be there in twenty” Lance stated and ended the phone call