"No! That was a lie." Roberto straightened his posture, but Satina tugged at her whips again, almost forcing him to his knees. He growled. "Back down, Satina. You're no match for me." He took the hololens off and threw them aside.

Mary and Léon raised as well. "But she's not alone," the latter said. "And you're in our fucking HQ, with a dozen villains around. You are no match for us."

"Go on, Grizzly snake. Spit it out," Satina said, narrowing her eyes.

Rob huffed. The spikes at the tip of Satina's whips bit his wrists, making a thin crimson line of blood run through his fingers. "What do you want me to say?" he barked. "He bloody lied! The Mayor lied." Rob was panting. His lips trembled, his face darkened, and he roared as his tattoos shone. Rob twisted his hands to grip Satina's whips. "Listen to me." He tugged. "I can't tell you everything, but I promise I don't want to hurt you."

"Shit!" Satina leaned back and dug her weight on her heels. The soles of her sneakers screeched against the polished floor of the waiting room. "Shit, shit, shit. He's strong." She moved her eyes to a smiling Mary. "A little help here?"

Mary's smile broadened, and she thrust a hand into her pockets, pulling a small golden marble from it. "Let him go." Satina obeyed, falling on her behind—and once Rob recovered his balance, Mary flung the marble to him. "Catch!"

Rob tried to slap the marble away, but it popped and dissolved into a golden vapor that covered his face. With a dull thud, he fell unconscious on the floor.

When he woke up, his head felt like a bell at lunchtime. Roberto half-opened his eyes, and the sudden light pierced through. The pungent smell of roses and part of the gold glitter was still stuck on his hoodie and face. His head, throat, and chest throbbed as his breath grated his insides, hot and uncomfortable.

Rob blinked once. Twice. Slowly, his blurred vision went back to focus as voices became clearer. He was in the middle of a handball court. Mary and Léon ran around it, using their powers to steal the ball from each other and shoot at the goal where Satina stood like a warrior.

A dark-purple and violet tiger pounced on Mary, making her squeal and giggle. Léon took the ball from her hands and prepared to run, but he toppled forward, and a loud, metallic something hit the floor.

"Aw, Mary, c'mon. That's not fair!" Léon's voice was distant, muffled as if coming from inside an aquarium. "Tiny, she transformed the ball in a lump of gold! My fingers were almost smashed under this shit. I can't... ugh. I can't even lift it!"

Mary laughed, pushing the tiger aside. "It's not real gold, Leleo."

Rob tried to rub his eyes and needed a moment to understand why his hands wouldn't obey. He was kneeling, hands cuffed behind his back.

"What's with you villains and your mania to tie me up?" Rob's voice was husky and weak. And was also ignored.

Perhaps he could break free. He wouldn't even need to use his powers this time. Whatever material they had used to tie his wrists, it would break with the smallest infusion of his tattoos' powers...

"Stop whining, Leo. You can't expect your enemies to go soft on you," Satina shouted from the goal.

... Once free, he would just need to be discreet enough. He could subdue Léon or Satina and then bargain with them.

Léon glared at Satina, pursing his lips. Then, his eyes widened and snapped to his right, meeting Roberto's gaze.

Shite.

"He's awake," Léon said. "Be careful."

Roberto took a deep breath, concentrating his energy on the tattoos covering his arms. He still had time. If he could break free and make them listen, perhaps—

"It's useless," a new voice said. The voice of a woman. "They are skilled at tying people up but terrible at listening to them." It was clear and gentle, with heavy Old Continentian Rs. Accompanying the voice, a massive, hairy, cold something pressed against his thigh. Rob almost screamed when a white-purple tiger entered his field of vision. Like a cat, the ethereal animal rubbed against his thighs, arms, and back, pushing a big snout against his neck.

It was Bonee, Léon's tigress. Bloody hell, she was so much bigger now! But... definitely weaker, too.

"Hmmmrrr. You smell like betrayal," the tigress said. "And wet soil in the springtime. I recognize the scent... I like it." She purred. The ethereal creature smeared, cold, against his goosebump-covered skin and condensed to purple smoke. It spiraled towards Léon and slipped through the translucent curtains hung at his side. With a flourish of his hand, the curtains disappeared.

Léon had reached Roberto by then. He wore a frown, his lips pursed tight. "You've seen my tigers." He leveled their eyes. "If you're not honest, I'll have them eat you."

Rob chuckled. "Your tigress might disobey. She said she liked how I smell."

Léon frowned, straightening his posture. His lips parted, words about to come out when "This is definitely not a compliment, dipshit," Satina said, joining them. "You have a lot to explain."

Of course something like this would happen on his first day. Rob let out a long, deep sigh while Mary, too, approached them.

"What was The Mayor talking about in the telly?" Satina poked Rob's head until he looked at her. "In which secret mission you're on? You said he was lying. Why would he? What happened between you and your Superhero friends? What are you after? And what did you tell Iara to make her accept you?"

"Too many questions for way too many stars around my head," Rob answered.

Satina tightened her hold on her whips. She huffed and exchanged a gaze with Léon. The way Léon looked at her seemed to mean something because Satina clicked her tongue and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"All right," she said in a lower voice. Satina closed her eyes, and when they opened again, a blue glimmer danced inside her irides. She closed her hoodie, pulled the zipper up to her chin, and then kneeled in front of Rob. "We started off on the wrong foot, Robbie."

Her nectar-covered voice slid into his ears and stirred something inside him. Like eating a spoonful of honey, a weird sugar rush clawed at his chest. She was trying to make him trust her. She was trying to build a connection between them.

As much as she tried, he wouldn't give her a contract.

Rafa and Brash had taught him how to defend himself from the psionic trace. He focused on the tattoo at his nape and awakened it. Using its power, Rob imagined a crown of thorns growing around his head. The more Satina spoke, the longer the thorns became and the deeper they pierced his skin.

Satina smirked. "I know what you're doing," she whispered. "It won't work for long; I can see you're tired." She patted his shoulder. "Fun fact: Brash's Heroic League owns 37% of all farms in New Continent. That's how they pay for their safety campaigns and how they keep power. They sell it too, Roberto. Life force."

Rob's shoulders fell, and his chest caved in. That was wrong. That was a lie!

"Wanna know the difference between them and us?" Satina's voice was filled with satisfaction. "First, Iara is not fooling anyone here. We know what happens in Invidia. Second, they make double the Life Force we do. They drill it out. That's why being a civil servant is such a shitty thing in New Continent."

"I don't believe you." Rob tried to steel his words, but they sounded shaky and breathless. As much as he tried to keep the thorn crown, it dissolved as his thoughts drifted away.

Satina stepped closer and whispered, "You know I'm not lying."

Something inside Rob's mind grew heavy, making it impossible to think. "No."

"We're co-workers now, Rob." Satina entered his field of view, locking their eyes. "We have to trust each other, don't you think?"

Rob's voice and the word it created escaped from his lips before he could think again. "Yes," he blurted out. His throat burned.

"Good. You'll tell me what I want to know, won't you? Without lying?"

Satina Hamman. Bureau Assassin. The little intel he had gathered on her said an agreement with her could be as dangerous as the bite of her whips, but he never believed it. A weak villain like her could never subdue his mind, he had thought.

"Yes. Without lying," Rob said. He had made a big mistake.

Satina smiled, and her fingers shimmered a light blue glow, enveloped in her power. Her shoulders trembled. She coughed, small drops of blood spilling through her lips. Between her fingers, a piece of paper the size of a business card materialized. The contract. With a snap of her fingers, the weight in his head disappeared.

"Well, that was easy." Satina pocketed the card, cleaning her lips on her sleeve.

Rob shook his head, trying to brush aside the thin layer of pain that still resided on it.

"Let's begin. Why are you here?" Satina asked.

"To join you."

She rolled her eyes. "You said that already. I want specifics. What do you want?"

"To become a villain."

She grunted. "Why?"

"Because"—Rob tried to stop himself but couldn't—"that's the only way I'll have my sister back." Something bitter crawled up his throat, burning the back of his mouth.

Satina seemed unimpressed, and hers was the only face he could see in the room. "Explain what the Mayor said on the holotelly. Why did he lie about you?"

Rob scoffed. "I have no bloody idea what he was talking about. I didn't even know the Sheriff bloke was inside the League. I left around three weeks ago. I told Brash I was going to Old Continent to try and recover some of my heritage. To connect with my sister's spirit." His lips trembled, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "All I know is that Brash lied. Cicinnurus and I never trained Sheriff. Cicinnurus isn't even part of the League anymore."

Satina furrowed her brows. "But The Mayor talks about her all the time on the news."

His breathing caught in his throat, and Rob sustained Satina's piercing gaze. "To keep up appearances, no doubt. Today, he sure lied for the same reason." His jaw tightened. Léon was right—he should start watching the news.

"Why did you choose us, specifically?"

Rob forced out a chuckle. His throat and his eyes burned. "Because I needed to stay, and a group was my only option." His voice grew huskier. His words were dry, burning sand in a desert. "And because I saw you three in action once... and... you're pretty awful." It was like a handful of needles had been pushed down his throat. "I thought... I wouldn't need to make an effort... a-around you three."

Satina furrowed her eyebrows, fishing the card in her pocket. The blue shimmering darkened. "You're lying, dipshit." She held it in front of the man. "I want the truth!" Satina bent the card between her fingers. "Needling words hurt just as much as your lie," she whispered.

Bloody hell, the pain! Words, sharp like daggers, scraped his grey matter, grating his skull from inside.

"The truth. Now!" Satina shouted.

"Because..." He huffed, coughed, grunted. "Because Léon... helped me once." Rob breathed out. Shit. Shit! He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have!

"Keep talking," Satina said. Her eyebrows were raised, her arms dangling beside her thighs.

Iara should use Satina as her interrogator.

"I was hoping..." Rob raised his eyes. A lone tear ran down his cheek. "I was hoping you would help me again, Léon. But you... don't seem to remember me."