Scribe watched carefully as Panacea went from person to person, getting them into stable condition as fast as she could before moving on to the next person. Not even bothering to ask them permission now.

He looked down at the button in his hand. He knew what he was supposed to be doing, but he had to question it. Ever since he began working with Coil it felt more like he was working as a subordinate. He already had to do that enough with Whirlygig, he didn't appreciate doing it with someone actually competent.

I looked back up and saw Panacea was approaching the villains he was supposed to be watching. Phlegm, fresh out of Protectorate custody, was standing silently in the corner. He designed the pills and was here as a fail-safe in case the plan went wrong. He had been a good tool, Scribe had picked him well, but this was severely outside their normal operations. However, everything single time he used his power on Coil it always told him the same thing. Honest, trustworthy, good intentioned. It was strange, for a villain, but his power had never led him astray with anyone else. And they were getting good money for this.

Scribe took in a deep breath and let out a sigh before shaking his head. He watched as Panacea made her way towards the first target. One person after another, she edged closer and closer. Finally, she got to his bed. Scribe moved his finger over the button.

As soon as she touched the villain's open skin he pressed down. He died instantly as the Tinker pill went off. And if Phlegm was to be believed, destroying any trace of itself in the process. Panacea made a face and a dozen volunteer nurses rushed to see what was going on as the monitors started going off. Panacea visibly struggled for a moment, but ultimately had to let them deal with the dead man.

She moved on to the next few people, some heroes placed in between that last villain and the next one. But as soon as she touched the next villain down the line Scribe touched the button again. Just as he was told. The villain died and the exact same thing happened, only now she was beginning to panic as she couldn't bring them back.

When she eventually moved on to the next few people she was shadowed by a PRT agent.

It took longer for her to get to the last villain they had set up. Going over plenty of heroes and independents that had turned up. But as soon as she reached forward and touch the villain, Scribe pressed the button one final time. The sound of foam being launched from the PRT officer's tank filled the room and Panacea quickly became a spectacle for everyone to see. Scribe turned and walked out while everyone was distracted.

---

"Cheshire," Thomas Calvert stated, coming into the room with several dozen PRT agents behind him. Cheshire looked up from the pile of assorted gems she was looking through and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" She asked, raising a hand to her head to try to relieve the pressure of a headache. He resisted the urge to smile at that.

"Security footage shows you, with the assistance of Nova, illegally hacking into Cornucopia's computers. Data logs recovered shows proves that you copied and stole corporate secrets with millions of dollars."

"You're going to try and arrest me?" Cheshire asked, disbelievingly. "During an Endbringer truce? You're out of your mind."

"The record will show we arrested you after your teammate murdered three villains during the truce, leading to us uncovering that in the subsequent investigation."

"The record? That's bull and you know it." Cheshire paused and frowned, her headache building. "No… you and… You're the one that killed Aegis aren't you?"

Calvert turned his head and nodded to the officers before turning on his heel to walk out. The sound of foam filled the room behind him as he left.

Lung sat uneasy as Supesu skittered into the room with the unnatural way his body bent and moved. The creature crawled over to the table and deposited a pile of gems on the table.

"Nova's house is very unclean?" Supesu said with a happy nod. "So many gems everywhere, so many drawings. Supesu found a great many things he did."

"Any problems?" Lung asked with a growl, moving to look over the gems himself.

"Hmmm, just one," Supesu said in a sickly sweet raspy tone. Lung looked at him critically. "A certain man, hiding in the basement," Supesu clarified. "A man of tricks, a 'Max Clay' as you know him."

"The terrorist?" Lung asked seriously, lowering the gem he was examining. "What was he doing in Nova's basement."

"Supesu thinks they may have made nice, helped each other to help the other. Became friends."

"That is…" Lung shook his head. "What did you do to him?"

Supesu giggled and twisted his head completely around, his smile seeming to widen.

"Supesu want to put him in a supesu, Supesu did. But before Supesu did he asked if he wanted to see a magic trick. Of course, Supesu wanted to see a magic trick. So Max showed Supesu some card tricks. They were very fun. Then he held up a sheet and made himself disappear. Very clever. Much like."

"So he is gone." Lung stated. Supesu nodded happily. Lung let out a frustrated sigh, that was going to be a problem.

"Oh, and my barrier worked," Supesu said nonchalantly. Lung immediately snapped to attention.

"It did?" He asked. Supesu nodded happily and held up a bright red ruby.

"Yes, all the energy hitting the supesu became the energy in the gem, charging it more and more with every strike. Heat and radiation, all now more of the energy the original in the ruby." Supesu let out a belt of hissing laughter that sounded more like an old person going into a coughing fit.

Carefully, Lung took the ruby out of Supesu's outstretched palm. It was glowing incredibly brightly, seemingly filled with the same strange energy Nova emitted. He didn't quite know what could be done with it, but it very well might change things considerably. He might have to get a Thinker to help with.

At the very least, if played right it would be another reason to keep Nova off their back.

---

"Is he going to be alright?" Imp asked as she laid back lazily in the seat she was given. The nurse hung a new IV bag on the rack, and double checked the monitor reading Desh's condition.

"Probably," she said. "He got badly burned, but he's in stable condition now. Panacea will be by eventually and fix him right up. That is if the head nurse doesn't show up and wake him up with her nagging." The nurse chuckled to herself.

"Alrighty then," Imp said boredly. She glanced back at Desh. One side of his body had been badly charred, ruining his costume in the process. But seeing how his identity was already known, they didn't both giving him a new mask or anything. Of course, with all the bandages it probably wouldn't matter all that much.

At that moment, the curtains pulled back and revealed Grue standing behind it, Armsmaster and several PRT officers with him. Imp immediately got to her feet.

"Bro, what the hell?" Imp demanded.

"Ai- Imp," Grue corrected himself. "Look, I didn't want to do this but-"

"But what? You just really wanted to be an asshole?" Imp asked sternly, having more than a little suspicion where this was going.

Grue sighed and shook his head. "You can't be going out on your own."

"I wasn't on my own!" Imp protested. "I was with Nova. You know? Big unicorn pegasus that ripped the goddamned Simurgh in half!"

"Please, Imp, just make this easy for us," Grue asked desperately. Imp laughed at him.

"Heh, screw that!" She let her power flow over her and watched as the others looked confused. She grinned and moved to dart past them when she felt something prick her in the side and suddenly her whole body went stiff.

'The Tinker,' she realized as she fell. Then everything went black.

---

Shadow Stalker watched as Nova descended from the Crystal Tree, moving closer and closer to the Endbringer bunker they had been using as a medical station. She was toying with a combat knife she had managed to hold on to. It had come in handy during the fight. For various reasons.

She rose to her feet as soon as Nova got close, waving her down from the roof of the tall building just off to the side of the entrance of the Endbringer bunker. She saw Nova hesitate, then change course for her. She watched smugly as she landed carefully on the roof, her face clearly showing just how suspicious she was.

"You're friends aren't in there," Shadow Stalker said, crossing her arms as she did so.

"What do you mean?" Nova asked.

"I mean Cheshire and Panacea just got arrested by the PRT."

"They what?" Nova demanded, flaring her wings out and stamping her front hoof against the roof. It didn't even seem like she realized she did it. She wasn't happy.

"Apparently Panacea killed a few people," Shadow Stalker said as nonchalantly as she could manage. There was something about stand next to the alicorn that ripped the Simurgh to pieces that were unsettling.

"They think that learning her father and sister died sent her into a rage of sorts, made her kill three villains during the truce. You know, a Birdcage worthy offense."

"She wouldn't," Nova insisted. Shadow Stalker shrugged.

"Probably not, but they don't seem to agree."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Shadow Stalker smirked behind her mask. "Isn't obvious? I want to help."

"You?" Nova asked dryly. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious," Shadow Stalker asked, flipping the knife over in her hand. "The PRT has done nothing but try to screw you over, manipulate you, and fail to do its job. I don't want to work with them any more than you do. And besides," she sheathed the knife and grinned. "It would be the 'kind' thing to do."

She watched Nova's eyes narrow as she considered her critically. But she was fairly confident she already knew what Nova was going to choose. She likes having friends after all, even when it puts her in significant danger. Anyone paying close attention will have noticed it by now, all she had to do was leverage it correctly.

And it never hurts to be on the nice side of the angry alicorn.