The flight back was as invisible as it was uneventful. Finn didn't always make a deliberate effort to conceal his passage over the megacity since he first achieved this ability, but tonight it felt appropriate.

Necessary, even.

He didn't know if he could've taken it if some other hero approached him right now. Which was also the reason he had forced himself to get up and leave after that dreadful fight he had just… won.

Yeah. Won.

Describing it with that word felt like crawling naked over broken glass, but it wasn't untrue. He had defeated Lyra. Forced her to retreat, and mutilate her body to do so. Using only a fraction of his full capabilities. No doubts about his strength.

So why hadn't he followed through?

He told himself he couldn't have chased her underground, except her time there would have been limited since she had to surface at some point. Yet he hadn't bothered to try. Due to his own hesitation. His wavering will. The disgust he felt at himself for hurting her that much when she left him with no choice.

The entire night was sickening. He wished he could forget it, despite knowing he never could. At no point had he ever cursed his perfect recall to this extent. She should have been with him now, voluntary or not, so he could help her. But all he had to show for it was a meaningless fight that didn't bring him any closer to getting her back. He still carried the remains of her mask with him in a pocket at his side.

He had beaten her up with no real solution in mind other than "he would figure it out." Obviously, this wouldn't have worked. He had just hated the thought of losing her again so much that he didn't want to risk her running away. Without the means to contain her properly to the point where Aiden's foreseen disaster wouldn't come to pass, however, he would have to simply conjure up a cure he didn't possess.

One that Cyrus and his entire organization didn't possess either, apparently. Sure, he now had the context to make an educated guess about Lyra's power taking over her body, but how did he stop that…?

Thinking back, he realized that the first and only instance of her power reacting badly to anything, was when Casey had tried to enhance it. What implications that held, he couldn't say for the foreseeable future. But potentially, that suppression ability could prove instrumental if he wanted to do something about this whole thing. Solve this mess. Honestly, there was nothing he wanted more. Just end his problems and be done with them.

Descending at a lethargic pace, he touched down on an empty side road and came to a stop. He didn't know why he hadn't gone home yet, it just didn't feel appropriate to do until he had some course of action. What was his highest priority at the moment? Lyra's safety. And she would be fine, physically. His recollection of the fight assured him of that. Like his, her physical form had surpassed its previous state. It meant he wouldn't have to worry about her health…

He worried anyway.

Impotent anxiety gnawed at him, and he was eventually forced to try and calm himself down with platitudes he knew were shallow but probably true. He had little success.

Enough to think, though. Somewhat. And that was sufficient. To move again, to act, to ruminate on the problem. So, he wanted to keep her safe. But he was quite confident in her ability to handle herself unless she got discovered, which he himself could confirm would be a trying undertaking to any who attempted it.

The next priority was finding a cure, and that would be extremely difficult, seeing as he didn't know a way. He didn't have the connections to other superhumans with a suitable power. His best bets were either Nar or one of the other major factions possessing one, and he was not eager to rely on Aiden anymore. Meaning he would have to pursue either Homeland, with whom he did not want to make deals of any sort, or some other group.

Would he have the time to find where to look? The Aegis store didn't have anything relevant, or they would have secured it. Artifacts were risky. And going back to Wanderlust's dimension for answers held no guarantee that he would get sent back to a better location if he came back. At least not with his gatekey.

There were no experts he could consult either, save for Jack. And his friend couldn't cover everything. Finn lacked the skills and understanding to handle the specialized investigation part of the operation too.

Flawless memory aside, he wouldn't become a trained physicist or lawyer by remembering all the text of the books he'd had in his range at one point or another. Just as an example. Knowledge didn't necessarily equate to understanding. And he didn't have the time to study that many professions in a matter of days or whatever the leftover amount of time was.

His fingers tightened around his biceps as he stood there with crossed arms, deep in thought.

Suddenly, another ping came from his mind. It was the periodic radar notification from his new mental assistant. During the fight, he had noted its usefulness. It could take over certain minor tasks that would save him a lot of time, but was that all it could do? A few months after he first started working on it, there was a sense of weight to the canine creature that it had lacked before.

He sighed, releasing a bit of the tension to address the matter at hand.

Strange, was how he would describe it. The thing needed a name, with how it was evolving. He supposed there was no avoiding it. After thinking about it for a minute, he settled on the right words:

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Adaptive Linkage Primary Heuristic Archive.

A.L.P.H.A.

He nodded to himself, and was surprised to sense in his mindscape that the wolf pup avatar was nodding right back. In approval. He could already see the calculations running in its systems as everything, including tiny details of its appearance that he had never added, began to clarify. Refine.

The identity was settling in, and it sucked in his colors like a singularity. Unceasingly, he felt it take his reality impression to levels he had never even scratched with outside help. But it was quite useless to them both at the moment, since there wasn't anything in the mental realm to defend against and he couldn't translate any of that to the material world.

Alpha's iridescent gaze didn't waver while he kept his awareness on the AI, it only began to walk around on four paws. Instincts he had idly implemented when he had started to round out the design. And it was using them, learning even beyond its usual tasks and taking the initiative. That action had been executed with zero prompting.

Finn found himself blinking in disbelief. It seemed he really had succeeded.

Something unique had been born.

*******

The last stretch before she surfaced was the most painful, feeling gravity affect her battered, bleeding body the slightest amount as she directed herself upward and flopped onto the concrete flooring of her base with all the grace of a dead fish. Blood pooled all over the hard surface and the impact sent spikes of agony through every nerve.

Wow, he really got her good!

Lyra had complete and utter faith in Finn, but he had still managed to blow her expectations out of the water. That fight had shown her the limits of her current power, and she had found herself lacking. Not that she was bitter about it, though yeah, maybe she'd been a bit annoyed at the start there. He really knew how to push her buttons.

Summitway steered him well, for one who didn't dare to attempt unification.

It felt odd hearing Worldsong give compliments to anybody, even a backhanded one. The otherworldly being had never seemed like the type to Lyra. But she was figuring out more on that front, with how they were drawing closer to each other after each passing day. Sooner or later, she would learn more.

She was a changed woman after the last time they met in her power's domain. Her body was stronger, faster, more in-tune with her own song. Even the notes were more apparent to her, guiding every melody to support her while she reached greater heights.

And it still hadn't been enough.

Conflicting thoughts and feelings warred within her. On the one hand, she felt pumped from being able to go all out. On the other, she wanted to go back because she missed her lov—

No. Focus on the notes.

Her mind blanked out, music starting to play in her head until the calm began to set in alongside the excruciating pain. She tried for a deep breath, only for it to devolve into a series of wet coughs.

"Boss!" she heard from the other side of the room. Huh? Oh, that was Xena coming into the austere backroom. And Hoodwink was trailing behind her. Why the surprise visit?

She tried to say "I'm fine," but managed nothing more than gurgling.

"Shit, what do we do?" asked short-haired villainess, alternating panicked stares between the shorter woman and the prone Lyra.

A shrug was all Xena got in reply, but Hoodwink did pull out a roll of bandages and held it out.

"What am I supposed to do with that!? Her face is caved in!"

"She's tough," said Hoodwink, and then remained quiet, reserved as ever.

There wasn't any more time wasted on words before the patch job started. Their only medic had died a few days ago, so this was all they had unless they wanted to pay credits for mercenary hospital services, an idea Lyra vetoed with a shake of the head.

That said, it didn't matter a whole lot, given that Lyra got up three seconds later, with great effort. She breathed a short laugh that dislodged some teeth, feeling her facial structure rearrange itself. Courtesy of her recent healing factor.

"I'll live, Bloodbrand. It's okay," she lisped, clutching her bleeding stump. The pain was getting worse with the adrenaline subsiding. Some of the worst she had ever felt, but not the worst. Top five, she'd say.

The room was silent for a few seconds as her subordinates took in her wounded visage.

"Boss, you uh," Xena began. "You really came for me. Didn't leave me alone."

"Alone?"

Xena nodded. "When I was cornered."

"By Shade?" A smile bloomed on Lyra's busted lips. "It would've been irresponsible to leave you there. And we had some catching up to do."

The older girl gave her a look. Those eyes were searching for something, some sign or expression. "He fucked you up, didn't he?"

In response, Lyra gestured at her face. And that was all the time she spent on that subject. As soon as she could walk properly, she marched off towards the door.

"Did you know?"

Lyra stopped short. That had come from the third occupant of the room. Hoodwink had actually spoken up a second time.

"Know what," she prodded, turning back around.

"The escape went wrong." Just a statement of fact.

If her eyelids weren't almost swollen shut, she would have squinted. "I wasn't planning to get caught, if that's what you're asking."

They held each other's gazes for a beat longer. Having gotten whatever she wanted out of that answer, Hoodwink bowed her head.

"Any other questions?"

The short illusion caster looked up again. "What about tomorrow?"

For a brief second, Lyra thought that over. She looked from one curious face to the other, masked one. To say she trusted these villains would be an ambiguous way of putting it, but she would have to let them know more of her game eventually. And they had the perfect timing for the next objective she had to tackle.

Motioning to clap her hands until she remembered she only had one, she announced, "We're going on a trip."

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