I almost needed to remind myself to breathe.

Trap or not, Mirage had exposed himself to us, and now I was going to do everything in my power to take advantage. Controlling my drones remotely wasn't a difficult task. I would pilot the designated leader and have the rest follow closely behind. The only challenge was pathing. With Sweepers and Walkers patrolling Bayside twenty-four-seven, I couldn't risk running into them.

I was forced to play cat and mouse, flying my drones low through the streets with their camouflage modules active. The drain on the power was significant, but this was supposed to be a quick operation. Reaching New Market with the drones would take around ten minutes since I was forced to go through the streets. Without Ajax around, I could have reached my destination in a quarter of that time. The return trip would be similar, but I wasn't counting the time needed to actually execute the mission. Moving around with the camouflage modules active meant I had about half an hour of power, down from the usual nine hours.

I needed to be quick.

"Is he still there?" I asked.

"Still there," Mia replied with clear uncertain tension in her tone. "He doesn't seem to be in any hurry. He's talking with one of the cooks, so he could be there all night."

I turned to look at Sam, finding her standing in front of the whiteboard I used to keep notes on while my supercomputer upgraded. She was drawing up a lightly detailed map of New Market, marking all the possible routes Mirage could take and his current position. "It's forty-five minutes till curfew. Shops will be closing up soon to give locals enough time to get home," Gold said, not bothering to hide how displeased she was with the situation. "He's not stupid enough to drive, he knows much of an easy target that will make him. He'll be walking, which means there's at most a thirty minute window for him to get somewhere. Depending on when he starts, his speed, and his direction, I'll be able to determine where he'll go."

Wherever he went, we would be able to follow. I wasn't that far away from New Market and he had yet to move.

"What if he's not there?" Liam asked, looking around. Mia and I gave him a confused look while Sam considered his words. "This guy messes with people's heads, right? What's stopping him from… I dunno, tricking Mia's statues?"

I shook my head.

Mia's statues were a hundred percent material. Until Mia switched into one of them, they lacked anything biological, which is what Sam speculated Mirage needed to use his power on. Sensory manipulation required nerves that connected to the sensory receptors in the brain. Without those, his power wouldn't work.

However, we never considered the depth of Mia's power. Her senses were clearly linked to her statues otherwise she wouldn't be able to see or hear through them. Would Mirage be able to manipulate them on that basis alone? If that was the case, then we really were willingly walking into a trap.

"Even if Mirage is capable of manipulating her statues, his power still requires some proximity. He's in New Market, that much we know for sure," Sam said, tapping the whiteboard marker on her chin. "He's shown his hand and now he's going to reap the consequences… assuming we can locate him. Max, how far are you?"

"Three minutes," I said. "It's been a hassle avoiding the Walkers."

Sam's attention flicked to Mia.

"Still there?"

Mia shrugged, seemingly disheartened that whatever she was looking at might be fake.

"Yeah, still there."

"Alright then," Sam turned back to me. "It's up to you. Don't fuck this up and for God's sake, do not open fire into the cro—"

"Fuck off, I'm not stupid enough to open fire into a crowd just to put this guy down," I cut her off with a glare. The fact she even had the audacity to imply that I would consider something like that in front of Lucy angered me. "I'll find him, tail him, and strike when an opportunity presents itself."

"Why are you guys so fixated on him?" Lucy asked, still confused. "The Cains are finished."

"Mirage is the guy that dragged me into this mess," I replied. "Remember when I told you that I got jumped and you figured out it was The Cains? It was this guy," I explained. "Him and Banshee know what I look like and that puts me and everyone I know in danger. Until they're dealt with, my identity is always going to be at risk."

I watched Lucy's expression become tired. She had been around Pandora enough to know what this all meant. We weren't Pandora, and I had no intention of becoming anything like them, but Mirage was too dangerous to allow free. If The ECU captured him they would be knocking on my door within the hour.

"So the only answer is to kill them?"

"Don't pretend like there's another way," Sam said off-handedly. "We don't like it either, but there's only one way to deal with people like Mirage. Banshee's a different story, Gold thinks she can be reasonable, but she's got a grudge against us and can likely be driven away. Mirage though? That guy is cracked."

"Oh," Lucy's face twisted. "He's one of those?"

"Yup," Sam's lips thinned. "Though if I said this wasn't personal, I would be lying."

"He was the one who made it personal," I clarified. "He's got some kind of weird obsession and we have no idea why. He's unpredictable and that makes him dangerous," I watched my drones fly into New Market. Just like last time, stalls dotted the streets with hundreds of people going about their business. There were a lot less than last time with the upcoming curfew. From the looks of it, most of them were on their way home. "I'm here."

"He's still at the stand." Mia said.

All eight of my drones carefully scanned the area, hovering above the crowd. It didn't take me long to find Mia's statue, and when I did, my heart sank.

"No he's not."

"He's… But he's right there!"

The stand Mirage was allegedly sitting at was empty and had closed down for the day. Mia's statue was inconspicuously sitting between the street food stalls looking like an impressive ornament with circlets of flowers around its neck, and a rolled-up sheet of paper slipped between its fingers. The moment I saw the paper, I knew it had all been a setup.

"He's baiting a response," I replied, doing my best to keep my cool. "There's no way he knows I'm here, so we still have the element of surprise. We know what he's trying to do and his power works by proximity," I said, directing my drones to continue scanning the area. Mirage had to be around here somewhere if he was interfering with Mia's statue. "He's around here somewhere."

Lucy shook her head, unable to make much sense of the situation.

"Mirage was never on Pandora's radar. They thought he was just another unimportant underling to Grim. Even Nemesis and Gold Rush had higher priority than this guy."

"Higher priority?" Liam frowned. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Mirage never attacked Pandora, so outside of his affiliation with The Cains, he wasn't very notable." Lucy rubbed her chin as she wracked her brain. I was only half paying attention because my primary focus was on the camera footage from the drones. "I never really thought about it until now, but I don't think I've ever heard of Mirage being involved in anything related to Pandora. As far as I know, Dad and the rest of the Bayside branch don't have a clear understanding of his powers – they just know he's a Mentalist."

"Probably intentional on his part," Sam explained. "He's capable of interfering with Gold, which has made it incredibly difficult to read him. However, his pattern of behavior is something I can interpret and extrapolate from. Max and I have suspected for a while that Mirage has been playing his own game, and I'm beginning to think he played a big part in orchestrating the conflict between The Cains and Pandora."

As I listened, my frustration began to build. Every minute that passed was one less I would be able to spend chasing the bastard. I needed to leave enough time to get my drones back here to charge, otherwise I would risk having to go out and retrieve them.

"I'd believe it," Mia said, staring off into space. Her statue was still listening to the illusion Mirage was projecting, but that didn't make his mannerisms inside his projection any less him. The strength of his power was not knowing you were caught in it. So what Mia was listening to was exactly how Mirage came across. "He sounds like the type, and he's got that look about him," I saw her shudder.

That arrogant, confident glint. I knew what she meant. It boiled my blood just thinking about it.

"He's just one guy though," Liam said.

"You'd be surprised what one person is able to accomplish," Lucy said, and Sam nodded in agreement. "All it takes is someone determined enough to upset the balance. The very first Evohumans did that just by existing. The entire world had to change, and here we are over half a century later still adjusting."

Sam pulled up a chair and dropped back into it, crossing one leg over the other, staring at the whiteboard marker between her fingers.

"It never occurred to me why Grim would just go out and massacre a Pandora gathering," her gaze lifted and locked on Lucy. "I don't imagine you know much about it either. I bet even Pandora never figured out what provoked it."

Lucy quietly nodded.

"Dad was furious. He wanted to crucify every person that dared to associate themselves with the gang, string them up publicly in the harbor, and then burn them," Lucy said, and everyone including myself felt sickened by the image. "Liberation was the one that reigned everyone in."

Liam pursed his lips, nodding.

"Yep, that sounds about right. Right up Pandora's alley. I'm kinda surprised there wasn't an immediate revolt."

"My house burning down was the last straw," Lucy grimaced. "Given my dad's power everyone thought we were being mocked and Liberation couldn't stop it then."

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"But that was all later on. What set Grim off initially?" Mia asked. "We know he had some kind of deal with The Iron Maiden, Masquerade, and Splicer. What caused him to go massacre a bunch of Pandora followers?"

"Misinformation delivered directly to Grim, courtesy of Mirage," Sam's expression twisted. "Max and I hit one of The Cains' safehouses which Mirage just so happened to be at. I'd scouted the place earlier and noted there could be some value in robbing the place, so we did. I had no way of knowing Mirage was stationed there to help guard Mechatech Masquerade had delivered to Grim."

"Wait a second," Liam said, pointing at me and Sam. "So, all this started because you guys robbed the giant living murder cloud?"

"If you want to put it like that, sure, be my guest," Sam replied sardonically. "There isn't zero cause for events like these. Sure, there are catalysts that light the fuse, but this was inevitable at the end of the day. No matter what, Mirage would've found a way to convince Grim to go on the offensive. Grim wanted to get back what was stolen, and by the time he realized Mirage had duped him, it was already too late."

I heard a growl bubble out of Lucy's throat as her expression turned dark.

"So, it's all this guy's fault then."

"Like I said, he's a big factor. Not the only factor," Sam said. "I have no reason to doubt that Cyberspace wasn't meddling. Same with The ECU and Queen's Court. See, that's the thing about all this," her gaze shifted to Mia and the older girl lightly flinched under the piercing gaze. "All this is just a game if you think about it. It's a cruel, fucked up game where people – evohuman and regular alike – are taken advantage of, manipulated, and murdered for power and security. The only winners are the people with the guts to play, not the ones who refuse."

That's what made Mirage truly dangerous. Banshee might be able to catch me off-guard with her powers if I wasn't careful, Bonesmith might be able to cut through my armor, and Wildfire could potentially roast me alive… but they weren't players. They were followers, dancing to the tune of those above them. Mirage wasn't like that, and he could never be like that.

Little fish… we all started off that way, making small ripples. If we survived long enough to grow, we would be able to make waves, making currents of our own to pull along the smaller fish that got caught. Mirage wasn't a little fish anymore, and neither was I.

"I got him."

One of my cameras caught him a fair distance away from Mia's statue. He was leaning on a wall dressed in a ripped jacket and trousers. He didn't stand out but he didn't conceal his face either, so my identification software snagged him without much difficulty. I had to restrain myself from giving the command to turn him into a leaky blood bag because of all the civilians around, but it was getting closer to curfew.

My drones wouldn't last until then. I could only spare another seven or eight minutes unless I wanted to park them somewhere to retrieve later, but that was betting on them not being found overnight.

"He's… still at the stall for me," Mia said, unable to hide how frustrated Sam's words made her. "I guess my powers are susceptible to his illusions."

"Max—" Sam started, but I cut her off quickly.

"I won't, as much as I want to," I said. "But my drones can only use the active camo modules for so long. I've got seven minutes left before I need to direct them back here. If we're going to do something here, it needs to be quick. I can put him down right now…"

"Too much risk. It'll cause a commotion and that'll draw Sweepers and Walkers to investigate. They'll destroy your drones and link them back to us," Sam explained. "Mirage knows exactly what he's doing. He's testing to see if we'll take the bait."

The compulsion to pull the trigger just to punish him for this arrogant display had never been stronger. I was almost willing to risk the consequences if Lucy hadn't been in the room. The rest of us would be able to handle ourselves if our base of operations became compromised. We at least had a chance to escape – even if they were slim. I couldn't put Lucy in that kind of danger.

"Tricky bastard," I sneered. "Mia, have you got your statues at every exit?"

"Yeah… but I'm not sure how helpful I'm gonna be when he can mess with them."

"That might have given us away, if you're moving about he can probably tell, so he knows we're making a move," Sam added.

"Shit." Mia swore.

"What's done is done," I took a breath and contemplated moving my drones away from Mirage and parking them on nearby rooftops to conserve the remaining power. At least that way, they wouldn't be moving and using unnecessary power. Only the camouflage modules would be drawing power, which should give me more time. "I'm moving away from the area. I've got a lock on him so I can watch him from standby."

Seconds after I started moving the drones, a commotion broke out in the street below. I watched with one of my drones as a small brawl broke out. It started off small but only seconds passed before people all around joined in.

"Something is happening," Mia sucked in a breath.

The drones I had locked onto Mirage showed him moving.

"He's moving," I said.

"What direction?" Sam asked.

"East."

Sam immediately stood up and began tracing lines on the whiteboard. My gaze flicked between her drawings and Mirage's trajectory. She went from drawing lines to circles, trying to predict intended destinations with Gold's input. As long as I relayed the right information, we could take him out without causing a scene to implicate us.

Ahead of him, another fight broke out, and he changed direction.

"South now."

Sam grunted, wiping away all her predictions so she could begin drawing new ones.

"What's happening?" Liam asked.

"Mirage is causing fights to break out," I shook my head. "I haven't a clue why. Maybe it's entertainment, I wouldn't put it past him."

"If he's causing all this commotion, isn't that like a free ticket to… you know…" Liam placed two fingers against his head to mimic a gun and pretended to shoot. "With all the fighting, no one would notice until your drones are long gone, right?"

I nearly agreed. On the surface it made sense, but at the same time, Liam didn't have the full picture. It was only large groups of people fighting. Not everyone was being pulled into his illusions. There were enough pedestrians that would take notice if his head was turned into red mist.

"Too risky. Not everyone is fighting. Someone will notice and—" Mirage changed direction again. "West."

"Is he…?" Sam muttered under her breath. There was a notable pause after she wiped away all the predictions she was making. We all watched her carefully as she dotted Mirage's current movement pattern before circling an intersection he was heading toward. "Let me know if he turns here. If he goes North, both of you get out of there."

I watched with a careful eye as Mirage moved about the increasingly agitated crowd. He just looked like he was out for a casual stroll, eyeing up the stalls he passed as chaos erupted all around him. Sure enough, when he reached the intersection Sam circled, he turned and walked north.

"He's gone north."

It suddenly occurred to me why Mirage was starting the fights. With the frequency and the areas he was doing it in, everyone with half a brain would recognize it was a Super. The people Mirage wasn't affecting would call it in. The ECU would pick up on it and send Sweepers and Walkers to investigate.

"Fucker!" Sam tossed her whiteboard maker across the room. "He's walking in circles. Mirage is starting the fights to draw attention to the square. Everyone not under the influence of his power will be calling it in."

"Yeah…" I scowled. "I figured that would be the case."

"There's a—"

"I see it," I cut Mia off.

I commanded my drones to retreat in the opposite direction, just in time to dodge the Sweepers that darted into the airspace above New Market. Lights bathed the chaos below, and my drones picked up a popping noise. Smoke erupted in the areas with the most chaos, pacifying the civilians trying to tear out each other's throats. I watched them fall over like ragdolls, unceremoniously hitting the ground.

My lock-on to Mirage showed him moving out of the way of all the gas, and my aggravation reached its peak when I lost my visual on him because of it. He disappeared, slipping out from under our thumb because he knew we weren't insane enough to start a fight amongst all the civilians. For a moment, I almost detested my morality and figured whatever collateral damage would have been worth it if it meant I was able to do away with him permanently.

"I lost him," I said, surprising myself with how much vitriol came out with every word. "Disappeared, he used the gas as a cover."

"He's got guts," Lucy mused. "Starting all that just to draw you guys there to try and incite a fight with Ajax? He's insane!"

"You're telling me," Mia muttered. "You didn't have to listen to his illusion."

"We just gotta wait till he slips up. He got lucky," Liam said. "We almost had him here. He doesn't realize how close he was to becoming a red smear on the pavement."

"No," Sam shook her head. "He picked the battleground and made his play. He put himself in that position because he knew if we acted in the way he hoped, it wouldn't end well for us. He's more than willing to throw his life away if it means we go down with him. There's no waiting till he slips up because he is smart enough not to put himself in a position where he could. Someone who has the ability to trick Gold isn't someone to just—"

I kicked the table in front of me in a flash of white rage.

All this talking and all we had achieved was knowing that even on his own Mirage was capable of making us look like fools. I jumped at the opportunity to bring him down and almost fucked it up. I needed him dead for my own peace of mind, but I was struggling to figure out ways to achieve that.

I couldn't do it with my own hands because I couldn't trust my own senses. Range was his counter, I could kill him remotely, but only when I could find him. He needed to be exposed for me to be able to deliver that killing blow, and apparently, he was far too intelligent to allow himself to make that kind of mistake. He only did this because if I took the shot, Ajax and The ECU would rain down hell on us for open firing at civilians.

What option did that leave me?

Time was in my favor because I knew I would eventually drive him out into the open with my tech, but with Ajax here, I was severely limited. I could tag him with a remote explosive or a slow-acting poison, but I would have to develop those first and then wait for the next opportunity.

What made it worse was that Mirage probably knew all that and was using it to his advantage.

I could have ended it right then, sniping him right in the middle of that crowded street. It would be over quickly, I probably would have been able to get my drones back to base before Ajax's Walkers and Sweepers intercepted them. However, that would have left a telling crime scene, and I had every certainty ECU Mentalists would link it to me. Even if I somehow stumped their Mentalists, I wasn't going to gamble on Ajax's ability to figure out what happened.

I imagined he would know what 'assassination by a drone' would look like.

"...Max?" Lucy's tone was full of apprehension.

I ignored her and turned to Mia.

"What did the note say?"

The gas that covered New Market would have obscured enough of the area for her statue to get out of there like Sam said, but it then occurred to me that Ajax's war machines could probably see through all the smoke easily. Regardless, I looked to Mia for an answer.

Mia looked apprehensive, and I knew immediately she had seen what was written.

"Max—"

"Tell me."

I wasn't asking.

Mia took a shaky breath and steeled herself.

"I don't know what it says. It's written in Spanish."

Sam turned on her heel and marched over to where she had thrown the whiteboard marker. Once she retrieved it, she returned and handed it to Mia without saying a word. Wordlessly, Mia took it and stepped up to the whiteboard. She hesitated for a few moments before scribbling down the characters. I had a basic translation function in my visor, so it translated the words as she wrote them.

It was a single sentence, and all I could see was red.

I translated it for everyone else.

"Only little fish go for bait this small."

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