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“I’m here.” Sullivan stepped towards her. “I told you I didn’t want to come to this party, didn’t I?” He caught her against his chest, as she flung herself into his arms. “I’m okay, Tej.” He kissed her. “I’m fine. But we have a problem: Vandal said his men killed Missy.”

“He’s lying. No one can kill Missy.” Teja scoffed, running her palms over Sullivan’s body to assure herself he was whole. “I’ll beat the truth out of him. Where is that asshole?”

“Decapitated.”

“What a fucking loser.”

“Yep. And while I also agree that he was a liar, Missy is clearly mixed up in something bad. I think she might have fought an army.”

“Of course she did. My daughter’s a Fire Phase!” Djinn, King of the Fire House strode in with his Match, Pele, and their three sons. They looked like gangsters, only bigger, crazier, and wearing Disney shirts. “She can fight ten armies and win. Hell, she did back in the Heat Kingdom War.”

“Whoever’s keeping Missy from us… we’ll find them.” Pele vowed. Her tone promised it would be an extinction-level event.

“Massacres will have to wait. First, this whole place needs to be burned.” Gion made a face at the exploded robots, and the severed body parts, and the completely unexplainable holes blasted in the roller rink’s foundation. “More humans will arrive soon, and they can’t investigate this.”

“Arson is against the law.” Sullivan protested, but even he seemed a little overwhelmed by the forensics nightmare facing them.

Melanie, Sullivan’s cousin and deputy, shook her head. “The CSI guys would have a field day, Sully. We’d never hear the end of it. This all has to go.”

“But then where will I host Job’s birthday party next year?” Tessie deadpanned, appearing next to her Match. “Hey, honey. Sorry, I took so long.” She wrapped an arm around Job’s waist. “I had to go to Orlando to find help. They were on the Dumbo ride.”

Job’s exasperated look conveyed just how “helpful” he found the Fire Phases, but he still pressed his lips to her temple. “Just so you’re safe, Tess.”

“She told us robots attacked, so we came right away. It’s kinda disappointing that you killed them all before we got here. Robots are fun to fight.” Pele poked in the rubble, hoping to find some surviving mechanical monsters to battle. “Uncle Frankie said our enemies were building robots, so we’ve been waiting for this. Didn’t he say that, D? At our Banishment trial?”

“He did say it …but Job wouldn’t listen.” Djinn agreed sadly. He always agreed with his Match, and he lived for opportunities to needle Job.

Tessie scoffed, because Frankie, of the Heat House was nuts and even the Fire Phases knew it. “Frankie says a lot of shit. Nine times out of ten, it’s delusional.”

“And one time, it’s robots!” Pele waved a triumphant hand towards Happy Applewhite’s metal corpse.

“Everyone should listen to us more.” Djinn agreed. “Especially Job.”

Job rose above the Fire House’s provocations and focused on the cleanup. “Even in pieces, the robots are a problem. Burn everything here. We’ll make sure Steve’s uncle Fred is generously compensated for the building.”

“We don’t take orders from you!” Djinn objected. “We’re goddamn Fire Phases. Only we can decide how to use our powers. And maybe we don’t want to burn this place to the ground. Did you even think about that, you presumptuous ass?” He made a disgruntled sort of sound, deeply offended by Job’s audacity. …Then he glanced over at his kids. “Burn this place to the ground.”

The other Fire Phases nodded, like the idea made perfect sense.

Job rubbed at his temples.

Kahn ignored the Fire Phase pandemonium, as he headed back to Randa. The Light Phases had finished deactivating all the force fields. Kahn had also stolen Gion’s new sword, because now it was his. His dark eyes moved over his Match, rechecking for injuries. “Sweetheart, are you still alright?”

“Still alright.” Randa smiled, looking giddy with relief. “I’m just so glad that you’re…” She broke off with a scream, as someone grabbed her.

Ben.

That little shit had survived?

Kahn had no idea where the human even came from. One second he wasn’t there and the next he was looming over Randa’s shoulder. Ben seized her around the waist, lifting her straight off the ground. Somehow his face was fixed and his clothes were clean again. All the features that Kahn destroyed were back to their normal handsomeness.

Having a male body behind her own instantly triggered all of Randa’s fears. Her powers were depleted from breaking the Light Phases out of their cages, so she couldn’t use them to free herself. But she was a warrior, so she fought anyway. She started yanking at Ben’s arm, and struggling against his chest, and kicking her legs trying to get loose. “Kahn!”

He ran for her, shoving people aside, but it was too late.

Ben smiled and jumped them away, vanishing with Kahn’s Match.

“Fuck.” He bellowed and fell to his knees in horror.