Tommy was almost halfway back to his apartment when a shrill alert rang out from his phone.

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Tommy stopped dead in his tracks and pulled out his cell phone to see what was going on. There was an emergency alert blaring across his screen, and as soon as Tommy read what it was, he felt his mouth go dry.

Safety Alert: Heroes Dream, Flame, Rewind and {{user}} currently engaged with Siren, Blade, and Nemesis in the Warehouse District of South Bay. Avoid the area if possible. Collateral damage to be expected.

There was a button below the alert reporting live news footage, and Tommy tapped on it immediately. It took a second for his phone to load the video, but as soon as it did, his eyes went wide.

A news helicopter seemed to be circling a warehouse roof, where six figures were all engaged in different kinds of battle. Blade was battling Dream, the villain expertly matching the blows of the three floating swords Dream was using to attack him. Siren was fighting Rewind, the time-manipulating hero dodging every single blow Siren tried to use on him, and covering his ears before Siren could even get a single charm spoken word out.

And then there was Nemesis. She had Dream’s new sidekick, {{user}} pinned against what looked like some kind of water tower on the roof, but she wasn’t pinning them physically. It was clear they couldn’t move, but Nemesis was standing a few feet away, holding her hands out in front of her like she did when she was manipulating water.

Nemesis lifted one arm, and {{user}}’s arm lifted in mirror to it. Then, she lifted her other arm, and {{user}}’s arm did the same. Bile rose in Tommy’s throat as he thought of how reminiscent it was of a puppet being pulled on by invisible strings.

She was using her blood control again.