When the door opened, we followed a ramp down into the lower level and into the garage.

It didn’t look much different than it used to (even if it was bigger), or much different than any underground parking area in the world–concrete walls, floor, and ceiling. The one major difference from most parking garages was fairly easy to notice.

Kid Biohack stopped to stare at one of the corners. “Is that a fireman’s pole?”

Set slightly into the wall and enclosed three-quarters of the way around, the pole ran from the floor up to the top of the building. The last section was open and cushioned around the pole.

“Yeah,” I stepped out of the van.  “Each version of the building has had one.”

Kid Biohack said, “Each version?”

“It keeps on getting blown up.” I shrugged, though it might have been hard to tell through my armor.

Camille floated the guy on the floor out of the van. He was still unconscious. Travis had put handcuffs on him during the ride. They were new handcuffs made from my design. They adjusted to fit anybody–even people with limited shapeshifting abilities. Marcus could defeat them easily. Haley and Travis couldn’t.

As the man floated past Kid Biohack and toward the stairs, Camille looked around the garage. “I was here the last time the Rocket blew it up. It barely looks like the same place.”

Kid Biohack stared at me. “You blew it up?”

Not bothering to shrug again, but wanting to, I said, “We were being attacked by people we couldn’t beat. I blew up the building with them inside. It was designed to do that.”

His eyes widened. “Wait. Is this building designed to do that?”

No one said anything, and we walked up the stairs.

We walked out onto the first floor. Though Kid Biohack couldn’t know it, the decor matched our real, underground headquarters–crimson carpet, bare grey concrete on the walls and around the edges of the rooms. Black chairs and couches stood next to the walls. Darkened transparent aluminum had been used for the windows. We could see out, but people couldn’t see in.

“We could do this in the lobby,” Vaughn said. “Well, unless you want me to give everyone the tour.”

Travis snorted. “Yeah, that’s what we need right now. Let’s all sit down. Kid Biohack, do you have a way to wake this guy up or do we all have to wait till it wears off?”

Kid Biohack held his hand up to the side of his head and tapped a couple spots above and in front his ear. That struck me as an odd spot to put controls, but I supposed that if it wasn’t anything you’d need during combat, it might work.

Moving his hand away from his helmet, Kid Biohack said, “He’s about to wake up. I just checked when I knocked him out.”

I chose a couch and began to sit down. Haley sat down next to me, but held up her hand to get Camille’s attention. “Could you keep him floating and then move back so that the people who are good at hand to hand are closer?”

Camille grinned and took a chair further down the room. Travis’ glanced over at Camille, hesitated, but then sat down on the couch across from Haley and me. Kid Biohack sat down on the same couch as Travis, but about as far from him as he could, and probably only because Vaughn had already taken the other nearby chair.

A moan and then a series of coughs came from the floating guy, and then he leaned forward, stretching out with his hands to reach the ground.

This went as well as one might expect in zero gravity. He flipped over however many times it took for Camille to get tired of it.

On the third or fourth time around, he flipped upright and stayed that way.

I wished he had an actual costume or no costume. It would have made the whole thing feel less weird. A blue t-shirt and Detroit Tigers running shorts couldn’t be considered a costume but the mask put it halfway there. Also, it was  weird, or maybe strangely practical. It did cover most of his face, and to be fair, it did hide his face.

I couldn’t say anything for sure about him beyond that he was around college age, and he had hairy legs.

The man took a look around the room, and then looked up at the walls where one side showed pictures and articles about the history of the original Heroes’ League and the other showed pictures of us.

“Oh, shit,” he said, holding his hands up to the sides of his head. “Shit.”

Travis said, “That’s right. We caught you. We know you’re involved with Syndicate L and with the group who are robbing armored cars around here. We’re going to ask you some questions, and we’ll know if you lie. Let’s get started. Do you get in touch with the robbers or do they get in touch with you?”

The man shook his head. “I can’ t tell you that. Syndicate L said they’d go after my parents or worse if I told anyone what I was doing.”

Haley listened with her eyes closed, and only opened them as he stopped talking. “I think they contact him, and that he’s telling the truth about his parents.”