“What exactly are we looking for?” Mav asked. 

Maren’s glance was full of disbelief. “Serene’s hideout.” 

“I know that. But how do we know when we find it?” 

“I’d imagine all the terrorists residing in one place would give it away.” 

“No, I....” Mav looked at Maren, who tried to hide a little smirk. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“And I thought I was the dumb one.” 

Maren gave him a playful shove. “We’re looking for large, open areas.” 

Mav’s footsteps echoed in the wide hallway. “Found one.” 

“Larger spaces, Mav. Places that can hold maybe a hundred people.” 

“So, basements like the one we dropped into?” 

Maren nodded. “Only, with actual signs of recent life.” 

The room they’d entered from the abandoned warehouse had been similar to where they’d taken down Sekko’s monster. While most of the walkways had been intact, there’d been no evidence of people using it as a base. Therefore, they’d moved on, and spent the last hour wandering through dark tunnels. 

They reached an intersection. Maren pulled out her tablet and moved the map around with her finger. 

“Would you consider ‘people walking around’ as a sign of life?” Mav asked. 

“That would fit the description,” Maren said. 

Mav tapped her shoulder. “Then what about them?” 

A small line of people were walking down the right hallway, their backs turned. Maren looked up, blinked several times, then stowed her tablet. 

“Looks like Mav one, map zero,” Mav said. 

“There’s no competition between you and my map, Mav,” Maren said. 

“Sounds like something someone who rooted for the losing side would say.” 

“If anything, we only found people because my map brought us here.” 

“But we’d have missed them because you were looking down.” 

“It’s still what got us here.” 

“If it’s not a competition, why are you getting so defensive?” 

Maren’s reddening cheeks puffed. Mav two, Maren zero. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Maren muttered. “We need to follow them. Slowly. If they’re in Serene, they could lead us to their base.” 

Mav had never been great at stealth, but he followed Maren’s quiet lead. The group they tailed had three men and two women, talking to one another and thankfully not turning around; as dark as the tunnels were, they were completely visible in the hallways. 

The group turned right at an intersection, then a left, and another right. It was halfway down that corridor, however, where one of them glanced behind them. Mav pressed forward, but Maren grabbed his vest, holding him back. She had a point. Just because that woman glanced back didn’t mean that– 

The woman doubled-back, then exclaimed. 

“Go,” Maren said, releasing him. 

Mav dashed forward. “Flashfire Rocket!” 

The boom propelled him toward the group. Two of the men turned, reaching for weapons. Mav closed in on them first. He kicked the left-one’s sternum and chopped the other’s neck. Both fell to the ground, but the one he’d chopped landed on his knee and pulled out a knife. 

“Runner!” Maren called as she ran toward him. 

Past the third man and one woman, the second woman was charging down the hallway, away from Mav. The man on his knee slashed with his knife, but Mav kicked the man’s wrist, flinging the knife away. He punched the man’s temple, opening his other palm behind him. 

“Second-Smaller-But-Still-Effective Rocket!” 

The little blast pushed him between the man and woman approaching him. He dashed toward the woman, sounds of whipping water, kicks, and grunts filling the space behind. The woman was fast, but Mav had explosive energy to push him forward. 

He slammed into her back, shoving her into the ground. 

“Are you with Serene?” Mav asked. 

The woman’s head lolled, her eyes closed. She still breathed, thank the Flames, but she was in no shape to speak. 

“And I was having such a good streak, too,” Mav mumbled. 

He picked up the woman – who felt as light as a feather – and turned to Maren. At least she would be smart enough to keep one of them conscious. 

The woman attacking Maren leaped forward. Maren skirted to the side, evading the attack. But that brought the attacker’s head directly into the head of the man Maren held at bay with her water. Both collapsed, then lay still. 

“Curse it,” Maren said. “You’re rubbing off on me.” 

Mav lay the small woman next to the four other unconscious people. “Be a shame if they’re not Serene.” 

“Even if they’re not, they were doing something underhanded,” Maren said. “Else they wouldn’t have reacted so strongly just to us walking.” 

“What now?” 

“We follow where they were going.” Maren checked the map. “And pray it’s more or less a straight shot to their base.” 

Mav nodded, turning to go, but a flash caught his eye. A small, silver device peaked out of one of the men’s pockets. He picked it up, examining it. It looked very much like something he’d encountered in one of his training missions as a Peace Keeper. 

“Awesome,” Mav said. 

“What is it?” Maren asked. 

“A silent alarm,” Mav said. “Someone somewhere knows about us now.” 

Maren sighed. “And how’s that a good thing?” 

“We found Serene. When this happened before, I was ambushed minutes later.” 

“Again, how is that good?” 

Mav punched his palm, smirking. “Means another fight’s coming.”