If you asked eleven-year-old Emma Payson where she saw herself in five years, she most definitely wouldn't have seen herself shoved into an air duct sneaking through the company headquarters of one of the richest people in the world.

But Phoenix had brushed it off, she said it wasn't anything to worry about. But Emma and her little brother knew that someone had to do something, so sixteen-year-old Nightingale found herself crawling through the ventilation shaft of N-Corp with her brother.

Starling stopped next to the small, slotted vent, looking out at those below. "We could have just snuck in with the tour group." He said.

Nightingale shook her head as she reached an intersection in the vents, leading forward up, and down. Tour groups only went around the first two floors, to the "public" labs. If she and Starling were right, what they would be looking for wouldn't be showcased on the tour, and they couldn't risk being caught on camera sneaking off-tour.

"You're the one who wanted to show Phoenix we could do this, but we're doing it my way, okay?" She told him, holding out her hand to him. Starling nodded, taking her hand and squeezing. He gripped his short cape in his hand, rubbing the fabric between his gloved fingers

Nightingale pulled out her grappling gun, aiming into the darkness above. However, instead of stopping ten or so feet overhead, the magnetic grapple kept going up and up and up, until it finally stopped, at the end of the thousand-foot steel cord previously wound up tightly inside the grappling gun.

"What's taking so long?" Starling asked. He almost started to tap the wall impatiently, but thought better of it, tapping on his knee instead.

Nightingale bit her lip. "That's strange. This duct goes...up."

"To the second floor?" Starling persisted.

She shook her head. "Much, much higher."

"But it's only got four floors!" He insisted.

"That's what I thought. Hold on!" Starling gripped Nightingale's arm as they shot upwards, the cord pulling them at near breakneck speed.

Nightingale hit the brake that Phoenix had thoughtfully installed, and they crawled up onto the vent for the fiftieth-something floor.

"How did he hide this?" Nightingale leaned over the edge they'd just crawled over, looking down, and then up.

"There's still at least five more floors, this is taller than most buildings in Vegas. Planes would run into it if he just put cloaking technology on it."

"Maybe he used a pocket dimension?" Starling suggested.

"Yeah, like that's plausible." Nightingale snorted and peered out a vent. It was too dark to see from inside the vent, so ascertaining there was no one in the vicinity to hear, she kicked the vent off and crawled out.

"There's also the question of why Nathaniels needs his vents that big."

Most buildings upgraded to smaller ventilation systems to keep out criminals (and unwanted sneaking heroes), but companies with a high employee count required larger vents to keep the building at a regulated temperature. With Nathaniels' N-Corp being rather small, and an average employee count, it was almost foolish to have vents that big, but Walter Nathaniels was no fool.

The room was humid, hot, like someone leaning over your shoulder and breathing in your face. Pink bubbles covered the walls, swelling and shrinking in an enchanting disharmony The ground Emma walked on was red, and slightly squishy, which made the soles of her boots leave pinkish imprints in the floor that quickly faded.

Starling's face was slightly green.

"This place feels...alive." He whispered. Nightingale could only nod, and for a second, she thought that she smelled blood.

She slowly turned, searching for any security cameras that may have spotted them, and when her gaze returned to Starling, she was puzzled at why he was now smiling.

"Cool, Nightingale, look, birds!" He pointed over her shoulder

Nightingale's head whipped around, the hair from her ponytail slapping at the mask covering her eyes. The birds were angular, a bile green and grey color, and they were approaching too fast for something of their size.

"Starling, get down!" She pushed her brother into the floor, which was squishy enough that it didn't hurt when they smacked against it. The attack birds dive-bombing technique almost missed them, but one of their beaks sliced through the shoulder of her uniform, nicking her shoulder.

Nightingale was shocked, but not by the blood. Meshtex was a fabric of Phoenix's own design. Nothing could break through it. What were these birds made of? With the unnatural feel of the building, it could be anything.

This time, when the attack birds came around, Nightingale pulled Starling to his feet, reaching for the disc-shaped projectiles in her belt. Starling drew his dual batons, but neither weapon was needed.

A word Nightingale had never heard before echoed down the hall for a split second, and the birds froze in mid-air before vanishing altogether.

"Ha!" An unknown voice declared triumphantly. "I told you I sensed something off about this place, Joan!"

A girl with hair as energetic and wild as her voice popped out from behind one of the larger bubbles, followed by a skinnier girl almost two heads taller.

"Hi!" Starling waved enthusiastically.

Nightingale didn't put her staff down. "Who are you guys?" She snapped, bracing herself for a fight. How did two- apparently normal- civilian girls get this deep into N-corp all on their own?

"I'm Roxanne," Said the girl who had spoken, "this is my sister, Joan. And you two are Nightingale and Starling!"

Nightingale looked down at the symbol on her chest- a violet bird with its wings spread- as if she needed a reminder. The design of Starling's suit was similar- gray meshtex, black boots and gloves, a handy belt with tons of pouches filled with all sorts of items Phoenix had invented, and a simple black mask crisscrossing over his eyes. The only difference was that the bird symbol on his chest was yellow, rather than purple.

After finishing "vigilante boot camp" (Phoenix had served in the military for several years before her parents died), Phoenix had gifted Nightingale and Starling with the costumes she'd made herself, echoing her own.

Nightingale glanced back between the plump, dark-skinned girl, and the lean, pale girl. Aside from the color of their hair, they looked nothing like siblings. Then again, she looked almost nothing like her brother, so who was she to judge?

"What are you guys doing up here?" She asked, still not lowering the discs. She was willing to throw if she needed to protect her brother.

"You mean down here." Joan corrected.

"Huh?" Nightingale asked.

"Above the third floor, there's a portal that sends you below ground. What seems like the "top" fifty floors of this building are hidden in a magic portal below ground so no one can find them!" Roxanne said.

"I told you it was a pocket dimension!" Starling punched Nightingale in the shoulder.

"How do you know that?" Nightingale asked Roxanne, still not convinced.

"Oh! Our dad is Officer Chance." Roxanne chirruped, almost casually.

Aside from being one of the top, if not the top, detective on the west coast, Officer Chance was the only member of Phoenix's Crusaders of Justice that had a public identity. He was a cop for those of Los Angeles California, and the supernatural Netherworld. He was a sorcerer, which meant that his daughter most likely was too.

Fear struck Roxanne's face for a split second. "Is Phoenix with you? You won't tell him we're here, will you?"

"No, no, Phoenix isn't here, we came on our own. This...this..." Nightingale bit her lip, glancing at Starling. "We weren't exactly...authorized, to investigate. Starling here had a hunch and he knew I wouldn't let him go off and do this on his own, so here we are."

"I knew something was off here! I knew it, I knew it!" Roxanne punched her fist in the air.

"So you're really Roxanne? You're Officer Chance's daughters?" Nightingale asked. She knew everything about Chance and Phoenix's other allies in the Crusaders of Justice. Phoenix was constantly telling Nightingale that she should be prepared to lead the Crusaders one day.

"I'm adopted," Joan clarified, rubbing her arms awkwardly. She looked up at the ceiling, clearly searching for a change in conversation.

"We didn't expect the place to be as big as it actually was. It's taking forever."

"Neither did we," Nightingale said, "but with four of us we can cover twice as much ground and share what we find!"

"Hi!" Starling said again.

Nightingale briefly brushed his shoulder to assure him. "They heard you, Starling."

Joan took a moment to acknowledge Starling nonetheless. "It's nice to meet you, Starling. So how are we gonna do that? Do you guys have communicators?"

"Yeah, I can give you mine, Starling and I will use his," Nightingale pulled the tiny earpiece- another one of Phoenix's creations- out of her ear, making sure Joan received it and helping her place it in her own ear.

"Careful, don't lose it, or Phoenix will hunt you down." She warned.

"Hi!" Starling waved at the wall.

"Is something wrong, Starling? They said they heard you. Is it something else?"

"They heard me, but he didn't!" Starling pointed at something down at the darker end of the hall, next to the vent where he and Nightingale had popped out.

The girls immediately went on the defensive. Joan whipped out a knife, Roxanne's hands glowed to herald a magic spell, and Emma pulled out her discs again.

"Who's there?" She shouted, becoming rather frustrated with the frequent interruptions.

The young man who eventually stepped out of the shadows wasn't wearing the typical N-corp security uniform, but his suit did appear to be enhanced with some sort of cloaking device that he powered down at their request.

"It appears that I am not the only one investigating N-Corp," He mused, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Jeez, it's getting crowded in here. Who are you?" Joan lowered her arms, but the dagger stayed out

He saluted the four in a manner that might have been casual under different circumstances. "I am Lord Joseph, Champion of Alexandria. My Queen assigned me to investigate the strange surface-worlders who breached our territory and poached our creatures"

"By Alexandria, I'm guessing you don't mean the town in Virginia with the train station and Robert E Lee's memorial," Nightingale said.

"Wait," Roxanne stepped forward, gently pushing past Nightingale and her sister. "You're really from Alexandria? The Alexandria? The sunken city of Alexandria?"

"Yes, that is where I am from." Joseph nodded, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"That is so freaking cool!" Roxanne squealed. She bounced around a bit out of excitement, all thoughts of the delicate situation at hand temporarily fleeing her mind.

"I have so many questions about that place," Nightingale tilted her head back and forth, trying to think of them all at once.

"The library, ask him about the library!" Roxanne said, shaking her by the shoulder.

"The library, along with all its thousands of priceless tomes, is still intact. As is the Palace and the lighthouse." Joseph said automatically, almost as if he expected those questions.

"And the magic? Is it true that you combined magic and science to save the city while it sunk?" Roxanne's eyes glowed happily.

"Well, I was not yet born at the time the city was almost destroyed, but magic and science alike were, in fact, employed to save Alexandria from certain destruction. I myself have almost completed my own training in such arts."

Joan almost smiled. "Wow, that really is amazing."

"Thank you," Joseph nodded to Joan, Roxanne, and Starling, before turning to Nightingale. "I heard you saying you had information on illegitimate dealings of N-Corp?"

Emma took a moment to remember why she and Starling wound up here in the first place. "Ah- yeah, well, my mentor does, and I've got a copy of everything." She pulled the datapad out of her belt and activate the projector, making it easier for everyone to see the display.

"Walter Nathaniels has several shell companies which just barely skirt within the law, particularly laws affecting the environment, such as zoning and fishing and hunting and deforestation. Phoenix has information that connects N-Corp to several poachings in East Africa, but she didn't quite make the final stretch to confirm it. That's just one of the many things we're hoping to find evidence of here." Nightingale explained carefully, making sure everyone understood.

"Now I'm no mage," Joan said, suddenly deciding to add to the conversation, "I'm just here to keep Roxie from doing something too stupid, but she did say that she felt a sort of magical interference surrounding this place."

"The portal was just the beginning of it," Roxanne elaborated, "Now that I'm here I'm getting all sorts of magical energy. There's no way any of this is legal. My dad is a cop for both natural and supernatural stuff. A portal that big, and that constant has to be registered with the magical community, but N-Corp has no records of connection with the magical community at all." She rattled off in rapid succession, trying to make sense of it all.

"What of those overfishing deals?" Joseph asked anxiously.

"Hi!" Starling spoke up again.

Nightingale tried not to groan as everyone started to overwhelm her with information. "Sam, you are welcome to say "hi" as many times as you want, but keep it-"

A laser shot past her face. Joan barely managed to dodge.

Nightingale pulled Starling towards her, throwing a flashing smoke bomb at the sudden army of guards to distract them. They couldn't go back out the vent, it was too small, it would be too slow.

"Hey! This way!" Joan shouted. Nightingale glanced in her direction. Joan and Roxanne had managed to find a small door previously hidden by the swelling bubbles.

Nodding to Joseph, the three sprinted across the hall, dodging the wild and confused firing, in order to make it to Joan and Roxanne before the bubbles grew back. As an extra precaution, Joseph slammed the door shut behind them

"Great, now they'll all be looking for us." Joan kicked at the door.

"I messed up again, didn't I?" Starling asked Nightingale.

"It's okay, Starling, you're still learning," Nightingale reassured him quickly, they didn't have much time to waste.

"I would've triggered an alarm sooner or later. At least we don't have to worry about when we're gonna trigger it anymore." Roxanne pointed out lightheartedly.

The room they'd found was plenty spacious, but dark, except for the soft blue glow of a computer screen "Can any of you access this?" Joseph asked, staring at the screen. One blinking word appeared over and over. "PASSWORD".

Nightingale smiled proudly, pushing her little brother forward. "Starling's a world-class hacker! He can get into anything electronic!"

A smile grew on Starling's face, and he launched himself at the computer. His hands flew over the glowing keys as he connected his datapad to the mainframe. You wouldn't have guessed he was downcast just a moment before if you looked at him now.

"Wow, look at him go." Joan watched, impressed. Roxanne and Joseph, probably the most powerful of the group, agreed to stand guard at the door, though they couldn't hear anything through it due to how thick it was. Nightingale didn't know if that was a good thing or not. It was probably a little of both.

A moment later, Starling ceased his furious typing, scrolling through lines and lines of code.

"Okay, we got records of illegally imported seals and lionfish, which would be what Joseph's looking for, and there appear to be the aliases of several noted warlocks on payroll, which would be what Roxanne was sensing."

Joseph's eyes went wide. "You found all of that at once?"

"Yeah, here!" Starling tossed him a flash drive. "That should have all the evidence against N-Corp that your queen needs!"

Nightingale grinned at Joseph, their newfound friend still shocked. He mumbled appreciatively, giving the smaller boy a grateful smile.

"What else did you find, Starling?" Roxanne prompted, leaning over to try to see.

As the files copied to the hard drive, he pulled up a blueprint of the building that included all fifty floors. "Apparently the map says "we are here". He zoomed in and pointed "here" out, "-in a connecting room to a kind of containment chamber. I'm still trying to open the file that tells what's in there, but if it's this big it's gotta be bad!"

"Containment..." Nightingale mumbled, glancing over Starling's shoulder. "Containment for what? Do they have a prisoner? Or some kind of weird experiment?"

Starling bit his lip. "I'm still trying to figure that out."