Rule #19: Protect your friends, especially your best friend. Contrary to popular (and sexist) belief, damsels aren't the only people who can get caught up in trouble. So don't assume that anyone is completely safe and watch out for them.

I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty good when I walked over to Ike's house the next day. We hadn't made up, not yet, but we were in an infinitely better place than the last time I had seen him and that was a great sign. Once Ike was feeling better about spending time with me, he might start feeling better about me in general. I knew it would most likely be a while until he forgave me and I understood that. I mean, I'd feel the same way if he lied to me about, well, everything.

The funniest thing about the whole thing was that I had Rachel to thank for all of it. As always, I had messed up everything and then she had somehow found a way to fix it. Not to say that I approved of her methods, they were a little extreme for my taste, but she had gotten results and she deserved the credit for that.

Also, before we go any further, I feel like I should tell you something. You know how I said that this boring angst stuff would help lead into the important, superhero-related part of our story? Well, I wasn't kidding about that. It does lead into the superhero stuff, the REALLY IMPORTANT superhero stuff, and you're about to get a taste of how everything ties together. So please prepare yourselves.

Anyway, I was even feeling good enough that I was walking to his house instead of flying. Not only was it ridiculous for the obvious reasons, it was even weirder because I never would have walked anywhere before I could fly either. I was a horribly lazy person after all so why would I walk somewhere when I could convince my mom to drive me or bike over or something? But it was a nice day, one of those days where all the birds were singing and the sun was shining and the whole world basically looked like the first five minutes of a Disney movie, and it wasn't that far of a walk.

Looking back on it now, I realize two kind of important things. One, that day was too perfect for something to not go wrong. Two, if I had flown over to Ike's house (or gotten a ride or done anything faster to get there) instead of walking, I might have gotten there sooner and that might have been very helpful later on.

It wasn't until I got to Ike's house that I realized something was wrong. On the outside, everything looked normal. I couldn't see Faye in her window, but the window was shut and she was probably out with friends anyway. And it was a little surprising that none of Ike's siblings were out playing in the yard on a day like this but maybe they were out as well. There was no car in the driveway but Ike's parents were the type of people that kept their garage super clean so it must have just been in the garage or maybe they were out somewhere. There was no reason for me to think that anything in the world was wrong until I knocked on the door and no one answered.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely surprised when this happened. Ike had changed his mind once, who was to say he wouldn't do it again? But it did seem kind of weird that he wasn't even opening the door to let me in or that absolutely no one in his family was home to answer the door and tell me that Ike hated me and that he wanted me to fuck off or die or something. Had I gotten the wrong day? No, I checked my texts again and I was on time on the right day. I was even a little late, thanks to my walking over. So why was no one answering?

"Hello?" I said, knocking more loudly. "Anyone home?"

Still no answer.

"Ike? Is anyone there?"

Or maybe he just couldn't hear me. He had been watching Game of Thrones before and that show was super loud so it was possible. But hadn't I been knocking loud enough for him to at least look up? He surely wasn't playing it that loud.

On a whim (maybe it was the part of my brain that was secretly a thief or something), I tried the door handle and was shocked when the door opened with no complaint. If I hadn't been worried before, I was definitely worried now. Ike's front door was never unlocked. Even if someone was leaving the house for a second, like to check the mail, they locked the door behind them. It seemed unlikely that they would leave the door unlocked now.

"Hello?" I said, again taking a step into the entryway.

There was no one there.

Freaking out a little by this point, I tried to calm myself down by telling myself that Ike must be in his room watching Game of Thrones, most likely with the door closed. He had been oblivious this whole time and everything was fine. I would go upstairs, find him there, and give him loads of crap over getting so caught up in all the boobs they show on that show that he didn't hear me knocking. Everything was fine, it had to be.

And then I walked into the living room.

Everyone in Ike's family, from his parents to his siblings (except for Ike himself), was scattered around the living room. They were all slumped over like they were sleeping but I wasn't too sure if they really were sleeping or if it was even worse. I crept over to Ike's youngest brother, who was five, and pressed my fingers to his neck. I held my breath until I finally felt his pulse. Okay, they were sleeping. That was one nightmare over.

Still unsure of what to do (and completely freaking out), I tried to get my bearings. Would it be okay to wake them up? Would they even wake up? Should I call the police? Did superheroes even call the police? It wasn't like there was someone around that was taking credit for all of this who I could fight.

Then, as if she could read my mind (and maybe she could, the bitch would lie about her powers), Lena walked out of the kitchen all casual-like. She was wearing all black, like before, and her hair was tied into a braid that rested on her shoulder. She was looking at me like she already won.

"Hey, Matt," she said, leaning against the doorframe. "How's your day going."

"What the hell did you do?" I charged towards her but she moved a chair in my way before I could get to her, tripping me up.

"Let's not get hasty now."

"Oh fuck off."

She smiled. "Don't be like that. After all, they're just sleeping."

"For how long."

"Just for a little while. They weren't any use to me dead but I couldn't have them running after me either. So I had them take a little nap."

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IKE."

She looked around. "Oh, is he not here? I didn't notice."

"You know he's not here."

"I know now, I didn't before."

"Don't lie to me."

"Fine," she sighed. "I may know where he is."

"WHERE."

"Wow, someone is embracing their inner Neanderthal today. Somewhere safe."

"Lena, I swear to God if you hurt him-"

"You'll what, hurt me? How is that different than any other day?"

"What do you want," I growled.

"A fair fight."

"Here?"

She snorted. "Of course not here. You really are new at this, aren't you?"

"Then where."

"Somewhere else. I haven't decided yet."

"Have you decided what you're going to do with Ike yet?"

"Hmm... Not yet. But he is somewhere safe."

"Really?"

"Really. But I can't guarantee that he'll still be safe later on. Fate is a tricky thing."

She pushed past me and wandered around the living room looking at Ike's family. I stayed where I was, glaring at her back.

"Are you going to explain what's happening now?" I asked. "Since apparently I'm so new at this."

"I guess."

"Well?"

"It's sort of a long story," she said. "I'm sure your precious Daring Dan will tell you the whole thing, but the short of it is that it has been decided that you're trained enough to fight me. So we'll be fighting fairly soon."

"Do I have a choice in all of this?"

She laughed. "Matt, you never had a choice."

Smirking at me one last time, the bitch teleported away and left me alone with Ike's family, all still sleeping.

I slumped down in the chair Lena had thrown in front of me. "Well fuck."