Louise put every ounce of her pain into that spell, every ounce of her soul. And she gave it to someone who had long since lost his. She wished for a familiar that was divine in its nature. What she received was something worse than a devil.

Sector R saved us all that day, up on the moon base. We were on our knees at the mercy of the enemy, the Kids Next Door looked pretty much done in. And then it all just...stopped. They came down, hurt and different. Something about their eyes that said to everyone who'd seen what they did: "We know we're not heroes."