“It was only a matter of time. We knew as soon as the morphlings appeared on our doorstep that they would be here soon after to investigate,” Tink said, her voice deadpan.

“What do we do?” Wendy asked.

“We’ve been doing everything in our power to prepare for this moment. We’re not going down without a fight,” Tink promised.

“These are real people with guns. This is not like the morphlings,” Wendy said, worried for her brother’s safety, who wasn’t a lost boy and didn’t have any super powers.

“You think we don’t know that?” she hissed, pulling the headphones off her ears, and glared at her. “What do you think we teach here? The boys were created to be weapons by Neverland. We didn’t just teach them algebra and physics but advance weaponry and four schools of martial arts. It’s in their blood to fight. It’s part of their genetic makeup. No matter how hard we tried to fight it, they always started to fight with each other.”

“You continued with the D.U.S.T. program.” Wendy’s face fell with disgust.

“Not intentionally. Neverland made us. They started the program. It takes years for the effects of the PX-1 to take hold of a person’s genetic makeup. It would have been wrong for us to leave the boys untrained. We told them we were training them to fight the morphlings, but we knew it would come down to this. That eventually Neverland would come for them—to either capture them or destroy them.”

Hearing it from Tink’s lips made it worse. Wendy understood the serious expressions on the boys’ faces. They knew it was fight or die. Wendy wasn’t prepared to be in the midst of it and to be filled with turmoil. She wasn’t like them. She didn’t have the same training. It wasn’t instilled in her to fight till death. Then again, Wendy had quickly destroyed that morphling in the alleyway. Maybe it was?

“What do you need me to do?” John asked, surprising Tink and Wendy.

Tink arched an eyebrow. “Ever play Warfare 8?” She walked over to the cabinet on the wall and punched in a digital code.

“Who hasn’t?” John grinned. “I’m on the top ten of the leaderboards.”

The cabinet swung open, revealing rows of guns. Tink pulled one out and handed it to John. “Modeled after the weapon. Made of light aluminum. So, it’s not as heavy and has a harder trigger. So that you don’t accidentally shoot one of our own. When you aim, be darn sure that you’re ready to shoot.”

“John, no!” Wendy stood in front of him as he tested the weight in his hands and looked down the sight. He ignored her; so, she confronted Tink. “I’m not letting you turn my brother into a killer.”

“Wendy, do you think any of the Red Skulls are going to just high-five us and give us a slap on the back? They are killers. The boys here at our school can take care of themselves, but some of us don’t have those gifts, like John and me. I won’t leave us defenseless.”

“Oh,” Wendy said sheepishly and went back over to the cabinet, reaching up and pulling a gun down. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

Tink shook her head and pointed to the screen. A blip was moving toward them. “I think it’s another chopper. According to the size, it is probably going to hold at least ten soldiers including the pilot. But it’s hovering. Waiting.”

“What’s it waiting for?” John asked.

“The first wave,” Peter said, entering the room with Fox in tow. “The morphlings.”

“John, Fox can take you to one of the tunnels to wait out the morphlings, and the rest of us will stay hidden until they appear. Tink, Wendy . . . take care of each other.” Peter turned to leave, with John at his heels, but then he stopped and looked back at Wendy and Tink. He took a deep breath and was speechless. Peter’s fierce gaze spoke the words that he was unable to voice.

“We’ll be okay,” Wendy said, reaching into her pocket to pull out the thimble and hand it to Peter. “This token is redeemable for one free kiss upon your safe return.”

Peter grinned. “Is there an expiration date?”

Wendy shook her head “no”. Peter’s smile faltered and became determined, a soldier’s mask, as he signaled to John that it was time to go.

“You’re my favorite sister,” John called over his shoulder.

“I’m your only sister,” Wendy called out after him, but he had already turned the corner and was out of sight.

“What about me?” Tink pouted. “He didn’t say anything to me!”

“What should I do?” Wendy asked.

“Can you take Tootles and Michael here?” She pointed to a room on the computer screen. It was a map of their school, one that Wendy had never seen before.

“What is it?”

“It’s a safe room of sorts.”

“I can fight,” Wendy said. “I don’t want to hide.”

“I know you don’t,” Tink said, pulling her ponytail tighter, then tucked a gun in her waistband against her back. She reached out and touched Wendy’s arm. “I’m not asking you to hide. Wendy, I’m giving you the hardest job of all, to protect our youngest and most vulnerable. I’m asking you to do this because you can pan. I’m asking you to give your life to protect them,” Tink said, choking on the words, and her head dropped. Her eyes glistened in the corners as she held back her tears.

“I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of over the years. I’ve not been a great daughter, and though I’ve tried to be a good mother to the boys, truthfully, I’m not the mothering type. Neverwood needs to survive, and if it’s going to survive, you need to be here to help it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” Wendy said, keeping her voice from breaking. She took the gun and headed downstairs to find Tootles. She couldn’t help but look at each of the stony faces of the boys as they ran past her. They were grim. Determined. None of them wanted to go back to Neverland, and she could also see the fear in their eyes. This was different than fighting their enemies out in the field. They had an edge out there, if only because they always had a place to run. But at the moment, their home was about to be invaded. When that battle was over, who knew if it would even still be standing?

“Tootles!” Wendy yelled over the banister as the boys ran to their stations. “Has anyone seen Tootles?”

A few looked her way and shook their heads “no”. She ran to the commons space and scanned the area around the pool table and the open kitchen, but the room appeared to be empty. “Tootles!” she cried again and heard a whimper from behind the couch.

Wendy found Tootles crouched there, covering his ears, his eyes squeezed shut. “Hey, you,” Wendy whispered and touched the back of his head.

“It’s not a drill, is it, Wendy?” His eyes opened, and she could see his panic.

“No, not this time, but I’ll protect you. I promise.” She held out her hand and urged him to come to her. “We need to get Michael.”

“This way,” Tootles answered. Wendy followed, worry gnawing at her. They passed through the secret panel and headed down the stairs to the prison in pitch black darkness. She used her phone light to guide them down the stairs to Michael’s cell. Her phone light reflected back at her, and she struggled to see Michael inside.

Wendy went to the keypad and typed in the code and received a red light. It was wrong. She keyed in the code, slower this time. Another red light.

“The code changed after the reset. It’s not working.” Wendy began to panic, but Tootles dropped her hand and disappeared through the glass. A few seconds later, he reappeared, holding onto the hand of a very dazed-looking Michael.

“Michael!” Wendy cried out, as her brother collapsed onto the floor, his eyes were rolled back into his head; his nose was bloody. She cradled his head to her shoulder, but he struggled and pulled away.

“No, no,” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I—I did it.” His eyes slowly tried to focus on hers; he was intent on getting his message across.

“You did what?” she asked, confused.

Another alarm began to blare, and then, even the backup generators in their wing went out. Tink must have cut the power there.

“I did it,” Michael answered.

“Don’t be silly.” She grabbed his hand and pulled both boys after her toward the stairs, but she turned to see Jax staring at her from inside his prison. He banged on the window to get her attention, his eyes burning with resentment, but who was it directed toward, her or . . . ?

Wendy paused in front of Jax’s cell and made eye contact with one of the most destructive weapons created by Neverland.

“Wait, Tootles, I need you to do something for me.”