by Joseph Harris and ChrisCross

Before I do the summary, I must say that the logo on this issue has possibly the ugliest color scheme I've ever seen.

We start off at the ESU campus, at midnight, with Hornet working in some room on his armor.  He's thinking he should leave, that the others are counting on him, and wonders about what he does to compensate for his disability.  His advisor shows up outside the lab, and Hornet frantically tries to get away so he won't get discovered with the suit.  He barely makes it out because the door's jammed.  Lucky him.

Elsewhere across the city, Dusk and Ricochet are at the usual meeting place, sitting on top of the Marvel sign and talking.  Rico feels manipulated and a host of other bad things, and wants to leave.  He tosses a disk away - apparently Hornet made him some new ones that will come back.  Dusk knows he's not comfortable with him, says he's reckless, and tells him to trust his instincts as his disk comes flying back and knocks him off of the sign.  Ouch.  Dusk gives the disk back to him when he's on the ground, then teleports to the edge of the building as Hornet shows up.  Hornet contemplates how great it seemed to be to move his hand when he first got the suit, but that seems a long time ago.  Ricochet talks about his family and girlfriend wondering where he is, especially Kathy now that she knows.

Flashback time, to the first day of classes earlier that year.  In the massive lecture hall, Hornet wasn't too thrilled about being there, and Ricochet was sleeping.  Dusk shows up late.  Side note - the art is excellent here.  Dusk is the only one in color during the flashback scenes, and she has the purple aura around her.  Nifty.  Anyway, Hornet would have liked for Dusk to sit by him, but she sat by Rico instead.  Bummer.

Ricochet wakes Hornet up from the flashback, asks him why they're meeting, and then goes off about how they never meant for so much of this stuff to happen to them - for anything that's happened since they got the suits.  Dusk suggests playing a game, and Ricochet prepares to leave when she says, "Truth or Dare?"  Rico says he wants the truth about what she is, and she says that she doesn't know....

Dusk's flashback this time.  At the end of the class, she contemplates why she makes herself look like she does every day, perhaps for attention.  She asks Ricochet about doing a class project, and Hornet butts in and says he can help.  Rico awkwardly agrees that the three of them can work on it, and walks away.  Nice going, Rico.  Dusk thinks about her greatest fear being not knowing who she really is.

Back in the present, Dusk talks about not being able to feel her heart beating.  Hornet starts to say something, but Rico cuts him off with an apology about letting her fall from the roof back then.  She tells them to stop, and forces Rico into the Truth or Dare.  A few panels later, Ricochet is standing up on the sign, and wishing he'd taken the Truth.  He's supposed to fall and Dusk will catch him....as he says - I love this line - "Falling's a little cliche for this group, don't you think?"  Naturally, the real dare is trust.  We now move to Ricochet's flashback....

At ESU, after he walks away from Hornet and Dusk, he meets the Black Marvel after contemplating that Hornet thinks he's not scared of anything.  Apparently, the Black Marvel found something Rico's afraid of.  Ricochet has doubts, as he tells the Black Marvel, who doesn't incredibly seem to care and instead introduces him to Ritchie-soon-to-be-Prodigy.  Interestingly enough, Dusk and Hornet are apparently watching this as well....

Up on the roof, Ricochet decides to trust Dusk, and falls.  Hornet counts a few seconds, then starts to freak out because Dusk isn't doing anything to rescue Rico.  Hornet realizes the dare is about trust, but leaps after Rico anyway, pushing himself faster and faster to catch him....which he does, just as his head is a few inches above the sidewalk.  Dusk, of course, is already there at the bottom, wondering why Hornet didn't trust her.  She teleports them up to the roof.  Ricochet decides to stay, and tells Hornet to keep up with the school thing.  Hornet flies off, and returns because Rico probably needs a ride.  When Hornet isn't there, Dusk comments on Hornet being very sweet, kisses Rico, and tells him he's reckless again as she teleports off.  Hornet sees this happen.  Rico looks incredibly surprised.  Hornet looks incredibly pissed off.  Damn, why did this have to happen?

....Off in the wreckage of the Grande Royale Hotel, a lone figure is contemplating what happened.  He made a sacrifice for the Black Marvel, plans went awry, and he should have died.  Apparently, Prodigy's suit protected him.  He now has a lot of questions.

...In the tunnels below New York, the mafia-types are still carting radioactive waste, and one of them - "Jimmy Eyes" seems to be running for his life.  The rats that Ricochet and Hornet fought earlier are chasing him, and at the end he runs into some giant mutated.....thing......