I had slept for eighteen hours. In all that time, Dupe had not left the room. He still felt obligated to make sure that I, the dangerous monster, did not go wandering through the facilities.

Of course, that's exactly what I did. Sometime past midnight he had fallen asleep in the corner of the room. When I woke up to the ginger slumbering, I decided smugly to take my liberties and walk the Station. Ironbolt had left the door ajar, so it was easy enough to do without using the fingerprint scanners.

The entire building was centered around a large open hanger where Ironbolt kept his toys. Several cars, but mostly it was the jets and hovercraft that really impressed. There was a massive elevator that would move them up to the roof for takeoff, I saw. Surrounding that, there was the lattice of catwalks that lead around and to the numerous side-rooms on the second floor. The med bay was the only space truly partitioned by a closed wall and a locked door.

The rest of the rooms were more like nested alcoves. Among living quarters, armories, and so on, I found what I was after. There was a gym with its own proper shower rooms and changing area.

I followed a flight of steel-grated stairs up and into the space there. When I had finally cleaned myself properly and with a long hot shower, I found a spare jumpsuit laying among the lockers to put on. It was all very satisfying.

I was king of the castle. No one else was home and, as a result, a long-needed moment of solitude had been possible. A second to relax was all the joy in the world to me.

The suit was kind of tight, I noted, but it had been the only one available. As I came out of the showers and took a seat on the benchpress, I could see myself in a mirror across the room. Something peculiar announced itself, right then. "Hold the phone," I said.

Ironbolt had been right, and for a much overdue change of pace, it seemed I had finally caught a break. After eating and sleeping in such quantity, I hadn't just regained my mass, I had put on weight. Not pure fat, either.

While more stocky than lean, I had gained muscle. A lot of muscle. Standing up to get a better look, I saw that I had taken on the physique of an amateur powerlifter. A kind of beefy look, to be sure, but not half bad.

I actually saw a smile crack over my face at that thought. It was a welcome sight, weary as I was.

After several seconds of unabashedly checking myself out in the mirror, something obvious hit me. I was standing in a gym and I had newfound muscles. There was only one correct response for a person in this situation.

In the past I had largely just used my gym subscription for the showers, being homeless and all. But now, I found myself giddily loading weights onto the bench press.

With an evil laugh, I brought the bar to just over two hundred and laid back in position. As my hands found their placing I started to push. My laugh only grew.

It felt like repping an empty bar.

"God, I needed this." When I had finished five at that difficulty, I sat up, stupid grin plastered on my face. "Just one single piece of good news in an ocean of crap. So much crap. What a feeling." Still not satisfied, of course, I moved on to the next step.

I doubled the weight and started again, thinking nothing could possibly go wrong.

This time it was a little harder. As I freed the bar from its placing and brought it down to touch my chest, I had to catch my breath with a rapid series of inhalations. Giving a great big push, I was able to raise the bar by a few inches, but it soon began to stall.

"Oh no," I wheezed.

Then, it quickly sank back down onto my body. Through a slurry of curses, I tried to get my second wind and gain height, but again it just wasn't happening. "Shit..." It was growing painful, too. While I was an idiot, however, I wasn't a complete and total one. Not at the moment, anyway.

I hadn't put the clips on the bar. Therefore, I was able to painstakingly tip it over and make a saving dump. In a thunderous crash, the weights poured out onto the gym floor, some of them rolling away. One of the smaller ones managed to get all the way to the end of the room, gliding under the second story railing. When it hit the concrete below, I heard a frightened yelp.

Someone was running up the stairs. Yet, it couldn't have been Dupe. At least, I hoped it wasn't. The yelp had been far too shrill a sound for a dude.

As I suspected, it had indeed been a girl. I figured her identity right away as one of the two permanent Heroes stationed in the city remaining. Fortitude yelled up while she climbed. "Dupe! Are you okay?!"

She stopped dead in her tracks at the top, seeing me. I waved sheepishly. "No, hi. I'm not Dupe..."

"Oh," she said. "There wasn't supposed to be anyone here but him. It wouldn't have been the first time he hurt himself up here, so I thought... He's not a fighter, you know, so he overcompensates?"

"I can imagine," I laughed, glancing at the pile of far too many weights strewn across the floor. "Sorry about scaring you. I'm not so responsible either. Heh." The conversation stalled at that point. I could see her looking me over, half relieved, but still stressed and wondering who I was. She didn't know what to say to the stranger in the gym.

While we stared at each other, there was just the briefest moment where I could almost let myself believe she was really looking at me. Checking me out, really.

It might have been superficial, but I wouldn't deny that my appearance weighed heavy on my mind. I worried what it would mean for these kinds of encounters. Sue me, but I was still a guy. I wanted her to find me attractive. Because boy was she something to see.

Fortitude broke the long silence and brought me back to reality. "It had to be luck, right?"

"I uh, what's that?"

She was pleasant, but there were dark circles under her eyes and a question begging itself in her tone. Expectantly, she asked me. "You were just in the area, right? Close enough for Ironbolt to swing by, or close enough to get here yourself. We've needed backup for almost a day now, but nobody from Miami thought it was worth their time. Maximal refuses to call in any favors, so... It's Hickory's gang, you know? The biggest problem in the district... They're on a rampage."

"Oh!" This was bad. She thought I was a hero. I had to measure my next words carefully. "You see, I'm..." Realizing how much I liked having the fit blonde think I was a Hero really made me question my principles. A pretty girl will do that to a guy. But moreover, I felt entitled to a little grace here. A single friendly face was all that I was truly after at the moment.

Gas station clerks were not exactly treated with respect in our society, but this last day had been an exceptional experience, above and beyond your occasional bad customer to say the least. Having this girl be so happy to see me was a desperate breath of fresh air. I wasn't about to throw that away.

All at once, my newfound combination of malevolence and neediness combined into a diabolical machination. Confidently, I came up with my answer for her. "My name is Walter. Ironbolt picked me up just outside of town, so you're right about that. I'm not cleared to go out by myself, unfortunately, but I'm ready to help you in any way I can." It wasn't even a lie. I simply omitted a few key facts.

"Oh, that is amazing," she beamed. "You're a life saver, Walter."

Eat your heart out, Maximal.

Fortitude waved for me to follow her down the stairs. We walked and talked. "I was just coming to pick up a change of clothes and some stimulants," she said. "Before I could get the Stems, that's when I heard you."

I had always wondered if that rumor was true. All the Heroes were running around coked up, apparently, which was more than a little funny. "Ha, yeah. So right back out, then?"

"Still need those Stems," she reminded me.

"Oh." Dupe was asleep in the med bay. If he woke up and said anything, that would be an issue. So, I made my play. "Why don't you tell me where those are while you start the car?"

"Good idea." She was in no mood to argue. "Top cabinet on the left, over the sink. Oh, and Walter..."

I was already on the move. "What is it?"

"You shouldn't give out your real name so easily. What's your Hero name?" Fortitude was halfway into the jeep as she asked me and couldn't close the door until I answered. In a panic, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"It's Creep," I said.

"Can't believe you got that one past Seraph," she laughed. "I don't suppose you have a costume, Creep?"

"Not yet." God knows they were going to put a bag on my head.

"Oh, I gotcha. You're a Junior. That Ironbolt always bends the rules." She winked at me.

I didn't know if there was an inside joke I was missing, but I was sure of one thing. I was in love. It was definitely the neediness, but who honestly cared on a day like today? Not this guy, that's who. I was gonna marry this girl before the sun rose again.

Getting what turned out to literally be a small canister of white powder from the med bay went painlessly. Dupe was still sound asleep and right where I'd left him. I made sure to keep the door propped open so as not to lock myself in with him. Once all that was done, I happily joined Fortitude in the armored truck.

Feeling very Heroic, I strapped in with my seat belt and admired the garage door rising. The outside world looked peaceful and not at all shaken with calamity as Fortitude had made it out to be. "Where's the kerfuffle?" I asked.

She met my humor with deadly seriousness. "Not far. Without their leader, they've devolved to robbery sprees. They've been hitting the shopping centers at random, mostly targeting jewelry stores and electronics. Whatever expensive things a single person can carry away with them. Thank God they're not targeting civilians, because the lower Powered members have run off, leaving only the big damage dealers. This also means the police are unable to assist with the bulk of the problem. Until my teammate or Ironbolt locates their hideout, they're just going to keep striking. I've got to know, Creep, what's your Power?"

"Limited but fast self healing," I said, "...and Class Five strength." I didn't think that was an unreasonable estimation. I wasn't a fan of Supers, but it was impossible not to be familiar with the classification system. Every kid had the damn trading cards, it was all so heavily propagandized.

Fortitude dabbed out some of the powder on her free hand and inhaled it. "Yes!" She punched the wheel, startling me. "I can work with that. Get yourself a mask from the glove compartment, over there."

We were going thirty over the speed limit I saw. This girl really took this whole Hero thing seriously. The look on her face said it all. As I got out the plain white mask from the compartment and put it on, though, I couldn't really see the big picture. It was all just a bunch of stuff they were stealing. No one was getting hurt and everything was undoubtedly insured. "Do you know where we're going?" I asked.

"Ironbolt wrote an algorithm that's been predicting their targets with strong success so far. We're heading to a phone store next. Be ready for contact."

Right she was. While we were still yet to arrived, I could see the smoke against the light pollution of the city. A faint shadow in the glow. Before we reached the parking lot, I aired some doubts I was having. There was a lot waiting to go wrong at this pace and Fortitude needed to be warned. "I've never done this before."

"I know, Creep. You're a Junior. You're not licensed yet. But as long as nobody dies, it all gets overlooked. It may not look like it, but Ironbolt has a crazy amount of clout with Seraph. I don't know why he's here if I'm being honest, but I'm sure grateful he is."

The phone store was not far from a Walmart and it was surrounded by fast food restaurants. The entire area had evacuated of its own accord when the fires started going off, but there were always a few lunatics who stayed to film. Hero chasing was a national pastime. "Who are we even dealing with?" I asked.

Fortitude parked the car and took another hit. "Wew! From the looks of it, probably Ignition. He's got a ranged fire Power. Not so good in close quarters. Grab yourself a pair of handcuffs and so will I."

I looked at them. They were big and clunky, not like normal handcuffs. "Do these do anything?"

Fortitude giggled. "Not really. But we only have to handcuff him to something heavy to win. They've got a Transporter on their team, but he has to be able to pick up whatever he's moving. He comes and goes in thirty minute periods, so he'll be here soon. You ready?" She popped the door handle.

This girl was crazy. "I'm not so sure-"

"You got this, Creep." She had stopped my doubting. Her face mask came up automatically from her plain white costume, allowing her hair to flow freely. "Let's kick some ass." And then, she was out the door.

As soon as I stepped out I felt a wave of heat from the burning cars in the parking lot. There were two figures inside the phone store, I counted, not one. Fortitude was running ahead and I would follow.

By now I was grudgingly ready to admit. "This was a bad idea, man."