I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived at the ground floor, because Zephyr had called the force at the bottom of the tower as much greater than that at the top. If anything, I was expecting ruins far greater than anything the fights upstairs had made. Instead I stepped out of the fire escape to see a mostly untouched lobby and a number of police and Regulation vehicles outside.

“Didn’t Zephyr say that the villains were at least twice as strong down here?” I asked once I’d separated enough from Muffle to hear myself talk.

“Yip, it was a stalemate.” Slingshot said. “So Zephyr took me upstairs to reinforce Orcus.”

“Makes sense.” I noticed the glass door leading outside had been smashed. “Seems it didn’t stay that way.”

Slingshot nodded and didn’t say anything.

There were a lot more people on the ground floor than I thought there would be. A dozen or so were policemen that had re-cordoned off the street and were keeping the crowd out while around twice that number of Regulation troopers were taking pictures of the scene and cleaning up. As many policemen and Regulation troopers were wounded. A lot of agents were moving around the wreck, alternating between supervising and helping out. It was hard to keep track of things.

The mess outside reminded me of the one on the roof, though it was chaos in a different strain. Smoke from a number of canisters was still clearing away, there were spent shells scattered by benches and corners, two vans had crashed and were blocking the road entirely. There were three ambulances on the scene. The number of injured needing help vastly outnumbered the paramedics on scene, though. I could see blood spatters in various locations.

We noticed the Sentinels and single Aegis right away. Blinker, Orcus, Voidling, Victorious, and Zephyr were grouped in the centre of everything where some of the mess had already been cleared away.

Also standing with them were two heroes I hadn’t seen personally before. One had a white and blue themed costume with a short cape extending down to below his elbow swept over one shoulder. He was leaning on a wooden pole that I knew was tipped on both ends with tazers. The other had a lot of tassels on his yellow themed costume, and no weapons in sight. He did have a utility belt though, if an underutilised one. I could see from where I stood that there were three sets of handcuffs on there and that was it.

The blue and white one was Toil, and the yellow one was Wall Walker. They were from the Heroes of Yesterday.

Curiously, I glanced up the building to see if Wall Walker had done his thing on this building. Sure enough, there was a set of footprints going up to near the top of the building.

Off to the side and out of the way were two figures in costume, Collage and Unshaken. The former waved when he saw us and beckoned us over. Muffle wandered off at some point so he didn’t accidentally mute the conversation.

“So I know it looks bad, rookies.” Collage said, referring to the pile up and people being tended to by paramedics. “But it could be worse, y’know. Someone could be dead.”

I gave him a curious look. “Seriously? How did no one die?”

He gave a wide, toothy smile and pointed at himself with both thumbs.

“No one got hurt like this upstairs.” Slingshot murmured.

“That’s not true.” Unshaken said. “We saw Killer Kage with his arm in a sling, and Zephyr told us that Clothesline had her leg broken. It seems to me that someone can’t properly control their power.”

The words stung. I was beginning to wonder if that was residual pink Collage shenanigans. Slingshot reared back too far.

“Excuse me!?” She exclaimed.

“I told you so.” Unshaken said, deadpan. “The only thing I’m surprised by is the fact that you managed to actually hit anything.”

“Wait.” The two girls looked at me. “Do you think that Slingshot was the one who broke those two’s bones?”

“Yes.” Unshaken replied. “Slingshot uses me for target practice. I noticed how hard she likes to throw things so I told her she was going to get someone killed, or broken at best. Turns out I was right. The only other one with that kind of power up there was Orcus, and he wasn’t fighting them. You’re one step away from killing someone.”

“That wasn’t Slingshot.” I said. “That was me.”

The girl took a moment to register my claim. Unshaken’s mask shifted to look at me. “Then everything I just said applies to you. You need to learn control.”

Ouch. Right at my soul.

Collage piped up. “Ahem. Let’s not devolve into hypocrisy now. I had to reset plenty of arms today thanks to you.”

“Those were the uncooperative ones.” Unshaken refuted. “Barely even a third.”

“Lock and Slingshot?” A soft spoken voice interrupted the two Sentrys. Voidling had come over from the other group. Muffle was standing far behind him, Headache still over his shoulder. “Muffle said- signed that you two had a report to give.”

“Yeah.” I responded.

“What new thing could you have to report?” Unshaken demanded accusingly at the same time.

I took a breath as Collage started comically pushing Unshaken to no avail. “We’ve had our recess, Shake-Shake. We need to get back to it.”

Unshaken looked like she wanted to press the issue.

“If you would give us some space.” Voidling requested when things started dragging on, which got her moving. The Sentinel turned to us. “I would apologise in her place, but it’s not really my duty to.”

“That’s okay.” Slingshot muttered, somehow more softly than Voidling.

“As I understand it, there’s been some questions going around in regards to my competence.” I shrugged. “I don’t know if this is going to help with that.”

Slingshot tilted forwards and looked at the ground beneath her feet.

“So I’m still learning sign language.” Voidling explained. “So I don’t think I got the full message from Muffle. From what Zephyr has mentioned, what both of you have done throughout this event has all been accounted for. Why seek me out?”

“Well…” Slingshot started, then trailed off. I was having a similar issue, trying to find the right way to say it.

Then I decided to be blunt. “When Zephyr and Victorious ran off, Waterlad approached us with a proposal to spy on boss.”

There was a beat.

Voidling carefully asked. “Did you do it?”

“Would I be telling you about it if I didn’t?” I responded. “I also want it on record that Andrew threatened to beat the both of us around if we said no. Given that Slingshot and I are both telekinetics, I think he could have.”

“Andrew...” Voidling repeated. When he spoke again his voice was harder, businesslike. “Were you successful in infiltrating the meeting?”

“Yes.” Slingshot answered.

I added. “Successful enough that no one knew until Muffle brought it up.”

Voidling pondered for a moment. “And what about Muffle? Where was he in all of this?”

I looked at the big man. If I went through with what Muffle asked, he’d be seen as incredibly incompetent. If I didn’t, negligent. And then guilty of trying to cover it all up. Muffle definitely had his attention in my direction, but with the mask it was impossible to really tell. It was too late to talk about all that now, anyway.

“Muffle? He was downstairs dealing with Headache at the time.” I lied.

Slingshot grimaced, tilting away from me a fraction.

“I see.” If Voidling was sceptical, he didn’t show it. “So what about the meeting? What did you overhear?”

Slingshot and I spent the next fifteen or so minutes retelling what we saw. There were a few things I missed that Slingshot picked up on, but it wasn’t because I was trying to hold anything back. By the end of it, Voidling was holding a hand to his head and massaging his temple.

He said. “Yes. This matches what Lucidity said. Though, we didn’t know about Dreadnaught. We were wondering who you-know-who was.”

“How did Lucidity listen in?” I asked, genuinely confounded.

“Her power.” Voidling answered dismissively. “She made a number of contrived inventions that let her use what I interpreted as quantum entanglement to plant a bug on Boss once it was discovered what floor they were on, but she didn’t record it. Anyway, this is good information. Off the record, I think you did good.”

“Let’s see how long it lasts.” I cynically responded, looking at Zephyr. “Thanks, though.”

“Pleasure.” Voidling stepped away. “Lock. Slingshot.” He moved back to the Sentinels. Victorious and the Heroes of Yesterday had since departed, and Blinker had moved away to assist the Regulation troopers tending to the wounded, leaving only Orcus and Zephyr.

“Did we?” Slingshot asked.

“Do good?” I asked back.

Slingshot didn’t say anything. She just altered her floating position until she was properly upright.

“I think we did well.” I said.

“I don’t know…” Slingshot trailed off.

Zephyr was storming towards us. I took a moment to appreciate that she not literally storming at us, but it was a short lived moment.

“Lock.” Her voice wasn’t raised. But it was harsh and filled with venom. “I have been informed that you disobeyed a direct order.”

My mouth responded before I could stop it. “Have you listened to all the information?”

“Excuse me?” Somehow, there was even more venom in those two words.

“It took us fifteen minutes to tell Voidling all that. He was just talking to you for ten seconds.” Speaking of, the Sentinel in question had remained behind and was now conversing with Orcus. Neither seemed to be paying attention to us.

Zephyr didn’t speak for a moment. “Lock. You were informed that you were not to appear at this event today without my permission. I did not give any such grants.Yet here you are. I specifically told the three of you to stay put until the crisis was over. Not only did you ignore my order, you actively disobeyed it minutes after it was given. I would delay your debut even further if it was possible, but you seem to have taken that into your own hands as well.

“There are videos of you moving across streets using your ability, which you did not tell us could function in such a way. If I were a more suspicious person, I would suspect you were a plant. They way that you have handled this situation with Waterlad, however, makes me think that you are an idiot. Am I wrong?”

Slingshot had slowly drifted further and further away while Zephyr was speaking.

I really wanted to respond. It was so tempting to raise my voice and start shouting. There was so much I wanted to say, so many flaws in what Zephyr had just said. But she had kept her voice so under control that anyone catching only a sentence or two might think it was a cordial conversation. If I talked, I would shout. If I shouted, I lost.

So I clenched my hand around the staff. It wasn’t distracting enough so I directed my attention to my piercing and focused hard on it. It helped, if only a little.

“I asked you if I was wrong.” Zephyr repeated.

The urge to shout became louder. I could hit her hard enough to break bones. It only took a thought.

“Um…” Slingshot opened her mouth.

Zephyr whirled so fast she may have generated a small twister. “Do not get me started on you, Slingshot. I expected better of you than simply following along the nearest person. Especially when that person is even more of a junior than you are. When Waterlad approached you, did you even consider fighting back? No? I’m disappointed.”

She spun back to me. “And you are not going anywhere until you answer a simple question. Am. I. Wrong?”

Orcus interrupted before I could say anything I’d regret. “That is enough Zephyr. You are very familiar with the intricacies of Waterlad’s abilities. You cannot deny that a fight between him and two telekinetics would have been one sided. In this case, a massacre.”

“That is not the point, Orcus!” Zephyr jabbed a finger at the grey man.

“Then what is the point of this interaction?” Orcus evenly rebutted. “What I have inferred tells me that you are attempting to have Lock question his intelligence.”

“...” Zephyr glared at Orcus.

I chimed in. “That is literally what you were asking me.”

“Hush!” Zephyr roared. “Regardless of the intelligence of any Sentry in question, the actions performed today were negligent, reckless, and flies in the face of the Sentinel’s code.”

I didn’t know there was a code.

Zephyr continued, regaining some of her calm. “I expect Blinker to possess detailed reports of your actions today, and both of you will need to appear in front of the press by the end of tomorrow. We can have the two of you officially debut at the same time. When you do, you will be restricted to sidekick duty for non-threatening situations only. Is-”

Orcus said. “Zephyr.”

Zephyr sighed, fully returning to a controlled voice. “The information will be reviewed and the consequences of your actions will be determined accordingly, and without bias.” She turned to Orcus. “Was that neutral enough?”

Orcus did not react to the attention. “I would not have such interactions in front of the Sentrys.”

“When, then?”

“Later. In private while we go over their reports.”

“Insubordination begets punishment, or it happens again.” Zephyr spat.

“Undue punishment begets rebellion.” Orcus said. “It should be avoided in all occasions. I believe this may be one of them.”

“Excuse me?” Zephyr’s voice was rising again. “You dismissed Satellite and Snowflake for insubordination the moment the villains evacuated. Who the hell are you to say that?”

Orcus explained. “Satellite’s costume was bloodstained and he needed to change as soon as possible, both for his image, and his mental state. The fact that he was responsible for the blood is what motivated my decision.

“On the other hand, Snowflake was in a distraught state for reasons you are familiar with. If she were to stay, her condition would have worsened, which could have jeopardized the conditions of several wounded here. Those are the grounds for my decisions. What are the grounds for you continuing this debacle?”

Zephyr faltered.

I took vindictive pleasure in watching her gears turn.

She turned to Slingshot and me. “Detailed reports.” She reminded us, then left.

Voidling wandered closer. “Oh no…” His voice failed to inflect any worry at all. “Why are mommy and daddy fighting?”

Orcus reacted. It might have been a chuckle but I couldn’t tell. He said. “Later, Voidling.” He turned to me. “I am apologetic that you had to experience that. As Zephyr mentioned, the two of you will need to appear in front of the press. I recommend you focus on preparing for that before writing your reports for today.”

“Okay.” Slingshot murmured.

I was still distracted by Zephyr. “Is she always like that?”

Orcus said. “Zephyr does have an established reputation for explosive reactions.”

“But is she always like that?”

Orcus paused. “She responds like that when antagonised.”

“How lovely.” I muttered.

Voidling tapped Orcus on the shoulder and pointed over his shoulder.

Orcus looked. “Muffle, how long have you had Headache over your shoulder?”

Muffle was still standing with the aforementioned supervillain draped over his shoulder. He’d been walking around with her in a fireman carry the entire time. Now he was one handedly signing at Orcus.

“The successful arrest of one supervillain and the infiltration of the meeting today will be our victories.” Orcus decided. “You will stay near Headache until she is properly processed. I will explain the situation to some Regulation agents and organise transport.”

Muffle responded with a single gesture.

“Good.” Orcus turned to Slingshot and me. “Blinker has some words for the two of you, go speak with him then return to the Regulation headquarters.”

“Right.” I responded.

The conversation stalled. Voidling wisely stepped away, and I shortly followed suit. Slingshot just flew.

Blinker had a few scrapes on his costume when we found him. He was talking with Unshaken, referring to something on a tablet as they spoke while we approached. Fortunately for us, he noticed Slingshot and me approaching and excused himself from the other Sentry before we were close enough to talk. That was good. I’d had enough of stand offish heroes for the time being.

“Captain.” I greeted Blinker.

“Hello.” Slingshot said much more quietly at the same time.

Blinker sized the both of us up. “Your name has been making the rounds, Lock.”

“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?” I asked.

“Hmm.” Blinker seemed undecided. “Both of you seem relatively unharmed. That’s good. What happened to your hands?”

“I threw a keyboard at Killer Kage’s arm and broke it. My fingers got in the way.”

“The keyboard broke, or did the arm?”

“Both.”

Blinker hummed again. “That should serve as a reminder to regulate your ability. I think we should prioritise beating that into you moving forward.”

Okay? I nodded absently.

“Didn’t you also get tased?” Slingshot asked.

The event popped back into my mind. “That’s right, I did. It left a mark.” I lifted the leg and looked at the black marking on the white shin pad. “Oh, and I got hit by beefcake as well.”

“When did you encounter Beefcake?” Blinker asked, more urgently than before.

“And I fell several floor fighting Killer Kage. And I got caught by a Headache blast. And then Victorious picked me up with his shocking touch. Silver lining is he didn’t superman slam me like he did the villains. Otherwise I’d still be out of it.”

Slingshot unconsciously drifted away from me and looked worried.

“I’ll need you to give me all the details about your actions today.” Blinker stated.

“Ask Voidling, I’ve explained everything to him already. Zephyr’s told me to write you a detailed report anyway. Didn’t you get hit as well, Slingshot?”

One of Slingshot’s hands idly traced around her eyes. “Yip.”

Blinker glanced at the heroine. “What happened to your glasses?”

“Um, Clothesline hit them.” Slingshot said softly.

Blinker reevaluated the both of us, then sighed. “Okay. Interrogating the two of you right now would be pointless. Return to the SRT and rest up. Both of you. Slingshot, this is your official debut. The skies of Graceland are open to you.”

Slingshot stared at Blinker as she rose ever so slowly. “Are you serious?” There was evident excitement in her voice.

Blinker nodded, still all business. “Make sure to maintain a safe distance from all buildings and obstructions. Keep your eyes forward. I will see you back at the SRT. You’re going to have some interviews later today.”

“I- I don’t.” Slingshot stammered. She turned to me.

I waved. “See you.”

Slingshot probably grinned, it was hard to tell with the bandanna, then shot up into the sky far faster than she had been moving inside. There were cries and shouts as people all around pointed at the new Transhuman in the sky. She did a large loop and flew off into the city. Everyone watched the figure get smaller and smaller.

Flying seemed pretty cool.

“Before you head off, Lock.” Blinker said, pulling my attention back to him. “Why are you here?”

“I’ve been over this with Zephyr.” I responded tiredly. “Orcus cleared me for duty.”

Blinker nodded. “I know, and I have some advice for you. Be very, very careful around Orcus. He appears calm until you see him in action, then he’s one of the scariest things you’ll ever see.”

“I saw him throw Hully through the floor.” I stated. “That’s plenty scary.”

Blinker shook his head. “No, it’s different when Orcus is focusing on you. It’s… It’s difficult to describe. But there is a reason the Gray Apostles aren’t allowed near him anymore. Regardless, you listening to Orcus resulted in a lot of trouble and work for the rest of us. Consider that moving forward.”

“What?” I knew there was a connection between Orcus and the Gray Apostles, but that didn’t seem relevant to Blinker asking me to be insubordinate.

“Consider your actions, his actions, and their repercussions.” Blinker told me commandingly. “Go to the SRT, see Dr. Grath, rest up, and we’ll meet later for a debriefing. I’ve sent a message to Charlotte, who is in charge of your costume. It’ll be ready later today.” Then he used his power to blink once in space, then again appearing further away. He did it quickly, but since I’d figured out his power somewhat it was easier to see what he was doing. Even if it all happened in the time it took me to blink twice.

Unceremoniously dismissed, I turned to the cordon. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but there were cameras and microphones. Enough that getting out unmolested was going to be difficult. But it was just the press. I wasn’t too worried, but I may as well put on a show. Using the ability I’d just tested earlier today, I slid towards the barrier.

When I was nearly there I glanced off to the side and saw the building Orcus had originally called me to. It had a back entrance. It was perfect for dodging the news. Looking back at the cordon, I saw several cameras pointed at me. There were a handful of reporters shouting questions at me, though they were still too far away for me to make out any one question. I stopped and waved at them, then went out the back way.

~~~

Getting back to the SRT was a different experience than the one I’d had sliding away from it in the morning. People were awake now, and I quickly learned to keep away from busy streets after having to find my way through three of them. I had found that changing direction when I was sliding around was possible, but it had to be a gradual thing. Basically, I was fine if the road was empty, I could slide along that. But on the other hand I was totally incapable of weaving through heavy pedestrian traffic.

Still, I had only just figured out this use of my power. It was entirely possible I could become fast enough to do that. My power wasn’t superspeed though, so I had my doubts.

What made the sliding experience different was the casual abuse hurled my way as I went along. It was mixed in with the “Who are you?”s and the “Welcome to Graceland”s, but it was there. I wondered if the other Sentrys experienced things like this. I heard multiple accusations of “Villain!” which I pointedly slid past.

Soon enough I was back in the SRT, absently twisting my piercing as I metally followed the forces of the elevator ascending. The elevator arrived with a ding and I stepped into the somewhat eerily quiet Sentry headquarters. Normally there wasn’t much going on by way of sound, but the knowledge that most of the Sentrys were out gave it an isolated feeling. The floor was air conditioned, causing my hairs to stand on end and adding to the sensation.

I went to the changing room to take all my gear off. It wasn’t clear if the generic costume I’d taken from the adepts labs was supposed to go back there. Chances were that was exactly the case, but I hesitated to surrender the only protective things I had. When I entered I stowed the staff away first and glanced over to find a floating teenage girl in uniform holding a makeup mirror up and stressing out.

“Hi Slingshot.” I announced my arrival.

“Lock!” She dropped the makeup, which stopped in mid air before it hit the ground. “You did this to me!”

Slingshot was pointing at her face. The bandana she had been wearing before was gone, but the top half of her face was still covered in a black that made it impossible to see any depth. I frowned and tried to turn it off, but nothing happened.

“Sorry.” I said. I needed to touch something to change the colour

“How can you just say sorry?” Slingshot pulled at the skin under her eye, but it looked like she was just miming the action. “It’s not coming off!”

“That needs to come off the way it was put on.”

Slingshot hesitated. “So you need to rub your hands all over my...” She trailed off

“Ouch.”

“I’m sorry!” Slingshot darted over to me. “I didn’t mean to be mean. It’s just that it reminded me of something I didn’t want to think about.”

I registered the weight of my piercing. “I understand. Shall I just do it?”

“Please.” Slingshot screwed her eyes shut.

I dragged my hand over her face, actively removing my power as I did so. When I was done I saw there were a number of black patches still on her skin and touched them away, then got the bits in her hair. My gut wrenched when I saw the red markings and bruised skin around Slingshot’s eyes where Clothesline had punched her aviators into them. Then the fact that I was looking at her unmasked face dawned on me.

I glanced away. “I’m done.”

Slingshot spun away and presumably looked at herself in the mirror. “That’s a relief.” She sighed. “I was beginning to think I’d have to just live with it.”

“Yeah, it’s weird like that.” I breathed heavily, remembering Sting’s advice from the day before. I knew what Slingshot looked like now. What should I do with that? Should I even do anything with it?

“Since the cat’s out of the bag I think I should say…”

Slingshot turned when I trailed off, her feet level with the bench, but she was still standing on air. “Say what?”

A thought crossed my mind. A distraction I quickly grabbed hold of. “Actually, first can I ask something?”

“What about?”

I pulled my helmet off. My power would remain active until I told it to stop, so I wasn’t worried about showing my face. Slingshot still hadn’t realised her face was naked.

“Why are you still flying?” I asked. “You’ve been flying the entire time we were out in the field, but I don’t think you were flying the first time we saw each other. And the endless floating is kind of uh… distracting.”

Slingshot’s mouth thinned. “Well. Sorry about that.” She levitated down so her eyes were level with mine. “It’s, um… part of my power. Ever since I manifested I’ve always been flying. I can’t turn it off.”

I pushed the movement of the earth to the back of my mind. “That’s rough. And that’s not me just saying that. I have a similar aspect to my power.”

“Really?” Slingshot frowned. “What?”

“Nothing so visible.” I rubbed my temple, willing the awareness away. “It’s a sixth sense. Touch based. Anyway, I should apologise.”

“Don’t. You were being honest.” Slingshot moved over to an open locker and pointed at a pair of thigh high boots. “These let me walk during school, but they only last for seven hours. I get, um, self conscious. Inside. I guess.”

I noticed Slingshot’s tone constantly lower throughout her speech. “How do the boots work?”

“I don’t know, actually.” Slingshot confessed, back to her normal volume. “It was designed by an adept in Africa and a pair got sent to me as soon as I revealed myself to the Regulation. Apparently I’m not the only one with the problem of perpetual flight. They only take an hour to charge, which is neat...”

The silence started dragging on, so I cleared my throat. “Right. Anyway, I was going to say something because the cat’s out of the bag and it doesn’t matter anymore.” I extended my hand forward and willed away my mask. “Michael Barker.”

I have no idea why I decided to reveal myself. There was a chance Collage’s pink beam was still playing shenanigans in my brain, making me pine for attention from the two people I met for the first time after getting zapped. That would be why Unshaken’s criticisms hurt so much, and why I trying to endear myself to Slingshot.

The more logical side of me said that this was a strategic move. Villains would do anything to get at a hero. Having a secret identity was akin to giving the rest of the world a weapon to use against you, especially if you screwed up in keeping it a secret. It was better to disarm that weapon if at all possible. Doing this now would reduce backlash if my real identity was revealed, even if I didn’t really have much to hide.

I was listening to one side more than the other

Slingshot stared at my hand, then her hands went to her cheeks. “I wasn’t supposed to reveal myself!” Her eyes were wide.

“I’m sorry?” That was different from what my experiences had been.

“My dad said he’d have to kill anyone who figured out it was me.” Slingshot was totally serious. Yet somehow, I found it funny.

“Why are you laughing!? He’ll kill you!” Slingshot exclaimed.

“No. He’s just being a dad.” I managed to say. The laughs faded after I took a breath to recentre myself. “No sane dad actually follows through on that kind of threat.”

Slingshot paused for a moment, then realisation passed over her face. “Right.” She let out a laugh.

“Come on, that trope is used so much.” I said. “He just cares.”

Another chuckle escaped Slingshot. I pushed my hand forward again.

“Michael Barker.”

Slingshot took my hand in a soft and limp handshake with a hesitant smile.

“I’m Madeleine Soyer.”

“You know, you’re going to need to get back into costume Madeleine.” I told her. “We’re debuting later.”

“Oh...” Madeleine drifted down ever so slightly. “I need new sunglasses…”