Tabitha woke up in the morning thanks to a knock at her door. She jumped up from her bed and looked to the door. Her mother opened the door and stepped in.

“The people from the police will be here in thirty minutes to go over the plan with you and then the camera crew will be here to join you. Get ready,” said her mother. She didn’t wait for Tabitha to respond before she closed the door.

Tabitha rolled out of bed and quickly got to her feet and started making her bed. Once the bed was made she moved over to her bathroom and started brushing out the bed head and straightening her black hair. After she had sufficiently brushed her hair she went through the process of changing into her super suit. She was familiar with this process a dozen times over by now, so it went by quickly. When she first got it a year ago it had taken over an hour to get on and the help of others. Now though she put on the suit in fifteen minutes. She started with the undersuit that was made of a stretchy fiber material that fit tightly but also allowed a full range of movement. It was the standard make for any superhero or villain. There were few other options to go with for the undersuit that weren’t currently in prototype stages or overly expensive for the extra features they held. Next Tabitha put on the other pieces to cover her legs and chest. She admired them in the mirror as she slid them on, and the yellow color shone back at her in the mirror. She smiled as she put on her arm guards and then gloves. Finally, she put on her boots that fit comfortably to her feet. Tabitha left her helmet in her hands while she left to speak with the police.

She walked out of her room and down the hall of the house towards the living room where police were already speaking. As Tabitha walked in she frowned as she saw who had arrived at the house in addition to the police.

“What is he doing here?” asked Tabitha as she glared at the other superhero in costume there.

“Now there is no need for that,” said the accused man as he tried to diffuse the situation. “I won’t be interfering in your job in any way. I am just…”

Tabitha turned to look at her mother who was standing in the kitchen. “What is this? Why is Dan here?” she said ignoring the etiquette to use his superhero name, Ripper.

Her mother took a deep breath. “Calm down dear. He is just here to help evaluate your performance and to clean up if things come to that. There is no need to be so rude to the man. He is just doing his job and is a fellow superhero along with you.”

“Thank you,” said Dan Keyes he didn’t look disturbed by the outburst from Tabitha and continued, “Now are you ready to hear from the officers and go over the plan?”

“Fine. Let's get this started. I am sure you don’t want to be waiting any longer,” said Tabitha as she crossed her arms and sat down.

The officer to the right of Dan started speaking.

“Mr. Ripper is here because of evaluations and cleans up as was suggested but he is also here because he has been the one to coordinate most of this within his team for you to take over this first job he worked on and bring it to the finish line. He is not here to take your thunder and any excitement or experiences for a first day. With that out of the way, I can go over exactly what you will be doing. As you know we have been tracking the drug dealers and have a location for them. You must be careful with how you tackle this because they were found to be in the basement of a residential house.”

“Yeah, I get it. I break in now that you have the warrants and take out the superhuman resistance if there is any. Try not to break anything that could be considered as evidence and don’t damage much property.”

“While you have done great in your training and simulated scenarios it is important to consider that this is real and has consequences both good and bad. You want to show the world that there is a new Legacy and that they will continue to uphold the values of previous generations. How you do will reflect both on yourself and on previous generations as you start working in the field both today but for the next month especially. It is when the other dynasty heroes will be watching you the most and will be evaluating you the hardest. Do you know why they consider your Uncle the most powerful hero?”

“Isn’t it because his power is the embodiment of strength. I mean that is why his name is Hercules in costume.”

“Not really. The Hercules may be called the First Hero, but it is because he is the longest-reigning compared to all of the other dynasty heroes. He claimed the title from his brother, your father, at 19 and hasn’t let go. Despite the other powers of the time, he held onto it and gained the respect of the other mantle holders of the time and then did so with the new members as well. He mentored some of them and has gained the respect of many of the other heroes within this family of heroes you have now joined. His word means a lot to all of them. Despite what family in-fighting might occur over the title he will have your back if you show yourself as a competent fighter, leader, and hero. He may still be mad that his daughter doesn’t have the title anymore, but he respects the display of power and the rules set by your ancestors more. Remember this when you show yourself to the world. They will be watching to see if you stand straight and respect the Legacy name or if you bend and break after taking the name with arrogance and pride.”

“Thank you for your words. I will take them into consideration when I take action in the future.”

“Now for who you might be dealing with Ripper has identified three superhumans at the house, but there may be more who are powerless. It is important that you test and check before you go all out. I don’t want to have the cleanup guys scrapping blood and gore from the walls all day. The three supers will l likely have trained in some street brawling skills but their powersets are relatively low. As long as you can get through to them before they can get armored up or gather weapons then you should be able to knock them out with some well-placed energy blasts. That is why it will be best for you to go in quickly and straight for them based on your powerset. You will breakthrough to the house through the basement window and brick wall. Any questions?”

“Not really. It is pretty clear but what are you going to be doing and what will he be doing while I break in?” asked Tabitha.

“I will be watching you and checking the possible exits for the superhuman drug dealers escaping,” said Ripper.

“The police force will be working on surrounding the house as soon as you move in. We will be watching for the other people in the house and will work to cut off ways for the others to escape,” said the policeman. “We will try to avoid being as non-intrusive as possible for the sake of your first presentation to the world. Just remember to do your job and do it well. Everyone who watches the broadcasts will be focused on you and your actions. Not the stuff in the background that appears in a single frame.”

“How are you feeling?” asked Ripper.

“Honestly a lot more nervous than yesterday but also I am equally excited. It is finally my time to shine, be the hero, and wear the colors.”

“Then the next steps will be to head to the vans we have outside,” said the policeman, “This is both to transport us as people without mobility powers but also to hide you from view until we are ready. We can’t have you hovering over the house while things are put into position. While you wait you can meet with the cameraman for the news stations and can go over things and he will likely ask some interview questions after the action is all over with.”

“I can work with that. I have seen how superhuman reporters do their thing. Let's go to the vans and meet them.”

The van’s windows were blacked out as they rode towards their location. Tabitha sat in the van with the cameraman across from her and other policemen in the car around them.

“I’m Isaac. I will be following you for this event and will film the entire battle. Do you have any initial questions about the process or how this setup will work?”

“I already know the process. My brother has had a superhuman action crew follow him in the past.”

“Good. I can skip over most of my speech then. I have the superhuman ability of intangibility. That means I will be both invisible and can pass through physical objects. While we wait for arrival I would like to go over signals with you. I will be able to communicate with you through your microphone only due to my powers. It means it will be hard for you to know what I am focusing on. To help with this I have come up with some signals you can use with your hands and feet to direct me as necessary during the first parts of your battle. I will use some discretion of course to follow the action as I see it, but your input will be great to have.”

“I should be able to memorize the moves. But I am wondering when you will start filming and what your first steps will be along with mine. I assume that the news channels have a suggested time to start.”

“Yes. I will formally start filming in ten minutes as we pull around the corner of the street. For the viewers, it will start as soon as the two of us are out of the van. We will make our way to the designated spot for you to enter and then I will activate my powers. From there I will jump inside, and you can focus on the fight. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah, I can work with that. I assume that the news will put the broadcast on a bit of a delay. What is that like?”

“The standard time is five minutes so that they can bleep out any words or unnecessary things but after that point, the camera will be rolling until the fight is over. After that, you can take a break for a few minutes. The news networks will run ads for that time and then I get to interview you and ask a few questions.”

“Do I get to know the questions beforehand?” asked Tabitha.

“Yes, you can read them before. Here is the card with questions,” said Isaac.

He reached into his pocket and took out an index card that had the questions written down. Tabitha took it and read them over. She thought through the questions and possible answers for a minute before returning the card.

“The questions are mandated by corporate,” Isaac continued, “They are pretty standard, and I know you have been asked some of them before. The harder questions will likely come later this week and in the next month. Talk shows and some podcasts will want you on to interview. If you haven’t already been prepping then you will want to start or pick up the intensity. Fighting your predecessor and then giving a speech to your peers is one thing but once you are around strangers and a camera it can be very different.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

The van shifted as they turned down another street. The man in the front passenger seat turned to both of them.

“We are almost there. Get ready to run out as soon as the door is opened. The police will be following behind you and they don’t want to be held back by you if possible. Move around to the basement windows on one of the sides of the house that isn’t the front or the west side. Police will be on the other side and don’t want or need to be on camera as much as you don’t want them to be. Once you are in position move inside as quickly as possible and don’t worry about anything except the three superhumans you are targeting. Any questions?”

“No,” said Tabitha. She turned to Isaac. “Have you done this before?” Tabitha shifted the helmet she held in her hands and slid it onto her head.

“Only a few dozen times.”

The van slowed to a stop and Isaac brought his camera up to his shoulder where it sat. He held up a thumbs up and the green button on the side started blinking. Tabitha smiled and turned to the doors in the back. A policeman from one of the other vans hurriedly opened it up and Tabitha got out along with the others. Isaac held the camera up while he ran behind and it automatically steadied itself with the help of the gimbal.

Tabitha ran over to the east side of the house and looked around. Isaac waved for her to move further toward the back of the house. For a few moments, Isaac turned intangible and stuck his head inside. He returned a moment later after counting the people downstairs. He held up four fingers on one hand. Tabitha nodded and turned to the basement window and the wall around it. She took a deep breath in and then thrust her hands forward with a burst of red energy swirling around them. There was a boom as the brick and glass shattered. Tabitha jumped in a moment after Isaac did the same and turned intangible while keeping his camera in a wide-angle around the scene around them.

Tabitha landed in a roll as she hit the basement floor. She scanned the area and saw the four people. Two were in the far corner closest to the stairs while the other two were separated and were holding chemicals and were in the middle of creating something. Around the two men were beakers, bottles, and burners.

Tabitha reacted quickly as they started to attack her. The two who together spoke and one of them ran up the stairs. The other joined the fight. A fireball flew at Tabitha’s head, and it bounced off of her energy shield. She flew forward at the nearest enemy and then threw him into the man next to the stairs. Isaac watch from the side and had the camera follow the men crashing into each other before whipping back to her and the third guy.

The third person grew in size and stood seven feet tall when she started throwing energy-infused punches at him. The man brushed most of them off and was only pushed back a little from the attacks. He threw a knee at Tabitha’s gut, and she fell back and stumbled after the attack.

The man jumped on her as the other two got up from their fallen state. Tabitha wrestled with the man, but she did not have very much strength compared to a regular person. It took her some time to get out from under the man. He held her down, but she landed an energy-infused headbutt that broke the man’s nose. She pushed him off him and fell back while staying in the air while a fireball hit her side.

It didn’t do anything because her shield was up, but it annoyed her. She rushed the extra-large man and kicked him in the head as he tried to stand up. The man was knocked unconscious. A fireball hit her side again and she ignored it when she shouldn’t have because immediately after she was hit by an attack by the third of the three men.

He stabbed her with metallic spikes that grew from his arms. Tabitha wanted to cry out, but she knew that Isaac was filming, and she had trained not to let it out. She moved and spun around as the metal spike man removed his weapon from her side. It didn’t go very deep, but she felt its pain even more as it was removed.

Tabitha grabbed the man’s arm as he pulled back and she twisted. The man fell to one knee, but a spike sprouted from where her hand grabbed and speared it through. In response, she used her other hand to break the man’s arm and then pulled them both upwards. The man became a shield as they broke through the ceiling and went into the main floor. Tabitha tossed the weakened man through one of the brick walls of the house with her fist on his face. She left him there half-conscious and dizzy.

Her hand stung with pain, and she tried to ignore it as she held it to her side. She looked around to get an idea of things on the main floor. The police were supposed to deal with the regular criminals on the main floor, but she could still see one of them running out of one of the doors and towards the garage. Tabitha moved to head back down the stairs and signaled for Isaac to follow to the side.

When she returned down the stairs she found the one enlarged criminal unconscious but did not see the fire criminal. She signaled to Isaac to follow once again but to hurry as she flew out the side of the broken basement wall. Isaac phased through the wall and kept his camera focused on Tabitha the entire time.

Tabitha floated in the air and spun as she search for the last criminal. She found him limping away in the opposite direction from where the police had entered from. She dropped her verticality a little before rushing forward. Isaac tracked her with his camera as she rushed the man and tackled him to the ground. The fire criminal lit himself on fire as they rolled on the ground and Tabitha tried to pin him down. Her energy shields kept most of the fire away, but the heat was still strong.

The fight ended as Tabitha pushed her energy into her arms increasing her strength which allowed her to choke the man out. The fire died down and so did the man’s energy to resist. She spun the man around so that she was on top of him before standing back up. She spun around to see Isaac without his power active. She smiled at him and the camera as she struck the pose she had practiced a few times before.

The camera lingered on her for a few moments longer before Isaac’s camera light flashed red and he gave the thumbs up. He lowed the camera and set it down.

“Good job. I was able to capture most of the action clearly. I think it turned out well.”

“That’s good. I was unsure if the part where I flew through the ceiling would get captured clearly as well as what happened after.”

“I already took care of it and was moving around to where I needed to be. Now if you can pick that guy up we need to bring him and the others over to the vans where they can be processed with the rest of the criminals. Over there you can also get healed up and touched up in time for the interview section. And don’t worry about the other two guys. Ripper is taking care of bringing them over because he knows you don’t have much time.”

“Great. Let's get going,” said Tabitha as she slung the unconscious man over her shoulder.

Isaac led the way as they walked towards the front of the house.

“Good job,” said the lead police officer from the van and the person who had come to her house. “You didn’t damage much outside of the house as was expected. Come sit here and we will have you patched up by the healer. That metal guy was pretty nasty.”

Tabitha sat down. “You could have told me a bit more about what I was facing. What happened with that?”

“We didn’t have unlimited amounts of time to gather information for you and you should also remember that knowing what power an enemy has isn’t always guaranteed. Now get some rest.”

Tabitha downed the water she was given quickly as the healer came to heal her hand and side. She relaxed as she felt the numbness set in as her hand-knit back together. She chugged more water as the exhaustion set it because of the rapid healing. Isaac waited around and spoke with the officers while the time marched on till her interview. He returned to her side when there was two-minute left until he was supposed to go live again.

They set up the camera in front of the house and Tabitha read over the questions again. She went through some exercises to calm herself and to clear her mind of the nerves of the interview. Her mind was moving at a hundred miles an hour. She thought back to her fight mere minutes ago and how she did in the fight and how she could improve. Isaac reminded her of the thirty-second countdown. She turned to face the camera and stood proudly as the camera turned back on. The wild thoughts in her head dissipated or were pushed away as she focused solely on the interview at hand.

Isaac turned on the camera and stepped out in front of it to stand next to Tabitha with a microphone. He had placed an earpiece in his ear and waited for his cue.

“Hello viewers,” said Isaac, “I am Isaac Thomas, a reporter and action videographer for News Channel 3. Thank you for tuning in to see the first appearance of the new Legacy in costume. How do you feel stepping into the costume for the first time?” he asked Tabitha.

“Thank you for this chance to appear on the news and show off who I am. It has been amazing to be able to live a dream I have had for years, and I am fully ready to step into the shoes my cousin once filled.”

“That is great. Now I am sure a lot of people are wondering when your first team-up will be and if you will visit other cities soon. Can you tell us anything about your current plans?”

“Nothing is set in stone right now, but I do want to travel around. There are many great heroes around the world I want to meet and after finally entering this community of heroes around the globe I can do so now as equals. Team ups in the future will have to be something planned by my hero coordinator and theirs, but I hope to have one soon. I have many friends I would like to fight together with and heroes I would like to work with and learn from.”

“What else would you like to say about your future as a hero or about the future of the dynasty heroes as a whole? What is something you want to leave viewers at home with?”

“I will step up to fill the role and complete the requirements of this job bestowed on me. I knew it when I stepped into the arena to claim the mantle and I will continue to improve my skills to better the name of Legacy. As one of the youngest holders of the title I hope I can grow with the title and hold it for a long time. Right now, is the time for the newest generation of heroes and I was not the first of that new generation. Even now the mantle holder for Frost Cloak may change because of injuries and surgery. The dynasty heroes are in a state of change, and I will make sure that everyone can look to me as a leader among them and powerful force among the new generation.”

“Thank you for those great words and your enthusiasm and pride. I once again want to thank our viewers for tuning in and will turn it back to our great team at the station.”