I could feel the wind picking up as a cold breeze swept over me. I shivered to its touch, which only brought all the aching pain back. I knew there was nothing I could do to avail the pain, so I had to just take it. Even with a hoodie on, I could still feel the cold grasp of the wind against my skin. I didn't even remember it being this cold earlier. As a matter a fact, it was pretty warm outside.

I sighed and just kept my eyes to the sky, maybe I’ll get lucky and Zack will find me first. Then again, there were a lot of injured people to attend to. I hope he prioritizes getting them still.

As I tried to relax, I was startled up by this mist swarming around me. I tried looking around to see where it was coming from. But the mist was too thick.

I could feel the temperature drastically drop around me. Was it Zack? I wonder if he got an upgrade? Wait, this could be a friend of that gem guy! I panicked as I tried to force myself up, but I couldn’t. I felt a wave of intense pain wash over me again, I bit my lip hard trying to not scream. Whatever this was, it had me. I looked ahead as I saw the silhouette of a person. I wasn’t sure if I was just seeing things, or if it was real.

Then the floor under me became cold, my whole body shook from the icy sensation. Which only prompted another wave of pain to shoot through me. I bit my lip again trying to not wail. However, I started screaming when I felt myself sinking into the ice! It was like drowning in a pool! I flailed about trying to swim my way out of the ice, but it only made me sink even faster. Soon I was completely sunken in the ice. It felt like I was swimming in the arctic. But, I just couldn’t move. Everything was a different shade of blue, swirling all around me like water. Was this it then? Did I die?

“Good fight my young hero.” I heard a faint whisper coming from around me.

I tried to look around, but I saw nothing. I was holding my breath for a while now, I couldn’t hold it for much longer. Then one of the strands of blue began to grow dark, then another and another. Darkness was slowly consuming all the color around me until it was complete darkness. The cold sensation faded, but I still couldn’t move. This is how I imagined space would be like, an empty black void filled with nothing. Well, at least in space there were stars. Just when I was about to accept my defeat, I saw a shimmering blue ball. It looked like a floating bubble, it sparkled and swayed in the black void. I was entranced by it, maybe it was because it was the only light in this endless darkness. I wasn’t too sure. It felt oddly familiar. The bubble began to shake and ripple, and without warning, it exploded. I closed my eyes and as I did, I could feel a warm sensation washing over me. I felt a lot more relaxed and calm. I could even go as far as to say it was an inviting feeling.

I opened my eyes, and there she was, standing before me. My Goddess. She was smaller this time, still taller than me, but almost my height. Her skin was a light blue shade that resembled a blueberry, and her hair was almost a black shade of blue. Her dress was dark blue at the top and became lighter the further down until it became white. Surprisingly enough, her blue skin wasn’t the most interesting thing about her. It was her eyes. It was like staring into a galaxy. Her eyes were shimmering white, pure white. It was like stars were moving in her eyes. I could just feel her power as I stared into them.

“You have made me proud today my hero.” Her words were soft and echoed all around me.

I was frozen, I couldn’t move. I didn’t know if it was fear, or something else keeping me still. But I kept staring intently into her eyes, I just couldn't look away.

“Because of your victory today, I have won a bet amongst my sisters. You have made this game very entertaining for us. Keep it up.” She said as a crooked smile slowly etched itself onto her face.

I didn’t immediately respond, I wasn’t sure what to say. Apart of me wanted to yell at her. People died today for their stupid game, innocent people. But, I couldn’t find the words to speak. It was like my mind was blank, nothing at all was coming through. I just stared back at her sadistic smile and her eyes. Then a flash of a light blue light began to shine behind her, consuming the area. It blinded me with its intense rays.

I sat up fast and desperately gasped for air. It felt like I was drowning! I frantically looked around in a panic. Hundreds of questions filling my head as I realized I was home. I was laying in the middle of the floor of my apartment. I was trying to jog my memory here, how did I get here? When did I get here? What happ-

My thoughts came to a stop as I was tackled by my sister, who had me in a death hug. I flailed a bit trying to breathe again. I desperately tapped her shoulder hoping she let me go. It took her a second, but she eventually got the message and let go. I took my time to catch my breath as my eyes adjusted to the room.

I saw my sister kneeling beside me, I could tell she had been crying a lot. Her eyes were puffy and red, her clothes didn’t look much better either. They seemed wet and wrinkled up. Zack stood behind her with a relieved look on his face, I was happy to see he was fine. Nothing more than a few bumps and bruises on him. His hair was a mess, but that was per usual for Zack. Then I noticed someone else standing there, someone I didn’t recognize.

The first thing that caught my eyes was his hair. It was white as snow. He was tall, definitely six feet something. And he had this mischievous smirk on his face, It kinda reminded me of Zack. He was also in some casual wear. A worn-looking hoodie and ripped jeans.

No one was attacking him, or looking the least bit uncomfortable. So I decided to just relax for now.

“Are the hostages and civilians okay?” I groaned as I sat up.

I expected some pain as I did. But to my surprise, I felt fine. I slowly rubbed over my chest and arms. I noticed my shirt and the remains of my hoodie were gone.

“There were a few casualties, but for the most part everyone is okay.” The man with the white hair spoke up.

His tone was very happy go lucky. Like he really didn’t care about anything.

Then the memory of the officers being stabbed flashed into my head, the bodies that were on the ground when I faced that stone guy. I wasn’t fast enough for them. I balled my hand into a fist trying to contain my frustration.

“Dammit!” I yelled.

I rammed my fist into the floor. If I was just a bit faster! If I was just a little more aware!

“Don’t beat yourself up, kid.” The white-haired man spoke again. “You did the best you could despite the situation. Focus on the lives that you saved, not the ones you lost.”

“How can I when it’s my fault! That creep showed up to fight me! I was the reason he came!” I snapped back.

“Yeah, I’m sure you're smart enough to realize it. But being a superhero isn't at all like how it is in the comics. Well, that depends on which age of comics I suppose..” He replied as he moved his hand to his chin in thought.

“Who are you anyway?” I asked as I tried to ignore his comment.

He blinked a few times and looked around the room at us like he wasn’t expecting anyone to ask.

“Ah right, introductions.” He said with a yawn. “Well I’m Jack, I'm from the Alliance of the Holy Knights. I was sent here to monitor and observe Stryder Beowulf, and Zack Grendall. Our leader Arthur wanted to send his regards through me.” He finished with another yawn and began to rub his eyes.

“Oh great, now some gay organization is stalking us?” Zack sighed.

“Who is Arthur? And how do you know our names?” I asked frantically.

He makes it sound like he’s known about who we really were for a while now. I had so many thoughts, questions, my mind was exploding!

“Better start talking, or else!” My sister charged forward to the man, holding something black in her hands.

As she flung her arm up to him, I could see her brandishing a pistol at Jack’s face.

“A normy with some spunk? I like it.” Jack said with a smirk.

“Don’t change the subject, talk,” Zack growled as he held out his hand at him.

Green sparks went off in his palms as a flame erupted to life.

“Come on guys, even after I saved your little hero? And here I thought we were all friends.” He spoke dramatically as he looked around to all of us.

I thought the gun was a bit excessive, but we needed this info.

Then to my surprise and horror, Jack started laughing. Laughing while he had a gun and practically a flamethrower in his face! He wasn’t taking us seriously, which scared me even more.

“Well, my boss created this organization for similar reasons as your ‘Ally of Justice’. He’s been bringing people together in order to change the world. He sent me here to make observations to your development. He wants me to help train you so that we could all work together one day.” Jack said nonchalantly as he looked over to Lux again with a smile. Which made her glare back at him.

“I see, well can I talk to this Arthur then?” I asked.

I expected him to have some lame excuse. But, he casually took out an old grey flip phone from his pocket. Then began dialing on it. Jack started to tap his foot against the floor as the phone rang.

“Just how old is this guy? Using a freaking flip phone.” Zack mumbled.

“Hey boss, I just made contact with the wizard and knight. Uh huh, uh huh, yeah he wants to speak with you.” Jack said as he looked over to me.

He held his phone out for me to take and I hesitantly grabbed it.

“Hello?” I asked softly into the phone.

“Hello, Mr. Wulf? I heard you’d like to speak with me?” A deep raspy voice on the other end asked.

“Y-yes, I wanted to know how you figured out who we are. I also would like to know why you’re so interested in us.” I asked hesitantly.

I wanted to ask something to trick him into saying something about himself. But I wasn’t that clever, I had no idea. These questions were the best I had at the moment.

“Well, I had another special individual observing you for a while now. The goal was to see if you were truly earnest about your heroic acts. I apologize for the..stalkerish methods, but people tend to act more real when no one's looking.” He replied very calmly to me.

“I see.”

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact someone was watching us. I also couldn’t find much fault with his logic. It was creepy, but it was a decent idea.

“But don’t worry, the observer was called back upon Jack’s arrival.” He said reluctantly. “As for your second question, I think you and I are pretty similar. We both want to make a difference in a broken world. And from what I can see, you’re genuine”

“I can see where you're coming from,” I said softly as I really thought it over.

“I’m glad, don’t worry about Jack either. He is harmless, he is a pretty good teacher. I don’t know if you've heard of the hero Whirlwind, but he made him into what he is now.” I could hear someone talking to him in the background. “Well, I must be going now. I’ll keep in touch. Oh, and I hope you’ll be ready for my game this summer.”

“Wait what do you mea-” before I finished he hung up on me. Game? What game!? He managed to leave me with more questions!

I couldn’t even think straight. They had all the pieces in their favor. They knew us, our faces, our names, our home. And this Jack guy, clearly he wasn’t a pushover. He didn’t look the least bit worried this whole time. I was stuck, we couldn't do anything. And this game, what the heck was she talking about? I needed to remember to look up this Whirlwind guy too.

“So Stryder, what do we do?” Zack asked which snapped me out of my thoughts.

“We believe them, for now,” I replied as Zack let his hand drop, extinguishing the flames.

“You lucked out Frosty,” Zack growled.

“Oh, I was so scared,” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, you dare doubt the mighty powers of Zack!? The great destroyer of worlds!?” Jack just chuckled and looked over to Lux, who was putting her gun down.

She stepped back from him, but Jack stepped toward her, completely ignoring Zack.

“So, may I ask the name of such a beautiful lady?” Jack asked as he looked down to Lux with a cheesy grin on his face.

Lux just rolled her eyes.

“I’m Lux, Thank you for saving my brother by the way. But don’t get any ideas, I am grateful and all. But I don’t date guys who stalk little boys for a living.” Lux said with a smirk. While Zack busted out laughing.

“Ya that’s right, tell him my sweet! You got no chance with my girl! Frosty the snowman!” Zack cheered.

Then I noticed something odd, there was an icy mist coming off of Zack’s waist. He was frozen from the waist down in an instant!

“Is that the best you got Dumbledore?” Jack asked as he turned toward him.

“You wanna go frosty?” Zack replied.

He swung his arms down as his body ignited into green flames.

“Why don’t you go back to the D and D game you belong to? You're not ready for the big boy leagues” Jack added with a sigh.

“Don’t burn the place down idiot!” I yelled at Zack who jumped and turned his flames off.

Followed by Jack's intense laughter.

“I can’t take you seriously when you look like you pissed your pants!” Jack said between laughs.

I looked Zack over and couldn’t help but crack a smile. His pants were soaked from the melted ice! He really looked like he peed himself!

“Like hell, I’m taking that from Santa's lost elf” Zack growled as he charged in at him with a fiery fist.

However, Jack just smiled at him as he did. Suddenly Zack slipped and fell forward as Jack stepped out of his way. Which made Zack fall face-first into the garbage bin. He struggled to get a foothold on the ground as Jack froze all the floor below him. Zack slipped about as he tried to regain his stature, it took him a sec before he finally flung his head out of the trash. As he came up we could see the chunks of food and whitish green liquids mixed in with his hair.

“Ewe. What is this stuff?” Zack asked in a grossed out voice.

That’s when Lux started to bust up laughing.

“That’s a combination of Dad’s moldy drinks and yesterday's garbage!” Lux chuckled out.

Then we all joined in laughing at Zack.

“You just made a very powerful enemy Frost. A very powerful enemy!” Zack sneered.

“I think I'll manage, I'll take my leave on that note,” Jack said through chuckles.

He then headed toward our window, and before we could even say anything, he got onto the ledge and leaped out.

“Stryder, why are all of your friends so weird?” Lux asked with an astonished look on his face.

“I attract idiots I guess?” I looked over at Zack, who was muttering kill, kill, kill, kill kill.

“Go take a shower, Zack, you really stink!” Lux said as she pinched her nose.

Zack didn’t even respond to her, but he did get up. He slowly hobbled over to our bathroom and shut the door behind him.

“It’s nice to know that even with all of this going on, you two haven’t changed a bit,” Lux said with a satisfied sigh.

“Yeah, It's nice to know even with powers, Zack’s still an idiot,” I said with a chuckle.

“Stryder, I was really scared ya know? Having to just sit back and watch all that today,” Lux said, dawning her serious face.

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to cause any casualties.” I looked down at her feet as I said that.

I couldn’t bring myself to look into her eyes, I didn’t deserve too.

“That’s not what I mean! I thought you were gonna die!” She yelled as her voice cracked.

I could tell she was about to cry. My eyes widened as I heard that.

“I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I replied softly.

“You idiot! You ever sit back and consider the feelings of others? Imagine how I would feel, how Zack would feel?” I suddenly felt her embrace me, which made me jump.

I wasn't expecting this, any of this. I was hesitant, but I slowly hugged her back.

“I’m sorry, I just, I always thought. I was replaceable ya know? Like I was nothing really special like everyone else.” I admitted to her.

I don’t know why I said it, but it just came out. And, I felt a lot lighter saying it.

“Don’t ever think anyone can replace you. I love you, dork, Mom would be so proud.” She said softly as she slowly let me go.

She wiped the tears from her face and sniffled a bit. It hadn’t really hit me until now, but I was something precious to her. I felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I couldn’t help but smile.

“So what happened? What’s the news saying about all of this?” I asked, trying to sound more optimistic now.

“The news is trying to say it was a terrorist attack. People who portrayed the Alley Justice came and blah blah blah.” Lux said waving her hand off as she walked into the kitchen.

“Let's talk about something else okay? Something more normal?” She asked.

She opened the fridge and pulled an old big box of pizza from yesterday.

“Sure, I’d prefer that honestly. It’s been a hectic few days.” I said trying to force a laugh out.

“So, did you ask Alexis to homecoming?” She asked with a little dance as she warmed up her pizza.

I started to clean the trash up from the floor. That warm and fuzzy feeling was just slaughtered, a rush of bitterness and regret came over me.

“She’s going with Zack,” I said bluntly, hoping she didn’t hear the bitterness in my voice.

“She’s what! I'll kill that boy! Doing that to his best friend, after all, you did for him!” She started to rant on but I calmed her down.

Once I explained how things went, and how I basically told Zack to go with her. She started to calm down.

“You really do deserve better Stryder. Don’t worry, you will find someone you deserve soon. Hey! Maybe I can go with you!” Lux said cheerfully as she grabbed her pizza from the microwave.

She skipped over to the living room and hopped onto the couch.

“I don’t think taking my sister to the dance is the new hip thing, but I appreciate the sentiment,” I said as I finished cleaning the floor.

“Oh ha-ha very funny.” She said with a mouth full of pizza.

I eventually sat next to her on the couch, and we turned on an old movie.

It felt really refreshing to just worry about the simple stuff. When people's lives and the fate of my city weren’t on my shoulders. Even though it was a less than happy topic, I still enjoyed the simplicity of it all.

We sat, and we talked for hours on the couch, just catching up with each other's lives. Reminding me of a long-forgotten reality.