Constanza stood in front of the mirror, staring herself in the eye. She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow. She found the cloud-like sensation and imagined herself pushing it down. Pulling it from her head and legs and arms, wrapping it into a small ball in her center.

She clenched her teeth.

She grunted.

There, ever so slowly, ever so slightly, one strand of hair began to darken. The edge of her mouth curled up.

BAM

“Constanza!”

She jumped and yelped.

And a blast of white surged from her.

She closed her eyes and grit her teeth at the room now covered in frost.

“What the heck, Antonio?! This had better be important!”

“There’s a super attacking the market!”

Constanza gasped.

“So hurry up and get ready! Let’s go!”

Constanza glared at Antonio.

“What are you talking about?! I’m NOT going out during a super attack! Are you crazy?”

Antonio glared back at her.

“Constanza! You forgot didn’t you?!”

“Forgot what?!”

“You’re a super now! This is your chance!”

Constanza froze.

“That’s…t-that’s right, isn't it?”

“So get your suit and let’s go!”

Constanza held her hands up in front of her.

“I-I can’t go yet! T-The suit’s not ready! A-And I don’t have control over my powers yet!”

Antonio grabbed her shoulders.

“Constanza.”

“W-What?”

“This is your chance.”

“What do you mean?”

“To make a difference. Like we always dreamed of. Like Icy Falcon does.”

Constanza stopped looking around and looked into Antonio’s eyes.

“I know it’s not ideal, but those people are in danger right now. And now, you can do something about it. Like we always wanted.”

Constanza gulped. She closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Her head hung down.

“...ok. Give me a minute to get ready.”

Screams filled the air as people rushed from the marketplace. Stands were knocked over, fruits rolled along the floor and flew through the air.

In the center was a massive, obese man, a giant round boulder of flesh. He had on a white apron with red and orange stains all over with a sailor hat far too small for his massive head. He laughed as he swung and hacked at pieces of meat on a stand with a rusty butcher’s knife.

“Muahahahahaha! All your meat belongs to me! For I am…Captain Repulsive Butcher!”

Two teens hid in the shadow of a stall further down, conversing in hushed whispers.

“What are you doing? Get him!”

“I’m going! I’m going! Just give me a minute, I’m getting ready.”

“Why do you need to get ready? Just go and blast him already!”

“I have to prepare mentally!”

Antonio rolled his eyes, and then shoved Constanza into the open.

Captain Repulsive Butcher halted his rampage and turned his head towards the quiet footsteps approaching.

There was a girl, tiptoeing towards him, holding her arm with a light blush on her face. She had a blue hawk mask over her eyes and nose, and a dark blue cape over a light blue dress. With sneakers popping from the bottom.

“Who the heck are you?”

She lifted a trembling hand and pointed at the man.

“S-Sto…ouch…”

She held her lip for a second and then took a deep breath.

“S-Stop your criminal ways, evildoer! Or the I-Icy Swallow will put you on i-ice!”

A moment of silence.

And then Captain Repulsive Butcher clutched his stomach and threw his head back in raucous laughter.

“BWAHAHAHAHA! I-Icy Swallow! BWAHAHAHA I can’t, I can’t”

Icy Swallow’s face flushed red. She clenched her fists and grit her teeth as a high-pitched sound escaped from her mouth.

“Ahahaha, ahhhh, that was a good one. Thanks girlie, I needed that.”

He waved his hand in a shooing motion.

“Now run along. This is no place for a Falcon Fangirl.”

She closed her eyes and threw her arms down.

“I’m not a fangirl! I’m serious! I’m going to stop you!”

Captain Repulsive Butcher’s face was still twisted in a smile, but his eyes grew sharp.

“Are you now? You have no idea what you’re doing, do you? Go home kid, while I’m still in a good mood.”

Icy Swallow grit her teeth. She felt the power welling up inside of her and pulled on it with all her might.

“Don’t mock me! You’re going to stop! Right! Now!”

She thrust her hand and upper body forward. A massive blast of cold fog flew from her hands, sending fruits and chairs tumbling forward. Captain Repulsive Butcher disappeared as the blast collided into him.

Icy Swallow leaned over and breathed heavily.

“D-Did I get him?”

“Way to go, Constanza!”

“Antonio! Use my hero name!”

“Constanza!”

“Come on!”

“No! Behind you!”

She spun around. There was a massive shadow in the fog before her.

And the back of a giant hand rapidly approaching.

“Constanza!”

Constanza let out a cry as she soared through the air, crashing into one of the stalls. She groaned and tried to lift her body, then cried and fell back down as her arm scraped on a jagged piece of wood.

Thud. Thud.

She heard heavy footsteps.

Her eyes widened as the massive shadow stepped out of the fog.

It was Captain Repulsive Butcher.

And he was no longer laughing.

“Well well well, looks like you’re a little super after all. A little Icy Falcon wannabe. Well I’ve got news for you girlie.”

She began to tremble as he approached the broken stand.

“This isn’t a game. This isn’t a fairy tale. This is a place for men and monsters. Kids like you?”

His face curled into a twisted grin. He raised his cleaver.

“Kids like you just get hurt.”

He brought the cleaver down.

“Constanza!”

She shut her eyes and let out a scream.

But the cleaver never landed. Antonio’s eyes widened.

The clever was frozen in ice.

“A butcher like you, belongs in cold storage.”

A snowy gale blew the massive butcher back. He stumbled and then fell to the ground with a mighty crash.

“I-Icy Falcon, w-what are you doing here?”

“My job.”

The Icy Falcon landed in front of the fallen girl. He pulled his cape back and swung it forward. Ice covered Captain Repulsive Butcher all the way up to his neck. The Icy Falcon then turned around to the fallen girl.

Her eyes were as wide as they could go. She trembled now, for a different reason.

“I-Icy…Icy Falcon…i-it’s you…you’re here…”

Icy Falcon lifted an eyebrow.

“Who are you?”

Constanza sat on a chair, Antonio’s hand on her shoulder. In the distance police and ILS personnel moved a restrained Captain Repulsive Butcher into the back of a large truck. Icy Falcon stood on guard, arms crossed.

Constanza sighed.

“You ok?”

“...I was useless.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“What was I even doing? I just went out there and talked crap. And then I was down on the ground. If Icy Falcon hadn’t come in time, I’d…I’d…”

She covered her face in her hands.

She heard footsteps approach.

“You all right, kid?”

She looked up and gasped.

Icy Falcon stood before her.

Her cheeks took on a light pink.

“U-Um, I’m ok, thank you for saving me.”

Icy Falcon nodded. Then his eyes narrowed.

“Go home kid.”

Her eyes widened.

“Señor Falcon?”

“This world is no place for a kid.”

“I-I was just trying to help!”

Icy Falcon sighed.

“Look, it was brave of you to step out there. But it didn’t go like you thought, right kid? Just because you’re special doesn’t mean you’re ready to fight. This isn’t a game. It’s a war. So it’s not enough to be special. If you’re not a soldier, you’re just going to get hurt.”

Constanza bit her lip and looked to the ground. Icy Falcon let out another sigh and turned to walk away.

Constanza clenched her fists and stood up after he took a few steps.

“Then teach me!”

Icy Falcon stopped and glanced back over his shoulder.

“Teach me how to fight! Teach me how to be a hero!”

“I’m no hero kid.”

“Yes you are!”

Icy Falcon paused, and then turned to face the girl.

“We can’t do anything! Us normal people just hide in our homes every single day! Villains, gangs, monsters, all of it! We just hide under our beds and hope it goes away! And no one does anything! The government, the police, no one cares about us down here!”

She looked into his eyes with a glare.

“Except you! You’re the one who stands up for us! You’re the one who’s fighting back! You’re the Icy Falcon! The Hope of Mexico! You stopped El Capa! You fought the Necrosaurus! You’re the only one who gives us hope!”

“So I’m not going home! I don’t know how I got these powers or why. But I have them now! And now, I can be just like you! I can stand with you, I can make a difference like you do! So I’m not going to go back and hide under my bed any longer!”

Constanza slouched over, breathing heavily.

But her eyes never wavered from Icy Falcon’s gaze.

He looked into those eyes.

Those eyes he had seen before.

Time and time again.

He slouched his shoulders and heaved a sigh.

“You don’t know what this war is like, kid.”

Her eyes still didn’t waver.

“I live here. Everyone I know lives here. If there’s a war then we’re already a part of it.”

Icy Falcon sighed one more time.

“...Fine.”

Constanza took a step back.

“Huh?”

“Come with me, kid.”

“You mean…?”

He nodded his head.

“I’ll show you a thing or two, how not to die.”

His eyes narrowed.

“But you do what I say. And you don’t get involved in anything I tell you not to. Understand?”

Her face broke out in a massive smile and she nodded over and over.

“Yes! I understand!”

Icy Falcon sighed once more as the girl ran over and hugged her friend, squealing the entire time.

He had heard this story before.

He knew how it ended.

But he also knew those eyes.

She wouldn’t stop until it did. No matter what he chose to do.

So there was only one thing he could do:

Pray that this time would be different.