Maybe not my greatest, but my most helpful

invention probably is the APW waves. Having

psychological privacy was one of the few rights

everyone has had throughout history. And I

think it should remain that way.

-Savvria Ixen Âkil, President of the ISPC

The drilling and constant sound of the blender woke Laura up, and her exhaustion as well. She sat on the bed and was flashed by the light coming from the window, which caused her to rub her eyes and give the first sigh of many for the day. She then grabbed her phone and looked at the time.

Laura was eight hours and thirty seven minutes into the day. At least she wasn’t late for work.

She crawled her way to the edge of the bed, stretching her rigid shoulders after. Who would have thought that paperwork could be harsher than falling around the city?

The stiffness in her arms reminded her not only of the copious amount of desk work she had done, but also everything else that had occured the previous day. From Friction’s promotion to her unexpected new pupil.

Laura sighed again.

She then put her hands to her face, wanting to rip it off whilst the blender was still at full power.

(Three more years… You’re halfway there,) she tried to motivate herself.

Laura stood up and walked downstairs.

As she arrived to the living room, the annoying yelp from the blender stopped, and instead a pouring noise flew to her ears. Laura sat on the couch while her brother kept using cookware as if they were industrial tools.

“Oh,” his surprised voice then said. “Sorry for waking you up. I wanted to make a protein shake before leaving,” Ludwig said over the loud ticking of something. Was that the toaster?

“Don’t worry,” Laura said, with a sleepy tone. “The alarm would have woken me up, anyways.”

(Although, maybe it would have been quieter,) she thought to herself.

To add salt to the wound, or in this case, noises to her still asleep ears, the alarm on her phone went off.

“See?” Laura said while turning it off, annoyed by it as always.

“I’m glad, then,” Ludwig said over the sound of the sink. Was he using a pressure washer? “I don’t know if it’s that hot, though.”

Laura tilted her head while looking at Ludwig. What was he talking about? Was he talking about coffee or something? Had she let the heater on? Wait, had she even turned on the heater? Laura looked around the room and through the rectangular hole between the two rooms to figure what her brother was talking about. She then looked down and appeared to get the memo.

She was in her underwear.

“Ah,” was all she said, losing the remaining sleep.

“It’s not that bad. I’ve seen you naked before. I’ve even washed you.”

“That was when I was a baby,” Laura said with a fleeting feeling of embarrassment. The actual mention of her younger self was more embarrassing than the fact that she was in her underwear.

“There’s barely a difference. To my eyes you’re just a baby with long arms and legs.”

Laura snickered at her brother’s comment.

“Here,” he then said after going around the kitchen, putting a bowl and a plate on top of the table in the living room. “You can have my leftovers.”

Laura looked at both dishes. The bowl had what looked like cereal with orange and purple cream. Meanwhile, the plate had toast with ham on top.

“What’s that?”

“That’s what’s called toasted bread.”

“I meant that.” Laura said while pointing at the bowl.

“Ah. It’s just some cereal with orange and blueberry marmalade on top.”

Huh.

“Where’s the brother that used to make me bacon for breakfast?”

“I ate him. Now you better finish it.”

“Or what?” Laura said with a smile.

“Or every time you ask how am I doing, I’m gonna say ‘I’m fine’, but deep down I’ll be destroyed and disappointed because you didn’t want to finish your breakfast. Now eat up!”

Laura sighed for the third time today and began eating. She first went for the known flavor of the toast, though the addition of ham made it somewhat refreshing. After that, she grabbed the spoon next to the bowl and began chomping down the cereal.

… Not bad. She continued eating her breakfast whilst her brother cleaned his own plates in the sink.

“I didn’t hear you enter last night,” Ludwig said from the kitchen. “Long shift?

Laura tried to sigh, but it was quite difficult with her mouth full of cereal.

“Yeah,” she then said after swallowing. “Boring too. Well, no… Not boring. Annoying. Mmh… There was… It was simply too much,” Laura said as she laid the bowl on the table. “It’s been…”

“Go on,” Ludwig said as he was entering the living room.

“Well…”

(Time for more half truths, I guess.)

“For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been trying to help this person… I want him to feel comfortable. Safe, you know?”

Ludwig nodded.

“But,” Laura continued. “Every time I try to help him, my boss or someone else just… Don't let me.”

“On purpose?”

“I… Don’t know. I don’t think so, but I don’t really know. And then, she assigns this… Trainee under my care. Not only am I trying to do something else and I’m incapable, but now I have more work. I… I just don’t know what to do,” Laura said, lowering her head and putting her hands on it.

There was a pause in the air. She then felt a hand patting her head. Laura moved her hands from her face and looked at her brother.

“Do you want help with that?” Ludwig then said, interrupting the silence.

“Any ideas?” She said with a slight smile.

Ludwig straightened up and began tapping his left shoulder with his index and pinky finger. It was a tick that he had whenever he was thinking of something. Though he appeared to not know that he did it.

“I think you can use both situations together.”

“To have a bigger problem? Wow, thanks,” Laura said sarcastically.

“The elder is speaking,” Ludwig told her with a finger to his lips. “I mean, you can use this trainee, to help that someone.”

Laura tilted her head.

“Helping that someone involves doing something work-related, right?”

“Yeah…”

She could disguise her stalking… Her duty to keep her brother safe as a patrol.

“Then you could use that to teach the trainee. Use the excuse of teaching to then help that someone.”

“Huh.”

It was… A possibility.

“Yes, but… I don’t know if it will work. I already tried to pass it up as doing work, but she still said no.”

Matter of fact, that also began her PR schedule. Of course, that must have been planned beforehand, but Marieh had told her just when she was about to ask for a change in her territory. And she doubted that that had been a coincidence.

“Mmh… I think… Your boss doesn’t like you,” Ludwig slowly said.

“I was hoping for something new.”

“Let me see,” he then added with a slight smile. “Mmh… The best way I know to make people like your ideas, is to make them think that they’re their ideas.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just… Tell them things in an order that will make them think that they came up with it.”

“And how do I do that?”

“That’s up to you,” Ludwig said with a shrug.

Laura frowned at the same time as she tilted her head. What did Marieh like the most? What would convince her? Mmh… Probably benefits. And how could she get those?

Stopping crime was a good thing, but it wouldn’t increase the sponsorship coming from the government, at least not until the end of the year, which was way too long to wait. Getting a position above her was just unlikely, and that wouldn’t let her patrol around the city. What about using her popularity? It was the most feasible, but how?

There weren’t many big malls around here… And the center was simply a better position for exposure… Wait, there were many houses being rented and sold around since summer ended. Maybe she could use her presence to boost sales, make it seem safer… Mmh… No, it wouldn’t work. Her alone wouldn’t change the perspective of the area that much. She would need more heroes, which meant that she wouldn’t be patrolling around this area all the time… Still, it was better than not patrolling at all. And she could use that time when she wasn’t around here to patrol near the center, which would expose her as much as possible. Maybe she could even do another deal with a company…

Ideas were flowing from her head. Possible outcomes, none of them guaranteed, of course. But possible.

Laura then grabbed the bowl and took another spoonful of cereal.

“I still prefer the bacon, by the way,” she said with her mouth full.

—-----

Reveca was waiting in the lobby on the third floor of the Ataki Tower. She was sitting in one of the red couches near the elevator, with her costume on except for the helmet. Despite not being exactly what she had wanted, it still made her feel euphoria just thinking about it. Although, she didn’t dislike every change they had done to the suit.

The materials that had been used were better in every way than the ones she’d used in her prototype, which wasn’t something that difficult since she didn’t have nor the money or knowledge to know which ones were the best, hence why she hadn’t specified any materials. Fortunately, the people that made her costume did have both those things.

Another feat which she appreciated was the softer material used to cover the inner layer of her suit, making it comfortable. Nonetheless, that might make it harder to wash. Reveca hoped Ataki had good washing machines, because she wasn’t going to wear it around if it reek with the smell of her sweat.

That would probably be considered an infraction. And if not, it should be.

The change in the color palette still stung, but she wasn’t going to make a scene on the second day of being a Neighbor. She would do it once she was a professional hero.

A ding came from the elevator, which caused Reveca to stand. She saw how the steel doors slid to both ends, revealing two figures inside.

One was Irina, who wore a black jacket on top of a white shirt and a black skirt with black heels. She rather looked like she was going to someone’s funeral. The other figure was… Huge. A young man, probably in his early twenties, with blond hair and glasses dressed in a long-sleeve white shirt, which had the words ‘Lemon’ in yellow, and regular blue jeans was standing behind her.

“There you are,” Irina said as she stepped out of the elevator. “And you’re already changed. Lovely.”

The huge figure followed her and stepped out of the machine as well.

“Oh, I almost forgot. This is the other new Neighbor that got admitted,” the woman said, pointing to the young man.

He stepped forward and offered a hand to Reveca. She shook it, quite impressed by the man’s stature. He must have been two meters tall.

“Nice to meet you, I’m… Minotaur.”

Minotaur? She hadn’t expected a John or Jack, but Minotaur was a strange name for a… Reveca then seemed to notice that he had told her his costumed name.

“Uh… I don’t have that kind of name, yet.”

“Oh, uhm… That must’ve been weird, sorry. I’m Jorge.”

“Reveca.”

“Why don’t you get changed, Jorge?” Irina then said.

“Uh… Sure.”

The tall young man went to the left corridor, entering a room on the right afterwards, opposite to the wall of glass surrounding the entire floor.

Reveca then faced Irina. She was going to say something to try and get a conversation started, but the woman was faster than her.

“Speaking of names, have you thought of one for yourself?”

“Yeah, I… I kind of did,” Reveca said as she scratched her face. “I came up with the name Combustion once I sent the admission letter.”

Irina grimaced at the name.

“What?” Reveca said, surprised at the not very professional expression in her face. “Is something wrong?”

“Well,” Irina then said. “When you think of a superhero, you don’t picture the name Car Crash, right?”

“No… But I didn’t want the name Car Crash.”

“It’s just, Combustion sounds… Too aggressive. When I think of it, I think about an explosion that would painfully burn my flesh, and that’s not the image we want to give to people. Do you have another one?”

“I don’t…”

Reveca began thinking of something else. What flew and was on fire…?

“Firework?” She the said as she shrugged. “Is that better? It is still within my theme.”

“Less threatening,” Irina said, nodding. “But it doesn’t exactly irradiate confidence, you know?”

Reveca frowned at the woman.

“I wouldn’t feel relieved if a hero named Firework came to rescue me from a villain called Eraser, it’s what I’m saying. It has to strike a nice balance,” the woman said as she moved her left hand horizontally.

Reveca sighed.

A name that wouldn’t sound threatening, but that it also carried enough weight that it would make people feel safe… The conditions were too vague, yet specific at the same time, and they also depended on the people as well. Reveca was sure that someone would actually get scared if a hero that had ‘Black’ in any part of their name arrived to help them.

She resorted to her closest heroes.

Yellow Airstrike, Nova, Rocky John and, of course, now Gravity. What did they all have in common that made them… Wait, people felt safe when they heard that someone named ‘Airstrike’ came to the rescue? Now that she was thinking about it, the hero’s name was giving similar feels to Car Crash. But what about the others?

Rocky John just sounded like a nickname. And she wasn’t willing to try and pull off something like that. Windy Reveca sounded like she farted a lot, and she was sure that she would cringe every time someone called her if she named herself Hot Reveca. She then went to the other two.

Nova and Gravity were the simpler ones. They just referred to an element of the world similar to that person’s power. Now, a phenomenon that had to do with air, and fire. Something that flew and was hot. Nova… Gravity… A supernova… A star… A flying star… A comet. Yes, a comet. Though, weren’t comets made of ice?

Eh, sounded good enough.

“Comet,” she then said.

“Comet… Yeah, I like that. That works. I’ll write it in your file after we meet with your tutors. Comet…”

Tutors? That was kind of a degrading word for literal superheroes. She should at least call them guardians or something in a similar…

Reveca tried to suppress her fangirl side.

Jorge or Minotaur entered the lobby right after. He was wearing his suit, but just like her, he hadn’t put on his head gear. Although, he also wasn’t wearing his glasses.

The costume he was dressed in was mainly brown, and covered the basics. It had black military boots, white gloves, and what appeared to be a full body suit. But what was weird about it was the periodical green holes on it, exposing his skin underneath, and the fur-like material that covered the entirety of the costume, except for the gloves and boots. It looked like synthetic hair, but was difficult to tell since the layer under the fur was also brown, almost like if he was wearing a ghillie suit.

Minotaur stood in front of her, while Reveca was still busy staring wide eyed at him, amazed by the peculiar suit that she was looking at.

“Is something wrong?” Minotaur then said.

Reveca left her amazement and looked him in the face.

“No, no. It’s just… That’s quite the costume there, don’t you think. Like, there’s lots of holes.”

Minotaur looked at his costume.

“Not to judge,” Reveca said as she put her hands up. “I myself have some holes, see?”

She pointed at the hole in her chest, turning around and showing him the one in the back afterwards. Minotaur immediately looked away from her and put a hand in front of his eyes, hiding his face from her.

What… What was he doing? Had it been that awkward? Had it been so uncomfortable? She didn’t intend to… She just wasn’t accustomed to seeing superhero costumes up close, and his was especially particular. It looked really interesting. God, what if he had done it himself? He probably thought that she found it ridiculous.

“Now, now. I think we should hop on the elevator,” Irina cut in. “We have time to spare, but I think you mentors are already up there, and we don’t want to make them wait.”

The woman then pressed the button on the elevator panel, which caused its doors to open. Irina then entered the elevator, Minotaur following her shortly after, leaving Reveca alone in the lobby. She then grabbed her helmet from the couch and got into the machine last, behind Irina and next to Minotaur.

Irina then pressed her ID card against the sensor, making all of the buttons in the panel shine with a blue light. She then pressed the button corresponding to the fourth floor, and the elevator began going upwards.

Reveca was still dwelling on what just happened with her new teammate. She hadn’t tried to offend him in any way, but he was now avoiding looking at her directly, which made her feel even worse. She had just met him and she was already making him feel uncomfortable, God!

Wanting to better the situation, Reveca tilted his way and tapped him on the shoulder, which caused him to jump.

“Um… I do like your costume. I think it is really cool,” she whispered into his ear.

“I… Mmh… Um… T-Thanks,” Minotaur said nervously.

After that, he stepped a bit farther from her.

Reveca mentally sighed. Why did she have to have the social skills of her father?

As she internally complained, the elevator stopped, its doors opening afterwards. Reveca was able to see a lobby, similar to the one in the previous floor. On it, a caped figure was leaning on a desk, talking to the woman behind it. Reveca and her company left the elevator, which made the costume figure to face them.

We was a hero who had entered the scene recently, maybe a couple of months ago. The main layer of his costume had a dark purple color, while the several white stripes in the shape of diamonds popped out from it. His mask, on the other hand, had horizontal white lines below his blue goggles, which resembled those used by swimmers, and let loose his black short hair combed backwards. Of course, the flashiest feature of the hero was the one in roman numerals in his chest.

After a moment’s worth of staring, We approached the elevator with a confident stride.

“Jorge, my boy!” He said, as he clasped the young man’s hand. “How you doing?”

The boy returned the handshake better than what Reveca would have ever thought.

“Shouldn’t we be using our work names?” Minotaur then asked.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re inside the tower,” We answered as he patted Minotaur on the back. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he then said as he acknowledged Reveca’s presence. “I’m Jake,” he said as he offered a hand.

She gave a handshake of her own.

“Reveca,” she then said, not knowing if she should add something else.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

Apparently not.

“We,” Irina said as she stepped into the conversation. “Where’s Gravity? Shouldn’t she be here with you?”

We shrugged.

“Here it’s just Linda and I,” he then said, pointing with his thumb to the woman behind the desk. “Hey, what were we doing, again?”

“Remember the document I sent you yesterday?” Irina asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Document? What document… Oh! Oh, yeah, yeah, now I remember. Now I…,” he said as he clapped his hands together. “Yeah. Let’s get on with it, then,” We then told Minotaur. “We’ll talk later,” he then said to Linda while ushering the young man into the right hall.

And so, they disappeared into the insides of the corridor. Reveca turned to face Irina, still not knowing what to say.

“Um… What about me?” She finally asked.

“Well, Gravity was supposed to be here… She shouldn’t have any other appointments right now, so I don’t know what she’s doing.”

She then let out a visible sigh, which Reveca copied.

Reveca had been a bit disappointed when she had learned that Gravity was going to be her mentor. She didn’t necessarily have anything against her… Well, anything except for the fact that she had been a vigilante, someone who used the excuse of being a hero and doing something ‘good’ in order to beat up and maim a bunch of people. Though that wasn’t exactly the case with Gravity, mainly because she now was a professional hero.

She had corrected her ways, so to speak, and that was promising. Having someone who could teach her what not to do, and being able to back it up with experience sounded amazing, but… Something still felt off. The attitude she showed in interviews… It felt like she didn’t care. Nonetheless that was her on TV, not in person, so she shouldn’t make assumptiobns. Yet, the way she presented herself the other day. It made Reveca worry. And she hoped she was wrong. She wanted to be wrong… But…

The elevator’s doors suddenly opened. Standing inside was Gravity, dressed in her new brown and blue suit with its tiny little horns, and holding something in her left hand. The white semi circles in her face looking emotionless at them.

With a chill in her spine, Reveca shoved her doubts and worries to the side. She needn’t have to speculate, she was going to see how she truly was.

“I’m sorry for being late. I was talking with Marieh over some details. She will want to talk to you,” the heroine said to Irina.

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Gravity then signaled Reveca to enter into the elevator with her free hand. And so she did. As soon as she entered the machine, its doors closed behind her. She was then able to see how Gravity pressed the topmost button on the panel, and curious enough, she also saw a third of the buttons colored in red. Did she not have access to all of the floors? Irina did.

Mmh.

The elevator began going up once more.

“Put this on,” Gravity said to Reveca, handing her the object that she had on her left hand.

She picked it up, “What is this?”

“A belt. Now put it on.”

She began wrapping the gray belt around her waist. Once it was tight enough, she inserted the strap in the circular buckle, and clicked them together.

“What’s this do?” Reveca asked.

“You’ll know, eventually,” Gravity just said.

“... Okay. Um… What are we going to do?”

“You’ll know, eventually.”

“Can’t you tell me what we are going to do?”

“I can. And I will. Eventually.”

Reveca’s worry was beginning to increase.

“And when’s this ‘eventually’?”

Gravity only turned her head slightly and faced Reveca.

“You’ll know-”

“Eventually,” Reveca interrupted her ambiguous mentor.

After their incredible conversation, Reveca kept her mouth shut. At least, she did for what seemed hours.

She didn’t know exactly how many floors did Ataki Tower have, but she was now guessing that the number neared the thousands because this was the longest elevator ride she had taken. She also hoped that the next rides didn’t come close to this one.

Reveca finally caved into boredom, and opened her mouth, “There’s something that I’ve been questioning since I saw you. Were you assigned to me because of your power? Because I don’t see how you’re the best to help me grow my skills when there’s already superheroes with aerokinesis. No offense intended, by the way,” Reveca added.

Silence joined after her. But it soon vanished.

“Yes,” Gravity then said. “But from what I know, there’s more things in play than just our powers. The reason behind it is because since you’ll be spending quite some time with me, you’ll get a new perspective on how to use your powers, maybe because you’ll try to mimic mine.”

Reveca was surprised to hear a different answer than ‘eventually’, but it did not stop there.

“In my opinion, I would also have chosen an aerokinetic as your mentor. Sure, a new perspective would help you achieve things that you wouldn’t normally achieve. But I prefer having competent heroes that know how to use their powers properly.”

Reveca was double surprised. Not only had she talked to her for more than five seconds, but she had also agreed with her. Maybe she wouldn’t have to worry as much.

The doors then suddenly slid open. The elevator had stopped to a halt without Reveca noticing.

“What is your name?” Gravity then asked.

“Eh? Ah, I’m Reveca.”

“I wasn’t talking about that name.”

“Oh. Um… Comet, then.”

Gravity nodded to herself.

Her and Reveca left the elevator, and the next thing she saw left her speechless.

The small tree that she had seen every time she had looked at the tower, the tree that looked like a smudge in the sky, a dot in the distance, was now standing in front of her. Its roots alone could have been considered a forest, its empty branches blocked the blue space above her, and its trunk seemed to be the turret of a castle. A very big, dense, thick, and natural castle.

The tree was so huge that she felt like an ant compared to the giant standing in front of her. So magnificent, so huge. How miniscule she was… Yet, Reveca felt as if it could gaze into her soul, as if its roots had gotten stuck to her body and she had become part of the tree.

As if she was completely and fully exposed to the tree, all knowing in his eternal silence…

“Comet,” came Gravity’s voice.

Reveca shook her head, trying to shove away the aw, but failing to do so completely. She then looked at Gravity, who was near the edge of the building, just out of the roots’ range, and walked to her.

“Eventually has come,” the heroine said as Reveca stood right next to her. “I’m gonna ask you some questions, alright?”

“Uh, sure.”

“In the entrance test, you showed competence in all three categories: Combat, Prevention, and Evacuation. If you had to choose one, which one would you choose?”

“I would want to try and help in any situation possible, but if I need to choose… I would pick Evacuation over Combat or Prevention. I feel like I could use my power better in that type of situation.”

“Why?”

“Well, I could separate the threat from the civilians in the area with a storm with strong winds. Very strong winds. And I doubt that much could cross it. I think it would be a pretty good distraction for a villain.”

“And what if it wasn’t a villain? What if you had to rescue numerous people inside a burning building?”

“Um…”

Wasn’t this type of situation supposed to be relegated to other people, like firefighters? Of course she would help in case there was a fire but, surely firefighters would do a better job than her. They had people who could launch pressurized water from their hands. They specialized in that. And heroes specialized in fighting villains. That’s just how it was.

Still, that didn’t sound like an appropriate answer in this case. Or not a satisfying one.

“I… Would use my resistance to temperature and pyrokinesis to dampen the flames while I get into the building and get everyone trapped out of there.”

“What would you do if you simply couldn’t access the building?”

(Let the firefighter do their job,) Reveca thought to herself.

She bit her tongue before her thoughts could get out of her mouth. Again, she could make it better, maybe rephrase it to be more adequate.

“I… I wouldn’t be able to do anything. Since there’s a big possibility that I could increase the amount of fire with wind, and there’s no way I’m extinguishing an entire burning building with my pyrokinesis, I would call someone else to handle the situation.”

There was a pause in the air.

“Like a firefighter,” she then added.

Gravity nodded to the answer, apparently satisfied with it since she let that thread drop. Reveca mentally sighed in relief.

“I’ve read in your file that you integrated a wingsuit in your costume. Can you fly?”

“I… Theoretically believe I can. Haven’t really tried it, though.”

“Mmh. Would you like to learn?”

“Yes,” Reveca said without hesitation.

“Come closer then.”

Reveca approached Gravity.

“You’re going to feel like you're falling. But don’t worry, everything is under control.”

“Wha-”

Gravity and Reveca fell to the skies. Reveca tumbled in the air, trying to find something to grab while Gravity remained completely calm.

“Wait, are you going to teach me now?!” Reveca screamed, trying to get over the running wind.

“Why not?” Gravity shrugged.

And without letting Reveca give an answer, they began falling to their left instead of upwards. Reveca looked down and saw the ground far away from her. She immediately put on the helmet and wiggled her arms and legs, trying to regain her balance. But there wasn’t any balance when one was falling. At least not for her, since Gravity seemed to hog it all to herself.

The heroine was next to her, calmly falling in an unnatural direction. She was moving her arms and legs too, but not like Reveca. Gravity looked like she was gracely swimming in the air. And incredibly fast, too.

Reveca had expected to stop whenever Gravity would talk to her. But she was wrong.

“In order to fly,” she screamed in front of her, the sounds then arriving at Reveca’s ears. “You need to take into consideration various things. First, you have to use your body. Regardless of your power, using your body as if it were a steering wheel is very important, especially if you’re occupied with something else. Rotating your arms, legs, the way you position your head, and even your ass will partially determine the direction and velocity that you have.”

As if to demonstrate, Gravity put her head down and raised her butt, which caused her body to do a front flip. She then jiggled her arms and legs a little to place herself in the position she had been in, head first.

“Second, you don’t have a lot of things to hit up here, but you also don’t have many things to grab. You gotta plan and anticipate your movements if you don’t want to crash into some pigeon or building.”

Reveca and Gravity then began to slow down. They both stopped above the rooftop of a building with twenty something floors. The two of them were now positioned as if standing in an invisible and floating platform in the air.

“And third, and possibly the most important thing. In order to learn how to fly, you need to learn how to fall.”

“What?” Reveca was then able to say after the commotion passed.

“That. If you want to fly, you have to fall.”

Gravity then began going upwards.

At first it had been a slow ascension, but she progressively got quicker and quicker. Where was she going? Did she want Reveca to follow her? Like she had just said, she didn’t know how to fly, she had to learn.

A breeze that moved her hair came blowing from under her, quickly becoming a burst of wind. Reveca looked down at the rooftop of the building. The approaching building.

Eh?

She then seemed to realize. Gravity wasn’t going up, Reveca was falling.

A feeling of dread passed through her body.

“Oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck!” She screamed as he fell face first to the building.

Her mind started raising, her body tried to grab onto something but as her crazy mentor had said, there was nothing there to grab. She was getting closer and closer to the rooftop made out of concrete. Why couldn’t it be made out of soft cushions?

After her initial shock, her fight or flight instincts kicked in. And as much as she would have liked to fight gravity, both the natural phenomenon and the heroine, she chose flight.

Reveca closed herself, putting her legs next to each other and her arms tight around her body. She jiggled all her extremities, hearing a faint click coming from her legs, which made her feel a bit of relief.

She then saw how the building was right below her, losing every comfortable feeling. She moved her arms, although flapping would be a better description. The rooftop was less than fifteen meter away from her when she heard the second click.

And immediately, she extended her wings.

The shift in air resistance made Reveca lose the balance which she already didn’t have. She flew forward with the speed of a bullet, and left the rooftop well behind in no-time. The problem now was the approaching side of yet another building, and that she was hurling through the air. She tried to copy Gravity’s prior maneuver, but failed in the end.

Reveca desperately flailed her arms and legs, but she wasn’t getting the desired result. She ended up hitting herself with a gust of air on the side, using it to gain some sort of balance and pushing herself away from the nearby structure.

Seeing as every effort was useless, Reveca closed her legs and arms close to her body. She created a burst of wind to slow her down, and then she opened once again her wings.

For a moment, she was left there, gliding through the clear sky, progressively getting faster. The speed, the cold air on her cheeks, the view of the city below her. Everything felt… At her reach. Reveca was feeling as if she now was truly free… Nevertheless, she didn’t let her mind drift away from reality. She had something else to do.

Reveca, incapable of fully using her body, began creating currents of air that would transport her towards Gravity. The heroine had left her static condition as she was now flying towards the tower, as well getting faster and faster. Reveca kept her steady but comfortable pace. There was no need to rush.

After a moment of gliding and pushing herself with air, she arrived at the tower. Reveca created a burst of wind against her to be able to land, but she had overestimated the speed at which she was flying, because she ended up short.

She threw her right hand at the ledge of the rooftop, missing by a few centimeters. As she began falling, a hand caught her wrist and pulled her to the tower. She landed on her knees while Gravity stood straight in front of her.

After taking a gulp of air, Reveca slapped the hand away from her.

“Are you crazy?!” She screamed with the little air that she had. “I could’ve died! What would have happened if I had passed out from the shock?! What would you do if I had died?!”

Gravity stared at her silently.

“ANSWER ME!” Reveca screamed from the bottom of her lungs.

Gravity slowly put a hand behind her back. She then pulled a remote from somewhere, and pressed a button.

Something began pulling Reveca forward. A piece of cloth was in front of her, flapping around due to the wind.

It was a parachute. It had unfolded from the belt she was wearing.

“I may seem rather rash, but if you’re going to be spending a lot of time with me, you should know this about myself. I take my job very seriously. And as your mentor, one of my duties is to keep you safe.”

Reveca began to feel a stinging annoyance coming from within herself.

“That’s why I gave you the belt. And why I put matts on that rooftop and had a hero waiting for an emergency,” Gravity then pointed to the building in question.

She then tapped her ear piece twice, “You can leave now. Thank you for staying.”

Reveca looked at the building and saw a blurry figure flying near and away from it.

“You did fly,” Gravity continued. “But your technique was sloppy and you didn’t use your body. You were as stiff as a rock,” the heroine said as she stretched her shoulders. “We’ll have to work on them. Now, let’s keep going with the questions.”

Reveca sighed, letting her worry increase.

This was going to be a hard year.