I glanced up as another customer walked in. It had been a few days since I had seen Sam's face, and since I had met Tommy's dad.

I stared. "Is that- are you- Captain Puffy?" I cried.

"Me? Oh, no- I get that all the time." She rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm friends with her in real life, although I don't know which of my friends are her. She kinda just started using my face for when she's doing hero work- she's a shapeshifter, remember? Without asking me, I might add- it's so annoying, I get a bunch of her fans run up to me everyday. I should start wearing a badge that says 'I AM NOT CAPTAIN PUFFY'." The woman paused. "Also, it hasn't been that long since you've seen me, has it, Y/N?"

I felt my face go bright red with embarrassment. Of course. "Oh! Cara!"

It was my boss.

She had taken a break from work a few months ago to deal with something that was going on, and I hadn't see her since. Heck, I had only just started working at the cafe at that point.

"Took you long enough." Cara said with a chuckle, her green eyes glittering playfully. "I just thought I'd check up on everything in the cafe, you know. Thinking of coming back to work soon." She looked around the cafe fondly.

"Oh! Well, that's great! Is that all? Or do you want a drink?" I queried.

"No, that's all. I was just gonna do some work stuff over there." She gestured to a small table in the back. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not. It's your cafe." I said with a shrug, as if it should be obvious.

Cara shot me a grateful smile. "Thanks. I just didn't want to be a bother."

"Not at all." I said quietly as she took a seat at the table, pulling a laptop out of her backpack, which I had failed to notice previously.

It was a few minutes later when Swift burst into the cafe.

I stared at him, surprised. I had only seen the hero up close once or twice (one of those times being when he came to help us get Sam to the hospital).

He had short blonde hair, an emerald green masquerade mask (similar to Deactivator's, I noticed) and large, jet black feathered wings that reminded me of a crow's. He was wearing green armour that was a few shades lighter than Sam's, and he had a white and green striped bucket hat on his head. Personally, I had always thought the hat was an intriguing design choice. I could just about see the glitter of blue eyes through his mask.

Cara straightened, her gaze urgent. "This is a surprise. To what do we owe this honour, Swift?" Although she said it jokingly, her voice had a concerned undertone, and her eyes were glowing with slight panic.

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need everyone in here to leave the cafe. There's been a robbery on the street down the road, and all the villains escaped this way: to put it quite simply, it isn't safe."

I glanced at Cara, who nodded, slamming her laptop shut and putting it in her bag. "It's just us. Y/N, you need to get out of here as well. Come on."

I nodded slowly, grabbing my phone, which I had put down on the counter. That was all that I had really brought to work.

I rushed out from behind the counter, rushing after Cara, who immediately split off from me and Swift.

Swift sighed. "Okay, now that she's gone, we can drop the act, mate- how would you feel about getting some hands on hero experience? I have a spare sword, and a mask you can use to hide your face." He brandished a face mask similar to his own and a sword from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Wha- really?! You're not kidding?" I asked brightly.

"No." He handed me the mask and sword. "Although we'll need something to refer to you as. Have you had any thoughts on your hero name?"

I studied the mask. It was a masquerade mask that mimicked Swift's own. It was pearly white with swirls of iridescent gems surrounding the eyes. "I have, actually. I was thinking... Echo?" I looked at him questioningly. He smiled.

"Echo it is. Put the mask on, and let's go. Do try to not get in a dangerous fight. We haven't been able to get you some armour yet." Swift warned.

"Noted." I muttered, excitement coursing through my veins. I was doing real hero work! Just like I had always dreamed.

I flinched slightly as I heard an alarmed mutter from what sounded like Black Rose. "They're almost here. Anyone else with us?" I queried.

"Yep. Zaeim, Royal and Azalea are trying to stop them getting downtown." I brightened slightly as he mentioned Zaeim.

"Okay, lets go then." I stated, putting my mask on. He nodded, launching himself into the air with one flap of his wings.

It was a fascinating sight, if I was being honest- the way he manoeuvred the wind currents so effortlessly. It was clear how long Swift had been a hero just from looking at the man.

I rushed towards the noise and almost immediately ran into Zaeim. His eyes widened in surprise as he recognised me.

"Y/N!"

"I'd prefer if you called me Echo, actually." I said proudly, gesturing to the mask and sword.

"You've got your hero name?" My friend asked excitedly.

"Kind of. Swift offered me a chance to get some hands on hero work- kind of a work experience thing. He gave me the mask, and I needed a code name. But yeah, basically it's my hero name!" I finished in a rush, wincing as I emitted a small squeak at the end of my sentence.

"Okay, mouse, lets go-"

"Why did you call me mouse?" I demanded.

"Because of that little squeaky noise you make sometimes." He explained with a smile.

"Wait, do I do that all the time?" I asked, alarmed.

"Yep. You didn't notice, mouse?"

"Wait, really? I- okay, never mind, just stop calling me 'mouse'." I said in exasperation.

He tapped his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Fine. I'll stop calling you mouse... for now." Zaeim grinned. "Now come on! Go be a hero! I'll be right beside you, Echo!"