It’s not that she wants to kill you. She wants to make

a show out of you, even if there’s no one around to see

it.

-Titan, from the New Jerseyan Sector

Wind struck against her face as Reveca watched Expansion Valley, perched on the ledge of Ataki Tower’s roof, her back against the mountain of roots and branches that belonged to the enormous tree at the top of the tower.

It was cooler than the previous days, though that didn’t pose a problem to her. Even if she had a poor ability with it, she could still manipulate heat to a certain degree, allowing herself to not shiver even if she only had her suit on. The thing didn’t have the thickest of layers.

That made her dwelled on a recurring thought. It was curious to think how pyrokinesis was something that made her life a little easier, when others flaunted the ability to bring immense chaos with it. Reveca could go to the beach without worrying about getting sunburnt, while some guy in France might melt the foundation of a building with a mere thought.

It felt funny despite that it wasn’t.

Reveca stood on the ledge as she readied her wingsuit. Gravity had told her to wait on the roof whilst she talked with someone. Reveca was pretty sure that they were going to, again, practice her flying, so why not warm up a little?

She was about to step off the roof as the elevator’s door slid open, revealing Gravity. Reveca looked at her for a bit before stepping backwards and putting away her wingsuit. Maybe she shouldn’t have spent so much time looking at the scenery.

“Comet,” Gravity said. It didn’t surprise her much this time. She had gotten used to the name. At least to others calling her like that. “I’m going to be straightforward. You have an important decision to make”.

That, on the other hand, caught her off balance.

“W-What?”

“I’m sure you remember the sparring you had with Friction.”

“I do…”

Both of them remained silent, as Gravity chose not to interject. She was giving her time to continue what she was saying, but Reveca chose not to.

“That has sparked the attention of some… People,” Gravity finally said, as the silence grew long enough.

Reveca hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t very common for Gravity to delay a phrase like that. “Who?” She then asked.

“The ones that make the decisions. And they want you out there the sooner the better.”

“Wait. Does that mean that I’ve just…? Do I…? Are they…?” The words escaped her mouth, not formulating the question she wanted to make as a muddle of emotions popped inside her. “Am I…?”

“If you’re wondering if you’re now an official hero, stop it. You’re not.” The lot of emotions dissipated as quickly as they appeared, yet their echoes remained, stomping her insides as a mark that they had once existed. “They’ve asked me to propose to you the possibility of shortening your basic training.”

“Shorten?” Reveca asked, her voice trembling a little due to the wild fiesta that lingered inside her.

“Instead of the standard four months, you would be sent to the field, with the company of an official, most likely myself, to do not-so-dangerous hero work in approximately a month.”

“But… But why?” Reveca said, as something inside her refused to accept it. “Even if I won against Friction, it was a sparring session. It doesn’t mean anything. It was practice, that’s all. Besides, didn’t you tell me the next day that Friction handled atlas whilst you took care of other power sets? Then that means that I had the advantage from the beginning, right?”

“It’s not because you won… Well, sorry, it is but…” Gravity sighed before trying again. “It’s because someone recommended you. To answer your questions, yes, to both of them. He takes care of more physical potens while I take care of the others, and you did have the advantage from the beginning, when it comes to power sets, at least. But the one who recommended you has a well-regarded judgment, and basically insists that you’d do well regardless. Of course, in low-threatening situations.”

“But…?” (This is wrong,) Reveca thought. (But what’s… It’s wrong, but why?) “So,” Reveca continued. “I wouldn’t be a hero outright, but would I be one sooner?”

“If everything went according to plan and you didn’t disobey orders like some have, yes, you would be one fairly sooner,” Gravity answered.

“Do the others have the same chance? I mean, is there someone with a similar situation?”

“There has been, I think, but at present, you’re the only one. There are others who also are in extraordinary situations, like Amp and Ishin, but in their case it is quite different from yours.”

“So it’s not very likely to happen to the others, is it?”

“No.”

And with that, Reveca finally knew why this was wrong.

“It’s not fair. I would be breaking the rules,” Reveca protested.

“No one’s breaking the rules-”

“You only say that because it’s them who are doing it. The ones that make the rules!” Reveca spat as she interrupted Gravity, as a strong emotion burst out of her. “But the rules are there for a reason, and they’re for everyone. If I did that then…” (I would be just like a vigilante, excusing myself to do what I want.) But of course, Reveca knew who she was talking to. Instead of that, she muttered, “It’s just not fair.”

“Remember I said you had a decision to make?” Gravity answered in a calm tone. “It’s not mandatory. But I believe you should take the opportunity.”

“But it’s not-”

“You know what else it’s not fair? That a child loses their parents on a night out because some lunatic decided to bomb the restaurant they were in. That people lose their lives to some guy in a ski mask with a gun because they didn’t want to get robbed. That hundreds of people lose their lives in a fire because a guy with pyrokinesis wanted to get off. It’s not fair, but you have the chance to change that.”

The speech that the heroine had given made Reveca feel embarrassed for ever doubting her vocation to the job.

“Still, it’s not fair,” Reveca then feebly reproached.

(Just like how you got saved while others died. That wasn’t fair either,) Reveca reminded herself.

“Life’s not fair,” Gravity said, almost as if she were echoing her thoughts.

No, none of that was fair. Reveca had been saved, so shouldn’t she do the same for others? It was what’s fair. Not taking the opportunity would be… It would make her guilt hurt more.

“Fine,” Reveca said, marking herself as a hypocrite. She only hoped to change that as quickly as possible.

—-----

Night in Expansion Valley was never as dark as it should be. Luke assumed this to be a common occurrence in the big cities, where the constant streetlights and electronic billboards lit the main streets, their light slipping away even to the more remote alleys.

Nonetheless, in the area where Luke was, the aura of light wasn’t as strong as it was near the center, where Ataki Tower stood. He could still make out the shape of buildings, of course, but it wasn’t easy to tell colors apart, for example. And even if it were easy to distinguish them from the dark gray that muddled everything, it’s not like Luke could have done it at the moment.

He was flying across the air, leaving behind the roof he had been standing on moments earlier, his speed making it difficult to make out anything that wasn’t directly in front of him. The ledge of the building in front of him crashed into his face, making a heavy and raspy noise. He was beginning to fall just as his hands grabbed the ledge, lifting himself to a standing position afterwards, his face unscathed.

Luke had believed that he wasn't afraid anymore, but it had been an illusion provided by the shock of breaking what felt like a primordial truth. Once the surprise had gone, the realization finally setting in, he had found himself hesitating once again. Even if he knew that it wouldn’t hurt him, his body would stop as it approached edges and falls, muscle memory and instinct still holding to the roots cultivated by lived experiences and what could only be described as common sense.

It had taken two days, making progress little by little, slowly convincing himself, until he had been able to consistently plunge himself from great heights without slowing down, without having to think twice about it.

And boy was he enjoying it.

Luke had stepped on the roof’s air conductor, using it to propel himself with the energy he had conserved from the impact. He ascended, passing multiple windows on his way, until he grabbed the ledge once it was in his reach. He slammed his knees into the protrusion so as to not waste the energy of the jump before standing and moving into action.

Running and jumping around buildings was fairly different than what he had imagined. The constant and sudden changes in elevation made it difficult to maintain the built up speed if he ran out of charge. He could always throw himself to the ground to gather some energy, but that would deviate him from his objective and maybe leave him in an uncomfortable position to continue. The best solution Luke had found was to hit something on the way.

Just as he was about to step off the building he was on, he ignited the pool inside him, pushing hard with his legs. The building in front of him was too tall to crown, but it was also thinner and closer to the street than the one he was on. So instead of going parallel to the wall, Luke went into it.

He tried his hardest to run across the whole thing, but was only able to get about three quarters of the way before having to jump with the energy he had gathered kicking the wall.

Luke jumped head first, almost as if he were diving into a pool, trying to reach the next roof, slightly lower than the one he had at his back. He barely made it, having to roll on the gray granite to keep up his speed. The fact that he had slammed his head against the roof didn’t slow him at all, as he had stored the energy from the impact.

With a quick glance towards the next building, Luke knew he wouldn’t be able to reach its top with the current charge he had, despite being smaller than the one which walls he had run on. That didn’t stop him from going forwards, nor from jumping off the roof.

He extended his extremities in the shape of a star before slamming his entire body into the brick wall, feeling only dampness and energy going inside his body. Gravity took hold of his weight a few instants later, pulling him to the dark ground below him. Even after banging the side of his body against it, Luke didn’t experience a single trace of pain.

He could only laugh.

The fact that he could throw himself off a building, hit a wall and slam his body against the floor, and after all that be unharmed, didn’t make any sense. And the only way he could express that jumble of emotions and thoughts was by laughing. Because it felt good. He had no idea why, but it did.

He kept laughing even as he stood and patted some dust and water away. He was already heading to the entry of the alley he had fallen into when he noticed something.

A figure was standing near the entry, the street lamp behind it darkening all of its features except for the key ones. Curled horns came out of the sides of its head, a long and wavy cloth swirled a few centimeters above the ground, and the most intimidating of all, a pair of yellow eyes made out from curved lines shone in the dim night.

“Are you the one making all that ruckus?” The figure asked with a feminine voice.

It didn’t take more for Luke to turn around and start running, giving out a sudden and brief yelp.

“Wait!” The figure yelled from behind. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I said wait!”

Luke didn’t stop nor turn around. Instead, he punched a trash container and an emergency ladder without slowing down, dashing out of the alley moments after. He entered another street, lit by a few lamp posts periodically put across the length of the road. He kicked one of them, nearly tripping as he didn’t want to give any time to the figure in order to catch up.

Confident with the reserve he had boiling inside him, and that the only cars on the street were fifty meters away from him, Luke jumped as hard as he could once he reached the middle of the street. He had aimed for the roof of a building in front of him, but he had overdone it. Luke flew over it, landing in the middle of the next building with his back.

Instead of pain, worry took hold of his body as he wiggled to a standing position before running as quickly as possible, trying to escape, regardless of what the figure wanted. Unfortunately, Luke knew he hadn’t lost her once she shouted from behind.

“I just wanna talk! Don’t worry, I’m a hero! Wait!”

“Fuck that,” Luke muttered as he jumped onto another roof after vaulting over a rectangular piece of concrete. He wasn’t about to find out if she was telling the truth or not.

Once his feet set onto the building, he turned his head to know where she was. It turned out to be not that far away, since she only had to fly a few meters before lunging towards him, her hands extended as she tried to grab him.

Luke was quick enough to dodge her, jumping to his left with all the might he could muster, towards another street that was fortunately empty. He landed on his feet, but it didn’t mean much as he had to use his arms to keep his balance. Once he found stable footing, he dashed towards the nearest alley, which was at the other side of the street and a bit to the right.

He kept his feet on the ground even after entering the alley. If she could fly, then exposing himself on a roof would be a bad idea. It was better to try and put as many buildings as he could between them. Luke kept running, eventually leaving the alley to enter into yet another street. This time he wasn’t so lucky.

Cars went from left to right, their tires lightly grinding on the pavement below them whilst their headlights provided some clarity to the night. Luke was forced to slow down, just enough in order for him to get a decent timing with the trajectory of the vehicles.

He bolted down the middle of the street, dodging cars as best as he could, having to step on the hood of one to not get hit by it. He went as quickly as he could, but it seemed it hadn’t been that fast, because just as he was entering another alley, the flying figure was already on his toes.

Luke decided to try and use the small space around him to his advantage.

He jumped into the wall to his right, making the figure chasing him to slightly change the course of her flight. Luke only gave two steps before jumping again, launching himself head first onto the wall behind him. The flier had to slow down in order to turn around, but just as she was beginning to, Luke was reaching out with his arms, making contact with the wall before putting his legs against it, only for him to kick again.

He was already rising from the ground as his fourth kick pushed him upwards, meanwhile the masked figure was looking for him. Luke hadn’t used the entirety of the energy he had stored within, but instead, only pushed to get about the height of the figure that had given her back to him. He then stepped on it, jumping for the fifth and final time, sending himself out of the alley whilst the flier headed to the ground.

Luke was barely able to grab one of the two ledges near him. Using only his arms and the strength of his body, he climbed on top of the structure, gasping as he put his feet under him.

(Fuck off! I didn’t want to be this sore tomorrow,) he thought, as his body was beginning to experience all the jumps he had made during the day.

He walked to the other end of the roof.

“Could you stay still, you slippery fuck?! I only wanna talk!”

Luke ignored her, having to stop to gather both breath and energy if he wanted to continue running.

Once he did, he threw himself off of the roof, landing with his back and casually getting up as if nothing had happened. He had landed on the sidewalk, but that didn’t stop him from closing in on yet another alley.

What did stop him from entering it was the sudden blur that fell from the sky, quickly turning towards him, revealing what it was aiming for. The velocity and the direction of the coming body rid Luke of any speck of invincibility that might have endured the encounter. It quickly reminded him how easily his body could break. Just like a normal person.

He jumped as soon as his brain registered the danger, passing above the human bullet that had been his pursuer. To his bad luck, she had been prepared for that. Instead of slowing down, the masked figure made a tight turn, meeting Luke once again as he reached the peak of his jump. She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, coming to a stop in mid air after drifting afloat.

“There! Now, why were you running? I told you I was a hero, didn’t I? Or did you not hear me?”

Luke dangled from his jacket, limp as his body was exhausted and his mind too shocked and scared to think. He could only watch the figure, now clearly visible thanks to the street lights below them.

The horns and eyes belonged to a mask in the shape of a ram, which only covered the upper half of her face, nose included. It was colored a light brown, the nose rising only a little from the rest as it was composed of three darker lines, one vertical while the other two oblique, all three converging at the same point. The light bounced off of the yellow eyes, as they appeared to be made out of a reflective material. With a light tone, the lower part of her face, her real face, had wrinkles on it as she grimaced. It took him some time to realize she was waiting for an answer.

“If a dark, horned figure with glowing eyes appeared in front of you in the middle of the night in an alleyway, wouldn’t you run?” Luke asked, his voice a bit constrained by the jacket that was pushing against his neck.

“That’s…” She began to protest, but she stopped. “Glowing…?” She then muttered as she raised a gloved hand to the mask. “Okay, to be fair this lighting doesn’t do me any favors.”

Then the both of them stayed quiet, in the middle of the dim night, until Luke opened his mouth.

“So… So are you a hero or…?”

“Didn’t you listen to me at all?!”

“If a dark, horned figure with glowing eyes-”

“Ugh,” she sighed, interrupting him. “Fine. I get it, I get it.”

Luke felt the collar of the jacket pushing harder against his throat as the masked woman flew them both to the closest building. She let him go on one of the four corners, putting herself between him and the rest of the roof, giving little space to stand.

He began coughing as his neck was finally free, his legs trembling from the exhaustion that had suddenly struck him. Luke sat down on his corner, gasping for air as he looked up towards the figure towering over him.

He couldn’t see much of her body suit as the cape hid her body, waving in the same direction that the now cold air was blowing, but he was able to glimpse a white standard suit with a coy cleavage. The cape appeared to be made out of a different material, with lumps all over it and something that mimicked fur without being it.

The yellow eyes were fixed on him, shining with the light coming from the street.

“What… What did you want to talk about?” Luke asked.

“So you did listen!” The heroine responded in a cheery tone. “Honestly, not much. Got a call from a neighbor that was complaining because some punk was running around on their roof, making too much noise. I just came here to tell you to stop.”

“Really?”

“Yup,” she said, as she shifted her weight from her tip toes and back again.

“What a relief, thank god!” Luke said, putting a hand to his chest. “Thought you were a villain or something like that. That I was in serious trouble.”

“Told you so but, whatever. What were you doing running on top of buildings anyways?”

Luke got a deep breath in.

“Well I was just… Running… Yeah. Nothing else.”

“Really?” She asked, probably expecting a more interesting answer.

“Yeah.”

“Why, though?”

“Because… Does flying feel good?”

“It’s awesome.”

“This is the same for me.”

Luke saw her frown behind the mask, scratching her chin as she might be thinking. She then shrugged.

“Makes sense. Anyways, if you want to run around at night you should go to the set of abandoned buildings that way. There’s like a group of guys doing parkour and all that stuff. You probably won’t bother anyone there.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t really like revealing that I’m a potens.”

“Understandable, but you should be fine. There’s quite a few of us there, so it shouldn’t be as uncomfortable.”

“Still, I rather not.”

She shrugged once again.

“You do you, but I think there’s better stuff than running around at night. More help is always welcome, you know?”

“I…” (...disagree. I was not welcomed.) “...tried. But it didn’t work out.”

“Oh… Um… Sorry.”

Silence made its way into the conversation, retaining its flow for a while.

“Well,” the masked woman said, the awkward silence. “Don’t make too much noise.”

And with that, she was gone, out into the night sky and above the buildings as she flew away from the roof.

Luke sat there for a moment, his legs still aching from the chase, as he pondered on what had happened. Even if he had shit his pants with her sudden appearance and ran to the point of exhaustion, it wasn’t a bad day. She could have been a villain or a criminal after all. Not only that, but he had managed to escape from her even if it was only for a moment. That was more than what he could have done a week earlier.

“Go me,” he said before giving out a long sigh. “I could go for a kebab right now.”