“Come on, don’t look at me like that.” Milly tried to avoid Theodore’s heartbroken stare while she strapped on a large regular backpack stuffed full of cushions. “I swear this is only temporary. You don’t want to go back to the doll hospital do you?”

They were once again in the abandoned subway station that Meatcrawl had used as a lair.

@Niki

Niki:

While I appreciate the inquisitive spirit behind your attempt to learn how to run up a building, I hope you recognize you are dead as soon as you are slow enough for me to strangle you. It is almost understandable that you thought Stella could bring you back to the ground if you launched yourself into the sky again, but launching yourselves into the ground?! Have you lost your mind?

Milly:

Okay, with the benefit of hindsight, I can agree that jumping off of a building with Stella was a bad idea. But! You have to admit it kind of led to a good thing. Ruth’s idea to use that hamster wheel in the playground got me thinking. If I want to practice vertical running, I probably should make sure that the sky isn’t even an option. So? UNDERGROUND!

Numerous broken glow sticks hovered mid-fall in the area to light the station up properly. Milly hadn’t been back since her close brush with death, but it seemed almost silly to be afraid of the place now that she was superpowered.

“Do you think she’ll be even more upset when I tell her where we are?”

Milly suspected the terrifying encounter was in some way responsible for awakening her power, but she wasn’t sure if it was the stress itself or perhaps some chemical in the hidden laboratory that she’d unwittingly inhaled. Or something else altogether.

She didn’t need a lab to run this experiment, though.

“Alright.” She approached the wall and placed her hands on her hips while she took stock.

The walls of the subway station went straight up but curved into an arch for the ceiling. A bit like a scaled-up hamster wheel. Most importantly, the ceiling was solid concrete. The plan was simple: run up the wall and stop at the ceiling.

“Easy! And if I lose control, hopefully, I can just keep running like at the playground and cross the ceiling to get back to the ground… or I’ll just hit the ceiling… which is gonna suck, like running into a brick wall, but it sure beats launching myself into the sky.” She tightened the straps on her backpack. In theory, the cushions inside would soften the blow. Either against the ceiling or against the ground if she fell, maybe both. Milly grinned. “Plus, there’s nobody around that could get hurt if this goes wrong! Or see who I am, I guess.”

That reminded her.

@Niki

Niki:

If you got it from Ruth, I wouldn’t be so sure it’s really your idea. In the playground, you were in range of her power and you stuck around in practically the same place for long enough that she could’ve done something. Would it kill you to be more careful?

Milly:

Geez, thanks for putting that thought in my head! I’ll be more careful. On that note, the thing I’m doing now is way safer. I promise.

Niki:

Fine, but I just had a breakthrough in this arsonist case and I’m not telling you what it is if you get yourself hurt again.

Milly:

Hey, no fair!

Would it help at all if I said that I just thought up a safety precaution you can help with? if I don’t text you within a minute, please call Stella and come tele-pick me up. Totally just a precaution!

Great. Of all the times for Niki to discover something, it had to be right after Milly ticked her off. While it was doubtful Niki would actually refuse to tell her, it still meant Milly would be stuck wondering about it until Niki had a few minutes to cool off. That might as well be an eternity from Milly’s perspective.

Nothing for it but to forge ahead. With that last text, Milly now had a lifeline with a snooze button. If something actually went wrong, help was less than a minute away.

“Really hope that one is just overly cautious.”

Milly ducked down to pick up a bike helmet that she’d borrowed from a store on her way here. If she was entirely honest, she wasn’t actually sure it would help all that much.

For most supers, regardless of the specific power, it often came with enhanced general toughness. In fact, it was the reason so many supers went around wearing practically nothing but a spandex bodysuit or even regular clothes. Most of them reported that they either felt no more durable with armor than without or that the restricted mobility wasn’t worth the minor boost.

Milly pulled the helmet over her head, then took three steps back from the wall. “I’ll take a minor boost for now, that’s for sure.”

On the topic of boosts, her confidence had certainly gotten one after practicing in the hamster wheel. While Ruth certainly had meant well, the actual mechanics of running tiny circles had almost nothing to do with running up walls. For one thing, the wheel dealt with centrifugal force, which didn’t really translate to a straight run that would have more to do with her initial momentum.

It shouldn’t have helped, but Milly realized that the mechanics of it were never really the problem. She’d already run up a wall just fine. The problem was fear. Her intentions and feelings influenced her power; big emotions, big effects. Panic seemed to provoke a strong reaction, which was why she’d been so hesitant to try this again.

How was she supposed to stay calm when even thinking about trying the vertical run again had her break out in a cold sweat just recalling how badly it went last time?

The answer, as it turned out, was baby steps, or maybe hamster steps. In the wheel, there was no risk of her going anywhere, so she got to safely try it out. Sure, it had only been for a step or two at a time, but she’d walked up, down, and even across the ceiling. It proved to her she could move vertically without launching herself into space merely thinking about it. If she could do all that, this was going to be easy!

“On your marks. Get set. Go!” Milly sprinted at the wall and ran up a couple of steps. Anyone could do a step or two. The tricky part came next. She thought back to the rush of excitement she felt the first time she attempted it, those couple of steps of elated joy that it was working before she’d realized she didn’t know how to stop. Three steps. Four steps. Five! Six! “Yes! I’ve got it! Now—Uh Oh!”

The ceiling was only two steps away, and she still hadn’t figured out how to actually stop. When she ran across walls, her solution usually was to just jump off to the ground and stop there. That wasn’t an option, so she just tried freezing in place.

The momentum from her sprint still carried her forward, dragging her heels along the wall before she smacked into the ceiling. Fortunately, she was just quick enough to twist and place the backpack in the way. The collision wasn’t too bad, though the backpack was practically flat after the fall had smashed all the air out of it.

“Huh, funny. I wonder how long it’ll take to refill…” Milly had just enough time to ponder the question before she noticed something troubling. Her feet were no longer touching the wall, and she felt strangely weightless, as though she were floating.

Milly knew what it meant. Her upward momentum had run out, and she was experiencing a brief moment of equilibrium before she’d be pulled back down to earth. “Rats! No! Stay calm!” It wasn’t the same as on the roof. She wasn’t helpless. Milly spread her arms out and kicked the ceiling, spinning herself around in mid-air to get her legs underneath her just as she felt the fall take hold. She dropped from the ceiling onto her feet, knees bent to lessen the blow.

The force of the drop was still enough to knock Milly on her ass, but she couldn’t be happier with the result. “Yeah! Haha! That was way better! Did you see that, Theodore? I still dunno what exactly is doing that. Can’t be gravity, right? Nothing just free falls that fast.”

Theodore looked suitably impressed but didn’t offer much insight other than the observation that she’d left him hanging in midair well before her stunt and he hadn’t fallen yet.

“Definitely not just gravity, at least. It's gotta be my power. Mhm, well, I guess there’s nothing for it but to try again! …Right after I see ‘bout fluffing these pillows back up.”

On the next countless attempts, Milly ran the gamut of results. Sometimes she crashed, other times she actually made the run across the ceiling. Most of the time she managed to land on her feet, but there was a time or two where she was glad to have the helmet.

@Niki

Niki:

A precaution for what?

Milly:

Trying out my power in a controlled environment. It’s going well, btw.

Oh, update. I think maybe I don’t have to run.

Yeah. Definitely not a requirement. I can walk up the wall. Maybe that’s because I figured out the right feeling after doing it so often. I’ll see if it works on the ceiling too.

Yup!

Nope!

I shouldn’t have pulled my phone out while on the ceiling. Obviously, the time I take to type would be enough to start falling. Really glad I brought a helmet. Still not adding one to my costume, though.

Niki:

You are still in trouble.

I made it back to school. I saw Paige and Celine on my way and told them you are on the track team, so you ran back ahead of us. They were lingering outside the corner store with a pack of candy cigarettes.

Milly:

Aww, still?

I doubt that is what Paige had in mind. xD

I wonder if Celine misunderstood or if she’s more of a troll than I thought.

Oh! I nearly forgot! Stella teleported me earlier, and I saw that whole star nebula thing again. So, I guess that confirms it’s something to do with her power. I was gonna ask to experiment with it but, well, you know… It wasn’t really the right time for it after nearly making her a pancake.

At least experimenting with my own power is going pretty well.

After three Milly-days of practice, Milly learned two important things.

First, she figured out how to stop. Infuriatingly, it was actually incredibly easy to do so. It merely took trying the stunt enough times that it became boring. Once the idea of stopping or not held as little value as it did during a casual stroll, it just came naturally.

Which led her to her second discovery. Stopping made her fall. In hindsight, that was an obvious outcome. The interesting bit was that as long as she kept moving, she had a surprising amount of control. She could walk up the wall, make a U-turn, then walk back down. Counterintuitively, this didn’t cause the fall as long as she was going quickly enough.

Every four Milly-hours (about a regular minute), she texted Niki with a progress report to let her know she was okay. Not counting the times she texted just to chat when Niki had enough time to reply to her. Most of it was just casual chit-chat, but it was still nice.

Still, there was only so much she could learn underground.

“I reckon it’s time to take this show on the road, Theodore.” Milly walked over to the heavy backpack she’d discarded on the train platform a few hours ago. It had been a while since she needed an airbag, but she pulled out one of the sturdier pillows to feed Theodore. She giggled and poked his new pudgy physique. “Someone’s going on a diet after we’re done, but for now, I need you to have my back.”

Theodore looked indignant and extra squishy.

“No, I’m not planning on crashing.” Milly rolled her eyes, then snatched one of the floating glow sticks. “I just need a spot to stash all this gear. I’m not dragging it all over town, but I don’t want people to stumble across it either.”

Not that Milly expected the ghost station to get a lot of visitors. It probably would’ve been fine to just leave her stuff on one of the benches down here, but she had a better idea. The station had three empty storefronts that were locked down. A Kiosk, a bookstore, and a fast-food place.

The fast-food place was out; it already housed the secret laboratory that Doctor von Vector and his team had used to turn Vanna into Meatcrawl. Not only was it home to nasty memories and bad vibes, but it was also the only location someone might actually come down here for.

“I hope Vanna’s doing okay as Terra claimed.” Milly sighed. It felt wrong to doubt Terra when she and her sister had been so nice lately. Her biggest reason for doubting them was their relation to Ruth, but even she had helped out just a few minutes ago.

Did being mostly great excuse being awful on occasion? It seemed to be in Principal Arkwright’s opinion.

Milly kneeled by the door to the Kiosk and placed the glow stick next to the lock. “It’s been a while, let’s see if I remember how to do this.” She pulled out her lockpicks.

Apparently, nobody cared that much about barring entry to a glorified closet with a desk, because it was the easiest lock she’d ever seen. It practically popped open as soon as she’d started. “Huh. Maybe I overprepared just a tad by starting with a modern jail cell lock?”

She suddenly felt a lot better about how long it had taken her to pick the lock during practice.

After stashing her helmet, backpack, remaining pillows, and the glow sticks (more to hide the glow than the sticks), Milly dusted off her hands and began the trek topside.

If Milly didn’t know any better, she’d swear someone had upped the brightness of the sun a few notches during her time underground.

Squinting against the light, Milly stuck to the shaded areas of the street.

Obviously, she’d hung out in a gloomy subway for too long, but it felt like more than that. As though she was missing something.

“Oh, right!” She reached back and Theodore returned her ski goggles to her. A vital part of her disguise he’d kept safe while she was crashing in the dark. “That’s better! Now, where was that tall building again?”

She might as well have asked for a straw in a haystack. All the buildings in this part of town were tall. Honestly, Milly wasn’t sure why they called it downtown when all the roofs were so high up. For that matter, the ‘town’ part also seemed like a misnomer when she’d walked for ages and she was still ‘downtown’. Sure, she could cross that distance in a fraction of the time now, but it was still a long walk.

She might as well pick one at random. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, that one. Oh, hey!”

Milly recognized the building. It was the movie theater she’d taken Niki to last month Saturday. A multiplex called Multi-Flix, not that she’d paid much attention to the name at the time.

“We should go see another movie. I bet it’ll smooth over this whole nearly dying twice in a day thing!” Milly chuckled while she rested a hand on the wall. “I better remember to show up twenty minutes late this time to skip those advertisements before the actual movie. It was bad enough before; I can’t imagine what a horror show that would be for me now.”

Such a silly thought. Of course, she wouldn’t go see a movie while in Milly-time. Forget the ads, even the greatest movie of all time would be a snore.

“Heh, on the bright side, movies last so long that eventually, I’d probably be back in normal time for the third act. Still, hard pass. I’m sure we could time it so that normal-time starts right around when the movie does.” Milly walked over to an electronic billboard that showed the various movies and times. She was in the middle of figuring out which ones worked when a ghastly thought occurred. “Wait! I’d just be in Milly-time for the third act instead!”

Well, movies were out of the running for potential dates.

“Dang it! Ugh, okay forget it. Let’s just focus on what I came here for.” Milly grumbled while she set a foot against the wall and hopped up. One step, two, three. It came so easily now that it was hard to believe she was ever concerned.

Then again, it was never the going-up part that she had a problem with. While she made the trek up, Milly prepared a text for Stella, just in case.

Three floors up, she encountered a minor hurdle. A large glowing display of lights spelled out the name of the theater. While nothing she’d stepped on thus far had broken despite technically getting hit with Mach 1 kicks, Milly wasn’t quite willing to bet that she could walk across light bulbs. If anything could hurt her at this speed, it was probably electricity.

Fortunately, the name was far wider than it was tall. She could easily jump across.

Just as she braced for the jump, it suddenly occurred to her that she was a complete idiot. “Gah! No, duh! If I jump, I’m not coming back down. I’m just jumping away from the building!” She made a sharp L turn just before the first row of lightbulbs and resolved to walk around them instead.

“That was close.” Milly took a deep breath to combat her suddenly skyrocketing heart rate while she continued the climb. “Maybe I oughta focus on the task at hand instead of messing around with my phone. Yeah. From now on, wall-walking follows classroom rules: no phones and pay attention.”

While a good policy, it certainly made the trek more arduous. She permitted herself to maintain situational awareness of her surroundings, which sounded way more important than ‘get bored and look around’ if she were to ever have to justify herself to anyone.

Even with a nice view, it took a while before she reached the top.

“Oh, good! There’s the edge!” Milly perked up, she had a rough idea of how she was going to do this, but the timing had to be just right. As she neared the end, she purposely ‘tripped’ over the edge, but instead of falling to the ‘ground’ (the wall, really,) she fell over the edge where her feet hovered over the roof of the building while her momentum still carried her upward to the sky. “Stop.”

She did her best to ignore how crazy this all was and just focused on a sense of boredom that brought her to a halt. Her ascension stopped, and after a moment, she dropped onto the roof. With a stumbling step, Milly maintained her balance by spreading her arms.

For a long beat, Milly stood stock still, waiting for something to go wrong. When nothing did, she slowly stood up straight, looked around one more time, then uppercut the air. “Yes! Totally made it!”

She ran to the parapet that surrounded the roof and peered over. It was an outright dizzying height, but it wasn’t nearly as scary this time around. “Take that!” She laughed in celebration while taking out her phone to let Niki know of her success.

While she worked on the text, she spotted something peculiar from her new vantage point.

A few blocks away was a large white dome, like a giant pearl, just sitting in the middle of the city. “Huh, that’s gotta be what Stella called ‘city-ball. I should go have a look at some point.” Aside from the unusual sight of City Hall, Milly recognized the burned-out police station in the background. It struck her just how big the city was. Even from up here, there seemed to be no end to the rows upon rows of buildings in every direction.

Everywhere but east, where she knew the bay had to be.

“Crazy to think I’ve been walking around this city for over a month and I haven’t seen even a tenth of the place,” Milly mused while she finished her text. She propped her head up on her hands while she looked out over the city. Toward the North were entire distant sections of the city she never even knew about.

It was sobering.

Thus far, she’d felt as though her daily little patrols were making the city safer, but maybe she was barely making a difference at this scale. Rather than discourage her, though, it just made her think there had to be a more efficient way of going about it.

In a city this size, something bad was almost certainly going down at any given hour of the day, yet ACE were not constantly rushing out to deal with one disturbance after another. Did they simply not care, or was it infeasible to be everywhere even with Stella’s power of transportation?

Milly shot Ruth a text about it. “Now to pretend I’m not dying to know the answer for a few hours… Mhm, what is that?”

Milly squinted at City Hall. She could roughly make out specks on it. “Theodore, hand me my spyglass.” Now properly equipped, she took a closer look while she twisted the glass to adjust the sharpness.

There were people on the dome. Which made sense, considering Stella had told her the city hired supers to help keep the dome clean. There was just one thing that struck Milly as awfully odd.

They had giant hammers for hands.

“The cleaning crew? More like a wrecking crew!”