Paramount showed SteelStar more techniques while flying, and SteelStar made rapid improvements. SteelStar eventually tried the trick to move his arms fast, but had trouble synchronizing his arms to his magnetism, so the movements were awkward and his punches lacked power. Paramount told him to practice, and that it was time for the second lesson. Soon the two of them landed, and Speedshock ran up, the electric speedster turning back to flesh as he stood before them.

“So,” said SteelStar. “You’re going to teach me the difference between a speedster and the rest of us?”

“That’s right,” said Speedshock. “This will be especially important with Speedclaw on the enemy team, and with speedsters, there are two things you need to remember. Watch this.”

Speedshock walked to a nearby table with a deck of playing cards laying on it. The speedster grabbed the deck and threw it up, letting the cards scatter into the air. Speedshock then transformed, pointed his electric fingers, and with a rapid series of motions struck each card. His fingers burned a hole directly in the center of each card, and all fifty two were burned in a matter of seconds before falling to the grass below. Speedshock then turned organic and turned to SteelStar, who stood there impressed.

“Can you do that?” asked Speedshock.

SteelStar shook his head, “I couldn’t even follow it.”

“And that’s the first lesson,” said Speedshock. “A true speedster isn’t just fast in body, they’re fast in mind. When I take my semi-electric form, it’s like the world slows down around me, which gives me a huge advantage in reflexes. We speedsters can get a lot done in the moments the rest of you are still catching your bearings.”

SteelStar nodded.

“And here’s the second thing you should remember,” said Speedshock.

Speedshock turned electric and moved to another table, stacking a bunch of small wooden blocks. Each time he touched a block it turned semi electric like him, and then turned normal when it left his hand. Within seconds he’d formed a perfect pyramid. When finished he turned organic and looked at SteelStar.

“If you memorized the patter necessary, could you do that?

SteelStar once again shook his head, “No. If I tried stacking wooden blocks at top speed, the momentum I generate would either send the blocks flying or break them.”

“Indeed,” Speedshock replied. “Meanwhile I can turn anything I touch partially into electricity, so it follows the same physics as me. Your friend Celerity can manipulate the kinetic energy produces to make it safe for people around her, and Speedclaw has pads on his palm that can cushion the force he produces. If he uses his claws or his knuckles, his enhanced strength can be very destructive, but if he holds something with the pads on his hands, he can carry things at high speeds without damaging them. That’s the ultimate difference between a true speedster and someone who can go fast. We can do almost everything at high speed, while you’ll inevitably have to slow down from time to time.”

SteelStar nodded, “Is there anything you have to slow down to do?”

“Just one thing,” said Speedshock. “We can’t communicate with non speedsters at high speed. When the world slows down for us it can make your words too slow to understand. Other than that, we can go as fast as we want.”

SteelStar turned to Paramount, “Then how can I leverage my speed in combat?”

“With difficulty,” said Paramount. “To fight people with similar abilities to my own I learned a sort of muscle memory where my attacks and defense are near automatic. In a sense, I had to learn to fight without consciously thinking so that my reflexes could keep up. While it does allow for high speed combat, it does, I find, give me a sort of tunnel vision. You’re focus is solely on your opponent, so it sometimes requires you to disengage from the fight to get a lay of the land, unless you want to destroy everything around you through sheer ignorance.”

SteelStar took a moment to take that in, “So how do I fight speedsters?”

“If you end up fighting a speedster,” said Speedshock, “Don’t bother trying to land accurate shots. There are few men in the world with good enough aim to do that. You will always get outmaneuvered by us, so your best tactic will be creating situations where we aren’t given room to maneuver.”

SteelStar nodded. He vaguely remembered his father mentioning something like that. SteelStar could spread lightning out, covering a wide area, but that was weaker than a concentrated bolt. A lightning spread wasn’t useful against a durable power user like Draego, but it might be his only option against a speedster.

“And Paramount asked you to help train me because you’re immune to electricity?”

Speedshock grinned, “You catch on quick.”

Before he was ready to begin, SteelStar had one final question, “Paramount, I know that Speedclaw is physically stronger than a human, but would be nowhere near you and me. Have you ever faced and enemy with the same power level as you who could also slow down his mind?”

Paramount considered it, “No, and I hope I never do. Honestly? If I ever faced someone on my level who could do that, I can’t see how I could possibly win.”

SteelStar let that sink in for a moment.

“Well then,” said Speedshock, clapping his hands together, “Let’s get started.”

Speedshock turned to his electric form and sped off.

“Good luck, SteelStar,” said Paramount. “I’m afraid I can’t help you from here.”

“Thanks for everything,” said SteelStar. “I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it.”

SteelStar took a deep breath, and then turned to metal to fly into the air. Paramount watched for a moment, then flew off in a different direction.

“Just try and hit me,” shouted Speedshock, running along the grass. “If you can.”

SteelStar charged electricity and then sent out scattered lightning, each bolt thin and low power. He hit a wide section of the field, but Speedshock had changed direction and managed to evade the attack, despite how much ground it covered. SteelStar gritted his metal teeth.

Nobody said dealing with Speedsters would be easy.

###

One day after the death of Spectramancer

Paramount stood one the steps of U.H.E. headquarters, facing an army of reporters. As a superhero, he had faced many threats from alien warriors to evil wizards, but he’d fight any of them in a heartbeat over this. Having to talk about someone he failed to save was always the most emotionally draining part of his job.

“Spectramancer was a good friend,” said Paramount. “A good husband, a good father, a great superhero, and overall, a great man. The world will never be the same without him. It is tragic…so very tragic…that it was his own power working against him that led to his demise. I…couldn’t be there for his last moments, but I know that once he returned to his right mind that he would have been horrified by his actions. I…” he paused, “I can only hope he is in a better place now.”

He’d given eulogies like that for over eighty years now. It never seemed to get any easier.

Paramount then took questions from the press, most of which he expected. How long had Spectramancer been having issues controlling his powers? Why hadn’t he retired? Wasn’t there something they could have done to help him? Paramount answered as honestly as possible, detailing how it had only been a single incident before that day at Partition City.

“If Spectramancer had been having trouble since the Rocky Mountain incident, he hadn’t told us,” said Paramount. “He was vehemently against the idea of retiring when I broached the subject. The idea of not being there to save people when they’re in danger was something he didn’t want to entertain.”

The next question was asked by a reporter who commonly covered the goings on at the U.H.E, one Karen Carlyle. This woman wore a professional pant suit and had her blonde hair in a ponytail. She asked her question with a serious, solemn expression that perfectly reflected the seriousness of the topic at hand.

“Paramount,” said Karen. “Do you regret not pushing harder for Spectramancer to retire.”

Paramount was silent for a moment, looking down and thinking about the question.

“I do,” he said reluctantly. “I think there was enough evidence that Spectramancer’s age was catching up to him. His stamina alone wasn’t what it used to be. As to why I didn’t push harder, all I can say is that Spectramancer’s powers were…unique. When a superheros’ powers start failing them in old age it’s usually the powers themselves, not emotions powering them, that fails first. Even for someone who has lived as long as I have, it was uncharted territory. And I suppose…I just wanted to believe that Spectramancer could keep doing what he loved.”

Paramount swallowed, “It’s easy to get used to someone being there, and can be difficult to accept that you won’t be able to rely on them for much longer.”

No matter how many times it happened, Paramount never saw it coming until it was upon him.

“So,” said Karen. “Do you think Spectramancer’s death could have been prevented?”

Paramount paused, considered the question carefully.

###

Present Day.

SteelStar paced back and forth in the waiting room. Paramount had arranged an interview to let SteelStar explain what happened the day he confronted Spectramancer, and the rookie superhero was ridiculously nervous. Not that he didn’t know what to say. He’d carefully practiced his story several times and knew he had it down.

No, he was nervous that something else would interrupt him.

Before this, SteelStar had asked Paramount if it might help to try and talk to Patrick Powell in person, maybe appeal to his better nature, but Paramount had advised against it.

“I once sat down with Patrick,” said Paramount. “To debate the merits of this proposed power user draft. Not long into the interview, Patrick mentioned a wildfire that spread out of control. I’d arrived as soon as I could, but unfortunately, even I can’t be everywhere at once. About seven people were reported dead before I reached the scene.”

“Oh yeah,” said SteelStar. “I remember that. Patrick mentioned a power user who lived in the general area. He argued that this power user could have saved them, but that person…”

“Was bedridden by muscular dystrophy,” said Paramount, nodding sadly. “Jack Covington has the power to control the air around him and could have removed oxygen to put out fires. However, due to his illness, using that power exhausted him. He might have been able to save one person at most, but even that’s up in the air. Patrick, hadn’t known about the disease, however, much to his discredit.”

“Why is Jack Covington’s identity public anyway?” asked SteelStar. “The power user amnesty act…”

“Would normally protect such people,” said Paramount. “True, but Mr. Covington chose to make his condition public to raise awareness about muscular dystrophy. Even if he doesn’t engage in hero work, simply being a power user is enough to attract publicity, and making one’s true identity public is known to attract even more attention. The only reason Patrick could have known he lived in the area and not known about his disease is because he looked up power users, found his name, and no more research on them beyond that.

“That’s why I don’t recommend you sit down with him…yet. He’s more interested in proving his point than getting to the truth. If you don’t have your facts straight, he might catch you off guard. Fortunately, I did, as you may remember, but if I were you, I’d wait until I had more experience doing interviews before sitting down with someone openly hostile.”

And so SteelStar was about to be interviewed by Karen Carlyle, whom Paramount warned would ask tough but fair questions once SteelStar had told his story. SteelStar was a little worried about that part but really just wanted to get his side of the story out without something interrupting him. He kept trying to tell himself that his nerves were unwarranted.

What were the odds of the Gaia-born moving right now?

###

Deep beneath the ground, gigantic worms chewed through the earth underneath U.H.E. headquarters. With gigantic teeth circling their mouths, they ate the ground away, leaving tunnels behind them. Eventually they broke through a concrete wall, rubble falling to the floor to reveal an underground warehouse filled with rows and rows of giant shelves lined with wooden crates.

Two other creatures had been sent ahead to deal with anyone in the room, digging through smaller holes in the walls. The first was a green insect with a stinger whose venom killed instantly. Some U.H.E. staff, wearing simple work coveralls, were already lying on the floor as the insects hovered over them. The second creature was like a small worm that sparkled with electricity. These creatures had burrowed into the wall and attached themselves to wires. By absorbing some electrical signals and sending out others, these creatures could trick the security system into thinking that nothing was wrong, otherwise the room’s sensors would have already sounded the alarm over dead bodies and the broken wall.

The gigantic worm inched its way into the room and then opened its mouth, dropping something covered in slime into the center of the warehouse.

From miles away, watching on a computer through tracking implants in his creations, Biomaster grinned under his mask, satisfied. From within his laboratory, he tapped a button on his computer.

“This is Biomaster. The bomb is in place. Proceed with your part of the plan.”

###

“Welcome SteelStar,” said Karen. “Glad to have you here.”

“Thank you, Karen,” said SteelStar. “I…I’m glad to be here.”

He knew he sounded unconvincing. It was one thing to talk into a camera by oneself. It was another thing entirely to speak to a living person, especially over…what happened.

The two of them sat across from each other on the stage of the U.H.E.’s press conference room. The auditorium was lined with chairs that would normally be filled with reporters ready to ask questions, but SteelStar knew he wasn’t ready for that. He was nervous enough just talking to one person.

“So, SteelStar,” said Karen. “A lot of people have been speculating what happened on the day Spectramancer died. You seemed to have avoided talking about it thus far. Why have you decided to speak out now?”

“When it first happened,” said SteelStar. “I was really shaken. What happened to Spectramancer is the last thing I wanted, and not a day goes by that I don’t wish could have found another solution. Believe me, I wish as much as anyone that Spectramancer was still with us. At the time, I just didn’t want to relive what happened, but so many people have been talking about me and…well…saying some terrible things that simply aren’t true. I know now that I need to give my side of the story and explain exactly what happened. I would have done so sooner than today, but my social media accounts were suspended.”

Karen looked surprised, “Really? Why?”

“The message said they had a policy against public slander.”

“Huh,” she said. “That’s…interesting. Well, all the more reason to start speaking out now. Why don’t you start from the beginning.”

SteelStar took a deep breath, “When I first got the alert, I didn’t know it was Spectramancer, just a strange light approaching Partition City. It wasn’t until Paramount contacted me…”

###

On the other side of town, both Demigoddess and Elementus sat down for an interview with Patrick Powell. Demigoddess smiled radiantly, but Elementus had to force himself to smile. Patrick, for his part, was smiling, but his eyebrows still seemed to form an angry expression.

“So, Demigoddess and Elementus,” said Patrick. “What made you decide to work with the U.H.E. on this mission?”

“Oh, we knew we had to do something about Gaia-born,” said Demigoddess cheerfully. “Our sponsor, the Sonnelicht Corporation, is dedicated to the fight against pollution and has strived to create sources of clean energy to power the world.”

“That’s right,” said Elementus. “We wanted to show that not everyone invested in a cleaner world is a homicidal maniac like Sister Nature. We at Sonnelicht believe that the path to a better world is achieved by cooperation, not by division, and utterly condemn the violence of Gaia-born.”

This earned a round of applause from the audience and Patrick as Elementus and Demigoddess both smiled brightly.

“Luckily, this isn’t my first tussle with Gaia-born,” said Demigoddess.

Yeah, thought Elementus, a tussle with some henchmen. He knew she’d never actually faced any of the higher ups at Gaia-born. Before Elementus could redirect the conversation back to Gaia-born and how dangerous they were, Patrick interjected.

“I’m sure we’d all love to hear about it, don’t we folks?”

The audience clapped, Demigoddess soaked in the attention, and Elements had to force a smile.

“Well,” said the diva superhero. “I’m not one to brag, but…”

As Demigoddess proceeded to brag, Elementus strained to keep smiling. Every time they had an interview together, she did this. She’d take a serious subject and make it about herself. It was so annoying, but their mutual boss, Sonnelicht CEO Henry Anderson, wouldn’t appreciate it if he spoke out against her, so Elementus ultimately kept his mouth shut. It pained him to do it, but he had no choice.

###

Sister Nature sat in the back of a black windowless van driven by her men while ordinary people drove and walked outside, unaware of the danger passing them by. The van drove to a back alley behind a tall office building. Once the van came to a complete stop, Sister Nature stood as one of the henchmen pressed a button on the dashboard and opened the van’s roof.

At the same time, more windowless vans approached the office building, each arriving from different streets so people wouldn’t notice a fleet of vans moving through the city. As they arrived, the vehicles opened to release men in dark clothing and animal masks. Every single mask was a predator, such as a lion, a snake, a hawk, a shark and more.

Meanwhile, with the van roof open, Sister Nature raised her hands and unleashed a thick, black oil that levitated towards the building. The flow from her hands was never ending, and within minutes the building was completely surrounded. Some of that oil hit windows and ignited, melting the glass to let more of the substance into the building. The people inside, office workers in suits, immediately ran in fear as the oil seeped through every room. Soon every surface was covered in oil, as well as every single person inside.

Those who made it to the front door or even the side exits were greeted by men in animal masks with guns who shot at the floor, pushing the people back. After a few minutes, the entire building was covered in oil, ready for Sister Nature to ignite it in a moment as the henchmen kept people inside, hands up and terrified.

When she finished, Sister Nature pulled a communicator out of her robes, “Speedclaw, I assume you’re in position?”

“Affirmative,” said Speedclaw. “I’ve got the U.H.E. headquarters in sight now.”

“Good,” said Sister Nature. “I’m in position and set up. Go ahead and make the call.”

###

“And that’s when Paramount told me that Spectramancer would prefer that I hurt him rather than let him hurt anyone else.”

“Paramount has expressed that very sentiment,” said Karen. “But what I’d like to know is…does this justify, in your mind, what you did that night?”

“Not really,” said SteelStar sadly. “If anything…it made me want to hurt him less. He…he sounded like a good person.” SteelStar paused. “Like I said, I wish I could have found another way to stop him.

“Well,” SteelStar continued. “This time I tried…”

Suddenly SteelStar was cut off by his smartwatch beeping. Checking it, he got the message of a hostage situation and stood up immediately.

“I have to…” he stopped, realizing that he was leaving his interview. He gave an exasperated sigh.

Why now? Thought SteelStar.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I…I have to…”

“Duty calls,” said Karen, nodding. “Don’t worry, this happens a lot. Trust me. We can always reschedule.”

“Thank you,” said SteelStar as he turned to metal, and flew away.

###

“We’re absolutely expecting a hostage situation with Sister Nature in town,” said Elementus. “It’s only a matter of time.”

“What would you advise people to do in times like these?” asked Patrick.

“Keep a watchful eye. If you see any sign of a power user, or someone with Gaia-born’s emblem, call 911 immediately. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.”

“Good advice, I’m sure,” said Patrick. “We must all remain vigilant in these trying times. We’re lucky we have heroes like you and Demigoddess you protect us.”

“Yes, even heroes need to remain vigilant,” said Demigoddess. “You never know what might happen. The supervillain might team up with someone with the power to walk through walls, a superhero might turn out to be a bad guy, a woman who claimed to represent nature might wear a dead animal on her head.”

Demigoddess smirked as Patrick and the crowd laughed at her joke. Elementus politely chuckled, but on the inside, he felt that this was no joking matter.

“But seriously,” said Demigoddess. “If you’re going to be evil, you might as well rock a wicked fashion sense. Am I right? What’s with Sister Nature’s dingy green robe and a deer skull mask? Why not a rockin dress and a cool fox mask or something? Come on!”

The audience kept clapping, and Elementus forced himself to smile.

“Not everyone can have your fashion sense, Demigoddess,” said Patrick.

“Oh, you flatterer,” she replied, beaming.

Kill me, Elementus thought.

Suddenly, the pair of them heard beeping from their smartwatches. Elementus immediately raised his to see that a hostage situation was now underway. While Elementus knew that people were in danger, something he took very seriously, a part of him was relieved at an excuse to get away from that place.”

“Well, duty calls,” said Elementus, standing. “You coming?”

Demigoddess, with a forced smile, looked back and forth between Elementus and Patrick for a second or two, but ultimately stood.

“We’ll have to finish this later,” said Demigoddess.

“Of course,” said Patrick. “Go fight the good fight.”

“Thank you Mr. Powell,” Elementus, strolling out of the room.

Demigoddess followed, and at the forefront of her mind she had one single, bitter thought.

Why now?