Paperwork. The insurmountable horror that every adult feared. Worse than any villain imaginable. I wasn't even an adult yet, and I already had to stand against this horrendous monster.

 

First, I had to fill out another reassignment form to move into a different PE class. One without any of my friends, sadly. And that already sucked. But then, after I was done with that, I also had to visit the offices in the city and get them to issue me a new ID. And, of course, even after waiting in queue for so long, they didn't give me one right away. It took time to create. The unimpressed worker there simply told me to come back in two days to pick it up.

 

All of that took so long, the sun was already dipping below the horizon, saying goodbye.

 

As I boarded the bus to get back home, I called up Flare, saying I was finally done with everything and that we could go on the patrol.

 

"Alright! Meet you at your place in a few, then!" She cheerfully ended the call.

 

I smiled as I put the phone back into my bag. Then looked out of the bus window, and fell into deep thought. The rejection from those girls at PE still stung a bit, even though we only knew each other in passing. When I thought about it, rather than the rejection, it was the fact that they thought of me as a guy that made my stomach curl. Thanks to Flare's help, I had mostly gotten used to the fact that I was a girl. Accepted the fact. But moments like these felt like someone was poking me into a barely healed wound. It was still fresh, after all.

 

And then there was my dad. The usual anxiety about whether I would be accepted bubbled up when I thought about him. But in his case, I felt like my worries were completely justified. He’d always seen me as a boy. Had raised me like one. Had pushed me to act like one whenever he’d found me being too 'girly'. And that wasn't even the end of the story. My dad wasn't a fan of hybrids. Not surprising, since he worked as a warden in the Black Cage, a specialized prison for hybrids. Mom's death hadn’t helped that opinion in the slightest, killed in an incident caused by a hybrid. And as a cherry on top, Eruption was a Felice hybrid. Like me.

 

I heaved a heavy sigh. Somehow, I found myself dipping my toes back into the pool of negativity like before. And all it took was one girl being mean to me. I couldn't let it get to me. I was a hero. I had much more confidence than I used to. And I also had Flare backing me up in case something went wrong.

 

Although I still definitely needed to think of ways to break it to him. To soften the blow. But I wasn't sure how. Once he got to see me in person, everything would have to come out at once. Sure, I could use the same excuse I used at school, saying that someone had used their power on me by accident. But it wouldn't hold up. He would ask who it was, search for that person and try to bring them to justice. Breaking the news to him over the phone or with a text message would be wrong as well. So for now, I decided to simply give him an ambiguous heads up. A message saying 'When you come home, I need to talk to you.'

 

He wrote back in a few minutes, asking whether something had happened to me, after all. I was momentarily torn on what to reply without outright saying what had happened, but ended up sending back 'I've had a bit of a realization. I just want to talk to you about it.'

 

'Alright, we'll talk. I will try to get home sooner this time. See you, Chris.'

 

I felt the tension leave my body. Interacting with my dad had gotten really difficult for some reason. Just the idea of talking to him filled me with dread.

 

But that was something I would deal with when it came to it. For now, it was time to be a hero.

 

The bus eventually stopped, and I made my way over to my place. Flare was already at the door, waving at me as I ascended the steps.

 

"Oh hey. Did you wait long?" I asked, before realizing that it was a typical line for showing up late to a date. But no, this was a hero patrol, not a date!

 

"Nah, just got here. Can we get something to eat before we go?"

 

"What, you're planning on stuffing yourself before going exercising?" I raised an eyebrow.

 

"Just something tiny! I don't want my stomach to growl as we have an epic face-off against a villain after all!" she laughed.

 

"Well, alright. I'll hook you up with something." I sighed and pulled out the keys.

 

"Yay! You are the best wife!" she exclaimed just as I was in the process of putting the key inside the keyhole.

 

I jerked and almost dropped the key. Then I made sure to huddle very close to the door to hide the furious blush that found its way onto my face. She just called me a wife? Her wife? What?! No no no. Just a wife in general. Not her wife. But what if she was trying to imply it?!

 

I didn't reply and nervously twisted the key inside the door before opening it. Flare took off her shoes and trotted over to the kitchen. I took a second to take a deep breath and calm down as I closed the door behind me. I briefly thought about using my power to get rid of the accumulated blood in my cheeks to erase the blush, but then decided it would have been a pretty dumb use of powers. I calmed down the normal way and followed my friend to the kitchen.

 

As a dutiful friend, not a wife, I made a pair of sandwiches for us. Didn't stuff too many ingredients into them, though, because like I said, a full stomach was not a good thing to have when going out to fight crime.

 

We briefly checked over what was happening on the forums as we ate. There was a thread about the patrol we’d done yesterday. A few people seeing us, mostly Phoenix, going around the city. Some of them had even taken photos, damn stalkers. But also, there were some people who were genuinely concerned we were going to get ambushed by the Dragon Maw sooner or later. That was something I had several contingency plans for already, every known hybrid member of theirs thoroughly analyzed. Although that was not to say they didn't have new members to surprise us with. Especially right after the starstorm. We needed to be vigilant.

 

Another thread mentioned some changes to the Neo Wardens roster. Frostfeather was retiring, apparently. I couldn't say that I’d expected that. She had been a hero for so long, after all. People always said how cool she was. But maybe it was just her being cynical? And in reality, she hated being a hero? Maybe.

 

Other than that, there were also a few new faces. The one that caught my eye the most was someone called Tracker. He could glance into the past of people or objects. Psychometry, I think it was called. He wouldn't be a front line fighter by any means, but his power could probably allow the heroes to track down villains, by having him inspect the crime scene.

 

There was also a thread about another new independent hero team, the Robin Hoot brothers. Two Rega hybrids who used bows. We thought it might be cool to contact them and have a chat. Maybe even team up eventually. But by the time we finished our little snack, they hadn’t replied yet, and we didn't want to wait any longer.

 

And so, with the sandwiches peacefully resting inside our stomachs, we went out. Just like yesterday, we found a nice hiding spot where we changed into our costumes and stored our civilian clothing. It was time for the patrol. Too bad Elsie didn't come with. Although, now that I thought about it, it would have been difficult for her to follow us up on the rooftops unless Phoenix carried her. She didn't have wings or my agility, and her power didn't help her with movement, either. Sure, she could just leave her proxy with us, but that wouldn't really be coming with us.

 

Never mind. In the end, it was just me and Phoenix going out at night to stroll around the city. No, not a date. A heroic patrol. Well, no, not even that. Just a peaceful stroll. Nothing more. If we found villains, we would offer them our best butt-kicking services. But until then, just two friends taking an evening stroll through the city.

 

This time, we took a slightly different route, passing the bus stop and the 'lake', and went right through a reconstruction zone. There were no workers since it was late, so there was no one to yell at me for jumping across the damaged buildings. Of course, I was careful not to damage them any further as I went.

 

Once again, the stroll started pretty uneventfully just like yesterday. But it seemed like yesterday’s peaceful stroll wouldn’t happen every time. As we traveled through the city, we noticed a figure perched on the rim of one of the rooftops. I exchanged a glance with my flying companion and formed swords on my cheeks. She nodded, and we made our way to the said rooftop.

 

When we landed, the person in question jumped down from her seat and walked a few steps towards us. It was a girl in her late teens sporting glowing blond hair tied into a ponytail. Her outfit of choice was pretty similar to mine, besides the colors. A green sweatshirt and red shorts. There was a strap around her waist packed with what looked to be grenades. She also wore sunglasses, even though it was already dark out.

 

I recognized her immediately.

 

"Oh hey! Phoenix and Ink, right? Team BlackBird!" she said dramatically. "I'm a big fan!"

 

"You are..." My partner's eyes narrowed.

 

"Lightshow," I finished.

 

"You know me." She nodded. "You've done your research, I take it?" A cheeky grin found its way onto her face.

 

"Leader of the Lightbearers. A villain." I muttered.

 

She was infamous, known for taking in some of the most dangerous hybrids in the city into her group. Ironically, she seemed to be their weakest member. Everyone else had very flashy powers, but hers was still unknown. Theories ranged from enhanced instincts, probability manipulation, to even precognition. But those were just theories, all formed because of her incredible record of twenty-three successful escapes from hero encounters. Capturing her seemed to be impossible.

 

But she appeared to be alone. I couldn't see nor hear anyone nearby. And unlike Black Rose, she couldn't make me apathetic towards a nearby ruckus her teammates were causing. Or at least I hoped she couldn't. I didn't know what her power was, after all.

 

"Now, now. A villain is too strong of a word. I prefer to be called... a misunderstood vigilante." She shrugged.

 

"Misunderstood my butt! Let's go Ink!" Phoenix shouted.

 

We exchanged a glance and I nodded. She then took flight and I began rushing around to punch our foe out. Lightshow moved into an odd stance right before I reached her and wound up my punch. Of course, this wasn't a desperate situation like back in the bank, so I didn't make my fist any heavier. I just wanted to knock her out, not pulverize her intestines.

 

I threw the punch. But it didn't connect. Instead, I felt myself get lifted from the rooftop and fell forward into a somersault. I quickly took control of the fall and spun around to land on all fours. Then I looked back at the villain, who still stood there nonchalantly.

 

"I'm trained in self-defense and a few martial arts, by the way." She gave me the V sign.

 

She’d thrown me. What the heck?

 

At that point, my winged partner was already swooping down to tackle her. But her target twisted around, dodging the tackle, and caught her leg. The villainess then used the momentum Phoenix had and spun her around, tossing her in my direction. I quickly stood up and caught my friend, although the force knocked me down on my butt.

 

I heard a click and saw a flash. Lightshow was holding out a phone in our direction. She looked at the screen and nodded. "Nice."

 

Did she just take a photo of us in a humiliating position?

 

"You!" Phoenix stood up from my embrace and pointed at the villainess in anger.

 

The blond girl then turned her phone and showed us the picture. "What do you think of my new wallpaper?" she said with a cheeky grin.

 

I didn't want to use too much force. Didn't want to kill her or hurt her too much. Phoenix thought the same, which was why she didn't use her ash. But now? Now I really felt like hurting her. She was making fun of us. Humiliating us. It seemed like she was saying 'if you don't take me seriously, then I won't take you seriously either'.

 

Phoenix next to me was seething at how nonchalant our opponent was. I put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. Once she looked at me, I drew up a sword on my cheek. And then drew another one next to it. 'Let's get serious.' She nodded and flew up once again.

 

I was about to initiate my dash but quickly noticed Lightshow had already made her move. She unstrapped one of the grenades on her waist and pulled out the pin, then tossed it just behind herself, without even looking back.

 

I immediately stopped in my tracks, closed my eyes, and put hands over my ears, while shouting at my teammate, "Flash grenade!" right before it went off.

 

Even with me trying to protect my senses, the ringing in my ears and the whiteness uncomfortably reminded me of when I’d been  blown up back at the bank. This time, though, the blast didn't injure me and I managed to restore my eyes and ears right away. Just in time for something to yank my feet right from under me, making me fall and bump my head on the ground. My head spun for a second before I healed the concussion as quickly as I could and scrambled to get back on my feet. But my feet were held together by something thin and cold. And before I could even figure out what, I felt the same thin and cold material coil around my body.

 

When I finally realized what was going on, I had already been tied up by a wire, all while Phoenix was groaning in pain while lying nearby.

 

Lightshow clicked her tongue three times as she waved her finger in disapproval. "Bad heroes. You can't just try to kill everyone who annoys you a bit. If you do that, you're no different from murderers!"

 

I stared at her in disbelief. A villain was giving us a lesson on how to be heroes. And annoyingly, she was right. My message to Phoenix boiled down to 'use your ash', and I very much intended to hit her with one of my heavy punches. That could have killed her if it went wrong.

 

But... she was still playing with us. Not taking us seriously. Acting like a mom who’d found out we had been stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

 

"I think you should cool your head a bit. You know. Talk to someone about your problems. And not just take it out on the first person with the villain label on her head." She sat down on the rim once again, as if the battle was over now.

 

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get myself free of the wire around my torso and feet. And I couldn't get my roots to invade the wires either. Phoenix had to help me once she recovered from the flash bomb. We then both stood up and looked at our foe again.

 

There was a reason why she was said to be impossible to capture. I’d been stupid to think we stood a chance, as if we were some kind of exception. No, seeing as we couldn't touch her, and she didn't seem to want to harm us too much either, my goal should have been something entirely different.

 

I turned to Phoenix and whispered. "Stay here until I give you a signal." She nodded.

 

Whispering like this, out on an open rooftop, the sound still managed to carry over to our enemy. And that was exactly what I was going for.

 

I prepared myself, stood on all fours, and dashed.

 

"Come on now." My foe smiled. "Are you not tired yet?"

 

I ignored her taunts and kept closing in on her. Ten meters away. Five meters away. I rose to my feet and raised my clawed hand, looking for any movement in her unmoving figure. The only reaction was furrowed brows, but otherwise, she didn't move a muscle.

 

And then I stopped. A meter away from reaching her.

 

Her expression gave way to confusion. But she still neither moved from her spot nor got into any sort of battle stance, despite my ability to lunge at her at any moment. And I knew why. She didn't do anything, because she was never in any sort of danger. I never intended to attack her if she didn't make any moves.

 

"You're a precog," I said as I slowly lowered my arm and stood upright.

 

Her confused expression slowly turned into a wide smile. "Oh, man! You're actually smart!" she laughed.

 

"A short term precog. Some kind of... danger sense," I surmised.

 

I intended to go after her if she moved and stop if she didn't. From the Internet theories and our earlier fight with her, I figured danger sense was a likely option, and it was the easiest to test. And it seemed like I was right.

 

The villainess clapped her hands. "Uaaaah! I'm totally fangirling now!" she said mockingly as she hopped off the rim. "You are the first person who didn't just keep coming to attack me, and instead tried to fake me out! Bravo!"

 

"I-Ink? Is that the signal?" my partner asked, bemused.

 

"No. That was a red herring. To make her think we were coordinating an attack."

 

"And you totally got me!" Our enemy laughed as she nonchalantly walked around on the roof. "I lost!"

 

I narrowed my eyes. Of course, figuring this out didn't change anything. If she could tell what we would do ahead of time, then defeating her would be almost impossible. We would have to put pressure on her from every possible angle so that she wouldn't find a way out. But we couldn't do that with just the two of us. And also, her power might even help her avoid getting into that cornered situation in the first place. The only other way to counter her would be to have a precog of our own.

 

"We still... can't do anything to you." I frowned at her.

 

"Maybe. But this is still a bigger win for you than anyone has ever managed against me." She gave me a wry smile. "I suppose I can't ask you to keep it secret from the other heroes, can I?"

 

I simply continued glaring at her.

 

"Well, I tried." She shrugged. "So what now? Are gonna try to outmaneuver my power? Or are we gonna sit down and chat?"

 

A moment of silence. I had no idea what to do. There was a villain in front of me, and I couldn't touch her. Any plan I could come up with, she would know about and would act accordingly. There was no way to surprise her. Overpowering her wouldn't work, either. She was too skillful.

 

"Why do you even lead all of these monsters?! You could have been a hero instead!" Phoenix finally broke the silence, as she walked closer to us, fists clenched.

 

"Like I said! I'm just a misunderstood vigilante!" Lightshow deflected.

 

"Your group is called the gathering of monsters! They are murderers!"

 

"That's what the Internet told you, right?" She tilted her head.

 

"Well. Are you saying that's not true?" My friend frowned.

 

"Of course not! All of them are still people despite how some of them might look." She tilted her head to the other side. "And murderers? None of us has ever killed anyone."

 

"Eruption." I spat out, frowning.

 

"Eruption --" She adopted a serious tone. "-- is a twelve-year-old girl. Do you honestly believe she's a murderer?"

 

When put like that, it sounded a bit ridiculous, of course. But I knew what had happened.

 

"She killed my mom." I glared at the villain.

 

That made her pause for a second, staring back at me. After a moment, she continued.

 

"Well, let's do a thought experiment, shall we?" She raised a finger. "Imagine you are a little girl in a happy family. You love your mom and dad and they love you back." She slowly began walking to the side as she talked. "But then, a starstorm happens. You don't make it into the shelter in time and get hit." She then turned to look straight at me. "You get lava powers and they go out of control. I'm sure you know what it's like when you first get powers like these." She glanced at Phoenix. "And, because you were in the process of escaping to the shelter with your parents..." A short pause. "...your parents are right there next to you as your powers melt everything around you," she whispered gravely.

 

I clenched my teeth, imagining the scenario. And I also thought back on how Flare got struck. Back then, if I hadn’t been pulled out of her range, I would have probably been burned to death.

 

"So you watch as the people you love are killed by your own powers. And then you're overwhelmed by grief and your powers go even more out of control." She snapped her fingers. "And just like that. A building is destroyed and hundreds of people die." She turned and slowly walked the other way. "And then the heroes come. They see the carnage, the destruction, and they try to subdue you. Kill you. But you don't want to be seen as evil, you want to explain what happened." She stopped again. "But... you are a stage four hybrid, and it made you mute. Better than psychopathic or monstrously aggressive, sure. But now, you can't even talk back to defend yourself." She tilted her head again. "So you run away because you are scared. Because otherwise, you might get killed."

 

She turned to us again and parted her arms, palms pointing upwards. "Does that make you a villain? A monster?"

 

Silence.

 

I had no idea how to respond. How to take it all in. Ever since that incident, I had  had Eruption labeled in my mind as a murderous monster. But if what she said was in fact what had happened to Eruption, then she was as much of a victim as I was. In fact, she had it even worse than I could ever imagine. But was it all true? Or was she making it up? Trying to make us empathize to drop our guard?

 

"Ink." My companion shook me out of my thoughts.

 

I shared a glance with her. She seemed worried. I still didn't quite know what to think about the whole story Lightshow just threw at us.

 

"You can talk." I finally spoke. "Can't you tell all of this... to the authorities?"

 

"Oh, I did." I frowned at her response. "But when so many people died, do you think they would turn a blind eye to that?" She shook her head. "Nope. The exact opposite. A-class threat label. Moreover, we were already known as villains, so why would they listen to a villain defending another villain?"

 

I clenched my fists and grit my teeth. Valkyrie's words echoed in my mind. 'You really shouldn't talk to villains. They are manipulative.' And part of me seriously wanted to dismiss Lightshow's words as lies, as a made-up sob story. But another part of me felt like it was too real. I’d seen what happened to Flare when she got struck. If she’d gotten lava powers? Without heat isolation? Yeah, I most likely wouldn't be alive to tell the tale anymore.

 

And going mute was one of the possible side effects of stage four hybrids. I could imagine the situation. The heroes arrived, and saw her in the middle of that chaos, not saying anything other than incomprehensible grumbles and growls. Of course, they would see her as a huge threat. Of course, they wouldn't even try to communicate if she couldn't speak.

 

"Fuck." I whispered.

 

"Believe it or not, most of the others have a similar story." She smiled wryly. "I've simply been picking them up and taking care of them like a big sister."

 

"What about Iron Garden? He used to be a hero." My friend continued pressing for answers.

 

"That man..." A sigh. "...has his own circumstances. I'm not going to go into the details, but he had a reason for ending his hero career as he did."

 

Phoenix frowned, clearly not satisfied with the answer.

 

"But you are still criminals." I finally spoke up. "You attack businesses, bars, warehouses. You cause damage." A frown. "Just because you had a shitty past... doesn't mean you are free to commit crimes all day."

 

"Oh. Well, that's where the 'misunderstood vigilante' part comes in." She folded her arms. "You see, we target almost exclusively Dragon Maw and their businesses. As well as some individuals who are too dangerous to be freely walking the streets."

 

"Exclusively Dragon Maw? That's ridiculous! We have read about you! You attack indiscriminately! A warehouse here, an office building there. You don't care!" my friend angrily yelled at her.

 

"Every. Single. One of them." Her tone turned cold. "Owned by or working for the Dragon Maw."  The sudden change in tone startled me.

 

"You... can't be serious." Phoenix took a step back, abashed.

 

"They have their roots spread much deeper than you think." She sighed. "If we were to remove them and every business under their thumb right now, almost a third of the people in this city would lose their jobs."

 

I widened my eyes at that. Surely that couldn't be true. A third of the population? That was insane. Was she lying? Making things up? Exaggerating? Or maybe she was mistaken? Working with false information?

 

"And the worst part is, we don't know who their top boss is. Their gang is like an intricate web without any apparent central point." She shook her head in annoyance. "So we do what we can for now. Hit their drug storehouses, their shady businesses. We do as much as we can while trying to minimize collateral damage." Her frown deepened as she hung her head. "But it's never enough."

 

I couldn't see her eyes because of the sunglasses, but she clearly seemed frustrated. She was either a really good actor or was telling the truth.

 

"And the Neo Wardens? Is it true that they are controlled by Dragon Maw?" Phoenix asked.

 

"Yup. Well, maybe not completely controlled. But there are definitely moles and spies inside." She gave us a wry smile. "Even among the heroes."

 

The heroes? The heroes were secretly working for the villains? Who? Why? Were they being blackmailed? Were they doing it willingly?

 

And also, why was she telling us all of this? Has she had a similar conversation with any other heroes? Independent or otherwise? Had they dismissed it? Or maybe her power had warned her not to tell them? Had her power told her it was safe to tell us since we weren't affiliated with the Neo Wardens?

 

"Anyways." She looked up again. "As you probably know, the Liberators escaped from their prison." I snapped back to attention. "Those guys definitely qualify as too dangerous to be freely walking the streets." She gave me a nod, reminding me of what happened in the bank. "But... we actually found where they are hiding." She tilted her head as my eyes widened. "Wanna come to help us beat them into submission? Or maybe just watch and eat some popcorn?" She grinned.

 

What was this all of a sudden? She was inviting us to team up? Or just watch? What was she planning? A trap? No, that didn't make sense. She didn't need to lure us into a trap to do whatever she wanted to with us. She had just shown us how easily she could beat us.

 

"You're... inviting us to come to watch?" my friend said, puzzled.

 

"Yeah. Come at around six PM." Lightshow took out a pencil and a small notepad and began writing something. "But if you come sooner, don't scare them away, alright?" She tore out a paper from the blog and held it out while walking towards me. "My, ahem, intuition tells me it will go smoother if you assist us. But it's your choice."

 

Intuition. In other words, her power. Odd. I theorized her power was short term precognition or danger sense. This only vaguely fell into that category. That meant her power could do more than I thought. Why was she suddenly revealing more about her power now? What was this about?

 

Still a bit suspicious of her, I took the piece of paper from her hand. I momentarily thought of grabbing her arm and punching her out, but dismissed it right away. I would have probably ended up tied up with a wire in an embarrassing position and gagged with a flash grenade.

 

Anyway, the tiny piece of paper included an address as well as a phone number. I gave the villainess -- or a misunderstood vigilante? -- a dubious look.

 

"My phone number! Just in case you can't make it or something." She put on a cheeky grin. "Or, you know. If you wanna go on a date with just me later."

 

I gave her a blank stare. Where did that come from?

 

"Juuust kidding!" She laughed. "Anyway, see you later!"

 

She spun around and skipped away while tossing a smoke grenade in our direction. I didn't expect it and immediately got blinded by the smoke. I used my roots right away to clear my airways and stop my eyes from watering, but by the time the smoke cleared, Lightshow was gone. Something told me that searching for her was meaningless, but I still made the effort to look out from the rooftop down at the streets, trying to spot her.

 

"Ink!" My partner coughed. "You okay?"

 

"Yeah." I frowned, gave up the search, and looked at the piece of paper Lightshow left me with.

 

"Ink. You aren't thinking..." She looked at me, concern evident in her eyes.

 

"I..." I frowned at the piece of paper. "I don't know. This was a lot to take in. Let's decide what to do with this later."

 

"Okay." She nodded. "Should we call it a night?"

 

We hadn’t been out for very long. But we’d begun our stroll pretty late and the encounter with Lightshow had left me with too much to think about.

 

"Yeah, let's."

 

Just as we turned around to return, someone landed on the rooftop with us. An armored figure with huge wings. Valkyrie was here for some reason.

 

"Ink! Phoenix!" the vice-captain of Neo Wardens shouted.

 

"Valkyrie! Why are you here?" Phoenix yelled in surprise.

 

"There was a report of an explosion or gunshot of some kind from around here. Did you see anything?" she inquired.

 

Oh. Right. The flash grenade. It hadn’t been exactly silent. Nearby people must have reported it. But hopefully, nobody had seen us chat with Lightshow. Although it was a bit of an overkill to send someone like Valkyrie just because of a reported gunshot or explosion. Maybe it was because the Liberators were on the loose? Was Bugaboom assumed to be the perpetrator?

 

"Oh! Uh. We encountered Lightshow. She used a flash grenade on us."

 

"Lightshow? What happened? Did she do anything to you?"

 

"No. Well..." Phoenix snuck a peek at me.

 

"She fought us. Made idiots out of us. And then ran." I omitted the talking part once again.

 

"That... definitely sounds like her modus operandi. Making her opponents feel like fools." Valkyrie sighed.

 

"Anyways. Next time, you should call the Neo Wardens. We could have taken care of her."

 

Not happening.

 

"Uh. Alright. Next time." I nodded.

 

She returned the nod. "See you later then. Stay safe."

 

We watched as the heroine flew away once again.

 

"Ink." She gave me a sad frown, probably half-wondering whether Valkyrie was one of those supposed spies.

 

Valkyrie didn't seem like she was secretly evil, but one could never know. It was safer to not tell her anything about the chat we’d had and about Lightshow's powers. At least, that's how I felt now.

 

Dammit. Had I been manipulated? Had she told all of that to us on purpose so we wouldn't spread around the true nature of her powers? Or had this been all part of some greater plan of hers? Why had she been on that rooftop in the first place? Had our entire interaction with her been scripted? Were we puppets on strings merely playing out the precog's scenario?

 

"Let's just... go." I shook my head with a sigh.

 

"Alright," my partner said softly.

 

She took to the skies again as I jumped away to the next rooftop. Several minutes later, we returned to our hiding spot and changed into our civilian getup. Once we did, I pulled out the piece of paper again and stared at it.

 

"Chris." Flare gave me a sad look.

 

"I..." A sigh. "She said six PM tomorrow. So, there's plenty of time to think about what to do."

 

"Alright then." She nodded and suddenly hugged me.

 

I was a bit startled and a slight blush found its way onto my cheeks, but returned the hug nonetheless.

 

"See you at school?" she said as we separated.

 

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." I gave her a weak smile.

 

She turned around and slowly walked away. I watched her go as my mind flooded with the contents of the conversation we’d had with Lightshow.

 

A third of the city's population.

 

I shook my head again. It seemed like lately, there was way too much on my mind. My change, my powers, my... relationship with Flare, and now, all of this. Eruption might not have been to blame for my mom's death. The Dragon Maw were on their way to controlling the entire city and people didn't even know about it.

 

I heaved a heavy sigh. Too much for one teenager to handle at the moment. I decided to return home, take a shower, and go to sleep. I would try to process all of this tomorrow.