That moment lasted an eternity.

Suspended above the ground, slowly drifting down.

In reality, it lasted no longer than a second or two, but it felt so much longer.

Just before my feet hit the ground I pulled my focus inward.

I stopped and hovered a few inches above the ground.

I released and gently touched down on the grass.

I had planned on using my bike, but a new idea wormed its way into my mind.

I could absorb my own momentum, why not use it?

I started running. And I leaped forward.

A soon as my feet left the ground, I poured all my stored energy into myself, launching myself into the air.

Then I repeated it, stopping myself just before I hit the ground, getting a running start, and launching myself forward once again.

I eventually found my rhythm. Jump, catch, run, repeat. I cut through the air. The wind stinging my face and chilling me to the bone. It was exhilarating. My heart raced and my thoughts ran wild. I could do anything!

Wait, no... That's how you get yourself killed, Izzy.

I definitely need to keep those thoughts in check. Those were definitely dangerous.

I was fastest in the air, but the portions of running were just as important. As I ran along the ground I built up more speed for me to use in my jumps. So as I traveled I slowly built up more and more momentum, meaning I could go higher and higher, faster and faster. After a few minutes, I didn't even need to stop on the ground, I had nearly enough energy to jump forty feet in the air.

The best part was that I had barely even gotten half full. My stores had grown so much, and I was sure that I could go even further.

I could tell at this point that I was already in my smaller form. My boysenberry hair would peek into sight every now and then. Being smaller actually had an advantage. When I was smaller, I apparently weighed less -I don't even want to try to work out how that works- which meant that I could go faster while using less energy.

It didn't even take ten minutes to get to the north side of town.

I caught onto the branches of a tree, energy still crackling in my chest.

In front of me were four large houses, all spread out with massive lawns and lots of perfectly aligned trees, of which I was currently perched in the farthest from any of the mansions.

Although they were all part of the same "neighborhood" they all had vastly different styles that all clashed with one another.

The first and largest house was styled like an old Victorian church even though none of these buildings could have been more than thirty years old. That one, in particular, had been the target of the shapeshifter a week ago. And, according to their past... endeavors, they usually targeted nearby buildings roughly two weeks later.

That was the most interesting part of the string of thefts. They were almost always within half a mile of each other and somehow the rich asshats that lived there never caught on. Either that or they thought their security was too good for a simple thief.

because of that, the three buildings were immediately the sole candidates for the impending robbery. The other three mansions were smaller than the first, not much smaller, but smaller.

The one to the immediate left of the Victorian chapel took almost the exact opposite aesthetic. Where the first had intricate carvings and designs in blacks, grays, and browns, the other had chunky angular features that were almost exclusively made of glass and white marble, it even had fountains running absolutely everywhere; over the house, under the house, and probably all throughout the house as well. I wasn't close enough to see but I wouldn't have been surprised if it had a moat too.

The other two were less extreme. The smallest was mostly red brick with a faded green metal roof, It almost looked like some sort of World War II bunker, with sprawling tunnels and bomb shelters hidden underground 'just in case the Russians get any ideas'. The last was the most normal of the mansions. It almost looked like a regular house, if that house was scaled up by a factor of ten and laced in gold. It probably wasn't real but I really wouldn't put it past any of the egocentric assholes who lived there.

No, I'm not making any assumptions. Every person who lived in these houses was utterly hopeless. Not a lick of empathy in any one of them. The four families living there had all chipped in last year to halt the construction of a school in favor of their own personal golf course. So no... they were not good people, I didn't even care about the robbery that was going to go down in the next week. The only reason I was here was to get some sense of the land and the chase that was likely to happen later on.

I wasn't even planning to stop the robbery. I was just planning to interrupt our shapeshifting friend once they had finished their work and ask for a favor, Gifted to Gifted. Nobody else would need to know.

Just judging by the houses themselves, I guessed that Midas over there was the biggest target, with gold quite literally lining the walls.

I leapt out of the tree and made my way over to it. Perching on the top of the house.

God, I loved my gift. Not as much as I would have enjoyed being a shapeshifter, but this was an okay replacement, better than your basic super-strength. Sure you can punch hard, but can you (potentially) stop bullets without even touching them? I don't think so.

Brute-force gifts were so dull. Where's the finesse? The Skill? the Plan? None, it's just punch, punch, kick, punch until the other guy stops moving.

I much prefer my complicated and only sometimes frustrating energy-storing gift instead. I could easily traverse the city without even trying very hard. And I accidentally made a sonic boom earlier! Can you do that with fireballs? Probably not, but I would like to see someone try.

I had really warmed up to my gift since I had first gotten it. It even kept giving me little surprises, like the changing hair and height. That specific aspect had got my mind working on a theory. A theory that I wouldn't let myself hold on to. I couldn't let my hopes get shattered again. That's why I was here. To finally take what I so badly needed.

I continued surveying the area, making mental notes of anything I thought was interesting. I hadn't expected to spend so much time out, but eventually, 12:00 rolled around and I figured it was a good time to head home.

I had been bounding through the streets when a shrill scream pierced the cool night sky.

Don't... You're not a hero.

"HELP!" The woman screamed again.

Dammit.

I can't not help her.

I turned towards the direction of the screams and launched forward, searching for the woman in trouble.

It didn't take long to find her. She had run down an alleyway and was cornered by two dark figures. I'm glad I checked this out this night would have turned out horrible for this girl. I landed on the edge of the adjacent building. I could take two random guys, right? I'm not experienced in fighting, but I've got the advantage.

Looking around, I found a random brick on the roof behind me. Perfect.

Brick in hand, I leaned over the edge of the building. I wound up my arm and chucked the brick downward. As it left my grasp, I dumped a substantial amount of energy into it. It rocketed downward with blinding speed. As it impacted the concrete, both the concrete and the brick shattered, leaving a good-sized crater in the ground behind the attackers. Concrete and brick fragments pelted their backs and they both cried out in pain.

I jumped from the ledge and landed in the crater that the brick left behind. Both attackers whirled around to face me. The left one was holding an excessively large knife, it was almost the size of my forearm, seriously dude, overcompensating for something? The other had a more reasonable weapon, a metal baseball bat.

Mr. Knife shouted at me, "Stay out of this, girl!"

Is it weird to get euphoria from a threat?

I made sure to swap to my girl voice, "And why should I?" I pointed to the woman behind him, "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't object to my intervention."

He glanced back at the woman, then back to me, "Don't get all smart with me" He pointed his knife at me.

Wow, real threatening, man.

I probably should have felt more worried. But what was he gonna do, stab me? I had fucking superpowers and all he had was a knife.

He charged at me, knife raised.

I ducked underneath the blade and grabbed him by the arm, "Big mistake buddy." I whispered in his ear before I sent him careening into the wall with a combination of his own momentum and my own added energy. I heard some shuffling behind me and twirled around to get a better look.

The other guy had advanced on me, bat raised above his head, but seeing what I had just done to his buddy made him second guess himself. He faltered and lowered the bat slightly. It was a pretty good opening. I didn't want to waste a lot of my energy, I did still have to get home. So instead of giving him the same treatment, I kicked him. I aimed right between his legs, where it would hurt most.

But a regular kick was far too kind. I used a bit of my stores to supercharge my kick as it approached his crotch.

Impact.

I know I was trash-talking brute-force gifts earlier, But it was at that moment when I understood. It was really satisfying to give a good kick to someone who really deserved it. It almost made up for the stinging that had overtaken my foot.

He howled in pain and collapsed onto his side.

"FUCK!" I clutched my foot, "Damn. I'm going to need some more protective shoes" My shoes were not meant for combat at all. I felt that kick just as much as he did. But he had gotten that pain in the worst spot to get it. While my foot ached, his entire body was feeling that impact.

My foot still stung from the impact, but I was still mostly okay, unlike both of those guys. Both of which were curled up on the ground groaning in pain. As I recollected myself I was startled by a pair of arms being thrown around me from behind.

"Oh my god! thank you so much!" I squeaked a little as she squeezed the air out of my lungs. Upon hearing that she released me and stepped back awkwardly, "Oh sorry, I was just so scared and...' Her voice faded and was replaced by some faint sobbing.

I rushed back over to hug her again. Yeah I didn't know her, but she did just go through a pretty traumatic experience, so I figured that she needed some comforting.

I held onto her until her sobs faded into ragged breathing and she gently pushed me away.

"I was so scared, they chased me into this alley. I screamed and then nobody came. I was going to try to run away and then you crashed down like a crazy meteor and beat them up for me." She pointed at the crater behind me. I was going to correct her and tell her that It was a brick-not me- that made the crater but she started talking again, "What's your name?"

Now that was a loaded question.

She was probably expecting a hero name but I didn't have one. I couldn't tell her "Izzy" or the othe one.

"Uhh-" I looked around for inspiration.

My eyes focused on the crater.

Meteor, meteorite... Meteor-ette?

It had nothing to do with my powers whatsoever but I thought it was cute. And if I ever did become pro hero it'd keep my enemies guessing. I didn't want a name that blatantly announced my gift to whoever heard it.

Meteorette it is!

I turned back to face her, "Meteorette!" I stated proudly, hands on my hips.

Suddenly, her tone shifted significantly as she raised an eyebrow at me, "You just came up with that didn't you?" Why did she have to be taller than me? She looked so intimidating from down here. I just saved her life, Why is she the one talking down to me. Literally!

"... maybe" I whispered, looking away.

"So you're not an actual hero?"

"No... But I just saved you!" I objected and raised an accusatory finger in her direction.

She raised her hands and surrendered, "And I'm not complaining. Just be careful, tiny vigilante"

"What's up with everyone calling me little and tiny? Why not just short?" I complained.

"Because short just means short. Tiny implies cuteness. And you, tiny, are adorable." She patted the top of my head.

I frowned at her from underneath my mask, but I don't think the message got across.

"Anyway," she continued, "Thanks for the help, Meteorette." She waved and walked past me.

I turned to walk her walk away but she stopped next to Mr. Knife and kicked him between the legs too before turning back and leaving the alley.

That was... weird. She was all over the place.

Whatever, time to go home now.