“Goodbye, Missus Wood,” Penny said, slipping out of the door of Raquel’s Boutique with a smile on her face.

She had to hurry; Penny was expected somewhere. She got into her car and drove around until she found a different parking lot, then got out of the car with her illusory body. After walking down the sidewalk for a few minutes, she snapped her fingers and her costume appeared on her in plain view of everybody. Penny made sure to wave at the surprised passersby as she flew off over their heads.

Penny had never visited Auburn’s food bank before. It was kind of out of the way, in a part of town she didn’t visit very often. She touched down outside the nondescript single-story building. Was this the place? It was the right address.

“Hello?” she asked, walking inside. “I’m here to help?”

The room was mostly empty except for a counter staffed by an older woman.

“You must be the girl Snap-trap was talking about,” she said. “Come on. She’s in the back.”

The back was busier than the front, but not by much. It took Mirage a bit of time to find Snap-trap, who was carrying boxes of canned food to a kitchen area. Snap-trap grinned as soon as she saw Mirage.

“Hey, glad you made it. We need help moving things out of storage.”

“Yeah, alright. Who do I talk to?”

“The guy with the mullet.” Snap-trap gestured to the direction she’d come from. “He’s in charge, here.”

Mirage found the man in question, who took one look at her and told her to help move boxes from the back to the front. She got to work, but had to suppress a sigh. Daybreak may have been a little overzealous about it, but he was right: Mirage kind of wanted to be doing something that required her to use her powers. That’s what made her a hero, after all.

She was bringing a box of produce to the kitchen when someone asked, “That costume… are you a new superhero?”

“I am,” Mirage said, setting the box down on a counter. “My name is Mirage! I create solid illusions.”

She pulled a flower out of the air and handed it to the young man. After a moment, it dissipated into thin air. Several other people had stopped to look as well.

“That’s cool,” someone said.

“Neat. A new hero.”

“She’s kind of cute, too.”

Mirage got back to work, but there was a warm fuzzy feeling in her gut after that. It was happening. She was being seen and people actually recognized her as a girl. This was a dream come true.

It wasn’t long before Mirage realized that she couldn’t see Snap-trap anywhere. She asked someone, who said that they had seen her near the front. Making sure that there was nothing that needed her immediate attention, Mirage set out to find her.

Snap-trap was near the front counter, along with a woman Mirage recognized from the news and a cameraman. Snap-trap was talking to them, surprisingly calm with the idea of being on camera for someone her age. Mirage made sure that she wasn’t in view of the camera and stopped to listen.

“…the mission of this food bank is to make sure that every family, regardless of their income, has access to clean and healthy food. Most of the food here has been either donated or purchased with monetary donations from the fine folks of Auburn. Helping people on this scale would be entirely impossible without the support of Auburn’s wonderful citizens contributing to its success.”

“I think that’s enough,” the reporter said, and her cameraman relaxed. “Thank you, dear. It’s always a pleasure.” Then she turned slightly and seemed to catch sight of Mirage. Signaling to her cameraman, she asked Snap-trap, “Who’s this? A new hero?”

Mirage shrank down a little bit. The camera was on her. This was a little too visible. Almost in response, Mirage felt a shift in her illusion. She glanced down, and almost gaped in surprise to find that she’d turned invisible!

“She’s not why you’re here,” Snap-trap said sternly, folding her arms. “You got your story.”

The reporter took another long look in Mirage’s direction, then pursed her lips.

“Very well,” she said, turning to leave. “I’ll have answers soon enough.”

When she and her cameraman had gone, Mirage allowed herself to become visible again. Snap-trap walked over to her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Reporters can be a pain if you don’t know how to handle them, and the mayor was determined that there not be any official word about you until the fourth.”

“How do you do it?” Mirage asked. “I’d never be comfortable in front of the camera like that.”

“You’ll learn how,” Snap-trap said, smiling softly. “The camera is easy. Learning to keep nosy reporters out of your business is a lot harder. But come on, we still have work to do.”

By the time Mirage and Snap-trap were let go, Mirage’s arms were sore. This was not the life she’d imagined when she dreamed of becoming a superhero. Where was her arch nemesis to fight? She said goodbye to Snap-trap and flew back to her car, dismissing all illusions and driving back home as her normal dysphoric self.

“Am I home in time for dinner?” she asked when she walked through the front door.

“Just in time,” her father said. “You cut it really close.”

Penny sat down at the table to wait for her mother to say grace. The TV was on, naturally, and tuned to the news. Penny recognized the reporter whom she had seen earlier.

“And lastly,” the reporter was saying, “I got a surprise meeting with what appeared to be a brand new superhero today.” The screen changed to show Mirage in the food bank, cringing a little at the sight of the camera before turning invisible. “Who is this mystery hero and what are her powers? What is the meaning behind her costume? WMTC is dedicated to bringing you the answers.”

From across the table, Penny heard her mother scoff.

“Another one,” she mumbled. “As if we didn’t have enough superheroes running around. This town is really going to Hell in a handbasket.”

“What do you have against superheroes?” Penny asked.

Her mother shot her a dark look and scowled.

“Superpowered beings are a perversion of nature,” she said. “Only God is meant to have powers beyond mortal men. You’d understand this better, Tobias, if you attended church like I keep asking you to. Talking to the pastor would do you a lot of good, I think.”

Penny poked at her food with her fork. She should just drop the matter. There was no point in trying to talk down her mother when she got this way.

So, naturally, Penny sat up straight and said, “You’re wrong. Superheroes are a good thing. They help people and draw attention to important public services. And sometimes they even fight crime and save people. How can you not like superheroes?”

Her mother dropped her fork onto the table and locked her gaze on Penny.

“Go to your room,” she said flatly.

“I’m just saying—”

“To your room. Dinner is over.”

Penny cast a glance at her father, who was avoiding looking at either Penny or her mother. Then she looked at her mother, who was glaring at her. Finally, Penny set her fork on her plate and stood up, walking away and leaving her food on the table.

Once she was locked safely in her room, Penny laid out on the bed and pulled out her burner phone.

Are you there? she texted Snap-trap.

After a few minutes, she got a reply: I’m here. I’m really sorry about what happened today. I should have warned you that I was going to be talking to a reporter.

It’s fine, Penny responded. It was weird seeing myself on the news, though. How do you do it, really? How do you handle all the responsibilities? Aren't you, like, fifteen?

I’m sixteen, thank you very much. And this is what I want. I want to be a hero full-time when I graduate college. I knew what I was asking for and I’m ready for it.

Sixteen and you already know what you want to do with your life. I envy you.

You’re still a teenager too, you know that, right?

Excuse me, Penny replied, I’m eighteen. I’m supposed to have my life figured out by now, don’t you know?

You’ll figure it out, don’t worry.

Penny smiled and set the phone aside. She considered messaging Michael on her normal phone, but decided against it. There was something about having another girl as a friend that Michael simply couldn’t replace. It was a miracle that she’d found someone like Snap-trap to talk to.

Snap-trap made sure to give Penny the time and location of her next get-together with Transvection, inviting her along. Penny passed the message on to Michael. She was looking forward to it.

A few days later, Penny showed up at the park in her girl-form but without the costume. Everyone would be showing up in civies so as not to draw unwanted attention. She was the first one there, so she sat down at one of the vandalized picnic tables.

She snapped her fingers and a small dog materialized and started running around. Penny tried to focus on it, controlling its actions with her mind. This was a cool extension of her powers. Was there any way she could use it to help people, though?

“Hey there.” Penny looked up to see a black girl walking up to her. “Glad you made it.” Sitting down, she asked, “What should I call you when we’re not in costume?”

Penny’s heart was caught in her throat. This was it. She’d never said her name out loud before. She’d never had the opportunity. But now someone was straight up asking for it. Would it sound right? Or would Penny immediately realize that it wasn’t the name she wanted?

“Mirage?” Snap-trap asked quietly. “You okay?”

“Penny!” she blurted out. “Call me Penny.”

“Cool. My name is Jada.”

Jada sat down across from Penny and asked, “So how did you get your powers?”

“From a Moon Orb,” Penny replied. “You’ve heard of them?”

“I have. That’s really interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone with your specific powers before.”

“What about you?” Penny asked.

“Do you remember, a few years back, that kid that got lost in the woods for four days?”

“That was you?” Penny asked.

Jada nodded, explaining, “I was so afraid, but after a few days I was found by the spirits of the forest. They wrapped me in leaves and when I woke up I had my alternate form. I could control plants and even talk to animals. Speaking of which—” She pointed at the illusory dog that was sitting nearby. “—I can tell that it’s not real and it makes me kind of uncomfortable. Can you get rid of it?”

“Oh, of course.”

Penny waved her hand and the dog disappeared in a puff of air.

It wasn’t long before Michael and Transvection showed up, the latter carrying a couple of bags of food. There was a small grill set up near the picnic tables that anyone could use. Michael sat down next to Penny while Transvection started piling charcoal into the grill.

“So what do we call you?” Penny ended up asking when he passed her a paper plate with a hot dog.

“Aaron is fine,” he replied, passing a plate to Jada.

“Wait,” Penny said, turning to Jada, “I thought you were a vegetarian.”

Jada giggled.

“Everyone does,” she said. “I even named myself after a type of carnivorous plant and everyone still thinks I’d be a vegetarian for some reason.”

Beside Penny, Michael smirked.

“I guess you’re not all bad, then,” he said.

Michael scooted a little closer to Penny. In response, Penny scooted a little further away, but she was already pretty close to the edge of the seat. Jada was watching this, and knit her brow in concern.

“So,” Michael said, “who are your favorite superheroes?”

The conversation spent a while on that subject. Jada’s favorite heroes seemed to all be ones who spearheaded social programs, and Aaron’s were known for disaster relief. It seemed like Michael’s favorites were the more famous A class heroes.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to villains.

“Night-Marionette is probably the worst,” Aaron said. “Mind control via trapping people in hallucinations is downright scary.”

“I think Saber Wing is pretty cool,” Michael said. “Must be a bitch to have to deal with those wings all the time, but the ability to cut through anything is downright awesome.”

Jada shrugged and muttered, “I’m just glad that we haven’t seen much of Shadow Pirate lately.”

“Who?” Penny asked.

Jada’s eyes widened, as if she realized that she’d made a mistake.

“It’s nothing,” Aaron insisted.

“Hold on, tell us,” Michael insisted. “Who’s Shadow Pirate?”

The other two heroes exchanged a glance and Aaron explained, “They’re a villain who works around here. Truck drivers sometimes spot them sneaking into their trucks when they’re stopped and making off with valuable cargo. Some heroes have tried to find them, but they attack infrequently enough that it’s hard to pin them down.” He locked eyes with Michael. “The important thing is that they’re off-limits. That’s licensed hero work.”

Michael nodded, slowly.

Penny checked her phone and frowned.

“I need to go,” she said. “My parents don’t like me being out very late. It was wonderful getting to spend time with you all, though.”

“Oh, that sucks,” Michael said. “I hope we get the chance to hang out more, maybe one on one.”

“Yeah, that could be fun,” Penny agreed.

Jada added, “I’d like that too, if you’re up for it.”

“I’d love to,” Penny assured her, standing up.

A few more uneventful days and it was finally time: the Fourth of July. Penny spent a few hours enjoying the festivities in the park with her girl body before it started to get dark out. Then she snapped her fingers to put on her costume and made her way behind the temporary stage that had been set up for the night. The other heroes were already there with the mayor.

“And there’s the last,” Mayor Williams said. “I’ll go up on stage and make the speech. Each of you wait until my assistant signals you to come on.”

He turned and walked onto the stage. After a few moments, the heroes heard him talking into the microphone. Mirage took a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves. She wanted this. All of this was about being seen for who she was. So why was she so anxious?

“You two,” the mayor’s assistant said, pointing to Snap-trap and Transvection. “You’re up.”

Snap-trap gave Mirage a brief thumbs up and followed Transvection onto the stage. Mirage heard a round of applause and cheers from the audience and her nerves skyrocketed. She started wringing her hands.

“Hey,” Daybreak said, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling supportively. “You’re going to be okay.”

Mirage gave him a small, grateful smile before the mayor’s assistant started urging them onto the stage.

“May I present,” the mayor was saying, “our two new heroes: Daybreak and Mirage.”

There was another round of applause. Mirage was almost frozen in place. There were so many people here. Were her parents in the crowd? There was no way, right? Did it matter? There were so many eyes on Mirage. She wanted to sink into the floor. The mayor was still talking, but Mirage couldn’t hear over the sound of blood pounding in her ears.

By the time they were finally back behind the stage again, Penny needed to dispel her outfit and sit down on the grass.

“You okay?” Transvection asked, leaning down next to her.

Penny nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“You did good,” Snap-trap assured her, also powering down. Her costume disappeared as well, to be replaced with normal civilian clothes. “I’d hang out, but I want to watch the fireworks with my parents. You’re free to come if you want.”

“Maybe,” Penny said. “I think I just need some air first. I’ll walk around a bit.”

Jada and Transvection left, but Daybreak stayed behind. He powered down as well and offered Penny a hand. Once she was on her feet, he offered her a gentle smile that she returned.

“I’ll walk around with you if you want,” he offered.

“I think I’d like that.”

Without their costumes, the two were spared a swarm of interested onlookers trying to get close to them. Penny felt better. It was one thing to be seen, it was another to be the center of attention.

“Have you lived here your entire life?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, I have,” Penny replied. “Actually, Michael. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“It’s okay, I get it.”

Penny stopped, her heart stopping.

“You… you know?” she asked.

Of course he knew! Michael wasn’t stupid. Aside from her hair color, Penny looked almost exactly the same! He probably thought she’d been trying to trick him the entire time! Penny felt so stupid.

“I like you too,” Michael said.

There was a moment of silence.

“Huh?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Michael took Penny’s hands in her own. “I wish I’d gotten to know you in high school, but our powers have finally brought us together.”

“What is happening, now?” Penny asked.

“I’m saying that I’m happy to have you as my girlfriend, Penny.”

“Woah!” Penny pulled her hands away.

What had she done wrong? Had Penny said something to make Michael think she was interested in him? Where was this coming from?

She stammered, “We’re not—I mean—Huh?”

“Think about it,” Michael said. “We’re a linked pair. We’re destined to be together. I mean, it’s too early to talk about marriage, but—”

“We’re not a couple!” Penny cried.

“But we can be, now,” Michael said, placing a hand on Penny’s shoulder and making her cringe. “It’s our destiny.”

Penny knocked his hand off of her and took a few steps back. She should just tell him that she was gay. That would get him off of her…

A memory wormed its way out of the back of Penny’s mind of Michael making gay jokes all throughout middle school. He’d cut it out by the time high school came around, but every now and then he’d say something that felt… insensitive. Penny wasn’t actually sure how Michael would react if a girl he was hitting on told him she was gay.

“Come on,” Michael continued. “You don’t have to lie to yourself. You know that you feel it too.”

“I’m leaving,” Penny said, turning away.

Michael grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Don’t go,” he said sternly. “It’s okay. I know it’s scary.”

“Let go of my arm,” Penny demanded, pulling away.

He obliged, and Penny took off running through the park. She didn’t look back, but didn’t think Michael was following her. Once she’d found a dark corner, Penny stopped and took a few deep breaths.

She wanted to go home.