Cass stood and quickly reverted to her default form, her horns disappearing in a similar flash of light to my own. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, neither of us quite able to verbalize the torrent of thoughts processing through our minds. I unknowingly had backed against the cool brick wall, it’s rough surface pressing against my fingertips. I tried to speak, but it was immediately clear how futile that would be. I had no words to get me past this. No lies, no stories to spin. She had seen everything. Cass clued in to my selective muting and spoke first.

“So… you’re an Inverse?” She wrapped her arms around her torso and looked to the ground.

Inverse? I thought. Cass didn’t need me to speak, she could read the confusion expressed by my silence.

“It’s a term for someone who’s Alter form has a different assigned sex from their default form.” She looked up at me. “It’s the only quirk I’ve ever wanted.” I refrained from saying anything, unable to verbalize the well of emotions swirling within me. Cass continued, “I’ve always kind of... I don’t know. I guess I’ve always wished for it. But it’s so rare, and if you don’t have it at the start, the first time you transform, then you just don’t have it. You can’t acquire it.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but she didn’t seem to hear me.

“I mean, not that it’s weird, I just--” her voice hitched. “I always wanted to be one, but I guess I wasn’t lucky enough.” She looked back up at me, her eyes lit with sudden frenzied thoughts behind them. “Not that I’m not happy for you, I swear I am,” she forced a smile onto her cheeks, but I could tell it wasn’t a completely sincere one. “How long have you known?”

I forced my mouth open, I couldn’t just stand there. “A couple days,” I admitted. Cass’ eyes seemed to open wider and she gave me a curious look.

“That’s really fresh, how are you taking it? I hope this isn’t too forward, but you seem kind of embarrassed,” she responded, taking a step forward.

“Well, yeah. I think that’s pretty normal.” I stated.

“Oh, it is. I knew from a pretty young age myself, but I still understand where you’re coming from and I’ve got a few friends who realized around the same time as yourself.” I was beginning to become unsure if we were talking about the same thing.

“I don’t follow,” I said, stating as much.

Cass settled her hands on her hips. “Well, when I realized I was a girl, I was about eight years old.” Was she suggesting what I thought she was suggesting?

“I think I’m missing something Cass, what do you mean?” I asked her, my voice taking on a bit of edge.

“Well, it’s just that --” She hesitated for a moment to get a read on me. “Alters who are Inverses are almost always transgender.”

“No.” I turned around and grabbed by backpack.

“No?” she repeated.

“No.” Cass closed the distance between us and gently grabbed my arm.

“But, Gavin-” she tried to say, but I was having none of it.

“You’re wrong, Cass.” I made my way towards the door. I couldn’t talk about this. Sure, I had my own issues, but I wasn’t trans. That just… that wasn’t something that was allowed to happen to me. Cass continued at my side.

“Gavin, just listen to me!” she pleaded.

I swung my head around towards her. “Cass, whatever you think you know about me, you’re wrong. You said it yourself, there’s some people who have that Inverse quirk and aren’t trans.

“I-I guess, but the fact that you’re-”

“That I’m what, Cass?” I snapped, my voice rose beyond my control. “I’m not-” my words caught in my throat. I shook my head. “I’m not.” I pulled the door open and quickly took off down the hall at a fast-paced walk. Cass stood by the closet door, watching me as I moved out of sight.

Anger and pain and shame scored my throat as I made my way through the hallways. It felt like tears should be threatening to spill over, but even as I continued forward none came. It was always like this. No matter how upset or angry I was, tears would never come. Realizing that even now was no different only pushed me further into the spiral in which I found myself sinking. I had to get out of here. The  door was in front of me, just a bit further.

Before I could reach the door, however, a slender hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up to see the knowing glance of Nurse Prim. I didn’t have the patience for dealing with anyone else today, so I shrugged her off. She didn’t relent, however. “Gavin.” Despite my frustration, I stopped in my tracks.

“Yeah?” I replied in a whisper.

“What’s going on?” She rejoined me at my side. I turned and met her gaze with a frown.

“I don’t feel good.” Her eyebrows rose sharply before returning to their normal position.

“Is that right?” A small smile formed at the edges of her lips. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. Good thing you ran into me, then!” She began to usher me further into the school with a few pats on my shoulders.

“B-but,” I stammered, a poor attempt at protesting.

“No buts. Nurse’s orders.” She guided me back to her small beige walled office and closed the door with a soft click. She took a seat at her desk and gestured for me to take a seat in the chair opposite her. As I sat, I noticed what appeared to be her lunch before her, a neatly peeled clementine remained sitting on plastic wrap next to an opened water bottle.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, Nurse Prim, I just--” she waved for me to stop.

“Nonsense, these old bones need more exercise, helps ‘em not get bent out of shape. Now, you say you’re sick.” I frowned, wishing she’d just let me leave. “But the look you give me each time I approach that subject reminds me of the very same look my sister used to give me years ago when she was trying to get out of something. Why don’t you’t tell me, what’s really going on?” I suppressed a groan and hung my head in defeat.

“Do you ever feel like everything is just… too much sometimes?” I found myself admitting.

“In a macro sense, sure. Care to be less vague?” she replied, pulling a small butter knife from her desk and slicing a small portion of her fruit off for herself. I couldn’t tell her exactly what was going on, but it was driving me crazy keeping everything so bottled up, I had to talk to someone about some of this. Someone who wouldn’t draw any uncomfortable conclusions like Cass had.

“I’ve just got a lot of anxiety lingering around in my head; it feels like I’ve got everyone’s expectations on my shoulders for who they expect me to be and what they think I’ll do and I just…” my voice caught in my throat unexpectedly. Was I really bottling all of this up?

“Gavin, life tends to place unfair expectations and circumstances on all of us at one point or another.” She leaned back in her chair, her mind seemingly occupied with memories past. “It’s happened to me, it’s happened to my sister, my friends and co-workers, everyone. The trick is not to reduce these expectations, but rather to seek a way to live so that these expectations or circumstances do not define you, a balance if you will. Find a way to ensure that your fire isn’t extinguished while doing what you must. Does that make sense?”

“But what if the decisions you make to find that balance seem to only make things worse and dig you a deeper hole?” I countered.

Nurse Prim laughed softly. She pressed her chromatic metal-ridged glasses closer from the bridge of her nose. “That’s what being young is for, Gavin. You get to make mistakes without there being disastrous consequences most of the time. Hopefully you come out the other side better prepared for when the consequences do start falling.”

“So… what do I do now then?”

She smiled. “Learn from the mistakes and keep moving. Don’t stop trying in the face of failure, sometimes mistakes can lead to you discovering something new about yourself. Take the time to live your youth, Gavin.” I nodded, and began to understand her reasoning. I shouldn’t worry about what the future holds or what my Alter form means or any of that. I should just focus on the moment and try to learn as I move along.

“I think I understand, yeah. Thanks Nurse Prim.” I smiled.

“Please, call me Ms. Prim. Nurse Prim is such a mouthful,” Ms. Prim chuckled. “Though the principal keeps shooting down my numerous requests for a change.”

“Okay, Ms. Prim.” My stomach growled intensely, taking us both by surprise. She smiled and looked down at her clementine, two pieces missing thus far.

“Why don’t you take the rest of my clementine? Sounds like you’re pretty hungry and I’d hate to see that ‘stomach ache’ cause you to waste away,” she said, picking up the fruit and offering it to me. I graciously accepted it and began to eat it far faster than I usually would, juices from it smearing onto my cheeks. I guess Mel was right about my calorie needs.

“Geez, Gavin. Are you sure you don’t need any other food? You look like you could eat a horse,” Ms. Prim frowned, concern dotting her expression. I blushed and wiped my mouth, shaking my head.

“No, no, I’m sorry I just--” I thought for a moment. “I really like clementines.” She looked me up and down with a dubious expression, but her demeanor remained positive throughout.

“Guess I have a good christmas present for you, then.” Thoroughly embarrassed, I decided to change the topic.

“So, Ms. Prim, you said you have a sister?” Her eyes lit up at the mention of her mystery sibling while her posture visibly relaxed somewhat.

“Yes, indeed I did. Her name was Casey, short for Casabelle. Though, she was always quite snippy when you used her full name.”

“Were you two close?”

“Very, we grew up on a farm in our early days so we were each other’s best friend.”

I shifted in my chair. “That sounds nice. I don’t really have a relationship like that with my siblings, sometimes it feels like there’s an invisible wall between us.” She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

“I take it they’re teenagers as well?” she asked. I nodded which she seemed oddly amused by. “You’re teenagers, that kind of thing happens when you’re trying to figure out who you are. It’s no longer ‘cool’ to be best friends with your sister, or brother, and you try to branch out. You’ll grow closer again soon I’m sure, either by physical distance forming between you or some other unforeseen event bringing you together.”

I thought for a moment and decided to ask her something that seemed curious to me. “Did you grow apart from your sister?”

She scratched at her head and sighed. “Yeah, we started fighting and such, as sisters do. I didn’t see her again for few years after I moved out of the house until said ‘unforeseen events’ drew us back together. See young man, my wisdom is based on something after all.” She smirked. The bell rung behind me, signalling that lunch was over. Cass would be back in her class room by now, or at least heading that way. I looked to Prim.

“Ms. Prim, is it cool if I leave?” I asked. She shrugged in reply.

“I’m no authority figure here, Gavin. You can leave if you want to.”

“Cool, thanks for the pep talk.” I said and stood up from my chair. She smiled.

“Anytime.” I left Ms. Prim’s office quickly and looked at the clock. I still had two periods left with school. While Cass was in class now, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t find me between class anyways. I looked outside at the temperate fall day and felt the energy whirling within me call out. Screw class. A run would really clear my head.

The bright afternoon sun felt amazing on my skin while I zipped through town at ever-increasing speeds wearing the still-torn gym suit. Everything that had happened at school was all behind me for the moment. The only thing that mattered now was myself, the wind in my hair, and however far the energy surging within my chest could take me. It felt so warm and inviting, and yet it propelled me forward, responded to my very touch with the energy of what felt like the sun. Somehow I knew, no matter where I was or what I needed, this energy would be there like my shadow, always within reach.

A vibration rang in a pocket of the suit from my phone, indicating I’d received a message. I slowed down into a wooded area and caught my breath while birds chirped overhead. I pulled my phone out and smiled when I read the message.

 

KAYDEN

“Tonight. Let’s test your powers.”

 

Elation bloomed within me and I found myself stifling a smile despite the fact that, beyond the nature surround me, I was alone in the woods. I was going to get to see Kayden again tonight.

 

* * *

 

I had hidden away inside my room for the rest of the afternoon, ignoring Cass’ texts wondering where I was. Even Sammy texted me, causing me to laugh despite myself at her lackadaisical texting style.

 

SAMMY

“Whr R U? Cass says u aint around after sumthin’ happened earlier, but she won’ talk about ‘bout it.”

 

I pushed my phone away, I didn’t want to deal with all of the weight it signified. It being the middle of the day, my mom would usually be home but it seemed that I had lucked out, she wasn’t in her office like she usually was during this time of the day. I decided to return the clothes I had borrowed from my sister’s room to the floor in her room where I’d found them, including the dress and jacket from earlier in the day. Cass was wrong; I wasn’t a girl. I wasn’t transgender, I was just me.

I passed the time from the remainder of the afternoon by playing a few games on my computer. I shifted between my usual city-builder game, a role playing game where I was a warrior valkyrie which I quickly closed out of due to some suddenly awkward feelings it inspired within me, and quickly grew bored with the meager selection of the rest of my games. More and more these days, even before my powers had awoken I’d found that video games were no longer the sense of relief and escapism they once were. A lingering depression permeated the once safe-haven I’d enjoyed as a kid. I wondered if I’d ever be able to get back into them.

Deciding to move my mind from the subject of my abject depression, I began to dive into a familiar pursuit, a fan-forum dedicated to the discussion of popular Alter heroes around the world where people would share different photos, videos, or stories about their experiences with other fans. As expected, Miracle Maiden had a large section of new updated content including photos of her fighting Disastress and saving various people from precarious situations. I liked browsing these forums despite the trolls that occasionally peppered the comments. Something about seeing these heroes out fighting every day to make a difference was just plain inspiring. If they could keep going, I used to think, then so could I. But now that I’d actually been involved in those same situations… could I keep going? Could I make a difference like they had?

My focus on my computer screen was broken when I heard the door to the house slam shut. I quickly shut my computer monitor off and moved to my door to peer down the hallway. I could see Mom taking her shoes off and trudging into the kitchen with a canvas bag hanging from her wrist. My breath stopped short when she paused and turned in my direction, heading up the stairs. I quickly scrambled away from the door as quickly as I could and looked around for any hiding spots or means of escape. Finding nothing I could utilize fast enough beyond the window, I cursed silently and transformed, quickly diving out the window with a few seconds to spare, allowing me to get out of sight over the fence. I watched from beyond the fence as the silhouette of my bedroom door moved, indicating that Mom was indeed inside my room. I couldn’t tell what she was doing, but she seemed to take notice of my open bedroom window and promptly closed it.

I groaned inwardly. That seemed par-for-the-course these days. Guessing it to be about the time I’d arrive home from school anyways, I shifted back to my default form and waited a few moments before making my way to the front door and walking through. Mom was in the kitchen now, putting away groceries from the canvas sack. I quickly ran up the stairs so she couldn’t see that I wasn’t wearing my backpack.

“Gavin?” I heard Mom call.

I called back to her as I continued, “Yep!” I opened the door to my room again and looked around. It looked like Mom had placed an apple on my desk next to my computer. It made me happy to see it sitting there, that was Mom. Always thinking of us. That feeling lasted only a moment before a lone bead of sweat broke out on my forehead. My backpack was sitting right next to my bedroom door where I had dropped it earlier in plain view. Mom might’ve missed it, but she wasn’t oblivious. She wouldn’t miss something like this. I steeled myself and headed back downstairs after grabbing the apple on my desk. I needed to find out what she knew.

She turned to me as I entered the kitchen, her expression pensive and reserved.

“Hey honey, how was school?” she asked, her tone just as unreadable as her face. I took a bite of the apple and leaned on the counter.

“Same old, same old. Thanks for the apple, by the way. Where’d you get it?”

The slightest hint of a frown wobbled at the edge of her mouth. “Same place as usual, DeLuka’s Grocery.”

I nodded and continued biting into the apple obnoxiously, really playing up how good it was. My hope was that if I could project other, smaller bad habits it might distract her from what I assumed she was thinking. “Ah, I love apples from that place,” I said, making a show of talking with my mouth full. Mom sighed and rubbed at her temples.

“Cut the crap, Gavin. You cut class today didn’t you?” A few different stories began to wind up in my mind that I could give her, but I didn’t entertain the thought for long. It was clear she knew, and any attempt to sell her a different story would be a futile effort.

“F-fine,” I stammered, “I did.”

The anger in her eyes wasn’t quite as intense as I’d imagined it would be. There was something else about her mood beyond anger. Was it… worry? She said, “The school called me when you didn’t show up for your classes after lunch. Why would you cut class? You know I give you kids two mental health days a semester, no questions asked. Why would you cut class instead?”

“I just… I don’t know,” I replied, setting the apple down and stuffing my hands into my pockets.

Her jaw clenched. “Yes you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have cut class. Tell me why.”

“I just didn’t want to be there,” I finally admitted, her expression grew worried and she stepped closer.

“Is someone bullying you?” she asked in a soft tone and held her hand to my arm.

“What?”

She sighed softly and repeated herself, “You had a bruise on your forehead the other day. And now you’re cutting school. Is someone bullying you?”

“Wha- no, no,” I retorted. “That’s… no!” I turned away from her. I hadn’t assumed I was cutting class because I was getting bullied, Markus or his goons had nothing to do with it. But I couldn’t deny I had left school because I was uncomfortable what what Cass was saying. Had it been bullying, abelt being unintentioned? I wasn’t sure.

“Gavin…” she prodded. There was so much I could say, that I wanted to say, but I wanted it to be held in more. I didn’t want them all to look at me as if I was someone else.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I skipped school, I won’t do it again,” I finally promised. I met her eyes, but she could likely see the restraint within my own. I didn’t want to think about this anymore. She hesitated for a second, but relented at last.

“Okay. Just… please talk with me if you need to, okay?” she asked, crossing her arms. I nodded. “Dinner’ll be ready in an hour. I’ll let you know when it’s done.” I retreated to my room and shut myself away. I needed some escapism before tonight, and I’m sure I could find it within one of my games.

* * *

 

I arrived at the local scrapyard at 11:30pm, right when and where Kayden told me to arrive. The moon was full tonight, casting a beautiful white glow onto all of the rusted metal car carapaces scattered around. I hugged myself tightly and chittered my teeth noisily, the air this time of night was chilly and was starting to turn colder as the month went on. It might’ve been northern California, but late fall was still chilly if you asked me. The night was silent beyond the buzzing of the insects around me. I checked my phone again, wondering where Kayden was before a loud THUD frightened me and elicited a squeal of such a high pitch I was sure the last intact car window in the junkyard had shattered.

“Come here often, miss?” a low, ducet voice came from above me high atop a pile of scrap from a muscular figure bathed in silhouette. He stood up, and I could begin to make out details about him as my eyes adjusted. His hair was tied into a low ponytail, and seemed to be multicolored, though I couldn’t make out the individual colors of it.

“W-who are y-you?” I sputtered, tilting my head up to look at him.

“Shyft. Guess I forgot to mention a few things last time,” he smirked.

“Last time?” He jumped down, and instantly I recognized his black and white spandex suit as what I’d seen Kayden in the other night. His hair as well was the same pink, blue and white tone as theirs.

“You look like you’re about there, I’ll give you a moment,” they smiled.

“Kayden!” I announced. They faltered and looked around for a moment and pressed their finger to my lips.

“Not so loud, that’s my real first name, ya know?” I blinked for a moment before I began to understand.

“Oh, right, sorry,” I apologized. “You can shape-shift?” They laughed earnestly and leaned back onto the junk pile they were perched upon earlier.

“Yeah, I can actually. Wanna see?” they teased.

“Yes!” I begged. They put their hands on their hips and tsked at me.

“You’ll have to show me what you can do first” They smiled.

“Here?” I looked around.

“Yeah, why not here?”

“Well…” I looked around at the scrap surrounding us, “it’s a little…”

“What? I’ll admit, it’s scruffy, but this is home for me. I’ve been training here for the past year or two with no problem.” They ran their hand along one of the rusted out metal car bodies and sighed wistfully. Watching them sort through some of the memories this place held for them was fascinating, they seemed enraptured by a sense of strong familiarity. It did strike me as odd that they held such strong feelings about a junkyard, however I wasn’t in any position to quiz them about their personal life.

“Uh, Kayden?” I asked, snapping them out of their nostalgic trip.

They turned around with a quick noise and faced me again. “Okay, time for you to show me what you can do.”

I took a few steps, kicking a can away from me in the process. “Well, what do you want me to do? I’m still pretty new to all of this,” I admitted.

Kayden took a running leap and soared over the ground majestically, their muscles bulging as they sailed about 25 feet away from me. They turned back towards me. “Come get me.”

So I did, covering the distance and touching their shoulder within a second or two. “Like this?” I said. They jumped back, their face easily readable for the first time in a while.

“Geez! Warn an enbie, ya jerk. I didn’t know you were that fast!” they roared.

“What, you said come get you so I came, fast,” I responded simply.

“Well I certainly hope you don’t come that fast,” they laughed quietly. Wait.

“Wait, that was- those words were w-wrong!” I yelped.

“Nah, nah. Too late!” They smirked. “Now,” they jumped back to our starting point, plus a few feet extra for good measure. “Again” We continued this for twenty minutes, myself running further and further to catch up with Kayden until they continued their jumps without interruption, egging me on to follow. This continued until I was waiting for them at the bottom of their final jump. Once they landed, I could see they were smiling brightly. I was caught off-guard once again, their smile was just… radiant. It occured to me that I’d be able to see why, because now they had to show me their powers.

“Okay,” they panted, “that was pretty cool.”

“What, can’t keep up?” I joked, punching them lightly on the shoulder.

“Listen,” they swatted me away, “just because I’m not as slap-dash with my movements as you doesn’t mean I couldn’t kick your butt.”

“I wouldn’t know, you still haven’t shown me your powers,” I replied in a mock whine. Kayden groaned and stepped back.

“Fine, you dork. Watch.” A very faint blue light  spread out across their skin, but it wasn’t like a flashlight, it was more akin to a luminescent ink in water. It rose off their skin ever so lightly before fading into the air. They started to shrink before me, dropping down from their previous height which I estimated to be somewhere around 6 foot to the height similar to my own they wore from the previous night. Curves started to replace muscle on their frame though not entirely, as most of the muscles remained, only slightly smaller and more toned. Their face softed, their chin rounded down, lips plumped somewhat (Though they were already incredibly plump in their guy form?) and their nose shrank. It was almost comical however as their chest expanded, it reminded me somewhat of a blow-up toy as they inflated. I tried and failed to suppress a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Listen, you try suddenly growing boobs and make it not look comical.” I only laughed harder at their words, suddenly realizing how ridiculous I must look when I transform. “Fine, you want to laugh?” they asked.

“S-sure,” I gasped in between wheezes. They pointed down towards the ground with one finger smugly. My eyes traced down their body until they landed on something askew within their tight spandex pants, causing me to gasp and fall backwards onto my butt. They burst into laughter in my stead.

“Oh my, I’m sorry! I must’ve forgotten to morph this,” they continued, gesturing towards their generously well-endowed crotch. “Let me just take care of this.” I blinked several times, my  mind seemingly refusing to process what was happening in front of it as Kayden winked at me and, I swear to god, the endowment in their pants SHLORPED inwards, returning to the flat crotch they’d previously sported in that form. Still entranced by the display, I was only risen from my stupor when they snapped their fingers at me.

“What the hell was that?!” I yelped at them, unable to hide a slight grimace on my part. They shrugged.

“I told you, gender-fluid, dude.” They extended their hand to me to help me up, which I obliged as I continued to process what I’d seen. Did I do that too? What kind of crazy physical gymnastics did my body get up to when I morph? Kayden patted me on the back, encouraging me forward. “Okay, now we’re going to change it up. I want to see how athletic you are outside of running.” They pointed me towards a small wall of scrap about five feet high filled with different colored metals and plastics. “Jump over that.”

I pointed over at the pile. “Jump over it?”

“Yeah, just jump over it. Don’t question your teacher.” Sighing, I did as they requested, dust kicking up behind me as I approached the pile and leaped over it. I hadn’t really practiced my jumps or, well, anything else about my powers  beyond my speed so I was quite surprised to find that I sailed over the scrap heap with relative ease, landing on the other side with little fanfare. Kayden joined me on the other side with a jump of their own, a large grin plastered on their face. Before they could say anything however I cut in first.

“How do your powers work?” I asked. They seemed caught off-guard by my question, but corrected their expression and took it in stride.

“I’m a shape-shifter. Whatever I want my body to be, it can be. As long as it’s a living being anyways. I can’t turn into a ramp for you if that’s what you’re thinking. Wonder Twins this ain’t, Gabs,” they laughed. Our back and forth continued over the next twenty-five minutes as I jumped over higher and higher piles, dove through small holes, and proved that I had sufficient flexibility to perform the splits, much to my gleeful elation. While I performed for their tests I was able to get them to give me answers, namely they informed me more and more of their power set, such as how they had a healing factor, they could morph into animals or people but they needed a picture of a person’s face to morph exactly right, and even then they always needed the picture except for morphing from their base male and female shapes.

“After everything you’ve shown me, Gabby, I’ve gotta say I’m impressed. You can not only run, but you can deftly jump, dodge, and-” they kicked a can towards me though I was able to move out of the way of the can.

“Missed.” I snarked.

“Did I?” they turned their head. Rumbling made itself known behind me and as I turned around I saw a large car body falling from the stack right onto me. Time slowed down as I jumped out of the way, performing an acrobatic flip in the air in the process. The car body fell past me and landed at Kayden’s feet while I landed on the dusty ground, small clouds kicking up around me. “And you can evade,” they finished.

“What the hell?” I barked as I walked up to them and gave them a quick love-tap on their shoulder.

“Ow- hey, hey chill,” they laughed. “I just wanted to test you in a way you wouldn’t expect.” I crossed my arms and adopted a less than approving glare. They hesitated for a moment as they looked down at me, their expression unreadable beyond a stray raised eyebrow. Were they appraising me?

“What?” I asked. They jerked slightly, as if I had broken them from a train of thought.

“O-oh. Sorry, was remembering a thing I had to do later and my stare just kind of… deadened I guess.”

“So you weren’t staring at me?” I asked with no small amount of teasing in my voice.

“No, your face just happened to be there, sorry to break it to you,” they replied, walking past me further into the scrap yard. I followed suit, staying at their hip. “Do you know why I do this Gabby?” they asked thoughtfully.

“What, like, be a hero?”

“Well, er, yeah. Why I’m a hero. Why I come out here every night instead of, I don’t know, committing identity fraud or something else ridiculous.”

I pondered his question for but a moment. The answer was simple, wasn’t it?

“Because you have some tragic origin or lost your friend who made you promise to protect the city or something?” I joked. They didn’t turn to face me and instead kept walking. “Wait, Kayden. Did I accidentally touch something there?” I called after them. “I’m sorry if I did!”

They turned stopped their stride forward and stayed staring forward like that for a moment before they turned around to face me and in the process pulled their mask off. Their beautiful blue eyes were full of pain and strife as they quickly recounted,  “To keep the sob story to a minimum, my parents weren’t great at raising someone like me, someone who didn’t fit into boxes very well.” I remained silent as they continued, “Over time I began to see the city and the people living in it as more of my family then my parents. But they all need help, especially the queer folk. The trans folk. The gay and lesbian folk. They need someone who fights for them. They need someone who won’t write them off as ‘acceptable losses’. They need me.”

“Kayden… I..,” I started.

“No, it’s fine. I swear I’m fine,” they insisted.

“Yeah, because someone who goes out every night to beat the shit out of criminals is well-adjusted,” I rolled my eyes. Kayden turned their head as if they hadn’t quite heard me, leading me to believe I’d said something bad before they burst into a deep, hearty laughter.

“I like you, Gabby. You’re fun,” they smiled. Before I could respond however the sound of a large explosion from a few blocks over rang out through the brisk midnight air, echoing off of the building surfaces and metal piles around us. I looked to Kayden for direction. I was still in a ripped gym suit, and barely knew what I was doing. Could I handle this? I needed only to look to them for all my fears to melt away. They were resolute, their jaw clenched and their fists drawn tight.

“Let’s go,” they instructed.

Kayden and I moved as quickly and quietly as we could towards the source of the explosion in the interior of the Industrial Quarter, this was nestled nearby the city docks, a few power plants, and a bunch of low rent office buildings. An amber glow radiated off the buildings as we drew closer, and judging from the smoke rising into the sky we quickly deduced that a fire had broken out. As we neared a nondescript three story building consisting of brick and black glass, however, Kayden held their fist out quickly and pushed me back against a wall. I could make out muffled voices on the other side of the building, likely relatively near us.

“We’ve got bogies ahead,” they whispered, though their voice was still incrediby commanding.

“What is this place?” I asked.

Proctur Bio-Labs I think. They do a lot of science and research into medical applications for bleeding-edge science like for augmented limbs and nano-tech.”

“Sounds like Mel’s kind of thing.” I said.

They groaned. “This IS Mel’s kind of thing, usually I have her on a comm but she didn’t want you involved with this stuff so I kept the comm at home so she wouldn’t know I was still going out with you.”

I turned my head and smirked. “Going out with me?” I whispered.

“Wait- just, ugh. Shush,” they swatted at me.

“So how do we take these guys down?” I inquired.

“‘We’ aren’t. I am,” they forcefully replied.

“What?” I asked. Were they really boxing me out after all of this?

“It’s not that I don’t trust you Gabs, I do. But this is serious. I don’t want you to be in harm's way if you don’t have to. You’re still incredibly new to this.”

I quietly groaned. “Seriously? Kayden, you saw what I can do.”

“You’re right, I saw you nearly get killed and get a bunch of glass in your shoulder last time you fought anybody. I can take these guys down without an issue, I want you to run up to the roof and keep a lookout for me, okay?” they directed. Something in their tone told me they were rapidly running out of patience and I had best honor their request.

“Fine, okay.” I relented. A small smile formed, pushing their cheeks up into a cute smirk. I took a few steps away, Kayden watching me intently with each one. With a nod I raced up the side of the building taking special care to ensure the glass panels did not break under my feet as I moved. The city scape from the top of the building was pretty clear for the night, no rain or overcast skies meant you could see the golden shimmering glow of the city in the moonlight, even from here in the Industrial Quarter. I wandered over to the edge of the small roof and  looked down. I could see Kayden making short work of the goons down below, but I still found myself wishing desperately I had been able to fight with them. If I could help, I could know for certain that this kind of work was something I could pursue, that my Alter form could be used for this instead of… well- whatever else it was good for.

I wasted no further time dwelling on the issue before I heard a deep groan behind me, almost as if a metal girder was being moved against its will. Before I had time to react, the gravelly ground below me burst out and up into the air, time slowing down to a crawl as my senses adapted. I recovered in a second and landed my feet roughly in the gravel, eyes on a figure raising up out of the broken roof. Deep purple luminescent goggles pierced through the smoke and dust as this figure finished their ascent from the building below. Around the goggles the figure wore some sort of helmet that wrapped the top of their skull, face and ears. What looked like a respirator was sticking out where their mouth would be, creating a dread-inducing image of devoid of any humanity whatsoever. Purple lined the helmet’s accentuating lines, showcasing a sort of modular construction. Some sort of purple cloth was wrapped around the individual’s neck and drooped over the back of the helmet, creating a hooded appearance. Their body was lean and toned, a thick dark vest with a tall neckline was worn over top of their torso which appeared to have similarly black and purple color schemes. A rough dark coat of theirs ended in gloves with what looked to be jointed pieces of metal woven atop their gloves, confirming this person wasn’t afraid of a fist fight.

As they rose higher, I noticed that beneath their combat boots seemed to be drones hovering in mid-air with efficient looking propellers spinning rapidly. They stepped off of the drones and turned away from me, their attention seemingly absorbed by a tablet in between their hands.

“Do you read me? You can disengage with the Alter, I have what I need,” a rough voice buzzed through their respirator. I couldn’t hear any reply, and seemingly neither could they. “You idiots! I said finish with that damn Alter and report back. You don’t want to end up like your friends from the security camera store, do you?”

Security camera store? That was this same group? I decided to try and move behind one of the large rooftop air-conditioners, though this caused the gravel beneath me to shift loudly. Those purple goggles snapped in my direction, locking on to me instantly. I raised my hands in deference. I didn’t know who this was, but I wasn’t about to get mowed down on this roof if I could help it. They quickly stepped back on to the drones and began to hover towards me. I could feel their cold eyes evaluating me, assessing me for any hint of weakness, so I held firm.

“Who are you?” they asked again, their voice still rough and gritty and dripping with malice. My resolve began to tremble in reply, perhaps I was in over my head after all.

“That’s-- no, that’s not i-important! I’m just nobody really. Who are you?” I asked, scared out of my mind. A few of the drones rose up mimicked the stranger as they, he I think, turned his head and looked at me curiously.

“Hexecute,” he growled. My stomach completely dropped from under me, and my mind froze completely save for one stray thought.

Fuck.

He stepped from the hovering drones once more onto the rooftop gravel and stalked towards me, his glare fixated on me in such a way that I felt thoroughly reduced to mere pray. In one swift motion he grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the side of the rooftop air conditioner, eliciting a small grunt from me as the metal jabbed into my back. I felt my feet raise up off the ground as he raised me higher.

“Trying to play hero, runt?” I could feel those goggles with their piercing purple glow dig further and further into my soul as I grasped at his hand but found it’s grip was far stronger than I’d thought possible. I hadn’t realized it before, but my breathing had become ragged. “Not even out of the academy yet and here you are, all ready to shove your head into the sand and play hero.”

“I… I- I don’t,” I stammered recklessly, barely able to form a coherent thought let alone speak. He was going to kill me. And if he did my form would drop and- wait. My fear began to recede as I realized something about my situation. Despite my shoddy domino mask, he had no idea who I was. I didn’t have to show how scared I actually was. I could pretend that this face belonged to someone brave and he’d never know the difference. He was just a bully. Just like Markus. They thrive on holding or extorting power from others. And they hate when you take away their power.

He chuckled. “This is a waste of time, but I can’t resist the urge to teach imputive children like you a lesson. How horribly ironic.”

“How is that ironic?” I countered, deciding to lean into my newfound false bravery. “It sounds like you don’t understand what irony is.”

“W-what?” he jerked.

I quickly reached up and knocked on his helmet. “You’d think that fancy helmet would have advanced hearing since you heard me scuffle the gravel earlier, but maybe the sound of gravel moving is just, like, your thing dude. I don’t judge.” Hexecute roared in frustration and wound his arm back to strike at me. Time slowed down as he did once my senses kicked in, and I began to notice something interesting about the movement of his fist. It was uncoordinated, clumsy, his arm was pulled too far back and carried a serious risk of his shoulder popping out of socket. I deftly moved my head out of the way in a blur, but my senses shorted out again when I realized that his fist continued right straight through the metal of the HVAC unit behind me. His grip on my neck lessened for only a moment as he shared in my shock, though his own apparently entranced by my speed. I curled my back against the unit and kicked him square in the chest, knocking him backwards a few feet, though he remained on his feet. I scurried over to the other side of the roof, creating about twenty feet of distance between us.

“You’re a speedster,” he murmured as he began to approach me slowly.

“I’ve heard that a lot lately and I have to say I think there’s gotta be a better name for it than speedster. What about runner? Speedy-person?” I mocked. Hexecute continued his approach and tapped on his goggles.

“Yes, I can see it now. You’re red-hot in my spectrometer. Just like the other one.”

“Other one?” I asked, dropping my cocky front for a moment. “Who’s the other one?”

He began to reply, but before he could a familiar pink, blue, and white blur jumped up past the small walling of the roof and landed next to me. Kayden, now in their male form, quickly placed their body between myself and Hexecute.

“You!” they barked. “You’re the one who stole Collidus’ powers!” I whipped my attention back to Hexecute. They could steal powers?

“And you’re not worth my time.” Hexecute replied, growling ever deeper and more inhuman through his modulator. He moved one of his hands in a flicking motion, causing the group of the drones to rocket forward at us. Kayden rushed to shield my form with their body as the onslaught of drones encircled us. They wrapped their strong arms around me, clasping together at the small of my back and bringing me in close to their chest.  I could hear them groaning in rhythmic time with shudders rippling through their body, likely due to the drones running straight into their back, shoulders and arms.

Their warm breath cascaded across my face as I was snuggled against them, the shudders ceasing and quiet once more piercing the veil of noise. We looked up from our huddle and found no trace of Hexecute left in sight, nor any of his drones. It was like they were gone without a trace. We looked back to each other and blushed as we became keenly aware of our position. My chest was pushed very closely up against their flat muscular chest, their large yet soft warm hands holding me close. Neither of us said anything for a moment, I assume because we were both lost in a feeling we felt stirring inside. We broke apart almost instantly after this realization.

Kayden was the first to apologize. “S-sorry,” they mumbled, looking frazzled and scatterbrained while they ran their hand through their tousled hair. They turned away for a moment and I forced myself to suppress a gasp. Their back was bruised and battered, the suit torn to shreds across their flexing muscles.

“No, no, I’m sorry,” I insisted. They’d sacrificed their health for me when they didn’t have to. I felt guilty for allowing them to place themselves into the path of harm.

“Why?” Kayden questioned, “I’m the one who grabbed you. Though, and this is a compliment, you’re actually very grabbable,” they laughed nervously.

“Kayden, please, no weight comments. It’s 2019,” I teased, hoping to ease their anxieties. Police sirens began to wail in the distance, catching both of our attention.

“We really should stop saying goodbye like this,” they said, making me roll my eyes at the horrible quip.

“Need a lift?” I winked.

 

* * *

 

The night air was crisp as I raced along towards home. Kayden and I had left the area of the break-in and had separated soon thereafter when Kayden made a lame excuse about how they needed to wash their hair and awkwardly ran off. I shook my head, Kayden wasn’t what I should be focusing on. I’d encountered Hexecute tonight. The Hexecute that everyone seems to be afraid of. The one who steals powers, who apparently can unmake an Alter. I didn’t even realize that was possible. And I’d walked away more or less without a scratch thanks to Kayden. What did he mean by the other one? Did he mean Markus? And what was he doing at the bio-lab? I’d need to set up one of those cork boards you see in the movies with string connecting the dots to figure this out.

A flash erupted on the otherwise quiet and desolate road ahead of me, bringing me to a screeching halt. The asphalt sizzled and burned with arcing electricity running everywhere. I held my hands up to shield my eyes as a form took shape within a bright flurry of white, orange and yellow light. Bolts of electricity began to travel a short distance upon the ground before grounding out at my feet. The figure seemingly teleported from where it stood around thirty feet away to no less than ten feet away from me, and was approaching me fast and was emitting an screeching a ear-piercing scream from it’s face. I cupped my hands over my ears and took a few steps backwards. What the hell was going on?

“Who are you!?” I screamed. It approached ever closer, it’s figure resembling that of a person made of pure lightning. It’s expression was furious and pained and determined. It continued to scream and screech, it’s voice echoing off the treeline surrounding us and doubling down on my eardrums at full force. I fell to my knees into the rushing current of energy rushing past. The power within me, that familiar buzzing energy, felt white hot. It was pulsating painfully within my chest, drawing my breathing to a painful lull. I couldn’t take much more of this. I looked up to see the being reach out an arm of pure electricity for me. I winced, hoping whatever would happen next would be quick.

And I waited.

And waited.

But nothing came. To my suprise, when I looked up, the being was gone.

I was alone on that same deserted street. The still-smoking asphalt in front of me confirmed that whatever I’d just been witness to was not an act of my imagination.

What the hell was that thing?