On Monday evening Kayden and I made our way from rooftop to rooftop in the waning twilight peeking over the brick and concrete buildings around us. They had noticed my reservedness when we met up half an hour earlier and had smartly decided that we ought to go on a quiet patrol for a bit until we found something that caught our interest. I caught the edge of a large AC unit and grinded along it’s top corner using the grind plates in my boots before somersaulting off onto the next roof. I wasn’t running at even twenty-five percent of my normal speed to allow Kayden to keep up. Automatically I launched myself over yet another gap with an alley below, easily making it to the other side. Kayden was in a feminine form again, their hair tied back into a ponytail similarly to when we’d first met. Was that really only weeks ago? It felt like an eternity had passed since then. Everything was so different-- I caught a reflection of myself in a passing window-- I was so different. A cursory glance at Kayden told me this was far more of a work out for them than it was for me. Even as we moved through the sparse remaining daylight, my mind was still parsing the events earlier in the day at school.

 

* * *

 

School had been much more of a headache than I’d expected it to be after texting Cass on Saturday. As I walked into school I still found myself plagued with hard-to-understand emotions from my interaction with Dad, unsure what to make of the newfound unease I felt around him. Mom had tried to reassure me, but I couldn’t seem to shake my mind from the cycle of anxiety I found myself in as I stuffed my books into my locker and headed to class. 

From our first period Catarelli had shown the video footage of the Crescent City Blur whirling around a standoff scene at 9th Street Capital Bank, culminating in the now familiar quick fade of lights into the distance, leaving the bomber standing clueless in front of the assembled police. If you looked closely, you could even see a familiar black and white smudge on one of the rooftops before it ducked back behind a ledge. Catarelli once again grilled us all to come forward if we were the speedster in question. Judging by the testimony of Mrs. Bittinboulder’s wife, they were pretty certain of my age but not much else. I made a note to avoid her if I saw her around school; if Sammy could connect the dots between my two faces then I was sure Bittinboulder’s wife could. 

The rest of my classes progressed like this with increasing tension hanging in the air as we inched closer to the end of the day with no-one coming forward. Gym class had even been cut short by Bittinboulder’s lecturing us on the virtues of adhering to the rules which governed us alters. Markus was staring intently at me the entirety of class, even letting himself strike out in the game set up by Bittinboulder only to study me further. I wasn’t sure what he had figured out, but he never took his eyes off me if he could help it.

His study session was interrupted by Mr. Garrison and nurse Prim entering through the gym doors and walking intently over to Mrs. Bittinboulder. They exchanged a few words I couldn’t make out, but it was clear Mrs. Bittinboulder was confused. . 

After what I could only assume were several follow-up questions, her eyes widened with understanding. She nodded thoughtfully  and pointed over to Markus. Nurse Prim and Mr. Garrison quickly approached him. As soon as he spotted them he held his hands up in mock surprise, though a smarmy grin never left his face as he did. Confusion began to dot his expression as they continued to speak, however, especially when Mr. Garrison pointed towards the gym doors.  He began to argue, but Nurse Prim wore a sorrowful expression which contrasted with Mr. Garrison’s own stern expression and began to usher him towards the locker rooms despite his protests. . After changing back into his street clothes, he followed them out of the gymnasium and the doors slammed shut with a bang. Bittinboulder quickly called us back to session and supervised us for the remainder of the period, though she looked extremely distracted through the rest of the class.. 

Lunch was similarly muted, Sammy was still addled with headaches and was unusually reserved for most of the meal. She had mentioned that the headache had gone away over the weekend, but I wasn’t totally sure if that was true. She ended up coming back from the bathroom only for her chair to collapse under her as she dropped into the seat. This stirred up a storm of profanity and had attracted the attention of some of the school staff eating around us who promptly escorted Sammy to the principal’s office. Cass and I discussed the weekend’s events in hushed tones including what I’d done during the standoff which she found “completely amazing”.

“Do you know how you did it?” she asked quietly.

I shook my head. “No, I’ve been trying to practice all weekend, but Mom had me shop for guy clothes and then dad showed up and I couldn’t seem to clear my mind after that enough to try again." Cass straightened in her seat as her mood shifted to something more serious.

“Your dad? Mr. Bigot?” She rolled her eyes.

“Cass…” I sighed.

“I know, I know, he’s your dad. I’d feel the same way if someone attacked my father who in this hypothetical is also a bigot I guess?” She laughed, but pulled herself back when I didn’t laugh with her. I explained how tense it was when he showed up, both with Mom and myself, and what he’d said about how he had some sort of plan for me. I found my tone becoming quite harsh when I recounted what he’d said about the shirts I got. 

“If I have to wear guy clothes, I’m going to wear cool colors, dammit!” Cass nodded along and rubbed my shoulder sympathetically.“Geez, it’s like he thinks he owns you, or what he thinks you’ll be I guess. I hate seeing you this way, Gabs,” she said softly before looking towards the lunch room doors, a glint of an idea in her eyes. “Hey…” she began before leaning in close. “I picked up a slice of pie from a bakery this morning on my way to school. Want a bite?” Food always being my weakness, especially since I came into my powers, I enthusiastically followed her out the doors to her locker. The hallways were pretty empty, filled with only lockers, occasional buzzes from AndrAI drones passing overhead. Before we could open up the hatch on her locker, however, three loathsome shapes gathered around us.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t tweedle dumbass and tweedle fag-ass,” I heard Kip snarl in his best approximation of a toughguy voice. I groaned and turned to face them. Kip, Vince, and Buckly surrounded us on all sides. Markus didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby as far as I could tell. 

“What do you want?” I said as I began to quietly search for exits. Dishearteningly, I found none around us..

“Yeah, we’re not really in the mood for entertaining,” Cass added. “Where’s your leader anyways? Don’t you have an appointment to lick his boots?”

“Oh, look at tough guy with his boyfriend over here,” Kip mocked us. “You two are almost as bad as that nerd and his fashion-obsessed fuck toy. What, sneaking off for some kind of lover’s rendezvous?”

“Yeah, your mom said you wouldn’t be home until four,” I boasted, though my uneven tone betrayed the terror beginning to creep in.. I’d never felt particularly confident but in that moment I felt more unsure of myself than I’d ever been and the prospect of getting shoved into a locker today because I still couldn’t defend myself here began to chip away at me.Cass  wasted no time in shooting off an addendum response.

“We’re going to wear masks with your face on them and fuck each other silly.” I couldn’t help it, I let out a quiet chuckle. I’d never seen this side of Cass. She had an assured look in her eyes, like she knew exactly what she was doing. Kip’s entire demeanor changed as blood rushed to his face.

“What’d you say, you little pin-dick?” Vince spat angrily. Buckley was beginning to get uncomfortably close as well.

“Oh, is that what they call you when you absorb metal?” I shot off. Why is it that something inside of me always tells me to shoot my mouth off when I’m afraid?. Cass waved them away.

“Shoo fly, don’t bother me,” she said before turning back to her locker. “Go suck on some metal or-- Oh! Some pin-dick!” She cackled at her own reply as she opened up her locker. Before I could react, a flash shot off in front of me and the air around me chilled considerably causing goosebumps to form on my arms. She twirled around and came face to face with Kip, who was now much paler and with near bleached-blonde hair accompanying new frosty blue irises.

“You’re going to pay for that you little runts,” he snarled. Cass and I took a few steps back until our backs were to the lockers. Vince and Buckley flanked him on both sides and began to close in. A voice called out from further down the empty hall before he could make good on his promise.

“What do you think you’re doing?” came a familiar voice from my favorite nurse. Ms. Prim strode towards us quickly, her white doctor’s coat flaring out heroically behind her. Her dark curly hair was held back in a messy bun on her head and bounced with each step. She stepped between the trio of dumbasses and Cass and myself.

“Nurse,” Kip snickered coarsely, “Nobody here is hurt yet, so no need for you to be here.”

“Right,” Ms. Prim scowled as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a dark object obscured by her hand. In a swift motion she tapped it against Kip’s exposed arm which resulted in a plume of light smoke filling the air surrounding Kip who was suddenly in his default form. I looked at the black shiny orb in her hand as recognition dawned over me. Clellium, no larger than one of those big bouncy-balls you could get from a gachapon machine at a grocery store. Kip sputtered and wheezed as Ms. Prim continued. “Mr. Drew, Mr. McDonald, and Mr. Marson. Care to explain why you are harassing Ms. Carmen and Mr. McArthur?” she asked coldly as she eyed each of them.

“Oh, you know, boys will be boys,” Vince piped up.

“Yeah, we were jus’ messin’ with them, Nurse P,” Buckley gestured towards us. The trio looked terrified as she continued to hold the clellium up in her hand.

“Good, then you won’t mind messing around in Principal Bekker’s office, will you?” Ms. Prim narrowed her eyes.

“S-sure!” they squeaked in unison. With each of them grabbing an arm of the still-wheezing Kip he looked back at us.

“This ain’t over!” he yelled.

“I said principle Bekker’s office. NOW!” Ms. Prim commanded the trio who promptly picked up their pace and skittered down the hall. I was seriously impressed. I’d never seen such force from the teachers here. Ms. Prim could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be, it seemed. Once they were out of sight she turned back to us, concern washing over her features. “Are you two alright?” she asked.

“Y-yeah,” I replied quietly. Cass echoed my answer, and relief washed over Ms. Prim.

“Good,” she sighed and quickly dropped the clellium orb back into her pocket before giving us a concerned glance. “Don’t uh… tell anyone about how harsh I was with them. They have a history of being little pricks with the other staff so nobody will buy that I reacted with quite so much force without warning.” She was right

“Sure, but why? They’re huge assholes, they totally deserved it,” Cass grumbled.

“Because even though we’re in a sense babysitters for teenage powder kegs, we’re still officially teachers,” Prim said. “We shouldn’t be acting like police. Our kind gets enough crap from them already.” She was likely referring to the general unease law enforcement seemed to experience around many alters. They only willingly worked with government licensed heroes and even then that relationship could only best be described as ‘strained’.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Cass agreed.

“Then why so tough on them?” I asked. She placed her hands into her pockets and moaned lightly. 

“I’m not really supposed to talk about it,” she looked around, seemingly confirming we were alone. “But, well, we’re all on edge looking for this new speedster. She’s out playing vigilante, this past weekend stopped a bomb threat somehow.”

“That was her?” Cass gasped. “I thought that was some other alter!” Nice cover work, Cass.

“We’re not completely sure, but we think so. She’s running with a partner, too, and we’ve got a pretty good idea of who that is.” My heart sank. They knew about Kayden? I’d have to text them and give them a heads up as soon as possible. Ms. Prim continued, “Hopefully Marcus Miller can be of some use to help us figure out the rest of the situation.”

“What could Marcus do for you?” I pressed.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard in passing at the very least that some alters come in pairs or multiples and all share an implicit connection with each other. Speedsters have this same connection, and we believe since this new speedster popped up in such close proximity to Mr. Miller that she might be his pair,” she replied.

“Meaning?” Cass added. Ms. Prim sighed.

“Meaning nothing.” She began to walk away towards the principal’s office. “Let your teachers handle it, alright?”

 

* * *

 

I began to lag behind Kayden as I landed on yet another rooftop absorbed in my thoughts. We’d been going for thirty minutes at this point, and though I was far from winded I did found myself annoyed at the lack of direction we seemed to have. Enough things in my life felt aimless and confusing to navigate, I needed hero work to be as far removed from those feelings as possible. I slowed my pace before halting to a stop in the gravel roof beneath me. Kayden turned back towards me with a confused glance.

“What’s up?” They walked over to me and wiped beads of sweat from their forehead.

“You’re exhausted,” I replied. 

They squinted and inspected me closely.“No, I don’t think that’s it.” Kayden smiled. “You’ve been quiet since we met up.” They walked over to the edge of the roof and patted on the brick neck to them. “C’mere.”

I groaned and followed suit, sitting next to them without another word.

“What’s going on, Gabby?” they asked curiously. I ran a gloved hand (I had finally picked some nice leather gloves up from the bodega a couple blocks from school) through my hair.

“That question has a super long answer,” I complained.

Kayden looked thoughtful for a moment before trying again. They slid their googles up and smiled, revealing their gorgeous amber eyes to the twinkling evening light. “Okay, what’s going on right now?”

I looked away. “Feels like my thoughts are going to overrun me. I was hoping we could do something simple tonight like stop a robbery to take my mind off of it,” I confessed.

“Gabby, you really shouldn’t come out here to blow off steam. That kind of careless attitude only leads to mistakes. You should remember that. This job isn’t just stopping people, it’s saving them, too. Maybe we should head back in...”

“I know,” I quickly defended myself. “And I’m ready to do that, I swear.” 

Kayden looked at me skeptically, “You sure?”

“Yes,” I repeated with pleading eyes. Kayden smiled again.

“Good. Since I met you I felt that there was something about you, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.” They hesitated, their expression becoming pensive, almost in a cute pout kind of way. “Still can’t, really. But I feel like you understand me.” Doubt bubbled up in my chest. Cass’ words echoed in my ears. I couldn’t keep my secret from them. Not after all this.

“Actually… I don’t think I'm the best candidate for this job,” I admitted.

“Why not?” Kayden turned their head. 

“Because…” I found myself continuing. “Because I’ve been lying to you about who I am. Pretty much this entire time.”

“Is this about your secret identity? You not telling me it isn’t lying to me, Gabby. I get that not everyone is comfortable with revealing that kind of information.”

“N-no, that’s not it. I--” my voice hitched. “I’m an inverse, Kayden.” Their eyes widened and for a moment they were quiet. A small laugh unexpectedly erupted from their lips.

“That’s it? It took you until now to tell me that? Gabby, I literally shift sexes multiple times a day. I feel like that should’ve been the first thing we talked about. It actually makes sense now why you've been so tight lipped about your life so far.” They shook their head and leaned back. "Does your family know?"

"No," I said in a quiet voice.

"Can't blame you for that, not everyone in our community likes inverses, let alone the normie cisgender population," Kayden replied in a dream-like tone.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Nothing." Kayden smiled, but I'd seen enough of their smiles that I knew this one was fake. “You know, I guess I’m kind of like an inverse in that regard? But my altercation was into the same sex I started with, so technically I don’t think I count.”

“So you’re not mad?”

“No, you idiot,” Kayden smiled. “I’m definitely not mad. Actually, I’m super glad you told me. How did you get your powers, anyways?” I dove into every detail with them, from the lightning strike to the mall incident a few days earlier. They sat and listened with rapt attention focused on me which felt… good? Having Cass listen was one thing, but Kayden listening to my problems felt therapeutic on another level that I couldn’t quite explain.

“Jesus…” Kayden whistled. “You’ve been through a lot so far. This is seriously one hardcore origin story.”

“You think?” I giggled.

“Yeah, I do,” Kayden pulled me in close. The golden light in the air reflected off of their brilliantly amber eyes intoxicatingly. “You’ve seemed to continue to bounce back though through all of it, which actually doesn’t surprise me at all considering what we were talking about earlier.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Really.” They got a curious glint in their eyes and smiled coyly. “Have you picked out a supernym yet?”

“No, not yet,” I admitted. “Why, do you have an idea?”

“I do actually. What do you think about Ricochet?”

“Ricochet?” I replied.

“Yeah, because you always bounce back. I think it’s fitting,” Kayden smiled again. I thought about it for a moment. Compared to the Crescent City Blur that the news had been calling me and Zippy, as some forms of media had dubbed me, Ricochet was a definite improvement. 

“Okay, sure. Ricochet it is.” I laughed happily.

 

* * *

 

“So what are we doing here, anyways?” I asked as I made my way down the stairs next to Kayden. We’d stopped at a ramshackle building on the edge of town near the docks district. A train passed overhead a couple blocks away, though everything around us rumbled as if the train were directly above us. The walls surrounding us were claustrophobically close, seemingly made for one person to make their way down the hall at a time. The faded red carpeting had long since lost most of its bounce and now served as nothing more than a pressed down rug with mysterious splotches all over the floor. Chipped wall sconces were scattered out seemingly haphazardly, though it was possible the passage of time had worn the orderly placement of them down to such a state. We were standing out in the ramshackle apartment building in our costumes among the otherwise near dilapidated building and I couldn’t help but feel like a sitting duck in here.

“You know those folks Hexecute sucked the powers out of?” Kayden replied with another question.

“Yeah, the strong guy and the tech-mind guy.” Kayden stopped in their tracks and looked back at me with a grim frown.

“Clyde Curtis and Thommy Argis,” they said quietly. I shifted uncomfortably

“Those were their names?” I inferred from Kayden’s glare.

“Yeah. They’re people, Gab. Never forget that, alright? That’s goal number one. The people,” they instructed.

“Got it.” I nodded and continued after Kayden. “What about them?”

“We’re here to interview one of them.” Kayden fished a piece of paper out of their pocket and squinted at it. “Think this is the right place…” They looked between the paper and the door they’d stopped in front of several times and shrugged. “Only one way to be sure.” I hurried behind them as they knocked gently on the door. Distant shuffling could be heard beyond the door. A loud voice pierced the air as the old door swung open.

“What do you want? I already fucking told you rats, I’m--” the owner of the voice stopped short. Taller than Kayden or I, he halted at the doorway and eyed us suspiciously, likely in part to our costumes. His deep golden hair was slicked back and led into several-day-old blonde stubble which lined his chin. His clothes consisted of a tattered Hawaiian button-up with gray stained sweatpants. His left hand was gripping tightly to a shiny metal cane, the type you would typically expect to see with a man thirty years his senior. The most striking thing about him though was his eyes. Deep blue-purple sleep lines ran underneath muted grey eyes, devoid of any light or happiness. There was something missing in them. There was something missing inside of him. “What do you want?” he spat.

“S-shyft?” I quietly mumbled. “What do we want?” Kayden held their hands up as a sign of non-resistance.

“Mr. Curtis, I spoke with you over the phone? We wanted to get some more information from you regarding Hexecute,” Kayden explained.

“Oh, you’re that girl,” he grunted. I peered at Kayden’s face to see how they reacted. How did they feel about people using she or he with them? However it made them feel, they didn’t let it show on their face. “Listen, missy, I don’t know what you and your friend here think you can do that the Crescent City Capes aren’t already doing I told them everything I remembered about fighting him and losing my motherfucking powers.”

“Well, the Capes don’t always track down all the leads they can…” Kayden trailed off. Clyde glared at us, almost as if he were burning me into yet another stain on the rug.

“Do you know what it feels like to have something so absolutely fundamental to who you are just taken away?” he said quietly, his voice trembling with anger. “It’s like a hole is ripped right through you. You’re salted and burnt. You feel like a fucking shell. Like someone wadded you up like a used kleenex and threw you into the trash. You want my advice, girls? Stay the fuck away from that psycho.”

“But Mr. Curtis--” I cut in, “The more eyes on this case, the faster it can get solved and we can try to get you your powers back.” His eyes widened.

“You think you can really do that?” he said in a low doubting voice.

“Absolutely. At the very least, we can try,” Kayden agreed. Clyde considered us for a moment and leaned against the doorframe of his apartment. He sighed deeply, though something about the way he sighed caught my attention. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling not quite rapidly but certainly faster than someone who’d only been standing talking to us. Why did he seem so winded?

“Are-- are you okay, Mr. Curtis? You seem tired,” I asked in a concerned tone. He gripped his cane tighter and scowled down at us.

“Yes! I’m fucking fine. My muscles are fine,” he snapped. It sounded like he’d had a conversation similar to this one many times already. “I could still go toe to toe with Big Roddy Gallo any time of day. Me ‘n’ him used to go round after round, and I tell you what I could still ring his fuckin’ bell.”

“S-sorry, sir! I didn’t mean--” I tried to apologize, but he trampled over my words.

“You know what? You want to go after that purple goggle-wearin’ psycho? Be my guest. You’ll soon find ‘em haunting your damn sleep, too. The damn drones he uses are his secret weapon, watch your back around them. And if you find him?” he began to retreat back into his apartment. “Knock his fucking head off.” The apartment door slammed in our faces, leaving Kayden and myself standing by ourselves in the empty hallway.

Kayden whistled. “That went well,” 

“Sorry I messed up your lead, Kayden,” I apologized as we made our way back to the roof of the building.

“No problem, Gabs. Honestly, it’s kind of what I expected. Victims don’t really like to delve into trauma. At least we got a nugget of information about Hexecute’s drones,” they replied as we stepped back onto the roof.

“What’s up with drones these days? Feels like everyone has them,” I groaned. “I got hit in the face with one of them the other day when I was running home from school.”

Kayden shrugged. “Neat instagram pictures?” Before I could reply, a loud explosion rang out in the night air. A shockwave ripped through Kayden and I, sending us tumbling to the ground. Kayden instinctively morphed their body into a larger masculine shape and covered me from the falling smouldering debris around us. I pushed them off of me and struggled to my feet. Smoke was rapidly plumbing into the air around us. The door we’d just exited the building from lay clear on the other side of the roof, crumpled in a broken mess against the cement. That explosion wasn’t at some distant place. It was here, in this building. Right beneath our feet. 

“W-what the hell?” I asked, panicking. “Kayden, what do we--” I looked to Kayden for guidance only to find that Kayden was already on their feet, staring straight into the billowing smoke.

“Okay, Gabby. This is one of those moments where there isn’t time to think,” they turned back around to face me. “We need to save the people in this building before the whole place comes down.” I looked around the rooftop for any sign of what could have caused the explosion. In the waning twilight with smoke swirling into the air around us it was next to impossible to see across the street, let alone make out any figures at street level. I was about to give up with my eye caught the glint of metal moving a few feet away from the building before it dove into a nearby alleyway. It looked like it was small and hovering… was it a drone?

“S-shyft, I think I saw a drone!” I called back.

“No, Gabs. Whatever it was, it comes second. Save the victims first. Always,” they commanded. They left me no time to argue as they took off running back down the stairwell into the flames. I was paralysed on the roof, focused on the doorway Kayden had just disappeared into. I couldn’t make myself move, like fear had wrapped it’s spindly fingers around my legs and locked them into place. Could I do this? Before all I had done was stop a few burglaries. Here… people were involved. If I messed up, people could get hurt or die. I gritted my teeth together, willing myself to make a choice. Run? Or help? 

“Ricochet!” Kayden’s distant voice called to me from further inside. In a flash, instinct told me to run in, to be Ricochet.

Everything slowed down and I kicked off the loose gravel of the rooftop. These people needed me. The flames barely licked me as I dove through the flaming doorway with increasing speed.

It felt like watching a movie in slow motion; everything was either on fire or lighting on fire slowly, almost methodically. The flames were hungry for sustenance. I deftly made my way around them and ran straight into the first door I saw. It broke away with surprising ease; apparently the building was in serious violation of construction codes. I scanned the smoke-filled room for occupants and found a family, a mother with her two kids in the process of taking cover. I grabbed the mother first and quickly ran her through the hallways, taking care to avoid any large flames. The building entrance at the street level was collapsed in on itself, but thankfully the window next to it had blown out onto the street. I took us both through the opening and deposited the woman onto the street before continuing back inside for her two children. I repeated this action two dozen more times as I could only carry one person at a time while retaining my level of speed. 

I spotted Kayden making their way out with three people piled onto their back, now muscled out even more than before. Sweat began to drip down my forehead as my lungs began to protest their lack of clean oxygen. By my count, most of the building had been cleared, save for Mr. Curtis’ apartment. On approaching, however, the amount of flames tearing through the hallway multiplied exponentially. Had the explosion originated here?  The plaster and wood of the walls were torn into, creating large holes in the walls around me. I must have slowed down because the flames around me began to flicker faster, and the heat felt hotter. Part of the ceiling collapsed behind me, but I pushed forward until I was right outside his door, or where it used to be. A large section of the door frame and wall had been blown out and into the adjacent wall. 

Flames engulfed the apartment making it near impossible for someone to be alive inside. I squinted to see any movement, but found nothing new in my periphery. My goggles HUD flashed.

Scanning for life-forms………… None detected.

Mr. Curtis… We promised him that we’d get his strength back, and now he was gone. Another portion of the ceiling collapsed downward, this time inside his apartment. I tore myself away from the doorway and forced myself back out onto the street where Kayden was setting down the people they’d been carrying earlier. I took a few deep gulps of cool night air as a loud collapsing commotion could be heard in the building behind me, now totally aflame. Ash was smudged onto Kayden’s face and part of their suit sizzled and smoked. Before I could say anything they rushed over.

“Ricochet! Are you okay?” they shouted as they looked me over. I gently pushed back.

“Forget about me, I’m fine,” I hissed. “What about them?” I pointed towards the assembled civilians watching on as their homes and livelihoods burned down to nothing.

“Right,” Kayden silently chastised themselves before turning to face the others. “Everyone, are you okay? Is anyone seriously hurt?” they called out. Nobody signaled that they were in dire need of medical attention, something I was grateful for. Kayden and I were strong and fast, but we knew next to jack-shit about healing people.

“What happened?” the mother of the two children cried out.

“Was there some kind of gas explosion?” another added.

“Did you fucking freaks cause this?” a third cursed at us.

“No, no, we were just in the neighborhood. We didn’t cause this,” I appealed to the assembled group. 

“Why should we believe you? You damn alters always lie,” the third individual, a bald man with a thick beard full of soot shouted.

“I believe I can vouch for them,” a mechanical voice from above called out to us. Kayden and I snapped our attention to a nearby rooftop to find a familiar sight. Perched on an overlook of the street stood Hexecute, his amethyst goggles shining through the smoke and darkness. Drones hovered around him in formation, each looking antsy and ready for us to try something. I looked at Kayden out of the corner of my eye.

“Now we go after the bad guy?” I whispered.

“Yep,” they confirmed. Without missing a beat, Kayden leapt from the ground towards Hexecute as I raced up the building in the same direction. He quickly moved away from us back towards the other side of the building as we reached the top. I was able to see him better in this light; he looked different than our last encounter. His armor looked sleeker, less bulky.

“Like the new look?” he crowed. “Speaking to my little friends telepathically means so much less bulk on my back.”

“Telepathically? You mean you’re--” Kayden mumbled.

“Using the powers of one Thommy Argis? Yes, and I must say they have proven quite valuable as of late,” Hexecute jovially mocked. “He was next on my list for tonight, but I see what little information he could possess has already been disseminated to the local hero population by the late Clyde Curtis. Got what he always wanted, in a roundabout kind of way. Protected an innocent with his life by being a filthy little rat.”

“You monster! You killed him?” I shouted at him.

“Of course! You goody-goodies thought I was just going to leave him be? He saw far too much, after all,” Hexecuted began to walk towards us, his drones each floating into place under his feet as he did. “But this all ended up serving a much better purpose.”

“What kind of purpose?” Kayden questioned. Hexecute pointed a gloved finger at me.

“It brought you out of hiding. I’ve been looking for you, little one,” he growled.

“M-me?” I stammered.

“Of course! You’re the missing part of the equation that I need. Marcus Miller proved easy enough to find, but you? You’ve been especially difficult to locate,”

Kayden scoffed. “Why would you be looking for her?”

Hexecute seemed to ignore Kayden’s outburst and continued his march towards me. “Secrets secrets are no fun, secrets secrets hurt someone. Who are you underneath that mask, I wonder? You’re obviously young enough to be at that school, why I wonder have you not showed up yet? What are you hiding?” Kayden didn’t give him any further time to posture, they launched at Hexecute, fists raised. “The adult is speaking!” Hexecute shrieked. With a flick of his hand drones erupted from below Kayden and launched them into the air. They fell onto the other side of the roof with a loud thud. 

“Shyft!” I screamed. 

“Now, now, that vigilante meat-head will be fine. It’s you who’s important, my dear.” Fear turned my blood to ice in my veins as he continued his approach. He wanted me? For what? He flicked his hands again, sending drones towards me. I found it relatively easy to dodge them thanks to my increased acrobatic abilities and bounced off each one as if I was bounding up a staircase, making my way towards Hexecute while he floated above.

“Delivery for one Suckma Dick! ,” I shouted threw a punch at his masked face. When my fist connected, however, I found myself rushing through him and fell out the other side. I tumbled through the air, my trajectory aimed to soar off the building. Strong hands suddenly gripped around me and knocked my fall off-course, allowing me to land roughly into the building’s rooftop gravel once more.

“Really should stop falling for me,” Kayden laughed quietly as they dusted themself off. We picked ourselves up back onto or feet. Hexecute lowered himself down to our level and began to cackle.

“You thought I would risk my safety and and reveal myself to you?”

“Yeah, I kind of figured you wouldn’t be chicken-shit,” Kayden growled.

“Of course I wouldn’t, tonight was supposed to be an exploration of tying up some loose ends after all.” The hologram began to shimmer before it disappeared above one of the drones. They all quickly flew into formation, forming a dark rectangle in the air. Each of them shot out a faint light from their center, each forming together to display a screen in mid-air displaying Hexecute’s masked face. “Though be aware, my drones are more than sufficient to deal with you." The drones opened up, each presenting a clawed arm that snapped open and shut several times.

“So what, you’re spying on us like some kind of perv waiting to strike?” I shouted back.

“Sure, if that’s how you wish to visualize my master plan,” Hexecute sighed. “This bores me. Get her.” The screen facade faded and the drones all barrelled towards us, claws open and ready to grab at me. Kayden and I dodged out of the way. I slid across the ground broke into a cartwheel away from the hoarde before turning back around and striking at the drones chasing me. They crumpled around my fists easily enough, but for each one I struck down two more took its place. Kayden was attempting to help but found themselves occupied with their own swarm of mirco-bots to deal with. 

Yes, you’ve got exactly what I’m looking for bubbling in your veins.” Hexecute growled happily as more drones began to encircle Kayden and I. His image popped up above one of the drones still floating in between us and began to slowly hover towards me. Why did this nutjob want my powers? Was there a way Kayden and I could get out of this? And why did I feel a familiar tug in my chest? It felt just like… oh my god. A blur whizzed past Kayden and myself before weaving around Hexecute and settling on the opposite side of the roof, destroying several drones in his wake. The fierce tug I felt deep within the bolt inside me confirmed who it was before my eyes settled on him. 

“There he is!” Hexecute exclaimed as he turned on his heel and floated away from the building into mid-air to face all of us. “What a completely unexpected surprise this is! Such a wonderful happenstance, the rule of two proves itself yet again.” I looked on at Markus in dismay, he was wearing the white gym suit I myself had worn so often and a crappy domino mask that did little to hide his identity. Crap, was my outfit really that shitty before? Thank god for Mel and Anya giving me this better suit.

“Stop right there!” he called out. “Nobody move.”

“You know this guy?” Kayden asked me as they rose to their feet.

“Y-yeah, you could say that,” I groaned. Markus must’ve caught a glimpse of me as well because he was staring directly at me.

“Hate to interrupt the reunion, but I’ve never been one to squander opportunity,” Hexecute mused. The drones buzzed to life once more and barrelled at us blindingly fast. Before I could react, I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me away from Kayden and the drones off of the building. Watching the world blur away when I wasn’t running was odd, it felt almost like waking up in a car speeding along the highway.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here,” Markus called as he dragged me off the roof at my usual running pace with my arm firm in his grip. I looked back up at the roof in panic, imagining what must have been happening to Kayden as they stood alone against Hexecute.

“Let go of me!” I screamed, jamming my foot into his side and separating us as we fell into the alley below. I caught myself and slid along a brick wall down to the ground. Markus was decidedly less graceful as he jumped from a fire escape to a wall and down to ground level with me. I raced past him back up towards Kayden, but immediately felt him in pursuit. I tried to shake him off by rounding the building exterior, but it seemed that he could easily keep in step with me, matching each one of my movements with frighteningly similar speed.

“I’m just trying to help you! Calm down!” he shouted back at me. He grabbed for me again, but I was able to just barely dodge out of the way and launched myself onto a nearby roof. He quickly adjusted and ran after me across the several buildings. Several drones trailed us but lagged severely behind. Our aura trails mixed together, my own a vibrant orangish-yellow, his darker and more red-toned.

“You. I know you!” He shouted as he sped after me. “I saw you outside of one of my classes a week ago, didn’t I? I tried to chase after you but the teacher stopped me. What are you doing out here fighting that tech guy?” 

“This isn’t a good time, Markus!” I shouted behind me.

“Wait, you know my name? You’re my speed partner, aren’t you? Do you feel the same tug in your chest?” he said, elation rising in his voice.

“We can talk about that later!” I shouted as I launched myself back up the side of the building towards Hexecute and Kayden.. Markus stayed close, matching my speed step for step as I re-entered the scene to find Kayden only barely dodging out of the way of the drones assaulting them. Several of the drones were approaching Kayden with their claws out like they had earlier displayed with me. Was Hexecute about to take Kayden’s powers? I gripped onto the pulse within and and ran straight for Kayden, tackling both of us off onto another rooftop and out of Hexecute’s clutches, but for how long was anyone’s guess. We bounced along the tiled ground and slid to a stop against the far ledge. Markus easily caught the adjacent ledge and pulled himself up, though curiously his body became engulfed in electricity as it shot off him into the surrounding air. He collapsed upon himself, gripping his sides as he fell to the ground screaming in agony.

“Markus?” I exclaimed as he writhed in pain. Small bolts of energy were shooting off of his body in all directions. 

“W-what’s happening... to me?” he moaned. The energy shower seemed to die off and he slowly turned himself over onto his hands and knees. I retreated a few steps. “That… happened earlier too…” he wheezed. “This is all McArthur’s fault… I fucking know it…” My stomach dropped out from under me.

“W-what?” I said in a shocked tone. Before he could answer me the mechanical whirring of the drones signaled their approach, and Hexecute descended on us once more. Kayden was breathing deeply, and I was feeling pretty worn out myself. I wasn’t sure how much longer we could hold out against these robots. Kayden and I pulled ourselves up shakily as one of the robots broke formation and floated towards us with Hexecute’s hologram shaking his head. .

“Looks like the rule of two is working as expected,” he stated.

“Rule of two?” I hesitantly asked.

“It means that wherever one speedster is, their speed partner is inevitably not far behind,” Hexecute interrupted as he floated over to us. “You two little love-birds are like opposite sides of a magnet. I figured it would only be a matter of time before you gathered together.”

“Wait, you were looking for us?” Markus asked through gritted teeth.

“Why of course, Markus Miller. You and your mysterious friend here are very important to me. I was worried that she would need as much time as you did to ripen her control of such gifts from the Kinetic Realm, but as the incident the Friday displayed, she may have even greater control of her abilities than you." I had to admit, even as the life was being choked out of me I still felt a note of pride hearing that I was showing more prowess with my abilities that Markus had so far.

"wha-ack!" Markus coughed roughly. He really wasn't looking good. What the hell was going on with him? Did Hexecute get to him, too?

"Both of you here in one place, Lady Luck must be shining on me," Hexecute continued. "I’ll have to find her soon, too, that would be a wonderful power to add to my arsenal,” Hexecute cackled happily.

“You keep saying that, what does that mean?” I shouted back at him as I steadied myself against an HVAC unit.

“Worry not, you’ll find out in due time,” Hexecute replied. The drone lowered to the ground and the hologram stepped into the gravel, a crushing sound erupting beneath his boot. Wait. He was on me too fast, grabbing me roughly by the neck and holding me against the wall. His grip felt so much stronger than the last time we’d fought, so much surer.

“You’re real?!” I choked out.

“Very much so, I’m afraid,” he laughed.

Kayden ran at Hexecute, howling my name. “Ricochet!” They raised their fist and swung clumsily at Hexecute who easily deflected the attack with his free hand. He cocked his arm back and swung forward quickly, his fist nearly submerging into Kayden’s torso as the blow connected. Kayden flew backwards and crumpled against the HVAC unit I’d steadied myself on earlier.

“Kayden!” I shrieked, fearing for their life.

“Kayden?” Hexecute mused. “Thank you for that piece of information, ‘Ricochet,’ I’ll have to remember that name for later.”

I gagged against his hand as it pushed harder into my windpipe. “How are you so strong?” I groaned.

“You can thank Clyde Curtis for that, it’s a wonderful little parting gift he left me.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, grasping at his hand fruitlessly.

“Oh, don’t be so crass. This is a special occasion, after all.” He raised a gloved hand, revealing some sort of flashing array built into the gauntlet. “I really must get a hold of some clellium for personal use, that would make this process so much easier. But for now, this will do.” I flinched as his glove approached me, resigned to my fate. I was about to lose my powers. Everything that had come to define me over these past few weeks… gone. I’d be nothing more than the shell that Mr. Curtis had been, left with a disgustingly male body and only grey sadness in my eyes. In that moment, as everything I’d experienced risked being taken away, a realization dawned on me. I didn’t want to lose these powers. I didn’t want to ever change back. I wanted to be Gabby for real. But it looked like I’d never get the chance. 

A small beeping interrupted the tense moment, accompanying a blinking red light within the dome piece of a nearby drone.Hexecute raised his free hand to the side of his helmet and was quiet for a moment. “Unfortunately it seems tonight is not my night.”  He dropped me from his grip and quickly hopped back onto his drone while I fell into the gravel. He looked over at Markus as he weakly rose from the ground. “Markus Miller. You, I will be seeing shortly.” He then turned his head to me and, though a mask covered his face, I could tell he was smiling. “You, my mysterious friend, are someone I’m sure I will be acquainted with quite soon.” His drones lifted him up off the tiled ground and swept him off the building entirely. 

“Wait!” Kayden, now standing on unsteady legs, called after him.

“Oh, no thank you. You three are about to have your hands very full, and I wouldn’t want to interrupt. Have fun!” he mocked as he quickly disappeared in between several buildings in the distance. Kayden and I exchanged confused glances.

“Did he just… dip?” I sputtered, my throat still aching from the chokehold I’d just barely escaped from.

“I… guess?” Kayden shrugged. “Are you okay?”

I rubbed at my neck and a few other spots on my torso. “I’ll live. What about you?”

“Healing is kind of a bonus when you can morph your body around,” they cracked their back back into place, a disgusting crackling noise filling the air. 

“Huh, cool.”

Kayden pointed to Markus. “What about him?”

“I’m fine!” Markus snapped back, clearly frustrated that he’d been on the ground for that final exchange. Before I could say another word to him, a spotlight illuminated us from above. 

“There they are!” called a woman’s voice, one I was sure I’d heard before. Green vines surrounded the building, cutting off our route of escape. I looked up to find a woman glowing as bright as the sun hovering over top of us, her stark white and yellow uniform immediately cluing me into her identity. As if on cue a woman with green skin and slicked back black and red hair slinked forward from the darkness.

Verdant and Starburst. Licensed heroes of Crescent City.

“Fuck me sideways,” Kayden groaned. They held their hands up in appeasement, a move I quickly copied. Markus stayed on the ground, seemingly still recovering from whatever had affected him earlier.

“Stop right there,” the green woman called out. Yeah, there was no doubt what was going on, but I couldn’t help but find myself strangely excited? 

Verdant and Starburst were telling me to stay where I was! I would be over the moon if it weren’t for the fact that I was currently an unlicensed minor practicing hero work essentially as a vigilante with a known vigilante on my left and a dumbass from school on my right. Not to mention the fact that as far as anyone else knew, Gavin McArthur wasn’t able to pop out two sizable breasts from his chest whenever he wanted to, and I preferred to keep it that way.

“Markus Miller, Shyft, and unidentified young woman. Stop in the name of the law,” came a third voice from out of view.

“I actually go by Ricochet,” I countered as the third figure came into view. She levitated herself down from within a bubble of clear blue energy and dropped her hands as it dissipated into the air. I groaned internally. This was about as bad as it could possibly get.

“Well, whatever it is you go by, you are in clear violation of United Nations Alter Pact 19B. No Altered individual shall practice vigilante work without prior authorization from said locality’s government,” commanded Mrs. Bittinboulder.

“Right, sorry about that,” I moaned. “It all happened kind of fast. No pun intended.” A muffled giggle came from Starburst hovering above us. The other two shot her a tired look.

“What? I thought it was funny.” She shrugged.

“Funny enough to let us go if we promise to never do this again?” I asked hopefully.

“Not a chance, darlin’” cooed Verdant. “We have to follow the same rules as everyone, ‘else we find ourselves in a bramble of trouble. Plus, I’m mighty curious where you two got that tech. It looks familiar, and I’d like to know the supplier.”

“So… what does that mean for us, then?” I asked cautiously.

“It means we take you in, hopefully peacefully, and you comply with us registering your powers,” Starburst lowered herself onto the terrace with us. 

“Register?” I repeated.

“Yes, we’ve all been quite aware of your activities for some time now, young lady. It’s time we rope you in a bit so you don’t get anyone hurt,” Bittinboulder stated. 

“Thankfully our hunch that Markus Miller and you were connected ended up bein’ right on the money,” Verdant smiled.

“How did you find me? I’m a speedster, you shouldn’t be able to track me,” he yelled at the heroes before him.

“You had an actual tracker on you, dude.” Verdant smiled. “It fell off while you were runnin’, but the fire and explosions filled in the blanks after that. We’ve got a lot of questions for you about that specifically, actually.”

“Let me guess” I said sarcastically, “the rule of two?”

‘Got it in one,” Starburst shrugged. “You’ve heard of it before?”

“More than once tonight, yeah,” I replied.

“Yet another reason to come with us. I’ve got a lot of questions for you, young lady.” Bittinboulder frowned.

“Right,” I replied as I slowly shifted my weight back. Kayden and I shared a glance filled with only one thought. No way. “So, like, that doesn’t really work for me.”

“Doesn’t it now?” Bittinboulder laughed back at us.

“Yeah, you know how it goes. Parents wanted a girl who could fart rainbows and use love powers, ended up getting sick-ass speed powers. Can’t let that cat out of the bag,” I stalled as I tried to think of a way out of this mess. I couldn’t let them unmask me. Markus sat quietly, looking between us all with fright evident in his eyes.

“How about this. Why were you out here tonight? Why is an entire apartment building currently burning to the ground?” Bittinboulder asked.

“Would you believe me if I said Hexecute came after us?” Kayden laughed roughly. The trio’s expressions immediately turned grim.

“Hexecute?” Bittinboulder said in a shocked tone. She shook her head. “No, we’re done playing. You need to tell us everything you know about him, now.” 

“Shield Mistress is right, Ricochet,” Starburst claimed as she sought to close the distance between us and reached slowly into her belt. “You are untrained and you’ve just encountered one of the most dangerous threats in the city. We need to bring you and your friends somewhere safe for debriefing.”

Kayden eyed her suspiciously. “What are you reaching for there, tex?” 

Starburst sighed and pulled out a black sphere roughly the same size as the one Prim held earlier in the day. She held it loosely, as if she was nervous it would make contact with her skin through her gloved hand.

“Clellium. For if you are not as agreeable as we need you to be,” Bittinboulder said solemnly. When a situation gets really bad, there’s usually a fight or flight moment where you decide if the current course of action is sustainable or not. In this moment, both Kayden and I had likely reached the same conclusion. They looked over at me with a serious expression.

“Run!”