Like a physical thing, I could feel the connection forming and her powers being drained. I instinctively knew how to use her power, I knew what muscles to flex, what nerves to activate to do what.

 

The most weird thing about her power was the ability to sense heat sources at a distance. These felt like an extension of my body, like I could slip into them at any time. Many of them where far away, past the precinct. This is most likely the power she used to come out of the lighter.

 

I could probably burn the handcuffs and fight here but that would achieve nothing, so I chose to slip away to the farthest heat source I could sense. It was a weird feeling. My whole body turned into plasma, the weight of my organs and the rush of blood on my ears gone. Trailblazer, sensing something was wrong, stood up and rushed me at the last moment before I disappeared. The shock and confusion on her face were priceless.

 

With an explosion of fire that threw some cooking pans out of the burners I manifested in someone’s kitchen.

 

“What the fuck’s that ruckus going on in there?!” came the creaky voice of an old woman. I could hear her shambling her way to me, but I saved her the trouble since I needed to find the door and get out.

 

“What are you doing here laddie?!” she demanded as I kept moving towards the door. “Come to rob an old woman?! You should get married to a good woman and- hey look at me when I’m talking to you! Kids these-”

 

Another explosion cut her off. Trailblazer came barreling out of the kitchen.

 

“You think you are clever, cunthead?!” Trailblazer glared at me, the irises of her eyes glowing orange like two molten suns, her considerable breasts heaving up and down from anger. “Stealin’ my powers and shit. Give them back or I’ll show you what happens to bad boys!”

 

If she knew where I appeared, then she must be able to sense which heat sources explode when I appeared on them. There was no point to keep teleporting.

 

Still running, I opened the door and once I was past the entrance slammed it closed with a twist of my arm, not looking back. 

 

I was halfway down the hallway by the time the door slammed open again and she came out. 

 

The stairs where at the end and when I reached them, I took the steps three at a time, practically flying down. But this was too slow, so whenever I was not in a “turn” I decided to slide down the banister.

 

Doing this, I gained some distance from her. So when I exited the building onto the street I had a few moments to choose a hiding spot, if I wanted. But then again, I could hear a carnival raging a few streets away.

 

The carnival seemed like the better option since I wasn’t sure if she had heatsense or another tracking power. So, I turned left at the end of the street and kept running on the direction of the noise.

 

People stopped to gawk at me as I passed them by due to my superhero costume, a black, armored costume made predominantly of spider silk. I also had a matching black mask with blue lenses.

 

Trailblazer would periodically yell at them to stop me, that I’m a criminal. Most did nothing, but a few women tried to make a grab. A few fireballs made them reconsider.

 

When I reached the carnival, I immediately dived into the thick of the crowd, trying to get lost in it. I would repeat the phrase excuse me, I’m a hero over and over to get through.

 

Trailblazer was relentless, she obstinately pursued me always some distance away no matter what I did to shake her off.

 

At one point I was running through a street, moving through the crowd, Trailblazer still hadn’t made the turn into the street, when a woman pulled me to the side with her. She was blonde and had an eyepatch. She was wearing a leather jacket over a tank top that hugged her breasts—no bra, her nipples were saying hello to me through the fabric.

 

“Hey, Mr. villain. Do you need a place to hide?” she said, taking a drag of her cigarette.

 

I wanted to correct her, the ‘I’m a hero’ on the tip of my tongue…but I really did need a place to hide.

 

“Why would you help me?” I said instead.

 

“Isn't a lady’s responsibility to help boys in need?” she grinned, her eye glittering with amusement. 

 

She looked as far removed from a lady as it gets, the type to beat the shit out of a grandma trying to cross the road and steal her wallet instead of helping her type.

 

Seeing my unconvinced body language, her smile waned and she got impatient “Look, do you want to get caught or not?”

 

“Alright,” I sighed. “Lead the way.”

 

Her vulpine smile came back and she pulled me in the direction of a dead end alleyway.

 

“This is going nowhere.” I pointed out.

 

“Just wait a minute goddessdamit.” she said while dragging me to a small, horizontal door that led to some kind of basement.

 

She opened it with a key and in we went. 

 

When we were at the end of the stairs leading down, she flipped a switch and the magnitude of the room was revealed. It was a proper man-cave, or woman-cave in this case. Four enormous TVs, beanbags, a comfy sofa, pool table, even a tiger rug.

 

I whistled in appreciation.

 

“I know, right?” she said, smug. “This here is me and my buddies' pride and joy.” She gestured at herself, “I’m Farans by the way.” She extended a hand for me to shake.

 

“You can call me Nick.” I answered, giving her my hero name, grabbing her hand.

 

“And what’s your villain name?”

 

“That’s it. My civilian name is something else.”

 

“Ah, gotcha. So, why were you running away, Nick? What did you do?” she asked.

 

“I am trying to find someone who has the power to make others travel through parallel realities. It’s time sensitive and running away from the law was the way to get it done today.”

 

“Me and my teammates can help you find this person if you’d like,” she said. “But we will need you to join our team for at least one job that we need help with. If you like it and all turns out well, you can have a permanent position. What are your powers?”