“Wanna explain that Ghost?” I ask as I keep my eye on Brute.

“That was Trick, she blew up their Spirit manufacturing plant!” Skye exclaimed. “She pretended to be you since they thought you were her. I guess she wanted to confuse them. But now you need to get out of there while the rest of them are gone!”

I shook my head.

“Sorry Ghost, that ain’t happening.”

“Huh?”

“Have you seen how fast he is? It's taking me all that I have to dodge his attacks, no way in hell I can outrun him.”

“M-maybe if you hold on just a little longer, Trick can make it up there and help you-”

“I can’t last much longer like this Ghost.” 

“C-can’t you just drop Trick’s power and then copy his?” She asked in a panicky tone.

“And lose my disguise?” I let out a big sigh, before taking in one last deep breath. “Here’s hoping I don’t go too wild…”

I ignored whatever Skye said next as I focused on copying Brute’s powers while still keeping Eve’s. Instantly I started feeling my body change as the power took hold. I could feel my strength skyrocketing, as my sanity started to drain away. 

My senses dialed to eleven, my eyes wide and my breathing heavy. The urge to run downstairs and copy the villain boss's power was quickly creeping into the forefront of my mind. To get more power, to get stronger, to find prey, to-

I shook my head in a desperate attempt to clear my thoughts. I need to finish this quickly, before I won’t be able to hold myself back. 

I rush forward and knee Brute in the gut, only to combo that into a series of punches and kicks into his stomach. He was knocked further and further back as I pummeled him until he finally fell backwards onto the floor.

Sadly, that wasn’t the end of it. He groaned and got back up, he was definitely showing damage from my attacks but it would take a lot more than that to beat him.

He let out a grin and charged at me, and I couldn’t stop myself back from grinning and doing the same.

I punched forward and hit him in the gut, but he did the same towards me. His fist slammed into my head, but I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore as my battle high was reaching new heights. Yeah, I could’ve dodged it, but where would the fun be in that~!

No, I need to dodge. I can't be taking hits like that I-

I gripped his fist after it hit my head, and pulled him towards me. I pulled my head back, before slamming it into his. As we both took a step back or two as our heads spun, I could feel a small trickle of blood leave my nose.

But it wasn’t important. The fight was!

I heard some weird noise in my ear, but that also wasn’t important. It only took a moment to take care of it.

“The real fight starts now!” I screamed out as I charged toward my prey.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Haa...haa….haa…” 

I don’t know how long I've been standing here, or how long the fight’s been over. But the room has been deathly silent for what felt like ages. The only sound that could be heard was my exhausted breathing.

I could finally think coherent thoughts as I felt myself slip back into my non-crazy state. It’s either been an hour since I entered the place, or I drained the powers out early from overuse.

My opponent lay broken on the floor. He’s not dead, but he is in terrible shape. Broken limbs and blood everywhere, I kinda felt bad for him...but he's a villain. I can’t hold back against them.

Not that I had a choice in holding back. No way I can limit myself in the state I was in…

Even with my vision refusing to focus and my breathing erratic, I forced myself towards the cafeteria exit. I limped towards the exit, I can’t remember exactly what happened but my left leg is definitely not in the best shape. 

I look down to see small traces of blood all over me, and bruises that covered most of my body. Thank god I can’t feel anything right now…

I noticed that I was back in my old normal boring body, but I figured that was the case. If my copied powers ran out then it would make sense for me to revert back. 

I stumbled out into the hallway, only to see that the cafeteria wasn’t the only deathly silent place. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Not a guard, not a villain, and no Eve. It was just me. 

"Ghost?" 

No answer.

Am I dreaming right now? Is the fight still going on and this is just where my mind went to when the battle-crazed state took over? No…this is too real to be a dream.

I found the stairs and carefully made my way down them, if I fell now I definitely wasn’t getting back up. When I reached the bottom I looked around and saw an exit door, and I inched my way towards it. I had to use the wall to help me along, but I eventually made it.

I opened the door and paused as the sunlight blinded me, but it only took a moment for my eyes to adjust. 

I noticed I was in a parking lot now, probably the back parking lot of the building when it was still being used. There weren't any cars in sight, just an empty lot. I stumbled forward as I tried to get as far away from the villain's hideout as I could. 

The parking lot was big, but I was almost there. Just a bit more and-

I fell forward as my legs finally gave out, I tensed when I saw the rising concrete coming towards my face. This is gonna hurt…

But I never landed on the concrete, instead, I landed into two distinctly feminine arms that held me up. Thank god…

“Thanks...Eve…” I whispered as I struggled to keep myself awake. Exhaustion was quickly setting in, and I doubt I could keep myself from falling unconscious at this rate. Maybe if I just close my eyes for just a second-

“Who’s Eve?”

My mind jumpstarted back into attention as I snapped my head upwards. The voice was recognizable, but it wasn’t Eve’s. Nor was it Skye’s. 

The figure who caught me was wearing a dark blue hero costume, and her face was almost completely covered by a grey mask. The symbol of a shining grey-ish white shield was all my eyes could focus on.

It couldn’t be…

“...Guardian…” I muttered in disbelief.

I was so screwed...one of the most popular and strongest heroes in the city...and I just so happened to fall right into her arms...

I couldn’t see her eyes, but I could tell that she was looking back in shock from how her eyebrows were nearly raised into the sky.

“Jason!?” she exclaimed in a loud whisper.

Wait...that voice….

No way.

“Rachel!?” There’s no way that this is her, no way in hell that my best friend is the Guardian!

We stared at each other in shock for a moment, before I heard a voice from behind me speak up. I tensed and kept myself as still as possible and refused to turn around. I was still wearing my old ‘disguise’ last time I met him, I don’t want to take the chance that he might recognize me now.

“We’re finishing up our searches of the place, Guardian.” The voice of Silver Fist said from behind me. “Most of the Phantoms managed to escape, but we at least managed to capture Brute. He was already roughed up by the time we got there. Could be a villain dispute, or maybe a vigilante that took him out.”

Rachel tightened her hold on me, she probably has the same idea as me to keep my face hidden away.

“A shame that they managed to escape yet again, but at least we’re making progress. That’s two Phantoms down in a week.” She responded in a calm voice. “Search the place for any documents or intel that could lead us to their next base.”

“Of course.” He responded, before he suddenly went silent. I swear I could feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. “Who’s that?” He finally asked.

“Just a civilian that got caught in the middle of all this, I’ll be taking him home. You just worry about searching the base.”

“You know damn well that this is completely against procedure. All personnel involved are to be taken to HQ, no exception.” He argued.

“I insist that you let me handle this, you owe me for this. Especially after what happened last year.” Rachel responded with a strict tone before she eased up. “Please, John, this is personal.”

He let out a small grumble. “Fine, but don’t think that this makes us even. You owe me after this.”

“Fine.” She agreed.

Silver let out a sigh, before I could then hear him walking away back towards the building. Once he was gone Rachel loosened her grip, but she didn’t let me go.

“...you have a lot of explaining to do.” She hissed.

“Rachel, I-”

“Not. Here.” She stressed. 

I closed my mouth and nodded as she moved to my side. She supported me up as she walked us out of the parking lot and into the abandoned streets. We made it about two blocks down before she changed directions towards one of the alleyways.

Hiding inside the alleyway was a single dark blue car with dark tinted windows. She took me up to the passenger seat door, opened it, and then gently sat me down in the car.

I let out a sigh of relief once my legs could rest, even walking that far was causing me to push myself right now. Just how badly did I get myself injured?

Rachel left to go open the trunk and came back shortly with a first aid kit. 

“We’ll keep the explanations as to why you’re here until after you’ve been treated.” She explained as she opened the first aid kit. “I would've taken you to see a healer, but she's a bit preoccupied right now. So this will have to do. Now let me see your leg.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

A short while later, and I was a good third of the way into becoming a mummy. I had bandages wrapped around me just about everywhere. Why couldn’t I have been born with a healing power…

Well, I guess I wouldn’t be in this situation if I had such a power. I doubt I would have become a thief and met Eve and Skye if I did have it.

Rachel walked over to the driver's seat and settled in, she took her mask off and slumped her head against the top of the steering wheel.

She let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Where to even begin…”

She tilted her head just enough that she could see me. “Let’s just make this simple, tell me why you stumbled out of the Phantom’s base covered in wounds.”

“I...uh...got lost.” A perfect excuse, excellent job me.

“You got lost?” she asked with a look of confusement and disbelief. She let out another long sigh as she closed her eyes. “Please Jay, don’t play games with me, I’m just worried about you. Please just tell me why you were there.”

“I just...I don't know if I can…” I responded with a sigh as I looked down towards the floor of the car. 

Where’s Skye when I need her? She’s the smart one, she’d know what to say here. I hope she and Eve are okay, I haven’t heard a single thing from them since I snapped out of my battle-crazed state. The communicator has been dead silent.

Do I tell Rachel about who I am…? About Mimica? Surely she’d be understanding, she’s my best friend after all.

But she’s also a hero…

If I said nothing to her, would she get suspicious that I’m a member of the Phantoms? I walked straight out of their base after all...It’s probably what my first assumption would be. That suspicion would probably be enough of a reason for her to drag me to hero HQ. 

Then it's just a simple test to determine my power, see that I have the same copy power as Mimica, then it’s straight to a jail cell for me.

So my options are to tell Rachel everything, and maybe she doesn’t drag me to the hero base. Or refuse to tell her the truth, and she probably drags me down to the hero base to get my power tested.

“Okay, Rachel…” I started as I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. “I’ll tell you everything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Rachel learned everything. My life as Mimica and the fact that I had to steal to survive. My life as a villain/maybe vigilante with Ghost and Trick since they hired me. Surprisingly, Rachel already knew about the two of them. 

I didn’t think they were that popular as vigilantes, but guess I was wrong. I made sure not to mention their real names, I don’t want them to get into any trouble for me getting caught.

Then I mentioned how I’ve adopted their goal of destroying the Phantoms. Both them and their spirits.

When I was finished she let out a long sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. I just sat there nervously, as I waited to see what she planned on doing. I could only hope that I get out of this without going to jail.

Mimica is a wanted criminal after all…

What surprised me, was that the first thing Rachel did was lean over and flick me on the forehead.

“Ow!” I said as I rubbed my head, “What was that for?”

“You have any idea how much I got yelled at for letting you escape from the Hamilton building!” She exclaimed, “I had to do paperwork for a full week as punishment.”

“The...Hamilton building…?” 

She gave me a weird look. “Do you seriously not remember where you robbed a week ago? You punched John, I mean Silver Fist, through like six walls!”

“Ooohhh, yeah I remember now.” I said with a nod, “Never even got anything out of that. If he hadn’t stopped me I would have taken that safe.”

“He’s a HERO, that's what we DO!”

“Ah, right.” 

She let out a small chuckle as she leaned back in her seat.

She spoke quietly in a disbelieving tone. “To think that my best friend is a villain turned vigilante…It’s almost impossible to believe…”

I nodded. “Same here. To think that you were a hero this whole time…”

A moment of silence passed as she sat there staring off into space.

“Jay.” She whispered as she tilted her head to look at me. “Are we...still friends?”

I nodded with a smile. “Of course we are.”

She turned her head away before speaking again.

“Jay...I...I can’t make a choice like this…” 

“What do you mean?” Is she going to turn me in….

“Just knowing you were a villain at one point is tearing me in two. Do I follow what I’ve been trained to do as a hero, or what I should do as a friend.” She sighed with tears forming in her eyes. “Can you promise me something? Promise me to never go back down that road, to stay far away from being a villain. Please, Jay. I’m scared that our friendship is falling apart.”

What...do I do…

It should be clearly obvious to most people, keep a friend by turning away from the life of crime. While vigilantes aren’t much better, it’s at least a step in the right direction. 

But for me who’s only been a vigilante for a week and a villain for years...Can I really continue this lifestyle? Once the Phantoms are defeated, what happens to me? Will Skye and Eve kick me out, forcing me back into my old life?

If that happened, what would my plan be from there? Get a job and live as a normal civilian? Go hero? I think maybe if I asked Rachel she’d find a way to get me on the team, she's the Guardian after all, but would the rest of the heroes even accept a villain turned vigilante turned hero? Would I even want to be one?

I sighed.

Thinking about what if futures aren’t helping here. What I need to do is make a decision based on the present, and handle the future when it comes.

“Rachel, I promise you that I’ll stop myself from going back. I won’t be a villain anymore, and I’ll continue with my current team and stay as a vigilante.” I turned towards her with a smile. “I don’t know what's in the future, but I promise that I won’t turn back down that road. Our friendship is too important for me to just let go like that.”

She smiled back at me as her tears started to fall, and I quickly reached over and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. 

“Thank you, Jay…”