Her entrance was pretty cool. At least she thought so. In that moment, though, she felt a little awkward and childish as everyone, both hero and villain, stared at her dumbfounded.


    “Who is she?” BB asked slightly amused as she floated above Black Skunk. “Are they a hero?”


    “I think she was one of the people that fought Green Wolf.” Wasp Nest noted. The boy was able to share the memories of his bugs when he needed to, and he recalled that when they found Green Wolf for the first time, a girl and a man had been there to fight the villain. “It looks like she got a new costume now, though.”


    Paragon frowned from under her mask, feeling a weird twitch in her chest. The new hero''s voice sounded strangely familiar. “How did she even get here?”


    “I have enhanced hearing, and I was nearby when I heard a big blast!” She explained casually before she turned and saw who she was talking to. As soon as she saw Paragon, her attitude suddenly changed, and she simply clicked their tongue. “Oh. It’s you.”


    “What’s with that tone!”


    “I think what Paragon meant was how did you get to us!” Money Tree shouted. “We’re underground and sort of in the middle of something!”


    She lazily shrugged her shoulders and pointed up toward the roof. They all followed her finger and stared at the large gaping hole that went all the way up to the city above. “I didn’t have time to figure this maze out, so I punched my way down. I made sure to do it in a spot that wouldn’t affect the city. Luckily, you guys were over a spot of the city that isn’t used any more, and the entire block had been blocked off, so I didn’t have to worry about holding back or damaging anything.”


    “She punched her way down?” Oxide asked in disbelief.


    “Makes sense to me.” Poseidon nodded. “That’s what I would do.”


    “Most people don’t have stupid levels of strength like you or that girl.” Paragon said flatly.


    “I think you’re all forgetting something important!” In an instant, Red Raptor appeared behind her and swung out with his tail. “We’re still in the middle of a fight!”


    She felt a wave of pain unlike anything she had felt before, and in an instant she was launched off of her feet and smashed directly through a stone wall. She went through it and landed in another tunnel of the sewer, falling into the water below.


    “This is a fight to the death!” Red Raptor cackled. “Children like you shouldn’t be here!”


    “He’s right!” Red Scorpion launched her tail toward Poseidon. The hero barely had time to block it with another wave of her water as the villain jumped at her and struck out with a fist, ramming it into Poseidon’s gut and shoving the Lord back. “Now that Red Raptor is here, we’ll win for sure!”


    Black Skunk jumped into the air and caught BB off guard. The hero was still in her small form, so all the villain did was simply clap her hands together around the tiny hero in an effort to crush her. BB rapidly expanded themselves back to their full height, but Black Skunk didn’t miss a beat and wrapped her arms around BB’s waist. The woman turned and tossed BB, smashing the hero into a wall hard enough to crack it.


    Money Tree created another sword of cash and swung it at Black Skunk, letting out a yell of rage, but the villain tore off one of her bombs and tossed it at him. He was forced to catch the bomb with his coins and cash to stop it from exploding, and that meant he was wide open to Black Skunk’s punch. Money Tree took the strike but stumbled back, giving the villain enough time to turn and ram her foot down onto BB’s head as hard as she could.


    BB screamed out as blood began to drip down her face. Paragon gritted her teeth and went to send Destiny out, but Red Raptor spat out a glob of acid toward her bird, stopping it from flying and forcing it to land back on her shoulder.


    White Hummingbird twirled out of the way of Oxide’s hammer swing and dropped down, wrapping her legs around Oxide. “Whoa! What are you doing-”


    White Hummingbird flew into the air, picking the girl up and turning her body right as she reached the roof, smashing Oxide into it, and dropping the girl back down. Wasp Nest surged forward to sting the villain, but Hummingbird’s wings moved so fast they began to slice into the bugs like a weed wacker, cutting them up and forcing Wasp Nest to reform away from her.


    The win the heroes had was quickly fading away. The bad guys were reclaiming victory and doing it fast.


    Red Raptor chuckled as he watched the fight. The villain sharply turned and stared back at his prey. “You’re Paragon, right?” The right-hand man of Green Wolf sneered. “Pathetic. I thought someone like you would be stronger. Yet you’re just a little girl.”


    “If you’re looking for someone strong, then why not go and sink your fangs into someone like Green Wolf or Polaron!” Red Raptor turned when he heard the yell, just in time to see her fist. She rammed it into the villain’s snout as hard as she could, and this time he was the one that was blasted through the wall of the sewer and crashed into the water. “God, I’m going to need a shower.” She winced as the dirty water dripped down her body.


    “What are you doing here?” Paragon hissed at her.


    “Taking on a villain. Duh.” She responded, rolling her eyes. “You know, you could say, ‘Thank you, Cinder; you’re so cool, I’ll reward you with a kiss for good work’ since I’ve saved your life twice now.”


    “What was that last part?”


    “Nothing!”


    Paragon shook her head and balled her hand into a fist. “It doesn’t matter. Get out of here, you idiot. You’re a total newbie! That guy is Red Raptor! He’s as strong as Intake or Mars King! He’s bad news-”


    The healer was cut off as a rock flew toward them at high speed. She punched through it, but it was a distraction, as a second later all she saw was razor-sharp claws coming toward her face. She managed to grit her teeth and move her head down using her helmet as a shield, which blocked the claws.


    Red Raptor grunted in pain as sparks hit his eyes from his claws grinding on her helmet. She was knifeproof, but with how strong this guy was, she was sure he’d be able to cut her. She was proven right almost instantly when he slashed out with his other hand toward her stomach. She sucked in her gut, but it wasn’t enough. At the last second, though, Paragon grabbed her from behind and yanked her back just in time.


    The claws grazed her stomach, cutting into her flesh and causing her to wince in pain, but she hadn’t been gutted thanks to the healer''s help. As she was dragged back, she lifted both of her legs and kicked them out, ramming them into Red Raptor. At least that was the plan, but the bad guy ducked and jumped away from her with a growl.


    She landed next to Paragon and clutched her wound. “This guy’s tough.” She winced.


    “You think?” Paragon yelled at her and hit her over the head. “Get out of here before you get yourself killed.”


    “If I do that, you’ll die!” She argued back.


    “Yo new girl!” Poseidon called to her. “Switch fighters with me.”


    “Oh no, you don’t!” Red Raptor opened his mouth and spat out, shooting a wave of acid toward Paragon. “I’m killing that healer!”


    “No!” Poseidon yelled and jumped toward her sister, but the Lord was blasted off of her feet once again by Red Scorpion. Poseidon hit the ground and rolled across it, mostly fine but too far away to send her water, and the others weren’t fast enough to grab Paragon in time. “Sky!”


    For the second time that night, Destiny stared at the back of Cinder. In an instant, she threw herself in front of the attack and raised her arms up, standing in front of Paragon.


    The attack rammed straight into her, and she felt a wave of pain. Red Raptor’s spit had come out so fast it was stronger than a bullet, and whatever it was made of burned, the sleeves of her costume starting to bubble a bit. Still, she held strong. Just as with the training that Mr. Larison had shown her, she forced her body to adapt as fast as it could. She just needed to become so durable that this thing couldn’t eat through her all the way!


    Her feet dug into the ground, and her arms shook as the attack splashed over her and began to devour her arms and part of her stomach. Gradually, it dripped off of her, only able to eat through some of her skin and clothing. She panted a bit, feeling the stinging in her arms. Tears were in her eyes, and she could barely lift her arms. This might have been some of the worst pain she ever felt in her life.


    And this fight still wasn’t over.


    “W- Why did you do that?” She turned when she heard the voice of Paragon. The girl stared up at her, though the mask stopped either of them from truly seeing the emotion on the other''s face.


    Her lips slightly curled up. “I said it already, didn’t I? Because I’m a hero.”


    As cool as she might have sounded with that line, she was barely able to stay standing. It didn’t help that she hadn’t gotten much rest, as she literally ran over here the moment her training with Mr. Larison was done. Her body simply wasn’t in a condition to go a few rounds with a villain.


    "I don''t suppose you can fight back?" She asked.


    The healer shook her head softly. "I hate to break it to you, but as I am now, I only have the strength of an average human. Likely even, less actually. I do have one method for attack, but it takes a lot of energy out of me and would require me getting close enough to touch him. Red Raptor would long since behead me before my trump card could activate."


    "You have a trump card? Some sort of hidden ability up your sleeve?" She mused mostly to herself. "I happen to have a couple of tricks of my own!"


    Red Raptor growled and got ready to charge her again. She debated using her fire breath, but it wouldn’t be a smart idea. This guy was fast. Way faster than her. If she used her attack and he dodged, that could be it for her. She only got one use of her massive beam before she was tuckered out, and she doubted he’d let her recharge her batteries. If only Mr. Larison or Myth were here. She didn’t have her phone though, so there was no way to call for backup.


    Red Raptor crouched down and roared at her, about to charge. Slowly, she took a deep breath. She really only had one idea. She turned and used her super jump to leap backwards, facing away from the villain and Paragon. It caught Red Raptor off guard, who came to a sliding stop and crouched low, eyeing her up.


    She flew back and felt her back collide with someone. Poseidon caught her using her own back to stop her, and the two of them were now back to back. The hero gave a sly smile, seemingly understanding her plan. In an instant, Poseidon used the momentum to spin them both around each other and trade places. She lifted her hand up and punched away Red Scorpion’s stinger while Poseidon lowered their gravity and blasted off toward Red Raptor.


    In an instant, they had traded villains. And without a doubt, Red Scorpion looked way easier to fight than Red Raptor had.


    Over with the others Black Skunk brought her foot down hard, directly onto BB’s head. As the limb came down, though, it began to lift up as BB’s height began to change. The girl gritted her teeth and tapped into her ability. Not the one to control wind, instead the one that allowed her to shrink. Instead of getting smaller, though, she inverted and changed her power, flipping it around. In an instant, BB’s entire body expanded as the girl grew.


    Black Skunk stumbled back as BB became so tall her head touched the roof of the sewers. BB managed to give a sly smile and balled her hand into a fist. A massive amount of wind began to twirl around the limb, spinning so fast it formed into a sort of drill. “This might sting a bit.” BB’s voice boomed around the tunnel.


    Black Skunk yelled and tried to jump away, grabbing some of her bombs, but instantly a wave of cash crashed down onto her from above, folding and binding itself to the woman and causing her arms and legs to freeze up. Money Tree stood back up, holding his arm out, and tilted his hat in BB’s direction.


    Without missing a beat, BB swung her fist out as hard as she could, ramming it directly into Black Skunk’s face. The wind exploded off of the limb and sent the villain crashing back, ramming through another wall of the sewer and smashing the woman down into the water, totally unconscious.


    Across from them, White Hummingbird flew and twirled around, going in and out of Oxide’s swings. Oxide wielded a large hammer that flowed through the air, bending and twisting, but the girl wasn’t able to get a good hit on the fast-moving villain no matter how hard she tried.


    That was until Wasp Nest charged White Hummingbird head on. In an instant, a massive cloud of wasps crashed toward the villain, who turned her back, allowing her wings to chop away at the horde. Wasp Nest pushed on through and reformed his body, coming back together and wrapping his arms around White Hummingbird’s throat. The wings tore into his chest and stomach, but he didn’t bleed. Instead, more wasps came out of him as the wings began to get caught on all the bugs that made up his form.


    “Sorry, but it’s basically impossible to harm me.” Wasp Nest smirked as his form changed back into the bugs, all of them attaching to the wings and causing them to slow down more and more until White Hummingbird dropped from the sky.


    “Thanks for the assist.” Oxide announced turning on the balls of her feet and swinging out as hard as she could with her hammer. It rammed directly into White Hummingbird’s face and slammed the villain down into the ground, knocking her out cold.


    That left just two fights left, one of which was hers. Red Scorpion was annoying to fight against. Powers came in all sorts of forms and levels. She was a lot faster and stronger than Scorpion, but the villain had her beat in reach. Red Scorpion was still faster and stronger than a normal human, and the woman’s tail was nearly ten feet long. The villain stayed on all fours, dodging her strikes when she got near and would lash out with their tail from a distance.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    She didn’t want to just blast out her wave of fire since Red Scorpion could maybe dodge it, but she was starting to run out of options.


    She rammed her fist down, trying to punch the villain, but once again Red Scorpion jumped away from her. Their gap in their strength and speed wasn’t so big that she could simply speed-blitz the bad guy, so instead she did the next best thing. The tail stabbed directly through her costume and into the side of her stomach, causing her to gasp and croak. Maybe if she had been at full power before this and hadn’t been harmed by Red Raptor, her fight would be going differently, but as it stood, this was the only plan she could think of.


    “Stupid bitch!” Red Scorpion cackled. “You left yourself wide open! Die a painful death-” The villain went to pull the tail out but froze when she grabbed onto it with one hand gripping it tightly. “What are you doing-”


    She yanked the tail toward her, and Red Scorpion let out a scream of pain. She pulled her other fist back and rammed it forward with all her super strength right into Red Scorpion’s gut as the woman was dragged toward her. The villain gasped out and nearly vomited, and the force of the attack shoved Red Scorpion back. She was still gripping onto the tail though, so as Red Scorpion was blown back, a ripping sound echoed out as the tail popped right off of the woman’s rear end.


    Red Scorpion rolled across the ground and roared a curse, clutching at her butt. “Y- You bitch! It takes me days to recreate a new tail!”


    “Gross.” She dropped the one she was currently holding and made a face. Red Scorpion was tough. The last Super she had fought had been White Lamb, and she had managed to take that girl down in one punch. Red Scorpion would need more than that, though. The woman was about as durable as that gang member who took the enhanced drug had been.


    Red Scorpion clicked a button on the knuckle dusters she had, and blades popped out of them, coating them in spikes. “I’m going to grind your face off!”


    She lifted her aching arms up and did her best to enter the same stance she had seen Mr. Larison use. Before she could think of throwing a punch, though, the world around her suddenly began to spin, and she felt as if ice flowed through her veins. She stumbled and gasped, nearly collapsing as her heart began to burn.


    Red Scorpion noticed and gave a nasty smirk. “You didn’t think you’d get off scot-free being stabbed by my tail, did you? I’m a goddamned scorpion, you moron!” The mad woman launched and rammed their fists forward directly into her helmet. The force of the blow rattled her skull and caused pain to shoot through her neck, but she didn’t dare move her head; otherwise, the villain would likely aim for her face. “Die!”


    Red Scorpion pounded away at her helmet, punching it over and over again. Whatever Mr. Larison did to it must have made it a lot tougher than it used to be because she had no ease snapping it in two in her battle with Red Ape, yet now Red Scorpion couldn’t even dent it.


    She felt like she was going to vomit, and the world wouldn’t stop moving. Finally, though, it ended with one more powerful punch that shoved her back and sent her tripping over her own two feet. She fell back but then felt a pair of arms wrap around her as someone caught her. With blurry vision, she looked up at the mask of Paragon, who held her. Her head rested on the girl’s chest as the hero placed their finger on her neck.


    “What are you doing?” She asked groggily.


    “Saving you.”


    “Why?” She groaned.


    “Because I’m a hero.”


    Red Scorpion charged forward, still laughing. “Aw! Isn’t that sweet? I’ll kill you both right here and right now! You can die in each other''s arms, lovebirds-”


    The world stood still as some of the venom left her, and she felt her strength return. Red Scorpion had become cocky, thinking that all she could do was throw at punches. The villain was wide open with no way to recover. She stood up and opened her mouth wide.


    Red Scorpion’s fist flew forward, but the last thing the woman saw was a flicker of orange as fire rammed out of Cinder’s mouth and washed over the villain. Everyone felt a wave of intense heat and stared as the smoke cleared. Like Red Ape, Red Scorpion stood, charred and burned. The woman gasped, and their eyes rolled into the back of their head as she crashed forward and didn’t get back up.


    So far she had yet to fight anyone that could get back up after being hit by her fire blast. She winced, clutching at her arms. Paragon had only cured the venom she had taken on, so her other wounds still ached. "Damn, this stings.” She winced.


    “I’ll heal you.” Paragon said, reaching toward her.


    “No!” She stumbled back and shook her head. “I’m good!”


    “Why?” The hero demanded.


    She bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t really think of any reason. She had said no the first time because Mr. Larison also said no. Come to think of it, why had he turned down the healing? Her thoughts were interrupted when the healer sighed.


    “Look, I get you don’t like me for some reason, but it’s my job to heal you. Just let me do this.” Paragon’s voice still lacked any emotion; it was flat and bland. The girl’s shoulders were slumped, and Destiny rested on the top of Paragon’s head, looking around. Slowly, the healer held her hand out. “Please.”


    She winced a bit but nodded, taking the hand. Last time she had been healed by the strange red bird, but this time Paragon was the one to heal her. The girl’s healing was a billion times better than Mr. Larison’s was. It wasn’t even a competition. Her arms melded back together, her vision stopped blurring, all the bruises and aches she had from the previous fights she got in were gone, and even her ears fixed themselves. They had been damaged from her fight with White Lamb, constantly popping, but now they were back to normal and fixed.


    She felt good for the first time in a while. Paragon’s shoulders straightened up. “Wait, are you the girl? The hospital, right? That’s why you don’t like me!” And just like that, her good mood was gone.


    Why was hiding her identity impossible? “I think you’re mistaken.”


    “I’m one of the greatest healers in the world. I don’t make mistakes.” Paragon said flatly. “You’re Hope Lauren.”


    She didn’t look the girl in the eye as she turned away awkwardly. “Nuh uh.”


    “Yes huh!”


    “I’ve never even heard of this, Hope Lauren. I bet she’s really good-looking and a nice person.”


    “You’re not even trying to hide it!”


    “Hey! I saved your life, didn’t I?” She turned and placed her hands on her hips, flashing her best Victorian smile. “I think you should be a bit more grateful, wouldn''t you say?”


    Paragon stepped away from her and covered themselves up with their arms. “The way you’re staring at me and that tone of voice. Don’t tell me you’re some pervert!”


    “What! No!” Well maybe she was a little. That wasn’t the important part, though. “Look… Just… Stay silent about that, okay?” She said, staring at the hero''s goofy mask. “I’m Cinder. Got that.”


    With her enhanced hearing, she was able to hear it. The sounds of Paragon’s heartbeat. It began to beat faster at her words, and the girl squirmed for a bit under her gaze. She was glad she was hearing it, though. That meant that she had done her job and kept Paragon alive.


    Paragon turned away from her. “Sure. Cinder.”


    That left just one villain left. Red Raptor was not having a good time. The villain swung his claws down as hard as he could, but they shattered on hard ice that formed around Poseidon.


    “You know.” The girl said with a dangerous look in her eye. “You attacked my little sister. She’s someone I care about more than anyone else in the world.”


    “So what!” Red Raptor spat out a wave of acid, but it was caught in a bubble of water.


    “So.” Water compressed on the tip of Poseidon’s finger. “I think you need to be taught a lesson.” Gravity enhanced it, and the thing fired off like a bullet blasting a small hole into the villain. Red Raptor screamed out in pain and glared down at his injury. Another hole appeared as the girl fired on him again. Then again. And again. And again-


    “I- I give.” Red Raptor collapsed to his knees as red blood flowed down his chest and he bowed his head.


    Poseidon clenched her hand into a fist so tightly her nails dug into her palm and caused black blood to flow down her arm. Gravity compressed around her arm, and the hero gave a grin. “I know you do.” Poseidon rammed her hand down into Red Raptor’s head, hitting the villain so hard he was buried into the ground and instantly reverted back to his human form, barely clinging to life.


    Just like that, the fighting had come to an end. She realized only seconds later that she hadn’t even fought a supervillain on Team Pantheon yet. Her first actual battle had been with a team that wasn’t even hers... Myth was not going to be happy.


    “Is it over?” Oxide asked.


    “Yeah.” Money Tree nodded. “Wasp Nest, call the Hero Branch. These bastards are going away for a long time.”


    “Roger!” Wasp Nest pulled out his phone and began to call both the police and the Hero Branch.


    She stood on the sidelines and watched the heroes work. Money Tree formed stretchers of cash, which he used to lay all the villains on. He and BB had to dig out Red Raptor. Once that was done, Oxide bound the bad guys up in layers upon layers of thick metal chains, and Wasp Nest placed a bug on each villain in case they somehow managed to escape so they could track them down again.


    Paragon went around and healed each member of the Sub Enforcers as well as Poseidon. Poseidon meanwhile stood off to the side, much like her awkwardly watching the others work.


    When it was all said and done, four unconscious villains were ready to be transported to prison. Money Tree rubbed his chin as all the cash he used pulled itself back into his cash suit. “Why did Red Raptor show up? Just what were these guys planning?”


    BB, who had switched back to her tiny form, floated down and landed on Money Tree’s shoulder, folding her arms. “I think the better question we should be asking ourselves is what we do with her.”


    That was when all eyes turned to her. She suddenly flinched back as six different heroes all studied her costume. She felt really self-conscious at that moment. “Hi?” She squeaked out. “I’m Cinder.”


    “You were that girl in the warehouse, right!” She felt a clap on her back as Poseidon smiled at her. “This is the second time you messed with Green Wolf, you know. He’s not going to be happy now that we’ve taken down four of his crewmates. You really are crazy, you know that! But you can’t be all that bad if you saved my sis! Thanks for that!”


    “You’re welcome? I think?”


    Poseidon just laughed and patted her on the shoulder. Money Tree folded his arms. “In the future, don’t go jumping into battles that aren’t meant for you. I’ll let you off easy since I heard you’re running with Myth’s crew. He’s an old friend of mine.”


    “Sorry.” She winced. “I just heard the fighting and figured that someone was in trouble.” She had gotten straight into her costume the moment her enhanced hearing picked up on the explosion. She wasn’t able to call the others though, as she had stupidly forgotten to get her phone back from Mr. Larison.


    Money Tree nodded. “Still. In the future, don’t do that again. You’re not part of my group, and you weren’t invited. You nearly threw the entire plan out of focus. Just because things went well this time doesn’t mean that will happen every time.”


    She looked away, feeling a little down. “Right. I’ll try to remember that, sir.”


    Money Tree turned away from her. “Do you have any more bugs on any other Zoo members?” The man asked Wasp Nest. “I’d like to know if any more of them are going to show up out of the blue.”


    “I’m working on it.” The boy lifted his foot, showing that several of his toes were missing. “I placed a few bugs in Green Wolf’s jacket. They’ll send a message to me if they get close, so for now we don’t need to worry about the leader.”


    “Good. We’re not done with our hunt.” The leader of the Sub Enforcers stated. “He’s the next target.”


    “What should I do?” She asked awkwardly.


    “You go home. You’re not part of our team.” Money Tree said bluntly. “If we were working alongside Myth’s crew, I’d be fine with it, but you just showed up. I don’t have time to factor you into our plans and have no idea what your powers are or if I can trust you. You’ll just get in my way.”


    “Right.” She nodded. “I’ll do that.”


    Poseidon hit her on the back again, still grinning. “Hey, cheer up. I’ll take you up top. For what it’s worth, I think you did good and would love to team up with you in the future!” The girl’s hair no longer glowed blue, nor were her eyes red, as Poseidon stopped using the power of the Lord of the Sea.


    “How are we going to get back up top-” She was cut off as her feet suddenly left the ground, and she began to float up toward the hole in the roof alongside Poseidon. “Whoa! What’s happening!” She panicked, waving her arms back and forth. “Am I flying?”


    “Not exactly.” Poseidon chuckled. “I lowered our gravity. I’ll use this to get you out of here and back up top.”


    “You can do that?”


    “I’m Poseidon.” The girl smirked. “I’m basically the next Victorian.”


    As she floated up, she peered down at the other Sub Enforcer members, who all looked up at her. Her gaze settled on Paragon, who seemed to also be watching her. It seemed like what Kyle said was true. The rumors about Paragon joining the Sub Enforcers. She wondered where the boy heard that, as she hadn’t been able to find anything about it.


    She was glad that she joined Pantheon after all. The thought of being on the same team with the person who failed to save her father and didn’t seem to care made her stomach flop. She didn’t really hate Paragon in the sense of it all, more just the way the girl didn’t seem to care.


    “Thanks for saving my sister.” Her musing was stopped when Poseidon began to speak once more. “Seriously. Thanks. I… Don’t know what would have happened if she had been hurt.” More of that black blood dripped down Poseidon’s arm. “Something bad could have happened.”


    “My body sort of moved on its own.” She said sheepishly. They passed by the hole, and Poseidon set her down on the streets of the unused block.


    “Still, you saved her life. Thank you.” The girl smiled. “I’m seriously grateful. Paragon is important. She’s helped save so many lives.”


    “Maybe you shouldn’t have taken her out in combat, then.”


    Poseidon snorted and shrugged. “Maybe. But she’s the only one I trust to make sure I don’t go too far.”


    “Huh?”


    “Nothing.” Poseidon held her hand out. “In the future, we should totally team up.”


    “Sure?” She said, taking the hand. When she let go, she wiped some of that black blood on her outfit. Poseidon looked like she was about to say more, but a flash of lights caught their attention.


    “I’m Alice Ward. You two are the heroes, Poseidon and Cinder, is that correct?” She jumped a bit and turned, finding dozens of Hero Branch drones had arrived and had their cameras aimed at her and Poseidon. The voice of Oleander’s best newswoman came out of the one in front of her. “Am I correct in assuming the two of you fought off some villains?” The drone asked, taking in their appearance.


    She was even more embarrassed as her costume had some holes in it. Her entire stomach could basically be seen thanks to the acid Red Raptor spat on her. She didn’t get a chance to say anything as Poseidon threw an arm around her shoulder.


    “That’s right, we did!” The girl announced. “I’m Poseidon, and this here is Cinder! Together, she and I defeated White Hummingbird, Red Scorpion, Black Skunk, and even Red Raptor! Do you hear that, Green Wolf? The two of us beat four members of your team, sucker!”


    The way Poseidon said it made it sound like they beat them all on their own. She went to say something but stopped when Poseidon kissed her on the cheek, causing her to let out a startled yelp and fall back clutching her face. “Why’d you do that?” She asked, not that she was complaining.


    The hero just giggled. “Just putting on a show. It’ll boost ratings and get clicks.” The hero gave a smile to the camera and a wave before she stepped back into the hole and began to float down softly. “Tell your father I said hi!” She panicked for a moment before realizing that the girl was likely talking about Mr. Larison.


    And just like that, she was left alone with the flashing drones.


    “Is it true you beat Red Raptor?”


    “Your name is Cinder? Does that mean you have fire powers?”


    “Are you and the hero Poseidon an item? Water and fire?”


    She gave a sheepish grin, stood up, then used her enhanced strength to make one massive jump, blasting away from all the drones and falling way out of their sight. Once she was sure she lost the drones, she found an alleyway to duck into and swapped out of her hero uniform, getting dressed back in her wet clothes from her training with Mr. Larison.


    She was glad she had brought her bag with her, as it had allowed her to easily slip into her costume. Her trusty backpack was still a mess, nearly falling apart and being held together with only hopes and dreams.


    She made her way home, looking up at the moon above. It had been fun. She got a thrill out of being a hero. Getting into fights and even getting hit. Maybe she was a bit of a masochist. Either way, it didn’t matter. Not as long as she was getting to help people. She’d save even someone like Paragon a hundred times over if she had to.


    Speaking of which, she could still hear it as clear as day in her head. The sounds of that girl’s beating heart. It was a nice sound. She was glad she got to hear it. It did sound off, though. Something about the girl’s heartbeat was familiar, though she couldn’t put her finger on it.


    Finally, she arrived at her apartment and found a bag waiting for her at the foot of the door. She picked it up and looked inside, finding her two phones, which caused her to snort. Mr. Larison or Armin had likely dropped them off once they remembered that she never got hers back.


    She opened the door and entered the apartment, closing it behind her. It was late, and all the lights were off. Her hearing picked up on the sounds of her mother''s heartbeat. Her mom was asleep on the couch, likely having waited for her to come back. She meant to be home sooner but had gotten busy with all the training and the Green Wolf fights.


    She grabbed a blanket and put it over her sleeping mother before finally entering her own room. As soon as she was in, she collapsed on her bed and wrapped herself around the Victorian body pillow she had. She was exhausted and looking forward to a much-needed nap. Paragon’s healing had healed her body, but it did nothing for the energy she had burned off by moving around and fighting all day.


    That night she had a strange dream. She kept picturing thundering clouds, a field of flowers, a deep ocean, and a ball of fire.


    It was an odd dream. One that she forgot about the next morning she woke up.