At the top of the tower, I look around on the off chance that someone has messed with all of my stuff, but it seems to be ?all clear.

  The bag I keep extra clothes in is fine. The armor case is still locked.

  The light in the bathroom.

  ?I don't remember if I left it on last time or not? I've been out of it recently, and the last time I was cleaning out a few of my injuries, I could believe I left the lights on?

  My map expands out, rippling forward in a wave, providing me with information, and while there are countless moving parts in this place, there's nothing that moves like a human should.

  With a sigh, I turn the lights off before suiting up.

  I've only had the costume for a few weeks, and now it's already just right to wear. Maybe there's something to the clothes make the man.

  “Let's do this,” I say, my voice no longer belonging to me as the mask warps it. I'm pretty sure half of that is the confidence filter it adds, but I won’t complain about sounding cooler.

  Now feeling super, I glide out of the face of the clock, trusting in both my body to take the fall and my ability to slow me down.

  For the briefest moment, it's like the world stutters and I slow down ever so slightly.

  Do that enough times and it turns a potentially bone-shattering fall into a manageable one.

  I focus for a second, looking to see if I feel anything nefarious going on. I won't be able to get it right now because I'm focused on finding that camera, but if it's still going on when I'm done, it shouldn't hurt to make a little bit of a stop, right?

  With nothing of note to be found, I scamper up a building, orienting myself in the right direction before taking off across rooftops.

  This time I want to leave fewer footprints in the process of taking off.

  That I needed to go to the tower to change into my full uniform before I could head to the lab that I purposefully had to avoid on my way to change is irritating, but I don’t want to bring attention to my civilian identity more than I have to.

  I still need to come up with a super name, don’t I? At this point, I’m going to end up going by something like Shades because when I first started out I was always in big sunglasses.

  With there being nobody around, I don’t pretend to be a gargoyle on a rooftop. I jog over to the entrance and begin backing away from the lab, trying to keep a similar angle that I think the camera had.

  For a second I’m surprised that my knees aren’t protesting me crouching down as I duck walk backwards.

  Not being in pain is huge, though.

  Once I’m ?where I think the camera should be, I stand up fully, doing a sweep with my standard senses as I reel in the mind map, tightening up the details so that I can feel everything.

  Thirty seconds later, I’ve located the camera, which fills me with joy. That it looks like it was bitten or something to warp the plastic around the edges fills me with less joy.

  I curse to myself, putting it in my pocket. ?I don’t know how to pull the info out of the camera if the card isn’t easy to take out, but I’m sure I can talk to someone who does.

  I let the mind map snap back to its full distance and begin moving away from the lab.

  As I throw myself from rooftops, I try to think about who I know that could help me get information off the busted camera. Maybe I can get it out of it, but I doubt it. The world does not like me that much, and it snowed a few days ago, so it’s probably against me.

  Twisting through the air, I aim to land on a slanted roof before an ear-shattering scream pierces through my brain, causing me to crumple in the air, curling up into a ball as I land.

  With a comparatively silent thud, I hit the ground, writhing on the floor in pain before the sound stops.

  My ears are still ringing, but I think whatever was causing the sound is gone. Or I’ve gone deaf at this point and I can’t feel it or hear it.

  Now on my feet, I take a stumbling run towards the sound. It's not on me to solve every problem, but for one this close, I can't ignore it.

  Slowly my balance rights itself, and I pull myself to my feet.

  I can feel them, forward and to my left. There's several cars racing towards the location. It’s definitely the way to go.

  As I decide, I feel Horrorfrost step out of the lab, and I can’t help but hesitate. The villain who knows my name, the one who sets my very being on edge can I just leave her?

  Damn it.

  Ignoring my own desires, I overtake the cars in speed, and with me being able to dash through some buildings, I'm passing the police cruisers fast.

  I skid to a stop as the nearby streets fill my mind map. I've seen some wild things as a super. A gang war versus some police officers and anti-super folks and finally at least one super? That’s a new one.

  How am I supposed to help with that?

  Could I do anything beyond beating folks up?

  As I see the people I think are the police officers get blasted back as someone opens their mouth wide; I rush forward, hands balled into fists.

  I change the composition of what all of me is, solid and shoulder first. I slam into the screamer, sending him to the ground before I dart over to rip a gun out of another gang member's hands, throwing it as far away as I can.

  I let most of my body go back to being immaterial as I drift around a limb that was once aimed at my still solid shoulder.

  Faster.

  I slam a foot into the face of another as I twist around.

  Multiple objects pass through my torso as I take stock of the situation. There’s still too many weapons that I need to deal with, but the screamer is getting up, and that’s the priority.

  With a lunge, I grab two more guns, triggering my power to take them from their wielders before putting them halfway through the ground before letting go so that gravity takes care of the rest of it.

  A bullet passes through my wrist, and I jerk back in surprise, but I quickly reorient. The screamer is getting back up.

  Is my best plan to take out a screamer to be breaking his jaw?

  Having never broken my jaw before, I don’t know if you can still scream while you have a broken jaw, but in the shows, it always makes it look like you can barely talk at all?

  With my not being able to see or hear, I don’t see or hear the scream, but I feel it. The wave of force passing through me feels really odd, but I especially feel the sensation of vibrating coursing through my hands and feet. It does not feel good.

  Can he target the scream? Nobody around me seems to be knocked out, but could it be that all of his compatriots have something to protect them?

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  I close the distance between me and the screamer. I tighten my hold on the mental map, drawing it in closer and letting the details fill my mind as I leap over a leg meant to trip me.

  The force of the sound should still hurt all of his friends, but maybe the headphones they’re all wearing could help?

  With a snap, my foot collides with the torso of someone lunging at me as I pivot to the other side, dodging a thrown rock?

  For a moment, it's as if the world is mine. I'm the only one who can see the present, and because of that, I'm the only one who can move perfectly.

  That lasts until a piercing pain lances through my foot, and I collapse to the ground.

  I drop through the ground, going fully solid as I thud onto the concrete as I let out a shriek of pain.

  “That hurt!” I roar, clutching my foot and gently feeling around.

  I definitely got shot in the foot. Several questions is my foot okay? Where do I go to get new super suit boots? Is it an appropriate course of action to trap the culprit underground for all of eternity? Can I still walk?

  That last one being the most pertinent, I force myself to my feet, gently trying to put weight on my foot.

  I can put weight on it, and now that the immediate sensation is gone, it's just a throbbing ache.

  Not wanting to spend more time dealing with this whole kerfuffle? than I have to, I take a few moments to consider what would be the easiest course of action.

  Fighting like an absolute asshole is the solution.

  With a leap and a bit of extra help, I get to the surface, striking hopefully a heroic pose.

  Unfortunately, I need to talk, so a bit more of me is solid than I was initially planning on. “Hey screamo, try to stop me before I get all your friends!” I sing before dropping down and swinging across to the guy I think shot me in the foot.

  While it could be construed as petty for me to grab his ankle incredibly tightly and yank down, causing the shooter to crash face first into a metal bench, I would call it an excellent way to take out an enemy.

  ?I continue to do so with every one of the bad guys.

  The screamer keeps chasing me, sending little blasts of sound right behind my hands, so either this place has good lighting or he can see somehow? Screamlocation.

  That's just echolocation, isn't it?

  Regardless, he's always a half-step behind me, which means I'm faster than him or he's trying really hard to not hurt his subordinates.

  At least he's not trying to lead me with his shots.

  With the last bozo down, I throw myself into the air, twisting to get a good look at the screamer as I go solid fully to rest my ability.

  Before he can open his mouth to scream at me, I plunge my fist into his jaw, causing a cracking sound to echo through the night.

  Looking around, it seems like the fighting has finally stopped, at least there’s no more shooting hurting my ears.

  I really need to find the guy who made my helmet and ask if the next version can come with hearing protection. While I’m phased, it’s all fine, but hearing is important.

  I give a wave to the police officers before dropping through the floor to continue navigating the sewers back to my fortress of slowly becoming less ineptitude.

  I take a moment to breathe heavily, leaning against a wall as I catch my breath quickly cooling down from the hecticness of it all.

  I’m handling fights better, but there’s still stuff I want to do better.

  That flow state where I could process all the information I was receiving. I want to do that on purpose.

  And not get shot in the foot the next time.

  Once I feel rested, I push my awareness out the full distance, mapping my location and trying to figure out what the best route home is. The idea of free running across everything seems unwise at best.

  In a few days I’ll be back to full and I won’t have to worry about it.

  My head jerks to the side as I catch something. A good ways away, there’s a large patch of ice on all the stone in a section of the tunnel.

  While it’s not surprising, it is irritating that the bad guys have figured out where I’ve been sneaking around in, but with how often I vanish it isn’t a hard guess, is it?

  Though it gives an opportunity, doesn’t it? If they always have their people patrolling down here looking for me, it means that I could capture one of them or at least take them prisoner?

  What am I thinking? Take someone prisoner; what am I, judge, jury and warden? I’m not going to hold people hostage.

  Take them away from the lab?

  That’s in the cards.

  As I make my way back to base, the question keeps pricking at me.

  Do I confirm my presence down here or do I avoid the fight?

  I’m not nearly in as good condition as I was ?last time, which is a strike against me.

  This area is significantly more in my favor, letting me use my powers better.?

  This is my home turf, so to speak. They’re fighting in my home, on my terms, so I will know how and where to retreat to hide, which is again huge.

  None of those reasons are why I move toward the ice patch, sweeping the area to find where Horrorfrost is, if she’s even still down here.

  If not, I’m going to find one of the others instead since I doubt they just sent her down here. If I’m lucky, they’ll have sent her and some of their general soldiers since I think I can take them.

  I’m tired of losing or of being able to scrape out a tie by the skin of my teeth.

  As of last week, I don’t have to run from them. Even Kurt and Horrorfrost people with legitimate powers are people I can fight on even enough footing on.

  Unfortunately, I don’t find the lady blasting ice all around, but there’s definitely signs of her being here recently as the new bruises forming on my side can attest to. They also attest to my shitty capacity for balancing on slick ice.

  Maybe I can get boots that can pop off ice spikes that will let me stick to the floor better.

  I pause around the corner, listening to the sound of breathing and minor cursing just a little away from me.

  One guy.

  Limping like he had just fallen.

  One hand alongside the wall to give him support.

  One of those boxes that turns into a laser pistol clipped to his belt and some kind of baton thing that has internals crackling with energy that sets my teeth on edge.

  Earbud in his ear, I guess he needs something to listen to while he’s out patrolling down here. Wonder if criminals are more audiobook or music folk.

  Having gotten the information I need, I snap my mind back out, looking to see if there’s anyone else nearby.

  All clear, and it should take them a few minutes to get here anyway, presuming they are coming all the way from the lap.

  With a breath to calm myself, I sink into the wall, just barely poking the tips of my fingers and toes out to hold on to myself as I scale the wall horizontally as fast as I can, close the distance between myself and the limping man.

  Hopefully, he won’t look behind him and see a bunch of disembodied bits poking out from a wall, but what are the chances he looks behind him? Or notices me in the first place?

  “Hey?” I say, pulling my head out of the wall as if I’m some sort of terrifying phantom sent from the heavens to terrify this man.

  The yelp of surprise ?I get as he falls to the ground is everything I hoped for in doing something so stupid.

  Stepping out of the wall like a phantom, I go fully solid before drilling a kick into his side. As I step back, dodging his wild lashing out, I realize that there’s a big problem with me fighting him down here.

  This isn’t a world where I can just beat him up and he’ll turn the other leaf, and I don’t know how to get him out of here without my powers, which I can’t do on another fully grown person. I can barely manage Bianca!

  There’s also no chance that the way ?he came in here is going to be helpful for me getting him arrested.

  All I’ve done so far is scare him and then kick him while he’s down when he tripped on the ice.

  And he’s cursed about the cold and tried to kick me when I scared him, which I can’t say is an unreasonable response to my actions?

  “I’m the asshole here.” I mumble, stepping to the side as he pulls out his laser box and begins shooting me, which helps me feel a little better.

  Sure, I hit the dude, but he’s trying to laser me, which is a gross amount of escalation. Though I guess that means the full details of my ability are coming out.

  Last time, they all used those enhancement patches and tried to out-muscle me.

  How to take him out but let him be able to get back to his friends? All while making it so he won’t be able to cause me a problem again?

  I phase ?through the floor, catching myself with my left hand as I continue to think before flipping back into the air, weaving through the storm of lasers with no care, mostly because not even lasers seem to hit me.

  While I’m trying to figure this out, I might as well try something.

  As I drift towards the ground, I try to imagine the concrete as a plane of material that I will not fall through.

  If I can sort of do it on air, maybe it’ll work?

  Ehhh, kind of?

  I don’t plummet like there’s nothing, but I’m sinking in it like mud; which wasn’t the goal.

  Stepping out of the ground using my normal walking technique I walk over and confiscate the laser gun since, even if I can’t take him anywhere and I’m just going to leave him here, who's going to refuse having a pulse pistol to use?

  Not me.

  While he’s screaming something as he scrambles back trying to keep his laser gun away from me, I surge forward, placing a solid hand on the barrel of the gun before using my power and yanking it back with me.

  Laser gun in hand, I stomp on his leg, stopping the moment I feel something break, before beginning to hightail it out of there.

  It’s getting colder and I can feel Horrorfrost is getting closer.

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