“So how is it staying in the middle of nowhere?” The voice over the phone asked as Travis transitioned from his work clothes to, well, still work clothes.

  “I mean, if he’s right, I’m about to be hip deep in the middle of nowhere,” Travis grumbled as he fiddled with his boots.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. You can rise to the top, taking down everyone that stands against you, and join us,” they said.

  “I’m perfectly happy with my current position on the council.” Travis admitted, putting on the mask. “Besides, this city is going to be fine soon enough.”

  “The troublesome phaser, right? You sure he can do it?”

  “He’s going to fail a lot, but I don’t think he’ll ever stay down for long.” Travis admitted. “There’s probably going to be a few other supers in the town too pretty soon, so they’ll either work together and form a team or set up districts.”

  “So are you going to move to the next potential hotspot or come back to us?” The person on the other end asked, a small kernel of hope permeating the end of their statement.

  “Not sure. Part of me has been thinking of staying.” Travis said. “Where do you need me?”

  “Spoilsport.” The voice complained, switching to the communicator. “Someone’s messing with Aurora. We keep getting small notifications of seismic activity, no clue if it’s an actual shaker or just a vibe though.”

  “Am I on search and rescue or am I on the takedown?”

  “Scouting most likely to transition to takedown depending on the powers we might see if we can bring someone else in but hopefully you can handle this one,” they confirmed.

  Cannonball stepped out of his lair slowly, speeding up with every step as he accelerated from an enhanced human to a true speedster.

  Cannonball pumped his legs faster and faster, his perception barely able to keep up with the speed he was going at, the world becoming blurred at the edges.

  After an hour, he pulled to a stop, all of his momentum and energy leaving him as he surveyed the city. “Here,” he said, looking around. “Don’t feel any tremors, but I’m going to start canvassing the town.”

  Starting from zero once again, Cannonball began accelerating, going up and down the streets.

  The town seemed to be entirely together, and he didn’t feel any tremors, which didn’t make him relieved.

  He wouldn’t be called if there wasn’t at least some middle of the road super around, and if they weren't doing anything, that usually meant they were waiting around for someone to fight.

  With the classic battle location being a bank, Cannonball rocketed towards the bank trying to weave through the midday traffic and not cause a wreck.

  Thankfully, you only made that mistake once before you practiced excessively to make sure it never happens again.

  At the bank, either several police officers had decided to make a withdrawal, or this was the location he’d been looking for.

  “Is the super inside?” Cannonball asked the nearest police officer.

  A curt nod is all he gets in response, but it’s not like he expected anymore than that.

  “Alright, I’m on it. Any hostages or just the building’s interior?”

  “No hostages, thankfully. They blast anyone who tries to come in, though we’ve already had to send some of our people to the hospital because of internal injuries,” the officer said finally tearing their gaze away to look at Cannonball. “Can you really stop them?”

  Internally, Travis fought against that question.

  There’s only one acceptable answer to that question as a hero. “Of course I can. I’ll put a stop to this,” Cannonball said as he set his feet, fixing his gaze on the bank.

  There’s a collective sigh of relief for all the officers with a hero not only on the case but confident that they’d been saved.

  Cannonball moved away, not touching on his ability to accelerate as he walked around looking for another point of entry.

  Enough speed could be built up to go through the front door but probably not enough to fully dodge whatever attack could come after.

  “The door should be clear.” Dispatch said into Travis’s communicator as soon as he turned it back on. “You should be able to blow through with little problem.”

  “It’s going to be really loud, though.” Cannonball said quietly.

  “You’re a superhero. Get over it.”

  “Whatever,” Cannonball said, setting his feet. “Vibration generator, probably some type of blaster type.”

  “That’s not an idea—” The communicator was cut off as he touched on his power, the gift of acceleration flowing through him as he moved forward.

  With years of practice, Travis continued to accelerate both his body and his perception while keeping his pace ?the same, slowing down the same amount as his power kept reaching higher and higher.

  Reaching the door, Travis rested his hand against it, feeling his power quickly try to escape his grasp.

  As the sound of metal screeching echoed through the building, the door flew down the hallway, crashing into a wall with a solid thud.

  His speed now back at zero, Cannonball jogged forward, accelerating again as he switched through lenses in his goggles to see if he could find where the villain would be hiding.

  The most baffling part of the situation could very well be that they aren’t at the vault or anything else of particular interest that would need protection.

  Sitting in the waiting room sipping coffee from a mug was a man in a homemade costume of red and purple with what looked to be glitter string wrapping around it at random intervals.

  “Who are you?” The villain asked, still holding their mug as they stood up, turning to face Cannonball.

  “I was hoping that you would stand down. You haven’t hurt anyone too badly yet, so we can make this better.”

  “Been there, done that, did the shit ass job. Did you know some villains aren’t even held in prison because they’re so strong the world bends around them?” They said as their hands trembled.

  “You don’t need to do this. Let me help you. You’re just a kid. We can make things a lot better, I promise,” Cannonball said, trying to appeal to him.

  “It’s not kid. It’s Oscillate,” Oscillate said, a slight tremor causing the table to shake.

  “We can just talk. Oscillate, you said you’ve done the shit-ass job, right? Does that mean you’ve done hero work or another job for supers?” Travis said a part of his brain idled with his potential options.

  Sometimes, though, the stupid plan is the one that will speak to people. That’s the most important part of the gig.

  “Too destructive to be a superhero, they said. All they had me do was break up stones,” Oscillate said, downing the rest of his coffee before the mug seemed to vibrate faster and faster until exploding into a cloud of shrapnel.

  “When I was looking for work before I found hero work, they? had me running messages across the states. I was a mailman,” Cannonball said, reaching up and taking off his goggles to reveal his face.

  While the full covering mask makes it difficult even through all of that, Travis can make out the surprise radiating through the young man.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “I turned to theft. If they wanted me running messages across the world, who would mind if I stole a little?” Travis continued. “I stopped though want to know why?”

  “Sure, tell me what pathetic sob story made you supposedly change your tune and become a bastion of kindness and not being a role model for kids who don’t know how the world works.” Oscillate said.

  “I stole from a single mother trying to raise two super kids.” Travis admitted, shrugging. “I ruined their lives, at least for a little while. My actions had consequences, and more than that, I was hurting my kind.”

  Oscillate didn’t respond.

  “I became Cannonball to help people. Because it’s never too late to change the course you’re going. I should know. Even someone like me can change directions,” Cannonball said.

  He puts a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “You can make the world a better place. I can’t fix what happened to you. But we can work together to make sure that nobody else has to go through what you did,” Cannonball begged.

  “You spun a way better yarn than I really thought you capable of. It really makes me think.” Oscillate said, raising a hand. “How much you practiced that lie until you actually believed it.”

  The wave of energy slammed into Cannonball, sending him flying until he crashed into a pillar, his body shaking from vibrations.

  Cannonball coughed, trying to stand up and failing miserably. Physical attacks don’t, or at least shouldn’t, hurt him.

  Travis raced through his options trying to figure out what he could do to make it so that he didn’t get nausea blasted again.

  Slowly, he touched upon his power, his every motion bringing him closer to his peak speed but, more than that, accelerating his body enough that he felt able to move again much sooner.

  “Okay kid. How about you stop?” He said before beginning to take seemingly slow steps.

  “I’ll kill you and whoever comes after you, and then the world will take me seriously!” Oscillate said before a rippling wave of force spilled out of their fingers.

  At full speed, Cannonball pushed off the ground, moving around the cone of destructive energy and stopping just behind the would-be villain, coming to a full stop before slamming a foot into the side of his knee.

  Oscillate let out a small grunt of pain as he stumbled away, a pulse of energy coming from his legs, sending Cannonball back and Oscillate across the room barely injured if at all.

  “See, you can’t touch me. You can’t stop me before I build up to something big enough to truly hurt you either.”

  Ignoring that statement, Cannonball dashed forward, only touching upon his ability three steps before the distance was fully closed.

  With his sped-up perception this time, Travis could feel the air vibrating and pushing against his fist, muting the force, and even though the punch still landed with at least a hint of his power in it, Oscillate didn’t respond.

  “Got you.” He cackled.

  His arm screamed in pain, but super speed is great for getting away.

  The pain quickly decreased until it was just a normal ache as he watched his opponent. “Connect me to Oversight,” Cannonball said, heart heavy.

  “Processing the information of your fight now. Hold him off for two minutes while I access.”

  “Always asking something impossible from me.” Cannonball snorted, brushing against his ability and picking it up a notch as he darted around.

  Four steps this time.

  With every attack, the hero accelerated more before each strike. Oscillate’s vibration barrier proved to be a tough opponent.

  As Cannonball stretched a leg out to go for a sweep, he realized that he’s feeling the vibrational defense from farther away, which was making it harder to pierce the defenses.

  At the top echelon of speedsters, this wouldn’t even be a problem; they could accelerate to any speed in an instant.

  He needed distance.

  As Cannonball looped around for another strike, trying to hit Oscillate from a blind spot, the floor trembled.

  “I don’t know if I can beat him,” he said, hoping someone else would do the job for him.

  “You can. But you won’t like it.”

  “How long till I have to?”

  “Minutes he’s building up more and more energy; if he releases it now, only a little bit of the city will be impacted but it’s slowly going up,” Oversight said gently. “In the event that you need to, you have full authorization and the backing of my authority.”

  “Understood.” Cannonball said, getting up and unclenching his fists as he held his arms up high in hopefully a sign of surrender that Oscillate is willing to acknowledge. “But I won’t need it.”

  “Save the day.”

  “Save the day.”

  Travis put back on his mask as he mentally ran through his options. Incremental increases in force haven’t been going so well, and he doesn’t have time for it.

  The final punch was only the option if it’s the final option.

  That left only one weapon in his hands to use at that very moment.

  Oscillate rounded the corner, his hands held out as if he’s pushing against an invisible box. “Are you surrendering because you’ve admitted you can’t defeat me?”

  “I’m asking you if this is really what you want? You’re building up enough power that you could eventually threaten the whole city even more if you had enough time.” Cannonball said calmly, backing up to get more space between the two of them.

  Oscillate didn’t seem that compelled to get any closer, maybe believing that his power will keep him safe enough no matter how much Travis called upon his ability.

  That’s not entirely wrong. It should keep him safe against anything Travis would be willing to use against a person.

  “You can’t stop me. I’m going to make the world listen.”

  “I’m listening right now. All you’re doing is going to make a bigger and bigger threat come. Carry the big stick only works if you speak softly.” Cannonball said.

  “The world should be ours! We’re better than humans, so why should I play by their rules? Why should I be stunted? Why is the world handed to them!” Oscillate screamed, spit practically flying out of the mask.

  It didn’t escape Cannonball’s notice when the world began to tremble. It most likely was already trembling a little bit, but now even his own impeccable balance felt off as the lights up above rattled ominously from their holdings.

  “So what that the world isn’t handed to us. It’s not handed to them either.”

  Oscillate didn’t respond, but the world seemed to reduce in its shaking just the tiniest hair, which is the greatest sign of hope Cannonball could have picked in this moment.

  “Scaring both normal humans and superhumans only makes it worse for everyone. We can work together. We can inspire.”

  “Inspire? Why would I do that?”

  “Your anger means you want to make the world a better place, right? We can do that.” Cannonball said, holding his arms out.

  “Care about the world?” Oscillate asked with a mad giggle that doused hope. “Nobody will need to worry about it. Because if there’s no world? Nobody is going to hurt.”

  Like the ringing of the funeral bell, the world shook violently.

  Cannonball touched on his full power, bringing his acceleration to the highest it will go, and took the final steps towards Oscillate.

  The tremors happened less and less to his senses as the world became comparatively slower and slower.

  Until the rest of the world seemed to be at an almost standstill.

  Next came the sensation of walking through molasses as he came into contact with the vibrational barrier.

  In his heart of hearts, Travis wept. Even if it wasn’t murder it still came too close to home.

  At full speed Travis pierced the defenses of the young super and broke him. He wouldn’t die, he could still be saved especially with the healers that owed him favors but the odds he walked again were low.

  “I’m sorry.” He said, holding the young man’s eyes as the light began to flicker out of them. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you.”

  The world stopped shaking, and there’s a deathly calm that settled over the bank that Travis couldn’t stand.

  With a quick call Oscillate was transferred to the proper facilities and Travis was left with an empty feeling in his chest.

  He walked out to the sounds of cheering from reporters, civilians, officers, his fans. Those that hate supers and are happy to see another one behind bars.

  All of them.

  “I’m sorry, Cannon.” Oversight said gently. “You’re free to run from the reporters and say you have something you need to do.”

  He couldn’t stomach the idea of talking to them.

  Touching lightly on his power, he ran away, turning into a blur, blowing through the city, heading towards a nearby state park that should give him some space to sort through all of his thoughts.

  Though he really should message another tailor for needing a new copy of his costume. It wouldn’t feel right to keep suiting up in this one after having to kill.

  Sitting against a tree, Travis wonders, breathes out a sigh of relief.

  The idea of going back to Silver City to play babysitter to a bunch of supers either weaker than him or not experienced enough to be a threat sounded relieving after having to do all of this.

  Though how long till he once again faces a task he can’t save everyone for?

  “You should go home, Travis,” Sasha said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  “No. I cannot.” He replied, staring at his now-dry hand.

  “You did everything you could. Sometimes we face a threat we’re not strong enough to deal with on our own.”

  Travis whirled on her, knocking her hand away. “I was strong enough. It didn’t take me any effort to kill him. I just couldn’t hurt him.” He admitted.

  “Humans break. It’s so much easier to be lethal, remember. You told me that! But you didn’t start lethal, did you? You did everything you could, and it’s only because I was tied up with another job you were called for this.” Sasha demanded, pushing Travis back.

  A small part of him wanted to touch on his ability; however, running from Warden rarely worked, and even more important than that is she’s right.

  “The kid’s death is on me. If I hadn’t needed the extra help, someone with an actual subjugation power could have been called. That’s not what we had thought, so you were called.”

  “I’m just…” Travis stared up at the sky. “Tired of solo work.”

  “You can come back to us fully?”

  “And leave someone else on Silver City watch duty? Screw that. I can handle it for a little while longer. Just might take some off for a bit when they’re settled there.”

  “Want to go get some coffee and then visit the tower?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

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