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Content Warning: Mentions/flashbacks of self harm, dissociation 

Bend raised a hand and the space between Devin and I warped outward, expanding like I was being dragged backwards through a funhouse hallway. A sudden headache flared inside my skull, staring at how the air and walls stretched to accommodate the shift in reality. It wasn’t right. The ground I was walking on, the air I’d been breathing, changed as if they were putty. The motion abruptly stopped, a hand hurriedly clapped over my mouth as I felt my throat tense. I fought down the remains of my lunch, bile retreating back towards a stomach clenched with shuddering cold. 

With deep, cautious breaths, clutching my denim jacket around my body like a protective cloak, I set my attention back on the warehouse. The cleared out space at the center where I’d been talking business with Devin and friends was magnified, making the floor about three times longer than it’d been before. Panic had fully set in among the cronies, muzzle flashes and the crack of gunshots overshadowed by a flare of yellow-white as energy-packed light speared upwards to fry anything it touched. 

The heroes had already sprung into action, leaving the eruption of heat behind them as they raced towards Devin. With each running independently, I could count that there were four of them- evenly matched against Devin, Brian, Landon and the other man I hadn’t met. Bend had been easy to recognize, her outfit’s royal purple and accents of yellow standing out clearly from the dusty grays of the factory. The cloth over her armor hung down in flaps in a way that resembled a robe, and they flowed behind her as she charged forward. 

As I turned my attention to the other three heroes, I only found one, trailing a short distance behind Bend. Where- what? They’d been there, then they simply hadn’t. As I questioned my sanity, my attention whipped back towards Devin- Devins. Plural. The panic and shouting among his side boiled over, punches being thrown and figures trying to run as they processed what we were all seeing. 

Five Devins stood among the other men. One Devin with wide eyes and trembling limbs was retreating towards the shelves, another advancing steadily towards him. Landon and Brian were defending from a pair of Devins, a sleek black baton striking Landon’s forearm as he raised them to protect himself. The man I didn’t know drove a fist forward in a tight spiral, landing a hit straight to the last Devin’s stomach. Immediately, the Devin folded in and shattered to nothing like glass.

My hands trembled, fingers tugging my jacket so tightly I was probably damaging the fabric. Flesh and matter had simply broken apart like a cheap replica. I hadn’t even had time to process what the Devin was. The shards, as they evaporated from existence, were like 3D illusions, chunks and reflections of what the Devin had been. As my mind still whirred over what was happening, a flash shot outwards from where the figure had stood, coating my vision in a harsh white.

I shut my eyes instinctively, but the white remained. My hands fumbled to find the harsh metal of the walkway railing, desperate to confirm I was still here. Water welled up under my eyelids. As my breathing accelerated, heart hammering inside my body, the white began to fade. I blinked my eyes open, the dull colors of the warehouse and its inhabitants filtering back in. 

The unknown man who’d… broken the one Devin was laid out on the floor, limbs splayed and body still. Sluggish and confused, the other figures around were trying to get their bearings. 

“Watch your fucking positioning, Tri!”

I could hear the bitter tone of the shout from here, but it drew my attention to something else- there was only one Devin now. Sat on his ass, back against a shelf several times taller than him, it wasn’t just the distance that made him look small. The guy was scared shitless. Standing in front of him was a hero clad in white armor plate and glimmering transparent shawl, their head turned around from the yell. 

Two heroes clad in the same crimson and yellow armor flinched simultaneously, even as they started towards Landon and Brian. The two men had barely recovered their footing before they were promptly shoved to the ground, barking profanities at the pair of heroes restraining them. 

“Veil! Pay attention to-“

A new voice called out, then faltered. The ground beneath the hero in glittering white glowed with intensifying shades of yellow and orange. Bend halted in her tracks, raising a hand. The next second was a blur. Space shrunk between Bend and the hero in white. Her outstretched hand shoved the hero to the ground. A flare of crackling light burst upwards. As I processed what had just happened, a raw, animal scream cut through the air, silencing everything else. The stretched space distancing me from the action began to shrink, the metal overhang crawling back to its original position.

“Bend!” 

The hero was cradling herself on the ground, curled tight and visibly shaking. A trail of steam wisped upwards from her body, hissing with leftover energy. Fuck, how badly did it get her? If she’d taken it in force… I just hoped that wasn’t the case. Sharp, desperate whines echoed through the warehouse. My gut felt like it was eating itself. 

A flash of sparkles caught my vision as the white-armored hero turned towards Devin, silent. He started to scramble away, ground beneath the hero buzzing with heat. A white-gloved hand whipped across my view of him, a flash of something black in their hand. Devin hit the ground cold, legs providing no resistance. The energy beneath the hero evaporated into nothing. 

“Bend! Oh god, Bend…” 

The hero who’d been trailing behind her caught up, falling to their knees beside their comrade. Their armor was pastel blue and sleeker than the others, looking more like a continuous body than a plated outfit.  They hesitantly extended their arms, kneeling down over Bend. Probably inspecting her wounds. I noticed there were pink highlights running up the arms of their armor. One of the heroes in crimson and yellow approached Bend, hovering silently. I couldn’t see where the other in identical armor had gone, and didn’t have the headspace to think about that question right now. 

“How did… is she… ?”

Glistening even as their head hung, the hero in white joined the other two near Bend. Shaking their head, the blue-armored hero looked as if they were turning to say something, but I couldn’t hear what from where I was. Devin’s dealt with. The heroes are occupied. Now’s your chance to get out. My body wouldn’t obey my brain. Bend’s shaking body took up the forefront of my vision, eyes drifting back to her every time I started to turn away. I felt tile on my bare feet, the inside of my body hollow and cold. Don’t be dead. The thought was both automatic and a strain on my head. Even something as basic as thinking made me feel like a robot with an empty battery. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop myself from being back in that bathroom. The sensations were both distant and exactly as I remembered them from that day. I stood and stared, incapable of anything else. Useless. Time passed. I couldn’t tell how much. Any moment my dad would come through the doorway behind me. There’d be a scream-

“Thank god, she’s okay!”

I became aware of my breathing again. Next came dull pain from my hands, knuckles white as I uncurled my fingers from around the metal railing of the walkway. As I gradually re-oriented myself, I recognized what my eyes still held in focus. The hero in crimson and yellow was helping Bend to her feet, propping her arm over their shoulder. There were sighs of relief, and I could see posture relaxing among the heroes even with their armor. I felt exhausted more than anything else. I wanted to be done, to go home and get that warm meal I’d promised myself on the way here. Some words were exchanged and the blue-clad hero jerked her head my way, the other heroes’ focus following the motion. Landing on me. Fuck.

“Are you okay?”

Bend’s voice. There was an inherent irony in the girl who’d taken a hit from Devin asking me that. Yet she was standing, albeit with help, and taking charge. I was struggling to grasp my surroundings, leaving the grip of a panic. I felt pathetic. The four gradually approached, keeping pace with Bend as their masks and helmets turned upwards. I couldn’t see their eyes, but I felt like they were locked on mine. 

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie. With some food, some rest, I’d be alright. Devin being out of business would be a problem. I’d find a new gig though. I’d done it before. Unless they were taking me out to dinner, there wasn’t anything they could help with. 

“I’m Bend.” She placed a palm over her chest as she spoke, before extending it towards the hero in blue on her left. Seeing them up close, the colors on their armor seemed like they’d been painted on. I could make out flowing brush strokes and the highlights on their arms were smudged, blending into the other colors. “This is Oracle,” Her hand moved to hover over the crimson and yellow suited hero supporting her weight. The texture of their armor was rough and metallic. “Trifecta…” Bend continued to extend her arm out to her right. The shawl hanging from the white armored hero was longer than it had seemed at a distance, almost a cloak. “And Veil.”

“Yo.” Veil gave a relaxed wave with one hand, which earned a sharp turn and a shake of the head from Bend. 

“Do you want to share your name?” Bend continued, facing back towards me. 

Bend raised a good question. Giving them my name was dangerous. They knew my face, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to track me down again.

“Sara.” I answered blandly, hoping they wouldn’t press me further. 

“It’s good to meet you, Sara.” Every word out of Bend's mouth was stiff. This whole talk felt scripted. Well, except for Veil, whose boot was tapping impatiently against the floor. “Are you injured? You said you were fine, but we can take you to the nearest hospital to get checked out.” 

God, how many questions was she going to go through? Even if I was hurt, I wasn’t about to risk a hospital visit with them. It sounded like a great way for everyone to find out what I was. 

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Oracle turned their head in towards Bend for a brief moment. Bend paused, nodded curtly, and turned back towards me. 

“Veil and Oracle can escort you home safely if you need. You’d have to wait a little while before we hand the villains off to authorities. I’ll be stopping at a hospital myself.” She twitched the arm propped up by Trifecta’s shoulder, and I finally got a good look at it. The armor had been charred and chipped completely black. Flaps of cloth hung from bubbly, bright red skin. Staring, I suddenly realized I hadn’t answered Bend.

“I can get home on my own, don’t worry.”

There was a moment of utter silence, Bend’s expressionless mask meeting my gaze. Then, I heard her sigh.

“Well, I wanted to build up to this part, take our time.” The injection of synthetic warmth drained from her voice as she continued, leaving a cold, sharp tone. “Your name isn’t Sara. And you’re an alterhuman.”

I froze. A second passed. Another. Were they about to try and take me in, right here, right now? Instinctively my sneakers scraped against the metal mesh of the walkway, legs setting in a defensive position.

“Hey, we can’t throw down again with Bend like this.  Chill.” Veil spoke again.

I didn’t trust their words. My eyes flicked to the right. It was a straight shot down the walkway to the stairs next to the warehouse entrance. 

“We don’t know how they started attacking you-” Bend gestured behind her to Devin and the rest, bound and unconscious. “But in our eyes, you were a victim here. You don’t have a villain designation yet. No record, no crimes. This is an opportunity to move forward, leave this business behind.” 

“What are you saying?” 

“Staying rogue is dangerous. If we meet again, it likely won’t be friendly. We’ve welcomed alterhumans with past crime entanglement to the NHA before. You’d be safe. We have resources- specialized medical staff, education programs. You wouldn’t be required to fight either.”

It took a moment for what she said to sink in. I would be in the company of others like me- alterhumans, heroes, whatever label you wanted to assign them. There would be security, a new place to live. Near the NHA headquarters downtown, probably. The picture formed in my head. A faceless girl going into the headquarters each day for work, waving hello to friends, having them lean on her when something was troubling them. Cheery exhales when they sit down together for something warm to eat after a long day. 

No matter what I tried, placing myself into that picture made me wince. Then, the image began to crumble. Friends wearing pained smiles came to me with wounds I couldn’t heal. Wounds that my touch only made fester, the bright walls of the headquarters and my new home tinged black with rot. One by one, they vanished, no matter how loudly I screamed their names down the empty hallways. Drained, searching for what to say, my lips found the mantra I’d repeated almost every day after mom committed suicide and dad abandoned me a year ago. 

“I can take care of myself.” 

Bend and the other heroes were silent. She glanced right towards Oracle. The hero only shook their head in response.

“Alright.” Bend said, defeat clear in her voice. “I’d stay and hear you out, but I only have a few minutes left on these painkillers before I go back to screaming. You know how to reach us. The hotline or walk-in at HQ works. Can always just talk.” Her mask faced me for another moment. Slowly, with a nudge to Trifecta, the two began to turn around and walk back towards Devin. Veil followed. Oracle held their attention on me for another few seconds. I couldn’t tell what expression laid behind the smooth surface of their mask, and didn’t have the energy to care. They turned around too, leaving me to finally make my way down the metal walkway and escape this damned warehouse. I felt a faint sense of relief at the thought of going home by myself and leaving this day behind. What do I have in the fridge?

***

A warm spoonful of microwaved curry hit my tongue, back sinking into the wooden chair as I savored the taste. It wasn’t amazing, but it did the job. My body was tense and knotted from everything today. Alone in my apartment, I could feel my shoulders fall as they relaxed and my gut uncoiling from itself. It had been an uneventful trip home. Chill winds had blown at my back as I found my way from the run-down factories near the river to the relatively less run-down bars and apartments where I lived in the industrial district. The Poseidon had a decent crowd tonight, at least from what I could tell walking by. Chatter and the noise of bustle bled to the street outside. It’d be nice if I was old enough to sit down at the bar. Getting a hefty drink to go through, letting everything else fade… George would definitely have something to say to me about that.

I chuckled lightly before packing another spoonful into my mouth. Chewing soft chunks of carrots and assorted veggies, I gave myself a mental pat on the back for being healthy. Devoid of other distraction, my eyes wandered the softly lit kitchen next to the sparse table where I ate. There was a decently sized counter that served as an island separating the kitchen from the rest of the apartment. Empty cups and some spice jars I’d left out littered the surface, and I promised myself I’d clean up. With the way my brain scanned objects, it’d annoy me to hell if I didn’t. The thought reminded me of what I’d been holding with my power, and I stood up after slurping another mouthful of curry. 

Browsing past my brain, into the space that lurked behind it, I found my haul from George’s record store. I gave the bag of records a mental nudge and a moment later I felt its weight in my hands. The living area was just beyond the table. I resisted the urge to plop down on the couch, instead walking over to the record player sitting on a shelf across from it. It was a thing of beauty. A shining, bright red metallic base with a smooth glass cover, sleek needle at rest beside the turntable. If dust ever thought to gather on my baby, I’d wipe its existence out the moment I noticed. The record player had been the first thing I’d bought once I started making money here. Something I could be proud of. 

My fingers ran along the record spines that took up the rest of the shelf. They were organized loosely by title and nothing else. George would probably have something to say about that, too. With a slight smile on my face, I slid the records into their new home, nestled tightly between others I’d given the same care. I wasn’t in the mood to listen again tonight, but knowing they were there was a comfort. 

A flatscreen TV was next to the record shelf, and I ducked down on my knees to open the shelves of the stand it sat on. Below a black, angled videogame console was a collection of games. They’d make a good distraction for me to wind down with before going to sleep. My eyes landed on a few of my favorites. A cloaked figure clutching gnarled weaponry faced a gloomy Victorian labyrinth. A fancily dressed puppet stood defiantly to the backdrop of misty spires. A hero with glowing futuristic helmet and armor ran alongside a towering mech, guns blazing. I took the one in the middle along with a controller and set them down on a coffee table between the couch and TV. A part of my head nudged me to sit down and lose myself in the game’s sprawling world already, but I had food to finish and cleaning to do. The game would be a reward for getting those done.

It was when I turned back to sit at the table that I noticed it. There was an envelope sitting neatly in the mail slot next to my door. Huh. I walked past the kitchen to get up close. It was a fancy envelope, milk white with a flowery pattern embellishing the sides. I didn’t really get any mail here. 

The apartment building was for people who wanted to stay incognito and the staff ran a tight ship. You provided an initial down payment, then your rent each month, in cash or credit. In return, the building owner covered the paperwork and made sure you had privacy. No one knew for sure, but I’d heard rumors that it was Paper Trail. His power let him trace documents and data. Having made a reputation for himself around here for getting away with running scam networks and defrauding the city, it made sense. 

For this to have reached me, the owner, whoever they were, must have verified that the sender knew who I was and that it didn’t contain anything dangerous. A shiver ran down my spine, shoulders stiffening again as if settling back into a natural position. I pinched the envelope between my fingers, taking it with me as I went to sit down in front of my plate of half-finished curry.

It’s not impossible that a past employer found me here. My name could have traveled while I was working for Devin too. The thought that the NHA had somehow tracked and sent me something crossed my mind, but that was ridiculous. Right? I ate another spoonful of the curry, now getting lukewarm, while my mind hopped from possibility to possibility. Well, only one way to find out. I slid my thumb beneath the envelope’s fold, and ran it across in a smooth motion. A letter waited inside, on similarly ornate paper to the envelope. It only took the first few lines for me to realize it wasn’t any past employer or the NHA.

To Ms. Audrey Ansetl,

I’ve heard of your exceptional ability to acquire items of value. I’m reaching out because I would like to hire your services for a job. 

It was the new villain in town.