“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” A Lyft driver screamed at me from his car. I had accidentally left the sidewalk as I was staring at the giant digital billboard with my image on it, with the words “Living Legend” above me in big blue letters. Granted, no one knew it was me, my mask does a pretty good job of keeping my identity secret, so the driver had no clue he was yelling at the man who had single handedly stopped The Chillers from turning Downtown Broxton into a frozen wasteland. It’s not like I could get mad at the guy, I was in the middle of the street, staring like an idiot at a billboard larger than most buildings from my hometown. All he saw was some hick walking around the big city for the first time.
I stepped back on to the sidewalk, giving the driver a sheepish wave, then looked back up at the massive glowing sign. Living Legend, I thought, grinning to myself. _Maybe just, ‘legend’. I like it. _My grin faded, a sour taste in my mouth. _If only finding a job here was as simple as foiling a gang of thugs with ice rays. _ Six months ago, I got hit by a train. Imagine my shock when the train was the one that lost the fight. That was how I found out I was a Phenom, one of the few people in the world with abilities beyond anything a normal person could imagine. I don’t know how they didn’t find it in my bloodwork as a child; The U.S. military is usually stellar at knowing who to keep an eye on so they can try be recruited as early as possible. That never happened for me. Most Phenoms have a Synthetic Catalyst, a scenario created to put them in extremely high stress, so that they can transcend and gain their abilities. The scientists realized their ability would be dependent on their personality, but also the circumstances that almost killed them. Want a phenom who can breathe underwater or control the currents? Easy, just have their catalyst be a drowning scenario. Want one who can read minds or manipulate emotions? Overdose them on antidepressants or psychedelics. As for me? Well, the government doesn’t want phenoms they can’t control, so they typically have scenarios that are possible to survive without transcendence; the less traumatic the event, the less potential the phenom will have. Let’s just say there aren’t many phenoms who went through circumstances similar to mine, and the ones that did tend to have words like “General” or even “King” attached to their name. So here I am, one of the most powerful phenoms in the country, and I just barely landed a gig as a bouncer at some nightclub club in midtown. _I need a branding agent, _I thought glumly, making my way to work. “Tiran, that you?” A thick necked bouncer asked me as I entered “Lowdown”, the new hotspot for any and all partygoers in Broxton.

“Yes sir, I’m guessing you’re Vick?” I replied to the veteran. “Tracy said you’d be showing me the ropes tonight.”

“Heh, there’s not much to show, kid.” He laughed, waving for me to follow as he walked further into the club. “If you’re on the door, make sure to check IDs, if you’re working the floor, make sure fights don’t break out and girls don’t get harassed. This job won’t be easy, but it’s pretty simple. You can shadow me tonight, I’ll make sure you’re not gonna freeze up and get one of us hurt. After that you’ll be on your own. Here,” He tossed me something, a small black plastic box.

“A walkie?” I asked, turning it over in my hands.

“In case you need backup. There’s at least five on security on any given night, but the club has three floors, so always expect help to be at least a minute out. Don’t go into something by yourself if it looks like more than you can handle, we don’t need you getting stabbed or your head stomped in because you thought you’d be a hero.”

“Yes sir,” I replied, smiling faintly as we walked on to the club’s floor. At least I know that backup won’t really be necessary for me. I followed Vick around for a few hours, working the floor to make sure things stayed civil. Other than kicking out a drunk who was trying to fight some poor girl’s boyfriend, the night was going smoothly. We walked through each floor; since I was an extra hand tonight, we were the designated backup, going between the floors and checking the stairways as well to discourage loitering. “Kid, I think you have this down, alright?” We were standing at the top of a stairwell, and Vick was looking back and forth between me and the door to the third floor. “Tell you what, you run rounds on this floor and check in with Bobby, then meet me back here in fifteen. I’m gonna hit the roof for a smoke break.” I nodded, then went in to the club room. The room was hazy, red light illuminating a floor of young twenty-somethings dancing on the floor, or sitting at the hightables on the outskirts of the room. I walked the outskirts, staying as visible as possible in an effort to help the angry drunks to either keep their cool or at least pick a fight with me instead of another patron. As I walked I kept my eye out for Bobby, a young redhead, five foot six and seemingly just as wide, the kid was the Oxford Dictionary’s definition for ‘stout’. I found him leaning against the bar, flirting with one of the waitresses. “Hey,” I waved as I walked up to him “Vick wanted me to check in, everything clear?”

“All good, man. There was a couple that got into a fight earlier. I got the guy out of here easy enough, his girl is at the bar waiting on a ride home. I don’t think she wants to be anywhere near that blockhead right now. This floor should be fi-“ a massive bang interrupted Bobby, a gunshot going off, followed by a woman’s screaming. My head darted to the bar to see a young woman clutching her bleeding shoulder, with a massive man looming over her, beginning to drag her out of the room. I was moving towards them before my brain even had time to think. The man saw me coming and leveled the gun at my face, pulling the trigger without a second thought. I could see the bullet as it rocketed towards me, not slowly like the world had stopped, but it seemed about as fast as a pitchers fastball to me. I didn’t bother dodging it, I didn’t want it to hit some poor soul; instead, my hand blurred, catching the bullet before it could ricochet off of my face. I kept walking forward, the guy looking at his gun in disbelief; he must’ve thought it misfired. I rushed forward while his eyes were off of me, a blur of movement across the floor and then I was there. I tapped his chest with my open palm. That’s all I _could _do, otherwise I might have put my hand through his chest. He staggered back, clutching where I hit him, looking wide eyed at me. Fear flickered in his eyes and I could see him mouth ‘_phenom’ _right before Bobby bowled him over and tackled him to the ground. I turned to check on the woman; she’d collapsed to the floor but was sitting up, her other hand clamped against her shoulder as she stared at the scene in front of her. “Ma’am, are you alright?” I looked up at the nearest patron. “Call the police, let them know we have one shot, and the shooter is apprehended.” She nodded and I returned my attention to the woman. Her breathing was fast and shallow; she was in shock. “Ma’am, what’s your name?” “N-Nicole,” she breathed out through the pain “_It hurts” _ “I know, but you’re going to be okay, Nicole, I just need you to take some deep breaths, okay?” I took off my overshirt and pressed it against her shoulder, trying to staunch the bleeding. I stayed with her until the ambulance arrived, then gave my statement to the police. I neglected to mention the part where I snatched a bullet out of midair, or that my punch that broke three of the man’s ribs was really a light tap with my open hand. I’m didn’t really feel like letting everyone know that Legend was moonlighting as a night club security guard. Between the haze of the room and the chaos of what was happening, no one could see exactly what had happened anyway. I was done with the police and the club was closing for the night, so I walked home, a slight smile on my face. Yeah, maybe this big city was too much for Tiran to take on all at once. But Legend? Well, he’d be just fine.

Vanessa slides onto the train just in time, still heaving from her run. She checks her watch “4:32 pm” and sits down, plugging her headphones in. She starts playing some music, sitting back until she sees something in the corner of her eye. She pauses, listening in. “Time to introduce you to Manhattan’s newest superhero: the Invisible Man! The Invisible Man’s fighting style is simple, he turns invisible to trap his foes…” Vanessa smirks and turns her music back on. “Invisible Woman” she mouths to herself. “One day they’ll get it right.” She reflects on her day so far. She stopped a bodega from getting robbed a couple of blocks back, broke up a fight between two gangsters, and saved a cat from a tree. Overall, pretty routine stuff. “It’s a lot for one day” she thought to herself, taking in a deep breath. Her first week on the job was looking to be pretty tough in the big city.  She thinks about all the good that she had done back in her hometown and compares it. Back in her hometown, she got one robbery in the past 3 months of her having her powers. It was at a watermelon stand off the interstate, and the only reason it happened was because the vendor didn’t accept Venmo. Breaking up fights? Those were mostly high schoolers where she was from, not really people with handguns and knives. Cats from trees? That was much more her speed, but usually it was a goat stuck in a fence or something.  Suddenly she hears a muted voice through her headphones “-ext stop is 25th and 3rd.” “25th and 3rd?!” Vanessa blurted out, clamoring to her feet. None of the passengers look in her direction. She scans the map and her heart starts to sink. “I was supposed to get off 3 stops ago.” she thought to herself. She pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head. The subway doors open up, and she approaches a man sitting at one of the benches. “Excuse me, sir, do you know where the train going towards 1st street is?” The man looks up at her, glares, and turns away from her. Vanessa spends the next 15 minutes trying to find a train until she sees something in the corner of her eye. “Southbound train” the sign said in big letters. Vanessa darts over and sees a train getting ready to board. She sighs in relief and starts to calmly walk over. Before she can even catch it the doors start to close. Shocked, Vanessa starts to run for the door. The doors inch shut closer and closer. Vanessa breaks out in a full sprint, reaching out her hand to stop the door until… they shut. She missed it. “Dammit!” She says to herself. “Oh are looking for a Southbound train?” a homeless man offers. Vanessa smiles. “Yes, yes I am.” “Oh those aren’t going to run for another 30 minutes. They do maintenance this time of the month.” Vanessa frowns. She sits on the bench and thinks to herself. What is she going to do now? “You know, miss, the streets are numbered. You can probably just walk.” Vanessa looks up at the man and gives a thumbs up. “Great,” she says to herself. “I guess I’m walking.”

“Are you dumb?”

Kelly blinks blankly at the older woman in line behind her. Stammers trying to think of a clever retort.

“Are you dumb?” The lady repeats stepping forward.

Kelly is anxious. She’s never been in a bodega before. In Ohio, they had to make their own sandwiches and no one had heard of a bacon egg and cheese.

She looks to cook for help. “Look,” he says in a thick Brooklyn accent, “You gotta make a choice: mayo no mayo.”

Kelly can’t seem to find her voice. She looks at the cat lounging on the cups of Maruchan instant ramen and telepathically says “help me.”

The dignified tabby looks at her inquisitively before responding “Yes, I will help you, Rat King. You must fulfill the prophecy.”

The tabby rears back on his hind legs and pounces onto the rude woman’s face.

Kelly runs out of the bodega, into the bright and bustling streets of Bed Stuy. The pigeons coo in admiration as they watch the true Rat King of New York City stumble toward her destiny.

[Oasis Outpost, Central Wasteland]

{Dustin’s point of view}

Electricity cracked overhead as his father groaned in the front seat. Dustin started to wake, his vision a blurred mess. Shaking his head he could make out two or three figure’s outside the car in the darkness. Both his parents unresponsive as he felt a tinge of pain across his right leg and right arm.

The electricity above let a blue light off every second or so as it collided with the ground. They had been the third car in the convoy, headed far north toward a city of neon. Yet here he was, strapped into a car after his father had swerved into a pole. Guess some of the old electrical lines still worked.

He’d watched his father swerve away from a small group of people, stumbling at the roads edge. Forgotten of course, non-humans that would rip open a human like a cantaloupe. Zombies had been the word used by most wasteland goers.

Two gun shots tore Dustin back into the present as two of the figures near the window dropped. Blood splattered against the window. Then came a knocking on the window, the voice sounded familiar. Yet he couldn’t make it out.

“Dustin!” Another voice cried out from his window. “Can you hear me?”

The voice was female now, very familiar. Jamie tapped on the glass as her father smashed the window farther away with the bit of his rifle.

“Dustin” He looked through broken entrance and caught his gaze. “Can you move boy? This pole is gonna come down any second!”

Dustin mustered as much strength as he could to pull himself forward. As her father opened the car door. Another crack of electricity that fell behind her dad a few feet. He could see a larger group of Forgotten behind him. Just beyond the edge of the road.

“Jamie, help him to his feet” Her father called as her footsteps came.

He could feel arms around his chest. Pulling him free, then falling to the ground with a thud as a few more shots rang out.

“Can you walk boy?” Her father cried out, taking out another few forgotten and starting to grab for another magazine.

Dustin watched Jamie stand up, her black hair nearly blending with the night sky. Except for a red bandanna that held it all together. Her light brown eyes, searching for any response.

“I think I -“ He coughed out, grabbing the door to pull himself up.

Another burst of electricity shot out , catching one of the forgotten and instantly setting it on fire.

“Hurry guys!” Another voice called from somewhere a little ways away. “Just grab him, Jamie” Her father ordered, letting a handful of busts off into the crowd of forgotten that loomed closer.

Jamie grabbed his shoulder, tucking his right arm over her left shoulder. Hoisting him up with all her might. Then it exploded, electricity surged through the air. Catching Dustin straight in the back. Knocking them both to the ground. A ton of other shots rang out as he tried to look over at Jamie. But the blackness took him.

“Beep, Beep , Beep!” The noise startled him as he started to come too. Pain ripped though his whole body, as his eyes shot open. Nobody else stood in the small hospital room.

Just the machines whining out load, two chairs off in a corner and a tray with oldish looking food just out of his reach. “Could he move….” He thought to himself trying to grab for the tray.

Slowly his fingers and arm started to move. Then came an alarm, sounding off just outside his room. A nurse stepped into the room, a girl with mocha skin grabbing at the door.

“I wanna see them” She cried out and he knew in a instant it was Jamie. “Jam-“ He started but it came out as a grumbled.

The nurses head shot up in his direction, her reddish brown bangs slipping back down across her face. A bun sat at the top of her head, but her grey and green eyes were locked to his.

“I think your friends awake” She tried to calm the teenage girl, turning her round into his direction.

“Dylan?” She sobbed as he faintly waved at her, his voice not coming as he said her name. Again he yelled yet only grunts came through.

“We need to get that out of his mouth!” The nurse shouted, opening the door only a crack. “Doctor!” She called into the hallway as he felt the blackness returning.

“Dylan, Dylan. Wake up!” A female voice called as he felt two fists thud down onto his stomach.

Instantly his eyes shot open and he gasped for breath. Thankfully the tube down his throat had been removed.

“Jesus Jamie, did you need to cause me more pain?” He slowly rubbed his stomach with both hands, thankful that the pain and stiffness was gone.

“A little pain never killed anyone.” She shot him a devilish grin and spun around quickly. “My mom says you should be out of here by tonight “

“How long have I been in here?” He grumbled, moving forward trying to scratch his lower back.

“Since the accident? Or since you woke up last?” She stopped twirling, her eyes and face dropping toward the ground a bit as it brought back the events.

“Both”

“Two months since the accident, and two weeks since you tried to talk to me. Doctors are surprised you even woke up” She said matter a factly while thinking of the events that unfolded on that night.

“What happened? I remember the crash, the forgotten, your dad. Getting free then nothing “ He sighed, rubbing his temples as a small headache started to form.

“The box blew, sending a bolt into you. Knocking me away. Turning my dad and uncle plus a bunch of forgotten to nothingness…..” A few tears had started to fall down her mocha toned skin.

“I’m sorry…” He reached for her.

“They died instantly. At least that’s what everyone says” Her eyes darted towards the floor.

“It all happened so fast….”

“It’s fine. We made it” She shrugged a bit. “not even the bolt of lightning kept you down.”

“It’s actually quite crazy how it didn’t “ The doctor stepped into the room, quickly behind Jamie. “The amount of electricity in your body even now is much higher then should be possible. Yet it isn’t having any effect of your organs or brain”

He crossed the room, chart in hand. Stopped just short of the beds edge. “After a few more tests you may leave. “

“Hopefully we can get a handle on why?” The doctor mumbled reading something else to himself.

The doctor was a fairly average height middle aged man, a scar hung just outside of his undershirt. Pointing toward his right shoulder, it looked old and like it had been deep. His blue eyes flashed a grin as he looked back toward them.

“Your a miracle for sure. Let me be the first to welcome you to the working section of Neon City” He gave a clearly fake smile in a quick fashion.

“Neon city?” He questioned looking at Jamie.

“My mom and aunt along with the rest of the convoy brought us here” She fuddled with her fingers a second before looking back up at him. “ Everyone was surprised you made it the whole nearly day journey “

“We believe it was the electricity that kept him alive. Our tests show that his heart stopped a few times during the trip. Yet his new relationship with the electricity kept restarting it” He mumbled something else before losing himself, flipping over the charts pages.

“How is that possible?”

“In our best guess, it’s not. He should be dead” The doctor didn’t sugar coat his words at all.

I’ve had superpowers since I was born. Well, I think I did. I found out about seven years ago, when I was five. I used to live in a farmhouse with my family. I just started floating one night and eventually learnt how to control it. It started getting harder when I found out my other powers. I almost got caught using super speed, and accidentally burnt the house down when I was ten, killing everyone but me in it. I’ve been at the orphanage for two years now.

I guess I just wanted to do some good, like the other superheroes, so I ran away. I got to New York in about two seconds. That’s where most of them live. Long story short, I got put in another orphanage and now it’s my first day at a new school.

Why does this seem harder than controlling my powers? I can’t even find the maths classroom!

“Where is M6?” I ask a girl who looks about my age.

“That way,” she says, pointing to the right.

“Thanks,” I reply, nervously.

I walk to where she pointed and see someone from my form.

“This is M6, right?” I ask.

“Yep,” he says, “I’m Greg by the way.”

“Eric.” We wait in an awkward silence until the teacher tells everyone to come in.

Now, I get I’m quite smart, but this is really easy. Maybe my powers enhanced my intelligence too?

“Eric?” Miss asks.

“Hmm?” I reply, looking up from my knee. I guess I was so deep in thought I didn’t realise the teacher was asking me a question.

“Can you answer the question please?” She says.

“Sorry, what was the question?” A couple people start sniggering, but I don’t care that much.

“Do you know what pi is? You should have done it in primary school but nobody here remembers.”

I nod. The school had to put me in set three, the middle, because they didn’t know where I would be at. “Its the ratio of a circle's circumference divided by its diameter. Also known as 3.1415926535. I know about a hundred digits but that might take a while.”

The tall brick buildings towered over her as she made her way to the city center where Adrian would live and fight crime for the foreseeable future. This place couldn’t be further from her upbringing, but with new-found super human powers comes greater responsibility and with it, risk.

She knew she had to act like she knew what she was doing, but inside her guts churned like a wooden wheel. The smells were different, not better or worse really, just more mechanical than agricultural. The sounds were the most bothersome change she had to overcome. Clamoring motorists speeding by, blasting their horns at every intersection to proclaim their presence. Everything around her seemed to spin at an incredible rate. Her heartbeat matching the overwhelming rhythm built immense pressure in her chest and throat.

Stopping in her tracks Adrian, knelt to the dirty sidewalk, took a deep breath, and forced a sigh that sent her levitating several feet in the air.

She couldn’t control her power in Williston, overreacting to even the slightest imposition the small town folk caused. “One slip up and they just can’t let it go,” she thought to herself. She had accidentally broken Ol’ Bobby Joe Franson’s arm while trying to escort the drunken farmer from the local pub one wild evening.

A crowd was now gathering below her, pointing up at her as if she were an evil witch on a broom. “Stop staring at me!” It came out before Adrian even had a chance to consider her words.

How was she going to protect these people from criminals and villains if she couldn’t even walk down the street. How was she going to earn their admiration when she was already disgusted by their conformity?

Her eruption caused the crowd to disperse as if they hadn’t just seen a person floating 15 feet overhead. Passerby’s became just that again and passed by.

Adrian calmed and lowered herself back to the ground but as soon as the beatup soles of her feet touched down her anxiety returned. She gently rose back up an inch into the air. This small move gave her just enough distance somehow to make her feel like she was better than all of them - present but not connected. Satisfied in her revelation, she comforted herself thinking, “I can stoop to their level, yet remain a cut above them - I’m a superhero. I need to be extraordinary now, not ordinary.”

“Oops! sorry!”

“Watch it, freak!”

“I’m not a freak, bitch.”

“What was that?” The pale girl barks, “Do you know who I am?”

“Hm, don’t care.”

“You little—!”

Too slow, Lola’s running away now. You’d think being a secret superhero, you wouldn’t have petty fights with strangers, but..this is New York.

And if she happens to see that girl who just yelled at her getting robbed? She better beg for their help, because there’s no way in hell that they’d..okay! That’s a stretch, Lola thinks, I should’ve gotten more sleep last night.

But that girl she saved last night, who she almost walked home..

They kinda can’t stop thinking about her.

Yes, even right now, as they watch a hooded figure grabbing a wallet out of a purse and..wait a minute.

“Hey!” Lola shouts, “Put that back!”

The hooded figure perks up, “Um, I was just..” They say, stumbling away backward, wallet still in their hand. “Ya know..”

“I know what you’re doing,” Lola says, “You can’t distract me and run off. It won’t work.”

“Oh, yeah? And who do you think you are? A superhero? Oh no, I’m scared of a five foot three teenager.”

“Wait, five foot th—you’re literally the same height as me! How does that even make sen—“ The figure shrugs before Lola can even finish, and fucking bolts. “WHAT? WAIT!” Lola yells, “You didn’t explain your stupid insult!”

Lola is fast on their trail, sweat forming on her brown forehead, it’s too early for this. Well, 11 am isn’t that early, but she’s getting used to the city, okay? New York crimes don’t sleep. Annoyingly. Maybe she should just retire, well, she really only just started a week ago—Lola face palms. Why are you so easily distracted?

“Can’t keep up?” The figure yells over their shoulder. “Maybe you should sit down and take a break!”

“Oh shut up!” Lola yells back, and nearly runs into a brick wall. “You should be--“ She pants, “Scared!” They finish, and it’s obvious they’re already tired.

The figure turns a corner, and Lola takes that as a win, well, if it has a dead end.

It doesn’t.

But the hooded figure is halfway up a flight of stairs, and their hoodie is caught on a hook and Lola—beside herself, laughs at them.

The figure whips their head around at her voice, and the hood falls.

And.. Lola freezes, because she knows that girl, and she knows her voice, and how she looks when she’s shy after being saved and.. “YOU!"

“Me?” The pink haired girl gawks back, “What about me?"

“Well,” Lola says, then shuts her mouth. “You’re all talk for someone who is also a teenager. And five foot three.”

“Okay?” She replies, eyebrow raised. “And you’re annoying.”

“Wh—How?"

“Go away!” The pink haired girl says instead, still struggling to get her hoodie out of that hook. “I’m not giving you the wallet!”

“Why not?” Lola asks, walking up the steps sheepishly, “You said you owed me.”

“What? No I didn’t.”

“Hm, but you did. When you were being chased by that old dude last night, and I saved you, you told me you owed me after I walked you to the subway.”

“That was—YOU?” She blinks, “You..”

“Why exactly were you being chased?” Lola asks, “What’d you do to piss him off? Steal his wallet?”

Her eyes shift from Lola, to the apartment wall beside her. “Well…”

“Oh come on!” Lola says with a scoff. “And here I was thinking you were like, this nice girl, with a cute voice and—uh,” Lola freezes, her cheeks warming and she raises a finger then drops it. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”

But the girl is smiling, and Lola knows she shouldn’t like it because, hello, they’re a criminal, but..

“Okay, I owe you.” She admits it, “But you can’t have the wallet.”

“Then what can I—“

Lola see’s the movement of pink hair and her heart flutters, because that girl has leaned in and pecked her right on the lips. But she pulls away way too quickly, and Lola doesn’t even realize that her hoodie isn’t stuck anymore.

She’s already back on the ground, unbeknownst to Lola, who has a hand placed over her mouth, dazed.

“Hey!” She calls from the ground, “Call me when my stealing is as cute as my voice.”

Lola turns toward her, feet stuck on the stairs.

Maybe..she can get used to New York.

I used to think that I would love to move away from my hometown. Once I got the ability of telekinesis, I knew it was time to move on. I had just finished college and was looking for my next adventure in life. So why not the big city? Well, here’s why not.

It is terrible. Traffic is horrible everyday. And I’m not talking about vehicle traffic. It’s foot traffic, too. Some people are so rude. You have to watch out for people who are going to walk into you. I like being able to take a walk without the worry of being run into and dropping everything I’m holding. Sometimes it makes me want to just move back home.

But I’m not going to. I have this feeling that this is where I’m supposed to be right now. I’m not sure why I have this feeling, but I am going to figure it out. On the bright side though, I get to meet new people and I have a coffee date with a friend from work. So while the big city isn’t everything that imagined, I am going to stick around.

I came here for a challenge Oh boy I cant wear my boots. Everyone is pretty, and I stand out

I should be their hero Now the boutique is mine The ladies make me up This is out of line

They say I can’t save the world Oh boy Just wait until I shine The city’s nothing more to me Than flying, chasing crime

It’s finally happening!

After months of training and preparation, I’m finally moving out to the big city. I saved as much money as I could and Ma and Pa gave me the money they had been saving for me to go to college.

“You won’t be needing to go to school anymore, I reckon.” Pa said, with a heavy sigh.

He always could sigh with the best of them.

“No one’s askin ya to be a hero though, son. I don’t know why you have to go all the way out ta Mega City when ya could do just as fine here.” Ma said, with a tear in her eye that Pa wiped away with his dirty old handkerchief.

“I know, ma. But out here, there’s nothing but farm land. There’s no crime or…”

“Exactly!” She scolded me now, her voice as sharp as whip. “There ain’t no crime here. Less you talkin bout the Miller boys down the road. But you don’t even know if these powers will stick around. What if they banish in the middle of a fight? What if them city boys shoot at ya when them powers faulter? What will you do then?”

I could see the worry in her eyes, even though she put on quite the brave face.

“Ma… I have to try. There are people out there that might need my help. And you didn’t raise me to be no coward or to stand by when those in need cry out to be saved.”

“I know… I just…” the words caught in her throat and Pa wrapped his arms around her.

“You go on now, son. We’ll be alright. You’ll miss your bus.” He said as ma buried her face into his chest.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around them both, careful not to squeeze too hard, as I now had the strength to turn a boulder to dust —— and I definitely wanted parents to come home to.

I trotted off down the road, toward the greyhound station when Ma yelled out.

“We love you, Jon! Give ‘em Hell! And be sure to eat and come back home when ya can!”

She knew, just as well as I did that I could travel the hundreds of miles between Mega City and Woodpine in the blink of an eye —— and I planned to do just that every weekend. The bus was only a cover for m secret identity.

Ha. Can you believe it? ME, a secret identity. Who would have thought?

They waved at me as I boarded the charter bus and took my seat at the very back, setting my bag in the empty seat beside me. My eyes were immediately drawn to the vast green acres I was leaving behind.

I’d always loved the sight of the fields.

The sun setting over the horizon kissed the earth with a orange glow and warmth that, combined with the slight rumble of the bus, put me fast to sleep.

When I woke up, I’d be starting my new life as a Big City Hero.

“End of the line, bud. Time to get off”

I jolted awake to the touch of the bus drivers hand on my shoulder. I wiped the drool from my chin and looked up at the elderly man with a stern face — a face that clearly had seen more than he probably bargained for signing up for this job.

“Sorry, I must have…” I reached to my side and froze.

This can’t be happening.

“Where’s my bag?” I stared wide eyed down at the empty seat next to me.

“Huh? Your bag? Look kid, I didn’t see no bag but it’s the end of my shift.” The man’s voice was void of any hint of empathy.

“But it was right here, I had it when I got on the bus!”

The man laughed and tipped his hat up on his head and a mocking grin crawled across his face. “First time to the big city?”

“Yeah, but it was…”

He cut me off. “Look, kid. Consider this your first lesson out here, always keep your belongings close if you’re going to be taking public transport.”

“Are you saying..”

“Yup, if you had a bag, someone else got off the bus with it. Nothing to be ashamed about, it happens to the best of us.” He pat me hard on the shoulder.

Robbed… me… a SUPER hero, ROBBED! I haven’t even gotten off the bus yet! All I could do was sink my head and shuffle off the bus.

“Welcome to Mega City, kid.” The driver called after me, as he took his seat. “Be sure to get where you’re going quick. It’s getting late.” The doors closed with a slight hiss and the bus drove off down the street and disappeared around a corner.

The vast green acres had been replaced by tall filthy buildings that soared into the sky above— which had now turned a solid matte black… no stars out here I guess.

“Are you lost?” The short woman wearing a tight fitting skirt and heels asked, getting a little too close for comfort.

“Not really,” I knew that I was close to the apartment building that I had set up… I just wasn’t sure how close.

She laughed, despite her appearance it was a cute laugh. “Please, you’re definitely not from around here. I’ve seen everyone from here and honey… you are most definitely not.” She placed a long slender finger on my chest and before I had time to react someone bumped into me and separated the too of us.

“Don’t look now, cowboy. I think you just got your first taste of Mega City.” She smiled and nodded toward the man that bumped into me, who was now running down the sidewalk.

My eyes widened. Pa’s money. Not again.

Before the woman could blink, I was gone. I usually love this moment, right before I step off the world slows down and for split second there nothing but absolute silence— which is then replaced by the deafening roar of wind rushing by.

Just as I was about to reach him, he cut down an alley way and I bolted by him and before I could stop, I slammed into the side of a solid brick building and into an old woman’s living room who, surprisingly enough didn’t seemed phased at all that a full grown man just destroyed her living room wall.

“Sorry, ma’am. I’ll be back to fix it.” I stood up and brushed the dust off of me and the old lady finally registered what happened. She wacked me hard with her cane and started yelling.

“You bastard!! Look what ya did to my living room! I’m calling the police!” She screamed and I rushed out of her home as quickly as I could without leaving her in a cloud of dust. I wasn’t in Woodpines any more, there were no open fields. I had to be more careful. I took off again down the alley way. But as I feared… it was too late. He was gone.

“FUUUUUUUUUUCK!” I yelled into the air.

“You really should pay more attention out here.” My wallet fell from the sky above and to my shock a woman clad in gold and white floated down in front of me.

“You’re the hoo… uh..”

“Secret identity, you don’t even have one of those, cowboy?” She shook her head and her pristine raven hair danced back and forth.

“No, I do I just…”

“Really? I think Ole Miss Bertrum will have something to say about that.” She flashed a pearly white smile.

I could only sigh. I was no where near the level of Pa, but I gave it my best shot.

“Don’t beat yourself up, noobie. We’ve all been there, the hero part is easy. Adjusting to city life… now that’s the real challenge. What’s your name?” She reached out a delicate hand.

I took it; “It’s Jon.” I quickly found out that her hand wasn’t as delicate as I had thought — she squeezed so tight I could feel the bones creek under her grip.

“Not your real name, stupid. Your hero name. I’m Dragonfly.” She didn’t let go of my hand.

“ I…”

She sighed heavily, now she definitely could hang with Pa. “Alright, noobie. Stick with me and I’ll show you the ropes. But first… we better go clean up your mess.”

And just like that… I went from being a hero… to a side kick… Living in the big city is going tougher than I thought.