"It's not much, but no one should bother you here." Henry gestured at the apartment he was lending me. I was honestly surprised when the man offered me a place to stay. The way he worded the offer had me thinking he would try to bring me in.

I introduced myself to him, and he must have assumed I had fallen on hard times. This hero was genuinely trying to help me get back on my feet. He hadn't asked about Jeanie yet, even though he had to have heard her.

I followed him and explained what happened. He also filled me in on a few things. The doctor was apparently known as Alchemist, and he was a member of the Snow Gang. They named it after the brothers that started the whole thing, Jonathan and Mike Snow.

Henry, who was not part of SID, told me his team had been watching that place for months. Their surveillance net caught me going in, so they rushed to rescue me. It meant they would blow their trap to capture the gang's superhumans, but they thought a civilian was in danger.

They operated out of and protected the Low District from other superhumans. Capitalizing on their fame made them rich, so they were something like a cross between a hero and a celebrity.

"What about the rest of the tenants?" I asked.

The building we were standing in had eighteen floors, nineteen if you counted the rooftop. That's a lot of space, and I hadn't seen anyone else coming up.

"There aren't any other permanent tenants. We keep this place for when any of us need somewhere to stay. You wouldn't believe the number of times we get attacked at home. We've gone through three renovations in the last two years." He joked about it, but their lifestyle didn't sound very pleasant.

"Are there a lot of celebrity heroes?" I had to ask. Every super I ran into so far didn't wear a mask.

"Depends on what counts as a celebrity to you. How do you not already know?" After he said that, I realized my ignorance was showing. No one needed to know I came from outside of the city.

"Sorry, just nervous to meet a real hero." When in doubt, turn to flattery. A man like Henry wouldn't pass up the chance to boast.

"No, people like you are the real heroes. I was lucky enough to get such an amazing ability. Others have to fight with no guarantee of their safety." He sounded equal parts smug and sincere. It made it hard to decide whether I liked or hated this guy.

"You can't tell he that line didn't sound rehearsed." I joked.

The hero actually got a chuckle out of it. "PR is important. So, why don't you join my team for dinner? There isn't any food in this apartment, but we can get you some supplies tomorrow."

He changed tracks fast. Part of me wanted a second to myself and the chance to rest. My growling stomach had other plans.

"That sounds great. I feel like I haven't eaten in 100 years." I admitted.

I placed my only bag down and followed him to the balcony. It wasn't a very big one. I could probably put a chair and a few plants out here before running out of space. My room was on the 15th floor, so the view was excellent.

He floated into the air, so I summoned arms to carry me. Henry wasn't surprised the first time I did this. I figured he must have seen my limbs fighting the Snow Gang.

Their home was close by, so we got there just as the sun was beginning to set. I glanced at the sky as I wondered if it was really night outside this cubed city or if they had their own day and night cycle.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"You're gonna love meeting everyone. We've got a lot of stories if you're interested." Henry did more than enough talking for the two of us.

The place they called home had a very modern look. It was about the same height as the one they put me in, but this looked like a luxury hotel instead of an apartment building.

Inside their lobby area, drones hovered around, keeping watch. They looked relatively mundane with a spherical shape. If not for that red eye, or their floating in the air, I wouldn't have paid them much attention.

"We're headed all the way up," Henry informed me after getting on the elevator. The back wall was made of glass and looked out over the city.

"This is a great view." I distracted Henry while sliding my phone out of my pocket.

"Yeah, but this is nothing compared to the Science Council facility." He pointed to a spot in the distance as Jeanie slipped into their electrical systems.

It was hard to see due to the darkness, but I could faintly make out a light. No other details were discernible from here.

"We're working on it, though." He patted me on the shoulder and turned back around as the elevator doors opened.

We still hadn't made direct contact, so I wasn't sure what his power was. The only thing I knew for sure was that he could fly. His confidence reminded me of the physical types, so my guess was that he had some level of strength and durability.

"Dad! Rex had one of his little spy cameras in my room again!" A woman with long red hair stomped out in front of us. Gripped in her hand was one of those drones, except it was a little banged up. A fist-shaped dent pressed into the side of it.

"Boys will be boys. The kid likes you and is too shy to say anything." Henry said as if that was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

"He just turned eighteen. I'm not going to let him keep getting away with this." Closing her fist around it, the girl crushed the damaged drone.

"This isn't the best first impression. Sorry about the family drama." Henry apologized, which led to the girl finally noticing me.

"Morgan Adler." I introduced myself and stuck out my hand for a handshake.

"Oh, uh, I'm Crystal!" She straightened up and smoothed out her hair before reaching out and grasping my hand. I felt my power click as a new set of limbs got added. Unless I summoned them now, it would be a few minutes until I knew what they could do.

"It's nice to meet you, Crystal. So I take it you're Henry's daughter?" She was at that age where it was mildly difficult to tell precisely how old a person was. I was just going to put her at twenty in my mind. That should be a safe assumption.

"Yeah, how do you know my dad?" She questioned.

"We just met. He's letting me stay at one of your apartment buildings." I answered honestly. There wasn't a point to lie anyway.

"That's not all! He's a newbie vigilante!" Henry jumped back into the conversation with a bellow.

She looked at me expectantly. "What's your power?"

Instead of answering, I summoned a copy of my arm and leg. My own limbs are the only ones in my collection that I can create multiple copies of at a time.

"That's . . . cool." She tried not to sound creeped out. I did catch her eyes dip below my waist. The question she had on her mind was one she definitely wouldn't ask in front of her dad.

Luckily, our awkward silence was broken by the elevator opening back up.

"You left me with all the clean up again." An older woman with hair the same shade as Crystal's walked out. She was wearing a matching blue suit with Henry. They must have been a type of team uniform.

"Sorry, sorry, I needed to help the new guy." He pointed at me as his defense.

She looked me over and then shook her head. In the next moment, she went back to glaring at Henry.

"Morgan Adler. Are you also Henry's daughter?" I went ahead and introduced myself to her too. She was obviously the wife, but compliments shouldn't hurt.

"Susan." There wasn't a handshake since her husband was standing between us. It would have been a far too clumsy attempt to touch her.

Like her husband and daughter, Susan was stunning. Everyone in this family so far looked like they lept off a comic book cover. I didn't think people could actually look this good.

"I invited Morgan to have dinner with us. He's just starting out as a vigilante, and I thought we could help him out with a little advice. Maybe give him the chance to see experienced heroes in action." Henry explained my presence.

His wife's silence must have gotten to him since he opened his mouth a second later. This time he directed it at me.

"We've got one more that will join us, my other daughter. Let me go check who else will make it." He walked away after that to, I assume, call his teammates.

With his escape made, only Susan and Crystal were left with me.