Alex: “I’m sorry. I really wasn’t thinking. I hope you can forgive me.”

Sophia: “It’s water under the bridge. Please stop sending me messages. I’m in court right now and it is very distracting. The other lawyer is looking at me weird. He probably thinks I have IBS or something. It isn’t easy to type mentally.”

Alex: “Ok. You got it boss. Sorry again.”

Sophia: “Great! Now my co-counsel is looking at me weird too.”

Alex: “Sorry.”

Sophia: “Dude! Just stop apologizing. I’ll talk to you later. Ok?”

Alex cut off the communication before he started apologizing again. It was hard to stop. He just felt bad. At least she was being nice about it, for the most part.

Until she got him that card, Alex would just have to fend for himself somehow. He snagged some hotdogs from a cart when the vendor wasn’t watching. He wasn’t proud of it, but at the same time he hadn’t eaten more than some snacks since he had returned. He had every intention of paying the man back eventually. Especially since those were the best glizzies he had eaten in his entire life.

With a full stomach, Alex decided to get the lay of the land. Sure it was the city he had grown up in, but things had to have changed in the last two years. He donned his armor. It was convenient that he could cover his face on a whim. He doubted that anybody would be able to recognize him since not even Sarah had, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He didn’t want any problems to find them.

So far he had seen a few heroes patrolling the skies and the streets, but far less than he expected.

I thought the streets would be swarming with fresh heroes eager to save the day. I guess we aren’t the only ones who noticed something is up. Maybe they’re trying to keep hidden. I don’t think that’s going to work in the long run.

He decided to patrol on the streets even though he could technically fly. Well, sort of fly. He just felt like his explosive aerial maneuvers would draw far too much attention and he wouldn’t be able to sneak up on any criminals.

He was drawing odd looks from everyone he passed and he was starting to wonder whether he would draw more attention if he was just blasting around through the air.

I know I’m not the only superhero around here. And, I have definitely seen so weirder costumes before. Maybe they’re just staring because I’m new.

He hoped that was the case. He continued his stroll through the city and the closer he got to the heart of Hillcrest, the more worried everyone looked. He was about to ask somebody what was up when a figured appeared in front of him, hands crackling with lighting.

She was wearing a skin tight suit made of some type of armored spandex. It was all white with some electric blue lightning bolts decorating her legs and arms. The bolts traveled along her limbs where they met in the middle of her chest in a dazzling display of pulsating energy. It was just her suit, but the lightning almost looked alive nonetheless. She had a blue mask that matched the blue of her suit. Long blonde hair flowed in the wind. Her eyes fixed on him with an intensity that made him freeze in place.

“Who are you? What business do you have in Hillcrest?” the woman asked.

“Uhh….” Alex said as he quickly tried to think.

He had yet to come up with a name and had honestly forgotten that would be something people would be asking him. He tried to think about anything that sounded cool enough to be his alter ego. The woman started to float in the air, the electricity in her hands began to surge and he could feel the it start to brush against his skin. Her eyes filled with electric energy.

Alex held his hands up in surrender.

“Woah chill. I just forgot to come up with a superhero name. It’s Catalyst. You can call me Catalyst.”

He got the name from his class description. It had called him a catalyst that would be able to convert energy. It was the first thing he could think of on the spot and he liked the name. It sounded cool enough and he hoped it would be unique enough.

The woman dropped to the ground, though her hands continued to channel her power.

“Ok Catalyst. You didn’t answer my other question. What are you doing here?”

“I’m doing what you’re doing fighting crime. I’m just new here so that’s why you haven’t seen me. It’s my first day. Isn’t that exciting?”

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

From the look on her face, she wasn’t excited.

“We don't need more amateurs running around.” She sighed, clearly frustrated.

“I said I’m new here. I’m not an amateur. I know what I’m doing.”

“That remains to be seen. I’ve seen too many newbies get ideas of grandeur from their basement and think that they can handle it out here in the real world. Did you make that suit in your basement?” she asked, the condescension dripping off of her like venom.

“First of all, why are you being so rude? I haven’t done anything to you. Second of all, no I did not make this suit in my basement. It was made…,” he trailed off.

He probably shouldn’t reveal that kind of stuff to just anybody. He had to keep his cards close to his chest. The only people he could really trust were his friends from the tutorial.

Alex: “We need to come up with a group name guys. I keep referring to you as individuals in my mind. It would be easier to say . Don’t you agree?”

Alex: “Oh! Also, my hero name is Catalyst. Just thought you guys should know.”

The woman was staring at him, obviously waiting for him to finish his thought.

“It was made by a scientist.”

Focus Alex!

“Well that is…vague.”

“I’m not asking you where you got your suit made. Everyone’s entitled to their secrets, especially in this line of work. Don’t you think?”

“I suppose. Though I hope that you don’t think that immediately makes me believe that you aren’t going to get yourself killed somehow. I’ve had to pull too many people with ‘good intentions’ out of sticky situations. Ever since we had that huge surge of heroes, it seems like everyone wants to try their hand.”

Well that’s interesting. It seems like she’s from before everyone got awakened. I don’t remember her, though that’s understandable there were a lot of heroes even before.

“So, I didn’t catch your name,” Alex said nonchalantly.

“That’s because I haven’t given it.”

He waited for a response. She didn’t seem keen on giving him one so he prodded yet again.

“Ok. Let me spell it out then. I’m Catalyst. It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?” Alex asked extending his hand.

She uncrossed her arms and rolled her eyes, taking his hand and shaking it.

“I’m Surge.”

“That’s great. It’s been a pleasure, and if you’re done harassing me, I’d like to get back to my patrol.”

“Just don’t get in my way. I’m not saving any more idiots. If you get in a hairy situation, you’re in your own.”

He gave her a thumbs up and continue walking down the street. He had noticed throughout their entire conversation that people had been snapping pictures of them and talking. Hopefully, this would help his credibility. Seeing him talking with another, known hero, would hopefully start to paint him as a hero. But then again, nothing made someone look more heroic than stopping crime.

He could hear a yell coming from an alleyway up ahead. He dashed forward and straight down the narrow opening. It was lined with dumpsters and trash, but about twenty feet down, he could see a man getting beaten by four other men.

Not waiting for an invitation, Alex jumped into the fray. Using barely any of his new strength, he slammed the first man into the wall. He fell to the ground unconscious.

That was way too easy.

He quickly turned to the other three who had bewildered looks on their faces. They looked like animals that had been backed into a corner. One man decided to run away, while the other two pulled weapons—one knife and one gun. Alex just smiled.

The man with the gun started to unload on Alex. The bullets punctured his skin, but didn’t leave any lasting damage. His self regeneration was nearly instantaneous at this point. The man with the knife charged once the magazine had been depleted. The two men took turns swinging at Alex. He was barely paying them any attention. His focus was instead on the one running away.

He aimed his finger and fired off a thermal blast. It soared through the air and collided with the fleeing man’s heel, knocking him to the ground with a satisfying yelp.

The other two men saw him fire off a laser from his hand and took a couple quick steps back. Alex looked at them disappointedly.

“Guys. I was hoping for a better fight. There were four of you.”

They both started to run down the alley.

“Seriously? That didn’t turn out so good for the other guy. Why did you think it would be any different for you?” Alex wondered aloud.

He launched himself into the air. He soared through the narrow passage past the men and then nimbly landed a few feet in front of them. They didn’t react nearly fast enough. Alex extended out both of his arms, index finger extended. Each of them ran straight into his fingers. Alex didn’t budge even an inch. The two men however were sent spiraling backwards, their heads slamming into the ground. Both were knocked out cold.

“That was still fun in its own way, even if that wasn’t much of a challenge.”

“It was certainly fun to watch,” Nagaar said in his mind.

“I was wondering when you would show up. You’ve been surprisingly quiet since we got back.”

“I was allowing you time to adjust. I would imagine that it would be strange coming back here.”

“I appreciate that. And yes, it has been strange. Now let’s take these guys to answer for their crimes. And we should probably check on that dude. He didn’t look too good.”

Alex grabbed the men and gathered them around the guy they had been mugging. Alex rested his hand on the guys shoulder.

“Are you ok?” he asked the man.

He flinched away at his touch and started shuffling away from him.

“Woah. Hey it’s ok. I got them all. You’re safe now.”

The man looked at the unconscious bodies piled up next to Alex with frenzied eyes. Once he saw that he truly was safe, he looked back to Alex.

“Thanks,” he said as he started to get up. He fell back down, clutching at his ribs.

Alex moved to help him up.

“Let’s get you to a hospital. Let’s stop and drop them off at the police department on the way. What do you say?”

The man started to look worriedly around.

“No that’s ok. I can make my own way to the hospital and it looks like they’ve been through enough,” he said as he forced himself up, gritting his teeth the entire time.

“Something tells me that you’re not on the up and up either. Why don’t we all take a trip to the police department? They can figure it out from there.”

The man started to hobble away, but Alex simply grabbed him by his collar. He was already carrying the four men in one arm, so in his free arm he hoisted the man up and walked the block and a half to the police department.