I stared up at the plain white ceiling, my tired eyes actually satisfied with the lack of stimuli. They'd been through a lot recently, and the visual calm helped ground me.

Roxy’s hand ran gently up my bare torso, before cupping the side of my gasmask, turning my head toward her. She lay beside me, her eyes dancing with that fiery glow. Dangerously alluring. My arm was around her back, gently caressing her as she hugged up beside me.

“That was actually surprisingly thorough.”

[Oh? I’m under doctor’s orders to take it easy, actually.]

She bit her lip at the insinuation, before her eyes went down to my chest. Her expression cooled and turned into something much more glum. “Dubs, I’m so sorry for this.” A finger ran alongside the healing stitch.

[It’s done now, we’re both at fault.]

“But also this.” She gestured to the handprint still scoured into my flesh. “You can get a skin graft over it, right?”

Instead of an answer, I moved my left hand around to take hers, and I placed it gently over the healed burn. A near perfect match.

[Proof that my heart belongs to you.]

“Fucking prick.” She moved herself up and put her forehead against mine. “I almost killed you.” We maintained close eye contact as frustrated tears built up before running down her face.

[I am sorry for what I put you through, and forgive you for what you did.]

“Likewise, Dubs. I’m just so glad you’re okay.” She leaned up slightly to kiss my forehead, before wriggling back down into my grasp. I held her until our moods shifted back down into comforting warmth rather than the regrets of the previous day.

[How do you feel about your dormant powers coming to life?]

Roxy sighed and closed her eyes. “It’s overwhelming. I now have this extra layer of bullshit that I don’t understand and can’t control. The League has offered me all sorts of training and coaching but… and I know this is short-sighted… I just want you to do it.”

[I’m no expert, but if you feel that is the most comfortable way for you to learn, I’m here for you.]

“You are.” Her fingertips drummed idly on the side of my stomach. “This is probably too soon, Dubs… but would you like to sleep in my room, going forward?”

[But where would you sleep then?]

She pushed away to prop herself up on an elbow and look down at me. “Asshole. I know I’m being a clingy bitch, but I’m willing to skip some conventions to actually feel happy and secure.”

[So am I your boyfriend now?]

“Hell yeah you are, motherfucker. You like that?” She held my hand up and gave it a soft kiss. “I did win our duel after all.”

[It was close, but I’m proud of you.]

The super rolled her eyes and pushed herself up to leave the bed. “Only a psycho would congratulate me on beating them to death.” She stepped around to the wardrobe and stretched out, the blinds allowing a thin strip of light to run down her figure vertically. “Sounds just like my sort of man, though.”

[Well, I’m sure that you’re… my type… as well?]

She turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “You’re clearly not inexperienced, Dubs. Very clearly.” Roxy paused and bit her lip. “As long as you don’t remember a wife from your old life, I’m sure we’re fine?”

[It's very unlikely I had anything like that.]

I pushed myself up to a seating position. Torso was still bruised as hell. Cavorting with the super was probably a terrible idea, but often passion got in the way of good decision making. I instead turned my eyes over to Roxy, who was deciding what to wear. She might have some insecurity about her muscles, or the ridiculous tan lines, but I was completely besotted.

She turned her head again and caught me in the act. “Quit gawking. You’ve seen quite enough of me already for one day. Get dressed so we can have a family meeting.”

If I had my own way, we would have remained in bed for the rest of the day. Partly because my body screamed for some rest. The other part was more obvious.

[I'm not allowed to wear anything more than compression shorts. Doctor’s orders.]

“You sure she’s not just being a perv?” Roxy sighed and opened up the drawers beside the wardrobe. “Haven’t decided if it’s cute or not that we both fit in the same size shorts.”

I caught the pair thrown at me and shuffled off of the bed to pull them on. In a change from the norm, the super put on a summer dress. An orange that almost matched the burning within her eyes. I followed her over to the door, where she paused and turned to me. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she leaned into me.

“I’m excited to spend more time with you, Dubs. It feels like we go back and forth, always busy, but I want to get to know you better... I want you to get to know me better.” She gave me an awkward kiss on the re-breather. “Also, we need to get you a fucking mouth. I can live with the gun-arm, but lips are a must.”

[Agreed. Perhaps we need to work on your hand-eye coordination in return, so you don’t ‘accidentally’ grab things you shouldn’t.]

“Don’t you air-quotes me, asshole.” Roxy pressed her face up into the side of my neck and sighed. “You did give me a good clean, though, huh?”

[I’m glad your extremities are looking a lot better.]

She stepped away to hold her arms out. All the dried stuff had flaked away, leaving fresh healing skin, slightly more pink than usual. “Could have been a lot worse. They’re sensitive, but no lasting damage.”

The super smiled and turned from me, now opening the door to the rest of the house. I had last entered the home as a dying man on his last legs. Now I was emerging as an official item with a powerful superhero. It was... bizarre, in some ways.

We walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Roxy went to the freezer and pulled out a tub of ice-cream and a fresh canister for me.

I replaced it and put the empty one in the trash, noticing that her eyes were still all over me as she leaned against a counter.

[Someone else gawking a little too much?]

“Mostly at your injuries.” She wiggled her spoon at me. “Although... Can you even believe what we did yesterday? What we just did?”

[Barely. It feels right, though, doesn’t it?]

“Oh, certainly does. Other than turning you into mashed potato.” She pulled a face. “Clara told me how bad it was and what she had to do.”

I tapped at the side of my chest on my new metallic ribs.

[Apparently it means less breaks from weaker attacks, but if someone like you were to crush me again, I’ll just have bent metal parts in my lungs instead.]

“My poor fragile pup.” She flared her nostrils as she scooped up ice-cream. “I suppose there’s no real way of making you invincible against a living goddess like me, huh?” Her eyes went up to linger on me as she mouthed the frozen goods from the spoon.

Before I could formulate a response, the front door opened, and we turned to watch the techie walk in. In slate gray dungarees with a black undershirt on, she wrinkled up her nose at seeing us.

“Ah, you’re both awake and healthy. Was about to check if either of you had drowned.”

Roxy placed the ice-cream tub down. “You want some toast, hun?”

“Please, it has been a taxing morning.” She stepped into the kitchen and crossed her arms, green eyes looking me up and down. “Healing well, Gunquake. I’d avoid strenuous activity for another couple of days, however. Can never be too safe.”

I nodded slowly as we maintained eye contact.

The toaster clicked down, and the super spun back around to us. “Oh, you want to use the spare room again tonight? Because…” She paused, and her expression sunk away, a realization that she had given the game away almost instantly.

Clara rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t wait two minutes to brag, could you? You’ll be happy to know, Gunquake, that I’ve adjusted your monitor so that I can switch it to notify me of emergencies only.”

[That is… good to know.]

Roxy just held a grimace, not willing to move - until the toast popped up.

“I actually had a proposition for you, Rockslide.” The techie tilted her head back to the super. “Allow me to move in on a permanent basis.”

“Ah.” Toast was placed on a plate and handed over to the petite woman. “I’m not sure how I feel about that... in regards to privacy and tripping over each other? Don’t get me wrong - I love you, hun, but that’s quite a jump with everything going on currently.”

“I’ll put half the proceeds from my apartment sale in the mouth fund.”

“Sold.” Roxy clicked her fingers. “Unless Dubs has any objections?”

[I can’t see any downsides to having Clara in close proximity to me at all times.]

“You make it sound like I’m a troublemaker, Gunquake.” She smiled as she took a bite of her plain snack.

----------------------------------------

There was an odd calm to the weather today. Sunny and pleasant, but not overly warm. Just as soon as Roxy had finished imagining all the credit signs in her eyes she'd get by taking in Clara and part of her wealth, we had decided to find out if the super could bring out her new powers again.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Well, it was mostly her idea. I was keen to get the rest that Clara told me to, and the techie had one-hundred and one things she wanted to do.

But the League had told Roxy that if she could get control of the new superpower, then it was almost guaranteed she’d be moved up to A-Rank. The dangling promotion had been an energy boost for her, and I’d never seen her so motivated.

She growled, standing in my area of the outdoors while I sat on the grass in front of the house. Fists balled up and in a tense pose, she had tried forcing it out through brute willpower. But nothing other than a bit of sweat had been produced.

Soft footsteps behind me as Clara joined us from the workshop and sat on one of the deckchairs. “There’s some residual heat increase, but nowhere near the amount as yesterday.”

“Hey, Dubs.” Roxy put her hands on her hips and scowled over at me. “Shout some mean things at me, maybe?”

[Hard pass. I am not becoming the target of your anger again.]

She sighed and stepped over closer, putting a pause to her efforts.

“What about if I flirted with him, Rockslide?” Clara offered.

“Eh.” The super tilted her head. “I’m not sure it would really have the same effect now that we… now that we’re official, you know?”

[Also not a good precedent to set as the way you activate your powers.]

“I could feel him up?” The techie persisted.

[Clara.]

Roxy shrugged. “Sorry, Dubs. I would totally pimp you out to Clara if it meant getting my A-Rank. It’s a huge career boost, and I mean, we’re all adults here. Seen each other naked and stuff. You’d do whatever it took to help me, right?”

“What?” Clara furrowed her brow. “Gunquake hasn’t seen me naked.”

[More importantly, the fact that you are okay with it means it probably wouldn’t work to wind you up enough to activate your power.]

“Rats. Glad one of us has a level head.” The super sighed.

“Just so we’re clear,” Clara continued, “are we talking full frontal? Just so I know what I can get away with in the future.”

Roxy scowled at her. “Whatever, creep. Try thinking up ways I can turn into magma instead.”

"It would actually be lava, sister. Magma is when it's underground."

The super just scowled at the techie, perhaps considering whether to put her underground as well. I tried to shift tracks to something more normal.

[I actually have an idea. If we are having a casual day, why not invite Roy around?]

“Roy…” She tilted her head. “Sure. Done.” Rolling out her shoulders, she then pulled off her dress to reveal the gym clothes underneath.

He might not have the best track record of being a good friend to the other two, but I liked to think I had built enough rapport with the speedster that hanging out with him might become a common thing. Rough around the edges, but there was a lot of work we could do with him in building the super group back up to standard.

Wasn’t long before a small shape appeared from the road to the city, gradually increasing in size as a cloud of dust billowed behind him. The Captain slid to a stop across my yard, dressed in a black tank top and matching shorts. He eyed each of us in turn, his brow furrowing further.

“Not sure what I’ve got myself in for here.” He grinned as he stepped up closer. “Before I address the more obvious things, I got one thing to do.”

I raised my eyebrow as he stopped and turned towards the techie.

“Miss Clara, I would like to apologize for all the rude things I have called you in the past.”

“Forgiven, Captain. I appreciate it.” She gave him a nod.

The speedster then turned to me. “What the fuck happened to you, Dubs? You look like someone tore you in half."

[Remember that duel with Roxy I mentioned?]

His eyebrows raised, and he crossed his arms, head tilting towards the strength super. “You did this to him? I thought it was supposed to be something friendly.”

“It was until he said something mean about me.” She shrugged. “It’s okay, he’s my boyfriend now.”

“For real? I’m not exactly surprised, although that doesn’t actually make the near-murder of him ‘okay’.”

[I’ll get over it. I was wondering if you’d do the same sort of sparring with Roxy today?]

“There’s a good reason, just to forewarn you.” Roxy gestured back to my empty lot beside the kill-room. “In our romantic murder-duel yesterday, I unlocked a dormant power.”

“No shit? You serious?”

“Yeah!” The super's face was alight with excitement. “And if I can get control of it, I might get A-Rank promotion.”

“Fucking hells, Rox. I’d start dating Dubs too, if he did that for me.”

I watched them walk off in enraptured conversation and shook my head. Clearly I was underestimating how much the Rank business meant to a hero. I looked up as Clara stepped over to me and sat to my right on the grass.

“Shotgun,” she requested, bringing the maintenance case onto her lap.

Arm went out into her hands, and she started to get it clean. Something that was comforting for us both, like how primates preened each other.

“You’re doing really well, Gunquake,” she eventually said, with a nod out to the two supers.

Roxy was on full defensive and trying to block the Captain as he increased his speed and jabbed out at her. It would be much healthier if her power activation came from combat frustration rather than something external, like our relationship.

[Two in progress, two to go.]

“Although I will be your sidekick, League willing, I will also help you with getting the rest of the herd in order.” She tapped the side of my gun and I opened up the chamber.

[That’s what you’ve been working on while I’ve been recovering, isn’t it?]

The techie shot me a coy smile. “Not much gets past you, Gunquake. I’ll let you in on one secret, but the other will wait till the children are done playing. In addition to the extended sensor dome—which picked up the Captain, by the way—the Dead Zone also now covers the same area around us.”

[Won’t the League know, or get suspicious?]

Clara pulled a face as she slid something into my arm to polish the inside of the chamber. “I’m in no mood to explain the intricacies of how it works today. You’ll just have to trust me, Gunquake.”

[I do, Clara.]

She tapped me again to let me know I could close the chamber. Case closed once more, she put it to the side, and we watched the supers training.

Roy was a blur, kicking up dust with his short movements as he circled Roxy to try to jab at her undefended areas. Considering she was only slightly quicker than me, she was holding up well to his increased speed. I could tell that she was getting annoyed at all his punches that she couldn’t block - and hoped that it would annoy her enough into building up the pressure once more.

[Thanks again for saving my life, Clara. I’m not sure I could ever say that enough.]

“You’re always welcome, Gunquake.” She sighed and flicked out a little gadget to keep her hands busy. “Seems lately all our conversations have revolved around relationships or lewd acts. We should focus on work a little more. There's so much yet to accomplish.”

[It’s a rest day. I’m okay pretending that work doesn’t exist for the moment.]

Five years of only living to complete tasks assigned to me. A potential career of being a superhero in front of me, whatever that truly entailed. I’d start living for myself a little more. Carve this existence to be a little wider and more comfortable. For a man with nine lives, I’d make sure what remaining few were worth living.

“I watched a ten-minute video on back massages, so I’m practically an expert. If it’s not too inappropriate, would you like one?” She tilted her head.

[Go ahead. I doubt it would be an issue.]

Clara stood and brushed her dungarees down, before moving to kneel just behind me. “Rockslide seems totally unbothered by any innuendo between us now. It’s a little disappointing, I suppose. It sounds like she had concocted up some other scenarios that were giving fuel for her rage yesterday, but it makes me happy that she is over it.”

Her hands palmed at my back, starting from just beneath my neck cybernetics. Alternating between circular motions and pushes along the muscle groups, it relieved a little of the stress I’d accumulated. Much rather this than trying to fight the supers.

[What are your thoughts on Roxy and I now dating?]

“I’ve always had an… immature view of love. When I think of it, I can only picture my parents before the incident. As such, there’s a great deal of comfort and happiness in seeing you two together, but also some trepidation that it could be taken away. Once you’re an official superhero, you’ll have to report it to the League as well, Gunquake.”

[Gross. I had a feeling that would be the case. As a gloomy anti-hero I might be a tough sell for a public relationship.]

“Ah, I wouldn’t say that.” She bent lower to push alongside my spine to my lower back. “If they know what’s good for them, the A-Rank Rockslide might have a makeover to fit both her new power and pairing with you.”

[An interesting thought.]

“How is the massage, Gunquake? I didn't have time to prepare a feedback form.”

[Very relaxing. Are you able to go any deeper into the muscle?]

“Not without breaking my fingers off. Perhaps I’m not the right tool for the task.”

“Oh, fuck!”

We looked back over to the pair, as Roy stood apart from the strength super, waving his hand in the air to cool it off as if he had been burned. Roxy lowered her arms, which were red, but not glowing.

There was a murmur of a potential apology, and then they came back over toward us.

“No wonder I was sweating like a pig.” The Captain rubbed at his forehead. “Thought I was getting unfit, but you actually have volcano powers.”

“Not just a hothead,” Roxy said with a nod, although her expression was glum. “That worked up some temperature, but wasn’t quite enough. Thanks though, Roy.”

Clara clicked her fingers and stood. “Great. We can swap now, Rockslide, as I have something for the Captain.”

“Oh, okay?” The super stepped around behind me. “I’m not sure what to do, though.”

“Tenderize the muscle groups. You, of all people, should know them. Apparently my nimble little hands are insufficient to satiate your man.” She paused before moving away. “Just don’t break him, please.”

Roy pulled a face as the techie walked off to the workshop, before turning back to us. “She always talks like that?”

[Yeah.]

“Hmm.” He nodded as Roxy began plying my shoulders into submission. “This isn’t some harem thing, right?”

[Flattered, but I have my hands full enough as it is.]

“I’m not willing to share,” Roxy added, pressing into my muscles. “Unless… you have several million credits, seeing as you couldn’t activate my abilities via fighting.”

[We haven’t even been dating a day and you’ve already negotiated our exclusivity twice.]

“It’s not like that, Dubs.” She leaned forward and kissed me on the shoulder. “Once we get your mouth and my A-Rank I’d just kill any competition off.”

Roy pulled a face. “I’ll pass… on all of the above, then. Thanks.”

Clara emerged from the workshop with a case in her hands. “These are just basic prototypes, Captain. Functional but not a fair example of the final intended product.”

I couldn’t see what was within when she popped it open, due to the angle - but I had a pretty good guess at what she could have made.

“You’ll have to wear these conductive gloves for now, but put them on and go punch up the training dummies for me. I’m going to set up a camera if you consent?”

“Ah, yeah. Sure thing, Clara.” Roy nodded, his brow furrowed. He turned to look at me as he held up two fist weapons.

Long black gloves down his forearms for protection, the fist parts looked to be spare gauntlet parts. Although the right-hand one didn’t seem necessary to stockpile, given what I already had. Small devices had been affixed to the back of the hand, wires and different connections leading to a group of small prongs jutting forth.

“Oh,” the techie continued as he walked down to my set of four dummies, “and don’t strike them together, Captain. Unless you want cybernetic hands?”

The last part came out as more of an offer than a warning, but I was too busy being turned into soft paste to do anything but enjoy my current position.

“How am I doing, Dubs?” Roxy paused briefly to put her arms around me from behind.

[Pure bliss. The fact that your hands are heated makes the experience even more relaxing.]

“I can’t feel it myself, but I’ll take your word for it.” She rested her head against mine. “Good call on bringing Roy over. I was hesitant, as he is usually a huge prick, but it seems you really did fix him up as well.”

We watched as the speedster approached the four figures of the training dummies. After rolling out his shoulder, he lashed forward - a spark of electricity jolting from the end of his fist onto the target. In a blur, he had already moved to the next and struck it twice, each time small arcs of bright blue flashed around the impact points.

Beside us, Clara wedged a spike into the ground, the long pole having a camera on the top.

“Need something with a bit more weight so I can slow it down after. Captain has boxing experience, but I want to see if there are any other combat styles that would be more effective.” She switched on the camera and angled it to ensure it picked up the training. “The flashes actually hurt my eyes, so I’m going to go get your contract, Gunquake.”

The super continued to hold on to me as we watched Roy speed up. The arcs grew more intensive and lengthened as he repeatedly zipped between the dummies. Pulses of blue illuminated the area, the crackling hiss of his attacks rising in pitch as he continued.

“Look at us,” Roxy murmured. “Your progress. The group starting to reform. Our relationship. We’re really on a winning streak, huh?”

She wasn’t wrong.

No longer was I living just to kill and do as I was told. I had forged my own path, creating things and growing genuine connections with people. Part of me wondered if this was Boss’s plan all along. Saw the cracks forming so pushed the little bird from the nest in hopes I could fly. Given me the out that involved the least amount of violence and death.

Still, his silence was uncomfortable. The fact that I was cozying up to the League didn’t mean I was their friend, either. I’d stay beholden to them for a while, but the plan had always been to gather up enough power and control to separate myself from all else. To no longer have someone pulling on my strings. A real life of my own.

We’d enjoy the next few days of rest and recovery. Drink deep from the hard-earned banquet we had put together.

For I had no doubt that this was just a lull, and more tests were due to come in no time at all.