"Why did you do that?" I asked my friend who walked beside me.

"It's fine! He seemed to believe our story." She smiled.

"Yeah, our dads are trying to start a business in engineering and need all these zip ties to hold their wires together." I rolled my eyes.

"The more elaborate story, the more believable it is!"

"And the easier it is to poke holes into it." I sighed. "He wasn't even asking why we needed them. You didn't need to make an excuse, you know?"

"Well, his mouth wasn't asking. But his eyes were! Did you see that raised eyebrow?" Flare pointed out.

"Sure." Another sigh. "Let's just hope he'll forget us soon."

A minor obstacle I failed to account for was the shop clerks. We might have bought too many of these zip ties. But you never know. If a group of thugs decided to ruin our day, we needed a way to restrain them once we kindly asked them not to do that.

Other than those, we have gotten paint, a bit of textile, and even some glitter. Flare wanted me to buy actual ink to paint my costume, but I reminded her that ink would get washed off in the washing machine. Instead, I planned on using a specific clothing dye that was unwashable. But Flare still seemed to find that funny. I would basically be making a stained sweatshirt and shorts for my costume as she so kindly put it. For her costume, we stuck with the drawing she showed me before. Just made the skirt smaller and added some underpants to protect her from prying eyes as she flew. Just as I suggested.

Also, since she couldn't reinforce herself or regenerate as quickly as I could, she needed some kind of armor under her costume. Once again, Flare came up with some very specific backstory for why we needed to buy a chainmail armor in her size. That clerk, in turn, seemed like he couldn't give less of a damn why teenage girls were buying armor and was more annoyed that we were trying to explain ourselves.

Lastly, we have gotten some burner phones. That meant phones we could use and then toss away to prevent anyone from tracking us. We obviously needed a way to contact the authorities after teaching the bad guys a lesson. And my paranoid self wouldn't allow us to use our civilian phones they could track. Sure, that meant more money spent, but if it meant our identities stayed safe, it was worth it. Although, now we were both kind of running out of funds. Being a hero was apparently pretty expensive, huh?

The shopping actually took a little longer than we thought. And we also sort of woke up a bit later than usual due to last night's vigorous gaming, not to mention I had to finally finish sorting out my wardrobe. So, it wasn't much of a surprise that our stomachs held a loud protest by the time we got back to my place. I immediately went to the kitchen to prepare an offering to appease them, while Flare made herself home in my room and began working on her costume.

The chicken with mashed potatoes took a while to finish preparing, but once it was done, we sat down at the table and had lunch once again.

"By the way, aren't your parents worried about you? Since you keep coming over lately?"

"Oh, they know I'm hanging with you."

"Uh, and do they know about. Our new hobby?"

"Well. I didn't tell them outright. But they know I have powers and what I can do. So if they read about a new hero called Phoenix and what she does, they will probably put two and two together."

"Right." I frowned.

Other people knowing our identities was always going to be a problem. Her parents were pretty similar to her. Bright, positive and understanding. But still. It made me remember Bloom's words. Dragon Maw often kidnaps relatives to force hybrids to work for them. Not that I didn't trust her parents. But just them knowing about us could drag them into trouble.

"Hey, it's fine! Actually, we could make my home our base! I'm sure mom and dad would gladly help out!"

"I didn't want them to get involved. Remember what Bloom said?" I reminded her.

"Ah, right." She grimaced. "Good point. But then, should we stay here? What about your dad?"

"He basically never comes home. It's fine." I said with a frown.

"Uh. Sorry."

"It's fine." I sighed.

From then on, the conversation died out as we continued eating. I always hated being reminded of my dad and how he changed after mom's death. To me, it wasn't much different from losing both parents at the same time. Sure, he still paid for the rent and sent me money every month, but he was never there. Never by my side when I needed him. But then again, maybe I was just being too whiny. Life would have been much more difficult if I really did lose him as well.

Pushing the dark thoughts aside, we finished our lunch and headed to my room to work on the costumes.

The design of our costumes actually played into our general strategy as well. Flare would be the bright and visible one with a clearly lethal ability, and thus make our enemies focus all their attention on her. And then I would be the one hiding in the shadows on the ground, going around, knocking people out non-lethally.

Part of me also wanted to wear a skirt or a dress as my costume, but that would have been a really bad idea for someone running on all fours and getting into the thick of things. A sweatshirt and shorts were much better for that. Although I was still a bit apprehensive about the heart shape instead of a generic ink splatter. It honestly looked a bit odd. The lines coming out of the heart looked like the nervous system, so it would make more sense if it was a brain instead. But then, that would just be weird. Never mind.

Now as for Flare, as I mentioned, the point of her costume was to make her very eye-catching. A red dress with orange feather-like ornaments with glitter on the skirt, some underpants to prevent peepers, and a red mask to hide her identity. Mine got destroyed in the blast, but she had gotten rid of Masquerade's mask as well. Just in case there was some sort of tracking device. Maybe a little paranoid, but better safe than sorry. I thought of Bloom as quite trustworthy, but that didn't necessarily extend to the entire organization, after all.

"Looks really cool," I noted as we put on some finishing touches on it.

"Cool? Or do you mean, hot?" She smiled mischievously.

I rolled my eyes at the bad pun.

"Anyway. We're almost finished. Do you want to do a patrol right away?" I asked.

"Why not? Let's introduce ourselves to the city!" She beamed, but then stopped and put a hand on her chin. "Even though we kind of already did beat up some villains."

"Hmm, let's say that was like a prelude. Now comes the first chapter." I shrugged. "Or something."

"Right. Let's do just that. I wonder if we'll run into villains again?" She frowned.

There was certainly a possibility of that. The dust hasn't settled completely after the starstorm yet. But fortunately, we were more prepared this time. I didn't think I would need to get myself shot in the head on purpose again.

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

It was still afternoon by the time we finalized the costumes. And we didn't waste any time in going out. I stuck to my rooftops while Flare - no, Phoenix when in costume - flew a bit above me. We didn't really have a specific goal or direction, merely taking a stroll around the city, more or less.

As for me, I had my face paint style right now, but I figured that if we got into a fight, I would change it to full face. That way, I could use my full potential and maybe even scare the bad guys, but still remain relatively family-friendly when on the move. A good compromise.

After the fight at the bank, I also realized that despite jumping around like crazy without a bra, it didn't hurt like before. Completely covering myself in those roots must have acted as some kind of support, I surmised.

Anyway, as for our patrol, nothing much was happening right now. The city was quiet. Well, of course, it's not like there always had to be a loud crime happening. If something were to explode every few minutes, there would be no city left to speak of in a few weeks. So, I should have been happy nothing was happening. I should have been glad there were no more psychopaths trying to blow me up or shoot me in the head. But deep inside, I couldn't help but be anxious to beat up some villains once again. I wondered whether Phoenix felt the same way.

We passed through the slums, again without any sort of incident, and kept going. We intended to go in a nice big circle, looping back to my place at the end.

About an hour into our stroll, we finally heard a commotion. There was a sound of glass breaking near a convenience store nearby. I quickly exchanged a glance with my flying companion and formed swords on my cheeks. She nodded, forming the awkward fist, and swooped down. I jumped off the building and followed after her.

When we arrived, we saw a bunch of men in the same worker clothing near a big truck. There was a huge mess in front of the truck. A big blue stain with shards of glass everywhere. I flicked my eyes to a bottle that was still intact and read the label. 'Blueberry flavor jam'.

No crime. Just an accident when unloading some goods.

I let out a sigh of disappointment, formed hearts on my cheeks, and looked over to Phoenix. She nodded and took flight again. I climbed my way on top of a nearby building and we continued the patrol.

So dumb. I heard glass breaking and automatically assumed. What? Evil villains are breaking windows to get into a convenience store? I didn't even know what I expected. Maybe I needed to cool my head off a bit. After such an extreme day yesterday, I kept expecting the worst at every corner.

As we went, the buildings began to thin out, and we reached the local park. Orange-leaved trees and mostly leafless bushes greeted us. Not many people were enjoying the piece of nature we had here since it was already late September and the greenery wasn't quite as green anymore.

I had to take a break from my house hopping and instead took a stroll in said park. For some reason, Phoenix also flew down and landed next to me. I stood up from my cat position and simply walked. Slowly.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

There was something about the contrast of said park and the rest of the cityscape. It felt like I could relax here. Naturally. Without the help of a certain villain and his roses. Even though, as I said, it wasn't as lush as it would be on spring days. Maybe it was the orange leaves now blending in with the similarly orange sunset. Maybe it was the scent of nature that was absent in other parts of the city. But either way, it was odd. Just like many other things, up until my power changed me, I didn't feel anything like this when I visited this park. It felt novel.

"It's a really quiet evening, isn't it?" My friend said in a soft voice.

"Yeah." I answered, absentminded.

"After these hectic last few days." A short pause. "It feels like such a contrast."

"Yeah."

We kept going in silence. Since there were no explosions or maniacal villains around, we simply enjoyed the peace. Up until the change, there was a turmoil inside me that I didn't even realize was there until it went away. And after the change, those few days of my life had been an emotional rollercoaster. This. This peace and quiet. It was something new to me. Part of me still wanted a villain neck to chop, but another part of me enjoyed the serenity of the moment.

And luckily, nobody interrupted that moment. We quietly crossed the park, passing a statue and a fountain on our way. And in a few minutes, we stood in front of the first building since we entered the park. I shared a nod with Flare who spread her wings again as I dropped down on all fours again and climbed my way up.

The peaceful moment has come and gone and now we were back to our patrol. But the expectations were lower now. I felt less anxious to beat someone up. Courtesy of the quiet walk in the park. Realistically, this was what most of our patrols would end up being. Just peace and quiet without anything blowing up. I decided to think about it more like literal strolls through the city, instead of being a predator hunting for some prey. Sure, if a villain showed up, let me at them. But if not? Then that would be fine too.

We passed by our school, a police station, and even the bank we fought in yesterday. Peaceful. No commotion. No psychopath trying to blow someone up. Nobody robbing the bank.

I looked up at my partner in crime - or rather, anti-crime - and wondered how she felt. Was she anxious about fighting someone again? Was she relieved we didn't run into anything serious yet? Or maybe she was just enjoying flying through the city. I knew I would if I could fly.

Which reminded me, wings. I still had to try whether it would even be possible for me.

"Phoenix!" I shouted up at her.

"Yeah?!" She shouted back, turning to face me.

Just so we wouldn't have to disturb the evening peace by shouting anymore, I pointed to the roof I was standing on and formed hearts on my cheeks. She nodded and landed beside me.

"Any problems?" She looked around.

"No. I just want to try something."

She tilted her head in bemusement.

My friend's wings actually weren't attached to her skin. They were floating just a bit away from her, and that was why she didn't need to make special holes to accommodate her extra appendages. But I wasn't a Rega hybrid, I had to make physical wings like birds had. And that also meant my sweatshirt was in the way.

So I took it off.

"Ink?! Why are you stripping?!" Even more bemusement and slight panic.

"It's fine. Nobody is looking."

It was true. We were on the rooftops so there wouldn't be any prying eyes taking a peek at my gorgeous bra. But that, of course, didn't answer her question.

I held the sweatshirt in my hands and sat down. Focusing on my roots into two points on my back where I supposed wings would be if I was a Rega hybrid. And I immediately ran into problems. While I knew what various types of wings looked like from the outside, I had no idea what they were supposed to be like on the inside. So I winged it. No pun intended. I copied my arms and just made the shape different. I also made sure to make everything flatter so they wouldn't be too heavy to fly with.

My companion stared at me as the two bulges on my back grew.

I first tried making tiny ones, like Frostfeather had, just to see what it would feel like. And just so it wouldn't take ages to actually try them out, because growing big wings would take a while.

A few minutes later, I was done. And I began feeling really weird. Just like I feared. It was like having a penis. It was not supposed to be there, and yet I felt it. I tried touching it. And yes. It was exactly the same feeling or wrongness I got so used to before my power fixed me. I didn't even try flapping the wings. I had no idea how. The nerves inside it were brand new. It would have been like learning to walk all over again. And I did not want to spend that long with these things.

So I focused on getting rid of them once again.

It was an interesting experiment. But the end result would not have been worth it. I would probably have to relearn how to move these wings every time I grew a new pair since I couldn't perfectly recreate all of the nerves the same way. And it felt incredibly wrong to have them. Not to mention that it was painfully slow making them.

I looked at Phoenix with envy. I would never get to fly like her. But that was alright. In exchange, I had these ears and a tail. Those, I was also pretty sure I wasn't supposed to have as a human. But for some reason, they didn't bother me in the same way wings did. Odd how the human - and hybrid - brain worked.

"That. Was disturbing." My friend said as I put on the sweatshirt again.

"Yeah. It was weird."

"No, I mean. It looked like distorted little black hands growing out of your back."

Oh, right. I used my arms as a template. That really must have looked creepy, now that I thought about it.

"Yeah, just wanted to try." A shrug. "But it won't work. I'll leave the flying to you."

"Sure." She smiled. "So? We keep going?"

I looked around and answered. "Actually, let's loop back already. It's getting pretty late."

"Right. Yeah, let's do that."

She nodded and took off once again.

Our loop back was quite peaceful as well. That is until we reached the Neo Wardens HQ and noticed something going on. People in uniforms were exiting the place in a hurry. Some shouting over the others. Something seemed to be up.

I shared a look with my flying companion and formed swords on my face. She nodded and we descended to the streets together a bit further away from the building itself.

When we walked up close to a group of three uniformed people who were discussing something, they suddenly snapped to attention and pulled their guns before aiming them at us.

"Whoa, calm down!" Phoenix threw her hands up. I simply stopped approaching.

"Who are you?!"

"Wait, isn't that Ink?" The man on our right noticed me.

"That's me," I answered with a nod.

"But then, who is this?" The man in the middle furrowed his eyebrows behind his visor.

"I'm Phoenix!"

Then, all three of them jerked their heads in unison before returning to attention instantly afterward. Right, mine got destroyed during the fight, but Phoenix had Masquerade's mask during the fight yesterday. And now she didn't. That's why they didn't recognize her.

"Right. Phoenix."

"So what's happening? You're all pretty on edge." My companion asked as they lowered their weapons.

"There was a breakout." The man in the middle said grimly. "All of the liberators escaped."

"What?! No way! Ink almost died trying to capture them!" Phoenix shouted in a mix of exasperation and shock.

"Bugaboom, that's uh, what the bomber called himself. He blew the doors of their cells open and even injured some of the staff." A frown. "We still don't know how he got his hands on his explosives. We made sure to exterminate all insects and proofed their cells against them."

That means he survived my punch. Lullaby probably healed him. Why? Weren't they supposed to go on death row for what they have done?

"Dammit. Can we help in any way?" My friend's fists clenched.

"No, they are gone. The heroes are looking for them now."

My friend frowned as she stared at the pavement in anger. I was certain she was remembering our bad experiences with the villain group. Recalling what they did to us and how I almost died. I put a hand on her shoulder to pacify her.

"It's okay. We got them once. We can do it again." I said, realizing that accidentally, I pretty much said that we would fight them again.

"You got shot in the head!" She yelled at me, desperation creeping into her eyes.

"I let them. Because of hostages. And still, I survived."

"Ink!"

I looked into her eyes and I saw the worry, the raw fear. Right, she saw me get shot, saw me get torn to pieces by a bomb. If the sides were switched, of course, I would be worried about her. Of course, it would disturb me if she was so nonchalant about it. I wouldn't want her coming close to these bastards ever again. If she wasn't freaking out right now, she wouldn't be my friend.

"Sorry." I dropped my head.

She let out an audible sigh of relief and then turned to the man. "If we run into them, we'll call the Wardens, okay?"

"Yes. You do that. Just be careful if you actually do find them."

"Thank you." She said and turned to me. "Let's go then."

I nodded and we took off once again. The peaceful and quiet city once again didn't seem so peaceful anymore. There were those dangerous terrorists on the loose. And although I doubted they would make any moves right after breaking out, it still made me nervous.

And maybe just a bit excited.

Damn. Was I turning into a battle junkie? Just because I could survive a bullet to my face didn't mean I should actively look for it. It was really stupid and only made Flare worry about me. And I didn't want to worry Flare.

And also, beating up baddies wasn't the reason I wanted to be a hero, was it? No. I wanted to help people, to protect the city. If it meant punching out a villain, then I would do that. But violence itself wasn't the point.

The rest of our patrol finished without anything else of note happening. We stopped on a rooftop a few blocks from where we lived and made our way down into an alleyway while making sure nobody was following or watching us and found our secret spot where we left the bag with our civilian clothes. We then turned back into our human forms and changed into our casual wear.

"Alright. See you tomorrow at school then?" My friend smiled.

"Yeah. See-" And then I froze.

School. Right. Somehow, I completely forgot about that tiny fact. Tomorrow was Monday, which meant school again. I haven't thought about it at all. Haven't prepared any excuses or explanations for why I was a girl now. I didn't care that much about what the reaction could be, but I still needed a way to explain why I suddenly changed.

And no, 'One day, I suddenly woke up as a girl' wouldn't cut it. Even though, that was kind of what happened in my case.

"Hey, it's fine! We share the first class, so I'll be there to support you for your big reveal." Flare smiled.

"No but. How do I explain it?" I looked at my hands.

Of course, there was also the option of turning back into a guy. But after three days of being a girl, I would rather die than do that. Just the thought of going back made me shudder.

"Umm, you can say." She put a finger on her chin. "Some new hybrid accidentally used their powers on you and turned you into a girl! And then you realized you liked it!" A cheeky grin appeared on her face. "It's even true! You don't need to say that the new hybrid is you!"

Huh. That was actually a pretty good solution. As she said, it wouldn't even be a lie. And of course, if they ask which hybrid, I could always say that this hybrid prefers to stay anonymous. Which would also be true. However, I could see a problem with it.

"What if. What if people ask me to hook them up with this new hybrid? So they can change too?"

"Oh, uh. Just say that you forgot to ask their number, so you don't know how to contact them?"

"That. Huh."

That was so simple. Of course, there would still be people who would suspect me or call me out on it, but for the most part, it sounded like a good excuse.

"Yeah. Okay. I think I'll go with that." Then I remembered the part that everyone always loved. "But I guess I'll need to come earlier to sort out some paperwork. Since Christopher Dash doesn't exist anymore."

"Oh yeah. Want me to come with?"

"I think I'm fine. I'll meet you in the biology class."

"Alright then! Hopefully, it goes without a hitch!" She took a step and waved her hand. "See you tomorrow then! Be brave, girl!"

I smiled warmly and waved back. As I watched her leave, I wondered. Where would I be without her? She was always with me. Always supported me. Seriously. I loved that girl.

Uh. What? Love?

No, we were friends. We were close, yes, but not like that.

I couldn't. I couldn't love her. Could I? How does one even love?

I stood there, in the dark alleyway, staring in the direction she left, wondering what my own thoughts meant. For some reason, my face felt hot. It felt really odd.

But then I shook my head and rushed back home. Up the stairs, unlock the door, and drop off my bag in my room before scuttling into the shower.

Unfortunately, the shower is the perfect place for thoughts to culminate and mix with each other. I couldn't help myself but think about it. Did I love Flare? Could I love Flare? And how could I tell if I really did? I had no idea what it felt like to be in love. I have always heard love being described as wanting to be with that person all the time, thinking about them nonstop, feeling happy just being near them, they were like the light in the darkness, and so on.

And That. Fit. Flare always was my light and I loved spending time with her. Being near her made me happy. So, what? Was I in love? For how long? I was confused.

My hand full of soap bubbles brushed past the left breast.

Would she even love me back? I was pretty sure she mentioned that she was bisexual at some point, though she might not have been serious. She never really talked much about love herself. But more importantly, we were friends. Would it be betraying that friendship if I dared to ask her out? I had no idea. It was scary to think about what kind of reaction she might adopt. Maybe even scarier than it was telling her that I was a girl.

The water ceased to flow and I stepped out, wrapping a towel around myself.

I decided that the best move would be to wait for now. Try to come to an understanding about these feelings of mine, before I did anything rash. Although doing rash things was almost the definition of my hybrid form. Would that happen? Would I yell at her that I love her the next time I transformed? The thought made me blush again.

I hoped not.

Worried, but somehow hopeful about the future, I got on my pajamas, brushed my teeth, and got back to my room before worming myself under the bedsheets.

Either way, tomorrow would be a pretty big day.