Invading Alpha’s penthouse. I get it. It’s risky. Seems like a crazy move.

But like, if the dude isn’t there, isn’t it the safest possible move? Think about it. If he’s out on the streets, it’s the one time for sure that his penthouse is safer than the streets! I mean, if I’m on the streets, and he’s on the streets—you’re picking up what I’m putting down, right?

Plus, I’ve got to find something on him. He’s powerful. Crazy powerful. I could suck up the stat points of every super in Central City and still not guarantee a win. You know all that crap I’ve been talking about skill stacks, synergistic skills, yadda yadda? Yeah. Well. Alpha has all the skills. That means all the skill stacks. Synergies you haven’t even thought about. It’s not easy to defend against a guy who’s got it all.

But everyone has a weak point. Alpha. Me. Everyone. Hell, even Maury, probably, somewhere deep down under that craggy, too-old-to-give-a-shit exterior.

It doesn’t have to be physical. The mental game is half the battle, and it’s harder to defend against. I mean, Alpha probably has some kind of Mental Toughness skill, but you know. If I find his girlfriend and threaten her, maybe he’ll give enough of a shit to give me an opening.

Then again, maybe not. Guy’s a coldhearted bastard.

We’ll see.

Maybe it’s all useless. Maybe it’s impossible.

But I have to do something. I can’t sit on my ass and twiddle my thumbs for the rest of my long, long life. And, putting aside how essential Maury is to my survival and everything I do, I’m not gonna put up with five hundred years of cringing from the sun and that asshole, either, since that pretty face of his still looks young enough he’s got to have some kind of long-life skill. Assuming, of course, he doesn’t find some other immortal to slurp up in the intervening five hundred years, and fuck us all over forever anyways.

Nah. Can’t do it.

So yeah. It’s a risk.

But I’m a risk-taker.

--

The streets were much as Levi had left them, if a bit darker for the passage of the sun. Pinks and oranges tinged the sky, a familiar warble to the sunset in the direction of the Gate. Although buildings obscured Old Town and the Gate itself, the Gate’s invisible spatial energies reached far higher than the visible Gate, warping space much further in the vertical and horizontal plane than the glowing, visible sphere. Luckily, the spatial energies didn’t extend in the z-axis, toward and away from the Gate, making it a two-dimensonal spatial warp. No one understood why. Some big brain scientists had theories, but no one knew for sure.

“It makes for lovely sunsets, though,” Levi murmured to himself, lifting his fingers to capture an imaginary photograph.

He lowered his hands, then, slowly, gaze still trapped by the shimmer of refracted light. His heart raced, strange emotions flowing behind the sunset in his eyes. He lifted his hand, offering his palm to the sky. Half a smile appeared on his face, then a scowl. He looked down at last, shaking his head, refusing to look back at the twisted sunset.

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“No. Those days are long over.”

Resolute, his heart set, he marched toward the largest tower, the one that dominated the horizon, silver and firm, strong as Alpha’s own manhood:

Central Tower.

As he walked, he eyed the passerby, gaze inevitably straying to their arms. After the first few, he scoffed. “Not like everyone’s out here taking sketchy ‘vitamin shots’ from Apostles. Taking? Getting sketchily recruited into? Sketchily…forcibly, maybe?”

Shuffling in a back alley, a homeless woman looked up sharply, her eyes as bright as a deer’s.

He shook his head at her. “You, though…I feel sorry for you.”

She shouted something incomprehensible at him and flipped him the bird, baring a gap-toothed scowl his way.

Levi waved back, cheery as ever, and wandered on. Through the streets, taking in the sights. He approached Central Tower slowly, circling his way in. As he passed the Square from the outside, he peeked in. The reconstruction progressed smoothly, the facades already nearly complete. The same young man from earlier patrolled the construction site, his thunderbolt sneakers bright even in the setting sun. Their eyes met, and Electric Arc waved.

Levi waved back. To himself, he muttered, “I wonder if he’s shortened it to Arc yet?”

With that, he turned away. “Alibi secured. Let’s go case the joint.”

His phone buzzed. Distracted, Levi glanced at it, then sighed heavily. He glanced around him, making a beeline for a dark alley. Checking over his shoulder, he put his back to a fire escape and waited.

Nothing.

Levi pulled his phone out again, frowning. “False alarm…?”

Icy steel at his throat. “Turn back and die.”

“Oh, there you are.” Levi slid his phone into his pocket and turned, finding himself so close to White Fang their faces almost touched.

Startled, White Fang jumped back. She landed in a crouch, knife at the ready. Voice gruff, she asked, “What if I’d killed you?”

“God, I wish. You wouldn’t, though. You’re a non-fatal kind of super.” Levi pointed at his eyes, turning his fingers around to point at hers. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“And you?” she growled.

“You can stop doing that voice. You’re going to hurt your throat.”

White Fang stared at him, silent.

Levi spread his hands. “I’m a good guy! A hero. Of course I don’t kill. Why? Where’s this coming from?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Stoneheart is dead.”

“Good—I mean, unfortunate. Truly unfortunate. Too bad I couldn’t get to him in time,” Levi bemoaned, shaking his head in tragic regret.

“You didn’t kill him?”

Shocked, Levi pressed his hands to his chest. “Me? Kill a man? I’m just an ordinary super. I’ve never killed anyone!”

Still squinting at him, White Fang straightened up. She put the dagger away. “I’ll believe you this time. But if the next one dies as well…”

Levi threw his hands up helplessly. “The next time that totally unrelated murdering vigilante—who I heard is pretty cool, by the way—kills someone, if it’s someone we’re looking at, you’re going to kill me? What kind of injustice is this? Don’t I get a trial by jury?”

“You will. I’ll take you to the police,” White Fang threatened.

Levi threw back his head and laughed. White Fang stared at him, silent. After a few beats, he stopped laughing and wiped his eyes. “Oh. You’re serious. Ah man. How cute. I forget there’s people out there who still believe in the justice system.”

“Better than doing what you’d accuse me of—being judge, jury, and executioner,” White Fang growled.

Tutting, Levi shook his finger. “Come on, White Fang. At least remember who said what. You’re the one who threatened to kill me first!”

“I did no such thing.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways. If we’re done arguing pedantics, can I go?” Levi asked, half turning and pointing over his shoulder at the street ahead.

She hesitated, then reached over her shoulder and pulled out a folio. “Here. Information on Blasterman, as you requested. If he dies as well…”

“Uh huh. Got it. I’m not worried at all, because I’m not the one who killed Stoneheart, and if someone kills Blasterman, it still won’t be me,” Levi said with full confidence. He took the folder and flipped it open, giving the contents a quick skim before he stuck it back into his backpack. “That it?”

He looked up to find an empty alley.

Rolling his eyes, Levi made a rude gesture with both hands. “Come on. That bit’s been tired for decades now.”

Shaking his head, he set off once more for Central Tower.