=== CURT ===

"Esvanir, Curt. Can I call you Curt?" Marcelli asked from across a large, filigreed desk. I shrugged. Somehow, I felt like a boy in the principal's office. It was baffling. I suppose it helped that Marcelli was larger than me in almost every way. "I think we need to elucidate the terms of your position here."

  "Oh, I think I understand it quite well. You're an absolute bastard. One who is constantly threatening to kill one of the few people I care about. So, I am forced to do your dirty work because you're neither smart nor capable enough to accomplish it on your own. Is that about right?" I asked. Marcelli's lips spread into what might be construed as a smile. It was more like a gorilla showing its teeth. It was a threat.

  "There is all of that. And yet, you robbed Wan En without my permission. You almost got killed by Bion. Am I to presume you're looking for some way out of our arrangement?"

  "Maybe you're not as dumb as you look. Though it would be quite the feat," I said, anger crawling into my tone.

  "We can't have that. You're not allowed to do solo jobs anymore. You are to live on my compound and only to go where I say you can go," the man across from me said cheerily.

  "Hmm. Let me think about it. No, and fuck you." Marcelli's smile faded. He gently put his hand on the desk between us and stood. Then he grabbed it and moved it with ease from in between us. He did not close the distance, but I set up several snap places I could get to in an instant if need be.

  "I can see that you must not care much for Miss Drei. Despite your insistence. And here I was hoping that you might become Mister and Misses Reese or perhaps Misses and Mister Drei," the large man drolled on. He took a step forward, and I had to suppress the urge to teleport to the other side of the room. He lifted his fist, and my eyes tracked it. I marked it and its likely trajectory. "So, perhaps I need to teach you a different way."

  He threw the fist down, and a portal intercepted it and slammed into his own throat. He coughed and stumbled back, falling into his own chair. I stood up this time and crossed the few feet between us. "Marcelli, I think I need to elucidate something to you that you apparently don't understand."

  He looked up at me with tears brimming in his eyes. He had gotten his coughs under control, and his gray eyes seethed with hatred. "This is temporary. It has to be. Either you kill Cindi, and if you do that, I kill you. Because there's really no way for you to stop me. The only thing stopping me from putting your ass in a volcano right now is that it would, one, be really bad for the environment, and two, I don't want her to die. But I'll give you a one-time offer. It expires immediately. Disable the bomb. Prove to me that it's disabled. Then she and I walk away. Forever. You never see me, and I never see you again. I don't let all this built-up rage spill over, and you don't die by my hand."

  "Mister Reese," Marcelli croaked. He had apparently hit himself quite hard. "I don't understand you."

  "What?" I asked. He sat up, and I backed up a step.

  "You have this ruthless streak in you. I believe you when you tell me you're willing to kill me. I've met killers before. I employ them every day. You are just like every last one of them; you are smart, really smart. I understand you built your first prototype from scraps you found on the ground. And yet you waste these talents and that ruthlessness on stripping a few billionaires of a couple of bucks here and there and give most of it away. I don't understand that. You could be like me."

  "Marcelli, I don't want to be like you. I think you're a bastard, remember?" I said softly.

  "You know what I mean. You could run your own crew. Give this technology to a crew of ten or twenty or thirty and make real changes to the world. You and your weird communist agenda might even work with someone like you in charge. So, why don't you?"

  "I . . ." I considered his question, turning my back to him as I stalked over to the chair. "I guess I work better alone."

  "Bullshit," he called out immediately. "You and Drei managed to get through my security. Which is meant to defend against anything short of fucking Smash Gal or Bion with a couple of batteries and one third-string powered bitch."

  I turned on him, and he raised his hand to placate me slightly. "Miss Drei has her skills, but she's not a heavy hitter. You two work fantastically together. You could have worked fantastically with my crew and even sussed out someone whose loyalties lie somewhere else in twenty minutes."

  "He did shoot me. Not exactly a stunning use of intellect."

  "Perhaps not, but you don't work better alone. Why not work for me legitimately? No blackmail. Miss Drei can come and go as she pleases. She's where? Kyoto?"

  "St. Petersburg today. Tokyo and Kyoto yesterday."

  "Ah," he began, stroking his chin. "You could do great things if you were more organized."

  "I'm told I have trust issues."

  "And yet you trust Buck Cherry, infamous thief and liar."

  "I trust people to be who they are. Cher . . . She wants to be free. She hates being tied down. As long as I'm not doing that, she and I get along. She likes me well enough, and that's good enough for now. And I trust you to be a money-grubbing bastard who doesn't care about anyone but himself."

  "Ah, well, yes. Speaking of my interests, I guess we'll just have to keep you busier. No more downtime since your goal is, in fact, to kill me once you can figure out how to disable my toy. So, I have a job for you. You're going to be my chauffeur."

  "Why couldn't I be the one with the bomb?" I asked the ceiling.

=== KARI ===

After I watched that man die, I couldn't stomach the city for a few days. I tried to be around to save people, but I could never be sure when another meta would die. When I was going to be shot by the people meant to protect me. Not that I need the protection. But still. I'm a citizen; I pay taxes; I shouldn't be shot by the police, I thought. Even criminals shouldn't be shot. Not when they're in custody, and everything is okay. These issues were swirling through my head. Chuck was still in the hospital. Mom and dad were busy with something, so I couldn't talk to them. Jenny was helping Harold with costumes and merchandise. I felt so alone. I spent days watching all my favorite movies, curled up on my bed under a blanket. But after three days, even The Little Mermaid and The Iron Giant couldn't comfort me. I decided to go on patrol. My mask had been slagged by the fire guy. So I just didn't bother with that or the gloves. I strapped a small camera onto myself so that I could still livestream. People liked it when I streamed my patrols. A lot of people said it made them feel safer.

  When I got back to Avalare, everything was as it always was. I guess I kind of get where Chuck is at. You can take a few days off, and the city will still be standing when you get back. As long as no Grignau are around. Curt still hadn't responded, and he hadn't turned himself in. Apparently. he had robbed Wan En and fought Bion. The stupid jerk. Who the hell does he think that he is?

  I flew around the city and stopped a few muggings. Took a few pictures with people. People seemed a little warmer around me without the mask; that was nice. I got some lunch. In the afternoon, I heard gunfire. Lots of gunfire. I charged down the street as fast as possible, compressing the air around me into a forcefield so it wouldn't break anything. Two factions were shooting it out in the middle of the street. One was twenty or thirty strong, and the other was like five guys. One side threw a grenade. An actual grenade. In a city. What the fuck!? I caught it mid-air and held it between my hands. It exploded, and I patted my hands against each other, dusting them off.

  Bullets bounced off of me from both sides. I landed and ran through the larger force quickly, taking their guns and breaking them. They scattered. There were too many to chase them down and catch them all. The people on the other side started packing themselves back into the bullet-hole-riddled corpse of a car. They began to drive off, but that was no trouble. I flew behind it and picked it up. The metal started to crumple, and I opened a force field to keep the damned thing together. After that, I just reached over, broke the axle with a quick and easy pull, and let the car slam down onto the ground. In less than a blink of an eye, I had stripped the car of its doors. Marcelli and some of his men stepped out of the vehicle.

  "Miss Stewart. How pleasant to see you," the large man said in a bored tone.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "I got you, Marcelli. You're going to jail."

  "Am I? For defending myself against a street gang?" He asked, still incredibly unconcerned.

  "Yeah. For opening fire on a city street. Endangering lives."

  "Well, you see, my dear. There are two problems with that. Well, three, really."

  "Oh? I'd love to hear them while I haul you to the police."

  "Well, firstly, you vigilante types have a hard time in court. Even if you catch someone dead-to-rights, the state doesn't like vigilantes, and neither do a lot of juries. Secondly, my dear, I was defending myself. Very American. Easy to sell. And lastly, I can afford the best of help."

  "You think a lawyer will help you against me, Marcelli?"

  "Oh, yes. I have the best lawyers. But I also have some new help that I picked up on a clearance sale," he said with the smarmiest of grins. "Esvanir, come out now."

  "Fuck," I heard from in the car. There was still someone in there.

  "Es-Esvanir?" Curt stepped out from behind the wheel.

  "This is why I wanted to snap where we were going. No chances for revenge or capes getting in the way."

  "Yes, but I prefer to drive. I have more control over you that way."

  "You're working for Marcelli? I knew you were a criminal, but I didn't know you were that low, Curt!"

  "Ah, good. You know Mister Reese. That does simplify matters. Do stream this for me. I can't wait to see how this little confrontation turns out. Try not to lose too quickly, Mister Reese. Imagine what I might do in my grief. And get us out of here." Curt rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, and the car, Marcelli, and everyone except for Curt disappeared.

  "You're seriously working for that guy?" I asked.

  "You wouldn't understand my motivations, Kari. You and I don't live in the same world."

  "You're right. I don't understand. I'd never work for scum like that. But I also wouldn't be a petty thief."

  "No, just plain petty." His tone was cold and dismissive. It hurt, but it had to.

  "You can't win against me," I said, pleading a little. "Surrender. Take me to Marcelli. Turn yourself in. Help us catch Buck Cherry. Do the right thing."

  He raised his hand, a portal opened, and a torrent of water shot forth and blasted me back. I wasn't prepared for it and didn't have time to brace myself. I stopped fifty feet or so back and stared at him. That had been a lot of pressure; it had been a short burst, but it was intense. And now I smell like saltwater. "You've become a real asshole, Cee."

  "Most people would argue that I was always an asshole, and you were just blind to it," he said, walking around. I charged forward and threw a haymaker. He caught my arm, spun, and threw me into a car, which bounced. Glass shattered, and the door dented.

  "Not a bad move."

  "Yeah. Works better on you than it did on Bion."

  "And why's that?"

  "You're a bit lighter than a full ton. The rocks in your head must be fairly lightweight." I growled and lunged at him again. He tried to sidestep, but I was faster. I caught him and slammed a knee into his stomach; I heard and felt his ribs crack; He coughed and spat out blood. I elbowed him, and he went down.

  "Why!?" I demanded. He pushed himself off of the ground. "Why are you a thief? Why are you working for him? Why?"

  "Like . . ." He coughed and pushed himself to his knees. "Like I said, you wouldn't understand. You don't have real problems."

  "I'm a superheroine who the internet has seen naked. I got lots of problems." He shrugged in concession.

  "Fair enough. But beyond that, you're basically rich. You're a celebrity, and you've got fucking superpowers!" He screamed, snapping again. Another torrent of water spat up and caught me in the chin. I went flying and caught myself.

=== CURT ===

I could snap away. But that would just be kicking the can down the road a bit. I ran through every solution I could think of. The problem is that she's going to find me eventually; she knows where I live; she knows who I am stuck working for now. So, I'm trapped. And I'm really, really pissed off.

  "Hello, misplaced aggression," I said as Kari slammed down in front of me. To be fair, she had tried to slam down onto me, but I had jumped out of the way. She charged forward, I opened a portal, and her fist made contact with her face. And another with her stomach. There was no great shockwave of force; She was holding back. That makes sense; I'm not a threat to her.

  "Why!?" She screamed again. "Why, why why why why!? WHY!?" She cried out, punching out again and again and again. I did my best to dodge. To track her punches, but she was just so damn fast. She caught me with them more often than not. With her last strike, I was thrown backwards and slammed down on the hood of a car twenty feet away. I tried to scramble to my feet but ended up falling onto the asphalt. She stomped her feet right next to my head and picked me up. "Why the fuck are you doing this?"

  I groaned. My vision was blurry; I'm pretty sure my ribs were broken, and she had me. I coughed up some blood and spit. A little got on her face. She growled and scrubbed at her face, closing her deep forest-green eyes. "Because of people like you."

  "People like me?"

  "Fucking heroes. You morons blow in, make things better for a minute, then fucking disappear, never considering the wreckage you leave behind. You and Bion and Professor Mind never deal with real issues. You fuckers give us hope and destroy it when you're gone." I stared at her with one eye. My head was pounding. I didn't even know what I was saying anymore. But something inside me broke. "You just leave the little people below you behind to clean up after you're gone. Fucking Bion can lift a fucking car over his head and shoot lasers, but those lasers hit a fucking building when he misses. His missiles destroy buildings and cars when he misses. And he fucking misses a lot. And so do you. And none of you give a damn when someone is crushed under the fucking rubble as long as you get the supposed bad guy. Wrecking the city to defend it. And then you fucking leave. When is the damage that you bring too much?"

  "And Marcelli doesn't do a lot of damage? He opened fire in the middle of the God damned streets, Curt! Marcelli sells drugs to kids. He kills people all the damn time. At least I am not trying to hurt people! I'm trying to help! But you're working for him." Kari brandished me in the sky. My hands were shaking. My head started pounding harder. My heart had been racing this entire time, but something new snapped. I swung on her. My fist made contact with her face. And cracked. But it didn't matter. I punched her again and again, alternating hands until they were a bloody mess. Eventually, my shirt tore, and I fell to the ground.

=== KARI ===

"You don't know a fucking thing, Kari! You don't know who I am anymore," Curt screamed at me, tears leaking down his face. "You think I want to work for someone like Marcelli? God, you're still so fucking stupid. You have all of that fucking power. The ability to see everything except what is in front of your goddamn face!"

  I had never seen him like that. His fists were a mess. Broken. I had seen him cry before. But never out of impotence. Beneath all of his anger, beneath his arrogant, preachy indignation, he was afraid. He was terrified of something. Curt was never scared of anything. As a child, I had always been a daredevil, but he always approached everything with the same cold logic. He didn't get excited. "What has he done to you?"

  "I-It's not me," he said, raising his hand. His fingers weren't working right. He was trying to get them in position to snap, and I reached down and grabbed his hand. There was a soft pop behind me, but I didn't look away from him. I couldn't. Despite everything, he was still my friend, and he was in pain. He was angry and sad and scared, and I wanted to help. I felt someone grab me by the throat, and I spun around. I saw a naked woman, and then my muscles convulsed, and everything went black.

  I woke up on the floor a few minutes later. At least that's what my phone said. Police had started to gather around. They kept their distance. I crawled to my feet and saw my face in the window of a car. It was covered in Curt's blood. Curt was gone. I made my way over to a police officer. She started to shirk away. I knew I looked like a wreck, but it was what it was. "Do you have Esvanir in custody?"

  "No, ma'am. He was gone by the time we got there. Buck Cherry whammied you, and then they disappeared doing that trick of his," she said, trying to keep her tone professional.

  "Right. Of course. Buck Cherry. That makes sense." My head still hurt. What had she done to me? I knew she could disable people. But I didn't think I would be vulnerable to something like that. That means she's much more dangerous than I thought. Which isn't hard. I thought she was a naked hussie who had blinded everyone, including Curt, with her curves, I thought bitterly.

  I looked around and shook my head. I launched myself off of the ground and flew home. When I got there, mom and dad were waiting for me.

  "Honey, I'm sorry. Did . . . Did you know that Curt was . . . That Curt was Esvanir?" Mom asked, bringing me into a tight hug.

  "Y-yeah . . . But how do you know about that?"

  "Sweetie," dad began. "Y-you were streaming it. It's everywhere."

  He gestured to the computer; I clicked on a link on a tweet. It was a video from David Thrawn with his vaguely Australian accent. "And we now have the elusive Esvanir. Curtis Reese is still at large after his showdown with Smash Gal, Kari Stewart. She and he apparently have some history, given the way that they were talking to each other on her live-stream earlier tonight."

  The video transitioned to a clip from my stream. The camera was on my collar, so it was facing up. Curt's face was bruised, his lip was broken, and his chin was covered in blood; he looked like hell, and I had done it to him. It went through his rant and then ended.

  "This was clipped earlier from Smash Gal's stream and has been shared almost half a million times in the last hour. As you can see, Esvanir blames rich heroes for not 'dealing with real issues'. He did not explain what he meant by that. We are reaching out to see if we cannot get a statement from him or Kari to comment on the situation, but we have not heard back from either of them. It does appear from the stream that Jenny the Cannoneer's opinion that he has a relationship with the alluring Buck Cherry has been confirmed."

  I checked my email, and sure enough, my publicist had forwarded an attempted contact by Thrawn's studio. Also, my streaming platform had blocked me because of nudity. Buck Cherry had just accidentally nuked my ability to stream. "Fuck!"