I sat there in the mostly dark hall, frozen in the sway of my power. Just like that, Fusillade had been taken out and taken. I was alone in a bank with at least three enemy Empowered, plus their regular backup. No offensive powers to take them down and save Rache. I couldn’t even move her without them noticing. My own hand suddenly cracked across my face, leaving my cheek stinging.

“Get it together!” I growled and forced myself to stand on shaky legs. “Gotta save her, gotta stop the villains.” I took a few deep breaths, activated my power, and bravely poked my head around the edge of the hole.

Rache had been hurriedly restrained and dumped in the middle of the floor behind the teller booths. Three scrawny guys with red bandanas over their faces hovered nervously nearby, glancing between the unconscious hero and the lobby. I followed their gaze and saw four people dressed normal, a couple bank workers and a portly security guard. Apart from the rest, two people in red costumes stood talking in hushed tones. I slid out of sight and breathed slowly, recovering for a moment. Then I took a deep breath and went in.

“--matter where she came from,” the smaller of the two said in a scratchy, androgynous voice. “We stay put, Anvil, at least until Scythe gets back.”

“What if he already got got?” the giant, Anvil, muttered.

“Then we deal,” the other snapped. “We got the one lurking around like she’s a Solo bitch. Once she wakes up we can figure where her Duo is and wipe ‘em.”

“Fine,” Anvil spat and looked out of the bank. “Lotta cops out there.”

“No shit,” Scratchy replied. “We’re robbing a bank.”

“Not this many last time, Mallet.”

“Welcome to the big leagues, big guy,” Scratchy, or Mallet, said sarcastically. They had a large, yellow hammer emblazoned across the the front of their scarlet costume.

“And a couple Duos,” Anvil continued, sounding nervous. “Plus the one in here. At least.”

“Don’t be a defeatist,” Mallet said sharply. “Stick to the plan, nothing more. I’ll report this.” Anvil gave a weary nod as Mallet stepped away.

I stepped back through the hole in the wall as Mallet placed a cell phone to their ear and spoke quietly. I didn’t want to push my powers too far right now, so I slipped into another dark office and hid under a desk. I slowly exhaled and relaxed the sway of my power. I felt panic bubbling in my stomach, but I couldn’t afford that now.

I chewed my thumbnail viciously. Okay, so they had three Empowered, two here in the lobby and the other…elsewhere. It sounded like they’d worked together last time too. The symbols on the cars; an anvil, a hammer or mallet I guess, and a scythe. Oh shit they had to be a Trio. Just my luck that my first fight was against a Solo and now I had to deal with a Trio. Hopefully being up against stupid odds didn’t become a trend.

Okay, a Trio, fine. That…actually, they were split up right now. If I could just find the third, Scythe, I could deal with them easy. A lonely Trio wouldn’t be nearly as dangerous to me as two of them were. Now I just had to find him.

I took my thumb from my mouth and crawled out from under the desk. I flexed my power, just long enough to leave the office and cross to the other side of the hole. Then I relaxed it and continued stalking further into the back.

If I had to guess, and without Rache I did, this bank had a vault. If these guys weren’t too creative, I bet their names had something to do with their powers. For Scythe, well it was hard to say but probably some kind of cutting thing. So I just had to not get cut.

Somewhere ahead I could hear an odd, rhythmic noise I couldn’t identify. It sounded like something scraping against metal. Was that the sound of the vault being broken into? I sped up my pace. If that’s what it was, it would be the perfect distraction. I stopped at the corner, just before where the noise was coming from. I pressed myself against the wall and relaxed my power to give it a break before I really needed it.

“Fuckin’ Ritters,” a nasty sounding voice muttered, out of breath. “No, of course you reinforced every vault in the city. Of course you’d use abtech to do it. Shoulda joined the RCP…” I heard a huff and the scraping noise stopped.

A loud clanging started, a new peal of noise every half-second. I flexed my power and rounded the corner. The source was the person who’d been cursing out the heroes a moment ago. A man, judging by the short beard sticking from under his half-helmet. He was repeatedly jabbing at a metal door with deep gouges carved out of it. The vault, presumably.

I saw he had a long knife in his hand as he paused between blows. It was normal looking enough, but somehow making progress. When he struck, sparks flew from the impact and I could see a pile of metal shards growing around the door. Slowly, surely, Scythe was getting into the vault. I circled behind the villain, careful to avoid the scattered bits of debris all over the floor. I crossed to the other side of the hall and kept walking.

I wouldn’t rush into this. Every move had to be planned and prepared, and I’d make sure he was alone first. Wandering further up the hall led me to a room with a bunch of monitors. Empty, right now, so I dropped my power and stepped inside. I realized pretty quickly it was the security room.

There was a broken open gun safe that would have been useful, if I knew how to use one…and if there were any left. No matter, my taser would be enough. I turned my attention to the monitors, a much better use of my time. Cameras were placed all through the bank, covering almost every square inch with their vision. This must have been how they found us. I wasn’t sure why they’d left it, but what I saw gave me a pretty good idea.

Far from the communist horde I feared, there were a total of eight enemies to deal with: three gunmen in the lobby, two in the back offices, and then the villains. They nearly had more hostages than soldiers, though Empowered countered a bit more. But why so few when they had more at their disposal? Maybe they were hitting multiple targets tonight. That made sense.

Not that it mattered. I was here and had my work cut out for me. I retraced my steps and activated my power as soon as I got back in earshot of Scythe. He was sweating, and his little exposed skin was red from effort. He was making progress though, and I had to put a stop to it.

I crept closer, the sound of my heart becoming a rapid drumbeat. I knew what to do though, Rache had taught me well. I drew my taser, holding it ready as I approached. Scythe stopped cutting for a moment, panting and cursing everyone who’d had even incidental contact with the door. Then I pounced.

I aimed a vicious stomp at the back of his knee, letting my power go just before I struck out. Scythe yelped and his leg gave out, dropping him on one knee. I activated my power and retreated before he managed to recover.

He pushed himself up with a muffled curse. No doubt he was confused, maybe a little scared, by his suddenly lame leg. I lurked around to his side, taser ready. I didn’t strike, not yet. Scythe’s guard was up, his long blade in hand and raised. His stance was better than mine, so throws weren’t viable. That was why I packed options.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Without warning, he walked towards me. Though my power would stop him from hitting me, I still scrambled away. He sat heavily on a cushioned stool and laid his weapon across his lap. It looked like a weird, triangular knife, with a really long blade and a barely hand-sized grip wrapped in wire. Scythe took a rock from his pocket and began dragging it along the edges, towards the tip.

Again I moved behind him, feeling the strain of my power. This was the first time I’d used it like this and it didn’t seem to like it. My breath was starting to come in short, sharp gasps. Right now though it was working and I needed to capitalize, heh, on that. Scythe was mostly covered, but there was a gap between his helmet and shoulders that exposed his neck. Lucky for me.

Not so lucky for Scythe.

In maybe the most fluid move I’d ever done, I deactivated my power and jammed the tip home into his neck. He let out a surprised, pained groan as his limbs spasmed under the taser’s bite. The knife and stone fell to the floor, and Scythe quickly followed.

I fell on top of him, forcing his face down, my knee between his shoulder blades. I hit him again with the taser, jumping a bit as I was shocked. It hurt, but not too badly. Better avoid that though. I twisted his unresisting arms behind his back and swiftly bound them with a tight zip-tie. I rose and tased him one more time, then gave his helmet a heavy kick, just in case. I really didn’t need this guy slipping a knife between my ribs.

I dropped to my knees and let out a wheezing breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I gasped desperately but couldn’t get enough air. I felt sick, my stomach cramping. With willpower I didn’t know I had, I forced myself to take long, slow breaths. It took a few minutes, but the feeling mostly went away and left me feeling oddly cold.

One down…

I retrieved his knife and slipped it into my belt. The handle had a weird shape, dog-legged out at ninety degrees, but it kept it in place. I didn’t plan to use it, but better with me than him. I walked back to the hole leading into the lobby. Again I activated my power to slip by, then let it go once out of sight again.

I didn’t quite have a plan, beyond this silent war of attrition. There were two people with guns back here though, so they were next. With any luck I wouldn’t be alone for long. Anvil commented on the Ritter presence already. I was sure the real heroes would finish this before I could. Hopefully, anyway.

I heard the familiar noise of conversation further into the office section. With a bit of effort, my power came over me and I held my taser ready. The two gunmen were facing me, but their heads were turned to one another as they chattered. I didn’t bother sparing any of my stretched thin attention to their blabber.

Like with Scythe, I got behind them before making a move. Fortunately they were both less covered than he’d been. Both got a quick taser strike to the back of the neck, then once more on each limb. Like Scythe, they made oddly strained noises rather than screaming. I wasn’t sure why, but wasn’t about to question my luck. And just like that, the terrorists numbered five.

I bound them then, as an afterthought, gagged them with the red bandanas covering their faces. I had no use for their old looking guns, so just dragged them away and hid them. The cops would find them later so I figured it was fine.

The atmosphere had changed when I returned to the hole in the wall. Anvil and Mallet were off to one side, arguing in hushed tones. The remaining gunmen wandered around the lobby, glaring at or threatening the terrified hostages. Fusillade lay with her head leaning against the back of the counter, hands bound in front of her. She looked bad, but was breathing steadily as blood trickled from her broken nose.

I ran to the back again, into the nearest office. My power relaxed and I breathed deeply, heavily even though it hadn’t been that long. Okay, I needed a plan now. Five versus one, unless the Ritters decided to actually help. I wanted to count on them, but right now I had what I had.

The gunmen were out. As soon as one of them dropped, the others would either shoot me, or a hostage, or both. Both abhumans were right next to each other too, so I couldn’t take them on unless–

“--llet! Mallet!” a weak, but audible cry from the back room. Fuck!

I forced my power on and ran out of the office, just in time to see Mallet take off sprinting through the hole. The gunmen turned, startled, but Anvil ordered them to stay put as they did. I walked out into the lobby just as the front doors exploded in a blinding flash of light.

I wasn’t stupid, I knew what a flashbang was, and the pulsing ache in my teeth and ringing in my ears were a dead giveaway. Plus the near-blindness… I fell to the floor, my power still on. I crawled forward, towards the last place I remembered seeing Rache. I felt more than heard footsteps passing by, and muffled cries that sounded like they were from underwater.

My vision began to clear and I saw Rache directly ahead, eyes slowly blinking open. I grinned and dropped my power, making her jump. She quickly relaxed and, using the knife I’d liberated from Scythe, I cut her loose.

“Good shit,” she said with a pained grin.

“‘Shit’ is right.” I started badly, jerking away from the booming voice that was practically in my ear. My power flickered, like a spasming muscle, and I saw the source’s eyes narrow. “Sergeant, take the victims and terrorists out, and bring the rest of your men.”

“Yes sir.”

My head snapped to the side and I saw a woman, armed with a short machine pistol that was vaguely aimed at my face. I shivered, but she didn’t notice and rounded up a number of armed men, dragging or shoving the bad guys along. Within just thirty seconds, we were left alone.

“Fusillade,” the Ritter, as he must have been, rumbled. “You’re supposed to be on sick leave.”

“Emergency,” she said with a shrug that made her wince. “I was a block over, you can’t expect me to ignore that, Richter.” The large Ritter, god he was tall, sighed.

“No, I guess not, but you sure paid for it.” He shook his yeah and I noticed he had long, black dreads hanging down to his neck. “And who’s your friend?”

“Um, hi,” I said timidly. “I’m T- I mean I’m M-Mercury, I mean Mercurial!” I grimaced, wishing to disappear. Apparently my power didn’t oblige.

“You’re Empowered.” It wasn’t a question.

“Thirteen-B, Richter,” Fusillade groaned and sat up. Jeez she really looked hurt. “As you’re so fond of reminding me.” He let out a low growl.

“Very well, lieutenant.” His attention turned back to me, made me feel tiny. A sick feeling was building in my stomach. “You do not have to answer any of my questions, you are not being detained, you are not under arrest.” He glanced towards the hole in the wall. “I do want answers.”

\“Um okay.” I replied. Fusillade shook her head slowly but what else was I supposed to do?!

“You working with Fusillade?” I barely suppressed a flinch, my eyes flicking to her briefly. Richter sighed and rolled his eyes. “Okay, that was easy. What’s the game?” He asked her, not me.

“She was on her first night out.” her voice was tense. “Wasn’t gonna let her go in there and get killed.”

“How noble,” he replied sarcastically and looked back at me. “This true?”

“Um, yes, sir,” I replied hesitantly. Lying to a Ritter seemed like a really bad idea…but Rache had, and I didn’t want to get her in trouble.

“Then you’re free to go,” he replied and faced Fusillade. “You, however–”

“I’m on sick leave,” she interrupted, pushing herself up on unsteady legs. I rose and reached out to her without thinking, but she shook her head. “And uh…think I kinda need it.” She snorted and a thick wad of bloody snot shot out of her nose. Gross.

“Fine,” Richter spat. “Report by Monday though, and go see a fucking doctor.”

“Yeah yeah.” She waved her hand flippantly and turned to me. “Come on Tess let’s goooo…” Both our eyes widened as she trailed off. We turned back and saw an irritated Richter, shaking his head slowly.

“Oh no,” he said stiffly and sarcastically. “One of those flashbangs must have fucked up my hearing so that one stupid little brat didn’t out another to me.” The sick feeling got worse…but was still manageable.

“Come on,” Rache said tersely, walking unsteadily into the back offices and out the way we came.

I followed her, my guts absolutely churning. Oh god oh fuck Rache had said my name to Richter. That was it, even if he said he didn’t hear he didn’t mean it. I hadn’t even gotten started and already my career was being threatened by the tiniest mistake.

I felt my breath coming short, not filling my lungs like I needed. Had this been a mistake? Sure I’d helped save some hostages but at what cost? My secret identity, the thing that separated hero from villain and kept me safe, had been compromised. I was fucked and–

“Hey, Tess!” Rache’s hissing voice pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts. She loomed over me, bloody trails down her face glistening in the dim light from outside. “Hey, you there? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” I gasped, eyes darting around. I was in…a cubicle? Or something. “Yeah I’m okay just…”

“Alright, just take it easy,” she said gently. “No rush, uhh, mostly.” I flinched.

“Mostly?”

“I just…” she sighed and said in the quietest voice I’d heard from her. “I wanna go home.” My stomach still churned, but it was back to a normal level. I rose and offered her a hand.

“Yeah,” I said as she took it and pulled herself up. “Me too.”