“He was right there!” I say softly. Rubbing his wrists, he says, “Don’t worry about it Winowna. You did great. I just didn’t think the government would find us this fast. Talk about sneaky, one of them transformed into a lamp and waited to get behind me.” Walking towards the hospital, Yue blocks me. “Hey, if you don’t mind, could you break my chains?” she asks. Shrugging, I reach for the weird contraption that holds her hands together and rip the chains between the bangle components apart. Muttering thanks, she rushes to the chair where I left the target.

Excited, she shouts, “There’s a blood trail. He’s pretty heavily injured too. If you trace his handprints, They all seem to be on walls and surfaces so he’s probably trying to support himself up.” Following the handprints, we quickly exit the hospital through a rear entrance. With it still dark outside, the handprints and trail of blood got much harder to see. Pulling out a shiny stick, Yue flicks her thumb and white light pours out. Unlike the uniformed weaklings, her stick continuously shines light out of the open end of the stick. Curious, I ask, “What are those? Those people in the ambulances trying to take you away kept flashing them at me but theirs didn’t stay on continuously.”

Instead of Yue, Regius answers me, “That’s a flashlight, it shines light like a lantern or a common light spell.” Pulling out a shorter flashlight he patiently says, ”This is not a flashlight. It’s called a gun, normally it would kill you but you’re just incredibly strong in this world. They shoot these things called bullets at you. Don’t get hit by these in other worlds. Okay?” Walking just behind Yue, letting her be useful, I silently nod my head. I feel like something is wrong with this world. This gun seems to be kind of useless. If it shoots a projectile at you, why don’t you just use dimensional magic on the opening and redirect it back at the assailant? What if you miss? Isn’t a sword better since they can be just as fast with enough practice?

Observing Regius, I realize my partner may just be lazy. Following Yue diligently, I think about my future. Regius seems like a nice guy, although a bit lazy. I don't think I’ll have trouble following him through dangerous missions, but is he the partner for me? “Hey, Winowna? What are you thinking about?” he asks concernedly. Looking up at his dashing figure, I reply with, “Just thinking that my partner may be a bit lazy.” Looking at me in a daze, he smiles. After walking in a few moments of silence, he says, “I may be lazy, but I’m happy. I’m happy I found you. I’m happy you’ve become my partner. Nothing could be better, truly.”

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Feeling the blood rush to my head, I look at him confused. Just what did he do to me? Just why am I heating up? Humans don’t normally fluctuation in temperature like this, at least as far as I know. Shrugging, I give him my best smile. Lazy or not, he accepts me. That is enough.

“Hey, guys! The blood is gone!” Yue yells from ahead. Catching up, I see her searching for signs of blood. Following the blood trail, it just seemed to stop halfway through a narrow alley. “Can you hear any vehicles?” Regius asks anxiously. Pausing, she says, “Plenty, but what are you looking for?” Thinking aloud he starts to say some incomprehensible things. Finally coming to a decision, he says, “Listen for a motorcycle. Winowna, come here.” Squeezing my shoulders, he asks me to stomp hard on the spot where to blood stops.

Smiling in anticipation, I raise my left foot so its 180 degrees from my right and swing it down with all my might. With a resounding crack, the ground splits and a crater is formed. Not finding what he is looking for, he focuses on Yue. Staring at her, I also wait. Adjusting her head orientation quite a few times, she finally opens her eyes. “One about 3 miles away. It’s shifting speeds frequently. The driver doesn’t seem to be able to muster much strength.” Smiling, Regius tells her to point the direction and opens a portal in the given direction. Stepping through, I find myself on the top of a very tall building.

Walking to the railing, I see a vast city with hundreds of buildings that touch the sky. Gaping in awe, Regius closes my mouth for me. Focusing on the cars below, Regius shouts, “That him!” straining my eyes I make out a strange half car thing. It looks like it only has 2 wheels. Patting my shoulder, he says, “I’ll be right back. Stay here and wait for me!”

With a quick jump, he is gone. Turing back to Yue, I see her talking into some box at the other side of the roof. Putting the box away, she urgently yells, ”Miss, we have trouble. The Government is sending its combat heroes. We have to go now!” Nodding, I shout back, “Yea! We can go when Regius returns!” Shaking her head, she desperately says while getting closer, “He can escape, from them with his portals. We need to go right now! Come on!”

Twiddling my fingers, I try to think of a solution. Heroes are trying to get us so are we, bad guys? They must be mistaken! Thinking back to Wilbur’s methods, I remember one that may just work. Grabbing Yue, I ask, “Which way are they coming from?” Surprised, she points in the opposite direction of Regius. Patting her shoulder, I say, “Tell him to come get me when he’s done.” Leaving her behind I quickly jump across the flat roofs towards the real bad guys. Real good guys never attack the wrong people.

Hiding behind a loud box with a fan inside, I watch as a lady with wings approaches. Squatting, I ready myself as she gets closer. Just as the sound of her wings flapping reaches me, I jump and tackle the woman out of the air. Punching her into the roof, she faints in a crater of rubble. Wilbur always said if someone in the way and the situation is dire, use the shortest way to remove them from the equation. It took me a while but I learned equation meant situation. Cracking my knuckles, I smile. It really is fun to be strong.