I looked out over the edge of the building. My legs dangled while I sat. Below was a large pond. Cherry blossom trees bloomed around the edges. Tokyo was a sight to see at this time of year. I watched people circle the park attached to the pond. People didn’t notice me, and I preferred it that way. Then my headset went off.

“Naomi, are you there?” asked a voice behind the speaker.

“Yes. I’m listening. Though I should be on break.”

“You’re needed back near base. There is a guy on a rampage. We think he is on some kind of drugs to be ignoring our current warnings.”

“Why’s it got to be a psycho? Send me the address information.”

“Already sent.”

A heads-up display appeared inside my mask visor with the map and the trajectory of the target. He was heading through houses and the streets.

“Any idea where he might be headed?” I asked as I started my descent.

“I’m trying to figure it out.”

As I fell, I drew my gun attached to my side. The modified taser felt good in my hands. I mentally went through what I needed to do. The moment my feet touched the water I vanished.

Thousands of miles away I reappeared on the roof of a commercial building in the downtown area. Adjusting my direction according to the map I looked out for my next teleportation location. For a minute I jumped from building to building. Then from house to house.

“What’s the threat level?”

“Considering he was seen bending a steel beam, I would say level five. We’ve alerted those in the area to evacuate and hide. Luckily our perp doesn’t seem to care about people.”

“Maybe he is on some drug bender? Couldn’t one of the Titans take care of this guy? Today was supposed to be my day off.”

“At least you got a half day off. I’ve almost hit my 12-hour shift. Things have been busy today. We had a nigh-magical fire start by the docks this morning which is just wrapping up thanks to Water Pulse. There have also been the usual armed and unarmed robberies which didn’t seem necessary to call you in for. We’ve got enough surveillance to get them after the fact.”

“I think I see the guy. Or at least his trail. I’ll check back in a minute.”

The line went silent, and I adjusted my gun to level five. The roof had collapsed on a house, and another was smoking. A bit of fire was leaking out. In the periphery, a few people were watching.

“Great,” I thought. “Possible fans.”

I adjusted the scanner on my visor and teleported to the house destruction in the process. His yells could be heard even at the edge of the house. It was incoherent and more annoying than anything. He barely noticed as I teleported to the balcony above him. It was a brute. With his muscles swelling and hardened skin covering his ballooning insides. I fired off two shots.

The first hit while the second missed. I swapped locations before he eyed me. His gaze followed anyway. The shot that hit him sizzled on his skin slowing him a little. He roared at the attack and started his charge. I upped the level on the pistol to six.

He was like a raging bull, and I was the matador. For a moment I found it funny that my suit had hints of red on it. Unfortunately, his charge had to go somewhere and that was into one of the remaining walls. The building was already falling apart, and he let it all fall around himself. Dust and debris covered his form as he ran. The lawn ornaments did not slow his charge.

I got one shot off that he dodged before I was forced to move. He didn’t care that I was gone and barreled into the fence, stopping halfway through the wall of the next house. I heard the scream of a child.

“Shit.”

‘Parents must not be home to hear the warning.’ I teleported into the bull-man. Two shots hit his chest before he threw me upward. I used the moment to teleport away before I flew through too much stuff. It still hurt.

My scanner found the child, a young boy, before my eyes did. I teleported to him and was out of the house a moment later.

“Anyone else home?” I asked hurriedly.

“No,” he answered while crying.

“Get back.” I looked to the house which had a large human-sized hole in it. The Bullman was slowly stepping out of it.

Two more shots slowed him down further. His legs were shaky, and each step took more effort than the last. Sometimes I wished the bullets would be faster acting. I looked back to see the boy backed up and curled up. The visor wouldn’t tell me so quickly about possible injuries and I didn’t have time yet to assess them either.

I dropped the pistol back down to level five not wanting to waste its battery. The shots hit the bull-man’s head. He shuddered before falling over unconscious.

“Can you get a support team out here?” I asked over the coms.

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“They are already on their way. A few more minutes. I’ll also have an ambulance on route.”

“I can take care of that.”

“I would rather you stay with our unconscious man.”

“He’ll be fine for a minute alone.”

“You know the policy. I’ll check in once the team has picked him up and I’ll cancel the ambulance. You can take him to the hospital.”

I looked back at the boy. He was looking better. “What’s his name?”

“Ronnie Smith, 45, worked as a construction…”

“No, the kid.”

“Oh, he is Mark. Ten years old. His mom is at the hospital. She would love to see him there. Dad is at the car dealership and looks ready to drive home with his new car now.”

“Maybe I will wait for his dad to get back.”

“Best not to. He needs the medical attention. I will send his dad an automated message, maybe when he is at a stop light. Best not to scare him with the house in ruins.”

“As long as you’ve got it handled. I’ll be with Mark. Check in later?”

“Yeah, and before you do can you put another level six shot in Big Ronnie.”

“Will do.”

After popping Ronnie one more time I turned back to Mark. I mentally went over the checklist and protocol. There was a whole set up for dealing with survivors by the agency. Even more things to go over when I was dealing with children. It was sometimes more of a pain than it was worth. The situation depended on who I was talking to and if there were multiple people. It was one of the lesser qualities I had as a hero. Unfortunately, half the part of being a hero was ‘customer-facing’ of a sort.

I sat down next to Mark. Other people around on the street were tuned out. I disconnected the comms as well.

“What hurts Mark?”

He paused his sniffing and looked up at that. “My arm.”

The visor confirmed that it was broken among other issues he had. At least there was nothing worse. “I bring you to the hospital in a few minutes. Okay? The doctors will get you checked out and you will be fixed up. There is nothing to worry about. You are safe now.”

“Why don’t I feel safe?” asked Mark. His gaze had drifted downward.

“There are a lot of answers that would go over your head so here is the simple answer. Do you know anyone who has dealt with supervillain incidents before?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t know what it is like and don’t know what to expect. Sure, your mom can tell you that she saw people with this injury or that injury from a super-powered person, but you have been away from that for so long. That is a good thing. Now though this guy,” I pointed to the unconscious brute, “has interrupted that safety. It can be jarring. You may not know what to do or exactly how to feel. Just remember that I am here with you and have protected you. Your dad will be back home soon, and I will bring you to the hospital.”

Mark sat in his thoughts for a minute, and I let him. I took the time as a mental break. The suit had protected me from physical injuries. Usually, I was too fast for any big injury. Few things stopped me from teleporting away from a fight. It had happened a bit more often in my early days.

“The pain is a temporary thing. Try not to focus or look at your arm for now. What do you like to do? What were you doing before? Before this happened?” I asked.

“I was playing with my trains. I have. Had a big set of them.” He looked back at the house.

I pulled his focus back to me. “I like trains too. Had to travel on one recently. I can’t teleport to somewhere I haven’t been before you see. The snowcapped mountains were beautiful and sleeping on the train was a unique experience. I even fought on a train once. The supervillain had rigged the containers on the train to blow up and it was my job to sneak on and disarm it while another hero distracted the villain. Have you been on a train before?”

“Yes. My dad takes me into the city sometimes by train. We ride it around and around and around. Is my dad really on his way home now?”

“He is,” I assured him. “My friend has contacted him by now and is racing on his way here. However, we need to be on our way to the hospital by then. Once that guy is picked up, I can take you there. In the blink of your eyes, we will be in front of the hospital. It is one of the many places I have memorized. With my help, I can teleport people right to where they need to be. Then the doctors can pick them up as soon as I get there.”

“I want to see my dad though.”

“I know that you do. A familiar face should be with you when you get there. I’ll see about teleporting your dad as well to the hospital so he can be there with you. I promise that you won’t be alone for more than a few more minutes. While we wait is there anything you want me to grab from the house?”

Mark shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Well, it does to me. I can get it no problem.”

“You can check if one of the trains survived, I guess.”

“Good. I can do that. Is there one that I should look for?”

“My Bachmann.” Mark paused. It is black and says New York Central on the side. It is an older style of train.”

“I’ll find it.” Patting him on the shoulder I hurried to find it. I went to the upper floor where I had first picked up Mark. Things were scattered and furniture was toppled everywhere. Train parts were on the ground, so I started searching. Black didn’t stand out well between the fallen pieces. I spent another minute searching before I saw the white lettering distinguishing the train from the rest.

“I’ve got it,” I said teleporting back.

He started to dust off the train. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I joined him on the grass, a smile growing behind the mask.

Mark nodded, holding the train carefully in his uninjured hand. "My grandpa gave it to me. He used to work on the real trains a long time ago."

"That's amazing. It must have so many stories to tell."

“What happens now? To my house and everything?"

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about that right now. The important thing is getting you taken care of. Some people and programs will help your family with the house and anything else you need. The house can be fixed. Your things can be replaced. Your life cannot.”

A large van pulled up in the driveway. Out stepped four guards in uniform. I stood up to meet them. “I’ll be back in a minute. Remember that your dad will be home soon.”

The four of them were inspecting the unconscious body on the lawn. One shot the body with more tranquilizer, and another put cuffs on him.

“Do you need anything else while I’m here or can I hand him off to you?” I asked.

“We’ve got him. You should check back in with base though with further orders.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” I said before teleporting back over to Mark. “Ready to go?”

I helped him back to his feet.

“Are you sure I can’t wait for my dad?”

“You know that it is best if you start the check-up on your arm or else it might scar. I’ll make sure to get his location and teleport him to the hospital as soon as I find him. Now for this next step, I need to hold you.” I grabbed his arms and hoisted him up. Luckily, he wasn’t too heavy. He put his arms around my neck. “This will feel a little weird and I would suggest that you close your eyes.

I teleported away from the scene. My feet slipped and I instinctively teleported to the side and landed securely on the ground. The ground was cracked. Ash and dust coated the ground. Mark opened his eyes. I was barely processing it myself.

“Where are we?” he asked.

Things weren’t right and I booted up the map in my visor. It should have been right in front of me, but the city was a crater. Ash stuck to his hair and was starting to cover my suit. Coms were turned back on, but no messages came through immediately. Mark’s words broke through my thoughts.

“Where’s my mom?”