Bion had gotten off. I wish I were surprised. I followed the coverage of this throughout the trial. The defense hadn’t had that much to rely on. The documents I had leaked to Thrawn and the interview I’d done had been beneficial, but the association with me gave them a few chances to argue against it effectively. They had even implied that I had brainwashed Smash Gal somehow, which should have been hilarious, but I was concerned. What is Bion going to do? I had spent some time diversifying the systems I relied on to snap places. I also tried to hide the data and the energy usage. It’d gotten a lot more efficient since I started going through and upgrading it last year, but it still was a massive undertaking. And for all his faults, Bion is brilliant. And he hires even more brilliant people to help him. I assume if he wants to find me, he could.

  I was supposed to be figuring out the next step for the Acolytes, but ever since the news broke, all I could think was, The system fails again. Cindi was out doing something with them anyway. She’d taken to them very fiercely, and honestly, I was still really uncomfortable with the whole thing, so I hadn’t checked in with what she was doing with them. I could talk to Des about this, but would they even understand why I was so angry? Probably. But they’d also convince me to try and let it go. Let all of the impotent rage I felt go. So, I didn’t reach out. Instead, I snapped over to a tall building in Avalare I liked. It was one of the scouting places I used to go to. It had a pretty good line of sight to Wan En. I leaned down on my elbows, stewing at the building across the way.

  I wasn’t there long before I heard the now-familiar sound of a portal opening around me. I’d gotten so used to fast snaps that the sound was almost foreign, until Cindi had one. And that’s who I figured it was. But something was wrong. The ground crunched loudly behind me with a footstep. When Cindi decides to walk, which is only about half the time in the first place, her footsteps are light and cat-like. I turned and froze. Standing with an open portal behind him was Andrew Wan, Bion. It was the first time I’d seen him since my imprisonment in his little compound, at least not on a screen. He was wearing his full super suit, which had been updated to something crossed between a suit of armor and a space suit. The portal closed slowly behind him, and he took a few steps closer, and I started going down three trains of thought immediately. Calculating what he could be here for, preparing portals from the likeliest places I thought lasers or missiles would be coming from, and the last, which was, by far, the most complicated: the moral calculus of killing the man who previously held the title of World’s Most Popular Superhero. His ranking had gone down considerably with the trial. And Smash Gal had rocketed up to number two, putting him in third.

  “I must say,” he began slowly, gesturing to my wrist with the same hand I knew missiles came from, the same hand that had blown up people who were later identified, or perhaps classified retroactively, as terrorists, the same hand that had killed Grignau. “It is an elegant design, between that and your app. I’m surprised you keep it as vulnerable as you do.”

  “What do you want, Wan?” I growled.

  “To prove a point, Esvanir. Curtis Reese.” He paused, closing the distance between us. “May I call you Curt?”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you call me, Bion.”

  “Esvanir, then. After all, that’s what you’ve chosen to be. Hacker, activist, thief, terrorist, supervillain.” He emphasized the last title with a wry smile stretching his lips. “Because that’s what you are- a villain to my hero. And I assure you, I am still very much a hero. A superhero.”

  “I’ve never subscribed to that particular philosophy. I don’t dress up like an idiot and prance around robbing banks slowly enough for some jackass in tights to stop me.”

  “It’s true. You do not have the flair of the average villain. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve put a target on your back. And I can find you. I took a page out of your book and reverse-engineered your technology, and now, just like you, I can be anywhere and everywhere. And I can stop you whenever I want.” I laughed at him. I couldn’t help it. “You think that’s funny?”

  “I do. I really fucking do,” I managed after a few beats. “For the last six months, every government in the northern hemisphere has been chasing me. I’ve fought you, Smash Gal, Professor Mind, and Thunderblast. And you, by far, have been the least threatening. You couldn’t even catch me when you were firing missiles at me. Compared to the others, you’re bush league. The future is now, old man.”

  “I admit that, before, I wasn’t properly motivated. But you’ve tried to destroy my company. My reputation. My legacy.” He turned fully to me.

  “And yet you came here to gloat instead of trying to bring me in.”

  “You’re egotistical, and I figured I could distract you.”

  “Distract me?” I asked as I glanced around. There were several drones and even full automatons surrounding me. All of them were tracking my movement. There were also cell jammers in place to try and stop me from just popping away. “Attacking first doesn’t seem very heroic.”

  “Oh, well, I just happened to be tracking a known terrorist and thief who has targeted me in the past and I saw that he was sitting outside of my office, presumably planning revenge.” Wan did his best media voice. I turned my back to him, sweeping my gaze wide and targeting each other figure surrounding us, as he continued his little sob story, “I was just protecting myself and my employees from this dangerous man.”

  “Y’know, Bion, you really do have a point,” I began, turning back to him. “I’ve been cast as a supervillain whether or not I like it. And I really gotta step it up, flair-wise. After all, presentation!” As I shouted the word and snapped my fingers, eight portals opened up simultaneously, swallowed his drones, and closed around them, slicing through electronics and explosives, which went off. Eight deafening explosions went off at the same time, debris and bits and pieces of technology flew everywhere, raining down below on unsuspecting citizens of Avalare. I waded forward through the smoke right up to the supposed hero. “Presentation is so important to you fucks. So, notes?”

  Wan burst into action, reaching his hand out, and I dipped back, trying to keep ahead of him. But he was rocket-powered and I am still just a person. He grabbed me by the shirt and flew me up fast. I glanced up and started calculating. Fighting Smash Gal had gotten me used to some sloppy math, but it was almost always enough. I opened a portal to the Mariana Trench, and freezing seawater shot out with the pressure of the ocean on top of it. And I thought I’d be able to use that, But he opened a portal in front of mine and caught the water, sending it . . . somewhere. He tossed me up one-handed, and I went flying through the sky, and he took aim, firing several rockets that curved to follow me.

  I was falling and didn’t have many excellent methods of changing my trajectory. But we were a few miles above the ground, so I had time to deal with that. The rockets were a bigger problem, speeding after me at a few hundred miles an hour. So, I sent them away. Anywhere would do, but he just fired more. So, I sent the next few back at him, just opening an egress in front of the rocket and the other end at his rocket arm. He blasted himself out of the way, and the missile corrected its course back to me. And my mind raced. Running isn’t an option. He admitted to tracking me. I can’t just lead him right back to the Acolytes, to Cindi. Another voice in the back of my head also added, And you want to fight him, to kill him. For all of the fucking trouble he’s caused. I glanced around, and a rocket was about to collide with my heel. I opened a portal just in time to send it into another missile, and both exploded, pushing me to fully terminal velocity. I felt my ribs crack and almost passed out from the pain. It’d been a while since I’d gotten hurt like that.

  The ground was also quickly coming up to meet me. I couldn’t fly. There wasn’t a whole hell of a lot I could do, but I knew I definitely didn’t want to fight him on his terms. I opened two egresses right next to each other, dived carefully into one, and came out of the other, soaring back through the air. More portals opened in front of me, speeding up my ascent considerably. When I was level with him, I opened another portal, and water started bursting through it, flying directly at him. Then he did something I never thought to test. He opened a portal inside mine. The two blades of sawing energy that cut through folded space-time met and sliced through each other. Four intersecting portions of existence slammed into each other and met with all of the resistance that entailed. Physics, not knowing what else to do, just exploded. The two ovals of spinning energy wiped each other out and sent a shockwave out. And I lost consciousness for a few seconds. I know because I hadn’t hit the ground when I came to. But my nap aside, Bion was charging after me. I glanced behind me and found that Avalare was charging at me from the opposite direction and I was about to be sandwiched between the two. And I didn’t want that to happen.

  So, I just snapped out of the way, sending myself off at an angle where I could hopefully break the incredible momentum I was experiencing. And it kind of worked. I went flying in a new direction. Bion continued to follow me, but there was little I could do about that. Eventually, I landed. It was rough, but I wasn’t a stain on the pavement, so small victories. Bion slammed before me and shouted, “Do you get it now, Reese!? I am better than you! Everything you are, I am better th-”

  His words cut short as a titanium rod tore through his suit and probably one of his already paper-thin lungs. While he’d been monologuing, I’d opened a portal behind him and shot from the railgun I’d built to kill Smash Gal. Before the rod could go too far and damage anyone else, I opened a portal in front of it and sent it flying into space, where it’d presumably go on forever. Or until some other source of gravity acted on it. Bion collapsed in front of me, and I was about to collapse on the ground when there was a crash around me, and the smell of ozone filled the air.

  “God damn it!” I screamed.

  I was patrolling on a quiet, easy day. There were a few things here and there, but honestly, I was bored. A mugging here, some guys sticking up a bodega there, it was all too easy. And I hadn’t been challenged since that big dog. Jenny and me had tracked it down to the area we thought it would be. We found what looked like a vast vet’s office, with cages big enough for Shaq and then some, but the place had been cleaned out. In a hurry, too. We’d looked through what papers hadn’t been burned or shredded. What was left behind. And the only thing interesting was a bloody chip, the one I’d been tracking. Guess that lady, whoever she was, figured I could follow the signal. She’s smart. So, everything had gone to a form of easy ordinary. I can’t believe even this hero shit becomes routine, I thought bitterly.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  At least until there were a bunch of weird electrical signals overhead. I glanced up and followed my electrical senses. And missiles were flying overhead, chasing after a small figure. He was a little out of range for me to pick up on any electronics, but I knew who it was. Bion was chasing Esvanir. That punk bitch Esvanir picked another fight he couldn’t win. I started tracking them, trying to stay under them, but this was difficult. I couldn’t fly like Kari or even Jenny when she felt like launching herself. But he was coming down to the ground. Again. He’d shot himself back up and did something to speed himself up. But then one of his little teleport circles exploded and he went flying again. I chased them down, and eventually, that dick Esvanir shot himself up, trying to break his momentum.

  I was a thousand feet out when Bion landed in front of him. I rushed towards the man and saw a portal open up behind him. I tried to call out but was too far away to do anything. Bion lurched forward as something tore through that tin can he wore. I ran immediately and reached out via the local emergency dispatch, sending for an ambulance, police, and the fire department. They may need the jaws of life to remove his suit. Wan collapsed, and I took out my whips, hung onto something, and flung myself forward, breaking my fall with a loud crack on the ground, landing carefully.

  “God damn it!” Esvanir shouted.

  “Yo, Esvanir! It’s been a minute. You ready to get your ass whooped again?” I called out, strutting forward. He didn’t look good after fighting Bion. He was unsteady on his feet. He took a breath, standing a little straighter.

  “Do we have to do this, Blasty? Bion’s probably bleeding out. You could fuck off and save him instead.”

  “Paramedics are already on the way. He’ll be alright. Besides, I ain’t letting your bitch ass go anywhere.” I let loose a field to knock out all electronics, extending it just far enough to get Esvanir. I didn’t want to risk it hitting Bion or anyone else. Just a few cars here and there that’d be dead for 30 minutes. Esvanir snapped, and a portal opened up, and water blasted out of it and slammed into me, shorting out my powers, and it hit me like a bullet. I flew back into the wall and collapsed to the ground. Esvanir started shambling away slowly. And I got up, wincing as my ribs screamed in protest. “Mother fucker, did you just fucking Birmingham me?”

  “What? No! Y-you have electricity powers! I was just trying to short you out.”

  “That ain’t enough to stop me,” I said. It was true that I couldn’t manifest electricity anymore. Every time I tried, lightning would crawl around my body and dissipate before I could get it going. It’d keep happening until I was dry. But that didn’t matter. I ran up to Esvanir and socked him in the jaw. He didn’t go down, but he wobbled on his feet. I threw a few more punches into his gut and another to his jaw. And eventually, he did fall back. His eyes were unfocused, and he started getting back up, but I kicked him in the ribs, and he collapsed again. And I kept stomping on him. Again and again. But he eventually caught my foot and tugged. I tried to keep my balance but he rose up and elbowed me in the balls.

  I doubled over coughing, and he slammed into the back of my head, and I went down. Then he stepped over me and started to walk away, but I grabbed his leg and started getting up, tears in my eyes. He tried to shake me off but I clenched as tightly as I could. “Thunderblast, just stop it. If I can beat Smash Gal, if I’m taking on Bion and winning, what makes you think you can beat me?’

  “Because I already did, bitch!” I shouted hoarsely, sending a jolt of electricity through his leg. I couldn’t produce arcs, but I could send lightning directly. He shuddered under the current and then collapsed on the ground. I took a pair of handcuffs I had been keeping around for just such an occasion and started crawling over him. He punched me in the face and then grabbed me and everything changed. Suddenly, we were in the water. It was the ocean somewhere, and he punched me in the face again, and I saw black. I felt myself losing consciousness, but I gave myself an internal jolt and supercharged my own brain. He got it, too, but he couldn’t metabolize it the way I could. And I grinned at him, tasting blood on my tongue. “You dumb mother fucker! Water is my friend!”

  And I unleashed everything I had on him. The water dispersed a lot of the voltage but he was still in it and shook violently. He started leaning forward, and I had to catch him. Then, I started swimming back. It took forever with the two of us, me pretty hurt and him unconscious. Once we were on the beach, I cuffed him and started stripping him of his gear. His glasses had been lost somewhere, and I knew from his fights with Kari that he somehow used them to control his teleports. As I was going for the thing on his wrist, his eyes shot open and he twisted and kneed me in the head, then rolled away as I was reeling from that. He got to his feet and a tiny portal opened up on the chain of the cuffs and broke it. Then he charged forward and I caught him. He tried to knee me again, but I rolled with it and went for another electric jolt. I was running real low on power. He slammed his elbows into me and I gasped for air. Then he threw me to the side, and I went, dazed.

  “God fucking damn it! Why won’t any of you stupid fucks leave me alone!” He raged. I looked up at him and laughed.

  “’Cause you’re a bad guy, bitch.”

  “If I was half of what you fucking morons accuse me of being, why do I always have to be the one to de-escalate all of this!?” He took a few labored breaths, hands on his knees. “It’s always me. You and Kari get to try and kill me with impunity and if I respond in kind, it’s my fault. All because I don’t like it when fucks like Bion do whatever they want! I do what you idiots do! I just have targets that cause systemic damage instead of personal!”

  “You tried to kill my friend. You just tried to kill Bion. And you expect me just to let you get away with it?”

  “Fuck you! I never went out looking for these fights! I have always tried to stand down, just defending myself against people objectively out of my power class. You, Kari, Bion, you’re all so far above me in power and influence, and when I start acting like you, exactly like you, I’m the bad guy! If I’m bad, you’re all fucking demons! Devils! Fallen fucking angels coming down from on-high just to shit on the little guy for no fucking reason!”

  I coughed up some seawater I must’ve swallowed at some point and sat up. “You were a thief, bitch! You were out here stealing for yourself. And now that someone wants to stop you, you playing the victim!”

  “I never asked to be the victim! I didn’t want to be a villain! I didn’t want to be known. Just even the odds a little bit! I’m not even all that lethal until there’s no other choice. I could’ve killed you, Kari, and Bion! At any fucking time. But I don’t! And not because I don’t want to! But because it’s unnecessary almost every time. But Kari put my fucking wife in a coma! She’s almost killed one of the two people I like on this stupid fucking planet twice! And you come after me for being mad at her. You say I’m playing the victim? And Smash Gal wasn’t? When she ripped me from obscurity, doxxed me, sent the entire fucking world after me, kept attacking me, and almost killed my fucking wife twice. But it’s my fault because I decided to take the technology pricks like Wan can just remake with his effectively infinite resources and give it to people who objectively need it more on every level. Fuck you and your stupid-ass philosophy.”

  “Yeah, cool story, fam.” I paused, coughing up more saltwater and sitting up. I was still soaked and really low on lightning, but I’d used the sand to dry out one of my hands when he was going on and fucking on. “But you’re still a bitch.” I threw out a bolt of lightning from my hands, and more out of reflex than anything, he opened a portal and redirected it into the sky. Thunder cracked overhead, and I collapsed back down. He closed the distance between us and the last thing I remember is his fist slamming into my nose.

  I blacked out and woke up in a hospital. Must’ve been in Avalare, because Kari and Jenny were both there. So was Professor Mind. When Kari noticed I was awake, she immediately jumped up and used that patronizing white girl voice like I was a sick dog. “Hey, Thundy. How you feeling?”

  “Like Esvanir put me through the tumble cycle. What’s the prognosis, Doctor Gal?”

  “A few broken ribs, a concussion, some loose teeth.”

  “How’d I get here?” The group all shared looks for a moment and Kari spoke up first.

  “Uh, C-Curt brought you. Made sure they saw you before he teleported out.”

  “I told you,” Jenny added, fluffing my pillow some.

  “I had him,” I scoffed. “Just got lucky.”

  “He gets lucky a lot,” Professor Mind chimed in thoughtfully. “Almost like he’s good at what he does.”

  “Yeah,” Kari agreed, deflating.

  “I haven’t gone up against him. Could be fun. I mean, he has the stamina to keep up with Barbie here. And can handle some lightning play, even.” Jenny considered, grinning.

  “Damn him!” Kari growled. “After our talk, I thought he might turn over a new leaf. But here he is, trying to kill Bion and you.”

  “What conversation?” Jenny asked. I pursed my lips and considered Smash Gal, who was in her full costume. She had all the strength in the world, and she was upset over some skinny white boy.

  “He was stealing some stuff the other day, and I went to stop him, but he tried to stand down, and we talked. I told him he could try being a hero. He said he’d try to help out if I-we asked. But with all of this.”

  “It’s not impossible to reconcile both sides,” the psychic replied.

  “He tried to kill Bion.”

  “Or Bion tried to kill him. We know that he’s been pissed since the arrest. And we know what happens when you push Curt into a corner. He escalates. Meets people at what he thinks the new level is.”

  “Oh, yeah. The poor fuck is such a saint. I need to remember that the next time he’s trying to kill me,” I spat bitterly.

  “Who instigated that fight?” Mind asked.

  “What? He did. He’s a terrorist on American soil. He was fighting Bion and downed him. I went to stop him. Bring him in.”

  “Sounds like you started the fight, then.” Mind said, and I started to say something in response, but he held up a hand. “That’s not a moral judgment. We’re all vigilantes, and under normal circumstances, I agree. But Curt isn’t like other supervillains. If we can even consider him that.”

  “What do you mean? Of course he’s a villain! He breaks the law with weirdo powers.” I said incredulously.

  “But generally, villains do things for personal gain, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t have that much money, not relative to the thefts he’s been party to. And he also has specific targets. Treating him like any other villain seems incorrect, even if we think he’s wrong. If for no other reason than it keeps not working, and he keeps getting away. And, quite frankly, wins a fair amount against us in any real sense.”

  “So we should just let him do anything he wants!?” I demanded, anger creeping up into my voice.

  “I’m not saying that, necessarily. But speaking as the only one Curt can,” Professor Mind began, then turned to Jenny after a pause, “and has had a relatively peaceful conversation with. Someone who has been in the room with his potent emotions and the fact that he’s been traumatized, objectively and obviously, by three of us in this room, maybe violence and escalating isn’t the answer.”

  “Man, fuck that. Fuck him, and fuck you for suggesting it.”

  “I’m not saying you have to like him. That you guys have to be best buds. Just that . . . Maybe attacking first and asking questions never isn’t a good strategy.”

  “God, I wish it was,” Kari whined. “It’d be so much easier if it was that way.”

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