I wanna thank all the reviewers. Special thanks to indroraptorman101, wollyworld, Deku, STR2D3PO, Jeff and decade 2009.

Epic Gusher: No, Luna won't appear in this story. And the existence of metahumans all over the world was touched on the first chapter, as well.

Guest: Mostly cause I wanted to spice things up and change my third-person view that I always use. I'm trying to draw inspiration from the Percy Jackson series.

TristPHT: Part of the fun is figuring out the powers as we get to know them hehe. But I did a post on Twitter long ago, I'm sure it can be googled. And so far, all the Loud siblings have been orphans that grew up with their adoptive parents.

Imagaco: I've never heard the name but that's pretty much the mental image I have of her, yes!

Chapter 3: Ace Savvy.

"Great Lakes City? But isn't that…?" Leni waved her hand in circles, as if stirring the air in front of her.

"Far away from here?" I offered.

"Dangerous," she finally said, taking in another mouthful of the stew.

"Well, everywhere's a bit dangerous, right?" I said, trying to downplay it.

"Yeah but, I mean, it's not like how it is here. You're a hero here. Over there you'd be a… tourist. And it's such a big city. There'll be many villains. Like, real villains."

"That means it'll be full of heroes, too," I pointed out, focusing on the delicious taste of dinner to keep my mind from wandering to the issues that worried me, giving away my true intentions to Leni's empathic powers.

"And what if something bad happens while you're there?" She asked me, her voice barely a whisper.

"It'll only be for a week," I assured her, reaching out to stroke the back of her hand. "It's just a little… field trip. Like a study trip. I'm going to visit some places and ask about some things. Trust me, it'll be super boring and not at all interesting. There's nothing to worry about."

The feeling of my fingers on the back of her hand seemed to calm her down a bit, although after a few long seconds of silence, she ended up pushing her plate away and looking at me with fierce determination.

"And why do you have to go alone?"

It wasn't common for Leni to question me. She fully trusted me and let me make decisions for both of us, accepting that I was convinced that everything I did was for the best of us. While she wasn't being overtly confrontational, I could see a small spark of rebellion in her eyes, ready to challenge me this time.

I had to pick each word carefully.

"Okay, so first, because it's not a vacation," I began, affectionately squeezing her hand. "I told you, it's some… research. I have to make sure I get the right info, and it won't be that long before classes start again. This'll be my last year of High School, and you know how complicated homework can get. If you go with me we'll be distracted, and it's super important that I take this seriously. Do you understand?"

Her tense shoulders and clenched jaw were more than telling. I sighed, reaching up with my other hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then gently caress her cheek.

"Leni, feel my emotions. I wouldn't leave you here if there was another option. I don't like the idea of being away from you. But trust me: it's something I have to do. And I need you to stay here because we can't leave the city defenseless."

Of course, the real reason I couldn't let Leni come with me was because it would be downright impossible for me to go to the insurance agencies without her noticing. It was a job I had to do on my own. Still, I hadn't technically lied about what I'd told her. Those were my true feelings.

And she felt them, so her whole body relaxed, and immediately she scooted over on the sofa to give me a side hug and rest her head on my left shoulder.

"Ok… But promise me you'll call me."

"Every day."

"And that you'll be very careful."

"Of course."

"We never…we never left the city," she said uncertainly. "Will things be different over there?"

I sighed, looking up at the ceiling of the apartment. I honestly had no idea what things would be like outside of Royal Woods. We were definitely an atypical city. The rest of the world had had to change and adapt to a life where metas were everywhere. We were a window to the past. A glimpse into life before the cosmic explosion, barely interrupted from time to time by the occasional metahuman running around town. Leni and I were the exception, the unusual. What would that be like in another city? How much would it change people's lives?

Neither of us knew. And part of me felt the same as Leni, completely distraught at the thought of being away from her for so long. We had always been intimately close, but after the accident, Leni had become my whole world. Our social life was almost non-existent due to our work as superheroes, so we had never spent even one night apart. We were always keeping each other company..

And I…well, I was always by her side to make sure she didn't get into trouble or that no one took advantage of her innocence. It was no secret that Leni was very distracted, seldom paid attention and that she took everything literally. Some people, especially at school, were too cruel to her. I knew it, even if no one dared to say it in front of me. Leni didn't seem to notice. She always saw the bright side in people, even those who honestly didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt. It was my job as an older sister to protect her. And clearly I wouldn't be able to do it from a city several hours away.

"I don't know," I finally said, trying to get back into the conversation. "But I do know it'll be super boring without you."

"Same here. Patrolling alone is gonna be the worst," she complained, frowning and pursing her lips like a child throwing a tantrum.

Patrolling. That reminded me.

"Speaking of patrolling," I said, closing my eyes and swallowing my pride before continuing. "I think it'd be best if… well, if you change our patrol schedules."

Leni broke away to look at me with her head bowed. "Huh?"

"Yeah, well... We always do our patrols together. We cover each other's backs. But if I'm not going to be there for you…"

"You don't want me to patrol? But you said I had to take care of the city."

"Yes, but… I'd feel better if you patrol with him."

Despite everything, I still had a hard time calling him by his chosen hero name.

"Ace?" Leni said, her face lighting up, "You want me to patrol with Ace Savvy?"

"Only while I'm not here!" I hastened to clarify. "He still has a lot to prove, but… Well, even I have to admit he knows what he's doing. He has good moves."

"He's super skilled!"

"Yeah. Super. Whatever. If you go out at night you might find him. It's better to patrol with him than by yourself."

Leni's smile spread across her face, but I immediately noticed how she faltered a bit. It changed into a much more relaxed and understanding smile.

"Lori," she said calmly, "you're worried."

All the unpaid bills hidden in my room could attest to her concerns.

"I can take care of myself," she continued. "I mean, I'm like, very strong."

"I know," I said immediately, closing my eyes and sighing.

"And Ace is a good hero."

I didn't answer.

"Loriiii…"

"Okay, okay," I said, standing up and picking up my empty plate. "You're my sister, of course I'm gonna be worried. But I trust you. I know you'll be fine. And I'll be back soon, so there's nothing to worry about anyway."

She didn't seem totally convinced by my explanation. Perhaps she expected me to grudgingly admit that the new Ace was doing a great job so far. But she already knew that, why did she want to hear me say it? His numbers spoke for themselves. Every day there was a new story about him stopping some crime in the city. People loved him on social media. His speech about heroes had brought hope back to a city hurt by the death of its greatest protector. It had even made people trust Leni and me more, instead of judging us as inexperienced beginners.

He was good, yeah. But he still had a long way to go before he could catch up to the real Ace Savvy. None of us were even close to meeting the bar he'd set for heroes in Royal Woods.

And yet, for some reason, Spade had trusted that boy more than he had trusted us.

"Watch out! Don't get any closer! Metas are fighting!"

The police tried to keep the citizens at bay, who, confused and with obvious surprise, did their best to take their phones and snap pictures of the two unknown teenagers who were fighting against a twenty-feet-tall crocodile-man.

Not how you'd expect a regular Tuesday to go, by all means.

"Nova!" Leni yelled, kneeling on the ground and grabbing her arm, where the heteromorph's claws had slashed her.

I, for one, was covered in energy, moving through the air to evade the relentless and savage attacks of the creature. My first instinct when committing to the attack had been that an enemy this large and muscular shouldn't be fast or particularly agile, so I could use my speed and power to overpower him for an easy victory.

My preliminary analysis had been completely wrong, and in fact I found myself doing my best to avoid the blows of its claws and, above all, the gigantic jaw that I'd seen with my own eyes cleaving a vehicle in two.

My strategy had failed, yes, but it was literally the first evening that Leni and I had dressed up as superheroes to fight the forces of evil. I'm not saying my inexperience was an excuse... but it was totally an excuse.

Still, I couldn't afford to fail. Leni and I had to take it upon ourselves to save the day and keep the city safe. And as long as that jaw with eighty sharp teeth continued to try to rip people apart, no one would be safe.

"Eclipse, keep his mouth shut!" I ordered her. She didn't hesitate, and raised her uninjured arm.

As if by magic, the humanoid crocodile's jaw suddenly closed. The confused creature began to shake its head, and brought its small arms to the side of its jaw, trying to find a way to free itself from Leni's telekinetic grip.

I saw my chance and launched like a javelin, my arms out in front of me, propelling as fast as my energy would allow, ready to hit him in the middle of the stomach like a flying battering ram. The metahuman was helpless, his mouth closed, his arms busy, it was an unblockable attack...

For a normal person, of course. What the adrenaline didn't let me remember was that this particular enemy had a twelve-feet tail that he managed to move with a twist of his hip, intercepting me mid-flight and causing me to crash into a light pole.

Until that moment, my body had never experienced so much physical pain. My energy faltered, leaving me helpless on the ground, unable to stand up by myself.

"Get up, get up, get up!" I screamed in my mind, but my joints didn't respond. The sound of my heartbeat hammered my ears, and my entire torso seemed numb. Colored lights pierced through my closed eyelids, and every muscle in my body contracted, rock-hard, activating the pain receptors at full power.

I barely managed to open my eyes just in time to see Leni throwing a manhole cover at the villain, who didn't even flinch as the metal disk slammed into his scaly back. Instead, he raised a hand and readied his claws, ready to dig into my chest or throat, depending on how messy he was willing to get.

Fortunately, no one would bathe in my blood. Four red-edged playing cards tore through the air, slamming into the crocodile-man's chest and exploding at the contact. A low, rasping roar filled the air as the colossal figure took a few steps back, recovering from the blow.

Moments later, someone landed, putting himself between me and the villain. With much effort I managed to get up on my elbows, and looked up in time to meet Ace Savvy's surprised, concerned, and somewhat angry gaze. Our eyes met, and I felt small and helpless. Maybe it had to do with the low angle, but Ace Savvy's monumental figure was the true silhouette of a hero. Not like me, hurt and defeated on the ground.

"Don't worry, citizens!" Ace exclaimed, smiling and crossing his arms over his chest in a clear pose of confidence. "I am here!"

The crowd erupted in applause. The villain roared once more with such force that the cloud of smoke dispersed around him. My body instinctively trembled in terror at the intimidating presence of an apex predator, but Ace didn't even seem to care. He looked over his shoulder and spoke to me low enough that only I could hear him.

"When this is over, meet me at the top of the Yates Tower," and then, much louder, he addressed the reptile with an Australian accent. "Sorry, mate! But this town has a fine sense of fashion, and we certainly don't like crocs! So do the Harry, will ya mate?"

With a new roar, the lizard lunged at Ace, who took a card from his deck and moved at full speed, facing the villain head-on.

"What the hell was that?"

An hour later, my sister, Spade, and I stood atop the tallest building in the Royal Woods, the Yates Tower. Although the clouds were still high above us, the strong winds and the distance to the street made me feel a little anxious, suffering from vertigo if I looked down for more than a few seconds.

Which was annoying, since not looking down meant looking up and meeting Spade's concerned and annoyed gaze.

"It was a villain attack," Leni explained in a whisper, her injured arm held in a rudimentary sling. "He came out of nowhere. And he wasn't, like, kind at all."

Spade sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I know, Leni," he said softly. "I meant what were you guys doing there."

"When I have the mask on, my name is Eclipse," she continued, now with a smile. "And hers is Nova."

"So I've heard," he replied, looking at me for explanations. "What were you thinking, 'Nova'?"

Of course, Leni and I knew this would happen, and we had prepared ourselves for the confrontation. Or at least I had, so I knew what to say. Although, well, the reveal was supposed to be in the context of our victorious crime-fighting debut. Not in a fiasco that almost ended my life if not for the appearance of Ace Savvy.

"We decided it's time to put our powers to good use," I said defiantly. "What's the point of having these gifts and not using them to help others?"

"Lori…"

"Ehem… " Leni interrupted.

Spade sighed.

"Nova, I can't believe you did this," he told me, and his disappointment hurt more than the mutant crocodile's tail swipe. "You're sixteen, for God's sake, don't you realize how incredibly dangerous what you did is?"

"And what are we supposed to do?" I replied, walking up to stand right in front of him, looking up at him with all my adolescent rebelliousness. "Stay home every day while bad people walk the streets?"

"I take care of the bad guys," he said. "That's my job."

"You need help! You can't protect an entire city by yourself!"

"Of course I can. I've done it for decades."

"And why can't we help you?"

"Because it's dangerous!" He answered, almost yelling.

While we'd had certain... disagreements in the past, this was the first time Spade had raised his voice to us. For the first time since we met him, he looked genuinely angry.

"You almost died! Do you understand how lucky you were that I showed up right when I did? What do you think would have happened if it took me a minute longer to show up? Huh?"

"We didn't expect him to be such a strong villain!" I said to try to defend myself, feeling my face burning. "Metas are so rare, we were super unlucky that it happened on our first case…"

"Villains don't play like a video game. You don't start at the tutorial level to learn the controls. Every day in the life of a hero is a life or death situation. One mistake is all it takes to die. Do you think a robber would hesitate to shoot you or your sister? Do you think the villains will hesitate to finish you off?"

"We're strong. Our powers are incredible. We just need a little experience."

"No," he said curtly, shaking his head. "Forget about it. You can't be heroes."

I felt like he had just slapped me.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"You can't decide for us!"

"Of course I can. I have years of experience. You're not ready. And you'll never be, not in Royal Woods. Even if you can wipe out all the criminals in the city, you won't be able to escape the Royal Woods' Curse. This is non-negotiable. Go home and get rid of those suits."

"No! It's not fair!"

"It's what's best for you."

"I'm not afraid of that curse! We can take care of ourselves!"

"No," he said, turning to look at the city. "You can't run away from it. It'll always find you."

I clenched my fists, and a bit of my aura manifested around me. I was about to swear at him when Leni stepped forward, placing a hand on Ace's back. Her face, to my surprise, looked confused.

"I don't get it," she said out loud. "You're sad, but it's not… sadness. What did the Curse do to you?"

Spade looked up at the sky and sighed, before carefully turning around. He placed a hand on Leni's shoulder and looked at her fondly.

"Sometimes I forget how amazing you are," he admitted, making my sister smile. "You know what I feel. You know what I say is for your own good. I'm worried about you."

"Super, super worried," Leni assured me.

"This is not a game. It's serious."

"Super serious."

"I need you to trust me. This won't end well for you. Forget about being heroines. It's not your path."

My aura spread to the rest of my body. Leni was never wrong, he was clearly worried about us. And that irritated me greatly.

"You can't decide for us!" I told him, raising myself the many inches I needed to be at his eye level. "You have no right telling us what we can or can't do!"

Ace frowned and removed his hand from Leni's shoulder.

"I'm a seasoned hero who knows what you'd be up against, and you're unprepared. I'm not going to let you throw your life away for nothing."

"We have powers, we should use them! We can't sit with our arms crossed while there are people that need our help!"

"It's not your responsibility! I can carry that weight! I'm not going to let you take this risk! You're not ready!"

"Stop talking like you're our father!" I yelled in his face.

Leni gasped, but just like when he'd faced the crocodile-man, Spade stoic as a statue, staring at me. His lack of reaction angered even more.

"Do you think that just because you send us checks and have dinner with us at Christmas you have the right to decide for us?" I said, waving my aching arms through the air. "You don't know what it's like to be alone all day! To only have each other! Our parents died because of a villain, and you want us to do nothing while other people suffer the same?! No! We're not gonna accept that! You're not our dad!"

My eyes burned and my aura shone like a beacon. My fists were clenched so tightly my knuckles were white. I had just unleashed years of frustrations on Spade, perhaps without him deserving it. After all, he had done more than anyone could ask another person to do for two strangers. It was only thanks to his generosity that Leni and I hadn't ended up in the orphanage system.

What right did I have to complain that he hadn't adopted us? It wasn't his responsibility. We weren't his daughters. He didn't owe us anything.

Ace was silent, impassive, until he finally spoke.

"I guess you're right," he said simply, his tone unreadable.

And without even adding anything, he turned around and jumped off the tower, leaving Leni and me alone. As soon as he left, my aura vanished, and without even understanding why, I started crying.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Leni assured me.

It was the next morning. She and I had met one last time at the top of Yates Tower. The two of us in our heroine costumes, and me with a backpack on my back that carried several changes of clothes, my barely-filled wallet, and a series of papers that may or may not prove to be useful. I watched the city below us, remembering other experiences in that particular scenery.

"I know," I told her, turning to look at her. "Don't take any unnecessary risks, okay? Be very, very careful."

"Same to you. Don't try to fight supervillains that are stronger than you."

"Pfft, of course I wouldn't."

My smile faltered when I noticed that Leni was saying it like she meant it. I arched an eyebrow.

"You always try to solve everything on your own," she told me worriedly. "And, like, you're very strong. It's almost always enough for you to save everyone here. But that's a big city, and the villains are stronger. Don't try to stop them on your own. Maybe you couldn't win them all."

I understood her feelings, but a small part of me felt…underestimated.

"Come on, give your sister some credit." I gave her a light smack on the arm, then flexed and showed off my undertrained biceps. "These babies are ready to kick butts and take names. Everything'll be fine."

"Well... if you say so," she finally said, stepping closer to give me one last hug. "Promise that you'll call me!"

"Of course," I assured her, breaking away and rising into the air. "Take care of yourself. Of the city too, but mostly yourself."

"See ya!"

We could have stayed there saying our goodbyes for an hour, so I did the responsible thing, and after surrounding my body with the energy of the Sun, I propelled myself through the sky, away from my sister and through the city at full speed.

Part of me had an irrational feeling that I might feel the moment I left the Royal Woods territory. Like passing through an invisible dome, bursting a bubble I'd never known existed. That the Sun would shine dimmer, or the air would breathe differently. And yet, in a matter of minutes, the outskirts of Royal Woods had stayed far behind me, and I was officially out of the town I'd been raised in.

Part of me felt that I had taken a step from which there was no turning back. I had crossed an invisible threshold, and I was officially in the middle of this little adventure. My heart felt a little frightened, anxious about the promise of the unknown, but every fiber of my being also vibrated with the excitement of quite literally expanding my horizons. The forests that surrounded the entire city—including the mysterious Evergreen Forest, from which so many urban legends had sprung—stretched out in all directions, but as it continued to move through the sky following the road below, small clearings, lakes, and even distant mountains appeared, breaking the horizon line and presenting me with an unknown world.

Great Lakes City was about five hours or so from Royal Woods by car. Of course, that was considering the winding roads that surrounded stunning landscapes. For me, flying in a more or less straight line and not having to worry about curves or cliffs, the math said I could do it in half the time.

I had never had so much freedom to unleash my powers. As the insurers had reminded me, much to my dismay, my powers tended to be... explosive. Quite difficult to control. And if I wasn't careful, the damage I could cause was more than I was willing to risk on a daily basis. Thus, even when I needed to fly to a destination within the city as soon as possible, I could never unleash my full powers.

But out there in the open sky? With an impish smile, I tensed my muscles, and the aura around me grew larger and brighter, and the trees below me became a blur as I left them behind. The wind in my face hit me like swimming water, and for the first time in a long time, I felt truly free.

Time passed and I decided not to spend all my energy on a single trip, and returned to a regular flight speed to enjoy the ever-changing landscape. I spent the entire trip imagining different scenarios, problems and obstacles that I might face there, as well as the strategies I would use to try to talk to the ad agencies and hero insurers. I had several rehearsed presentations to increase my chances of success. As Ace Savvy would say, I was all-in; I needed to make sure I had the best cards in my hand.

Eventually, the line of trees on the horizon began to break up with the silhouette of buildings that stretched out like fingers reaching for the sky. Feeling the excitement in my body, I accelerated a little more, surprised by how far away those buildings were, even though I could see their silhouette against the blue firmament.

Soon the forests gave way to large expanses of flat countryside, with farms and plantations that gradually became urbanized with secondary streets and a less dispersed population. At one point I looked down to meet some children who saw me cross the sky in all my radiant splendor. I certainly couldn't see their faces, but judging by how they looked away almost immediately, I could assume they weren't particularly surprised.

Unlike them, I was stunned by the enormity of what my eyes saw. From the Yates Tower we could have a panoramic view of the entire Royal Woods, from the center to the outer suburbs. At the time I was flying at the same height, however, and not only was I well below the top of the skyscrapers, but my eyes could not see the end of the dense residential neighborhoods that stretched for miles, like a large concrete mat.

I'd finally arrived in Great Lakes City.

I reduced my speed and the brightness of my aura, and as I headed deeper into the city and began to fly between the buildings, I began to realize how different it was from Royal Woods. For starters, the noise was easily double what I was used to. The movement of cars, trucks and motorcycles on the highways was very different from anything I'd seen before. Of course I had seen big cities in movies and shows, but none of that could prepare me to experience the scale of Great Lakes City firsthand.

I wasn't making any effort to hide or be inconspicuous, and yet most people seemed to ignore me. I only noticed a few civilians stopping to look at me, curious but not particularly surprised or excited to see me.

My main goal was to find a place remote enough to change into my civilian clothes so I could find a cheap hotel to stay in until I could talk to an agency that could help me and my sister. But, considering how busy the city looked, finding a remote location didn't seem like an easy task.

I was searching with my eyes, when suddenly an explosion just two blocks from where I was hovering caught my attention. It was in the middle of a major avenue, and a column of black smoke and fire was rising from a building. Would it be a villain attack? A gas leak that had gotten out of control?

My first instinct was to head there as soon as possible to save the day, but Leni's words echoed in my mind. It was a big city, full of heroes. Was I really supposed to intervene? It wasn't my responsibility. Nova was the protector of Royal Woods, not Great Lakes City. I had a very specific mission in there.

And yet another image appeared in my mind. Ace Savvy, reaching out a hand to a frightened little girl who had just lost her parents. What if there was a girl in that place who needed a hand?

I sighed, stopping my flight, and I knew in my heart what the right decision was. I looked for a roof to leave my backpack, and then I headed towards the column of smoke.

What was the worst that could happen?