I want to thank everyone for the kind and supportive reception that you've all given to the first chapter of this story. And here's the second one!

Special thanks to RawToonage press, JamesSunderlandsPillow (the best author in this fandom, go check out his stories), Shoe2kill506th, The Siege Perilous, Jeff, allanarcher777, AuthorWriter2.0, mike204, DreadedCandiru2, Mega DMX, SGWarrior, Yellowpikmin88, MarvelMayhem, meowloudly15, NiceGodzilla, LoudAutomata16, Bmack, STR2D3PO, MrNonsense, 364wii, Tristen, 16, burtonfan422.


Chapter 2:
Girl talks.

"Oh, no… What have I done?!"

The words reverberating on the cold walls of the alley belonged to Wild Card Willy, but during those confusing and heartbreaking moments, I thought they had found a way to escape my mouth. Of course, I should have known that it was impossible, because my throat was currently obstructed, dry, and there was no way any sound could have pierced through it. My eyes had tunnel-vision, and my senses were no longer working correctly. I couldn't smell the trash anymore, I couldn't feel my icy sweat, the alley and the concrete floor looked blurry, and the only thing I could perceive was Ace Savvy's body, face down in front of me.

"No," Wild Card mumbled, although his voice sounded like a distant echo. "No, no, no, no!"

I should've been scared. Wild Card could have shot me, too. Had he done it, that would have been the end of my story. Hello, my name is Lincoln McBride. One day I was playing Dungeons and Dragons, then I saw a chase, I made Ace Savvy get shot and I died. Cool, right? I should have tried to escape there or pleaded for mercy. And yet, the only thing I was able to do was falling to my knees and remain in silence, trying to understand what had just happened.

I felt like my stomach was upside down, like I was about to throw up all the Doritos that I had eaten during our session in the basement. My ears were plugged, and I could listen to my breathing and the beats of my heart as if someone was amplifying them. Wild Card was yelling, but I didn't understand what he was saying. I barely turned my head when I heard an impact, seeing one of his guns on the floor. They were weird, they didn't seem like normal guns. They were made out of a very shiny, almost white metal, with some details in green or red. One of them, the green one, had a bit of some coming out of the barrel.

Wild Card ran away. The guns and the burlap sack filled with stolen objects were soon forgotten on the cold floor, leaving me alone with Ace Savvy's body.

Body… or corpse?

"Ace… ACE!"

I was once again in control of my limbs. I got closer to Ace, and put my hands on one of his shoulders. His muscles were like stones, and when I tried to turn him around, it was like trying to move a refrigerator. My weak, untrained arms had to try hard to do it, but they did, and soon I was able to see his face.

The air that had been trapped inside my lungs escaped with relief when I saw his eyes moving behind his mask.

"You're alive!" I said, feeling a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Unfortunately, that weight settled again, ten times heavier, when I saw the tiniest trail of blood running down the corner of his lips. And also when my eyes lowered to his chest, where a tar-black stain was covering almost all of it, with a big portion of his suit torn up showing his bleeding pectorals.

Ace coughed, and moved his arms ever so slowly, placing one hand over his wounds.

"Are you okay, kid?" He softly asked.

"You're hurt!"

"Are you, though?" He insisted.

"N-No…"

He sighed and his lips curved in a smile.

"That's good. That's good to know," he coughed again, and his lower lip got covered with more blood coming out of his mouth. "Willy… Poor Willy…"

"D-Don't worry, I'll call an ambulance," I said, dipping my hand into my pockets to fish out my phone.

I was about to take it out when Ace's free hand softly closed itself on my wrist.

"No need to," he told me, doing a great effort to smile. "The gun he was given isn't like anything he ever used. Whoever they were… they wanted to finish me off."

"And w-we're not gonna let that happen!" I assured him, putting my tiny hands around his bigger, stronger hand.

I looked at him intensely and squeezed as hard as I could. He stared at me with his deep green eyes.

"What's your name, kid'"

"I-I'm Lincoln, sir. I'm your biggest fan," I admitted, trying to keep him with me.

"Lincoln. Ok, Lincoln, I need you to pay close attention to me, alright? I have a mission for you."

His voice was starting to sound tired as if pronouncing every word was becoming a struggle. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I leaned closer to him. He could have asked me for anything and I'd do it. Anything for him.

I let him know he had my full attention.

"I need you to take my insignia out of my belt. Grab it and go to the address written on the other side of it. It's a key to my house. Get in there without anyone seeing you, and look for the library on the first floor. You're with me so far?"

I nodded, though honestly, all my thoughts were tangled with each other in the confusing nebula of my head. Ace let out a groan of pain, and for an instant, his face darkened, but he quickly smiled.

"This thing I'm about to ask you is really dangerous, so be very, very careful. There's an emergency kit in a small glass box, near a fire extinguisher. Grab a bottle of alcohol, pour as much as you can on the big carpet in the library… and set it on fire. Don't take any risks. Just light up part of the carpet and then ran away as fast as you can. The carpet is highly flammable. A tiny blaze will be enough to make it all burn. Leave, and make sure no one sees you. Let the house burn to ashes."

"Y-You want me to burn down your house?" I asked, feeling scared, confused, and worried.

"There are some things in there that I can't trust to anyone."

"B-B-But you live there! You're walking out of this one! You always do!"

He squeezed my hands, and even though he didn't say what he was thinking, I could see it in his eyes.

"It's gonna be alright, Lincoln."

"N-No! Ace, you need to stand up!" I pleaded. "We need you! You're… you're our last hero!"

"Cities don't need superheroes, kid. Only everyday people, willing to help others. To watch out for their family and friends. Anyone can be a hero… the only thing they need is to have the hope that things can be better, and the will to do what's right, no matter how dangerous it might be."

Perhaps, in any other context, I would have found his words inspiring. If this was a speech on a school play, I would've stood on my feet to clap and celebrate such a nice message. It was a little complicated though to feel hopeful as I held on to the dying body of my idol, my greatest inspiration in life. His face was getting paler with every second, and his grip on my hands was slowly fading away.

Ace Savvy was dying, and there was nothing that I could do about it. Not only that but… it was all my fault.

I don't know if the tears had already been falling before, but it was right then when I noticed them, slipping down my face and leaving small, wet circles on the floor. I was having trouble breathing. I wanted to wake up from the nightmare I was living, but there was no case, the scenery of the cold, dark alley wouldn't change.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry," I said, closing my eyes and lowering my head.

"Lincoln…" His free hand found a way to one of my shoulders, closing on it like a father ready to talk with his son. "I always knew that I would never get a chance to retire and enjoy the rest of my life in a nursery home. And you know… I always hoped that the day I had to go, it would be saving someone else. I… I find solace in knowing that you'll be okay."

"This is… this is my fault…"

"I hope you don't believe that… and if you do, I-I hope one day you'll grow up to understand this was entirely on me."

"A-Ace…"

The deadly silence of such a tragic night was broken with the incipient sound of police sirens that seemed to grow louder with each passing second.

"Someone must have called because of the gunshots," Ace said, coughing to his lungs' extents. "Lincoln, grab my insignia. There's no time. The police must not see you here."

I looked at him with my tear-filled eyes. Even someone as formidable, wise and brave as Ace Savvy looked just as vulnerable as any one of us would be on death's gates. I rubbed my eyes with the sleeve of my hoodie and moved my hands to his utility belt.

His insignia was embedded in the center. My fingers closed around it and I pulled, but it didn't seem to give in. I had to use both my hands to turn it and try to dislodge it until it finally snapped away. It was a black metal, pretty light, shaped like a spade. It fit perfectly in my hand, and I kept staring at it until the sound of sirens became unbearable.

I shot a look at my fallen hero. His eyes crossed with mine, and he gave me one last smile.

"I trust you, Lincoln. Go."

The glasses of the stores on the other sidewalk were now shining in red and blue. I don't know if my fears were justified, but for some reason, I was terrified of the notion of being interrogated by the police. Maybe I was afraid that they would arrest me for being an accomplice to Ace Savvy's murder.

Whatever might have happened, I simply began to run. I ran all the way back to my home, not worrying about how exhausted I was getting. My lungs were struggling to catch my breath, my muscles were ablaze with the lactic acid that surrounded them, and the palm of my hand was closing so tightly on Ace Savvy's insignia that I thought I could cut myself with its edge. The police never saw me, but if they really wanted to find me, they could have simply followed the trail of tears that I left behind me like a depressed Hansel. By the time I got to my house, my body was ready to pass out from exhaustion.

I saw my dad's car parked on the driveway. I opened the front door and ran towards the bathroom. My dads were in the kitchen, and Clyde was in our room. No one saw me as I locked myself in the bathroom, turned on the steam extractor to make some noise, and sat with my back pressed against the door.

All the muscles in my body were aching. My eyes stung with every anguish-filled tear that poured from them. My hero's insignia slipped off my hands to the floor, and I pulled my hair until the pain hurt more than my self-hate. I was anxious, terrified, I felt guilty, dirty. The stench of my sweating bothered me, and almost in autopilot, I removed all the clothes from my body and turned on the shower, letting the lukewarm water fall onto my shoulders and back, as if I could wash away what happened.

I took a twenty minutes shower until the water began to cool and my eyes had no more tears to cry out. I dried off however I could, wrapped a towel around me, left my clothes on the laundry basket and hid Ace Savvy's insignia. To my surprise, Clyde was no longer in our room when I got there. It gave me time to change into new clothes and try to put up a serene, calm face with no one to interrupt me.

I stepped out of my room and went to the living room, trying to think of how I could even talk about this with my parents or Clyde. Could I tell them what had happened? Would it be safe to tell them? I couldn't just hide the fact that Ace had… fallen because of me. The truth would get out soon. I needed to be direct.

Luckily for me, I didn't need to confess anything. By the time I got to the living room, my adoptive family was standing in front of the TV, and I got there just in time to listen to the voice of a news reporter.

"...regional hospital, our trustful and active reporter Katherine Mulligan has some breaking news. Katherine, we're listening."

I got closer to have a better look at the TV. After a brief transition, the TV studio turned into a view of our city's hospital in the background. I could see a big number of journalists and reporters, with many rushing in with their cars and being stopped by the police as they tried to get inside the building. Katherine Mulligan was there, with her hair tied up in a single ponytail and adorned with a yellow headband that looked perfect with her jacket and skirt, both in the same radiant color, making her stand out like an information muse. Her usually beautiful face was, however, transmuted in a mask of anguish, with her mascara running down her cheeks and her lips struggling to stay motionless.

The graphs below read: ACE SAVVY WAS TRANSFERRED TO ER.

"This is Katherine Mulligan, reporting live from Royal Wood's Regional Hospital," she said, and her broken voice was all I needed to confirm my worst fears. "And it's with a lot of pain and despondency that I must inform our loyal viewers that the worst possible news has been confirmed by the medic team. Just a few minutes ago… A-Ace Savvy passed away due to a cardiac arrest product of unconfirmed wounds."

My heart missed a beat, and my knees almost gave up to the weight of my body. My parents gasped and my brother let out a scream of horror. Behind me, the window that led to the street was open wide, letting in a chilly night breeze. Along with it, however, came the distant yells of our neighbors. Men, women, and children crying out to the sky, wailing out loud.

Katherine must have been really good at her job, or maybe she was too shocked to continue right away, but she gave a pause long enough for all of us to react before she kept her report.

"The cause of death is still unknown, and as far as we could ask, there have been no witnesses. We're hoping to get more information in the following hours… but… but the truth is that, right now, those are but anecdotal data. Whatever it is that happened, our only certainty is that we've lost our hero, and this might quite possibly be remembered as Royal Wood's darkest hour. Tomorrow shall be a new day, and it will be our responsibility to move on and get out of this pit that right now may seem bottomless. Tomorrow will be the first day where we must all stand united to start to rebuild and show that our bonds as a community are stronger than the worst of tragedies. Tomorrow the Sun will shine once again. But until then, this night we will all be mourning. Let's remember and treasure all the moments we spend with Ace Savvy, and even with the immeasurable pain that it's most likely consuming us right now, let's keep a small inkling of hope and happiness because I'm sure that's exactly how Ace Savvy would have liked for us to remember him. This is Katherine Mulligan, saying goodbye to our audience, and wishing you all strength in these tough times."

The signal went back to the studio, where the anchorman had taken his glasses off and covered his face with a hand as he cried on his desk, tears falling behind the new graph: ACE SAVVY DEAD.

The rest of the night happened without me realizing it. I cried alongside Clyde and my parents. At some point, I assume, we had dinner. I laid down in my bed, Clyde on his, but later we ended up sleeping on the same mattress, looking for some sort of comfort. Even with how tired I was, sleep took a long time to take over my senses. I guess I must have fallen asleep near two in the morning and until I woke up the next morning, my mind was busy coming up with horrible nightmares. Wild Card Willy laughing at me as I could only watch how he shot Jordan, with Ace Savvy whispering into my ear how this was all my fault. The whole scene was busy with sudden flashes of green light accompanied by a female scream of horror.

Without a doubt, the worst night of my life.


A million things seemed to happen between me falling asleep and the first hours of the morning when Clyde and I woke up. At some point, Wild Card Willy had presented himself to the police, pleading guilty of Ace Savvy's murder and accepting an immediate sentence. Apparently, the prosecutor hadn't believed him at first.

"No way you killed him, Willy! He's locked you up over a dozen times!"

But he must have presented enough data for the police to accept that, indeed he was responsible for this tragedy. He was already locked up in a cell, waiting for a judge to define his sentence. No cops showed up at my house asking for me, and my face didn't appear on TV as the responsible for the death of our city's greatest hero, so I assumed that, for now, my participation in this incident was kept a secret. And to be honest… I wasn't sure if I really wanted that to change. I had always been a pretty shy wallflower at school, but as much as I would have loved to be famous and have attention, I didn't want it at the cost of being known as the murderer of Ace Savvy.

The second big announcement that I heard when I woke up and went straight to the kitchen for breakfast was the fact that a public funeral would be happening at the cemetery and the whole city was invited.

"I want to go," I told my dads, who were sitting right next to me at the breakfast bar.

Oh, right, I don't think I've actually introduced you to my dads. Harold and Howard, the dark-haired and the red-haired respectively. One short and a little chubby, the other one tall and thin. Both of them worked as fashion designers, making up dresses, suits and all sorts of clothing for some of the most important business people and celebrities of Royal Woods. They taught me everything I know about sewing and design. That's how I was able to do my cosplays and all my friend's costumes for Dungeons and Dragons.

They both heard my request, and after sharing a look, Harold was the first one to talk.

"Lincoln… we know how much Ace Savvy meant to you…"

"And you, Clyde," my other dad said, looking sadly at my brother.

"...but we're not sure going to a funeral might be healthy for you."

"Funerals are sad, and that's no place for kids your age."

"Dad!" Clyde complained, standing next to me. "It's Ace! We have to be there!"

"Everyone's going to be there!" I added. "He deserves our goodbyes!"

My brother and I put on our saddest faces, and for the first time in our years of trying to manipulate our parents, we didn't need to pretend. Our emotions were real, and the idea of missing out on the funeral of the person I had gotten killed was terrifying for me.

They couldn't say no. A couple of hours later, after lunch and when the Sun had reached its highest point in the sky, they asked us to wear black clothes. No one on the TV had said anything about a dressing code, but in movies everyone always wore black, so I didn't find that strange at all. I just put on a simple black polo shirt and black jeans. Clyde did the same, and more than ever, we truly looked like brothers.

We got into the SUV and after some silent twenty minutes, we got to the outsides of the cemetery. I had never been inside it, but the place soon gave me chills. There were big walls of concrete, with huge fence gates that stood up like rows of tall, menacing spears aiming at the sky. A part of me was slightly scared. Why closing so fiercely a place of eternal rest? Were they afraid of zombies rising and invading the city?

Oh boy, was that an actual possibility?

My fears were soon forgotten however when I noticed the immense amount of people pilgrimaging into the cemetery. A sea of people. Most of them dressed in all black, although there was a significant number of people that seemed to have never seen any movie with a funeral in it, as they were wearing colorful clothes.

My family and I got inside, and I must admit that, once we passed the grim outside threshold, the interior was completely different. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and wonderful park that I had ever seen. Giant areas of green grass extended in all directions, filled with trees and flower beds of all types and colors. I almost wanted to take a frisbee and play with Clyde, but then I began to repair the immense number of tombstones that seemed to sprout from the earth, like little monoliths of a neat and magnificent marble. I also realized the beautiful sunny day I was doing, and how much it bothered me. Didn't the weather understand that we were all mourning?

It was impossible to get lost. We just had to follow the crowd that led the way in a sacred procession. By the time we reached the edge of the crowd, we couldn't see the grave. I asked my parents what they saw, and Howard replied that there was a small raised stage, with important people like the mayor and other local politicians, all waiting in seats. There were a microphone and speakers.

When the arranged time came, the mayor got closer to the microphone and began to talk. I'm going to be honest; I won't repeat to you everything he said because it makes me angry how he spent most of his speech talking about his friendship with Ace and how during his time as mayor he had personally helped our fallen hero sooooo much.

I will skip to the only part of his speech that actually affected me.

"Ace Savvy believed that the possibility of doing good was the great superpower that all of us, metahumans or not, carry within us. That our actions and wills are what define us, more than our capabilities. He believed that even the most average of us could make a difference when the time came to make a decision and that if we chose with wisdom and kindness, the results would always be good."

If our actions define us, then I was quite possibly the worst scum to ever plant its feet on the Earth. I would have a saved spot in hell, right next to Adolf Hitler and Roman Reigns. My actions had caused Ace Savvy's death. At that moment, I was fully aware of the fact that the whole city was there because of me. A whole city was mourning a true hero because of my stupidity. Because I wanted to see a crime, because I tried to escape instead of trusting my hero, I had ruined it for everyone else.

I felt sick like I wanted to throw up. I excused from my parents, and when they and Clyde suggested to come with me or go home, I told them no, that I just needed a little bit of air. I wasn't lying, by the way. I really felt like I was running out of oxygen. And being surrounded by a crowd on a sunny day was making me feel on the edge of a heat stroke. Besides, the body odor was starting to really affect me.

I walked away from the crowd, walking on the green grass, looking for a place to stop by. Everything around me seemed to be filled with tombs, and I must admit, I was slightly anxious at the idea of accidentally stepping onto the ground underneath which a skeleton might be resting. I looked over my shoulder, and the congregation of people looked like a relatively homogeneous mass of sadness.

All because of me.

Maybe I shouldn't have hidden behind a dumpster. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to escape. Maybe Wild Card wouldn't have taken a shot at me. Or maybe he would have, and I would have died right there on the alley. Wouldn't that have been better for everyone? Wouldn't it have been objectively better for me to die and Ace Savvy to live? I was convinced that if this was my funeral, there wouldn't have been more than twenty people sad because of my death.

I closed my fists until my nails almost slashed the palm of my hand. The tears were once again running free from my eyes. If only I had been smarter. If only I hadn't been so curious… if only it had been me instead of him…

"You were there, weren't you?"

The voice startled me. For a small instant, I thought it was Jordan, although it didn't really sound like her. I turned around trying to see who it was, but there was no one to be seen. Not immediately, at least. I seemed to be alone, with no one around me, but then I noticed something on the ground. A shadow. I looked up and I had to do a double-take.

A girl was floating in the air, descending slowly in my direction. Her hands were slightly extended to her sides as if she was keeping her balance on a tightrope or a monocycle. Her long, blonde hair seemed to be the only thing tied to gravity, and even then some locks curled up in the air like they were alive. She was wearing some long, green boots, a white suit that covered most of her body from the shoulders down, with some details on the same greenish-turquoise on her forearms and making a shape sort of like a one-piece swimsuit. Her mask was pretty similar to Ace Savvy's, although this was also green. At her waist, she had some sort of golden belt with a pink stone in the center of it. And on her chest, there was the symbol of a crescent moon.

I took a step back, and my eyes opened so wide I was afraid of hurting them.

"Eclipse," I said out loud, feeling suddenly idiotic. Of course, that was Eclipse, what other green-wearing superheroes with the ability to move things with her mind did we have in Royal Woods?

She descended until she stood a few feet away from me. Of course, I had seen her and her partner Nova in television, or the homemade videos people uploaded to the internet whenever they managed to record them fighting crime, but this was the first time I could actually see her, and take a look at her. I was surprised by how young she was. I knew she was probably a teenager, but she seemed to be just a few years older than me. She truly looked like a kid, and it was hard for me to imagine this girl fighting robbers and dodging bullets like it was no big deal.

"Yeah, that's me," she said to me with a smile, stepping closer and extending her hand to me. "And what's your name?"

Wow. A superhero was trying to shake my hands. Stupefied and not knowing how to respond, I simply shook the hand she was offering me. Her skin was soft, warm, comforting. I hoped mine wasn't sweating.

"Lincoln. M-My name's Lincoln."

I was suddenly aware of the fact that this was the second time in less than twenty-four hours in which I told a superhero my real name.

Eclipse's kind smile hesitated.

"Oh… so you were there when Ace died," she said, sounding strangely worried.

Those words took me right out of the fandom moment I was in. It's like when you're doing a lot of noise on the backseat of the car with your brother and your dads decide to hit the breaks a bit so inertia makes you hit your face with the front seats. A little reminder of reality to take you out of your fun and keep you on the edge.

That's exactly how I felt. A hero had just said, confidently I might add, just as if she knew the truth, that I'd been there when Ace died. How did she know that? Had she spotted me as I ran away? Was she looking for me to interrogate me or put me behind the bars?

Her face changed again, this time looking embarrassed and, perhaps, a bit worried.

"Oh, no, no," she said, raising her hands and waving them dismissively on the air, "don't be scared, you're not in trouble. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel that way."

How did she know that? I didn't say anything. I just…

"Hang on a second… can you read my mind?" I asked out loud. Another moment of stupidity from Lincoln McBride. I could've just thought about it really loud to know my answer.

"That's not how it works," she said, visibly more relaxed, standing straight with her hands behind her waist. "It's not like I can read your thoughts or anything like that."

"Then how…?"

She smiled kindly at me. "Besides telekinesis, my powers let me feel what others feel. I can perceive their confusion, their anger, their fear… their sadness," she completed, looking at the ground beneath.

She actually looked really sad. And I soon understood why.

"You were getting away from the crowd," I ventured. "You could feel all those people's feelings and… you were overwhelmed."

I could see in her genuine smile that I had hit the nail.

"Wow! Are you a detective, or do you also have a superpower of para-empathic connections?"

It sounded like a joke… but I had the distinct feeling that she was being serious about it.

"Neither."

"Hmm. Then you're really smart! But yeah, that's what happened. It was starting to really get to me, so I decided to get a bit away from it. But then I was around here and I… sensed a very different emotion. Guilt. Regret. And that's when I found you. I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry. I just wanted to t-"

"Eclipse!"

A blinding light fell towards us from the sky, as if a shooting star had been driving by Royal Woods and had decided to crash right into my face. I mean, considering my recent luck, it was entirely possible.

But it wasn't a star; it was a superstar. A girl, pretty close to Eclipse in age, flying through the air with blue energy surrounding her and moving uncontrollably like fire. She landed at high speed, with her knee and fist connecting the ground in a heroic pose that made me feel like I was in the presence of an 18-level Paladin. She was wearing a suit very similar to Eclipse's, but the color accents were different shades of blue rather than green. Her torso had a light blue, that later met with some sort of dark blue triangle that fell from her shoulders to the middle of her chest. She was wearing gloves and boots with angular edges, and a mask that only showed her eyes and the space between her nose and her chin. In the center of her chest, there was a symbol with a very angular line, like a V.

Nova. I was right in front of Nova and Eclipse, the superhero duo. The two only new heroes that had decided to step up against crime in Royal Woods regardless of our city's reputation. And, ever since last night, the last two glimmers of hope in this damned town.

"Where were you?" She asked to Eclipse, sounding slightly annoyed. "I've been searching for you literally everywhere."

"Oh, sorry Nova. I just met this kid," she told her, pointing a finger at me. "His name is Lincoln. Lincoln, this is my sister, Nova."

So they were sisters! Speculations had always been thrown around, but now I had it confirmed. Nova also realized this.

"Eclipse! You know you can't just give away our secret identities! That's literally our number one rule!"

"But I didn't say anything."

"Ugh… forget it. We'll discuss this later," she said, before shifting her unamused eyes towards me. "Nice to meet you, Lincoln. Do you want an autograph or something?"

Did you ever presented a homework that you know was wrong, and the teacher smiles while she explains your mistakes, and it looks like she's being kind but you feel like deep inside she's thinking "I can't believe this idiot will be voting in a few years"? That's kinda how I felt when Nova talked to me. And yeah, I would have actually liked asking for a picture with them. Clyde had a crush on Nova, he would go crazy if I showed it to him. But now that she had put it that way… I didn't want to anymore.

"He didn't call me or anything," Eclipse explained. "I just sensed him feeling guilty."

Nova's mask didn't show her eyebrows, but with the way she tilted her head, I intuited she was raising one.

"Guilty?"

"He was there when Ace died. He feels like it was his fault."

Nova's body language had a radical change. Her shoulders relaxed, her fists were no longer squeezed tight, and with the way her back curved, I realized she was forcing a straight pose in front of me. I hadn't noticed it at first, but I quickly realized that most of the respect that Nova imposed was the result of an act.

Interesting.

She sighed, and with much more kinder eyes, she knelt before me.

"Listen, kid. This job… Whoever puts one of these suits to go out every day and every night to fight for justice and order knows about the possible consequences. Especially in this town. Being a superhero means that we're always putting ourselves at risk, and anyone that wants to be one needs to understand it. Ace did. Better than anyone else, probably. I don't know what happened last night, but trust me when I say that none of it was your fault. That's just the life of a hero. Don't beat yourself up."

Ace Savvy tried to tell me the same thing. That it wasn't my fault, that everything was alright, that it had only been a terrible accident. But isn't that what a hero was supposed to tell a dumb, lost kid like me? Of course, they would try to make me feel better and tell me not to worry. That's just how good heroes are. And that's precisely why I was having trouble believing them.

My emotions were pretty clear about it.

"I know it's hard to believe it now, so soon after something horrible happened," Eclipse tenderly said, understanding me better than anyone thanks to her powers, "but we really mean it. You couldn't have saved him. You're just a kid, Lincoln."

They didn't know. They thought I felt guilty because I couldn't save him. That was true, obviously, but it was only part of the truth. What affected me the most was knowing that I had been the direct cause of him getting shot in the chest.

They were right. I was just a kid. A dumb kid, not knowing what he was doing.

"I guess," I told them, not too excited. Not even being in the presence of superheroes managed to cheer me up.

They looked at each other, and Nova stood up.

"Alright. We need to go to patrol the city. Criminal scum will be eager to strike now that… Anyway. See ya around, kid."

Without further ado, Nova's body was surrounded by energy, like a blue fire. Her eyes were shining with a blue radiance, and a soft breeze began to whirl near her. I wasn't sure what the source of her power was, but there was no question about her being one of the most powerful heroes that had ever protected Royal Woods. She could fly at high speeds, shoot energy beams, and somehow she also had super strength that let her fly through walls or lift cars with her own hands. Levitating in front of me, with the wind moving her voluminous hair and the blue flames around her, she looked like a human storm.

Within an instant, she accelerated like a rocket towards the sky, losing herself in the firmament. Eclipse also lifted herself in the air. Before leaving, she turned to look at me. Her sad face told me that she knew exactly how I was feeling. She extended a hand towards me, and suddenly the collar of my polo fixed itself. She gave me one last, sad smile, and she flew to join her sister.

I was left alone once again in the cemetery full of people. Eventually, I went back to my family. By then, the tears were dry, and I had already made my mind up.


When we were halfway towards home, I asked my dads if they could stop the car for a second. They parked in the first empty spot they found.

"What's wrong, son? Are you feeling alright?"

"Are you dizzy? I have some pills that can help you with that."

"If you feel like you want to vomit, I have some paper bags and chewing gum to help with your breath later."

"We should go straight to the hospital and get you checked!"

"Yes! I'll call Doctor López's friend. What was the name of that sarcastic doctor with the cane?"

"Dads," I interrupted them, smiling and raising the palm of my hands, "it's ok, I'm good."

They both let out a relieved sigh. "What's the matter, then?" Howard asked me, wiping the sweat out of his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Well, I…" I looked at the window on the sly. "I'd like to drop off here and walk for a bit."

Clyde, sitting by my side, turned to face me.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I am. I just want to… clear my mind for a bit."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

I smiled at him, fidgeting with my fingers. "Seriously, I'm ok. I just need some time alone. Time to… think, I guess."

Clyde stared at me, and I noticed in his pursed lips and burrowed frown that he knew I wasn't alright. I shouldn't be surprised that he could read me like an open book. He was my best friend, my brother, he knew me better than anyone else. Better than myself, if my crush on Jordan was any proof. To try to deceive him or keep a secret from him was a lost battle. I was a very bad liar, and he was very perceptive.

Our familiarity with each other was a double-edged blade, though, and just like he knew me, I knew him. And in his eyes augmented by the glasses, I could see the signs of worry. It would be hard to get some time away from him to do what I needed to do.

Of course, I had underestimated just how good of a brother Clyde was.

He looked at our parents and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I think he needs some time to himself," he softly said. "Doctor López said that sometimes it's important for us to have some me-time to reflect on everything we're going through."

Clyde's appeal to authority was brilliant. My dads exchanged a look.

"If Doctor López says so…"

"Yes. Yes, alright. That's ok, Lincoln, you can walk from here."

"But don't take any dangerous street!"

"Watch where you're walking!"

"Don't even THINK about having your phone in silence!"

"If a stranger offers you candy in their white van, tell them that he can shove them up his-!"

"Howard! Dial it down!"

"What? I was going to say his glove compartment."

While our dads had a conversation about my safety and what expressions were or were not PG-11, I took some quiet moments to thank Clyde.

"And listen, I'm sorry if-"

"It's ok, Lincoln," he interrupted me with a smile. "Do whatever you need to do. You know that if you need me, I'll be here for you."

"You're the best, you know that, right?"

"No u."

After a quick farewell, I got out of the car, which soon resumed its way towards home. I sighed. Suddenly, the collar of my polo felt really, really tight, almost like it was choking me, so I took one button off. The feeling was still there.

I walked slowly until I got to the corner of the street where they had left me. As I did so, I took some sly glances around me. No one there to see me.

That's how I got to my destination, near the 1900th. I was on the even side of the street, so I got to the other side. I kept walking until I got where I needed to be. Just to be safe, I took a new glance around me, and when I couldn't see anyone else, I quickly put my hand in my pocket and fished out the object I had been carrying all morning.

Ace Savvy's insignia. My fingers were shaking as I turned it around and read the words.

"Wayne Avenue, 1939."

There I was. Large, stylized black railings separated the sidewalk from the front garden of what was undoubtedly the most impressive house in the neighborhood. An old house, which looked more like a castle. There was a curved staircase that crossed the garden, surrounding exotic and very well-kept flowers and shrubs. The building had a covered porch flanked by bow-windows. The house was made of gray and carved stone, three stories high, and endless ceilings at rare angles that crossed each other. It was also full of windows and balconies, and while trying to analyze it, I wondered if it was really necessary to have such a large house.

That questioning led me to think of Ace Savvy. If he wanted me to burn his house, I could only think that he lived alone. Would he have family? No one knew his secret identity, of course, and he had never mentioned a child or a wife. What about his parents? Did they know that their son was dead? Would they still be alive? He must have had some kind of ties with someone. And because of me, those people, whoever they were, had just suffered a great loss.

I shouldn't have stayed so long there in front of the house, looking sadly and with drooping eyes at what I should soon turn into ruins. I should have entered as soon as possible, quietly. I didn't, however, and I was so distracted that I didn't hear someone approaching me.

"Wow… I thought I was the only one that knew his identity," said a pretty familiar voice.

I turned around and, indeed, that voice belonged to none other than Katherine Mulligan. She was standing a few feet away from me, wearing some similar clothes to what she usually used on the news, except that they were black instead of yellow. Her face looked as depressed and heartrending as one would expect.

"Where did you know him from?" She asked me, reducing the distance between us.

Uh oh. Time to lie!

"I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am."

Her sad face frowned. "Don't call me ma'am, I'm not that old. And I have a lot of practice interviewing people trying to hide the truth from me, little one. You can't lie to Katherine Mulligan."

Even if she spoke in the third person, Katherine Mul- I mean, she was right. Huh. Her name was catchy.

"I, uh…"

Katherine Mulligan smiled at me.

"That tells me all I need to know," she said, closing her eyes and nodding slowly. "I see you're trying to protect Ace Savvy's secret identity. Don't worry, I've kept his secret for years. Actually, Spade always told me I was the only one that knew about it."

Spade… Was that his name? I took a quick glance at the mailbox. "S. Nifty", it read. Apparently, I had become the second person to know Ace Savvy's secret identity. Katherine Mulligan being the first.

"I… didn't know him that well," I admitted. "He saved me once."

"Only once? That's probably why he liked you. He must have been tired of saving me all the time."

I had read somewhere about humor as a coping mechanism for pain and grief. Her joke became rather sad, knowing that.

"I'm sorry," she said after a few moments of silence. "I didn't mean to bother you. It's just… it's a little comforting knowing that someone else knew the man behind the mask. Everyone is mourning the hero, but… I thought I would be the only one mourning Spade."

The way she talked about him… how she rubbed the back of her hand… I didn't like lying or assuming much, but I felt like she needed it.

"I'm sure he loved you, too," I said, trying to sound confident like I actually knew what I was talking about.

She seemed taken aback by my words, and it took her a second to react.

"We had our little thing going on back in the days," she admitted, looking at the house, "but his sense of duty and justice took too much out of his life to leave room for romance. I don't blame him, of course. The hero path is a lonely one, after all."

I didn't really know what to say to a local celebrity that had just confessed to me that she had been madly in love with the city's most famous superhero, who had died the night before. Because of me, by the way. Luckily for me, she seemed to realize how much she was sharing with a kid she barely knew. She blushed and looked away from me, visibly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I… I guess I needed to share this with someone that knew him, too."

"It's ok, don't worry. But I told you, it's not like we were friends or anything like that."

"But he trusted his secret identity to you."

"...yeah."

"That means he saw something in you. He knew you were special, in a way that I'm not even gonna try to interpret."

"I think you're giving me too much credit."

"Perhaps. I don't know. I just know that Spade was a very smart man, and he could see the beauty in others. Even, and especially, when they can't see them in themselves."

Her eyes moved back to the mansion, and I was starting to believe that she wasn't talking to me precisely.

An idea crossed my mind. What if I gave the key to her? She was an adult. She knew him personally. She was, definitely, the best candidate. I could tell her that Ace Savvy had given me the key to his house a while back (which was technically true) with the instructions to burn it in case he died (which he hadn't exactly said, but it was implied). Whether she decided to move forward with Ace Savvy's last will or not was her responsibility. I wouldn't have to get more involved in this case.

And yet… Ace had asked me to do it. He had delivered this mission to me. And yeah, yeah, I know, he asked me because I was the only one around in that alley. But even so, it was a mission that my hero had given to me. It was my responsibility.

"Anyway," Katherine Mulligan said, bringing me back to reality. "I'm sorry to interrupt you. I just… wanted to see the house one last time and… think, I guess."

"Yeah… yeah, me too."

"It was a pleasure meeting you. You're very kind," she said, smiling at me. "What's your name?"

Ok, was I really gonna give my name to yet another very famous, highly influencer person? My parents always told me not to talk to strangers, and yet three superheroes had learned my name in the last twenty-four hours, and now a journalist was asking for it once again. No sir, I would not make another misstep.

"Rusty," I said.

She laughed.

"I met a Rusty, one time. He went to my office trying to convince me that he had a superpower to eat flowers and absorb his vital energy to live forever. Poor kid. He doesn't know that his acne is an allergic reaction to eating plants."

As I tried to contain my desire to roll on the floor and crying out loud in laughter, I decided that I would treasure that information for the rest of my life.

"Anywho. This is Katherine Mulligan, saying goodbye and wishing you the best of lucks in the tough times we're living. And don't miss my reports every day from nine to ten, thirteen to fourteen, seventeen to eighteen and twenty-one to twenty-two, eastern standard time. Goodbye, Rusty."

I said goodbye to her and pretended to be focusing on the house in front of me once again. The truth is that I just waited for her to walk away, and sneakily looked around until I was absolutely convinced that there was no one around.

Once I was sure I was alone, I took Ace's insignia once again. Purposefulness ran through my veins like liquid fire. "I won't fail you, Ace."

I pressed the center of the insignia, and after a metal "click!", the gates were opened.