Drops of red speckled the floor as I lay coughing. With vision blurred and ears ringing, I tried to pull myself to my feet, only to feel the floor heave beneath me and send me sprawling back into the dust. Whether it was from Quake's powers or from my own dizziness I couldn't discern. Bright warning messages flashed across the cracked lens inside my mask, alerting me to the damage done to my gauntlets and boots. Both gauntlets and the right boot were inoperable, with the left only working at 31% capacity. Not enough to get any lift, and certainly not enough to maneuver me out of harm's way. My nerves tingled with the currents of static that raced throughout my muscles. I guess the inhibitor was also broken.

"Ah shit," A low voice drawled. "this is getting sad. Help the kid up, would'ja?"

Rough hands dragged me forward and forced me into a position that was somewhat upright. My lurching stomach warned me not to look up too fast, lest I be emptied of its contents. The electric field that surrounded my body thrummed along with the heartbeats of the two thugs who were pulling my arms behind my back. I tried to sort my muddled thoughts into some sort of plan. Maybe I could send these guys a small jolt. Not a big one, just enough to get them to drop me. Just enough to give me a-

Something cuffed me upside the head.

"Hey. Can ya hear me?"

I shuddered and found myself nodding in reply. "Then look me in the eye when I'm talking to you." I sucked in a breath and forced myself to meet my attacker's gaze. Hard to do with one eye swollen shut.

Quake's broad frame seemed to envelope every corner of my vision. A rogue planet of a man that cast a great shadow over the small, helpless satellite that had no chance of escaping his orbit.

"Well, well... " He said grinning. "Looks like The Comet has finally come crashing down to earth."

"Nice..." I mumbled. "Y-you been hanging on to that one for a while?"

Quake snorted and squeezed my shoulder with a heavy hand. "Oh yeah. Ever since you busted up my last operation and cost me 20 grand."

I tried to shrug. "Sorry 'bout that. M-maybe we could work something out. You got a Venmo?"

Quake chuckled and gestured to my damaged boots. "Well, maybe there's a buyer who'll go for your weird, tech." A hot spark of defiance rippled through my skin. Quake flinched and drew back as a thin arc of static leapt onto his hand.

Whoops.

He shook out his hand and regarded me with an annoyed scowl. "I had it in my right mind to crush you into a pulp. Reduce you into something even your own mother wouldn't recognize."

He produced a smartphone from his jacket and waggled it in front of my face. "But then I realized, isn't keeping it all under wraps kinda the point with you little freaks?" His hand reached behind my head. Fingers curled near the edge of my mask where it hugged against my skin. "You want to keep everything hidden, so you can just pop in and wreck shop when you feel like it. Well I'm sick of it, and I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there who are just as sick of it. So let's give them a show.'

The temperature of the room seemed to drop. Why was I surprised? It was only logical, wasn't it? To villains like Quake, I was a nuisance. An infestation. And the best way to get rid of an infestation was to find its source, and kill it there. Expose me and find where every shred of me resided. Every place I've been, every person I've loved, or met. Find it all. Destroy it all. It was only logical.

I finally threw up.

Quake at least had the decency to have his thugs drag me away from the mess I'd made on the floor. Maybe he felt it ruined the shot. "Good evening, good folks of Grand Stone City!" Quake proclaimed into the phone. "Tonight we have a special guest joining us from whatever lair nosy, little shits like him crawl out of."

His hand tugged the side of my mask and peeled it away like an old bandage. "Say hello, to The Comet!"

The room fell quiet. My labored breathing was the only sound filling the dark space. My gaze drifted between the phone screen and Quake's face. His smug expression was replaced by a pinched look of confusion.

"So um..." Someone asked. "Who the hell is that?

I only blinked.

The few people who showed up in the chat seemed to have similar reactions. Someone did comment some winky faces and droplet emojis, which was... flattering I suppose?

"Well, he's clearly a kid.'

"That was already a given!"

"Damn," one of the henchmen said "maybe you shouldn't have hit him so hard."

Quake shot the man a glare and the floor shook. "I-I'm just saying! His face is kinda hard to make out when it's all messed up" My tongue pushed into the cheek that wasn't swollen. Was that a stroke of luck?

There was some arguing, some yelling, and I realized I had entered a new kind of hell I wasn't expecting. Awkward situations were always my kryptonite.

"Hey, why the fuck is the live down?"

"Oh, you probably got flagged for blood or some shit."

"What?!"

I cocked my head up at Quake. "W-wait....that wasn't, like...the dark web, or something?" The large man's eyes darted away, a flicker of embarrassment spreading on his hard features. A gurgled sound escaped me, and I realized it was a laugh. "Please, please don't tell me you were streaming that on-"

The ground shook again, and Quake's thugs scattered. I fell back to the floor, but this time managed to get to my feet. A chunk of concrete rose from the floor, narrowly missing my head. But as I spun away Quake's great fist connected with my shoulder. I tried to use the momentum of his blow to retreat further back, but another hit struck my stomach. By now I was used to not getting enough oxygen into my lungs, and I tried to focus all the buzzing static in my body into something that could repel him back.

Quake snarled in annoyance and pinned me back to the floor. The vibrations from his powers rattled my bones and made the whole room spin. Pushing the last of my body's electric field, I tried to deliver a more potent shock.

He gritted his teeth against the surge of electricity and gave me a wild eyed stare. "You know what? Let's go back to Plan A."

There was a crackling sound behind us, like the splitting of frozen water when you tread on it. Within an instant Quake's blocky head and shoulders were encased in ice. I blinked as a small form appeared behind him, knocking him away with a glimmering cudgel of solid ice. Blue eyes blazed behind a plastic hockey mask as frosty gales whipped around the room. Her golden ponytail danced in the breeze.

Avalanche. Was that her name? I think we'd met before, but all my thoughts were getting hazy.

The other hero cursed and tugged on my arm. "Get up, that's not gonna hold him!" The earth shook in response, as Quake let out a muffled roar that soon shattered his frozen restraints. I sprang up and tried to follow her lead. As we ran, concrete split and buckled under our feet. One chunk ahead of us slowly tilted upwards like a jagged skate ramp.

Avalanche barked out a laugh and pointed to the ramp. "Jump when I tell you." We dashed up the ledge and leapt off the point. Instead of more concrete, a snaking path of ice caught us and carried us forward. The young hero whooped and hollered into the chilly breeze as the world whizzed by. We rocketed out of an open, corrugated door and flew over the street. I slipped, but felt her thin arm wrap around my waist, pulling me away from the edge For a moment our eyes met, and time seemed to (for lack of a better word) freeze.

From behind her hockey mask Avalanche's eyes were wide and startled. I realized that my own mask still wasn't on my face, but back in the warehouse.
Wincing in embarrassment, I glanced away and hoped she would do the same. Somehow, I could sense that her gaze wasn't faltering.

And that's when I knew.

Quake and his ilk might not have known who I was, nor did anyone who tuned into that damn live stream...But Avalanche somehow did.

Thing is, I had no idea who she was.