“It is time to be a hero, invisible girl” I said with a smile while feeling a huge wave of excitement running through my entire body.
Vanessa looked at me for a second without saying absolutely anything. She did not seem surprised. That was the strangest part.
Any normal person seeing an ordinary neighbor accept to go after a villain without thinking too much would have been surprised. They would have screamed or maybe told me to go home before I got killed.
But Vanessa simply looked at me as if she had already known for a while.
“So you do have powers” she said finally while looking at my hands with her gray eyes.
“Shit” I murmured. I had not thought about that. I had acted too quickly and right now I had just confirmed what she suspected since last night.
Vanessa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow with a face that clearly said she had won without needing to fight.
“I suspected it” she said. “A normal civilian does not dodge invisible punches, does not stay calm in a fight, and does not smile when a villain alarm appears in front of him.”
“I smile when I see food deals too. That does not prove anything.”
“Oliver.”
“Fine, fine, maybe I have something similar to a Gift.”
“This is not the time to talk about that” she said looking toward the store where screams and breaking glass could still be heard. “First we have to prevent anyone from getting hurt.”
That did sound like a real superheroine, even if she was a superheroine who sometimes forgot she had neighbors living below her apartment.
We moved a few meters closer but Vanessa grabbed my arm before we crossed the street.
Her hand had strength. Quite a lot of strength.
“Listen carefully” she said in a low voice. “We do not know how dangerous the person inside is. The classification is Danger E, but that does not mean they are harmless. It only means the agency does not have enough data yet or that they have not caused major damage.”
“That sounds pretty reassuring” I said while giving a smile.
“I need you to listen to me.”
“Since when are you my boss?”
“Since you do not have a hero license and I do work at an agency.”
She was right. If a civilian with powers wanted to help and not be a hindrance, he should follow the superhero.
Vanessa pointed at the broken entrance of the store. “I will go in invisible. You will draw her attention from the front.”
“Excuse me?”
“You will be the bait.”
“The bait?” I asked while feeling my soul trying to leave my body.
“Yes. You have to distract her for a few seconds. If she focuses on you, I can approach from behind and take her down.”
“And what if she decides to smash my face?”
“You dodge and use your gift.”
“Excellent strategy, very complete. The academy must be proud.”
Vanessa did not smile, but her lips moved a little as if she was holding back a laugh.
“I only need a few seconds, Oliver. Do not try to defeat her alone. Do not use your powers near civilians. I still do not know what they are. Do not do anything stupid.”
She had a point. I still did not know how to control my powers even though I did not fully realize it.
Vanessa began to turn invisible little by little. First her hands disappeared, then her face, then her dark blue jacket, and finally only a slight distortion of the air remained in front of me.
It was uncomfortable talking to an empty space.
“Do you have handcuffs or something to capture her?” I asked.
“Yes” her voice answered from nowhere.
“Perfect.”
I did not know why but that word calmed me down a lot. I took a deep breath and walked toward the broken entrance of the store.
In a matter of seconds I understood that it was not a regular store. It was a jewelry store.
Of course it had to be a jewelry store, the natural magnet for villains.
The display counters were broken. There was glass all over the floor. Three civilians were hiding behind a counter and an elderly lady was hugging a small safe as if it were her newborn son.
But what caught the most attention was the woman standing in the middle of the store.
Corvus Night.
The villainess wore a very tight black suit that seemed specifically designed to make it difficult for any man with blood in his veins to concentrate.
She had an incredible figure, wide hips, a defined waist, and a generous cleavage that made it clear she had no shame in using her appearance as a psychological weapon.
Her hair was black with some purple strands and on her shoulders she had a kind of short cape made of dark feathers.
She looked like a villain from a commercial.
A villain you knew was dangerous but you still looked at her for two seconds longer than recommended.
“Well, well” she said when she saw me enter. “Now the agencies send cute boys without uniforms?”
I stayed still. That was not something I had calculated for the plan.
“I am a concerned citizen” I said sounding confident and raising the volume of my voice.
Corvus Night looked me up and down and smiled in a way that was too lascivious.
“What an attractive citizen.”
I did not know if I should feel flattered or threatened. Maybe both at the same time.
“Miss, I recommend you leave the jewels where they were and surrender peacefully.”
She let out a soft laugh while walking toward me with a black bag full of small boxes.
“Miss? How polite. Normally heroes come in shouting ridiculous attack names.”
I stepped back a little. I was voluntarily increasing the heat in my body.
Corvus Night tilted her head and kept approaching. Her eyes were a dark violet color, quite striking, but there was something in them that did not let me lower my guard.
Attractive people can be dangerous.
That should be written at the entrance of every superhero agency.
“I like rookies” she said. “They are easier to confuse.”
“I am not a rookie, crow.”
The villainess laughed again, but at that moment I noticed something moving behind her.
Vanessa.
I could not see her, but there was a slight distortion in the air, a small sign of movement near the broken glass.
The plan was working.
I just had to hold on for a few more seconds.
Corvus Night got so close that I could clearly see the details of her suit and the way the feathers on her cape moved with every step.
“And what is your name, cute boy?”
“Oliver.”
“Nice name.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“I am Corvus Night, but you probably already knew that.”
“Quite a creative name. Why do you attack during the day?” I asked with the intention of distracting her even more.
Corvus’s smile changed for an instant, but before she could answer, Vanessa suddenly appeared behind her.
She hit her in the back with a quick hold, grabbing one arm and pushing her to the floor.
BAM!
Corvus fell onto the glass without cutting herself because her suit seemed resistant.
“Now!” Vanessa shouted.
Vanessa had Corvus pinned to the ground, but something was off. She was squeezing her too hard.
Her face was full of rage, a rage that did not seem normal for a simple capture.
“I saw you flirting with him!” Vanessa said through gritted teeth.
I froze completely. Did I hear that right?
Corvus let out a laugh while trying to break free. “Oh, so the cute boy already has an owner.”
“I do not belong to anyone” I said immediately.
Vanessa looked at me for half a second.
That half second was enough to confirm that maybe it had been a jealous attack.
I did not know if I should feel flattered, scared, or start preparing my will.
“Vanessa, the handcuffs” I said pointing at Corvus. “Put the handcuffs on her before she does something weird.”
Vanessa blinked.
Then her face changed.
That kind of face a person makes when they remember they left the stove on, the keys inside, or their dignity somewhere.
“I do not have them.”
“What?”
“I do not have them.”
“You said you had handcuffs.”
“I thought I did.”
“How do you think you have handcuffs?”
“I forgot them at home.”
There was a very long silence.
Even the civilians hiding behind the counter looked at us as if they had just lost faith in citizen protection.
Corvus Night started laughing. First it was a small laugh, then a full burst of laughter.
“You two are adorable” she said. “Useless, but adorable.”
“Vanessa, hold her tight.”
“That is what I am doing!”
But Corvus began to deform. It was not slow. It was not like a dramatic movie transformation with background music. It happened in a single second.
Her body turned dark, her suit blended with her skin, her arms shrank, and suddenly where there had been a woman with a dangerous figure there was now a black crow flapping its wings violently.
“Shit!” I shouted.
The crow shot toward the broken window.
I raised my hand by instinct and felt the heat rising through my fingers.
“Do not escape!”
A burst of flame shot out from my hand with more force than before.
FWOOSH!
The fire illuminated the entire jewelry store for a second, but the crow moved too fast. It spun in the air, dodged the flame, and passed through the broken window without any problem.
I ran to the entrance, raised my other hand, and launched another burst of flame trying to reach her.
But it was not enough.
The speed of my flames could not catch up with Corvus Night transformed into a crow.
In a few seconds she was already flying between the buildings and then disappeared completely behind a giant advertising screen.
“She got away” I said breathing heavily. Vanessa came out behind me with a serious face. “Yes” she sighed looking toward the building across the street. “Because of me.”
I did not know what to answer. Honestly if it was her fault, I was surprised she did not try to blame me. That spoke well of her.
Or maybe she was too embarrassed for forgetting the handcuffs.
We went back into the jewelry store and helped the civilians get out. The lady with the safe did not want to let go of it, so Vanessa had to explain to her three times that she was already safe and that the safe was not a baby.
I helped a man who had twisted his ankle while hiding behind the counter.
There were no deaths and no serious injuries.
The place was destroyed, the villainess had escaped, and the agency would probably scold us, but at least the people were alive.
That had to count for something.
When the last civilian left the store, Vanessa stayed by my side looking at the broken glass.
“You did well” she said.
I looked at her surprised. “Really?”
“Yes. You did not panic, you distracted Corvus, and you did not kill anyone with your powers.”
“Thanks.”
“For your first day, it is not bad.”
My first day. That sounded strange. Yesterday I was wearing a bear costume to entertain kids.
Today I was throwing fire in a jewelry store against a villainess who could turn into a crow.
Life really changes too fast. Then my stomach growled with humiliating force.
GRRRRRR.
Vanessa looked at me. I looked the other way pretending the sound had come from a car passing outside.
“It was the traffic.”
“Oliver.”
“Maybe a motorcycle.”
“It was your stomach.”
“I definitely need to eat something.”
Vanessa let out a small laugh, this time real, but before she could say anything else her smartwatch started vibrating.
PIP PIP PIP.
She raised her wrist and her face changed immediately.
“What is it?” I asked. Vanessa read the notification in silence, then looked at me. I did not like that look.
“They checked the cameras” she said.
“And?”
“They saw your powers.” I swallowed.
The watch rang again and an artificial voice came out of the device.
[Agent Vanessa, bring the boy to the New Kroy Superhero Agency.]