From high above, cloaked in the dark belly of the night sky, Flamebird hovered.
Below him, the street outside Jake’s Convenience Store had already transformed into a spectacle. Camera crews with bright lights, journalists clustered like vultures, and a growing crowd packed behind police barriers.
A convenience store robbery had never drawn this kind of audience.
"Is the Cloud team ready?" he asked, voice calm.
"Morris is live and already positioned," Priscilla replied through his earpiece.
"So I’m clear to go?"
"Yes. But hold on..." A short pause. "CCN is on site too."
『Ashley Hunt. Of course. 』
Flamebird’s jaw tightened. CCN had spent the last two years painting super heroes as glory-hungry celebrities who only showed up when cameras were rolling. Ashley Hunt was their sharpest weapon.
"You’re going to land directly on their equipment," Priscilla said. "The mist drones are already deployed. No civilian footage leaks tonight."
"Got it."
He dropped.
The moment the crowd spotted the streak of fire cutting through the night, they erupted. Phones shot upward.
"This is genuinely working for us," Priscilla said as he descended. "A classified hero responding to a corner store call. The optics are incredible."
Flamebird didn’t answer. He lined up the landing and came down hard, right into the CCN setup. The impact shattered cameras, sent tripods flying, and knocked Ashley Hunt and her crew sprawling across the wet pavement.
Bright orange embers drifted through the air as his flames died down.
Ashley hit the ground hard, brown hair falling across her face. Even flat on her back, her sharp eyes were already calculating.
A voice cut through the noise from somewhere in the crowd.
"Flamebird! Oh goodness it’s him."
Flamebird glanced down at Ashley for a moment, then turned toward the cheering crowd with a perfect, confident smile.
****
Inside the store, the situation was deteriorating in real time.
"What are you doing, man?" Ren said, watching Jake move with the urgency of someone taking an afternoon stroll.
The noise outside had shifted, louder, different.
"I’m on it," Jake muttered, not even looking up. "I’ve got diabetes."
"Don’t play games with me." Ren tried to drop his voice lower, more threatening. It came out about sixty percent as intimidating as he wanted.
The man Ren had punched earlier was already sitting up against the shelves, pressing a wad of paper towels to his forehead. "If I were you—"
"One more word," Ren cut in, raising the pistol, "and I will... don’t try me. Please."
The red-haired girl on the floor had completely stopped pretending to be scared. She was now openly smirking, watching the whole disaster like premium entertainment.
[God she’s fine tho]
[bro is literally unraveling in real time]
[SnackLord97: this is the most chaotic robbery I’ve ever seen]
The noise outside spiked again. Ren’s eyes narrowed.
『It’s him. Of course it’s him. Why the hell did I think this was a good idea?』
A new message flashed across his vision:
[Time’s up. Move to back exit. Open. Rotate. Fire.]
『You make it sound easy. That’s a fucking supe. 』
Ren exhaled. The safe was still full. He hadn’t come here for the money.
He slapped Jake hard across the side of the face, a loud, personal crack that carried years of resentment, then bolted for the back exit.
[that was NOT a robbery slap]
[SnackLord97: grudge slap of the century]
The camera feed shook with every step, the image lurching and stuttering as he hit the back hallway. He reached the door, shoved it open, and stopped. The camera steadied.
[Shoot.]
Flamebird was standing right there in the doorway, framed by the night and distant neon. The same dramatic pause he always pulled.
Ren didn’t hesitate. He raised the pistol and fired. A crackling electric charge slammed into Flamebird’s chest. The hero staggered, then dropped hard to the ground.
[oh my god. bro actually dropped Flamebird]
[wait was that actually him??]
[IdleKing has donated Glitch $20]
[SnackLord97: NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY]
Ren was already running.
Behind him the donations were stacking. He could feel the notifications buzzing through his phone like a pulse. He cut into a side corridor, pressed his back against the wall, and stood there breathing hard in the dark.
『Nah. Nah, that didn’t just happen. 』
He stayed still for a moment, letting that land. Then he pulled out his phone. The chat was pure chaos. After three seconds, he killed the stream.
[Objective Met]
[Viewers Peak: 1.3K]
[Gifts & Donations: $403]
『Four hundred bucks in a night. That’s insane. 』
Ren stared at the number. He’d never seen that much come in from a single anything in his entire life.
He stripped off the mask and tactical jacket, stuffing them into his bag. He hit Bella street as another ordinary guy in a hoodie. Invisible again.
***
Back in his apartment, Ren didn’t turn on the lights. The glow of the TV was enough. It washed over the floor as Cloud Late News played.
A breaking banner scrolled across the bottom of the screen: FLAMEBIRD SAVES AGAIN.
Morris Evans stood on the street, microphone in hand, looking perfectly concerned.
"This has to be a wake-up call for heroes to engage more with local communities," Morris was saying with practiced concern. "Because sometimes the police simply don’t respond fast enough."
The camera panned to Flamebird, who stood tall and composed, flashing his trademark easy smile.
"How difficult was it?" Morris asked.
"Easy," Flamebird answered with a modest shrug. "It’s always easy at this level."
『What the hell is going on. 』
On the ground behind them, zip-tied and taped at the mouth, lay a masked figure.
The studio presenter’s voice floated back in warm and smooth.
"Thank you, Morris. Live from Bella street. It really is something to see how Flamebird continues to—"
Ren hit the remote. The screen went black.
He sat in the dark for a moment. That was the industry. That was always the industry. Show up after. Clean up the frame. Take the credit. Smile for Morris Evans and let the city love you for it.
He fell back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
Tomorrow he had school. Tonight he had four hundred dollars, a system he was still figuring out, and the knowledge that the city would once again cheer for its favorite heroes while the truth got edited out of frame.
Ren let out a quiet, crooked laugh.
『I think I just ruined my life.
『...Four hundred dollars though. 』