Ethan squeezed his phone in frustration, his knuckles turning white from the force as his phone case creaked under his grip. “I’m not sure I understand, sir, can you repeat that?”

  “I said to leave Pinpoint’s adoptees alone. Look, I know they’re nobodies, but Pinpoint isn’t. You know she has friends in complicated places.”

  “But Captain—”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Brady! Our job is hard enough as is without picking fights with people who’ll derail our plans with a couple phone calls!” The man on the other end of the phone let out a long sigh. “Look, I was fine with you taking a run at Pinpoint’s adoptees because the last thing we need is people like her gaining even more influence, but the situation’s changed. Kamuela being on the board changes things. He’s connected at a level that could cause problems for us. You did good letting me know he’s in play, but now you need to keep your head down. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Ethan said through clenched teeth. As the line went dead, he felt an urge to throw his phone at something, anything, but managed to master the impulse and slid it back into the phone clip on his duty belt before jumping back into his police SUV.

  “All good sir?” Officer Smith said from the passenger side, his youthful face equal parts concern and naivete. He had potential as an officer. Knew how to follow orders. Handled himself well that morning even though everything went to shit.

  “Yeah,” Ethan said as he stabbed the key into the ignition with more force than necessary and started up the SUV. The engine growled to life as Brady gripped the steering wheel while imagining it was a certain meta’s neck. He might have to play nice with them for now, but as soon as one of those freaks made a mistake, he’d take them down. Orders or not.

  Images of him rounding up the blights on society and slapping cuffs on them floated through his head, helping calm him down. He’d have a parade thrown in his honor once they achieved their goal. Medals would be panned to his chest for the work he did protecting the regular people from those abominations. He could practically taste that wonderful future, one free of criminals and the corrupt fools and freaks that enabled them. Ethan’s eyes flicked to the midmorning traffic flowing down the Pali into town, watching the cars fly by. But until that wonderful future came to fruition, he had a job to do.

  As if the universe were acknowledging his duty, he watched as a black lifted truck flew past the scenic overlook obviously going well over the speed limit, its mirror tinted windows preventing him from seeing who was driving. Or what, a small voice in the back of his head snorted. These days, you never knew if the next car you pulled over would just be some uneducated idiot islander with a knife, or a dirty freak meta with unholy powers. Both were unpleasant to deal with, but only one of them came with the risk of monsters tearing apart innocent people.

  Flicking on his lights and sirens, Ethan threw the SUV into gear and slammed on the gas, enjoying the way his body pressed back into the seat as the white vehicle rocketed out of the scenic overlook and started to catch up to the truck. Come on, come on, run and give me a reason, he thought to himself with vicious excitement. All he needed was an excuse. Someone needed to teach people who held the authority in this city. It certainly wasn’t the flying freaks and their minions. It was good, hard law men like him, and everyone learn that soon enough.

  ***

  “Thanks for dealing with the police Elijah,” Pinpoint said as she rushed through Erika’s newly repaired door, a satchel over her shoulder.

  “It was my pleasure Ms. O’Shea. My associates were able to intercept the police before they arrived at Ms. Choi’s residence as well, though, much like here, they would have found nothing even if we had failed in that regard.” Turning to Erika, the man bowed his head apologetically to her. “Unfortunately, my tardiness this morning meant that Ms. Sato suffered some harm.”

  “Shit happens Elijah, don’t worry about it. I’ll handle things from here. Your teams did a good job. Payment’s already been wired to your firm.”

  “Of course, Ms. O’Shea. Thank you for your continued patronage.” Mr. Kamuela said with a warm smile. “Please let me know if we can assist you again in the future, Ms. O’Shea. Ms. Sato, my apologies again for my late arrival. Please feel better soon.”

  Erika waved awkwardly as the man opened her new front door, the hinges opening quietly as it swung open and shut with the soft click of the lock. The only evidence that the police had just knocked her door down was the still drying paint on the repaired door frame, her belongings scattered about, and a drying puddle of blood on the floor where her nose had been smashed. And the blood covering her face and chest of course.

  “Alright, let’s take a look at you,” Pinpoint said, rushing over to examine her. Despite the hero’s practiced hand, Erika couldn’t help but wince as the woman poked and prodded at her while muttering to herself. “Yep, definitely broken. A couple bruised ribs too.”

  “Thish ih gonna take a’few ‘eeks ta heal ismit?” Erika asked as the hero knelt down to dig something out of her bag, her words coming out strange with her broken nose. It still ached and throbbed, but it wasn’t quite as bad as it’d been half an hour earlier.

  “In normal situations, yes, but I think we can do a bit better than that,” Pinpoint said as she pulled what looked like a thick clear pen with a red cross on it out of her bag. “Don’t move, I just need to give you a little shot.”

  “Wha’ aw ‘ou—Ow fuhk!” Erika yelped as pinpoint smoothly stabbed the mysterious object into her neck! Erika tried to stand up, but Pinpoint grabbed her shoulder with an iron grip and pressed her back down, easily overpowering her and pushing her back against the couch as something cold began to work its way through her veins.

  Erika shivered as the mysterious substance slowly moved down her neck before going towards both her neck and her chest. Whatever Pinpoint injected her with seemed to sap her energy and the warmth from her body. As shivers wracked her body, she felt her nose start to burn. Warm liquid that felt searing hot against her cold skin began to drip down her face and she reached up to touch her nose, only to feel the gauze she’d stuffed into her nostrils dissolve under her fingertips. She felt her flesh start to writhe and wriggle uncontrollably. More pain lanced through her head as her nose cracked and snapped back into place, and the worst of the pain she’d been feeling since it was broken vanished. As soon as the pain in her nose vanished, she felt the bleeding stop, and soon the burning vanished, leaving feeling as if she’d never broken her nose.

  Cautiously, she touched her nose, feeling it whole and unbroken. A sense of wonder washed through her as she poked at her nose, equal parts amazed and confused. What the hell just happened? Looking up from her couch, she looked at Pinpoint grinning at her in a simple outfit of leggings and a sports bra like she was a gym addict, not a superhero.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “What the actual fuck Pinpoint?! What was that?!”

  “Just a little healing thing.”

  “Healing thing? That thing just instantly fixed my broken nose! That’s some expensive billionaire shit!”

  “Heh, billionaires wish they could buy it.”

  If billionaires couldn’t even buy whatever Pinpoint just used on her, there was no way she could cover that in her lifetime. Erika couldn’t even afford her next month’s rent, let alone something like that. Images of being broke for the rest of her life over a broken nose filled her head. “The fuck? I can’t afford that!”

  “Relax, it’s not that expensive. It’s like twenty bucks a pop to make one.”

  There’s no way something that awesome is that cheap, Erika thought to herself. She’d been to the Emergency Room before. Even just a single ibuprofen was like fifty dollars. There’s no way something that could heal a broken nose like magic would cost less than a shitty over the counter pill she took for headaches. Hospitals wouldn’t exist anymore if it did.

  “Yeah, hospital bills are ridiculous aren’t they?” Pinpoint said with another laugh.

  “What? How did you—”

  “Every time someone finds out about these little babies, everyone wonders the same three things. How are they so cheap, how much hospitals charge for it, and what’s this going to cost me,” Pinpoint said, listing things off on her fingers. “The short answer is that they’re mass produced in a government owned portal, but they’re not exactly safe for the unawakened. For anyone with powers, they’re a quick fix for most injuries, but for baseline humans… there’s side effects.” Pinpoint shrugged as if that was enough information.

  “What kind of side effects?”

  “Don’t worry about that now. We have other things to do.”

  “Other things? What other things?”

  “You registered as a superhero with me as a sponsor, remember? We have some things to do before you can begin your new job.”

  “New job?”

  “As a superhero, specifically as one under my supervision.” Pinpoint fixed her with a serious look for a moment. “Look, what happened last night… the police found the body you hid. Right now, you’re covered since they think you’re a superhero, and on paper you are. But that won’t protect you for long if the police don’t see you out on the streets actually being a superhero. So, we’re going to go make sure you’re ready to do just that.”

  ***

  When Pinpoint said she had a new job as a superhero, she’d been excited. Even with her registration, it didn't feel real until Pinpoint’s words though all but confirmed she’d be one. Which meant that she’d getting the stipend she was owed, which hopefully meant she wouldn’t have to worry about rent the next month. The hope that she wouldn’t have to worry about money did a lot to push that worry away. Especially since Pinpoint told her the government was still assessing the portal items Keoni confiscated from her. But perhaps that hope had been a little too distracting. Too late, she found out what Pinpoint meant about making sure she was “ready.”

  Fucking hell! Erika snarled as she pushed the metal bar with all of her strength, activating muscles she didn’t even know she had as she struggled to push the bar away from her. One wrong move and it’d fall and crush her. Just a little more… with one last burst of energy, Erika pushed the bar up and managed to twist it, locking it into place with a ringing steel clang. Gasping for breath, Erika sagged back down onto the padded bench and looked up at her tormentor.

  “Nice job Erika!” Pinpoint said cheerfully. “Five sets of ten bench presses at 375 pounds, putting you solidly on the upper end of F Class for upper body strength. Now, let’s test your leg strength!”

  Leg presses, burpees, sprints, long distance runs, rope climbing, even yoga in poses that made her joints scream even as she watched Pinpoint contort herself in ways that made her equally jealous… among other things. Hour after hour passed as Pinpoint ran her through exercise after exercise in a private gym in some warehouse in the industrial area. The only breaks she had were to guzzle some lukewarm water and a couple of times, to eat some kind of energy bar Pinpoint handed her. Fast Recovery showed its true potential here as energy seemed to flood into her limbs after just a short rest. Between her power, the stats she’d bought, and those few mercies her sponsor showed her, it was just enough to keep her going as Pinpoint pushed Erika to her limits. If she were still a baseline human, or didn’t have the powers she did, she doubted she’d still be alive, let alone able to move. But, as the shadows started to grow long in the late afternoon, she was reaching her limit despite her advantages.

  “Great work today, Erika,” Pinpoint said as she slumped against a wall, her everything aching.

  Stupid powers, she thought to herself. What’s the point of increased stats or a power called “Pain Resistance” if working out just gets even harder?! As if her power were just waiting for her to complain, a couple notifications popped up in her vision.

  *Ding!* Your effort and dedication towards improving yourself have paid off! You have gained 1 Vitality! Congratulations!

  *Ding!* You have successfully completed an intense workout, repeatedly pushing your body to its limits! You have gained 10 EXP!

  As soon as she saw the notification pop up, she felt her fatigue ease just a bit. It wasn’t much, just enough that she didn’t need to put quite as much of her weight against the wall to stay upright, but it helped. I guess I can’t complain about how stingy the EXP was, she thought to herself.

  “Great, looks like you’ve recovered enough! Now that we’re done with the warm up, it’s time you learned how to fight!”

  Erika felt a hot and unpleasant mix of embarrassment and anger creep across her throat. She might not have a lot of training, but she knew how to hold her own in a fight.“I can hold my own,” she scowled. “I fought those zombies in the portal, killed plenty alone before anyone came along to save me, and I beat some some of that Proper Pancake or whoever’s goons too.”

  “I saw you flailing around with a fancy stick and struggling against a few low level monsters. As for Professor Panic’s goons, his crew isn’t known for being full of badasses. They’re mostly thugs good for guarding stuff, following simple instructions, and lifting things. They’re not exactly A leaguers. You and Mary got lucky.”

  Erika looked down at the mat as she thought about what she saw last night. The way those goons came at them, the kinds of weapons they used. To her, they seemed disciplined and skilled, like soldiers, but Pinpoint said they were just simple thugs? She wasn’t sure if her sponsor was trying to psyche her out or telling the truth, but she suddenly felt unready to step onto the streets to fight crime. Preoccupied by her thoughts, Erika didn’t notice what Pinpoint was doing until she felt something thump against her legs. Yelping, Erika bolted upright as a padded head guard fell to the mat. “What the—” she started to say, only to splutter as two more things flew at her. Moving on instinct, Erika snagged the things out of the air one after the other. Looking at what she caught, she saw she was holding a pair of padded sparring gloves.

  “One more thing,” Pinpoint said, and Erika looked up just in time to see something bright blue flying at her head. Again, she had no trouble snatching the thrown object out of the air to find it was a mouth guard.

  “Put those on and come at me when you’re ready. You say you can fight, but what I’ve seen so far says different. See if you can prove me wrong,” Pinpoint said as she dropped into an easy fighting stance.

  As Erika glared at the energetic superhero who seemed just as fresh now as she had when they’d first gotten to this gym, she angrily dismissed the two notifications she’d gotten and pulled the gear on. Let’s see how perky she is after I punch her in the face, she thought to herself savagely. Angrily shoving the mouthguard in to protect her teeth, she test punched her fists together before dropping into a fighting stance like the boxers and mixed martial artists that always seemed so popular. She’d fought a ton recently. Even if Pinpoint were stronger than her, she was sure the hero would get tired eventually. All she had to do was hold out until that point.

  She was wrong. Pinpoint didn’t get tired.