Hero

The #advengers

Starstrike's huge smiling face looms down on the bloody scene in the middle of the road, the large lettering reading 'Beau x Starstrike - Starstruck: the night collection'. I lift a bloody moaning casualty and carefully place them into the back of the ambulance with the help of a paramedic. I sigh, staring up at the sign.

She walks up, and, looking up at her billboard with me, reaches to place a hand on my shoulder. 

"You know, I wanted to take another, but they insisted that one was going to work, I just think they wanted me out of there since it was getting late. But I would've been happy to come back the next day."

I just give her a look in response.

"-Probably didn't want to waste my time."

Purposefully ignoring Nora and turning to the paramedic, I ask if they need any more help, they ask me to watch the patient while they see if there's anyone else out there. 

LJ floats down to me with another body in their arms, a large piece of metal shrapnel sticking out of their torso. 

"Might need your help on this one."

"Of course. Are you alright? I saw you in the actual turnover, I honestly thought that truck crushed you." I take the body and set it down on the floor of the ambulance, laying my hands on the wound, assessing it. 

"Wind tunnel. I actually didn't mean to, I just got so scared that it happened."

"That's very lucky. For me, emotional distractions make it much harder for me to focus on my power." 

Taking one hand off the body, I wrap my fingers around the shrapnel and pull it out quickly, I can see Lightning Jacker come up closer to watch from the corner of my eyes as I press both hands firmly down on the wound, a purplish glow flows from my hands and into the body, I can feel their heartbeat steady, I keep the pressure consistent until I don't feel any significant arrhythmia. 

"I still think that's really cool; I mean I've seen you do it like a hundred times, but it's still sick."

"So was you saving your own life accidentally." 

"All in a day's work!" Nora adds.

The pause is even more noticeable with three people. Lightning lets the pause linger a little before continuing as if nothing happened.

"It was really scary, getting a truck thrown over your head." 

"Was it from BG's blast?" Nora continues, following the subject.

"It was from the aftermath of it, I believe, when the tanker blew." I report back instinctively.

"Oh my god, I mean, I love Bomb guy, but he really needs to learn what his boom range is." LJ responds.

"Is that the technical term? Boom range?" With the largest piece of shrapnel out, and a little shove to help their healing, I leave them to the paramedics. "Stars, I arrived late from a separate mission, what happened to Nightfall?"

"He's dead. And revealed. His name was Alan, pretty boring name for a supervillain."

"Right. Lightning?" I decide, as usual, that if everyone will just spend their time sitting around, I'll have to take on some kind of leadership role.

"Yeah?"

"How is Bomb doing?"

"Tired. That's the biggest explosion he's done, really surprised when he blew the tank; but he's resting."

"Really? After two, basically one explosion?" Nora chimes in with either full nonunderstanding of newbie power control or very thinly veiled elitism. 

"He's 18, Nor--- not that that makes him incapable. He's very capable, but Star, I mean he's just joined the game." Lightning saves -just about- I try to hold in the smirk that forces to lift my face. He gives me a playful sort of glare. "We need to help him grow, not make him break himself over it. He did a good job, and he'd still be shaken up even if he was as old as we are."

She gives him this sort of sideways glance and opens her mouth, but LJ continues curtly.

"He blew a man up, Star. We identified him with blood, Star. It was fucking brutal."

"Language! At work, come on Lightning."

"It was! I'm sorry but that's the right language for it. Fucking. Brutal. You're lucky you were off doing something else."

"Still, it doesn't set a good precedent."

"Ooh, look who's about to get the swearing talk!" Nora somehow smiles in the awkward atmosphere.

"Star!" We exclaim in unison. Continually confused by her ability to stay cheery all. the. time. It gets quite unsettling at times.

"I was trying to lighten the mood! Jeez! Just- get a room or something I dunno."

She starts a run and dives into the distance, a yellow-pink streak as she dashes back towards base.

Me and Lightning share a look, confused and still somewhat annoyed at each other.