Unwanted Heroes

chapter four: a swift kick to the face

Mar wanted to laugh at Fin. She really did. His expression was priceless. He was definitely scared of the height and was searching for words to somehow aid in releasing the anxiety, but they didn't come out.

Just like Fin's words, Mar's laugh didn't come out either. She remembered the first time she had to jump off the roof to get to the train station building.

She was close to tears and wanted to quit, but Kem convinced her that the blue bands of their elbows around their knees, wrists, elbows, waist, neck, and around the edges of their feet helped protect them against serious damage to their bodies.

Her fear gradually decreased as time passed on, and now travelling across rooftops felt like a Sunday stroll.

"Hey, Fin, don't sweat it. Our jobs demand a whole lot more than just this jump," Mar stated, jumping off of the ledge of the roof. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the color drain out of Fin's face. Even his multiple freckles seemed to turn paler.

Mar definitely laughed at that.

~•~•~

Fin heard the wind whistling in his ears as soon as he jumped. For a moment, he felt powerful, looking down at the city with no foundation beneath his feet.

At least, until he saw the ground coming up to meet him.

"I'M TOO NERDY TO DIE!" he screamed, flailing in the air. Fin could practically read his epitaph: Finley Daniel Fairbairn. Wonderful Son, Loving Family Member, Extraordinary in All Things Awesome, and a Bloody Vero.

Thunk.

Fin landed face first onto some sort of pink, solid hologram. What is this? he thought, getting up shakily.

"Hey, rojo," Mar's voice called from above him. He snapped his head up in alarm. "If it helps you out, I can make an emergency frying pan for you to land on till you can get on the roof on your own," she offered, a faint trace of a smirk printed upon her face.

"F-Frying pan?" Fin repeated, his teeth chattering from fear. He looked around him, a bowl-like structure surrounding him. Mar's hand was extended in front of her, a pinkish glow surrounding her hand.

She lifted the pan up to the roof's level, allowing Fin to clamber out shakily. Once his feet were on solid ground, Mar clenched her hand into a fist, making the pinkish glow and the large pink frying pan disappear.

"S-So, what exactly is your power?" Fin asked, his knees knocking together. "C-Creating giant f-frying pans?"

"More like making my shields into any object I want," Mar bragged. "They can protect me from anything."

Al landed from above, Kem nowhere in sight. "C'mon. We've got fifteen minutes of travel time. Kem's heading to the scene ahead of us," Al reported. "Let's go!"

~•~•~

Kem shot out of the musty bulb that hung from a watch tower. "Oof!" he groaned as he barreled into a tall chimney wall, putting his hands in front of him before his face could hit the bricks.

Turning into an electric spark to travel through the city's intricate electric system was a long and tiring process, but in a few years of going through each system, Kem had successfully used his power to become the fastest traveler in his team.

Unfortunately, it also meant having the least time to register his landings whenever he needed to stop.

He tapped the co on his watch, immediately connecting to Al. "Daisy, come in," he muttered, leaning against the brick wall to ease the pain.
Kem couldn't help but feel a small trace of embarrassment at mentioning Al's nickname, not to mention its reference to a gift he gave her.