A hook was fired, the metal spike digging into a building's wall before the wire was tightened. A figure flew through the sky, using the grapple point to fling themselves through the air. Once the figure reached the apex of their flight, the grapple hook was detached. The cable made a whizzing noise as it retracted. The figure floated in the air for a moment before their body began falling.

They fell down before they aimed their gun and fired a hook once more. A hiss of air shot it out at another building. Before they hit the ground and turned into a piece of abstract art, they swung up, the momentum of their fall transforming and sending them flying.

People watched and recorded as the figure swung through the air like a monkey on a vine. The figure continued to swing through the air, making sure to never lose sight of their target. What was their target? It was a runaway semi-truck hauling a shipping crate. Several police cars and SUVs were following in suit, trying to chase down the truck.

The truck itself was decked out in armor plating and mounted guns. A small crew were firing at the vehicles chasing them. One of the men was loading a new magazine into his auto cannon, but he suddenly disappeared. The crew looked at each other, wondering where the man went.

In the air, the swinging figure held the man in one hand and the grapple in the other. The masked man was screaming, crying to be dropped.

"LET ME GO! YOU BASTARD! I SAID LET ME GOOOOooooo!!" the swing figure threw the man into a window, his body smashing through it. He was still alive, just that all of his bones were broken probably.

"There! In the air!" One of the men pointed at the figure swinging through the air. Immediately, they aimed their guns at their new target. Bullets shot out at the figure, shells spilling out like rice from a bucket.

Detaching their hook, the masked figure flew through the air. They twisted their body, just barely dodging the bullets as they hit the truck.

"OWE!" they yelled as the truck's cabin was bent in. The crew pulled out their handhelds and aimed at the figure. They dropped down from the truck's cabin and onto the platform unceremoniously. The crew paused as they were used to superhuman heroes, but this guy just seemed like he had his ribs broken.

"Augh, I think my ribs are broken." begrudgingly standing up, the men could only see a person who's body was mostly covered in bandages and wrappings. They had a hoodie loosely hanging on them, some cool pants and a pair of sneakers. But other than what looked like a single sword on their backpack, this guy just seemed like a total newbie.

"Uh, hello? Are you okay?" one of the men asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think my ribs are fine, but still hurt like hell." the hero? brushed off themselves before turning to the crew.

"Oh okay, just making sure." the men than aimed their pistols at the hero who just remembered these were bad guys.

"Oh crap, sorry!" Faster than the men could react, the hero lunged at the closest man. He twisted his arm and grabbed the gun from him before throwing him off the truck. He fired a shot at one of the men, but just knocked his gun out his hand. The others fired, but the hero grabbed the disarmed man and used him as a shield.

Luckliy for the meatshield, he was wearing body armor, which held against the small arms. The hero tossed the man to the side and fired his grapple gun. The hook punched a man in the gut with enough force to knock him into another man. The last man turned to his comrades before turning to the hero.

They lunged for him, but he fired his gun. He received a punch to the throat and a knee to the nose before he was also thrown off the truck. The other two tried to get up, but they got their heads smashed together.

The hero huffed before wheezing and holding their side. A splotch of blood began to stain their wrappings. The hero dug into their bag and pulled out some more bandages and tied their wound.

"Okay, time to end this." the hero climbed to the front of the truck and knocked on the window. The driver, a rather big and buff man, rolled down the window and the hero poked their face in.

"Hiya! Uh, couldn't help notice yer going over the speed limit!" they yelled before the man threw a punch. The hero nearly lost their grip as they felt their nose break.

"Son of a gun!" they held their nose, red staining their wrappings. "Okay! I'm gonna need ya to pull over sir!" the man tried to roll up the window, but the hero smashed through it. They grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it. The truck's wheels screeched as the entire trailer flipped. The two men flew through the air, one screaming their lunges in fear the other in anger.

The truck smashed into the building, the shipping crate breaking through the building. The truck was torn from the trailer and crashed into a garbage truck. The people around were all looking in shock and curiosity before a door was kicked off. Hopping out of the truck the driver rolled his shoulder as he was only slightly scratched. He turned to look at the truck, noting the hero was crushed.

He chuckled before he walked to the shipping crate. He needed to salvage whatever he could and bail. The man tore open the shipping crate and pulled out a case that wasn't destroyed. Bright multicolored liquid was spilling out, the fluid burning through the road and cement.

"Twelve doses, that's twelve mil right there." the man shoved the case into a duffle bag and turned to walk away. Suddenly truck shifted before it was pushed. The hero fell onto the floor. Most of the clothes were ruined, leaving tattered and ruined wrappings and bandages. Blood stained the figure, as they vomited a pool of blood.

"Huh, guess you're tougher than you look." the buff man contemplated leaving before he dropped his bag and walked toward the man. The hero looked up only to get a kick to the face. The force sent them flying into a car, the metal bending.

"There was enough money to fund a small military in that shipping crate." the man cracked his knuckles as he walked towards the hero. "And now I'm just down to twelve million. So I'm gonna take your head as insurance."

"If you wanted money..." the hero trembled as they got up, "Why didn't you just get a job at a law firm?" Taking a breath, they wiped their mouth before raising their fists.

"Hm, not a bad idea." the man actually considered that idea. "But I like the action!"

Throwing a fist, the man's fist smashed through the metal door of the car. The hero managed to roll to the side. They threw three hit combo at the man's side, but cringed as it felt like they were hitting a brick wall.

"Aw, come on! You can do better!" a backhand sent the hero flying back. They rolled across the ground but managed to catch themselves. They looked up and leaped away as the man landed where they stood. The cement cracked from the force and the man leaped again.

The hero barely escaped the man's landing, the ground breaking again. They turned only for a massive hand to grab them by the head. The man's hand was engulfed their head and they felt their feet lose the ground.

"You're pretty nimble kid, but you lack experience." The man prepared to slam the kid into the ground before something hit his back. He was knocked away, dropping the kid, and smashing into the garbage truck.

Slowly descending from the sky, with a cobalt cape flapping in the wind, a woman landed on a car. She flicked her golden blonde hair, her blue eyes staring at the man she just blasted. She glanced at the youngster that laid in the crater. She held a sigh inside before turning her attention the man. This was the third time this month.

"Hello Kyle," the woman watched as the man picked himself up. His whole back was scroched black, the skin burnt revealing his muscles underneath. But the flesh began growing, the skin covering the burnt back.

Kyle ripped off a chunk of burnt skin before it healed over. He spat out a tooth before he tongued  his gum. A new tooth was growing back. Kyle turned to the woman with a glare. Shit, it was Top Wonder.

"So, you know the drill. Either you can surrender peacefully or-" The woman flew up as a car was thrown at her. She shook her head like a mother at a child.

"Your choice," she flew at the man, her fists smashing into his chest.  The two flew into a building, before Kyle was thrown out. The man's chest was caved in and his neck had snapped. But he got up, his neck snapping back into place. As his chest was healing, Kyle kicked a fire hydrant and aimed the water at the woman who was flying at him.

The water pushed the woman back, sending her into the building. Being quick, the man rushed to his truck and pulled out an RPG. As Top Wonder crawled out of the building, the man fired. The rocket screaed before hitting the blonde dead on.

A boom echoed through the streets as dust was kicked up. Kyle didn't waste time and grabbed his duffle bag and booked it. As the villain fled, Top Wonder slowly got out of the rubble, pissed that her hair was ruined. She zoomed out of the rubble and searched for Kyle, but found his gone.

"Augh, I think I broke another rib," Top Wonder turned to see the young kid nursing his wounds. She frowned before walking towards him. Like a mother pissed off, she grabbed the boy and yanked him up. She was much taller than him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled. In the distance she could heard police sirens approaching.

"Oh I was getting some ice cream from that truck, what do you think I was doing?!" the young hero tried to pull their arm away, but the woman held a firm grip.

"Do not sass me, young man! Or woman! Or whatever you are!" she growled, "In fact, I think its time you showed your face."

"Hey! Hands off!" the hero tried to slap the woman's hand away, but honestly it was like a child fighting a bodybuilder. The woman grabbed wrapping of the hero just as the cops showed up. Unfortunately, debris and shrapnel popped the tires of a cop car and it came careening towards them.

Top Wonder flew up, dodging the car. She held the hero in her hands, as she floated in the air. The hero saw this chance and dug into their bag and pulled out something.

"Flashbang!" They tossed the flashbang right in the blonde's face and leaped off of her. This proved a decent distraction as the hero dropped onto the road. They rolled and ignoring the pain, they rushed towards the river nearby.

"Damn it! Kid!!" Top Wonder rubbed her eyes as her ears rang. She turned to see the youngster running away. She launched herself at them but they leaped into the river. She flew up to search for them, but found them gone. She eyed a drain pipe that had a bloody handprint. She sighed, gone again. Oh well, it wasn't like they were too much trouble.

"Oh my god! Its Top Wonder!" the blonde looked down to see a crowd of people had formed. The police had tried to tape off the crime scene, but the crowd were too many. The woman sighed with a smile. She supposed she could greet a few fans.

"Hello everyone! No need to be alarmed, for I am here!" she smiled as people began taking photos.

~ ~ ~

Down in the sewers, the young hero stumbled their way through. They held their side, hissing as yep, they most definitely had a broken rib. Broken ribs always sucked.

"Okay, I think I made it away." the hero sat down under a stream of light from above. Taking a breather, the hero dug into their bag and pulled out painkillers and bandages. Removing their armor, which was just a ruined plate carrier, they undid their old bandages.

This is Liberator, a newbie hero that had just shown up a few weeks ago. At first, everyone assumed they were just that, a newbie hero that was part of the Heroes Accociation. And they did pretty well stopping crime in the general area. They stopped burglars, purse snatchers, thieves, and a few gang members that reached out too far from their territory.

It was only then when a bank heist gone wrong did the truth come out. Five masked men were holding hostages as they looted the place. Unfortunately, the silent alarm was sprung and the police had come. It was a stand off with the police outside the bank.

The newbie hero had come in to save the day, and everything seemed fine. The Liberator snuck into the bank. They had stealthily taken down every robber save one. He took notice of his friends disappearance and took a young woman in his hands.

"Come on out or I'll blow her brains out!" the man yelled. He was panicked and stressed. He finger kept twitching and hands were trembling. "I know you're out there!"

"Okay, I'm coming out!" The hero dropped down from the ceiling. They had their hands raised in surrender. "Just don't shoot her."

"Who are you! You know what? I don't care! Where are my friends?!" the robber yelled.

"They're okay! I knocked them out and they're tied up." They gestrued to the other robbers whose hands and feet were ziptied.

"Now, I need you to put the gun down and surrender-" the robber laughed.

"Screw that. You are going to tell the popo that they need to piss off or I'll shoot everyone of these-"

The Liberator sucked their teeth before noticing something on the side. They're eyes were wide and their face transformed into horror.

"What the heck is that?!" They pointed to something. The robber, panicked turned his gun to whatever was at his side, only to see there was nothing.

BANG!

A gunshot echoed through the air and the man felt a coldness go through his body before he dropped. The woman that was held hostage blinked as her face had a small squirt of blood. She looked at the man, noting he had a gunshot through his head.

"Whew, that was close!" The hero held a smoking revolver in their hand. They walked towards the woman and holstered the gun.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" They asked. Their answer was a scream before the woman scrambled away from the hero.

"Y-you shot him!"

"I mean, yeah. He was holding you hostage." The rest of the hostages all began taking notice.

"He just shot that man."

"Oh my god, she did."

"Heroes aren't supposed to kill!"

Soon the crowd were all muttering to themselves, staring at the hero in scrutiny.

"That man would have shot you if I didn't do anything." The scarfed hero tried to explain, but the crowd wouldn't have it. "What would you have me do?"

"You should have surrendered!" A man yelled.

"That wouldn't have helped. He-" the front doors of the bank then exploded as another hero showed up.

"Halt evildoers! I, Cobalt Shield, am here to stop you!" The new hero's cape billowed in the air as he took a look at the scene. Dead man on the floor, armored man with weaponry. Bingo!

"You can surrender now or I'll take you down." The hero punched his fist as he walked towards the now villain.

"Whoa, hey! I'm a hero! I just stopped these bank robbers." Liberator tried to explain.

"Please, lying won't get you anywhere! An besides, what kind of hero kills? Only a villain murders in cold blood."

"But what kind of villain saves people?"

"Then you're an antihero. And while they do commit acts of good, murder is still murder." The man walked forward. "And besides, your kind is not welcomed here."

"I-! You-!" The scarfed hero pursed their lips before realizing these people wouldn't listen. He was in the High Tower district. Heroes were held to a high standard and if they didn't followed the rules then they were deemed too dangerous.

"Quick, what's that?!" The Liberator pointed at something to the side.

"Please, how dumb do you think I am-" the Cobalt Shield wasn't ready for a flashbang thrown at him. It exploded in a flash of light and left him disoriented.

"Flashbang!"

When his sense returned the scarfed villain had disappeared. The hostages had no idea where they had gone as well.

~ ~ ~

Liberator sighed as they finished cleaning and wrapping their wounds. This city was screwed sideways. The heroes in the High Tower district were akin to celebrities. If one of them stepped out of line, then they were the scapegoat of why things went wrong.

Liverpool was more lenient on its heroes, but that spawned more crime as there were more antiheroes and vigilantes. But it was overall a decent place to live due to the mercenaries not allowing the gangs and mafia to interfere.

Florance was at the high end of the city, but that didn't mean it wasn't ugly underneath. The city was fiercely controlled by the mafia. The police were just puppets in the families' hands that ruled the district and while crime was at an all time low, that was just the crime that was visible.

As for Brookhaven... It is a cesspool of violence and crime. The gangs ruled the streets and police were absent save for gangsters acting as cops. It was a danger to just walk out you home, and if you owned a business then, you better be ready to pay for protection. And even then, you better pay the right person or else you'll end up with fingers missing.

There was a neutral zone in the center of New Victoria, where none of the factions had any real control. Anyone that tried to step over their line would get destroyed by the other powers. And no one wanted to risk themselves open to the other factions. Which made it a perfect position to create a hideout.

Liberator stood up with a grunt. Their ribs still ached, but they'd just have to deal with it. Up above, there was the sound of a girl screaming. Cracking their knuckles, the bandaged hero kicked the manhole covering before leaping out.

~ ~ ~

Jane Pine was an average girl. She went to school, attended her classes, studied hard, and tried her best to avoid trouble like her mother said to. Of course, sometimes trouble finds you.

The sky had begun to darken as heavy clouds rolled in. Jane had missed her bus home and was now trying to avoid the rain. She had taken a shortcut down an alley, only to find a couple homeless men down the end.

Recognizing a nope situation, the sixteen year old tried to turn around only to be blocked by more hobos. She sucked her teeth when she realized she was trapped. She held her backpack close as the men closed in on her.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble!" she warned. But the men didn't listen as they got closer.

"Come on baby, we just wanna talk to you." one of the men said as he pulled out a shiv. Another pulled out a chain, and the third a lead pipe.

"Hey! I am armed and-!" one of the men grabbed her arm, but she whipped out a taser and jabbed it into the bastard. The hobo spazed and trembled as electricity cursed through his body. He fell down, smoke rising off hisbody. Two points on his skin burnt black from the tazer's pikes.

"You bitch!" one of the men rushed at her and would have cracked her skull if a hook didn't wrap around his chain.

"What the?!" the two turned to see a scarfed hero, a grappling gun in their hands. With a yank, the hero rushed the hobo.

"Leave her alone!" with a crack of thunder, the hero lunged with a flying kick. A shoe crashed into the homeless man's face sending him flying. Without wasting a second, the hero rushed the other man.

They reeled back a fist but hissed as their ribs ached. This gave the hobo a chance to swing their pipe. A thunk was heard as the hero was smacked into a wall. Dazed and disoriented, the hero tried to defined themselves but the other hobo got up and tackled them.

More homeless people joined in the scuffle, all of them beating and kicking the hero. They laughed and went to take his stuff. One of them grabbed the wrappings on the hero's face, but that proved to be a mistake.

A burst of energy made Liberator spin with a kick. They yelled as they picked up a pipe and smacked a man. Someone tried to sneak up behind, but they dodged and countered with a punch to the throat. They grabbed the choking hobo and threw them at another. One of the hobos tried to shank him, but a broken wrist stopped them.

Jane watched as the hero beat back the homeless, some how turning the tables and beating up seven people. They fought and moved with a martial prowess Jane had never seen before. Not even the karate teachers at her schools moved like that.

"What kind of people are you?" the hero yelled as they held up a homeless woman by the scruff of her shirt. "You all see these guys trying to jump the poor girl and you do nothing. And when someone steps in you all jump in to defend your friends?"

"P-Please! Let me go! I swear you'll never see me again!" the woman choked out as her feet were not touching the ground. The hero glared at the woman before throwing her on the ground. Any conscious hobos scrambled away, leaving their friends behind.

"There, they should leave you alone for now." Liberator turned to the young girl. Jane blushed as she realized she was in the presence of a superhero! Oh gosh, what should she say? Should she thank him? Did her hair look okay?

When the hero stepped into the light, Jane recolied at the sight. Her expectation of a rugged yet handsome hero was destroyed as she was met with what looked like a feral animal. They were wrapped in bandages, with blood staining some of them. Their equipment and costume was ruined and tattered as well as the scarf they had. And were those guns and swords? Oh shit, this was an antihero.

"You shouldn't take shortcuts down dark and creepy alleys, young lady. Kinda stupid to be honest." While sound advice with hindsight, Jane was not going to let that backhand insult slide.

"Um, excuse me?! I had that totally under control." Jane tried to defend her pride. Her ration part of her brain told her not to provoke the bloody antihero, but her irrational part of her brain said F that.

"Right, with a tazer." the hero sighed, wincing at their broken ribs.

"I know I may seem like it, but I am not as defenceless as you make me seem to be. I am-" Jane opened her eyes to see the antihero lying on the ground dead, family guy style. She froze as she didn't know what t do. Did the guy die or...?

A groan proved the antihero was still alive. Jane cringed as she didn't know what to do. This man just saved her life, but they were an antihero. Her mom told her antiheroes were all brooding, depressed, emo punks that just wanted to kill people with an excuse. Just quiet kids a hair from crossing into villainy.

But... she couldn't just leave them here! They did save her life and they didn't outright kill any of the hobos. Maybe some of them had concussions, but they did kinda deserve it. Jane bit her lip as it began to rain. She looked around hoping there was no one looking before walking to the unconscious vigilante. Oh, her mom was going to kill her!

~ ~ ~

A figure screamed as they were set ablaze. The fire and flames engulfed them entirely as a figure watched fro above. A masked figure watched the fire burned hotly, the bodies in the pit making a foul stench.

"I'll get you!" the still living figure screamed, a red and black hand reaching out to the villain. "This fire burns but I will burn hotter! Conqueror!"

The figure did not react before turning and walking away, leaving the pit of body to burn. Some men came forwards, each holding a flamethrower as the burned the bodies. The screaming grew louder and louder before it was cut abruptly.

~ ~ ~

Liberator jerked up from a bed, sweat soaking their body. The huffed and puffed as they gased for air. Instincts kicked in and they raised their fist ready to fight. They scanned the location, confusion filling them.

They were in a room that looked like it belong to a girl and an engineer. Poster of boy bands and of famous scientists covered the walls here and there. A board of cutely drawn schematics and blueprints was next to a computer desk. Electronics and equipment were scattered across the desk, anime playing on the monitor.

"Where the heck am I?" the hero scratched their head before realizing they did not have their equipment on. They gasped and got up and checked themselves in a mirror. New bandages covered their body and they had clothes that did not smell and looked like they weren't scavenged from a garbage dump.

Their face was still wrapped in the same old wrappings and bandages, proving that whoever brought them here did not see their face. They sighed before a door was opened. They jumped into a fighting stance as a girl froze.

"You're awake." she mttered before she yelled, "You're awake! Uh, listen, I know you're an antihero and all, and you probably don't know how you got here, and you're probably panicking that I saw your face, which I didn't but you wont believe me, but I promise I didn't peek, but I did change out you bandages and I saw that oh my god you were filthy and you still are but I don't mean to insult you but-"

"Where am I?" Liberator finally spoke after realizing the girl wasn't going to stop talking or probably take a breath.

"Y-You're at my house! And, u-um, I brought you here because you were bleeding out and-"

"Did you see my face?" the antihero cut her off again.

"No! I promise I didn't! I mean, I took off your clothes, and changed your bandages, but I don't really know how to change bandages, so really, I just wrapped new ones over your old ones cause I didn't want to see you naked-"

The man? Woman? put a hand on the girl's shoulder and she froze. This was it, she was going to get murdered and her mom was probably going to as well because this guy probably had to leave no witnesses and why did she have to bring a criminal into her home?!?!?!

"Hey!" the girl froze again, "Take a deep breath. I know those eyes, and I swear I'm not going to hurt you."

The brunette tried to take a deep breath, but her heart was still beating a millions miles per hour. Maybe as long as she listened to this guy, they wouldn't murder her and her mom?

"Deep breath, girl, deep breath." Liberator tried to calm the girl. "Come on with me. Deep breath in."

The two took a deep breath in and held it for a couple seconds.

"And deep breath out." they two blew out their breaths. "Again. Deep breath in... deep breath out."

The two did this a couple more times until the girl had calmed herself enough. Once done, the two took a seat. The antihero on the bed and Jane in a chair.

"Let's start with introductions. I am called Liberator, I am a hero that fights crime and villains." They offered a hand to the girl.

"Jane, I'm Jane Pine. I'm a, a high school student that studies and messes with electronics and stuff." the girl aprehensivly took the hero's hand and shook it.

"Okay, nice to meet you Jane. Can you tell me where I am?"

"You're at my apartment, um on 27th Bronze rd." Jane wasn't sure she should be telling, but she supposed the antihero could find here if they wanted to. "Um, so, you're a hero then?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I am." Liberator was anxious. She felt naked without her equipment. He felt vulnerable, like at any moment, someone would attack him. They shook their head, they'd get to that soon enough.

"Whoa, like an actual superhero?" Jane eyes had stars. Maybe this guy wouldn't kill her?

"Well... not an official one." Liberator scratched their neck. "And I don't really have superpowers, so maybe not a superhero."

"But you're a hero?" Jane stared at them

"Yes, I am a hero." They nodded, "I protect the weak and defenseless. I stop and hunt down crime. And I will lay down my life if it means helping people!"

The hero puffed out their chest. It was a bit of bravdo, but none of it was false. It was the truth. Liberator would risk and sacrifice their life if it meant saving even one person. They would hunt down criminals that escape the hammer of justice, and they would protect civilians no matter what! Even if it meant the populace would hate them because they shot a robber.

"What's wrong?" Jane noticed the frown on the hero's 'face'. Most of their face was covered, save their mouth, eyes, and forehead.

"Ah, nothing. Its just there was a bank robbery I recently stopped. I took down the robbers, but I had to kill one of them to save a woman they had at gunpoint." Liberator didn't know why they were telling Jane all this, but they felt they needed to get off their chest. "I saved everyone, but the crowd all turned against me. They said I was a villain just because I killed the robber."

"But he was going to kill that hostage, right? You had no choice." Jane said. That's what she would have done. She didn't know if she could take someone's life, but if the police had the ability to kill someone then shouldn't heroes be able too as well?

"That's what I said!" Liberator exclaimed, "But they didn't listen. And when a new hero showed up, he said I was a cold blooded murderer. In the end I had to split."

"Sounds rough..." Jane frowned.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't do this so the people will be grateful. Even if the entire city hates me and wants me dead, I'll still save them. They're people, they don't know any better."

Jane stared at the hero with wide eyes. Even if the whole city hated them, they'd still risk their life to save people. An admiration developed within Jane as she saw this hero in a new light. If this guy was willing to risk their life for people they didn't know, then maybe they didn't have to do it alone?

"Uh, hey, listen. I know you're probably wondering where your costume and equipment is right?" Jane tried to segway the conversation.

"Well, yeah actually. I feel a bit naked, heh heh."

"Well, wait just a second!" Jane ran out the room, leaving Liberator alone. Seizing the chance, the hero changed the bandages of their face with new ones. As they were finishing, Jane had returned with a box.

"When I took off your gear, I saw that they were all messed up and poor in quality." Jane closed the door with her butt. "So, I took the liberty of cleaning and repairing your tools and stuff."

She set the crate down, inside was all of Liberator's equipment and gear. There was also new tools and equipment as well. The hero took out a katana and unsheathed it.

"Whoa, look I appreciate you cleaning my stuff, but I can't accept all this." They examined the katana, noting how it was finely sharpened.

"No, no its fine! I got that from a mall cause little me thought it was so cool. And I don't mind! I like to mess with gizmos and gadgets." the girl grabbed what looked like a leather bracer with bit of stuff on it. "I saw you're grappling hook gun and I thought, hmm, its kinda annoying having to pull out a gun and fire it. What if your hands are tied? You need to shoot someone like you did with that hobo and his chain. So, tada!"

The leather bracer had a grapple hook on the bottom, where a small compressor allowed the air to shoot the hook. On the bracer as well was a small knife in a holster.

"Also, a utility belt! I know its just a toolbelt, but you make do with what you got." the girl laughed with a snort. She covered her mouth, her face turning red.

Liberator held the new equipment, looking at it. They turned to the girl who was watching anxiously but trying not to make it obvious.

"Are you sure?" the hero didn't want to take advantage of the girl.

"Yeah! Of course! Unless you don't like it! You don't have to take it with you just because of me." the brunette played with the ends of her hair.

"No! No! This is amazing!" they put on their equipment as well as the new bracer and gloves.

"I threw out your clothes and shoes 'cause, um, let's be honest, you might as well have been naked. And the gloves, you can keep, they were my mom's."

"Won't she need them?" Liberator fixed the bracer on their arm, making sure it was on properly.

"Oh no, she won't. Doubt she'll notice they're gone." As the hero finished equipping the rest of their gear, Jane popped her lips. "So, listen, if you ever need some maintenance or maybe some new gear, you can always swing on by. I don't wanna brag, but I'm a certified genuis when it comes to stuff like this."

"Course, I still got school and I'm not a millionare like Steele, so don't expect a robot suit or anything, ha ha."

"I'll keep that in mind," Liberator smiled. "Thank you Jane, I appreciate you helping me back there and helping me now."

Just then a door was heard opening and a woman called out.

"Jane! I'm home!" The brunette eyes snapped wide open as she panicked.

"Its my mom! She'll kill me if she finds you! you need to leave!" the girl began shoving the hero towards her window.

"Hey! quit shoving! I'll just sneak out and-, Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Shaddup!" the girl shoved the hero out of her window just as the door to her room opened.

"Hey, mom!" Jane tried to act as normal as possible.

"Hey sweety?" a black haired woman paused as she smelled a foul stench. "What is that smell?"

"I wasn't doing anything!" Jane blurted out. "I mean, that smell, uhhhhh... I was doing... weed!"

Jane's mother deadpanned as she stared at her daughter.

"Really? Your nerdy ass is in her smoking a boof? Please, next you'll tell me you've won the lottery." the woman set a bag down before noting the window. "Why's you're window open?"

"My window?!"Jane looked at the said window before slamming it closed. "That's so the, uh... the weed smoke airs out! Yeah, so you don't find out."

Jane's mom just gave her another 'really' looked before leaving.

"Sure honey, don't forget to throw away your beer cans and put your crackpipe away." and with that the mother closed the door.

~ ~ ~

On the ground, Liberator laid flat on their face. They hadn't learned how to use the new grapple hook, so they just fell five stories down. Just then, the hook shot out.

"Owe... my ribs..."

6,052 words, total words, excluding Disclaimer and Author's Note.

What's this? A new book after I've abandoned my others? Hey, I haven't abandoned them. I'm still working on the RWBY fanfic and the Kill la Kill one. But you can have this story as a treat. It's an original, though the characters images are not obviously.

So, yea, I've been taking in a few Ocs as you can see from the Characters Chapter.  The rest will show up eventually as the story progresses. And also, don't you just hate going through an entire list of characters and trying to remember their names when they show up in later chapters? I love it when certain authors repost the image for that character when they make their debut.

I am still taking Ocs if anyone wants to post one. Just remember, the more Op they are, the more they'll suffer~!