The world's most powerful superhero was having doubts.

Juggernaut stood on the second-tallest building in the city. Down below, the convoy closed its doors and departed, carrying the prisoner inside to their new life, far away from everything they'd done. Even the night sky protested: the light rain escalated into a torrential downpour. Lightning streaked across the dark clouds, but Juggernaut stood still, unbothered by the crackle in the air. He had this nagging feeling that what he'd done was incredibly, stupidly merciful. He deserved worse, he thought—but not everyone ended up getting what they deserved, now did they?

The convoy sped up a ramp and merged onto an interstate, heading east. He watched it go until it was a speck in the distance. And just like that, what was done was done. It no longer mattered.

Or so he thought.

------------one year later--------------

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

Vidya looked over her shoulder. Forget listening—she'd been too stressed to even realize that Amber was following her down the hallway. "Sorry. I'm listening now."

"Jonah's party is tomorrow night," Amber repeated. "Are you going?"

Vidya tried to look like she was at least considering. Jonah Goode was the boy who pushed her off the swing in second grade. The bruises on her knees only lasted a day, and holding a ten-year grudge was barely believable, but if this would get her out of the party...

"Sorry." Vidya shrugged. "I don't like Jonah."

"Is this...about the..." Amber's eyes widened. "It is, isn't it? It's about the freaking swing!"

Vidya held back a laugh. It wasn't about the swing, it was about the D in calculus she needed to bring up. Going to a party wasn't worth taking time out of studying, no matter how tempting it was.

To her credit, Amber didn't pry. She just sighed and said, "Fine. Whatever."

"You can still go."

"Nah. Who would I even talk to?" Amber shook her head, glitter sprinkling out of her honey-blonde hair.

They were both covered in the remains of today's art project. Amber's hair was full of glitter, her sleeves crusted with charcoal dust. Vidya's sneakers were splattered with paint, but she loved it. She never felt more alive than after a successful project, even if it was messy. Excluding her stress over bad grades, the day couldn't be more perfect.

But then they stepped out of their high school and gasped, taken aback by a wave of intense, suffocating warmth. It was Los Angeles, sure, but it was also January.

"Are you kidding me?" Amber shrieked. Her face already shone with sweat. "This is why I want to move to Canada."

Vidya sniffed the air, and an acrid, ashy smell burned her nose. Smoke. "I think the heat's coming from over there."

She pointed at the commotion just as a firetruck roared past them. A building down the street was burning, fingers of smoke climbing up into the sky. Standing in front of it was Flamethrower, smirking in the face of the red-hot danger. There wasn't even the slightest hint of fear on her face, and why would there be? She was one-fifth of the Marvels, the world-famous, mega-powerful superhero team headquartered right here in LA. She could handle this just fine.

The flames writhed as they were pulled toward the super's outstretched hands like yarn being forcibly spooled. The crowd stayed a safe distance away, and even the firemen stood back to watch; their assistance was not needed, and everyone knew it. The fire surrounded Flamethrower until it was spinning around her like a burning tornado. Vidya was sweating just imagining the heat in there, but Flamethrower never looked anything less than confident. With a simple clap of her hands, the flames disappeared.

For a second, there was only silence as ashes floated down. Then the crowd erupted into applause.

Amber clapped, too. "Are the rest of them here?"

Vidya looked around for the other Marvels, but with the situation under control, they had no reason to show. "I don't think so."

"Do you want to come over?" Amber asked, and that was how common heroic activity was in LA: a flashy spectacle one moment, and a return to a regular conversation the next.

"I need to study," Vidya said.

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

They split ways. Vidya stuck her headphones in, the music throbbing in her ears as she walked. Flamethrower was posing for pictures now, and the crowd around her was massive. To get home, it was either go this way or walk all around the block—Vidya chose to brave the crowd. She muttered excuse me over and over again, squeezing between people as they grinned and threw compliments at the super.

When she was passing by the center of the crowd, she stood on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse. A representative for Celestro, the company that ran the Marvels, was trying and failing to pull Flamethrower away. The hero kept yanking her elbow out of the rep's grasp and posing with the next adoring fan, throwing up bunny ears or a peace sign and smiling like there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

Flamethrower had always been Vidya's favorite Marvel. Despite living here all her life, Vidya had never gotten a chance to meet a super face to face, and maybe she could wait until the crowd grew small...

Calculus, she reminded herself, walking away. Go study.

The lingering heat and smoke of the fire vanished as she got farther away. Vidya took a deep breath, relishing the clean, cool air. Now this felt like January. She was in her own world with her headphones in, so relaxed that she didn't realize someone was following her.

She was crossing a small overpass when a rough hand grabbed her arm. Vidya pulled forward instinctively, but the person pulled harder. She stumbled back, her phone falling out of her grip, yanking her headphones down with it.

"Didn't you hear me?" the man holding her barked. "I said stop. What've you got on you?"

Vidya tried to twist her arm away, but his grip held tight like a vise, and he laughed at the pathetic attempt. She'd never been mugged before. Was this how it usually happened? In broad daylight, with four million people in this city—and several supers—but nobody nearby to help her or call the cops?

I should've taken the long way home, she thought, but it was too late for regrets.

Vidya shrugged off her backpack, trembling. "Here. Just take it."

His grip on her loosened as he dug through her stuff. He looked like a raccoon, pawing through with his dirty hands, greedy but distracted. Vidya saw an opportunity and turned on her heel to run away, but he grabbed both her shoulders, and she was suddenly sure she was going to get murdered.

He yanked her around. Vidya fell back against the railing and raised her hands in front of her face. "Leave me alone!" she screamed, kicking at his ankles to keep him from coming closer.

"Why?" he screamed back, spit flying into her face. "So you can run to the cops? Tell 'em someone stole your cheap stuff and hurt your feelings?"

"I won't tell anyone!" She looked at him between her fingers, at this sorry excuse for a human being, and tried not to cry. "I swear! Let me leave!"

He tilted his head and studied her like she was an object he was considering throwing away. Then he looked up at the sky and sighed. "I've got to get rid of you before one of those freaks shows up."

He pulled her up onto her feet. Vidya only realized what was happening as she was thrown over the railing and off the overpass.

The air rushed out of her lungs as the world turned upside down. She squeezed her eyes shut, too shocked to even scream. The impact was going to kill her. How long would it take for someone to find her body? How would her parents feel when they found their only child dead on the ground, broken and decayed and chewed away by insects?

It should've been over before any of those thoughts had time to cross her mind, but Vidya suddenly felt suspension instead of free fall. It was as if someone caught her, but there was nothing touching her, no one telling her that she'd been saved.

Maybe she was already dead?

Vidya opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see the afterlife. Instead, her gaze was met with concrete, just inches below her face. Her whole body was stiff, but nothing was holding her up: she was simply spread-eagled right above the ground.

Hovering.