How do you trust a woman who says she's on your side, but she has you pinned to the gravel of an alley walkway?

Quick answer: you don't.

I push her off of me with all of my force. I'm about to run away again when something peculiar happens.

Is this a force field?

She points her finger at me, and that's when I see she's the source of the bubble encasing me. I begin to panic, and I can feel beads of sweat pouring down my face. I hear her clear her throat, but she must be behind me now because I can't see her.

"Would you stop trying to run? I have some important information you'd probably like to know. Besides, it doesn't matter if you run. I think it's pretty obvious I always find you." She rolls her eyes, like she always has to explain this to people she shoves into alleys.

Suddenly, the force field is dropped and I can move again. This time, I don't run. I wait for her to explain herself. The side of my face is stinging, but I try to stay attentive.

The woman flips her long, black hair over her shoulder. She looks to be in her mid-40s. Her tan colored heels click as she paces.

"Those papers you found? You can't show them to anyone. It will ruin my whole plan." She shakes her head and cups her hand around her forehead.

"Who are you?" I ask cautiously. I make sure I don't move an inch.

She turns to face me, "My name is Melissa Michaels."

I tilt my head to the side, the first movement I've made in a minute or so. "You're related to Mickey?"

Melissa nods, then takes a shaky breath, "He's my son."

I freeze. Mickey's real mother. That means he has to remember her because he was only six when his dad died. Unless, for some reason, his mom wasn't in the picture beforehand.

There's a brief moment of silence as I mull this over, but she interrupts. "That's beside the point,"

No, actually, that's the whole point.

"All you need to know is this: I'm putting an end to The Undergrounds one supervillain at a time. You going AWOL doesn't make my situation easy."

I stare at her, dazed in confusion. "Are you asking me to return to The Undergrounds as a villain?" Who does this woman think she is? I've been on my own for a day, and there's already chaos? First Jonas is kidnapped, now Mickey's mother is hunting me down?

"I can't go back to The Undergrounds." I take a step back, taking my chances by making a slight movement.

She crosses her arms defiantly, "No, you just can't go back to Owen," she mocks, "I can't believe he tried to pull that stunt. He knows better."

I'm not sure if she's implying that he was wrong to forcefully kiss me or for trying to cover our faces because she already knew who we were. I stay silent. Asking questions would probably result in more gravel being indented in my face.

She sharply turns to face me again, "You know what you have to do, Della. I expect you to comply with my request." She doesn't add an 'or else,' but it's implied.

I stand up straight, and glower at the woman in front of me. If she thinks she gets to boss me around, she has another thing coming. Della Abram does not 'comply with requests'.

"No. I'm not going back to The Undergrounds. I will do whatever it takes to keep my friends and family safe. I will go to every length to take down The Undergrounds. But I will not," I step dangerously close to her, "Work for Blacklight again."

I know I've stomped all over her plans, but I can't go back. Not when I've made a promise to myself. I don't owe this woman anything. Owen was against The Undergrounds too, but that doesn't mean we had the same plan in mind.

I turn on my heel, ending the conversation with Mrs. Michaels. I can't trust the woman who was married to Steel Hawk. I can't trust the woman who raised Mickey to be a villain. Who's to say this isn't a trap?

"You want to know about that odd dream you had, don't you?" She calls after me. I close my eyes and bite my tongue, but I do turn around.

"What?" I ask, crossing my arms.

She smirks, "That's my power, sweetheart. Giving people visions."

That's a little creepy. I see where Mickey gets it from.

"I give people visions to alert them of their surroundings." She elaborates.

I stare at her, "What?" I shake my head.

She huffs, "It's called precognition. I can perceive the future, and I can share it with other supers through visions. I couldn't see your whole future, so I made up a few details. I knew that Owen had extra powers thanks to an awry experiment. I knew you were going to go home, so I implemented Jonas into your dream."

I squint, "But... why?"

She closes her eyes, "Because I needed you to see that everyone in The Undergrounds is evil in some way. Even Owen. He was, in fact, raised to be one."

My mind flashes back to the day I was forced to fight him to prove myself. The Board was watching me intently. Owen was suddenly a fighting machine. There was not an ounce of mercy.

"I don't like fighting, I usually can't stop when I do."

"That doesn't make any sense! Didn't you know that dream would cause some sort of chaos between Owen and I? I ran away from him, which is exactly what you didn't want."

She continues to smirk, "Yes, Della, I do know the future. The dream wasn't what caused you to run from him, you and I both know that."

I shake my head, "What you're telling me doesn't make me want to go back to The Undergrounds any more than I did before." I inch closer to the sidewalk, but I'm trying not to make my moves obvious. This woman is clearly not in her right mind.

Mrs. Michaels surprises me by letting out a laugh. "The whole point is to stop them."

What I don't understand is that most of the villains in there are part of her family in some way. Blacklight is her brother-in-law, Owen and Thomas are her nephews, and Mickey is her son. Her own husband was the most powerful villain of all time before he died. Who wants to put a stop to the family business?

"You're going to help me Della." She steps closer to me, and I feel beads of sweat racing down my back. This woman is insane.

"I... I-I-" I guess I won't be saying any last words.

All of a sudden, a figure dressed in all black with purple accents descends out of nowhere. Where did he come from? The roof?

He proudly stands between Mrs. Michaels and I, blocking her powers from hitting me directly. She lets out a frustrated sigh.

"I don't really care who you are." Her hands come up, and for a second I think he's going to be stuck in her force field. He dives to the ground, taking me with him as we dodge her line of powers. My head hits the gravel once again. My vision blurs for a brief second. Well, today's a good day for brain damage.

In my blurred eyesight, I witness the hero fight Mrs. Michaels. I can't really tell who is who because they're both wearing black. I think the hero is winning. My eyes close momentarily, but I try to stay alert.

I look up to see where Mrs. Michaels is, but she's fled from the scene. I mentally sigh. Seriously?

The masked super holds out a hand to help me to my feet. Curly blond hair cascades over his black mask. He smiles charmingly at me as I stand up. I roll my eyes. We let her get away. Now's not the time to be smiling.

While I'm a bit agitated, I'm still grateful he swooped in and saved me. I mean, he just pushed me to the ground, which is something I could've done by myself. Still, it was nice of him to cause a momentary distraction.

"Thanks." I mutter as I pick a piece of gravel out of my cheek.

His deep brown eyes grow wide, "You hit your head pretty hard." I reach up to touch my head. I pull my hand away to see my fingers smudged with blood. This time, I groan out loud.

I shake my head, "You know, it's not even that bad. I'll shake it off." With that, I push past the super and make my way down the sidewalk. I halfway expected him to chase after me, but I should've known better. Supers like to remain anonymous. It's not like he was going to introduce himself.

Although I am curious as to who the new hero in town is, I have to focus on a few other things today. I have to sneak into jail again to spy on Gavin, Mickey, and Thomas. Also, I need to find out where my uncle lives and interrogate him. I've got a busy day ahead of me, and I'm not letting a newbie hero get in my way.

My teeth clench together as I tell myself my head is perfectly fine. My head isn't pounding at all. Everything is alright.

I think about Mrs. Michael's proposition. She honestly thought she could force me to go back to The Undergrounds and pretend like nothing had happened. I scoff aloud and shake my head. There's no way she is a good guy.

My thoughts start to wander to completely random things and I can't grasp at any one thing. Suddenly, my vision starts to blur again as I look up at the pedestrian cross walk sign. I can't focus in on the image. The ringing in my ears is getting louder. My head begins to spin and I feel nauseous. I feel myself fading from reality.

I collapse on the sidewalk.

***

My eyes flutter open. Cream colored walls surround me. I look down to see I'm on a light red couch.

Where am I?

Did I pass out?

My first instinct is to get up and run because I'm in a strange place. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I feel lightheaded and I sit right back down. How am I going to make it to the door?

The door to this place opens and in walks the hero from earlier. He still has his suit and mask on. At least I remember who he is. I thought I might have amnesia as a side affect from my concussion.

He stares at me for a few seconds before he speaks. "Good morning..." He pulls the key card out of the door. Is that a hotel key card?

"Why am I here?" I ask from the couch. I'm trying to be strong, but I can feel I'm going to throw up at any second.

He laughs as he closes the door behind him. "It was either I bring you here or let you nap on the street."

I feel guilty for snapping at him now. But I've been in this situation before. I'm not going to be trapped again.

He shrugs, "Napping on the street didn't look comfortable."

I hold my stomach in pain, "Why didn't you take me to a hospital?" I ask through gritted teeth.

He picks up a trashcan near him and holds it out to me. I take it without a second thought. "Because then your parents would've been notified."

"And?" I question. In the back of my mind, I realize it's for the best that my parents weren't alerted. It would've caused another uproar between us all.

He crosses his arms, "I don't think any normal girl would've found herself in an alley with a supervillain." The corner of his lip turns upward, as if he's caught onto some huge secret of mine. "That woman was threatening you, and I can only assume it was because you are a super of some sort too." Well, would you look at that, he did catch on. I mean, what's the point in me trying to keep my super identity a secret anymore? I frown and look away.

"My name's Perception, by the way." He turns to walk into another room just as I look back up.

I've never heard of him. How do I know if he's really a hero?

He saved your life, Della. Give him a chance.

But don't be too trusting.

My head spins as I try to wrap my brain around what's happening.

Perception reenters the room with an ice pack in his hand. I look at him curiously.

"I don't have healing powers. This is the best I can do for right now." He pushes the ice pack closer to my hand and I take it. He nods and makes his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask, hoping that he's not locking me away. My eyes search the entire place for another exit.

He chuckles, "I have to go back out in the city. A hero's job is never done, you know."

A random, but crucial thought occurs in my scrambled brain. I pat around on the couch in search of my phone that I used to take pictures of the adoption certificate. I let out a sigh of relief when I find it burried in the couch.

"How long was I out?" I ask hesitantly before he walks out the door.

He shrugs, "Maybe 30 minutes. I got you here as fast as I could as soon as I saw you lying on the sidewalk."

I close my eyes and cringe at the fact that I was vulnerable and out in the open to Mrs. Michaels. What if she deleted the picture? I quickly pull out my phone and check the camera roll. How is it still there? I'm shocked but grateful.

"Honestly, I knew you hit your head pretty hard back there in the alley. So I hope you don't mind that I followed you for a couple blocks to make sure you were safe..." He trails off, knowing that his statement made him sound like a stalker. But if he hadn't followed me, he wouldn't have saved me for the second time today.

"No, I- I don't mind. You saved me, again." I want to laugh, but at the same time I feel so pathetic and weak.

His hand closes around the door handle, "Just doing my job." The door shuts softly, and I'm thankful it didn't make a loud noise because I don't think my head could take anymore.

Maybe it's just from terrible experience with male supers in the past, but there's something off about this new hero. Is it crazy to say he's too... hospitable? There's no way he's actually kind enough to let me stay here with no charge and take care of me and my concussion.

I sigh as I sink into the couch. Just another mystery to add to the list.

A/N - PLEASE READ
There's a new hero in town...
I wonder who this guy is... ? Theories? Comments?

Also, I have decided to start making bonus chapters for When Lightning Strikes as well as Villains Rise. I think I've already mentioned this, but I want you, the readers, to tell me what kind of bonus material you want to see! VR or WLS, it doesn't matter. I will be adding 5 bonus chapters to WLS. So let's get started!

Thanks for reading!
Always, Sunny