(Old, unfinished, unedited, rewritten next chapter)

My feet pounded the cement, my armor shaking. It was only a few feet away, I could catch it. But no one would even know. I frowned with distaste. Being a hero wasn't really the best of jobs, in fact, it was worse than being an actor in Ancient Rome! I steeled my features, urging myself to go faster. I slid on something, and twisted as I fell. My armor clanged against the cement, and I groaned. I looked down at the rocky surface. I'd slipped on blue slime. It couldn't have gotten away! I pried myself away from the sticky matter and frantically looked around. A neon blue figure flashed before my eyes, and I jumped for it. I turned around some crates--

--and got splashed in the face with slime. I stood still for a moment, gurgling laughter echoing through the building. I wiped some slime from my face and ran towards the sound. I felt like I was on a wild goose chase. This thing was too fast and slick for me, how could I catch it? I decided on a different tactic, and quietly but quickly turned another corner, crates brushing against my sides. I pulled out my gun and held it close to my face, pointing it toward the ceiling. Blue slime dripped onto my shoulders as I somewhat silently walked around, looking for the little rascal. Finally I found a blue slime lizard picking at a machine, slurping on the levers. I gave a slight smile and quick as lightning aimed my blaster at it pulled the trigger.

Boy was that the wrong thing to do.

The bullet hit the creature, causing it to shriek and explode in a giant blue slime ball. But it also hit the machine, and it exploded in its own special way. I was knocked backward into a hard wall, hitting more machinery. I groaned and tried to get up quickly. Looking at the machine, the damage didn't look too bad. But then the alarms went off, and I dashed for cover. If anyone found me, then I'd be dead in the twinkle of an eye. I ducked under some pipes, heavy footsteps sounding behind me. I heard a few mumbles and curses, and quietly walked away. Eventually I found a door, and slipped inside. I was in the basement of the building, where many crates and boxes lay in heaps. I walked up some stairs, looking for cameras. Soon enough I found I door to a janitorial closet and went inside, then through there into a public restroom. Luckily no one was inside. I sighed with relief and pulled out a special disk. It was rusty with a few squares coming off the side, like an unfinished gear. I pressed it into the locks of the entrances, making sure no one could get in for the time being.

I walked to the mirror and grimaced. The blue slime was all over me, getting into all the nooks and cracks of my armor. I lifted up my mask and grabbed some paper towels. I cleaned off the slime the best I could, and while blue stains remained, I put my mask back down and unlocked the doors. I gingerly opened the door, peeking outside. People milled about carrying large bags and glued their eyes to their cell phones as they walked and talked to their friends. I noticed some people doing cosplay and slipped out of the restroom, trying to blend in with their silly costumes. They gave my weird looks, but I just smiled as they walked. The mission wasn't a complete failure, the only thing I did wrong was attack the creature while it was on the machine. Hopefully it wasn't an important piece.

The people in costumes stopped by a few signs and by comic book stores. A large poster with a girl that had bright pink hair and a vivid blue uniform was posted by the door, announcing a new graphic novel. While these people acted like real superheroes never existed, they continued to make such cheesy things. Seriously, why weren't they congratulating me for all my heroic deeds and making movies about me? I was real, I could literally be the actor in those movies. But if I thought about it, I wasn't really the best hero. I didn't exactly have the greatest tracks records. Sure heroes are allowed to make mistakes when they were new to the whole thing, but they were expected to be perfect after a few weeks. I'd been training for years, but I still couldn't get a pat on the back from my trainer due to my half successful missions. I'd never done a perfect job, and those mistakes only grew as I went on. I sighed.

A trio of boys walked up to the poster and began to chat excitedly. After talking about how cool this pink haired hero was they looked toward dudes in costume. They pointed to each one and said the heroes name and that their costume was so cool, but when they reached me they found themselves lost. Clearly they didn't know their heroes as well as they thought they did. I looked at the guys in costumes then at myself. They all wore colorful, skin tight clothes or sleek armor, and were much taller and muscley than me. I did wear armor, except mine looked sort of like plastic. Really dirty, hard white plastic that was diffidently not shiny. And I bore a layer of blue slime, and other various stains from other failed missions.

"Uh, who are you supposed to be?" a red haired boy asked me. He and his friend looked a bit panicked that they didn't know a hero.

I fumbled for words, biting my tongue. I wanted to say something reproachful, like wouldn't you love to know, then stomp away. Instead I said sweetly, "oh, ah, my comic isn't out yet," and smiled.

The boys cocked their heads. "But," a blond one murmured, "you don't look like a hero."

"Yeah," a rude, irritating voice said behind them, and a tall, gangly boy stalked up to them. "She looks like she wanted to be one, but got trashed so bad and eventually gave up," he laughed, a snotty, annoying sound. I tried to keep my head on. In a split second I could have my guns pointed at them. But I stayed cool, letting a long breath out my nose.

The cosplay guys walked on. When the boy kept laughing no one was around, I almost punched him. Almost. Instead I brushed past him, noticing a security camera. You might want to take notice of who you're insulting before you discredit them, I pressed a special tab on my mask, which transmitted the thought to him. He looked around, eyes wide, but I just smiled as I left him behind.

I weaved through the open air shopping area, eventually making it to the entrance. People looked at me like I was crazy as I nonchalantly sauntered out, but I just flashed them cheesy smiles or ignored them.