The trek back to the apartment was a masterclass in humiliation.

  I moved through the shadows of Sector 4 like a ghost made of goosebumps. I took the power lines as far as I could, but then had to bounce down and run through alleys in a few dead zones. Every time the wind whipped past me, I was acutely aware of the fact that I was traversing a major metropolitan area wearing nothing but a pair of chrome boots and a silver veil.

  When I finally reached our building, I leaped up to the roof in a flash of light, lungs burning from the cold night air, only to freeze.

  The red ember of a cigarette drifted in the dark.

  "I know the gods would bless the faithful eventually," the old man rasped. He was leaning against the water tower in the exact same spot as before, his mangy pug letting out a low, confused huff at his feet. He squinted through the smoke, his toothless grin widening as he took in my silver-haired, bare-skinned form. "The videos are one thing, honey, but this? This is a religious experience."

  "Get a life, you ancient pervert!," I snapped, my eyes flashing with a silver flinch through the veil that made him flinch. "And if I see a single grainy cell phone picture of this on the Internet tomorrow, I will find you and I'll burn out your pacemaker until you have a real religious experience!"

  I didn't wait for a reply, vaulting over the ledge and catching the edge of the fire escape, clambering down until I reached our apartment. I tumbled inside, landing in a tangled, naked heap on the living room rug. I tossed the veil to one side, happy to be rid of it as my hair, skin, and eyes slowly returned to their natural coloring.

  "Kurumi!" Piper shrieked, instantly dropping her tablet and rushing over with a thick, plush lavender blanket.

  "I'm fine," I grumbled, wrapping myself in the fleece and shivering as the warmth began to seep back into my skin. "I'm just ... I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill Yuna."

  Yuna didn't look up from her monitors, though the corners of her mouth were twitching violently as she tried not to smile. "The data transfer was successful, by the way. And for the record, the 'combat-reflex' kiss was logged at exactly 2:14 AM. Eye-Bee got a very clear shot of the tongue. Fiona's got technique, I'll give her that."

  "Yuna!" I barked, my face heating up to match the violet of my eyes.

  "What? It's for science," Yuna said, finally spinning her chair around. Her expression softened, becoming something more predatory and amused. "Besides, Piper and I have discussed it. If the Celtic Ember wants to join the harem, she's going to have to learn to share. And she definitely needs to work on her 'after-care' if she's just going to leave you naked on a bridge."

  "She's not joining anything!," I protested, though the memory of Fiona's calloused hand on the back of my neck, on the curve of my ass, sent a thrilling spark through my stomach. "She thinks I'm a 'silver-haired deviant.' She hates Scintilla."

  "She doesn't hate you," Piper murmured, kneeling beside me to rub my frozen shoulders. "She's just confused. Most people are when they're face to face with a literal goddess."

  ---

  "Here's the reality," Yuna said ten minutes later, her voice turning sharp and professional as she brought up the decrypted files from the thumb drive.

  The screen displayed a 3D schematic of a massive structure. It looked like an oil rig on steroids, bristling with high-gain antennas and heavy defensive turrets.

  "The Forge," Yuna said. "It's an offshore platform in international waters. Officially, it's a deep-sea mining venture. Unofficially? It's an S-Korp deep science lab. They're kidnapping people - supers, civilians, and the 'Resonators' like Piper - and shipping them all out there to experiment on them."

  The room went cold. I looked at Piper, who had gone pale at the mention of her status. If not for the fluke of my intervention, she'd be currently on that oil rig, having mad scientists experiment on her. I hugged her, holding her close, as she shivered.

  "We can't hit this yet," Yuna admitted, her brow furrowed. "The defenses are top-tier. Even if we did somehow get Fiona to help, and Piper figured out her Resonator status, we'd be vaporized before we touched the deck. This is a job for a team of S-class heroes - it's going to take months of intel gathering and planning. We'll build a case, find their weaknesses, and come up with a plan to burn it all down."

  "We will," I promised, taking Piper's hand and squeezing it. "But I can't got out there in strings anymore. I need a suit that won't keep failing me."

  Yuna stood and walked over to a shelf, pulling a collection of silver parts from it. With a skeptical eye, I watched her lay it out. It was ... about the same amount of fabric as the last suit, still silver in coloring. I raised one eyebrow as I looked at her.

  "The Magneto-Static Bind," Yuna explained proudly. "No glue. No resin. The fabric is woven with conductive filaments. It's designed to react to your specific bio-electric frequency. When you power up, the suit generates a localized magnetic field that bonds to your skin. It's essentially indestructible as long as you're channeling energy."

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  "And if I run out of juice?," I asked, my tone hesitant.

  Yuna smirked. "Well, uh. Don't do that."

  ---

  I needed to clear my head and I owed HeroHub more patrols, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

  After a short nap, I swung by the HeroHub office and picked up a patrol sheet. Leaning against a stone pillar in the lobby, I flipped through it, trying to figure out how best to begin my patrol route. I was wearing the Voltana Mark Two outfit - the matte-black and indigo bodysuit, the cut so aggressive on the hip they practically reached my waist, making it impossible to wear panties under it, but balanced out by sleek elbow-gloves and vinyl thigh-high stockings, all with armor reinforcements at key joints. Paired with the split-toe ninja boots, it made me feel lethal, even if it was technically more a weaponized leotard than actual armor. Still, it was lot more clothing than I'd been wearing as Scintilla, so it felt great.

  As I got ready to depart, the reinforced elevator doors hissed open. Fiona stepped out, looking weary but still carrying that sharp, B-Rank authority. She spotted me and her eyes brightened, a smirk playing on her lips.

  "Still haunting the rooftops, Voltana?," she asked, her Irish lilt sounding more playful than usual. She leaned against the pillar next to me, her eyes doing a slow, appreciative sweep of my bodysuit. "I like the new threads. It's a good look for you. Professional, but ... well, it certainly emphasizes that you don't skip leg day."

  I felt my face heat up to a dangerous degree behind the black domino mask. "It's tactical," I grunted, trying to pitch my voice in a mysterious manner.

  "I'm sure it is." Fiona's gaze lingered on the indigo panels of the suit. "Honestly though, after spending my night dealing with that silver-haired circus freak, it's refreshing to see a hero who actually understands how to dress for a fight without needing a bottle of glue. You've got potential, kid. You're focused."

  "Kid?" Yuna's voice snickered in my ear. "She's totally checking out your ass while she's calling you 'kid.' This is hilarious. Piper, popcorn please?"

  "I'm heading toward the canal warehouses," I said, ignoring the byplay over the comms. "Thugs have been getting a little more bold there. You want to tag along, or is a B-Rank too busy for a humble D-Rank patrol mission?"

  Fiona laughed, a rich, genuine sound. "I think I can find time to keep an eye on you. Don't want you getting in over your head, do we?"

  The next hour was a surreal, adrenaline-fueled dance of words and fists. We moved through the district like a well-oiled machine and, despite the exhaustion clinging to my bones from the earlier dock raid, I found myself actually having fun. Fiona was in full "Senior Hero" mode, leading the way and calling out tactical positions with a confidence that was honestly a little infectious.

  It was a bizarre double-life moment: one half of my brain was still reeling from her hand on my bare ass as Scintilla, the moment she kissed me; while the other half was focused on staying in sync with her as Voltana. I had to conspicuously dampen my movements, pulling my punches and slowing my reflexes just enough to pretend to be the D-Rank hero that HeroHub thought I was.

  When we hit a group of six thugs in powered armor trying to break into a crate, she moved in with a series of controlled, efficient fire blasts.

  "Watch the footwork, Voltana!," she called out, treating the skirmish like a private training exercise. "Plant your heels! You've got the power, but you're too flashy!"

  I gritted my teeth, suppressing a smirk. If only you knew, I thought, remembering the sensation of beating the crap out of much stronger foes only a few hours ago.

  But then, things got messy. A second group - heavy-hitters with illegal kinetic amplification batons - burst out of a side container. One of them caught Fiona off balance - the baton sending a shock-wave that nearly threw her off the pier as she skidded fifty feet down the dock.

  I didn't think. I didn't have time to play "weak D-Rank." My instincts kicked in.

  I blurred forward. My boots kicked up sparks as I bridged the twenty-foot gap to the thugs in a heartbeat. I didn't just punch the guy; I hit him with a discharge that would have leveled a building. The air crackled with a boom as the leader was sent skipping across the water like a stone. Before the others could react, I pivoted, my hand snapping out to catch a swinging baton, the weapon melting instantly under my electrified grip.

  I cleared the remaining three in a flurry of strikes that were far too fast, far too precise, and far too powerful for a D-Rank rookie.

  Silence fell over the pier. Fiona stood up, dusting off her kilt, her eyes wide as she stared at the unconscious men and then back at me. The patronizing "mentor" look was gone, replaced by a deep, suspicious confusion.

  "That ... was a hell of a lot of output for a D-Rank, Voltana," she said, her voice dropping an octave. She walked toward me, her gaze intense, searching my face. "Your file says that you're a D-Rank, but that was a B-Rank strike if I've ever seen one."

  "Adrenaline," I lied, my heart hammering against my ribs.

  Fiona stopped a few inches from me. The air between us was thick with the scent of ozone and wood-smoke. She didn't look like she believed me, but she didn't push it. Instead, she reached out, her hand lingering on my arm. Not a pat this time, but a firm, appreciative grip.

  "Adrenaline doesn't give you that kind of form," she whispered. "You're holding back on HeroHub, aren't you? I like a girl with secrets."

  She stepped even closer, her eyes darting to my lips for a split second before she caught herself. "Look ... there's a pub over in Sector 5 near the docks. The Blind Spot. No questions asked, it's heroes only. Come have a drink with me on Friday? I want to get to know you better."

  "SAY YES!" Piper's voice was a frantic squeal in my ear.

  "Yeah," I said, meeting Fiona's gaze and refusing to blink. "I think I'd like that a lot, Fiona."

  Fiona beamed, the blush on her cheeks far more prominent now that the "mentor" act had been shattered. "Friday, then. Don't be late, Voltana. I'm starting to think you're the most interesting thing in this city."

  As she leaped away, I hopped up onto a shipping crate and sat down heavily, letting out the breath it felt like I'd been holding for ten minutes.

  "I'm in so much trouble," I whispered to myself. Eye-Bee buzzed a circle around me, his camera lens continuing to record everything.

  "No," Yuna's voice replied, sounding utterly delighted. "This is going to be so much fun to see how you handle this."

  I shook my head, then let it sink into my hands with a sigh. These girls were going to be the death of me.