[kabuto_rocks]

She knew it was stupid. If her parents had any idea what she was doing-heck, even where she was-she would be grounded before you could say 'The Slums? Really?'. Madeline didn't care though. It had been years since her parents had been able to ground her properly. When she was 13 she figured out that she could jump out of her window, so long as she didn't miss the small ledge right underneath it. Ever since then she'd pretty much been able to do what she liked. Most teenagers might take advantage of that and do crazy, reckless things.

Well, I guess this is kind of reckless

Keeping her head down, she walked quickly down the street and tried to look like she belonged. Not exactly easy when you were wearing a domino mask. It was rather wonky actually, a homemade contraption stitched out of itchy felt. It made her face burn but she was determined to wear it, the same way she was determined to dress all in black and tie back her long dark hair into a ponytail. It was part of her 'disguise'. All heroes needed one. And that's what she was going to be.

A hero

{1/5, 1}

[kabuto_rocks]

Of course, she didn't feel very heroic right now. She was beginning to wish she hadn't decided to come out so late. Admittedly the point was to come to the Slums at night because it was almost guaranteed that there would be crime here, but she was starting to doubt that she was ready. Sure, she had taught herself a range of fighting techniques and thanks to school and pushy parents she was pretty skilled at gymnastics, but this was on a whole other level. Fortunately she had one thing in her arsenal that she was hoping would give her the edge.

I can't believe I'm going to be a real superhero she grinned, slowing down into a dreamy stroll I'll be just like the people you see on TV. Maybe I'll be on TV! 'The Shadow'-yeah, that would be cool. Just when you think it's safe to commit crime, here comes the Shadow to-

"Hey there cutie," The voice broke her thoughts, making her realise that she had done the unthinkable. She had let her guard down. Turning round quickly, she was dismayed to see a middle-aged man lurking in the doorway of one of the taverns. He was grinning a wide, toothless grin and looking her up and down. She felt her stomach tense up uncomfortably. Uh oh, "What you wearing that mask for? You going to a party?"

"Something like that." She swallowed nervously, keeping her face smooth. First rule of walking by yourself at night-never show fear. It was tempting to test out those fighting skills of hers, but to be fair this man hadn't really done anything. He could be utterly harmless...besides, he was at least twice her size

{2/5, 2}

[kabuto_rocks]

"Really? I sure do like parties." He took a step closer, smirking when she jerked back. Okay, maybe not so harmless. She could feel her power itching at her fingertips but it still didn't seem like the right time to use it. Better give him one more chance.

"It's closed invitation." She looked him up and down, wrinkling her nose slightly at what she saw. Typical Slums crowd. He smelt like booze and was probably full of it. Glancing behind her, she noted with some regret that the street was empty. Unfortunately, taking her gaze off him appeared to be a mistake.

"You sure about that?" Before she had a chance to react he grabbed her arm, yanking her closer to him. She could feel his fingers digging in through her thin top, preventing her from pulling away. Eyes narrowing, she fixed him with a glare. Enough playing.

"I sure hope you aren't afraid of the dark," she began, "Because you're about to have your butt kicked by-" Suddenly something barrelled into the man, knocking him to the ground and causing him to release her arm. She blinked in shock. One second he was there, the next he was laying sprawled on the ground. What was the deal?

{3/5, 3}

[kabuto_rocks]

Lucky. That's what it was. He had just been flying over the Slums, making his way back home after a long day (and half of the night by now) heroing. He was quite tired actually, not that he would admit that to himself. Heroes don't get tired! He could fly all night if he wanted to, even if his pace was steadily getting lazier...

It was pure chance he glanced down and happened to see the girl. Walking alone at night in the Slums-he could hardly believe his eyes. Honestly, some people were so stupid! His job would be a hundred times easier if everyone just learned to stop and think once in a while. He was almost tempted to fly on past, but of course he would never do that. The second the man grabbed the girl's arm he swooped down, eyes focused and wings spread.

It was easy enough to knock the man down. It was so dark and he was so quick that he didn't even have time to register Andor's presence before he barrelled into him. Even if he had, he was hardly a match for the Flame. Drink had slowed his reflexes and he was old and out of shape. This was going to be a piece of cake

{1/5, 1}

[kabuto_rocks]

She couldn't believe her eyes. It took her a minute to register what the blur was once it stopped moving, but now she recognized him clearly enough. There wasn't a person around who hadn't heard of the Flame nowadays. The first thing she felt was a kind of rush-she'd just been saved by an actual superhero! Then it was quickly replaced with annoyance. This was supposed to be her moment, her big debut! Now this flashy hero had swooped in and taken it from her. She wasn't even particularly fond of the Flame! He wasn't like one of the cool heroes, ones which were moody and mysterious. From what she'd seen of him he was actually kind of a showoff.

Burning with irritation, she took a good look at this 'hero'. She'd only ever seen him on TV before, and even then only briefly. While he loved attention (made clear by the way he tended to sing his own praises) he was at least smart enough to keep contact with the media brief. She was surprised how ordinary he looked close up. Well, as ordinary as a man wearing bright orange and yellow spandex could look.

Fixing him with a cold stare, she placed her hands on her hips.
"What do you think you're doing?"

{4/5, 4}

[kabuto_rocks]

After being knocked to the ground the man had run off, cursing and stumbling wildly. Andor watched him go with a smile on his face. Yes it had been easy, but it didn't make the satisfaction any less. Waiting a minute or two to make sure he wasn't coming back, he then turned back to the girl. Time for all the typical adoration and gratitude.

"What do you think you're doing?"

To say he was shocked was an understatement. Though he personally believed heroes should always maintain a certain degree of decorum, in all his months of rescuing he had never been spoken to with such...fury. He blinked blankly back at her, wondering if he'd somehow read the situation wrong. Was that man a friend of hers? No, definitely not. He may have been flying rather high but he had seen her squirming and flinching at his touch. So then what was the problem?

Staring down at this girl, he felt a stab of annoyance himself. She couldn't have been much more than a teenager, and yet here she was yelling at him! Well, no one talked to him that way.

"Is there a problem?" He crossed his own arms, trying to sound controlled. Yelling at a young girl wasn't a very heroic thing to do after all

{2/5, 2}

[kabuto_rocks]

It was definitely weird, being face to face with him. He seemed younger than she expected, although it was hard to see his face under the goggles he was wearing. They were made of some kind of reflective material which gave them the appearance of an orange mirror tint and hid his eyes almost completely. What she could see of his face though had a youthful appearance, and from his voice she would have guessed he was around 30 at most. His hair was windswept, a shock of pale ginger which up close actually looked like a flame. She sniggered as she suddenly got the image of him styling it to look that way.

"Yes, there's a problem." She began, then hesitated. Her cheeks flushed as she realized that yelling at a superhero wasn't really the wisest decision she had ever made. She hadn't intended to tell anyone what she was planning to do, but now it had sort of slipped out and she couldn't see a way around it. Maybe if she left quickly he wouldn't notice how oddly she was dressed.

"I mean...no, it's okay. Erm, thanks." Tripping over her words, she quickly turned and began stumbling away.

Please don't stop me, please don't stop me...

{5/5, 5}

[kabuto_rocks]

My, she was a confident girl wasn't she? Andor had had supervillains quaking in their boots before, but here she was glaring at him like he was a small child. Now that he was closer he could see how young she really was too. He estimated her age to be around 18-far too young to go wandering around the Slums on her own. He was confused when her angry tone faded and she started to back away, almost as if she was afraid of something. It was only when she turned and a nearby streetlamp illuminated her face that he realized what she was wearing.

"Is that a mask?" It all clicked into place before he'd even finished his sentence. Oh, so that's why she was angry! She was one of those aspiring superheroes. Without even thinking about it he started to smile, amused by the idea of this child fighting crime.

"Ah, I get it. You're one of the copy cats. Awfully young aren't you? Most of the people I meet are usually...older." He glanced up and down at her 'costume', if you could call it that. All black. Very lazy. Still, you could hardly blame her for a lack of creativity. She clearly wasn't too smart if she thought the Slums was the best place to start out

{3/5, 3}

[kabuto_rocks]

Aaaaand he stopped me

Uh oh, busted. She turned back to face him at the question, wishing she could pull the stupid thing off her face. Earlier it had made her feel cool and mysterious, but compared to those flashy goggles of his it just seemed stupid. Mind you, pulling it off now would seem like surrender, and given how he was basically laughing at her...

"Yes, it's a mask," she growled, turning defiant once more, "I'm a hero as a matter of fact. And I'm not a 'copycat'! I just want to help people." How dare he insult her like that! It was almost as if he was implying she was copying him specifically. As if! While she did admire some of the heroes she had heard about (Blitz for example) it wasn't her intention to be like any of them. Not that you heard much about them, even if you did want to copy them. The only one who was really known so to speak was the Flame, and even then that was just because he seemed to love the attention. Personally she had always thought he should spend less time in front of the camera and a bit more time actually doing good deeds. Then again, he had technically just saved her. She would probably like him a bit more now, if he hadn't just insulted her so

{1/5, 6}

[kabuto_rocks]

Hmm, she certainly had spirit. To be honest he wasn't really sure how to respond to someone like her. He was more used to either scathing criminals or adoring fans. It bothered him that she was acting like he was, well...like he was normal.

"I see," he raised an eyebrow, lessening his smile a little but still unable to hide his smirk completely, "And who would you be then? I'm the Flame in case you didn't know." He doubted he needed to add the last bit but thought it was polite to just in case. And who knows, maybe she really didn't know him. That would explain a lot. Although, he did think that maybe she was trying to be a hero because she wanted to be like him. Perhaps she was secretly an adoring fan and she was just embarassed to have been caught by her hero doing something so stupid. Yes, that had to be it. Convinced by this idea, his smile turned more sympathetic. He'd walk her home after this, make sure she got back safely. Maybe he could even give her an autograph or something to soften the blow

{4/5, 4}

[kabuto_rocks]

Wow, he really was arrogant. She scowled at the way he introduced himself, so confident. Clearly he thought she was just a dumb girl. His whole attitude was patronizing. Well, she wasn't going to let him talk to her like that. Standing up straight, she met his gaze and tried to sound as professional as possible as she told him her name.

"I know who you are. Everyone in Evelon knows who you are. And I'm 'The Shadow'." She had meant to say it confidently but to her annoyance she sounded hesitant. Suddenly she found herself doubting the name. While she didn't particularly like this cocky hero with his condescending attitude, she had to admit that he knew what he was doing. He may be full of himself but he did save people, and he did it well. What was she? Nothing really, not yet. She hadn't even taken down one criminal thanks to his interference. And (though she would never admit it) this man's opinion did actually matter. He had experience, training. A new idea popped into her head, one she despised herself for thinking of but couldn't quite get rid of it. Could he maybe help her? Not like a mentor or anything (heaven forbid) she wouldn't want that, but a few pointers would be helpful...

No, you are not asking him for help! You can do this perfectly well alone

Yes, of course she could. The very idea of asking him was silly...right?

{2/5, 7}

[kabuto_rocks]

Once again Andor found himself confused by her attitude. Honestly, it was one thing to be grumpy but this was ridiculous! He had saved her. Where was the gratitude? Where was the look of adoration and the fawning he was so used to? He was starting to doubt this whole rescue was worth the effort.

"'The Shadow'?" Uh oh. She had made a crucial mistake, and before he could stop himself he was laughing. He knew it wasn't going to go down well but he couldn't help it. She was so darn naive!

"Sorry!" He coughed, once he finally got ahold of himself. He could tell from the her expression that she was about ready to kill him, "It's just...well, the Shadow is already someone. A supervillain. And he certainly won't be pleased to find you using his name." He wiped a tear from his eye, looking at the girl fondly. She was sort of sweet, in a way. He couldn't deny, she had to be brave to come out here so late. A stupid kind of brave, but brave none the less. And bravery was to be admired, even when it was ill-judged

{5/5, 5}

[kabuto_rocks]

Laughing in her face was a big mistake. She was almost about to try burning him to a crisp (now that would be testing her powers!) when she remembered that he was, in fact, rather used to setting himself on fire and so would probably be immune. She wasn't particularly sure that her ice power would work either, so instead she settled for storming off dramatically. Only she had barely gotten two steps away when he was apologizing, doing his best to control his laughter. It didn't make her feel much better but she stayed rooted to the spot, making it clear from her expression that he better explain quickly.

His explanation, when it came, only served to make her feel worse.
"Oh...really?" Damn. And she had been so careful! It made sense though. Now that she thought about it, 'The Shadow' did sound kind of ominous. But what was she supposed to call herself now? Nightgirl? Midnight? All the others sounded awful, like some B-list superhero. She wanted villains quaking in their boots, not sniggering at her stupid name!

Furious at herself for not checking better, she kicked a discarded can and slumped down on the pavement. Brilliant. So far every part of her plan had been screwed up tonight, one way or another. Now she was stuck with this idiotic hero who did nothing but laugh at her. It couldn't get any better than this.

"I spent ages on that name!" She howled, then looked up at him cautiously. Part of her wanted him to just fly away, but she was also quite worried about getting home now. In one fell swoop both her name and her identity had been destroyed. Now she was just some dumb teenager in a mask. An itchy mask. She tugged it off, throwing in on the pavement. Then, after a second's pause, she set it alight. There we are, much better. Who was she trying to fool anyway? People like her didn't get to become heroes. They just had to stay ordinary and wait for the exciting things to happen to everyone else

{3/5, 8}

[kabuto_rocks]

He had to admit, he was rather alarmed by her anger. He was even more alarmed when she started wailing. Frantic mothers, anxious civilians...he knew how to calm those people. But one teenage girl? He felt drastically out of his comfort zone. Quickly glancing around to check no one was looking (now that would be a headline-'Famous Superhero makes Teenage Girl Cry') he sat down on the pavement beside her and tentatively patted her arm.

"There there, it's alright. Look, everyone goes through a blip or two. Do you know what my first attempt at a superhero name was? 'The Flaming Man'. I quickly realized that giving yourself a name which supervillains don't even have to change to mock you with isn't the best idea." His eyes widened in surprise as the words slipped out. He had never told anyone that! What if the press found out? Then again, she hardly looked like she was about to run off and tell anyone. He was trying to think of some way to comfort her when she ripped off her mask, revealing a face that looked even younger and which was now streaked with tears.

"Now, there's no need to-" He froze, gobsmacked as suddenly the black felt caught alight. Stupidly, he glanced down at his own hands as if expecting them to be responsible. It took him a minute to work it out. It was her.

"You have a power!" He stood up, feeling almost offended for some reason. Like he had been lied to. Then he paused, reconsidering, "You have my power!"

{1/5, 6}

[kabuto_rocks]

His attempt to cheer her up wasn't really working, although despite the tears even she had to laugh at his story. Unfortunately that laugh came out as an unattractive snort.

Way to come off as impressive Madeline. First you start crying like some pathetic kid, then you snort all over him

She wiped at her face furiously, raising an eyebrow as she turned to look at him.
"'The Flaming Man'? Really?" She giggled as he blushed slightly, though her good mood didn't last for long. Simply put, she was a failure. How was she supposed to intimidate anyone when she couldn't even hold it together for one night? At least Andor was vaguely intimidating. So intimidating in fact that she was more than a little worried when he noticed her power.

"Erm, right. That..." she trailed off sheepishly, glancing at the ground. He looked pretty annoyed actually, though she couldn't fathom why. Watching as the last bits of fabric turned into ash, she answered him defensively.

"It's not your power. You don't have the rights to all fire-related superpowers. And as a matter of fact, it's not just fire I can control either." Now this was more like it! He actually looked a little impressed now. Well, 'impressed' might be pushing it but he certainly wasn't looking at her like she was a kid. Wanting to show off a little bit, she touched the pavement and watched with delight as it slowly began to freeze. There! He couldn't do that now, could he?

{4/5, 9}