“Welp… today’s the day.”

  *bzzbz* “W-wait, seriously? You’re calling in the favor now!?!”

  “What, you thought this it was going to wait till after you graduated?”

  *bzzbz* “Wel-”

  “Well suck it up little missy. I’ve been watching him for decade and change. All you have to do is manage a few months.”

  *bzzbz* “But it’s… Ughhh”

  *bbzzz*

  “Don’t worry. You won’t have to push things. Just do what you do best and don’t single him out. Not like that was going to happen anyway little miss people watcher.”

  “*bz*ery funny. I’m throwing th*bzz* stupid radio away now!”

  *BBZZZzzzzzzz*

  *click*

  The dark light of massed screens and curated curtains barely cast her silhouette out the window. Watching one of the greatest purposes of her life disappear down the street he’d chosen out of everything he could have.

  All that she’d done to help from the shadows. All the strings and records she’d pulled to keep him hidden. To let him have a life. And yet he was still off to choose for himself. Her heart ached, but it was all she could do. And it was fun, hadn’t had a good mission like this in years. So to see it end was fulfilling in its own right. But looking down on the hand drawn picture in her hand, it all felt surreal.

  Tents only just colored and shaded but exceptionally detailed, boxes stacked just high enough to sit on should the need arise. And two figures having found that need.

  One suited in grey, topped with tan and brown streaks and smiling. Practically giggling despite the grim context. Despite it almost being the last time she ever would. And the other, drooped low under a baseball cap only just able to keep back his over grown brown hair. A smile all the same as hers, but weighted heavily beneath all that was upon him that day. It was the first day they met, the last time they’d seen each other. So hopefully it was time to rectify that disparity. Because it was time for her to step up to the plate.

  Sidewalks creaked and buried hollows echoed under foot. People dodged and gawked out of his way. One even tried to thank him for his service, but those types were few thankfully. All the while Seth's arm burned a little beneath expending stores of electricity. And his knees weren’t liking the state of things either.

  Though really what did he expect? Carrying over a thousand pounds of metal wasn’t going to be an easy jog. But it wasn’t too much of a problem. He was going to a training course for hero recruits. Weight training like this was probably going to be his life for a few months. Though he at least hoped to be wearing the suit rather than hauling it around. At least the weather was pleasant.

  Kadia, both its immediate limits and its surrounding region, were the picture of a moderate sustainable metropolis. Not too hot in the summer, not to cold in winter, and generally just a nice place all around.

  It spread out over the foot hill hemmed bay that made up the end point of the roaring Terrace River. Downtown radiating out from a couple of purpose built districts. The park that was destroyed yesterday was the business district. With lots of names on buildings too high to really care to look for.

  The main portion of the residential areas bulged out of the central district. The one with The Hill at its center. Skyscrapers rising up higher the closer you got to a district’s center, and then flattened out inversely for varies municipal locations. Plenty of glitzy penthouse suits looked out to the less developed shoreline so their value could be over inflated. Which in turn mixed with stacks of apartments of every worth. Living in the city was downright enjoyable if not just relaxing.

  The only dingy spot on the map was the industrial district that clogged up the east side around the bend in the river. The current slowing and allowing ship traffic to enter more easily from the sea side. And most of the run off and fumes stayed on that side of the city as well, ocean winds pushing it over the ridge beyond it. Though it wasn’t like there were full on refineries here, just general manufacturing and processing. The steel furnaces were about as bad as it got.

  And speaking of bad, that was about the worst things got most days. Just some ash on the wind. That was thanks to the League’s decades of peace keeping efforts and community programs trying to keep the city just as prosperous as it was… well just.

  Not a minute goes by where there’s not a hero stopping something from getting worse. Thefts were down year over year, petty crime not too necessary when you had welfare programs keeping a roof over your head and your family fed. Violent stuff never increased but it certainly never lasted long. The occasional bank robbery or villain attack getting called out, cleared, and dealt with before anyone really got hurt. And healthcare was top notch with the right supers on call.

  The greatest recurrent threat, aside from Terrorfirma yesterday, had just been seasonal forest fires. And all that does is keep some of the lower tier heroes busy for a few months out of the year.

  So, the city was quiet. Just the usual din of commuters and traffic accentuated by intermittent crowds that thronged the occasional street market or shopping center. High rise and deep built parking garages kept the traffic congestion to a nice minimum. So much so that whole side streets were repurposed on set days of the week. Like farmers markets with less produce. Seth had gone to a few looking for any pieces of kit that could catch his eye, but it was mostly knickknacks, junk, and souvenirs.

  An… unfortunate lot… of souvenirs.

  He'd stopped coming to them after he saw a stand selling jars filled with... with black dust. They barely knew what it was. No… no they knew and didn’t care. It was an oddity, a thing to take with you and remember what happened. To forever know what happened. Ignoring that that dust was all that was left of his-

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  ‘Hrrgggrrrr… huh...’

  It was done, it was long ago. They were gone, so it was better to remember them as they were. His hand gripped tighter to the handle on his shoulder, feeling for something in his bag sequestered away. That better reminder. A better worry.

  And maybe a helpful reminder of the present to worry about. Because the people going about their own days’ at said street market he'd fugued into were watching him deal poorly with his. Stuck out of his pace and shaking away from the past.

  He heard a few assume him to be a hero given the ridiculous weight on his back. Some worry they more were about to thank or take pictures kept his head down as he returned to trudging toward the Hill. Those misunderstandings quieted as soon as they understood it was a suit hucked over his shoulder. As they saw it face to face.

  Powersuits had been losing favor in the public eye ever since some idiot in another city went on spree of robberies. Tearing through shops and banks like they were paper bags. Weaker villains always found them very enticing as an equalizer. And apparently quite a few wealthy scions saw them as an easy means to clout and hero-dom. Though that was the realm of the more high class brands, the stuff that never graced United Armors even at its height.

  Seth neither had time to correct all the misunderstanding, nor really the will. If they wanted to be ignorant, that was on them. And applications closed less than an hour before the training class started up proper, so he had to keep moving anyway. Luckily he wasn’t stopped by any actual heroes, or the cops. Hauling a legally grey battlesuit through downtown would still have been an issue, just one with an easier means to explain.

  Thankfully that street market had offered a nice bit of cover along with its pain points, and it flowed right into that central district’s main thoroughfare. A long stretch of open walking path, softened asphalt, and brickwork. Almost an open air mall but with less shops and more offices. Super labor wasn’t going to coordinate itself, and it paid to be the first place to catch you should you fall from the great height at the paths precipice. Because Seth had finally reached The Hill.

  ...And realized he had forgotten the other issue awaiting him.

  The Hill was the League of Supers’ main hub for the entire Kadia metropolitan area and surrounding areas covered by smaller League outposts, meaning this base held sway over practically three states worth of territory. Though that was more in coordination and assignment rather than direct action.

  It boasted several hangers for both VTOL transports and road worthy armored vehicles. It also had several levels worth of barracks, labs, armories, and evacuation shelters should the worst come to pass. But at its precipice was the main hall, consisting of the training barracks, logistical command, and the main arena. The main training ground for all the heroes that worked out of the base. Except when it was time to infuse some new blood.

  The only issue with all this awesome was that all of it was built into an artificial mountain dominating an equally massive plaza in the center of the damn city. And the only official public entrance was at the top. Up a single horrendously long staircase.

  Escalators and service lifts flanked those stairs sure, but it was a requirement that most heroes had to climb it.

  ‘Or, well, that’s what the sign in front of it says.’

  Also those escalators sure weren’t going to handle all of Seth’s weight. And the service lifts were for official cargo only, so he had little choice. He had to get climbing. All nine hundred and fifty seven steps.

  Starting up, it was clear this was a task in and of itself. Climbing several hundred steps was arduous enough on its own, but the armor was not helping in the slightest. And by then had gotten really heavy on his back. A bone in his collar felt like it was trying to mutiny, along with the shoulder blade but in the opposite direction. Completely abandoning all the other bones beside it and with all the weight on them. The muscle was just too far gone to complain.

  Each step got tougher and tougher with the elevation, knees already whining feared for their anthropomorphized lives. The only thing keeping his whole body together was all the electricity he’d kept stored up, even suckling from the hour/watts he’d poured into the suit. But that was not long for this world.

  On the way up, Seth passed a few ancillary heroes making their own climbs and descents. Supporters that filled niches or just staffed the facility as people of ability. They thankfully ignored him huffing his way up, or they just couldn’t care about another recruit trying to join. Though, from the occasional ire and glare Seth could feel between lugs, some were more skeptical of him. And his suit.

  He kept going. Heroes had a lot more reason to hate powersuits so it was understandable. They were basically their only competition, if they even managed. But Seth couldn’t will himself to defocus and distract away the strain.

  By the last third he was just about climbing on all fours… threes, struggling for every foot up. His carrying arm was metaphysically in tatters, his knees were coughing up their caps, he was surprised his shoes were holding up so well. Nearing the end though something snapped and the pain fell away, replaced by just a magnanimous sense of doom and weight. Seth picked up speed before he could collapse in on himself or worse. Fall backward. His muscles were actually starting to fray, his bones were creaking, he felt dry for some reason like all the water in his body was used up. But fuck it, he’d been through way worse hikes!

  And so, when he finally reached the top and dragged himself upright, hr gave an unholy haggard-

  “YEAagghhAHAG!!”

  And almost falling over as the suit dragged him back for daring to feel pride.

  But a torturous stomp forced him back forward, narrowly snapping his shin in the process. Too close for comfort, but at least a helpful burst of adrenaline. A few calming wheezes, an almost chilled grip on the door handle, and he was passing through the glass fa?ade of the main entrance with all the energy he had left wisping off of him.

  The foyer of the hall was a godsend of AC and inspiring atmosphere. Spacious tiled floors flanked by statues and displays to various heroes and events. Even some villain trophies sprinkled in.

  A bronze bust of Dr. Macroscopic, the founding force for the super healthcare industry.

  A gaudy ‘statue’ from Ms. Maleficence’s lair that was little more than an abstract mental cheese grater of colors and lines.

  An auspicious painting of the Kashmir Peace Accords, basically the founding of the League as an autonomous force.

  They even had rough painting of the villain known as Gold Breaker standing over what was left of the doomsday device called the Tombstone. All as he yelled out his condemnation of the villain organization that made it, the Terror Matrix.

  So all sorts of records and relics from the League’s escapades scattered about here. And this wasn’t even their main headquarters.

  But at the center, standing over the almost quaint quartz reception desk, was the main memorial piece. A massive marble statue going all the way up to the ceiling. Depicting several heroes, both powered and unpowered, standing upon a wall in defiant celebration. Standing atop ‘The’ Wall.

  Seth didn’t stop to admire, he didn’t even really notice it. The only thing he could care for was that desk. And hopping he was on time.

  Lugging his armor over to that crystalline bastion of procedure was a final hurdle of terminal agony and dying out adrenaline. Yet the receptionist, an almost out of place woman with straight red hair, paid little mind to his plight. Her face was stuck down in a tablet, reading something good enough to keep her attention from her duties, good enough to not care for the goings on of superhuman day to day. Good enough for Seth to trudge in exponentially haggard sway all the way to her desk without notice.

  But just as he reached it, the daring dark edges of his vision took hold, and his legs gave out en mass in twisting spiral. His back hit the desk face, but the suit slammed down facing it, springing out of its compact form with a massive startling bang. Finally getting the attention it deserved as the ‘Receptionist Felicia’ placard bounced off her counter. Lurching her out of her tablet and face to face with a towering metal behemoth staring down on her for ignoring her duties.

  Until her fright was broken by Seth’s shaky hand reaching over the counter and slapping his application form down on it. Broken from her momentary terror, Felicia pulled herself up and looked down over her counter. Down at the passed out and propped up Seth against her desk, smiling from ear to ear. He’d made it in time.

  He just… needed to rest a little bit.