An ego is a terrible thing. For a superhero, an inflated sense of self was inevitable. A hero was powerful. Could do more than most. Survive the unthinkable and defeat the odds. Within the glass cage of Goldarch, many supers felt themselves invincible. Few had really had that theory tested.

That's where Roxy and I differed. We had been pushed to the edge so often that the pathway up to that line had hardly any friction.

With my torso currently being shredded by eldritch hands, and the super blinded by her own solidified lava, our acceptance of the mortally perilous was never more readily apparent.

Yet, this was where we excelled.

The second hand coming from my head paused in place as my Dispel burst around me. While the Witness wasn't magical in nature, there was something about my presence that disturbed it. My spell did no damage, but the hands moved away from me as if I had scalded them.

A steel sphere snapped out of my gun-arm, missing the Aberration completely. I had loaded something more powerful. A projectile more devastating than any other in my arsenal.

The ball pinged off a split piece of furnace wall just behind the Witness, piercing the wavering wails of the abhorrent creature. A rather two-dimensional plan that only needed a shared understanding of the current situation.

While the Witness had been focused on tearing me asunder, Roxy was powering up. Legs bent in a squat position as bright lava ran from her arms. As soon as she heard the ping of my apparent misfire, she launched herself in that direction like a cannonball. It wasn't perfect, but when dealing with the scale of potential damage she could cause, a few degrees difference didn't change the outcome.

If anything, my restricted view didn't do her justice. Using her leap, she moved from the ground to my left, landing deeper within the ruined furnace in a split-second explosion. The Aberration was between those two points, and wasn't prepared for such an attack. She burst through his central spire, splitting it apart as if it was made from sticky webs and dense gas. In my vision, the conal body of the monster tore into a serrated shape, barely clinging together down one edge.

Almost by instinct, I reached out. Not exactly with my hand. More of a mental process. The Witness was unraveling, and whether by my arcane process or something else, I took hold of a loose thread of the Aberration.

Then, I pulled as hard as I could.

Like a ball of yarn, the thin line spun out of control, and the monster unspooled. A screaming pain deafened me, and my vision flickered. After several long seconds, the Witness was nothing but a flickering noise of green spaghetti struggling to maintain physical form.

It lost that battle.

The room burst with a gust of crackling air. Static snapped around my skin and exposed skin before I dropped to my knees. The ringing in my ears dimmed as my metal hand scraped at the concrete floor. My brain sloshed back and forth like my skull was only half full. I fought a battle against nausea, unconsciousness, and insanity.

My heart beat heavily three times, and then the pressure in the room washed away like the lowering tide.

I blinked painful eyes as Clara disabled the projected vision from my goggles. With a groan, I pushed myself up from the ground and stood.

Roxy emerged from the pile of debris, basically only in her lava-proof underwear. An investment that paid for itself. The rock had crumbled from her face, and I was glad to see her fiery eyes unharmed. She looked irritated beyond measure, covered with powdered rock and dark ash.

As I took a moment to get my breath back, I glanced around the large room, now able to see it in full fidelity.

A hellscape of blood, severed limbs, and an odd murky discharge the Aberration had left behind. Slightly green, the unknown liquid hissed and fizzed on the ground as if it were acid.

//Clara: Every camera is now free. //Clara: No sign of the Witness anywhere in the facility.

I relaxed slightly and sighed. As the super walked up to me, I pulled the empty magazine from my gun-arm and put it in my pocket.

"Kingston owes us big time," she repeated the declaration. "You doing okay? That went… better than expected?"

[I'm not sure what the expectations were. We survived easily enough.]

"Hmm." Roxy crossed her arms and frowned at my lacerated chest. "Any problems with your healing? I don't want to find out you have some unknown poison from an outer plane or some bullshit."

[Nothing I can detect. That was mentally exhausting, however. I might have run my magic capacity dry.]

She turned her gaze to the ruins where the monster had stood. "Did you get rid of it somehow? What's the opposite of summon… Banish?"

I winced, recognizing the proper noun of a spell I'd heard before. It wasn't familiar, though. The puzzle pieces didn't fit together. All I could give the super was a resigned shrug.

//Clara: Come back to me and we'll get out of here. //Clara: The league has been informed. A cleanup crew will be sent.

With one last passing glance at the scene, I turned, and the pair of us left the furnace room. As my regeneration slowly patched up my chest, I had to admit I much preferred… any kind of combat that wasn't this. It was both confusing and exhausting.

To save my eyes from enduring the mess throughout the plant, I closed them and sought comfort in the darkness.

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"Dubs?"

When I opened them again, I was in the Meteor. Slouched in one of the seats at the front. I furrowed my brow and turned to look at the concerned super.

[Ah, apologies. Thanks for carrying me.]

She shot a glance to the back of the vehicle where Clara was sitting. "I didn't. You've been normal until you just… sneezed or something."

I frowned further and raised my hands up to inspect them. One metal, one flesh. Both mine and as I left them. Whatever brief trauma I had allowed to wrack my brains had clearly been a little too much for me. I'd blacked out and functioned solely on autopilot.

[That was perhaps a lot on such a full stomach.]

She rolled her eyes, annoyed with me. "Be serious, Dubs. Losing your memory isn't something to wave away. What really happened in there? I know it wasn't me that killed it."

I sighed and sank on the seat further.

[Some part of me unraveled the Witness. It wasn't something that felt natural, but like every other time I get close to death, I make do with what I have. I do not believe I am built to exorcise demons or quell Aberrations, but I had enough tools to do the job with your help.]

"At a cost," she added rather pointedly.

[I deserved a little nap.]

She worked her jaw, but stopped herself from snapping back. Instead, she just maintained a glare as the techie stepped up between our two seats.

"None of my tests are showing anything wrong with you," Clara said. She leaned forward, her face blocking the super from staring at me. I looked up into her glowing green cybernetic eyes as she continued. "Other than a reasonable level of exhaustion. Your eyes look fine, as do Rockslide's. If I were to make an educated guess, I would chalk this up to magical backlash. You exerted yourself."

[The cure is a good night's sleep, I hope?]

"I'll need to take a blood sample once we're back at the hotel." She stood up straight. "There is a malady associated with demons called Corruption, but that's usually a side-effect of being in hell."

"Plus, this was an Aberration," Roxy interjected.

"Indeed. However, it is best we know for sure. Corruption side-effects are… not beneficial for your continued employment."

[Or existence, I assume. Did I miss anything important while I was sleepwalking?]

Clara gave me a brief smile before returning to the back of the moving Meteor, allowing the super to talk over the task of filling me in.

"Not really." Roxy gave a dismissive shrug before some of her ire melted away. "League appreciates what we did, and Kingston wants us to come in for a meeting tomorrow. The whole team."

[I bet his office is even higher up now.]

The super huffed. "I tried pressing him for an itinerary, but he just said 'the future'. Kingston should be glad that Clara disabled my ability to message so that I couldn't give him a piece of my mind."

In fairness, there was a lot for the Director to go over with us. The Arena and Chevalier. How Boss just appeared back in my life. Our need for a new home, and the question of our role in the city going forward as his mercenary group on the side. Not to mention the whole Witness bullshit.

I missed struggling through back alleys, locked in close quarters combat with street gangs and organized criminals. A dangerous game I was practised in. Maybe it was just my tired mind speaking. I used to get rougher treatment back then. Stab and bullet wounds. Broken bones that took more than a couple of days to heal up.

A brief rain-cloud shouldn't ruin my otherwise bright day.

I tilted my head to look at the super once more. The ballistic vests hadn't really helped either of us. She now wore a thin blanket wrapped around her like a toga. I was wearing my shredded shirt like an open waistcoat, but it looked as though my chest had all but healed up.

[Did I ever tell you that I love you?]

Roxy sighed and deflated. "I'm not mad at you, Dubs. Just… frustrated. A superhero's life is meant to be simple and easy. Even on the one time I go see my parents, I can't catch a break."

[That's my fault for raising the stakes constantly.]

I had sought freedom from Boss. From being a tool. Then, it was our goal to escape the League of Heroes and the restrictions of Goldarch. After learning the reality of the outside world, the only freedom we could get was somehow being outside of the World Government.

Mostly due to me. I was the loose end that couldn't be cut. Now I had become a thorn in the side of anyone who opposed me. It was easy for a living weapon to get an ego. All I had done was escalate into an arms race with fate.

"We're on this sinking ship together." Roxy gave me a soft smile. "I love you too, dipshit. Just be a little more forthright about things bothering you, okay? You're the leader of a team, remember."

She put her hand on my leg, and that was enough to keep us content. As the night drew in, Goldarch grew larger at the end of the long road ahead. I almost felt nostalgic for the dots of hundreds of lights in the various buildings and streets as we got closer. Goldarch was my home.

I rested my eyes for most of the way to the hotel. Fully conscious this time, but I couldn't relax seeing the city while I was in such a depleted state. Roxy let the rest of the Disasters know the plan for tomorrow and arranged for Belle to meet us at the hotel sooner so she could… check my magical doodads were aligned. Once again, I was thankful to have someone in my inner circle with at least some clue as to how magic worked.

"Fucking finally," Roxy muttered as the Meteor pulled to a stop.

I opened my eyes. We had returned to the hotel at last. Late enough in the evening to be called night. The darkness was a comfort as we gathered our belongings and stepped out the back of the vehicle.

We probably looked a state, but security didn't give us a second glance. It could also have been how Roxy was constantly scowling and muttering about how she would kill to for a warm shower.

Once up on our floor, we parted ways with Clara - under the agreement that we'd reconvene briefly after we'd all washed so she could take my blood. I nodded, and we went into our rooms. Door locked.

"Dibs, Dubs." Roxy immediately dropped her toga and started stripping her underwear on the way to the bathroom.

[Don't ever say that again.]

If there was one thing I hated about the hotel room, it was that the shower was far too small. Even two average people would find it uncomfortable to remain under the water. Both Roxy and I were built a little differently, and our attempt at a shared wash yesterday almost destroyed the fittings.

"Don't get stink on the bed," she called back, already running the water.

I sighed and pulled what face I could. On the side table were some garbage bags, so I retrieved one and started taking my own clothes off. So much easier now that I had two hands—I had to remind myself occasionally—I truly was lucky. After bagging up all of my clothes, I grabbed Roxy's discarded garments and added them to the collection. Tied tight and left by the doorway.

To her credit, she didn't spend long washing - knowing that I was waiting. She stepped out of the bathroom, a towel in hand but not covering anything. Her eyes ran me up and down, and she clicked her tongue.

"Shame. I don't think the hotel furniture would survive us."

It was my turn to roll my eyes now, as I stepped over to pass her.

[Hell knows how you can have such an appetite after the day we've had.]

"Hey." She stopped me and put her arms across my shoulders. "You were such a darling with my parents today; they really like you. For this ol' country gal, that's a big deal."

Despite being earnest, she found it difficult to hide a smile over how cheesy she was being. Instead, she pulled my head closer to give my forehead a soft kiss. Her fingers ran along the back of my neck and shoulders.

Roxy pulled away, a brief frown across her brow. "Are you hurt?"

[Not… recently, why?]

"Turn around, Dubs."

With a raised eyebrow, I did so. One hundred and eighty degrees. The super ran a finger down my spine briefly before jerking away. She gasped.

I turned my head around, looking past her to the large mirror on the bathroom wall behind us. Even from this distance, I could see the cause for concern.

Just beside my left shoulder blade was a ruddy scar in the shape of an eye.

It looked like my magic doctor's appointment just got moved up.

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