Sirens wailed off in the distance and I could hear and feel the steady deep thrum of a giant monster stomping its way through the city. I'd learned long ago not to use pronouns on those lizards since it was notoriously difficult to figure out whether they were male or female.

A little incident where a monster everyone in the military swore was a "he" suddenly started laying monster eggs in the middle of the big arena downtown had been proof enough of the dangers of misgendering giant monsters.

"Come on, Natalie!" Fialux whined.

An unholy screech that sounded like something from the deepest nightmares of some crazed Japanese sound designer echoed through the concrete canyons. I stopped and shivered.

Fialux came to a stop. She looked genuinely worried, though I didn't think she was worried about the oversized lizard on the other side of downtown.

"You okay, Natalie?" she asked.

"Hey, give a girl a break," I said. "Everybody has something that bothers them on some level."

Her eyebrows shot up and she looked off in the direction of the roar. It was impossible to see anything because there were a bunch of buildings in the way.

"Really? Oversized lizards are what you're afraid of?"

I sniffed. "It just so happens that growing up watching old monster movies on cable instilled a healthy terror of the things in me from an early age."

Sure since then I'd come to love the "giant monster destroys a city" genre. At least when we were talking about guys in rubber suits duking it out on a television screen, and not the very real thing on the television screen on live news, but that didn't change some of that deep seated terror that had been instilled in me from a young age.

"Is this why we didn't go out to fight the last one?" she asked.

"Shut up," I said.

"Come on," she prodded. "You can admit it. It's not like there's anyone around to find your weakness or anything."

"That is not my weakness damn it," I hissed. "And keep your voice down. I don't want anyone to hear you!"

"My lips are sealed," she said.

Another screech echoed off the buildings. Again I flinched. I hated that sound!

Not that those screeches bothered me all that much these days. Not outwardly. I could take one of those things out easily enough. Though as I looked at Selena I knew she wouldn't fare nearly as well. Especially because I had her in the suit equivalent of training wheels right now.

I wasn't going to send her out with my full complement of weapons. Not when she was more of a danger to herself and the city than she was to any criminals who might be trying to take advantage of the current giant lizard situation.

"There's not a chance we're fighting that thing, and it has nothing to do with whether or not I'm afraid of it," I said. "You're not equipped to fight it."

"But you are!" she said. "Besides, overcoming your fear to be a true hero is so hot."

I squeezed my eyes shut. That was not going to work on me, damn it. Even if all evidence to the contrary said it had worked on me before and it'd probably work on me again.

Luckily right about then I was distracted by the unmistakable sound of a jet flying somewhere off in the distance. I looked up to see drones flying in formation like a something out of an old World War II movie, and then they banked down and started firing missiles down into the city.

Whatever. As long as they weren't firing those missiles at me we wouldn't have a problem. The moment they did? I was going to send the fire and fury of all the automated hell I could unleash after them.

I didn't even have to worry about running out of ammo this time. No, one of the first things I'd done after my last run in with the giant robots Dr. Lana kept sending at the city was figure out a way to restock my pattern buffers with all sorts of nasty toys directly from the lab, and I didn't even need to amp up my artificial intelligence to do it.

Sure I'd lost a couple of sleepless nights, but I figured a few nights without sleep was well worth not getting smeared onto the pavement if I ever found myself in a situation where I needed to reload and suddenly didn't have any arrows in the quiver.

Speaking of making sure people didn't get smeared onto the pavement…

"We're here to train you," I said. "The military will take care of of the giant lizard, and meanwhile we need to watch out for all the criminal scum out there who are going to take advantage of the giant lizard attacking the city to try and commit some crimes."

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"It's not fair," she said. "I always wanted to take on one of those things, and I never got a chance. I don't care if you're afraid of them. I'm not!"

"I'm not afraid of them, damn it, but you should be with the way you're equipped. You can take one on some other time. A few come through the city every year. It's like hurricane season, but for giant lizards. Two so close together is a little odd, though."

I pushed that thought away. I wouldn't put it past Dr. Lana to shove those poor lizards on the edge of town into radioactive goop so she'd have something to fight, see her robot plot, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure she was even still around. Best not to pick at that old wound.

Besides, there was no sign of that new hero. Not yet, at least. I was keeping an eye on the news. That hero showing up would just be the icing on the cake, but there was real work to do here. Real work getting Fialux…

I looked at her. Blinked when I saw the look she was giving me. Damn.

Fialux stuck her lip out in an obvious pout. Then she floated towards me. She really was getting much better control of her flight ability.

"Are you sure we couldn't go and fight the giant lizard?" she asked.

The sound of rending metal and concrete being blown to smithereens said either the military had gotten in a hit, a hit that was probably going to be completely ineffective since that's exactly how all their attempts at fighting off giant lizards usually went no matter what I told Fialux to get her to shut up about it, or the thing had just gone on a rampage.

"You know how much I love seeing you in action saving the city," she said.

One of her hands moved down and traced up and down my chest. A move that was entirely too forward, but it's not like there were any pesky cameras from the Starlight City News Network to see us canoodling on top of one of the taller buildings in the city.

I activated my shields. Like seriously activated my shields. I'm not talking metaphorically here. An energy barrier went up and pushed Fialux away. Her pout only got more pronounced.

"That's not going to work on me this time," I said.

I prayed that she wouldn't see the effect she was having on me. I prayed she wouldn't realize how close she'd been to getting me to fly off and do something that was both stupid and heroic. Because there was something about her getting all hot and bothered by me acting like a hero that…

Better not to go into that. I wasn't going to let her manipulate me this time. Not when there was training to do. Not when I was a villain at heart, damn it.

"Fine," she said. "But in case you haven't noticed, it's not like there are exactly any crimes going on around here."

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Then what do you call that?"

I pointed down. Fialux followed my gaze and frowned.

"The Starlight City National Bank?" she asked. "I always thought that was such a weird name. How can it be a national bank if it's isolated to Starlight City?"

"I don't know," I said. "As far as I'm concerned banks are good for the occasional withdrawal when I need a cash influx, and most bankers need to be the first ones with their backs against the wall when the revolution comes. Beyond that I don't pay attention to how they operate."

I looked down to the streets below. The streets where, despite the giant lizard attack that was going on maybe half a mile away, people were still going about their business.

That was either a testament to the resilience of the people of Starlight City, or a monument to their stupidity. Either way, they'd obviously gotten so used to giant creatures duking it out in the middle of the city that people were rather blasé about it.

I guess it was proof that people could get used to just about anything.

"I really don't see what…"

I held up a hand and Fialux went quiet. I pointed down to the front of the bank.

"Wait for it," I said.

As though on cue, a large delivery truck pulled up in front of the bank. Definitely out of place since most deliveries were taken in the back around here. I happened to know for a fact there was a loading dock on the other end of the bank where deliveries were supposed to go.

I never used it myself. I was more a fan of walking through the front door with my wrist blaster humming ominously. That didn't stop me from casing the joint and knowing all points in and out just in case.

"What is…"

The explosion came from inside the bank. Windows shattered all around. That certainly got people's attention down there.

"Figures," I groused. "Giant lizards ripping the city to shreds half a mile away are nothing, but one explosion nearby and everyone loses their minds."

"What was that?" Fialux asked.

"Nothing," I said. "Just griping."

"Well be quiet. I want to see the show," she said.

Armed thugs streamed out of the delivery truck and moved in. People ran away from the bank, and they had the sense to run away from the giant lizard attacking the city too.

"Poor bastards," I said. "Getting hit by a giant irradiated lizard in one direction and bank robbers in the other."

"Why, that sounded like you were almost sympathetic to the plight of the common man," Fialux said.

"Almost," I said. "But don't start getting ideas that I'm going heroic or anything."

"I never would," she said,

Of course she would choose that moment to reach out and run a finger along my arm. I'd lowered my shields because I thought I was safe. I could feel that touch even through the carbon fiber weave that made up my suit. It sent a shiver running through me. I looked over at her and stuck my tongue out.

"Don't make me raise my shields again," I said.

"Are you sure you don't want to?" she asked. "Because I can think of a few fun ways to get through those shields that would be way more interesting than when I was punching through them."

I shivered again. Then pointedly turned my attention to the Charlie Foxtrot going on down below. Way down below.

It was a good thing I'd invented technology that let me regularly defy the laws of gravity. Otherwise I'd have a hell of a case of vertigo standing up here.

I didn't know how some of the normal heroes and villains who jumped from building to building, sometimes without any augmentation other than spending a lot of time in the gym, did it. I'd be crapping my pants if I had to do something like that without my toys.

"Right," I said. "We have some bank robbers to take out. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said.

"Good," I said. "Then let's do this. Follow my example, and don't do anything stupid."

Her grin said it all. "I wouldn't dream of doing something stupid."

I had a feeling the only person who was truly doing something stupid here today was me letting Fialux go into the middle of a bank robbery, even if it was a boring bank robbery by normal criminals, but it had to be done sometime. You had to run before you could walk and all that.

"Let's go."

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