I never thought I'd be on the wrong side of the donut.

Outside Dispatch I looked back to see our favorite new neighbor.

He wasn't exactly close, about one to two buildings away actually, but he was still able to draw all eyes. His call earlier wasn't exactly strategic, but if his idea was to draw Vulture's attention away from me, he succeeded in doing so in spades.

Vulture was left waiting for Spider-Man to arrive. It was kind of strange, I thought he would attack first or something.

One more jump and Spider-Man landed on a police car with his typical pose of three limbs on the ground and one arm up before straightening up. Many would have missed it, but I could see how his eyes narrowed when he saw the dead security guards, before they quickly returned to their normal size.

"Old Vulture, how long have you been around! And you must be that new super, right? The one from the shows, entering the heavy leagues?"

He said in his usual loud and animated voice.

She knew intellectually what he was doing, a bit of comedy to hide his own feelings and at the same time calm those of others. Still, I couldn't help but snort a little, while feeling a little more relaxed, as if the worst was over.

I felt a small smile creep across my face for the first time in almost an hour. Still…

"Damn spider! You think you can beat me again! This time, there are no stupid tall buildings around us to save you!"

"Oh come on, Vulture you know th-"

"I'm sorry about this both of you, but I'm in a hurry," I interrupted before they could start any sort of back-and-forth.

I could sense with Effervescent that the bank was still packed with moving people who were getting more and more excited and in a hurry, but more importantly I could also sense terrified people seriously wondering if this will be their last day.

I can't afford to waste time, not now.

I quickly activated Shatterbird.

Shatterbird has the power of siliconkinesis, control over silicon-based components. When you consider that all semiconductors are made of silicon, you realize why Shatterbird and her scream are so dangerous, even without the destruction of glass.

All even halfway modern technology is totally useless, and Vulture's suit is definitely not magic.

A flex of my will, and sound waves invisible and inaudible to humans traveled towards the silicon components of Vulture's suit.

Spider-Man stared at me in surprise for a moment before having to quickly turn his full attention back to Vulture when the scream of the villain falling at full speed with smoke coming out of his suit caught his attention.

"What's going on?!"

I didn't know enough about technology to be sure what exactly I screwed up his suit to make Vulture drop like a stone, but I honestly didn't care.

I was planning to catch him using Moonsong, but Spidey got there first.

A quick Twip and Spider-Man launched himself like a guided missile to where the scientist was falling and caught him as if he were a fairy tale princess. Of course, Vulture was no dream princess and started trying to fight back immediately after, but it seemed that even though it was difficult to move his armor due to the damage I did, he could still be dangerous.

Spider-Man dropped him and moved away a little after dodging one last attack from Vulture aimed at his neck using his sharp claws.

"Spider, I'll leave it to you! I'll go inside!" I shouted at Spider-Man just before activating Dispatch.

They looked like they were about to have a fight. Though I doubt it would be very long with Vulture unable to use his wings, so I didn't feel the need to help. I started flying with interspersed uses of Dispatch towards the bank entrance.

I knew for a fact that they didn't have any thugs guarding the entrance, maybe they were relying on the super villain and the thugs outside to raise the alarm in case something happened.

Easier for me.

I was able to get in trouble through the broken door using Miasma to stay invisible and Dispatch to do it in the shortest time possible.

Once inside, I was then able to put faces to the frightened people and excited thugs inside. All the hostages were sitting in their seats from before the robbers came in and those who were standing or standing in line were sitting on the floor with their belongings in front of them, some of which looked a bit tattered; it wasn't hard to see why.

Children hugging their parents, a mother protecting her baby, what appeared to be an elderly lady praying to whatever God she trusts on the verge of having a breakdown, it was all horrible.

But, I only had to follow the terrified gaze of some customers to find what I feared most: three more dead guards, most likely dead on the floor.

I didn't want to look, but I knew I had to. How can I be a hero when I can't even bear what these people have been enduring all this time?

Still inside Dispatch, I closed my eyes and began to breathe deeply using some breathing techniques I knew to calm myself down. I knew that if I acted in this mood, I might do something we would all regret.

First, I need to act fast. Clearly, everyone is armed, I don't need Golem to know that, so disarming them will be my main focus as usual. I can't use Grue or Miasma's more dangerous abilities because of the crowd. Anything too concentrated doesn't seem fast enough to me either.

Still, I think I have the perfect power for this situation.

Still maintaining Miasma's invisibility, I deactivate Dispatch. I use my usual steel plate along with Golem to do my usual move to disable all the weapons in the room.

The thugs widen their eyes in surprise as a hand with a raised middle finger emerges from the propulsion system of their machine guns, but before they can do anything else-

Topsy.

The thugs immediately go from being on the ground to soaring towards the ceiling of the bank. The bank may not be very wide, but its height definitely cannot be underestimated.

Shocked cries come out of their mouths and with Effervescent I can feel how the 5 thugs inside the vaults are more alert. Not that that's going to change anything, so I don't care.

The change in gravity's direction is too unexpected for them to be able to turn their bodies accordingly in time, many crashing into the ceiling at full speed in positions awkward enough that I can officially consider them out of the fight, others not so much and are groaning in pain.

The customers watch in fear as the thugs stick to the ceiling, like a certain spider that doesn't seem to take long to come here.

The thugs are also shocked. Some are screaming to their comrades for help, the more pragmatic ones are reaching into their pockets trying to find an emergency weapon, the slower ones haven't even finished processing the mess they're in.

I turned off my invisibility. Everyone was shocked once I appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the bank.

With Effervescent I could feel the emotions of the entire room. Surprise, fear, caution, anger, but most importantly… Hope.

Let's fan those embers.

I lifted myself up into the air a bit for dramatic effect. Okay, Rogue, it's time to make your true, official debut. A huge smile spread across my face as I took my first big step on my path to being a bigger superhero.

"Hello, people of New York!"

My excited and almost happy shout that contrasted with the previous tension seemed to surprise everyone. At least that took away a lot of the fear.

"I'm Rogue! The greatest heroine in New York and soon in the world! I know you're scared, but don't worry, it's all over! Do you know why?"

"Because I am here!"

My words were like a wave of emotions for everyone in the room, surprise gave way to disbelief, humor, contempt or even a little embarrassment, but fear and despair were now far away and one emotion grew like a raging flame.

Hope.

If my phrase here is copyrighted, let the multidimensional police come and get me.

A little girl began babbling rapidly to her mother while pointing at me with shining eyes.

A little fan? Great!

She wasn't the only one. A lot of kids and some teenagers seemed to know about me too, even some adults. In their case, they seemed more like they'd been told that Santa is real. Did they think my shows were tricks and not powers or something? I guess they weren't expecting a real heroine doing tricks in the park.

I made a loud clap and waved my hands as I summoned a few hundred Teems. I had many of them merge into larger Teems, while some small ones walked towards the victims, mainly towards some children who quickly held them as if they were huggable stuffed animals. The parents looked worried as their children crushed the humanoid clay form that appeared out of nowhere, but it seems they judged me minimally trustworthy. Good.

The larger Teems positioned themselves beneath the thugs who watched the entire spectacle, while becoming increasingly scared and apprehensive as they noticed that they had no weapons.

And with another exaggerated gesture, as if I was the conductor of an orchestra.

The direction of gravity returned to normal.

The thugs fell back to the ground at top speed. Those who were unconscious or unable to move were quickly caught by the Teems, those who didn't, fall to the ground to receive another blow.

Both groups were quickly caught by two-meter-tall Teems who crushed them with their bodies without exerting much pressure.

Some of the thugs were more prepared for the fall, but the impact still left them dazed enough that they were unable to defend themselves against the giant Teem waiting for them below, and were crushed like the rest.

Silence spread through the room.

I watched as the hostages could only stare in disbelief, how in less than a minute all the thugs that looked so dangerous were pinned under a few Teems. They seemed in some sort of shared shock when suddenly.

"That was great!"

The scream of the little girl from before rang throughout the entire bench as she clapped her hands with all her might.

That seemed to lift the spell from before and like a raging tide, emotions of relief, happiness and hope spread throughout all the people there as they cheered and applauded.

It felt amazing.

This is what I was looking for all along. These feelings of hope, happiness, wonder.

That I matter.

Still, I couldn't get carried away, not yet at least. At this rate people might get carried away and do something stupid, there are still 5 thugs who seemed to be waiting for me to ambush me outside the vaults, the danger hadn't passed yet and the last thing I want is for the crowd to start gathering and causing trouble.

Using Bambina I created a small, but still loud, explosion that got everyone's attention after a small scare. As one, everyone looked in my direction, some were a little more scared than you would normally expect from a scare, I don't blame them.

I clapped twice before I started speaking so that everyone could hear me.

"Okay, everyone, I understand that you're all excited, but I need you all to stay calm until the police arrive! I understand that you want to get out and get away from all of this, but it can still be dangerous, and it's best to leave it to the professionals."

That dampened the mood a bit, but it was still much better than before. Some seemed reluctant, but by some miracle everyone decided to take their bags and sit back down, some still looked at me warily, but once they picked up their phones and talked to their loved ones they seemed more relaxed.

Well, I don't want you to think that I'm keeping you locked up here. I waved at a few people as I walked towards the vault in a seemingly relaxed manner. Some of the people's eyes widened when they saw where I was heading, it seemed that they had remembered that some of the thugs were still in there.

I gave them a little international sign of silence by putting my index finger to my mouth while winking at them. I didn't want them to start spreading panic, telling everyone that there were still people left to catch. They slowly nodded their heads to show that they understood what I told them.

As I walked down the hallway leading to where the remaining thugs were, I got a new star.

Great! Maybe they'll give me something useful to deal with the remaining thugs!

I quickly activated Dispatch to focus on this.

Honestly, Scanner was a bit of a letdown. I mean, it's not bad, but a girl just wants something to hit people with, you know? I feel like I've been given a bunch of utility powers and nothing really strong to hit like a drunk uncle with.

Dredge

A gray power. I honestly have no idea who Dredge is, but my instincts with powers are good enough that I have a pretty good idea of what his power does.

It's a post-cog. A power to see the past of objects and people. The problem is that it works more like a Shaker power than anything else. I can't just point at one object, but all of them around me. It also seems to be quite distracting, though it wouldn't be a problem with some multitasking power, it seems like it would be more of a problem for me to activate it than anything else.

For now, it will be as far away from my center in the galaxy of powers as possible before I decide how to use it.

A bit disappointing, but that's gacha for you I guess. With a shrug, I decide to turn my attention back to the problem.

I continue flying slowly down the hallway while I use Effervescent to observe the 5 people waiting for me on the other side. A quick use of Golem and I notice that they are all carrying weapons, though…

It's very strange.

Four of them have submachine guns in their hands ready to attack at the first sound or sight of a person, but the one in the back only has what looks like a small emergency automatic pistol in his pockets.

He wants to beat me up? He doesn't even have a knife!

It doesn't matter. I use Miasma to stay invisible and use Golem to destroy their weapons. I feel like everyone panicked when I destroyed their weapons, except for Bruce Lee. He seems surprised, but not entirely.

Something tells me there's more to it than I expected. I quickly use the Topsy maneuver to lift all the thugs up onto the ceiling. The ceiling here is lower, but it still works well enough. I cross the hallway and there they are.

Five thugs stuck to the ceiling and beaten… Or at least that's how it should be.

The fifth unarmed thug has his knees bent while standing upside down. He quickly stands out among the others who are gasping for air after the three-meter "fall." A golden armor with red details covered his entire body that seemed ready to launch into the attack, but the most notable thing were his gloves that glowed golden as an almost vibrating energy seemed ready to be unleashed at any moment.

Shit, that definitely wasn't Bruce Lee. That's the fucking Shocker.

He looked like he was about to hit the ceiling with his gloves, but before he could do so, I quickly turned the direction of gravity back to normal. I managed to interrupt his attack, but little else. He seemed to have expected that move, because he quickly turned in the air and brought his fists up, ready to come down with a loud thud to the ground.

A quick use of Moonsong and I stopped him in midair, leaving him floating between the floor and the ceiling, once again delaying the destruction of the building, but I knew that wouldn't stop him for long.

Dispatch.

I returned to the safety of my favorite emergency power.

I need to think.

This is bad. Shocker is here, in a building full of people who just had a bad time. I doubt he'll destroy the entire building, for his own safety at least, but knowing his abilities his influence will definitely be felt here, and I can't let insecurity fill the public I just promised safety to, get scared by a sudden earthquake.

No sir, my word as a superhero is basically all I have now, I can't afford to lose that so early in my career.

I could use Shatterbird to destroy any destructive components of his suit, but that could end very badly, depending on my luck. Any direct attack that doesn't instantly knock him out is basically asking Shocker to cause an earthquake. With his suit made of basically Vibranium? I don't have much of a choice either.

Effervescent? He seems pretty stable, but one misread of his character and goodbye to the building.

Hah, so far one of my trump cards I guess.

I move to get closer to Shocker before canceling Dispatch.

My sudden movement made Shocker pause for a moment. Just what I was looking for. I crossed my forearms in an X shape and with the deepest, most serious voice I could manage I said the words I've practiced more than a few times this past week.

"Domain Expansion: Grand Colosseum."

Immediately, our surroundings changed and Shocker who was floating in the air fell to the ground, but he didn't attack me immediately. Shocker was in a state of shock (heh) as he looked around. A huge space in the shape of a Roman coliseum surrounded both of us.

We went from being indoors in a venue with an air-conditioned area to being under the sun and sky surrounded by empty seats. Just Shocker and I in this space.

This is Contender. One of my trump cards that allows for 1v1 space with whoever I drag with me. Nothing gets in and nothing gets out. Its biggest weakness is that it's fragile on the outside, but I've already taken care of the thugs outside, so we're safe.

"What is this?! Where are we?!" Shocker said as he looked around.

With my feet firmly on the ground this time, I responded.

"This is my domain, The Grand Colosseum. It's just you and me here, Mr. Criminal. I know you and I know that you tend to cause a lot of property damage, so I'm going to detain you inside here."

My words made him slowly regain his calm.

"So if I kill you, I can get out, right?"

I began to stretch my limbs as I prepared for the upcoming fight.

"That's right, but I think you'll get out of here when I'm actually done with you."

"We'll see, girl."

With that he points his gloves at me ready to shoot one of his famous vibration beams at me.

"Wha-"

But, all he got was my fist to his chin.

Shocker quickly recovered from the blow and tried again to target me with his gloves, only to miss again and get punished by another blow, this time to the left ear. Again, it didn't seem to do much, but I want to try some things out.

"Did you forget, Shocker? This is a coliseum."

That's the thing about Contender, not only are powers useless, any advanced technology is also out of the question.

"You're not flying…"

Looks like he realized. That's right, I have no powers in here either.

Coming to that same conclusion, he quickly reaches for the emergency weapon that I knew he had, but…

A metal hand with a raised middle finger in the middle of the weapon was all he found.

Taking advantage of his distraction, this time I hit those areas that seemed most vulnerable: necks, armpits, knees.

Nothing.

His anti-vibration armor is everywhere on his body. It makes sense considering that otherwise his own gloves would destroy him, but I was hoping to find a weakness somewhere, since the alternative is something I honestly don't want to do.

I took a little distance as I pulled out from my belt the weapon that would give me victory in this fight, the knife with the Adamantium edge that Maddy gave me.

Shocker threw the damaged weapon aside as he adopted some sort of fighting stance, something akin to boxing.

I knew it. Shocker has no idea how to fight. Shocker seems to know it too because his stance seems totally reactionary. We both now know that I have no way to harm him while he has his armor on, so I guess he's just going to wait for me to make a mistake, not a bad strategy.

If I didn't have the knife.

I made a quick dash towards Shocker as I seemed to attack his defense. Shocker flexed his legs ready to receive my attack and counterattack, but he was wrong. It was a feint.

Taking advantage of his poor posture that covered part of his line of vision, I gently pushed a flex point on his heel using my foot. While I couldn't hit him, pushing him and ruining his foothold is perfectly possible. As he fell, he reflexively moved his arms to stop his fall, even though it wasn't necessary.

A mistake.

I grabbed his right wrist, and before he could react, I made a quick cut into the grips holding one of his gloves on his forearm.

"Argh!"

While its Vibranium alloy is especially good at stopping shock and vibration, its slash defense is no better than the defense of regular Kevlar armor. Against regular knives? Perfect. Against an Adamantium-edged military knife? Not a chance.

Some blood fell on my glove. I tried to just cut the glove off, but it's hard to do that in the middle of combat, and I ended up cutting his forearm.

Panicking, Shocker tried to hit me with his other arm, forgetting his defensive strategy in the face of pain. The result was not unlike a small child's windmill attack, and while his weight might make him dangerous for most women, it was not so much for me.

Instead of moving away like most would do, I quickly moved closer and killed the momentum of his "attack" with my own forearm and used his momentum to quickly knock him to the ground in a Judo move. I placed my knee on his sternum, not allowing him to gain any momentum.

He was struggling trying to get out of my hold, but without momentum it's useless.

Another quick slash with my knife, more carefully this time, and the other glove is off. I throw both gloves away from Shocker as I back away from the villain, who was getting up while grunting in pain from the cut on his forearm.

Honestly, this is the toughest fight I've had so far. It wasn't particularly flashy, but it felt…

I looked at my gloves with some Shocker blood on them.

Raw. It felt raw in a way the others didn't. Shocker was already up while holding her forearm and even with a mask I could feel the look of absolute hatred he was sending my way, but I was already tired of playing.

I crossed my arms again in an X shape, and suddenly Shocker and I were back in the hallway in front of the vault.

I didn't actually need to do those gestures or say anything to use Contender, but I know Shocker will tell someone else about it and if he does, I want him to think I need to do it or something.

We were back to where we were before, even though we were constantly moving around in there, but no one can deny that a fight happened. One funny thing is that we didn't bring any sand from the coliseum with us, so I wonder how much of the coliseum is real and how much is just my perception of what a place where two people fight one on one should be like.

Maybe my idea of domain expansion is not as invented an idea as I think.

"Hey, are you okay!" With a jump, I quickly looked towards the voice coming from above my head.

I was really scared. I'm used to feeling people around me with Effervescent, so I'm not used to being taken by surprise when I'm in superhero mode.

I quickly activated Effervescent again and realized that it wasn't just Spider-Man who was here with me and Shocker. What appeared to be the cop I had saved earlier was also here.

Remembering Shocker and with a cop here in the middle, I decided to get rid of him quickly before I started talking to Spider-Man.

Now, with the gloves off and all my powers back, Shocker is considerably less dangerous. One simple use of Moonsong and he was suspended in the air, unable to do anything but squirm. Of course, I wouldn't be holding him up the whole time, so considering the risk is basically zero now, I decided to try something I hadn't done before for safety reasons.

Use Effervescent on him. Shocker stood stiffly in the air for a second before simply falling over in a faint.

That made me feel oddly disappointed. I could have ended the fight in a second. While I don't regret using Contender for safety reasons, knowing that I could have defeated him in a second made me feel pretty stupid.

I quickly shook my head, better not to think about it.

As if to make me think about it, my power thought that this would be the best time for a new star.

Vessel, gray.

It doesn't look like I've had much luck with the powers today, another unknown and another gray one.

Apparently, Vessel allows me to absorb people into myself and then use their skills, personality, and knowledge. Honestly, kind of gross, really, and I don't see how it can be useful. I suppose I could absorb a super scientist and create some toys for myself, but I honestly already have too many good options as it is. The best armor is more a matter of materials than technique.

I turned my attention back to Spider-Man, who looked at me in surprise before simply shrugging. He was about to web Shocker up, but I stopped him.

"Wait!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"There's a wound on your arm. I don't know how healthy or good at covering wounds your web is (at least right now), but I'd like to treat it first."

Spider-Man's eyes widened in realization before nodding.

"True, true. Don't worry, new girl, I've got your back." He said while giving a thumbs up.

I started walking towards Shocker as I pulled out the bandages from my med kit. As I got to work, though, I decided to correct something.

"I'm not new girl! I'm Rogue, New York's next big hero!" I said, looking at Spider-Man with my patented smile.

"Nice to meet you, Rogue! I'm Spider-Man."

With the introductions over, I decided to focus on my work. Honestly, it's a lot shallower than it looks, and I was also lucky I didn't hit any veins, that could have been dangerous. I was expecting it to be a lot worse from Shocker's behavior, but it seems he's just not very good with pain.

Mmn Should I try Dredge? Maybe I can absorb some interesting information from Shocker's gloves.

"Hey, Spidey"

"Spidey? What's wrong, Roguie?" I let out a small snort at the silly nickname.

"Could you move a few meters away? I want to try something new, same to you, Mr. Leon."

"No problem."

Spider-Man moved about 5 meters away along with Leon, the policeman. There was no need for him to go that far, the range is a meter or two or something like that, but it is better to avoid accidents. A quick activation of Dredge, and suddenly I was able to extract basic knowledge about Shocker, his height, age, he likes tacos, beer, and rock. About the man himself, I could only take basic and honestly not so relevant things.

His suit, on the other hand? An alloy of Titanium, Vibranium, and Carbon. He's worn it 123 times. He's never washed it (Eww). He did it in prison. I can even focus on things he's done wearing it, like that time he destroyed an ATM three days ago.

He almost always wears it like this, there's bound to be some pretty crazy information in here. I was just about to get into that when some important information about today's operation caught my eye. Apparently, it was an independent robbery and the whole thing was sponsored by Vulture, but that wasn't the most important thing.

The important thing was that they weren't just two villains.

There were three of them.

"Careful!"

The dull sound of a bullet being fired from a gun barrel rang out down the hallway just after Spider-Man's scream, but I knew it was too late.

In shock, as I felt the blood rush to my throat, I somehow managed to turn around to see Mr. Leon's back as he ran off down the hallway, with only his feelings of victory, excitement, and spite reaching my senses through Effervescent.

Spider-Man's voice was trying to tell me something as he held my head with one hand, while his other hand tried to stop the bleeding, but I couldn't hear him.

All I could think about was the cold pain I felt from the bullet-shaped hole that had pierced my entire trachea through the cervical vertebra. I felt myself losing the ability to move my entire body, and I was only able to be held by Spider-Man like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

I had to do something, I can't afford to die, not like this, not now and not for someone like the Chameleon.