Central: Superheroine

Val tugged at the collar of her brand-new tactical suit. “Because I read the orientation packet. Twenty-three pages. There’s a style guide for how we’re supposed to land.”

And when she climbed back onto the Ops Deck, Astra Prime was waiting. superheroine central

Tonight, she’d find out what happened when you broke the rules. Val tugged at the collar of her brand-new tactical suit

Astra Prime didn’t have gray hair. She had silver streaks, perfectly placed. Her uniform was immaculate. Her posture was a weapon. When she turned to face the assembled new recruits, the room’s ambient chatter died like a snuffed candle. There’s a style guide for how we’re supposed to land

“When I started,” Astra said, so softly the others couldn’t hear, “I wasn’t a symbol. I was just a woman who could punch through walls. And I was happier.”

Val didn’t think. She dropped into the shafts, vibrating her body into a harmonic frequency that counteracted the villain’s sonic waves. She caught three people mid-fall. She smashed a concrete support with a resonant pulse to create a ramp. She got them out.

Inside, on Floor 97, Val “Echo” Reyes was about to lose her lunch.