Pretty Little Lies

Mei and Wildfire sat atop a building. Mei carelessly let her feet hang over the side. The two just sat in silence, neither really had anything to say. Or maybe it was that they didn't want to say anything, or that they didn't know how to vocalize what they were thinking.

"What are you going to do now?" Wildfire finally said, "If you need help, I am more than willing to-"

Mei raised her hand, "I'm… Gonna go home, I think I'll sleep on what I'll do for a bit… My mind is just racing with ideas and none of them are very good,"

"I see…" Wildfire sighed, "Well, if you ever change your mind, here's my Inst◯gram, shoot me a message, we'll sort things out!" He added, writing down his information on a piece of paper.

Mei stifled a laugh, "You have social media? That's funny,"

"Hey, it's important as a superhero to make yourself known! For… Good reasons, of course," Wildfire said, "But I mean it, I'll help you out with whatever you need, us supers have to stick together, after all,"

"Thanks, Wildfire," Mei said, "Means a lot, actually… Even if you are a bit of an idiot sometimes…"

"Love the backhanded compliments…" Wildfire murmured, "In any case, what should I call you? Real names are not allowed, keep the anonymity,"

"Hmm…" Mei thought for a while, "Coming up with a name on the spot is hard, but I guess if we're going off my powers… Necroia, yeah, that works!"

"Huh, thought you'd go with something speed related, but no judgment, no judgment," Wildfire replied, "I like it… Anyway, I gotta get, city probably needs me for something, I'll catch you later… Necroia,"

With that, Wildfire flew off into the distance.

"Wish I could fly… How did necromancy get passed down to me, but not flight… I don't think dad can even do necromancy…" Mei lamented, "Ah, in any case, I should probably get home… Mom should be getting home soonish,"

"Baobao, I'm home! Did you pick up the groceries?" Mei's mother said, taking off her shoes and locking the door behind her.

Mei laid on the couch, flicking through TV channels, "Yeah, they're on the counter… Put your change there too," She munched on some chips, "Was a lot of onions on the list, and what's a shallot? The only Shallot I know is from Drag◯n Ball,"

"Huh? They're kind of like onions, I guess? But I don't think they actually are…" Mei's mother said, "And what the heck are you even going on about…"

Mei shrugged, "Who knows? I'm a well of information, just that it's never the information you're looking for,"

"Well, I'll get started on dinner then… I'll call you over when it's ready," Mei's mother said.

"Are you gonna make those xiajiao?" Mei asked, "I love those!"

"Mmmm… Maybe…" Mei's mother replied, "You'll just have to wait and find out if I do," She snickered.

"Aww man…" Mei whined.

Mei scrolled through her phone. She opened Wildfire's Inst◯gram page and scrolled through his photos and videos.

"Just saved a puppy," Read one caption, "Posing with a fan, happy birthday buddy!" Read another.

Mei giggled, "What an odd guy… But, maybe I should ask for a little help…" She murmured.

She hovered over the "Message" button, but hesitated. She clicked on it, then went back, she hesitated for a few more moments, then clicked on it again, but then immediately went back again.

What am I even hesitating for… Mei thought, Fuck it, I'll message him! She thought again, finally sending Wildfire a message and then promptly shutting off her phone and burying her face into a pillow.

Almost instantly, Wildfire responded, "Greetings, citizen! This is Wildfire, how may I assist you today?"

Great… His weird way of speaking even follows him through text… Mei sighed, Jesus Christ he's hopeless…

"It's Necroia," Mei texted, "Wanna chat for a bit? Mom's making dinner, and I'm bored…"

"We can go for a walk or something real quick while your mom cooks dinner, figure out what we're gonna end up doing, if you want to, that is, no pressure," Wildfire responded.

"Sure, that works just fine,"

"Oh," Wildfire texted, "Make sure you wear like a mask or something, I dunno, maybe your dad has a spare costume lying around or something, just for anonymity… I already know your face and I don't wanna know any more than that,"

Mei snickered, "He takes this superheroing stuff serious, doesn't he…" She murmured, "In any case… Might as well…"

Mei turned off the TV and zipped upstairs. Her father's study hall (and secret superhero stash), was just down the hallway. She quickly moved to open the door, but found her hand simply hovering over the door. She was hesitating.

She rested her hand on the handle, took it off, then grabbed the handle again. She inhaled deeply before finally giving in and opening the door.

There wasn't much in the room. Two desks, a few filing cabinets, a bookshelf. Pretty modest, at least, for her dad. However, one desk still had a lamp turned on. On the desk, she saw a mostly finished costume.

"Was dad going for an upgrade?" Mei joked to herself. She picked it up but realized it was much too small for her father. It was… Her size?

"Woah, woah, hold on a second…" Mei inspected the costume a bit more thoroughly. It was amazing!

Quickly changing into the outfit, she zipped downstairs, "Ma, I'm gonna head out with a friend for a bit! I'll be back in like… An hour or so!"

"Alright!" Mei's mother replied, "Stay safe! Though… I guess I should say 'don't mess anyone up too badly' to you…"

Mei snickered before zipping outside. She appeared atop a nearby building, sat down, and started playing on her phone. However, as soon as she unlocked her phone, a giant block of ice fell from the sky and upon further inspection, Wildfire was trapped inside!

"Oh my god-" Mei exclaimed, immediately standing upright, "You uh… Okay…? Need some help?"

The block of ice began to melt before spontaneously combusting. Wildfire shivered before floating into the air, "Perfectly… Brrrr… Fine!" He exclaimed, "You should watch out behind you though,"

"I-what?" Mei twirled on her heel and limboed under a sheet of icicles. They whizzed right past her. "Woah, danger close!"

"Nice dodge, knew you had it in you," Wildfire said.

"I can sense the sarcasm in that statement, and I have concluded that after we get out of this fight, I'm going to jump up there and punch you," Mei replied.

"Harsh…"

Wildfire zoomed over to the man conjuring ice, punching him square in the face. However, upon contact with his face, his hand instantly froze.

"Aw man…" Wildfire murmured. He flew high into the air before calling to Mei, "Hey… Necroia, distract him for a hot minute, heh, I'll try something!"

"Oh, sure… Drag me into all your problems…" Mei murmured, "Fine!" She called back, "But I am really gonna hit you after this!"

Mei zipped towards the man, however, the ground around him had frozen over and she lost traction on the ground and flew directly into a wall. Crashing into the wall, she quickly jumped back up and dusted herself off.

"Why is it that I always trip right into a wall… Why can I never trip into a nice getaway vacation to Hawaii or something…" Mei murmured.

The man began walking towards her. The ground around him froze as he walked. Clearly running up close to him would not work.

Mei zipped atop a building, ran around to the man's blind side, and leaped from above. She went in for a kick, but the man was quick and sprayed her with a sheet of icicles.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Mei exclaimed, falling to the ground, "That…" She inhaled sharply, "That one hurt!"

The man slowly walked towards Mei, spewing more icicles in her direction and forcing her to stay on the ground.

"I deal with speedsters like you on a daily basis…" The man said, "You are no different, and I have no sympathy,"

The man squatted in front of her, still pelting her with icicles, "Hurts, right? Can't run too fast, yeah? I hear all your senses get dulled, and time starts feeling extraordinarily slow… Things like this are torture for speedsters like yourself," He said.

Mei grunted, "Good thing… I have other tricks…" She murmured, planting her hands firmly on the ground. The ground lit up before fading away quickly.

The man furrowed his eyebrows and stopped pelting her with icicles for the moment, "What was that?"

"A screw you present," Mei joked.

At that very moment, a dozen ghouls rose from the ground, grabbing his legs and pulling him down under the ground with them.

Mei laid on her back and relaxed, "Holy shit…" She exhaled, "Hate my life… If there's a God… He hates me…"

"Glad to see you took my advice and wore a mask… Though I thought it'd be like a balaclava or something that you put on… Didn't expect a whole suit…" Wildfire said.

"It's from my father, he made it…" Mei said, "Probably for me…" She murmured under her breath.

"Is that so?" Wildfire said, "Well… Anyway, you decide what you wanna do?"

"Well, depends, what good superhero organizations are around?" Mei asked.

Wildfire went silent. They sat there for an uncomfortable amount of time before Wildfire responded, "There aren't any good ones…" He said, "At least, not any that actually care about crime fighting,"

"What do you mean?" Mei said, "I see them all the time online and on the TV and news and crud,"

"We'd… Probably be better off looking at some 'indie' superheroes rather than going to these organizations for help,"

"Fine…" Mei said, "Any ideas on where to start then?"

"I've… Got a few, I'll text you later on and let you know where we can start, but go get some rest for now, you deserve it,"

Mei giggled, "Call me out here for a small fight and then tell me to go home? Aren't you a gentleman," She teased.

"Ahh, whatever, I'll see you tomorrow anyway,"

"Baobao!" Mei's mother exclaimed, "What happened to you? Why are you all cut up and bruised?!"

"I… Tripped into a… No, I fell into a… Wall… And got hit by a… Bus…?" Mei responded.

Mei's mother glared at her, "Xiang Mei, tell me, your mother, in detail, what happened to you… Or I might not feed you tonight," Her mother pouted.

Mei flinched, "Ma! That's torture, you can't do that!"

Mei's mother glared at her again, and Mei sighed before giving in. It was pointless to argue with a tiger mom.