“Hear me now, Gemini! I call to you your heroics, if you are truly a hero!”

Ugh, he spoke like a self-righteous priest. Which to be fair, he was. Choir, a cute name for such a pain. Edward Grace was his real name, once a infamous local singer before it was revealed that he was laundering money for the charities he helped support. To save his skin, he decided the best course of action was dig deeper into infamy by taking up Enhancement gear that moved his voice to booming levels. And here I was, behind him with seven other rope-tied cheerleaders that shivered in fear. We were all practicing on the football field when Choir and a goon ambushed us. Now, the goon followed his movements with a shoulder camera as Choir spoke into the mic, relaying the situation to the Mosmol news stations.

“Hark, Gemini. Would you sacrifice your greatest secret I. order to save these poor victims, these children, the-“

“Yeah man, we get it. We’re some good old damsels in distress. Could you please stop with the bad poetry to save my ears?

Choir and I swerved at the voice, him with a air of annoyance and mine with a hidden grimace. The voice came from the captain of the cheerleader squad, good old Rachael Way. She blew a strand of blond hair from her face and struggled to move her hand to presumably scratch her nose. “Like, there is more normal ways to get a Super to come for you. No need to make us suffer anymore than we need to.”

Choir stepped toward her and squatted, his voice soft yet sinister. “Is there anything else you want to say, kid?”

“Yeah, hope you get your face bashed”. Rachael heft a small amount of spittle at the man’s face, leaving a small mark on the mask that Choir wore. With a growl, Choir grabbed Rachael and tore her away from the rest of the group, sending up a shrill of panic from my friends. Choir took her to the camera, placing a hand to Racheal and holding her yellow top tight by the tag.

“Are you willing to let me hurt this young woman in exchange for your secret? Reveal your identity, or she’ll get her wish of never hearing my poetry again!”, Choir said menacingly. I bit my lip in anger, but there was nothing I could do. No costume, no space to pull heat from, no hands to control it. I needed another hero, but no way any of them could get here so quick-.

“Stop this madness, Choir!” a terribly fake deep voice spoke from behind us all. I turned my head as best I could and my heart stopped with it. There in my peripheral vision stood a dark-skinned teen boy with a silver helmet, black visor, and the dorkiest green vest I had ever seen.

“Oh, March. Weird to see you as the hostage this time,” a voice rang in my head. I rolled my eyes as I activated the small earpiece in my inner ear.

“You will never hold me up to this, Marcus, especially with the costume that you’re wearing”, I silently spoke back.

“Hey, I had a Saiyaman cosplay from last Comic-Com. It works for Chime, ok?”

“Sure thing, man. Now get me out of these damn ropes.”

Marcus nodded with a smile, exclaiming “Do you hear me, Choir?!”

Choir turned toward his cameraman with a look of annoyance once more and threw Rachael to the ground. With a yell, he let out a roaring YES from his mask, the sound waves enough to shake the ground below my feet. Marcus charged as he raised his hands high and released an equal blast of noise, countering the blast as he neared me and the rest of the hostages. With a slam against the ground, he sent shock waves rocketing toward Choir that sent a flood of turf flying forward. Choir crouched and jumped back, his Enhancement braces leaping him out of range. Marcus knelt next to me as he cut the ropes with a blade. With a little sleight of hand, he handed me the Transformation Brace containing my costume.

“You ready to get this guy?”, Marcus asked in my mind. A sly smile grew on my face as I replied to him, “Without question, Chime”. As the rest of my peers stood up, Choir growled loudly, enough for me to hear the nasal from 15 meters away. With another roar, he sent out a blast that made the waves of sound shimmer like mirages.

“Get out of here!” Marcus yelled as he countered once more, the distortion echoing across the field. As the rest of the cheerleader squad ran, I grabbed Racheal and dragged her up as we began following the rest of the group.

“You are insane, girl. Do you really think that Gemini would come that quickly?”, I asked as we sprinted away from the battle”.

“I just hated that guy’s deal. He spoke like an ancient poet with that weird “invocation” of his”.

I laughed silently as we crossed the fence to the football field. With a yell, I saw Marcus fly over me and slam into the hilltop next to us. Racheal ran faster as I faintly trailed behind and finally turned away. Running away to hide behind the bleachers, I whipped the Transformation bracelet around my hand and clenched it tightly. As the mesh of my outfit unfolded around me, I took a deep breath as ice crystals covered my hands. With the taste of metal apparent around me, I sent heat erupting around my body, leaping me over the bleachers with ease as the sudden change in temperature moved the air around me . I saw Marcus attempting to fight off Choir with one Enhancement fist shattered to the side. As Choir readied a roar, I let out a storm of sleet at his body. Colliding with the crack of broken ice, Choir stumbled and leapt back off-kilter. As he landed on the football field with a growl, I boosted myself toward Marcus and heaved him up. With a hand on his shoulder, he glanced down at his broken Enhancement fist.

“I’m guessing you smashed it when he smashed you into the grass?” I remarked as I watched Choir carefully, his heaves a sign of tension as he attempted to stand up.

“Yeah, and that one took 5 hours to make.”

“Oof, you made that one when I was with you studying, weren’t I? That was my favorite one too.”

“Unfortunate. Oh well, maybe next time I’ll make it quicker”.

“You still want to make him pay for it though?”, I asked as I readied a growing ball of flame in one hand and the other expanding shards of ice.

“Without question, Gemini”, Marcus said with a smirk as Choir finally stood up. I cooled the air around me as I sent the fireball at my feet. The pressure pushed toward Choir as Marcus ran with a single fist aimed with distortion at the villain’s chest. As I sent the now-dense shards at Choir’s head, I yelled to him, “Hey, Grace, you regret calling me now?!”