"Canopy"

I watched the sky, its fluffy clouds all over the place, making so many shapes of so many different sizes.

They're all so different. Just like us.

And as I was submerged in my inner monologue, to my side, my best friend, Germaine, slapped her arm, itching it vigorously as she muttered, "Gosh, stupid mosquitoes everywhere. I hate them."

I laughed, watching her swat away mosquitoes in vain, "Well, thank god mosquitoes never come after me."

"Stop rubbing it in. I just have nice blood, and you..." She looked me up and down, in mock disgust, "No wonder they stay away from you," She muttered, letting out a laugh at the end.

I smacked her on the head, my height a huge advantage compared to her mini figure, "Dumbass."

We laughed heartily for a few minutes before my bestie stopped, turning around to face me, her eyes narrowing, "No, but really, why don't these mosquitoes go after you? Of all people?"

I gulped. Shit.

"Ugh," She grumbled, facing forward once again as if she hadn't just asked me a question that had possibly taken years away from my life, "If only I had your superpower."

I stopped.

"Superpower?"

"Yeah, not getting mosquito bites. I mean like, wouldn't that be awesome?" She jabbed my chest, "Oh wait, you already know what that feels like."

I rolled my eyes, my walking pace gradually increasing as my heart began to thump faster. Right. Superpower.

Germaine gave me a weird look, her features scrunching up in confusion. But within a split second, it was gone, replaced with her usual airy and chill vibe, as she began to walk me back to my dorm, chit-chatting away the whole way there.

---

I stumbled into my room, gasping for breath. I knew Germaine had just asked the question casually with no actual suspicion behind it, but it still rocked me to the core.

Should I be keeping this a secret?

I didn't know. I really didn't.

It'd only been a few weeks since I myself had found out,.. and I had no effing idea what to do even.

Tell my best friend? Or keep it a secret?

I sighed, glancing over my shoulder with my back arched as I willed for my power to reveal itself, and slowly, from under the back of my t-shirt, a pair of thin translucent wings emerged, stretching under the dim light of my room after having been hidden for too long.

But things can't stay hidden forever.

"What the shi-"

My head swivelled to my room door, where my best friend stood, her mouth agape in shock as her eyes stared unblinkingly at the wings that had literally just grown out of my back just a few seconds ago.

F*ck.

---

"Oh! You're a superhero now!" Germaine exclaimed as she sat on my bed drinking the hot cocoa I had made to calm her down.

I sighed. It had taken me forever to get her to stop staring at my wings in shock and actually start talking and listening to what I had to say, and there she was talking all that nonsense about superheroes.

I didn't even have a proper superpower for god's sake!

"What? No, I'm not a superhero. I'm not a heroine or whatever shit. I'm nothing."

"You have wings." She pointed out bluntly, slurping loudly as she gulped down the warm drink.

"Yeah, which do nothing."

"Have you tried flying using them?"

"What-" I paused, thinking, "No. I haven't."

Germaine raised an eyebrow, "Well, with those wings, you obviously can. Do you have any other powers?"

"No! No other powers. None at all," I grumbled, still frustrated over all of Germaine's "superhero powers" talk. When I had suddenly woken up one day to a pair of wings attached to my back, I had freaked the hell out, but I also found out that I did things as per normal and could even retract the wings back in.

So, I was pretty much normal except for the presence of a pair of wings.

"You sure?" Germaine mumbled, "This is just like a classic fantasy novel. You should be getting powers right now..." Her eyes widened as the pitch of her voice increased, "You should join the Heros Union!! They'll know exactly what powers you have and you'll become a part of an amazing organisation! Dude-"

"Ew no," I muttered, only to be met with Germaine's confused expression, "They're all complete shitholes. They call themselves 'heroes' and yet go around the nation showing off and literally not doing any shit. Like, have they ever once saved anyone? All they have is some stupid powers for show. They might as well be villains."

"Oh... Oof, I didn't know you hated them this much. But they're the only people with superpowers in this entire nation. Isn't it best to go to them for help?"

I groaned, laying flat on my bed, "No. As far as the world knows, I don't have any wings."

"No! Dude my best friend has superhero abilities and she doesn't even want to try being one," Germaine cried, smacking me with my pillow multiple times.

"OW-" I muttered as she surprise attacked me with the palm of her hand hitting against my shoulder. "Gosh, just stop with the abuse already. Ugh, I'll do it!"

Germaine grinned, "Yay!"

And that's how I ended up training every night with my best friend to become a 'superhero'.

---

I stared at the floor below me, my eyes wide as saucers and my heart skipping a beat.

Holy shit.

I was hovering above ground.

I was levitating.

I was flying.

I glanced over my shoulder at my wings which flapped against the wind as I was lifted a few more feet above my apartment rooftop.

"Whooop!" Germaine shouted excitedly, grinning from ear to ear, "I told you we just need to practice!!"

Oh my god.

She had been right.

I actually was a superhero.

I had powers. I have powers.

"What do you wanna call yourself?!" She shouted from down below, her hair whipping in the wind.

I stared off into the distance, watching the fast zipping of the hundreds of mosquitoes present in the quiet dark night."Kounoúpi," I mumbled.

"What?!"

I said it again, louder this time round.

"Canopy?!"

I felt like slapping her, "IT'S KOUNOÚPI DUMBASS."

Germaine gave me a look, "Well, okay then, Canopy it is."

- - -

Germaine and I trained almost everyday, but flying was all I could do, and I was horrible at it.

Horrible.

But what I realised was that somehow I was getting a lot faster. I could run much faster than before. Hell, I couldn't even run before.

But I wasn't going to tell Germaine that. No way. She'd probably make me run laps around the whole nation if she found out.

I groaned, plopping onto the ground.

"How are you so tired when we don't even train that hard? All you do is fly," Germaine muttered, climbing onto my bed and giving me an expression that screamed "LAZY BUM".

I scoffed, "Shut it already."

Germaine shrugged, a smirk lighting up her features, "Sure."

She left, taking my entire jug of apple juice with her. That thief.

I laughed, pulling myself up, and just as I was about to put the mouth of a bottle of cold water to my lips, the glass bottle shattered into a million pieces in my hands, raining glass shards and ice cold water all over my carpet.

Someone had shot the bottle.

I ducked, my heart beating at the speed of race cars. Oh no no no no.

Within a second, something hard and metal-like was slammed against my head.

I felt so dizzy. Everything was a blur. The world was spinning.

And as my senses slowly lost their abilities, I was able to gauge that I was being dragged by my hair to the rooftop, where multiple people dressed in black awaited me.

I squinted. No, it couldn't be, right?

There before me stood the Heroes Union themselves, dressed in their signature black uniform. And in the middle of their huge group? Their leader.

Their core.

My very best friend.

"Ah, Canopy. We meet at last," Germaine smirked, taking a step towards me, "I never understood why you chose such a stupid name. But hey, I guess you really did want to be a hero, huh? Canopy. Shelter. A symbol of safety. Dayum, I always knew that you were good at literature but god, this? Hah..." She stepped closer until our faces were just a mere centimetres apart, "You will never be a hero. You were right... You're nothing."

I gritted my teeth. I should have known.

I could see her fist coming at my face. I dodged.

Germaine laughed a laugh filled with so much snark it left goosebumps, "Ah, here comes your fight reflex... Do you think you'll actually be able to fight me? All you have is your goddamn flying."

I continued to stay silent. I need a plan. Gosh, my mind was a mess.

Her feet were approaching my thighs fast. I stepped back.

A knife came swinging to the left of my face. A hammer about to be slammed down on my head. An axe aiming at my head.

Dodge, dodge, dodge.

I ran about, oblivious to the speed at which I was travelling, as I avoided all the attacks against me.

Holy crap.

How the hell had I done that?

I had known about my speed, but my crazy reaction time? And special awareness? What the hell.

As far as I knew, I had been the slowest creature on the planet, my brain speed included.

And now I was dodging multiple attacks all at once?

I wasn't the only surprised one. Germaine's jaw was hanging from her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

She hadn't been expecting that.

I smirked, "I suspected you for a while now. I'm not that dumb you know," That was the truth. I had noticed that she had been acting suspicious, but leader of the Heroes Union? Wow. "And guess what? I've been training in secret," Lie. "And honing my abilities," Lie. "So many new powers, you have no idea," Another lie. "You don't know how powerful I truly am," Biggest effing lie in the world.

I backed away, building my ego with each word I said.

I had to get away. I couldn't possibly survive anymore attacks from them.

"Hah..." Germaine her eyes bright, "HAHAHAHAHAHA THAT? Gosh, you amuse me. That's nothing, darling. We're the heroes. Obviously we have some superpowers up our sleeves," She smirked, raising her hands to the sky.

Lightning shot from the dark clouds that filled the once clear night sky. I jumped. The lightning hadn't even made a sound! Not a single sizzle, like all those movie ones do.

Oh sh*t.

I fell to the ground and scrambled back as Germaine approached, her eyes filled with mania and her hands buzzing with electricity.

I knocked my head against a knee in my sad attempt to escape, looking up to see another Hero, his eyes hidden behind his cool sunglasses.

He wasn't just any Hero.

He was a powerful one.

I recognised the uniform of the high ranking Heroes, the colour draining from my face as my body just fell from his leg.

HOLY MOTHERFU-

Density control.

Oh God help me.

And suddenly, as though God had answered my prayer, I knew exactly what I had to do. I opened my eyes, coming face to face with my maniacal ex-best friend.

The other Hero stood, laughing at me, his leg now back to being solid.

I gulped. He could make the things around me swallow me up with the flick of a hand.

I gritted my teeth, ignoring Germaine's classic villain speech. I stretched my hand out, careful to make sure no one saw.

"Shut up," I murmured, interrupting Germaine's constant yapping, "You're distracting me."

Germaine stopped, "Excuse me, bit-"

I grinned, "There's so much I can do," Yeah, right, I didn't even know what the hell I was doing.

Just follow God's lead.

I clenched and unclenches my fist, snarling at Germaine as stylets grew from my fingers.

Mosquito stylets.

Within in a second I had stabbed the laughing Hero's leg, smiling as he writhed in pain.

But things don't always go according to plan.

Germaine pushed against my chest, sending multiple bolts of electricity through my body.

Oh, God, why?

Darkness engulfed me.

—-

I woke up in a glass box.

No, really, I was sprawled all over the ground in a glass cage.

I slowly got to my feet, greeted by Germaine's smug voice, "Oh, look who's finally up. Guess you're little trick wasn't really useful after all, huh?"

I slammed my fist against the wall, screaming, "Let me out! HEY!"

Germaine grinned, "Oh Ho, Canopy, you silly little human."

I was seething with rage. How dare she?!

How dare she.

I stopped everything, my shoulders falling limp to my side, my head facing down, my voice low and soft, "Did you know..." I raised my head, "that you only need to lose 0.53 gallons of blood to.." I smirked, "die?"

The room was buzzing.

Getting louder.

And louder.

I smiled at Germaine and the Union, pointing at the air, "Kounoúpi."

Thousands of mosquitoes filled the room, their eyes locked on their prey, Germaine Hunter.

I was ready, "Die, @$&*#."

Flying to the top of the box, I closed my eyes, visualising my powers flourishing. I placed a hand on the glass wall, opening my glowing eyes.

"N-No..!" Germaine let out, her eyes widening, "H-how did you... How can you- H-his p-powers? No... That can't be possible."

I laughed, flying through the glass, the atoms spreading apart and letting me exit the big box, "Hero DNA..." I hovered a few centimetres before the Hero's Union leader, "carries their powers."

I twirled a strand of my hair, "Confused?"

I put my hair before her face, my fingers transforming to stylets as they pierced her skin slowly.

Germaine's face was dripping with blood, "C-Canopy... plea.. p-please,"

I laughed snarkily, my voice increasing decibel by decibel, "IT'S KOUNOÚPI, DUMBASS."

I finished her off.

Flying off from the crime scene, I realised that she was right. I wasn't a hero.

I was far better than that.

I was half-human, half-mosquito.

The ultimate heroine.

Bonus | "a catchphrase"

"IT'S KOUNOÚPI, DUMBASS!"