JASON'S POV

******{Flashback}

"What's my greatest superpower?" I asked Blitz during one of our 'in-head' conversations; when I was still new to the hero gig.

I never expected what came next. He said, "You can create anything."

I almost fell off the edge of the skyscraper I was sitting on. "You're kidding me! Tell me you're kidding me."

"Relaround thought our heart palpitation classes were working."

I managed to calm down a bit. My fingers still rapped the rooftop surface as an expression of my glee.

"In short," Blitz began. "You can fire compact streams of electrons like a beam from your eyes which carry trillions of free high energy. At whatever length you decide, these energy particles will restructure at your will and combine to form on that spot, whatever you imagine."

"Cool!" I screamed, fully conscious my armor's mic was muted so no one else could hear me. My elevated height also took care of that.

"That means I can create cages and trap bad guys! Wow, that'll save me the chase!"

"Relax." My body eased on Blitz's command like it just had a really good yoga class.

With a lazily dragged voice, I rebelled. "You've got to stop doing that."

"Acknowledged. But you might need it more often than not. Anyways, like I was saying, that skill alone cuts your power time by seventy percent."

"But it's so good." I whined.

"The amount of concentration and power needed is tremendous, so it must only be used as a last resort or when you know that'll nail the job."

"Alright." I sighed.

********{PRESENT: at the NC Pavilion; late night *still not keeping track of time}

"Blitz, are you sure he's on the roof?" I walked towards the entrance I had barged in through moments ago, striding over the unconscious bodies of Zen's henchmen.

"Affirmative. I sensed a heat signature coming from the elevator. He's probably going to discover that hole you made in the roof of the third floor."

"So?" I replied as I took a look around, all phones were out and cameras were trained on me. Latest models, blinding lights. I was a bit amused to spot June just staring; so apart from the mumbling, videoing guests around about me. Her sea-green eyes twinkled under the effect of the flashlights, but her gaze was steady, her expression curious. I could only imagine the million questions that must have been running round her head.

My lenses tinted as Blitz continued to give me updates. "Well, I'm detecting a radio frequency from an incoming helicopter. Most likely, it's his getaway vehicle, and that hole is his gateway."

As I stepped out of the building, I reassured the guests of their safety right before my jetpack popped out of my back and the millions of micro thrusters ignited with blue lasers, launching me into the sky.

I came up to the NC Pavilion's roof level and was greeted by the sight and noise of a distancing helicopter. Zen hung onto the roll-out ladder of a sleek black chopper as it hovered away. His grey trenchcoat flapped against the air currents. "You're too late!" He laughed triumphantly.

I quirked a brow beneath my suit. Was he joking?

I aimed my fist at his face, closing one eye and zooming in to make sure I had it locked right. When 'target locked' appeared on a holographic display, my armored fist launched out to meet him.

The collision was resounding, and the momentum knocked him right off the ladder into an unconscious free fall. Two electron grappling hooks whipped out from my shoulders. One pierced the chopper and the other wrapped around Zen's torso. His hat fell off his dangling head to reveal a dark mop of hair over an unconscious pale face.

He'll be alright. Right? I winced.

Blitz didn't reply.

I looked up at the chopper, the blades whirling to overcome my weight. If only the pilot knew that I could manipulate the density of my armor's electron-plates.

Creative beams time. I took a deep breath, channeling trillions of electron-plates toward my lenses. They blasted out in glowing blue streams towards the blades of the chopper.

Once they got close enough, they synthesized to form a huge lump of glowing glue before falling on the wings. 'Mayday' screams, and curses boomed from inside. I gently lowered the chopper and Zen with my grappling hooks until they both reached the asphalt. The paparazzi and crowd of fans that were once at the building's entrance now formed a neverending circle around the scene; hollering, squealing, chanting, and snapping. The usuals.

"Make way, make way, police!" Voices chanted simultaneously, and a bunch of officers squeezed to the front of the scene where a few men in gray suits trudged out of the chopper with sulking faces and their hands in the air.

I was hovering in the middle of it all. A new fist had already grown out and replaced the launched one, which now flew back to my armor in the form of streams of electrons and reunited with it, crystalizing on contact. Same with the grappling hooks.

I recognized the cop from the doughnut heist earlier. "Happy one-year anniversary!" He greeted after he handcuffed Zen. "Quite momentous if I might add."

I smirked underneath. My heart melted as the crowd began to chant 'Happy anniversary'. Tears brimmed my eyes, but I manned up and sniffed it in.

"Thank you, everyone. I promise to do even better and make the world more safer." I saluted with two fingers before levitating into the clouds. Once I was out of view, I headed back to the roof.

I was still feeling the love, but now, also the panic. Cops would likely be crawling the NC Pavilion to account for every guest, seeing as we were either celebrities or multi-millionaires. Or both.

I considered the crowd beneath the clouds that could spot me if I dived into the NC Pavilion.

"Blitz, we have cloaking mode, right?"

"Affirmative." He responded, cloaking my suit as he did. Now, I could dive down the clouds undetected and enter the hole I initially made to exit.

"Blitz, I appreciate that you directed me to the top floor discreetly when Zen showed up, but was it necessary to blast a hole through the roof?"

"If you didn't emerge through the door as Tekeon, everyone would suspect that Tekeon was a guest at the NC Pavilion. And as for the exit choice, the walls and roof are literally just dense glass. Either way, it would have been equally destructive of public property."

"Yeah, that's the problem," I muttered as I descended to the second floor through the jagged hole. "I disregarded public property, just like Archer."

"Incorrect. According to the viewpoint of situation ethics, that damage was the right thing to do."

"No way that's true."

Blitz projected a little simulation of his next words in front of my eye space. "Damaging the roof leads to eluding discovery, which leads to continuous, uninterrupted crime fighting, which eventually makes the world a better place."

I hummed in consideration. "I did damage it, though."

"You might have to damage a lot more along the line, so just keep my words in mind."

The sounds of marching feet drew my attention. I jerked my head in their direction. Apparently, I had landed in the center of an all-white-themed kitchen. Policemen stormed in from the far end; about twenty feet away from me. It was a good thing the chefs were in the lounge when I came up here the first time, and even now, I appreciate that again.

Where can I change back? I panicked as they came closer with pistols scanning the place.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stay cloaked. Jason McLean must reappear, if not, the worst might be assumed. Or even worse, the clues might be put together. Convinced that they had already swept the lower floors, I knew I had to make my appearance now or never. So I ducked behind a counter and phased my suit beyond visibility.

What if a camera caught that? Fear gripped me.

"Cops approaching, act as least hero-ish as possible." Blitz dismissed my thoughts, hopefully, to address them when I was in the clear.

"Jason McLean?" A startled voice called, no doubt after spotting my folded, cowering position.

"Officer!" I hugged his knee.

Too extreme. Blitz warned. I ignored him.

"Officers, be careful they're armed men around. I bolted here the moment I spotted one, thank goodness I-"

"You saw them from the onset? Why didn't you call?"

Another cop came by.

"My battery drained." I sniffed. "Of all the days not to charge..."

"Murphy, why are we questioning a celebrity?" The new cop helped me up to my feet and gestured to dust the shoulders of my tuxedo but paused for my confirmation.

Too extreme. I thought, but he was definitely on my side. I preferred not to disturb the order of things. "Sure, go ahead." I said, and he did just that.

"Mr McLean," the first cop, Murphy, crossed his arms as he watched his partner brush off my tuxedo. "I insist you come with us for a brief statement."

"He's a celebrity," His colleague snapped. "Meaning he does the insisting around here."

"Yeah, that's not how the law works." Murphy's expression was bland.

Apparently ignoring Murphy's remark, the other cop continued. "Or do you wanna be on Tekeon's bad side?"

I choked on my saliva. "Excuse me?"

"Surely Tekeon must know about your blog," he craned his head in my direction. " So please don't write anything uncool about me, okay? I'm not ready for a rotten tomatoes reputation. But you can globally give Murphy here a crappy review. I'm sure he won't mind."

"I most certainly would." Murphy glared at his colleague as beads of sweat began to dot his face.
His head then swung my way with a nervous smile. "Look, sir, I'm a newbie at this, just joined two weeks ago, no need to go all out on me. I didn't think you'd be dissatisfied with an interrogation, I was just t-trying to do my job." His voice was almost squeaky.

I liked where this was going. "No, I'm cool with a little interrogation," I said casually with a poker face. "Wouldn't want to bypass the law and become a criminal, now would I?"

By now, Murphy's shirt was almost drenched, his eyes wide with fear. "W-would you still write something about me, Mr McLean Sir?"

"Of course," I hinted at dissatisfaction. "You're a permanent part of my next article. However, your reputation depends on what decision you make, isn't that right, buddy?" I looked towards the other cop who had brushed my tux. He nodded vigorously.

"Why, by all means, Mr McLean, you're a hundred percent clear." Murphy beamed placing one hand on his waist and adjusting his cap with the other.

"Is everything alright here, boys?" Another officer entered earshot.

"Yes!"Murphy boomed. "We've found Jason McLean! Safe and sound, by the way, thank goodness." His smile threatened to tear through his cheeks.

"Jason McLean?" All the cops around perked.

Oh boy. I sighed and dug up a pen from my suit pocket.

Almost immediately after, caps, ticket books, and rolled-up sleeves barricaded me. I clicked my pen.

All the while I was signing autographs, I couldn't help but think about June Austere and how unique she was.

I had met quite several attractive women and declined even more number of relationship offers, but there was something about June that brought a part of me back to life. A part of me that up until then, I didn't know had died.

*****

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened, displaying a desolate ground floor. Well, almost desolate. June and all the other guests were no way to be found. Only a grumpy mayor remained, yelling at some bodyguards and his assistant on the stage. There were also some detectives with briefcases and magnifying glasses snooping around. Whatever they'd achieve with that.

A feeling of hurt settled inside me at the thought that she had left. But before I could process my emotions, my phone rang, and man was I surprised to see the name 'Nic Colin'.''

******************************************

Hey, cool stuff, happy new month!

I hope you enjoyed the update.
As always, it'd be nice to share your thoughts on this chapter or the book so far. Or even about your expectations.

Also, there's a star-shaped button around the screen somewhere that makes writers happy. If you wouldn't mind... :-)

By the way, why's Nic calling?....