Aurora used the sun’s position as a rough guide, angling her flight southwest as she made her way home. The golden light glinted off jewel-like mountain peaks behind her, casting long, crisp shadows across the nd. As she soared, she toyed with her new Sentinels communicator, familiarizing herself with its features.

  She soon discovered an advanced mapping system with a holographic terrain projection—clearly designed for flight-capable heroes. Unlike standard GPS, this one didn’t force her along rigid routes; instead, it functioned like a video game compass, subtly pointing her toward her destination. Much smoother than manually correcting her course every few minutes.

  As she enjoyed the scenic flight, she figured now was a good time to check in at home.

  The call connected almost instantly, and Goonie’s voice greeted her, already full of morning energy. “Hey, my girl! Did you sleep all right? Where are you right now?”

  “I slept great! Had a nice breakfast with Mistral and Mr. Plow.” Leona grinned.

  There was a pause. Then— “Mr… Plow? Is that a nickname for Mistral’s husband?” Goonie ughed.

  From the background, Quinn cackled so hard she almost choked.

  “What?! No! It’s a cat!” Leona huffed. “A super fluffy, snow-loving, loud-purring little gremlin with the softest belly ever.”

  “Riiiight. Sounds legit, I suppose.” Quinn’s voice filtered through the speaker, clearly still amused.

  “It’s a weird name for a cat, but hey, who are we to judge,” Goonie added.

  “He loves snow! And there’s tons of it up here. Oh—by the way, I left Saskatoon a bit ago,” Aurora mentioned casually.

  “Saskatoon?” Goonie’s tone turned a bit more serious. “Way up in Canada? Are you okay? The line’s a little fuzzy.”

  Aurora gnced down at the blurred world rushing past below. Right, she was flying at supersonic speeds. A normal phone call would have been impossible. This communicator tech is insane.

  “I’m fine! Just heading home at top speed. I’ll be back in no time,” she reassured her.

  “Just be safe, okay?” Goonie’s voice softened.

  Aurora smiled warmly. “Of course. Love you!”

  After disconnecting, she opened her email and logged into the secure account she had set up for police correspondence. A new email from Detective Kirby was waiting.

  From: Detective Benjamin KirbySubject: Regarding your test snooping

  Hey,Got a less-than-friendly message from some cops out in Junker—seems they weren’t too happy about your investigation. They pestered me about what business I might have there. Told them if you were looking into something, I hadn’t been informed.

  Still, nothing like a little intimidation to convince me to start poking around myself.

  Stop by the station if you want to hear what I found. I’d rather not send this information over email. Call or swing by when you get the chance.

  —Detective Benjamin Kirby

  Aurora nodded to herself, smiling. Good ol’ Kirby. She’d had a good feeling about him from the start.

  It was funny how natural it felt to say things like that. He’d already proven himself reliable—a solid ally, completely unlike that Ruffino character over in Seaside City.

  Talk about por opposites.

  Ruffino hated heroes, treating them as meddling liabilities, while the rest of Seaside City cheered them on. In San Isidro, the police as a whole were mostly neutral toward her—but Kirby? He was already a steadfast partner.

  Now that she was an official member of the Society of Sentinels, she could finally give Ruffino contact info that wouldn’t risk compromising herself.

  Not that she particurly wanted to hear from her. That woman would probably just use it to compin at me.

  Aurora checked the estimated time of arrival on her communicator, gauging how fast she’d reach home at her current speed. She was still soaring over a mountain range, though most of the snow now clung only to the highest peaks. To the west, a vast pin stretched endlessly, golden in the sunlight.

  Finding herself slightly off course, she adjusted, the wind rushing past her wings a refreshing contrast to the sun's growing warmth. It felt wonderful soaking into her skin, energizing her in ways that only reinforced how different this body was from her normal one.

  She briefly considered discarding her costume to bask in the full radiance of the sun but quickly dismissed the thought. As intimate as the energy felt, it wouldn’t be a good habit to start flying nude. With her luck, some weirdo with a high-powered camera would catch a shot, and she’d end up with unfortunate pictures being spread in certain corners of the internet. She much preferred being a consumer rather than a subject for said circles—especially after stumbling across some of those… creative fan doujins starring Mistral, Bombshell, and Midnight Avenger.

  Come to think of it, she had now met all three of them. Her eyebrows raised at the realization, and she chuckled dryly. Life comes at you fast.

  Pushing her speed to its limit, she blurred across the sky, the ndscape below streaking past. The mountains faded behind her, giving way to vast desert troughs. A fragrant scent rose from the nd beneath, tickling her nose with a spicy sweetness she didn’t recognize. She barely had time to ponder it before a sneeze forced its way out, momentarily breaking her rhythm.

  Shaking it off, she powered forward, crossing another mountain range before golden sun-baked grassnds reemerged below. Almost home.

  The moment the ocean came into view, fnked by the two sprawling coastal cities, she angled toward San Isidro, the proud Gothic sentinel of the west. Activating her communicator, she set a precise destination. “Navigate me to the San Isidro PD’s 24th precinct.”

  The device processed her request instantly, marking the exact location rather than just the city. Aurora followed the guidance down, descending gracefully onto the station steps before walking inside. She fshed a bright smile and waved at the officers in the reception area.

  “Hi, everyone! I’d like to see Detective Kirby.”

  No one needed to fetch him—Kirby emerged moments ter, as if he had expected her. “Aurora! Guess you got my email. Come on back.” He gestured for her to follow.

  Aurora trailed him through the bullpen, where he settled at his desk. Fishing a mani folder from a stack of paperwork, he pced it between them as she took the seat across from him.

  “I don’t know what you’re investigating up in Junkers,” Kirby began, tapping the folder, “but, like I said in my message, I decided to look into the Padua Realignment Camp a bit myself. You can have this, but first, I want to hear your angle. What exactly do you suspect?”

  Aurora exhaled. “Brainwashing kids, among other things,” she said bluntly. “I’ve already found out that they’re kept out of the sun six days a week. They have slogans and creeds drilled into them until they practically colpse. It’s not healthy.”

  Kirby nodded, sliding the folder toward her. “There’ve been allegations against that pce for years,” he said grimly. “But every single investigation ended the same way—local authorities found ‘no wrongdoing.’ Thirty-five times. Same allegations. All dismissed. No way, no how. And it’s always some variation of child abuse or false imprisonment.” He scoffed. “So, what led you to this?”

  Aurora frowned as she opened the folder. “I know one of the girls inside. Her parents sent her there.” Her voice hardened slightly. “She’s afraid—of punishment, of her parents, of everything. And from what I saw, she has every right to be. The way she was treated… she already seems traumatized.”

  She took a steadying breath before continuing. “The local cops are in that camp’s pocket. They defend Padua like personal security guards. When they took her into custody, they used unnecessary force—she wasn’t even resisting.”

  Kirby’s lips twisted. “Sounds about right.”

  “They clearly know they can get away with whatever they’re doing,” Aurora continued. “The weirdest part? They knew exactly where to find us, way too fast. I flew us out of the camp but I barely had time to talk to her before they were on us.” She shook her head. “And now, they’ve wrung a promise out of me not to ‘viote their airspace.’ Whatever that means, technically.”

  Kirby leaned back, his expression unreadable. “Look, best move here is letting us handle it internally. If we can get your girl to testify, we’ll have enough to dig deeper. We might even be able to track down other kids who were sent there and see if they’ll talk. Any chance of that? Or do you have another lead we can follow?”

  “I don’t know much else,” Aurora admitted, her voice edged with frustration. “The camp’s probably punishing her already for what she told me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got her in isotion. If I’d known for sure how bad it was before I got there, I wouldn’t have hesitated—I’d have just taken her, legal consequences be damned.” She shook her head, feeling the weight of helplessness settle in.

  Kirby studied her for a long moment before nodding. “I can tell you care about this girl a lot,” he said. “But don’t let that drive you to do something reckless. You’ve got a future ahead of you, and it’s not worth throwing that away. As much as it sucks, we have to py this by the book.” His fingers tapped the folder lightly before sliding it across the desk. “That said, I’ll do everything I can to dig into this. In the meantime, you can ‘borrow’ these files. Let me know if you spot anything I might’ve missed.”

  Aurora reached out and took the folder, then extended her other hand. Kirby grasped it in a firm shake.

  “Thanks, Detective. A lot has happened in the st day or so,” she added, digging into her pocket and pulling out her membership card. Flipping it between her fingers, she fshed him a grin. “For example, I’m officially a Basic member of the Society of Sentinels now. You can use my secure contact through them if you need to reach me. I had my old email forwarded to this one, but I doubt we’ll need it much.”

  Kirby gave a small smirk as he took down the information. “Well, it’s nice to have something more secure than a random throwaway email.”

  Aurora smiled as she turned to leave, waving at the other officers before rocketing into the sky.

  The familiar skyline of San Isidro greeted her as she descended into the wooded copse behind the condo. After touching down lightly and releasing her transformation, she hopped the low property wall and made her way toward the back patio.

  And immediately, her brain short-circuited.

  Quinn was sunbathing. Which, in and of itself, wasn’t surprising. But the tiny g-string she was wearing absolutely was.

  Leona’s jaw dropped. She cannot be serious… The amount of bare skin on dispy was enough to send her face into a nuclear meltdown. Recovering, she stomped over, hands on her hips.

  “That’s… bold,” she said, her voice caught between exasperation and incredulity. “You do realize you’re basically fshing the whole neighborhood, right?”

  Quinn smirked, cracking one eye open. Her hair was now a vibrant green—yet another new dye job. “I needed an even tan. The less fabric, the better.” She stretched zily, entirely unbothered. “I’d go full nude, but even I’m not that shameless.”

  Leona gave her an unimpressed stare.

  Quinn grinned. “Oh, come on. I’m back here where no one can see me.” She flicked her sungsses down to peer over the top of them. “So, you spent the night in Canada, huh?”

  Just thinking about st night made Leona’s entire body go red-hot. She stiffened, her breath hitching. “Y-yeah?”

  Quinn sat up lightning-fast, her smirk stretching into something positively wicked. “Oh. My. GOD. I was gonna tease you about how you stayed warm up in that cold but you slept with her, didn’t you? Your freaking mentor!”

  Leona’s hands shot up, waving frantically. “N-no, it wasn’t like that! She’s not some kind of pervert! I won’t let you—”

  “Can it, twerp.” Quinn flopped back down with a satisfied grin. “So, you finally punched your V-card, huh? And here I thought you were gonna be all heroic and noble for a while longer.” She cackled. “Certified adult now, I guess. Between that, your police connections, and the whole ‘official superhero’ thing, you’re moving fast.”

  Leona covered her face, groaning. “Don’t tell Mom.” Her voice was muffled through her palms. “I don’t know how she’d react, but I really don’t want her to think badly of Mistral.”

  Quinn shrugged, rolling onto her stomach. “Yeah, yeah, your secret’s safe. Not that it’d take a genius to figure it out, judging by the steam shooting out of your ears.” She smirked. “So? You were Aurora when it happened, right?”

  “Of course,” Leona muttered, still beet-red. “I’m eighteen in that form. It’s fine. And who even knows how old Bck Angel was before? A few hundred years? More?” She shook her head. “Besides, she cares about me. She respects me. She even talked about fighting alongside me.”

  Quinn hummed, drumming her fingers against the lounge chair. “Hmm. Super long-distance retionship, though. That’s rough. What are you gonna do when she’s around a bunch of other hot heroes making her ugh and smile?”

  Leona flinched. “I… I don’t know.” She worriedly chewed at her lip. “I hear long-distance retionships can be tough. But… is it different when you’re superheroes? I mean, when I can just fly to see her whenever?”

  Quinn shrugged again. “Guess it depends.” She suddenly shifted, slipping behind Leona and pulling her into a surprise bear hug from behind.

  “But hey,” she teased, “at least you got some good snuggles out of it. Just as Aurora, right?”

  Leona nodded, still flustered. “Yeah. We haven’t cuddled while I’m normal yet.” She hesitated, then admitted, “I’d really like to hug her in my real form.”

  “Did you do this to her?” Quinn started molesting Leona’s breasts. “This is how it’s done, ya know.”

  Leona fidgeted and squirmed, red-faced. “I… I snuggled and nuzzled them… I didn’t know what to do… but she seemed to love it…”

  “Your big sis knows what girls like, so I’ll demonstrate a bit…”

  Leona squirmed, completely red-faced. “Q-Quiiiinnn! Cut it out! Someone could see you molesting your little sister!”

  Quinn cackled again. “Maybe if you cry for Mistral, she’ll swoop in to rescue you—only to find you getting groped by your big sis.” She punctuated that with a squeeze before finally releasing her.

  Leona staggered forward, flustered beyond reason. “You’re impossible!” She wiped at her face, gring at her cousin, who just flopped back onto her chair with a zy grin.

  Quinn stretched, utterly unbothered. “You’re the one who went and got id by your freaking mentor on day one. Like, I expected you to maybe pine for her forever, but actually going for it right away and it working?” She snickered. “I do gotta say, I’m impressed. Never pegged her for a cradle robber though.”

  Leona groaned, covering her face. “It wasn’t like that… She’s not some kind of a pervert.” Her voice softened as she peeked through her fingers. “She’s actually really… kind. She likes me. And she makes me feel… I dunno, like I actually matter.”

  Quinn eyed her for a second before shrugging. “Well, let no one doubt you share my bloodline. And if she makes you happy, that’s what counts, huh?” She flicked her hand. “Long-distance or not, if it works, it works.”

  Leona nodded but shook herself out of her mushy thoughts. “A-Anyway! Look at this!” She yanked out her Society ID card and held it up proudly. “Ever seen one of these? Isn’t it awesome?”

  Quinn squinted at the sleek, transparent card. “Yeah, wow. A piece of gss.” She deadpanned. “Super impressive. You gonna start a collection of fancy broken windows next?”

  Leona huffed and tapped the surface. Instantly, the card’s holographic dispy lit up, crisp and vibrant, showing her official identification. Her portrait, name, and Sentinel membership rank hovered in glowing letters.

  Quinn’s smirk faltered. “Whoa…” Her eyes widened as she snatched it before Leona could react. “What the hell? This is insane—it doesn’t even look like tech!”

  “Hey! Be careful with that!” Leona yelped, reaching for it.

  Quinn ignored her, flipping the card around in fascination. “Does it py music?” she mused, fingers already poking at the controls.

  Leona froze. “D-does it look like it has a speaker?”

  Quinn’s grin turned sharp. “No, but…” She tapped something, and suddenly, dubstep bsted into both of their heads through the communicator’s neural interface.

  Leona groaned. “Oh, crap…”

  Completely unfazed, Quinn immediately started jamming out, her head bobbing in perfect sync with the beat. Then, as if to make things worse, she broke into a full-on dance, rolling her hips in a way that should not have been legal in that barely-there bikini.

  Leona colpsed onto the patio floor with a strangled whimper. “Why are you like this?!”

  Quinn just cackled once more, spinning on her heel like a malfunctioning wind-up toy. “Sis, you gotta admit, this thing’s awesome! It’s like a VIP backstage pass to the superhero world!”

  “Nooo! Give me that back!” Leona pouted and furiously chased after Quinn.

  This was exactly why Quinn could never be trusted with high-tech gadgets.

  One gnarly beat-dropping session ter, Quinn returned Leona’s card with a grin. “This thing is way fun, but it’s yours. I guess it’s like a phone too. And it pys in your head? Can you talk to it telepathically?”

  Leona snatched it back and pouted. “No… that didn’t work. I tried. I have to talk out loud for it to hear, but I’m guessing it beams sound straight to your cochlea somehow. That’s why it feels like it’s in your head. It might have a limited AI too—not like a personality or anything, but a ‘smart’ interface.” She pocketed it.

  “They told me I could run any app from any ptform, but Mistral said that’d be a huge security risk. A way to track you remotely, for instance. I think I’m going to use it instead of my normal phone except for school. It’s handier and lighter than my regur smartphone. I called Mom on the way home on it, and the sound canceltion is amazing. Maybe it predicts what background noise is disruptive and processes it out in advance? Anyway, the flight from Saskatoon took just three hours.”

  “It was central Canada or something like that flying back here. It’s a bit far for a casual visit, though not too bad, actually. Did you know Mistral can teleport? ...Of course you do. You saw when we left, right?”

  Quinn nodded and chuckled. “Seeing that had me questioning life and the ways of the world, I gotta say. Not like we don’t know there’s a ton of weird things in the universe we don’t understand, but to have one of those things show up in your kitchen... Well, you know.”

  Leona followed Quinn back into the house. They went their separate ways inside, and the moment Quinn headed to her room to grab a towel, Leona’s communicator beeped.

  It was a text from Mistral! She blushed, peeked around, then darted up to her room, leaning against the door as soon as she closed it.

  “Yay! A message!” she squeed.

  NocturneWarden: Did you make it home alright? How was the weather

  between Saskatoon and San Isidro?

  Leona grinned and spoke, answering the message using the dictation function. “I made it with no problems. It was a fun flight! It’s so weird to not be tired after doing something like crossing, like, 1,500 miles… or is that how far it is in kilometers? I’m still thinking about you. I miss you already. How did css go? Good, I hope! Lots of my love! Aurora.”

  She sent it happily and waited, fiddling and fidgeting.

  A reply came!

  NocturneWarden: Good to hear it! I’m still thinking about you too, Aurora.

  I can’t help daydreaming about you from time to time. Maybe we should

  meet every other week?

  Kyaaaaaa! She wanted to meet again! Leona practically danced.

  She started replying, but another message came in, interrupting her before she could start dictating.

  It was an email from Detective Kirby.

  From: Detective Benjamin KirbySubject: About the camp

  I have another possible instance of something unusual regarding The Padua Realignment Camp. A couple of compints about outndish charges and hush money. There may be a lot here. I’ll send you an update.

  —Detective Benjamin Kirby

  Leona smiled and responded quickly, typing it directly into the communicator.

  From: [email protected]Subject: RE: About the camp

  Thank you, Detective. I appreciate the info. Please keep me updated. I’ll look it over.

  She sent the email and returned to Mistral’s, dictating her response.

  “That’d be nice! You’re my first girlfriend, so I don’t know how all this works. Since we’re both busy, it seems like every other week is probably the best we can do for now. I’m looking forward to the next time! I’ll be dreaming about you! I will text you if something bothers me since I have a super experienced girlfriend now. I’m blushing so much!”

  She reviewed it for mistakes, wiggled in excitement, and hit send.

  She really wanted to see Mistral more. Like, right now. But she couldn’t be selfish. She knew how important Mistral was to her country, and she was probably going to be busy too.

  As long as Mistral wanted to see her too—as much as her heart ached to see her every second and to cuddle with her cute kitty—she thought she could be brave and be okay for her new lover.

  Kyaaaa!