!!Notice from the author!!
There have been some changes on the previous chapter, check back through the last few paragraphs because there's bound to be confusion otherwise 😂

New York, Queens

B.L.U. Facilities 

19:31 

"Holy hell what the hell is going on here?!" Aaron exclaims as soon as the building he had been living inside for the past days comes into view. There's a huge fire on the upper floors as smoke comes out from most of the windows. Below the building there are also a ton of police cars as well as a firefighting vehicle. "I need to get inside!" The teenager quickly voices as soon as he gets close enough to the building. Without hesitation, he slips through one of the floor windows and comes face to face with a complete mess of a room. "Dr.Steinn!" He yells as he starts running through the floor. "Dr. Steinn! Where are you?!" He continues to shout before an explosion occurs causing half of the upper floor to come down. In response Aaron lunges to the side and gets back up quickly. "Shit! The fire's getting pretty bad. Where is everyone?" As he contemplates on that same matter his phone starts to ring. Aaron quickly pulls it out and is relieved to see who's calling. "Dr. Steinn, I'm here! On which floor are you?!" He wastes no time asking as he picks up the phone. "Good! I'm on the 93rd floor! Come quick!" With that the scientist ends the call. "93rd… 93rd…" Aaron mumbles anxiously as he heads for the staircase. "Come on!" He shouts in frustration as soon as he realizes that the staircase he's been looking for is blocked by debris. "I'm on the 89th floor… How do I go up four?!" He voices anxiously yet again as the cogs in his head start spinning feverishly. Suddenly he looks out the closest window and looks tempted to walk towards it. 

No that's crazy…

But it may be the only way!

Man up for once!

After giving himself a mental pep talk he walks to the window and opens it swiftly. As he peeks out and looks down, he inadvertently gulps. "Okay… one… two…" Aaron says as he puts both feet on the window frame. "THREE!" He exclaims as he jumps out and looks up to the building. "One… two…" He counts the windows as he floats in the air. "Three…. Four! There!" He gives off a battle cry as he throws his hooks towards the designated spot. Thankfully they land next to the window he wanted to enter so he smoothly slips through. As soon as he does he notices that the smoke is a lot thicker there and the fire feels way hotter. "Dr. Steinn!" Aaron calls out yet again. "In here!" But this time he gets a response. The teenager quickly follows the voice as he opens a door to an office. He's greeted by the scientist who's trapped behind the desk by two fallen pillars. "What took you so long, kid?!" He shouts while waving his arms. "I'll get you out!" Aaron voices as he wastes no time. He sprints forward and starts lifting the first of the two giant pillars. "GYAAHH!" He exclaims as he throws it aside. "Now for the next one! AGH!" The teenager quickly tosses aside the next one without breaking a sweat. As soon as he does the man runs out the room and Aaron quickly follows. "We WILL talk later. Right now you need to get to the 95th floor. There are more people trapped there!" The scientist orders while trying to catch his breath. "How many people are we talking about?" Aaron asks as Steinn furrows his brow. "About 5! We lost contact with them when the building started collapsing and the staircase was blocked! They're trapped and can't get down! There's also a little kid there!" He explains. "A kid? What's a kid doing here?!" The teenager asks as the scientist shakes his head. "She is my assistant's daughter! Now let's go! We don't have the time! A rescue helicopter should be coming soon!" He explains as he walks to the window. "Let's go then!" Aaron says as he picks him up and jumps out without warning. "Are you fucking nuts?!" The scientist shouts as he looks straight to the hard ground. "Rooftop it is!" The teenager announces as he hooks and zips himself to the very top of the building. 

"Wait here!" Aaron says as he lets the man down and jumps out yet again. "95th…" He mumbles as he checks each window in his perimeter. "There!" He calls out while gliding inside with the help of his tools. As soon as he's inside he instinctively inhales and starts coughing. "...The smoke here is the worst I've seen up until now…" He comments as he continues to cough. "...Can anybody hear me?!" He takes a deep breath before shouting which makes the smoke inhalation even worse. "Yes! We're in here!" He follows a female voice he heard and finds himself inside a big meeting room. There's 5 people exactly like Steinn said. Two females, a kid, and two males. All of them wearing lab coats. At first glance, some pieces from the upper floor seem to have fallen down in between them and the exit, stranding them inside the room. "I'll get you out so hang in there!" Aaron says as he jumps up to the big round table in the center and jumps up to the upper floor through the hole that has been already created. "I'll pull you up so let's go one at a time!" Aaron explains as he stretches his hand out above their heads. They all nod to each other as they start taking turns. First goes the kid, then one of the women, presumably her mother, a male scientist, the other woman and lastly the remaining male worker. "Who are you?" A man asks him as they all reach the presumed safety of the upper floor. "You can call me Wraith. Now let's get out of here!" He announces as they all walk away from the hole beneath their feet. "WOAHHH!" "AAAAH!" Before they can all proceed cries rings out as the floor beneath the girl's and her mother's feet crumbles and they find themselves falling to a large pit of fire. "Oh no you don't!" Aaron voices as he teleports just in time to reach them and grabs both of their hands. "...I got... you!" He says in between coughing. The teenager quickly pulls them up as they join the others. "This floor doesn't look like it's gonna last long. We need to get out of here!" The male scientist says as he waves his arms around. "But how?!" The other female inquires. "We'll take turns and-" "Watch out!" Aaron shouts as he notices the upper floor crumbling. "Get down everybody!" He orders as he shields them from the falling objects which consists of all forms of debris. By stretching out his arms and touching the wall in front of him, he successfully managed to hold back the debris from falling onto the civilians by blocking them with his body. "Are you okay?!" The mother asks concerned while crouching below him. "Great!" Aaron comments as he winces in pain. "I'll hold them up until you're clear! Go!" He continues as the debris starts feeling heavier by the second. "You heard him, let's go!" The male worker voices as he takes the lead and moves away. The others follow his example and as soon as they're all in the clear Wraith teleports away as the pieces of rubble hit the ground. "Are you sure you're okay?" The male scientist asks as he touches Aaron's shoulder. "Yeah I'll just be a little sore later, nothing to worry about. Now let's get the hell out of here!" He says while picking the man up and over his shoulder. "What?!" He exclaims, surprised. "You, miss. If you can carry your daughter on your back, then I'll carry you on mine. "Okay! Come here, sweetie!" The mother replies while picking up her child. "You too miss, I hope you don't mind." Aaron says as he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder too. "And you mister, are going to have the most fun out of all!" The teenager playfully comments as he grabs the back of his shirt and jumps out the window fully loaded and ready to go. Dr. Steinn said the hooks can lift almost 600 kg so why not test it…? 

He thinks to himself as he hooks the 6 of them to the top of the building, where a helicopter can be heard. As they reach the rooftop it sounds like the civilians are on a rollercoaster ride as they shout and cry out however they can. 

We're here!" Aaron announces as he lets them down. 

"See? I told you they'd come!" Dr. Steinn says knowingly as he talks to one of the firefighters. "Quickly! Get inside!" The other firefighter orders everyone waving his arms in the direction of the helicopter. Of course, everyone hastily obliges, everyone but Aaron that is. "Come on, masked man, what are you waiting for?!" The firefighter hisses angrily as the helicopter threatens to take off. "Nah I can get back down on my own, but thanks." The teenager casually replies as he jumps away from the building. "See you back on the ground!" He says while waving his arms before firing off one of his hooks. 

New York, Queens 

B.L.U. Facilities 

19:48

A couple of minutes later, as everyone has evacuated from the burning building and more firefighting helicopters have arrived, the situation seems to be in control. Aaron, who has just landed on the ground, is looking at the helicopter that is attempting to do the same. Not long after, the vehicle flying touches the ground and the rescued civilians come flooding outside with cries of pure joy. All of them but Steinn, who walks straight to the teenager standing alone and yanks him away. "We need to talk." He says sternly as he drags him behind a firetruck, and away from everybody's eyes. "What's wrong?" Aaron says with a perplexed expression. "What the hell were you doing while I was calling you?! It was a freaking emergency in case you didn't notice!!" Dr. Steinn lashes out at him. "So there was this girl and…" Aaron tries to explain but is cut off immediately. "A Girl! Because of a GIRL you decided to neglect your duties?!" The scientist's rage is slowly increasing. "What difference does it make?! I saved everyone, didn't I?!" Aaron lashes out himself but that happens to be the last drop for the man before him. With a quick movement of his hand he smacks him across the face. "You saved everyone, you say?! Have you any idea how many people died today?! 4 people! 4 of my colleagues are dead because you were too late today!" Steinn growls angrily. "What…?" Aaron is completely taken by surprise. "Listen kid, I didn't bring you back to life or made you superhuman just so you could play the cool guy with the ladies, you get that!? You're entitled to your duties now. Duties far more important than anything else! And it was YOUR duty to save those people but you FAILED!" The man shouts as every word feels like a knife to the teenager's heart. 

"Life ain't all sunshine and rainbows, kid. People die. And if you're not here to stop that, then that number will just keep on increasing day by day." 

"I thought I was only here to stop the mutants…" 

"You were. But seeing all those people that needed your help today, are you willing to neglect them? If you have the power to save them, why not use it?" Steinn calmly states. "I'm mad at you because I know you can do better. You can be better. Better than that. But today you let some people die, let that sink in." And with those words the man leaves him alone with his thoughts. 

I let people die… What if they had families? 

What if I'm the reason some kid's life was ruined this day…? 

Just like my own 5 years ago…

As warm tears roll down his cheeks and into his mask. "Mum! Isn't that the man who saved us?" The little girl from earlier says as she drags her mother along. "Yes it is sweetie!" She replies with a smile as they stand in front of him. "Thank you so much for earlier! You truly saved us! I can never thank you enough!'  The girl's mother says as she gently grabs Aaron's hands. "Really… thank you!" She gently squeezes them as Aaron smiles warmly behind his mask. "Don't mention it." He replies gently. "Come on Olivia, say thank you." The mum says urging on her daughter. "Thank you for saving us!" The little girl says loudly and energetically. "You're welcome! Is your name Olivia?" Aaron asks as he crouches in front of her. "Yes!" She replies with a toothy grin. "You have a really sweet name, you know that?" He says with a smile. "Her father picked it." Her mother says with a warm smile of her own. "Mister, why are you wearing a mask?" The little girl asks, tilting her head to the side. "Because I like to keep my personal life private." He simply replies.

 "We'll be going now, again, thank you so much!" The mother says as he grabs her daughter.

"I'll give you one of my drawings next time!" The little girl says waving her hand. 

"Haha thanks!" Aaron waves back. 

Let's just hope we don't meet under these circumstances ever again…

He thinks to himself as he walks back in the crowd of people.

"Hey it's you!"

"That's the guy who saved us!" 

"That's the same guy that was on the news today too!"

"You're a hero man!" 

All kinds of voices start ringing out as people notice Aaron's presence on the street. Slowly but surely, people start applauding one after another. Even the police officers who would normally try to arrest him, are just standing there looking at the scene that's unfolding right before their eyes. As Aaron's heart wails still from the talk he had with Steinn, he can't help but feel a little bit of satisfaction as he listens to the applause aimed at him. 

I gotta be more responsible from here on out…

I can't let this happen ever again. 



You might think that the way Dr. Steinn said all that was a bit too much. But what he said was true. The truth is I let some people die today. And I have to atone for that. 

Here's hoping that I can find a little bit of balance between both of those lives I have to live from now on...

Maybe being a teenage hero ain't so easy after all, huh?

*End of Part 1*