The silence was deafening as I trailed behind him, guilt twisting my gut back into knots. I wasn't used to walking in high heels-let alone anything other than a wedge.

Guess who tripped on her big-ass feet and squealed like a pig to break the ice? Me.

"Whoa! Easy there." He caught me. Of course he did, he's got super speed. Still...why is he holding me for so long?

I gulped, disliking how chiseled his arms were.

"You can let me go now." I softly muttered, more irritated than I intended. Guys blush was cute, almost cuter than his dimple–not that I cared.

He quickly let go, quietly coughing to himself. We continued walking in silence, yet it felt worse now than before. Eventually, after a soft tour of the mansion, we stopped right before a pair of grand oak double doors.

"Maybe I–"

"Do you–"

We looked at each other and laughed a little. Talking at the same time like we're in some sort of rom-com is not how the day should go. It's not how an apology should start.

"Sorry." I finally let it out.

He waved it away, shaking his head.

"Don't be. Besides, today isn't about me, it's about you." Guy beamed a little, then opened the doors with a push of his fingertip.

Up until now, I had only seen Rupert Domingo in books and on ads–never in person. He rarely ever let anyone come to his place of dwelling outside of his small cabinet of advisors. Something about him felt...wrong and right at the same time.

He was tall, nearly as tall as me with my complexion too. Salt and pepper hair slicked back with horn-rimmed glasses met me first. HIs grey eyes and slim face came second.

It wasn't his clothing that drew me in, or the way he stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His smile though...there was something familiar about it but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Sapphyra, it's nice to finally meet you in person. Please, have a seat." Rupert motioned towards the chair in front of his expensive looking oak desk. Real oak too, not the synthetic stuff we grow in the east district.

I couldn't help glancing at Guy but he was nowhere in sight. That did little to help my nerves. At least the doors were still wide open.

"I never thought I'd be sitting here, Mr. President. I hope these chairs are sturdy." I mentioned with a nervous laugh, silently praying that they were actually built for hefty people. My hand covered my heart as a wave of relief washed over me when my ass didn't fall through the flimsy looking chair.

He smiled and sat down as well.

"Please, call me Rupert. And I'll let you know a secret, everything in this office is reinforced."

Blinking, I looked behind him at the paintings on the wall and the huge windows looking out onto his front lawn.

"Yes, everything–even the windows. I had it set up that way in case a monster should ever find itself here. Don't get me wrong, I trust that my men are highly trained but those beasts are tricky." My brow raised when he clenched his fist and slid it under the table.

The smile returned with a vengeance.

"Speaking of beasts, I've noticed the work that you do as a Battlefield Janitor and I am thoroughly impressed."

I shrank a little in my chair. What could he mean by that? What work? Guy said he would keep my secret-

"Sapphyra, what would you think about a class change?" The way his ocean deep blue eyes bore into me made me feel restless.

"A class change? You'd waste that on me?"

"Hm. That's right, you've reminded me about how tricky it is to come by one of the Applications. That said, I'm the president. I have a few to spare but this one is special. It's the second ever artificial Application made. The first belongs to our resident superhero, Guy Dynamo."

"Wait, his Application is artificial? What does that mean?"

The president drummed his fingers across his desk, stroking his chin. He stands up, walking towards the window.

"Come, stand by my side." It wasn't a request. My body moved but I felt like a leashed dog following its master.

For the first time in my life, there was a man shorter than me that I felt intimidated by-and it had nothing to do with his Class.

"What do you know about the Class system?"

"Is this a pop quiz? Should I have studied?" Why the hell would I say that? My idiot meter must be on eleven today.

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"It's fine. No one wants a history lesson anyway. Instead...tell me about 12 years ago."

My throat ran dry, palms so sweaty that I could hear it dripping. I shoved them behind my back.

"What about it?" There's only one thing he could be referring to.

I glance back at the door, noticing Guy leaning against the doorframe. His nostrils flared and his arms were crossed. Once he caught me gawking, he clenched his jaw and turned his back on me.

Why doesn't he like this conversation?

"A tragedy." The only real answer I could give him without turning into a puddle of tears.

"Sir. That's a very rough day...for both of us. We should switch topics." Guy said, suddenly next to me. His presence comforted me, just a little.

And that scared me.

Rupert looked between the two of us. His smile returned, softer–yet no less predatory.

"You really don't think you're special at all...do you." He all but whispered it, in awe.

Rupert smiled like he knew an inside joke. Raising a brow, he asked "Cleaning up battlefields...are you sure that's all you're good for?"

All I could do was nod-too petrified to speak. I knew I was lying but no good would come from him knowing my abilities.

Rupert reached into his pocket, pulling out a small remote. He pressed the button and the windows turned into a projection screen.

Why did that make me start sweating?

"If cleaning up is all you do...then what am I looking at right now?"

There on the screen was a top down view of me expelling Penny's house from my body.

Well shit.

Care to explain?" At that moment, those three words spelled doom for me.

"I...you see, what had happened was–" As my brain scrambled to come up with a feasible answer, an alarm went off in Guy's back pocket. Was I saved by the bell?

"Oh boy. New monster alert, uptown this time." Guy mumbled, pocketing his phone quickly. He nods at Rupert and picks me up, bridal style, out of nowhere.

"Hey what the–put me down!"

"Dynamo, what the hell are you doing?" The president's voice was cold and menacing. I'm not sure which of these two I should be more wary of anymore.

"I'm gonna need my Cleanup girl to be close by...you know, for her job. Right?" He looked at me, slyly winking with one corner of his mouth ticked up.

My Cleanup girl? We're gonna circle back to that one later.

"Right, yeah it's probably better for me to be on standby. Safer too, I mean think of the optics–"

"Go. I tire of your infomercial antics." Rupert sighed, waving us off.

I didn't breathe properly until we were outside, amongst the city lights and darkness.

Wait, darkness?

"What happened to the sun? It's so early in the morning!" I gave him a second to respond but he seemed lost in thought, focusing heavily on the gargantuan snake in front of us.

"Oh, sorry, here." He sat me down gently, then motioned towards one of the buildings still standing a few feet away.

"I'd advise hiding over there. I'm about to do my best impression of a pretzel maker." He grinned, giving me another wink as he flew off, delivering a punch into the reptile's nose. Its body recoiled back and snapped forward, smacking into Guy and sending him flying into a newish cafe building.

His jokes were horrible but at least he was sturdy.

"Great, another building for me to clean up...it wasn't even that old."

While Guy was busy keeping the monster occupied–and destroying public property, I stayed in the shadows. I know it's my job to clean up, but after meeting Rupert and listening to the way he raved about me-like I'm some sort of mystery? I couldn't help but think, maybe he was right?

Maybe I could do something more.

Don't interfere.

Chovy's words haunted me, like a record stuck on repeat.

"Darling, move!"

My pulse quickened as I searched for the voice and immediate danger. Whoever it was, they weren't calling out to me but to the person a few feet away from me. My heart ached as I recognized who it was.

Dax, my kind and portly bus driver, was on his hands and knees crawling away from the fight. A woman called out to him from several shops away. I think that's his wife.

I didn't think. Just like with Penny, my body moved on autopilot. Standing next to him now, I helped him walk with his arm over my shoulder and my hand on his waist.

"S-Sapphyra? Where did you come from?"

"I was in the neighborhood. You should hobble a little faster, Dax."

He frowned, all the wrinkles showing at once on his otherwise youthful, plump face.

"Leave me behind." He said, struggling to push away from me.

Someone tossed a car in our direction. I reached up, blocking it from hitting us with a single hand. Was there smoke coming from my ears because I was super pissed off. Dax took a step back, though I'm not sure if it was because of the environment or me.

I grabbed him, tossing him over my shoulder violently. Tiny cracks in the pavement started forming.

Don't interfere. Keep your head down.

Fuck that.

"Sapph, what are you doing? I told you to leave me behind! It's my time to go!"

"Says who?"

"I..." he struggled. "It just is!"

"Is that so? What about your wife then, huh? And your kids? Do they get a say?!" I was yelling, making a scene, but I lost my last fuck when Dax decided to hit the escape button on life.

The ground shook beneath us with each step we took. But it wasn't from the fight.

The shaking was from me. I was just too angry to realize it.

"S-Sapphyra? Stop it. Y-you're just a janitor!"

I grabbed his skull, getting in real close. We were nose to nose so there was no misunderstanding what I said next.

"Yeah but I ain't cleaning up your bullshit Dax. You're gonna live, whether you like it or not."

Meanwhile, back at Rupert's mansion...

President Rupert paced back and forth in his office, eyeing the rising smoke from the direction of the city where Dynamo had fled to. He'd fled with his prize.

And Rupert couldn't stand that. He would bide his time for as long as he could but results must be shown. Changes to the system were just on the brink–if he could just get Sapphyra to agree to a class change.

A cold truth washed over him; he didn't have to wait. He was the goddamn president and if he wanted someone to change a class, by god he'd make them do it.

Rupert pulled up his laptop and pressed away at a few apps. A city map covered in red dots representing every citizen filled his view. But not Sapphyra's, hers was pink. He clicked her dot and entered the command. There was no hesitation when he pressed enter.

But there was certainly a frown at the response he got.

[CLASS CHANGE UNAVAILABLE.]

"What the hell do you mean unavailable?!"

[CLASS PROMOTION IN PROCESS]

He blinked a few times, reading the response over and over again just to be sure.

"That's impossible. Classes don't promote, that's not a thing." He mumbled in awe yet he welcomed the predatory smile that followed.

If he wasn't obsessed with Sapphyra before, he damn sure was now.

Back in the city streets...

"Here ma'am." I gently tossed Dax onto the ground next to his wife. She covered his face in kisses and then slapped the taste out of his mouth.

Good.

"Ow! Darcy, what the hell, woman?!"

"How dare you scare me like that! 20 years we've been married–if you want to die so badly then I'll kill you myself!" she screamed at him through her tears. I tried not to laugh as she took off her shoe and beat him over the head with it a few times.

Then reality hit me.

"Wait...Dax went out there willingly?"

Darcy nodded, stopping her assault. Dax cowered in a shop nearby.

"Yeah, fuggin' idiot of a man. Kept muttering something stupid, he had a blank stare in his eyes earlier...I didn't think nothin' of it at the time but–"

"Darcy." I gently grabbed her by the shoulders, centering her. "What did he say? What was he muttering?"

"Oh that? He kept saying; things are the way they are for a reason. Stupid, defeatist attitude if you ask me..."

She kept talking but I couldn't hear her beyond the roaring in my ears. It felt like the floodgates had opened.

I checked on Dax again, gasping.

He had his head down on the table–a blank look just like Darcy said.

And with jaws wide open, the world-eating snake was coming right for him.

Too many moving parts.

"Guy!" My voice strained as I cried out for him.

He was nowhere in sight but the snake stalled, desperately snapping its jaws. It nearly had Dax–who was content to be a snack for some reason.

"Dammit, Dax!" Using this opportunity, I dashed over and grabbed Dax, throwing him back over my shoulder. The snake followed me with its eyes. That's when I saw what was holding it back.

Guy was holding its tail.

"Move, Cleanup girl!" He screamed at me, gritting his teeth and holding his grip for dear life.

Something was wrong though, he was straining. Guy Dynamo never struggles with anything–he's perfect!

No. He's just as flawed as I am. It's time I started recognizing that.

"Hold on Dax. You've been carrying me around on your bus for years. How bout I give you a ride this time!" My legs pumped as we moved through the streets.

People stared, asking idiotic questions as I moved.

"Isn't she just a janitor?"

My jaw clenched.

"Why is she saving that old man? It's clear he wants to die."

A beast of rage beat against the cage of my heart.

"Man, when it's your time–its your time."

Am I the only one in this city who still cares about human life?

"Hey Sapph, it's hot. When did it get so hot?" Dax murmured over my shoulder.

"Dax, what are you talking about-oh shit!" I dropped him when I smelled something burning. His shirt had caught a flame. It was nowhere near hot enough for spontaneous combustion.

But as I put out the flames, I noticed my hands weren't burning. The heat felt familiar, like a warm hug. I really miss my mom right now.

I shook my head back and forth, trying to wake myself from whatever hellish nightmare I was in.

"Get up Dax." In the background, the snake struggled against Dax–truly on a rampage for Dax.

"Why? It's my time. It's just the way things are." That same blank stare hit his face and made my blood boil.

"Dax, don't–" the words fled from me as I watched what happened next. His face vanished, leaving only a black hole. Yet his voice, his words still came through.

"Dax?" I whispered, blinking several times to try and wake from this nightmare. He stopped talking. The world froze for half a moment. Even the massive snake remained in its place. Everything was still and silent...except for me.

"What the hell?" I glanced around, noticing that each naysayer on the street had turned translucent.

I shouldn't be able to see through people! There might be some superpowers in what I do but this? X-ray vision and time powers?

"I'm just a friggin' janitor. What am I supposed to do with this?!" I exclaimed to no one in particular.

I place Dax down on a chair at a cafe table nearby. When did we get a new cafe?

"Way. Way. Way. Way. It's just the way. Way. way. Things are. Are. Are."

"Dax, shut up! You sound like a glitching robot–" I swallowed the doubts and looked at him–really stared into his abyss of a face. Faintly glowing ones and zeros littered his insides, freaking me the fuck out.

"Are. Are. Are you ready to promote your class?" He asked, turning towards me despite having no eyes.

"Promote my class? Classes don't promote, everybody knows that." But something about the way he asked it. I don't think this is Dax talking to me anymore and if that's the case...who am I talking to?

"Are you ready to promote your class?" He repeated.

"Humoring the creepy face-hole voice, what am I promoting it to?"

No answer.

"Oh no you don't. Don't you go silent on me now! Promote it to what?!"

"Are you ready to promote your class?" for a third time, acting as it didn't hear me.

I sighed.

"Do I really have a choice?"

"There's always a choice, Sapph. I choose to run away with you, as soon as you're ready."

"NO!" I stood up, pointing a finger at not-Dax. "Don't you dare use his voice!"

My hand trembled with rage but I couldn't move, not yet. If I move now, I'll fall apart like a house of cards. I can already feel my soul breaking and it's all I can do to keep it together.

"You're the one...it was always you who wanted to be a superhero, Wyatt. I never wanted that life, damn you!"

I'm yelling at a ghost of ones and zeroes. Tears follow my bitter laugh as I run my hand down my face.

Not-Dax is still waiting.

I lean back in my seat and place my hands on the table, blowing a strand of hair out my face. My brows furrow as I glare into the void, imagining I'm intimidating the hell out of whoever's in there.

"Fine. You want me to upgrade? I'll do it on one fucking condition: stop using his voice. I don't want to hear him in my head. I want–no–i have to move past Wyatt. Because if I can't...if I can't–"

A single tear hit my hand. My throat catches as Dax changes shape. That portly bus driver is gone, replaced in a sudden sunset orange mist by the man himself.

He sits there, a knowing smile on his face.

"Wyatt?" I whisper, reaching out to touch his face. "Are you really here?"

My fingers connect with his cheek, caressing him. He leans into my touch a little too long, eyes closed as we reconnect.

"I don't have much time."

"Wait, no. Are you really here? I'm so confused about what I'm supposed to do!"

I gasp when he places his hand over mine. He opens his eyes, big and brown like almonds.

"Sapphyra. You know what you're supposed to do. You've just been dragging your feet about it for a good long while."

My stomach sank at his words. I could feel something opening behind me but I dared not look, not when he was so close.

A burning sensation in my head started and I doubled over with pain as memories crashed into me like ocean waves.

"Remember, Sapphyra. It was never about me being a hero!"

His voice sounded so far away.

"Gah! My head is..."

I had wings.

They were large and pink and feathery like a bird but also leathery like a bat. In my memories I'm flying. I'm saving people from disasters. My fist connects with a knight riding a black dragon. When my mouth opens, flames spew out, saving trapped victims in a snowstorm.

I'm in a city. No, not The City–Cyran City.

My head snaps up and I see Wyatt–really see him for the first time in a long time.

Not the skeleton. Not the ghost. The man.

"We were part of a team. A team of other superheroes!"

Why does that fill me with joy? Standing side by side with faces I can't quite recall.

He nods, smiling as he holds out his hand towards me. Wyatt always loved to leave me with more questions than answers.

"So, let me ask you one more time. Are you ready to promote your class?"

I clasp his hand and grin as golden energy pours from him to me.

"Lets fucking go!"

[MASTER CUSTODIAN PROMOTION COMPLETE]