“Ugh.” I rub my face as I walk through campus. My mind is a fog of exhaustion since Ken had me up much later than either of us had expected. “How can I learn when I’m so tired? He really is a pain in my ass.” I chuckle at my own double entendre and let my eyes glaze over all the faces that pass by.

“Excuse me?” A voice pulls me out of my daze as a hand taps my shoulder. Turning to look behind me, a girl I hardly recognize stands with a smile looking up at me. She seemed to be latinex with tan skin, long dark brown hair, and looked fairly fit like a dancer. “You’re Tyler Thompson, right?”

I look around as if there may be someone else around with my exact name, but sadly there isn’t. “Uh, yeah. Can I help you?”

“Yes! My name is Maria Santos and I wanna team up with you!” She put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest to make herself seem bigger and more proud.

I can’t help but smile in confusion at her request. “Do you mean like on a group project or something? Sorry, but I don’t think we have any classes together.”

“No dummy,” Maria puts a hand beside her mouth and leans in with a hushed voice, “I mean fighting crime.”

Simultaneously, my smile and my stomach drop. “Wh-what do you mean?” I let out a nervous laugh to try and cover for my obvious fear.

She rolls her eyes and sighs. “Oh please. I know you’re Burst.” She slaps my arm playfully as if she didn’t just discover my secret identity after only a few days of my being active. “Come on, I’ll explain it somewhere more private.” Maria grabs my arm and pulls me off to the main path to a pretty well hidden bench. She wastes no time in hopping onto the bench and sitting on the back with her feet on the main seat. “I have super powers too!”

I raise an eyebrow in suspicion and opt to continue to feign ignorance. “I have no clue what you’re talking about. Sure, I’ve heard about the people with powers popping up but to think I’m a superhero? I mean, have you seen me?” I gesture to my body to emphasize that I’m no super macho bodybuilder.

“Yes, I have seen you. That’s how I know you’re him!” She stands up on the bench and begins to pace back and forth. “You see, my power is to absorb the energies of people by touching them. It’s mostly harmless and just kinda puts them to sleep if I take too much. But! It does also let me see how much energy a person has by like an aura around them. Let’s say that the average person’s aura is like a soda’s worth of caffeine. A student on this campus is barely a cup of tea. But you… You’re walking around like the largest energy drink they could legally sell. It’s honestly hard to see around you sometimes.” She turns towards me and hops off the bench. “See?”

Maria quickly grabs my hand and I instantly feel heavier. My eyelids start to flutter as I let out a long, exhausted sigh. She only holds on for a second or so before letting go and taking a step back. “Based on watching videos of you, I was guessing you must somehow absorb energy from getting hit, hence why you’re always so full.”

I cross my arms and shake my head. After a long pause, I make my decision. “Well, damn. I guess you’ve got me. I assume you haven’t told anyone?” She shakes her head. “Alright. What else do you have to offer though? This is a dangerous gig and I don’t want to be responsible for anything that could happen to you.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about that, I’ve been studying capoeira all my life so I can protect myself. But I was thinking I should be more stealthy anyways given that I can silently take guys out and I can’t take a punch the same way you can.”

She was making good points and certainly seemed to ready to go. “Fine, I’ll meet you back here after my class. This will be a temporary deal for now though!”

Maria can barely contain her excitement. “Thank you! Eee! Yay! I’m so happy! I’ll see you in a couple hours!” She runs past me and waves behind her with a massive smile.

“I hope this doesn’t bite me in the ass.” I shrug and make my own way to class.