I immediately feel my spine tighten up. Normally, I actually enjoy the dark, but only when my back is up against something. Without that, I get a creeping sense of something stalking behind me, even when I know there’s nothing there.

I speak quietly into the dark “Anyone happen to bring an EMP resistant light with them?”

Rin’s voice comes from somewhere to my right, it sounds a little strained. I guess they’re not a big fan of the dark either “If you didn’t, no one did. Even without one, we can’t just sit here all night. Without any light in a building in this condition, it’s too risky to stick around.”

“Well, can anyone see anything at all? There might be some moonlight coming through a window, or maybe an LED still has power.”

“Wait, I think I can see a light.” Amber calls out.

“I can too, why is it pink?” Rin affirms.

*That can’t be from me, right? No, I can see my eyer reflecting in my sunglasses, definitely not pink.*

“Huh, I don’t see anything.” Mimi’s voice is accompanied by some nervous sounding shuffles.

“Why not? It’s in your direction.” Myla asks.

“Well whatever it is, it’s definitely not bright enough to help us.”

I sigh, it echo’s around the room “I guess we’re out of any other options.”

“What are you talking about?”

Drawing a short breath, a gather up my courage and take off my sunglasses. A dim but usable cone of orange light shines forward.

“Oh hey, you did bring an extra light.” Nico remarks.

“Not exactly…” I mutter.

“What exactly do you…” Nico looks back at me “mean?” his eyes grow uncharacteristically wide.

Confused, Myla glances at Nico, then at me “Dude, whoa.”

At this point, everyone is staring at me, hard. They aren’t freaking out at least, though they do look a bit… unsettled.

“Is this… something you did to yourself?” Rin asks cautiously, probably dreading my answer.

“N-no, as far as I can tell, this is a natural phenomenon.”

“What kind of ‘natural’ phenomenon causes someone to become a living flashlight?” Nico stands on his tippy toes to get a closer look.

A small frown forms as a familiar gnawing hunger for answers surfaces, the same I’ve been feeling ever since first discovering my dynamochromia.

I cross my arms and grumble “That’s what I’d like to know.”

Everyone glances at each other as Bee comes up to me and pats me on the head. I guess after last week, she can relate.

Pulling myself back together, I cough slightly “Anyway, I’ll share what little I do know later. Our first priority should definitely be getting out of here, I’m not sure if I can do this forever.”

Rin gives a snappy nod “Right, yeah. Let’s go.”

With me taking point this time, we slowly continue towards the exit.

I hear the sound of someone tripping behind me “Can’t you change the color to something brighter, the orange is making it hard to see.” Myla grumbles in the politest tone she can manage given the circumstances.

“I wish I could but-“

A clang echoes somewhere to our right. Mimi reacts a lot quicker than I do, grabbing my head and twisting it towards the noise like a spotlight. An audible crack reminiscent of a stealth kill in an action adventure echoes through the building as my poor neck struggles to stay in one piece.

I hiss as my neck erupts in a weird combination of pain and joint relief. The light from my eyes flickers before cutting out almost completely.

“Huh!? What happened to Nova’s light?” Myla calls out from the back of the group.

“I think Mimi killed her.” Nico sounds almost amused by Mimi’s apparent stealth kill.

“No, I’m still breathing. Just, in a lot of pain…” I suck in a breath and try to readjust my head back into place.

“Does getting hurt cause you to stop glowing?” Amber’s voice is getting closer. Is she trying to reach me?

“Apparently…” I pull on my nape and roll my head until I feel a satisfying pop. Some light fills the room again as a little pain fades away.

*I feel like a reverse glowstick…*

“Oh, I was going to give a quick adjustment to help but looks like you got it.”

I turn back to her “Might need one, it still hurts like hell.”

“Seems like it, one of your eyes is still out.” Mimi pauses and puts a hand to her chin “Wow that’s a weird statement…”

“Weird or not, we still need to go!” Rin snaps their fingers.

“Right!” I whip around and point forward “Time to get the hell out of here.”

We resume our brisk pace and maintain it all the way back to the cars, only fully relaxing once we’re fully seated and the interior lights are on.

“Well, that was quite a ride huh!” Mimi excitedly chirps as she starts the engine.

“That’s one way to put it…” Rin says as they pull up beside us.

With that, we begin the long drive back to the city. Now that she isn’t racing against the planets rotation, Mimi drives a lot slower, only hitting half of the potholes in Steel Valley this time.

The relief is short lived however, as everyone follows Amber and I inside of our apartment.

“So, um, why are you guys following us in. It’s kinda late to hang out, isn’t it?”

Rin and Bee both hold up three fingers “Three reasons. One, I don’t think any of us are all that tired after the experience we just had. Two, I want to rest before getting in any car ever again. And three, while I can’t speak for everyone, I am really curious about this new ability of yours.”

“Right?” Rin looks over to Bee, who nods aggressively.

I grimace *Eeeeegh….*