"Hatter? Where are you?"

Dayanara's—or, Lavina's—voice rings through on my earpiece. At the moment I am walking through the streets of downtown, drinking boba tea and playing games on my phone. Lavina's voice snaps me out of it, however, since there's only one reason she'd be getting my attention. She found the villain we're after.

I usually leave that shit up to her. I don't have an ability that aids me in transportation, so I usually just hang out until she gives me specific direction. If I don't, I end up wasting time.

Unfortunately, I have no idea where I am. I glance around the street, combing my eyes over all the bright shops and busy people, before I finally spot a road sign.

"Fourth street," I tell her, though I doubt she appreciated the hesitation before my response. She sounds like she's in a hurry, and I realize why, when I spot the fucking villain. She's running across the rooftops a few blocks away, and I feel instant alarm. Shit.

Luckily, I blink, and the woman is gone. So, she's about to be here, but she isn't yet. "Oh shit, she's gonna be here any minute."

"I know. I need you to tell me where she goes from there. We're going to try and corral her."

I try to remember what direction my vision appeared to be headed towards. It's hard to tell, because these kinds of villains are different from what we're used to. We call them the numbered, because they all have number names. Every single one of them pisses me the fuck off, but it's not like that's a particularly difficult feat to accomplish.

Most villains suck, but most villains also fail. Not the numbered. We know we're in for a challenge when we're up against one of them, because they have the highest success rate of any villain organization. If that's even what it is. I'm not sure, not much is known about them. They've never been caught.

All I know is that they're a pain in the ass and they make my job a lot harder. The one we're currently after is Three, and she enjoys taking hostages to get what she wants. We were able to diffuse the situation, but then she got away, so now we have to catch her before she makes it to the center of the city. That's where we always lose them.

Which is where I come in. I find my bike a moment later, though it takes me a minute since I forgot where I parked it. I throw out the rest of my boba, since I don't have much of a choice. I start the engine right after mounting it, and sigh. The rumbling of the vehicle always helps me focus, so it's easier for me to get my brain to supply me with more useful visions when I'm on it.

Three's jumping over rooftops a moment later at an alarming pace, and that's when I pull out of my parallel parking spot. I peel out of there and race down the road, right alongside her. I don't have to follow her long before I realize where she's going. Unsurprisingly, the same spot they all do when shit goes sideways.

"Lavina," I say into my earpiece, the vision going away right when the real Three finally reaches the rooftops, following the same pattern of jumping and everything that I've already seen. "She'll be on Rosa Avenue any second, looks like she'll head to the square from there."

Dayanara sighs. "Of course she will."

The square is where they get away from us. Day and I will need to beat her there. Well, Day definitely will. I'm not nearly as fast as she is, though.

Again, I don't have an ability that aids in travel. My actual ability—cleverly titled looking through time—is already enough for me to handle, though. It is less of a burden now that I have more control over it. It can still cause some inconveniences in the civilian world, since I tend to have some difficulty acting normal, generally speaking. However, I'm at a point in my life where I can manage it.

Not only that, I can utilize it. There's a reason Day and I are the best hero duo Wolfe HSA has ever seen. We're a fantastic team. Other heroes can only dream of beating our success rate.

Unless the numbered are involved. They have definitely brought that rating down, but it's not just us. Nobody can fucking catch them. They just disappear into thin air. At least, that's what it feels like.

Day and I have a plan this time, though. It's why we've been so focused on Three's location. We are not fucking around, we are keeping a set of eyes on her no matter what. Usually mine, since my eyesight is kind of my strength.

I follow alongside Three from the road, watching the woman scale the buildings and jump over the rooftops with expert, almost acrobatic ability. Sure enough, she's well on her way to the square, until we hit Rosa Avenue, where Day is waiting. It's not smart to fuck with Lavina, something everyone knows. Saying she's powerful would be an understatement, she's quite literally the face of Wolfe Industries.

If anyone can do this, it's us. Sure enough, upon reaching Rosa Avenue, Day is coming out of absolutely nowhere, knocking Three from the rooftops. She falls down ten stories, but expertly grabs onto trees and clothing lines and things of the sort to break her fall. Once she's finally on the ground, she's moving again, and now she's my problem.

Lavina flies ahead to wait for us, while I cross the street, expertly dodging cars and traffic on my bike. A moment later and I'm right behind her, but this girl is fast. Way, way faster than she should be, to the point where I wonder if she has an ability along those lines. Right when I'm just about to catch her, reaching out and everything, Three pulls a 90 degree angle and darts into an alleyway out of absolutely nowhere.

See? These people are a force to be reckoned with. I can't even catch this bitch on my sports bike, which I can probably operate better than my own body at this point. It's like another pair of legs for me.

"She cut into an alleyway," I tell Lavina over comms. "There's no telling where she'll come out. I need you in the sky for this one."

"Copy that," Day replies, and I sigh, pulling off the sidewalk and driving like a regular person. I circle the buildings that surround the alley she's currently occupying, while also watching the sky for Day. I only do this for a couple minutes before she's showing up, spotting Three a moment later.

She's instantly in pursuit, and I follow along on the sidewalk, dodging pedestrians expertly, who cheer. I see Three emerge through some buildings, sprinting across the street and somehow not getting hit by any cars. Lavina is in the air above her, but is maintaining distance so she doesn't risk injuring a civilian.

I don't really give a fuck about that, even though I should. Minimizing property damage and casualties is one of the first things heroes learn. It's detrimental to our job and public image. So, Day isn't going to try anything risky. That's up to me.

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes, then opening them again. I look ahead, along the skyline and over the buildings, finding that we're making a beeline for the square. We're coming up on it, quickly, and running out of options even faster. In the distance, I watch a hallucinated version of her disappear. Right outside some sort of corporate headquarters for a donut franchise, I believe. I know the exact building she will lose us, though it's different for each of the numbered villains.

I can't let her get that far. I have to do something, fast. I won't be able to catch up with her on my bike, and Lavina won't take even a minor risk due to how seriously she takes her job and the reputation of Wolfe Industries.

I'm the only one crazy enough to not give up, which—again—is kind of my whole thing.

I need to find a way to go faster. Almost as soon as that thought crosses my mind, I find my golden ticket. A large truck with a flat bed, which has been fully lowered to the ground for whatever reason. There's nobody around it, it's a perfect ramp, and it would give me the angle I'd need to have the higher ground. From there, I can figure it out.

I press the accelerator as far as it'll go, feeling my bike gain a whole new life to it underneath me. I shoot like a bullet through the streets until finally reaching the ramp, and it ends up working way better than I thought it would. I'm above the buildings in seconds, flying through the air and feeling my bike beginning to come out from under me.

I look down, trying to find Three, and spot her a moment later. She's directly below me, but I no longer have control. I'm basically falling, since I only have enough speed to go so far. Right when I reach the peak of height for my jump, I get an idea. My bike is no longer under me, but I'm still holding onto the handles, and again, Three is directly below me.

We're less than ten seconds away from the square, and although I am suspended mid-air, meaning I don't have much control over the situation at all, I still have my bike. I still have something, and I don't have time to think about it. Right before I officially begin my descent, I grab my bike, move it back, and throw it at her with as much strength and accuracy as I possibly can.

I swear the world goes in slow motion as I watch it hurtle toward the villain, and I'm barely even expecting this to work. It's not like we've had any success with the numbered villains in the past, they're just too slippery. They know our weaknesses, where to hide and lure us so they always maintain control.

Except, that doesn't happen this time. I hit my target. My bike crashes right into the woman, and that had to have fucking hurt. I watch her drop immediately, trying to ignore the amusement and pride I feel at the situation. I no longer have to do that when I realize I am now falling, though. It was good while it lasted, but I'm now hurtling towards the pavement at a concerning pace. Oops.

Luckily, Lavina grabs me. She holds me in her arms, wrapping them completely around me from behind, and the way she's holding me reminds me of how toddlers hold cats.

Now that I'm no longer completely fucked, I'm able to properly survey the situation. I find my bike in the center of the street, in pieces, some aflame. There are a few civilians who seem to have been caught in that wreckage, though luckily none of them seem injured enough to even require a hospital visit.

Then, there's Three. Lying at the center of it, bleeding from her head, and unconscious. She's out, but she's still breathing.

Holy shit. We finally caught one.

I can't help but smile, turning to look at Day, who has her lips pursed. She does seem happy about our victory, but not nearly to my magnitude. I know why, too.

Despite the win we just accomplished, I'm in deep shit.