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motion’s flow that utilized the extra momentum. It was impressive, especially for a being that Owen suspected had never been trained. The black armored fist drove directly into his torso, right between his sternum and stomach. It had so much power that, even braced in an appropriate stance, Owen was still moved back several inches as the concrete under his feet crumbled against the indirect force.
    “Better than I expected,” Owen said, clearly unharmed or inconvenienced by the attack. He glanced up at Hexcellent, whose face had morphed from its usual antisocial glower into an expression of genuine shock. Given how strong this summon was, she’d likely thought it would at least do some damage to him. Owen didn’t fault her for that belief. She hadn’t been inside the Hero world; her sense of scale for what constituted strong didn’t even have a ranking for someone like Titan.
    “How durable is this one?” Owen asked, his question shaking her out of her surprised reverie.
    “Damn near indestructible.” Her jaw was setting, her eyes growing narrow. She was gearing up for round two, when she’d show that her summon was at least no less durable than he. If it could take his blow with the same lack of effect, it would prove they were on even footing. Owen, fortunately, knew better.
    “Good to know,” Owen said, taking a step back from the summon, which remained half-crouched to attack. “Luckily, since you don’t have to use him to fight, we don’t need to test that. Let’s move on. Zone, how about you show me what you can do?”
    Hexcellent stared at him for a few moments longer before dismissing Big Henry back to smoke. Owen was sure she wasn’t happy with him at the moment, but that would have to wait. He needed to finish seeing everyone’s skill set for now.
    After that, he could work on making them better.
     

7.
     
                  Before either Zone or Owen could step forward, a bright red light flashed through the room, followed by a brief siren. That abated in moments, replaced by the calm voice of Mr. Greene.
    “There is a fire two point five miles away from here. It’s an older building, and structural integrity is a concern. Firefighters are currently spread thin, so they’ve requested our help.”
    “We’ll do it,” Galvanize yelled into the air. Owen presumed Greene could hear them, a suspicion confirmed moments later when the voice came back into the air.
    “Understood. They’ll be expecting your arrival. Transport is in the basement when you’re ready.”
    “You heard the man. Everyone, into your costumes and downstairs. If you take longer than five minutes, you’re getting left behind,” Galvanize commanded. His tone had seamlessly shifted from controlled but friendly to authoritative. Owen had no doubt he’d be abandoned if he dared go over the five-minute mark. Evidently the others believed Galvanize too, as they immediately dashed off toward the door, Zone peeling off part of his sweats before he’d even gotten clear of the room.
    “Feeling nervous?” Galvanize asked, breaking into a light jog so as not to violate his own edict.
    “Lil bit,” Owen admitted. “Been a long time.”
    “You’ll be fine. Fires are where B.B. and Hexcellent really shine. Just follow orders and everyone will get home safe.”
    “That would be a pleasant outcome,” Owen agreed. How nice these kids had it: when if they did their job right, no one died. In the Hero world, even if you did everything perfectly, sometimes success still meant blood on your hands.
    *              *              *
    Titan nearly missed his debut that day, due to the mirror in Owen’s room. He’d tried on his old costume before leaving Colorado, of course, but that had been a piecemeal ordeal, donning and checking each section separately so problems could be identified in turn. It wasn’t until he was fully suited up, walking toward his door, that the figure in the mirror caught his