My journey today began with the tolling of a bell. I patiently watched as the hand ticked forward second by second until that beloved ringing filled the school halls. I was finally free to embark on a mission I'd been preparing for months. Going to a comic book store.

  It was the day after I saved Yong-Rae from the villains who attempted to abduct him, and everything was uncannily normal. Unlike the times before, there was no new report. The only people who knew were me and him. Of course, he didn't know I knew, but I still wanted to be there for him as a friend. I kept an extra close eye on him that day and noticed he was unusually quiet. That would be understandable, but when I asked if anything was wrong, he just insisted that he was all good. However, when he said that, he looked at me as if I was a stranger. He seemed fairly composed last night during it, so what's gotten him so bothered today? Well, there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm sure he'll feel a lot safer once I stop the kidnappings for good. The Dragon's Hoard Comic Shop could be my lead in finding out who's behind it and how they're connected to Drako-Knight. My plan was to go there after school to find out right away. I even brought my Night Hopper gear with me just in case I ended up needing it during my investigation. After a school day that felt like it lasted forever, the bell rang, and I excitedly walked out of English class with Melody.

  "You seem to be in a hurry; are you going anywhere?" She asked.

  "Anywhere but here," I joked.

  "That's so real, but I actually wish I could stay here this time. I'm starting my part-time job today, and I'm pretty nervous, to be honest." Melody sighed.

  "No way, that's awesome! I'm sure you'll be great at it!" I encouraged as we walked outside.

  "Thanks, Rayleigh, I'll try my best. I'll let you know how it goes." She said, getting in the back seat of the black car picking her up, "See you tomorrow."

  "See ya!" I waved goodbye as the car took off. I started off on my quest to the Dragon's Hoard before being stopped by a familiar voice.

  "Hey bozo, where you going?" yelled my sister. "Our house is that way."

  "Riley? Where are you going? Don't you have soccer after school?" I questioned defensively.

  "Coach's cat had an emergency, so she canceled. So, are you doing anything right now? It feels like it's been forever since we hung out." She joked.

  "Wait, you actually want to hang out with me? What about your partner?"

  "Sam has their D&D club today. They offered to let me join their session, but you know how bad I am at remembering all the rules, I didn't want to slow them down. But you're great at that stuff right, you could join them." She explained.

  I used to play a different TTRPG with Silvi, but… "I don't know, sis. I don't really know any of the other people in their group. And I just think playing that stuff is more fun when it's with friends."

  "How do you think you make new friends? You're not gonna know the same people forever-" She paused for a second when she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry. I meant like when we graduate or move or something. Just saying, you should start to get more comfortable with putting yourself out there."

  I realized that she was just trying to be helpful, but I had already been telling myself that same thing for a while. So, hearing her bring it up only reminded me that I haven't been doing a good job at it. Thankfully, I was soon saved from that pit of self pity when I heard…

  "Hey don't give him that bad of a time. Rayleigh's got at least one new friend right here." Yong-Rae appeared from behind me and introduced himself to Riley, "You must be his sister, right? You guys look practically identical from a distance." He turned back to me and asked, "Yo, are you busy right now? There's something I wanted to talk to you about." I could tell from his hesitation that he was nervous. Does this have to do with what happened to him last night? Before I could answer, Riley butted in.

  "Oh right, he was headed off somewhere just now, but he hasn't told me yet. It seemed like you were in a rush to get there, though."

  "Okay, no worries it can wait then." Rae said, biting his lip, "Where you headed, by the way" They both stared at me for an answer.

  "Well, uh… I just…" I was hesitant to be honest with them, but Riley can always tell when I'm lying to her face, so I had to give them at least some of the truth. "I heard about a new comic store that opened across town, and I wanted to check it out."

  "Hmm… That's all? You should've just said so," Riley said like she thought she was onto something, "Come on, let's go then." She started walking off.

  "Let's?!" I questioned rhetorically.

  "Yeah. I wanted to hang with you anyway, and you know I love window shopping." She insisted, "You should come too, Yong-Rae, if you're free and all."

  "What? You guys really don't have to- Not that I don't want to hang out- It's just kind of a long way to walk from here, and I didn't think you guys were all that into comics and stuff, anyway. Besides, don't you think this is all kind of spontaneous?" I tried to argue.

  "I mean, it sounds cool to me. I walk down that way to go home, so I don't mind," Rae reassured, "And maybe afterward we could talk about things, but I'd rather tell you in private." Riley gave me an inquisitive look. I tried to look like I didn't know what he was talking about, however, I could feel my face getting hot at the situation.

  Riley giggled, "See, what are you worried about, Rayleigh? We're almost 16, we don't have to arrange a playdate. I bet Mom and Dad won't even ask as long as we're back before dark."

  "Shut up, that's not what- I mean I know it's just-" I stuttered, at a loss for words. I buried my face in my hands. Get it together, Night Hopper! I can't tell them the real reason they can't come is that the comic shop might be a front for a criminal organization that abducts super-powered kids. If it was just Riley, that'd be one thing because we're both normal, but I can't risk bringing Rae into the layer of the enemy right after he was targeted last night. I gotta think of something to get them out of this, but I can't say too much or else they could be onto my secret! Damn it! Why does my sister have to be nice to me at the worst possible times? "Hah, never mind, it's stupid. I just wanted to make sure you guys were really down for it. Anyway, let's go." Crap! It was getting too awkward. I'll have to think of something on the way.

  Riley and Rae looked a bit confused at that answer but forgot about it soon enough once we started walking and talking. Naturally, Riley was doing most of the talking. Before long she was getting into some drama going on between Marco and Heather that I quite frankly didn't care for. This was fine by me. It gave me more time to think about possible exit strategies. Like what if I told them I looked it up, and it said it was closed? No, Riley will definitely ask to see proof of that… When I zoned back into the conversation, I noticed that Rae was getting along pretty well with Riley. They laughed as they talked about their favorite K-Dramas and the type of music they liked. At first I was a bit jealous to see how fast Riley could make friends with anyone, but at the same time it was cool to see a different side of him that she could bring out just by asking things I wouldn't have thought of. The more I listened, the more I was subconsciously drawn back into the conversation. Before I knew it was telling them about how much I enjoyed synth-wave without even being asked. Unfortunately, I got too wrapped up in the small talk and forgot about the potential danger I was leading them to until we could see the store up ahead. God, I wish I was a normal teen right now. For some reason, doing Night Hopper stuff when people I know are around feels 100 times crazier. Whatever, it's too late to turn back now, but maybe I can find a way to hide him…

  "Yo, Rae, your ears must be starting to get cold with the wind out here. Why don't you take my beanie?" I insisted. He raised an eyebrow at me, but when he looked around at where we were, he took it and thanked me. "Speaking of, I've heard that the cold's been going around like crazy lately. We should all put on face masks when we go in so we don't catch anything. Here I have a few extras in my bag."

  "Sure, bro, whatever makes you comfortable." Riley laughed.

  "Hey the cold's no joke. There's no harm in being extra safe." Rae said, putting on a mask.

  She rolled her eyes but put one on anyway, "Great, now we're all protected to enter the dragon's hoard."

  I walked up to the storefront to check it out. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, it appeared the shop was open. I wondered if I should really continue forward, but looking through the windows, it seemed to be a small, but normal comic shop. I only saw a single employee, who was working at the front counter, but most of their face and body were blocked by a shelf. Well, standing outside isn't going to do any good. I came here to find answers. Whoever is behind this could be right past this door. I hesitantly pulled open the door and walked in with Riley and Rae close behind me. As soon as we entered, we were greeted with a surprisingly familiar voice.

  "Hi, welcome to Dragon's Hoard Comics. I hope you can find what you're looking for." Said the girl behind the counter with a smile.

  "Melody?!" / "Rayleigh!?" We said in unison.

  "Sorry. I just didn't expect to see you here," Melody apologized.

  "Yeah, me neither." I laughed, feeling totally caught off guard.

  "Really, you didn't know?" Asked Riley. "I figured she was the one who told you about this place."

  "Yo, sup, Mel? Pretty sweet job you landed," Rae commented.

  "Yeah, I guess so. My shift started like 30 minutes ago, and you guys are my first customers, so I don't really have to do that much." She explained.

  "That's so lucky, I wish I had an easy gig like this." Riley chimed, "Once I turn 16, let me know if they're looking to hire anyone else."

  "Wait a sec, Melody, are you even 16 yet? How'd you get this job anyway?" I asked. I was so thrown off by seeing Melody I almost forgot why I had come there.

  "I can "thank" my uncle for it. He's really close with the owners and pulled some strings to get me in here." She explained. "Oh, and I'm actually still 15, so for now it's sort of an under the table arrangement."

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  "I'm no expert, but isn't that like child labor?" Yong-Rae questioned.

  "Yeah, technically, but my uncle said, "Everybody in my family needs to contribute". It kinda sucks I didn't get a choice, but I owe him a lot for taking me in, you know?" Argued Melody. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than us. What she said only made me grow suspicious of the shop. Not that I knew anything about how a front would operate, but something about the lack of customers and hiring people under the table was telling me this wasn't a normal business. I wanted to ask more about her uncle, but I noticed how uncomfortable she got when bringing it up before, so I didn't want to press further.

  "I see… Well, good luck with this job. I hope you don't get into any trouble." I said, winking, "Anyway, mind if we go look around for a bit, I was curious to see what you got here."

  "Of course, are you looking for anything in particular?" She asked.

  I looked around at all the Drako-Knight comics and merch, "Well, not really."

  Riley butted in, "Oh, I'm not really into heroes or comics, but do you got anything with Mountain Mover? I just think she's so fine."

  "Umm… I'm not sure, but you're welcome to check." Melody chuckled.

  Riley quickly went back to the figure section, meanwhile I went to check on the most recent releases, looking for any books I saw in that shipping crate last night. I wasn't looking for long though because front and center was the most recent issue of Drako-Knight's mouthy solo series. It could easily have been a coincidence, but his prevalence in this store was off putting. He is our city's biggest hero, but his books still aren't nearly as popular as national icons like SuperStar☆ or The Enpowereds. In the back of the store, there was a windowless door with a bold "EMPLOYEES ONLY, STAY OUT" sign. I looked back to see Melody was distracted talking to Yong-Rae, so I tried opening the door, but it was locked. I looked around the rest of the place but came up with nothing incriminating. If only I could get into that back room, I know I'd find something.

  "Hey, Rayleigh, check this out!" My twin called me over from across the store. As I walked over, she continued, "So I was thinking about stuff to get you for our birthday. What do you think about this?" She innocently pointed to a high end figure of Drako-Knight with him in both his human and dragon form. It was pretty pricey but way cheaper than what a figure like that would cost at other places. A year ago I would have bought it in a heart beat but now I look at it with disgust. Riley instantly picked up on this and looked sorry.

  "Wait, did I say something wrong? I thought he was your favorite." She asked.

  "No, he was…" I admitted, "But once I met him in person, I realized he wasn't like what I imagined him as."

  "Oh, that's a shame, but you know superheroes are just people too. Most of them are just putting on a character, and it seems like some of them care more about being marketable than saving lives. So, you never know what heroes are like behind that mask," Riley claimed.

  "Gee thanks. When you put it like that, it makes loving superheroes seem even more lame." I sighed.

  "Ha, that's not what I meant, stupid. I was saying that even if a hero is just a character, that doesn't mean their impact isn't real. Take my favorite hero, Mountain Mover, for example. I don't just love her because she's a total muscle mommy. I also believe that her strength and courage can inspire women everywhere to achieve their full potential! So what if she's really only doing it get that bag, what her persona stands for is real"

  "Um… Wait, that actually makes some sense," I said. "I see your point, but that doesn't change my mind about Drako-Knight. What's the point in being motivational if you trust them to save lives when it counts? Besides, in your case, I feel like it's 90% the muscle mommy thing."

  "Heh, guilty. But anyway, I get why you wouldn't want to support someone who's a total jerk in real life." She exclaimed, "Now that I think about it, I remember you took down all your Drako-Knight posters a few months ago. What if we got you some posters of your new favorite to fill the space? Who is that anyway?" While I thought about it, we walked over to the posters and saw Melody hand Rae a book.

  "Hey guys, whatcha got there?" I asked. Rae tried hiding it behind his back, but Melody told on him.

  "Nothing much, Rae was just asking if we had anything on Onicide aliens." She explained.

  "Aliens? That's kind of random." Riley stated.

  "Not really. The Onicidean Invasion was a monumental moment in history, and it really wasn't that long ago. We grew up knowing aliens were out there, but before then people had no clue, so of course people have tried to learn as much about them as possible. So you're interested in that stuff, Rae?" I asked.

  "Well, not exactly. I had a phase when I was younger, but I recently became curious about their technology," Rae said, staring at me.

  "Yo, that's actually one of my favorite parts about alien history. Do you know all the advancements in tech we've made just from picking apart some scraps in the wrecked ships they left behind? It's truly amazing how fast we were able to reverse engineer some of that stuff. For example…" I rambled on about alien tech until nobody in the room was listening. The whole time my own advancement in the subject never even crossed my mind. "Oh, ah sorry, what were we talking about again?"

  "Right, I was asking about your new favorite hero." Reminded Riley.

  "Oh, yeah…" I looked up a poster with all of our country's top 10 heroes; #10 Genix, Title: The world, #9 Synth Wave, Title: Wheel of Fortune, #8 Oscar-Possum, Title: The Fool, #7 Breakpoint, Title: Temperance, #6 Heartburn, Title: The Sun, #5 Golden Gal, Title: The High Priestess, #4 Mountain Mover, Title: Strength, #3 Dr. Hollow, Title: The Hanged Man, #2 Madame Mystic, Title: The Magician, #1 SuperStar☆, Title, The Star.

  "This might seem kind of basic, but I might have to go with SuperStar☆. There's just something about him that feels so trustworthy. Like I'd never be scared to go and ask him for help. I don't know, what about you guys" I asked Melody and Rae.

  "I admire Madame Mystic," Melody replied, "I have an interest in the supernatural side of this world. Though most of her abilities come from her title, I have a feeling there's more to it than that."

  "Well, I'm not from around here, so I'm not too familiar with those guys," Rae surmised, "Over on the east coast, we got Lady Liberty. She's like SuperStar's sister and has pretty much the same powers as him, so she's pretty cool."

  For a while we just talked about what heroes we liked and disliked. Riley and I picked out some posters and Rae flipped through his book. For a while, I almost forgot about the investigation I was on. After double checking everything in the store, we decided it was time to check out. I realized that I wasn't going to get answers right now, but on the bright side at least I had fun hanging out with my friends, even if I was on edge the whole time. However, right as we were about to leave, a woman entered the store. She was tall, with tan skin, long dark hair, and an expensive suit with a vest half unbuttoned. Melody perked up and greeted her the same way she did us, but the woman cut her off.

  "I'm here to see the boss." She said with a certain drawl. Melody looked confused and nervous at that.

  "My boss?" She asked innocently.

  The woman rolled her eyes and spoke in a hushed voice, "Don't play dumb with me, sister. Now just let me in the back room."

  "I'm um, not supposed to let anyone back there, but I can try to get my manager for you," Melody gulped.

  "Do you know who I am?" She snarled, reaching for her hip. I saw a familiar look, a fear in Melody's eyes, and couldn't help but intervene. Without thinking, I hopped in between them.

  "Hey leave her alone, it's her first day!" I blurted out, "She said she'd get her manager so you don't have to be all in her face!"

  The woman just gave me a cold stare with eyes that could kill. Then she looked past me and suddenly grinned. Confused, I turned to see what she was looking at and found none other than Yong-Rae. Oh crap, what did I just do? My mind was in a panic that seemed to last forever, but before any of us could act, the back door opened and a tall, lanky man wearing a face mask that poorly covered many scars across his face, shifted into the storefront.

  "Maribelle, thank you for coming on such short notice. If you would, follow me, your meeting will begin shortly," The man spoke in a deep, scrappy voice. The woman huffed but followed the man into the back room. Once they were gone, we collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Thanks for stepping in like that, Rayleigh." Melody said, blushing a bit.

  "No problem, what was that all about anyway? Who were those people?" I asked.

  "I've got no clue. Never seen that Maribelle lady before, but that guy who came out was just Corri, my manager. He looks kinda scary, but he's actually really nice and seems to care a lot about the business. Apparently, that girl had a meeting with him. Would've been nice if he'd given me a heads up, but I guess it's fine now." She explained.

  "That's strange, but I think it's best if you just try to stay out of it, alright?" I assured.

  "Right, of course." She nodded, "Anyway, goodbye, you guys, thanks for coming by. See you tomorrow, for real this time."

  We said our goodbyes and started to walk home. It seemed we were in the clear now, but a feeling in my gut was screaming danger. I couldn't prove it, but it felt so obvious that there was some shady business going on with Maribelle. Not to mention the manager. I swear, when he entered the room, the temperature dropped like 20 degrees. The way he moved had an uncanny valley effect to them, and his eyes were so black, like a void. I needed to know what was going on in that back room. The question was, how I could sneak in? I tried to focus on thinking of a way, but my sister's talk made that difficult.

  "Gotta admit that place was more fun than it'd be. What do you wanna do next? Maybe grab some drinks or go thrifting?" She proposed.

  "Well, I would but…" Rae spoke up in an unusually shy manner. "I actually have a lot of homework, so I should be getting home soon." He must have been staring at me for a while, but as soon as I noticed, he looked away. "My place is actually back that way, so I think this is where we part ways."

  "Oh, no problem man, thanks for coming with us" She cheered as we waved him goodbye. "What about you Rayleigh, want to go anywhere?" Only half listening, I nodded alone as she kept talking. "Nice, I know this cute little antique store that's kind of on the way, maybe we could get some new accessories. Speaking of, is that a new necklace? Where'd you find it?" She pointed at my hourglass pendant.

  "This? I sorta just found the charm lying around and made it into a pendant myself." I said, telling half the truth. "You really notice a lot, huh?"

  "No, I think you're just pretty oblivious sometimes." Riley stated bluntly. "Like, did you really not notice what was up with Yong-Rae?"

  "Well, I suppose he was acting a bit odd today." I shrugged. Night Hopper knew why, but Rayleigh and serenely not Riley would have no way of knowing, so I was genuinely confused about what she could've meant.

  "He wanted to talk to you about something in private, remember? I guess he must have chickened out," She stated.

  "Oh shoot, I totally forgot about that."

  "Hmp, of course you did. I bet you also didn't catch how he was looking at you this whole time. It's easy to look past those things when your attention's grabbed by someone else."

  "What? Can you just tell me what you're getting at?" I sighed.

  "I think you got yourself in the middle of a love triangle! Rae totally wanted to ask you to homecoming or something, but your eyes are on Melody! Am I correct?" Riley accused.

  "Huh?!" I froze in place. "The hell are you talking about?! They're just my friends, okay! You have no idea what's going on with Rae, or me or Melody for that matter. Honestly, I wish I could be caught up in some silly love story, but… but I just have a lot of other things I'm worrying about right now."

  "I-I'm sorry, bro. You've clearly been pretty stressed lately, but I'm not sure I understand why. I thought it was just your way of grieving, but I'm starting to think there's something else going on," she pried.

  "You don't need to understand everything, alright? It's something I have to work through on my own. You really couldn't understand, so stop trying." I cried.

  "Geez, I was just trying to help." She huffed, "Ya know, it would be nice you acted like you cared about my feelings sometimes." Riley was really starting to piss me off, but luckily she gave me an excuse to leave.

  "Sorry, maybe you did have a point about Rae. Not that I think he likes me like that, but he did want to talk to me. It could be really important, I should try to catch up to him and ask him what it was."

  "I think that's a good idea, but if he asks you out, I get an "I told you so."

  "Sure, man. We might be awhile, so don't wait up for me." I said as I hurried back to the comic shop.

  I didn't know it at the time, but as she walked away, Riley laughed under her breath, "He was totally lying to me."