Felix was lying on his bed, snuggling with Harper. Though he'd guessed from the fragments of her conversation with her boss, Jessica, she'd told him that she had just been fired. Evidently, the timing of the footage disappearing was incredibly suspect.
Fortunately, there was no concrete proof that she was actually the one who wiped the tapes, so none of the city's people would be breathing down her neck. That said, being jobless would be monumentally terrible. Living in West City could be… exorbitantly expensive.
"Should I start looking for a new job?" Harper mumbled, her mother covered by Felix's thick blanket.
"Whenever you feel up to it, Harp. You're free to stay with me as long as you want. Just please don't get caught by the dorm advisor," Felix held her close, knowing that she had loved her old job, no matter how much she used to harp – see what he did there? – on about it.
"That'd be nice," she said dreamily, and with that, she was off to sleep. Her little breaths were the only sound in the dark room, and Felix felt his worries vanish for a moment. There were no final exams, no superheroing, no inadequacy. Just him and Harper in an entirely too-small dorm room.
But just as such moments tend to be, it ended as soon as it came and reality began to crash in once more. School was the furthest thing from his mind; he was sure he'd get through exams one way or another. He always did. No, what bothered him more than anything was Rewind.
Rather, he felt his own inadequacy burrow deep within him, tearing open a wide wound. For months now, he stood by and achieved barely more than any average person with proper training could. If anything, his superpowers only ensured his "luck" in getting caught up in situations that he could handle.
Harper, on the other hand, could stand up to bullets and weapons of all kinds. She could take care of groups of assailants many times more dangerous than what he could withstand. Felix would be lying to himself if he didn't feel a bit jealous.
But more than anything, he was frustrated with himself, that he couldn't somehow do more. Even Johnathan, whose only ability was to fly, was somehow able to take him in a straight fight. This despite all the nights Felix spent with Ivan at the boxing center. What a superhero Rewind was shaping up to be.
His abilities were enough for now, handling small fry. But if a big threat ever appeared, like a real-life supervillain, he'd be practically worthless. That would come to pass someday; even if most Supers were genuinely kind people, there would be those that would seek to use their powers to advance themselves in society – as one of the Seven already had.
Leroy Ryan, one of the few Seven to be unaffiliated with any country and publicly known, was able to make raw materials from out of thin air. He used that ability to build himself a valuable manufacturing firm, and he was among the richest men in the world. Felix was sure that there were many Supers who wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Still, there would be those that would seek to oppress others for no other reason than enjoyment or revenge. These would be the real supervillains. But as Felix was now, he'd be unable to stop a superpowered piece of toast, much less a supervillain.
It was late in the night, but not too late. He looked at Harper one more time, her chest rising and falling every so slightly. He kissed her on the forehead and slowly got up from the bed, doing his absolute best not to wake her – not that he could, since Harper slept like the dead.
Pulling on his coat and slipping on his running shoes, Felix left his dorm room and sprinted for the subway. If he timed it right, a train would be arriving as he would get there. From there, he could take the subway all the way to the boxing center.
The plan went surprisingly well, Felix not having to wait long at all before the train departed for deeper downtown. When he rushed through the boxing center's front doors, it was to a surprised audience of exactly two: Ivan and his old coach.
"Good to see you, Felix!" Ivan called out, giving Felix a big bro-hug. "You're a bit too late for tonight, though. We're about to close up shop," he said, with no small amount of sadness in his voice. Oh, he'd wanted to beat a lesson into Felix alright.
"That's not why I'm here," Felix got out between deep breaths. Maybe sprinting from the subway station here hadn't been the best idea.
"Oh?" Ivan's big, bushy, blonde eyebrows rose in surprise. "Why, then?"
Felix breathed deeply. Normally, he'd never even consider what he was about to say, but these were hardly normal times. He was falling behind his superhero partners, and he needed to catch up fast. There was no other place to force improvement than jumping into the crucible itself.
"I need you to take me back to The Ring. I want to fight."