"I... I choose Tarana Rain."
"Thy will be done," Veta says, bowing her head. "Be seeing you soon, Gravitate."
Before he can respond, the call goes dead.
His stomach turns. Hunching over and pulling off his mask just in time, "Are you sure you can save her?" Travis says, but when he look back, the man is not there anymore.
Before he can finish that thought, Aphrodite appears to recite a text from Jenny:
"I'm on my way to your apartment. What's going on? Please call me, Travis. I don't like this."
Thank goodness—he couldn't handle it if something happened to Grandma. He force himself to envision Jenny walking into his apartment and finding Grandma safe and sound, sitting in her recliner or feeding Tropez.
That thought calms him for a moment but then he scream as a loud bang suddenly echoes beside him.
Travis spin and nearly choke with relief. It's Tarana Rain, who is still gagged and bound to a chair. Not daring to think about Karla, he rush forward to untie her.
"No, no, no, no," Tarana Rain says once ungagged, trembling and crying. "No, please no."
"It's all right, you're safe now," Travis say, hugging her tightly and praying that this is all some kind of twisted dream.
"Is Karla still alive?"
"I don't know…" is all Tarana Rain can muster.
"Tarana Rain, you have to tell me what happened," Travis say, shaking her a bit. His nerves are so frayed, he can't help it.
"That Veta woman ambushed me after I dropped your Grandma off at the Metro-Way," she starts.
Travis nearly collapse with relief. Grandma is safe. At least he can hold on to that much. Grandma is safe. He keep repeating it in his head so that it will sink in.
"Next thing I knew, I was tied up. It was too dark, I had no idea where I was. My H-Chip was missing, she took it so no one could track me," Tarana Rain says, holding up her vacant wrist. The thought of losing H-Chip Aphrodite sends a wave of fear through his gut….
"Right before she teleported me here, Veta told me to take you back into the main ballroom…."
"No," Travis say, "we have to go find Veta. Now."
"I really think we should listen to her," Tarana Rain says. "Please?"
Travis really don't want to, but Tarana Rain looks so terrified, he can't find it in he to say no.
"All right, let's go."
Travis and Tarana Rain run into the main ballroom, but no one even notices—everyone is transfixed by a video that plays on a large holo-monitor on the front stage.
Karla appears on the monitor, displayed in front of a crowd of her finest press peers.
All he can think is, yes, she's still alive! At least until she starts speaking…
"The hero named Gravitate betrayed me in my hour of need," Karla says into the monitor, through sobs. "I was the reporter about to name him Hoshi City's Hero of Tomorrow but he failed to save me after all that I've done for him. Gravitate is nothing but a hack! A danger to society! A…a selfish sociopath!"
"That'll be enough from you," Veta says, stepping into the frame with her gun raised.
There are several screams from the crowd as Veta points the gun at Karla.
"No!" Karla screams, "you said if I recited your speech that you'd spare-"
But next is a loud bang.
Then…silence.
Travis looks down but all the people is still looking at the monitor, they all look surprised as if someone famous appeared before their very eyes.
Tarana shakes Travis and told him to look at the monitor, "Why should I look? I feel guilty about not saving h–" his speech is interrupted by Tarana holding his head to look to the monitor.
"Look someone blocks the shot." Tarana Rain says, "I don't know who that guy is but he save Karla."
Travis then remembers talking to a man in the bathroom about saving Karla.
"Retribution..." Veta says as she jumps back to dodge the attack from Retribution.
"I'll be saving this one...." Retribution grabs Karla on the hands and a flash cuts off the monitor.
The monitor goes back on but Veta is the only one in it "Hey there, Hoshi City," Veta proclaims, turning toward the surprised crowd. "I have some breaking news for you. I'm happy to announce that your brand new Hero of Tomorrow is none other than Gravitate. Let's give him a round of applause!"
But all that can be heard are muffled gasps.
"And here's another juicy tidbit for you: Gravitate is really Travis Sterling. Though before his time in the Powered Family Protection Program, he was known as Travis Fade."
Veta says the words and Travis struggle to understand exactly what they mean. They sound foreign to him, somehow.
"That's right, ladies and gentlemen! Gravitate is the spawn of The Sound and The Fury, the 'heroes' responsible for the murder of Miss Artillery."
The crowd ripples with whispers but he can't seem to take any of it in.
This simply cannot be happening.
"Yes folks, you heard it here first: Travis Fade is Hoshi City's Hero of Tomorrow! And what a bright future HC will have under Gravitate's purview, hailing from a family now responsible for multiple murders."
"And finally, this breaking news report has been brought to you courtesy of Hoshi City's Villain of Tomorrow…"
"Veta."
With that, the monitor goes black again but this time it never turns on.
As everyone in the ballroom turns to look at him and Tarana Rain. That's also when he realize that he never put hsi mask back on after throwing up…
Which means that right now, all of Hoshi City can see him for who he really are.
This is how his parents must have felt that day when their lives ended forever.
He find it hard to breathe.
The crush of people surging toward him is the only thing that stirs his limbs to move. He grab Tarana Rain and fly above the mass of press and socialites, making his way to the nearest window.
"Tarana? Is that you?" a woman screams from somewhere below.
"It's my mom," Tarana Rain says. "Just keep going, I'll deal with my parents later."
As he crash outside, the implications of what just happened begin to settle in.
Veta has ruined him.
He'll never have his big moment, the one where he reveal his true identity as a Legend.
He'll never be able to redeem the Fade name. Not now. Not after this.
How could this have even happened? All he can think is that Veta must have gotten his personal information out of Tarana Rain, but before he can ask, she says.
"Gravitate, I'm so sorry. The things she said she'd do…I didn't want to tell, but-"
"It's all right," Travis say.
Even though it's not Tarana Rain's fault, he'd still like to give Grandma a big, fat I-told-you-so for inviting his sidekick into his personal life.
But then, something else strikes him—Tarana Rain should only have known about his Sterling identity. How could she have known about his Fade identity? Did she somehow put it together from his brunch with Jenny?
Stop, he tell himself. The only thing that matters at this moment is to find Grandma. She isn't safe.
Any one of his enemies can locate Grandma easily, now that hid Sterling identity is compromised. The only thing keeping him sane is the thought that Jenny is on her way to his apartment right now.
"Honey child," Aphrodite interrupts, "I've been ringing Jenny nonstop and she finally answered. Want to chat?"
"Yes," Travis shout out loud, wishing Aphrodite was upgraded enough to have emergency-situation personality simulators.
Seconds later, Jenny appears in his mind.
"I'm almost there. I'll call you the moment I arrive," she says.
"Jenny, did you-"
"Yes. The Veta video is already all over the news—she knew all of HC's press would be at the party to see what she did. Just breathe, Travis. We'll figure this out after I've found your Grandma. I'll call you right back."
With that, Jenny hangs up. He just pray she'll find Grandma safe and sound….
Steeling himself, he turn to Tarana Rain. "You should get home."
"Gravitate, I can't thank you enough for choosing to save me. But I'm not going anywhere," she says, crossing her arms. "We're in this together. I've earned that right."
Travis nod—after all she has been through tonight, Tarana Rain deserves to see this through to the end, if that's what she wants.
"Gravitate, I think there's something I should tell you…" Tarana Rain starts, hugging herself.
He try to pull himself together but it doesn't help when him catch a glimpse of a nearby jumbotron that displays Mayor Victon's holo-image, addressing the public.
"…not yet sure how this heinous criminals was allowed to happen," he says, "but we're certainly going to bring the so-called 'hero' Gravitate in for questioning. This is exactly the kind of amateur irresponsibility that Hoshi City must begin to…"
Travis turn away and tune out, not having time to focus on anything but his next move. He take a deep breath and try to stem the tide of panic that wells up inside him, harnessing the adrenaline coursing through his body.
Travis finally commands Aphrodite to call Black Magic.
"Travis, are you all right?" Black Magic asks, panicked.
Travis doesn't know how to even begin to answer that question. So instead he say, "I need help finding Veta."
"I'll do everything I can," Black Magic says without hesitation. "Where are you? Do you need anything else?"
"I'm taking care of it but I may need protection for my family."
"Just say the word—they can come to the HGHQ."
"Black Magic…" Travis start, emotions pounding—she is still here for him.
He try to find the right words, but before he can, H-Chip Aphrodite appears with a call from Jenny.
He hold his breath and switch the calls, more nervous than he ever been.