Glass was a pain to pick out of the crevices of Cricket’s carapace. The thought crossed his mind as if it were the most casual in the world. For a moment, Cricket considered that it must be weird to think so casually about life threatening work. Then the exhaustion of his wings reminded him that there was no reason to keep flying. He let out a long sigh and did his best to hover steadily to the ground. Steadily was the more difficult part, but hey! He did not crash. Cricket’s feet hit the ground with a distinctive thud. He pulled the man away from his body, finally inspecting the short fellow…

The first thing that caught his gaze were those ears. It was hard for Cricket to look away. He was a sucker for ears, not that he would admit it. Then he trailed his eyes along the rest of the poor reporter’s body. At least, he assumed this man was a reporter. It would explain the daring stupidity and the camera. Emphasis on stupidity. At least the mystery reporter was cute– [color=#ed6885][i]No, Cricket. That’s not how a Super Hero thinks.[/i][/color] He paused on the reporter’s face, drinking in those features. Then he shook himself from his thoughts.

Cricket, with as much gentleness as his larger form (unpracticed as it was at being gentle) could handle, lifted the small fellow’s arms and inspected them. Then his legs. There, a gash had formed, likely from rebar or glass. A frown crossed his face.[color=#9d9751]”Apologies, citizen,”[/color] Cricket spoke in his slightly over dramatic hero voice, [color=#9d9751]”It seems I could not protect you entirely from the glass. Allow me to help patch you up.”[/color]

It took more energy than Cricket would have liked to attract Spider Beetles while he walked. Especially since he was mostly looking for larvae. Luckily, they arrived just as Cricket set the reporter on a bench. With practiced precision, Cricket coaxed the larvae to make silk. It only took some pheromones to convince them he was prey for them to wrap silk around. Sure, they crawled under his carapace to drill into his skin, but what bugs didn’t at this point?

Using the silk, Cricket crafted a makeshift bandage to handle a bleeding slice on the reporter’s leg. There did not appear to be glass in it, but just to be sure, Cricket said, [color=#9d9751]”Be sure to visit a hospital if you can. These are good at keeping out infection but if the glass got caught in you at all, there is little I can do.”[/color]

With that, Cricket stood and stretched. He [i]really[/i] wanted a smoke, but he had to go ensure there were no survivors left… Plus, Gramma-Burn had left something behind. If nothing else, a dramatic hand off back to Gamma-Burn would make good media. At best, the DNCC might get some use out of it.