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Icon stood amidst the smoke and rubble of what remained of Lost Haven’s Downeast Mall, where just a short while ago, the madman known only as the Hybrid caused a massive explosion that gutted the building, leaving little more than a smoldering pile of brick and mortar.  In the hours since the explosion, Icon had been assisting local authorities in combing through the rubble trying to locate survivors. However, the explosion had proven so destructive that there were few survivors to be rescued. It soon became obvious that the search and rescue efforts would soon become one of search and recovery. 

However, even that proved to be difficult. As the crews poured through the remains of the mall, they found that when The Hybrid had crashed into the mall’s atrium and detonated, the people in the maniac’s vicinity were vaporized in the blast, making any sort of recovery, much less identification, impossible. Icon and the recovery workers pulled body after body from the other parts of the destroyed mall, each one weighing heavier on Icon than the last. 

As he dug through the rubble, something on the floor caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. When he looked over to the object, his heart sank. It was a child’s blood soaked shoe. He picked up the pink and white sneaker and held it in his hand, and in that moment he felt the true weight of what had happened here earlier in the day. The lives cut short, the families that had been torn apart, and the dreams that had died all because he wasn’t able to stop The Hybrid in time. Lost in his thoughts, Icon was surprised when he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. He turned toward the person, and was surprised to see a member of the rescue crew staring back at him. He was an older black man who wore the weight of his work in his eyes. However, it was easy to see that he had a certain sympathy for the younger hero.

“Don’t let it.” The older man told him.

[b] “Excuse me?”[/b] Icon asked, genuinely confused by the man’s words.

“Don’t let this break you.” The older man clarified. “Look Son, I’ve been at this a long time, and I’ve seen that look more times than I’d care to remember. You did what you could, I know that. Hell, we all know that. You’ve saved this city more times than I can count, and even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, you saved more people than you know today.” 

[b] “I don’t know. I could have done more. I should have…”[/b] his voice trailed off.

“The thing is, bad things happen. People die. You did what you could.” The older man continued.  “Nobody can save everyone, not even you.” He finished with a nod and a sympathetic half smile as he began to walk away to continue the work of sorting through the rubble. 

Icon looked down again at the bloodied sneaker in his hand, and after several beats, he dropped it to the ground. Then, with the older man’s words echoing in his mind, he took to the skies, leaving the rescue workers to continue searching through the rubble without him.