[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FKDndik.png[/img][/center][hr] [i] [b]♫ Ding—dong—ding ♫[/b] "This is 2nd Avenue. Transfer is available to the M train. Exit here for the Lower East Side. Please watch the gap between the train and the platform."[/i] [color=Crimson]"Excuse me. Excuse me."[/color] Cindy Moon muttered as she deftly weaved through the rush hour crowd to escape from the mobile prison of the New York City subway system. It took effort but it was something she was use to by now. [i]"Doors are closing."[/i] She lurched just in time to pass the last obstacle, a rather large rotund man who decided to jam as much stuff in his backpack as possible. A tourist, Cindy had pegged him as, just from the general vibe. He was on there before she got on and yet he still camped the door as if he'd miss his stop. Though that was just her being a typical New Yorker and lamenting about the tourists. They were scarce these days what with Mayor Osborn catering to government overreach. Turns out having security checkpoints all throughout the city turned off a lot of potential visitors. Go figure. Following the few who also got off at this stop, Cindy navigated to the escalator and jammed on with everybody else. Her stomach gave a disapproving rumble with how slow she was to return home. It wasn't her fault, though. Robotics was just far more interesting today that she lost track of time. Like three hours worth, but that's fine. She'd still make it in time. Another rumble, this time from her pocket as her phone silently went off. She pulled it out, screen lighting up, greeting her with a New York Rangers icon for her background, ignored for the message that popped up on her notifications. [indent][indent][img]https://i.ibb.co/G3BhdjWF/Screenshot-2025-06-23-122427.png[/img][/indent][/indent] Even Mister Li was starting to notice she had been missing more than a few dinners New Way, it seemed. Once again, not her fault. There were things she [i]had[/i] to do that would come up. It was a little exhausting being this busy but it wasn't like he'd understand. Maybe if they extended dinner servings past seven, she might be able to make a few. Then again, she'd also probably reason that she could stay out later aaand... probably still miss out on dinner. That would really draw attention that Cindy just didn't want to deal with right now. She swiped on her phone and swiftly offered a reply. [indent][indent][img]https://i.ibb.co/DfsDq44L/Screenshot-2025-06-23-122644.png[/img][/indent][/indent] It was nice of Mister Li to care, at least. That made one person that cared enough about to make sure she was eating. Cindy frowned sulking as she beat down the emotions that were crawling their way up as stepped off of the escalator and headed towards the exit. She hated feeling sorry for herself. That was how she got into this whole mess by sulking and moping about it. It wasn't going to undo what had been done. Even still, Cindy stopped herself from grabbing the handrail as she started up the stairs to the street. The instinct overridden as she clenched her fists tightly, something that probably would have squeezed the life out of that poor handrail that did nothing but support old people as they made their climb up and down. That wouldn't be fair to them. Plus the whole secret identity thing would be tough to manage if a teenaged girl crushed metal bars like they were nothing. Cresting above the sidewalk, the sounds of the city began reach Cindy's ears again. Cars honking, people walking or talking, the ever present construction noises, and oh yeah, the sirens. Wait. Sirens? Cindy's ears perked up in the direction she thought she could hear them, but that was only her human reflex making her turn. Her head tingled with a very specific feeling that only really she could describe and not well to others. She hurried up the rest of the way to the sidewalk and turned to face a bisecting street from the one she emerged on. She could feel in her head the speeds of the police cars, the blare of the sirens all three of them racing down E Houston towards her because. Because. [b][i]FWOOOOOOOSH![/i][/b] A set of rockets sounded as they flared down 2nd Ave, turning onto East Houston. People everywhere looked up, including Cindy to catch a figure in a green jumpsuit in a partial mechanical suit. It had massive metallic wings that caught the dusking sun to shimmer as the man banked the turn to start heading East. [b][i]SKRAAAANG−KLKT![/i][/b] The wings moved and adjusted mid-flight in some of the most advanced mechanical engineering Cindy had ever seen, and she had seen some impressive stuff as a robotics student. The police cars were drawing in, the man taking a moment to spare a glance at them. Cindy's vision focused, drawing details far better than anyone else watching. He looked intense, angry, as if something had gone wrong. The police being onto him, no doubt, but honestly, a set of jet powered wings. Not exactly scoring points for subtly. The man turned back east and the jets flared back to life just as Cindy had began to sprint to an alleyway just adjacent to her subway exit. In the cover of the darkened space between two buildings, she flipped her backpack around drawing out her suit. She flashed a glance at her watch. 6:49. She was probably just about to make it to dinner, too. But like all the other times she had missed this month. Duty called.