Before Cadell was seen, he was heard. Everyone knew who it was. The superhero’s laugh was too distinctive, a low giggling boom that had the tendency to bring smiles to faces. He exploded out of a portal, gliding momentarily before dashing across the pavement.

“Dad, look! It’s Psycho!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“Ay, where the fuck you been man?”

Cadell’s laugh persisted despite the Voice’s usual schemes to slaughter all the excited surrounding civilians. Vibrant hallucinations flared up; an orange and blue haze filled the air.

Same old, same old. It’s good to be back.

“Psycho!” a man in a cool blue suit yelled. “Can you take me to work using your teleporting?”

Cadell skidded to a halt and yelled back, “Dude! I use portals. Surely, you know the difference.”

“But will you take me to work though?”

Send him to work? How about you send him to hell.

Whoa. That was more corny than usual.

N-no, it wasn’t! the Voice stuttered. You know what I mean. Slaughter him.

The man in the suit continued. “I swear I’ve seen you teleport before. Are you changing superpowers or something?”

Cadell frowned. Every so often, someone would say this There was once a time when the beautiful purple portals were invisible to the human eye which had led to people thinking that he was teleporting. Eventually, two and a half years after acquiring his superpowers, he realised that he could actually make the portals visible. He had assumed the misconception would gradually disintegrate but he was wrong. Very wrong.

“Haven’t you seen me on hologram? TV? Social media? It’s a freaking portal bro!”

The cool suit guy scratched his scalp under groomed ginger hair. “ I assumed you could teleport as well. It’s not a big deal.”

But it is! the voice roared.

“But it is.” Cadell yelled. “You have a pretty cool suit, really sharp, but what if someone said to you, ‘Nice bikini dude?’”

“Um. I’d probably laugh but I’m assuming that’s not the answer you want. I’d feel bad I guess. Look, I’m sorry man. Can you just take me to work? Pretty please? Pretty pretty please? Pretty pretty pretty please? My boss is going to lose her shit. P-”

“Okay, fine! Geez.”

Cadell waved back at the worker entering a building, taking note of his heavy breathing. He wasn’t drained in the slightest but nerves were getting the best of him. It was rare for Psycho to do the odd errand. Usually, his focus on cleansing crime was excellent. Distractions were few.

But you’re scared, boy. A vigilante scared of crime? Hilarious.

“And so what of it?” Cadell muttered. “Isn’t that what courage is? Facing your fears head on?”

The Voice didn’t answer the question. Cadell jumped multiple times before stretching one arm wide.

WHACK!

He slapped himself. Hard.

“Calm down, calm down,” he muttered.

I wish I could roll my eyes, the voice said.

Not long later, Cadell spotted a trickle of navy blue paint on the street. His eyes widened. Heart pounding, he broke into a sprint and less than a minute later he found the source. He heaved a sigh of relief. It was just a kid who had fallen over and scraped his knee. The little guy was balling his eyes out even though the injury didn’t look serious.

Upon seeing the superhero, the kid’s eyes lit up. “You’re Psycho!”

“Are yoon your way to school then?”

“Yeah,” the kid replied, wiping away tears.

Cadell’s heart rate was through the roof. There were no signs of aggression or malicious activity in the hallucination, so why was he so on edge?

“I was running because I was late for school and I tripped over myself. My mum says you’re a terrible person. She said you should be put behind bars for the murders you’ve committed. I think you’re cool though. I think it’s awesome that you’re fighting bad guys. I want to have superpowers too when I’m older because then I can be as cool as you.”

Cadell helped the kid up with one arm while the other arm reached into a portal for a first aid kit. “No. You’re mum’s right. I should be behind bars. But I think you’re right too. Superpowers are cool. Let’s patch that wound up, shall we?”

“Did you hear about the terrorist who had superpowers too?” the kid asked.

“Yup.”

“Witnesses say the guy could shoot orange lasers out of his eyes and he could fly! That’s so cool! If he was still alive, you could both fight each other. That would be like a movie. You know, it gave me hope. Maybe I’ll have superpowers too.”

Cadell sighed after applying a plaster on the wound. “Okay, okay. That’s enough out of you. I can send you to school if you want.”

“No, wait!” the kid wailed melodramatically. “I-i-i need a memento.”

“A memento?”

“No one’s going to believe me if I tell them about this. Can you give me Delirium?”

Cadell pulled a puzzled face underneath the Psycho mask. Most didn’t know about that superpower. The kid must have done some research.

“The element can’t be sustained on Earth for long before disintegrating so that won’t do. I have an idea. Open your hands.”

The kid opened his hands and Cadell dropped a snowball into them. “That’s from Antarctica. Find one of your friends, throw it at them and say that Psycho sends his regards or something.”

“This is the best day of my life!” the kid wailed. “My friend said you were a loser but I knew he was wrong.”

His friend’s right, the voice said.

Cadell chuckled. “Just get going. Before the snowball melts.”

Twenty minutes later, after helping an adult get to work and a kid get to school, a real threat finally arised.

Cadell flowed across the city effortlessly like water, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and catapulting from portal to portal. He wasn’t as nervous as before. For some reason, seeing a snapshot of other people’s lives was soothing.

He still had not conquered his phobia of knives and it had been five years since he’d materialised Delirium but he was done hiding or running away. He was done thinking too much. Right now, he needed the unwavering confidence Maya spoke of.

THUD!

Cadell landed in the middle of a hostage situation. Policemen stood by their cars, guns shaking. The criminal wore a ski mask with a pistol aimed at a woman’s head. Blue and crimson vapour evaporated from everyone involved. Fear and bloodlust.

A slight smile appeared on Cadell’s face. Then he giggled. Then he laughed loudly. His right hand tensed into a claw shape and the invisible Delirium element materialised, moulding into a small sphere. He hurled it and the criminal sank to the ground. It was a perfect headshot.

“Oh man,” Cadell said. “Never in my life have I been pleased to see a gun.