The villa within the walls

Ryan had no idea what this woman wanted. She wore a conflicted expression, as if she were constipated.

He was about to ignore her and fly off on his own.

Then, without warning, she leaned in and kissed him.

Normally, with Ryan's strength, no one could budge him.

But Starlight moved so forcefully that they toppled backward together, rolling into a dark patch of grass off to one side.

Clouds drifting in from the horizon obscured the moonlight, and everything grew dim.

The next day, Ryan walked toward Vought International.

For once, he felt like walking to the building instead of flying.

His route took him through Times Square.

Times Square was much the same as ever. Compared with the days just after the Great Depression ended in the last century, the tall buildings on either side merely had a few more neon lights.

An LED screen mounted on a building displayed a shoe advertisement endorsed by A-Train.

The slogan read:

"Put on these shoes and run as fast as A-Train."

Of course, that was impossible. As Ryan crossed Times Square, he spotted someone else gazing up at the billboard.

He wore a blue jacket, with black goggles pushed up onto his forehead.

A-Train.

He was probably the Supe Ryan had interacted with most at Seven Tower. Ryan walked over to him.

"A-Train, what are you looking at?"

"The me in that ad isn't really fast. On the track, I'm practically flying."

To be fair, that was true.

When filming an ad, all he had to do was strike a pose in a studio. Postproduction editing did the rest before it went up on the screen.

Ryan had watched Supes shoot advertisements, so he knew that much.

Since they had run into each other anyway, the two continued on