“We have breaking news! An earthquake of a 7.2 magnitude has hit South Korea centering around Seoul and the police department have been reported to have trouble calming down the panicked citizens! Who will save the day? We still haven’t spotted any heroes yet.”

“As you all know, we bring live-coverage of super-powered Heroes taking on crimes and natural disasters straight into your living room! The rescue entertainment show that rates heroes by their actions to pick the King of Heroes! This is Hero TV Live!”

.

“Sky High just got the points for arriving first,” a voice informs Irene over the small comms system installed inside her helmet.

Irene groans. “Wendy,” she wearily warns.

“I’m just saying,” comes the wry response. “This wouldn’t have happened if we had just transferred to Seoul, but nooo, you  had to stay in Incheon.”

“Wendy,” Irene warns for the second time. “That’s enough.”

“Fine, I won’t say anything.” Wendy sighs as Irene grits her teeth, pressing down on the gas pedal so hard it could probably break. Given that it’s Irene, it probably would break. “Press the accelerator,” Wendy instructs. “I just finished fixing the thing this morning. I can’t believe you punctured the nitrogen tank with your foot trying to find the kickstand,” she adds on as an afterthought.

“It was an accident!” Irene replies defensively, but then gives a sigh of her own and gives a slight nod before pressing the glowing pink button placed right next to the ignition on her motorcycle. Nitrogen flows through the tubes lining the bike and burns a bright blue, pushing the bike to even greater speeds. The hero grips the handlebars tighter as she tries to maneuver her way through the stilled cars lying in the street.

Out of the peripheral of her vision, she sees a heavy piece of machinery tipping off of the side of a five-story building. Probably something placed carelessly on the edge of the rooftop and usually wouldn’t be a huge problem if not for the fact that there was a family of four cowering into each other as the object made its descent. Irene lets out a small grunt as she sharply steers her motorcycle in that direction. Once she gets close enough, she slides her vehicle away, not paying attention to it as it skids against the asphalt (and Wendy groaning at all of the damage she’s going to have to fix) and pushing the family lightly to the side with one arm while catching the piece of fallen machinery with the other. She lets out a small gasp when the sharp pain of the impact hits her and her bones brace as the shock tremors through them. She brings up her other arm- the arm that’s no longer pushing the panicked family back- to get a better hold on the device, the metal distorting under her desperate grip.

She sets the object safely onto the ground, rolling her eyes as ‘+100 pt’ appears four times on her visor screen in digitized golden letters. “It’s not safe in the streets,” Irene informs the now-awed family, slightly out of breath. “Please evacuate to the nearest safety shelter and there will be officials waiting to take care of you.” The hero gives them a bow in farewell before rushing off.

.

“That save you made was pretty cool today,” Wendy tells Irene over the comms. “Too bad it was overshadowed by Pitch. I still can’t believe she got 1200 points for that!”

Irene shrugs as she pilots the slightly scratched motorcycle- now in heli-mode. “I still think she should’ve gotten more points, to be honest. I mean, she managed to cancel out an aftershock with her supersonic scream. I may have saved four people today, but she probably saved hundreds with that scream.”

“Hey! She’s your rival! Don’t say that!” Wendy reprimands.

“No, she’s not,” Irene retorts. “She’s the top of the list, a shoe-in for King of Heroes and I’m just- I’m just me.” The hero shrugs as she reaches the abandoned  rooftop of her apartment building.

“And that’s awesome!” Wendy replies heatedly. Irene smiles softly as she can practically picture Wendy leaning across the table, gripping her mic tightly as she argues with a person who’s not physically there. “You’re a superhero and you could totally be King of Heroes! Y’know, if you actually tried for once.”

Irene sighs for the upteempth time that day, exhaustion slowly seeping into her bones. “I told you already. My job is to save the city- or country or whatever, not win some game show.” She drops down, softly landing onto the rooftop as Wendy pilots Irene’s vehicle back to “Red Velvet HQ,” as the technician likes to call it (even though it’s really just the garage that her landlady is letting her borrow until she finally kicks the girl out). “End of discussion. I’ll see you in school tomorrow.” Irene smiles at the tinny ‘bye unni’ coming from the other end before pressing the unmorph button. (Wendy really needs to stop watching Power Rangers. It’s starting to become a bad influence on her.) Gears hiss and click and whir as Irene’s clunky suit slowly and miraculously morphs down into a sleek white phone with glowing pink lining.

Her ears perk at a small gasp. Irene- no, Joohyun- looks to the side to see a girl in soft, green flannel pajama pants- a highschooler, it seems- standing in the doorway, the rusted doorknob held tight in her grip. “No way,” the girl breathes out, eyes widening. Joohyun groans.    

.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Like, oh my god. It’s really you!” the green clad girl babbles as Joohyun smiles awkwardly at her, throat too dry and mind too blank to speak. Then the girl suddenly stops, staring blankly at the hero before she breathes out, “Wooowww. You’re soooo pretty. I mean, I sorta guessed you would be pretty under that helmet but wow, you’re super pretty. Super!” Joohyun’s face heats up and she turns even redder when Joy mentions how amazing it is that ‘your ears are exactly the same color as your suit!’ Joohyun wants to die. Literally die. (Maybe die was too strong of a word. More like spend the rest of her life under a rock on some remote island. Yeah, that sounds about right). But then she gathers her courage, and straightens her shoulders in preparation.

“Um,” Jooyhyun manages to interrupt. Joy stops rambling and stares at her with wide, expectant eyes. Joohyun squirms. “C-can you please keep my identity a secret? I mean, I don’t really want anyone to know who I am,” she mumbles.

Joy nods vigorously before reaching out to grasp the hero’s hands. “You can totally count on me!” she declares enthusiastically. Joohyun flinches back but can’t pull her hands out of Joy’s grip (which is surprisingly strong despite the fact that Joohyun’s the one with the super strength). “Ah!” the younger girl blurts out, loud enough that Joohyun flinches a bit. “Can you please wait right here?” she asks before edging away from Joohyun and towards the stairs. “Just wait one moment, I’ll be right back!” Joy promises before sprinting down the stairs. Joohyun fidgets anxiously by herself and contemplates whether she should just escape and sneakback into her apartment through her bathroom window or wait for the younger girl to come back. Before she’s able to come to a conclusive decision, Joy reappears, a blank piece of paper and a sharpie in her hand. “Can I get your autograph?” Joohyun blinks at the stationary utensils in Joy’s hands before looking up and staring blankly at the girl. Joy gestures to the paper and pen again and Joohyun hesitantly writing ‘IRINE’ in sloppy block letters.

Joy looks appropriately disappointed and Joohyun ends up blurting, “Sorry, I never really practiced my signature.” She pauses and rubs the back of her neck. “If you want, I can give you another autograph after I practice my signature?” Joohyun ends the question with an uncertainty she hasn’t necessarily felt since she became a hero, but it all dissipates when Joy’s eyes light up.

“Yeah!” the younger girl exclaims and quickly hugs Joohyun. The hero doesn’t even have time to flinch again before Joy sprints back down the stairs, shouting over her shoulder, “Thanks, unni! I have to go back to my room before my parents yell at me! Bye, unni!”

Joohyun stares blankly at the open doorway to the stairs before letting out a sigh, all tension seeping out of her body. She scratches the back of her head before looking up at the cloudless night sky and sighing again. Looks like things are going to be a lot different from now on.

A/N: This is a Tiger and Bunny AU, by the way. Just in case you guys didn't know that.