Lost in Another World: Suit Up Once More

A few weeks later, Andrew and Penny walked out of the parkour class; they had stayed late to work on a lift for a dance routine they were working on with the safety of the mats. As they found their way to their bike, Andrew heard women cry for help. He and Penny shared a look, and without thinking they took off toward the cries. They rounded the corner and saw a woman trying to stop someone from taking her purse.

“We have to help,” Penny whispered.

Andrew knew she was right. “But how do we help?” He whispered back.

“We’re heroes! This is what we do!” Penny shot him a smile. Then moving quickly, she ran at the thief and used the element of surprise to knock him down. She quickly returned the purse to the woman. “Run!” The woman did not need to be told twice; she ran to her own bike and disappeared.

Unfortunately for Penny, the thief got back up. “So you wanna fight, do ya girl?” He swung at Penny, who thankfully dodged just in time.

Andrew stood shocked for a second. There was no magic, no elements to keep them safe. What was Pen thinking? Suddenly, he saw the man pull out a knife! Andrew needed to act, and act fast! He saw a metal trash can lid and grabbed it. He ran toward Penny. “Petal! Watch out!” He jumped between Penny and the thief, using his makeshift shield to deflect the knife. As the knife hit the ground with a clang, Penny’s eyes widened like she just realized what she’d done. She quickly kicked the knife away.

Andrew used the shield to defend himself and tried to knock the thief down long enough so they could get away. But the guy was persistent. Penny watched Andrew fight; she needed a new way to help. Then she saw it - a jump rope left behind by some kid. She rolled away from the two fighting and grabbed the rope. Sure, it wasn’t as good as her magic lasso, but she could make do. She worked quickly to tie the rope, and as she finished she looked up to see that somehow the thief had managed to get his knife back and was too close to Andrew for comfort.

“Flame!” She called out as she took a running start yet again, only this time she tossed the homemade lasso. As it landed around the thief's hand, she lept in the air with a flip, pulling the lasso tight and managing to wrap it around the thief’s body while landing perfectly.

Andrew and Penny worked quickly to tie the thief to a tree. After retrieving a notepad from their bikes, they left a note for the police. They signed it with a flower on fire and rode away. Penny headed home while Andrew stopped at the police station to tell them about someone tied to a tree.

When he arrived home, Penny had made them hot chocolate and they sat on the couch.

“That felt amazing!” Penny’s eyes lit up.

“I guess it did feel pretty cool to do hero work again. Though I do miss the safety of the suits.” Andrew laughed as he enjoyed the warmth of his drink.

Penny laughed along, then looked at Andrew. “So, Petal huh?”

Andrew nearly choked on his hot chocolate, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, I’ve been trying to find a name to replace Rose and in a moment of panic, Petal came out.”

Penny giggled. “It’s okay, I did the same thing with Flame.” Penny smiled as she fiddled with her mug. And I like Petal, it’s cute…

“Oh, you think it’s cute do you?” Andrew teased her.

“What? I never said that!” Penny laughed nervously.

“Yes you did, I heard you.” Andrew looked at her.

Can you hear me now? Penny looked at him.

He heard her voice, but she never opened her mouth.

I can! I really can! Wait, what does this mean? Andrew looked at her, both confused and excited.

“I guess it means that here we are meant to be together in some way…” Penny looked at him. “And I guess we get to decide what that is.” She gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Andrew smiled. So they had soul names; he couldn’t help but wonder what that would mean for them.

***

A few days later, a story was printed in the press about two heroes named Petal and Flame.

Petal, did you see the paper? Andrew reached out to her at work.

I did Flame, we’re heroes again. Penny laughed and looked at her wristband; that way her co-workers would think she was reading a funny message. She and Andrew kept it a secret that they found out their soul names.

Do we want to be heroes again? Andrew asked.

Penny stopped her work, did she want to be a hero again? It certainly was riskier here than back home, but fighting smaller crime was better than fighting the Owl… And surely they could do more than just stop petty thieves. They could go visit kids at the hospital and help fundraise, and maybe even help the kids who needed a second chance…

I think, I think I do. But I want to talk more about it at home.

So later that night while eating supper, they talked about ways they could take up the hero mantle again. They decided that a few nights a week they would patrol the village square, as that seemed to be where most of the trouble happened, and on weekends they would go to visit the other districts and see what they could do to help. Andrew agreed that visiting hospitals and schools sounded like a good idea too.

So that’s what they did. Andrew brought some unused costumes home from the theatre, and Penny used what few sewing skills Sophie had taught her to make a few modifications to the outfits. Her costume for Petal was a light green romper; she sewed a belt of yellow roses to it and found a mask that matched that green dress fabric. It was light and easy to move in, and she could easily add layers later when it got to be cold. She also found a green and yellow rope she could use as her lasso. For Andrew, she took a black dress shirt and, using a stencil, sewed flame outlines on the shirt. He found a pair of pants that stretched enough to be comfortable to fight in. He also retrieved that same trash can lid and bent it into a better shield so he could use it again.

They worked on incorporating moves from both their dance and parkour classes into their fighting style. Over time as they worked to protect Twin Crescent, their bruises faded and they felt pain less often.

It didn’t take long for Penny and Andrew to find a schedule. They both kept working at the studio and Theater and Andrew was still on the Jazz club rotation. So on the nights when they had dance class or parkour class or Andrew had a gig, they would stay late and patrol the Village Center. They caught a few teens trying to graffiti the walls, as well as the occasional thief. Sometimes they would help the police or firemen when they could. And then they would rotate which weekends they spent in the other three districts. It felt good for both of them to spend time fighting crime again.

After about a year of this, Penny and Andrew used some of the money they had inherited to start community centres in each district or to help upgrade ones that already existed. They offered any troubled youngster a lesser punishment if they came to a centre the next time the heroes visited. And more often than not, the teens came.

Penny and Andrew had fun watching their new friends Alice and Henry try to figure out who Petal and Flame were. It made them laugh at all their guesses. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Betty never said much about the two heroes that just showed up one day. But whenever it was discussed, they gave Penny and Andrew a knowing look.

If the people in Arcadia thought Penny and Andrew were in sync before, they would have been shocked to see them now. Without having to actually talk to one another out loud while dancing or fighting, they could move with such grace that some people believed that Petal and Flame really did have superpowers.

Petal on your left! Flame called to her while they dealt with a small group of thugs trying to break into a coffee shop that had kicked them out earlier that day. They had already broken a window by the time the two came across them. Flame really hoped this building had an alarm system.

Thanks, Flame! Petal gave a swift kick to the guy on her left, successfully winding him. Having him drop to the ground, she quickly handcuffed him to the same post where she’d handcuffed the other thug they’d beaten. I hear the sound of bikes; hopefully, that’s the police.

Soon a group of officers came around the corner, clearly relieved to see them there. Flame quickly knocked the last thug to the ground. “Hello, officers! We have your guys here,” he said with a smile. “Just send Petal’s handcuffs to our mailbox in the village.” And with a wave, the heroes disappeared into the night.

They found somewhere to change and head back to the hotel they had picked for their stay in the mountains district. As they walked, Penny enjoyed the view from the dual-lit sky. “You know Andy,” she said taking his arm, “If I could live anywhere other than the farming district, I think I’d pick here.”

“Oh?” Andrew looked at her, surprised. “Not the warm beach district? But you love the water and the waves…”

“Well yes… but look.” She gestured to all the shadows and shapes in the background and the cute almost-Christmas-village-like look of the district. “It’s simply magical.”

Andrew smiled. “I still think I’d rather be warm,” he laughed.

“You just have no use for aesthetics.” Penny rolled her eyes as they entered the hotel.

“What good are aesthetics if I’m cold all the time?” Andrew shook his head. “Well, this is yours.” He stopped outside her door. We did good tonight, Petal.

We did, Flame. Penny gave Andrew a hug and held on for just a moment too long. She quickly let go and tried to hide her blush. “Well, um…yes, thank you for walking me to my room.”

“Happy to. Sleep well, Pen.” He stepped back as Penny entered her hotel room. After she closed the door, he quietly walked to his.

Don’t forget! We have a heroe’s breakfast at the centre tomorrow, 9:30 sharp! Penny reminded him as he got to his room. He smiled. He knew the reminder was as much for her as it was for him, but he still found it cute. His mind briefly wandered to the hug; why had Pen turned so red afterwards? It wasn’t uncommon for her to hug him after a battle, just like she had tonight, to check he was okay or something. It wasn’t anything more… right?