It took the smoke a minute to clear, slowly revealing the rubble.

Louise coughed and rubbed her dusty eyes. She couldn’t see anything. All she could do was listen to the explosions and wooshes of magic.

In the distance, she could just barely hear a taunting monologue followed by an evil laugh. Someone else made an inspirational speech.

She tried to crawl forward but she was stuck underneath a steel beam. Her arms stung from the pieces of broken glass in them. Tears streamed down her face upon realising that she was not going to get home.

Louise began to see directly in front of her. The first thing she saw was a bright red boot. She was able to breathe easier when someone lifted the beam.

‘Are you okay?’ a soft but commanding voice asked. Louise looked up and saw a woman in blue, red and white spandex with the union jack on her chest and white stars lining her body. Her skin was dark and her black hair was tied tight in a ponytail. Adorning her face was a blue mask. She was holding the beam up with her foot.

Pained gasps left Louise’s lips as she began pulling shards of glass from her arms. ‘I would have been if you guys hadn’t shown up.’

The superhero laughed and raised an eyebrow. ‘Um… you’re welcome for saving you?’

Louise tried to stand up but her knees were weak and she collapsed into the superhero’s arms. After regaining strength in her legs, Louise pushed her away and gestured to the rubble surrounding her.

‘Is this saving me?’ she shouted.

The superhero rubbed the back of her neck nervously. ‘Well, you’re not dead.’

‘I may as well be now!’ Louise leaned closer until she was glaring straight into the superhero’s eyes. ‘Are you going to pay my bills until my workplace gets repaired? But I guess that doesn’t matter. After all, I’m just collateral damage, right?’

‘It’s not my fault you don’t have powers and can’t rescue yourself!’

‘Well, it’s not my fault you lot prioritise glory over actually helping people!’

The superhero gulped. ‘Sorry. To make it up to you, I’ll take you to the hospital. How does that sound?’

‘I don’t need that. I’ve got a first aid kit at home and I’d rather be there right now. Plus, I imagine the hospitals would be pretty cramped now for some reason.’

‘Okay, home, then.’ She held out her red boxing glove-covered hand, her foot still holding up the beam. ‘I’m the Kangaroo Kicker.’

Louise slapped her glove away and tried to climb over another steel beam to get out of the rubble, a difficult feat in heels and a pencil skirt. She lost her grip, falling once again into the Kangaroo Kicker’s arms. She groaned at the déjà vu and winced at the crashing sound of the dropped beam behind her.

‘Fine, take me home,’ Louise grumbled, squirming out of the hero’s arms. ‘But after that, I’m getting your number.’

It was hard to tell, but the Kangaroo Kicker appeared to be blushing, judging by the way she averted her gaze and covered her face with one glove.

Louise sighed. ‘So you can pay me some damages for the loss of my job.’

‘O-Of course. But I’m not sure I should be giving out my number. Secret identity and all that. Oh, I could give you the business number for my squad. We’re the Super Strayans.’

Louise raised her head and saw three other superheroes. One wore a super-suit styled after the Aboriginal flag and carried a boomerang, and another wore a Torres Strait Islander flag suit and fought using a Kulap seed pod rattle.

The final hero wore a khaki-coloured suit and cork hat and commanded a flight of birds. The villain, the infamous Stygian, was surrounded by a dark aura that he shot against the heroes, going well with his black clothing.

‘Fly me out of here,’ Louise ordered.

‘Oh, I can’t fly like the others.’

Another groan from Louise. ‘What can you do?’

‘I can jump really high but I can’t, you know, fly.’

‘Then… jump me out of here.’

The Kangaroo Kicker grinned and picked up Louise in a firefighter’s carry. Louise gave her the address.

When the hero leapt out of the rubble, Louise shrieked as her stomach plummeted with each jump and rose up to her throat with each descent. She held on tightly and scrunched her eyes closed.

‘These Normals…’ The Kangaroo Kicker murmured with a roll of her eyes.

‘Shut up!’ Louise yelped.

The Kangaroo Kicker patted her head and whispered comforting words, gradually slowing down Louise’s heartbeat. The civilian’s cheeks heated up as she looked up at her soft facial features, just barely visible under the mask.

The comfort didn’t last long. A ray of darkness shot past Louise’s head, narrowly missing her. The Kangaroo Kicker tried to change her angle as she landed so she could jump away but wound up tripping over her own feet.

Louise scraped her knees as she fell. ‘What kind of hero are…’ Her words trailed off when she saw the patch of darkness on the Kangaroo Kicker’s chest. The hero’s laboured breaths as she struggled to get up twisted Louise’s heart.

Louise stood up, legs trembling. She saw that the villain was charging up his powers, preparing to shoot at the Kangaroo Kicker.

She looked at the rubble around her, picked up a piece of concrete with two hands and flung it at Stygian, who lost his concentration while dodging it. 

The dark patch on the Kangaroo Kicker’s heart dissipated. She looked at Louise with wide eyes and jaw agape. She shook her head and stood up, delivering a kick to the Stygian’s gut that sent him flying towards a building. 

Before he could crash into it, she leapt towards the building and acted as a shield. As the two fell to the ground, the other heroes swooped into the scene to arrest Stygian. Louise ran to the Kangaroo Kicker. 

‘You okay?’

The Kangaroo Kicker nodded, slowly sitting up. ‘I never thought a Normal would be able to take on a villain like that.’

Louise pulled the hero up. ‘I never thought a hero would care about preventing property damage.’ She brushed a strand of hair behind her ears and bit her lip. ‘I should be able to get home myself now that Stygian’s gone.’

‘I want to make sure you get there safely.’ They walked to a small flat on the outskirts of town and the Kangaroo Kicker told Louise her number while in her kitchen.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Louise said as she placed band-aids all over her own body. ‘You’ve paid me back by rescuing me.’

‘That’s my personal number. I wouldn’t mind talking to you again.’ The Kangaroo Kicker laughed nervously. ‘You know, when your life isn’t in danger.’ She took off her mask. ‘I’m Tanya. I can trust you with my secret identity, right?’

Louise nodded and copied the number. After saying goodbye, Louise looked out her window at the beautiful hero hopping away.