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</div><br/><u><b>New York City, USA - Macho Shoujo</b></u><br/>Lance exhaled deeply as he exited the church. He didn't think anyone really found it easy to deal with funerals, but he always had a difficult time confronting them. He was more the "get drunk and get lost somewhere" type of mourner, but he always forced himself to attend the ceremonies for the truly important people who'd touched his life, and Sadie Tanner was one of them. Better known to the world as Bonfire, was one of the kindest, bravest, and most selfless people Lance had ever met, and it had been his goal for years to live up to her standards.<br/><br/>He walked down the sidewalk in a daze, barely registering the people around him, looking up only when some punks called him out for bumping into them. He shot them a glance of anguish and rage and they scurried away.<br/><br/>He put a hand on the gem pinned beneath his jacket and felt its warmth. This is what gave him to power to fight see and fight certain sorts of fiendish beings, and it had become second nature to him since its responsibilities passed to him from his sister. But this tragedy had been performed by an evil being that had thus far remained elusive. The Extinguisher, as they were dubbed, had gained notoriety for murdering and violating female fire-based superheroes, leaving bodies covered in the same rune-shaped burn marks and nothing but ash for trace evidence. The superhuman community had been pulling out all the stops, but this individual was good at covering their steps even from things like divination magic. Better detectives than Lance were on the case, but he still felt he should be out there doing<i> something </i>about it.<br/><br/>He found himself in a nearby park. A stray frisbee sailed towards him and he caught it, and soon he was tackled a by a big lab. He smiled at the dog, not with total insincerity, and leaned down to stroke its head as it licked his face. A young woman ran up and offered an apology; he simply shrugged and grinned. They exchanged a few pleasantries, and she and her pooch were on their way. On a better day, he would have tried to pick her up. But not today.<br/><br/>He really needed to clear his head. He still had a lot of other work to do. And he needed to be rested up and focused. Usually he'd go out and party to get himself unwound, but there's no way he'd be in the mood for that today. Maybe losing himself in some music would help. He put on his headphones and set his phone to shuffle. He found if he played a random track, fate would often send him one that would offer him some kind of insight or encouragement.<br/><br/><i>"♫ Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner. Sometimes I feel like my only friend is the city I live in, the city of angels. Lonely as I am, together we cry.  ♫"</i><br/>Fuck. This was her favorite song.<br/><br/>Lance slumped into a park bench and after a minute of staring up at the sky began quietly crying his eyes out.