1.05

Lung, a villain with superhuman strength and the ability to transform into a fire-wielding, dragon-like creature, was pursuing the protagonist up a building. She found herself trapped on the roof, with no viable escape route. Her internal inventory revealed an EpiPen, chalk dust, and a small canister of pepper spray - a gift from her father. She decided to use the pepper spray.

Lung scaled the building, his body resembling smoldering metal. The protagonist aimed for his eye but missed, hitting his shoulder, causing a brief fireball. She adjusted her aim and sprayed him in the face, causing him to scream and clutch his eye. Despite the spray, Lung continued his advance. The protagonist, realizing her bugs and other tools were useless, made a mental note to acquire a weapon in the future.

Lung, in a rage, unleashed a wave of flame that knocked her off balance. She managed to avoid being burned but knew she was in a precarious situation. Lung, temporarily blinded, challenged her to move, giving him something to aim at, but she remained still.

Just as Lung began to regain his sight, a large creature resembling a mix of lizard and tiger attacked him, knocking him off the roof. Two more similar creatures arrived, each with two riders. One of the riders, a tall male in a black motorcycle outfit and a skull-faced helmet, approached her. He introduced himself as Grue and explained that his group had planned to confront Lung that night. They were surprised to find Lung’s subordinate, Lee, without Lung. Grue assumed the protagonist was responsible for Lung’s absence.

Another rider, a girl in a skintight outfit named Tattletale, answered Grue’s question about what the protagonist did to Lung: “Pepper spray, wasp and bee stings, fire ants, and spider bites.” Grue introduced the rest of his team: Bitch, who controlled the dog-like monsters, and Regent, a guy in a renaissance faire outfit.

Tattletale deduced that the protagonist was shy and hadn’t chosen a cape name yet. She warned the protagonist that a hero from the Protectorate was on the way and advised her to leave. The team then departed on their monstrous dogs, leaving the protagonist alone on the roof.

The protagonist realized that the “children” she had saved were actually villains, and they had mistaken her for one of them. She felt a pang of despair at this revelation.