PlanetWatch San Francisco was unusually quiet. Amelia glanced over and caught Mira scribbling in her notebook.
Amelia: "What's that?"
Mira (snapping it shut): "Nothing! Definitely nothing."
Amelia snatched it anyway. The pages were filled with dramatic catchphrases, half-baked slogans, and stick-figure fight poses.
Amelia (grinning): "You know, you're wasting your time here. Should've gone into comics."
Mira: "Once the world stops ending every week and PlanetWatch isn't needed? Maybe."
Tyler slid his chair in with a smirk.
Tyler: "Or… hear me out. Tell Williamson you're the Masked Rider. He's got government ties. You'd be famous overnight."
Mira: "Yeah, no thanks. My parents don't need the stress of realizing their kid's a superhero. Plus, you think he'd believe me? I'd say, 'Hey, Mr. Williamson, I'm the Masked Rider,' and he'd laugh: 'No, Mira, you're 5'4. The Rider's 6'5.'"
Amelia and Tyler cracked up. Right then, Williamson walked in.
Williamson: "What's so funny?"
Mira: "Uh. Nothing. Work stuff."
Williamson: "Strange week, isn't it? No Saber attacks since Kyoto."
Tyler: "Yeah! All thanks to the Masked Rider!" (he shoots Mira a look)
Mira: "…What?"
---
That night, Mira was in her room, practicing in front of the mirror.
Mira (posing): "DEFENDER OF JUSTICE—MASKED RIDER!"
She swung her arm dramatically, knocking a vase off her desk.
Mira: "Ah, shit!"
Juno: "You're still at it?"
Mira: "Yes! Practice makes perfect."
Her phone buzzed. Tyler.
Mira (picking up): "Wassup?"
Tyler (mock-formal): "Darling, would you please turn on the news?"
Mira ran downstairs where her dad was glued to cricket.
Mira: "Pa, news channel. Now."
Pa: "But the second innings—"
Mira: "Please?"
With a groan, he flipped it.
News Anchor: "Breaking news: a Saber has taken hostages at Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai. Unusually, no destruction so far—wait—he's approaching us."
On screen, Saber-12 grabbed a mic.
Saber-12: "Masked Rider. I want to play a game. Refuse, and these children… vanish. You have thirty minutes."
Mira (under her breath): "Shit."
She bolted upstairs.
Pa (calling after her): "They've finally reached my home! Beta—what's wrong?"
Mira slammed her door shut.
Mira: "TRANSFORM!"
Light erupted. The room shook.
Pa (downstairs): "…earthquake?"
And Mira was gone—teleporting straight to Mumbai.
---
She appeared outside the school. Dozens of kids pressed against the windows.
Mira (shouting in Hindi): "Are you okay?! Please tell me no one's hurt!"
Saber-12 strolled out, calm.
Saber-12: "They're safe. For now."
Mira: "What's the game?"
Saber-12: "Ten riddles. Ten minutes. Get one wrong, you lose a minute. Fail—and everyone dies."
He raised a device.
Saber-12: "This contains a compressed star. Detonate it, and it erases everything in a 10,000-light-year radius. Only a black hole remains."
Mira: "…fantastic."
She turned to Juno—except he flickered silent.
Saber-12: "No help. Just you."
Cut to San Francisco—Amelia and Tyler watching in horror.
Amelia: "Oh god."
Tyler: "She's terrible at riddles. We're doomed."
---
The countdown began. 10:00.
Saber-12: "Riddle one. The Endless Twins—I speak without a mouth, hear without ears. No body, but alive with wind. Who am I?"
Mira (blurting): "Juno?"
09:00.
Mira: "No no no—wait! Sound, wind—echo! It's an echo!"
Saber-12: "Correct."
The kids clapped weakly. Mira gave them a goofy salute, but sweat was already dripping down her forehead.
---
Saber-12: "Second riddle. The Living Weight—the more of me you take away, the larger I become. What am I?"
Mira (thinking fast): "Hole. Easy."
Saber-12: "Correct."
07:45.
---
Saber-12: "Third. The Eternal Traveler—I fly without wings, cry without eyes. Wherever I go, darkness dies."
Mira: "Oh come on…"
She glanced up at the sky. Clouds shifted.
Mira: "Clouds. It's clouds."
Saber-12: "Correct."
06:55.
---
Saber-12: "Fourth. The Unbreakable Prison—The maker sells it, the buyer never uses it, the user never knows it."
Mira (blurts): "A condom bought by a traditional Indian family."
05:55.
Mira (panicked): "Wait! A coffin!"
Saber-12: "Correct."
Mira (muttering): "Sorry, not Christian."
---
Saber-12: "Fifth. The House of Many Rooms—The more you take out of me, the bigger I get. Yet I hold everything within. What am I?"
Mira (snaps): "Cave!"
Saber-12: "Correct."
05:20.
---
Saber-12: "Sixth. The Cold Stranger—I am not alive, yet I grow. I have no lungs, yet I need air. I have no mouth, yet water kills me."
Mira (eyes wide): "…fire."
Saber-12: "Correct."
04:40.
---
Saber-12: "Seventh. The Unseen Walker—The more you take me, the more you leave behind."
Mira: "Footsteps!"
04:10.
---
Saber-12: "Eighth. The One-Time Gift—the one who makes me doesn't need me, the one who buys me doesn't use me, the one who uses me doesn't know it."
Mira (snapping): "Seriously? Coffin again?"
Saber-12 (chuckling): "Oops. My bad. Skip to nine."
---
Saber-12: "Ninth. The Invisible Lock—the more of me you share, the less I become."
Mira: "A secret. Like Tyler trying to keep his browser history hidden."
Tyler (watching on TV): "HEY!"
Amelia: "She's right."
03:10.
---
Saber-12: "Final riddle. I'm always moving, but never make a sound. I can be broken, but never held."
Mira's eyes locked on the kids. Sweat streamed down her cheek. Her voice cracked.
Mira: "…time. Final answer."
Saber-12 (leaning in): "Are you sure?"
Mira (whispering): "Yeah. I'm sure."
02:00.
Saber-12: "Correct. You win."
The timer froze one minute before detonation.
Mira (relieved): "Good. Now let them go."
Saber-12 (grinning): "Oh, I lied. The bomb detonates anyway."
The star collapsed—yet stopped inside a glowing bubble.
Saber-12: "What?!"
Juno (returning): "The blast freed me. I contained it in a warp bubble."
Mira: "And now?"
Juno: "Absorb it. All of it. Your Prana system can take it!"
---
Mira's armor flared crimson. Wings burst from her back like a fallen angel. The kids screamed.
Saber-12 (clapping): "Bravo. Rhea Ripley would be jealous of that entrance."
Mira (snapping): "Shut. Up."
She grabbed him by the throat, rocketing into space.
Saber-12 (choking): "It was just a joke! I knew you'd neutralize it!"
Mira: "A joke that risked children's lives."
She pressed her heel to his chest.
Mira: "RIDER—KICK!"
The impact tore through Saber-12 and Mira delivers a dive kick that slams him into a crater, shattering him in a burst of light.
---
But when Mira landed, the children were terrified. Not cheering. Not clapping. Just silent, pale faces staring at her like she was the monster.
Her stomach twisted. "He hadn't killed anyone. I did."
Mira (to Juno, shaking): "Shield the school. Block every camera. No one sees this."
She stepped inside, removed her helmet. The kids gasped—it was an Indian girl, just like them.
Mira (in Hindi, gently): "I know you're scared. I was too. I'm not perfect. But I'll never let anyone hurt you. Not from above, not from below."
A boy whispered: "What's your name? If that's ok to ask."
Mira: "Mira. But promise me—keep it secret."
Kids (in unison): "Yes, Masked Rider!"
She smiled faintly, donned her helmet, and vanished.
---
Back in her room, she curled on her bed, armor still glowing faintly.
Mira (quiet): "Juno… am I a bad person?"
Juno: "You want to save people. That means making choices others can't. Sometimes ugly ones. That's the cost."
Mira hugged herself, crying softly.
---
Elsewhere, the Emperor rose from his throne, cloak trailing. His voice was cold, certain.
Emperor: "Good. She's begun the path. Soon, Mira will become exactly what she was meant to be."
---
Stinger
Back in San Francisco, Amelia and Tyler sat in stunned silence, the TV looping static commentary about the Rider's "mysterious blackout."
Tyler (finally): "…okay. Real talk. I would've been out at riddle one."
Amelia: "You wouldn't have made it past the instructions."
Tyler: "Excuse me—I'm great at riddles. It's just… under pressure? My brain freezes. Like when I tried to parallel park last week."
Amelia (deadpan): "You took out a mailbox."
Tyler: "…It was in the way."
Amelia sighed, shaking her head.
Amelia: "You know what amazes me? Mira had a black hole pointed at her face, and she still managed to crack jokes. If that were me, I'd have fainted halfway through."
Tyler: "I don't think she was joking. She genuinely thought that those were the answers."
Amelia: "Yeah, that's plausible."
Tyler: "If that were me, I'd be dead before I fainted."
They sat in silence again, the weight of what Mira had faced settling in.
Amelia (softly): "She really did it though. Saved all those kids."
Tyler (nodding): "Yeah. Mira's… Mira's actually kind of amazing."
A beat. Then—
Amelia: "You're still not keeping a secret worth shit, though."
Tyler: "…Okay, that hurts."
Fade out.