In twenty-two minutes and thirty-four seconds, to the dot, Caroline Masters had gone from simply adoring her new body to wondering if perhaps Robert Guillispe was right and being herself was better. Not that she would ever actually be herself long enough to know.
"Robert, I think I'm going to take a new form soon," she said with a rare air of decisiveness.
"That's good. I've been worried about mistaking you for Glider for a long time now."
"Glider?" she asked incredulously. "I was using Glider's form?" She shivered as she imagined the repercussions of being caught in such a shape. "That explains why I couldn't copy her walk..." she muttered despondently.
"Personally, I like you best as yourself," Robert replied. He was looking through the stacks of instant noodles for something new and exciting. Nothing immediately showed itself, so he turned up his nose at the pile and continued to another brand.
"As... myself?" This was new for Caroline. Someone actually liking her. As herself.

"Should we let them be?" Bernadette Quaid whispered to Frederick Wilson. They were peeking down the aisle at a pair who looked distinctly like Beast and Shifter.
"They're not bothering anybody," he replied. "Anyways, we'd cause damage if we fought here." He set a hand on Bernadette's shoulder and pressed her to the ground. Nervous floating was one of her bad habits, and she didn't seem to intent on breaking it.
"I'll call Lionel and Natalie, though. They'll want to know where they are, just in case." Bernadette whipped out her cell phone and dialed Lionel's number.

The phone rang and Lionel Irving cussed. He dodged a lightning-fast punch from Anima (who didn't seem to want to use his powers that day) by the skin of his teeth.
"Dea, could you please answer my phone?" he shouted, turning to his partner in crimefighting.
"A little busy," Natalie Lewis replied, focusing on finding something to incapacitate Greyling. "Answer the stupid thing yourself." She saw an umbrella. Perfect. Using her powers she wrenched the thing from its stand, opened it behind the villain, and jerked her forward. This shocked Greyling and knocked her off balance before she could use her powers and knock them out. She tumbled to the ground and Natalie was quick to hold her hands behind her back.
"Anima!" she called desperately. If she used her powers now she would still be trapped under Natalie's weight and her new partner in crime would also pass out.
"Sorry, Dove, this is going to hurt," Anima apologized. He held his arms close to his chest and released a huge wave of energy that pushed away Lionel and made Natalie fall back. Greyling stood and ran, the other villain close behind her.
"Damn, they got it, didn't they?" Natalie asked Lionel, helping him up. Being so close to the epicentre made the blow hurt a lot more.
"Not really," Lionel said vaguely. He held up a vial of something dangerous looking and a cheerful shade of robin's egg blue. "As long as it keeps warm it won't react, and we all know I'm the hottest one around, so..."
Natalie punched his arm for the pun and frowned. "Then what did they get?"
"Well..." he trailed off in embarrassment. "The engagement ring."
"What?" Natalie said slowly, dangerously. "You let them take away that ring after all the work you put into it?" She smacked him again, harder this time, and then took off. "You return the explodium, or whatever it is, I'm getting Anima!" she shouted.
Lionel sighed and clenched the tiny vial in his fist. The small, insulating box that had held it was the same size as the ring box, and he'd had to make a split-second decision to switch the two items at the beginning of the fight. Lionel finally answered his phone.

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd put your phone down and was having a smoke or something like that," Bernadette apologized. "I'm just calling to tell you that Frederick and I found Beast and Shifter."
She paused.
"They're talking about something and shopping for instant pasta."
Frederick chuckled.
"Okay. Okay. Sorry, just thought you'd like to know." She hung up the phone and sighed. "They were fighting Anima and Greyling, I called right in the middle."
Frederick shrugged. "From the sounds of it things are going well. I expect they'll actually be back for dinner this time." He was looking at cuts of meat while Bernadette kept one eye on the strange pair.

"Say, Caroline," Robert began. He had no idea what he was saying, only that it was completely honest and it would no doubt surprise him.
"Y-Yeah?" she replied, keeping her gaze on the noodle cups on the bottom shelf. She'd just noticed how Robert's eyes on her were very gentle and admiring. It was a startling thing to notice and her cheeks were burning.
"How about you and me have dinner together tonight?" he asked. "As long as you wear your normal stuff." Maybe that would deflect his terrors for the evening.
"Dinner? At your place?" This was shocking. She flushed and wrung her hands. Her famous self-loathing was surfacing again. "I don't mind but... why with me?"
"Because I want to," Robert replied sincerely. He realised he wasn't looking at her either, and a little bit of colour was sitting on cheekbones.
"I'll come then," she said.
"Why not just come with me right after we finish here, then, and spend the afternoon together?" The more Caroline was with him, the less the terrors would be, and he needed as much time as possible away from them.
"Alright," she agreed. "I don't have to do anything today." She looked at Robert and he looked at her at the same time and something close to a smile flittered across her uncertain face. Flush-faced and as close to happy as either dared to get, they finished their shopping.