The superhero Brawn, after a fight with his girlfriend

Marcus Kent, better known to Omen City as the hero Brawn and Supremacy's protege, trudged slowly along the pavement with his head hanging low and his hands shoved deep into his pockets. It had been two months since Supremacy's disappearance, and Brawn had had a lot more work to do in the city as a result. His personal relationships had been impacted, of course, and today hadn't been the best day.

Brawn was the boy scout type of hero -- the classic good boy, who could do no wrong and found even lying to be a trying task. In the normal life of his secret identity, Marcus worked as a ticket seller at a movie theatre. It was there that he first met Kamala three years ago, a co-worker and the girl he'd been dating for a year and a half. Things between them had been speeding up, and looking great -- they now shared an apartment, worked shifts together, and did just about everything with each other.

Kamala'd been very understanding of Marcus' apprehension towards having sex too early, being the sort of character trait so universal across his being that if she couldn't have dealt with it she wouldn't have gone on that first date with him. She'd always been supportive and enthusiastic, even if she'd have much preferred to get it on with him already. Unknown to her, Marcus' multi-layered apprehension came in part from a feeling that if he and her sealed the deal in that way before she knew that he was Brawn, he'd be doing her a disservice and breaking her trust. So, after a double-feature movie night in which Kamala was feeling particularly persuasive on the matter, Marcus finally caved. He sat her down, told her the truth, and held his breath for her reaction.

It went about as well as could be expected. Kamala felt betrayed, used, and many other words. Mainly, she said, she'd just need time to process it fully and figure out what she thinks about it. Since they share an apartment, that meant Marcus gracefully leaving her to sort out her thoughts and walking to find a hotel to spend the night.

Coming across one that looked clean enough, Marcus paused at the door to listen out one last time for any street crime which he might have heard, and then pushed in to order a room for the night. He took his keys, but before he walked up to his room to dump his quickly-thrown-together suitcase in it and jump into bed, he noticed that the hotel offered a complimentary sauna to all patrons. His eyes stuck on the poster at the base of the stairs for a few seconds.

Why not? He thought, going to his room to drop off his stuff and grab a towel. He'd been stressed lately, and so overworked in his hero identity -- he felt like he'd earned a night of relaxation.