(Unedited, rewrite)

I ran around a corner, my shoulder narrowly avoiding the pipes sticking out of it. The air down here was thick and smelly, and the whole place radiated with heat. Sweat beaded my brow as I ran through the stuffy corridors, ducking and dodging pieces or machinery. Blue slime was smeared across parts of it, guiding me toward my target. I knew I could get it, I just had to find it. Many bad scenarios ran through my head as I ran, like a nagging itch I was too busy to pay attention to. I kept my gaze on the slime around, completely forgetting the floor, and when the slime disappeared from the walls, I cocked my eyebrow and kept running. My feet were pounding on the cement floor one moment, and caught a slippery substance the next. I slid, gritting my teeth as I fell and spun around. My back slammed into some pipes, and I grunted with pain. I opened my eyes and looked down, frowning with disgust at the neon blue slime. I stood, my thick armor brushing against machinery. The slime had stuck to me, giving more color to my white armor, which was already stained and scraped from other missions.

I looked around. The gunk sprawled on the floor for a couple more feet, then went back onto the pipes. I followed it, trotting carefully. I pulled out one of my blasters from my belt as gurgling laughter echoed through the twisting room. I held my gun close to my face, pointed upward as the sound amplified. I could hear the creature moving around as I made a U-turn. The sound got quieter. I turned around in confusion, right as a blue blob of slime came hurtling right at me. I couldn't even react before it hit my nose. I stumbled back and sputtered, trying to get my bearings. Most of the slime had hit my visor, but some had gotten on my face. I wiped my visor, leaving blue streak marks. I blinked a couple times, then narrowed my eyes and got back to the mission, hoping that getting hit by a slime ball wouldn't make this mission a failure. But to be fair, I hadn't really done much wrong. Yet.
More twists and turns, and of course, more slime. Luckily, I didn't get hit any more. I turned again, and smiled. A large blue, slimey lizard was crawling along some pipes. I readied my blaster, and it shrieked and ran off down the tunnel. I sprinted after it. The creature went into a more open area, with big machines spaced every few feet. I slowed a bit, moving around a machine. The lizard was mulling about it, wiping its tail over some knobs. I aimed my blaster at it, hoping it wouldn't run away again. I fired, and the blast went right through the creature. It shrieked, exploding. I was about to congratulate myself when the blast kept going, smashing through the machine. It also exploded, throwing me across the room and splattering me with more blue slime. I groaned and pried myself off the floor. My eyes trailed toward the machine. The damage wasn't too bad, but it was still there. I gasped and looked up when an alarm went off. I got up and ran for the nearest door, hearing shouts behind me. The door led to a long flight or stairs. I ran up them, taking the stairs two at a time. I slipped into a janitorial closet at the top. The lights were off, but my visor lit the small area. I headed for another door, which led to a bathroom. I quickly checked to make sure one one was in there, then locked the doors so no one could get in for the time being. I stalked up to the sink and grimaced at the mirror. My heavy duty armor was now splotched with blue slime and black marks from the machines. I pulled off my helmet, setting it in the sink. I grabbed some paper towels and got them wet, doing my best to wipe the slime off my face and armor. I put my helmet back on after an okay cleansing job, then opened the doors. I peeked out one, looking out at the mall. The building was clean and crisp with an open ceiling, which let sunlight in that caught off the glass windows and railings. People milled around, shopping and chatting with their friends. I spotted some people cosplaying as super heroes around a comic book shop. I quickly went out of the bathroom and joined them. They looked at me weird, but shrugged and looked at the posters advertising new graphic novels, video games, and movies. They seemed especially interested in a poster that had a girl in a blue spandex suit and mask, with bright pink hair. Three boys came up to the shop and started talking excitedly. They pointed at the posters, then the cosplayers. They talked to each one about how cool their characters and costumes were. I watched, frowning with each word they said. People neglected the fact that real heroes existed, but they still made up these silly stories about people in skintight suits and capes with crazy powers. Why couldn't they ever do a bit of research and figure out who the real heroes were? Then again, I wasn't exactly the hero most people would like to hear about. I had been in the combat field for years, but still couldn't get a mission done perfectly. No matter how hard I tried, I still always messed up in some way.
The boys got to me, and found themselves at loss for words. I tried to look upbeat and cool, but it was still disappointing to be unknown for my heroic deeds. Well, they were meant to be heroic, even if they were small things I was just sent out for by the boss. The boys cocked their heads, as though they were racking their memories trying to remember me.
"Um," one boy said reluctantly and uneasily. "Who are you?"
I bit back a few retorts, and tried for a sweet tone. "My, uh, my comic hasn't come out yet."
"Then how do you know about the character?" another asked.
"I've got a friend that is working on the comic," I said simply, fidgeting a bit.
They gasped. "Can you tell us about the comic?"
"No, I'm not allowed to give any spoilers."
A gangly, red-haired boy pushed through the three fanboys. "I think she's lying," he sneered and stalked up to me. He was about a head taller than me, even if he looked younger. He had bad breath and really bad acne with mucky teeth. "She doesn't look like any hero I've seen."
"I'm a new kind of hero," I said, unable to hide my disgust. Though technically, the type of hero I was had been around for quite a while. We just hadn't shown ourselves. Well, much.
"You mean the kind that gets beat up all the time?" the boy snickered.
"No," I snarled. "I'm the kind that is constantly fighting for what's right."
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes and shoved me behind him, pointing at the mall's wide door. "Just get out of here, loser."
I spun around, fury in my eyes. I would've punched him if I hadn't seen the security cameras and if there weren't a bunch of civilians around. So I walked off, but turned around again. "Just you wait," I called. "You'll see that I'm way better than all those guys combined!" I pointed at the cheesy superheroes, who looked fairly offended as I ran off toward the entrance.
I walked out into the bright city, which had buildings similar to the mall. They were spaced out and tall, with sunlight beating down on them and grass sprawling across the grounds with neatly paved walkways and roads. To my left was the beach, and further that way the sea, which stretched on as far as the eye could see. There were plenty of people around, and I really wasn't even supposed to be out in the open where they could see me. I ran around the mall on the sea side, scanning the horizon. I found a familiar groove in the ground and sprinted toward the beach from there. I looked around to make sure no one was watching as I neared the shore. I scuffed my foot along the sand until I found a metal piece hidden under the grainy substance. I kneeled down and brushed the sand off it. It was a square a little bigger than a dinner plate with a scoop in the center that had a metal bar running over it, acting as a handle. I gripped it and turned it around in the square until I heard a clicking sound. The handle flipped over, revealing a smooth surface with a small projector in the center. It flashed a small holographic screen into the air. I flipped up my visor and held my eye open wide as it scanned it, blinking a few times when the screen flashed green, requesting my hand print. I pressed my gloved had against it, and it went blue again, then turned off and flipped back to the handle. I pushed sand over it as a square of ocean peeled back, a tunnel coming into view. I quickly went into it, and it closed behind me. I walked along the tunnel, which was made up of a mixture of glass and metal. I looked out into the sea as I walked, dread building in my gut. I'd faced the boss a hundred times, giving him reports of my failed missions, but that never made it easier to cope with.
The tunnel went on for quite a while, but I reached the end eventually, walking up to a pair of metal doors. A handle like the one on the beach was by it, and I activated it, opening the doors. They slid open, and I walked in. It led to a hangar that was about two stories tall and three stories long. An indoor balcony was on one side, with bunks under it and and equipment on top. A stairway led up to it. A few doors went out of the hangar. My comrades were hanging out around the balcony, a few in armor, coming back from missions. Most of our gear was dirty, but no one's armor was as beat up and colored on as mine. I walked over to my bunk, and a few guys teased me on the new blue stains. As I reached my bunk, Millard walked up to me. He was an experienced guy that was good on the field, but he had a history for bullying.
"Another failed mission, I presume?" Millard said smugly as I removed my helmet.
"It wasn't as bad as some of my other missions," I grumbled, putting my helmet on the bed. I reached for my shoulder pads, undoing the straps.
"Uh huh," he said, folding his arms and smirking.
"Look," I said sharply, "I got the job done. I just had a few bumps along the way." I put my shoulder pads away, slipping the armor off my arms, showing the thick dark under-suit we all wore under our armor.
"You keep telling yourself that," he laughed. An older girl named Saya came up to us.
"The boss wants to see you," she informed me firmly and walked away. I gulped.
Millard laughed and teased me some more as I picked up my helmet and walked to the boss's door. It swung open, the boss looming over me. He had a hard face, and was always in his metal armor. He stepped aside and gestured toward a small chair on one side of his desk. I sat in it, squirming a little as he sat in a big chair on the other side of the desk.
"Well," he said expectantly. His voice matched his face a bit too good.
"Um . . ." I muttered, going a bit pale.
He sighed and held out his hands. I placed my helmet in them, and he inspected it, frowning at the blue marks. He swiped his fingers over the visor, and spun around in his chair to face a screen behind him. The view from my eyes of the mission played over on it. We sat in silence as the boss calculated my actions, stopping the video when I got into the tunnel heading for the hangar. He turned back around, lacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. I locked eyes with the boss, silently willing him to speak.
After a few moments of him scrutinizing me, he did. "You completed the mission," he noted. I nodded a few times. "But," my heart sank a little. "You blew left evidence and showed yourself to the public."
"Well," I said, defending myself. "I hadn't seen another exit, and I did my best to blend in."
The boss shook his head. "True, but what happens when they look for that comic? They'll find it's not true, and start looking other places. That's bad. You need to fix your act, or you could put us all in danger."
"I know," I mumbled. "I'm trying."
"Not hard enough, obviously." The boss gestured at the stains on my armor. I winced.
"Well maybe if I could just get more training before I-"
"No, Teska," he cut me off. "You've had enough training, what you need is more experience. And I'm giving you a partner to make sure you don't mess up. Now leave."
I opened my mouth to argue, but clamped it shut and grabbed my helmet. I stood and opened the door, slamming it behind my back. I walked back to my bunk and tossed my helmet and the gear I'd taken off earlier to the side of the bed. I sat down on it flopped back and racked my hands down my face. I caught a whiff of my gloves and coughed. I hadn't noticed the smell of the machinery and slime before. I peeled them off and at up, undoing the rest of my armor. I set it aside and lied down, the weight of my failures laying on my shoulders like a heavy backpack. I sighed, trying to think positive. But a thought kept nagging me. What if I never stopped messing up? Would they cut me out of hero duty? I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to be the best. But to reach that goal, I still had quite a bit of work to do.