You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?

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Wednesday, September 3, 20XX

Greenwich Hospital, New York City, NY

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Marcus Trent Tanner tried and failed to open his eyes.

It wasn't his fault, really. Between the blinding fluorescent lights, his headache, and the burning sensation that crawled across seemingly every inch of his skin, he'd be hard-pressed to twitch a toe, much less do anything more. He groaned, barely noticing a steady beep... beep... beep... in the background, getting slightly faster as he started to stir.

He didn't know what it was yet. He didn't know much of anything in the moment. Just pain, and exhaustion, and his name. He shifted slightly, and winced. Bad move. His skin screamed like he'd had a close encounter with a belt sander. Very close, and very thorough.

Beep. Beep. Beep. It was getting faster. And louder? Or was he just listening to it more?

There were other sounds, other sensations, too. Something dripping steadily, slower than the beep. Some kind of deeper, penetrating pain in his right hand. Something cold flowing from that pain. He felt it all. He felt too much. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sheets felt like sandpaper, the room smelled like a morgue. Too clean, too sterile. He writhed.

BeepBeepBeep.

He felt someone else enter before he heard them. He felt them move toward him. He felt something else enter his skin, his blood, his veins--

Beepbeepbeep beep beep beep... beep... beep...

...He felt nothing.

---

September 5th

---

Marcus resisted the urge to rub at his nose. He'd just had the tube extracted- an NG tube, they called it- a couple of hours ago, and he still felt raw, in his throat in particular. He tried to ignore the sensation as he let the doctor do his business.

He felt sorry for the staff. Marcus was only one of many people they were trying to keep alive.

They were referring to it as simply, "The Incident." Real original, though he couldn't come up with anything better. He remembered enough of it that he didn't want to remember more. A normal Monday, a normal school day, and then a rumble. Then some creepy red gas that made him feel like he'd been pepper sprayed.

Within hours he was puking blood.

And now he was here.

The doctor sighed, shaking his head slightly. Marcus felt it, more than saw it. His senses were doing backflips ever since he woke up. He decided he was just gonna roll with it. He was better off than most. Hundreds had gotten sick. Most of those had died. The rest were spending their days like he was now, wishing they were dead. Doctors came and went, running like they were on fire, for every little thing that might turn into an emergency. Not just doctors, either. Men with masks, or even hazmat suits, if they were paranoid. Cops, suits, men-in-black, who knows, asking questions, expecting answers.

I wish I had more answers to give.

The doctor turned to address him. He seemed confused. Said something about how much better he was doing. Like he was surprised. Marcus was surprised, too. He didn't feel better. But then, he wasn't a doctor.

Said doctor said a few more things. Marcus gave a few more token responses, and the doctor left. Marcus didn't really notice. Or care. He was staring. Staring at his hands, like he could see through his skin. See down to the veins and bones and arteries, and see the squirming and writhing that he could feel just underneath the surface.

He didn't feel fine. He felt different. He felt strange.

But most of all, he felt worried. Worried that the ones he loved were feeling the exact same thing, or worse, that they weren't feeling anything at all anymore.

How far did this thing spread? ...Hector. Scott. Even... even Dad... I hope you guys are all right...

He fell back against his pillows, resisted the urge to claw at his sensitivities again, and tried and failed to get his mind off of everything and sleep.

He was far from the only one in the hospital who would do so.

---

September 7th

---

He'd been allowed to come home yesterday. No infection. No lingering issues. Aside from the fact that he apparently left the hospital healthier than before he'd been affected. He'd apparently even gained muscle mass, of all things. His doctor had been baffled, but too relieved that he hadn't been another corpse. He'd left the hospital without much incident after that.

Hector had met him at the door of their apartment. They'd almost bowled each other over in their enthusiasm. Hector had cried as he kissed him. Marcus cried, too. He was okay. They were both okay.

He'd called Scott as soon as he could get a charge on his phone. Scott was also alive, thankfully. But he'd sounded... strange. Distracted. Worried.

"I need to talk to you." That was all he'd said. And instead of talking, he'd just told him he'd be over. Marcus had sent Hector on an errand. Scott didn't want anyone else eavesdropping on this, apparently, which meant it must be serious. Since they'd started dating, Scott had always made sure to include Hector with everything. And he did mean, everything.

So whatever this was, it was serious.

So he sat. And waited. A glass of tea cooling on his coffee table, untouched. And a headache that he'd had since the hospital still refusing to leave his skull.

He had a feeling this visit wasn't going to help in the slightest.

---

The door at the entrance opened, a little chime marking the entrance of new customers. Well, perhaps not new: It was David Audrum, and his daughter, Lindy. Both regulars, the father especially so. His daughter had just gotten home yesterday, and he was an eager man to celebrate: She was his baby girl, after all. Nothing was better than having her home with a clean bill of health.

Lindy had been a little shaken by the experiences she had, and a lot of things were still unclear: But she was glad to be here with her dad. Lindy still had bandaging around her head; The head injury she suffered being worrysome but she recovered in record time. She was rather glad to just be free.

"You okay?" David questioned to his daughter, as they sat at a table. It was a small place, but David knew a server would be around: The service here was 'like family' after all. They were great folk; And that boy, Xander, was a friend of Lindy's too. Though admittedly he worried about the boy, because not only was he older, but he was supportive of Lindy's more... Violent-oriented activities. But he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, so David allowed it. Lindy was happy around him.

"Yeah, dad. My head just hurts." Lindy responded, opposite side of the table from her father. She was happy this was his choice of comfort food; The atmosphere brought her comfort, and she liked the people here, too. Not to mention she did love the food.

She wondered who was serving today, actually. Lindy glanced back towards the kitchen, curious to see who would be coming out.

Xander soon came out in a red polo shirt, black slacks, and bowtie. He still did not like his grandmother’s choice for the uniforms, but he never said anything out of respect for her. His hair was pulled back and he made his way to Lindy’s table.

“It’s nice to be out of the hospital, huh?” the six foot two young man smiled warmly, having been released only a couple of hours before Lindy was. He gave them a few minutes to let his words sink in before asking them for their drink orders.

"Oh, yeah. I missed my bed; And decent food." Lindy remarked, smiling up at Xander. He was a cool guy; Ever supportive, and pretty tough to boot. Her dad always worried but she didn't see a problem with him: He was nice, just effective in a competition. And there wasn't much wrong with that. "Maybe just a water?"

Her eyes squinted somewhat as her head felt like it was buzzing; Something about Xander felt weird to her. It wasn't like, a suspicion, really... It was more like a detection of something in him. It sensed similarity? Must've been their fighting spirits, or something. She figured it was just her headaches coming back.

"I'll take water, as well." David answered, calmly smiling at Xander.

“Alright, I’ll be right back with those” Xander smiled warmly before starting to turn around. He quickly mouthed ‘After my shift is over wanna head back and spar a bit?’ before heading back to the kitchen.

Lindy offered a small, excited nod. Then enjoyed an afternoon dining with her father...

---

Three hours later the Asain teen changed into his street clothes and met up with Lindy in the alley out back.

“Why does your dad worry so much?” he asked curiously as he playfully ruffled the smaller teen’s hair. With that he began to lead her down the streets of Chinatown for about three blacks before climbing the fire escape of a seemingly abandoned brick building.

"Because he's a dad, I guess?" Lindy answered, smirking at the ruffling of her hair. She followed after Xander, having no real idea of where they were going. But continued chatting with him as they climbed.

"I mean, you remember the tournaments, right? Anytime I was out there I thought he was going to start bawling when I got hit."

Once they were up on the roof Xander pulled a key out of his pocket and began to unlock the glass skylight. With that the black belt climbed in, which was immediately followed by a smoke black Maine Coon kitten jumping onto his shoulders “Hey Loki” he smiled warmly.

From there he stepped fully into the loft that was both his bedroom and the entire second floor. “Come on in” the nineteen year old grinned “He doesn’t bite, much”

Lindy didn't hesitate coming in, though despite Xander having the key to the place, she was a little at odds with where she currently was. That was all side-tracked by the sight of a kitty, however.

"Ooohhh my god! Hello!" Lindy excitedly spoke, on her toes in front of Xander in order to reach the kitten's head to scratch it. The purrs were enough to warm her heart to the point of melting, though she quickly disengaged as to get back to her train of thought.

"So," She began to get his attention, "What's this place?"

“This was my Uncle Frank’s place when he was still alive, the first floor is his old Muay Thaii dojo” Xander informed honestly as he handed Loki to Lindy. With that he pulled off his hoodie, but left his black tank top on. “So, you want to spar a bit or just cuddle with my kitten?” the towering teen asked curiously before closing the skylight behind them.

“This is where I trained from five to seventeen” He explained further as he walked around his futon to get to the door that led down to the dojo below. With that he opened the door and waited for an answer.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Xander." Lindy spoke softly, cuddling her new fuzzy friend in her arms. She followed after Xander, figuring they could at least head downstairs. It was a little weird being in his room, though she wasn't one to speak those concerns out loud.

"Why not a bit of sparring? We just got to be careful, my head is still messed up." She comments, pointing to her head bandages. Admittedly she probably wasn't in the best shape for this; Though despite just exiting the hospital, she felt great. Maybe better than usual. She was just worrying about the injury, if anything. "I knew you trained a lot, but from so young? I've only been in Krav for like a year. No wonder you were able to beat Matty."

“I actually had to hold back a bit because I was afraid I might hurt him” Xander informed honestly with a sigh as he led Lindy into the abandoned dojo and turned on the lights. With that he opened a closet and began to lay down some fresh mats, after all he had to throw out the old ones do to the stains of blood and sweat.

Soon Loki jumpped out Lindy’s arms and began to walk along the rafters. “There are locker rooms if you want to shower or change” he offered as he started to take his shoes off.

Lindy kicked her shoes off with enthusiasm; Finding herself stretching a little to make up for the time lost in the hospital. She approached Xander, stopping a short distance from him, grinning ear-to-ear. While he was scary, especially with his regard to Matty just now... She was excited, and in her element around him.

"I know I said be careful, but I won't forgive you if you take it too easy on me. Showers are also more for after exercise, huh?" She commented, fist meeting her palm as she popped her knuckles, following up with doing the opposite hand.

“No shoes on the mats” Xander instructed as he cracked his neck. With that he took off his socks too and made his way onto the nearest clean sparring mat.

“Since you have seen me fight, but I have not really seen what you can do why don’t you come at me first?” the black belt offered, not being cocky, but rather seeing this as a potential learning opportunity for the both of them. At the same time Loki as sitting near one of the lights hanging above them taking a bath.

Lindy hobbled forward, one foot each hop as she pulled her socks off. "Aw, you saying you didn't watch my fights?" Lindy questioned with playful disappointment, tilting her head as she looked on at him. "I spent every round rooting for you!"

She wasn't entirely comfortable with how eager he was to be approached; Specifically because her Krav was much more effective when she was under fire, rather than while attacking. Counters and counterstrikes; Rather than plain strikes. But she had to attack of her own will sometimes; Just countering would never work. She knew that for sure.

"Don't get scared of me approaching you." Lindy teased, stepping onto the mat.

While Lindy wasn't sure about her offense, she knew once Xander suggested her to approach, he'd probably not budge until she made a move. He was stupid patient about this stuff; So she decided to warily inch closer with her arms raised, keeping proper stance in front of her. These were two heavily different styles. And if she learned one thing from watching Xander, and her own fights during tournaments...

She had to watch her legs.

Xander quickly came to the realization that Lindy would not make the first move, so he had to. So out of habit he went for his signature roundhouse. Because of this the short young lady soon had the much taller man’s knee coming directly at her face.

Maybe he wasn't so patient, after all?

Lindy was caught surprised, but not out: The knee approached fast, and Lindy was sent into full alert as her view became more encapsulated by the view of his approaching attack. Her hands were out; distancing from one another enough to give space for the approaching knee; And as it dropped into range, she attempted to clap her hands together to catch it.

Lindy was not aware that this clap against both sides of his leg could perhaps be a bit stronger than what she was normally capable of.

“Fuck!” Xander grunted as he felt a vice-like grip on the knee of his dominant leg. The pain ignited something in him, in more ways than one, Without even thinking he started to bring his left elbow down on onto Lindy’s forearms full force. Though what he did not realize was that mid-strike his arm began to set itself on fire.

Lindy was taken aback by the fact Xander had sparked flame from nowhere; Leading to one of her forearms taking a full-blow from his elbow; Connected hand forfeiting it's grip on Xander's leg as a mixture of sharp pain and burning from the heat began to occur.

With zero hesitation upon feeling pain, her one remaining gripped hand pulled fully to the side; Attempting to throw him off balance for a chance to back away, but just like with her prior grip, a strength she wasn't aware of would come into play with how hard she pulled; With more than enough force to make him lose balance; It was as if a speeding car hooked to him while passing by and dragged him directly to his left, with release coming soon after to not halt his movement from the force.

Xander reacted by trying to go for a right uppercut. Thought between the intense pain and Lindy’s incredible strength he did not even come close. Next thing he knew he had been literally thrown through the wall that separated the Dojo from the loft.

It took him about five minutes before the the nineteen year old climbed through the freshly made hole in the wall and stumbled back over. His arms and neck were covered in burning dry wall dust with his right kneecap visible bleeding. “How the fuck did you do that?” Xander groaned as he made his way back to the mat.

Lindy was horrified at what she had done; As Xander approached, she found herself shaking with a mixture of fear, but also anger towards the older boy. How did she do that? She just sent him through a wall! She would've asked if he was okay, but being frozen in confusion, both in how the act was performed and how he crawled out of it, mixed with fuming emotion, kept her from speaking until she finally pulled herself together.

"You think I know?!" Lindy shouted, backing away. She wasn't going to fight further, for damn sure. Whatever just happened wasn't normal, she was going to make that clear. "You asshole! First you go for my head, and then you fucking light on fire?! What the hell is that?! Look at this!" She aggressively pointed towards her bandaged head, then to the burns apparently now on her arm. She stung, but not nearly enough to distract her from how she felt.

“I had no idea that I could let myself on fire, I’m sorry” Xander sighed as he pulled a chunk of wood out his left shoulder. While he walked back his wounds began to steam up and heal over to where by the he was back to the mat they were little more than flesh wounds.

With that he offered to shake Lindy’s hand. “Regardless, that was the most fun I’ve had sparrig since this place closed down” he informed with a smirk right before Loki jumpped down, back onto his shoulders.

Lindy looked at his hand, then to the burns on her arm.

What.

"Yeah, okay... The fire is one thing, alright?! But my head Xander! The bandages?" His lack of paying attention to the conversation they had a short while ago left her mad; And this shit, with the fire, and her just throwing him through a wall, and-- Oh, god. Did he just pull something out of his body?

Fun?! This wasn't fun, this was terror! What in the hell was he thinking, and what the hell was going on?! First everything she had to go through in the hospital, now she was dealing with this?! How the fuck was Xander conjuring fire like some sort of fist-fighting wizard? And what was with her being able to throw him like that? No, none of this was fun. Lindy wasn't having fun.

"No, no, no... No, Xander. This wasn't 'fun'." She said, refusing any offer to shake. In fact, she backed away further: Uncertain of how to treat this situation in any proper way. The burns on her arm hissed pain into her nerves, and while she had avoided the headblow, just the thought of it made her want to throw him through a damn wall again.

"I'm... I'm not going to say anything about this, but I have to leave." She insisted, firmly.

“I’m sorry, I honestly I absolutely no idea what I was thinking” Xander sighed as he reached up and gave Loki some head pats. With that he grabbed a set of keys out of his pocket. “Would you like to go back out they way we came or try the front door this time?” he offered.

"The front door." Lindy answered bluntly, slipping her shoes back on. She was trying to hold herself back as she realized, in that spout of anger, she really didn't see if he was fine. She had hurt him, too: And while this outburst was so sudden and insane, she couldn't help but question him weakly as they approached the door.

"You're... Okay, right?" She asked, hesitantly.

“Not really, but I’ve been worse...once” Xander answered with a knowing look as if to try to signify the event that landed them in the hospital earlier this month. With that he slowly limped his way over to the front door and unlocked it for the very first time in a couple of years. It creaked rather loudly when finally opened and it took a bit of force to get it to do so, but it eventually swung inwards.

“Alright, if you really want to go so soon I will not even try to stop you” the injured belt agreed as he held the door open for Lindy, muttering “Though I highly doubt I could” under his breath as he waited.

Lindy hadn't intended to hurt him like this.

Her anger was still there, but her remorse was kicking her in the head. Thinking of her feeling of guilt like that actually made her madder though, as a kick to the head was exactly why she was pissed in the first place. She couldn't handle whatever just happened: She needed to go. Process. How the hell was she going to hide these burns? She couldn't tell her dad about it. He'd kill her; Or go after Xander.

Whatever happened just then... Every step felt like fear. That strength; Lindy started to notice it. Her grip felt different, her burns were hurting while also not seeming terribly bad. Just what the hell was she? What the hell was he?! He conjured fire; Damn fire! And he was treating it so much more casually... Did he really not know?

She might never find the truth that question.

"I really can't stay. I'm sorry, Xander, but this-- This is too much." She spoke, walking out the door. The farther her feet took her from the dojo, the faster she ran; She needed to go home, or somewhere else, at least. The emotions finally taking over and tears falling from her face as the burns continued to hiss pain at her, along with her recent horrifying situation firmly planted into her mind.

Alan Walker would be lying if he said his life had been an easy one.

Now, he wasn't ignorant enough to think he had it worse than countless other people in the world. After all, he had a Mom who loved and cared about him with all her heart, a nice home, food on the table, and he had a job he actually enjoyed. That said, the road to get here had been less than ideal, thanks in no small part to a certain deadbeat father.

However, in recent times, things looked to be finally going their way and the future was looking brighter...so why was he currently lying in a hospital bed?

Oh right, the university... Alan sighed as he stared up at the ceiling and let his memories come back. This whole situation had started out so innocently too. He'd set up shop outside of one of the local universities, hoping to make a quick buck and then treat his Mom to dinner to help her unwind after working so hard at her new job.

However, that's when he saw the people running and before he had a chance to find out what was going on, that wall of colored mist had totally engulfed him. Almost immediately, he fell faint and collapsed to the ground coughing and hacking up blood. The last thing he remembered before everything went black were men in hazmat suits approaching him with at least one saying something to him. It came out kinda muffled but it sounded like the man was trying to reassure him that everything would be ok....

What a load of fertilizer that promise turned out to be.

The next few days were anything but "ok" unless your definition of it was drifting in and out of consciousness constantly, coughing up blood and mucus, having parts of your body flare up like they had touched the surface of a hot stove, and a dozen other things that were better off not being described here. Long story short, it was a truly miserable time, with the only thing getting him through was the thought of seeing his Mom one more time.

That's when things got...strange. Just when it felt like he had reached his limits...the misery stopped and he felt...fine. Better than fine actually. He glanced around the room only to realize something very important:

His glasses were gone...and yet he had perfect vision.
____________________________________

However, the changes to him didn't end at just that.

Over the next couple of days, a number of things became clear to him: He was much stronger than what he was before as became evident when he was finally allowed to watch some television and he wanted to change the channel...only to end up snapping the remote like it was a twig.

Not only that, but he found he healed faster than normal as while in the middle of eating some crummy hospital food he somehow managed to accidentally cut himself a little with the silverware. Before he could panic and call someone, the cut closed itself up. Naturally, he was more than a little freaked out by this.

But perhaps the most startling thing to happen was what started happening to his own biology. At one point, he was just lying down, pondering over the idea of having bigger muscles...and suddenly, he felt wriggling beneath his skin. Startled, he would look down at his forearm to see it beginning to pulsate and quiver before bulking up a little. Overcome with shock, the new muscles receded.

After what felt like forever, he was finally given a clean bill of health and allowed to leave to the hysterical arms of his Mom. All the way back to their apartment she fretted over him and cursed out the hospital staff for not even letting her know what was going on.

Once he got back, he was finally able to get a proper shower and some food in his system that wasn't hospital food before finally getting the chance to lay down on a real bed. Needless to say, he was out like a light...
__________________________________

Alan's sleep was interrupted by hearing his Mom shouting, "My son and I have just been put through the most hellish three days of our lives and you want to question him??!"

The young man crept out of his room and took a peek to see his Mom arguing with what looked to be a pair of men in police uniforms, and judging by their faces, they were clearly uneasy at being put on the spot, "M-Miss Walker...we know you're going through a difficult time and we apologize, but we believe your son maybe able to help us in our investigation. We just want to ask a few qu-"

"Save your questions for someone who cares and get lost!" With that, his Mom slammed the door shut and locked it before storming over to their couch and putting her face in her hands.

Seeing this, Alan quietly moved to the kitchen and put on the stove. In a matter of minutes, he had some green tea and cookies ready, "Here. Figured you could use this." He set the tray and drink down before his Mom.

This broke her out of her stupor, "Oh, Alan...you shouldn't have," He handed her a tissue which she thanked him for before wiping her tears and picking up the mug, letting the aroma stabilize her. After a quick sip, she sighed, "...This isn't right. I should be the one taking care of you."

At this, the young lad just shrugged,"Mom, this isn't anything new. We've always taken care of each other."

"I know, I know," His Mom managed a small giggle despite the circumstances as she sipped some more tea,"It's just...a part of me was actually starting to think I wouldn't see you again, and then those police starting coming around, asking all their questions and then I started hearing the news and..."

Alan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "It's ok...I'm here now. I'm fine, see?" Of course, that was up for debate but he didn't need to worry her more than she already had been.

Miss Walker slowly nodded her head and seemed to settle down a little,"You're right. I...I gotta pull myself together. Listen, if you want to go back to sleep, go ahead. I'll be alright now."

He shook his head,"Eh, to be honest, I got plenty of rest. What about you? You gotten any rest lately?" She didn't say anything right away so the young man took a closer look and saw the first signs of bags forming under her eyes, "...You haven't, have you?" She shook her head,"Alright...lay down and get some rest. I'll be here when you wake up."

"What you saying? I'm fi-" She stopped herself as she suddenly yawned,"On second thought...maybe a quick nap is just what I need..." He fetched her a pillow and blanket and before long, she was out cold on the couch.

Alan watched her sleeping with a smile before taking a seat by the window and watching the street outside. The few glimpses he'd seen of the news showed that things weren't exactly great on the outside. People were letting fear and paranoia consume them, the police said they were trying to catch the culprits but it was clear to anyone with two brain cells it was mostly just lip service.

He looked down at his hand as he felt it quivering once more. He had actual powers now, like a superhero, so that meant he could do something...right?

Suddenly, he heard heavy breathing and looked out to see a familiar figure stumbling her way along the street, "Lindy!!" He rushed to the bathroom and got out the First Aid Kit before rushing out the door...

Recluse Incident

---

Everything burned, her eyes watering as she leaned over and harshly puked out the contents of her stomach. She continued to hack and cough violently, her body desperately trying to relieve the irritation that filled her mouth and throat. It felt like her neck glands were swollen and ached as if she had been sick for days. Her head was pounding and her vision felt blurry at best as she glanced around, trying to figure out what had just happened. Everyone around her was screaming, trying to get away in a blind panic or in just as bad shape as she was and a red mist hung in the air around them. Reyna had simply been on her way to work, eating breakfast on the go and tempting her co-worker to cover for her with the promise of a treat in return since she was sure that she wasn’t going to make it in time. It was when she opened her mouth to take a bite of her pastry that her senses were assaulted as if she had gotten pepper spray directly to the face which lead to where she was now.

She wanted to claw at her skin and rinse her mouth out repeatedly which meant work suddenly was a hell no. She found herself turning around, stumbling weakly in the opposite direction of where she had been headed. All she wanted to do was go back home, to rest and not feel any of this anymore. Reyna’s eyes wanted to close, her limbs screamed at her to stop and rest but she pushed on. The darkness at the edge of her vision was getting worse with each step and she felt chills running down her spine as if a fever was setting in. It was a miracle she made it to the door of her little studio apartment, her mind on autopilot as she moved through the streets. She made her way inside, not even bothering to lock the door as she went straight to the bathroom. She wanted out of these clothes and to get rid of that horrible burning so the shower was her first thought. Sadly, it hadn’t helped a damn bit and the warm water had felt like a bucket of ice on top of the fact that the irritation to her skin had stayed. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, hopping under the covers to take a nap.

Reyna awake to a little paw tapping on her face, Jiji meowing at her. She groaned, her throat feeling like it was on fire and just wanting more rest. She sat up slowly, shakily moving out of bed to fill the cat feeders as Jiji rubbed happily against her feet. It only took her leaning over to pet him to cause instant regret as she rushed to get to the bathroom, only to trip and puke all over her hand as well as the floor. Her nose scrunched, not really happy with the thought of having to clean that up when her eyes caught red. Chestnut eyes widened in horror, blood covering her hand and the wooden surface of the floor. She shook in fear as raw panic gripped her, the vague memory of her mom and the times she had seen her cough up blood. It made her gut twist, the thought that she might be just as sick without realizing it. It wasn’t like she went to the doctor often. There was no way she could afford it but she wasn’t dumb to ignore a sign like this. Reyna dragged her way over to the dresser, grabbing her cell and calling a number she never knew she would need or would want to call for.

”9-1-1, what is your emergency?

”Help....coughing blood....”, she rasped out as her eyelids started to droop down once more. She vaguely thought she heard a reply but she was already long gone and into the land of dreams. She didn’t hear when the paramedics had arrived, didn’t feel when they had strapped her onto the gurney, or even flinch when they started hooking her up with IVs and checking her over.

New York City

---

She slowly opened her eyes even though they felt heavy and her vision equally unfocused. The blankets around her felt like sandpaper, too rough against her skin and everything around her was far too loud. The world around her felt sterile and far too clean to her senses. She wanted to speak but she felt like her mouth was full. Reyna blinked a few times, her hand reaching up to her face and going into full blown panic as she tried to yank at the tube on her mouth. Alarms started going off, nurse rushing in to stop her and keep her calm but it was having the opposite effect. Reyna tried to remember how she got there but instead was hyperventilating at the tubes sticking out of her body and the face that she was in a hospital. Hospitals meant death. They meant something was wrong. She shook in fear, letting the nurses do what they needed to as she stayed in shock. Once some of the tubes and equipment had been removed, the doctor started in on some test while happily chatting how wonderful it was that she had woken up. He explained how lucky she was to be alive, apparently that weird gas had effected a large amount of people which had caused a good amount of deaths. It appeared that the ones alive were on lock down in various hospitals for their own safety and the safety of others though it wasn’t outright stated.

Reyna only resisted a bit, getting annoyed and scared over being picked or prodded at but ultimately let them continue. She was relieved when they left her alone once more, her gaze instantly looking toward the window so she wasn’t looking at the sterile prison she had found herself in. She just wanted to be home. She wanted to cuddle Jiji and be out of this hell. It was just looping pain and a crawling feeling in her veins, not that she would tell them that. She sighed, turning her attention over the items that had been returned to her and pulled out her cell, not even holding her breath that there would be anyone caring about her sudden disappearance. It wasn’t like she had anyone waiting on her. She noticed a few calls from her work and listened in on the voicemails, a twisted smile on her features before she laughed pitifully and tried holding back tears. Reyna found herself tossing the phone on the bed, eyes back on the view from her windows as she held back tears. ”Of course on top of all this bull that I would lose my job. It’s like the nightmare that won’t end....”, she whispered to herself, turning on her side and curling into a tight ball, trying to block everything out.

---

Waltzing down the hallway, Adalbert was simply heading to his class. A successful man needed to be successful in school, so it was only ideal to ensure he wouldn't be late by arriving early. As he brought himself into the classroom, he simply picked the place he found most optimal; Setting his bag between his legs only to pull out his laptop and take a moment to browse his work.

The Sticky Hook™ design was nearly perfect. He tested it out, found a few kinks with the retraction that caused some close calls, but otherwise he was swinging around like a movie hero. He wasn't doing this in public, of course: This was a private project, in his own private work environment. He intended to keep it under wraps, maybe sell it off to gain a boost in approval from his father at some point, but for now it was his. And he'd have fun with it.

The silence in the class was deafening.

While he was successful and had a good future ahead of him, Adalbert never found much peace with his peers, or even his own father. Silent days, weeks even, seemed to be the norm. He wasn't exactly 'friends' with other students, or a 'son' to his own father. More like a pupil, a person to take over and push Rugard Hardt's fame a step above even the Osborn family.

It was depressing. All he was seeking was approval; To be told he was worthy of the CEO chair. But his father was more of a person for backhanded compliments and disregard, despite keeping great appearances in the public eye. And when the regular students eyed him, they saw him more born into success, not even knowing why he was there: Not realizing the burden of having such an expecting parent was perhaps something that made him not get along with others well; Even when he searched for companionship in some manner.

He shook off those thoughts, typing away at his laptop. He'd make his own fame, gain his own appreciation. He'd go above Hardtcorp, his father. Even Oscorp Industries. Fame would find its way to him, one way or another. He'd earn it by working for it; He wasn't one to keep his hands clean. He'd get as dirty and greasy as he had to in order to prove his genius. This little toy was just the beginning.



He felt a stir; Sort of like a momentary blackout. He had been staring at his computer, but when he snapped back he was staring upwards; Head resting on the wood behind his head. A whiff of the air gave off an impulse that something was wrong: Everything itched, ached. His nostrils were blazing, his throat was burning. He quickly stood up, panicked, letting out a horrid sneeze that shot blood straight from his nose and mouth forward onto the table in front of him.

"What--" He paused, feeling something in him; It wasn't just irritation, it felt like things ceasing to function. The blood got worse; His view started stirring red. His attempts at words were shut down by choking on his own blood, using the last of his strength as an attempt to scramble out of the class and into the hall. The time... The time! Someone had to be coming, right? They'd see him. Help him.

He felt like his heart stopped as he stepped out into the hall; Witnessing chaos around him. The screams barely pierced his plugged up ears, but the sight of people on the ground, running, panicking... Blood everywhere. Everyone was getting affected by this. A helplessness washed over him as he fell to his knees, forcing his view to the ground as more blood insisted on coming out. If he looked up, it'd make him choke. He couldn't stop; He felt the crimson coming down his cheeks from his eyes, and before he knew it...

He fell in the hall, slumping from his knees to full-on collapsed.

_{"Please... Help me..."}

---

---

---

---

God. Damn it.

Laying in his hospital bed, Adalbert was furious. A terrorist attack, on the university? What the hell was that about? It wasn't just some damn bomb; It was a chemical weapon. He could perfectly recall what had happened; The red in his view, the pain he felt. His brain replayed it over and over, hoping for answers. But all it did was make him angry, and more eager to get out of here.

His grip on the bed railings tightened as he grew frustrated, wanting out. He had work to do; Classes to take. If the University was shut down because of this, that'd be even worse. He needed to work, to improve. Not be weak in a bed. He already knew what was coming; The nurses had informed him he had a visitor coming up, who was just getting dressed to be allowed inside.

It'd be his dad. And that wasn't a good thing.

He dreaded seeing the curtains open; But he somehow dreaded the sight more than he expected. That wasn't his dad; It was one of his cronies. Dressed in black, with a mask over his face. He had a laptop in his hands, and as he approached, he spoke simply to the hospitalized playboy.

"Mister Hardt wished to speak with you, sir."

"Just put him on." Adalbert huffed, rolling his eyes. The laptop being placed in his lap, Adelbert found himself watching it open, only to see a webcam shot of his father on the screen. His look tried to fake concern, but the boy knew better; Glaring at him with contempt.

"Couldn't even visit me in person, dad?" Adalbert questioned, irritation audible.

"Son, you know the business world doesn't stop for one terrorist attack." Rugard Hardt commented from the screen, shuffling through papers and signing off things as he went along. He didn't even seem terribly invested in checking in; That would've stung more if Adalbert wasn't used to it already.

"Oh, I know. You have to find the best way to mark up the situation. What's it gonna be? Charity cause to families in need from the attack? Opening a building to use for temp classes? Kissing an infected baby on live television?" Adalbert knew he wasn't the concern: It was to drag the boy into something. Some sort of scheme. Nothing worthwhile.

"You must've learned something at this point, to make guesses like those." His father said, chuckle following. "I couldn't drop you out of your schooling; The temporary building was a good option. You'll be returning to classes right after you recover, won't you?"

This bastard... Adalbert kept his composure, exhaling from his nose.

"Of course. Just so I can eventually handle this company in a decent manner." Something felt off; Maybe it was the way the goon was staring, or the way his father spoke, but something else felt like it was going on here. "So where do I fit into your plot?" He questioned knowingly.

"Not anywhere particular, you can focus on your studies! Though I will make sure to be there when you are released; There is surely going to be a bit of publicity upon your release."

"So you can look like the caring father you never actually could be." Adalbert spat, and quite literally, he spat at the camera; Slamming the laptop shut and shoving it into the goon's arms with aggression. "Get the hell out of here, and tell my father I'll be informing the nurses to not allow any visitors." His command was strict, rude, to the point: Vile, even. The man simply left, taking the laptop with him.

In a small fit of anger, Adalbert slammed his fist down on the bed railing. While he didn't take notice of it, he had bent the railing somewhat with his strike. He decided to simply rest and recovery; He'd deal with his dad's bullshit in time. He always had to deal with his dad's idiotic schemes for higher regard…

Would he ever escape that?

Collaboration

---

The blankets rustled as the single occupant rolled over with a soft moan, blinking against the sunlight that filtered in through the thin curtains. A hand shot out of the cocoon of warmth to snag the digital clock off her dresser which caused genuine surprise to light up on Reyna’s delicate features when she read the time. She was on verge of a mini panic attack at the thought of being this late to work or not calling in sick when reality hit her. ’Right, they fired me....shit, what do I do now? I have enough saved but it isn’t gonna last.’, was her thought on the matter. She haphazardly placed the clock back into its position as she crawled out of the comfy bed, stretching as soon as she was on the edge and forcing herself to join the world even if it was tempting to just stay there for the rest of the day.

A loud purr snagged her attention as Jiji slowly moved out from under the covers, obviously having been snuggling with her while she slept. He instantly hopped onto her lap, standing in his hind legs to place little paws on her shoulders with a light mewing. She hugged him gently with a light chuckle before picking him up to hold him close. He had been like this since she got home as if he feared he had been abandoned or maybe he realized she needed the extra love. Either way, she was happy to spoil the baby boy with snuggles and treats. She carefully readjusted Jiji, using one arm to hold him while the other one pulled open different drawers so she could get dressed. It was a simple task that she had perfected over their time together since when Jiji was little, putting him down when he was like this wasn’t an option. She could still feel the memory of him literally climbing up her body to meow in your face at the injustice.

She sat the black cat back onto the bed, fishing out some treats and placing them there to distract him while she pulled on a simple pair of faded jeans, a black tank top and a baggy red zip-up hoodie. Reyna snagged her laptop bag as she headed for the door, pausing only for a moment to slid on her sneakers before making her way out. She wasn’t in the mood to cook or make her own drink so why not go to the local coffee shop and use that free WiFi to get some stuff done. Life didn’t pause and she wasn’t going to let the weird days since the incident stop her from focusing on what she needed to do next.

The walk was short but refreshing, the trees slowly readying to change color and the fall air just chilly enough to be pleasant without being miserably cold. Reyna pushed open the glass door, the bell above it chiming as she entered the shop. She had passed by this place many times but had never really had the time to stop or would forget, already having stopped elsewhere and telling her herself ‘oh, I’ll do it next time’. She happily took her place in line, changing the position of her bag as she leaned and tried to get a look at the menu so she would be ready before getting to the counter. There was nothing worse than waiting in line behind someone that went over the whole menu at the counter. The only thing that could possibly be worse were the ones that insisted on making a million different changes and details for one cup of coffee. You don’t see people who drink tea doing that crap.

Suddenly, her view ended up being blocked as the tall blonde in front of her shifted. A pout formed on her lips for a moment but she shrugged it off and tried to get on her tippy toes, secretly thanking ballet and skating that she was able to do so. Sadly, the still didn’t seem to help so she scoffed, moving in the other direction and thinking that for sure would work. Guess what? She had been dead wrong. She knew it wasn’t his fault but he was indirectly thwarting every attempt to see the damn menu. ’You have got to be kidding me! This tall ass blonde! For the love of all things good...move it or pick a spot but you can’t have it both ways!, Reyna hissed in her mind, trying to keep her cool on the outside but she just found herself pouting, arms crossed and foot softly tapping.

Adalbert scratched at his arm irritably, but was attempting to enjoy his release from the hospital. Yesterday has been so busy with the newscasters and his father when he left the hospital; He was worn down from all of the questions, and tension, and his father's speeches on opening a temp building for college classes. He figured classes would start up again soon, but he wasn't feeling it right now. Maybe he'd take some time off; Though if he did that, the punishments could be more than he wanted...

His father in general was a pain in the ass. Adalbert needed this time away to relax a little bit; Not be told of new business strategies or how this all worked out for the company. He was being used again, his father was using the whole situation to the best of his ability. Though if you were to try to compete with Oscorp Industries you'd need to be effective. So in that regard, it was fair enough... If he wasn't involved personally.

How long had he been standing here? The line hadn't moved yet; His mind often went faster than the time he conceptualized it'd take for him to think so much. He was drawn from his thoughts by a small, somewhat obnoxious sound: _{Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...} What the hell was causing that?

He turned his head out of curiosity, glancing slightly downwards to notice a woman in line behind him. His mind did that fast thinking thing again; Putting pieces together quickly. Short girl, tall guy, in line to order... He glanced back at the menu, then it all clicked: He was in the way of her figuring out what she wanted. No wonder she looked like a little puffed-up peeved red smurf; She just wanted to look at the menu.

"Oh, my apologies." He spoke, standing slightly to the side, gesturing an arm towards where he was standing. "You can go ahead of me if you need to."

She glanced up to look at him, the tapping stopped instantly and the pout she had been sporting fading fast to instead flash a nervous smile. She hadn’t meant to be rude and she certainly didn’t want to move in front of him when he had waited for who knows how long. She had just been frustrated at not being able to see and how to get around the issue. ”Oh, no thank you. I appreciate the offer but I just trying to see the menu. I’ve never been here before and didn’t want to keep anyone else in line waiting longer than necessary.”, she answered politely. Reyna quickly turned her attention to the menu board, trying to quickly and effectively pick from the options so he could go back to where he was before.

She did a small nod to herself once she found the things she was looking for before stepping back a bit, letting him know she was done without saying so. She had already thoroughly embarrassed herself without really meaning to. It wasn’t his fault that her life was shit and this was probably gonna be the only joy of the day. She couldn’t afford to do things like this if she didn’t find a job as quickly as possible. Reyna pushes those thoughts out of her mind, doing her very best to not look at or acknowledge the blonde man.

Adalbert stepped back into his space after offering her a small nod. Thankfully the line started moving, so it wasn't long before he was at the front. He was quick to put in his order, seeming to have an expertise of what exact request he wanted to make; Thankfully, they delivered. Within moments he was sliding his card to make the payment and the transaction went flawlessly.

"Name, sir?" The girl at the register asked.

"Hardt." Adalbert answered plainly, going with his family name which was easier than his given one. The girl's eyes widened momentarily, and a few heads turned that happened to hear what he said. Quickly it turned to chatter among those people.

"Right away, sir~!" The girl chimed, seemingly more enthusiastic suddenly. Adalbert took his receipt and stepped to the side, so that same girl from before could have her go at making an order.

Reyna raised a brow as the chatter picked up, at least the people close to the register and their eyes were suddenly focused on the blonde. Was it really that strange to give a last name for an order? ’People are so weird. They should mind their own damn business and go find some brains cause obviously they have lost theirs., she thought, trying not to roll her eyes. She stepped up to the counter as she dug in her pocket for her wallet and simply stated,”Earl Grey tea and a blueberry muffin, please.”

The girl behind the cash register in an annoyingly preppy voice for her name which caused Reyna to reply with a quick,”Rowe.”, before she handed over some bills and adding in ”Keep the change.”. She really didn’t want to be bothered with it and shoved the wallet back into place before moving out of the way of other customers. She pulled the strap to her laptop bag in a more comfortable position and looked out to the sea of people, just trying to see if there was even an open spot. It would be unfortunate if she had brought her laptop with her only to have it turn out that she needed to go back home.

Adalbert tilted his head at the girl, watching her order but quickly retreating from the idea of gawking as the transaction went through. A tea girl, hm? He was impressed with her; He absolutely thought she'd be a caffeine freak. Turned out he was wrong, however, and he was willing to admit (to himself) he was incorrect. Good for her.

He shifted his attention to finding a table; Yes it was busy, but he wanted to lounge and enjoy himself in the small place. He caught side of a two-seated corner table, to the left of the store and right by a window. Without hesitation he marched over, and planted his bag; This spot was his now. Though, as he heard a call for his name, he was quick to head back; Leaving his bag momentarily as a claim to the table.

He claimed his cup of rooibos with vanilla, noticing that same red smurf from before still looking for a place to sit. A small smile crossed his face, an amusing thought coming to mind as he didn't socialize all too often: He approached her slowly. "I managed to claim a table over by the window. Looking for a place to sit?"

While he intended to mind his own business for the most part, some absent chatting wouldn't hurt to pass the time.

She lifted an eyebrow as she was approached by mister tall, blonde, and polite, having no clue why he would want to continue conversing with her on any level with the whole in line incident. She bit the inside of her mouth lightly, her newly sharp canines still slightly piercing the skin there as she debated over his offer. She wasn’t one to usually like company and she doubt she was the best conversationalist but at the same time, he was subtly offering and it looked like it was either agree which got what she was hoping for or denying and trekking home. Reyna sighed as if in defeat and nodded softly, ”Actually, I am. Would it be too much trouble if I sat with you?” she asked.

Adalbert smiled, shaking his head. "It wouldn't be a problem." He replied, taking a short sip of his tea, a light hiss escaping him from the heat burning his lips a little. "Once your order is ready, it's right over here." He explained, gesturing to the empty chair across from the chair occupied by his bag. He wandered back over, picking his bag up and sitting down; Deciding to pull out his laptop and lay it on the table for use.

As he waited, he turned on his screen; Going through a few of his design documents. He had a few ideas to explore; Specifically to do with personal safety. He wasn't wanting these secrets to get out, so perhaps a public wifi-network wasn't the greatest place to gawk at his work... But he felt like nobody would know he was coming here: It wasn't a usual place for him, he went to more... Sophisticated areas, usually. This place was great for not wanting to be found.

Reyna stood, waiting for her order which didn’t take very long to complete. She snagged both items once her name was called, carefully making her way over to the table and taking a seat. She tucked her laptop bag next to her, not wanting to bother him by playing a balancing act with space and two computers. It wasn’t like she couldn’t wait till he was done and she could simply enjoy her brunch till that time. She left her tea alone for now, figuring it was too hot to drink just yet and decided to take a bite of the simple muffin. She found herself trying not to scrunch her nose in disgust at the taste, finding it was just off. She chalked it down to maybe not so fresh berries and just set the treat down in front of her.

She turned her attention to gaze outside, watching people as they walked by. It was a nice little shop and it was popular if the amount of people were any indication. It wasn’t like she would fault a place because they didn’t have great muffins, just made a simple note not to order it again. Reyna turned to look at her new companion but noticed that people were staring which was a bit creepy. The second her eyes met theirs though, they quickly looked away like nothing happened. ”So, do you come here often?” she asked, knowing it sounded more like a poor pickup line than a conversation starter but what was she supposed to say? How’s the weather? What are you working on? It all was just awkward as hell.

Typing away, Adalbert shot occasional glances at the girl he only knew as 'Rowe' as he worked. His designs for the hooks were fine, yes, but he needed more. Something to help in a bit of a... Further calling, perhaps. His wrist-mounted swingers, they needed a little extra... Oomph. What about tranq darts? Easy buy on the market. Fire's a huge hazard, too; Look into extinguisher goods. And, maybe something for self defense: A taser? No, that didn't sound terribly practical. What else was good?

He found his thought interrupted by Rowe, the smurf. His eyes peeled away from his laptop, looking at her as she dropped a question on him. Cheesy line, but kind of cute. Sitting with him and delivering a line like that was gutsy; He could appreciate someone willing to go through with an idea. "Never been here before." He answered truthfully, chuckling.

"I usually visit less populated locations, but I found myself wanting to get away from the usual people whose attention I draw. So I chose this small, random place. I have to admit, the tea is spectacular." He lifted his cup to take a drink, slowly lowering it back down as to not damage his laptop. He hadn't expected her to accept his offer, honestly. This was actually kind of fun; Talking to a random person he just met. He wanted it to continue, and hopefully she'd oblige.

"How about you? Frequent this... Quint little den?" He tried to find a polite way to compare it to the fancier places he usually went to... Maybe if they had proper amounts of seating he would have a higher approval in an overall regard.

Reyna nodded slowly at his answer, taking a sip from her cup as she did so. For as bad as the muffin was, the tea made up for it in spades and just hit the spot. She definitely would agree that the place was a little crowded but she usually was one to grab and go on a usual day. It was kind of nice to change up the pace to dine in and she had been leery about sharing a table as well as a conversation with a stranger, it was turning out to be quite pleasant.

She tilted her head a bit when he asked ‘how about you’, not really knowing what he meant until he continued. She wanted to be polite, honest....she did, but had he really just asked her that? She found herself laughing softly before she could even stop herself from doing so. ”I-I’m sorry. I-I don’t m-mean to laugh b-but it’s just cute that I was appreciating your kindness and you didn’t even listen to my answer.”, she stated in between laughs and took a deep breath.”The funny part is, I would have never realized if you didn’t just ask that. No, I’ve never been here before but I do have to say I’m enjoying the company. Dining in is not really my norm.” Reyna smiled brightly, taking another sip from her cup.

He felt a small embarrassed heat fill up his face as she laughed; Becoming self-conscious and being uncertain of where he had gone wrong. He played it through his head multiple times in quick succession, but continuously missed this detail. Had he... Goofed? She said 'cute'? He admitted, to himself at least, he wasn't used to conversing with people that much. But enough to cause this? He offered a small laugh, uncertain of what to do but play along. But inside he felt anxious; A bit of a wreck. What the hell did he miss? What did he do? He wanted to get to the bottom of it, but there was seemingly no chance of him discovering what it was.

"Hah, it's-- It is kind of funny." He faked, trying to keep with her as much as he could on this, as he sipped from his tea.

Following along as best he could, he nodded. They were both in new terrain; How interesting. She was smiling, so he assumed he did things decently; The way she was praising the situation marked it as a positive, or at least he so hoped it did. It was kind of flattering, honestly: Talking with a person so casually, having a laugh. She was treating him normally, and despite the confusion, he was really... Liking it?

"I usually am not fortunate enough to have such excellent company." He commented, glancing away momentarily as if to brace himself to continue the conversation. After a moment, he looked back at her, trying to return the smile she had. It just came out more awkward looking on him. "Most are a bit... Rude? Rude's a good enough term, yeah."

She was glad that she wasn’t the only one enjoying the conversation and having a good time. It wasn’t like she was the most versed. Work didn’t count since those are the times you have to shut your mouth and stay polite after all. The smile in her direction was awkwardly adorable but she would keep that one to herself, feeling she had probably done enough with her unexpected laughing. ”Rude, huh?” Reyna questioned with furrowed brows before she broke out into a cheshire and stated,”Then next time, you should smile politely and in the sweetest tone, tell them to stick their comments where the sun don’t shine. I promise, their faces will be priceless.

"Hah! I like that!" Adalbert responded, almost squeezing his cup too hard and causing a spill. This girl was wacky; Truly a sight to behold with such attitude. He'd have to keep that phrase in mind; It definitely wasn't bad. He'd use it, and he knew a few people he wanted to use it on. He couldn't help himself but continue to smile; He was having such an enjoyable time. These were the moments he wished he had more often; But those around him weren't exactly willing to be that friendly with him. Most of his peers tended to be off-putt by him as well... This was something heartwarming for him, and after days of discontent and stress... This was the relief he needed.

And then it all got ruined by a bright flash to his face, and hers.

_{"Son of a..."} Adalbert hissed, head turning to see a man, reporter's cap and all, scurrying out of the building. Of all places,the press followed him here? He knew they were relentless, but he thought he had been careful: Damn it! He'd just made everything go back to how they always were; Troublesome, a pain in his ass for other people's gain. He slammed his cup down, quickly rising from his seat. "Son of a bitch!" He snapped, rushing towards the exit: His legs carried him faster than he expected, and before anyone knew it, he was out the door.

He had left everything; His bag, his laptop. His goddamn tea, even. If the bag was bothered to be checked, it'd have numerous pieces of information on a card directly on the inside of the bag's main compartment.



She chuckled, her smile never fading as she replied,”I’m glad you like it.” This had been exactly what she needed. Just some good company to get rid of the shitty last few days. She could focus on the day, knowing that it at least had one silver lining. The nice moment though was sadly short lived as a flash went off causing her to hiss, covering her eyes and rubbing. What kind of asshole takes pictures with a flash during the day!?! Reyna was still trying to blink away the light spots in her eyes while the man before her cursed, slamming down his drink and disappearing. She just took a moment, still sitting there in complete confusion. What just happened? And did he really just forget his stuff? It didn’t seem really safe to just leave it here and lost and founds weren’t the most reliable.

She decided to wait but after about thirty minutes, it was clear that he wasn’t coming back. She stood, grabbing the cups as well as the muffin she wasn’t planning to finish and dumping them in the trash. Reyna carefully closed the laptop, picking it up and placing it into the bag. She noticed the card but didn’t have her phone on her and there was no way she was going to the address. One, she wasn’t a freaking stalker and two, it was not close by which meant it had to wait. She picked up both laptop bags and placed them on each shoulder before heading out of the little coffee shop, feeling much better than when she had entered.

After having ran out of the coffee shop, Adalbert had taken off into a small chase in the streets. He wasn't overly fit, per say, but he did exercise: Truly, it didn't justify the speeds he was running at right now. He was bolting down the sidewalk, chasing after the man who snapped that photo. His large, brown cap gave him away as he ducked into an alleyway; Allowing Adalbert to duck in and hunt him down during the straightaway, grabbing him from behind by his coat and dragging him to the side, pressing him against a dumpster.

"Aay, the hell, buddy?!" The man questioned loudly, hoping to pull attention despite being deep in the alleyway. It wasn't exactly working out in his favor, however. Not a soul seemed to be looking their way, not many passing by just yet actually. Probably occupied at the shop they had just ran from.

"Don't get me that, you shit." Adalbert hissed, reaching around his neck, detaching the strap of his camera with surprising ease, yanking the device away from the man's chest and backing off by a few steps. He heard his phone ringing in his pocket, but chose to ignore that for the moment; He was busy. "You have something in here I don't need you stirring shit with. I just met the girl, got it? We were talking over drinks."

The man was hesitant to scramble forward for his camera, eyes narrowing with irritation. "Okay, okay! Put the damn thing down, I'll delete it? Alright? Just don't break that; It's worth more than my salary!"

At those words, Adalbert didn't hesitate to raise his hand with the camera in it.

"Hey, NO--"

The man had to pause his plead as Adalbert smashed the camera into the pavement, shattering pieces off of it and sending it all over the place. The man fell to his knees, hat coming off to go across his chest. "No! You crazy bastard; That's destruction of my property! I make money with that!"

"Yes, by digging into my privacy." Adalbert responded, foot raising and then stomping down on the camera, shattering it further. He rubbed his foot in, attempting to assure the SD card was busted beyond use. He glared at the man, pointing a finger in his direction. "Keep your cameras to the public appearances, you damn deadbeat. Or maybe get a real job."

"You think just because you're some playboy, you can just go around smashing shit?" The man seemed genuinely furious; Understandable, though Adalbert didn't give a shit. "You just follow after me and smash my camera? Tell ME to get a real job? You ain't had a job in your life, what the hell do you know?" In a moment of anger provoked by Adalbert's actions, the man moved forward with a fist clenched; Seeming to want to knock the CEO descendant onto his ass.

This punch; Adalbert couldn't explain it, but he felt the danger. Without hardly thinking, his head tilted to the left with a slight side-step in the mix; Grabbing the man's arm as it flew towards nothing but air. He clenched the man's arm momentarily, before shoving him back into the dumpster, simply taking his dodge as a natural instinct and display that probably got his point across.

"If you bothered paying attention to the important details instead of gossip, maybe you'd be worth showing respect to." Adalbert commented, letting out a small cough, covering his mouth in the process. He lowered his hand to his hip, half-turning to look down the alleyway. "Soon enough, I'll be higher on the food chain than you can imagine; I'll be in need of good reporting and newswork when I reach that point... But considering your situation? It seems like you're not only a scumbag, but also worthless to me when this thing as a mess beneath my shoe."

Adalbert slid his foot; The remains of the camera scraping against the ground. After a moment he passed it to the man with a nonchalant kick, landing it near his feet.

"Stick that piece of trash where the sun don't shine. Don't let me see you around me again."

Adalbert walked away. He had things to do, and he just realized he had left his bag back at the coffee shop: He was an idiot for leaving it in his rage, but he could recover it easy enough. It'd been... He checked his phone to see how long he'd been gone: He winced at the time, noting it had been somewhere near a fucking hour.

Who had called him anyways? He looked at the number, and it wasn't familiar at all. He had a voicemail though. He decided to put the phone up to his ear and listen, as he made his way back to the coffee shop to (hopefully) collect his stuff. Though he doubted the girl stayed there so long, so knowing his luck it was either all stolen... Or she picked it up.

Hopefully she wasn't the snooping type; He didn't get that vibe, but Adalbert was a worrier.

...

The man back in the alleyway was picking up the remains of his camera, irritated but grinning to himself. He placed the camera remains on top of the dumpster before reaching into his coat pocket; Pulling out a small SD card. "Damn... I didn't expect to lose the camera, but at least I have the goods. Dumb boy didn't even think to check..."

---

---

---

While Lindy was able to jog for quite awhile, the girl eventually began to slow down between heavy breathes. Fuck sake, her arm hurt so much. Just the feeling of the wind blowing against her blistered skin was enough to cause her to wince. Any shift in position caused a similar pain; Causing her to examine it carefully for a moment. The red was a terrifying sight, and the peeling was a bit disturbing. She'd never had something like this before, but apparently there was a first time for everything.

She attempted to keep her arm hidden from those passing by: A few glanced came her way but she kept marching towards... Home? Could she go home? Her dad would flip out if he saw this, if he knew Xander did it, he'd get mom involved. Then mom would probably attempt an arrest on him or something severe. As pissed as she was at Xander, she didn't want him thrown in a jail cell: Though admittedly she was worried about his actions and how brutal he attempted to be. No wonder Matty never stood a chance... The guy was ruthless.

She paused in the street as she heard a call of her name; A familiar voice, but louder than usual... That was Alan, wasn't it? Oh, god... She didn't need him seeing this. How could she explain fire powers? And having thrown Xander through a wall?! The guy probably didn't even know who Xander was, let alone did he look capable enough to fight a guy like that. For his own safety she'd need to lie. What the fuck to say, though?

As Alan approached her, she simply offered an attempt at a confused tone. "A-Alan? What're you doing here?" She questioned, noticing the med kit he was carrying... Shit, he'd already seen her injuries. This was more than she wanted to deal with; But Alan just looked worried, if anything. She wasn't going to lash out at him for showing concern towards her well-being.

In a sense, she could really use that right now. She was riding off the high of the excitement and the fear brought on by the unnatural feats she both saw and committed, and was shaking. Even if Alan knew of her burns from afar, she still tried to cover and hide her arm instinctively.

---

Getting the loan took a day, but they got there eventually. Five grand. 5000 bucks to make something happen. Now, how do two girls on the street turn 5k into 25k (plus interest) in a few months? Answer: Make use of their natural talent. A decent chunk of that money went into perfecting AJ's RFID scanner.

"Get that small hole as close to the wallet as possible," she explained handing the small black rectangle towards Clara, "then hold it there for a few seconds. Finally, take it back here to this merchant device." She indicated something that looked like a credit card scanner laying on the ground of their tent. "Easier than pick pocketing, but we can only make about 50 bucks per credit card. But hit ten people, that's five hundred bucks. The thing will pay for itself in no time. Something easy to help supplement the big stuff."

Clara nodded, holding the thing in her hands and observing it. "I dunno how you do this stuff AJ. This is actually real?"

AJ shrugged. "It's pretty new tech. Before, the scanner couldn't penetrate the pocket, wallet, or purse. But now it can. Once we get more money, I could reproduce this tech and start selling it on the black market. Far as I know, this is the best of it's kind."

Clara laughed. "Man. Lucky me, huh?" She put her hand on AJ's shoulder and shook it, grinning down at the thing. AJ compressed her lips and looked down on the ground. "Yeah, lucky you." She commented. After a moment, Clara furrowed her brow and squeezed AJ's shoulder, looking her in the eye.

"For real. Thanks, AJ. I'm, uh...you know. We make a good team." Clara managed, trying her best to sound sincere. AJ smirked. "Yeah, we do. No problem, Clara."

Clara moved to take her hand off of AJ's shoulder, only for the shirt to come with it. The two women furrowed their brow and glanced silently at the curious event. After a moment, the shirt fell back onto AJ's shoulder. Clara sneered derisively at the palm of her hand. "Damn. I really do be needin' to wash my hands more."

"I guess so..." AJ said. Something about that didn't sit right, but what was there to do? Nothing but push the incident from her mind. "Anyway, what's next? We can't pay back all the money with the scanner."

"Well, I dunno. Depends on how far along your shooter thingies are going." Clara pointed at AJ wisely, as if she had brought up some important piece of information.

"Shooter thingies?"

"Yeah. The thingies that go on my wrist and shoot bullets, or bean bags, or glue."

"Those are kind of a joke, Clara. Even if I could fit a projectile launcher into something arm mounted, they'd be too clumsy for you to use efficiently. Plus, there's not enough room for bullets or bean bags. And glue is...well, I'm not sure how that'd be useful." She rattled off every single reason why the shooter thingies are impractical, gunning her own ideas down despite the fact she was the one who came up with them in the first place.

"Yeah, but, it'd be like having a James Bond car on my arm."

"James Bond isn't real, Clara. I can't just make stuff up fantasy stuff."

"Well, this little thingy," She pointedly held up the scanner, "Isn't real either. Once we get you some money you'll see. You're a genius, AJ."

Alejandra shook her head. "Only in comparison to you."

Clara smirked."You'll see. You're gonna go full mad scientist one day. I'm gonna make sure of it. But until the shooter thingies are online, I'm sticking to pick pocketing. But I'm prolly gonna have to start mugging people too to get to the good stuff. Maybe steal some cars and sell them for scrap. Been a while since I did a break in, too. Ever since that dog."

Alejandra swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "That sounds like a lot, Clara. Maybe you shouldn't overexert yourself. What if you get caught?"

Immediately, Clara shut down this train of thought. "I won't get caught. I just been takin' it slow all these years cause I ain't had the motivation. Now, I do." She spoke with a supreme, infectious confidence. It wasn't an act. Clara knew these things to be true, or else she wasn't thinking about the consequences of her actions thoroughly. Perhaps that is what gave her the will to commit dangerous acts of thievery for financial gain.

"Alright. The day is young. I'm headin' out. Be back by dinner." Clara stood to her feet and unzipped the entrance of the tent, crouching out into the daylight.

"Back by dinner, Clara." AJ echoed, glancing back down at her laptop. AJ would always wait for Clara to get back before she ate, so dinner was whenever Clara managed to return home.

The thief had a busy day ahead of her. First things first was to try out the new gizmo. A warm up before moving onto the bigger stuff. Clara was wearing a shirt that was a little too short, and skinny jeans that tucked into worn out sneakers. Over the bridge of her nose she placed a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses that concealed her eyes. Dexterously, she tied her red hair into a ponytail. Not standing out was a matter of confidence, not a matter of clothing. Things like hair color, height, build, weight, are hard to notice in the moment and easily forgotten when under stress. There was probably an accurate description of the thief out there somewhere, but Clara was removed from the system and in the concrete jungle of Manhattan she could slip back into obscurity. As long as she didn't get caught red handed.

Clara couldn't know if the scanner got someone successfully. There was no beep, of course. She just had to scan as many people as she could and hope the signal being emitted by the chip in every single credit card would get picked up and stored inside the rectangular device she held in her palm. That went on for an hour or two. Eventually she got the hang of it. Nice and warmed up. Now, it was back to the risky, if more familiar, tactic. Flat out pick pocketing. She hadn't pick pocketed anyone since...since that girl at the university. Wonder what happened to her? Clara had pushed the memory from her mind, and the details were foggy, but there was that particularly strong image of the girl knocked out on the ground at the stairwell.

Well, Clara thought, that whole thing was bullshit. Unless those assholes commit a gas attack again, everything should be fine. She would have gotten away from that mark no problem. No, it's not really Clara's fault anyway. It was back to business as usual. The traumatic events of the last few days needed to be forgotten worked through with good old fashioned elbow grease. AJ and Clara were adaptable people. Clara had never let anything keep her down for long, and AJ had gotten used to being dragged right back up to her feet. Thus, onwards and upwards. They had money to make.

Effortlessly, a particularly fat wallet, bulging from the back pocket of some dad, probably, was removed and tucked into Clara's arm. In a movement practiced a thousand times, the credit card and money was removed. The pictures of children were unnecessary and only served to hinder her search. In the blink of an eye the wallet, emptied of almost all valuables save those of sentimental nature, was discarded into a trash can. What a rush! The goods were slipped into her back pocket (always buy jeans with pockets in them!) and there was still plenty of room for more. Today, Clara felt, was going to be a productive day.

---

"Say cheese!" Kim mom say as she take a picture of Kim, Ray and Suzy as the restaurant is at the background. "Thank you for handing me your polaroid, Suzy" "No problem, Mrs. A and thank you for letting me come along" Suzy say cheerfully as she flipping the photo, Ray heard Suzy's words and shook his head a little. "Ay, you part of the family too." "Let's look at the photo guys" the photo shows Suzy hugging both Kim and Ray together, Ray crossed his arms and chuckled at the picture. Maybe not his most gangsta moment, but he liked it for what it was. They survived the Musty Mist Massacre, which couldn't be said for a lot of people. So, no harm in having a little party for it. Just the four of them, but, that was cool. His moms couldn't make it because of work and rent this month was cutting it a little close. All that meant was, he'd make it up to her somehow later on. But for now though, Ray chose to be in the moment.

There was no missing the highlight of Kimi's face in the middle of them. Normally, he'd make a comment about Kim looking like a happy meal box with a wig on, but he didn't. Mostly, because he knew why. It wasn't hard to read, and it was honestly kind of adorable; you won't catch Ray using that word often. There was always that hope that Kimi'd get noticed one day, but, it was whatever. So long as they managed to keep their friendship strong for a long while.

"Speaking of cheese, we finna get that food now?" Ray asked, feeling the growl in that weird place between his throat and stomach.

"Coming right behind you, Ray!" Suzy cheerfully say "Come on, Kim." She say as she grab Kim hand "Um...Er..O-ok." Kim struggle to say as they enter the restaurant.

---

The waitress walk toward the group as they handed her the menus back to her "Ok, so what you guys like to order?" "I would like the minestrone soup" say Kim mom "I would like a salad for me" Kim didn't pay any attention at all, after that gas attack and her glowing at the hospital, she jus doesn't know what going on anymore. "Kim" Mom voice have snap Kim out of her head, the waitress is waiting for her answer "Oh. Um, lasagna is fine with me" Kim nervously answer "How about you, young man?" The waitress ask Ray

Ray took a gander at the menu and shrugged. "Eh, lasagna's good for me too. And lemme get some of them breadsticks on the side." He added with a thumbs up. Though, he wasn't slow to notice the rather large pause before Kim made her order. It wasn't like her to zone out like that around Suzy. She must've had something on her mind. Ray made a note to ask her about it later. He wasn't in the business of throwing his squad under the bus.

"So, what'chu been up to lil Suzy?"

"Oh well, I been working on a Science project at school and I'm hoping I get a another A" Suzy say, Kim knows that Suzy is, without a doubt, the smartest person she knows and the only person that loves science. "How about you guys? What you been up to? You know, before the gas attack?"

"Been tryna finish a mural under the Brooklyn bridge. Hard to get it done with the pizza deliveries 'nd stuff." Well, part of that was a lie. Cops were looking around the area as they'd been kind of keeping track of his graffiti trail. It was tough to find a time gap where they weren't creeping around the area. He didn't really care much about that, but it probably wasn't a good idea to say all that in front of Kim's momma right there.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ray but i have something to cheer you guys u-" Suzy interrupt herself as she realize something while she digging through her bag "Oh man, I forgot put something in my bag. I guess it still in my car but don't worry guys, I'll go get it" Suzy carefully move out of chair and headed outside. Kim watch Suzy going outside and thinking about the red mist happening, thinking about she is going to die, thinking about not seeing her mom, her cousins, aunts and uncles and Suzy ever again....Kim thinks it time, today is today. With deep breath, Kim carefully move out of chair and headed to the door "Um, Kim, honey. Where are you going" Kim mom ask, Kim turn to face her mother and say something that sound cool "Well um, I'm just, er, just going to check on Suzy. So um yeah....later" ...... Close enough.

---

Kim walk to the side of the restaurant to see Suzy still her car as the red neon sigh shines her blue car, looking for something. "AhHa! Found it!" Suzy say aloud "Even if it lost in the car, nothing can hide from Suzy Max-" Suzy turn to see Kim standing behind her "AAAH! Kim, you scared me!" Suzy say while laughing "S-sorry, I didn't mean to-" "No, no. It's ok, Kim, I finally found the cards that I meant to give to you guys, here yours Kim" Kim look at what it seems to be a birthday card but birthday have be scribble out, It has Fonzie from happy days on it and it read "Aaaaaay! Sorry your nose got busted and you got gas attack" Kim smile at the card, Suzy always have funny and unique ways to make everyone smile. "Thanks, Suzy, It a very nice card but that not why I came out to see....There something I want to say" "Oh? What is it?" Kim takes deep breath and breathe out "Suzy, we been friends for a long time and um...I want to say uh-" Kim can feel her mouth getting dry and her words are frozen up, she can feel her head getting dizzy, her face getting redder and redder by the minute and she can feel her head is going to-BAM!

Kim and Suzy turn to see that the neon sign just exploded! "W-What the hell was that?!" Kim cry out "I think that neon sign just exploded but how?!" How indeed Kim thought and that neon sign was brand new, how did it explode all suddenly?.....Did Kim do that? No way, Kim didn't do that, no. Although, She was glowing like that neon sign days ago, did that red mist really did something to Kim?! "Kim...." Kim turn to see Suzy with a wide eye expression "....You are glowing...." Kim look down at her hands to see that she is glowing yet again "Aaaah! No! I didn't do that! And I'm not glowing! My phone is! See?!" Kim pull out her phone and turn on the flashlight, blinding Suzy. Kim run away from Suzy, run away from the restaurant, run away from the scene and never look back

---

Kim run towards to a alleyways and stop her tracks, taking some air "no no no no" Kim repeatedly say "This is not happening, I didn't make that neon sign explode, I'm not glowing. I'm not, I'm not..." Kim say to herself as she silently started to cry....she just want to be normal again

---

_{|Ft. The Talents of Sassy1085...|}

---

Ms. A watched as her daughter awkwardly walk out of the door. "My, my, she is still shy around people." Kim mom said. "So Raymond, how is your mother?"

Ray gave her question some thought and his eyes lowered a little. "She's off workin tonight. Landlord raised the rent some this month because of some repairs that had to be done to our place. We had a sorta wall corrosion problem..." He said that last bit with a somewhat uncomfortable rolling of his shoulders.

Those words were an understatement for the crazy shit he was going through lately. It wasn't like this before the crazy college crop dusting incident that left him and Kim hospitalized a while ago. It really started to set in that it really messed up his DNA. Especially with these damn holes in his wrists that had only recently stopped with all the leaking. Despite that though, he kept his forearms covered with a cerulean long sleeve shirt, with bandanas wrapped inside each over the holes. Wouldn't be a good look if those started dripping when around the girls.

Separating those thoughts from the nice moment he was having with his other fam, he elaborated on his thought: "We wanna move soon, but it ain't in the cards for us right now. Otherwise, she'd have probably been here." The young man explained, spinning a fork between his fingers.

Kim mom eyebrows saddened. "Well, if you and mother want help with the problem, me and Kim be glad to help" she says with a warm smile.

Ray just kinda nodded off Ms. A's offer. Knowing his mom, her pride wouldn't bring her to let them help even if they could. Honestly, Ray felt like he probably had to just figure this out on his own. Couldn't tell his mom, she'd want him to go to the doctor’s. Doctors led to scientists, Scientists led to the Feds, and the Feds never led to anything good.

He was going to change the subject, but a sharp pin hit the back of his head. This was immediately followed by small explosion outside that made the lights flicker a couple times. The lurch in his system made his muscles tense. Ray learned fast that one of those bandanas weren't tied tight enough when he looked at the sleeve of his shirt and it looked like a hole was burned through it. Shit.

What in the name of Grandad’s Ghost was that?

"Oh ang bait ko, what in the world was that?" After Kim mom say that, Suzy barge in through the door. "Suzy? What happened? Wait, Where's Kim?"

"I-I don't know, we were just talking and then the neon sign blew up, Kim flash a flashlight to my face and run off. I couldn't see where she was going" Suzy say in a worried tone.

There wasn't too long for an answer to walk in the front doors of the establishment. While other customers were clearly distressed, none were as much as Suzy when she made her way back in. Ray's thoughts immediately jumped to the worst when he didn't see Kim following right behind. The ebony girl's explanation of the situation was more than enough. Ray got up quick and his eyes found contact with Ms. A.

"I'm gonna go find her, Ma. Try her phone. Show me where she was, Suz.”

---

---

Ray made it about a solid block over before he noticed something strange in one alleyway. As much as he had to walk and ride through these streets, there were few that knew this city like him. There was a light coming from the shadows, like a flashlight. Glowing alleys weren't a thing; The homeless folks didn’t typically have cell phones. Sure, there'd be occasional lights of a garbage fire in the winter, but something was off here.

A strange and sharp sensation to his forehead in that general direction confirmed his suspicions. It was odd to figure, but ever since the incident, whenever he was around Kim, he got this...headache like feeling. Hard to describe but it was something like a weird kind of bond...But, deciphering that Sci-fi shit came in second to the task at hand.

"Kimi? That you?" His voice echoed down the between buildings space as he approached.

Kim face was cover by her arms and knees as she shines the attire alleyway with her blue light as she silently cry. She just need someone, anyone, to help. Help her for finding out what wrong with her. Kim head look up to see who call her name, it was Ray. As soon as she see him, she put on her hoodie to hide her face and turn away from him "N-No! Go away...Just leave me alone, Ray...."

The one who neared in question was confused by the sight he was beholding. So, it wasn't the flashlight or Kim's phone that was doing the glowing. It was Kim herself? The fuck? Well, it looked like he wasn't the only one experiencing strange effects after the gas bomb. When she turned away, Ray was quiet for a bit in thought, but instead of walking off, he stayed. He sat on the ground after making sure move any trash and other minor debris.

"Kim. Are you hurt? What happened?" His voice mellowed out, in a sort of warm coaxing manner. He used to only speak this way to Cello when he had his moments, but, whatever was going on seemed to be very stressful for her.

"I...I-I-I don't kn-know...." Kim choke up "W-We just talking a-and then that n-neon sign blew up and I starting to g-g-glow again. See?" Kim pull down her hoodie to reveal that she is indeed glowing "I-it happened at the hospital t-too..." she finally admit "A-A-And..." Kim try to say something but her voice keep on choking up from sadness.

"I-I don't know what wrong with me, Ray. I just don't feel normal anymore, I feel like a freak" she say as she feels tears falling from her eyes.

Ray kept as calm as could be as she told him what went down. So, the sign just blew up while she and Suzy were talking? The fuck kind of shit was that? Another thought sidelined because the brightness punched his eyes in the face before they could fully adjust. Shit, she really was glowing, even more than he previously thought.

Okay, so it was clear that whatever was going on in that explosion changed her too. So, this was what happened to people who lived? Ray didn't glow though, and he was pretty sure that didn't happen to him in the hospital. Maybe it just had different effects on different people. He was sure there were other people that survived aside from them, he wondered what happened to them. He placed a hand on Kim's shoulder as an offering of comfort.

"I think it's got something to do with the gas, Kimi. I don't know what the hell's going on either...but, just know you're not alone. Some really...weird stuff's been happening with me too." Ray broke his thoughts down to her, raising his burned shirt sleeve where she could see it.

Though, feeling like words weren't enough, he extended his free hand toward a garbage can. It took only a second after he clenched his fist for the muscle to tense up. Right after and out of the opening on his wrist, a silver tinge of thread fled from his forearm. It made contact with the metal dumpster, and in turn, it started making a small sizzling sound.

Kim expression was full on surprise, she guess she not the only one after all, she watch as metal dumpster starting to making sizzling sound. The glow starting to fade slowly "Do...do you think there people like us?"

Ray waited a second and relaxed his hand. With the flexing motion done, the thread unlatched from his arm, and he used the bandana on the other hand to wipe around the area. He had figured out that he could control it just yesterday. One of those issues he told Ms. A about.

It was all about finding a way to relax, that was able to make him stop, and that seemed to be the way Kim's lights worked kinda too. At least the distraction got her to turn it off inwardly. Slinging the hand that was on her shoulder to the other one, he pulled her into a half hug from the side.

"I dunno about all that yet, but I'm sure we'll figure it out soon...just...Keep this on the low for now tho." Ray suggested.

"Ok, I just want to go home right now cause I'm pretty sure I embarrass myself in front of Suzy" Kim half jokingly say as she wipe the tears off her face

Ray chuckled. "Nah, You totally did. You were like:" Ray put his hands up to his face and smushed it up to look like Kim's in the picture of the three of them in the parking lot. They laughed a little. "But I bet you Suzy didn't even notice, so don't worry about it." He mashed her hair with a smile before checking his phone when it buzzed.
It was Ms. A.

Ms. A: Ray, did you find Kim???

Yeah Ma, she's fine. The sign blowing up freaked her out. The incident made her a little jumpy. I'll walk her home…

"I live around here but that's not important right now," Alan bent down to Lindy's level and opened up the kit. Now that he was closer, he could see her injuries were even worse than he expected. He swore to himself that whoever did this was going to pay...just as soon as he took care of the poor girl before him.

Alan had taken some First Aid classes during high school so he had some idea as to what to do, but needed her permission first,"I know how to help but I need to get you some ice first. Can you walk?"

She nodded and took his offered hand before being guided into the apartment where she could sit down. Alan silently thanked his lucky stars that his Mom was asleep right now as, even though he loved her dearly, if she saw Lindy's situation she'd likely throw a fit.

As he went about his train of thought, he fetched a bag of ice from the freezer and handed it over before checking the burn and going about the procedure to treat it, including the ointments and bandages. "Lindy...I know you're hurt but did you get a good look at who did this to you? I got a phone here if you want to call the police."

The ring of keys clattered in Nalini’s hand like wind chimes. "Come on, I know it’s one of these." She fumbled between various house keys to find one with the smiling melon sticker on it. “Ah.”

She unlocked the door and let the light of the warm afternoon sun shine across the foyer. It was the first time she had been to Morgan’s place since the incident. She used to hang out here all the time, but now it felt like she was tiptoeing around in someone else’s is home.

“Hello? Morgan are you home?” she called out into the apartment.

The lights were off and shadows draped across the room lazily, doing a poor job of avoid the sun. She knew her way around despite the darkness, but it felt different this time, almost like she was intruding.

Stepping into the foyer was like stepping into a memory. A knob shaped patch marred the wall behind the door from when they brought in a Christmas tree for the holidays. Even in the dark she recognized the wine stain on the carpet. A nostalgic smile tugged at her lips as she remembered their anniversary date. Summer rain was everywhere and they played in the puddles like children. Morgan was dorky and sweet as usual. The power went out when they got back, and they spent the entire afternoon together in the dark, making few messes to pass the time.

She flipped on the lights, stepped out of her shoes, and made her way to the kitchen. Out of habit, she found herself rifling through the contents of the cabinets and pantry, sizing up potential ingredients for dinner.

Morgan walked down the hall and heard Nalini going through the cabinets. Must be getting ready to do a dinner. Recently life had not been kind to either of them and they were in a rough spot but today he was going to try and apologize. Sneaking up behind her he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck then gave her a little tickle as he whispered, "Hello there beautiful."

A warm embrace and sweet words. She hadn't realized she needed it, until she got them. Part of didn't want him to let go. Even if he didn't say anything, the touch of his rough hands was all she needed. She wanted to bask in the giddy energy bubbling in her chest. She still loved him.
A mild laugh, low and sultry escaped her as a familiar thrill raced along her spine.

Smiling and stepping back he gave her room to move. "I umm...I'm…" he tried to get the words out but wasnt sure what to say so he tripped over them and instead said, "I'm close to finishing the newest project. I can't wait to show it to you." He gave her a smile and then turned to grab a few pots and pans that she would likely use to hide his embarrassment.

“A new one, hunh?” She crooned her neck to glance at him suspciously. She was a little disappointed that was the first thing that came to mind, but she casually went back to littering the counter with spices. “I’m looking forward to it.”
It was just like her younger brother, Arvi, always lost in the depths of something complicated, and he easily lost track of time.
She didn’t mind the fact that Morgan had almost no common ingredients to work with. It was a challenge to see what she could make with what little she had: ramen from the pantry, yesterday’s takeout, a paltry squeeze of mustard, no ketchup, some soy sauce, half a dozen eggs, a bottle of beer, and a fresh pack of swiss cheese. She moved with lithe grace as she whipped up an egg sauce and began soaking the noodles.
“You really need to eat more greens.” She said nonchalantly as she leaned forward and stole a kiss. “But this’ll do for now.” She met his gaze with a smile. “So, how was your day?”

He smiled back and felt a tingle as she kissed him. His mood darkened slightly as he remembered that she could literally kill him with a deep enough kiss let alone anything more. He sighed and then gave a weak smile as he watched her cook.
"It was decent. Finally went back to classes and it seems the school isnt even back in complete shape. From there I went to the shop and kept working on the thing I have been working on since the incident."
They probably should have avoided the subject but it came out of his mouth regardless.
"I know I should eat better. I'm looking for a job since I won't be able to keep up the shop after this project."
The incident had drained the rest of the account his grandfather had set up for him. Due to all the medical bills it went fast. Morgan wasn't afraid of work but he wasn't sure what he could do with his new powers.
"What about your day?"

“It was alright” She said, noncommittal. Nalini was lost to in thought. Painful memories flashed in her mind. The lifeless stare of a lost friend was the most vivid. It had been weeks, but the reminder that she survived and others didn’t still stung.
Some of her cheerfulness drained away.
“I think I’m going to take a semester off. I’m not sure, if I want to go back just yet.”

"Take a semester off? Really? What are you going to do? You should keep busy shouldn't you?" He began to sound agitated because he didn't know what would happen all of a sudden again. He thought they would try to move on. Though she had a dead friend and he wasn't moving on either...making a suit to compliment his powers. He was doing the opposite of keeping things normal and moving on. He was angry and wanted to do something about it.
"I know that you're gonna deal with things your own way but what are you gonna do? Would you move in here?"

The rapid-fire questions set her teeth on edge. She felt cornered. “God what crawled up your ass and died? I’m just saying I think I should take some time off and figure things out. What’s so bad about that?”

He ran his hands through his hair pulling at it. "Nothing I'm just worried! I need a plan and I thought we would just keep going somehow. I've always had to keep going so it's just my go to. Is it so fucking wrong to want to know what you might have in mind!?" He turned and pounded the counter lightly.

“No, but you’re clearly in no mood to talk about it calmly.” Nalini threw her hands up in exasperation and sighed. Cocking her head, she eyed him warily, like this Morgan was somehow a completely different person from the one she knew. It worried her. “What’s gotten into you, Morgan? Seriously, what’s wrong? You can tell me.” Despite her earlier irritation, she kept her tone soft.

He sat down in the floor losing himself in a memory of meeting her all over again. Then breaking down on her about losing all the people in his life.
"What's wrong? What's not wrong? My life has been one disappointment after another. Sure there are small good bits in between but it's like nothing wants to stay good. Parents never wanted me, then they were murdered for god knows what, grandpa died and the incident. The only thing good was you! Now I can't give you so much as little kiss with out it risking my life. Not that I wouldn't give anything to be with you again but I know how much you would hurt. I'm just so damn angry at the world, criminals, and the fuckers that caused the incident!" He began to shake and sob. Then came up stood and looked her in the eye.
"I just want something to go right and be normal. Don't you?"
It was a stupid thing to say and he knew it as soon as it left his lips but the words hung in the air.

Nalini’s chest tightened. She pursed her lips in an attempt to hold back what she knew were going to be tears. It wasn’t her choice to become a walking biohazard. “You think I want this either?” She began, her voice cracking. “What the fuck even is normal, Morgan? What is a normal life, hunh? Because I sure as fuck don’t know anymore!” She screamed to keep herself from sobbing.
“At least you didn’t kill your parents. I’m at risk of killing mine on accident. A single touch, Morgan! I haven’t hugged my father in once since it happened. I can barely kiss you. Its a fucking nightmare! The world’s rotten and we both want what we can’t have. That's reality.” Hot ears began rolling down Nalini’s blushed face.

"I didn't mean it hasn't been hard for you. I know it has probably more than anyone else that I know of so far that's been affected." He sighed while wiping the tears from his face. He took the gloves that they found and put them on. With them on he wiped the tears from her face.
"The food is going to burn if we don't watch what we are doing." He took the gloves off and put them in the little bio-bin they had bought.
"I have some beans in the freezer. I forgot to tell you." He hung his head not knowing what else to say and lost in thought.

"It's fine." She said with a note of resignation. "I'm already making something."
She mixed together a random soup stock and brought it to boil. A combination of eggs, beer, and cheese went in as well, and in time it looked less like leftovers and more like Mystery Ramen Alfredo. It smelled phenomenal, which brightened her mood a little.
The bubbling and churning of the pot filling the silent void between them. Her hands did the work as her mind wandered from memory to memory, some fond and inviting, others gut wrenching and unspeakable, fueling her nightmares for years to come.



A restless wind blew across the courtyard, bring a refreshing coolness despite the heat of the mid-day sun.

The cafeteria was crowded and noisy. A throng of students had formed disorganized queues around the various stalls selling food. The dull roar of idle chatter permeated the air and forced everyone to casually shout at one another. Nalini sat cross-legged at a small table by the window. She wasn't the biggest fan of people in general, but she somehow felt at home in the chaos. The rap tracks playing through her headphones helped drown out the noise too.

Nalini was incognito today. She liked attention, but not all the time, and definitely not when a paper was due. With intentionally frizzed hair, thick glasses she didn't need, and no make up, she was dressed to unimpress. And, if someone got the bright idea to get too close while she was studying, she believed the ten pound cudgel in the shape of a textbook would persuade them otherwise. It had the weighty title "Cultural Anthropology". She hoped most people read it as "Run Away Quickly". She took a sip of her iced latte as she scanned the pages, scribbling notes every now and then.

Almost thirty minutes had passed before anyone summoned the courage to bother her, even during the lunch rush. A short girl with purple shoulder-length hair that looked like it had been dipped in hot pink dye sat down at her table. Nalini looked up from her book and met the girl's eyes. They were bright and cheery and regarded her with mild terror. Nalini saw it, but said nothing and patiently waited to see if she would do anything else besides smile nervously.

Everyone else had the good sense to strategically avoid her, so anyone crazy enough to walk through her imposing aura of "fuck off" deserved a little respect. They got more if their brain didn't melt in the first five minutes of talking to her.

"I hope you don't mind." The girl spoke at a near shout to overcome the noise. "...There's nowhere else to sit. This place is so crowded." She said, adjusting her volume. "My name's Bobby. What's yours?"
She made the kind of reflexive smile people use when they feel awkward and are trying to be polite.

With a mix of calm intensity and subdued admiration, Nalini's expression did the talking for her. Her raised brows and heavy gaze silently posed questions like "Who are you and why are you sitting within 10 feet me?" and "How many hours did you spent on that perfect ombre fade? It looks immaculate."

Nalini pulled out one of her ear phones, music blasting from the speaker, and spoke in a clear even tone that cut through the din, "Sorry. I didn't hear anything you said, but you're more than welcome to sit there, Bobby." She said with a genuine smile and promptly put her ear phone back in.

Bobby's expression loosened with the effort of thought and her brows knitted together in confusion. Something didn't add up. "Wait...If you didn't... How did you... ?" Her words piled together and died tragically as her train of thought derailed off a bridge and into a ravine. She eventually collected her thoughts from the wreckage. "If you didn't hear me at all, how did you know my name?"

"Magic." Nalini said dismissively.

"Riiight. Magic." Her sarcasm was obvious. Bobby's pouting face sank into her palm as she prodded her salad tray with disinterest. She could faintly hear the deep bass notes from across the table. Whatever she's listening to is really loud. Can she really hear me over that and the rest of the noise in here?

"How about this?" Nalini began. "I'll make a deal with you. A fair trade. I'll tell you my secret, if you tell me one of yours." Nalini gave her an expectant look.

"I don't even know your name." She countered.

"Fair. It's Nalini, Nalini Nortman. My dad owns Ingonyama on 81st street in Manhattan. Y'know, the restaurant?"

Bobby wore a blank expression; the name wasn't familiar. "Sorry, I don't know it." She admitted finally.

"Nevermind that. Are you in?" Despite her best effort to hide it, the edges of Nalini's mouth curled into a grin.

Bobby seemed to consider the offer for a moment, then clicked her tongue and sighed. "Fine...But will you promise not to laugh?"

Nalini nodded.

She took a baited breath as if she was preparing to jump off a cliff, then took the plunge. "I don't know about you, but in our high school they had this really stupid sexual orientation class. Sometimes they hand out pamphlets, but our teacher decided to hand out condoms too, and then tried to give us a lecture on how to use them properly. Except... she stapled each one to pamphlet. Like, seriously? I hadn’t even used one at that point, and I still knew that!"

Nalini was trying desperately to hold back her laughter, but a giggle snort came out her nose instead.

Bobby continued, trying to ignore her. "I told her she wasn't helping anybody because she just ruined all of the condoms. She wouldn’t listen, and once some of my classmates started cracking jokes, she started yelling at me. They sent me to the principal's office, and somehow I got suspended for day because my teacher was an idiot. It's the only time I was ever in trouble in highschool."

Nalini hid her face with her textbook and started to shudder with mirth. Quietly restrained laughter leaked out against her will.

"Oh, come on! Your turn." She urged, mildly offended. Even as Bobby's cheeks reddened, she couldn't stop herself from laughing a bit too.

Nalini slowly collected herself and choked back the giggling fits. "That was priceless. Mine is nowhere near as good as that!" She removed both of her earphones and let out some of her pent up excitement in a sigh. "Phew...Well, the tl;dr version is my dad and I used to watch people in the restaurant and make up stories about what they were talking about. It didn’t matter what their actual conversation was, we would just dub over it with whatever seemed funny at the time. A conversation about how some lady’s in-laws were doing turned into casual discussion about the mystical land of Shakti, and that someone’s brother got turned into a cheetah. My dad was always great storyteller.
When I was about six years old, he started going deaf in one ear, and the other was soon to follow. The doctor’s it wasn’t curable and he would need a hearing aid soon. So we changed the game a little. And story-telling started to include intentionally butchered lip reading as well. Like those guys over there are..." Nalini eyed a group of guys three tables behind Bobby. She stared at them intently, and after a long pause, one of them met eyes with her. She grimaced and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"They're debating who they would bang, kill, or marry between you, me, and the girl behind me. Trust me, you don't know want to know what they said."

Bobby turned and shot them a look of disapproval. "What a bunch of assholes." She stared back at her meal tray and huffed irritably "You know what... I've lost my appetite."

"Me too." There was no food on her side of the table

Bobby laughed and shook her head. "You're ridiculous."

"And you're way more interesting than you look." Nalini said with smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said acting hurt.

"Trust me, it's a compliment. By my estimate, you've got more than half a brain, probably a whole one, which is a hundred percent more than what most people have. That's like a two hundred percent difference." Nalini could barely hold her stoic expression without cracking a smile.

Bobby face warmed and she fell into a pile of giggles and laughter. "On my god! Where did you learn to do math? It’s so bad, I’m not even sure it’s wrong."

Nalini shook her head knowingly, wry amusement widened her grin. Her phone chirped and displayed the time. She sighed and began packing her things, "I gotta go to my next class. If you don't want to be leered at by the dickless poachers over there, then walk with me. You can even lecture me subtleties of basic arithmetic or tell me how exactly you dyed your hair so damn perfectly. Honestly, I’m a little jealous."

Bobby looked at her with an incredulous smile, and then slowly nodded. "You're so strange. Fun, but strange."

"Better than being dull." Nalini countered with a matter-of-fact tone. "Anyway, let's get out of here."

The science building was a red brick monolith that huddled closely two others, and they were all linked by a covered sidewalk. It was a brief walk to get there, but the Nalini took the long way around just so they could have more time to talk. Their conversation was colorful and filled with laughter. Nalini's freshman year in college had been a harsh one until now, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad, if she had someone like Bobby as a friend.



Nalini stirred in her sleep. Everything was hot, too hot, like she was lying in an oven. Tears of agony wet her lashes as the pain singed her nerves. The sheets clung to her damp skin uncomfortably. She tried clawing them off, but couldn’t. Her limbs wouldn’t respond, trapping her inside a body that wouldn’t move.

Hazy visions raced through her mind. There was shouting and screaming, distant and faint, which echoed and faded into a noisy oblivion. Hot colors burst in her eyes and gave way to a roiling fog of red hues. Memories erupted one after another. Some she recognized, some she didn’t. But the one that always haunted her were the eyes filled with mortal terror looking back at her, pleading for help. It was Bobby. Her face was pale and haggard. A writhing liquid, black and foul, seeped from her eyes and mouth as she drew in short, ragged breaths. Words formed on her lips, but the memory was murky and always ended with deafening silence.



Nalini knew she was in a hospital before she ever opened her eyes. The acrid scent of rubbing alcohol and musty bedding had been accosting her since she regained her senses. Just smelling the rubbing alcohol made her thirsty. She craved it, and it made her feel awful, strange. She struggled to open her eyes and was surprised to see a bizarre relief of ultra-blue hues dancing on the walls. It was dark outside the window, yet the paint still glowed. It revealed messy hand prints and old splatter stains, bright against the violet background. The flowers on the windowsill seemed to be from a distant alien world. Neon crimson and intense violet petals rimmed a collection of delicate stalks painted with moonlight. Even in the dark, everything was awash with vibrant colour. It was a bewildering sight.

Something was wrong. Her pulse began to quicken; panic accelerated it. Dread settled in as she struggled to sit up, barely noticing the plastic tubes hanging from her. It wasn't just the colors in the night that worried her. A terrible thirst haunted her. Her throat felt unbearably dry. A water bottle was left on a tray nearby. She reached for it, groaning with effort, and started chugging it. Even after she polished off the bottle… Nothing.

A mild scent drew her gaze to cabinet a several feet distant. Thirst tightened her chest and closed her throat. She had no idea what it was inside, but she knew she needed it. The loud thumping in her ears drowned out the sound of her own thoughts. She padded from the bed to cabinet.

Her attention fell upon a bottle of rubbing alcohol and, next to it, iodine. Acting on instinct she reached for them, one after another, and began drinking them to the last.

The rough taste scoured her tongue. Nalini's stomach lurched and twisted in disapproval. It felt like molten metal was churning inside her, but the pounding headache and her racing pulse both began to subside. The shock of realization froze her thoughts even as the strange craving faded.

"What the fuck am I doing… What's wrong with me?"

---

She had a spring in her step as she moved gracefully through a sea of people shuffling down the city streets. It wasn’t like anything important was said between the two of them but just being able to laugh and put her worries away if even for a moment was wonderful. She felt like she could take on the world and maybe this was a sign that things were starting to look up for her. At least that is what she thought until she felt a large hand gripping her wrist, yanking her sharply into a nearby alley way and covering her mouth with their free hand so she couldn’t make a sound. Reyna instantly felt her body slammed into the brick wall once she was dragged far enough from sight, the rough texture snagging against her clothes and scraping at her skin. She glared at her attacker, the asshole wearing a sickening grin as he pinned her.

“Hey there kitten, just hand over the bags and empty your pockets. No one has to get hurt but struggle and I can’t make any promises that my hand won’t slip.” he purred in her ear causing her noise to scrunch at the closeness as well as the foul scent of alcohol that clung to him. The hand helping pin her to the wall shifted so she could feel something sharp threatening her side and she tried to remain calm. She had gotten out of worse scrapes than this ...she couldn’t think of any right now but she was sure she had. If she tried to push him away, she risked being cut from the knife practically digging into her already or she might be weaker and he would follow through with his threat. She was trying to think of a good distraction but nothing was coming to mind. There was only one thing she might be able to do and it wasn’t really an option she was happy about either. Reyna slowly moved the hand he allowed free to the shoulder that held her laptop. She grabbed hold of the strap acting as if she was going to comply to the demand when she suddenly jerked her head to the side to loosen the hold on her mouth just enough to bite down harshly on the offending appendage.

Her attacker yelped, pulling back in pain and surprise. She still felt herself flinch at the slight pain at her side, the shock causing him to stumble back but still being close enough to slice. She let go of her hold on his hand, ready to make a run for it when she felt the hood of her jacket being yanked. “You crazy bitch! You made a big mistake.” He hissed angrily. Reyna struggled, her fingers desperately trying to get the zipper down as she pushed herself forward to resist being closer to him. The grip on her hood switched to her hair and she hissed, tilting her head back a bit when suddenly all his movements stopped. She noticed the shock on his face, the sudden panic even though nothing had happened, and the words she heard next even stunned her for a moment. “What the fuck!?! Why can’t I move!?!” She blinked, slowly crouching down to free her hair from his grip and untangling the rest with her hands.

She stood before him, staring in awe and normally, she would have felt sorry for someone randomly not being able to move but in this situation she found it hard to care. In fact, this asshole was gonna get at least one lesson. Reyna stepped closer, crouching once more and throwing a good amount of force into a swooping kick to knock his feet out from under him. Straightening up, she gave one more slamming kick in the gut for good measure. “You got what you deserved you fucking prick!” She snapped before spitting in his face, turning away and sprinting back out of the alley way. She didn’t care that all of a sudden he was screaming nonsense as she made her way back onto the streets and she certainly didn’t care as more people rushed down the alley to see what was the matter. She just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Reyna felt herself shake now that she was out of the situation. She licked her lips before taking a deep breaths and trying to calm herself. She doubted he would come after her again but it still made her nervous all the same. A nagging feeling was tugging at her suddenly causing her to lick her lips again and pause. Why did she taste something sweet? In fact, why didn’t her mouth taste the coppery sensation of blood? She knew she had bit hard enough to break his skin. She put a hand to her mouth, indeed a red substance showing which had her wiping it on her hoodie. ’What the hell is wrong with me!?! She shook her head, scurrying back to her little apartment and wanting to forget everything that just happened.

The moment she made it inside, Reyna placed both laptops on the coffee table and plopped onto the couch. She looked at the new hole in her clothes with a frown, making a mental note to sew it back up later. She zipped off the hoodie, tossing it away and letting it fall where it would. She peaked at the fresh wound at her side which actually didn’t look too bad or deep luckily but would still need to be cleaned. She yanked off the tank top carefully, her side still protesting at the motion. She headed for the bathroom, grabbing the hand towel, wetting it with water and soap before cleaning the area. It stung like a bitch but better to do it right then have a problem later. Reyna put some ointment on and placed a patch over it, selecting one of her baggier soft shirts to pull on for now. That being taken care of, she moved to the laptop bag that was not her own and pulled out the contact card. ’Adalbert Von Hardt, huh? Well isn’t that fancy. There is no way on Earth I could call him that. Maybe a nickname? Adal sounds like something a stripper might pick. Bert sounds way too childish ...hmmm….’

She typed in the provided number and held her breath, letting out a relieved sigh when it went to voicemail. She listened to the voice talk, rolling her eyes as it dragged on before finally she heard the sound of the beep to begin her message.”Hey Von, this is Reyna….you know, the girl from the cafe? I have your laptop here with me. I tried to wait as long as I could for you to come back but…... Anyways, let me know if you want to meet up again or I could drop it by the listed address if that sounds good to you. Hope you have a great day and if I don’t end up seeing you….thank you for brightening my day.” She clicked end, glad to be over with that and moved to the fridge to find something to eat since the muffin has been a complete flop. The choices weren’t looking promising though and she wasn’t sure she was ready to venture out.

She pulled out one of the paper menus she had for take-outs and deliveries before punching in the number. She made her order from Lucky Star quick and simple, now just having the matter of waiting. Reyna knew that ultimately she would she to go pick it up but it gave her a while to relax and get over what just happened. She really should invest in pepper spray or something. At least leaving the laptops here, she would be less of a target. She pulled out her notebook, one she had been ignoring for months since the band was on rocky terms right now. It is why band members shouldn’t date. Everything just went to shit if you weren’t careful. It was why she had no passion to do anything or try but today felt different. Reyna grabbed a pencil, scribbling down thoughts and potential ideas. There was a lot of erasing and re-writing which was only stopped when she saw the time.

When she finally arrived without a hitch, she made a quick change of plans and asked if it would be alright to dine in. The family restaurant was a peaceful atmosphere to her and she could use that right about now. They didn’t seem to mind the change and let her pick a spot which she happily chose one of the two seater tables. That being done, she slowly unpacked her order, getting back to work on the song she was trying to write. Now, Reyna usually wasn’t their song writer since she had the voice but felt she was lacking the talent to make anything decent for lyrics. It was bugging her though, parts of a melody and words stuck in her head so she thought...why not write them down? Even if it sucked, no one would see it and it wasn’t like she would perform it.

-Deleted double post-

Adalbert's lips curved into a genuine smile. Reyna, huh? So Rowe wasn't a given name... Reyna Rowe. He'd remember that for sure, he had already committed it to memory. While this meant he'd probably not have the time for grabbing his things today, it was a perfect excuse to get out again tomorrow. She had brightened his day before, but hearing this message was enough to cause an even brighter sign. He chuckled to himself as the phone lowered from his ear, glancing at it to check the time.

Oh, dear. It seemed he was running late. Not for anything truly important to the business, but he had expected to get home earlier. Without hesitation, he turned on his heels and began walking back in the opposite direction; No longer needing to go back to the coffee shop. One might've wondered if it was truly necessary to walk all the way home; He was on a strange side of town, honestly. But he liked the public walks, when not being bothered, at least.

As he walked, he decided maybe a call was too much? He did want to talk to that woman again, but he... He wasn't sure? Like, over the phone. He figured it'd be easier than face-to-face, but he also wanted to see her face? While words were coming out? Yeah. He wanted an actual conversation, that. But for now, he resolved to simply use texting. He had her number now, and while that was more social progress than he made with most people, it was because of a mistake. Which made things awkward.



He sent the text, before continuing on his way. He wanted to get home soon; He had a few things to try and accomplish, and only a certain amount of hours per day to accomplish those things. He continued walking, a slight energy to his walk now as he felt good; Tomorrow was looking to already have great plans. He couldn't wait to talk with her again; This time without him causing a scene, of course... If he could help it.

...

... This wasn't exactly 'home' in the sense of where he lived. After a bit of walking, Adalbert made it to what he simply referred to as 'Building 31'. It was, on the outside, simply Hardtcorp storage space. But to him, there was something more. He wandered behind the building; Navigating a small sinking stone staircase behind the building that blended in well with the ground. This whole little pathway was usually used for repairs on pipes and such behind the building, so it was a bit of a maze; But Adalbert knew this maze like the back of his hand, and had it set up security-wise to his liking with cameras at the corners and... A few surprises, had he found someone down here he didn't need snooping.

Twists and turns eventually led him to an elevator. It was a bit old, but a bit of elbow grease assured it wasn't broken down. He pressed the 'down' button which was the only option, and stepped inside. The options were 1F, 2F, and 3F. Though, there was a small card slider near the buttons as well. With grace, he pulled a card from his pocket and put it through the machine; A green flash and a beep signifying he was heading down. Beyond 3F, deeper than any 4F, 5F, 6F... Floors worth of space downward, for his privacy.

Originally this place had been built as some sort of shelter, he had to assume. That's the only excuse he had for it being so deep underground, anyhow. Originally there was a button that just came down here, but he made sure after turning it into his own private workplace that he'd... Remove the opportunity for people to snoop easily. In a way this wasn't even his property; Just some deep hole the city forgot about. But it was his hole. His cave.

The Hardtcave, Baby!

Oh hoh, yeah.

The elevator opened, allowing him freedom from that confined space. All that it lead out to was a hallway, with a heavy-duty door at the end. As he approached, he put his card through another slider; A second security check in case someone did get down here. His eyes peered up at his cameras and security system, noting if someone did try to get in... Hoo, it was good that he was smart.

Door opening, he walked through and made sure it properly shut and secured itself before he continued into the Hardtcave. It was pretty big; It looked like it could have held a lot of people. It was a pretty dark and disgusting pit when he originally came down here, but he had turned it into his own little place at a slow pace. It took forever to creep everything down here, but damn it, it was worth it. No dad. No unwanted people barging into his privacy.. Just him and his work.

With a slight twist in his step, he was suddenly rolling across the room; The skates in his shoes carried him across the floor of his sweet little pad, allowing him to snatch a remote off a stand near the entrance, pressing a few buttons as he rolled along to get himself ready with some... Motivation.



Bobbing his head as he did a slow spin to take in his work on the location, he let out a loud laugh; His tune changing completely. Oh hell yes! He was free here; Nobody to restrain him, nobody to shoot him down. He could be who he wanted, do what he wanted. And what did he want to do? Tinker. He wanted to tinker, even if he was missing his laptop with some of the plans... He could still work.

Skating up to a large desk of scrap and electronics, he snatched up his pride and joy: The Sticky Hook™. These babies were the start of something he had been thinking of before the attack; The admittedly attention starved young man had a bit of a goal prior to the attack, and that... Was to become a hero. Since he bounced back better than ever from the attack, he figured continuing this pursuit was a great idea; If he could survive that without a scratch, then, well...! He was surely hero material!

He mounted the Sticky Hook™ on his wrist, finding it strange that the device was less strain on him than the last time he used it... Gym gains must've been doing work. It was a work of his genius; Not entirely finished, but it worked for damn sure. Swinging with it was great, even if he had only done it in this closed in area. Nothing was relieving like some good old-fashion fun

His skates carried him to his testing area; Mostly just a place with a bunch of padding in case he fell. Without hesitation he skated forward, pointing the Sticky Hook™ at a wall, bracing himself, and opening fire.

PHIFFP!

It shot out at a high speed, connecting with a high part of the wall. With a simple motion he began getting reeled in; Activating the recall that yanked it back after he got speed in the air. Whooping in excitement as he soared, he turned to take another shot at an opposite wall to do some wall-skating; But found that his Sticky Hook™ wasn't being very compliant.

PHIFFFF

PHIFFFF

_{"Oh, no."} The man muttered to himself, looking towards the wall he was rapidly approaching.

"O o o o h, crap!

He attempted to brace himself; Hands, feet out. Don't hit your head into the wall, Von! For the love of god, don't hit your head. All he had to do was stop himself and even if his legs were sore, he'd fall to the padding and be alive. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, bracing for the unpleasant impact...

...?

He had felt a thud, but that was it. His eyes slowly opened, having expected to fall to the ground sore. Instead, he was a little sore maybe, but he was... On the wall?

"The fuck is this?!" He shouted, nervously looking at his hands planted on the wall. He was nervous, but slowly, he pulled one hand free; It was so damn weird... He was sticking to the wall. Sticking. To the wall. _{stickingtothewall}

He had to test this.

Adalbert began to very slowly and carefully, like a newborn Spider-Toddler, crawl around on the wall. He began to laugh to himself, hysterically; This was... What the hell was this? Things felt a bit sticky lately, but he thought it'd been some more reasonable explanation? He was crawling on a wall. Holy shit. This was so cool; Maybe not as cool as swinging, but who the hell else could do THIS?!

"This is amazing." He spoke to himself, finally dropping himself to the floor after crawling his way down. He had to work out the kinks of the Sticky Hook™ for sure, but... Whatever the hell this was? It was like a safety net. Shit, though, what the hell caused that? What was wrong with him? He couldn't tell people about that; They'd flip out. It was like some super-human feat... He was awesome enough before, but now he could crawl on walls? He was like a ninja. Or a spider. Or any insect that could crawl on the wall, he figured. Bug man. Bug... Ninja man.

Shit, he finally had ideas for hero names. He had been so desperate trying to figure those out.

While the wall-sticking weirdness remained in his mind, he went back to focusing: He began bobbing his head to the music again, not missing a beat from this experience: It was freaky, but freaky that was helpful: He could study it! Use it! But for now, he needed to work out the kinks of this device before he slammed his head into a damn wall... Not to mention he had to start working on the... Special surprise he had in mind.

God, this got him inspired. Oh, yes! He found himself letting out a loud laugh again for his own effect; He was motivated! Blood pumping with the thought of successful machines! His hands worked swiftly and with effectiveness; When Adalbert was motivated he was essentially a machine. He'd get this all sorted out in no time!

"Aah-hah-hah-hah-hah-haaahhhhh!"

---

---

---

Alan lived around here? She wasn't sure if that meant she had ran farther than she thought, or he and Xander were closer to each other than she imagined they were. She figured it didn't matter; She watched him curiously, having not expected him to just... appear with medkit in hand. Was he just conveniently holding it? It was pretty quick for him to catch her running and to fetch medical supplies... Oh, why was she thinking like that? He was trying to help her.

"Walk? Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired..." She answered, taking his hand with a lack of hesitation. Though as she walked towards Alan's apartment, she felt her brain scrambling a bit. Oh, god. If her dad saw her holding hands with a guy he'd totally flip. He knew Xander a little, though clearly not as well as he or Lindy thought, but Alan? He didn't even know Alan. He'd give him such a hard time, it'd be embarrassing. Though, this wasn't like that: He was just guiding her. It wasn't... Weird. Not at all!

As they entered the apartment, she noted it was quiet. Aside from hisses of pain she tried to keep it down; Just in case. She didn't want to intrude upon his household; She sat down, accepting the ice. She hadn't been sure of what she was going to do; Just find a way to hide her toasted arm, probably... But this was so helpful. She expected to be alone, but Alan showed up just in time. The ice on her arm would hopefully help, though it didn't look pretty. She wasn't entirely sure how that'd heal up... She gripped the ice a little harder than she should have, and felt it lightly collapse in her hand. She loosened up quick, not shifting her hand enough to show the result. 'Oh god, oh god. Pretend it didn't happen, Lindy! You are not a freak of nature, you're just a small school girl who got nearly incinerated by a martial artist after surviving a terrorist attack. Gah! Sounds worse!'

Watching Alan work and only occasionally wincing, his question knocked her out of her worried thinking. Ah, jeez... He was asking what happened? Lindy was hesitant; She couldn't tell him. Xander survived being thrown through a wall; And she thought Xander was a potential death machine prior to that and the flaming elbow that left her how she was now. She had to protect Alan, he was just some baker. He couldn't handle shit like that. And the cops...? She was angry at Xander beyond comprehension, but didn't want to put him in jail.

He wasn't a bad guy, at least, she thought he hadn't been a bad guy. It didn't just hurt physically, but emotionally as well: She was going through enough with the head injuries and the thoughts back to that day of the attack... She didn't need this shit on top of it; Like having the power to thrown a guy a full foot taller than her through a wall without any effort.

"No, Alan. No cops. I-- Uhm, I don't know what happened. It was all so fast, and I think a hit to my head dazed me a little too much." Ah, yes! The head injury had it's uses! Nope, she didn't remember any big-muscled flaming muay-thai men. It was a mystery what happened!

To be extra authentic, she sat the bag of slowly melting ice down and rubbed her head, offering a weak but caring smile. Even if she had to lie, she did appreciate him. she had to let him know that, right?

"Thank you for helping me, Alan. I didn't know what I was gonna do."

"Is that so?" Alan raised an eyebrow at hearing this news about a head injury. Granted, he might've been too quick to notice anything but he hadn't seen something like that himself. The fact that she didn't want to call the police to report the attack was also more than a little suspicious...and worrying.

However, he knew better than to push the issue right now. The poor girl was clearly shaken up and scared, so the last thing she needed was to be drilled with questions. As such, he simply shook his head and tried to smile,"Well, if I saw one of my valued customers unhappy in front of me and I didn't do anything, I'd be pretty terrible at my job, wouldn't I?" He finished bandaging the burns, "There. I'm no doctor but I'd suggest you steer clear of any heavy lifting for a while,"

He then proceeded to head to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of water for his guest,"Here. Drink up," He took a seat in the other chair and flipped on the television, surfing through channels though it seemed like every other one had some sort of segment about the bomb attack. Alan automatically switched the channel when those came up as this was the last thing he or anyone else needed to be reminded of right now.

With a sigh, Alan turned to address his guest, "Lindy...I know you said you didn't want any cops involved but...do you at least want to go to the hospital? Like I said, I'm no doctor, so a real one might be able to help you more. Also, don't worry about my Mom. She'll take us.." He gestured to her sleeping form, "Trust me. We explain the situation and she'll get us there in ten minutes or less."

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this, Arvi.” Nalini groaned, as she stared at the pack of detergent. The glimpse of small red light caught her eye. “Why is your phone out? No, don’t film it, you idiot!” She stepped forward and slugged her brother in the shoulder.

Arvi let out a yelp. “Okay, okay, okay, fine! Shit, that hurt.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I just thought it would be cool to have a viral video of my sis on Facebook or something. I dunno. Besides Tide pods aren’t any worse than the bleach your were drinking.” He rubbed at his shoulder, his mind obviously on something else.

Nalini was starting to have second thoughts about hanging around her brother. She didn’t hate him, but he was just… Arvi. Tall, dark, and six-foot-four, he towered over people. They shared the same golden brown eyes, but his were behind thick horn-rimmed glasses. Long, midnight hair framed his angular face. He’d grown so much over the summer that she almost didn’t recognize him. His awful posture and thin, gaunt features disguised the fact he could be a linebacker. He had the shoulders for it, he just hadn’t grown into himself yet. It’s a small wonder why he complained about being approached by every sports team at the school.
The real tragedy is that he suffered from a a serious life-threatening condition where he would say something obvious, and she would threaten his life. It was like having her own personal narrator running around stating everything exactly as it happened when it happened. He also suffered from a degenerative brain disease called “unable to shut up.” It was a miracle he lived to be fifteen, but his future was still unclear.
Their parents did little to stop it either. Honesty was big in their family, so he got a pass when he played it off. The problem was they were both keeping a secret from their parents. Well, a single big one, in particular.

“Arvi, take a moment, think really hard, and ask yourself ‘What are a few reasons your sister, Nalini, might not want to be on the internet?’” The sarcasm and derision was obvious in her voice.

Arvi began considering this without any restraint. And, much to his sister’s chagrin, did so aloud. “Well…. You could kidnapped by some weird criminal organization and ritually sacrificed like that movie we watched a couple weeks ago.” His fingers popped out, and he started counting them absentmindedly. “Dad would probably find out really quick, since he’s on their all the time now. Which would suck because you’re embarrassed to tell him that you’re a spider freak with badass powers like being able to break through walls and swim in battery acid, which I still don’t get by the way. Your friends will either love you and harass you to show off, or be weirded out and avoid you. And-”

Nalini’s eye twitched furiously as her mouth fell open. “That’s enough Arvi, I got it.”

“The media could turn you into click bait and some cheesy tabloid writer could-”

“Damnit, Arvi! I said I got it. Now, shut up!”

“Well you asked.” He said innocently.

“I give up.” Nalini’s expression sank. “I’m surprised your friends don’t die of an aneurysm just by listening to you.”

“They won’t, but you might. So are you gonna eat it?” He looked at her expectantly.

Nalini stared daggers at him, but they bounced off his obliviousness. It was like trying to stare down a blank wall. “...I guess.”

“Cool.” Arvi slid a metal folding chair under him and sat down for the show. “I’d hate to come all the way out here to this creepy, abandoned warehouse and not see at least one crazy thing before I leave.”

“Fuck you, Arvi.” She said, but her words didn’t have their usual bite. She shrugged, defeated, and popped the small pod of colorful detergent in her mouth and began chewing it down. Her grimace was habit by this point. It didn’t actually taste that bad. It was sweet, sour and chalky, and it burned a little on the way down. A hair-raising, prickly feeling spread through her limbs in waves.

“Well… Anything?” Arvi’s his laser-focus was on her.

“It takes a few sec-” Her body jerked and twitched uncomfortably as she grit her teeth to avoid biting her tongue. She could feel her muscles swell and tighten beneath her skin. She winced not from pain, there was none, but from the bizarre sensation that wracked her nerves. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that.”

“I wouldn’t either.”

“Well, time to test it out.” Nalini eyed her surroundings. Metal drums sat in neatly organized stacks atop shoddy palettes. They lined the warehouse from wall to wall. She had no idea what was inside them. A wheel-less forklift rested cinder blocks behind Arvi.

She took two steps and vaulted into the air, somersaulting, as she sailed over Arvi’s head and landed by it. She gripped it with both hands, and lifted it. It felt much lighter than she had expected, but she grunted with effort anyway. It seemed appropriate.

Just as she hoisted it over her head, she could hear soft clapping. She crooned her neck just in time to see Arvi make a surprised whistle.

“So what else can you do?” He ventured.

Nalini felt a twinge of annoyance. Her grip tightened and the metal screeched under the pressure of her frustration. She forced herself to relax, and set the forklift backdown on the cinder blocks.

“Aww! You could’ve thrown it at the trash heap. That would’ve been clutch.” He sounded disappointed.

“When I want to throw something, Arvi, you’ll be the first to know. Trust me.” Her attention drifted as she caught the scent of something bitter and metallic. It smelled faintly of chocolate too. “That’s odd.” She wandered towards the source, following the pungent odor.

“What’s wrong? You find something?”

“Maybe? I’m not sure.” She admitted. Her feet lead her further into the stacks of metal drums. The stood like fluted columns trying to hold up the arched metal roof. The further into the warehouse she went the less neatly organized the aisle became. Many of the drums had rusted, and a clear blue liquid seeped out of some of them making grimy trails toward dark stains in the concrete floor. She didn’t need the warning of yellow hazard symbols to know this stuff was dangerous. The sharp odor turned sweeter, like burnt sugar, as she approached one of the loose drums. It’s polished exterior had rusted away and tiny holes near the bottom allowed more of the blue chemical to slowly seep out onto the floor like molasses.

Nalini dabbed at it with her finger and immediately felt an electric thrill course through her hand. Instinctively, she licked her lips and touched it to her tongue. It tasted unreal. Sharp and sweet flavors electrified her senses. Colors around the room popped out at her, vivid and intense. She lazily turned to Arvi, her expression slack.

“Hey… Lini, are you okay?” He sensed something was wrong.

She heard him, but couldn’t muster any word to respond. She was too distracted. She could feel his pulse thumping from several yards away and the skittering of rats to her left. She saw plumes of air vibrate and pulse around her, shimmering with faint color like a soap bubble. The wisps of color floated into her. It tasted loud and sweet. She felt warm and giddy even as panic clawed for her attention.

“Arvi, don’t step any closer.” She said meekly. She flinched as she saw the air shake with her words.

“Why, what’s wrong?” His heavy brows knit together with concern.

She drew in a long breath of toxic air and sighed sweetly. “There’s fumes. It’s dangerous. Go back.”

“Where am I gonna go, Lini? You’re the one who drove here!”

Shaking her head, she struggled to find her voice. “Don’t fight me on this! Go. Outside.”

She looked at the viscous blue residue on her hand. It had had already absorbed through her skin. Some animal impulse drove her to dip her hands into the shallow pool of toxic chemicals. Her skin darkened and she felt the euphoric rush of energy course through her veins. Her senses were melding together. The ripple of an airliner overhead crashed gently against her skin. Her blood smelled like fire. The world was so bright, noisy and overwhelming, she sank into it.

She awoke to the sound of Arvi’s voice, distant and echoing inside her head. Her eyes slowly creaked open, but she didn’t need to see. She felt his footsteps hammer into her ears like a stampede. She smelled him too, soggy laundry, fabric softener and something musty. It was strange, she knew exactly where he was. She knew where everything was. The initials carved into the concrete floor to her left. The pidgeons sleeping in their nest above her. The guns and ammunition hidden away in some of the empty drums.

Her gaze lazily drifted to the rusted container beside her. It was empty. The stains on her hands were gone too. How long was I out? With a groan of effort, she rolled onto her hand and knees. Her clothes were sticky and ruined, and blue chemical trails spread out along the floor in every direction. That’s when she realized it. Every nearby drum was empty. She had no idea how she did it, but she knew she had drained them all to feed her growing hunger. Every instinct she had said it was coursing through her right now.

She would have to figure it out later though. This warehouse wasn’t abandoned, not at all. Someone was using it to smuggle guns, and she was pretty sure there was a couple skeletons beneath the concrete. She felt sick thinking about it, but she urged herself to move.

Her senses dulled as the euphoria faded, but she could still see the faintly shimmering outlines of chemical fumes rising from her clothes. She called for Arvi.

No answer.



“Arvind! Is it true you were suspended?"

“Mama, it’s not my fault, ok? They were beatin’ up one of my friends. What was I supposed to do, stand there and let ‘em? I didn’t have a choice!”

“You always have a choice, Arvind. You know how I feel about violence.”

“Yeah I know. I still got marks from you hitting me with that slipper when I got a D in math.”

“That was different, and you know it.”

“Really starting to feel the double standard, Ma’. Besides Dad and Nalini are on my side, why aren’t you?“

The sigh was audible even to Nalini as she quietly rounded the corner of the building. She could hear their mother shouting through the phone. Arvi wore a tired expression. She cleared her throat, so Arvi would realize she was behind him.

He turned around in a flurry. “Uh… Yeah, ma, you’re right like always. Whatever you said and all that.” He mouthed the words Are you okay? and his expression said You look like shit.

Nalini nodded.

“Alright ma’, I-gotta-go-love-you bye.” -Click- He opened his mouth to speak, but the phone rang again. He took one look and silenced it. “So what happened?”

“We need to leave, right now.”

“What’s got you weirded out all of the sudden? A few minutes ago you were just guzzling through that blue stuff like one of the seniors at a keg party.”

“That’s not even half of it. I’m pretty sure someone is using this place to hide smuggled weapons, and I don’t want to be here when they get back. Got it?” Nalini arched a brow to test him.

He caved. “Uh… Nope. Sound logic. Let’s bounce. You hungry? I’m hungry. Let’s get something on the way home.”

The two wandered back toward the street as night began to fall. Watchful eyes followed them as they ventured down the road.

The first thing Xander did after Lindy left was lock the door before heading back up to his loft to take a shower. Though not long after he finished drying off he got a call.

"Hey grandma, yeah I'll be right there" with that the six foot two fire-bender put his work uniform back on, but with his preferred combat boots instead of the dress shoes since he's about to head out to due a delivery. With that he through on his hoodie and headed back to Lucky Star.

Once there the Asian teen grabbed the order, checked the address and began to make his way to Reyna's place 'Wasn't she at the hospital from the incident too?' he thought to himself before leaving his grandparents' restaurant.

---

Reyna happily finished her meal, feeling somewhat accomplished with what she had been able to write throughout her time at the restaurant. The food had been amazing as usual, only a few bites tasting off which made her worry she might be getting sick or something cause it made no sense that it would be the food if only some bites of the same dish tasted different. She certainly hoped that was not the case though since she could not afford to be sick right now. ’Maybe I’ll take some extra vitamins over the next few days.’, Reyna thought as she slowly packed up her items and cleaning up after herself. She thanked the elderly couple on her way out, taking a simple stroll back to her place.

She made sure to keep on guard this time, the earlier encounter from the day still fresh in her mind. She had been able to handle herself but it was always better to be safe than sorry. Many would say she got terribly lucky today and they probably wouldn’t be wrong. She absentmindedly rubbed her side softly, the groove of the bandage under her shirt a reminder that things could have gone a lot worse. Reyna shook her head gently, as if to banish the thoughts from her mind as she made her way up the staircase to her apartment level.

Her attention was drawn to her pocket, working on fishing out her keys. She made her way down the hall, glancing up now and then to make sure she didn’t bump into a neighbor coming out or into their apartment. It barely registered that there was someone else in the hallway until she was closing in on her own doorway and noticed a man standing outside of it. Reyna slowed her pace, feeling a bit more cautious. The guy was a fair amount taller than she was, quite muscular by the looks of it, and had spiky ebony hair. She couldn’t tell much on his facial features from this angle though he did seem to be wearing a uniform which made her feel a bit more comfortable. ”Hello? Excuse me, is there something I can help you with?”

“I’m Xander, my grandparents own Lucky Star” , the six foot two martial artist informed honestly as he went to hand Rey her food. He did not know if his grandmother had doubled an order because she had forgotten if it had been made again or not, so he showed up just to be safe.

Just then he heard meowing from above and looked up. This was almost immediately followed by a black smoke Maine Coon kitten jumping onto his shoulders. “Loki, why did you follow me?” , the fire-bender sighed as he turned to look at his cat.

”Oh...” Reyna bit her lip, nervously trying to figure out how to tell him that he had come this way for nothing. She gently took the bag being offered to her, feeling a bit awkward about what to do about this miscommunication. She also hated the thought of food going to waste if she were to refuse. She hesitated before speaking up again,”I hate to say this but I actually just came back from Lucky Star. I’m sorry I ended up taking your valuable time. I would be happy to pay for the second order. It would make me feel bad for it to go to waste when I can just eat it for lunch tomorrow or something.”

It was then that she heard meowing and almost immediately was looking to the floor thinking that Jiji had accidentally slipped out earlier. Reyna’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw no such thing, her attention turning back Xander only to find a cat graced his shoulder. She had never seen this one around before and he or she appeared to be far too healthy to be a simple stray. The question on the tip of her tongue died as he spoke to the cat and she gave a soft smile. ”Yours, I assume?, she teased with a light chuckle.”May I?” Reyna asked, holding out her hand slightly as if to pet the fluffy kitty.

“You can try, I found Loki as a wet and starving stray, but it took months before he let me pet him” , the Asain teen informed honestly with a soft chuckle. Not long after the martial artist said that Loki jumped across, landed on Rey’s head.

“I guess that answers that” , the fire-bender smirked happily as he gently gave Loki some chin scritches. With that Xander sighed and stepped back. “So...Maybe I should go now...”, he trailed off before looking to the stairs.

”I found my cat, Jiji, as a stray kitten too but it was a little different for us. It seems like he just picked me and couldn’t stand to be separated from me., she smiled and proudly boasted about her precious fur-baby. She couldn’t imagine her life without Jiji in it. He had changed it for the better and there was no going back now. Reyna went to come closer, let Loki get comfortable with her scent before even thinking of touching but that never happened. The cat suddenly jumped from Xander’s shoulder and landing on her head. She hissed a bit in pain at the claws on her scalp and the awkward placement.

Her free hand instantly went up, a soft hold placed on the cat so he wouldn’t fall off and so he felt secure enough to stop with the claws. It was not really the first time she had a cat hat but it was still as uncomfortable as the other times. ”No kidding! I didn’t expect him to do that. I just wanted to pet you, silly cat. she answered, trying to have a positive outlook even though she was a little startled with the cat. Reyna stood awkwardly, Xander giving his cat on her head some attention which put him closer to her which made her a bit uneasy with the lack of personal space. She was honestly still a bit sensitive after the situation with that mugger.

She felt a little relieved as he stepped back and felt a bit bad that she felt that way. Xander seemed like a nice guy but she was just a little off today. He mentioned that he should be going and she gave a careful nod, not wanting to disturb Loki.”Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you. Oh wait...., she said and set the bag of food on the ground, tucking her notebook as well as keys under her arm before carefully handing over Loki. ”I almost forgot to pay for this order. I should have known better than going to pick up. I am just a bit frazzled. Reyna stated, pulling some cash out of her wallet and handing it over before gathering the bag back up off the floor and readjusting the other items.

“Alright, thank you”, Xander smiled warmly as he took the money from Rey. With that he began to head out, but when he was halfway down the stairs Loki jumped off of his shoulders and ran back Rey.

Since Loki was more of an outdoor cat the fire-bender did not really notice that he was gone until after he returned back to Lucky Star.

”Take care.”, she smiled gently with a small wave. She quickly unlocked the door, shutting it behind her and getting the food into the fridge. Jiji brushed against her feet, purring and she bent down to give him a quick scratch behind the ear to greet him. Reyna dumped the items from her pockets into the glass bowl by the door.

She pulled out her phone, raising an eyebrow as it appeared an unknown number had sent her a text message. She opened up her messages, planning to just delete it and move on when the first line caught her attention. She quickly opened up the text and gave it a read.

"Uh, Hi. This is Von. We can definitely meet up sometime tomorrow? Thank you for not only holding onto my things for me, but tolerating my actions. I apologize for storming out, and hope it won't affect your judgement of me too much. I'll text you the details sometime tomorrow afternoon? We can maybe try this again."

She hadn’t thought about the fact that the number in the laptop bag could be a cell number. ’And here I go leaving a completely embarrassing voicemail when I could have just texted. Today is just not my day...., she thought. Reyna put that aside for now, entering the number into her phone so it would at least show as a name, she could always delete it later but she didn’t want to accidentally ignore another message. Now that that was done, she hit reply on the message and did a quick reply.

’Hey, I should be free tomorrow so just let me know when and where. It was no trouble at all to hold onto it for you but I hope you are alright? It surprised me that you rushed out so suddenly and without your things, I was worried something bad had happened. Anyways, just hit me up with the details when you can. Later~

That being done, she shoved the device back into her pocket and grabbed her laptop. She plopped onto the couch, starting the search she had intended to do in the cafe. Time stopped for no one and she was gonna run out of time if she kept procrastinating. This was a serious matter after all. She just hoped this wild ride she had been on would just let up soon.

{Sorry...}

---

Kim told Ray goodbye after he walk her home, she watches her neighbor walk away and then finally walking in to her familiar yet comforting house. Kim walk around to her kitchen, to her living room and then walk up stairs to her bedroom.

Kim bedroom is like any teenage room, it a little rebellious but it has some little cute things here and there. Kim flop onto her bed and just stare at her celing, thinking about what just happen today. Did I make that neon sign explode? she thought Is that a another thing I can do beside glowing? Kim hold up her hand and just stare at it, just concentrating to see if it was true and.....nothing happened. Kim sigh, of course nothing happened, she guess that she can only make neon sign explode, even though it could be helpful if she in a very trouble situation but as far she know, there not a lot of neon signs in New York.

Kim layback on her bed and just about to drift off to napland….until she see something glowing, oh no, is she glowing again? Kim look around her body to it not glowing? If Kim is not glowing, then where it coming from? Kim look her hand and to her surprise....Well, not that surprise, it was glowing. Kim look at blue hand, it shines like a neon light, she move her finger and she see a little line of neon, she move her finger to spell out her name with little heart at the at the end.

Kim smile in awe like a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time, her eyes quickly move toward the sunflower with sunglasses playing a saxophone, for the fun of it, her hand mimic a handgun, and point at the plastic sunflower "Pew-" her fingertip shoot a little blast and shot the poor sunflower in the face. The little blast push Kim back little bit onto the bed, with her eyes widen, she look at the now decapitated sunflower and find it head on the floor. Now finally found the new ability to her new powers, all could Kim think is now that Ray needs to see this.

The way Alan responded made Lindy a bit nervous. She figured between the bandaging and such she'd get away with the lie, but he seemed a bit wary of her. The smile on her face curved a bit more, a nervous red coming to her features as she tried to repress arguing with how he replied. If she said more, it'd be suspicious. But really, most of the outcomes for this were suspicious, so was she in the clear for real anyways? At least her arm was getting bandaged up; Things could be worse.

Lindy turned her head slightly as he continued; Valued customer, huh? She had to admit, despite just worrying her with his suspicion she was already on the verge of laughing. "Remind me to give you five-star customer service." She replied, a small chuckle escaping her despite trying to hold most of it back. It was pretty convenient that her favorite cinnamon-roll supplier also had some doctoring talent. Definitely not something to complain about. "Right. No heavy lifting, I'll keep that in mind..." How much did Xander weigh, anyways? He was like a slab of muscle with limbs. Probably heavier than anything she could carry normally.

At least, that she used to be able to carry normally... She kept repeating the situation in her mind. How the hell did she throw him like that? And crazier, he was alive. Not that she wanted him dead, but it was still shocking. The whole fire thing, too... It was just repeated questions in her mind that wouldn't go away. She didn't feel like much could distract her from--

Ooo. A bottle of cold water!

"'Preciate it." She offered in thanks, accepting the bottle with no hesitation. She pinched the cap of the bottle in an attempt to unscrew it, but found herself denting it somewhat... Thankfully she managed to just pull it off. She could feel sweat coming on from how nervous this shit kept making her. Thankfully, Alan was distracted with the TV. She hadn't really expected to stay, and as channels offering reports on the attack flickered by, she realized maybe she didn't want to stay long. Having Alan figure her out right now did not seem... Optimal.

Her thoughts were interrupted by him speaking with her. The hospital? They'd still question what happened, in a more aggressive sense than Alan was, for sure. If she went to the hospital her mom would know. She couldn't have that. "I-It's okay, Alan. It's feeling better already. I just need to give it some time. I'll go home in a little bit and just rest. You did a great job." She was trying to be kind about it, as he was only showing concern. But damn it, she didn't want anyone else knowing about this! There was too much trouble that could happen. Alan was enough of a witness, she didn't need more questioning her.

"... Hey." She muttered, squinting her eyes at him. Something had seemed off about his face, but she hadn't pinned it until now: Where were those little fancy glasses of his? He did all of that just now, and was watching TV, without his glasses? That was weird. Veeerrrry very very weird. She leaned forward a little, staring into his eyes with her same squinting expression.

"Don't you usually have four eyes? Where're your glasses?"