Claude awoke in a familiar flower field, the wind blew softly along the hill as he felt a tap on his shoulder from behind.

Claude looked behind him and saw Mei, she looked at Claude and waved her hand sleepily.

"Hi Claude... you were unconscious for a while again... your dreamscape was unstable... I fixed it..."

Mei yawned. "You're mostly okay... you weren't too badly hurt when we found you..." Mei shrugged and yawned again. "What happened... when you were taken?..." Claude tried to recall what happened.

"I think, there was this strange scientist who called herself Viper"

Claude sighed. "She had all these vile experiments, people who she'd twisted into monsters. A few of them helped me to escape, Viper injected me with something, I don't know what it was, my memory is a little hazy but I believe I fought one of them... I don't remember much after that." Claude shook his head.

"I overheard them mention that I have a power called Atom Manipulation, it seems like it belonged to somebody important in the past, do you know anything about it Mei?"

Mei looked at him with a blank expression. "Atom Manipulation..." She shook her head. "I don't..."

Mei abruptly changed the topic. "We should go now Claude... it's time to wake up..." Mei gently grabbed Claude's forearm, she nodded and the dreamscape went dark.

Claude awoke suddenly in an unfamiliar room, he was sat on a neatly kept bed, Mei was sat on a chair beside the bed, she was sleeping and was holding Claude's forearm.

Mei's eyes flicked open and she sat up gently, she released Claude's arm, stretched and yawned. "Good morning..."

Claude sat up and looked around the room. It was simply furnished and clean, the room was well lit with good ventilation and split into smaller sections, it had a main lounge area, a bedroom where Claude now was, and a bathroom, as well as a small kitchen area.

"Where are we?"

Mei looked around and nodded. "A spare room... Ghost said you can use it..."

Mei reached into her pocket and pulled a card out, she handed it to Claude and nodded. "The key..." Mei yawned. "You're my neighbour now..."

Claude nodded and stood up off the bed, he wobbled a little before regaining his balance.

Mei put her hand on his shoulder. "Take your time Claude... you need to regain your strength..."

Claude nodded. "I know, but I need to recover quickly so I can get back to finding out who I am, it's more important than ever now."

Mei looked at him, she then turned and looked at the door thoughtfully. "It's my day off... Let's go somewhere nice..."

Mei stood up and walked towards the door, she looked back to make sure Claude was following her. The two of them walked together out of Hero HQ.

Both arrived on an open street, they wore their Limiters. "We have to wear these whenever we're outside in uniform... no exceptions..."

Mei sighed "They're heavy and uncomfortable... Ghost insists we keep them on..."

Mei yawned and lead Claude down a nearby street, several citizens saw the pair and began to whisper amongst themselves, the crowd parted to keep out of their way after seeing their Limiters, adorned with bronze shield insignias.

Mei ignored the crowd and continues down the street, she sighed "Being a hero... makes it hard for me to sleep all the time..." Mei shook her head and kept walking.

She stopped outside a large shop, the sign, which hung above the large doorway, illuminated the area, the sign had the words "Mirage Electronics" engraved into it. Mei turned to Claude.

"I need to use the restroom... wait here..."

Mei turned and disappeared into the building without giving Claude time to respond.

A few minutes later she returned from within the building. "Sorry for making you wait..." She yawned. "I lied about why I was going into the shop... I bought something for you..."

Mei handed Claude a smartphone which said "Mirage" on the back of the case.

"This is for you..." Claude observed the smartphone. "Mei, are you sure? Isn't this expensive?" Mei shook her head. "I have some spare money... being a hero pays off..."

Mei walked towards Claude and switched on his smartphone. She guided him through to an app titled "Inter-Arhke Network". Mei nodded. "You're already registered... Ghost has set everything up..."

"This is the Arhke network... we can communicate with people on here..." Mei reached into her pocket and pulled out a smartphone of her own, hers had a small dreamcatcher keychain attached to it. Mei looked down at the screen and a few minutes later Claude received a notification on his phone.

"SuperSleepyhead has sent you a friend request." Mei nodded to him. "That's me... Claire picked the name when we were children..."

Claude nodded. "It suits you, alright, accepted." Suddenly Claude received another notification.

"System Admin, ArhkesBestNavigator, has invited you to Regent Squadron Group."

Mei nodded. "That's Ghost... she's invited you to a group for our squadron... The others are busy at the moment... they'll respond later..."

Claude explored the site's features, he stumbled upon a thread of spam posts by "RangerRangersNumberOneSuperfan". They showed various criminals defeated and in custody, as well as the frequent Ranger Ranger fan post, A name is tagged in all of the posts, "JusticeDoesntHaveAName" Claude flipped through the posts. "Mei, who's this?"

Mei approached and looked at Claude's phone screen, she sighed. "The sender is a vigilante... her name is Technya... she's a big Ranger Ranger fan... the person she's tagged is Ranger Ranger..."

Mei scrolled down to a different post, one from a different person, an ethereal looking lady with light green hair, the name on it was "Melody Mirage". Mei looked at Claude. "That's Melody Mirage... Arhke's most popular singer... also the propaganda machine..."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Mei sighed. "Let's go to where I want to take you..." Mei lead Claude into a back alley, there was a flickering sign above a small metal door, the sign said "Protector's Rest Bar."

Mei approached the door. She plucked the shield insignia from her Limiter and placed it into a gap under the doorway. The door suddenly creaked open and the insignia was slid back out from the doorway where Mei retrieved it.

"This is a Heroes only bar... I spend a lot of time here... it's quiet..."

Mei walked inside, Claude followed her.

The bar's interior was retro and calming, it had a large wooden counter, a large TV on the wall and various drinks and containers behind the counter.

A large older man covered in scars, with a trimmed beard and brown eyes, looked over at the doorway, his voice was deep and rough. "Mei, didn't expect you here so early."

He looked behind Mei at Claude. "Who's the other guy? He a friend of yours?" Mei nodded sleepily. "This is Claude... he's a new member of Regent Squadron..."

The man nodded in acknowledgement. "I see, welcome then Claude, if Mei trusts you I got no reason to doubt you, I'm Albert Moore, Ex-hero and owner of this place, come take a seat." He gestured to the bar stools lined up along the bar counter.

Mei sat down at the edge of the counter, Claude sat next to her.

Moore turned towards them. "Mei, the usual?" Mei nodded. "And what can I get for you Claude?" Claude looked around. "I'll just have whatever Mei is having, I'm not familiar with this place."

Moore chuckled. "Don't worry about it, you'll get used to the place, so Claude, what's your story?"

Claude shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know, I've got no memories of my past or purpose. All I know is that I have the power of Atom Manipulation."

Moore looked at Claude, his expression shifted to one of curiosity and amusement.

"I see, so that's why you looked familiar, you're-"

Mei waved Moore over to her. "What is it Mei?" he leaned over the counter, Mei leaned in and whispered something in his ear.

He nodded. "Right, I understand." Mei sat back down and Moore turned to Claude. "I apologise, I mistook you for somebody else."

He turned around and shouted into a doorway behind the counter. "Charlotte! Get out here, bring out the tea, the kind that Mei likes!"

A few seconds later a young woman with a peculiar appearance rushed out, she wore a dark brown uniform and a green apron, she had bright blue hair and orange eyes, two bright orange horns protruded from her forehead. Her forearms had small crimson spikes running down them.

She carried a tray of tea into the room, placing it on the counter. "Yes Mr Moore, here's the tea." She looked at Mei and nodded. "Welcome back Mei."

She saw Claude and gasped, her expression changed to one of fear. "Y-you're... Why are you here?" Moore nodded to her. "Claude here is our guest Charlotte, He's not who we think he is, he's got amnesia."

Charlotte sighed and nodded nervously. "I see, sorry Claude. I'll serve you both now." She bowed and poured tea for Claude and Mei.

Moore laughed and turned to Claude. "Charlotte here is a Demon, the strongest known form of monster, she's very jumpy because a lot of people despise her."

"Ranger Ranger brought her to me one day, asked me to look after her, He doesn't discriminate, he'll save anyone who needs saving, human and monster alike."

The TV in the bar started playing an annoyingly catchy theme song, the narrator spoke in an old-school TV presenter voice. "This week on Justice Keeper! Justice Prevails, Ranger Ranger vs The Demonic Deadly Destruction Duo of Death!" Mei turned to watch the show while she drank her tea, Claude did the same.

Moore laughed. "Ranger Ranger is doing well for himself, this show inspires a lot of people." The TV blared upbeat music and flashy visuals as Ranger Ranger approached the villains of the episode. The two villains monologued, One wore a series of bullet belts while the other had hands made of guns. "I'm ammunition man, when I was younger, I never had enough ammo, WELL NOW I AM THE AMMO!!" The other spoke up. "And I'm Gun Man, When I was younger, I never had enough guns, WELL NOW I AM THE GUN!"

Ranger Ranger walked towards them and said his piece. "You disturb the peace and hurt people, I'll bring you to justice, like a true ranger should!" Ranger Ranger rushed towards them, he balled his hands into fists.

Gun Man pulled some ammo off Ammo Man's belt, they hurriedly loaded the guns. Ranger Ranger approached and they fired.

Ranger Ranger sidestepped their first bullet and caught the second one between his middle and index fingers. "I will bring you to justice!" Ranger Ranger rushed towards them.

He punched Ammo Man's stomach, causing him to fall to the ground, Gun Man panicked and began firing more bullets.

Ranger Ranger ducked and rolled around all of them, he punched Gun Man in the face and then both villains fell to the ground.

He tied them both up and the scene ended with the Arhke Police arriving, the camera placing emphasis on their blue shield insignias.

Ranger Ranger closed with a speech. "Remember everyone, Justice always prevails!"

As the credits rolled Mei spoke up.

"I don't really like this type of show... it glorifies being a hero... reality is harsh..."

Moore chuckled. "Heroes don't have happy endings, we sacrifice our own happiness so that innocent people can be happy."

Mei yawned and faced the counter, she started to fall asleep. "I'm tired... I did too much talking today..."

Moore reached beneath the counter and pulled a pillow out, he slid it along the counter, it reached Mei as her head landed on the pillow. She was asleep instantly.

Moore chuckled. "Mei's a good person, shame her power makes her so tired all the time. She's come a long way from when I first met her."

Claude looked at Moore. "How do you know Mei exactly?"

Moore collected the tea cups and started cleaning them. "I met the Golden Regent thirty years ago, he was hiring new heroes to help him form a second Regent Squadron after his first died fighting The Monarch, I was young and stupid so I signed up.

Our squadron consisted of, The Golden Regent, me, and my other colleague, his name was Shima. He's long dead though."

"My power allows me to channel electricity in whatever voltage I want, through whatever surface I want."

"Naturally I used that power to assist the Golden Regent, we became close friends, around that same time I became acquainted with Mei's family, by that of course I mean they were one of the criminal groups we had to apprehend. I was a hot-headed kid, I went overboard and somebody died... Arhke covered it up but I never got over it."

"I retired from being a hero about ten years ago, around the time the Regent stopped making public appearances, I became acquainted with Ranger Ranger around the same time, he was a new hero, I made sure he wouldn't make the mistakes I did."

"I met Mei around a decade ago, after the Regent stopped being a hero, he still remained in contact with me for several years, Mei would've been eight or nine at the time, the Golden Regent had just taken her in, her family underwent a tragedy, but that's not my story to tell."

"Mei was a good kid, and she grew up into a good hero too, she's kind-hearted and she's got a good moral compass. I was sorta a father figure to her, because the Golden Regent wasn't really father material, he's more of a mentor. Mei had a rough life, being from a criminal family, a lot of people hated her for it, it's wrong to judge a child for the sins of their parents."

Moore stopped cleaning and put the cups away. "Claude, Mei clearly sees something in you, Mei isn't one to trust people quickly, she's very emotionally reserved, don't take that for granted, Mei is loyal to those she trusts, don't make her regret that."

Claude nodded. "Why did you tell me all of this?"

Moore sighed and looked Claude in the eyes. "When you find out who you are, you may not be happy with the answer, consider this advice from an old man who's made amends in his own way, whoever you were in the past, that doesn't define you, if you find your past is too much to bear, you can always start anew."

Claude nodded. "Thank you, I will take your advice to heart."

Suddenly, Ghost's static sound rung through Claude's mind, he tapped his earlobe. "Ghost, what's the problem?"

"Oh, Claude responded first for once, hehe, that's new. Anyway, I'm just here to tell you that you and Mei have a mission tomorrow, it's not an easy one unfortunately, it's harder than any you've been on before, Regent Squadron was called out to help two of our gold ranked heroes to establish a base outside of Arhke, they've also found some kind of strange ruin they need help with, you were called out to help due to your power, but Captain Regent insisted that if you go then so does everyone, looks like she doesn't want you out there alone. Good luck Claude. Report in tomorrow, Ghost out!"

Moore faced Claude. "Ah, Ghost, wish we had her when I was a hero, so what'd she say?"

Claude shrugged. "Apparently she wants me and Mei to leave Arhke for a bit, to help set up a base outside the city."

Moore nodded. "I see, then I leave Mei's safety to you, don't let anything happen to her Claude. Good luck."