The rest of the group couldn’t meet until later that night and it was killing Alex. Lila refused to tell him the full story until the rest of them were there, but she also wouldn’t let him out of her sight.

He felt strange and uncomfortable and he didn’t even know why.

The last time he had seen her like this was right after she had accidentally knocked him unconscious with that weird tech they had found in the tutorial. She was one of those people whose faces read like subtitles. He could tell exactly how she was feeling without her needing to say a word.

That was what was worrying him the most.

It obviously had something to do with that notification he had received. He didn’t even need to clarify which one, he already knew. It was the one that was the most concerning. They were in enemy territory. He wondered just how long Earth had been claimed by the Qurath or their subordinates. He had no way to know if it was them specifically, but when he had met with that alien Vix just before the had entered the tutorial, she had made it seem like they were the big bad.

It stood to reason that if they were in enemy territory, the Qurath were behind it somehow. But what was their goal? Why Earth of all places? From what Alex had heard, Earth wasn’t exactly a paragon of civilization. They were even more backwater than Saxar IV, which he would consider an advanced civilization. Why had not only the Qurath aimed their sights at Earth, but also the Coalition? Was it for the same reason?

Alex had so many questions rattling in his brain, he thought Lila would be able to hear them like they were maracas. She was barely even talking to him so he couldn’t even take his mind off of it. They just sat in silence until finally, they made their way to the meeting point.

It was on the top of a random building. Alex couldn’t decide why they had chosen this building in particular, but maybe that was the appeal. If it didn’t stand out, why would anybody look there. And if they were so worried that they had to meet in secret like this, they didn’t want any type of attention.

Alex looked around and took in the faces of the group. Everyone was there—Ethan, Cameron, Sophia and Lila. The original team had all gathered. They looked happy to see him, but the purpose of their gathering seemed to put a damper on their moods.

“Hey guys! This wasn’t the reunion I had imagined so many times. I thought you would all run to me chanting, my name or something. Aren’t you glad to see me?” Alex asked with a sheepish grin.

“You’re so full of crap. There is no way you thought we were going to do something so cheesy. I mean come on, there’s no way Ethan would ever do something like that,” Cameron said gesturing toward the silent brute.

Ethan had maintained a decent amount of bulk despite not being a Might like Cameron.

He must have invested heavily into strength. I wonder how strong everybody is now.

“I guess not, but this is definitely a colder welcome than I was expecting. I feel like I’ve been getting nothing but the cold shoulder since coming back.”

“That’s probably because you hang out with the ice queen too much. Maybe we are hurt that you went to her first and didn’t try to seek us out,” Sophia said teasingly.

“I mean I met her first so it’s only fitting.”

“That’s the only reason you came to me first? Ouch,” Lila said in feigned sadness.

“Not the only reason,” Alex quickly tried to backtrack.

“So, what other reason then?” Sophia asked waggling her eyebrows at him.

“Stop. Why are you making it awkward?”

“Why is it awkward? Is it bad to feel e certain way about a girl?” Sophia taunted.

Alex turned red.

“I changed my mind. I missed everybody else but you.”

“Now that’s just rude.”

“Why are we here? Lila wouldn’t tell me anything, but she wouldn’t even let me leave. What’s going on? And what’s with the cloak and dagger?” Alex asked exasperated.

“We aren’t safe to put it simply,” Cameron said.

“Well I gathered that much. I’m not completely helpless. I mean the notification, assuming yours says exactly what mine says, basically told me I should just hightail it to the nearest Coalition planet. It didn’t tell me where it was or how to get there in typical Coalition fashion.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Yeah ours say the same thing. We checked all of ours and it’s word for word. We are in dangerous territory here,” Lila said.

“But why is it dangerous? We are all superheroes now. What can anybody really even do to us? I mean I killed a dragon, I’m not scared of some military guys with guns.”

“You killed a dragon? That’s sick bro,” Cameron said.

“This is the second time today he’s ‘casually’ brought that up. I hope that doesn’t become a pattern,” Lila complained.

“When you kill a dragon, you tell me how hard it is to not bring up all the time.”

“I feel like that could be an impressive feat, but what if it was like a Komodo dragon. That’s not nearly as outstanding. What if you’re just playing it up,” Sophia said.

“I’m not. You see this,” Alex said pointing to the fang on his chest. “This is from the dragon. Well technically it was a Sand Drake, but that’s a mouthful. You try saying that fifty times. I’m just going to call it a dragon. It’s essentially the same thing.”

They all looked closer at the fang before Lila brought them back on track.

“As cool as that is, that isn’t why we are here. We need to fill Alex in.”

“Somebody is hunting us down,” Ethan said.

“Somebody powerful. With connections,” Lila added.

“What makes you say that? And who is us exactly? All of you are still fine as far as I can tell,” Alex asked.

“Us as in all of the Awakened. Whoever’s been doing it is smart. They haven’t left a trail that we can find,” Lila said.

“Then how do you know anything is even happening?”

“Because too much has been happening to Awakened everywhere for it to be merely coincidence. At first, we thought it was just a power struggle between good and bad Awakened. People overstepping trying to claim a spot in their new life and others trying to keep them in place. It was bound to happen with so many people suddenly getting powers, but it would also clam down eventually. When it did, that’s when we started to notice. The death count didn’t plateau like you would expect. It remained fairly steady. It wasn’t as high as in the beginning, but it was still noticeable,” Lila said.

“So what does that mean? Are we being hunted? Really? Who could hunt us?”

Alex identified everyone. They weren’t as high level as he was, but they had all made significant progress nonetheless. They all sat at around level 80 with Ethan being the highest at level 82. It was definitely respectable, but Alex was slightly shocked that he had grown so much stronger than them.

“We don’t know who it is, but that’s why I said they are strong and they have connections. They must be leaving a trail of some sort. People don’t just die without any evidence. Somebody is covering it up,” Lila said.

“So what does that mean for you guys? Are you always looking over your shoulders?”

“Yes and no. We were lucky. We left the tutorial early. Nearly a month earlier than everyone else. Well, aside from you guys. You had to do your punishment tours. But surprisingly, that was in your favor as well. You left much later than everyone else,” Cameron said.

“And what does that mean exactly?”

“That the powers that be could easily tell who the Awakened were. Most people left the tutorial at the same time. People who had disappeared at the same time and reappeared two months later were likely to be Awakened. In other words, these people know who they are,” Cameron said.

Alex stood silently for a few moments just absorbing it all. There’s a superhero hunter out there somewhere killing people. Killing powerful people. And getting away with it somehow.

“So that’s why we’re meeting in secret. You can’t let them know who you are,” Alex said.

“They haven’t found us out yet, at least not that any of us know of. We just live our normal lives. Luckily, none of us jumped into hero work right when we got back. We were trying to put our lives together. If we had, I think we’d be in hot water right now. Or worse, we’d be dead,” Sophia said.

“Holy crap. I thought I’d get a little vacation after finishing my punishment tour. I thought that Earth was going to be my paradise in between battles. We can’t get a break guys. Our lives suck.”

They all laughed. All the tension that had been building started to subside for a moment. They could all commiserate for a second. Alex didn’t know how often they got together, but he assumed it wasn’t frequently with how secretive they were being. He supposed it wouldn’t make sense for four, now five, people who had been total strangers before to suddenly hang out all the time.

They enjoyed the moment while it lasted, but it didn’t last much longer at all.

“So is this it? I only get to see you guys whenever something happens? Or when one of us gets hurt or something? I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t really have a lot going on for me right now. The only other people I really care about don’t want to talk to me because they think I’m some imposter or something. I guess I could try and find a job or something, but whatever I do would seem like a waste with what I’m capable of. Guys, I don’t even have an apartment anymore. They rented it out to someone else,” Alex said.

“Oh and you are also legally dead,” Lila chimed in.

“What?!”

“Yeah. You family. Friends. Whatever they are to you. They pronounced you dead when you never came back. They held a funeral for you and everything. I went to check if you had come back and had been a jerk and just hadn’t reached out to any of us. The only thing I could find about you was your accident and your death certificate. Kind of a sad legacy you left behind,” Lila said.

“That’s super depressing. I don’t even know how to react to that.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go and try to change that. It’s actually kind of a blessing for you,” Cameron said.

“How is me being dead a blessing?”

“Well no one is going to go looking for a dead man. This keeps you safe and those you care about safe as well.”

“So what? I just stay dead? Where am I going to live? How am I going to eat? I need a job or something? Who’s going to hire a dead guy?”

Cameron went to say something, but then paused. Apparently, Alex’s question stumped him as well.

“I don’t really know what you should do, but Ethan is in a similar situation. Sort of. He’s technically a criminal at large, and he’s doing fine for himself,” Sophia said.

“I don’t believe that my methods will work for Alex,” Ethan said.

“Why not? Are your methods too good for me?” Alex asked.

“They utilize my powers.”

“So I’m just screwed then. Can’t get a job because I’m dead. Can’t go prove that I’m actually alive, because then I will probably will be dead. I’m so glad to be back guys.”