"Calvin!" Sam kicked the door open, shouting as loud as he could to surprise the parasite in his crib. "Aw, you're awake?"

Calvin was lying flat on the ground like a plank, arms to his side. He pushed up, craning his neck to look at Sam. "I have work later, of course I'm awake."

"That won't be until a couple of hours right?" Sam looked at his holowatch, sending an odd look at the kid. "Yeah, it's five in the morning. How did you even wake up this early without a holowatch?"

"If you know, why are you barging in here?" Calvin ignored his question, standing up to stretch his slightly sore arms.

"Oh!" He smacked his fist, as if he just remembered why, "I've got a girl coming in half an hour. I need you out before she comes."

"Again?" Calvin groaned. In the past week, it's already happened thrice. "Don't people usually do that in the evening?"

"What can I say, I'm just that guy. I'll teach you when you're older." Sam winked and smirked.

"Please don't." He shook his head, looking up to summon a pebble. It appeared midair, the size of a big coin, suspended in space. He summoned another one a foot beside it and jumped up, catching a pebble in each hand.

"You look weird." Sam watched as Calvin worked out, hanging in midair before going down.

"It's called negatives." He explained, jumping up again and slowly going downwards.

"Weird negatives." He muttered. "Why don't you wear the shirt? Would make that much easier, you know?"

"That defeats the entire purpose of a workout, doesn't it?" Calvin rolled his eyes.

"My point exactly, why work out when you just wear a shirt and be stronger than most people." He ranted. "Whatever, just be out before thirty minutes."

"Yeah yeah."

Sam left the room, closing the door behind him. Calvin continued working out as he had everyday since half a week ago. There was minimal progress so far, but just being able to go another second of planking, another wobbly push up, or another jiggly squat was so satisfying. Healthy progress feels so good.

Just being able to move freely outside of one room, without the fear of getting sick, was amazing.

"Haah." Calvin fell to the uneven wood floor, panting arid air in exhaustion. He raised his hand, opening and closing his fist curiously. "This is real. I am real."

Having been a week after that fantasy-like escape from the evil laboratory, he now have had the time to actually properly process that the blue screen was telling the truth. This world wasn't Earth, at least not the one he knew.

'Super Information' He thought, bringing up the panel.

Super Information

Super Name None Super Attributes Super Status Alive, Spirit-severance, Slight Fatigue Super Body 0 Super Quest Road to Heroism II Super Mind 0 Super Points 1 Super Spirit 0.5

Super Powers

Impervious Pebble Gourmand's Instinct

Here there were superpowers.

He summoned another pebble, using it to pull himself up. His eyes looked around, the tiny room wasn't going to win against a certain wizard's room under the stairs in a tiniest room contest, but it would hold still probably enter top five.

He had enough space for a murphy bed, a wall desk, a dresser, a chair that fit half his ass, and a place to workout without bumping anything if he was careful. It was small, much more than the hospital room, but it didn't contain him. It was small, but he was free.

Grabbing his pocket, shirt, and toiletries, he went out of his room and into the living room.

"Oh come on, I just tidied this shit up yesterday." He complained to Sam who was lounging in the double-decker sofa.

The living room wasn't as small as expected, but it was made smaller by the trinkets and trash strewn about. There was an unexpectedly comfy and clean couch in the middle, facing a suspiciously high-end television.

"Well, don't. I like my shit where it is," Sam spoke while changing channels. "It's called organized chaos."

"It's called being a lazy slob," he grunted. "You sure you want the house looking like this when you got someone coming over?"

Sam looked at the mess briefly before turning back to the television. "She won't mind. Maybe."

"I'm sure she won't," he shook his head. Whatever the coming girl saw in him, it was probably manufactured truth. Or she was blind.

"Hey, look," Sam snapped his fingers towards him before gesturing to the TV.

There were two images along with a reporter on screen. Calvin recognized them both, the golden-suited fast super and the blue-dressed lady, two of the three that assaulted him in the elevator.

> "-nning display of bravery, these two up-and-coming heroes were the ones who had successfully discovered and raided the facility in last week's tragic end to the trail of kidnappings. Lightspeed and Frostbloom, our city of Bastion's best and brightest, for their first ever official mission after the end of their internship had chosen to-"

"What? Where's the clock head? There was a clock head, right?" Sam turned to him confused.

"The one that made me vomit. Yeah." He thought, remembering the dark moment. "Why didn't they mention him?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Dunno. Politics, maybe. Or they're keeping him hidden. With a power like his, people will get weird." Sam change the channel again. "Go away, it's almost five thirty."

"Yeah yeah." Calvin shook his head, repressing the want to put a pebble right where Sam would move his head.

He went out of the dingy apartment and went downstairs, towards the building's public bath. It's usually empty at this time, and he was friendly with the guy at the desk.

"Morning Vince." He greeted the person manning the reception.

"Calvin." Vince nodded, not bothering to look up from his holowatch.

He noticed the bags around the man's eyes. "Do you even sleep?"

"I don't sleep. I pass out." He stared at him for a moment before looking back down.

'That's not something to be proud of.' Calvin thought. "Can you fire up the sauna for me?"

"It's already going. Some old man went there earlier, and he just came out."

"Thanks."

He kept the shower quick to make sure he had more time in the sauna before going to work. After half an hour both in the shower and the sauna, he came out more energized and less in pain. Even his status removed the fatigue.

'Saunas are the best.' He thought while getting dressed.

He still had the shirt and the rusty chain, but unfortunately he had to ditch the lab coat and the pajamas, trading them in for jeans and a red jacket. He kept the wooly slippers in his room, though he wasn't about to wear them out. He nicked a pair of sneakers from Sam instead.

"See you later Vince." He waved to the man who just grunted at him.

He went out of the dilapidated building, stretching his arms as he was finally out of that suffocating small space. There were quite a few people at this time in the morning. Early risers, and late sleepers, each was minding their own business. Going to work or going home, everyone was doing the same thing; going somewhere.

Calvin smiled. Finally he was part of that group. Going somewhere.

----------------------------------------

The walk was almost an hour long, but Calvin didn't mind. Just taking in the sights was enough to make it worthwhile. This world has some odd mismatches of technology and design, at least so far as he had seen it.

Holograms and neon signs showing advertisements littered walls, yet somehow plastic or paper posters can also be found in between or right below them. Buildings of brick would be adjacent to buildings of hardwood, and sometimes chrome towers lined with solar panels would sit across a building of copper and pipes running on steam.

The mishmash of genres, eras, and technologies made for a unique but somehow not disorganized view for a world filled with heroes and villains of different themes.

Half an hour into the walk a booming explosion suddenly rang from above. Few people stopped and notice the sound, and even fewer actually looked up to watch the source. Calvin was a part of the latter, despite him already know what was happening.

A hero an a villain, the typical rivalry. They were duking it out above them, one sending beams of fire, while the other was just rushing and punching with trembling air. It was quite hard to figure out who the hero and who the villain was, as both seemed to be rather uncaring about causing collateral damage like it was someone else's job.

Not that they had to care, because somehow it was actually someone else's problem.

"Roads are blocked sir, super fight above. You can take TK street right across from here if you need to go now, but otherwise it's advised to just wait. It won't take too long." A teen in costume was in the way, warning people to reduce the damage. Her tone was almost robotic, like someone reciting a memorized poem instead of actually warning people.

"There they go again. Second time this week, in the same spot. I swear if they create traffic again I'm going to go super my self and beat their asses down here." An old man standing beside him grumbled, obviously annoyed by the hero and villain fighting above.

"Fuckin' last time it was some asshole with piss powers. Goddamn soaked me to shit. They need to have more laws to stop this from happening so close to inner city." Another ranted with the old man.

"And so early in the morning." Another grumbled.

Eventually, the fighting died down as one of them was smashed onto the street in front. Some barriers went up to shield civilians before they flew away to another place.

'They probably want to fuck up as many people's mornings as possible.' Calvin thought as he watched the barrier go down.

He then resumed his walk to work, thankfully uninterrupted for a second time.

----------------------------------------

A relatively small, two-story building sat in front of Calvin. The small family restaurant he had applied to and got a job in was situated in a rather quaint tree-line streets, exuding a cozy atmosphere and a welcome ambience with its weathered brick façade, picturesque outdoor seating area, and a simple signboard showing the restaurant's menu.

"The Marina" He read the name of the restaurant. It sounded like it would serve seafood, but there was only one sea-related dish in the menu, and it used imitation crab.

Calvin entered, the tiny jingle of chimes tickled his ears as he opened the door to the restaurant and stepped through. He looked around, the empty front area, just a few seats and tables that were probably rarely even full at their peak. Still, it was cozy.

He stepped into the kitchen, immediately spotting the other two kitchen staff.

Calvin had no idea what their titles are, he just knew that one of them was the main cook, and the other was the support cook. His job was the support to the support cook. Just the kitchen help.

"Good morning." He greeted the two who were chopping away at the prep station.

"Mornin' Calvin. How you doin' today?" The head cook looked his way with a smile.

"I'm all right Miss Calli. Just a bit tired." He nodded back to her before waving to the support chef. "Marvin."

"You're late." Marvin grunted.

"Super fight. Near the district line. Some guy with fire lazers and a guy that punches air." He explained while taking off his jacket and grabbing an apron to wear.

"Another one in a week? Well, that's mighty unusual." She paused her knife and turned to him. "You better be careful, darlin'. My cousin knew someone who got their arm taken off just bein' a feather too close to the fight. Their whole dang arm!"

"Can't have you armless, kid. Dishes ain't gonna be easy to wash." Marvin gestured to the sink with a pile of utensils, pots, and pans.

"Yeah, yeah." Calvin got to work.

It was mostly washing dishes and sometimes helping out with the cooking when there were no dishes to wash, but just being in the vicinity of someone cooking was worth it. Yesterday, after work, he was even taught one of the recipes, which he immediately replicated at home and showed to Sam.

"What do you mean unusual, Miss Calli?" He asked while scrubbing.

"Well, it's usually in the afternoon when they have them showdowns. Things might get stirred up in the mornin', for sure, but a full-blown tussle like that, it's a rare sight 'round these parts." She explained.

"Why the afternoon?"

"No one wants to fight in the morning, kid. Especially this early in the morning, when everyone's just going to work." Marvin answered, chopping faster as if annoyed.

"It's likely 'cause of all them new heroes and villains, darlin'. Seems like they're poppin' up more and more with each passin' year."

The restaurant chime rang, signaling the start of the day. Calvin went up to the till, smiling as naturally as he could for the rest of the day.

----------------------------------------

"Good job today hun'. I'll see you tomorrow." Calli waved goodbye to him as she left out the back door. Her head popped out again from the side, "don't forget to put up the chairs before lockin' up darlin."

"I know, Miss Calli." He waved her off with a smile.

It was two in the afternoon. A bit early for a normal place to close down, but in this world it's normal to go home at this time. He asked Sam why, but he just shrugged saying that it's just how it is.

'Maybe it's to protect secret identities.' He theorized while cleaning up. 'Or bosses here are just less of slave-runners than back on Earth. Either way, lots of time free.'

He was forcefully volunteered with closing up today because both Miss Calli and Marvin said that they had plans lined up. Calvin was just planning to walk around, taking in sights, learn more about the new world, spy on possible hero or villain secret identities. The usual stuff.

Finally done cleaning the place, which mainly consisted of him putting up the chairs pressing a button to activate a bunch of automated sweepers and cleaners, he removed his apron and went out of the back door. The back doors automatically locked as he closed them, as did the front ones, and he was home free.

Or so he thought.

"Hey, you." A purple-haired girl around his age called out to him sitting in one of the tables outside of the restaurant.

She was sitting with her legs crossed, wearing some sort of high school uniform, albeit somewhat disheveled and loose. Untucked shirt, inch-too-short skirt, loosened tie, modified blazer, her entire look felt like she just really wanted to scream to whoever that she was rebellious and a delinquent.

"You the new staff they hired?" She asked quite rudely.

"What's it to you?" Calvin answered, matching her vibe.

The girl raised a brow, "I own the restaurant."

"No you don't." He was interviewed by the owners. A sweet middle-aged couple that owned the land and didn't want to sell it.

"Okay, my parents own it, but still." She shrugged. "It's a family business."

Calvin stared at her, studying her face. "Neither of them have purple eyes."

"They're contacts." She took them out to prove a point, showing brown eyes. "Purple eyes don't exist. Not without powers anyway."

"What are their names?"

"Mavis and Clover Riverstone"

"What do they look like."

"Like a bear and a rabbit."

He stared at her for a moment. She answered correctly without missing a beat. Thinking back to the interview he realized that she was right. They did look like a bear and a rabbit.

"Okay. What do you want?" He mostly just wanted to get away and just explore the city.

"Come with me." She stood up and beckoned.

"What?"

"Come with me."

"No, I heard you the first time." He rolled his eyes.

"I-", she hesitated for a moment, "-look. I need to go to this thing happening in this place. And I need to bring someone with me. Preferably someone my age."

Calvin narrowed his eyes at her, "is this a cult thing? Are you in a cult? Or is it a pyramid scam?"

"No!" She denied, a bit too loud. "Look, it's a hero program thing, okay? Not a lot of people go so they're forcing us to bring someone else. It's just a stupid assembly thing about powers- you know what, never mind. I'll look for someone else."

"No no, it's fine." He called as she started turning around. Calvin was actually interested. Not with the hero thing, but with the powers thing. "You should've just said so."

She turned to him, a bit of surprise on her face. "Well, I told you, not a lot of people come."

"I didn't even know it existed." He shrugged.

"What? How do you not- never mind. We gotta go, it's about to start in an hour." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.

"Tell me your name first, at least." He pulled his arm back.

She paused, turning back to him with a wondering look. "Just call me Ina."

"Calvin." He nodded. "Where are he going?"

"To Central."