May 31st, 2018. 9:30 PM.

Elio slowly wakes up in what appears to be a hospital bed. He groans as he sits up, putting his hand on his forehead; “Ugh… did I pass out again? That’s three times in one day.” He stretches; “Well, it’s nice to know that I’m not injured.” Elio looks over to his left and sees a nightstand next to his bed, his visor rests on it. He grabs it, putting it on as he gets up, as he stands, he blanks upon remembering the fight; “Oh my God, Reggie!” He shouts to himself upon realization. He bolts out of the room he was resting in, as he’s rushing down the corridor, a member of the crew turns her head; “Oh, Elio, you’re up!”

Elio swiftly stops on a dime as he hears her, he shuffles backward at a brisk pace; “Where’s Gendross? More importantly, where’s Reggie?” He asks with a soft tone. The crew member turns around and beckons him to follow as she starts walking; “Reggie’s this way.” “Thank you.” Elio follows her. As they walk, Elio yawns, lifting up his visor to rub his eye with his palm. “By the way, I’m curious, what were the results of the fight? How long have I been out for?” “You’ve been out for over an hour.” She answers as she looks at her communicator. She notices how the second she answers, Elio has his forehead pressed against the wall, he lets out an exasperated sigh; “Dammit, that means the tests are already over…”

Elio then backs off from the wall; “It’s whatever, I really just wanna know if Reggie and Gendross are alright.” He adds on, seeming to have accepted that he failed the test. “Don’t worry, they’re both alright. If it makes you feel better, you two did win the fight as you managed to injure Gendross.” She answers in a friendly manner. “Well… I guess I can’t be too disappointed then.” Elio answers a bit apathetically. “Yeah, I’m really sorry to tell you that the tests are over. But enough disappointment, Reggie’s behind this door.” She responds as she presses on a button, opening the shutter. She walks inside, Elio follows after, the crew member holds her arm out to show Reggie. Elio stares at him, seeing that Reggie’s hump from his broken spine is gone, his entire torso is wrapped in bandages while his right arm is hooked to an IV machine. He sleeps peacefully.

Elio’s mood lifts as he smiles, happy to know that Reggie’s doing well. “The little one’s ok, but his spine isn’t exactly healed. The doctors on this ship don’t specialize with animals, so the most they could do is manipulate his spine back in place before it could swell any further- " "That’s ok. That lets me know that he won’t be paralyzed from the waist down.” Elio interrupts her. She smiles upon hearing his response, she then walks out of the room; “Come, I’ll take you to see Gendross.” “Got it.” Elio replies, though he stares at Reggie for a bit; “You did great, buddy.” He whispers to himself. He then turns around to follow her.

They reach the room Gendross is recovering in, Elio notices him relaxing in a giant ice-filled bathtub, leaning back and gazing at the ceiling while his arms rest on the edge. “Hmm?” Gendross looks forward; “Oh, you’re awake! How are you feeling, Elio?” He asks with enthusiasm. Elio pounds his fists together, returning the enthusiasm; “Well, I’m feeling pretty great, knowing that Reggie’s alright, as well as the fact we met the fight condition! Shame to know it’s way past time to be able to turn you in, so I’m rather disappointed about that. But whatever, anyway, how’s your hand doing?” He asks after explaining. Gendross just makes a brushing gesture; “Oh, this? It’s doing fine, it should take about a year for it to grow back, thank you for asking. But yeah, it’s good to hear that you’re doing well, but so what if you failed? Remember, I’m still the Captain of Divine Destruction, so why not just take the time to rest up and turn me in tomorrow? With how wanted I am, they’d love to have fighters like you and Reggie as heroes.”

Elio’s face lights up; “Not gonna lie, with all the shock from today, I didn’t even consider that.” Gendross shrugs; “Eh, I can’t blame you. Oh, by the way, I’m assuming you already saw Reggie on the way here, right?” Elio simply nods as Gendross asks, his face becoming more serious. “Alright then, tomorrow in the morning, I’ll have you come to my office so I can show you how you can help Reggie. That sound good to you?” Gendross asks, sounding more upbeat. “That’s perfect.” “Great! Well, then why don’t you head back to the room you were in and get some rest? Oh, and if you’re wondering where your backpack is, it’s in a space under the floor, you can’t miss it.” He adds on. Elio turns around and holds his hand up; “Thanks Gendross! I’ll do just that! Goodnight!” He answers back as he starts heading back to the room he woke up in.

Elio puts his hand on his chin, pondering as he walks; “I wasn’t exactly expecting things to go so well, nor was I expecting things to go in a direction like this. Well, who cares? I’m just glad that Reggie and I are able to be heroes by tomorrow. I just need to not let this get to my head, only beat him cause of that condition being met. But damn, I’m ecstatic for tomorrow!” He walks into the room and sits on the bed. He notices a TV screen on the wall in front of the bed; “Oh, hell yeah! Just what I needed!” He says excitedly, he looks at the nightstand’s drawer and finds a TV remote as he opens it. He grabs the remote inside and hops back onto the bed, putting the blanket over him.

“Alright, let’s see…” Elio mutters to himself as he turns on the TV. He finds an icon; “There we go!” He goes on a streaming service, entering his user and password, he goes onto the ‘Continue watching’ section, clicking on The Joy Of Painting. He turns up the volume; “Perfect.” He says to himself as he sets the remote on the nightstand, as well as his visor. Elio gets super invested as he puts his hands behind his head; “Man, Bob Ross, how do you do it? I can’t do art to save my life.” He comments, slowly dozing off as the show’s quiet, peaceful vibe gets to him. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.

June 1st, 2018. 5:30 AM.

Elio steps out of a shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, he presses his fist against his palm and dries off instantly by using his heat abilities; “Whew!” Elio shouts, feeling relieved. A crew member taps his shoulder; “Elio, get dressed. Gendross wants to speak with you in his quarters.” He informs him. “Will do.” Elio answers nonchalantly as he gives a thumbs up. He walks back to his room, coming out a few minutes later, wearing a more casual outfit, most notably donning a backwards cap and an unbuttoned plaid jacket.

Elio makes his way over to Gendross’ office, as he steps inside, he can see him sitting at his desk, petting Reggie. “There you are! Come here, Elio, let me show you something on the computer.” He orders. Elio walks over and strokes Reggie’s chin as he looks at the screen, Reggie purrs during it. “So, what’s this thing that’ll help out Reggie?” Elio asks. Gendross moves the cursor to an icon on a map of America, he clicks on it and it zooms in on a city in Nevada; “While I was taking my ice bath to unharden my muscles and let water back into my gills, I had one of my scientists look for a place that can help Reggie. What you’re looking at is a place called ‘Violet Paradise,’ it’s one of the only places in America, as well as the entire Earth that has access to technology from neighboring continents, and it just so happens that the medical field there uses it. There’s a procedure that can be done where they inject something into his spine that can accelerate the healing process, which will speed it up from three months to just one, alongside physical therapy, of course. Though as you were informed last night, they only moved the bone back into place, so it wasn’t an actual surgery, so he’ll still have to get that as well.” Gendross elaborates.

Elio sighs in relief; “Oh, thank God. That means it’s guaranteed that I can help him out. And it’s not even that far from here.” “Yeah, anyway, that’s all I wanted to let you know. Once you’re ready, we’ll be leaving so you can turn me in. So, are you ready?” Gendross looks at him sternly. Elio just gives a thumbs up; “Hell yeah! I’ll meet you at the Levacean’s entrance! Lemme just grab my backpack real quick.” He replies enthusiastically. Gendross nods, he picks up Reggie with his palm, despite Reggie’s abnormal size, he only makes up a third of Gendross’ hand. “I’ll see you there.” Gendross answers.

Elio pops his neck as he shows up at the entrance after a little while, wearing his backpack and holding the egg in his hand; “Alright, let’s go.” Elio says firmly. “Alright then!” Gendross presses a button on the wall, opening. He looks back and sees a lot of the Sky Pirates waving him off, he smiles; “I appreciate you guys for seeing me off. Don’t worry, I’ll bust out soon, just keep the vessel safe until I come back. Then once the engines are prepared, we can take off. I’ll see you all until then, stay strong and stay healthy! That’s an order!” Gendross salutes, the crew saluting back in unison.

Elio walks out, stepping onto the grass of the island, taking a deep breath. “HEEEEYYYY! OVER HERE!” He shouts. Suddenly, the sound of wings flapping appear and begin growing louder, the group of devil birds land in front of him. Elio grins as he shows that the egg is in mint condition. “¡Tu huevo está perfectamente a salvo, como te prometí!” He comments. Gendross steps down the gangway, still holding Reggie; “Was that you or the birds making that noise- holy crap, this is the first time I’ve ever felt towered over by another being.” Gendross interrupts himself in surprise, looking up at them.

“Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.” Elio responds jokingly. He then looks back at the devil birds, setting the egg down. Elio uses both hands to point at two of the birds, getting their attention, he then points at Gendross, squeezing his own shoulders, his body language instructs them; “Carry him.” Elio turns to Gendross; “Hand me Reggie and spread your arms out.” He informs him. Gendross gently sets Reggie in Elio’s arms.

As he holds him, Gendross holds his arms out, the two devil birds start flying and grip their talons on each arm, lifting him up. Elio then crouches over, picking up the egg as well; “Alright, you ready, Reggie?” Elio asks softly. “Yeah…” Reggie weakly answers. Elio nods and walks back to the island’s shore to see that the Nauti Lass is still where it was. He hops onto the bow and looks down; “You ok, buddy? I didn’t jump too hard, right?” “No, I didn’t feel it.” Reggie responds. Elio nods and walks over to the cockpit, setting Reggie down gently with the egg. He sees where he left the keys and starts the boat; “Alright, we’re all set!” He excitedly shouts.

The Nauti Lass’ engine begins to whir, Elio steers the boat and starts making his way back to Gull’s Bay, along with the devil birds following him. As he cruises, he watches the golden sunrise gracefully ascend, painting the mountains with hues of warmth and promise. His smile widens; “That’s just beautiful! It’s as though the Sun itself knew we’d be returning and starting our careers as superheroes today!” Elio remarks ecstatically. He feels a sense of fulfillment washing over him as they continue to ride along the splashing waves.

June 1st, 2018. 5:45 AM.

The two reach the Gull’s Bay harbor, Elio steers the boat back into its spot in the harbor and grabs Reggie with the egg, he steps onto the dock. Setting them down, he ties the springline onto the stern cleat, he then picks the two up; “And now I take my air ride so I don’t have to pay how much is that… It's been twelve hours since I rented it, so… sixteen-hundred and twenty dollars. Yeah, I think with all that went down, Murphy can make an exception.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Elio looks up and beckons for one of the devil birds to come down, as it does, he hops on its back, Elio points to where they need to go as it flies up. As they fly, Elio leans over and reaches his hand to the devil bird’s face, he taps its head, getting its attention. The devil bird makes a softer noise; “Down there.” Elio instructs as he points at the superhero recruitment center. The devil bird nods, swooping down to the location, as it lands, pedestrians nearby jump back in fright, some even running away as a response to it. Elio hops off its back; “That guy rode on the back of a devil bird?!” A stranger asks one of his friends as they keep moving along, jaywalking to get further away. Just as the people around Elio couldn’t be more surprised, they see the other devil birds come down while dropping Gendross back first on the floor. Another stranger looks at him and quickly figures out who he is by seeing the uniform; “That’s Gendross!” The citizen yells, struggling to process the scene. Elio holds the egg out for the devil birds, letting them know they fulfilled their end of the deal, one of them grabs it with its talon, quickly flying away along with the others, back to the mountains.

“What the hell…” A stranger says as more people show up, shocked and bewildered that Gendross is just out in the open and seemingly beaten by one man. Elio sits on Gendross’s back; “Sorry, Gendross, just gotta play the part so it’s more authentic.” Elio whispers silently. Gendross picks up the whisper among the noisy crowd; “It’s fine, I understand.” He answers in a low voice so nobody can hear him.

The noise from the crowd of people taking pictures and asking questions captures the attention of people from inside the recruitment center. One of the workers looks down from a second-story window; “Huh?!” He shouts in surprise upon seeing Elio sitting on Gendross. He stares for a bit before tapping on an earpiece; “Boss, I’m sorry to interrupt whatever you’re doing, but take a look outside. That guy who tried taking the exam yesterday that had a missing report filed on him is back, and it’s unreal what he brought with him!” He tries to maintain his professionalism. “I already saw it from my office. Bring him inside, I must speak to him!” The man answers from the other side of the earpiece, sounding baffled and excited. “Right.” The worker responds.

The worker steps out the front entrance, Elio notices as he’s petting Reggie; “What’s up?” He asks while looking up. “Come with me, my boss wants to speak with you. Don’t worry about Gendross, someone has already contacted the police to apprehend him.” He calmly answers. “Cool.” Elio stands up and follows him into the building, they walk into an elevator, taking them up to the top floor. They step out and the worker puts his hand on a door handle; “This way.” He instructs as he opens the door. Elio walks inside, holding Reggie close; “So, you’re the one who wants to speak with me?” He asks as the door closes behind him. “Who’s asking?” The man asks back while facing away.

Elio tilts his head in confusion; “Y-you.” He answers in a confused manner. “You’re not as smart as I thought…” The man turns around, Elio sees that he’s an old man with white hair that’s slicked back, possessing a bushy mustache spiking downwards. The man is in a charcoal grey business suit with a lavender vest underneath and a grey tie. His professionalism with how he presents himself brings out an intimidating aura for Elio; “...please, have a seat.” He gestures to the chair in front of his desk.

Elio raises an eyebrow upon being called stupid, but decides to say nothing about it. He sits down in the chair, immediately sinking into how comfy it is; “Woah! It’s like I’m sitting on a cloud.” Elio reacts in surprise. He leans back as the man puts his hands together, resting his elbows on his desk; “Now, I assume you know who I am, right?” He asks. Elio pops his back from the chair’s comfort; “Nah.” He answers nonchalantly. The old man’s eyes widen a bit, slightly surprised, but he shrugs it off. He grabs a cigarette and a lighter; “Well, I guess not everyone can know the same person. Hell, there’s some people who don’t even know who Mickey Mouse is- come on, work…” He says irritably as his lighter won’t light.

“Need help with that?” Elio asks as he takes off some strands of his own hair, igniting them with his heat abilities. “Yes, I’d like that very much, thank you.” He answers, putting his cigarette next to the tiny flame, lighting it, the old man takes a puff. “No problem, but yeah, I get that feeling. Not everybody knew me throughout high school, even though I didn’t hide the fact that I have powers. Some people are just oblivious like that.” Elio steers the conversation back. The old man sees an opportunity to mess with him; “Well, I guess that makes you one of them.” He retorts jokingly. “Oh?” Elio laughs lightly; “Alright then, what’s my name?” He asks back smugly. The old man breaks character, letting out a small chuckle; “Well… you have me there. I’ll go first then.” He clears his throat; “I’m Silus Drayson, an ex-superhero of the older generation. I run the recruitment program across the West Region of America.” Silus explains as he reaches for a handshake. Elio shakes his hand; “Elio King! And the little one in my other arm is Reggie. Say hi, Reggie.” “meerrr” Reggie mutters, seeming too tired to talk.

He lets out a small chuckle from Reggie’s noise, Silus then breaks the handshake; “Anyway, with formalities out of the way, I’d like to discuss something with you. I’m sure you know what I want to talk about.” “Well, of course. Let’s just skip straight to the point. You wanna recruit me after seeing that I took down Gendross and brought him here. Am I in the ballpark?” Elio responds. Silus puffs before answering; “Yes. I would like to recruit you, but specifically, I’d like to know if you would be on board with the idea of you being a Five-Star Hero right away. What do you say?” He asks as he slides a form on his desk. Elio looks in surprise; “Wait, are you sure? You want me, someone who you just learned about yesterday, to be a Five-Star? Highest ranking? Right off the bat?” Silus grins; “Elio. I’ve been recruiting people in the Hero Core since 1952, in all of my years of looking for people to recruit, you’re the first one who has ever pulled the stunt of catching a criminal wanted worldwide. Something that even Four-Stars struggle with. Of course I want you to be a Five-Star, you show a lot of promise.” He explains as he leans back on his chair, taking another puff.

Elio lifts up his visor and eyes Silus; “What?! Since ‘52?! When were you born?!” Elio asks, utterly baffled. “1921.” Silus answers while raising his eyebrows in a goofy manner, as though he can’t believe how old he is himself. “You’re 97 years old?!” Elio yells in surprise as he stands up and slams his free hand on the desk. “No, but I’ll turn 97 this July or August.” He responds with some sass. “96, 97, whatever! I’m just astounded because I didn’t think you were that old! Most people usually retire when they're like sixty, which you don’t look a day over! Why haven’t you retired yet with how old you are- wait, the fuck you mean ‘July or August?’” Elio quickly loses his surprise, not sure why he said that. Silus just shrugs his shoulders; “Oh, I tried retiring 35 years ago, but I started going crazy. I just love working too much, so I decided I’ll just keep running in my position until I’m gone. Like Emilia Earheart, I’ll die doing what I love.”

“Anyway, back to the question at hand. Would you like to be a Five-Star Hero? The pay could help cover the expenses for Reggie, he looks badly hurt, and you must definitely care about him, right?” Silus gestures at him. “Yeah, I’ll sign the form! That’s enough to convince me.” Elio answers quickly. Silus has a genuine smile growing on his face; “I’m happy to hear that! You have no idea how much joy it brings me to see young folk trying their best and taking opportunities! I’m excited to see what you can do for this world!” He replies brightly. His happiness being contagious enough for Elio to smile as well. “Thanks, Silus. I’ll do my best! Oh, and uh… could I get a second form for Reggie to sign?” “Yeah, of course. I’ll hand it to you once you sign yours.” He replies while handing Elio a pen, he starts signing the form.

Elio finishes the last part of the form by pressing his thumb in some ink and putting down his thumbprint. Silus takes the form and hands Elio another one, Elio writes down Reggie’s name on the form, as for each signature, he just drags Reggie’s paw and dips his paw pad in the ink, signing all of them by placing his paw print down. He finishes and Silus pushes a button on his desk, calling an agent. “Take these, please.” He orders as the agent walks in. “Right away.” The agent nods, taking them and walking out of the room. A few minutes pass and Silus sees a small yellow light on his desk blinking green two times; “Well, you two are now officially registered as Five-Star Heroes.” Silus then reaches for a handshake. Elio shakes his hand firmly; “Welcome to the Hero Core! Happy to have you two here!” He proudly states, which gets Elio to smile widely. “Believe me, Reggie and I are thrilled to be here too! We’ll do our best!” He excitedly responds.

The handshake breaks; “Well, I guess it’s time for you to be on your way, Elio.” Silus suggests, Elio nods. “Of course! And thank you for giving us this opportunity, you’re too kind! We won’t disappoint!” Silus laughs heartily; “I’m sure you will. Now get out of here!” He orders. Elio nods and stands up, heading out the door; “Wait! Before you go!” Silus calls out. “Huh?” Elio turns around; “What’s up?” Silus then holds his cigarette; “You want a puff?” He asks casually. “N-no!” Elio answers in surprise. Silus nods his head; “Ok.” Elio then walks out. Silus turns around and steps out of his chair, looking out one of the windows and seeing how massive the crowd has become; “This might be a doozy.” He speculates. Silus taps on an earpiece; “Bring me the things.” He orders.

As Elio walks outside the door, cameras start flashing rapidly; “Damn! That shit’s bright!” Elio yells as he squints his eyes while putting one of his hands over his face. Some people start getting up close, one holding a mic in his hand; “Sir, you’re the one who brought down Gendross, right? Would you care to give us your name-” His voice is interrupted as an egg nails him in the face. “Wha…?” He asks in shock, some other people get hit with eggs. Suddenly, Silus shows immense vocal power by having his yell reach down to everyone on; “HEY! GIVE HIM SOME SPACE AND LAY OFF OF HIM! HIS CAT’S INJURED AND NEEDS MEDICAL HELP! HE’LL LET YOU INTERVIEW HIM ANOTHER TIME!” He shouts as he keeps pelting the crowd with eggs, having a blast. Silus belly laughs and looks at the agent who brought all the egg cartons; “Come on, Tony, throw one!” “Oh, no, I can’t…” He responds. Silus holds an egg for him; “Do that and I’ll pay for you and your wife’s anniversary dinner.” “Ok, you convinced me.” He shrugs and grabs the egg, chucking it as hard as he can and nailing someone in the head. Silus grins and pats him on the back; “Now you get it!” He excitedly shouts as they keep throwing eggs.

Elio looks up; “Damn, what I would give to be up there…” He mutters as he begins walking as the crowd disperses. He looks up at Silus and gives him a thumbs up and smirks, Silus smiles and nods to him before chucking one last egg at someone. “Hey, Elio… where are we going?” Reggie speaks up. “We’re just gonna stop at the station real quick to see Gendross, then we’ll make our way over to Violet Paradise. Is that alright with you?” Elio answers softly. Reggie moves his head to look at Elio, he then licks his face, signifying that he’s fine with it, Elio nods and continues walking, making it to the police station.

June 1st, 2018. 6:30 AM.

He steps inside; “I’d like to speak with Gendross, if that’s alright.” He speaks up. The sheriff looks up from some paperwork; “I take it you’re the guy who fought him?” He asks, Elio nods. “I see, right this way.” He answers and gets out of his chair and leads Elio to Gendross’ cell. As they get there, the sheriff starts walking back to his desk; “Feel free to talk to him as long as you want, I can make an exception. Just don’t take too long is all. Anyway, I have a lot of paperwork to do.” “Got it! Thank you.” Elio replies.

The door closes, Elio stares at Gendross; “Reggie and I are officially heroes. Five-Stars, right off the bat. I just wanted to say thank you for your help, you saved our asses.” He whispers faintly. Gendross nods, not answering back with words to avoid raising any suspicion. “I hope to see you again, as does Reggie. Anyway, we gotta get going, I’m taking Reggie to Violet Paradise. Take care, Gendross.” Elio continues and begins walking out of the police station. Gendross stares at the floor; “Five-Stars? Oh no… those two are not ready for those kinds of missions! They better be careful or else they’re going to be killed at a moment’s notice!” Gendross nervously thinks as he takes a deep breath.

June 1st, 2018. 6:50 AM.

Elio and Reggie arrive at the Gull’s Bay Metro Station, Elio gets on the train and quickly nabs a seat that he finds. He gently sets Reggie down on the table in front of his seat; “You ok, buddy? I didn’t set you down too hard, right?” He asks softly. “No, I’m fine. Thank you… So, we’re heading to Violet Paradise, right? I’ll be ok?” Reggie asks back, sounding weaker. Elio smiles and rests his head next to Reggie. He lightly strokes the back of Reggie’s ear; “Yeah, you’re gonna be more than ok by the end of it. I guarantee, so just stay brave and power through it, alright? Reggie?” Elio answers with optimism. “Thank you… I’ll do just that…” Reggie responds a little late. He then sets his paw on Elio’s wrist, letting it rest. “Hey, Elio?” He speaks up again. “Yes, Reggie?” Elio answers as Reggie nudges his head on his palm. “When I’m all better, can you make some of that stuffed salmon that I really like?” “Of course, I’ll cook all the stuffed salmon you want after you’ve recovered.” Upon hearing his response, Reggie closes his eyes; “Thank you, Elio.” “Of course, buddy.”

The train begins to take off, the thrill of departing pulses through Elio’s veins as the train accelerates, melding with the rhythm of the tracks beneath, propelling forward into the unknown with a symphony of anticipation. “Hey, Elio?” Reggie asks as the golden rays of sunshine pierce through the windows. “Yeah, Reggie?” Elio asks back. “Maxi would be proud of you…” Reggie states. A warm, radiant glow spreads from within, filling every corner of Elio’s soul with pure happiness and contentment. He smiles and closes his eyes; “Yeah…”