Finally, out in the open street, Nikola breathed a sigh of relief. Gone were the worries of heroes and in came the worries of modern life. Pulling out her phone, she was dismayed to see the time. Already, lunchtime was coming on rapidly and she hadn’t had a drop of lunch yet. The woman was barely moving through a mix of energy bars and coffee, the mix not being the healthiest or greatest long-term solution. Preparing herself for what would be ungodly traffic, Nikola finally stepped out of the building and into the street ahead.

She didn’t have a car with her. She didn’t need it, living only a few blocks away from the hero’s association. Looking up at that massive sky-scraper, she noted her initial disappointment in seeing it so long ago. For a building that housed some of the most flashy costumes in the world, it looked about as plain as the other tall buildings around. It was able to withstand a nuke, sure, but it didn’t show off that detail.

Nikola gave herself a light slap. She’d been awake for a day now, sixteen hours spent in the field and three spent training her powers. It was understandable that she would be a little light-headed but that wasn’t any excuse if one of the trucks hit her when she crossed the road at a red light. Seeing it turn green, however, she continued with her walk. The Hero’s Association was luckily already outside of the more industrial parts of the city, allowing for many blocks of apartments to find their way just next to it. Looking up at all those luxurious flats, Nikola idly wondered how many famous names had lived in them. She was just down the block and to the left, given one of the cheaper, but still well-made, apartments. The woman did have to pay rent, after all, and not having any real income other than her monthly stipend did limit her funds. The actual money came to the Branded Heroes. They had royalties, after all.

Thinking back, Nikola did remember seeing some Lux action figures some time ago. She wondered if she could get one for a gift. The woman was sure that Harold would see some level of comedy in that.

Moving past the people, the cars, and the sea of flashing signs, Nikola was finally able to get into her apartment building. Seeing that the elevator was still broken down, the hero bravely sighed before taking the stairs up seventeen stories. One perk of being a hero was the level of fitness she was in.

Looking down from the windows at the stairs, she noted the view was as terrific as ever. Living in the more important part of the town was great in some ways, the lights bringing the entire scene together. If only there were a few more trees to look at. Bright orange and purple signs were great and all but the leaves, grass, and pastures she saw over in the older sectors weren’t half-bad as well. While Nikola had no aspirations about quitting her current position, she sometimes dreamed of just moving out into the country to enjoy the sights.

Moving to her apartment and opening the door, she noted the mild breeze moving through. Going further in, she saw the window open. Not having ever done that herself, Nikola breathed deeply before making a guess.

“You could always just call, Seid,” Nikola said, turning her head and finding her former friend on the sofa while eating some of the crackers that had been in her pantry. “And maybe bring your snacks next time. I do like to eat what I bought for myself.”

On that note, the woman had forgotten to go to the store. Nikola briefly considered going down those seventeen stories again but decided against it. There were limits to how much she wanted to walk.

“Why would I buy something when I can just get it from here?” Seid questioned with that tone he always liked to use. Nikola liked to think of it as a mix of willful ignorance and the stupidest of looping reasoning. “You know how to find the good stuff, by the way. I haven’t had food like this in a while.”

Looking at the box of crackers, Nikola noted it was the discount ones she had found on sale.

“Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere these days,” Nikola said, sitting down on a chair beside the sofa. “It certainly isn't going to help when the person in question has been gone for six months without a word. Where exactly have you been?”

“Oh, just about… everywhere,” Seid said. “You know I can’t stay in one place for long when I have to fight crime. People are too sensitive about it nowadays.”

“I think we call those people law-abiding,” Nikola said, being a part of said group of people who liked to follow regulations. Only certified people were allowed to be Heroes and do actions associated with it. “And you’re not meant to be fighting crime anymore, Seid. You’re out of that job.”

“I am out of it officially,” Seid said, mirroring Nikola’s turn in an annoying fashion. The man was childish at his best, after all. “Listening to what those idiots think isn’t going to help people, Nikola. If I just stayed put, the hundreds I’ve helped in the last half-year would’ve been without anybody to save them.”

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“Actual heroes who don’t break the rules would have been there to help,” Nikola stressed. She was getting angry. Realising it before it became too prominent, the woman took a breath before untensing herself. “You are out of the game for a reason. Harold had this talk with you already. You were too violent and you-”

“But that’s the point!” Seid cut in, putting away the crackers and briefly disappearing from Nikola’s sight. Her senses in the electromagnetic spectrum picked him up quickly, though, the man fishing through her fridge. “I didn’t do something I wasn’t supposed to do. I had a situation that required quick action and I made sure no civilians were hurt.”

“Injuring three Augmentation users to a level where they had to stay in the hospital for two months,” Nikola continued, the Hybrid in front of her flinching. The woman could remember the talks had during that time. Too many people had thought it was some obscure hate crime. She knew better, of course, but there was little chance of making public opinion change. “Listen, I understand that everything that happened was one big shade of grey but that doesn’t mean you can continue in this practice. Running around and doing this illegally will get you in trouble at some point.”

“I don’t think anybody wants to arrest the person helping them secure criminals,” Seid mumbled.

“Just because they don’t want to doesn’t mean they won’t do it,” Nikola countered. “And being a hero isn’t the only thing you can do to help, you know. With the training Harold put us through, I’m sure that there are hundreds of security firms who wouldn’t mind you joining. If you want, I can put you in contact with-”

“No. Thanks for offering but… I’m not going to stop doing this.”

The two shared a look, Nikola dropping the subject entirely. The Hero formerly known as Wave was stubborn at the best of times and the time on the run certainly didn’t change that. At least some amount of maturity had been brought into the man’s head.

“I guess I can’t stop you from that,” Nikola said, wondering if that trip down the stairs could actually be worth it. “Have you thought of talking to Harold soon? Our old leader does miss hearing about you.”

“There hasn’t been a time,” Seid replied with a grin. “Some of us don’t have access to the teleportation network and there is no chance that I am running all the way over to Sector 45 just for a social visit.”

“It wouldn’t be that hard for you! Just a day or two of running,” Nikola fired back. “And it could become more than a social visit. I know there have been complaints about some homeless coming into the sector without taking proper precautions for the flesh beasts. I could see you easily making the area safe for a few months.”

“Fighting monsters isn’t what I’m good at, Nikola. You know that,” Seid said, sitting on the sofa again, the man finding nothing in the fridge worth eating. Nikola did somewhat hope he had, the woman not needing to find something to eat if he had. “And… running for an entire day? Some of us need calories to use our powers and an entire day of using my power is above my budget money-wise.”

“Now that is something I can’t do something about,” Nikola amended. Seid wasn’t a direct Manipulation User but he wasn’t an Augmentation User either. The woman liked to think of him as a Hybrid but there was some fancy naming scheme for it that she couldn’t bother to remember. “But, still, call me when you plan on visiting again and I might be able to get our leader to come by at the same time.”

“Former leader, Tesla,” Seid corrected. “And… maybe. Just visiting isn’t really something I like to do.”

“I take it that means you have a reason for visiting me?” Nikola questioned, knowing that would come around. Six months of nothing didn’t just stop for no reason at all. It wasn’t money that the former Hero wanted, though, so the woman was a bit confused in that aspect.

“You really do take my words literally,” Seid said, trying to throw the topic away. A raised eyebrow made him relent. “But, maybe I did come here for something. I was around when I turned on the television and saw that you were out in Sector 42 stopping some random worker from making it rain with blood.”

“That came on the news?”

“Local channel that covers smaller Heroes,” the former Hero reiterated. “They didn’t have much on the case but that man had no signs of madness. And since you didn’t enact protocols for possible Mind-Control, I took it as something else going on. I was hoping you could fill in what those holes in the story are.”

Nikola put a hand over her face, knowing that it just had to be something like that. Getting herself together again, her side of the story was shown.

“You heard just about as much as I knew,” Nikola explained. “The reason behind his madness is a form of Parasite nestled in his brain stem. It had consumed a good amount of his neurons before starting to lash around, making the body try to harm anybody that got close. When I killed the Parasite, the man died as well.”

“Any idea where the Parasite came from?”

“None that are based on anything other than wild speculations,” the Hero answered. “The Parasite was emitting some very strange frequencies, however. It’s the reason I noticed it, to begin with.”

“That sounds a lot like the Parasite was expecting something it could transmit to,” Seid said. “Possibly a bioweapon?”

“If it is, it’s a very expensive one,” Nikola said. “And why would such a thing be implanted in a low-level manager at a farm in the middle of nowhere?”

“Something tells me we won’t figure that out until we have a look at it ourselves,” Seid said, stretching his limbs. “I guess I’ll have to take a trip down there. That is… if you don’t want to fly me there?”

“I can’t get involved,” Nikola said, rejecting the idea before it even left the floor. “In the official book, my involvement with this case is over.”

“Well, only in the direct scenario,” Seid replied with a mild smile. “Maybe you need some more information about the target you took care of and have to ask around at the Hero’s Association? I am sure they wouldn’t mind answering some questions about the case if you were polite.”

“... Fine,” Nikola started with a sigh. “I’ll ask when I get the time. Don’t expect too much, however. There isn’t much I could figure out and I don’t expect others to get much further.”

“You never know what is truly possible in this world,” Seid said.

“I guess you’re right with that as well,” Nikola amended, a stray thought surfacing. “However, there is one thing I need to ask. The farm itself. Doesn’t the location remind you of something?”

“Not really,” Seid said. “Should it?”

“Maybe not…” Nikola said, shaking the thought out at the same speed it’d come in. “That’s the plan made, I suppose.”

“Great! How about we get some food in? If I need to run through half a sector, I would like to do it on a full stomach.”

“That depends. Do you have any desire to run down to the store and get me some things?”

“You forgot! I don’t have money.”

“Right…” Nikola said. “I guess we’ll have pizza.”

She truly was the champion of good health.