"Seriously, you were threatening to attack us if Blonde Blazer refused to fight you?" Invisigal looked stunned, and even the others looked at him in disbelief.
"Well, I would have done my best to make it convincing." He said a bit sheepishly. Having cooled down while eating a bit made him think more clearly.
"I knew there was darkness in you." Coupé ominously said with her breathy way of speaking, though despite the contents, she looked rather happy or satisfied for some reason, as if he had confirmed some strange delusion of hers.
"It was clear to me that I wouldn't have actually had to try and attack you." He shrugged. "I mean, even if it was an empty threat, Blonde Blazer wouldn't have taken that risk." Blonde Blazer had her arms crossed, looking at him with a frown. "She is a good person after all." She snorted at that before looking away.
"Duh. She is one of the most famous heroes from SDN." Prism interjected. "Honestly, her PR campaigns need to be studied." Blonde Blazer wiggled a bit in her chair, seemingly feeling uncomfortable.
"She is? I wasn't really aware of her online presence." His words were met with some raised eyebrows, and even Blonde Blazer looked surprised. "Haven't bothered looking up heroes online. Besides, just because someone is a famous or admired hero to the public doesn't necessarily mean they are Good. The same way a villain isn't necessarily evil." That seemed to have struck a nerve, as the table turned quiet as he continued with his third round of a meat plate.
"It didn't feel like you were joking. I have no doubt you were serious." Blonde Blazer suddenly interjected, almost reprimanding. It was clear that even after having cooled down, or maybe because of it. By now, any worry and outrage had given way to a cold anger mixed with confusion that just radiated off of her.
Her accusation made him freeze before he gently placed his fork down on his plate. "I can assure you that I would have never put anyone in any real danger. It was why I had blown up the ceiling, so no one would be hurt by it collapsing." She nodded slowly, and despite it, he knew he wouldn't get those lost reputation points back anytime soon with how angry she was at him. Perhaps, she once again saw him more as a villain.
"What your instincts picked up was my fighting spirit." He said to clear up any misunderstandings that might have risen from him overplaying his part.
"The fuck is fighting spirit?" Flambae asked, and with him interjecting, only now Sean realized how immersed the entire team was in this conversation. It seemed that the fight had rattled them a bit, coupled with Invisigal arguing with Malevola, and Blonde Blazer, their boss, probably didn't help with the tension.
"It's this." His Ki stirred. The desire for combat almost came naturally for him, so he let the two mix naturally and… tables and chairs subtly moved as the Z-Team and Blonde Blazer grew tense again. Fist clenched, their pupils constricted, and the breathing changed, all primed for combat in an instinctual blink of an eye. It was something he realized accidentally when trying and failing to make his Ki carry healing properties. His intent is closely coupled with his Ki projection.
"Fuckin' hell." Punch Up laughed. "It certainly fires me up!" His fists clenched, and he looked raring to go.
"That's the point." One of its functions anyway, the other being that it made his punches hit harder for some reason, though he should rather say that not projecting one's intent would be to restrain oneself. He could already foresee him battling against another only to end up as friends because they 'realized' the other's true nature. "It's lowkey telepathy just with emotions rather than thoughts."
"It's usually called telempathy, though I don't think that was what you were doing." Blonde Blazer helpfully supplied, being more thoughtful now.
"Right, so I stirred the pot a bit." Flambae snorted at that. "Okay, maybe a lot. Honestly, I would have stopped if you threatened to terminate my employment." Some scoffed, and even Blonde Blazer looked like she didn't believe him. "Though I hope you don't pull that card too often."
"You're serious?"
He nodded. Of course, he was serious since it would mean he would be hunted down in the future. That was unnecessary stress, he didn't need.
"You've got the strangest thought processes, you know that?" Invisigal pinched her nose bridge.
"What did you expect from our household monkey?" Flambae leaned back. The guy seemed to have been rather amused by the recent turn of events.
"His darkness can be reined in after all." Sean had the feeling that Coupé was in her own little world since, despite looking in his direction, she didn't seem to truly see him. His admission seemed to have broken whatever hidden tension was left in the Z-Team and their boss.
"The lad probably needs a good lay. I always got grumpy as well when I didn't get laid. Hahahaha." Punch Up voiced his opinion, making Sean roll his eyes. His reasoning, being able to quickly figure out an aspect of his Zenkai, felt sound to his Saiyan brain. And though he had indeed not had the time to 'relieve' himself, being backed up wasn't what drove him. However, why did it look as though some of those present were seriously considering it, looking rather convinced?
Before he could rebuke it, a deep voice finally interjected. "Hadn't expected to miss that much. A grand fight and an explosion, did anyone record it?" Golem asked from the side, having slept through most of it in the debris cleanup area as he had integrated too much into his form. His body had mostly turned into concrete and steel and apparently now needed more time to digest it all into that mud-like substance his body mostly consisted of. It also sounded like he was high.
Sean felt complicated about Golem. The sentient construct was rather chill, all things considered, but how would he broach the subject about his past? From what he'd heard, there wasn't much of a choice in his actions. Opening that topic up wasn't going to be easy, and what benefits would it have for Golem except to make him feel bad? And besides, was it truly appropriate for him to bring it up? He had avoided thinking about it, but given the past few days, it made it apparent how valuable a dispatcher was, and it would be great if Stacy could come to terms with it. He knew it was a selfish feeling and perhaps he should just focus on finding a new one instead.
"I've recorded part of it," Prism admitted. "It's going to do numbers on my-" Before she could finish that sentence, though, Blonde Blazer coughed.
"I'll need that footage, and I hope you won't publish it until I submit my reports." There was some back and forth before Prism relented. The evening started to fuzz out, but in a good way. His team and he slowly left work in a rather relaxed mood. The aftermath went way better than Sean had imagined.
…
The next day of work almost went as usual. He hadn't recovered fully, so he couldn't make an accurate observation about the workings of Zenkais. His body certainly felt stronger despite still being debilitated due to his injuries. He teamed up with Invisigal, who looked like she wanted to say something the entire time, and with Punch Up, with whom he exchanged counters for flying opponents. Since their team was mostly assigned some trivial tickets and without a care how they teamed up, they usually stuck with those they had experience with. Coincidentally, after lunch, Sean had his first mission with Golem. The heroes of the other team were occupied, and Chase decided it was their 'time to contribute'. With the encouraging words of 'don't fuck this up', they headed there immediately.
"So, how do you want to do this?" Golem asked as they approached the target forest.
"I'll fly and scout the area from above." With his Ki sense, finding the lost children should be easy enough. Hopefully, he wouldn't mistake their Ki signatures for rodents. With his Ki growing, it made it more difficult to differentiate much lower Ki signatures. Fortunately, normal humans were still a cut above the smaller animals. Children shouldn't be that difficult to find, right? "I'll tell you where they are located, and you pick them up. We'll leave once we pick up all six of them."
"Sounds like a plan." Golem rushed into the forest, while Sean did as he had suggested. He flew up a bit above the tree crowns, while making sure to have Golem in sight. His Ki sense spread out, having to actively concentrate on it so as not to miss something.
He felt several small Ki signatures, but wasn't able to see them. His senses spread out before noticing a little jump in Ki level. "I think I found two. Turn 30 degrees right. They are there in 800 meters, halfway up the slope of a hill."
"What's 800 meters? Oh, wait, I see the hill. On my way… ehm. What should I tell them?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I don't interact with children much. They are usually scared of me…"
"They are around eleven, so just explain the situation. You're a hero from SDN sent to bring them back to their teacher. Show them your SDN card if you have to. I think they will just be grateful an adult is there to guide them."
"You think that's going to be enough?" He sounded doubtful, and Sean wasn't sure if it truly was enough. However, most people underestimated the intelligence of children just because they were young, and even in impulse control, many adults weren't much better than children either.
"I think so. Maybe try to reassure them if they look scared."
"Can't you pick them up?"
"You'll be fine. Besides, I'll have to keep an eye on the other group. By the way, good news the other four are together." There were four of them sitting on a picnic table. Two were crying, while the other two looked around anxiously, clearly waiting to be picked up.
"Hey, you two- Eh? Yes, I'm Golem, how do you- On my back? S-sure." They had decided to keep their connection open to communicate quickly, so he heard everything Golem said to the children. "Jin, where are the others? I picked up the first two- Little one, be careful, you don't rip out my earpiece-"
"Turn 45 degrees to the left, yes, in that direction. In a kilometer- eh, a bit more than half a mile? There is a little clearing where they are sitting… By the way, could you confirm that they are the children we are looking for?" It would have been more than awkward if they just took random children with them. He doubted that there would be any other children on their own in the forest. It was already strange that 6 entire children went missing. What the hell were the teachers doing?
"Yep, they are-" It took a moment before Golem arrived and convinced the other four to join him as well. He carried two in his arms, while the others clung to his back and shoulders, looking like they were having the time of their life.
Sean continued to guide them and reunited them with the rest of the class. The two teachers looked unbelievably relieved. If something did happen to them, they would have been in loads of trouble. Fortunately, nothing had happened.
"We also want to ride!" The children shouted after having seen Golem carry the six others. Golem looked at Sean for help, but he just shrugged, not intending to help him out of his predicament. For the next 10 minutes, Golem started to play with them, while Sean took the teacher's statements for their report after giving them a stern talk.
They tried to keep them a bit longer to play with the children, but that wasn't part of their mission. If they wanted to, they would have to make another formal request. After some back and forth, they finally headed back through the forest. "That was nice," Golem muttered with a big satisfied smile on his face.
"Indeed…" Though something was bugging Sean. "Hm?" His eyes honed in on something a few kilometers ahead, obscured by the trees. Even though he wasn't concentrating on his Ki sense anymore, he easily sensed the approaching Ki. It wasn't exaggeratedly high, but it was significantly higher than what roamed the forest. "Let's take a detour."
"A detour? Why?" Golem asked, confused, though he followed him regardless.
"Something seems to be heading toward us, and we hadn't gotten any heads-up from Chase for anything in the area." Golem frowned slightly.
"You sure it's heading toward us? What if it's heading to the children?" That question made him pause.
"…You're right, let's wait to see what it is." Given the Ki, Sean didn't fear a confrontation.
"Do you think it will be trouble?" The Ki felt strange, somewhat hostile while also not. Either way, if it was some villain trying to stir some trouble, it would be a good opportunity to fight together.
"… I guess we'll see. Let's approach them to create more distance from the children." They were still deep in the forest, so lots of trees to take cover behind, just in case they had something that could injure them, or he could use the trees as projectiles. He wasn't going to fire Ki blasts around in a forest. That felt like a fire hazard that was about to happen.
It didn't take long to arrive.
THWIP
Suddenly Sean heard a familiar sound before he saw something land sideways against a tree trunk. A female figure clad in a tight black and white suit with large lenses as eyes and an iconic webbed theme on her forearms and her hood, which were unrecognizable as anything but, "Spider-Gwen?" He muttered something that seemed to have been picked up by Golem.
"You know her?"
"Not really." There were Marvel superheroes in this world as well? For a split second, his mind questioned whether what he was seeing was real before his Ki sense tipped him off. It was a signature that felt strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite recognize it.
"Who are you?" Sean asked as they remained guarded against the newcomer.
Her eyes were locked onto Golem, and it took a moment for his question to land, gaining her attention. Her eye lenses contracted, indicating that there had been some real thought and effort put into her suit. "The name is Ghost-Spider." Her voice had been distorted as well. She really didn't want her identity to be found out.
Her name had been unexpected. Was Ghost-Spider an actual spider-themed hero name from Marvel? He couldn't quite remember many, as he hadn't really immersed himself in that franchise in his past. Of course, he knew the basics, having grown up with Tobey's Spider-Man. Pretty sure there were other female spider people called Spider-Woman or Spider-Girl, and Silk, but that was about it with his knowledge.
"Can we help you with something?" Sean asked as he stepped in front of Golem to place himself in her sight again. She seemed to only have eyes for Golem, and from the vibe he was getting, that didn't seem like a good sign.
"This doesn't concern you." She said harshly. "You should leave. I need a word with him!" She pointed at Golem, who looked surprised and confused at the entire situation.
The sentient construct pointed at himself. "Me? Do we know each other?" His question seemed to have triggered her.
"Tsk. I'll make sure to remember me." She shot a web behind them and pulled herself toward them. Using the pull to kick toward them. Sean reached out with his hand to catch her kick, but at the least moment, she flipped around him, shot her web, connecting his arms to the ground before pushing off of his back toward Golem.
Golem raised his arm and blocked her attack. The strike seemed to have quite the strength to it. Golem was pushed back while she dodged Sean's grab. 'Right, spider sense'. He had attempted to grab her from a blind spot with accelerated speed and was still dodged by a hairbreadth.
The web was still flowing off his arms with bits of the ground attached at the other end. She was about to continue her assault. A dagger in her hand, which raised alarm bells in his mind. He stopped holding back. Her assault was cancelled at the last moment. She went to flip, but she wasn't fast enough. Sean had grabbed her by the collar and flew into the sky. His ascent started with a boom as he instantly accelerated past the sound barrier until they were high up in the sky in a mere second.
"Golem, I'll deal with her. Can you go back and hand in our mission?"
"You sure? You're okay dealing with her alone?"
"Yeah, I'm quite fine. She won't hurt me. See ya later." Sean said as he turned off his earpiece before looking at the masked person clinging to him for her dear life as they hovered thousands of meters in the air.
"W-what the hell!"
"Hey Stacy,"
Her movement stilled at his words before convincing herself that he couldn't possibly know that it was her. "That's not my name. I told you it's-"
"Ghost-Spider. Right, I heard you." It had taken him a moment just now to figure it out, but there weren't many Ki signatures he was familiar with. Ghost-Spider's Ki wasn't that far off from Stacy's. True, it was higher than before, and there was a certain predatory feel and shape to it now, but the differences weren't too stark for him to be unable to connect the dots. He slowly descended before landing on some skyscraper's roof. "What are you doing?" He said almost in a whisper, though she remained silent. Perhaps she heard the disappointment he was feeling.
"I know it must be difficult, but is this truly what you want to do? You've left exactly to prevent something like this, right?" She didn't retort, still struggling to get out of his grasp without success. "You're a good person. You shouldn't-" That seemed to have been the last straw.
"It's not fair!" She spat with a tone that promised violence. Her fist hammered into his chest. Although it didn't truly affect him physically, it made him let her go. However, she closed the distance. "It's not fair!" She shouted again, weaker and desperate this time. She grabbed his collar, while still wielding that wicked dagger in her hand. "He can just continue to live a normal life?!" With a pull, she took off her mask and looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with anger and hurt. "Yes, I'm here to take revenge, and you can't stop me!" Her hand clenched around his collar, though the act hardly convinced Sean.
It didn't fit. Her actions didn't make sense to Sean. It wasn't something she would do. She had been mature enough to realize that Golem wasn't at fault and didn't want to hurt him, and now she came back for revenge? Was it because she gained these powers?
He couldn't help but smile sadly at her as he finally realized something. "You could have waited until Golem went alone on a mission, but you've waited." Her trembling hand stilled for a moment. "You wanted me to stop you, didn't you?" Her hand around his collar lost its strength before falling listless, and a heavy sigh escaped her. "Put the dagger down." Sean finally said. The only reason she was still holding it was that she hadn't attempted to stab him with it.
It was an ancient-looking dagger. "He said that it possesses some arcane magic to undo constructs once inserted into its core." She threw it to the floor, clattering on the rooftop's tiles. "I'm not sure what I w-want." Her eyes turned watery before she tried to blink them away. It almost looked like she was disoriented, like she couldn't tell up from down.
"Hey, it's fine- nothing happened." Sean approached, but she quickly stepped away from him.
"Don't! Don't try to comfort me! I-I…" Her head turned away, not wanting to meet his gaze. "Thirteen." She began as one arm hugged herself. "I was thirteen when they passed. They had never seen me grow up. Never seen me get drunk. Never given my first boyfriend a hard time. My dad never accompanied me to my first apartment inspection. My mom never warned me about the boys at college. My first job. My first car. When the other girls talk about their parents, I'm always so jealous. It's so lonely… and he can just walk around and play hero without even knowing-" Sean hugged her strongly.
"Indeed, it's not fair." He wasn't sure what else to say. What could be said to make her feel better? There were no words that could fix her past. Life wasn't fair, and a single moment could change a life forever, for the better or worse. Besides, she knew that targeting Golem wasn't the right thing. It was why she had moved away, but it seemed whatever she had experienced in these past days made her want to do something with her grief. With newfound power and a target for that reawakened grief, it wasn't surprising she had come back. It wasn't logical or what she initially wanted to do, but this wasn't a logical decision. It was an emotional one.
This world wasn't some dystopian society with its superhumans, but wherever people were, it came with all its human experiences. "You're not alone." He whispered as he held her. "It's going to be okay. Somehow, sometime, it will be easier." He felt her hug him back as she started sobbing.
…
After telling SDN that he was 'injured' and needed some time to recover, he took Stacy to a nearby place to eat. "They have this large game room. Lots of pool tables and table tennis eh tables." She said as she licked her ice cream. When they weren't talking about the elephant in the room, she excitedly told him about her new workspace. Her eyes were still red from her crying, but at least she had calmed down a bit.
"So, are you now a hero?" Sean pointed at the bag in which her suit was hidden. Before confronting them, she had webbed it up at a different rooftop. A different rooftop from the one they had finished their 'confrontation' on. She said there were some interesting sights from up top, so she considers doing a tour of city rooftops.
She laughed weakly, "Well, not really. Officially, I'm still just a dispatcher, but at night, I do some… vigilantism." She closed her eyes as if she expected some reprimanding.
"I wouldn't say you are 'just' a dispatcher. Without you around, we noticed how much it eases our everyday operations." Her face turned slightly red at that before she turned away as she sipped on her milkshake. "I guess vigilantism is illegal? Why don't you start working as a part-time hero for SDN?"
"I've only gone out to gain some experience." She admitted as she grabbed her milkshake with both hands, glancing toward the wrapped dagger sitting next to Sean. "You know, to figure out what I can do. Not actually to help people, after all I'm not like you." Her eyes flickered up to him, giving him a small rueful smile. "Someone truly heroic, trying to help those around him, while never thinking about taking credit for himself."
Sean couldn't help but chuckle before shaking his head. "You're making me greater than I am-"
"No, I'm not!" She almost shouted, gaining some attention from the people visiting the little shop. "No, I'm not. I've processed your reports after all." She finished off quieter this time.
Though her words made him frown. "I'm not tampering with the reports. Everything I've reported was the truth."
She nodded readily at that. "I know, but you're always making your contribution smaller than it is. I can probably predict what you reported for this mission." She tapped her lips as she thought for a moment. "We entered the forest at X time. We quickly found the lost children and Golem called and carried them to the responsible teacher/client. With Golem making sure that the children had sufficiently calmed down, we headed back. Something like that?"
"…Something like that."
"You know the others emphasize their own contribution more when writing the report. It's the reason no one wants to miss out on writing them."
"The others don't seem eager to write them…"
"Well, duh. Why would they if you write them as you do? Besides, it isn't like it's not the truth, right?" She smiled as she rested her chin on her hands. "Even knowing that, you don't intend to change anything, do you?"
"…No. I think they need the recognition more than I do." Sean said as he finished the cheesecake dessert. It didn't taste like the one his mom always made for his and his siblings' birthdays, but cheesecake was still his favorite dessert.
"I guessed as much."
"Hmph, look at you, getting more insightful, it seems." It wasn't just that. She seemed more assertive as well. Gaining her spider strength seemed to have given her a confidence boost.
"Someone told me to see the person behind the mask, behind the hurt." Her smile turned brittle. "However, despite knowing this, I'm not sure I can let it go. Just thinking about it all makes me so angry…" Her fist clenched.
"But not toward Golem," Sean stated. Her entire vibe and the breakdown afterward didn't convey she was truly murderously angry at Golem, even if she had prepared sufficiently.
"I don't know what I should do with all this anger… It would have been so much simpler if he was some unrepentant asshole or a monster," She admitted, taking another deep sip from her milkshake before grimacing slightly as a brain freeze hit her.
"Hm. The world isn't a simple thing. As a hero, one could only wish for a world that was black and white. Unfortunately, that isn't a luxury we have, and we can only learn to navigate it."
"…" She didn't say anything as she continued to stir the straw in her shake. There was no simple answer to her situation.
"Maybe you should tell Golem about it," Sean said as he looked out of the window, seeing people go about their lives. It could happen to anyone. One moment life was just a routine, something familiar, and in the next, everything was on its head. It wasn't something one could control. Life just threw things at you, and one could only make the best out of it. "He might not take it well, but perhaps you can work it out together what's best for you two."
"…It's not fair." She repeated. "Not for him or for me. I left because I wanted to spare him this." Her gaze turned to the dagger, the weapon that would have killed him, grimacing slightly before shaking her head.
"To be honest, I'm just saying it because I think it would help you, and I really want my competent dispatcher back." He added with a wink to not make the conversation less heavy.
She snorted in response before blushing intensely as her stirring grew more forceful. "A-and what do you mean by y-your dispatcher?"
Sean couldn't complain because he poked the bear, but he hadn't thought she would switch gears this fast. "You know what I mean." He shook his head in amusement, to which she smiled shyly as she finished off her drink. It was peaceful like this. The shop continued to have customers, while they sat in the corner, part of it while seemingly having their own little world inside.
It took a moment before she seemed to have thought about something. "I… Jin, thank you. If you hadn't been there, I might have regretted whatever would have happened… I'm not even sure if I would have won."
"What are friends for?"
"You've done more than most friends would." She said adamantly. "I meant it when I said you are heroic. You're kind, helpful, and courageous, trying your best to meet things head-on. You're resourceful and patient too." She pushed her glass aside, reaching over a bit hesitantly, as if she feared he would pull away. When he didn't, her hesitation faded away. "You have that look in your eyes that makes me feel like you're seeing the real me. Even with a mask on, you recognized me in mere moments…"
Sean wasn't sure how to take those compliments and internally defaulted onto what he could disprove. Recognizing her under the mask had hardly anything to do with his ability to read people. Well, he guessed Ki sense was a facet of reading a person.
"I truly aspire to be like you." Her fingertips opened his hand and laid her palm into his. "Perhaps one day I'll be-"
Brrrr Brrrr
The alarm clock on her phone pulled her out of the state she was in. She looked at the watch before springing up. "Oh, shoot! I have night shift tonight!" With her bag already over her shoulder, she looked ready to bolt. "I- fudge! Let's continue our conversation later!"
"Eeehm, of course?" Her face lit up at that, giving him a tight hug before she rushed out.
"See you!"
He waved after her, watching her figure leave. 'Her body seems perkier.' He remained seated until that thought faded. Her Ki seemed minimally different again as well. After picking up the dagger and stuffing it inside his armor, he headed back to SDN.