When Allen arrived at his café, he saw a girl with dyed pink hair behind the counter.

  "You're back, Rose. I didn't realize you were working today."

  "Alex is on the yard," she replied, her voice low. "Is it... safe?"

  Allen sat at the counter, confused by the question, until Rose slid a newspaper toward him. It featured a photo of him holding the woman in his arms, the ground beneath them shattered and jagged.

  "You mean that? Nothing's going to happen. If it were a problem, Calibur would have scrubbed the evidence, or his boss would have bribed the media. I don't know what they’re planning, but they’ve had the chance to come for me since that day."

  A pair of hands settled on Allen’s shoulders, beginning a firm massage.

  "When are you going to let go of what happened?"

  "Every person carries their own weight, Alex," Allen muttered. "Mine just happens to be hands stained with blood—for better or worse."

  Alex sighed, moving to the other side of the bar next to Rose. "By the way, you’ve already earned yourself a hero name."

  "Please tell me it’s not ridiculous."

  Alex and Rose shared a smirk as they flipped through the paper. "The headlines are calling you the 'Reckless Rookie.'"

  Allen stared at Rose in disbelief. "Reckless? I was saving a lady from immediate danger. That’s absurd by any logic."

  Alex stifled a laugh. "They also dubbed you the 'Mad Knight' for jumping from the 59th floor with a civilian."

  Allen went silent for a few seconds. "Reckless Rookie... Mad Knight... I’m going to be a media laughingstock for months."

  Rose placed a cup of coffee in front of him and pointed to the hero news section. "Your story is minor, just a sidebar. Compared to this..."

  Alex tried to stop her, but it was too late. Allen’s eyes fell on the main headline. Instantly, an intense, cold hatred radiated from him. His expression shifted into something predatory and dark.

  "CALIBUR... KILLED THE GIGAX LEO?" Allen’s voice was a low growl that vibrated with suppressed rage. "Calibur? They mean... that Calibur!?"

  "Easy, Allen. You should know that Calibur—"

  Again, Alex cut Rose off, but Allen was staring at her now, a faint, menacing yellow glow flickering in his eyes.

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  "Finish it," Allen commanded. "I should know what about Calibur?"

  "Calibur is coming to City F," Alex said, taking over. "He’s running for President of the Federation. He’s coming here to announce his platform and his plans for the future."

  A sinister, jagged smile spread across Allen’s face—until Alex snapped him out of it with a sharp slap across the cheek. The sting left a bright red handprint on Allen’s pale skin. After a moment of heavy silence, Allen stood up and walked out. Rose and Alex watched his retreating back with worried eyes.

  In a nearby park, Allen sat on a bench, watching birds peck at breadcrumbs on the pavement. He pulled a brown crystal stone from his pocket, rolling it between his fingers in silence.

  "Didn't expect to find you in a place like this, Allen."

  Allen looked up. The man standing there was defined by a massive, jagged scar that tore across his face. Without waiting for an invite, the man sat down and pulled out a piece of stale bread.

  "I always come here to take a break from work and watch the birds. What about you?"

  Allen didn't recognize the man’s face, but since joining the Federation, he’d met various members of Shinobi’s squad. While Allen didn't hide his face well, the others were usually masked or hooded, making them hard to identify in plain clothes.

  "Did you know Calibur is coming to the city?" Allen asked.

  "So that's it... Yeah, the heroes in this branch and the local villains have known for days."

  "And nobody had the decency to tell me?"

  The man smiled grimly, tossing more crumbs. "It’s not about decency, kid. It’s about fear. You’re a rookie who’s already taken down a monster and two Uncontrolled. Combine that with the fact that Shinobi knows your history with Calibur... well, it only took a few words from him and Titan to make everyone shut their mouths."

  Allen nodded, finally understanding the position Shinobi was in. As part of his team, Allen’s actions reflected directly on Shinobi.

  "Besides, look at what you did a couple of weeks ago," the man continued. "Leaping from the 59th floor with a civilian—it was the right thing to do, but you were on probation. For Shinobi, it was a nightmare. He had to answer to the upper ranks for that. If he wasn't one of the top hundred A-Ranks, they would have discarded him by now."

  "I didn't think it was that serious," Allen admitted.

  "You’re too impulsive, Allen. You need to breathe and think before you act. Though, in a way, you’re lucky." The man looked at him, his gaze piercing. "Most hero teams are bought and paid for. Leaders in other cities cut deals with villain guilds. Sometimes they even ignore monster sightings, letting them destroy a few blocks so they can swoop in later and take a cut of the reconstruction profits. In this city, the only clean teams left are Shinobi’s and Titan’s—and they’ve merged into one."

  The man threw the last of the bread and stood up. "They’ve decided Titan will run for Federation President while Shinobi manages the city’s heroes. Their goal is to purify what was once a home for those with abilities—to expose corrupt heroes as the villains they are and start from scratch. But they can’t do it alone."

  Allen let out a heavy, hollow laugh. "And what am I supposed to do? I’m just a failed experiment... that’s all."

  The man’s smile vanished. He sighed, then suddenly grabbed Allen, forcing him to stand, and delivered a sharp punch to his gut. Allen doubled over, gasping, his face turning pale.

  "Allen, the media calls you the 'Mad Knight'... but do you know what the woman you saved calls you?"

  Allen looked up through the pain.

  "She calls you a Hero. So start acting like one. You can’t fall apart just because someone you hate is coming to town. It’s not just Shinobi and Titan helping you. Others are out there scrubbing your trail and manipulating the footage to make you look weaker than you really are. The least you can do is stand firm, even if it hurts."

  The man pulled Allen back up to his feet and stared into his eyes before reaching into his shirt pocket and producing a small, round metallic device.