A purple-eyed young man walked through the busy streets of Gates Boulevard with a barely noticeable limp. He paused and took a deep breath as the sun shined directly onto his face.

“Ahh,” Dario sighed in relief. “It feels damn good to be back.”

Several days had passed since starting his practise sessions and Dario had begun feeling antsy. There was nothing wrong with resting and recuperating in a room all day long, but at some point, it just starts to feel boring and confining — he had to get out and move around. Luckily, he had already recovered a large portion of his foot with only a few toes still missing. It was thankfully enough for him to be given a free pass to leave and wander about.

Despite the desire to leisurely walk around, he still wanted to be productive and not waste the day away. Thus, he had decided to kill two birds with one stone by heading over to the Superiors Guild to check in and tell them that he could start working within the week. He estimated that it would only take another day or two for his foot to fully heal.

Dario walked along the smooth roads with a large smile on his face — having the sun’s bright rays on his skin felt truly refreshing. It was a shame that no one apart from him would ever feel the invigorating touch of light, but at the same time, he reveled in his exceptional nature. He was unique even among Superiors, and while he tried to not let it inflate his ego, it nonetheless lurked in the back of his mind. Then again, the thought of there always being someone stronger than him — like The Bloody King — made it easier to stay humble. It was both disheartening and motivating.

Dario shook his head to clear his thoughts and tapped his pocket to make sure his Status Band was still there. Rather than openly displaying his Superior status, he had decided to try and remain incognito. Of course, there was always the off chance that someone might recognize and approach him, but he doubted it as he was still fairly new and wearing regular street clothes. There was nothing conspicuous about him.

His decision was based entirely on the fact that he didn’t want to be hounded by random civilians and hero-worshippers on a simple walk. He had barely even started Superior work and he’d had enough of them already! Perhaps he might get used to it with time, but he’d pass on it for now. He really didn’t know how Superiors who patrolled an entire city or district ever dealt with it.

It was interesting to realize that those Superiors he had witnessed doing heroic things throughout the city were simply doing a job — that of a Peacemaker. He’d always thought that they were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, but while that may be true, the money was probably the bigger motive. When he had first seen the Peacemaker role on the contract, he had dismissed it outright as it didn’t really allow him to get stronger. However, the pay was really good — possibly enough to make him reconsider.

It might be strange to be thinking such things now, but he could only lay the blame for his musings on the Peacemaker in the midst of a chase right in front of him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

A scraggly looking man in shabby clothing was running down the street with a panicked look on his face. He was clutching what appeared to be a small pile of pouches that rattled with the sound of coins. Far behind him was a man dressed strangely in bright red… silk? Dario wasn’t sure, but the fabric looked smooth and shiny as it stuck to him like a second skin.

Nonetheless, he recognized the figure as one of the Superiors who patrolled Gates Boulevard, his home district. It was a strange twist of fate that the man also happened to be one of his childhood idols.

It was Red Step.

“Stop right there!” the brightly garbed Superior shouted. His form blinked in and out of existence in a forward direction, leaving a trail of fading red sparks wherever he materialized. In a quick second, he suddenly appeared directly in front of the running man. “That’s enough. It’s time to give up.”

The disheveled man ignored his order and started running in a different direction, this time, towards Dario. Red Step sighed before flickering through ten meters of space, once more reappearing in front of the terrified thief.

“I warned you,” Red Step said right as he let loose a red-blurred jab.

The man with the bags of coin stood no chance and immediately fell backwards, his face a bloody mess. He silently toppled onto the ground, the coin pouches scattered around him.

“Woops, might’ve overdid it there,” Red Step grimaced. “Ah well, he had it coming.” The red-themed Superior whistled jauntily as he bent down to collect the coin bags. “Let’s see… one, two, three, four, yep! They’re all here.”

Dario moved forward and eagerly approached Red Step.

“Uh, Red Step, sir? Can I have your autogr—”

“One moment, civilian.” Red Step raised a hand towards him while continuing his search through the pouches. After a moment of perusal, he pulled out several coins of silver and surreptitiously placed them in one of his pockets. “Hm, they won’t miss this much,” the man muttered under his breath, something Dario would have missed if it wasn’t for his slightly enhanced hearing.

“Uh…” Dario stood flummoxed at the man’s outright display of theft. Then again, the pouches might actually belong to him, but he somehow doubted it. Before he could comment on it, however, two men and two women appeared from around the corner and approached with relieved expressions.

“Red Step! Thank the heavens! You caught him!” one of the women exclaimed.

“All in a day’s work m’am.” Red Step grinned, though it was somewhat shrouded by his face visor. He then handed over the bags of coin to their respective owners.

“Thanks so much, sir!” the tall man of their group said. “The money was for our wedding venue — I don’t know what we would have done without it. We owe you one!”

“Well, if it isn’t a bother, then a tip would be nice,” Red Step said with a cheeky smile.

“O-oh, yes! Of course! It’s the least we could do,” the man said as he hurriedly reached into his stash. “Here, take this.” He pulled out a few silver coins and handed them over to Red Step. The others in his group followed suit and hastily gave him some coins as well.

“Ah, so generous of you all. Thank you very much.” Red Step nodded and smiled.

“No, it’s you who deserves thanks, sir. You do your best to protect the city and you deserve a reward for all your hard work. Thanks again!” The group smiled and collectively thanked him once more before walking off into the distance.

“Hehe, suckers.” Red Step stood chuckling for a moment longer before finally remembering Dario’s presence. “Oh, sorry, almost forgot about you.” He turned and faced Dario, a smile still plastered on his face. “So, what is it you need, civilian?”

The younger Superior shuffled his feet, bummed out at the older man’s behavior. “Well... I’m not actually a civilian. I’m a supe like you.”

“Oh? Truly?” Red Step raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Dario pulled out his Status Band as proof. “I came over to ask for an autograph, but I changed my—”

“An autograph you say?” Red Step boomed cheerfully. “For a fellow Superior? How novel! Of course I’ll sign you an autograph!” The man pulled out a pen and a small notepad from seemingly nowhere and started to write. ”So, to whom do I sign this to? I’m afraid I don’t recognize you out of costume. What’s your supe name?”

Dario’s eye twitched in annoyance. His brief interaction with Red Step gave credence to that old saying of never meeting your heroes. If he had been younger and less world-weary, he might’ve been overjoyed, but now, he was just disappointed. Thus, he decided to simply mess with the man by giving him a joke name.

“My supe name is... The Deuce.”

The red costumed man raised both eyebrows. “Deuce as in… the number two? Or like... taking a dump?”

“...sure.”

“That’s… pretty strange, but I’ve heard worse.” Red Step chuckled. “I can’t even begin to imagine what your powers might be. Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

As soon as he finished writing on the notepad, he ripped out the sheet of paper and dramatically handed it over with a small bow.

“Here you are Mr. Deuce, one signed autograph by yours truly. Since I’ve never heard of your name before, would I be right to say that you’re new? That you’re a recent addition to the Guild?”

“...yes.”

“Excellent! It’s always nice to have more supes in the business.” Red Step smiled before leaning forward to whisper, “If you want some advice, then I suggest you choose Peacemaker as a final career choice. We make easy money and pretty much relax most of the time.”

“Thanks, I think,” Dario muttered, still somewhat dazed at finding out one of his childhood idols wasn’t like he expected. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good, good. Anyways, I’m off to make some more money. Good luck, and keep suping — cheerio!” He picked up and carried the injured thief off the ground and was gone in a red flash.

Dario stood still for a whole minute before he finally let out a sigh.

“I… I’m not even gonna try to process that.” He shook his head to clear his thoughts before continuing on his journey to the Guild. “That happened, and that’s that. No need to waste any more brain power on it.”

Still somewhat traumatized, Dario decided to take a small detour to take his mind off things. He decided to pass by the old stomping grounds and see if anything else interesting happened. The Slums rarely disappointed on that front.

It was quite a bit of distance from Gates Boulevard to The Slums, but he didn’t mind it too much. The more time spent walking, the easier it would be for him to get used to moving around somewhat disabled. He had a feeling that such a skill would be useful in the future. Monster hunting seemed like a hazardous task that wouldn’t guarantee him the safety of his limbs. Judging from his brief experience in that world, it was very likely that he would lose more body parts, so knowing how to move around disabled sounded like a good idea, as morbid as that sounded.

A little while after exiting his home district, Dario finally noticed that he wasn’t traversing through the hidden alleyways and backstreets like he usually did. He’d had those habits ingrained early on from his interactions with street gangs, but now that he was a Superior who thrived on light, he found that he was subconsciously walking out in the open. It was a small difference from an outsider’s perspective, but to Dario, it showed a significant change in who he was.

It was strange to think about.

Dario smiled and strode across the road to a nearby, dimly lit alleyway. It wouldn’t do for him to forget how to live in the dark. It was best not to forget one’s roots, especially if the skills learned during that time helped him out greatly. Besides, there was still light in the darkness, so he would thrive regardless.

Dario’s semi-philosophical musings were interrupted as soon as he entered the alleyway when he heard rustling footsteps nearby. He turned just in time to see his assailant, but he allowed the shove to happen when he saw who it was.

“Dario, what the fuck!?” the tanned, purple-haired woman cursed at him. “You said you were going to tell the Superiors about the kidnappings, but you haven’t done shit!”

“Oh... OH! Fuck, I forgot Vira,” Dario cursed, rubbing his head sheepishly. “My bad. A lot of shit happened to me recently and I’ve been pretty distracted. I could’ve sworn I did it, but I think I must have suffered a few too many head injuries.”

“What kept you so busy that you forgot something so simple?” She glared at him.

“Um, I lost my foot recently and I’ve been super busy reading up on monsters and practising my powers.” He chuckled nervously. “I’m trying to prepare for some monster-hunting trips I’m planning on taking.”

Before Vira could say anything, a small blonde head popped up from behind her waist.

“Big bro is going monster hunting?” the little girl asked with a curious expression.

“Oh, hello, Ava. What are you doing out here?” Dario asked, both eyebrows raised.

It was very strange to see the eight year old dressed as if she was ready to fight somebody. She appeared to be wearing dark clothing with pads at the joints and even wore fingerless gloves with small spikes on the knuckles. What the hell was going on?

“Umm, Vira said she was gonna go find you and whoop your butt,” she giggled. “I wanted to watch.”

“I’ve been bringing her around with me and teaching her things like how to defend herself, and how to survive in a tough spot,” Vira explained. “So far, she’s taken my lessons like a fish to water.”

“Ya, I’m a good student, right sis?” Ava looked up at Vira with bright blue eyes.

“Yes you are.” Vira smiled and patted the girl’s head.

“So, you’ve taken a new apprentice, huh?” Dario sighed. “I guess that explains all the... clothing.” He gestured at Ava’s strange appearance. “How’d you even get all that stuff?”

“I made them all myself,” Vira bragged. “You like them right, Ava?”

“Mhm.” The little girl smiled, nodding.

“See? She likes them.” Vira then turned towards him with a frown. “Anyways, she’s proving to be a much better disciple than you ever were. How could any student of mine forget something as simple as reporting a kidnapping?”

“I said I’m sorry, alright? It was my mistake and I won’t forget this time.”

“Oh, you definitely won’t, because I’m coming with you to make sure,” Vira said as she grabbed his arm. “Ava, come. Take his other arm and make sure he doesn’t get away.”

“Okay,” Ava complied.

“Where are you taking me?” Dario asked as he was dragged along by the both of them, a steely grip on his right arm and a small hand on the other.

“We’re heading to the Superiors Guild right now and telling them that people are being kidnapped in The Slums,” the scowling woman commanded. “More and more people are missing and it’s only a matter of time before an ASH member is taken.”

“It’s getting that bad?” Dario asked with a frown.

“Yes,” Vira answered gravely.

“Damn, my bad. If I’d known, I might not have gone out to the Wildlands,” he said regretfully.

“No use thinking about it now.” Vira sighed. “Besides, it’s not like you alone could’ve done anything to find those bastards. We need real professionals.”

Ouch, his ego felt bruised, but she wasn’t wrong.

“Did you really go out in the Wildlands, big bro Daree-oh?” Ava asked in a cheerful singing voice.

“Yep, and it was a pretty fun adventure, to be honest,” Dario said with a grin, glad that little Ava was around to counteract Vira’s effect on his self-esteem.

“Really? What was the biggest monster you saw?” she asked, her free hand swinging around in large circles.

“Well,” Dario paused in thought, happy to tell his tale once more. “There was once this ogre named Gronk…”