The following day, Darion left his parent's house and traveled 124 miles to his new workplace two counties over. As an official street hero of the county of Bainbridge, Darion is staying there since he is assigned to protect the place.

On the way to his job, Darion called Melvin Colmy and explained to him what he found out. It was a mixture of the truth and some white lies, supported by select pieces of evidence that he sent to the client via email.

Darion explained that a cabal of blackmailers created a program and how they snagged Colmy as a victim. Darion emphasized that Colmy becoming a victim wasn’t personal and that the blackmailers didn’t really know or care about Colmy. Darion also heavily indicated that the blackmailers have some ties with the government and that they were doing this just to raise funds.

Luckily, Darion and his friends are able to hack the program and erased all the pieces of evidence. As proof, Darion listed certain data from his memory like the room number Colmy stay in during his tryst or the exact amount he paid in cash for the motel. All information Colmy never divulged to Darion in the first place.

“There is no way the blackmailers will be able to retrieve your data or get new ones from scratch,” Darion said to Colmy. “The investigator that followed you on your, err,… date with your secretary had given all the info they have with the blackmailers, and now they lost all that data. They can’t blackmail you ever again. Unless of course if you give them newer materials to blackmail you again.”

Darion couldn’t help himself getting a dig in.

At first, Colmy wanted to sue the blackmailers but after further explanation from Darion, he calmed down. Colmy wasn’t stupid. Darion added the ties with the government so that the principal will not pursue the matter anymore. Given the stakes, Colmy has more to lose than the blackmailers.

“How do I know you are not holding out on me and then use that to blackmail me in the future?” Colmy asked him suspiciously.

“You don’t,” Darion said bluntly. “All you need to know is that I had enough of this whole clusterfuck and I am so ready to wash my hands of all your affairs. After this phone call, hopefully, we will never meet each other again in this lifetime.”

They talked for a few more minutes, and then Colmy tersely ended the call. Just as well, Darion thought as he massaged his head once more. He didn't know why but he is getting more and more headaches lately. He grabbed his bottle of aspirin in his bag and dropped two tablets down his throat.

Darion sighed as he stared outside the window of the bus.

*****

After 2 hours and 26 minutes ride, Darion hopped out of the bus and started walking towards the central commercial district of the city. His new place of residence is the Bainbridge fire station Number 6. It is a renovated fire station expanded to accommodate more firefighters and paramedics personnel but also to house 6 empowered beings who work as full-time street heroes.

Inside he nodded to the guys who greeted him and ignored the ones who ignored him. Like everywhere else in the country, the people are divided on what they feel about the awakened beings. Some find them the coolest thing since the internet, while others fear them like the plague.

He disregarded the elevators and walked the stairs instead. It was not as if he was in a hurry. Besides, street heroes are supposed to be the model of health and vigor. But mostly because he might get caught in a drama in the elevator with the people that don't like his kind pointedly asking or even demanding that he please leave "their" elevator since they don't want to be near freaks like him.

That was what happened to Barbara 2 weeks ago and the dude that said that almost lost his head. He didn't mind confronting the haters, but it was also a lot of paperwork for you if the station chief got involved and you were asked to make an incident report. Nope, better used the stairs, less drama.

As one of the registered street heroes, he at least had his own room and a place of privacy but it wasn't anything special. Just enough space for a cabinet, a bed, and a small worktable.

He opened his backpack and placed the few clothes and underclothes he brought from home into the cabinet. He also replaced the trash basket in the corner of his bed.

Darion laid down the new bottles of shampoo, deodorizer, and other skin products he brought from home on its designated shelf before finally placing his old laptop on the work table. He also started charging his phone.

Then someone barged into his room and he almost crushed his phone with his strength.

"Yo, Libinski!" Jared said loudly.

"Jeezes christ man, can you not knock like any decent human being?!"

Jared ignored the young man's outburst and sat on Darion's bed, his face automatically turned to the long mirror and fixed his immaculate blond hair. "I gotta tell you Dorkman, you just miss the fucking party of the year this weekend. If you could just cut that cord still connected to your mom, you could live a little. I'm not kidding, I was drowning in grade A pussy last Sunday and it was only because of my unbelievable stamina did I survive that shit."

Jared Pullman is one of the other 6 street heroes living in the station. Codenamed "High Impact," the dude can stop almost any form of a kinetic strike against him, and then transfer the power to his fist for a powerful counter. He claimed that the scientists who studied him haven't determined yet the maximum physical strike that he can absorb. But Darion studied his profile and indeed, a truck smashed into him and he stopped it cold with his powers. He could have been a true role model as a hero, except for the fact that he is an insecure, hormone-raging, misogynist ass. But Darion liked him anyway, not that he will ever admit it to the prick.

Jared was a college dropout and going through life as a furniture delivery guy when the void hit him and rendered him unconscious. He used to be this lanky tall man with lots of freckles and bad posture. But now, the power he received also transformed him into a 6'2'' blonde with a swimmer's body.

To him, becoming empowered is the best thing that could happen in his life, which is why he couldn't understand Darion's taciturn reaction to his own powers.

Despite their completely different background, Jared and Darion formed an unlikely friendship in the madhouse of their fire station.

Jared noticed the bulge in his jeans hanging on the side of one chair and he brazenly reached out and fished out the object. It turned out to be Darion’s wallet, and he curiously opened it. He smirked at the $40 of small bills jammed inside it, and he was about to “borrow” at least half of it when he noticed something else and he smiled evilly.

He whistled a long wolf whistle. “You’re holding out on me, Libinski,” Jared said with a leer. “Who‘s the hottie?”

Alarmed, Darion whipped his head towards his friend and groaned. He was still changing into a shirt and different jeans when he noticed the asshole holding his wallet. He only has one picture in his wallet and it’s a family picture.

“Give me my wallet.”

“Wait, is this your sister? Daaaam, you lose out real good in the looks department. I call it the cosmic balance of the face. Since your Mom and sister are both hotties, and since your dad has a meh face, it is only natural that you become the ugly one.”

“Give me back my fucking wallet before I kick your head.”

“Hey! No need to be bitter about it. Maybe you are ugly as fuck on the outside, but I’m sure you are beautiful on the inside,” Jared said, with a twinkle in his eyes. “Did I get it right? Is that what ugly people say to each other so they don’t kill themselves and shit? Come on, what’s your sister’s name?”

“I thought you’re already dating Anastasia?”

Jared looked at him as if saying what has that got to do with anything? “It doesn’t mean I can’t multitask. You should try it sometimes.”

“How about I kick your head front and back. Is that enough multitasking for you?”

Before Jared can say anything else, Darion uses his telekinetic powers to pull the wallet and the picture away from his friend’s hands.

“Hey! No using Jedi powers!”

Darion ignored his friend and finished dressing quickly. His eyes were on his phone reading his schedule for the day and checking if there were any differences from the last time he looked.

"So, I heard you are going to be deployed soon," Jared said nonchalantly.

It took a moment before his friend's word register inside Darion’s head and he stopped what he was doing before turning to him. "What?" Darion said.

"I said that your first official mission is happening soon," Jared repeated.

"And how the hell do you know something like that?"

"One of the pretty receptionists on the first floor mentioned that the Handler's Assessment chart from the higher-ups is happening this week, which means that they should have evaluated every hero under their control by that time. So you, my friend, are expected to be officially deployed any day now."

Darion was about to argue when the station PA system began to crack and then an announcement was made: "Street hero Dorkman, please proceed to the handler's office right now. I repeat, Hero Dorkman, please proceed to the controller's office right now."

Darion gulped as Jared eyed him knowingly. Darion took a deep breath and without another word, walked out of his room and walked determinedly towards the handler's office.

"Let me borrow the picture while you’re out!" shouted Jared behind him.