The car rolled down the street as slick as butter under the moonlit road. It was unorthodox to drive such a machine, and the responsive steering in the wheel made Arik feel as if he could roll the vehicle at any time. The stress of focusing on the esoteric art of driving was keeping his mind from wandering, until he came to a rolling stop at a barren red light.

He adjusted the rear view mirror but got hung up on his visage. In appearance, it wasn't really any different than normal. But there was more to it that Arik could feel. A certain permeable presence that coated Arik's body with unfamiliar ambitions and hatred made him feel as if he was looking at some doppelganger rather than the man he had seen look back in a mirror all his life.

He looked for the exact difference, something that he could cling to and expand upon, but alas his finger couldn't find it. Maybe that's because he wasn't different at all. That is in a sense, he was still just him in a new set of circumstances. 'Maybe this is just a true change of being,' he told himself.

He saw the rosy blemish that beaconed against his pale skin. Rubbing it lightly, it was familiar and tender.

'I can't believe I did that. I mean, that was so nuts and anything could have gone wrong. I just—'

A loud and violent honk jolted him out of thought and up in his seat. A car with bright headlights was idle behind him, and the light was green in front of Arik. He stepped on the gas ever-so-slightly too hard and hopped forward in another roar before cruising away from the intersection.

'I don't need to worry about that stuff right now anyways. In just a few minutes I'm going to be finding out if that guy or anyone else is at my house, and I need to stay focused.'

He knew the possibilities of someone unsavory being at his place, and he knew what that meant, at least, he thought he did. But he was actively choosing to not be a complete victim in this situation. He was choosing to latch on to that one pearly memory of landing that superpowered blow on the metal armed man. An absolutely savory memory.

Time seemed to warp away as Arik was already parking in the parking lot of his apartment building. He sat there and stared through the windshield at his gloomy unlit window six stories up. His heart raced and sweat began to wet his palms.

"Well, at least the light isn't on. That's good news, I suppose," he joked to himself.

He left the car behind and began his ascension up the apartment that he had once deemed safe and private. It was anything but now. A lucky roll of the dice kept Arik from running into Mr. Mohill on his way up, the last thing he needed tonight, but he hoped that those dice were weighted, and he would come home to an empty house.

The door to his apartment was closed and there was a note taped to it that read Mr. Mohill at the bottom. Arik was too apprehensive of what was behind the door to care enough, but a sharp sneer quickly crossed his mind.

He slowly grabbed hold on the cold handle and took a breath so deep that the depths of his lungs ached. It was so quiet that he could hear his own heart beat and blood pumping throughout his body, and feel it in his eyes. He twisted the handle slow and firm, feeling the multiple metal mechanisms moving together. The twisting went on for what felt like forever, and impatience possessed Arik.

He deftly twisted the knob the rest of the way and bashed his shoulder through the door, yelling like a mad man; although admittedly the yelling was more in fear than intimidation. When the door flung open to reveal the dark room, Arik flicked on the light and continued his war cry with his fists up. The room appeared empty.

Taking a few slinking steps into his home of questionable safety, he noticed a small note on his kitchen countertop.

'Did Mohill come into my room again?' he gritted in frustration.

Approaching the paper, he realized it's obvious difference in style from the previous note on the door. He read it carefully, hanging on every word.

"Dear Mr. Mitchell,

I came here with a mission at hand, and I leave today with the dawn of another. You surprised me Arik. You took one hell of a beating and that right hook of yours was something fierce. If only you knew your body and echos better, you would make for a laudable warrior.

Congratulations. My boss and I have been in contact, and he wants to meet you. Therefore, I will be back sooner than intended to speak with you. Meet me in that little forest town you like to spend so much time in tomorrow at 12 pm. Don't bring anyone else. I'll know.

I hope you decide to come home and read this note. But if not, I will find you.

Sincerely,

Your pal, the villain"

'The villain? Does he seriously think this is funny?' Arik began itching his head in irritation, his thoughts scrambled in his mind.

'I already knew he was coming back, and that he was bringing someone with him. Did he forget that he told me, or is he bringing more people now? And why would he tell me this stuff anyways? Ugh, I didn't do anything to deserve this.'

Arik began walking into the empty living room. A large human shaped dent in one of the walls from where Arik was tossed seemed to be the only real damage. Everything else was rather untouched. The board that had been blocking his broken window was no longer there, compliments to Arik's face, and a frigid draft was flowing through the rooms.

There was no certainty that his apartment would be empty when he got there. So now that he was standing in the middle of his living room alone, he felt as if he had triumphed his fear and was being rewarded a break. The thought of not having to sleep in the cold forest all night almost brought a tear to his eye. He had earned this nominal breath, and it felt good.

A sharp vibration by his foot made him flinch like a spooked cat. It was his phone, lying on the ground and glowing with light as a call came in. As he reached for his phone and picked it up the vibration stopped abruptly. He flipped his cheap phone open to see who it was.

"5 Missed Calls" read the phone. All but one of them were from Celesti, spaced out every hour or so in intervals. The other one was from Kilvio. He also had a series of texts awaiting from both recipients.

Arik twiddled about on his small phone.

Kilvio's text was about him actually being available tonight after all. Apparently his job had pushed the project's deadline back a day. Celesti has sent a few texts. The first couple were about their previous innocuous conversations, but the latter ones were inquiries on Arik's sudden absence.

"Where are you?" "Did you fall asleep?" Are you okay?" read the texts.

'Geez, she is sort of clingy, isn't she?' he mused.

They had been texting each other and staying in contact pretty steadily since the expo. Now that he was away from his phone for the day, he realized just how much she seemed to look forward to those conversations. And he wasn't necessarily turned off by it. He enjoyed their conversations as well.

He waltzed around his room in thought of what he should do next. Should he choose safety? Did it matter if the villain could just find him anyways? Should he prepare or carry on with his life? What about his immortality and powers? There is nothing in any book that could teach him how to deal with that. But it would undeniably prove a valuable asset eventually.

He confronted the gaping window of his living room and looked out to the city beyond. The view was much like that fateful day when he fell from the window into another life.

As bad as things were right now, shivering in his bloodied shirt like a frightened chihuahua, things were much worse back then. He didn't have anything back then, including a supervillain that wanted him dead, and yet he would still choose what he had now. Because what he had now was the emerging embers of new life and the powerful presence of hope. He just had to push through. That was his role in all of this, simply to push through.

He looked down from the golden hues of the city that he hid from not even an hour ago and saw the motley of cars in the parking lot, one of which being the red muscle car. It glistened a cherry red in the illumination from the nearby street light that drew attention to it like a bull to a matador. Suddenly, a burst of inspiration overcame him once again.

'Sorry Kilvio. Priorities in place.'

He began fiddling with his phone once again and called Celesti. The call rang for a few seconds before picking up.

"Hello? Arik?" her voice raised as if questioning his identity.

"Uhm, yeah. It's me," he chuckled back.

"OMG where have you been? Did you fall asleep?"

He thought back to the morose memories under the stone structure in the forest. "Well, kind of? It's kind of a long story."

"Well I have time," she shot back unexpectedly.

Arik could feel the butterflies in his stomach rising throughout his body as her eager enthusiasm gave rise to a bashful disposition. He leaned in to his words and forced his words out.

"Well, if you're available— I'm available— what do you say I pick you up for food in a bit?"

"What? Like now?"

"Yeah. Why not? I mean I know we were supposed to do this in a couple of day's but—"

"No, it's okay. Yeah, no, it's fine. That sounds great." He could hear her porcelain smile through her words.

"Alright, awesome. Uhm, I'll just get ready real quick and I'll swing by to pick you up whenever you're ready."

"Sounds good. I'll text you. Bye."

"Bye."

The deed had been done. Arik moved his date to tonight in a gamble. He had to trust that the metal armed man wouldn't be back until at least tomorrow. So as long as he took care of what he wanted to take care of before then, he could have a clear conscience. Plus he had a car temporarily. Two birds with one stone.

He moved in a flurry as he got ready for his date. He took a warm shower, shaved his face, changed into cleaner and nicer clothes, and went to wait in the car outside.

It was nighttime and the weather was in the mid 40s, and his skin could tell. He shivered as he sat in the car waiting for the go ahead text from Celesti. It was a shame that his handy jacket that he always wore had a huge hole in it these days. He didn't really have any other outerwear anymore.

He looked to the passenger seat and saw the red leather jacket he had accidentally nabbed from that George guy earlier. A smile brimmed his face as he grabbed for it.