On the other side of the street, the row of dirt residencies can be seen, stacks of them each separate unit indicated by the red energy door as the single source of life emitting from them, for the rest of the dim white light circulates around the mammoth cavern bounded by the tall ceiling where colossal stalactites stare down amongst the holes and tunnels. While most of the houses appear similar to each other with little distinctive qualities, one in particular is unique in that it has a gaping hole beside its door, with piles of rocks left in front as debris. The hole remains all this time, yet ignored by the gray thin neighbors who stroll down the street in their rags, heads low.

Past the breach, the rift into the interior, lounge around three of the temporary residents, the woman in the blazer leaning against the living room wall, the gal in the hoodie sitting beside the sharp corner with her head leaning against the complementary wall, and the man in the overcoat laying over the kitchen countertop like it’s a bed.

All three of them lounge in silence, all of them with miserable, dreary expressions, jaded after the long day that had beat them until they were left numb. The one on the countertop just exhausted and eager to pass the day with his open overcoat draped over the sides, and the one by the corner almost clutching to the walls to try seeping any comfort she can from the dirt-composite surface with her arms wrapped around her bare chilling knees.

Specifically the woman in the blazer of whom was the most disturbed, scarred from the horrors in a chain that she had produced, her soft green eyes directed to the floor which slowly blink every few seconds, meditating on the events of the day. Her amber bangs rest right over those eyes, shadowing them in the darkness as they wave back and forth from the air passing inside.

That is until distant heavy, hawking coughing is heard past the hole, coughing of a familiar sound and familiar intensity, sequenced over an extended period which pulls her attention up from the ground, her expression morphing to a concerned perplexion.

Eventually the coughing subsides, and a few moments later beyond the hole the man in the leather jacket steps into view before then stepping through the hole which had become the new default entrance despite the proper one being right beside it.

He walks inside the house with his arms by his side, a subtle blue flash appearing over his inner right sleeve, his hair waving from the outdoor breeze as his dismal azure eyes inspect the interior, confirming everyone’s presences.

Immediately upon the entry, all three of those inside the house spring to life, Kokei turning her head up to him but most especially Ekitai who sits up straight instantly, his coat unwrinkling as he stretches his arms and yawns exhaustedly.

He then puts his arms down after the yawn to quip amusingly, “So just to make sure, you didn’t leave it outside again right?”

A combination of a genuine inquiry but also a light jab, Meditat lightly tsks almost in a snicker before then shaking his head and assuring, “I have it in a secure location, trust me. We will not have any further robbery dilemmas pertaining to it from here on out.”

Ekitai nods his head and slips off of the countertop to his feet, chuckling as while he did have squabbles with the decision making of his comrade prior, those disagreements have passed as he no longer shows genuine aggression.

Instead, he gives a soft grin as the only able to and remarks, “Good to know, I mean hey I guess it gave us an adventure for toda-,” before his thoughts catch up to his speech to which his smile falls to a frown, and in the realization of the context behind what he was about to say he opts to silence himself and nods his head before inserting, “Never mind, good to know, yeah.”

Having caught onto Ekitai’s string but also acknowledging his recovery, Meditat nods to him understandingly before his attention is brought elsewhere upon Kokei’s voice which mutters: “It just doesn’t make any sense,” to which he faces said speaker with a raised eyebrow.

Also perplexed is Dana and Ekitai, who all turn to Kokei who remains sitting at the corner with her arms wrapped around her legs, her head resting against the wall as her eyes remain on the floor at first.

That is until she lifts her head off the wall and turns her gaze to Meditat, to whom she directs, “That entire thing was completely unnecessary, we didn’t need to do any of that.”

Taken aback by the sudden harshness and somewhat insensitivity to what had just transpired, Dana steps off of the wall and towards Kokei before she continues still on the floor, “I mean didn’t you say before that your pod isn’t really modded or anything? Like you didn’t want to for whatever reason? So like…it should be easy then to just make another one right? I mean hey, we found out that your brother drove a pod inside your house without bringing it in so clearly you should be capable of creating one yourself.”

Ekitai tilts his head with unease to Kokei’s point, agitated by the sudden direct, nearly borderline aggressive points.

Unwrapping her knees and bringing her arms to her side, Kokei maintains eye contact with sharp pink eyes as she appends, “And even ignoring that, I thought I remembered hearing about you having made things like that, even more complicated. I mean it’s the same thing with when you had to take Ekitai to buy his ingredients, you could’ve just straight up made them for him on the spot and then you would’ve had a whole day to focus on work. I mean like really, what is the point of the power to create if you never use it, I mean I sort of get hiding it in public because you don’t want to be found or whatever but behind closed doors there’s no reason not to.”

In front of both Meditat and Ekitai, Kokei climbs up to her feet against the wall, rubbing against the dirt material that’s composing what is meant to be their house but has much to be desired.

Standing up straight, Kokei stares eye to eye with Meditat as she proceeds with a ferocious glare, “Actually wait no I don’t even get that ‘hiding from public’ thing either, I mean I didn’t know who you were until I almost died a bunch trying to save you. Like what, so you just play dead for a whole ten years while the entire Superverse is falling to shit, I mean I’ll admit maybe I felt this a bit harder because I live on Earth 50 where gangs started growing like weeds after they found you were gone but I mean you have to know it affected everywhere too, and like so what, you could just sit around in your big house all day and mope??”

Next to Meditat who just stands frozen, Ekitai steps forward with wide apprehensive eyes, holding his hand out and extinguishing, “Oy oy Kokei, I get it that we’re all tired, I mean today was a pretty big day but maybe we should tone it dow-,”

Not even letting her best friend finish the suggestion, Kokei begins to approach Meditat with slow steps every couple seconds whilst adding, “And I’ll admit, at first when I learned who you were, I did let everything you did to me slide, what like borderline kidnapping me from the start and all, but it never really did stop there did it? Like how long have we been running away from that guy before we even knew who he was? I mean this whole time I thought you never even had a personal relationship with him, everyone just figured he was some random psychopathic murderer with similar powers to you, I mean I guess those few conspiracy theorists out there were correct but like, you could’ve maybe let us know when we all signed up to literally go on the run just for you? But I mean hey I guess even knowing you’re meant to be twins I can’t really see it, I mean I never really got why you look like you could have grandkids but I guess I figured maybe it was something that came with the powers but your brother looked completely fine to me, hell you guys look more like father and son than brothers.”

Disturbed by the cruel insults, Dana steps towards Kokei with her hand out, compelling: “Kokei!” only to be entirely ignored as Kokei instead continues her slow march, sneering furthermore, “And actually on that note, even when you DO use your powers which is like never, I mean I guess most people will just go ‘ooh’ over the gimmick but like come to think of it, you’ve made basically just surfaces, like you made domes, platforms, spheres, walls, more walls, like I mean hey a lot of people can create constructs but I sort of thought the ‘hero of Versepolis’ could do more than that. I mean like really we should’ve NEVER had to start this, you should’ve been able to put your brother down or at least not be so humiliated that we are literally on the other side of the Superverse to run away from ONE guy! Like I didn’t want to say it but wow was that embarrassing, I mean people crown you as the strongest Exhuman but I’m pretty sure we’ve already met people who have done exactly everything you’ve shown so far. Like you think you’re so cool when you just left us in your house alone all that time like you didn’t need us but really what can you do, I mean no wonder it took you a goddamn decade to get rid of those two gangs, that’s something I’d hear you cleaning up in days or at the very most weeks on the news.”

Getting close to Meditat –who just blankly stares at her with a just barely discernible frown– as Ekitai backs away from the growingly belligerent behavior of his best friend, Kokei shuns with growing rage, “And I know you’re keeping more secrets, I mean none of us would need perception powers to know that, and you just sort of expect us to go along with your suicide missions without a say, just go along because you definitely know what you’re doing; I mean I thought this whole thing would be a couple days max, we’ve been out here for what’s felt like MONTHS! SERIOUSLY! I mean GOD it hurts, it hurts SO MUCH to have seen you in THIS light for so long, to have borderline WORSHIPED you for all these years, to have finally met the man who’s saved MY life GOD knows how many times and learn the TRUTH:,” to which Dana turns her head to Kokei with wide, horrified eyes.

Frozen in place, Meditat does nothing but watches Kokei who steps right in front of him only a few feet apart, her face fuming red, her irises even giving a faint light.

Right in front of the isolated man, Kokei presses her fingers against Meditat’s chest as her eyes light up on an enraged face and she roaringly reviles, “ONLY TO FIND OUT HE WAS THIS MUCH OF A PATHETIC FUCKING FAILURE!!!!”

In an instant gold dash appears Dana right behind Kokei, her golden eyes in a blazing glare as she snatches Kokei’s other wrist and yanks with such strength that her own bangs shift, a yank that spins Kokei and pulls her off Meditat as Dana furiously orders, “KOKEI, YOU’RE COMING WITH ME!!!! RIGHT NOW!!!”

Immediately Kokei’s burning glare morphs into a horrified anxiety to the putrid animosity from the otherwise tender friend, and she opens her mouth to rebuke but is cut off by another harsh yank which pulls her away from Meditat, who just blankly stares forward at where she once stood, slowly blinking with a closed mouth as beside him Ekitai watches fraught at the escalation.

Both of the men watch as Dana drags Kokei straight out of the living room and down the hallway with such an intensity never before demonstrated, for a chink was made to her pure heart.

Dragging her with such sharp yanks that weren’t even fully necessary to move her, she brings Kokei all the way down the hallway before then stepping into the furthest bedroom, dragging Kokei along with her whose arm is fully extended as the other swings.

Silently Meditat watches with the same miserable eyes always worn, watching beside Ekitai who opposite to him exhibits the most emotion thus far, for his yellow eyes shimmer almost watery, speechless as only seconds later he starts hearing violent shouting from inside the bedroom.

The shouting isn’t brief but rather continuous with the same potency of rage baked in, potency that Meditat just stares blankly at with a slight frown and tired eyes which blink every few seconds. Next to him also silently Ekitai stares, appalled with an open jaw to the worsening state of the eternal day.

Inside the bedroom where Kokei stands against the far wall with her head down almost like an ashamed child, the analogous furious mother, that being Dana, blasts while throwing her hands, “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, KOKEI??!! HAVE YOU NOT AT ALL BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON, TO ALL THE SHIT WE, NO, HE’S BEEN HAVING TO DEAL WITH?!?! AND YOU REALLY THOUGHT THAT WAS THE BEST THING TO SAY?? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO DO??!”

Truly that was delivered as a question, and yet it receives no answer as instead Kokei just stares at the ground, biting her lip shut with a discomforted, terrorized face only partially visible from between strands of the pink hair draping over her.

Releasing a heavy sigh through her hands to try calming herself down albeit not very effectively, Dana drops her hands and mentions, “You know something, Kokei, there is one decision of Meditat’s that I do truly disagree with, you know which one it is?”

Confused and slightly intrigued, Kokei begins to raise her head up in curiosity, only for it then to be revealed, “Letting you two stay at the house after the Watchdogs and Gen S were dismantled. Because the plan really was to send you back to your homes and have it end just like that; I knew it, he knew it, and it really should have ended that way. But you WANTED to stay. You ASKED him if you could stay. And for whatever reason he actually let you just live there rent free because really Kokei do you not realize just how much he has handed you? For whatever reason I think he actually likes you two, even though you’ve been constantly showing nothing but disrespect. And you want to keep bitching about how much you hate being here but did you forget that you agreed to join? You really, REALLY did not need to, I mean nobody was making you, hell nobody was ASKING you, actually he was the one asking us NOT to. And your friend is surprisingly kind and sure he’s a bit of a nutcase but he’s actually been helpful, but you just make it harder on him all the time, you clearly didn’t want to be here so why are you here Kokei? Because honestly if this is how you feel then I can’t list a single, ONE reason why you should even be here with us right now.”

Again being presented with another question, Kokei just stands against the wall with her head down. However, while she is quiet, she is not silent.

From below her face, a few droplets of water are relinquished, falling down all the way until impacting the rocky floor where they’re immediately absorbed into the brownish orange rocks that function as the only flooring of the house.

Whereas at first Dana showed fiery rage of hell itself, upon being met by the sight her expression shifts slightly back to a tender concern, her eyes widening as now she is able to discern the sounds being quiet sobs.

Cornered against the wall, Kokei brings both of her hands up and begins wiping her face, one hand after the other, and in between her sobs there is a soft murmur: “I’m sorry.”

Upon hearing that first speech, Dana opens her mouth and takes a step forward, her aggression watered down after hearing the pained response.

On the wall, Kokei continues trying to wipe her face but ultimately gives up, instead placing her hand below her watery pink eyes as between sobs she again but louder declares, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry….” Streaks of tears have already embedded themselves onto her cheeks visible as strands of her hair were moved away from her wiping.

Against the wall Kokei begins to slide down, returning to the ground slowly before falling with her knees curled up in front of her again, brought back down.

Tears collect on her knees and hands as she reflects tearily, “You’re right…you’re so right…I chose to be here…because I thought I could handle it.”

Upon the answer, Dana tilts her head, now more confused, and she steps again towards Kokei by the wall, drenched by Kokei’s sorrow.

Over Dana’s shoulder Kokei keeps her head low as she realizes, “I’m burdening all of them…just because I wanted to be able to be here…. I thought maybe I could handle something again. Something real. Ekitai was right…I haven’t changed at all…I’m still the same naive little girl I was all those years ago back at home…the only difference now is I can’t even do anything.”

Kneeling down in front of Kokei, Dana turns her head and softly asks, “Home…?” with perplexed intrigue.

In front of Dana, Kokei nods her head and wipes her eyes before explaining, “I wasn’t actually born here…in fact the only person I still have contact with from my old home is Ekitai…. But I used to have so many friends there…I used to be so close to the community that everyone knew who I was, the batshit crazy adventurer who could and would do anything, they first thought I was in over my head with all I spurted out but I pushed myself to the top and proved them wrong. I used to fight just about anything that harmed my friends, I would push myself to be the very best I could and the further I went the more friends I had and the more people saw me as capable of anything. Hell, I think I might actually be at fault for why Ekitai is the way he is…he used to actually be timid and reserved…he still sees me as I used to be and looks up to me for it but it hurts because I know he’s telling himself a lie. He was part of my close group of friends, we’d adventure together and always hang out together, and even as time went on and we grew to follow our own paths we still did our best to keep connection…at least they did….”

After wiping her tears again, her voice partially begins to clear up as she continues to elaborate, “But I kept going forwards, I kept trying to seek out adventures that would make me stronger, and even over time I stopped showing up to meetings and hangouts, overtime I stopped being around them. It was such an asshole thing to do, but I stopped looking back and I just wanted to see how far I could go, how much I could become. It felt like my world had infinite possibilities and I wanted it all, even if that meant ditching the people who made me who I was.”

In silence Dana earnestly listens to Kokei continue, “The worst part was they still kept memory of me, they were still looking up to me, proud of me, if anything as I stopped kindling those connections they just figured I was growing up, moving onto bigger things. And maybe I was, I was getting stronger and smarter, I met with people whom others only heard of in legends, people so powerful that I could only dream of how fun their lives were. But there was nothing beyond the dreams, because they weren’t like that, they had everything yes but they didn’t flaunt it or have fun with it, they were just cooped up in their own spaces alone, and they told me about how they’d come to realize how fake it all was, how they wished they could leave but just couldn’t bring themselves to so they’d instead spend an eternity alone, trapped in their own pen with nothing to truly do.”

Kokei rubs her right eye before then recalling, “And at first I didn’t believe her- them, I didn’t believe those words, it just felt so unbelievable especially because my reality just felt so vast like I could never even understand it all before my death. But over time…those words started to rub off me…I started to learn about a bigger world out there…a bigger reality out there that I didn’t know of, one teeming with life and possibilities impossible in my own home, one that I couldn’t help but envy. And…that made me start seeing my own home differently. I felt like I had eventually peaked, like I had it all but there was nowhere to go, there was nothing to do, like I wasn’t even alive. And…god I’m so awful for saying this…but I even started to see people differently. Like they weren’t…’full.’ Like they weren’t real…even Ekitai. And I tried so hard to get over that feeling, I tried so hard to repress it and keep smiling and keep loving my home like I did back when I was so young and was so full of wonder…but I just couldn’t. I just couldn’t stay happy there. So I did the worst thing imaginable.”

Again after rubbing her face and then opening her coruscating pink eyes, she reveals: “I left, but after spending my entire life ingraining myself as deeply into the community as possible, making myself the center of as much as I could, my departure destroyed everything. It was a small world…and they needed me…and I made myself dependable…and then I just left. And I went so far away, so far that I could escape it all permanently…even Ekitai…. And so I came here. And it was just what I thought, there was so much variety of life, so many different types of people, so many crazy inventions and sciences, so many cultures and at first it was everything I wanted, the perfect adventure, something I could spend the rest of my life exploring and never feel bored. And somehow one day I ran into Ekitai, honestly to this day I don’t know how he got there too and he never really explained it, and at first I was so scared that he’d hate me and resent me and wanted to take revenge, after all it was deserved. But he wasn’t like that at all, he was just happy to find me, and we managed to rekindle our friendship for a while, and we had all these ideas of what we’d explore and the great adventures we could have just like old times.”

Kokei slightly lowers her head and speaks in a softer voice, following: “But over time I started to feel like maybe I did something wrong…that maybe I wasn’t actually as special as I thought I was and that I wasn’t cut out for this place. I mean it’s terrifying, all these wars popping up, these giant superhuman armies and whatnot, and I was eager to sink my teeth into all of it but gradually more and more I found myself falling back, doubting, choosing to not. It felt like I was starting to bite more than I could chew, and that the adventurous lifestyle was something that maybe I could do at my home, but not here. So eventually I had to give it up and find another way to live because well there was no going back, and at first I figured Ekitai would feel the same way but turns out he was actually more of an adventurer than me, he was having no problem at all. So he kept adventuring while I settled for a life in a city, just picking up basic retail work, just living in basic apartments, the most mediocre life possible after having sought out so much. But I told myself I was happy this way…I’d even start looking down on the thought of adventuring, like it was something childish and immature. I even started trying to get Ekitai to quit and settle but he wouldn’t budge, and slowly we started distancing again, but this time it was him going on ahead with life while I was stuck. And even then over time I could feel myself regressing even standing still, seeing all this news about these superheroes going around on their own adventures saving the city, and meanwhile I started needing to rely on those superheroes when I had my own falters that I couldn’t deal with myself. It’s part of why I was so obsessed with Meditat…he just felt like what I was trying to be…and when he saved me all those years ago from that fire I was left with this bittersweet feeling that I was now the regular helpless victim, and I was watching people above me live out their fantasies.”

Heavily Kokei sighs and plants her head on her kneecaps, and she circles back gently, “And then on that one day I was feeling especially bored with my office job so I invited Ekitai over to hear his ramblings because they’d excite me like I was some a child being read bedtime stories. But then you all showed up too, and then my apartment was crashed by that squad, and at first I ran at the thought that I couldn't do anything about it, but then I had this spark that maybe, just maybe this was my moment to get back on the trail. So I took that moment and ended up waking up stuck in that other house, and at first I felt like all I did was cause other people more problems and that I was no more than a bystander which got me upset, but when that whole big battle was going on, I talked with Ekitai and he told me how he felt like this was his opportunity for the journey of a lifetime, like of all the crazy shenanigans he’s been through this one particular weird old guy was the key to the best adventure. And I was mesmerized by that thought, and in a desperate act I put myself in there, and I might’ve almost died more times than I could count like by god that was SCARY…but also…I don’t know…I felt that spark again…and I liked it, and when I learned who that weird old guy really was it felt like a fantasy and I couldn’t help but try pouncing on it as much as I could…even if it was horribly selfish in retrospect…. And I guess after that big attack from Exitium and hearing you all talk about hopping to other planets…I wasn’t even thinking straight because I just wanted more, I was chasing that high. But look at where it got me…heh…I’m still just a bystander, I know Meditat has had to save me more times than I’ve made up for, I know I’ve been nothing but an inconvenience here…,”

Then as the revelation begins to dawn on her, she grabs the sides of her head with expanding eyes, rocking back and forth as she concludes with the realization, “...and I took all that frustration out on my own idol…you’re right…something’s so wrong with me…something’s so, so wrong with me….”

Now understanding the situation, Dana frowns in reference to the merciless lambasting she just delivered, and she lowers her head in contemplation after being brought such a heavy load of insight, insight that recontextualized the entire image Dana had for her. And yet despite all that context, in the end the decisions made were still made, and the actions that spurred such a dramatic outburst of hers were still executed on someone she cared deeply for to a degree that couldn’t be outweighed so easily.

After coming to a conclusion, Dana raises her head and meets eye to eye with Kokei, who slips her hands down and follows the green gaze, clinging to any advice she could get after such an atrocious mistake.

With an absolute sincerity, no smile, hardly even a detectable remorse, Dana borderline orders: “You need to apologize to him, and soon. Now I’m not asking you to suddenly be best friends with him, I’m not even asking you to particularly try being friends with him, and I’m going to put this very bluntly but after this is all done with I want you to really think on if you are able to and truly want to stick around us any longer because what is going on is very real and we cannot afford these internal conflicts. I’m not going to ask you to get stronger and suddenly just be better either, I understand that’s not something that can be easily done. But what I am telling you is that until this threat passes, no more insults, no more arguing, you follow with the plan and if you have any issues with it you come straight to me and not him, do I make myself clear?”

With teary eyes but a full comprehension of the order, Kokei gulps and nods her head with a quiet “Mm” before then sniffling and wiping her eyes as the tears seem to have passed, and the mood of them both has settled down.

She then raises her head as the silhouette grows taller and its shadow grows over her amongst the sound of ruffling clothes.

In front of Kokei who kneels against the wall stands Dana, who despite all screaming and quarreling, stretches her arm out to offer her open tender hand, and even after all of the dramatic brutality she has the capacity to shine a warm smile, one of the same angelic grace she always had, for she still offers sympathy to her friend to the end with twinking green irises.

Faced with the open hand, Kokei can’t help but to weakly smile with red cheeks, embarrassed ultimately but grateful to be shown such unconditional kindness, her pink irises glimmering.

In the air remains the open hand, its wrist wrapped by the cuff of the black blazer, and meeting it is the hand from below whose wrist is draped over by the cuff of the white hoodie. The two open hands meet in the middle where they clasp, alas bringing a conclusion to the heated argument.