Ana woke the next morning to soft muffled murmurs that seemed to be coming from a faraway distance.
She stirred slowly, first noticing that, for once, she was in her own apartment, and her own bed, second noticing that her wrists that were just above her head, and for the first time since she got her powers, they didn't feel hot, throbbing, or swollen. She rolled onto her back and pulled her wrist further into her line of sight, dreading the condition of her skin.
With bated breath she observed her wrist and arms, a feeling of relief slowly washing over her as she saw her wrists were no longer large and swollen like they were yesterday, nor were they red and enflamed. There was still a bit of bruising and some burn marks but even those seemed to be fading.
With a newfound energy that she hadn't had in nearly a week, Ana quickly ripped her bed covers off of her body and dashed out into her apartments small living room at record speed.
As Ana zipped out into the living room, the sight in front of her made her stop dead in her tracks and her smile falter.
Tiffany was in her apartment sitting on the couch, which wasn't really a surprise, she came here often, but it was who she was joined by that gave her a jolt. Tiffany had her arms crossed and was giving the politest glare to none other than Megumi, who seemed aloofly unfazed by her demeanor, and a few feet away from them was Tony standing at her dinner table, setting down a large eco bag and staring between the two of them apprehensively. None of them were saying anything.
"Uhm, hello?" Ana called out to the tense atmosphere.
Immediately it was like a switch was flipped and all the previous tension melted away and became replaced with concern.
"Ana! You're awake!" Tiffany exclaimed, hoping off the couch and running over to Ana. "How do you feel? Are you okay? Dizzy? Lightheaded?" "Well, I didn't before but after your rapid-fire questioning…" Ana trailed off, getting whiplash. "How're your hands?" Megumi asked, cocking her head slightly to get into Ana's line of vision. Tiffany quickly blocked her. "I'm- They're fine.." Ana's eyes darted between Tiffany and the spot Ana could just barely see Megumi.
Ana let out a nervous chuckle, "What's going on you guys?" She asked them.
Tiffany put a hand on her hip and gave Ana a look that feigned innocence. "Nothing," She said in a high pitched tone that made Ana narrow her eyes at her. She recognized that tone, and it was always the tone that Tiffany used every time she was guilty of something.
"You know you're an awful liar." Ana said flatly.
Tiffany sighed. "In MY defense-!" She exclaimed exasperatedly. "She wasn't too happy that I asked to visit you." Megumi said flatly. "Yeah! Wouldn't you? I hear that my best friend suffers some horrible accident that YOU know about and you say you don't think it's in my best interest to know what happened?! Hello! How would you feel if someone said that to you?!" Ana looked wide eyed between the two of them, then a quick glance back at Tony who was now grimacing at the pair. Megumi didn't look phased. "I meant I didn't feel it was good for either of us for me to disclose that information. It wasn't my place to say anything. If Ana didn't tell you herself, I'm not going to either, she clearly has a reason for not doing so. If she didn't want you to know maybe you shouldn't force it."
"Wha-?!" Tiffany exclaimed. Ana mirrored Tony's expression and quickly jumped between the two of them. "Listen-" "No- You listen! Why does she know what's going on with you when you've only known her like three days! We've been friends for years!" "I-" Ana spluttered "I mean you don't know that." Megumi stated flatly. "Not helping!" Ana hissed to her.
"Well," The trios attention went to Tony who was still standing in the dark area of the dinner table, still clutching the eco bag and looking like a scared animal in the corner. If Ana wasn't in a particularly stressful situation, she would've laughed, however given the fact that her best friend was about to strangle her slightly oblivious, but also incredibly powerful, acquaintance, unbeknownst to Tiffany of course.
"Ana did say that she met with someone who went through a similar accident.." Tony said quietly.
Tiffany sneered. "How do we know you aren't the one responsible for the accident?" She said with a heavy accusatory tone. Megumi raised her eyebrows at her. "And gain what?" She asked in her usual monotone voice. Tiffany stuttered angrily for a moment before Ana cut in again.
"I trust Megumi. And she had nothing to do with my accident, I swear I will tell you in the future, but.. now just isn't the right time. Please understand." Ana said putting herself in Tiffany's line of vision. Tiffany deflated in exasperation. "I just don't get why this is so hard for you to tell me…" She whined. "What is it about this accident that has you acting so fucking weird?! I'm your friend Ana, I just want to help you."
"I know you do.. Just-" "If you're her friend at least respect that she doesn't want to tell you in the moment. It's not going to kill you if you don't know everything that's happening in her life, you're not her mom." Megumi said bluntly.
Tiffany leveled her with a fierce glare that made Ana falter and take an unconscious step away from her. She glanced back to Ana, then Megumi with a look that could kill before spitting out, "Fine. You don't wanna tell me, you don't want my help? I'll go. Have fun with the life of the party over here." With that, she spun on her heel and walked out of the apartment, ignoring Ana's exasperated calls for her, though she wasn't sure what she was going to say. She chased after Tiffany, and watched her disappear down the apartment's hallway and presumably down to the lobby.
Ana sighed and flapped her arms in frustration.
"She'll come around Ana." Tony said quietly from inside the apartment. She turned on her heel and walked inside, closing the door behind her. "So what are you doing here?" Ana asked in a much moodier tone. Tony grimaced at her demeaner but pulled some small containers out of the bag he was holding and set them on the table.
"Fruit." He said simply. "My aunt said it should help you get better.. so I.. got them for you.." He finished quietly.
Ana felt her expression soften at the gesture, picking up a container of fresh strawberries. "I- wow, thank you, you shouldn't have." Ana said, fighting back a smile. Tony flushed, "Just worried about you I guess." The two of them stood in silence for a few minutes before Megumi cleared her throat in the background, getting their attention.
"Gah-"
"Uhh,"
The two looked at each other awkwardly, Ana making pointless gestures with her hands that she knew she would overthink later.
"I should go.." Tony trailed off. "You guys clearly have stuff to talk about and that.. clearly doesn't involve me, I'll get out of your hair.." "I- It's fine!" Ana exclaimed, mentally kicking herself over a ball of nerves she didn't normally have. "We just, I uhm- Thank you, again, sorry for.." Ana gestured to the door with her hand making Tony chuckle and shake his head. "It's fine, I have things to do today anyways." He told her.
Tony hoisted the straps of the bag over his shoulder and stepped towards the door.
"Glad to see you're feeling better though Ana," He told her, reaching for the doorhandle. "And uh- nice to meet you I guess, Megumi." Megumi offered a stiff nod as Tony awkwardly waved to the two of them and shuffled out of the apartment.
After he had left, Ana turned to Megumi, who had the same expression on her face.
"Dude!" Ana exclaimed. Megumi didn't flinch. "Yes?" Ana sighed before picking up the fruit containers and putting them in her fridge, grabbing a strawberry to munch on as she walked over to Megumi. "I was just trying to explain why I didn't want to tell her anything." Megumi muttered quietly.
Ana sighed for what felt like the twentieth time that morning.
"I get that but," Ana paused for a moment trying to think of the correct thing to say. "She's very, she's just-" "I was too blunt wasn't I?" Megumi asked. Ana pursed her lips. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Didn't mean to upset anyone." Megumi said quietly.
Ana shook her head. "It's fine! She'll forget about it in like two hours, she's probably at a cozy café right now confused as to why she's even mad, she gets like that sometimes." Megumi hummed but Ana was unable to tell if she was convinced or not.
"So what's up?" Ana asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"It's the final day, I came by to see how you were holding up." Megumi told her. Ana sat down on her couch, Megumi followed. "I feel much better today," She said after a few moments of thought. "Yesterday my wrists were super super swollen, and.. I ended up losing control.." Ana heard Megumi take in a sharp breath. "But no one got hurt!" Ana added quickly. She took in a deep breath. "But it made me think that I really need to get a better hold on this power," Ana looked down at the half-eaten strawberry in her hands. "There was also this other thing," Ana said turning over the strawberry. "When I was in the dinner, I felt drawn to this backroom we have there. Like something was calling me, I kept trying to go back into it but I wasn't able to. And it was so weird to me because I spent the whole day avoiding that room." "Why were you avoiding it?" Megumi asked. Ana swallowed. "It was where I found the rings." She said. "It was where I transformed." Megumi hummed and thought for a moment. "How exactly did you find number fourteen?" Megumi asked her.
Ana thought for a moment. "They were in a box. Full of packing peanuts." Ana scrunched up her face thinking back to the day that felt like it was much farther ago than it actually was. "The rings were glowing in the box, I was worried that they were lights that had been left plugged in and I was worried it was going to start a fire. I held them in my hand, like an idiot, and didn't pay any attention to the obvious warning signs, like the rings being hot, and the fact that I had never noticed these bright glowing things before.
I looked at the outside of the box to find any sign of what these things were, and by the time I noticed Zalic's name and logo on the box, it was already too late. The rings had sunken into my skin and, well.." Ana trailed off as she looked at the affected hand. There was still a large dip in her palm and an ugly scar from the hours of burning she endured that night.
Megumi hummed as she processed Ana's story.
When Ana looked over at her however, she was a bit put off by the strange look on Megumi's face. It was like she was remembering something traumatic from her own memory. "That's Zalic at work." She said at last, making Ana's jaw drop slightly. "Zalic added something into the mutation to lure hosts back to the place they got transformed. The logo on the box contains a tracking device so she's able to find them if I'm unable to. It's a good thing you were unable to get back to that box." Megumi looked at Ana with a gaze of such ferocity that she didn't think Megumi was capable of mustering.
"The second you would've touched that logo it would've alerted her and she would've come looking for you. That's how she got Magnetron."
Ana vaguely knew that Magnetron was a super that popped up a year after Electrina. She found him slightly more concerning, and she even felt bad for him because he always seemed to be in a trance. She remembered a video that had surfaced where he once got caught by police and once they touched him, he had no idea where he was or what was happening.
The memory of that video made Ana's blood boil. She dug her fingernails into the strawberry, the juices pouring down her fingers in some sort of protest.
"I don't want Zalic to continue to get away with what she's doing. A few months ago, I was terrified of her, and I still am, and the thought of putting myself in her line of fire is absolutely horrifying but…. If no one stands up to her, she'll continue to convert people into super soldiers and who knows what she'll do once she does that, she's powerful enough with that, what happens if she gets that element she's looking for.."
Ana bit the inside of her lip, flipping her words over again and again in her head.
She saw Megumi lean a bit closer to her. "So..?" Ana let out a breath through her nose. "Everything needs an opposing force," Ana said meekly, looking up at Megumi with a slight grin. "I want to be that opposing force."
For the first time since Ana had known her, Megumi broke out into a soft relieved smile.