************************
"Ana! Did you see that shit? She just wiped the floor- er- concrete with him!"
Ana chuckled on the other end. "Yeah, I saw." "Where were you! We were freaking out at the diner!"
Ana took a long draw from her vape, her chest feeling heavy from the smoke in her lungs, kicking her feet as she sat on the edge of the rooftop of her apartment. She had nursed a majority of her injuries and was currently on the phone with Stephanie after she had somehow managed to escape the public eye and alleviate medical attention, then slipped back into her apartment unseen.
"I saw it," Ana reassured her again. "It was crazy, I heard this was the first time Hail Storm was apprehended, that's gotta be massive news." Ana said before taking another hit from her vape, puffing the vanilla smoke back out of her lungs. "Yeah no shit!" Stephanie exclaimed and Ana heard something fall on the other line. "But not just that- this was like- the first time anything like this has ever happened!" Stephanie was practically yelling. "This is that type of shit that only happens in comic books! But now it's happening to us in real life! At first, I thought this new hero was like a one-time thing, but now she's proven herself to be actually capable of change and not just all talk!"
Ana laughed at her friends' antics, giggling along with her excitement, filled with pride that her friend liked her super hero persona. "I think she's cool too." Ana said through her giggles. "Has anything else come out of the situation thought?" Ana asked once the two of them had calmed down. "I'm outside now so I don't know what happened after Psycha left." Ana said. "Wha- where are you?" Stephanie asked. "I'm on the roof." Ana said, tilting her head back as the cool breeze blew through her hair.
"Whyy…" Stephanie drawled on the other end.
Ana snorted. "If I smoke in my apartment the old lady next door complains that I'm worshipping the devil to the landlord." Ana could feel Stephanie's eyeroll over the phone. "Geez… Anyway he got away again." Ana jolted so hard she almost fell off the roof. "WHAT?!" She yelled, startling some nesting birds on the other side of the rooftop. "Don't yell…" Stephanie scolded. Ana raised an eyebrow as if she hadn't been yelling the whole phone call. "But yeah after Psycha left they got him in the car in handcuffs, but when they got to the station he used his powers to escape because- well, y'know… The police don't have a way to cancel out those powers."
Ana groaned and leaned back against the ground. "Are you serious…"
Stephanie let out a humorless laugh. "They at least got the bag of stuff he stole.." She said. Ana rolled her eyes. "And what was in it…?" She said flatly. "Like a hundred and sixty bucks and some snacks." Stephanie told her. Ana stared blankly at the midnight sky. "There was some toothpaste in there too."
Ana wordlessly took another hit from her vape, putting the microphone part of her phone close enough to her mouth that Stepanie could hear her taking as long as a draw as se could muster. Stephanie burst out laughing once she realized wat the noise was, telling Ana that she was pouring a glass of whiskey as she made her way back to her living room.
"Went through all of that…" Ana muttered as the large cloud of smoke left her lips. Stephanie sighed. "Yeah… I wonder how Psycha's feeling right now, if she's even heard the news." Stepanie pondered. Ana felt the years leave her body. "I think she'd be pretty miffed, especially seeing that the police weren't exactly helpful during the whole ordeal." Ana gripped. "I mean, yeah." Stephanie agreed. "But I guess cut them a bit of slack because they don't have much experience in working with or against supers."
Ana let out a long sigh. "Yeah.. I guess you're right." She said finally. "I'm always right!" Stephanie bubbly exclaimed, making Ana roll her eyes fondly. "Anyway, my shitty reruns are back on so I'll update you later if anything happens." Stephanie told her. Ana rubbed a hand over her face. "Sure, the ones you don't watch.. right…" Ana snorted. "You got it." Stephanie said, Ana could visualize the wink, and Ana hoped Tiffany visualized the eyeroll.
The two hung up, Ana letting her hand fall to softly fall to the ground as she stared up at the night sky, taking another hit from her vape and letting her eyes fall closed, letting the cool night wind blow through her hair, reflecting on the events that had transpired earlier. After a few minutes of this however, Ana's face scrunched up as a chill ran down her spine, the wind was picking up and getting much colder, Ana didn't remember seeing rain on the weather forecast..
She went to pull her phone back up to her face to double check the weather, when she nearly dropped her phone from surprise of the sight in front of her.
Megumi was floating nearly above her, a small tornado underneath her feet as she stood staring down with her blank expression and blacked out eyes, scaring Ana half to death. "Wfdpfth-!" Ana exclaimed, scrambling to get up as Megumi lightly cocked her head at the reaction. Ana's eyes were wide as she stared back at Megumi. "Are you out of your mind?!" Ana exclaimed. Megumi cocked her head further. "Don't think so." She said simply.
Ana stood up frantically, pushing hair out of her face as she wildly looked around, confusing Megumi slightly. "What are you looking for…?" Ana stared back at her. "You can't just-" Ana wildly gestured to Megumi. "-Do this!! Anybody could see you!" Megumi didn't look concerned. Ana threw her arms up in exasperation before she grabbed Megumi's hand and pulled her down to the rooftop, to which Megumi followed wordlessly, her hair lightly bouncing from the movement.
"What are you doing here?" Ana asked. "I saw what happened." Megumi shrugged. "I knew that was you!" Ana exclaimed, making Megumi jump from the volume. Megumi's gaze softened. "Yeah, Hail Storm recognized me too. I haven't seen him yet but he'll have some entitled rant next time I do." Megumi said rolling her eyes. Ana paled slightly. "Aren't you worried about the villains recognizing you? Especially with-!" Ana gestured wildly to Megumi.
Megumi rolled her eyes. "You worry too much…" She drawled. "I'm worried because you're being reckless!" Ana yelled back. Megumi held up a hand. "We won't get anywhere with this." Ana threw up her hands in exasperation for what must have been the third time. Ana sighed and sat back down on the roof, looking up at Megumi with a raised eyebrow.
She looked at Ana's set-up with a blank expression other than a raised eyebrow, noting the bright fuchsia pink yoga mat Ana was currently sitting on, Megumi and Ana sat on the building's rooftop, Ana kicking her feet, and Megumi leaned back, looking up at the night sky.
"Is it always so…" Megumi gestured down to the busy street below. "Busy? Loud?" "Purple." Ana blinked at her then looked down to the streets below. The light from the buildings emanated a warm yellowish glow, but the lights from the taller buildings in the city lit up the sky with a soft purple ambiance. Ana smiled against the chilly night air, inhaling more of the vanilla bean smoke.
"Oh God, of course you vape." Ana heard Megumi quip from beside her. Ana looked over, affronted. "What's wrong with vaping?!" Ana exclaimed. Megumi raised her eyebrows. "You mean besides the major health risks that come with it? It smells like you're smoking a latte." Ana raised her eyebrow at Megumi. "And would you rather smell marijuana, because I have that too."
Megumi scrunched up her nose.
"Ugh, my step-brother used to smoke that shit back in high school. Smells like skunk piss." "You have a brother?" Ana asked, ignoring her last comment. Megumi sighed. "Step, brother." Ana raised her eyebrows at the distinction. "We don't get along." Megumi clarified. "Why?" Ana asked. Megumi let out a soft huff. "I didn't like his mom, she didn't like me, so her kid didn't like me either. Said I was too weird." "Your step-brother said that?" Ana asked.
"They both did, but he was a bit more vocal about it. All the things she said to him behind closed doors usually came out of him one way or another. I hope he's not in a situation that requires him to know sensitive information, that guys' a huge fucking liability." Ana chuckled, taking another hit of her vape. "What about you?" Megumi asked after a few moments of silence.
"Hm?" Ana asked, the conversation already in the back of her mind. Megumi sent her an amused look. "Do you have any siblings?" She asked softly. "Oh!" Ana flushed. "Yeah, I have two younger siblings actually. My younger sister is in her first year of college at Stanford and my little brother just graduated a few weeks ago." Ana told her.
"Damn, older sibling, huh?" Megumi asked. "Why'd your sister choose Stanford?"
Ana sighed. "She didn't. She wanted to go to JHU with me but our mom didn't want that." Megumi looked floored. "Why? Wouldn't she want her kid to go to a school that she wants?" Ana shrugged, a large puff of smoke leaving her lips. "My family and I never really got along. Our relationship was always strained when I was younger but it got really bad when I was in high school. I never really knew why. My dad and I were always close, he would always buy me toys and whatnot, he bought my first car too, but my mom didn't ever like me, and she would always start a lot of fights with my dad about me until he- just had no choice but to distance himself from me too. She made me sell the car too, didn't want me to have it, then she took the money. She was never like that with my younger siblings, they always got everything they wanted… My brother had to fight with her about getting a job because he wanted to work for his things, and also because she was a massive control freak but…"
Megumi felt a pang of sympathy for Ana. "If your mom wanted so much distance between you and didn't want you to have things then how the hell did you end up at JHU? It's a nice school and your mom doesn't seem to want you to have nice things."
Ana scrunched up her face. "On my eighteenth birthday she sat me down and told me I had six hours to get all my things, say goodbye to the rest of the family and get out of her house." Megumi flinched. "I remember breaking down and asking her where I was going to stay.. I had a job but it was a shitty nine to five that barely paid minimum wage, there was no way I could afford a place by myself. Then she kinda, leaned back and thought for a moment…" Ana felt a wave of uncomfortable nostalgia wash over her body. She could see it now. The large circle marble table with high mahogany wood chairs, the expensive flowers in the vase on the middle of the table, her mother, on the day of Ana's birthday, fresh from the salon tapping a long, manicured finger against her crossed arm with a sleek eyebrow raised at her, a look on her face that she never had with her younger siblings, not even when her little brother drove his car inro the pool.
"Ana?" Megumi said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Ana breathed in and out. "She told me that she found my acceptance letter to JHU and was going to throw it away-" Megumi felt a hot surge of anger shoot through her chest, "-But my dad had given her a suggestion. She said the two of them would pay for my school and my apartment but the catch was I had to leave immediately and not contact them anymore." Ana's eyes stinged from the memory as she remembered her own mother telling her that she never wanted to see her again. "The other part of the deal was I had to keep my grades up so my dad would keep paying for it, but she said even if I decided to drop out, she would still pay for the apartment so I wouldn't have an excuse to go back home. And y'know, I still had to find a job to pay for my food and other stuff. She literally said to my face that she didn't care if I was eating."
Megumi was floored, she thought her relationship with her stepmom was bad, this was Ana's own biological mother that made her life miserable then kicked her out for no known reason. "Did… Did she ever say why..? On that day? Did she at least give you some kind of closure?" Megumi asked. Ana leaned back and rested her weight on her arm. "I tried but…" Ana looked down, "The words didn't come out." She finished simply.
Ana and Megumi sat in silence for a while, the only sound between the two of them being the noise of the city streets below and the occasional sound of Ana taking another hit from her vape. "My dad still sends me money sometimes." Ana said, getting Megumi's attention. He doesn't say anything, doesn't even leave a note on the transaction or anything, but I know it's him. I always thought it was because he felt guilty because he couldn't o anything about my mom…"
"Bullshit." Megumi spat, making Ana look up at her in surprise. "Wha-" "I said that's bullshit. There was plenty your dad could've done.
"Shit," Megumi breathed out at last. "And here I was thinking I had it bad because my step-family didn't like me when my dad was alive." "Oh, condolences.." Ana said genuinely. Megumi waved her off. "I've coped." She said. Ana sat kicking her legs for a moment. "You said they didn't like you when he was alive.. What about..?" Megumi huffed at the unasked question.
"Now they just hate me." She said. "Why?" Ana asked. "Because I was the only one in the will." Megumi shrugged. "My dad was a lawyer who already had inherited a bunch of money from his own parents, so we lived a pretty nice life. My stepmom thought she was getting a chunk of that change when he died, only to freak out on him while he was on his deathbed because he didn't put her in the will."
"How long were they married?" Ana asked. "Few years, not really that long. The conspiracy theorist part of me thinks it was her fault he died and he knew." "What?" Ana asked. "But he reassured me it was old age, which I call bullshit on because he was on fifty-five when he died." "That's still kinda young though…" Ana commented. Megumi shrugged. "To be fair she's the reason I chose toxicology as my major," Ana looked confused, Megumi continued, "I kept looking for proof that she was poisoning him, I checked every cabinet in the house to find something that didn't belong, I was always the first to know about changes in my dad's health to the point where he would just call me the family doctor and go to me first if he had any issues so I wouldn't worry, I would even take samples of his food and send them off to a lab to be tested for poison! My dad already knew about my suspicions and even humored me by getting a blood test. Nothing came back though.."
Megumi rubbed her face with her hands.
"I heard so many of those stories about gold-diggers getting with a rich older guy to seal their futures. So naturally I was suspicious when my dad introduces me to this thirty something that looked like a wannabe Victoria's secret model." She said with a sneer.
"She told me I was just jealous, jealous that there was someone else getting my dad's attention and if I really wanted him to love me more, I would've spent more time with him when I was younger." Ana let out a hiss. Megumi shrugged. "I felt a whole world of satisfaction when she found out she wasn't included in the will though, so I guess what does it really matter?"
The two fell into another lapse of silence, the only sound between them being the noise from the traffic on the streets below, the cars looking small toys from the height the two were sitting, some of them nothing but soft dark blurs against the busy road, only illuminated by the lights from the buildings and street lamps on either side of them. Ana took a few hits from her vape every now and then, closing her eyes as she let the vanilla bean smoke fill her lungs, a feeling of bliss passing through her body as the soft puffy vapor slowly evaporated into the atmosphere.
Megumi watched the cars below with a tilted gaze, thinking back to the events of the day before, the ripped out pages, the man who had gone in to save Dr. Basil, she was just about to go home to do research on it when Hail Storm had decided to turn the city streets into an ice rink.. Which reminded her.
"You know a heart to heart wasn't exactly what I planned when I came here." Megumi broke the silence at last, making Ana's head turn lazily to the side so she could meet her gaze. "What was it then?" Ana asked. "About earlier." Megumi said simply. Ana felt her heart stop in her chest. Was Megumi angry about her confronting Hail Storm?
As if reading her thoughts, Megumi answered, "I'm not mad, if anything Hail was in for an ego check anyways," Megumi snorted. Ana relaxed as she did so. "I was just thinking it was a really good thing for your image," Megumi told her, catching Ana by surprise. "Since our first interaction people were starting to get shaky about their thoughts on you- tonight was a good way to show yourself as a legitimate threat to the villains and a competent figure for the hero side, even if it's just you."
Ana flushed under the compliment, brushing her hair out of her face as she tried not to glow under the praise. "I mean, the police are kind of on the hero side too..." Ana said. Megumi raised an eyebrow. "They were there!" Ana exclaimed, making Megumi raise her other eyebrow. "They crashed into three buildings, nearly totaled five cars, and let Hail Storm get away after you finally had him- not to mention how little help they were when you were actually fighting him earlier." Megumi rattled off.
Ana scrunched up her face, trying not to agree with Megumi despite her annoyance when she was talking about the situation with Stephanie earlier. Thinking back on that conversation Ana said, "Well it's not like the police have any experience with containing supers, and even if they did get him into the car he still probably would've broken out before they even got to the station." Megumi shrugged. "Yeah you're probably right. I saw tonight's news segment covering the whole thing before I came here, apparently the publics demanding that they work on fixing that little... hang up." Megumi said, scratching her chin.
Ana thought about that for a moment. "And how do they expect them to do that?" She asked warily, not really wanting the answer to that question.
Megumi gave her a dark look. "I think you know." She said simply. Ana gulped, but didn't say anything more on the topic. "Do you really think more supers will come out to be on the good side after this?" She changed the subject. Megumi nodded simply. "The public is already loving you- be cautious what you search about yourself online by the way-" Ana blanched. "-And if I'm able to keep supers away from Margret then hopefully they can get inspired by you and work with you to take her down."
Ana nodded, the mention of taking Margret down made her remember something. "By the way, how was your internship today?" She asked. Megumi sighed. "Overall it was fine.. Aside from the fact that I got stuck with a chatterbox for the entire time that I'm there..." Megumi grumbled, making Ana giggle. Megumi glared at her. "I guess I should be used to it by now.." She seethed, making Ana stop laughing immediately.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, Megumi ignored her. "One of the scientists I'm working under was in the facility when the incident with Dr. Basil happened. I found out something interesting that may help me get closer to finding the element." Ana blinked rapidly and stopped her ready string of protests. "Really? What was it?" She asked. Megumi leaned up and looked at the night sky.
"Firstly, we looked at some old experiments that were using barium before the accident, the stuff even just a tiny bit of the element can do is crazy..." Megumi trailed off, shaking her head when she realized she had zoned out. "And upon looking at some old notes, Dr. Pickett found that some pages from different notebooks and even some research papers had gone missing as well." Ana's face scrunched up. "And they didn't think to check that three years ago?"
Megumi shrugged. "I'm pretty sure after seeing a woman's body turn inside out then disintegrate, the other scientists were slightly unmotivated to do any further experiments." Ana cringed at the revelation. She knew Dr. Basil was destroyed but not... not like that. Taking in the uncomfortable look on Ana's face Megumi continued. "Yeah, no one else really wanted the same fate. Though something Dr. Pickett mentioned made me think about what else happened the day of the accident." "What?" Megumi gave Ana a thoughtful look.
"On the day Dr. Basil was killed by the element, Dr. Pickett mentioned a man went in the room to try and save her." Ana's eyebrows rose at the revelation. "That wasn't mentioned by any of the news outlets covering the story." Megumi nodded. "It gets weirder. There were pictures of the aftermath that got a lot of controversy because people thought it was too insensitive to share something like that with the public so they were removed- but I managed to find a few copies because, you know- nothing is truly ever gone from the internet- just out of curiosity because there was never any mention of a second body being found in the room with Dr. Basil."
Ana blinked, racking her brain for a possible explanation. "Yeah but couldn't the element have destroyed the remains?" Ana asked. "I thought so too, but look-" Megumi pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened her browser, which was on an article covering the event. Ana leaned closer to her so she could see.
"According to this article, Dr. Basil was destroyed but not so much that there was nothing left of her, there were still parts that were identified by forensics, namely an upper jaw. And that element was inside her body, yet it still left some remains. So there's no way a second body wouldn't have been found in that room after the accident."
"And the notes went missing that same day?" Ana asked. Megumi bit her lip. "I don't know for sure... They had to! It would only make sense that the gem and the notes with all the information about it would go missing the same day- and as if that isn't coincidental enough- guess what else went missing?" Ana thought for a moment. "The man wasn't identified was he?" She asked slowly. Megumi slowly shook her head.
"Think about it. Guy goes in, tragedy passes, elements missing, notes are missing, and he's missing." Megumi said, listing off the points she was making on her fingers. Ana was still in a slight state of disbelief. "And nobody's caught onto it?! Did anybody know who the man was?" Megumi shrugged, "Dr. Pickett didn't say. I can only guess he was authorized personnel, but if I don't know who, we don't get anywhere." Ana hummed.
"How do you plan to find out who he is?" Ana asked. Megumi let out a low growl in her throat. "There's two options.." She glowered, "The first is the most legal, which is asking around- surely someone from the accident remembers the guy- according to Dr. Pickett he was helping evacuate the building." Ana nodded along. "A good start... what's the... illegal version...?" Megumi blew out a puff of air. "I somehow get the security footage from that day, and go back frame by frame until I find the guy, then hunt him down and find out what he did with the element. If he's smart he'll have destroyed it." Megumi paused for a moment then nodded to herself. "Yeah, that's what- that's the best solution."
Megumi wasn't sure why she felt a pit in her stomach at the idea of the element being destroyed. It was for the best, she kept trying to convince herself. Nobody should have that power... The things that could be done with it... Megumi bit the inside of her cheek. Nobody should have that power.
Ana didn't catch Megumi's inner turmoil, nor did she notice the contemplative look on her face. "Yeah but how would he have destroyed it?" She asked. Megumi looked at her, snaping back to reality. "Maybe the notes he stole would've told him how to do it." She replied aloofly, still shaking her previous thoughts out of her head. Ana scrunched up her face slightly, clearly deep in thought.
"And you're sure this guy is the one that stole them? Megumi- what are you going to do if he isn't even alive?" Ana asked. Megumi shook her head. "There's no way he would be... Listen he must have stolen them for a reason, and it clearly wasn't for power because there's been no trace of the element since the incident." "That's another thing-" Ana interjected, looking slightly fearful now. "Megumi.... What if this guy's dangerous? I mean, we don't know anything about him, or his motivations. He could be biding his time, creating something with the element and we wouldn't even-" "For three years Ana?" Megumi boastfully cut her off, annoyance clear in her tone.
"Come on, even if this guy was a world class scientist there's no way that stuff could've been kept off the radar if he was experimenting with it. You didn't see the notes Ana, I did. And I'm telling you right now that stuff is highly destructive and incredibly difficult to contain. There had to be an entire new section in the facility for the element during the time of experimentation because just the mere presence of it in the city contaminated the water supply." Megumi said flatly, making Ana blanch even further.
Megumi rolled her eyes. "Not everything's a conspiracy Ana... And believe it or not- there are good people in this world, good people that would dedicate their lives to making sure those around them are safe." Megumi finished off her rant with a huff. looking over to Ana when she didn't get an immediate reply. She expected Ana to be somewhat affronted by Megumi calling her a conspiracy theorist, but to her surprise she found Ana looking at her with an expression Megumi could almost identify as fondness.
Megumi turned out to be the one who was affronted.
"What?" She asked Ana defensively. Ana shook her head, Megumi hoped the expression would come off with the action. It did not. "I just never thought I'd hear you of all people talking about how there's good people in the world, that's all." She said. Megumi was confused. "What do you mean?! What- like I'm some massive pessimist or something?!" She exclaimed. Ana chuckled, which annoyed Megumi even further. "I mean...." Megumi glowered at her." I just never took you for a 'there's still good in this world' type." Ana finished quickly. "Of course I believe there's still good in this world! You can't have good without bad idiot!" Ana laughed harder despite the insult, waving Megumi off.
"I know, I know! Honestly I just didn't think you were as concerned for the general public as you were getting revenge on Margret." Ana said. Megumi glared at her. "I mean, it's one of my main motivations... I can have others." She gritted out. Ana winked at her, which caught Megumi off guard. "Hey! Character development!" She laughed. "It suits you."
Megumi turned away from her, ears hot. "My character is fully developed, thank you." She mumbled. Ana snorted. "Okay bud.. sure."
The two sat bickering on the roof until the late hours of the night, finally deciding to part ways when Tiffany, who had just finished her night class, called Ana shrieking about ow many calories she must have lost from the fight, calling her various names for sitting on the rooftop vaping instead of getting in actual nutrients, and telling her that she would be at Ana's apartment within fifteen minutes.
Ana rolled her eyes fondly as Tiffany ended the call. "I should go.." She told Megumi. "Unless you want to hang out with us?" Ana offered. Megumi shook her head. "No, I think I've used up my social battery for the day, I need to go home and recharge if I've got to deal with Nathan again tomorrow." Ana snorted, picking up her things from the roof and putting them in her bag. "Yeah, you're gonna need it." She giggled as she heard Megumi groan.
Ana pulled her bag up over her shoulder and gave Megumi a small smile.
"Don't get caught." She said simply. Megumi nodded, a small gust of wind appearing at her feet as she began levitating slowly off the rooftop. "Same to you." She said. With another nod and a final wave, Megumi zoomed off the rooftop, flying off into the distance until she was nothing more than a small spec in the sky, and then she was gone.
Ana hummed softly against the late night breeze, sparing a final glance to the city below, hoping what Megumi said was true, and the man was really on their side. But something was nagging at Ana, a feeling she couldn't place, almost like a sense of deja vu and she wasn't sure why. It had something to do with her conversation with Megumi, something she said.. Was similar to something off she had said previously. Before she could ponder on it any further, Ana got another call from Tiffany, the latter brunette yelling into the phone that she was at the apartment and if Ana didn't get back in thirty seconds-
Ana shook her head at her friends antics, deciding to put her train of thought on hold to be picked up for another day, walking back down to the stairwell to face Tiffany's wrath in her apartment.