"No, I'm good. I hated that shit back then, and I hate it now."
Evan suddenly appeared behind Visuveus as he moved with such speed, he left a dust cloud in the spot he was standing previously. His hands then grabbed Visuveus' hips, and before the ex-con could protest, Evan shot up into the sky, as a shockwave pulsed out from the rooftop. Evan twirled, spun and barrel-rolled through the sky as he laughed heartily. He was having the time of his life, while Visuveus glared at him nonstop with his arms crossed. Evan knew that if Visuveus had even a single power, they would be fighting to the death in that very instant. Thankfully for Visuveus, SkyyStar was known for his rapid flight, and it only took a matter of minutes for them to fly across the City. The Star Academy came into view; however, Evan began to slow down and flew towards the ground just before they reached the Academy. Instead, they landed on a hill that was overlooking a park that was often frequented by the students of the Academy. It had benches, swings, tables and all sorts, and the instant the men touched down, Evan jumped back as quickly and as far as he could, which was just as well as an elbow viciously found its way into the space that had just been vacated by his head.
"Heh… we're here." Evan announced, looking entirely too happy.
Visuveus glared at Evan with clenched fists, before looking down at the park below.
"Why are we here, Evan?" He asked, sounding as though he had calmed down enough for Evan to join him.
"Well, we can't rightly go to the Academy, now can we? You already explained that the guards would have a field day with you, and the GPS in the wristband would give us away. That said, this park is far enough away from the Academy that even if the Judge looks at the records, you just happened to be here."
"Okay, so I ask you again, why are we here? Why are out here this late?"
"This is all for you to see your kid, dude." Evan said as he walked up to and stood alongside Visuveus, before pointing down at a bench and table set that was near the centre of the park.
There, a group of girls sat and appeared to be discussing something while eating snacks and playing on mobile phones. They all looked to be ten or so, and Visuveus' eyes widened as he looked them over. A girl with a mop of frizzy, curly hair and caramel skin was holding conversations with multiple girls, yet still looked to wholly disinterested in what was being spoken about. She was taller than most of the other girls, the longer he looked at her, the faster his heart would beat. At some point, Visuveus' fists had clenched and they began shaking as every single fibre in his being was telling him that the person he had been living his life for, for the past decade was standing just a few meters away from him. He took a second to look at Evan, who just smiled and nodded, as if to answer a question that wasn't even asked.
"That girl right there holding the attention of the group is Kukhanya Vincent – your child."
Visuveus took a moment to breath deeply and compose himself, before absolutely beaming with a smile.
"…she's tall."
"She is."
"…she looks so much like Zura."
"She does. She even has her personality dude, crazy."
"So she's stubborn, headstrong, doesn't listen, thinks she knows everything, refuses to admit when she's wrong…"
As Visuveus rattled off the personality traits that Zura had, Evan raised his hand and just shook his head nonstop.
"Preach, Vi… PREACH!"
The two actually burst out into a bout of laughter, which was brief, but still ended with them both smiling.
"She's beautiful, Evan. I seriously can't fuck up. I have to jump through every fucking hoop these people put in front of me, and keep the promise I made to take care of her. I have to."
"You will, dude. I know you will."
Evan slid his arm around Visuveus' shoulders and grinned at him.
"Who would have thought the man who was the Scourge of the Fifth Generation would be standing on a hill, talking about having to essentially become a law-abiding citizen and raise his daughter."
"I know right?" Visuveus said with a slight chuckle.
The two stood there in silence for a bit before Evan's wristband started going off, making a horrible racket.
"What the?! Talk about timing!" Evan remarked as he stepped to the side and tapped on his band, pulling out a holographic display. "Shit, looks like I gotta go, Vi. The RynoNaut is going on a rampage, and considering how that dude is an A League Supervillain, I've been requested to go and provide assistance. Dude, sorry about this, but I gotta go."
"Wait a minute Evan, you're my fucking ride! Do you have any idea how much cab fare from here to my stop in the CBD is?!"
Once again, Evan wasn't listening, as he pressed a few buttons on his band and began spinning. A bunch of large golden stars started dancing off Evan's skin, and the faster he spun, the more he not only glowed, but produced stars. He started to use his cheesy SkyyStar laugh as this happened and moments later, and with a puff of star laden smoke, Evan – now SkyyStar – stood in his costume, with a massive grin on his face, legs spread and hands on hips. His cape fluttered, his eyes glowed, and he shot Visuveus a look that made the ex-con shudder and flinch a tad. He then saluted and grinned extra wide, and small stars glinted all across his pearly white teeth.
"Ha ha ha, forgive me citizen – I must FLLLLYYYYYYYY!! Ha HAAAAAAAA!! SKYYYYY STAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!"
SkyyStar spun a few times and shot out golden stars for good measure, before leaping off with such force that he split the ground.
"HE'S STILL SO LAME!!!" Visuveus boomed as he watched SkyyStar fly off with a trail of starts following him.
While the girls down below all gasped and made a huge fuss over Evan as he flew over them, there was one girl who didn't care at all about the man the Academy was named after. Instead, she looked directly towards where he had taken off from, and looked with eager, unblinking eyes. There, she saw Visuveus, who was still looking at SkyyStar and shaking his head disapprovingly while mumbling something about him being unbearably lame. Visuveus could tell however that he was being watched, and he looked down to find that KK was looking directly at him. The pair locked eyes, and held each other's gazes for what felt like both an eternity, as well as moment. Visuveus stood with his hands in his pockets, while KK sat on a table looking at him with her eyes about as open as they could be. She was struggling not to blink, but she held his gaze for as long as she possibly could before succumbing and blinking. There was visible relief on her face after she opened her eyes and saw he was still there, and the two acted as though they wanted to do something, but didn't quite know what it was that they wanted to do. Visuveus looked at the time on his band and began to move as though he was getting ready to leave. He turned his body halfway, before stopping and looking back at KK.
"Go back to your room – it's late."
Visuveus neither knew why he said that, nor if KK even knew that he had said something, but he said it before he knew he had. He had something of a stern look on his face, and then a few moments later, he walked away and disappeared. SkyyStar, who had been flying around in loops and circles, saluting the girls, laughing and sending golden stars down to them, saw Visuveus walk away and sighed with relief.
'Finally…' He thought to himself before waving at the girls.
"Farewell, young citizens! Remember, eat your vegetables, and always brush your teeth! SKYYYYYYY STAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!!"
SkyyStar twirled a few times as he sent stars flying in all directions before zooming off and leaving the girls behind. As the others all tried to stand under the rain of stars, KK sat on the table, wiping tears from her face while smiling at the same time. One of her friends noticed this and ran over to her.
"KK, what's wrong?! Why are you crying?"
"No… no reason." The girl stammered as she sniffed and kept wiping her tears.
She spent a few moments composing herself, before hopping down from the table and looking at her friend, who had actually beckoned another friend over.
"I'm going back to the room guys – it's late."
The other two girls looked at KK and then at each other and nodded.
"Okay, let's go."
Meanwhile in a cab, Visuveus sat and stared out the window. He closed his eyes and a moment or two later, felt a tear make its way down his cheek. He reached for his tie, but quickly discovered that it was gone.
"What the… where's my tie?"
"Everything okay, sir?" The cab driver asked as he saw Visuveus looking at his chest.
"…not really, but it will be."
"Did something happen, sir?"
"Yeah, something beautiful happened."
"May I ask what that was?"
"…I just saw the light of my life." Visuveus said with a smile as he wiped the tears away.