Damian sat next to the doctor, his hand in some sort of machine that was supposed to deal with frostbites, third degree and lower. Thankfully, his was only third or something in-between the second and third. He wasn’t the brightest when it came to medical knowledge, and Damian was quite aware of it. There was some idle chatter between the doctor and the police officer, and the doctor was somewhat interrogating Damian.

“So you said they used Tinker-tech?” Asked the doctor with a worried look. She was a woman in her late twenties, with a stern face that wasn’t much unlike teachers.

“Yes, there was one. It did this.” Said Damian, the truth.

“Freezing? I haven’t heard of this before. That might be a war weapon developed by the country, or bought from the black market. You know who used it?” The doctor asked.

“Yes, his name is Richard Smith.” Said Damian with a sigh.

“A Smith, as in the Smiths? Sorry, kid, we can’t do anything about them. At least for now.” Said the doctor, and nodded her head. “It’s done, you can get your hand out.”

“I know. They basically own the place, after all.” Said Damian with a shrug. “Though I’d be happy to let his father know. Wouldn’t approve of a several dozen thousand crescent weapon in his son’s hands, yenno, parental worrying stuff.”

“Mr. Smith isn’t the kind of person to do that. He’d find you and have you arrested, without fail, if he finds out you upset his child. Richard, was it? Is he his fourth son, or fifth?” Asked the doctor with a perplexed look.

“He’s an illegitimate son, not public, but a Smith nonetheless.” Said Damian, getting his hand out of the machine and nodding his head. The thing was good. There was only a small numb feeling tugging his mind.

“Then we can do something about that.” Said the doctor with a chuckle, and spoke into a microphone to come pick me up, most likely to the cops.

The door swung open by the time Damian had finished putting on his brown jacket with a few bloodstains on it. It had seen its fair share of battles, and had endured. Some holes were there, due to what happened earlier this evening. More kinetic energy at a single place would jumpstart his engine, much like what turning the key did to a car.

Two cops appeared from the door, and escorted him to a private room. It was much like the ones used for interrogation if media had it right. A long table, two chairs at both ends. A man in the latter part of his life, with greying hair and a few wrinkles on his face in a suit sat on one of the chairs. The two cops entered after Damian, and stood at both sides of him. There were electric batons at their waists, which Damian didn’t think he could absorb the energy of. He was limited to kinetic, after all.

“Hello,” the person said, looking down at the paper. “Damian Edison. As you might know, you messed with the wrong people and that led to you sitting here. My name’s Edwin Smith, by the way. And I have an offer.”

He was a Smith, and Damian was so screwed, or that’s what he thought.

“What is it?” Asked Damian, looking behind his shoulders twice for each side.

“You were planning on joining the army, or is that wrong?” Asked Edwin, with a raised eyebrow.

“I was, and still am.” He said, and waited for the next question.

“Then I suppose you have nothing to lose here.” Edwin said with a smile, and turned to regard the cops. “Could you two leave please, and turn off the mic when you’re at it? There’s something private we have to talk in here.”

They left, and after a while that lasted forever, with Edwin still looking at Damian and some glances at the microphone before him, and Damian, he continued.

“Here’s the deal. I hate my brother, he’s a completely corrupted psychopath who’ll lead our corporation to its downfall. This means I can get you off his radar, silence the bastard boy and get you a well paying government job, all to take revenge on my brother.” Said Edwin.

“All good for now. What’s the details?” Asked Damian, looking at Edwin with interest more than fear now.

“This job is rather complicated. You might have heard of the superheroes from before the war, and you might have heard they fought evil. I want you to do that. Your gift is the best to instill fear and awe into criminals and commoners alike. Of course you aren’t alone, there are three of your friends waiting at your new HQ and I’m still recruiting.” Said Edwin, glancing at the empty window.

“You want me to become a hero? But I’m just a high-school student, and I’m going to the army after I graduate.” Said Damian.

“Yes, you can go to the army and protect the empire from the outside, but you can protect the empire from the inside if you join us. It’s better than drafting at a young age, I assure you, the army is a nasty place for young’uns, been there for more than a few years.” Said Edwin, looking at Damian with the top of his eyes.

“So you want me to be a cop?” Asked Damian with a skeptical look.

“Yes, but a more popular one that isn’t afraid of offending gangsters. Government funded agency of superheroes that will protect the empire from all crime, including those of Red City and my brother’s goons, of course my identity will be kept secret and I’ll be giving inside information out to absolve crime in Red City.” Said Edwin with a sigh, and turned to look at the window again. “Are you in on this, or are you in jail?”

“I’m in.” Said Damian and sighed. He had become some hero of sorts, even if he wasn’t a war hero.

“That’s just perfect. The pay’s 10 thousand a month, sounds fair enough?” He asked again, looking at him with the top of his eyes once more.

“Yes, yeah.” Damian nodded his head. It was far less than his father earned, but his father was filthy rich so he had no complaints. In fact, he was rich now. He could buy not an apartment, but a house with that kind of money. “Of course, I’ll do it.”

“That’s just great. Well then, should I count the members of Red Comets as four now?” He asked with a smile, placing a briefcase on the table.

“Yes, you can.” Damian said with a nod of his head.

Edwin opened the briefcase, and Damian’s eyes opened wide and jaws dropped.

It was full of money.

“There’s 50 thousand crescents in there. Your recruitment money. I’m going to take care of Richard now.” Edwin said, and walked out of the room. Damian walked over to the briefcase, and sure enough, they were legit. The crescent moon shapes hidden on the piece of green paper with the First Emperor’s face on it were there, and even if it was not legit, no one could recognize it either way except the person who created it in the first place.

Damian stood there for a few moments, shocked and most of all, just plain shocked. He had somehow become a ‘superhero’ that was supposed to fight criminals and he was filthy rich. He’d be doing what he wanted to do, though not in the way he imagined, and he’d be getting paid for it. That was the best thing that could possibly happen.

He closed the briefcase, and grabbed it. Damian was under the impression that he was in no trouble, and could go out of the hospital without much trouble. That appeared to be true, as he walked out the hospital with a healthy hand and a bag of money in it.

They were in the part of city that wasn’t downtown, and wasn’t the center either, a grey area. There weren’t many thugs here due to being close to the police department. Overall it was as safe as it got during the night in here. Damian thought of going to the dorms to stay the night, but decided against it due to the hefty amount on hand. Getting it in a bank would be most appreciated, and the closest one was several miles away. A look at the clock on the hospital’s wall made it clear that it was still early, quarter to nine.

The buses stopped at ten, and he had plenty of time on hand. Getting a bus ride to the center was the main issue now. The bus stop was near the hospital, a sensible choice. Injured people couldn’t walk far. A girl around Damian’s age sat on the bench with a large smile on her face. She chuckled a little, and looked straight at him.

“So you’re the new one. Nice to meet you, I’m Tina, one of the Red Comets. Cheesy name, I know, it’s what the old man came up with. Anyways, you have anything else on mind?” She asked with a smile, and added after a small pause. “Oh, right, you’re going to the bank.”

“How did you-?” Damian asked, wide eyed, surprised for the umpteenth time in the last three hours.

“Can read minds, don’t mind me, just surface thoughts though. Oh, and I can speak with you with my mind.” She said, and closed her mouth. However, her voice still echoed inside Damian’s head. “Hear me? It’s awesome, right? What’s yours? The old man’s got to have a reason for choosing you.”

“Please, just wait a second. I have too much to process, and please don’t talk as if gifts are the most natural thing in the world.” Said Damian, looking around. “They might find out about yours if you keep blaring.”

“Everyone does, don’t worry. I was a fake oracle thingy, you know, like telling people that their wishes will come true by reading their thoughts and wishes, like other idiots who say generic stuff, but mine were far more specific and I made a name for myself but the old man’s offer was better than what I had before and rest is history.” Said Tina. She was a lively girl, too lively. As someone who hadn’t had many conversations with girls except his relatives, Damian wasn’t an expert in what girls were like, but didn’t think that talking this much was natural. He wanted to think this was only her. If all girls were like that, he doubted he’d be wanting a date anytime soon.

“What you want?” Asked Damian, rubbing his forehead.

“Just wanted to get to know you, like meet up and get dinner together. The usual. Maybe I could show you to the HQ so the old man doesn’t get you by surprise.” Said Tina. The bus arrived, and she got on. The bus went to the bank, so it was a win-win for Damian. It was mostly vacant, and the pair took a seat at the far back away from everyone.

“What’s the HQ and our teammates like?” He asked. There weren’t many people that he called friend, and he knew each of them well enough to know they were decent guys, after all, hanging out with morons and killers was the last thing on his mind.

“One’s an oracle here, one of us is a convicted murderer and the other is pretty much a ninja wannabe, like real ninja nerd.” She said, speeding through the middle part and placing emphasis on the ninja.

“Convicted murderer? You just low-key mentioned one of our teammates is a goddamn murderer?” Asked Damian, flabbergasted.

“Yeah, kinda. It was an accident, really.” She said, and quieted down, shifting toward the mental speech. “His gift gives him invulnerability, super strength and agility and pretty much everything that a human has but far greater. Pissing him off is really dangerous, just so you know, and when he’s activated his powers he has no control over it. Like he can’t jump normally but jump as high as he can, he can’t shout normally but yell as loud as possible, and you get the story with the punch.”

“That’s great, but horrible at the same time.” Said Damian, feeling a little sympathetic. He either had to use all or use nothing at all with his as well. “So how strong and fast is he? Can throw cars around and dodge arrows?” He asked jokingly.

“Actually, it’s not that strong. He can lift about two cars at the same time and even though he’s fast, if he can’t notice the arrow and move his body, he’ll get hit, but that’s not that bad considering he’s a arrowproof and bladed weapons don’t do anything. Some pre-Dawn weapons might’ve hurt him, but you know the story.” Tina said. “Dawn destroyed all of them, and wiped the memories of how they were made from the minds of every human being, only leaving some scraps of metal.”

“I guess that’s great, except I can do that and maybe more.” Damian said with a smile. He felt like bragging, after all.

“That wasn’t a bluff.” Said Tina with a raised eyebrow, more a statement than a question since she could in fact read his mind.

“It isn’t.” Damian replied, since he believed so. Lifting wasn’t his strong subject, but hitting hard was another story.

“Well, I suppose he gets to have a sparring partner of his own.” Tina said, her teeth showing in a vulpine smile. As blabber mouthed she was, Damian had to admit she was quite the looker. Not someone with an average face like his could afford, but this was business, not some relationship. “Remember that ninja guy I told you? He’s strong, I mean slash your neck in a split-second strong. Even he refuses to spar with a demon like him after he did once. Sorry, I sometimes switch haphazardly.”

“It’s fine, but slash a neck in a split-second? That’s straight bullshit over there.” Said Damian, looking at her.

“Not really a split-second, maybe a second or just a little more than that. Well, that isn’t the point. He’s strong enough to take out most gangsters, with or without gifts, and even he’s scared of Comet.” Said Sophia.

“The team was named after him?” He asked, half in wonder and half in awe, or plain jealousy. He had to be the first member.

“Kinda. The old man came up with the name, then he named Hugo after that.” Said Tina, and asked after a while, pointing outside. “Well, the Central Bank’s where you want to be, right?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Said Damian, and waved at her, only to see that she was following him. “You’re coming?”

“Of course. I said I’d show you to the HQ, didn’t I?” She asked with a smile. Damian couldn’t help but nod, and decided it was as good a time as any to transfer the cash into a bank account. After all, having so much on hand was wasteful, and paranoia gnawed at his subconscious every single second. It was the most money he had on himself at a single given time.