Nikola wasn’t sure she truly wanted to have been allowed back on duty at that time. Just in the morning after her renewed licence to work had been put back in place, the world over had gone into a state of chaos. It wasn’t every day that the death of one of the biggest Heroes was broadcasted on live television. It wasn’t every day that such an extreme mass of gore had been forced into the eyes of adults and kids the world over. What was meant to have been one of the many charity segments that Umbra was doing had turned into one where the old man had met his doom at the hands of a helper at elder care.

Truth be told, Nikola wasn’t sure how it all matched together. Nothing was known about that worker other than his name. She’d looked through the reports that followed in the passing hours. There were no apartments attached to the name, no face popping up in official documents, and no trace other than a series of unimportant jobs in the many different sectors. The man was a ghost to the modern world, nobody knowing anything for sure.

Maybe that was why people saw it fit to riot. Having to fly through the sky, making sure nobody was hurt, Nikola felt her stomach tighten as she looked at the broken windows and smashed cars. Nobody was dealing with it all anymore. Nobody truly could. The civilians with abilities were going mad with power, thinking they could do the same as had been shown on the broadcast. She’d been forced to put so many people to sleep that day alone as the people wanted to be as famous as the one by the name of Jared.

Nobody had become known the world over by doing nothing but what villains dreamed of doing every day. There was some irony in that, Nikola feeling a twist of her powers as she made sure that another civilian was taken out of the crowd. She’d been granted the role of overlooking the riot while letting the other Heroes take care of the actual crimes. Tesla’s job was to merely fly around and pick up the civilians who grew unconscious. With such a large crowd, one couldn’t simply leave it. Everybody was pushed forward no matter what, leading to many people just falling to the ground without the ability to move. A few others were doing the same thing as her yet Nikola could safely say she’d stopped a few hundred from having their skulls crushed that day alone.

It was like the entire city was out on the street, honestly. Nobody wanted to be alone in their homes, staying away from the shadows.

Looking at the large screens on the building, Nikola looked on as the news segment showed a heavily censored version of the original broadcast. The entire screen was greyed out at times, the calm look on the helper’s face being the only thing to see. Yet as he looked at the camera in those final seconds before leaving, the words couldn't help but force themselves through Nikola’s ears.

“I want you to know that I am coming for you, Lux. Meet me at the place where we met for the first time. Meet me at the place where you made me do this.”

Harold was connected to this. The mentor she’d known for years, the mentor she had respected for a longer time than she would ever admit had connections to this man. Nikola wasn’t sure what those connections were and neither did she know why it was all happening. She just knew that something had to be done soon. Calls had already been sent to the old man’s phone in rapid fashion yet there was never an answer to them. Through the passing hours, Nikola doubted that Lux was even willing to answer if he could. Half the world was likely trying to contact him for his side of the story.

Diving into the crowd for the thirteenth time that hour, Nikola dragged out a young pair of teens who thought themselves too durable. One of their arms was more than slightly bruised, the slight twist making Nikola doubt that it wasn’t cracked. Looking through with a slight pulse, her worries were confirmed. They needed to be sent to the hospital or she would have to explain her lack of care in the report.

“Scotty, I need a teleport to the hospital and for somebody to cover my area,” Nikola spoke into the in-built headset. She barely got a grunt in response before her feet met the ground in front of the hospital desk. A quick twenty-second form was filled out before the two pieces of youth were taken away to sit around with the rest of the injured. “Okay, get me back.”

The rapid teleports were disorienting but they helped keep a constant state of movement. Nikola needed it if she wanted to fulfil her ideals, needing to be just about everywhere at once. It was a miracle that her sight allowed her to see the smaller details. The people who had tested out her powers so many years ago had originally said her eyesight had been due to her powers but her parents had been against that line of thought. Her eyes just had a habit of picking the odd things out of place, including the bodies on the ground in the middle of a heavy crowd of people roaring.

Powers… they were just too sporadic at times. With their innate randomness, it was impossible to guess what people could truly do. Sure, there were some core abilities that the world seemed to roll with but there were likewise so many outliers that setting up a perfect system was next to impossible. There are too many factors and too many things that could be done. And the power to steal another’s abilities was certainly something.

Nobody knew how this Jared had been able to kill the Branded Hero with nothing more than a knife. Nikola had been around when the man had been fired upon by a hundred bullets. None had even come close to hitting, the shadows always protecting the Hero. Was there another ability that allowed this Jared to bypass such protections or was it some piece of gear made by an Inventor? The possibilities were as endless as they were horrifying. Nikola could hardly consider it yet so many other Heroes were certainly being watchful. More than a few of the well-known Branded Heroes had moved around, clearly not comfortable with the idea of being seen in public areas. Nobody wanted the chance of meeting the one who had already been killed. And at some level, Nikola couldn’t fault them.

No matter how much power a god wielded, the knowledge that the weapons needed to make them bleed existed was enough for them to quiver in fear. Those who hadn’t known the idea of themselves dying were scared. Maybe that was one of the minor side-effects of being powerful. Mortality was more than just one kind of weakness.

“Tesla, we have an incoming call for you,” Scotty said through the radio as Nikola continued her work at full speed. Not many more needed to go to the hospital but a few rooftops had set up areas where she would drop them off. Teamwork helped in the end.

“Who is it?” Nikola questioned as she dove into the crowd once again, taking an older woman. A bruise on her shoulder made her want to go to the hospital but it seemed no bones had been damaged. It would hurt but it wasn’t permanent.

“Lux.”

Tesla nearly dropped the old woman when hearing that name, barely able to let them down in the designated area before she had to take a break. Making sure Scotty could patch her through while somebody covered her area, that tired voice of her old mentor could be heard.

“Hello Nikola,” Harold said, clearly not in the mood for too many pleasantries. “I hear that you are back on duty.”

“So I am, Lux,” Nikola answered in a weak attempt for him to use her Hero name. They were sitting on an official channel, after all, even if it was meant to be semi-private. “I take it you didn’t call me for no reason.”

“You are right at that,” Harold confirmed with another bit of his tired voice. “I have been busy making arrangements in the many hours before this one but I finally have a second to explain to you what is happening.”

“That’s fine with me,” Nikola said bluntly. “Have at it.”

“I can’t do it through the radio,” Harold rejected with the type of voice that only Nikola’s mentor had been able to pull off right in the last few years. That old voice with the slightest hint of energy was too rare. “I need you over at Sector 45. You should be able to make Scotty get you a few consecutive long-range teleports.”

“... Fine,” Nikola said, not sure whether or not to frown at the words she was hearing. Looking up at the repeating broadcast, she knew she couldn’t wait. “I’ll be there in under an hour.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you soon.”

And then the call ended, Nikola left slightly emptier than before. Her mind was filled with questions and her heart was filled with worry. No part of her even considered sleeping in the next week, her body filled with enough adrenaline to kill a civilian.

“Scotty, I need you to set up a teleportation chain to the border of Sector 45,” Nikola sent through the radio, hearing that perfect set of curses from the side. “And I also need you to find a semi-permanent replacement for my location. I might be gone for the entire day.”

“I guess Songstress needed to work anyway,” Scotty said through the radio. “Connection is set up. Remember to breathe, Tesla, and farewell for now.”

“You too,” Nikola replied as she felt her body be ripped apart by special forces, resublimed again before the process repeated itself over and over. Teleportation chains were never her favourite method of travel. So few people could even do it due to their bodies rejecting themselves if done too much yet Nikola was one of the few Heroes around who could get through it rather often without side effects, though that brief bit of losing her lunch was never avoided. Moving through the entire country in five seconds wasn’t for the weak-bodied, and the woman graciously took the bucket from the guard ready to assist her.