Safe to say, Night was not happy when they got back. The girl was already hanging up another punching bag, the one she destroyed sagging against the wall. He eyed his girlfriend as he dropped off his scythe. In his peripheral vision Vexen pulled down his hood and unwrapped his bandanna. An uncomfortable silence hung in the room, making his stomach flare. While Vexen may have motion sickness, he is allergic to awkwardness.
  "I'll be in my room if you need me," Vexen said quickly, disappearing into the guest bedroom.
  Night only paused for a moment to acknowledge him, briefly stopping beating down on the leather. He peeled off his mask, putting the synthetic material into his utility belt. With a sigh, Night stopped her violent training.
  "What happened?" He questioned, putting a hand on her shoulder.
   "Was out on patrol," Night tugged down her hood, taking off her mask as well, "stopped a drug shipment, like usual. After I tied the...still living dealers up, there was a kid there. He was probably only nine or ten, this kid...dammit. The kid's father was a dealer, it killed me to see the kid's face. His father was a criminal, but with my...background, I felt for him. I didn't break down on the spot of course, but I took off."
  "The consequences of our job," Skull sighed, looking into the pained girl's eyes, "we have to do shit we don't like doing. Night, you're away from your parents now, it's okay."
  "The look on his face," Night grimaced, "I felt like I was in his position, Skull."
  "You can call me Jason," he said, gently smiling.
  "Force of habit, that's not changing."
  "Thanks," he brushed Night's raven hair out of her face, "makes me feel like it's just you and me, like it used to be back then."
  "It hasn't been that long," Night said, but she was smiling,
  "Yes," he said, "it has."
  They pressed into each other at the same time, their lips automatically connecting. When he was his counterpart, a piece of his soul was missing, Night was that missing piece. Relationships aren't meant to be the drama and stupidity that soap operas made them. They are supposed to be caring for another, like he cared for the girl in front of him. Night pressed harder, only pulling away when they needed air. He pulled back finally, both of them staring at each other with an unreadable expression. His face turned slightly pink, Night gave a rare smile, not showing teeth as always.
  "You were right," Night said.
  "Night," he felt the urge to put his mask back on, "I get that you hate your old name...but what was it? You told me all those years ago, my memory won't let me remember it...programming."
  "You don't remember?" She raised her eyebrows, "I'm not surprised, I only told you twice. Um...it's Raina. Raina Knight."
  "You chose your new name to be your old last name?"
  "My last name was Knight with a 'K' doofus," Night rolled her eyes, "and remember not to use that name please."
  "I remember," he assured, embracing the girl when she shoved into him again.
  When they finally composed theirselves again, Skull put his mask back on. Night did as well, but did not pull up her hood. He walked over to the touchscreen board, pulling up their database. They had hundreds of files, all on differing criminals and heroes throughout the country. The heroes of the country had a system in place, while minor vigilantes had to prove themselves. Night and himself were fairly well known in the connection system.
  "Who are you looking for?" Night questioned, raising an eyebrow.
  "We encountered a new villain at the old key factory." He explained, entering a new file, "female, well equipped, so far has only committed breaking and entering, stealing, the works. No accounting on if she has killed people in the past."
  "Know what she looks like?" Night asked, "where she's from?"
  "She's probably from Taropolis," Skull said, "she said she needed to get back there."
  "That's all the way on the west coast, how'd she get there?"
  "Train, delivery truck, plane, drive there, hitchhike-"
  "No," Night interrupted him, "how'd she get there so fast? There's a report by a hero in here from 15 minutes ago."
  "What?" He looked over to what Night was pointing at.
  Sure enough, there was a report on a thief with the same description. The details were critical, all observations were specific and on point. For example, the report knew what kind of armor she used, what brand of weapon, and her voice tone. It must have been a major hero that spotted our symbol obsessed villain.
  "Who spotted her?"
  "Not sure," she frowned, "let me look into it."
  He scanned through the report, going through possible ways she could've travelled nearly 3,000 miles in less than thirty minutes. A plane could've gotten her there in seven hours, and that's the fastest time. It was impossible what the girl did, unless there were two people being one villain. However, on the report, the hero remarked on the thief's "strong" personality, with no awkwardness or emotion in the writing. Taropolis was nearly in as bad of shape as Eximius, but Taropolis had a large meta human problem. In the west coast city, the radiation from the nearby Raden had been affecting some of its population, causing dangerous powers to sprout up.
  "Figured out who wrote it," Night spoke up, bringing up a file, "Duskfall."
  "Of course," he groaned, "how didn't I recognize his report, the dude has no emotion."
  "I thought he was your best friend-"
  "Until Brian came along."
  "You need to get out more," Night said, "and that's coming from an antisocial, teenage vigilante."
  "Duskfall," he mused, reading the file, "identity; unknown. I know who he is by the way. Height; 5'10-5'11, the guy's a giant by the way. Age; 18, still the same age as me. Powers; Telekinesis, he's a beast. Rank; Senior member. Quite the file if you ask me."
  "What's his identity?"
  "It took his five years to tell me, it's his decision, sorry Night."
  Duskfall's suit was very high tech, the design resembling a hawk in some ways. The suit was black, grey streaking down it. A spiked helm with a black visor covered his head. The visor's glass covered his face, the visor was almost totally bulletproof, providing the best protecting a hero could have. Gleaming metal wings sprouted out of his armor, the metal thin, but deathly sharp. Some people thought Duskfall was an alien, others thought he didn't exist.
"What's with the wings?" Night tilted her head, "last I've heard, no citizen had metal wings on their back."
"He doesn't actually have wings," Skull explained, "Dusk just uses his telekinesis to control the metal in the wings."
"So...he's human."
"Basically," he shrugged, "a very emotionless human, his secret identity is his real mask let me tell you."
"This secret is going to get real old, real fast, Skull."
"He'll probably tell you, once he gets here."
"Duskfall," she said slowly, "is coming to Eximius City."
"Yes."
"Have you contacted him yet?"
Jason reached up slowly and pressed a circle on the screen. A message would automatically be sent to Duskfall that they needed help. He would figure out this 'psi' girl, even if it requires extra help. Duskfall had done a mission with him back in 2010, when they stopped a villain from hacking into the Pentagon.
  "I've contacted him now," Skull grinned lopsidedly.
  "You are way too happy about this," Night sighed, "I haven't seen him since your funeral."
  "Aw, you had a funeral for me?"
  "The heroes did," she frowned, "Duskfall, Sentinel, Cosmos-"
  "Um...let's not talk about my sort of death, it's too weird."
  Vexen poked his head into the room, his strawberry blonde hair hanging over his eyes. He noticed the teen brush his bangs out of his eyes, the gesture was familiar in a sense. Vexen's cheeks were slightly pink, the color barely stood out, but Jason's detective eyes picked it up. He also noted Vexen looked like he had been crying for maybe 10 minutes, perhaps an hour ago.
  "What's going on?" Vexen asked.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-

The next day, Skull stood atop a building, his spiked raven hair flickering in the wind. Winter was fading away, but the strong gusts still blew. It kind of felt like Night's personality. Vexen was leaning against a chimney, purple runes swirling around his feet. He noticed that when Vexen was emotional, Vexen's powers starting going off randomly. Night was perched on top of the chimney, her cape fluttering in the wind. Skull had to admit that her costume design had really come out awesome. The girl had added more Kevlar, which added a certain powerful element to her appearance. As usual police sirens echoes through the city, taxi's were waging war in traffic, and buildings were lit up. The city would be a lot nicer if it wasn't so corrupt and evil. Guess that's why he does his job anyways.
A dark shape descended down from the sky, and his heart leaped into his throat. Black metal glimmered in the pale moonlight, reflected the silver glow of Eximius City. He was met with a black visor, his own reflection in the glass. Metal wings folded in, the deadly sharp feathers clicking together. Duskfall's armor was a mix of Kevlar and metal, creating an aroma of control and power.
"Duskfall," he said, keeping his voice normal, "good to see you again."
"The feeling's mutual," Duskfall replied, his voice monotonous, robotic, and metallic. "How are you alive?"
"I never technically died," he answered, "I guess."
"Why did you summon me here?" Duskfall's head tilted in the slightest way.
"To solve a mystery," Night said from the shadows, emerging from the darkness, "that you play a part in."
"Night." Duskfall acknowledged her, crossing his arms.
"I encountered a villain about one day ago," Skull began, "she had a psi symbol on her mask and torso, good armor too. The villain had stole a Wesner Tech prototype-"
"Wesner Tech?" Duskfall interrupted, "do you mean the ultrasound device that Payne Consolidates funded?"
"Yes," Night nodded, "that's the one."
"With Payne Consolidates passed on to another owner, expect projects that aren't in the records books."
"How did you know about the prototype?" Skull asked, raising an eyebrow, "it wasn't in the records books. I had to investigate Wesner Tech a week ago just to find it, when I saw their profits had weirdly jumped."
"The new owner of Payne wanted me to look into it," Duskfall explained. "I don't like him in charge of Payne Consolidates, but he will have to do."
"Wait," Vexen spoke up, "who are we talking about here?"
"The owner of the largest public technology company," Night said. "Derrick Payne."
"Programming says that person is barely a legal adult," Vexen said, clearly confused, "how can he own it?"
"Jonathan Payne died last month in a car accident," Duskfall said metallically, "when his son turned eighteen he inherited the company."
"Shouldn't he go to college, or something?" Vexen said, he could hear the frown in his voice.
"That would be a logical choice," Duskfall nodded robotically, "but Jonathan Payne's will required that Derrick would inherit the company when he died. Derrick Payne could pass on the company to a sibling or Vice President if he needs to."
It took all of Skull's will not to laugh at how oblivious Vexen, and even Night were acting. He knew Duskfall's secret identity was even more shocking than his own. You can figure out who Duskfall is, it's really not that hard.
"We should go back to my base," Skull broke the silence, "compare notes on this psi girl."
"She called herself Psihcra when we fought," Duskfall flatly said.
"More like psycho," Vexen muttered from behind him.
"Vexen, could you read her thoughts?" Skull realized, Vexen probably did.
"Yeah," Vexen nodded. "They were weird, not constant, random words went through her brain."
"Anything useful?"
"Not really," Vexen shrugged, "um...she likes you-"
"Nothing useful," Skull stopped him.
"Mind reader?" Duskfall asked calmly.
"Sadly," Night grumbled.
"Surprisingly, a first."
"You aren't scared I'll read your mind?" Vexen questioned quietly, "figure out your secret identity?"
"Are you getting anything off my mind?"
"Well...no. It's silent, just a kind of a hum there. You have strong mental shielding for a normal."
"I'm not normal."
"What are you beneath the suit?"
Duskfall titled his head, visibly amused by Vexen's ranting. Skull almost snickered, but he restrained himself. Vexen's eyes weren't glowing, probably because the hero looked scared out of his mind. Duskfall was a terrifying hero, no matter how people protested. In a flash, Vexen's right pistol flew into Duskfall's hand, the hero twirling the gun. He watched the gun float back into Vexen's holster, and couldn't help snickering at the experiment's expression.
"Duskfall, Vexen." He smirked, "Vexen, this is Duskfall."
"Um...yes," Vexen muttered, "okay."
"I'll meet you at the south base," Duskfall said, his metallic voice commanding, "then we will compare notes, old friend."
Skull nodded, trying to make sure his revival didn't seem like it changed him, even though it really did. Metal feathers spread apart, the thin wings lifting the armored hero into the air. Duskfall flew upwards, his suit flickering into camouflage mode. He stopped a mugging down on Twelfth Avenue, then headed to his base. Vexen was complaining about Duskfall's personality almost the entire way. Skull just argued that Duskfall really didn't have one.
"I mean," Vexen said, running next to him across a rooftop, "he is a badass and all, but he's just plain rude."
"Duskfall has a bad past," Skull replied, "don't blame him for it. He blocks out all emotions except for intelligence I guess. The guy is a legal genius, seriously."
"That narrows down my list of who he is to one million people," Vexen's voice couldn't hide a grin.
"He'll tell you once he trusts you."
"What took him so long to trust you then?"
"He was just starting out," Skull tried to stand up for his friend, "Dusk didn't know any other heroes. Plus he didn't know my secret identity."
"How did you two get past that?"
"We both agreed to reveal who we were at the same time, it worked for the most part."
"For the most part?" Vexen asked as they jumped to another rooftop.
"For starters, we both knew each other from our normal lives, so that complicated things."
"He's from Eximius City?"
"No."
Vexen tried to ask more questions, but Skull dismissed the rest. Duskfall's identity was his secret to share, and a big one as well. He learned that Duskfall's been betrayed so many times, that he doesn't trust anyone anymore, save for possibly himself. Skull and Vexen took the motorcycle back, Brian "fanboying" over the intercom. Jason tried to keep his friend calm, explaining that Duskfall wouldn't be staying for long. Of course Brian just continued rambling, also complaining on how he never mentioned the Taropolis hero before.
"I wasn't exactly thinking about him," Skull said, turning onto his base's street.
"Do you know," Brian was screeching, "how many things I've read about this guy? He's the most badass person on the planet, and the only hero I don't have a identity theory on."
"Is it really that hard to figure out?"
"Taropolis has a population of thirteen million people," Brian explained, his voice still fairly loud, "it would take weeks to narrow it down to at least one hundred!"
"Eximius has a good amount," he attempted at arguing, turning into his base.
"It's number ten on the population scale, the general population is still declining."
"Talk to you later Brian."
"Fine, I'm going to go get a code name."
"Bye," he switched off his com unit.
He dismounted off the motorcycle, talking his helmet off. Vexen luckily wasn't throwing up, but the teen's face was still drained of color. Why is it that a genetically modified super human has motion sickness?
They silently walked into the base, neither of them making any moves to take their masks off. Vexen kept his hood up, even though the teenager usually wasn't one to hide his hair in the base. The tension was high, but he didn't let that faze him. Night was already in the main corridor, doing work on the screen. Duskfall was leaning against the wall, the metal wings on his back were no where in sight. He knew that Vexen would be confused, but didn't mention anything on the topic.
"So she travelled three thousand miles in two hours?" Duskfall said it more like a statement, "impressive. If I was a normal citizen, I wouldn't believe it."
"How do you think it happened?" Night spoke up, not turning her gaze. "Teleportation? Phasing? Maybe there are more than one-"
"It was a ploy," Duskfall interrupted, "the one that appeared in Taropolis wasn't real - not in physical terms. It was supposed to make the heroes think she had some advanced technology that really hasn't been invented yet. However, the fake Psihcra in Taropolis, didn't expect me to try to throw a metal bar through her stomach. When it passed right through the thief, I knew it was a hologram."
"Holograms are...invented?" Vexen questioned slowly.
"In some manner," Duskfall nodded curtly, "it requires special conditions that I failed to recognize."
"You, failed?" Vexen laughed.
"Have you made perfect decisions, Project X?" Duskfall asked without any emphasis.
Vexen visibly flinched back, his eyes began to glow indigo again, "how did you-?"
"Your secret is safe with me," Duskfall said, "hero's code."
"Hero's code?" Vexen whispered, he couldn't tell if it was angry.
"It's a code all heroes in our system must follow," Skull explained, "the main law is that you may not reveal a hero's secret identity to another without consent, unless the hero became a villain."
"That sounds fair...I guess," Vexen murmured, "heroes have turned into villains?"
"A handful," Skull frowned, "most of them are in jail or back to being heroes."
"None dead?" Vexen tilted his head.
"Don't ask that," Duskfall ordered, his voice having the tiniest hint of anger, "we aren't heartless despite what you may think."
"Your inhuman voice and not showing any skin on your face whatsoever kind of ruins the kid friendly vibe."
"I do not..." Duskfall uncrossed his arms, "fine, yes I do."
Vexen, don't mention the hero going to villain thing to him, it strikes a nerve. He projected his thoughts toward the psychic, trying to warn the oblivious hero. Duskfall walked two steps forward so he was in front of Vexen, the metallic hero towering a good three inches over the hooded test subject.
"Skull," Duskfall didn't turn his head, keeping his visor's turned onto Vexen, "has he sworn by the hero's code yet?"
"I don't think-" Vexen started.
"Yes," Skull answered for him.
"I did?"
"When you agreed to be a hero, under Night and my supervision, that was agreeing to the hero's code of honor."
"I did then."
"Very well," Duskfall reached up to his visor.
Duskfall opened a latch on the back of his metal mask, pressing a hidden button. Breaking the brief silence, a quiet beep sounded from Duskfall's helmet, then the visor pulled up and back. Metal pulled back so that his entire metal head mask folded into his neck. A gasp came from Vexen's direction, while Night just stood there in shock.
  "Holy-" Night breathed.
"Derrick Payne," the teen extended his armored hand, his voice still monotone, "nice to meet you."