Dario didn’t stay for very long after Soldier Smolder left the area. The civilians had been riled up in the wake of a well-known Superior being seen in action and had celebrated in fervent cheers following the dousing of the fire. Once their source of idolization departed, however, they quickly focused their attention on Dario. He may have been a new, inexperienced Superior, but he was still a Superior nonetheless. He was an unknown, and thus, a subject of interest to the regular folk.

The attention was both welcoming and awkward, as Dario felt that he didn’t deserve all the recognition. He had always admired or revered the Superiors, so it was strange being on the other side of the coin. The bystanders had found out about his rescue of the girl and had showered him with praise, to his astonishment.

After a couple minutes of accepting their gratitude and taking questions — in which he simply answered by stating that he was a mere no-name supe — he quickly found an excuse to leave. He didn’t mind being the center of attention now and then, but he still had a limit.

Dario jogged as far away as he could before slowing down near an unused, hidden alley. He took a few deep breaths to try and recollect himself. Now that he was away from all the distractions, he could finally focus on what he had been contemplating directly after the rescue.

Knowing what he was fully capable of was important information to know, and when he had entered that burning building, he had felt strengthened and invigorated. His inner pool of what he now considered his Assimilator Energy had slowly filled up. Miss Aimee had told him that it was unknown what Assimilators could and couldn’t absorb, so the possibilities of his own aspect were endless.

In that burning building, he had discovered his first clue on what he could personally integrate. There was really only one thing that was abundant in a building on fire.

It was heat. He could apparently assimilate heat.

It was an idea that merited testing, and he immediately headed towards the inn where he had been residing in for the past couple of days.

Dario entered his room in the Cultured Cove and sat down on his bed. He grabbed a nearby candle and set it alight with a match, placing the open flame directly underneath his hand. If he was right, then he should feel a small change in his inner energy.

He held the candle in place for one second. Then two seconds. Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

Dario didn’t feel any significant change other than a burning sensation on the palm of his hand. He held it there for a few seconds longer before giving up. He put out the tiny flame in aggravation.

“Well, that didn’t work out,” he muttered in disappointment. “I don’t feel any more energetic than usual. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.”

Darop tried to recall the exact circumstances he was in when he had felt his inner store of Energy fill up and compared it to his current experiment. Both utilized heat, but the only difference between the candle and the burning building was the sheer difference in quantity.

“Maybe I need to set myself on fire,” he murmured. “Yes, that makes sense. That surely won’t backfire.” He chuckled at how idiotic that plan was. Nevertheless, there was merit to the idea, and Dario came to a quick realization.

Okay, so maybe he couldn’t literally set himself on fire, but he could simulate something close enough. 

With his course set, he enthusiastically stood up and grabbed his meager belongings before leaving the room. The check out for his stay at the inn was the morning after, but he simply couldn’t wait. As he passed through the ground floor, he gave the bartender his keys and gave a heartfelt goodbye. 

“Thanks for the stay and for all the delicious meals!” he said to the tall barman. “I’ll be sure to give good reviews.” 

Before the older gentleman could respond, Dario was already out the door and quickly moving across the street. 

It was a little past midnight, so the only lights that guided his journey came from the soft moonlight and the occasional street lamp. Despite the late hour, Dario still felt fully awake and energetic, with a certainty that he wouldn’t be needing sleep any time soon. He was once again reminded of just how different he was from normal folk.

He traveled through various streets and alleys before arriving at the southernmost district of the city. The area was known as the poorest district and was often derogatorily called The Slums. It wasn’t particularly dirty or run down, but it had a certain grimy feel to it that warded off most people.

He wasn’t like most people.

Dario walked around The Slums and looked for signs of his old crew. He had grown up in a fairly well off part of the city and was well cared for, but his family ties made his peers shun him. As a result, he had resorted to hanging out in the less reputable parts of the city.

It might be a little sad to know that a few of his friends were street rats, but Dario considered them to be his brothers and sisters in arms. They had helped him out through a lot, and he was hoping that they could help him out again.

He continued wandering around, looking for any indication of their whereabouts. Most street rat gangs had call signs and symbols they used to denote their territory. The one he was a member of used a red letter A on top of a red circle as their symbol. They were called the ASH Gang, which the rival gangs snidely referred to as ‘Arrogant Shitty Hoodrats’. In reality, it actually stood for ‘Affordable Student Housing’. 

It was a bit of an inside joke, since they weren’t really students, and the housing was affordable only in the sense that it was free for members. His particular gang took care of their own, whether or not they were homeless. They were a loyal bunch of misfits and he enjoyed hanging out with them. He had been recruited when he was caught in the middle of a gang fight, somehow contributing to the eventual takeover of a rival territory.

Those were good times.

After walking around for half an hour, he finally began to see the ASH symbol on hidden nooks and crannies in nearby alleys. He was definitely in their territory now. It was sometimes hard to know where their borders were since gangs moved around quite frequently. Luckily, he had an idea of where to go now.

As Dario continued walking through the dim streets of The Slums, ruminating on his past exploits, he failed to notice the group of people slowly sneaking around him. Deeply engrossed in his recollections, he was unprepared when he found himself suddenly surrounded by a group of darkly dressed individuals wielding knives and other sharp objects.

Dario stopped in his tracks and examined his supposed captors. They all wore hooded cloaks and outnumbered him five to one, surrounding him completely. Normally, he would be cursing up a storm at his bad luck, but at this point, he only felt a mixture of irritation and resignation. Hadn’t he gone through enough shit today?

The presumed leader of the group took a step forward and spoke in an airy tone of voice. “Lookie here, look what we got ourselves tonight. A little lost boy alone in the dark, with no one around.”

“I’m taller than you shorty,” Dario noted wryly. He just didn’t care anymore, simply wanting to get it over and done with.

“Fuck you,” the cloaked man grunted before turning towards his chuckling compatriots. “And stop laughing, assholes.”

“Sorry, boss,” one of them apologized, before muttering under his breath, “It’s true though.”

“For fuck’s sake, get your shit together and be professional for once! Can we have one night where we don’t fuck around?”

At his raised voice, the rest of the cloaked individuals quickly became silent and focused on staring at Dario.

“Now then,” the lead man said. “We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way. You can either come follow us, or we beat you ‘till you’re black and blue, and drag your body along with us anyway.” The man raised his arms in an open manner. “Your choice.”

“Uhh, sorry, but my mother always told me to never be taken to a second location,” Dario replied with a serious expression. He quickly looked around, assessing everyone around him.

“Hard way it is then.” The ring leader shrugged. “You have some pretty purple eyes, boy. That’ll fetch us a decent price.” He gestured his associates forward. 

As the individuals closed in on him, Dario enacted his plan. 

He had been in similar outnumbered positions in the past before, except it was usually three, rather than five, so he had an idea of what to do. It was pretty much muscle memory at that point.

Dario purposefully widened his eyes and cowardly looked off in the distance behind the ringleader with an expression of hope and relief. “Guards! Help! I need help!” he yelled out.

The cloaked leader instinctively turned around in alarm.

Dario promptly ran forward and tackled the shorter man, lifting him straight off the ground. He must have misjudged his strength as the man puked the moment he landed on the ground a short distance away where Dario had thrown him.

Nonetheless, Dario completed his objective in breaking the encirclement while taking out the guy giving orders. He didn’t hesitate in taking advantage of the groups’ shock and confusion, immediately rushing the next closest adversary. 

The man he targeted tried to swing a knife at him, but was too slow and fell prey to Dario’s fist. The sound of the man’s jaw shattering echoed around him as he slowly fell to the ground, unconscious.

Dario never let the man reach the ground as he grabbed him by his lapels, lifting him off his feet. He threw the limp body at the man to his left with all his strength, before turning to block an incoming strike.

He caught the dagger aimed at his chest by the blade, and swiftly overpowered the man holding it. Thankfully, his Superior durability made his skin impervious to the dull blade. While the man tried to wrest control of the dagger, Dario did a quick jab to his throat that instantly disabled him, leaving him choking and gasping for breath.

There was only one opponent left standing, and Dario turned to face him, ready to knock him out.

“Wait, wait, wait!” the whiny voiced man begged, finally noticing the Status Band on Dario arm. “We didn’t know you were a Superior! It was dark and we didn’t see your Band! We can talk this out! Look, I’m new here, I barely even know these guys. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again! Just let me go, please?”

Dario paused for a second in consideration. “Nah.”

The man fell to the ground unconscious, Dario’s fist claiming another victim.

The purple eyed teen looked around and inspected his work in satisfaction. Normally, his plan of action in outnumbered situations involved distracting the leader and knocking them out before running away. Pre-manifest, he would have definitely retreated, but here, now that he was Superior... well, there were a lot more options.

Dario listened to the groans and moans of the fallen individuals while contemplating on what to do with them.

With a shrug, he walked around punching out the ones still conscious and piled them up against a street lamp. He figured that the guards could take care of them when they were eventually found. That’s what a Superior would do, right?

Dusting off his hands at a job well done, Dario walked off, continuing his search.

Eventually, after following a series of increasingly more pronounced ASH symbols, he finally came upon a tall three-storey house hidden inside a large alleyway. It was similar in structure to the other houses of the district, but held a more ramshackle look with metallic parts strewn into its construction. 

There was a veranda on the side with an assortment of old furniture that helped to accentuate the stylized antique look of the open bar situated in the center. On some of the tables, he could see built in board games, some of which included chess.

From what he could see through the windows of the ground floor, the inside decorations had the feel of someone who enjoyed a warm and homey atmosphere. Or perhaps they were just too poor to afford anything fancier.

A large ASH symbol adorned the front of the house, above the doorway. This was clearly the gang’s newest headquarters, and from the look of things, they had upgraded. There was light streaming through some of the windows, so there had to be some members awake.

Dario walked into the alleyway and took a few steps before stopping in surprise.

Up against his throat was a knife held dangerously close to his arteries. If he made even the slightest movement, it would slice into and cut him open. At least, that’s probably what his captor thought would happen. 

His assailant had attached themself onto his back, with their legs wrapped around his waist. Dario looked down, following the trail of the slender arm holding the dagger to his neck, and found the face of a tanned, hazel-eyed woman staring at him from over his right shoulder. She had dark purple hair shaved into a familiar undercut.

“Hello there, stranger,” she whispered in his ear. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hey.” Dario chuckled in amused exasperation. “Long time no see, Vira.”