Half an hour later, August was back at his apartment, carrying two heavy bags filled with groceries. He had no idea how he was money wise, so he could only hope he hadn’t spent more than he could afford. Though, based on the state of the apartment… He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. He’d already decided to revisit this tomorrow, once he was properly rested.

He replayed Lucian’s words in his mind as he put away the groceries. How had they met? Based on their conversation and the fact Lucian wanted him to guess, there had to be some sort of a story behind it. Or… maybe Lucian was just messing with him? August could only remember one meeting between them, so he couldn’t be sure if the other was the kind of person who would do something like that. He had felt like he was being quietly mocked at moments during their conversation though, so perhaps…

He sighed, closing the fridge. He didn’t have the energy to make anything elaborate, so he settled on pasta for dinner, putting on some music as he boiled the water. The task was boring enough for his thoughts to wander, and they soon landed back on Lucian and their conversation. August didn’t think he would be able to guess how he and Lucian had met. He lacked information, and based on the current evidence, their first meeting probably wasn’t exactly mundane. Even so, he might as well give it a try. It was a conversation starter if nothing else, and hopefully he’d be able to get some information about his past from Lucian in the process.

While he ate, he absentmindedly scrolled through his phone. He followed Ash’s advice and googled Phantom, but there was so much information about them that it took a while to sort through it.

The Phantom was a group of villains. No one could tell how large of a group, but it was hypothesized there was at least 50 of them. They didn’t act like ordinary villains; they only rarely targeted civilians, going mainly after the heroes from the Hero Association instead.

There were a few known members, like the villain named Zero who could either cancel or steal superpowers. It seemed that was how the group went about ridding the world of heroes – stealing (or cancelling – no one knew which) their powers. Not always though; they straight up murdered them sometimes. So far four heroes had left the world that way.

The Hero Association was in full panic mode, trying to bring Phantom to justice. There was a ‘catch dead or alive order' on all the known members, but they wanted Zero alive, since there was a possibility, albeit a small one, that the villain could restore the lost superpowers of their heroes.

August frowned as he absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the table. Ash had mentioned that the villain attacks were the reason for the police hour, but they didn’t seem a big enough threat to the general population to excuse the limit of freedom. This felt like a clear case of the Hero Association throwing around their power, and… Wasn’t that just typical? August had lived in a different city before losing his powers, so he didn’t know about the Hero Association, but the superhero agencies he was familiar with used similar tactics.

It seemed that Phantom had actual fans, and August found a fan-made group’s profile, slowly scrolling through it. Each villain had a name bestowed to them by the Hero Association, and August couldn’t help snorting as he read through them. The Hero Association wasn’t very creative, but he supposed they got the job done.

There were; Chameleon (power: shapeshifting, number of possible forms unknown), Avatar (power: control of water, fire, earth and air), Torturer (power; pain manipulation), Shadow (power: shadow and darkness manipulation), and around 13 more, all named in similar fashion.

August scrolled through the comments next.

Don’t you think some of the villains have similar abilities than the heroes? Like Avatar. The Hellingers can manipulate fire too.

Yes but they can only manipulate fire

Many of them to a much higher extend than Avatar tbh

Yeah but it’s better to have a bigger range

Is it? I think any Hellinger could take out Avatar no problem

I disagree but okay

Isn’t Shadow a more clear example?

How?

The Nightshades? Their powers are kind of similar idk

Wouldn’t it be funny if the last Nightshade became a villain instead of taking a break like he said?

Becoming a villain is taking a break from being a hero though lol