Playing the Hero

Chapter 18

Guys I swear this whole story WILL come out before I die, enjoy the chapter!

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She got nothing. Zero, zip, nadda. It was the last hour of the last day of their internship and they had had nothing to report all week. At this point Vallerie was ready to strangle Hawks for information, anything that would make her feel like this internship wasn't a failure. She thought that maybe after what she did on the first day, Hawks would shape up and teach them something but the only thing he taught was teaching Tokoyami how to fly by making Vallerie push him off a skyscraper and catch him a bunch of times. It was hopeless. Her life was hopeless.

The minutes slipped by slowly during training that day and with every passing second Vallerie's anxiety increased. What would happen if she had nothing by the end of the day? Surly Adeline would be disappointed. Maybe not in her but disappointed in the fact Vallerie could have gone to literally anyone else and she would have gotten a better understanding of the Hero world. It was one thing to research until your eyes couldn't open, it was another thing to be out in the field and actually working with the Pros.

Vallerie put all her frustrations into training and she was able to beat Tokoyami in record time. Anger had always been their most powerful emotion considering it gave them the most energy to work with. Fear was a good one as well, with happiness and joy coming in third.

Vallerie turned to go to the change room as Tokoyami helped himself off of the floor. When she emerged from the change room in her uniform Hawks was out there waiting for her. "Good work today, Psyche!" He smiled at her, honeyed eyes glinting in the light, "Let's take a walk."

Fucking finally.

Hawks took her down corridors she didn't know. It turns out those hallways led to his office. As soon the door closed behind her red feathers locked the door. "I hope you brought me here for information and not for murder." She grumbled as she took the seat in front of Hawks' desk.

"Fortunately for you it's the former." Hawks took his own seat behind the desk. He took a relaxed position in contrast to Vallerie's ram-rod straight posture. His face didn't match his posture, suddenly turning sombre. "All information will be given verbally, I hope your memory is as good as the bird you share wings with."

"It is." Vallerie confirmed with a frown. She would've taken the information out of the gut of a bear if she meant she finally had it in her grasp. She rolled her hand in gesture to continue and Hawks obliged.

"That creature that showed up at the USJ attack? It's possible that your mother has started to assist in its creation and development. We have people that have confirmed some type of involvement but they're not exactly sure to what extent."

Vallerie stared at him unimpressed, fingers scratching the arms of their chair in an irritated manner. "I know all this already, Hawks. Give me information that is actually useful." She was being so polite, Adeline would be proud. Only a few days after the USJ a memory had resurfaced, of her father. She remembered sneaking down to his lab one day at their old house and seeing these bodies in tubes. All of them in various states of metamorphosis. The furthest developed one looked a lot like the monster at the USJ. That had meant two things. Either her father was working with her mother which was impossible because he was dead, or her mother had stolen a dead man's work and was continuing his experiments.

A tense hum filled the air in the form of Hawks's voice. "Do you have any patience?" No, no she didn't. Not for him. But pointing that out would only prove his point. "I'm getting there, fledgling Hero." With a sigh he continued. "We have also confirmed that those creatures, called Nomu, have connections to All for One. Which means that your mother might be working with All for One. We don't know the reason for their supposed partnership. Do you have any idea, Vasiliev?"