Chương 85: R&R2 Ch. 24 — Unforeseen Consequences

Eva couldn't believe that they had actually invited her to join the team; she had been afraid she would have to be a solo hero without a mentor since her previous mentor had decided to stay with the majority of the group. Rend hadn't said he was going to mentor her, but from what Nicholas and Jasmine said, his mentorship didn't mean that much. More than the revelation that she was going to be joining a super team was that they had told her their secret.

So that they could save everyone from the wave, they had literally linked their souls together. Which explained a lot: they were dating because of that, and she could follow that logic. It would be super awkward to date someone if your soul was attached to someone else; that seemed like a recipe for disaster. Supposedly neither of them were in love, but Eva was guessing one or more of them was lying to themselves. They just had the vibe.

It was hard joining a duo that had a well-established dynamic, but they didn't seem to have a problem with her, and they were doing everything they could to make her feel welcome. And after the next city, their entire team was going to move rooms so that they could all be in one suite, which was nice. It was awkward for her to room with a bunch of people who had given up. She got it. Being a hero was terrifying, and there were a lot of hard parts to it, but to give up helping people?

To give up when you have the power to do the impossible? She could never do that; it was like someone asking her to stop flying; she wasn't ever going to give that up. Now that she knew what it was like to soar through the skies. Constellation walked out of his room nursing his jaw, which was already forming an ugly bruise. Eva blinked at that. With all the healers around, there shouldn't be any bruising going around. You could get healed instantly, especially for injuries that were going to distract you.

Most people didn't function well with a nasty bruise on their face while they had to wear a costume constantly pressing against it.

"You okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," Constellation said, words slurring.

"Your new best friend punched me and damn near broke my jaw."

"Jasmine did?" Eva asked, shocked. Yeah, she knew Jasmine was very physical with her emotions, but she didn't seem like the type to punch people; no, she punched arms a lot. She wasn't the type to punch someone in the jaw and nearly break it. Unless that was what she was specifically going for. If Jasmine was trying to bust someone's jaw, there was no doubt in Eva's mind that she would succeed.

"No, you dumbass, Retort, the murderer punched me and nearly broke my jaw!" Constellation yelled, wincing halfway through and then groaning in pain through the rest of it. Eva rolled her eyes, brushing past him while texting Jasmine. She figured of the two of them she was way more likely to answer her phone with a text; Nicholas gave the impression of someone who didn't answer messages till he felt like it. Though she wondered if Jasmine ever just yanked on their soulmate connection to make him answer.

"You aren't going to say anything?"

"No, I'm going to ask for both sides, you've hated him since the beginning so I'm going to get his side of the story first, and if the two of them are really conflicting, I'll go ask one of the bigger supers what happened." Eva said, slipping her phone back into her pocket. Constellation was gaping. Which was when she remembered something.

"You fucked up. You're the idiot, not Nicholas. There isn't a chance you are because if he had been in the wrong, they would have healed you. So they think he was entirely in the right. You're going to say that he's hoodwinked everyone?"

"He's a reality warper; the whole world is only as real as he decides it."

"Who only works with words, and isn't even D-rank yet, get over it, Constellation. I get you've been struggling since losing your friend, but really, this is just sad." Before Constellation could shove his foot farther into his own mouth, Eva made it to her room, flopping onto the bed and using a tendril of wind to close the door.

The day was done, and she could rest as much as she wanted, well actually, it was like nine in the morning but they were all on the night shift since they had gotten to fight during the day during the first part of the trip. At every city, they would swap schedules. It wasn't that big of a deal. With all the use of her powers, she was exhausted, and falling asleep was easy, but instead, she got on a call with Jasmine for the two of them to talk about the book they were each reading.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Hilariously, they had both recently finished the book the other was currently using, so it was fun for both of them to see someone excited about it and tease them about stuff that was upcoming. Eva was pretty sure a lot of what Jasmine was hinting about wasn't going to actually happen. Mostly. She considered warning her about Constellation, but really there wasn't a point.

He was harmless; it wasn't like he was actually going to do anything. The only reason he was still on the train was because he didn't want to wait for the return train. He wanted to get home fast. If Eva were to hazard a guess, as soon as he has enough pay from his super salary, he would get a regular ticket and do no hero work. Maybe she could convince Nicholas to chip in. Then neither of them would have to deal with the little troll anymore.

The next ten days went by without incident for the three rookie members of Renegades. They fought monsters, hung out, and trained. It repeated endlessly, the three of them pushing together harder, but it came with unfortunate news. Not from Rend, though he had smirked when they relayed the decision. But as much as they would want to work together for the big jobs, they were better suited as a duo and a solo hero that worked together when it was convenient.

Not having the soul bond really screwed up their team's rhythm for smaller jobs, and Twister had already started forming habits to work solo. Twister took it on the chin; she was happy to be part of the team, and she could also admit that she was the one slowing Retort and Retribution down.

"So, what's the plan for the city?" Eva asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Nicholas was poring over a map of the city, looking for who knew what, while Jasmine was putting on the finishing touches for her armor.

"Are you two going to be working?"

"Yeah, we arrive early morning this time, so we won't take a day off till the last day," Nicholas replied.

"Nothing major I'm noticing just yet, but I'll keep looking."

"Yeah, we're going to try and get as much Belief and Karma as possible so that means doing as much hero work as we can." Jasmine confirmed the last of her armor snapping into place as the plates glowed.

"That sounds like a lot of work," Eva said, feeling bad that she had been planning on just hanging out for half of it. She was going to do hero work, but there had to be time to have fun off the train. Especially when she had to flip her sleep schedule to be back on one of the day shifts for the next leg of the journey.

"It is, but I like it. If you want to hang out, out of costume for anything, just let us know and we'll make the time," Nicholas said in his same monotone as ever. Eva had come to learn that was mostly just how he spoke, though apparently it had gotten worse as his powers grew stronger. She could understand conceptually, at least. If she had his ability, she would be terrified of accidentally slipping up.

"We want to be on track to hit D-Rank in a few months, though the demons really jump-started that. Once we meet those conditions, it's going to be focused on our understanding. And then, well…" Jasmine trailed off, giving a glance to Nicholas.

"Then I'm going to try and make a deal with my grandma to get her off our backs."

"She hasn't really bothered us so far besides sending spies," Nicholas commented. Eva struggled not to ask about Brynhild; she knew who Jasmine was related to, and she had a lot of questions. But Nicholas didn't and was waiting to see when Jasmine would tell him, to the point he even blasted his own memories away whenever he figured it out.

"Yeah, cause we're just babies. A lot of supers never get past E-Rank, and it's not because of retirement; the retirement package is that rank because most people struggle to enter D," Jasmine explained. Eva wondered what it was like to have all those connections and knowledge. Jasmine knew so much as common knowledge that she and Nicholas had no idea about. And she was so strong too; she had thought Nicholas had to be a scion too, but that he had done it all on his own was more shocking.

Eva hadn't been able to, though she had tested close to the Hero Crystal and got to go to a meditation room that was supposed to align you better. That had worked, and she was now working on paying off that debt.

"So once we are D-Rank, then we're going to start moving into the notable territory?" Nicholas asked, propping his chin in the palm of a hand.

"More like we passed the first checkpoint. We won't really matter until we're B-Rank, but at D we're at least worth manipulating more. She doesn't have nearly so many who are as advancing as fast or as stable as us."

"Well, I'm looking forward to flight." Nicholas said as if that was the end. Eva was a little jealous that they'd be getting flight; every super did when they reached D. Yes, the bonus to flight she got would be incredible. But it was something she wasn't getting that others were. And it was the favorite part of her powers. Though she could acknowledge it happened to physical types at the last stage, and it was going to happen to Nicholas at the next stage.

"Jasmine?" Eva asked.

"Sup?"

"I was wondering if you are ever going to see us gain a copy of your powers?" Eva asked. Nicholas paused as if the idea to him had been entirely new to him.

"That is a good question. Are we going to get soul powers?"

"Soul powers yes, soul powers like mine no." Jasmine answered. Or didn't answer it was sort of a non-answer for her.

"Like what?" Eva asked, pressing. Yeah, she wasn't likely to go all the way, but she still wanted to know, and these two were planning on going all the way. It may have been a shitty reason to only want to press forward because you didn't want to be left behind your friends, but it was the one she had. So it's what she was going to use to fuel her fire.

"I really don't know that much," Jasmine said bashfully. Nicholas and Eva exchanged a look; something was off with Jasmine, though neither could say for certain what.

"You don't need to know a lot; we just want whatever few details you can give," Nicholas said gently.

"Okay, got it," Jasmine said, rolling her eyes. As she opened her mouth to answer, she started to choke.