Michael was face to face with a far too familiar ceiling. It was the hospital, of course. Especially back in training, it was a common place for him. It's not easy to harness fire, one of the most harmful magic types. Michael had to have heat-resistant gloves created, though, he doesn't use gloves all the time now. As he moved his hands down to his chest, he felt a burning sensation. Looking at his palms, the mark on them looked larger, and more dark than the usual blood-red hue. On his bedside, was a calendar, which showed how it had been about three days since the last mission, and, there were some flowers next to it, so clearly someone was thinking about him, despite no one in the room. That fact disappointed him.
Michael says, to himself, "I'm such a idiot. I could have easily beaten that thing if I was more efficient. Instead, it got drawn out... and..." He would have a disappointed look in his eye.
Soon after he woke up, a doctor came into the room, a man with glasses and medical scrubs on, holding a clipboard.
"Michael Torres, is it?"
Michael rubbed his head, "Yeah, that's me."
"My name is Doctor Ryan. I've just come in here to confirm some things with you, regarding your injuries."
Michael motioned to the chair near his bed, which Dr. Ryan sat in promptly.
"What do you need to talk about?" Michael asked.
Dr. Ryan pushed his glasses up, "Well, it's primarily regarding your Mana. Your injuries were numerous, but what was more dangerous, was the damage to your Mana. You overexerted yourself, using Mana that you just didn't have in your body. Worse, you intentionally lowered the Mana you used for your defense, allowing your own fire to injure you. Do you know how dangerous this is?"
Michael said, disheartened, "Yeah... I do..."
Dr. Ryan continued, "So, you should know that I am strongly advising you to stop this behavior. You must lay off the Mana usage for a week at least. You should know how bad it is to fully deplete yourself of it."
Michael groaned, "Alright, I understand. Is there anything else I need to know?"
Dr. Ryan said, "No, that is all. Your injuries have been mostly healed, just don't do anything dangerous for a few days."
Dr. Ryan got up from his chair, and left the room, leaving Michael in silence.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, with Joseph, and Roy walking in. Roy was an older man, in his late 30's, compared to Michael and Joseph being 21. Roy had brown hair, not organized in any discernible way, and had bronze skin. He had his military uniform on, it being a light gray color, apart from his right arm, which was mechanical, created from a dark gray metal. He got it when he was defusing a bomb under enemy fire, and a bullet had hit it. The arm was imbued to Roy's mana, making it feel the same as a real arm.
Joseph says, "You're finally awake!"
Michael replies, "Yeah, no thanks to me, really."
Joseph leans against a wall next to Michael's bed, "If it wasn't for you, I would have died."
Michael sighs, "I could've done better though..."
Joseph slapped him on the back, and said, "Yeah, in a perfect world, you could have done better. But, we don't live in that world, and in this world, there's a very clear gradient of success between "Dying" and "Not Dying"."
Michael would rub his back, and would lighten up a bit, with the thought still at the back of his mind, "Yeah, I guess that's right. What happened after we left, anyways?"
Joseph says, "Well, after we got back, we informed the force about the situation, and they sent a team out to find the leader of the gang who was at that factory. They haven't found him yet, though..."
Michael replies, "And, what about the "Angel" itself?"
Roy grimaces, "Unfortunately, the remains were too charred to be analyzed, and most of the documents were destroyed in the fight itself, the one's that are left are being analyzed right now in the lab. They were able to find a correlation with other mysterious events in the city, though."
Michael's face darkens, "So, you don't think that was a one-off occurrence?"
Roy says, "Well, I can't say much more. Apparently, the incident is already under investigation by Captain Roland himself, and his team. Not our problem anymore, or so I've been told."
Michael would say, "Alright, I guess that checks."
Roy asks Joseph, "Anyways, when will our new recruit be here?"
Michael raised an eyebrow, "Recruit?"
Joseph perks up, saying, "Oh, she'll be here anytime now!" He turned to Michael, eager to explain, "Her name is Lena, she's an electric magic specialist from Eldra! They say she's a prodigy, and I was actually planning on picking her up from the station after this!"
Michael turned to Roy, "Do we have the new barracks set up for all of this?"
Roy says, while tossing one set of keys to Michael and two sets to Joseph, "I moved most everything in, you're good."
Michael has a sigh of relief, saying, "At least everything that could be handled, was handled while I was out."
Joseph says, in a joking tone, "So, you didn't trust me to do the work?"
Michael says, half-joking, "I have my doubts sometimes, but you did pretty well from what I have seen. Also, it might be a bit belated, but I gotta thank you for those rockets you gave me, they really saved my ass."
Joseph blushes, saying, "You don't have to be so kind, dear leader! Anyways, you can go with Roy. I'll pick up the new gal, and take her to the barracks, we can meet up there!"
Michael says, "Alright. Roy, I guess I'm going with you."
Joseph speaks, jokingly, "Make sure not to pull something, Michael."
Roy says, "I'm fine with that. I don't want to go playing parent for the new kid right away like I had to do with you two, anyways." Roy would have a hearty laugh, before starting to walk out of the room, leaving only Joseph and Michael.
Joseph turned, to Michael, and says, "So, about what happened back there, at the factory."
Michael says, "Don't worry about it, I get it."
Joseph grimaces, before saying quietly, "You're nothing like him, I understand you hate what you did, but don't beat yourself over it."
Michael replies, with a hint of dishonesty in his voice, "I know."
Joseph left the room, after that.
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At the local train station, it was a normal day, filled with bustling commuters and trains flying across the railway. In between the busy laborers, was a woman with long, curly, black hair, and blue eyes of similar color and deepness as the ocean. She had a black military uniform, with a dark blue overcoat, and was holding a large suitcase. As she was scanning the station for someone, she was surprised to see a strange, blond man running at her. That man, obviously being Joseph. As Joseph walked forward, she prepared herself.
He said, "Are you Lena?"
She responded, "That would be me. I assume that'd mean that you're Joseph?
He pointed at himself, as he said, "That'd be me!"
Lena looked unimpressed, "Uh-huh. So, where do I have to go?"
Joseph would reply, feigning offense, "That's so rude! No exposition or anything?" He'd sigh, before saying, "I suppose we should get out of this area, wouldn't want to get in the way of anyone." He'd motion to follow him, and Lena would grab her bags.
"So, how far away is this place, anyways?" Lena would say.
Joseph said, "Not that far away, anyways. So, do you have any questions? You're new to the area, from my understanding."
Lena replied, "I do have one. Who are the others in the group?"
Joseph said, "Well, there's me, not much to say that you couldn't realize already, Michael, he's my best friend, and our leader, he's really cool and does a lot of the work, and Roy, who brings us back down to earth, and does the same thing to our targets."
Lena said, "Sounds like quite the rogue's gallery."
Joseph said, "Yeah, well, I think you'll fit in just fine."
Lena smiled, "You might be right."