Malik took a bite out of Karen's gelato before waving his spoon at the women accompanying him.
"You know... Maybe we should have had dinner before getting ice cream..."
Karen hit his hand with her own spoon before saying:
"What are you, my brother? Who cares, this is supposed to be a treat anyway. And stop stealing my ice cream just cause you finished yours early!"
"I do feel a little guilty, my mother always told me that I shouldn't eat dessert before dinner..."
Hana said, clearly enjoying her own ice cream undisturbed.
"Heh. Doesn't look like you're feeling that guilty to me."
Malik teased while trying to take another spoonful of Karen's ice cream. Karen wasn't having any of it as she defended her almost finished bowl of ice cream.
"Why aren't you stealing from her!? That slowpoke is only halfway done, you bandit!"
Malik stopped his attempts after being hit a little too hard by Karen's spoon.
"Speaking of bandits, how 's that advertisement deal, from uh... What was it?"
Malik scratched his head, struggling to remember the name of the brand that wanted to make an advertisement with Karen and Hana.
"It's "Bruno's Boss" and we're still having talks about what kind of ad they want, all those guys in suits do is throw out idea after idea, and when we actively try to pick one they tell us to "take your time considering other options" it's a ****** perfume commercial! What's there to consider!?"
Karen found this whole deal of doing publicity nothing but frustrating, though she had her reasons to partake in such things. The same went for Hana, Malik however...
"Hahah! Sure am glad I don't have to deal such things."
He simply laughed. Karen simply rolled her eyes at him.
"Looks like being an asshole from time to time does have it's perks."
Hana covered her mouth in mock shock at Karen's language.
"You kiss your brother with that mouth, young lady?"
"Zip it! And I don't kiss my brother!"
"Better keep it down young lady, other patrons might think you do."
Karen looked around face flushed from embarassment because of Hana and Malik's teasing.
"You two always gang up on me..."
Oops, looks like she pouted...
With a sigh, Malik stole a spoonful of Hana's ice cream and brought it to Karen's lips.
"Open up, its an offering of peace."
Karen hesitated before softly biting on the spoon and swallowing the ice cream.
"Hmph! At least it's not a Trojan Horse..."
She said turning away from Malik.
"C'mon I'm not that cruel... And if I'm remembering right, a certain someone, once offered me ghost pepper ice cream. On my birthday, no less."
Karen simply shrug, turning back to face him with a smirk on her face at Malik's accusation.
"To be fair, that was my brother 's idea."
Hana tapped her chin in thought, the mischief in her eyes obvious to her two teammates.
"Hmhm... But if I remember right, you were laughing so hard you dropped to the ground and p-"
Karen's hand flew straight at Hana's mouth, holding it shut.
"I didn't wet myself! I just spilled my drink when I fell down! Now shut up you two!"
The three of them had a good laugh, as they made fun of each other back and forth.
"Still, it's pretty surprising how much coverage that guy has comperad to me. I mean, I know I had an... Unfavorable attitude during that one interview but still. I'm the first ordinary person who's actually supposed to be a "hero", so how come he's the one who makes appearances on TV left and right?"
"Aw you don't have to jealous, I'm sure you have... Some fans out there."
Malik rolled his eyes at Hana's attempt to "comfort" him.
"Wow, I almost believed you there... I just hope my fans aren't as stupid as that Yamato... Still I'd like to see what kind of people would claim to be my fans, heh maybe we could organize something to give people our authographs or something..."
Karen simply scoff at this pitiful display.
"Oh please, at least you're better off than us. Trust me, you don't wanna search images of us on the internet."
Hana couldn't help but gulp air at Karen's response.
"That's... True."
Malik, who done just that several times, knew what they were talking about, simply shrugged as he remembered something that happened to him earlier this week.
"Still, at least people don't throw stuff at you when you're just jogging."
Hana gave an innocent response.
"Yeah, because we can fly."
"..."
"..."
"Not the point."
"Oh..."
Dropping the current subject Karen decided to bring back Malik's idea.
"Still... I guess we could have something like a meet and greet if there's a festival or something..."
"Why are you two looking at me like that?"
Upon hearing that, Hana's soft features became tense as she took on a serious expression.
"Listen Karen... Something like a festival in this day and age is... Is just a tragedy waiting to happen. We can respond to problems and emergencies but we can't prevent them. Something like a festival, so many people in one spot... If a villain, mutant, or monster were to appear, even if we were close by, the number of people who'd get hurt or even... It's not something that this city is ready for, at least not yet."
Malik was stunned for a second.
"... Whoa."
He knew what happened to Hana's father, Hana's mother once told Malik his story. He had been a soldier during the war over 10 years ago, he had been left for dead as his superiors retreated, assuming they'd lost the battle and the ground where it took place. To them Hana's father had been just another casualty. But that was not the case, he'd lived and by a miracle, even as he traversed landsacpes altered by alien warfare he still made it back home, back to his family. The young Hana finally got to meet her father again, but, just one year after the war ended, after just one year of him being with his family again, the city they lived in was attacked by mutants that could infect the people they attacked turning them into disgusting monsters who could do the same.
Hana's family, along with most of the civilians, were in the process of evacuating, but in the chaos the infected blended into the crowd, in denial about their fate to become monsters they tried to escape along with the normal people. One after another they lost their reasoning and became monsters... Hundreds of people died. Hana's father dying as he tried fighting to his least breath against the horde, Hana's father had seemingly gained powers during the war, possibly because of a substance not from this world, "Starlight Gas". His exposure to it during the war led to him developing abilities beyond that of what humans should possess. Starlight Gas is an alien weapon that kills most people but gives strange powers to those who survive it.
While not much about it is currently known, close contact between Hana and her father seemingly led to her developing her own powers, though the same did not happen to his wife even though she had more exposure to him. The 'why' of that, is not currently understood by science, though several theories have been proposed.
"I... Sorry Hana, I... I should have considered that..."
Karen simply looked down as she apologized. Hana drew in a deep breath to calm herself before speaking.
"It's fine. Sometimes we forget the kind of world we live in..."
"..."
They left the establishment in an awkward silence, Malik didn't really mind but it was clear both Hana and Karen wouldn't let the silence be for long. While walking down the street, Hana's expression shifted to a gentle smile, she then walked ahead of her companions before turning to them.
"But you two are right, maybe we should do something for the people. A show of appreciation. Do you have any ideas?"
Snapping out of his trance Malik racked his brain for an idea that wouldn't out people in danger.
"Maybe something like... Fireworks? Something bombastic."
Karen scoffed looking at the man beside her with eyes full of pity.
"Are you serious? That's so last century. Who needs fireworks when me and Hana can create a whole light show by ourselves."
"That's how you wanna play smartass? Then come up with a coreography, or something. A light show without it can be pretty but without substance it'll be all it is."
"You wanna go? Cause you know I'll kick your butt!"
"Keep it down kids. We can't disturb the-"
From a dark alley aheadz a shadowey figure stepped forth, blocking their path. His features were hidden beneath a mask. Taking a good look at the people before him, he drew a machete from behind and pointed it at Malik before speaking.
"Well, well, well, aren't you a playboy? If y'all don't wanna get hurt ya better-"
Hana and Karen shared a knowing look before Karen crossed her arms and Hana tugged on Malik's sleeve drawing his attention to her. But it was Karen who spoke first.
"Mal, could you kick his ass before I accidently flash bang this whole block?"
"With pleasure."
Malik took a step forward not taking a fighting stance but clearly prepared for what was about to happen. The mugger's expression twisted beneath his mask before trying to swing at Malik with his machete.
"Why you little...!"
Malik's eyes scanned the man — machete in the right hand, feet planted awkwardly, too close already.
The mugger stepped closer, swinging the machete downwards at Malik.
That was the opening.
Malik's right hand shot up, grabbing the mugger's wrist and twisting it, it was clear it hurt the mugger badly from the scream of pain he let out. Malik didn't put too much strength into it — not hard enough to crush, but enough to make him stumble back.
The machete clattered to the pavement.
Malik didn't stop — he grabbed the robber's jacket and yanked him off-balance, tripping him with a sweeping kick. The man crashed onto the sidewalk.
He tried to scramble up, but Malik planted a knee on his chest and picked up the machete off the ground, before throwing it well out of reach.
"Now, lights out, or lights on? Choice's yours."
The mugger's eyes went as wide as saucers before he screamed.
"ON!! ON! ON GODDAMN IT!"
Malik shrugged before speaking to Hana.
"Lift him off the ground, not like he'd be able to flee anyway."
"Jeez, and here I was hoping I could go straight home..."
Karen tapped her foot on the floor impatiously.
"If you two can handle it, can I go home? I can already hear the earful I'll get from my brother... The sooner I get there the shorter it'll be..."
Grown ass woman with powers getting told off by her brother for being out late. Malik shook his head as he smiled.
"Go ahead, unless you want a good night kiss before you go?"
"Hmph! Idiot!"
And with that Karen flew off in a streak of light, Hana, Malik and the mugger looked on as that streak of light seemed to cut through the dark sky.
After throwing the mugger on jail, Malik walked Hana home and walked back to his own place, his cold, barely decorated, empty home. The moment he reached his bed he simply fell down onto the mattress and slept like that.