"Oh, great…back here again…." Cyrus couldn't help but roll his eyes after waking up in the crimson void that surrounded him.
He had no clue how many times he had experienced this same dream over the last year or so. But in all honesty, he was starting to get sick of it. There was never any rhyme or reason to why he was even here. And the fact that this place was cold as all hell made him hate it even more.
At this point, he was tempted to start doing some research into interpreting what this weird dream was supposed to mean. Or anything that would give him some insight into why this kept happening to him over and over again.
This time felt different, however. More tangible. More…real. For some reason, Cyrus felt like this wasn't just another dream. It was almost as if he were actually in this place, and not experiencing yet another dramatic hallucination brought on by his own chaotic thoughts.
Before the young 'tree magic' user could put his next thought together, a familiar presence suddenly appeared before him. One that he was instantly able to recognize based on the absolutely disgusting mana that it was pushing out in all directions.
This wasn't the same as the previous time, though.
Instead of a large, looming, horned figure obscured by darkness, all Cyrus got was a single eye staring at him. One with a blackened sclera and a ruby red iris that was burning a hole into him under its intense gaze.
"Soon, mortal…soon." The voice behind the eye said before everything once again went dark.
And just like that, Cyrus was kicked out of his dream and transported back to the world of the living. Just in time for him to start getting ready for the day ahead of him.
-(o)-
[DPA Station Nine, Charlotte, NC, December 2022]
Cyrus's first day back at work was a lot calmer than he expected.
Aside from a few of his fellow agents around the building greeting him and welcoming him back, everything pretty much felt normal to him. Operations were running just as smoothly as they usally did. People were scurrying about, trying to get to where they needed to go. One of the local high schoolers, who had recently awakened his powers, was being escorted to one of the training rooms. And there was a gaggle of agents standing next to the break area, talking about the results of last night's basketball game.
Naturally, Cyrus wasn't expecting anything like a big party to celebrate his successful return and rehabilitation or anything like that. But it did feel a bit odd to come back to such normalcy after everything he had been through. Not bad in any sort of way, just…bizarre. Bizarre in a way that made the fact that he was sitting on the information of Elaine and her friends being top Iznana executives feel a bit more disingenuous. Like he was keeping a secret from them that they all deserved to know.
'I really shouldn't be thinking about this right now.' The freckle-faced teen thought to himself as he readjusted his shirt underneath his sweater.
Just like the young man had predicted, none of his suits fit the same as they did before he was kidnapped. Thanks to all the muscle he gained during his month-long training adventure, he was now in desperate need of some new threads. Something that he was going to need to handle as soon as possible.
For now, though, Cyrus had opted for a different look than what he would normally be seen in around the office. Today, the young man was wearing his standard grey slacks and black shoes, with a white shirt and green tie. However, he was also sporting a black wool sweater to top off the look. One that did a pretty good job at keeping him nice and warm. He made a mental note to drop by the station's supply office later on today to order some new clothes. After all, it wasn't like he could just go to the store and buy a set of suits that were completely bulletproof, fireproof, water-resistant, and breathable all at the same time.
That being said, Cyrus needed to hurry up and make his way to Chief Chandler's office. The woman was expecting to show up at any moment, and it wasn't a good idea to keep her waiting. So, without a calm expression on his scarred face, he made the short journey to meet his boss and see what was going to happen to him in the near future.
-(o)-
"It's good to have you back." Chief Chandler said to Cyrus with a sincere smile while leaning back in her tall leather chair.
"Thank you, ma'am." Cyrus gave the woman a polite nod. "It's good to be back."
"I'm liking the new hairdo, too. The whole messy, curly afro's a good look for you."
"Thanks." The young man absentmindedly tugged on a lock of his dark curls after hearing the compliment. "It's pretty much the only thing I can do to hide my scars."
"I see." The brunette woman with the large scar running down the side of her face nodded in understanding.
It was then that Deputy Chief Mubele decided to put in his two cents. The dark-skinned man was sitting on the opposite side of the Chief's desk with a tablet in his hands. "So…word on the street is that Elaine and Quintin helped you unlock your overdrive skill."
"Yes, sir." Cyrus nodded. This was his first time actually speaking to the man face-to-face. "I managed to get it a few days before I left. I'm still getting used to it, though."
"This makes you the tenth person in the station who can do it. Definitely the youngest, if I remember correctly."
"Is that so?"
"I'd like to get a look at it sometime in the near future." The Chief then added. "Something tells me that it's gotta be something special when you take your magic into account."
"I assure you, ma'am, it's like nothing you've ever seen before."
"Well, now I'm really excited."
Theo quickly interjected before Cyrus could respond. "Anyways…I think we should get to the real reason why we're all having this little meeting."
Cyrus tensed up a bit after hearing that. He knew the real reason why the three of them were having this conversation right now. His bosses wanted to see whether or not he was well enough to take part in the upcoming operation. This was going to be his one chance to show that he was. If he failed to do so here, then he might need to take drastic action to try and confront Hannah before everything went down.
"The Boss and Agent Watanabe tell me that you want to be on the raid team. Is that true?" Theo then said with a stern look aimed towards the young 'tree magic' user.
"Yes, sir." Cyrus nodded once again.
"Do you think that it would be a good idea for me to allow you to take part in the operation?"
"I don't exactly understand the question, sir."
Theo took a second to adjust himself in his chair before continuing. Even now, Cyrus could feel the absolutely insane amount of power pouring out of the man's body. "Don't take this the wrong way, Moore, but…you went through a rather traumatic experience. The kind of experience that's going to take more than just a month to get over. Sure, Nick and Reyna may have fixed your body up. But your mind is another matter entirely."
"Sir, I assure you that I'm more than mentally well enough to handle this operation."
"And your little aversion to the cold isn't going to hold you back?"
Cyrus paused after hearing that. He didn't know what exactly he was supposed to say here, but he decided that his best option was to just play dumb. "I- y-you know about that?"
"Michiko told me about it not too long ago." The 'lightning magic' user replied. "She said that you're not too good at dealing with the cold these days. Not that I can blame you…"
The young man took a second to think about his reply. The man already knew what his main problem was. So, trying to hide it from him wasn't a good idea.
"I'm not going to lie and say that it doesn't have an effect on me. But it won't affect me during the operation, especially if I end up confronting Frost."
Theo gave Cyrus a hard stare before he replied. The kind of stare that sent shivers down the young man's spine. Having one of the strongest human beings in existence look at you like the way he was right now wasn't a pleasant experience in the slightest. "Well, I guess I'll just have to take your word for it, for now, at least. But I plan on seeing for myself whether or not it's true."
"Understood."
"Since we still have a few days before we get things up and running, we'll have plenty of time to see where you're at in terms of comat readiness. Until then, you'll pretty much be doing errands for me around the building. I know that you think that you're back to fighting form, but I want to ease you back into the swing of things around here before we get too crazy."
"I have no problem with that, ma'am." Cyrus agreed with the woman.
"Good!" Chief Chandler then said with a smile. "You're dismissed for now, but we'll be pulling you into one of the training rooms later today to see where you're at. So, be ready for that."
"Understood."
With nothing left to be said, Cyrus quickly took his leave in hopes of finding his friends. He knew that there was a lot riding on his possible participation in the upcoming raid, so he needed to prove to his superiors that he was truly well enough to take part in it. Anything else would throw a monkey wrench into his plans. And Cyrus couldn't have that happen, especially not with so much riding on his success.
-(o)-
"So…what do you think?" The Chief looked to her second-in-command barely a few seconds after Cyrus exited her office.
"He's definitely lying about being mentally well enough for the operation. But, I can't say that we didn't expect that." Theo answered with a slight smirk. "We should really look into having him see a therapist sooner rather than later."
"Agreed." The woman nodded. "Him having his overdrive now does change things, though. Having that during the operation is going to be valuable for us."
"I still want to see what it can do first. He's a support type, so I can't imagine how useful it'll be. But we won't know what to expect until we see it later."
"I'm still surprised that Elaine managed to pull it off."
The Chief knew just how difficult it was for a sorcerer to obtain overdrive, even under the most ideal of conditions. Hell, it took her three entire months of non-stop training before she was able to get hers. So the idea that her boss's daughter was able to help one of her youngest agents get his in only a month's time was something to behold. Whatever training she had put him through must've felt like hell. However, this did cause the woman to wonder if she could hire Elaine and Quintin to do the same thing for her niece sometime in the future.
"She's a surprisingly good teacher when she wants to be. Hell, if it weren't for her, I would've never learned how to enchant." Theo then said.
"Yet, you're still terrible at it." Chief Chandler joked.
The Deputy Chief simply shrugged at the comment. "True. The whole thing's just too artsy for me, and I could never fully wrap my head around it. I just like the straightforward approach too much."
"Anyways… he and the others are the only ones who've had direct experience dealing with our targets. We're going to need them there one way or another."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing that niece of yours has almost mastered total armament."
Chief Chandler couldn't help but agree with that sentiment. "Yes, her motivation to impress you really made her take the whole thing seriously."
The 'lightning magic' user raised an eyebrow upon hearing that. "Is she still trying to join my team?"
"Of course." The woman replied. "It's been her main goal ever since she got here. Speaking of which, are you ever going to tell her why you rejected her in the first place?"
By this point, the Chief was well aware of her Deputy's misgivings about the idea of Valerie joining the APS. Although his reasoning was solid, she still felt that it was a bit presumptuous on his part. But, even if she didn't totally agree with the decision, she wasn't going to step on the 'lightning magic' user's toes and try to force him to have her join his squad. She didn't want people to think that she was just giving the tall blonde the position on account of their relation, after all.
"I'll get around to it as soon as I confirm my suspicions. Until then, I don't want to risk it." Theo replied.
"Are you sure she's just like Wang Jiayi? You know how rare that kind of sorcerer is."
"The girl's mana feels exactly the same as that woman's. And her inability to control her own powers only makes me even more certain."
At that moment, the image of a certain tall and muscular Chinese woman with wild black hair flashed across Theo's mind. And the scar on the upper part of his lip began to tingle.
"Whatever you say. Just make sure that you have a plan in place if you ever agree to let her join your team. I'd really hate for you to have to put her down in case something goes wrong." The woman then gave the man a sharp side-eye.
Theo simply chuckled at the comment. "Don't worry, boss. I'm not dumb enough to do something like that. Especially since I know that sister of yours would put a hit out on me if it ever happened."
"Yeah…you're not wrong about that."
The two senior agents spent the next few minutes talking and going over their updated plans for the upcoming raid. There were still a few details that needed to be worked out over who was going to be doing what during the operation, especially since they were going to be targeting multiple places at once. This whole operation was going to be one giant headache, no matter which way they tried to slice it. So, it was better for them to try and get a handle on what they could now before the big day arrived.