"Live... together?"

The shield hovering beside Katherine flickered. The two have actually already shared the idea of living in close proximity to each other—but for Adam to suddenly suggest it now, of all times, out of nowhere was something she truly didn’t expect.

"Where is this... suddenly coming from?" she asked, slightly raising an eyebrow. "Don’t tell me you’re starting to fall in love with me?"

"What?" Adam squinted, looking almost... disgusted at the notion. "No."

"Oh, wow. You didn’t have to answer that fast—I still am one of the most famous people in the world, you know? Although..." Katherine placed a hand on her chin. "...I think you’re starting to beat me in that regard."

"I just thought... with all the things that’s been happening, sooner or later, we might not have the chance to actually spend time together." Adam shrugged, stepping closer to the glowing shield. "So, I just thought... why not just spend time casually, and just whenever we can, so that we don’t have to force it? Sharing a home... would be nice."

"That..." Katherine’s eyes slightly turned wide. Slowly, the side of her lips curled. "...I think that would be nice, too. I’ll get an extra bed in my apartment, there’s plenty of space for you there since it’s... unnecessarily huge. Although I’m always out because of my job, you’ll also be out there. But as you said, whenever we can, right?"

"Hm." Adam nodded, finally balling his hand into a fist, his eyes glimmering as they reflected the radiant shield in front of him. "So, do I just hit it wherever?"

"Yes." Katherine stepped further to the side. "It’s to re-educate your brain with your neuromuscular functions. You can start whenev—?!"

Katherine felt a quake travel across his entire body; her bones, reacting to the sudden, deafening thunder. It wasn’t only her bones that reacted—the already toppled buildings, the shattered debris, the large chunks, and even the very ground itself trembled from Adam’s strike.

But of course, Katherine still felt it more... deeper. How could she not, when her shield shattered from just a single strike?

No one, as in no one, had been able to do that. Even the newly departed S-tier Hero of Canada, Mark the Carnage Strongman, never shattered her shield when she fought him during one of the Games, at least not in one hit—and he was known for his brute strength.

She turned to Adam, who was casually checking his fist, which was completely chaffed to the bones from his punch—no. It wasn’t just chaffed, but completely shattered, and was just already healing.

"Your shield is... extremely durable," Adam said in amazement. "But I don’t really know if I have already adjusted to my new strength. Should we go again?"

"You were right, Adam..." Katherine didn’t seem to hear him. Her voice was almost droning as she looked at the empty air. "I don’t think you’ll really be able to hide your strength for long. It—"

"What was that?!" Harvey shot out from the corner of the ruined building before Katherine could finish. Beatrice and Carmen also followed, seemingly ready to fight. But when they noticed it was only Adam and Katherine, their readiness turned into confusion.

"The fuck’s going on?" Carmen raised an eyebrow. "Are we going, or what?! I’m fucking telling you now, I’m not going without you, you midget. You owe me one!"

"Right." Adam breathed out, nodding as he glanced at Katherine. "I’ll just... try to be careful."

"Yes," Katherine whispered, still seemingly out of it. "You... do that."

Adam blinked at her for a moment and then approached and casually gave her a hug.

"Oh..." That immediately broke Katherine out of her stupor. She leaned her head close to Adam’s and smiled, returning his embrace. And just like that, the Adam that just punched through her shield was gone, and the image of him sitting alone in a white room replaced it.

She was a doctor, but most importantly, she knew Adam—no matter how old he truly was, or how strong he would become...

...Adam had never experienced a normal childhood, and knowing what he’d been through, how he hid and ran for twenty years, never really allowing himself to live properly; It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say that his mental growth had been stunted, because it probably is.

Adam, for her, in spite of everything, was a child.

"Be safe out there, okay?" Katherine whispered. "I’ll text you my address, and I’ll have food and bath ready for you once you’re... home."

"Thank you. I’ll be... back."

Wrong. Adam won’t be back that night, at least, not that night. Because that night...

***

"A-ayuda! Estan... estan entrado! Pense que... I thought there were four heroes?!"

"The president called them to protect the Palacio Nacional!"

"There’s fucking nobody there! There are literally thousands of people here! Why would she order that?! Fucking selfish bitch! Can these aliens even go that far?!"

Somewhere in Mexico City, the veteran creeps were trying their best to hold down their fort—Centro Santa Fe... a shopping mall. The aliens, who weren’t humanoid in nature at all, were currently tearing down their walls with their long, black, and incredibly pointy arms. If... they were arms, that was.

But while the aliens didn’t look human, they seemed to be highly intelligent—they knew where the entrances were and had already blocked them, while some were trying to find a way in.

"Shit..." The veteran creep, who was only one level away from becoming a Hero, backed away from the reinforced rolling doors as they started to fall and crumple. "They’re... they’re becoming more aggressive!"

The shrieks of the aliens surrounded the mall, growing louder with each passing second. He looked behind him, and there were ordinary people scattered everywhere, drowned in fear; their heads and bodies flinching with each noise the aliens were making.

"Shit..." The veteran creep sucked in a breath. He closed his eyes for a moment and then pulled out his spear. "I’ll... I’ll try to distract them. Hopefully, they buy it and start following me."

"What?!" The other veterans there looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you fucking crazy?! These motherfuckers are smart! You’ll just fucking die out there!"

"Better die out there than here. We—"

"Fuck!"

A massive clang groaned throughout the entire mall as the reinforced door caved in even deeper, cracks starting to form on its surface.

"Shit..." The veteran creep pushed the others away, tightening his grip on his weapon as he readied to meet the enemies about to burst in. "Come on... Come on!"

And as the door finally burst open, the veteran creep rushed forward... only for him to stop in his tracks as a human stepped inside the mall instead.

It was Adam.

Adam’s eyes darted across the inside of the mall, sighing in relief as he saw everyone safe. His eyes landed on the veteran creep, nodding to him before casually turning around and stepping outside—he didn’t even speak.

"Huh...?" The veteran creep looked at his companions in confusion for a moment before rushing out. And as soon as he saw the scenery outside, he held his breath—the Leak was gone, and there were hundreds of alien corpses scattered everywhere.

"Carmen...?" he whispered as he noticed Carmen there. "What is—"

Carmen also completely ignored them, however, as she just hugged Adam and flew up without a word—the only thing he and the others heard from them was the boom as they disappeared into the sky.

"What... what was that?"

And they weren’t the last to experience this mixture of shock and confusion. Throughout the night, several reports of people hearing a boom around Mexico spread like wildfire on social media, news outlets, and even the radios.

Everyone kept saying different things—it was a spirit, a deity, an angel... a hero.

But there was, however, one word that kept repeating itself. Or rather, a name.

Adam.

And the reports didn’t just stop in Mexico. The name was uttered next in Brazil, and then it travelled across the seas to South Africa.

For several days, this name was uttered—and coincidentally, he always came at night to these cities. He saved people, closed Leaks, and sometimes even helped for a while with relief operations... and all without uttering a single word.

Well, his companion, however, had a lot of words to spare for both of them—but the Berserk Fairy was a different story altogether. Her name was also uttered and cheered, but ultimately overshadowed in the grand scheme of things.

This night was something Earth would probably remember forever, a tragedy at the same level as when the Games first started. Millions dead.

But... it would also be remembered for something else—as something else.

Millions of people were also saved this night.

Right now, throughout the entire world, throughout the internet, no matter where...

...they were already calling this night the Endless Night. Or, as some preferred it—

The Night of the Endless.