The hot water from the golden showerhead stread down his body, washing away what was left of the battle.
Nicholas grabbed the long-staple cotton towel from the hanger, allowing its soft fabric to absorb the moisture from his skin.
"At least they didn’t charge two thousand a night for fake cotton. I would’ve gone for the manager," Nicholas muttered to himself as he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out into the room, allowing the cool conditioned air to hit his face.
The warm golden glow from the chandelier filled the room, illuminating the large wall clock hanging nearby.
"It’s been three hours. That should’ve been enough ti for the report to be on the news."
After doing his little ’clean up’ like he’d told Selena, he’d checked into a luxurious hotel to actually wash the battle off.
Two thousand was a lot, but of course—
’The money has to go sowhere.’
He walked up to the massive bed, picking up the remote and turning on the TV.
[PDD NEWS]
A young lady stood in front of the screen, keeping a stoic expression.
"Tonight, we have a sad report reaching us, stating that the Raystar Association was behind the release of the Tochiux. This association, unknown to many, oversees several notable heroes such as Vixen, Night Ninja and Rope Girl.
They have responded to the allegations, stating that the beast had been ’mistakenly’ released during a test. Reports confirm twenty deaths from the event and several casualties.
And this begs the question, what does the hero association have to say about this? Are we going to have several more beasts and villains that have been contained, released by mistake? Or will they show more accountability towards the security of the people" her voice edging towards disappointnt as she spoke.
Each word was as sharp as a dagger.
"She’s the perfect person for the broadcast" Nicholas thought as he watched the report, he couldn’t have had anyone do it better.
With the way she spoke, she was sure to stir people into action and the Raystar association was surely not getting out unscathed.
’It seems the council is another group I have to watch out for...’ Nicholas thought as he turned off the TV.
His encounter with Kelsey was enough for him to dig deeper into information pertaining to the council.
Thankfully he didn’t have to do much research as most of the information was already in the hero forum.
It was even pinned under a section titled: ’Things you should know’
The council, while hardly spoken of, was a group of rich and influential families that appeared during the start of the plague.
At first, they appeared as benefactors, offering support to newly awakened heroes.
But it didn’t take too long as these families began signing these heroes into contracts, building empires and brands around hero nas and turning these heroes into money-making machines. Heroes were soon tied down by contracts and made to do as these families requested.
After facing legal oppression from these influential houses for months—years, even.
The Hero Association was ford.
On the outside, it looked as though heroes had chosen to co together to build a safer and harmonious world, but in truth the association was built to escape oppression.
An association built to protect the rights of heroes from the fangs of the greedy council mbers.
After reading the article, Nicholas didn’t know how to feel, was the Hero association simply dumb or was it the council that had made things that way. The latter was most likely the case, since the simple irony was the fact that before one even had access to the forum to see the article, they must’ve already made the mistake of joining a council or a team.
’Being a hero is an even nastier job than becoming a hitman’ Nicholas thought with a sigh as he sat on the soft bed, ’At least they’ll be taking a heavy hit from that news report’
He knew the kind of impact the news had in this world teeming with heroes and villains and a council that fed on fa and popularity.
And he wasn’t wrong.
Elsewhere, in a massive office, the report played on the news while Ronald sat with a deep frown on his face as he watched the news.
"Sir, people are cancelling their subscriptions to Vixen’s fan page" his secretary said with a deep frown as she stared at the flood of notifications coming in through the tab.
Ronald forced a smile. "It’s obvious that’s what would happen. Can’t you see the news?!" he snapped, glaring at her.
"I’m sorry sir" The secretary said keeping her head down.
"How did this information get out? Get Kelsey and Sam here this instant, they have explanations to give" Ronald’s voice went cold and dark his tone asured, yet dangerous.
"Sir, the team reported Kelsey sustained a critical injury and Sam hasn’t been seen since he returned"
"A fatal injury?" Ronald asked with a raised brow, he looked back at the news report, his gaze darkening, "Call Sam" Ronald looked at the news headlines again.
This was the first ti sothing like this was happening and for so reason only one na rang in his head.
’Phantom’
----
Back at the Hotel, Nicholas was just about to go to bed when his phone suddenly began ringing.
Nicholas picked up his phone, seeing Marina’s contact light up the screen.
His brows knitted as he picked up the call.
"Nicholas!"
Hearing her panicked voice, he sat up the bed, his eyes narrowing, "What is it Marina?"
"Katie... Katie she’s—!" Her words ca in an unsteady rhythm, completely flustered and filled with confusion.
Nicholas frown deepened, "What happened to Katherine?"
His thoughts spiralled, ’Did the Raystar association do sothing? Did Selena take her ho safely?’
"Co back ho Nicholas! Katie, she.. she caught the plague!"
Nicholas’s face went pale as he heard the words from Marina, he quickly jolted out from the bed, rapidly putting on his clothes.
"Marina calm down, I’ll be there in a few seconds"
"Nicholas, I can’t calm down! Her awakening is failing!"
In that mont, his mind went blank.
The Tochiux.
The Council.
Everything vanished from his thoughts.
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