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It had been just over a week since Kyle had last seen Addie. In the days that followed her abrupt departure, he had tried calling her numerous times. At first, he tried calling her several times a day, to no avail. Eventually, his attempts to call her became less frequent, until he finally gave up altogether. He did want to be there for her while she was dealing with whatever it was that she was going through, however, she made it impossible for him to do so. He knew that whatever it was that had happened must have been important for her to leave the way she did, and he tried not to take it personally. However, that was easier said than done.

His friends had been supportive. Dmitri and Hannah had treated him to dinner and a movie, and Ronnie had been there to talk when he needed to, giving him a full serving of well intention sarcasm which temporarily had brought him out of his funk. Even Keri had been somewhat nice, having refrained from hitting him with a barrage of insults at every opportunity. It was Sam, however, who had been there for him more than anyone else over the last week. 

She sat with him and they talked for hours, not just about Addie’s sudden departure, but the drama with Keri that had arisen after their breakup, and then intensified after Kyle had started seeing Addie. Sam had been there for Kyle whenever he needed someone to talk to, or even when he just needed to be near someone. They didn’t have to say a word, they could just sit there silently and just having her near him was a comfort. However, when he was in need of sage-like advice, she would provide it.

“You can sit there and be butt-hurt, or you can move on. It’s not like you guys were together all that long.” She had told him in the commuter café while they ate lunch one day. Or, more accurately, while she ate lunch and he moved his shepherd’s pie around on this plate. 

While his friends had been supportive as he coped with his latest heartbreak, Harry was less than sympathetic. He had scolded Kyle for bringing an outsider to the Garage, regardless if she had been another meta or not. He had needlessly compromised the security of their operation, and that was unacceptable. Harry had kept Kyle busy over the course of the week, having him investigate a series of robberies and muggings that may be somehow connected to the recent child abductions within the city. 
He had also had Kyle keeping watch for the so called “Nightmare Killer,” as well as the organization that pursued it, STRIKE.

In his travels, Harry had heard of STRIKE. However, he had always thought that they were just some black ops outfit that chased down stories of UFO sightings. However, it looked as if he had been wrong in that assessment, and knew that he would need to get better information on exactly what the organization was all about. He would get the truth about STRIKE, however, at the moment there were more important matters to attend to.

The “man” calling himself Nightmare had been terrorizing the city for days. The slaughter of a family had only been the beginning of the killer’s rampage. Most recently, the murderous psychopath had dispatched an entire rave, along with a STRIKE unit, and if rumors were to be believed, possibly Icon himself. 

The fact that the city’s most prominent hero might very well have been defeated by this new threat gave Harry great pause. He knew that if Icon wasn’t able to stop this mad killer, Kyle had no chance of stopping the monster’s reign of terror. However, despite knowing the risks, Harry sent him out into the night in hopes of finding something, anything that will bring his murderous rampage to an end. 

As Kyle climbed into the recently repaired Kaiju, he drove off into the night with only one rule:

"Do what you can, but do not engage Nightmare directly."