[color=A9A9A9][center][B][H3]V E N T U S[/H3][/B][/center][hr][/COLOR]

The crab-alien’s innards splattered most everything around. Ventus didn’t have time to realize what was happening before he was drenched in guts and bits of organs. [i][b]Dammit…[/b][/i] He gently expanded the air around him and the guts were separated from his clothing with disgusting wet sounds. 

That was when the reporters and the media decided that it was safe enough for them to approach. Ventus had mixed feelings about the media. He had to keep his fans happy because that’s what you did when you were Class S, but he did really have to get back to class. Geoff lowered himself to levitate just a few inches above the ground so the reporters could ask questions and get autographs. 

The first was a young boy, maybe eight years of age. “Ventus!” The kid was adorable and resembled that hero, Mr. P - or that’s what Ventus called him since he didn’t know the hero’s name. “Can you sign your card!?” The boy produced a small rectangular piece of treated paper with Geoff’s likeness printed on it. It was foiled too. Geoff always thought that signing these things would detract from the coolness of it - he had a collectible card for pete’s sake. 

He took the card and pulled a silver marker he used exclusively for signing. He scrawled “Ventus”, flourishing it across a relatively empty portion of the picture, diagonally. 

“Hey, do you know my brother?” Ventus had put a weak barrier around himself and the boy, about 9 meters in diameter, so the press couldn’t rush in and crush the kid. They were pressed against it shouting questions. The kid didn’t seem to question it, but he also may not have noticed. “Or… uh… Mrs. Pickles…” 

“Ah, the man with the blue cape?” The boy nodded. “No, I haven’t met him. But, you let him know that he really did a fantastic job.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t have a power like you…” The kid seemed disappointed in his older sibling. 

“That’s nonsense…” Ventus knew what sort of power Mr. P - Mrs. Pickles, rather, had. “He has superior luck. He managed to keep the monster’s attention while the rest of us attacked it, all the while the monster never landed a hit. Without him the shelter would have been attacked.” He gestured to the dome building only a block and a half away. “Now you make sure that knows that I appreciated the help. I’m going to talk to the Hero Association about him and put in a good word. We need more heroes like him. He’s not in it for the fame, just to help those he can.” With that and a huge smile on his face, as he admired the card, Ventus lifted the boy up and out of the reporters circle, using air pressure, setting him down near the other heroes to get more autographs. 

The reporters swarmed Ventus and disregarded his personal space. He answered a few of their questions and assured the reporter who’d asked him for his take on the other cities that he was completely confident in Guardian and Dragon Knight’s ability to save their respective cities. He then took to the sky with the reporters still shouting questions at him. He didn’t know if he should make his way to City K and help or if he should hurry back to class. But, what he did know was that he would put in a good word for Mrs. Pickles.