[center][color=firebrick][h1]Long time no see...[/h1][/color][/center]
Prom night came.

Just like Melissa had probably imagined, they both turned a lot of heads that night. Despite it being Alto's first time doing anything like that, he felt fine being the center of attention. After that, they'd stepped aside and she told him what she'd wanted to say. He'd responded with his true feelings and that was that. It seemed to have gone over well, only now it'd been over a week and neither of them had said anything to the other.

Now more than ever, he felt how awkward human interaction could get.

He picked up his phone and typed out a message.

[quote=Alto]
Hey, want to watch Blade Runner 2049? It's coming out soon and I don't want to watch it alone...
[/quote]

He debated putting an 'emoji' on the end but he suddenly felt something bad would happen if he did. After a few agonizing moments a reply followed.

[quote=Melissa]
Sure, when do you want to meet up? :sun
[/quote]

With that the tension dissipated. At least he'd have a chance to patch things up. They sorted out the times, and he set his alarm for tomorrow.
[hr]
He didn't really take the bus too often. Most of the places he needed to go were reachable on foot, and in an emergency he moved a lot faster using his Vice Claw. It was too far to walk to the theater, using the Vice Claw just to get there would attract too much attention and asking Jerry to take him there just... felt like a bad move? It felt like he would get the wrong idea.

The bus wasn't completely full. There were a lot of seats left but there were no lone double-seats left. There was still a space next to Alto, however. The bus arrived at the next stop. There were still quite a few stops left, but it would be a straight ride to the theater. He'd be on time, with a little to spare at this rate.

He looked up just as Melissa boarded the bus.

She was wearing rather plain clothes compared to the first time they'd seen a movie together. Just a hoodie and jeans, still much more fashionable than anything Alto usually wore. Her hair was in a braid, and she wore her glasses instead of contacts like on prom night.

They made eye contact and she froze. The tension was increasing again. She was boarding a bus so she had to move. They'd clearly made eye contact so she had to sit next to him.

The bus continued its journey as they continued their silence. Some would say it seemed to be intentional but that wasn't really the case. Alto didn't know what to say, and Melissa didn't have much she could say. Alto was the one to break the silence.

"Sorry." He said, finally.

"Uhhh... what?" Melissa said, confused. "No, it's fine.. I should've seen it coming anyway."

"I gave you a lot of grief, didn't I?" Alto said. "At least let me apologize for it."

He said it in a lighthearted way to soothe her a little. The last thing she needed to do was beat herself up for something that probably should've happened the way it did anyway.

"You know, you're the only person close to my age I actually 'know'." He said, taking further advantage of the lightened mood. "Wait, that makes me sound suuuper boring, doesn't it?"

Melissa let out a giggle, and she also finally let her hood down. He hadn't accepted her feelings but she seemed to be at peace with it now. Despite the fact that he had asked her to watch a movie pretty much just for this reason he did also come to enjoy a movie as well.

Then suddenly, he felt sensation in his left arm and his phone buzzed. His left arm was usually devoid of feeling so it felt like an electric shock.

Actually, he had been expecting something like this for a long time. The High Clairvoyant didn't handle all communications, save for the High Prescient each of them had proven to have ways of directly contacting people to do their bidding. Alto had been waiting the turn and it seemed to have come, from the High Electric this time.

Supposedly the High were responsible for most, if not all Epic powers. One thing which had always puzzled him and others was to what category the Vice Claw belonged. It had the power of pyro-kinesis, a by-product of heat energy manipulation which was the domain of the High Electric. However, it permanently changed his arm by way of a mutation, and his arm was the only thing which displayed powers except for the rest of his body's immunity to his own flames.

The High Venom had never reached out to him, but neither, to his knowledge, had any of the others until now.

"You got the call?" Melissa said, concern visible on her face.

Normal citizens didn't have that many opportunities to see something like this happen. Most Epics didn't either, but still.

"Yup..." Alto sighed. He stood up and pressed the stop button. "This is my stop..."

"Just be careful, alright?" Melissa said.

He nodded and hopped off the bus.
[hr]
As the claws raced towards him, a silver chain would come flying in from behind Magus wrapping around him. It wasn't a strong chain, nor was it controlled in some way.

Next, a gigantic flaming claw appeared, racing forward, and catching Dian Cecht's.

"You're back-up's here," A voice called from behind. "The High Electric said you might need the help."
[@Sedjwick] [@Regitnui]