Chapter 51: Small Patrol and Robberies
Cid left the meeting room and made his way back toward the main waiting area.
Yui and Stars were already there, standing off to the side and talking. Stars noticed him first. Her face lit up and she raised a hand, waving him over.
"There you are, Cid, get over here" she called.
Cid walked over and stopped beside Yui. She looked up at him with a small smile and hooked her pinky around his, giving it a light squeeze before both of them turned toward Stars.
"Alright," Stars said, clapping her hands together once. "First thing today is patrol. It'll get you used to how hero work runs here, and it gives me a chance to show you around Washington. I'll take you by a few of my favorite spots while we're out." She grinned. "There's this little restaurant we have to hit later. Food's to die for."
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
"Go get geared up and meet me back here in five."
They met Stars outside a few minutes later and from there, the day moved pretty quickly.
Stars took them through different parts of Washington, pointing out well known streets, landmarks, and a few places she actually liked when she wasn't working. She kept the patrol in a casual feel but also very active, cutting through side streets and busier areas alike while keeping an eye on everything around them.
There were only a few smaller incidents that happened. They stopped a pair of thieves trying to snatch bags near a metro entrance, later on Yui moved a stalled car out of a tight intersection before it caused a real backup. Cid awkwardly helped a lost kid find his parents in one of the larger malls.
None of it was anything major, just small things that popped up in daily hero work. Stars told them beforehand it would probably be like this due to her being there. Villains weren't stupid when the country's top heroes were in the area they laid low and waited for them to move on normally.
Between those moments, Stars kept showing them the city.
They passed monuments and the large stretches of park scattered throughout the city, they cut through busier commercial streets, and stopped briefly at a couple of spots overlooking the city so Yui could take pictures. Stars talked more than either of them combined, filling the silence with her chatter with things like, which streets were mostly just noise, and which ones where trouble typically happened, she also pointed out good places to eat she had been to before or heard about.
By late afternoon, they finally eased out of the patrol and decided to have dinner.
Stars brought them to a small restaurant tucked between two larger buildings, the kind of place you would walk right past if you weren't a local or didn't already know it was there. She pushed the door open with a satisfied look.
"This is the one I was talking about," she said. "Trust me."
They got a table near the window. The place was warm, a little crowded, and smelled better than half the other restaurants they'd passed earlier in the day.
As stars stretched in the booth she turned to her interns.
"Not a bad first patrol," she said, glancing between them. "You both handled that pretty well even though it was mostly just boring stuff. Most kids your age would have been bored expecting fights or catching villains and would have been complaining by the second hour in."
Yui gave a small smile. "It wasn't bad. The city is a lot bigger than I expected though."
Cid shrugged lightly. "The small stuff's fine. It was actually kinda nice just walking around and relaxing."
Stars grinned like that was the answer she wanted. "Good. That attitude'll save you a lot of headaches in the future."
After that they ordered, ate, and Cid let Cathleen and Yui do most of the talking, only throwing out a few comments here and there. Stars went on to talk about what they would be doing for the next 3 weeks. By the time they were done the sky was a slight shade of orange meaning it was time to go back.
-next day-
The next morning came early.
Stars had them up and in the training area before even the base was fully awake. Ethan and a couple of the other pilots were already there, stretching and setting up weights.
Stars stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed, looking far too awake.
"Alright," she said. "quirk training's important, but if your body can't keep up, you're still a liability. So we're going to fixing that."
She pointed at Cid and Yui.
"You two are with us every day from here on out. No shortcuts. No backing out."
Cid exhaled quietly through his nose. Yui paled slightly, having never gone through such intense training.
From the side, one of the guys gave a short, amused huff.
"This should be fun."
Training started immediately.
Stars did not ease them into it. The first morning was all physical work, strength, conditioning, and stamina drills with Ethan and the other pilots running their own session alongside them. Yui struggled clearly unused to that level of sustained physical demand. Cid handled more than even the pilot's, his enhanced body letting him push further before the fatigue started catching up. Not by a ridiculous margin, but enough that Stars noticed and began adjusting his load higher than she normally would to get results.
By the third day, both of them were sore. By the fifth, it had settled into a routine.
Mornings were for the body. Afternoons often turned into patrols or lighter practical work around the city. Stars kept them moving, sometimes with the full group, sometimes just the three of them. The days blurred together in a steady rhythm of training, small incidents, and the occasional stretch of downtime.
The days kept progressing.
Patrols stayed mostly quiet, the same as Stars had predicted. They handled the usual run of minor problems and spent the rest of the time learning how she moved through a city more effectively. In the gaps between work, Yui dragged Cid out for short trips into town. Shopping was mainly for souvenirs and new clothes which Cid didn't mind watching her try on 10 different bikinis for when they went to the beach, nope, not at all. They also walked around exploring all that the city had to offer.
About two weeks in, their quiet routine broke
They were finishing a midday session when Stars' phone went off. Her expression changed as she read the message, her usual easy easy going expression sharpened into something more focused.
"Suit up," she said, already moving. "We're taking a call."
Within minutes they were on the tarmac and climbing onto one of the jets. Stars stood on the roof at the front, Yui close behind her and Cid was right behind her. As the aircraft lifted off, Stars pressed a hand against the air in front of them and rewrote its resistance, cutting the drag so the jet could push harder without tearing at the people riding on top of it.
The wind was still rough, but it was more on the level of a slightly fast car ride, rather than what it should have been.
Cid shifted closer behind Yui and looped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. She tensed for half a second blushing brightly, then relaxed into his hold. She could tell it wasn't just affection. They were standing on the roof of a jet at speed after all, and this was his way of making sure she didn't go anywhere.
The city fell away beneath them as they sped across the state getting near the operational area within 4 to 5 minutes.
As they closed in on the target region, Stars pressed a hand to her earpiece.
"Cid," she said over the wind, "you're on the farther site. You and Bravo Five should be able to reach and handle it quickly then go help the other sites."
Cid glanced toward the distant stretch of land ahead, then back to her.
"I'll be faster solo," he said. "No offense. Warping beats flying."
A very small grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. He gave Yui's waist a light squeeze, then let go and vanished.
It only took cid a minute to get to the location and most of that was navigation
He reappeared near the edge of the police perimeter.
Squad cars, SWAT, and a mess of hastily set barriers filled the street. Only one local hero was present, and from the look of the poor was already way in over his head. Cid walked up, got the short version of the situation, and confirmed what he needed on the location of the hostages.
Then he started walking.
Right Past the perimeter. Past the officers shouting after him. Straight toward the front door.
He stepped inside like he was entering a normal store.
The shocked robbers barely had time to react before Cid made his move.
In the space of a blink their weapons shrank down into useless scraps, and the entire group was dragged across the room and dropped in a group in front of him. Cid stood there with his hands still in his pockets, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"Surrender," he said flatly, "or I do something you're really not going to like."
About half of them dropped to their knees in pure shock.
The rest panicked and activated their Quirks to fight.
"Wrong move" Cid's eyes glowed once.
The attackers shrank instantly, collapsing down to the size of bottle caps on the floor. He crouched, resting his forearms on his knees as he looked down at them.
"I warned you," he said. "Stay still so you don't get squished, if you don't it won't be my fault."
The tiny voices broke into panicked yelling. The ones still full-sized went pale, dropped flat onto their stomachs, and spread their hands out wide. They didn't want to end up like their collages.
Cid rose back to his feet and tapped his earpiece.
"My Site's handled. I'll go help the others."
Stars responded instantly and told him to go ahead.
'Man I thought this was going to be at least a little exciting. Well I guess this just means I've gotten better' he thought to himself while stretching and heading to the door.