<div style="text-indent:1em;">Of the two years Hardich had been a part of Heroes United, the Supreme had touched his mind once and only once. For awhile, the gray haired man seemed to be afraid of Hardich, and although that went away with time, he could never truly understand why. He didn't find himself frightening. In a strange way, he almost wanted the Supreme to reach into him, to converse with him in a more intimate way, so that the young man might communicate his feelings more easily. However, he surveyed the heaps of fallen heroes, he counted himself lucky. Any normal group of humans may have been dismantled from such a powerful wave, but, to Hardich's knowledge, all Heroes United participants underwent some kind of telepathic protection training. Of course, in the face of the Supreme, such protection was about as effective as holding up a piece of cardboard to an oncoming tsunami. Such was the power of telepathy.</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Eventually the dust settled, and the heroes actually began to work in reflection of their Team Leader titles. Such madness, Hardich reasoned with himself, and among such figures. They are afraid, he eventually concluded. And truthfully, it was a sign of intelligence that they were. Telepathy was a very rare curse, and most, excepting that of the Supreme and very few others, killed themselves within a few years use of their powers. Unfortunately, as history would explain, the death of one telepathic human only followed the deaths of hundreds. One had not been seen for years. Hardich, whilst contemplating these things, found himself folded deep into his own thoughts, leaning into a corner of the room. That is, until he was forced back into the real world.</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">"Hardich," called a powerful voice, "Come hither, and stand before us. We would discuss these matters with you."</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">It was awkward standing in front of such a large group of people, as he imagined it would be for anyone, but he went anyway. They questioned him about all kinds of things, but he really didn't have anything to add. He came to the same conclusion everyone else had after reading the diagnosis. The man was found wandering the mouth of an ally in a confused manner, covered in garbage. Days later, he was basically a vegetable, his mind destroyed. Doctors had concluded that his synapses had basically all been overloaded, and as his body showed no sign of physical damage and as he was a completely healthy individual, telepathy was most likely the reason for his sudden mental state. It was actually quite terrible. Obviously the biggest question, and the most interesting to Hardich, was the identity of the culprit and the reason behind such a target.</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">"Was he simply a victim of a random act of cruelty, or is his involvement with Vexis key in some plot?" said the Captain, "Of course, as we suspect Villains Incorporated, I find myself believing that they want something to do the bio-chemical weapons. Therefore, the Supreme and I both agree that it would be most helpful to send you in, Hardich, with a small team, of course. You will leave and inspect the ally the man was found wandering in half an hour."</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">All he could really do is nod, still feeling quite awkward in the face of all his peers. In the system, he was considered a special unit. He had no wish to lead, and no true calling in that area, and yet, he was very skilled. Therefore, while the system could classify him as "Special", no one else quite knew how to act around him. Upon inquiring who he was to be working with, he was pleased to see that he would be collaborating with Maximillian, from the intelligence department. He would also have the company of a very beautiful Mary, a shape shifter. It was very rare HU deployed two team leaders and even rarer that they actually sent Hardich.</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Not an hour later he was there, peering down a dark alley way. Of the two at his back, he much preferred the company of the woman. She was slightly shorter than him, with an oval face, green eyes, and long dark hair. While he didn't know her very well, her voice was soothing to him. His other companion, a very short, fat man with brown eyes and hair, Hardich actually found to grate on his mind. He found the man to move in quite an annoying way, like he was skipping (which caused quite an unsavory reaction from his belly) and he was quite pompous, complete with a cliché British accent. The cloud cover was still thick, and the alley smelled, but otherwise, Hadich found it quite pleasant. There were few people on the street, but it was relatively quiet. Most important to him, however, was the lack of the sun.</div><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Unfortunately, the large majority of the trip was useless. He found some kind of soft blue cloth on the ground, likely the result of snagged piece of woman's clothing. Also, upon inspecting the drains in close proximity, he was able to peer the remains of some kind of paper work. He reasoned that they likely belonged to the victim, but that wasn't the most helpful information.</div><br/><br/>He searched on.