Endless Evolution: Last Star

Up until this point, Adam hadn't been out in the city much, he had only been to First Ring once and spent most of his time either at home or in Fort Norton.

Roughly speaking, this was the first time Adam had ever been on such a busy street where literally hundreds of people relaxed after a hard day's work. They were gathering to spend time with each other, some just chatting and some having a drink and a bite to eat.

However, this also meant that it was the perfect place to attract the public's attention, those who needed it could use it for their own gain.

"Argh!!! Somebody help me! He just attacked me! These Phantoms have gone completely insane! They're doing whatever they want!" The man screamed as hard as he could to get as many people as possible to turn around and look in their direction.

To Adam's surprise, some people actually frowned and looked at him with obvious disapproval or even contempt. They were few, about 1/20th of them, maybe a little more, but it was enough to make Adam feel uncomfortable.

At the same moment, a police car stopped as a girl with a short black braid and serious black eyes got out.

"My name is Giana. What's going on here." The girl asked. She was wearing a dark blue police uniform and all the necessary equipment.

"He...!" The man exclaimed, pointing at Adam, "He attacked me. I was just walking along when suddenly he hit me so hard that it threw me back!"

Giana looked at Adam, then she held her gaze for a long time on the man.

"I see. Mr...?"

"Adam... Adam Vinter."

"Mr. Adam, you're the Phantom, right?" Is your NEP on right now?" Giana asked, looking at Adam's wrist.

His NEP was under a long sleeve, almost completely hidden, only a small part resembling a watch was visible.

At this point, the man's eyes went wide as he realized how badly he had screwed up.

"Sure. Here, you can check. I didn't do anything." Adam hastily replied, offering Giana his NEP.

Adam showed the recording that was being kept constantly.

Normally, it was optional, but Silvana insisted that Adam not disable that feature. It seemed she supposed that such a thing could happen at some point.

The recording only showed Adam's and the man's feet, but it was enough to see who ran into whom and who was at fault.

"Thank you for your help, now I think I understand what's going on here. Agh, they always do the same thing." Giana shook her head with a heavy sigh.

"They...?" Adam asked, puzzled.

"Hey!"

A surprised shout came from behind them.

Strangely enough, that voice was familiar to Adam, even though it was quite a long time ago, but he remembered it clearly.

Adam turned around as his eyes widened.

It was Lisa and Jacob, the leaders of the Fire Fox Squad, who were the first Phantoms Adam had met. In a way, he owed them his life, for no one knew what would happen to him in the Scorching Desert if they hadn't helped him.

Lisa smiled broadly, bottles of beer in their hands, they had not wasted this evening.

Then, their faces changed when they saw the man lying on the ground pretending to be in pain. It was obvious to them what had happened.

"Well, well, Proud Wing, there's no way you're going to give up your pathetic attempts to discredit us, is there?" Lisa frowned, stepping forward.

Jacob sighed heavily.

"Hey Adam, it's a shame we meet again under these circumstances."

Adam nodded slightly as he asked, "Proud Wing? What's that?"

Jacob shook his head, pointing at the man.

"Here." Giana said as she leaned over and grabbed the man's arm, lifting his sleeve and revealing a wrist that had a tattoo of a broad wing with sharp feathers on it.

Then, Giana's look became more serious.

"You're going to be in big trouble. It's my duty to keep order in this neighborhood and you not only violated it but falsely accused Phantom of it!" Giana said stiffly, cuffing the man's hands and leading him into the car.

"No. You don't understand! I may be setting this up now, but this is a real problem! We have to control the Phantoms! There are more of us! We're more important!!!"

However, his words couldn't stop Giana, and soon they were heading straight to the police station, where a whole mountain of problems awaited him.

Adam scratched the back of his head, he was puzzled, and no one had explained to him what had just happened. His only hope was on Lisa and Jacob.

"Looks like this is the first time you've run into them, right?" Lisa asked, approaching Adam and placing a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner.

Adam nodded.

"Proud Wing... the tattoo on your wrist, is it some kind of cult?"

"Well... Technically, it's a political organization, but your term fits better. The Proud Wing aren't as numerous and influential as the Big Three, but they act aggressive and fanatical about their ideas." Lisa explained.

"They want control." Jacob pronounced, entering the conversation, "They think the Phantoms are dangerous, and we need to be controlled, kept on a leash like wild hounds. Frankly, they annoy me, just stupid bastards who don't realize what we're sacrificing for them!"

Adam looked off into the distance, at the departing police cars.

"Hmm, maybe he's not wrong."

"What?!"

Lisa and Jacob simultaneously exclaimed with eyes wide with shock. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"I'm sure there are some real evil or crazy people among the Phantoms, but... there are some among regular people too. He's right that Phantoms can be dangerous, but he's completely wrong that we're all like that. At least, I haven't met any yet, unlike humans... There's one bastard among them..." Adam muttered tightly, clenching his fists.

Jacob and Lisa glanced over, they didn't know what or who Adam was talking about but decided to ignore it.

"By the way, I've heard about you. You seem to have accomplished a lot since we met, don't you?" Lisa smirked, throwing her arm around his neck and pressing herself against him.

Adam could smell the strong odor of alcohol from her. He pulled her hand away and nodded slightly.

"Yeah. I can't say it's been easy, but I won't complain. I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to accomplish up to this point."

Jacob smiled.

"Good job."

"Yeah!" Lisa exclaimed, "Just don't become an arrogant stuck-up bastard like some of the newbies do, because the rest of us don't stand still. Me and Jacob recently became K1 Phantoms! Damn, my Beginning Monster made me tense up!"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Adam was about to say something as he got a few messages from Zera.

"Damn! I need to run, I'm already late! Sorry guys, we'll talk some other time! Nice meeting you!" Adam said quickly before running to the Black Shell.

Lisa and Jacob looked at each other, shrugged, and clinked their beers before draining them to the bottom.

"More?" Jacob asked.

"Sure!" Lisa replied without hesitation.