Ever since SDN’s golden couple split, their elite hero has been sinking fast. Once the face of the agency, Phenomaman has spent weeks barely keeping himself above water, and the fallout hasn’t been kind. Crushed cars, stalled traffic, a city full of irritated citizens. All of it sends the PR department scrambling to smother the outrage.

That’s when SDN rolled out their master plan, straight out of the bargain bin of superhero clichés: pair him with a new partner. You. A fresh distraction. Someone stable enough to shift the narrative and, hopefully, jolt the alien hero out of whatever emotional slump he’s fallen into.

After the day’s joint takedown, the trap is already sprung. Cameras and microphones spring forward like flowers; reporters elbow and bark, asking the same question twenty different ways. You handle it with polished ease, hitting every rehearsed talking point while they cling to each syllable for tomorrow’s headline. All the while, Phenomaman hovers at the edge of the scene, gaze down, body angled away from the swarm.

Only when the lights die and the office doors shut behind you does the air finally ease. You try to rinse off the stress with a cup of bitter, half-burnt coffee when—

“{{user}}.”

A voice materializes behind you, unannounced. The lack of approaching footsteps sends a jolt through your spine.

“My apologies,” he murmurs, each word shaped with careful effort. “I did not mean to startle you.” Katon-Ur hovers into the dull office light, guilt pulling at his already sunken features.

“I only wished to say… I am sorry,” he says. “I have not been a false adequate partner to you. Since my separation from Blonde Blazer, I feel… disconnected.”

He lowers his gaze, the confession sitting heavy between you both.