Late night.
The apartment.
"Who are you?"
"Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis!"
"Atlantis?"
"…"
Adam put on his serious face, representing humanity on land as he held his "first meeting" with the ancient Earth civilization of Atlantis, hailing from the ocean depths.
The wheels of history turned slowly.
One small step for Adam, one giant leap for mankind.
Okay, fine.
This isn't some superhero fantasy story—it's just everyday life.
Totally fake. All in Adam's head.
Truth is, Alice didn't show up for anything dramatic. She just wanted to chat about a surgery case from earlier that day.
Yup, the power of a good role model is unreal.
Ever since Adam—total rockstar that he is—kept showing off his hardcore dedication to learning, it's rubbed off on everyone at the medical center. Doctors are stepping up their game left and right.
Alice is the perfect example.
She used to just want to coast through as an eye doctor, rake in the big bucks, and live the high life.
Now? Her goals have shifted a bit.
Still all about the money and luxury, sure—but she's also chasing real skill in medicine, not just skating by anymore.
And that's all thanks to Adam.
They were deep in discussion when—ding-dong—the doorbell rang again.
Adam and the "Queen of Atlantis" peeked at the security monitor.
The queen went icy cold in an instant, her vibe dropping to subzero.
Adam flashed an awkward grin.
Standing outside was a woman in a sleek, tight-fitting uniform—looking every bit the badass female agent. Like she knew Adam was watching, she whipped out an ID and held it up to the camera. It had "S.H.I.E.L.D." stamped on it, complete with the logo.
"Holy crap! S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't mess around!" Adam groaned inwardly. "The Queen of Atlantis barely steps on land, and they've already sent someone—freaking Deputy Director no less! But hold up, can a Marvel bigshot really boss around a DC superhuman?"
Then again, knowing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s bully vibes, if they could pull it off, they totally would.
Adam's head was starting to hurt.
Normally, people called ahead and set up a time—no awkward run-ins.
But tonight? Halloween. The night when all the freaks and ghouls come out to play.
Not a single person had bothered to check with him first.
Ugh.
He should've never handed out those custom costumes. Now they were all crashing his place at once, catching him totally off guard.
The late fall night was getting weirdly hot all of a sudden.
Then—boom—Adam's vision went dark, and he was out cold.
---
The next day.
Medical center.
"Alice, what happened to your face?"
Steven Murphy spotted Alice first thing in the morning and couldn't hide his shock.
"It's nothing," Alice said, touching the bandage on her forehead with a frown. "Last night, some drunk lunatic dressed up as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s deputy director was running around grabbing people. She shoved me, and I banged my head."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. deputy director?" Steven blinked. "You mean Maria Hill?"
"You know her?" Alice shot him a surprised look.
Last night, she'd definitely heard some jerk call the woman "Agent Hill."
Not her real name, of course—same way that jerk had dubbed her "Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis."
That chick was obviously playing some role too.
A gorgeous gal like Alice? No way she'd waste time reading comics or knowing random characters.
"She's from Marvel comics," Steven explained with a chuckle. "Usually only nerdy guys are into that stuff—or dress up for Halloween. Didn't think a woman would cosplay as Agent Hill. She must be a hardcore Marvel fan."
Hmmm.
Don't let his rich-kid status fool you—Steven's read his share of comics. He knew all about geeky dudes dressing up as iconic female characters.
Some got way into it.
Like, cosplay Catwoman and strut around yelling, "I feel so powerful now~" with their chests puffed out.
"Pfft," Alice scoffed. "Yeah, right. More like some creep who's obsessed with Maria Hill paid some chick to wear that outfit. No normal woman's running around dressed like that!"
Just thinking about it pissed her off.
Oh, and speaking of—patreon:belamy20—big props to the creators keeping the good vibes alive! 😊
Anyway, back to last night: that shameless jerk didn't even tell the chick to leave when things got awkward. Nope, he let her in!
Then he kept glancing at Alice with this over-the-top "I'm so sorry" face.
Please. She'd grown up around casinos—she'd seen every type of sleaze there is.
That look? It was code for "Please back off first."
And "back off" could mean a lot of things—none of them just "leave the room."
No way she was putting up with that.
Sure, she had her backup plans, but being treated like some sidekick? Hard pass.
Lucky for her, that chick had some spine too—she didn't even entertain the idea.
The second she saw the vibe, she flipped out and stormed toward the door.
Then, somehow, it turned into a screaming match between her and Alice. Next thing you know, they were throwing hands.
What the hell!
That chick didn't fight like a typical girl either—big, wild swings with some serious strength behind them.
Alice wasn't ready and took a hit—got shoved and smashed her forehead on the bedframe.
But she wasn't some pushover either. She jumped up, grabbed the chick, and went full-on with the scrappy girl-fight skills she'd honed back in the day.
Hair-pulling.
Gut-punching.
Clothes-ripping.
And some moves she didn't even want to think about.
But they worked.
Meanwhile, that jerk just stood there, flailing his hands and whining in this exaggerated, sing-songy voice: "Oh nooo, don't fight, ladies, don't fight~"
So fake!
It felt like he was mocking them.
Alice was so pissed—and offended—that she and the chick teamed up to jump him.
Too bad his "brute strength saves the day" rep wasn't a lie.
He pinned them both down—one hand each—like it was nothing.
After that, it's all a blur.
All she remembered was the chick snarling, "If I'd brought my gun today, you'd be done…"
Blah blah blah.
Alice tuned it out, too zoned out to care.
The threats went on so long, and the vibe was so off, they didn't even sound intimidating—just flirty in a weird way.
She just rolled her eyes, exhausted.
The chick kicked her torn-up uniform aside, grabbed some clothes from the jerk's closet like she'd done it a million times, and slammed the door on her way out.
Then that jerk had the nerve to laugh smugly: "If Howard finds out about this, he's gonna be so jealous he'll explode."
Pfft!
This "Howard" guy's gotta be a perv too.
Who actually enjoys watching girls fight?
"You're probably right," Steven said, not about to argue with his goddess. "Does it still hurt? Want me to deal with her for you?"
"Nah," Alice said, a glint in her eye as she shook her head. "She didn't get off easy either. I got her good a few times—trust me, she's hurting way worse than me. Might not even make it to work today."
"Heh."
Steven's eyes widened a bit. Seeing this feisty side of his perfect goddess? It was new—and honestly, kinda adorable.
He couldn't help but grin.