Dancing with Theodore was always an enlightening experience. It always felt so freeing, like Missy was letting go of something she had pent up with each long flowing movement. Because of that, because of how much she enjoyed an activity she had never thought much of before, she learned quickly.

This time Theo challenged her though. Began making sudden and unexpected movements in their dance that she had to adapt to. She didn't always succeed, sometimes she mistimed it and other times she misstepped, but every time her dance partner would correct her mistakes with nary a word of criticism. It was a place free of judgment where she could try as much as she needed to succeed.

Close to the end of the dance when Theo slowed his movements, Missy decided to take initiative herself. Nothing complicated or even that showy, just some small movements that her dance partner was willing to follow. The last step, the final parting, of their dance.

They let go, finished their Waltz, and curtsied to each other on their little stage.

"You've improved quickly Miss Biron, but the unexpected can happen often out there. Sometimes you might falter in adversity," Theo informed her. "No matter how much you stumble though I know you'll be able to pick yourself up."

Missy nodded. She wanted to show him that his confidence in her would be rewarded.

The PRT had coordinated with the local hospitals surprisingly quickly to get Missy permission to work in the local ERs. Not that she minded having more opportunities to practice her healing, but it was kind of obvious why they were practically pushing her to do this. Better acting as a cute little healer in the hospitals rather than being out in the streets and fighting crime.

Unfortunately this was a sentiment that both New Wave and her parents agreed with and well there were a ton of injured people in Brockton Bay, so she really didn't have much reason to refuse. Which was fine and all… but did they really have to set up those curtains in the corner and force her to hide behind them every time she had to summon her Persona? It got annoying pulling them back and forth.

Missy sighed as she pulled the trigger, summoned Pixie, and then hid her Evoker in the jacket they made her wear before pulling back the curtain to heal the man who cut his hand while cooking.

It wasn't a bad cut. It didn't take long for the man's wound to close and for him to profusely thank her before the supervising nurse took the time to examine her work. With her approval the man was led to be discharged and Missy moved onto her next patient.

"Next!" Missy shouted before Pixie disappeared and she had to drag the curtains closed once more.

Apparently yes, it was necessary even though everyone in Brockton bay at this point had to know what she was doing behind the curtains. Can't make the patients "uncomfortable" or be "insensitive" to those that felt strongly about this sort of thing.

"Hey chin up," Glory Girl told Missy after she finished healing a small child's fever. "You're helping a lot of people here."

"You're telling me that you aren't bored with just sitting around here?" Missy asked. New Wave had sent Vicky with her as her partner for her first ever hospital shift, but in reality it was more of a protective escort. Missy understood the reasoning behind it, healers were rare and at high risk of being kidnapped, but she couldn't help but feel a bit patronized.

"Yea it is," Vicky admitted as she looked at her cell phone that she had been messing with while Missy healed. "Need to find a place to charge."

"Just go to the break room, saw a bunch of plugs there," Missy suggested.

"And leave you alone?"

"It's literally right above. If something crazy happens you can always go all avenging angel through the floor."

"Mom tells me to avoid property damage."

"Do I look like your mom?" And also a bit hypocritical from the girl known as Collateral Damage Barbie.

"You kinda do actually."

Missy wasn't sure whether to be happy or insulted by that. "Look I'll make a ruckus if I need help. You don't need to stick around here just for me."

"Nah I'm good."

Fine. If Glory Girl really wanted to just stand around here doing nothing, then fine let her do her own thing. "Next!" Missy called out for her next patient as she pulled back the curtain.

"I have a headache," a woman told her from behind the curtain. "It's been bothering me for a few days now."

Simple enough then. "Pixie!"

Missy dragged the curtain open and got to work. It took less than half a minute for relief to show on the woman's face.

"Oh. Thank you." The woman began to stand up only for Missy to grab her by the arm.

"Wait." Missy scrunched her face and had Pixie cast another round of Dia.

"I'm already good. You don't need to-"

"No, something's still wrong."

"You've already healed-"

"I didn't, I can't, I just know it's still there."

The woman began to grow frustrated, but before she could snap back the supervising nurse had already approached them. It didn't take long for Missy to explain things to them and for the nurse to strongly suggest the woman come with them for some tests. The woman obliged though she glared at Missy the entire time as she was led away.

"You sure something's wrong with her?" Glory Girl asked, glaring at the woman's retreating form. "She seemed fine enough to be pissed at you for trying to help."

"There really is something wrong," Missy replied as she moved onto her next patient. And the next.

And the next.

Another hour in and she was getting very bored of the monotonous work, even if her work was praised and appreciated by the staff. At this point she was very tempted to end her shift early and-

"Give me my meds!" A man with graying hair, crooked teeth, and dilapidated skin started screaming at a receptionist behind the counter. A druggie. Common issue in Brockton Bay. "Gave ya my slip!"

Also, Finally! Some action!

Missy and Glory Girl moved to observe the situation.

"Sir please calm down. We still need to look up in the system," the receptionist pleaded.

"Watcha need to check!? You got my press-ss-caption!"

"For security and legal reasons. We have to make sure everything is in order."

"You saying it's fake!?"

The nurse was alluding to that yes, but the fact that he had to point it out like that was probably enough to assume that his prescription was a bit less than legal.

"Alright why don't we just calm things down here?" Glory Girl approached as she began cracking her knuckles. As the Hero moved Missy felt a wave of something… awe? Fear? Hit her mind. It was only thanks to Pixie casting something on her head that the effects of Glory Girl's aura became a bit more muted.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the druggie was feeling the full effect of it as he immediately began screeching. "Cape!"

He grabbed the receptionist by the shirt. Glory Girl shot forward like a missile. The druggie dragged the receptionist down onto the ground with him, barely avoiding Glory Girl's lunge. Glory Girl immediately turned around midair but stopped once he had taken out a gun and pointed it at the receptionist's head.

"Get out or I blow her brains out!"

"Put the gun down!" Missy shouted as she took out her gun and… pointed it at her own head. Okay, maybe the Evoker was a bit weird.

Even the damn druggie looked confused as to what she was doing before he had apparently processed her identity in his mind. "Fucking hell two freaks."

"You heard her. Drop it," Glory Girl demanded.

"So you twos can kill me!?"

"We're Heroes. We don't kill. Now drop the woman," Missy told the man.

"Not until you drop your fucking gun!"

Damn it. This wasn't going anywhere. Change of strategy.

Missy lifted her Evoker away from her head and raised her hands. "Alright see. No need for violence. Just let her go and we can get out of this unharmed."

Glory Girl seemed to understand that freaking out the criminal currently holding a hostage was a bad idea as Missy felt the effects of Glory Girl's aura subside even further. "She's right. No one needs to get hurt. Just drop her."

"So you can arrest and throw me to jail?" the man asked.

"Yes, but I won't hurt you."

Jesus Christ Vicky a little less honesty please!?

"Look, things have gotten bad for everyone, it doesn't need to get worse," Missy said. "In fact if you walk out right now you can probably get away before the Cops even arrive."

The man calmed, no longer suffering from Glory Girl's aura. Whether it was due to her own words or perhaps Missy's rather diminutive appearance, he seemed placated by that and slowly began slowly lowering the gun. Unfortunately, his hostage took that as an opportunity to suddenly slam her elbow in his gut and kick his shin.

The druggie cursed and let go of the woman due to the pain. He then began frantically raising the gun again only for Glory Girl to shoot forward and slam her first into his chest, her other hand grabbing the pistol from him and crushing it.

Which was fine and all except she ended up throwing the man straight at Missy. Unfortunately, she was a bit small to effectively cope with about a hundred something pounds of flying man. He slammed into Missy and she was brought down to the ground with him.

Missy gasped and saw stars from the floor, a heavy weight on her chest. She had barely just started breathing again when she felt something grab her by the arm and begin pulling her up.

"You bitch! Now this girl gets it!"

Missy shrieked as her arm was twisted. She stopped thinking. The pain was too much. All she wanted was to make it stop. Her other arm grasped wildly for something, anything, until she touched something hard that was hanging from her waist. She tightened her grip on it by instinct and swung.

Everything stopped. Froze for a moment. Long enough for Missy to finally process the Katana that she held in her hand. Her weapon, whose blade had cut a deep gash into the man's side. The druggie screamed and blood splattered from the wound, coating Missy and her blade. He let go of her arm and began writhing on the floor.

There was blood, a lot of it that began to smear on the floor.

"Hey!"

Missy just stared at the man. The man that had hurt her. The man that she had cut.

"You okay!?"

Whose blood was now on her clothes.

"Missy!"

A pair of hands grabbed Missy's shoulder forcing her to look up at Glory Girl's face.

"Are you okay?" the hero asked.

Missy blinked as she focused on the older girl's face before simply nodding.

"I'm… so sorry. I shouldn't have punched him at you."

Missy looked at her blood-soaked Katana and finally let out the deep breath she had been holding. "It's fine," she said as she looked for something to wipe her weapon down with. Trying to sheath it while it was covered in blood would leave a mess and cause the blade to rust. Eventually she just settled with wiping the flat of the blade off with her own sleeve. Her clothes were already bloody anyway and it would work until she got home to properly clean her equipment..

She pulled out her Evoker and held it to her head. "Pixie."

Her Persona would heal and stabilize the man. Not fully but get him in good enough condition that he wasn't going to bleed out anytime soon. She then used her Persona to heal her own bruised arm.

"You did what you had to do," Glory Girl told her as the man was taken away by a bunch of Hospital Staff. "Sometimes when dealing with criminals a few broken bones happen."

"It… shouldn't have happened," Missy said. "If I had just gotten out of the way, didn't let him grab me."

"I punched him into you. I'm the one at fault here. And what you did was self-defense. I'm making sure that everyone knows that, including the PRT."

Missy went over everything that happened in her head.

It was self defense that was clear and using her Katana to defend was the point of getting her blades in the first place… but she didn't think about it. Just lashed out in panic. She just swung wildly, out of control, without any thought. If she had aimed a bit higher, a bit closer to his neck… that could've been easily what had happened.

"I could've killed him. Cut his neck, I wasn't even thinking when I cut him," Missy told Vicky her thoughts.

"When you're in the middle of a fight you don't have much time to think. A lot of times being a Hero, things tend to get crazy and you have to adapt," Glory Girl informed her. "Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches and do what you do best. Keep practicing and hope things work out."

What Glory Girl said made sense and Missy knew she could be better. It was just that she hoped she would've been a better Hero sooner.

After talking with Vicky, the other workers in the hospital were quite insistent on dragging Missy into another room and getting her changed into a new set of clothes. They gave her their condolences and apologies the entire time. No thanks for stopping the Druggie just sorry that she had gotten hurt.

When Missy stepped out with a new set of clothes, she found Glory Girl already talking with Velocity and explaining things to him.

"You okay? Heard you got hurt," Velocity asked.

"I'm fine. Pixie healed the damage," Missy replied.

"Shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place. You were supposed to just heal."

"I'm a Hero. We need to be ready to get hurt when helping people."

"Maybe, but not because of friendly fire." Velocity glanced at Glory Girl who looked guilty.

"Yea I messed up," Glory Girl admitted.

"We'll get in contact with the hospitals. Make sure there's proper security when you do drop by. A man like that shouldn't have been allowed through the front door in the first place."

The hospitals probably never had much in security in the first place. Expecting it of them now… well it was clear that they were very protective of her. Everyone actually. She was not sure how she felt about all this special treatment, even for a Hero.

"Am I in trouble?" Missy asked. "I hurt him pretty badly."

Velocity's eyes shifted toward the hospital slacks Missy now wore, then to the Evoker, and then to the hilt of her blades. "From what Glory Girl and the staff told me it was a clear case of self-defense and the man you cut is stable."

"Oh that's good," Missy breathed a sigh of relief.

"I would avoid using those swords if you can. Maybe get a taser or something if someone grabs you."

That actually seemed like a good idea. Add another non-lethal tool to her arsenal. Her Evoker wouldn't be enough if anyone else got that close.

"Tasers can be deadly though depending on if the person has a heart condition or something like that. So even then you have to be careful with them," the Hero informed her.

"What about Containment Grenades?" Missy asked. "Is it possible for me to buy some of those from you guys?"

"I'll… bring it up to my superiors. See what they say about providing you with them."

"Now that I think about it, New Wave could probably use some too. If you have any to spare," Glory Girl said.

"I'll also bring that up," Velocity replied. "Although if you really do need gear Missy, you can always join the Wards."

"I'm fine for now," Missy replied. "I think I'll just get back to work."

Glory Girl sucked air through her teeth. "Yea about that. They ended your shift."

"What!? I thought I was working until six?"

"Everyone felt that you kinda had enough for today. Thinking you should go home now."

"But… What about all the people that need healing."

"There's always another shift you can take later," Velocity replied. "It would probably be best if you got some rest."

After that it didn't take long for Velocity to leave. With… nothing else to do Missy just began to walk out herself. On her way out though someone called out to her.

"One second," the nurse who had previously been supervising her approached Missy. "Just wanted to let you know that that woman had cancer."

Missy blinked. "What?"

"Malignant tumor in her brain. But they caught it early thanks to you, you might've just saved her life."

Huh… She hurt one person badly… but had saved the life of another. Was that… enough? For her to still be Hero despite what she had done?

Missy wasn't quite sure why her legs led her to Shinji's restaurant that day. Well actually she did. Minako was still busy at Winslow, Glory Girl was doing something with her sister Amy who Missy hadn't met yet, and Missy didn't really wanna spend time with her own mother. Shinji was just the only person left to try before she would try calling up Dinah and Clara and see if they weren't too busy.

"Sorry kid, busy right now!" Shinji shouted from the open kitchen as he moved quickly around his station. "Waiter today called in sick and I'm dealing with a rush."

Missy looked around at the crowded restaurant filled with waiting customers, the line outside of frustrated customers waiting for their take out, and Shinji frantically trying to keep pace. It didn't take long for her to make her decision.

"Let me help!" Missy shouted as she moved past the people that were staring at her and made her way to the kitchen. With her hospital shift cut short she still had plenty of time and energy to work. It would also keep her busy and stop her from mulling over… recent events.

"What!? No!? You're a kid. You shouldn't be working."

"I'm a Hero and I've worked harder at the hospital!" Missy shouted back as she grabbed an apron, tied it up so that it would match her height, and immediately presented herself to the chef. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

Shinji grunted but didn't stop cooking. "Get those bowls over there to table nine and take your time. I don't want you to spill hot soup all on yourself."

"Got it!" Missy saluted before making her way to the bowls and immediately hesitating once she was in front of them. They were big. Like she needed two hands big and they were almost overflowing.

"Okay, okay, I got this," Missy whispered to herself as she grabbed the first bowl and carefully walked out of the kitchen with it. She slowly made her way to the designated table, ignoring the amused smiles some of the customers gave at the sight of her, and set down the bowl. "Here you go. I'll get the rest over here soon."

"… Are you sure you're okay?" one of the men at the table asked.

"You don't have to force yourself to work. Let adults deal with adult problems," his dining partner added.

Missy huffed and quickly made her way back to the kitchen.

"I got this," she said as she made her way to the next bowl only to realize that several other dishes had been added to the pile that needed to be served. "I so don't got this."

What was she going to do!? She offered her help to Shinji and she could barely get anything done. She was just a giant burden, no wonder he wanted her to stay away! There were just too many dishes, they were all so big, and she only had her more hands to work wi-

"Oh frick me I'm an idiot," Missy said as she pulled out her Evoker and put it to her head. She ignored the gasps and screaming from the restaurant patrons. "Theia!"

Theia appeared in the air and began to warp the interior space of the restaurant. Then with a gentle caress of her wings she quickly grabbed and passed the dishes off to their respective customers.

Shinji quickly noticed what Missy had done and had already started coordinating with her Persona. While they were busy serving customers Missy went to the front so that she had a full view of the inside to work with and be able to play hostess to those coming inside.

"Sorry for the wait, we'll have a table ready for you soon," Missy informed the people waiting in line. As she started getting fed customers out and hungry customers in, Theia begin to fade so she pulled out her Evoker again and fired again. Theia, with her duration refreshed, quickly served more customers before starting to clean up the tables of those who had finished eating.

This process repeated with the customers eventually, emphasis on eventually, getting used to Missy using her Evoker. In fact quite a few of them had begun recording her as she and Theia worked, which honestly didn't bother her much at this point. Post that video wherever on PHO, she needed to get everyone here fed!

"Hey kid."

Missy turned to face the man that called her. He was a tanned man, older than Shinji, and surprisingly muscular. He also had a strong… Brazilian accent? "Yes. You need anything?"

"Bit young to be working at a place like this, eh Menina?"

Yea that was probably… whatever language Brazilian people spoke.

"I kinda have to," Missy replied, impatiently while Theia flew around in the background. "Now what do you want to order?"

"That man over there," he subtly gestured toward the kitchen. "He forcing you? I run a Shelter by the Docks. If you need a place to sleep-"

"What? No! He's my neighbor and practically my dad. I'm just helping since it's packed today."

"… Really?"

"Really?"

"Yo Jack stop bothering the kid. She's just helping out fer today," Shinji shouted from the kitchen.

Oh, Jack? For the longest time it was a common name. Unfortunately that meant that a lot of people were stuck with said name after a certain Parahuman group popped up in North America. There was a reason why the name Riley also fell out of fashion in recent years along with ringlets as a hairstyle.

"Pork Stir Fry then," Jack gave his order to Missy. Well at least he didn't have a goatee or was, ya know, white. "And try not to push yourself, Menina."

She nodded and went off to help the next customer. Even after Jack had gotten his food though he ended up ordering more and sticking around long after he finished eating. At that point Missy was just too busy to be bothered by his presence.

Minutes and then hours quickly passed in the rush, until the sun started setting and the restaurant finally started emptying out.

"Finally," Missy groaned as she let herself sink into the chair of a recently cleaned table. Her head was starting to hurt from overusing Theia… again. She really needed to stop doing this to herself.

"You worked her hard Shinji," Jack commented.

"Told her not to help, but she wasn't gonna listen," Shinji replied as he walked toward Missy's table. "Here." He placed a cup in front of her. A cup with whipped cream on top that had a very distinct smell, one that she had experienced every morning around practically every adult she knew.

"Is that coffee?" Missy asked. "I thought you said I was too young to have any."

Shinji shrugged. "Think you've grown up enough. I adjusted this recipe for you. Enjoy your Mocha Coffee."

The smell was quite enticing, especially since it was mixed with- "Is that chocolate!" Missy immediately perked.

"Well that's what a Mocha is. Chocolate and Coffee."

"Tch. Why you have to mess with good coffee like that?" Jack commented.

Missy immediately grabbed the cup and started drinking. It was heavenly. Sweet and creamy with a light bitterness. It was so addicting like drinking a hot chocolate that was spiked with… well coffee. She had never imagined the two would pair so well.

"Slow down, that's the only cup you're going to get," Shinji replied.

"But it's sooo goooood," Missy whined.

"You know what a sugar rush is?" Shinji asked.

She nodded.

"Well times that by two if you overdo it with caffeine. Also too much of the stuff and you stunt your growth. You'll grow up shorter."

Missy immediately spat out her next sip back into the cup, set the drink down, and pushed it away.

Shinji snorted. "I mixed in some Decaf with that so it's not too strong. A little bit should be fine for you. But just the one."

"So if I drank Decaf, would that be okay?" Missy asked.

"In moderation, but yea it should be safe. Just know that any coffee is going to be very bitter by itself. Not a lot of adults actually like drinking it black so they usually mix in milk or sugar."

"Or chocolate," Missy mused as she took another sip. Oh dear Scion this was still the greatest thing ever. Even if it did have the risk of making her shorter, this was worth it.

"Huh. You actually know him," Jack commented.

"She's a neighbor. She already told you," Shinji replied.

Jack shrugged. "Was wondering when you and Minako were going to have a kid."

"She's not ours- I mean the plan is to adopt but well-"

"My parents suck and it's complicated," Missy informed him. "I really do want Shinji and Minako to adopt me."

"So you don't need a place then?" Jack asked.

"Nope. Not yet at least."

"About that." Shinji passed Jack a slip of paper with a number on it. "Boy in Minako's school. Had a fallout with abusive parents."

Jack nodded and took the slip. "We'll make some room," he said before paying his bill and leaving the restaurant.

"He… seemed nice," Missy commented.

"Nosey as fuck. But means well," Shinji informed her. "His Shelter's helped out a lot of kids actually. Might want to help out there if you have time."

"Sure. Sounds like a plan."

"Oh yea by the way," Shinji deposited a thick stack of dollar bills right in front of her. It was a lot of money, likely more than Missy ever held in her life. "Here's your tips."

"My… tips?" Missy said as she grabbed the stack and began to flip through the bills. Lots of ones, fives, some tens, and even a few twenties.

"Yea waiters get tips, although I think they were much more generous today."

"This is all mine. They give me this money?"

"Plus minimum wage for the hours you worked here minus the withholding for tax purposes."

"And how much is that in total?"

"Count it."

Missy did. And for about four hours of work she had made $300. What the fuck.

"You served a lot of customers today, got us plenty of turnover" Shinji explained. "Also gave them a show with Theia, not often they get a chance to have a Cape use their powers to serve them."

Missy let out a deep breath as she carefully and discretely stored the money into her pants. "Can I work here again?"

"Maybe? Thought child labor laws would apply but they already got you working in the hospitals. Lotta work for an eleven-year-old, they treating you well?"

"It's okay." Missy leaned back in her chair. "Just that this is like the most money I've ever had."

"Hospitals paying you pennies huh?"

"They don't pay me at all."

"What?"

"I'm a volunteer."

"A volunteer that is using her time and effort to… do they charge the people you heal?"

"I… think they do yea," Missy admitted. It was probably cheaper than an actual doctor, she hadn't had anyone complain to her about the price.

"And they're not even- You know I'm calling Carol after this. I don't care what she thinks about being a Hero you need to be getting paid something for your work. Especially if they're collecting for it. You planning to do any more hospital work soon?"

"Next weekend. Medhall also offered me a tour. Thinking they wanna hire me too."

"Then definitely make sure you get paid. They're a big corporation, they can spare a little so you can go clothes shopping or something." Shinji took out his phone. "Minako's dinner is packed up over there. Could you bring it to her while I talk with Carol?"

"Isn't it a Saturday?"

"Principals work hard. Gotta make sure they don't starve themselves."

Missy nodded, quickly vacating the premises before Shinji called Carol. She had a feeling that said discussion was probably going to get rather heated quickly, which was probably also why he sent Missy away.

Apparently despite it being the weekend there were still some kids hanging around Winslow, likely due to weekend detention or something. Which honestly sounded like it'd suck, who would want to spend their weekend at school?

As for Winslow itself… well Missy had some very strong feelings about the place. So strong that her feet couldn't help but take her to the parking lot. There was Minako's car, there was the place where she had fought Hookwolf, and here was where she had picked up her Evoker for the very first time. The place where it all started.

Missy's hand hovered to her holster and she ignored the people nearby that clearly recognized her. They didn't matter. Not now. What mattered, or rather mattered, was inside that school right now and likely starving herself.

"Impressed with that love tap you gave Hookwolf?"

Missy jumped into the air and immediately spun on her feet to confront the person who had snuck up on her. She faced an athletic looking black girl, who honestly had a very condescending sneer on her face. "Barely did anything. Even that principal was putting more effort into braining him than you."

Missy exhaled but refused to retreat. How did this girl sneak up on her? She was like a ninja or something. "Well. first time using my powers and all. Still figuring things out."

The girl looked down at Missy's Evoker, not out of awe like most people… but something. "Woman decks Hookwolf in the face even without powers… thought she was a weak bitch, but can respect that.."

"Maybe you should give her some respect," Missy bristled as her hand went back to her Evoker.

"Hah. Really want to pick a fight with me?"

"I won't let you insult her."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Finally baring your fangs. Woman's still a weirdo though."

"She can be pretty weird and cool," Missy admitted.

"And then there's you hanging around her like a baby chick."

"So?" Missy asked. If there's one thing she would never be ashamed of, it was her relationship with Minako. "I care about her and I won't let anyone hurt her."

"I think you should be more worried about yourself," the girl replied. "You're not joining the Wards right? Still a Vigilante?"

"Independent," Missy corrected her. "But yea."

"Then stop playing at the hospital like a Pussy. Go out and actually start doing things," the girl replied before just walking away.

"Bitch," Missy cursed before heading toward the school. It didn't take long for her to find Minako's office and to be let in.

"Thanks for bringing me dinner Missy," Minako said as she sat down on her desk and began to unwrap her food.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing. Heard you've been really busy," Missy replied.

"Yep," Minako gestured to a giant pile of paperwork on the side. "Barely got enough funding to fix the school's utilities and security systems."

"There really is no money?"

"Oh it's there. Just not for this school where it is seriously needed. Do you know that the only available clubs were all essentially funded by Empire kids through their parents?"

"That really doesn't surprise me," Missy replied honestly.

"Well those parents cut their funding once I became principal so now I've got to scrounge for more pennies just so that we can open up more clubs again."

"That's awful. And they won't do anything about it?"

"Politics, zoning laws, and also some institutional racism," Minako explained as cut off a portion of dinner and passed it to Missy. "Winslow is just a bad school in a bad neighborhood so even though we need funding the most we never get it."

"Well at least they have you fighting for them," Missy replied before eating her share. As always Shinji was an excellent cook.

"So anything interesting happen to you today?"

There was. Missy told her everything that had happened to her that day. The hospital shift, getting hurt in the hospital shift, working with Shinji at his restaurant, and the girl she ran into at the parking lot.

"Was this girl black? Athletic? Looks like she runs track and calls everyone slurs?"

"Slurs?" Missy asked

"Curse words."

"Oh… yea?"

"Sophia Hess," Minako informed her.

"Is she a problem?"

"I know the type. If she punches you, punch back. And if she keeps going, keep fighting until she stops, or you're forced to put her down."

"Is she… really that bad?"

"She can easily get worse if no one tells her no. You need to hit hard and teach her a lesson that she has to learn, or she will escalate if she thinks she can get away with it." Minako shook her head. "I'm hoping she can eventually learn, but at least she's simple. Her friend's worse."

"How so?"

"No names but… girl's twisted and likes to call on her lawyer daddy. Makes things harder and it's difficult to get her punished since she has so many cronies to do her bidding and take the fall. She knows not to cause any trouble in school while I'm around but what happens outside of it or in the places here, I can't always keep track of."

Missy had dealt with a few bullies that tried to start something with her even before she got powers but honestly they were simple enough to deal with. Just sic Dinah on them. And if that didn't work send in the Clara. The girl that Minako was describing seemed to be even worse though.. And it wasn't an issue that you could just pull out an Evoker and summon your Persona for.

Missy took out her Evoker and looked at the engravings. SEES. The same words that matched her armband.

"Do you have another Evoker to use?"

"We have a few spares stored around," Minako replied. "But I don't think that's the question that you really want to ask."

"You're like me right?... What Personas do you have?"

"I did have Pixie at one point. They're still hanging around somewhere."

"And others?"

"I think most Personas should be ones that you discover on your own journey, rather than me spoiling them. I might show you a few of my personal ones, unique to me once you're ready for it."

"Okay." Need to rush it then. "Igor and Theo… they're nice but I don't think I know much about them."

"Igor's sincere, but always been a huge mystery," Minako admitted. "Theo on the other hand… It's been so long. He was curious about humanity and I think he admired us in a way. If you want to be a friend to him then just bring him out to this world once in a while."

"How do I do that?"

"Well first step is you should probably start looking for a floating blue door that only you can see. That's what the key is for."