The island nation of Neon.
A beautiful, charming girl in a kimono sat demurely on a tatami mat. She held up a cup of tea, took a small sip, then slowly set it down.
She raised her lovely eyes to the white-haired boy sitting before her. He was about her age and wore an eyepatch over his left eye. She spoke slowly.
"Are you going back to your country tomorrow?"
The white-haired boy nodded. "Yes. To be precise, tonight."
The white-haired boy's Japanese sounded a little awkward.
But the girl in the kimono paid it no mind. Instead, a trace of reluctance flashed in her eyes when she heard his answer.
"I see. I was hoping you could stay with me a little longer." The girl took another small sip of tea.
"I've stayed with you long enough. By rights, I should have left two days ago." The white-haired boy propped up his head with both hands, a look of helplessness on his face.
The girl in the kimono gave a bitter chuckle and said nothing more.
Swish-
The wooden sliding door slowly opened.
A black-haired boy with his long hair tied back and an eyepatch over his right eye slowly entered, a pitch-black katana at his waist. When he saw the girl in the kimono, he bowed politely in greeting.
The girl in the kimono bowed slightly in polite response, then tactfully rose to leave.
After one last affectionate glance at the white-haired boy, she closed the door and left.
"Ohayo, oni-chan~" The white-haired boy grinned at the black-haired boy.
The black-haired boy rolled his eyes at him, then sat formally in front of him and used the tea set to brew himself a cup.
"Big brother, you're getting more and more like a Neonese person," the white-haired boy said, clicking his tongue.
The black-haired boy took a small sip and calmly shot back, "Not as much as you. You've been here less than four months, and you've already gotten yourself a Neonese girlfriend."
"Hehe, of course. I'm amazing~" The white-haired boy sprawled out on the floor and stretched.
"But we can finally go back to Great Xia. We haven't seen Mom in over three months. I miss her so much.
"Mom must miss us terribly too."
The black-haired boy slowly put down his teacup and looked at the black prosthetic eye tied to his right hand. He nodded slightly. "I miss her too."
City B, Shan'an.
Inside the central hospital.
A middle-aged man leaned against the wall, looking at the girl on the hospital bed as she stared at two sheets of paper. He spoke helplessly.
"I understand how you feel, but the diagnosis is right in front of you. You're now considered to have a grade-three limb disability. Forget joining the Night Stars; even living a normal life will be difficult."
The girl in hospital clothes continued to stare at the recruit training camp application form, her face ashen.
At last, she slowly raised her left hand and picked up the pen. Then, trembling, she wrote her name on the signature line of the application form...
Han Xiaoxiao.
City A, Guangshen.
At the training camp, a burly instructor in military uniform held a pair of binoculars, observing the recruits as they arrived one after another.
Some of the recruits looked determined, while others were full of excitement. The entire training camp brimmed with the hot blood of youth.
The instructor nodded in satisfaction and lowered his binoculars.
"Old Li, watching the new recruits again!" An instructor walked over with a smile.
Instructor Li gave him a cold look and kicked him square in the butt. "I'm your superior now. Watch how you speak to your superior, Instructor Chuan!"
"Okay, okay, I got it, Chief Instructor Li!" Instructor Chuan clutched his backside.
Chief Instructor Li rolled his eyes at him and said no more, turning back to the recruits.
"Ah, this batch of recruits is full of hot blood too. I really envy these young people," Chief Instructor Li said wistfully.
"Yeah, they're all the future hope of Great Xia." Instructor Chuan walked over to Chief Instructor Li's side, equally wistful.
"Oh, right, Chief Instructor Li, who do you have high hopes for in this batch?"
Chief Instructor Li kept his lips closed and shook his head. "Hard to say. I don't think this batch's lineup is actually all that impressive.
"There are several ordinary people alone, and not many ability users with particularly powerful abilities. I hear there's even a disabled person."
Instructor Chuan smiled. "That's what you call a disabled body with an indomitable spirit. Don't you understand, Comrade Li Hu?"
"Being a Night Star isn't playing house. You could sacrifice your life at any time. It's not something just anyone can become." Li Hu looked serious.
"Oh, he can't possibly qualify anyway, so don't worry. Maybe he'll find the training too hard and leave halfway through." Instructor Chuan shrugged.
"True." Li Hu nodded.
"Speaking of this batch, there's someone I have fairly high hopes for."
Li Hu raised an eyebrow and looked at Instructor Chuan. "Who? Let's hear it."
"She's a [Symbiote], a girl. She's very capable. Her name is..."
Rumble-
Suddenly, a fierce wind swept in with the churning of propellers, whipping up all the sand and stones on the ground.
Instructor Chuan squinted at the aircraft overhead in confusion. "What's going on? Who needs to come here by aircraft?"
Li Hu looked up at the black fighter aircraft in the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Inside the aircraft, Feng Xuan chewed gum as he opened the cabin door. Then he said to Hela in the back, "We're here. Just jump straight down from here."
Hela stood, walked to the edge of the cabin door, and looked at the training base below, which was the size of a model. Without hesitation, she stepped out and jumped.
"The parachute's hanging right here on the wall. You should have seen it. Put it on, and after you jump, pull..." Feng Xuan turned around, only to discover that Hela had already jumped. Then he looked at the untouched parachute on the wall and froze.
"Look! It looks like someone jumped out of the aircraft!" Some recruits in the training camp cried out in alarm as they watched Hela jump from the aircraft.
"What's all the fuss about? If she dared jump from the aircraft, she must have an ability that lets her fly or cushions her fall. What a fuss over nothing."
Bang!
Hela fell straight down and had an intimate encounter with Mother Earth.
"..." Everyone present, instructors included, froze.
Meanwhile, Feng Xuan shrugged, chewed his bubble gum, and flew the aircraft back the way it had come.
"I-is she dead?" an instructor asked uncertainly.
Instructor Li Hu's lips moved slightly. Just as he was about to speak, something strange happened below.
A female recruit sat slumped on the ground, staring in horror at what was in front of her.
Hela's limbs, twisted like a pretzel, wriggled back into place like rubber bands. The torn wounds on her body also healed rapidly. Before long, she had completely recovered, without a single injury.
Hela stood up and dusted herself off as if nothing had happened. Then she noticed the strange looks around her and felt a little at a loss.
The two instructors stood on the roof, both falling silent.
"Um... she seems to be the one I had high hopes for. Her name is Hela."
"You really know how to pick them..."
"I think so too..."
The two instructors looked at Hela and nodded at the same time.