"Hey, you're GHOST, aren't you? I can't believe it's really you! I saw your fight on TV and it was amazing! You're stronger than any superhuman I've seen in my life!"
But of course, there was always the exceptional person who would still come up to the superhumans even after seeing everyone staying back. Mark turned to the side and saw a girl jogging beside him. She was short and dark-skinned with large breasts that she held up using a sports bra.
She was trying very hard to keep up with Mark's larger strides and Mark only stared at her curiously as a way of asking what she wanted.
The girl started to breathe heavily and Mark could tell that she was trying to say something but she couldn't because she was out of breath. She was a small thing and her lung capacity was probably too small for her to keep up with Mark's pace while also jogging. From the way she was already out of breath, Mark could tell that she was definitely not a superhuman.
Mark stopped jogging and took out his music before he looked down at the much smaller girl with a raised brow. The girl immediately put her hands on her knee and began to breathe heavily.
"Are you okay?"
Mark took his mask down and asked this gently. The girl just tried to wave Mark's concerns away as she tried desperately to bring her breath back under control. Once she finally managed to get something resembling calmness, she stood back up and faced Mark while bringing out her phone shyly.
"I just wanted to say hi and I was wondering if I could get a picture. My friends would never believe I met GHOST if I told them!"
Mark nodded and collected the phone from the girl. She was too short to take the picture so he held the phone up and bent low so that he could take the picture with the much shorter girl.
Muah!
Click!
Mark didn't expect the girl to suddenly kiss him on the cheek just before he took the picture and he just raised a brow as he turned to look at her curiously. She was blushing crimson and she took a few steps back as she put her hands behind her back while giving Mark a sultry look from under her eyelids.
"That was my way of saying thanks for saving the city. I know you've probably got a million people lined up saying thanks, but I just wanted to say it too."
Mark didn't even smile as he handed her back her phone and asked if that was all.
"Oh no! One moment!"
The girl reached into her back pocket again and Mark waited patiently as she brought out a brown folder that looked rumpled and roughly handled. She handed it to Mark and Mark collected it curiously as he wondered what this was. The girl's voice suddenly turned serious when she spoke.
"You're being summoned, Mark Vanitas."
Mark looked down at the little girl with shock in his eyes. What the hell? The girl suddenly raised her hand up placatingly. She didn't want to do this, but it wasn't her choice.
"A summons? For what reason and by whom?"
"The Federal government of America appreciates your recent achievements in protecting City A, but they cannot continue to overlook your activities as the vigilante GHOST. You are being summoned to decide your future. Please keep in mind that this is just a summons and not a lawsuit, in case you are wondering. The Federal Republic just demands your presence; we are not branding you as a criminal yet.
But if you decide not to honor the summons, then we will be forced to take drastic measures. Thanks for the picture, GHOST! I don't care what the law says, you're always going to be a hero in my eyes! I love you!"
The girl jumped and placed another kiss on Mark's cheek before she began to jog away while waving at him. Mark watched her go for a few seconds before he looked back at the folder in his hands. Mark wasn't stupid and he knew exactly what this meant. Even though it wasn't a lawsuit, it was still going to be necessary for him to appear before a judge.
Either that, or he would have to deal with some form of settlement. Regardless of all the good that GHOST did, one thing was still obvious. In the eyes of the law, GHOST is a criminal. Mark frowned as he realized he would have more problems in the future at this rate.
Mark immediately put a call out to Pat.
[What is it, Mark? Hold on one moment… Woman, don't touch that!! What are you even doing in my gaming room!? That's my sanctuary! Get out!]
Pat answered the call in his usual haughty voice but he suddenly shouted from the other end of the call and Mark raised a brow curiously as he wondered what was going on. There were some sounds of fighting and finally, a female voice shouted that Pat should go to hell.
Mark figured that this woman was Pat's sister and he just waited for Pat to finish with what he was doing before they would continue.
[You can go to hell too! In fact, get out of my house before you go to hell!! Fuck! What is it, Mark? I'm kind of in the middle of making sure my sister doesn't break my TV.]
[Is that Mark!? The mystery friend you've been talking about so much! When are you finally going to let me meet him!? I don't even know his full name!]
[You'll meet him when you both go to hell! Now fuck off so I can talk to him!]
[Be respectful, you brat! I'm your older sister!]
[Then act like it! Don't fucking hit me! Do you want to kill me!? Ow! Stop it!]
Mark just tried to hold in his laughter as he was hearing everything happening on the other side of the phone. He had never seen Pat being this docile towards anyone before and Mark couldn't help but be surprised. Mark was currently sitting on a bench at the side of the road and watching the cars passing in front of him at high speeds.
His hood was down to show his face and the people on the street were all going crazy as they uttered and spoke about him animatedly while taking discreet pictures from a distance.
Mark glared at anyone that tried to come closer and they immediately realized that he didn't want to be bothered so they left him alone and continued on their way. Even though they wanted to talk to him, they knew that he was a superhuman capable of easily overpowering them if they went too far, so they did not want to be near him when he was in a bad mood.
When Mark was sure that Pat was free to talk again, he continued.
"We've got a problem, Pat. I don't know how big it is, but it's a summons."