Outside the coastal station, Finn had decided against hitching a ride on one of Apexia's many land trains. Not only did he not have any form of identification on him, but the train heading towards his district also happened to be delayed in a bout of unfortunate coincidence.

That left him with about five hundred kilometers of running straight home. Without enhancements, that would've taken him almost six hours. With the help of kinetic energy boosts and his fading power which helped reduce drag, he managed to shave it down to just under two.

Could he have cut down the travel time even more with his new dashing technique? Yes. While utilizing it, he was faster than sound and non-disruptive enough of the atmosphere that his passage didn't create sonic booms. He just wasn't going to strain himself too much. He had barely gotten a handle on his reality impression, having recently become able to run it at a moderate level for extended periods. Therefore he knew the futility of trying to add reinforcement and internal electricity manipulation when his power usage wasn't at all going to be brief.

That said, he did have to admit that he wasn't expecting the trip to be over so fast. It felt like hardly a few minutes had passed because he had been so lost in thought. His power confirmed otherwise, of course. And that served to make him aware of the degree of separation between himself and everyone else. All the strangers who didn't even have a clue that he was running right above their heads or through their streets, whichever way was the fastest. Simply going on with their daily lives.

The mundanity of it was hard to get used to when he wasn't seeing it in some foreign country he had never been to before. This was home, and life seemed to be proceeding the same way it always had. It felt both unsettling and reassuring at the same time, because it told him how small the events that happened to him were in the grand scheme of things, while also reminding him that not everything had gone to hell in his absence.

He sighed, closing his eyes even as he sprinted at full speed for the second hour in a row without getting tired. All because of his improved, superhuman physique made with the help of his nanites. That, and the active replenishment he was maintaining to prevent physical exhaustion from occurring in the first place. A routine he had mastered a while ago. So easy to perform he didn't even consciously think about it.

Ultimately, he was the one who had changed. Ready for action but painfully ignorant of how to navigate his old life with his new self.

When he actually stopped inside his own district, he sensed… a lot. And a good portion was totally unfamiliar. At that moment, Finn realized he was standing where the explosion had taken place, and what he was looking at were brand new structures which were all surprisingly free of gang influence. In other districts, even if he didn't have time to stop every criminal, he did happen upon a decent number of villain faction hideouts at varying distances.

Here, no such lairs stuck out in his senses. The shops were busy, the people didn't seem to be fearing for their safety every second, and there was a general sense of order to the area. They even had an amusement park complete with rollercoasters farther north.

This district was firmly under Cyrus' control now, wasn't it? Due to the mission they had conducted against the Venin on his behalf. Finn, Lyra, Jack, the DHD, everyone else. There was no question that the billionaires had benefited from the whole ordeal, while losing nothing of importance. With the Venin destroyed and Homeland's branch out of the district, funding the restoration of the district would be significantly easier. He had played it smart, Finn would admit.

However, it also meant their relationship going forward wouldn't be as close or consistent as before. Participating in the raid had been his own choice. Granted, a choice with many unforeseen consequences, but he wouldn't hold a grudge. The risks had been clear from the beginning. Maybe this was all a moot point though, considering Cyrus proclaimed to be saving humanity.

At the moment, his main concern was Lyra. Contacting her should be easy if he went through the usual channels. He just hadn't checked his messages yet. In some ways, he still didn't want to know what everyone had to say to him, if anything. Especially her.

Though when they did meet, at least he wouldn't be as weak as before. All things considered, he was likely a step above the majority of superhumans if it came to strength. Were he to engage in a rematch with Viperia, he would give himself good odds.

Still, that was just an objective look at his power. He was also keenly aware of how far he had to go before fighting Omega by himself was a true possibility. He needed more training. Mentally, he ran down a list of powerful individuals he had met over the years. For instance, was he stronger than Dad?

No.

He wasn't on that level yet. Despite the fact that he had managed to survive a one-on-one fight against Pesante, despite the fact that Dad had never unbound his power, Finn knew with ironclad certainty that he wasn't quite there. Shade hadn't surpassed Shiftseeker.

But he would, soon. He had a path to power mapped out. One day in the near future, he would reach heights that his father had never achieved. That thought alone gave him mixed feelings. But he dismissed them just as quickly. He supposed he could address them when he got there.

Inhaling deeply, he let out a weary sigh. He was very careful to keep his house a hundred or so meters outside his range, knowing he would have to face Mom.

But he didn't have to go immediately, did he?

With a quick run to a store in the new part of the district, realizing he had the wrong currency on hand, quickly using Aegis to exchange some credit for apos, and buying a nice new stash of candy with it, he bit the bullet and headed home.

Enough delays. After his sphere of influence covered the entire living room, he saw…

Two people drinking from cups? Mom, and someone else. Someone he knew but hadn't expected to be there. The daughter of the Wardell family, his old classmate.

Making haste with a few quick dashes, he arrived at his house for the first time in over a year.

Walking up the stone path, a quick application of his electromagnetism from his nanites unlocked the door, allowing him to manipulate the internal lock mechanism to his will. With a wave of his fingers and a click, the door sprang open. He stepped inside.

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"If I'd known you two were having a tea party without me, I wouldn't have rushed over so fast," he called out from the hallway.

Both women froze in shock. A myriad of colors burst in both auras, ranging from hostility, surprise, elation, irritation, fear, and some others that passed too quickly for him to identify.

"We're drinking coffee," Casey retorted, regaining her composure first. There was a slight tremor in her voice, but that was the only outward sign that she wasn't unbothered.

The blonde girl took a haughty sip to cover her wide smile. "You know, you could've called. Spirit realm doesn't have payphones?"

"Terrible reception in the afterlife," he replied.

Hearing no immediate response, he decided to step into view, looking at them with his own eyes.

Their reactions upon seeing him were wildly different. Mom's lip was trembling as she stared at him like he was a mirage in a dream, so fleeting he might disappear if she blinked once.

Casey, on the other hand, was blinking a lot. Her mouth agape, her forest green eyes drank in every detail of his new appearance, occasionally shifting to that galaxy sclera pattern that indicated her power was in use.

He in turn had already sensed what they looked like from afar. Mom had aged, crow's feet having grown more pronounced than his last image of her. Her hair was a bit frayed, but still around the same length. The clothes she wore were more or less the same.

Opposite her on the other end of the table, Casey's hair had grown longer, from neck length to past her shoulder blades. She wore a blazer over a short-sleeved shirt and skirt matching her eye color, and her facial features were more mature now. Being just a couple of months away from turning eighteen, she was taking her last steps into adulthood.

"What are you wearing?" she broke the charged silence.

He blinked, looking down at himself. His body was almost swaddled in the purple clothing that he had found so much of in Wanderlust's dimension. It had become his standard wardrobe after he outgrew the old Shade costume, and he hadn't given it any real thought since. Aside from that, he had his armor minimized as a gray leather bracelet on his wrist. Around his neck, he was still wearing the corded necklace he got from Paloma, the green bead charged with the younger girl's power.

"Limited edition," he joked.

Before Casey could open her mouth for a witty retort, Mom stood up, slowly feeling out the air with her hands in his general direction as if she had to walk through a cloud of mist to find him. "My baby…!"

She had her arms wrapped around him a second later, which made it clear his time away had given her warrior type strength specifically reserved for bear hugs.

Finn gave a small smile at the novelty of seeing an outline of his mother hugging him with his precognition before she actually did it in reality. "Hey Mom."

"My baby, my baby, my baby. You're baaaaack," she wailed, the waterworks starting in full now.

Seeing this, Casey gently set down her cup. Smoothing out her skirt, she stood and made her way out, squeezing past him and his mom to the front door. "It's great to have you back. Contact me when you've had—"

"Casey."

She squinted at him. "What?"

"Stay."

Her eyes widened. She stood there, staring at him for a while, then a strangled, laughing sob escaped her throat. "You ass," she said thickly, voice cracking. Green-polished fingernails caught her tears as she wiped them.

Unexpectedly, Mom caught her by the wrist and yanked her into the embrace. Casey gasped, smacking into them. Pressed together in a group hug, Finn couldn't help but laugh.

*******

Once everyone had calmed down a bit, they all found themselves seated around the table.

Finn took both cups into his hand and projected a wave of concentrated heat into them, reheating them up to what he hoped was the right temperature.

"Where did you learn that?" Casey asked curiously, one palm on the warmed porcelain after he handed it back to her.

"Middle of nowhere," he said absently while looking at his mom, who didn't show a hint of surprise at his blatant power use. Even her aura hadn't changed from the overwhelming green and white.

"You knew," he concluded, raising an eyebrow. He had been planning to tell her the truth regarding his powers and hero identity when he got back from his last mission here in Apexia. The problem was that he hadn't gotten back until long after the initial few hours. Apparently, that was enough time to figure it out.

Mom gave a serene smile. "I figured it out the second time this Shade 'happened' to save me."

Ah. That… made sense. He hadn't really been thinking about whether she would connect the dots at the time, his focus entirely on getting her away from the building-sized venomous snake.

"I came to tell her after everything had started to blow over," Casey supplied. "But she already knew."

"Finn," Mom said in a sweet voice, one hand still firmly on his leg to make sure he wouldn't poof into thin air. "Was there ever a point where I could have convinced you not to put on a costume and go out there? Please be honest with me."

Wow, what a question. He had his answer ready, even though he was sure she wouldn't like it. "I wouldn't say so? After Homeland came to your office, definitely not. There's no way I could have made myself quit at that point."

The aura rippled once more as Mom took in his words. Like he predicted, hearing that didn't make her happy. But there was understanding there. "Okay, thank you for telling the truth."

Comfortable silence reigned for a time, none of them keen to have the next word. They simply sat in silence, him trying to clear his mind and the other two sipping reheated coffee.

"So, like, where were you all this time?" Casey eventually addressed the elephant in the room. "How did you survive?"

Seeing no more reason to put it off, he told them his story.

Their reactions were horrified, for the most parts. Small bits of amusement, shock and anger because of how he told it, but mostly horror.

"You were really there with him," Mom spoke up after he had given them a basic rundown. She didn't need to clarify who she was talking about.

"Yeah," he said.

She fell quiet.

Finn watched his mother and his friend process what he had told them. A minute later, he announced. "I need to get ready for tomorrow. Talk to some people." He exchanged glances with Casey at the latter part of his statement, knowing she was aware of what that meant.

"I know people who could smooth out the return of your civilian identity," the Wardell scion offered.

"What's the point?" Finn asked. "I don't have the time to go to school or anything like that, not right now."

"Why not?" Mom asked in a worried tone.

Finn closed his eyes in resignation. Better to get this out of the way. He was supposed to be responsible now, capable of carrying his own burdens but communicating as necessary.

"Because I have to kill Omega," he stated succinctly.

Just like that, the room was in uproar again.

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