Finding places to stay wasn't easy, but Jugo lucked out with coming to Trigate City.

Near the center of the city, away from the commercial district but still deep within the heart of the town, there was a massive old library - massive for a library, at least. Trigate was first founded in the late 1800s, and the library stood where the city's first school had been built. The original building crumbled away a long time ago, but the current library that was built in its place had been standing since the early 1900s. On top of the library was a clocktower, defunct now, permanently set to midnight.

This was where Jugo took up residence. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. When he first rolled through this area of the city, Jugo stumbled upon the library where the current caretaker was being harassed by some shady loan sharks trying to pressure him into a scam. The caretaker, Mr. Sinclair, was the gullible type who, while he was scared of the loan sharks, thought they were doing him a favor. 

Jugo took it upon himself to chase them away. Mr. Sinclair was grateful, and, it seemed, took pity on Jugo for being homeless at such a young age. So Mr. Sinclair let Jugo stay in a loft inside the clocktower rent free in exchange for helping around with the library from time to time.

Mr. Sinclair explained that the loan sharks were pressuring him into taking out a loan because the library was not sponsored by the local government. It apparently only managed to keep its doors open through community donations: local churches, wealthy residents, routine charity, and some of the city's more generous politicians. Mr. Sinclair took ownership of the library and fought tooth and nail to keep its doors open; unfortunately, especially in recent years, the library experience fewer and fewer visitors. Nowadays, the only people who come to the library are people who live in the neighborhood that like to read, and college students looking for a place to study, research, or nap. Needless to say, business was slow during the summer.

Jugo could hop onto the roof of the library and enter the clocktower through a side entrance, but he could tell Mr. Sinclair was still in, so he went in through the front. The caretaker gave Jugo a friendly smile when he walked in.

"Hey, Jugo, busy day?" the older man asked, eyeing the shopping bags he carried.

"It was interesting, to say the least," Jugo confirmed. "Do you need help with anything before you finish closing up?"

"Well, let me think," the librarian rubbed his neck while he thought. He made a raspy noise as he rubbed the area over his stubble. "No, I think we're good for the night. Just got to sort some documents out, then I'm heading home."

Mr. Sinclair was sitting at the front desk, typing stuff on the old computer stationed there.

"Alright, I'm gonna grab something to read then head up for the night."

Jugo walked over to the new arrivals section. It was a small shelf that Mr. Sinclair stocked with newer books when he had the extra cash to do so. It featured the usual: teen romance novels, some b-rate horror, some nonfiction, and a few young adult novels. He ended up choosing a promising fantasy novel titled 'Beneath the Iron Mountain.' Jugo wasn't much of a reader before coming here, but without a TV or a phone, there wasn't much to do. Sometimes he used the library's public computers, but they were old and limited in what they could do.

But just as Jugo was about to head for the loft upstairs, a picture on the donation wall caught his eye. Mr. Sinclair setup a little area on the wall above the new arrivals shelf where he honored big donors to the library. Most of the people with their picture framed on the wall had too much money on their hands: doctors, business men, politicians, and a few family photos of people who came from wealth. The picture that caught Jugo's eye, though, was a photo of an older man with a younger girl who looked all-too-familiar.

Jugo didn't recognize the man, but he knew the name on the plaque beneath the frame. He was Thomas Holloway, one of the richest men in the world, and leader in the development of SuperHuman research. His company invented the catalogue for SuperHuman abilities, and maintained the registry on the government's behalf. Holloway Industries is also the world's leading manufacturer of SuperHuman goods.

Having superpowers was cool and all, but some of them came with drawbacks. And some drawbacks were nastier than others. Speedsters had a really hard time at first because of the amount of calories they needed to intake on a daily basis. Holloway Industries developed the first speedster nutrition bar that contained enough calories to keep them going all day. They produced pharmaceuticals, special clothing, technology, and a whole lot more that benefited the lives of SuperHumans on a day-to-day basis.

And while her name wasn't on the plaque, Jugo recognized the girl in the picture with him to be Elena; the very same Elena he'd spend a day at the mall with. The same girl he jumped off a bridge to save. The same girl whose phone number rested in his pocket.

For her to be in the same picture as THE Thomas Holloway could only mean one thing.

"Hey, Mr. Sinclair, do you know who the girl in this picture is?" Jugo asked, wanting to know if he was right.

"Which picture?" the librarian turned around in his chair. He squinted his eyes as he looked to where Jugo was pointing. "Oh, yes, that is Mr. Holloway's daughter, Elena Holloway."

Jugo looked unbelievingly back at the picture. Did he really spend the day hanging out with one of the richest girls in the world? That would explain why she didn't tell me her last name.

"Miss Elena comes here from time to time. She once told me she adores the atmosphere of an old library. Come to think of it, she's around your age. Maybe if you stick around you'll get a chance to meet her and hit it off." 

Mr. Sinclair chuckled, but Jugo didn't react. He just kept staring at the photo.

"Jugo? You alright, boy?" the librarian asked, concerned by his lack of a reaction.

"I met Elena earlier today. I sort-of saved her from falling off a bridge. We ended up spending the day together, and she gave me her phone number."

"Jeepers creepers, you really did have a day, didn't you?"

"I didn't know she was Thomas Holloway's daughter until now," Jugo said.

"I'm not surprised, after he lost his fiancé, Mr. Holloway doesn't like having his daughter in the public eye," Mr. Sinclair explained. "I was only kidding about what I said before, but if that's the case then by all means, go for it, I'm sure you'll get along just fine."

When Jugo remained silent, the librarian added on to what he said.

"I don't know her that well, but she seems like a really sweet girl. It's just my assumption, but since I've never seen her come around with people her age, I'm guessing she could use a friend."

***

The fantasy novel Jugo picked up was about a band of adventurers helping dwarves reclaim a mountain from some kind of demon from another dimension. It was interesting enough, but Jugo had a hard time following along with it. His reading level was below average before, but it had improved since taking up residence in the library's clock. Regardless, he still couldn't focus on the novel because his thoughts were jumbled up from the day's events.

Jugo couldn't stop thinking about Elena, the things she did, and, most importantly, why she did those things. She was filthy rich, but he already knew that, yet she didn't act like a stereotypical rich girl. A spoiled brat wouldn't go out of her way to thank someone, even if they did save their life. But that wasn't the way the world worked. Nobody was kind out of the goodness of their heart, they always wanted something in return.

Some of the things Mr. Sinclair had told him matched up with Elena's story. She claimed she didn't have a lot of friends because of the stigma around her SuperHuman powers, and Mr. Sinclair had never seen her with a friend before. Elene seemed nice enough, but was it an act to get something she wanted? If it was, what could Jugo have that she would possibly want?

Jugo groaned as he pulled out the paper slip with her phone number on it. He didn't have a phone, so contacting her was out of the question for the moment. Jugo figured it didn't matter in the end; whatever she wanted, he couldn't give it to her. To society, he was a villain, a monster who preys on their beloved heroes. Whether it was God, fate, or something else, that was the path that was chosen for him.

Jugo put the phone number in the fantasy novel, marking where he'd left off. Next, he pulled out a small pocket notebook. He flipped to the page with the list of superheroes in Trigate City. Near the bottom of the list, he'd written tomorrow's date next to one of the hero's names. The city would be hosting a festival honoring their newest, and most popular hero, ChronoWave.

And Darkwing will be crashing the party.