A/N *This story is no longer in the Paid program and is currently available to read for free. However, at the end of June 2024 I will be moving the story off Wattpad to my Patreon while I prepare it for publication.*
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With the sun shining and a light breeze coming in from the ocean, it should have been a pleasant day on the California coast. Eric had been bold enough to carry a tentative optimism with him as he, Adam, Sam, and Veronica ventured onto the mainland for a recruitment mission.
Of course, they had the misfortune of running into Scorpion. Again.
This mission was one of many the four had been on to track down other altered from Tyche Point. With their hometown destroyed, and multiple organizations pursuing them for their abilities, it had been easy to convince most kids they found to come stay on the Fortuna. There was no obligation to join the fight against Scorpion, though some had volunteered to help anyway. And pretty much everyone was training to use their powers.
As for the kids who chose not to come, now they were at least aware of Scorpion and SCI and could take precautions. Plus, some who had turned down the offer at first wound up changing their minds and calling the Fortuna later.
Now, nearly a month after the destruction of Tyche Point, Eric and the others had brought about twenty kids to their side.
Scorpion had gotten their hands on a few more recruits, too, as they'd learned in their recent fights. Eric had no idea how they'd managed it in such a short time, even with the advantage their jetchoppers gave them. The Fortuna Guard—the name Summer insisted they use, and it was hard to say no to someone in a hospital bed—was having a hard time tracking down kids. And they had the benefit of the list of altered Raveena had found at Delta Labs.
The technicians working for the Newmans had been diligently searching news and social media for names on the list but matches came less frequently than everyone had hoped. Not to mention it felt rather...stalker-y. But it was either track the altered down, or risk them falling victim to Scorpion. Or the government agency SCI.
While Scorpion made it clear they wanted altered for their army, Eric and the others still didn't know what SCI was doing with the kids they abducted. And they were fairly certain SCI had gotten their hands on some altered. A few had been reported missing, and the Scorpion kids they'd run into didn't recognize the names. The fact that Scorpion liked to brag about their recruits made that easy enough to figure out.
To make matters worse, because the kids weren't all disappearing from the same town, the general public had yet to take notice. Local authorities were in the dark, too. Not that they'd be able to do anything if they did know who was responsible.
It was a lot for Eric to worry about. And this was all on top of online classes and reassuring Mom every other day that he and Adam were okay.
But today was supposed to be simple. Eric and the others were near L.A., searching for a girl with geokinetic abilities. The group of four walked a busy street lined with shops, headed toward the hotel she was apparently staying at with her family.
"So, geokinesis is just moving dirt around, right?" Adam asked.
Eric shrugged. "Maybe rocks, too?"
"Why, because they're made of earth? Metal comes from the earth, too."
"Dude, everything comes from the earth," Eric said. He shot his brother a sideways glance. With limited access to hairdressers on the Fortuna, Adam had elected to trim his hair on top and let the undercut grow out.
Sam chimed in from behind them, where he walked next to Veronica. "Do you think it's weird that different altered can control some atoms and not others?" he asked Adam.
"Yeah, I guess." Adam glanced back. "Hey, can you use telekinesis to control everything we can control?"
"I don't think so," Sam replied. "I tried controlling water once, but I couldn't keep a hold of it. And I definitely can't pull it from the air or turn it to ice."
"But you can throw around rocks and metal," Veronica pointed out.
Sam thought for a moment. "I think even with solid objects, my power works differently. I can throw metal objects around, but I don't think I can manipulate metal itself as easily as Seth can," he said. "Like, crumpling a soda can would be harder for me to do."
Well, even if he couldn't do everything the other altered could do, his power was a lot more versatile. Eric had to admit he was a little jealous.
"And I'm sure fire and electricity are out of the question," Sam continued. "Since they aren't physical objects."
Electricity.
Eric lifted his hand and studied his palm. It had been weeks since he'd last watched electricity run across his skin. The first time, when it happened on accident, he'd hardly been able to believe it. But after a few days, he'd dared to try again, and lightning had appeared between his fingers.
He was terrible at it, to be honest. Unlike his fire, the electricity always fizzled out after a few seconds. It was hard to get out anything more than sparks. Maybe that was why he hadn't told the others yet. What was the point of a second power if he was embarrassingly bad at using it?
Or maybe it was because of Summer. The Newmans insisted she was recovering just fine and would be out of the medical wing any day now, but Eric and the others had barely seen her since they'd stepped onto the Fortuna. The fact that Eric's electrokinesis had manifested right after the fight—right after she'd been shot—felt like more than a coincidence.
He'd tell them eventually. But with everything else going on, the last thing they needed was another mystery to deal with.
"Let's maybe tone down the superpower conversation," Veronica said. "Looks like we're here."
They entered the hotel lobby, and Eric instantly felt out of place. Everything from the furniture to the paintings to the people looked expensive.
"They're not just going to tell us what room some random family is staying in," Veronica muttered.
"Maybe I can find them," Sam suggested.
"Find someone you've never met in a building with hundreds of people?"
Adam's gaze flickered to the front desk. "The receptionist is giving us a weird look," he whispered. "We need to do something."
"Let's just start walking," Eric suggested. "If we act casual, they won't question us." Hopefully.
"I'll see if I can find her," Sam added as the group walked toward the elevators.
"How are you going to do that, exactly?" Veronica asked. "Telekinetically or telepathically?"
"I won't be able to read everyone's minds and find her name, or anything like that," Sam said. "But I remembered in that picture she posted, she had a bike she brought with her from Tyche Point. I bet I can scan the building and see if I can sense the bike in one of the rooms."
Sam had done similar exercises on the ship, telekinetically searching for things he couldn't see. It was supposed to help him lead them through buildings where they'd need to avoid guards, but Eric didn't see why he couldn't use it to find an object instead.
"And you think you can search the whole building without getting a headache?" Veronica pressed.
"I'll be fine." After a moment, Sam added, "It will be easier for me to search if we take the stairs, though. The elevator will move too fast."
Eric groaned internally but nodded. "Fair enough." Walking up ten flights of stairs wasn't going to be fun.
The four veered away from the elevators and entered the stairwell. Sam moved to the front and led the way up, pausing every minute or so to focus on his search. Every time he stopped, Eric's heart quickened, wondering if he'd found the altered, only for Sam to move on toward the next floor a moment later.
Finally, Sam froze halfway up a flight of stairs. His eyes widened. "We need to get to the roof."
"Did you find her?" Veronica asked.
"No." Sam broke into a run. "Scorpion's here!"
The others sprinted after him. "They're landing their chopper on the roof?" Eric asked between breaths.
Sam nodded. "There are other people up there—I think it's a terrace. With tables and a fire pit."
They made it to the top of the final flight of stairs. Sam threw open the door to the roof, and the four stumbled outside, into the violent wind stirred up by the blades of Scorpion jetchoppers.
Two Scorpion jetchoppers.
"Wow," Eric said. "They really don't want us beating them again."
If any hotel guests had been up here, they must have cleared out at the sight of the helicopters with the ominous Scorpion logo painted on the sides—the red twelve-pointed star and black scorpion silhouette Eric had grown to hate.
The first chopper door opened, and Ash stepped out. Wren hopped to the ground behind him. She sneered at Eric and the others. "Aw, look. The Fortuna Guard is here."
Despite the two choppers, Ash and Wren seemed to be the only altered who'd come. Five soldiers emerged from the chopper they'd been in, while ten poured out of the other. Yikes.
"Wren, go find the altered," Ash ordered. "I'll deal with them."
"Fine." Wren ran toward the door leading inside. She made it halfway across the roof before dropping to the ground.
Veronica lifted her chin. "You're not going anywhere."
Wren chuckled. "Nice try," she spat out as she rose to her feet.
Veronica's eyes narrowed in concentration. Wren managed a few more steps before stumbling and dropping to her knees.
"Ash!" Wren hissed.
Ash sighed and waved a hand. "Soldiers, deal with the Fortuna Guard."
Eric lifted his hands and sent three fireballs at the line of soldiers as they moved forward. The first ball of flames missed, but the other two each knocked a soldier down. Adam took down three himself, and Sam sent another three crashing to the ground, albeit still in decent condition.
"All you're doing is wasting soldiers," Eric told Ash.
Ash was completely unbothered. "Not a problem. We have plenty more."
"Wren got inside!" Veronica shouted. "I'm going after her."
Eric glanced over his shoulder as the roof door slammed shut. Veronica started toward it to follow Wren inside.
"I'll come with you," Sam said, moving to follow.
Ash lifted his hands. "And leave these two to deal with me alone?" he called.
Sam slowed, hesitation flashing across his face as he looked back.
"Go," Eric insisted, letting his fists catch fire. "We'll keep him distracted."
"But—" Sam started.
"You're the only one who can sense the altered. Go!" Eric glanced at Adam, who nodded and lit up his own hands.
Eric moved closer to his brother. "Start taking down soldiers," he muttered. "Your aim is better than mine. I'll keep Ash busy."
"You sure?" Adam asked.
Eric nodded. He didn't need to beat Ash, he just needed to drag out the fight. And Ash wouldn't hurt him. Not seriously, anyway.
Probably.
While Adam ran toward the soldiers, flinging fireballs, Eric charged at Ash and unleashed a blast of his own fire. Ash met the blow with a wall of water. After the flames went out, the wall twisted into a sphere and shot toward Eric's face. Eric barely ducked in time. As he straightened up, he threw more fire at Ash.
Ash jumped out of the way. "I'll admit, you seem to be getting better."
The statement caught Eric off guard. Without thinking, he lowered his fists a few inches. "Huh?"
Ash summoned a whip of water and swung at Eric. Eric jumped back. The water grazed the tip of his nose, leaving his skin stinging.
"You're faster, too," Ash said.
"Knock it off," Eric snapped. "I'm trying to fight you." He hated that some part of him was proud that even Scorpion's best fighter had noticed his improvement.
Ash shrugged. "Still, you're not nearly as good as you'd be if you trained with us." He swung the whip again, in the same instant that Eric threw another fireball. The whip cut through the fireball and struck Eric in the side hard enough to send him staggering.
A gunshot went off nearby, turning Eric's blood to ice. His head snapped toward Adam.
Adam, to Eric's immense relief, was fine. He tossed aside the gun he'd wrestled from the soldier's hand and hit the soldier with a heavy blast of flames. The edges of its armor melted as it sank to the ground.
Eric's attention returned to Ash. He unleashed three fireballs in rapid succession. While Ash summoned a shield of water to protect himself, Eric darted to the right and swung his fist.
Ash's hand flew up to block the punch. He winced as Eric's fist met his hand, but quickly retaliated with a blow to Eric's stomach that sent him stumbling backward.
A soldier sailed through the air and crashed to the ground between Eric and Ash.
Ash whirled around. "Did you throw that?"
Adam picked up another soldier and lifted it over his head. "Yep." He chucked it at Ash. Ash dove out of the way.
As he straightened up, Ash said, "Brute strength will only get you so far." He summoned a sphere of water the size of a basketball and threw it at Adam. It collided with his chest, drenching him.
The five soldiers that were still functioning surrounded Adam in seconds. Adam lifted his hands, but the water soaking his skin made it impossible for a fire to start. He cursed as the sparks appearing in his palms went out immediately. "Shit."
Eric's fists tightened. He charged toward the soldiers, hands blazing. The two closest turned and charged at him. Blasts of flame, bigger than Eric had intended, erupted from his hands and swallowed the soldiers. Smoke billowed from gaps in their armor as they collapsed.
"Aren't these things supposed to have guns?" Eric asked.
"They have orders not to kill altered," Ash said as he approached from Eric's left. "And they don't need weapons to knock you out."
As the words left his mouth, another soldier swung its fist at Eric. Eric ducked, not wanting to find out how much worse a metal fist would feel compared to Ash's. He let out more fire and destroyed the soldier's legs.
Adam had gotten his hands dry enough to deal with the remaining soldiers. As he turned to face Eric, his eyes widened. "Behind you!" he warned.
Eric glanced back to find that Ash had summoned a massive wave. The water rose to a height of nearly twenty feet and shaped itself into a semi-circle around Eric and Adam. It began to close in, sending refracted light dancing across the pavement and blocking their escape. Except—
"Come on!" Eric yelled as he sprinted past Adam, toward the open door of the closest jetchopper.
"Eric, we'll be trapped—" Adam started.
Eric ignored him. The wave was already far too close for comfort. He jumped through the doorway and stumbled into the chopper.
To Eric's relief, Adam followed. As Adam stepped in, he glanced back out the door behind him. "There are more soldiers coming out of the other chopper!"
"Go find Wren and our target," Ash ordered the soldiers. He turned and took a step toward the chopper's open doorway, but didn't follow Eric and Adam in. The wall of water hung in the air behind him, serving as a warning.
Eric looked away. "We need to help Sam and Veronica."
"How are we supposed to get out of here with Ash guarding the entrance?" Adam asked.
"I have an idea."
"Are you crazy?" Adam asked as he followed Eric into the cockpit. "Do you have any idea how to fly a helicopter?"
"No, but this isn't a regular helicopter." Eric swept his gaze over the control panel. To be fair, he didn't know what a regular helicopter did look like, but it probably wasn't this. "Besides," he said. "The Scorpion kids can fly them. It can't be that hard."
Adam stopped next to him and sighed. "Well, everything is labelled. And they key's in. But I still don't know what half of this means."
Eric reached out to turn the key. "Guess we'll find out."